[convergence] Bids for C21
Jul. 26th, 2014 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inulroI realised I've only been thinking out loud about this on Facebook. I'll try and put all my thoughts (so far) in one place here:
This year the contenders are Hollywood (not LA, honest) and New Orleans. Both are cities where I haven't been and would really like to go.
However, where my vote goes is no contest - Hollywood. The New Orleans bid is - meh. The Hollywood bid's theme, Dead Stars, has already got me planning a whole weekend worth of costumes. It's all an excuse to buy a load of black flapper dresses to go as dead silent film stars, and a big Valentino sheik number. And if I get back down to size 8, a pair of leather trousers and a big poet shirt to be Jim Morrison.
Another big thing in Hollywood's favour is that there are no less than five airlines offering regular direct flights between Heathrow and LAX (that is even before exploring crappy charters + Gatwick). I remember from my research into attending the Long Beach Convergence that flights to LA are a lot less expensive than you might think because of all the competition. To New Orleans - exactly none.
LA has a Fluevog store. New Orleans has a shoe store that might stock some Fluevogs. LA has the La Brea Tar Pits. I get really excited about Ice Age megafauna. And the Getty Museum. And sitting on Venice Beach for a day to chill after the event.
We've been talking forever about doing a big road trip from Vancouver down to San Diego. This could be a chance to do that. Or, with the 8 hour time difference, flying over for the weekend, sleeping all day and partying all night while staying on UK time is also do-able. At the time of Long Beach, the Air New Zealand flight (the cheap one) was timed such that flying out Thursday and back Monday morning was possible.
There was a time when I would have voted for New Orleans because New Orleans. But the more I learn about the place, the less convinced I am that I'd really love it there, on account of everything that's goth and nifty about the place is really For The Tourists Only, and actually it's a place full of crime and poverty and desperation where you can't even get to some of the tourist sites (the graveyards) safely without going in a tour group.
This year the contenders are Hollywood (not LA, honest) and New Orleans. Both are cities where I haven't been and would really like to go.
However, where my vote goes is no contest - Hollywood. The New Orleans bid is - meh. The Hollywood bid's theme, Dead Stars, has already got me planning a whole weekend worth of costumes. It's all an excuse to buy a load of black flapper dresses to go as dead silent film stars, and a big Valentino sheik number. And if I get back down to size 8, a pair of leather trousers and a big poet shirt to be Jim Morrison.
Another big thing in Hollywood's favour is that there are no less than five airlines offering regular direct flights between Heathrow and LAX (that is even before exploring crappy charters + Gatwick). I remember from my research into attending the Long Beach Convergence that flights to LA are a lot less expensive than you might think because of all the competition. To New Orleans - exactly none.
LA has a Fluevog store. New Orleans has a shoe store that might stock some Fluevogs. LA has the La Brea Tar Pits. I get really excited about Ice Age megafauna. And the Getty Museum. And sitting on Venice Beach for a day to chill after the event.
We've been talking forever about doing a big road trip from Vancouver down to San Diego. This could be a chance to do that. Or, with the 8 hour time difference, flying over for the weekend, sleeping all day and partying all night while staying on UK time is also do-able. At the time of Long Beach, the Air New Zealand flight (the cheap one) was timed such that flying out Thursday and back Monday morning was possible.
There was a time when I would have voted for New Orleans because New Orleans. But the more I learn about the place, the less convinced I am that I'd really love it there, on account of everything that's goth and nifty about the place is really For The Tourists Only, and actually it's a place full of crime and poverty and desperation where you can't even get to some of the tourist sites (the graveyards) safely without going in a tour group.
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Date: 2014-07-26 05:19 pm (UTC)There is one graveyard - St. Louis #1, right next to the French Quarter - that is not safe for tourists to visit on their own, even during the day. Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District is safe to wander on your own, but tours are fun cause you get all the cool background info.
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Date: 2014-07-28 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-01 08:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-01 08:51 am (UTC)If they had something like Chicago's FUN SHUTTLE that would solve that problem nicely.
So would renting a convertible, but that would mean not drinking.