Feeling adventurous in the midst of an Ohio winter, my mate and I hopped on a plane and went to MarsCon in Minnesota. Flying seemed like a better solution than driving 18 hours. It was the first con I've flown to. None of this stuffing everything but the kitchen sink into the trunk of the car. We had to stuff everything but the kitchen sink into two checked bags and some carry-on.

The good ship RakeHell (otherwise known as "The Scum of the Fleet") made us feel like part of the family. For a first-time Con (albeit with many experienced members on its staff) the turnout was very good, around 500 people. The entertainment included an hour-long live presentation by the RakeHell, always a treat, and an appearance by our own Martian Ambassador (Joel "Twisty" Nye) who behaved himself for once and didn't 'attack' ....although he DID kiss the Master of Ceremonies, "Ming the Merciless, Emperor of Mars" (George Richard), in a shameless attempt to tip the scales in the beauty contest.

This was the first time I've been to a con where all the room parties are next door to each other. One whole floor was solid 'room party', anchored by a well stocked and graciously hosted con-suite. The RakeHellions worked long and hard to decorate their room in grand style, complete with black-light effects. The partying went on long into the night.

The Raddison West Hotel is immense. There were three conventions of different kinds going on there simultaneously, yet there was no sense of crowding. The huge hot-tub rivaled some swimming pools I've seen. Our Hellion hosts informed us that this hotel is the location of almost all the conventions in their area, and we found out just how familiar some of them are with its layout when we were taken by Kvetch and Moil (Kris and Deborah Spiesz) on a wild, behind-the-scenes mission in search of packing-out equipment for the art room, and other things we needed to make us go.

From watching their videos of BattleCruiser Vengeance, we always suspected that the crew of the RakeHell were a bunch of just-way-too-fun maniacs, and now we know it's true. I doubt that a more uproarious, unpretentious pack of mug-thumpers exists anywhere in the galaxy.

Having satisfied our adventure-lust for the time being by going to Minnesota in February , my mate KwISt and I now look forward to our next long-distance convention jaunt to attend southern California's ComicCon.......San Diego in August . We Klingons like to experience life in the extremes!
 

Kerla of the Dragons' Heart

KAG Demon Fleet
 

Illustration by Cap'n KwISt,
inspired by too many hours with the I.K.V. Rakehell,
"Scum of the Fleet"