This is me playing host and Aviation Fuel mixer at the "Arkham in '98" party during the 1993 Lunacon. If you look closely, you can see the yellow badge with the picture of Cthulhu that identifies me as "Perpetrator of Recreational Insanity" for the Arkham Worldcon bid. Those of you who have been to a few Lunacons in recent years will no doubt also recognize the typical Escher Hilton room.

In case you're wondering what the heck I'm doing in that picture, I was stirring a cake of dry ice in the Aviation Fuel mixture (hence the heavy ski gloves). You can see the bottle of grain alcohol to the left of the bucket, and the paper bag on the other side contains the rest of the dry ice. (Note 1)

The whole idea for this party started after I and the Gang of Four attended some excellent parties put together by some folks from Baltimore doing a joke Worldcon bid called, at first, "95 in '95"(Note 2), and, after losing that bid to Glasgow at Magicon, "Arkham in '98"(Note 3). I was impressed by the Aviation Fuel, both as a quality drink and because anything made with dry ice automatically catches my eye. After talking it over with Zed and the executive board of the Arkham bid committee, I decided to volunteer to throw the party at Lunacon in the spring of '93.

Those who have known me for a while are aware that the parties I throw tend to be few and far between, but when they do occur, they are big events. I expected this party to be no exception, as Aviation Fuel is one of the most popular drinks on the con scene. Zed was a bit worried about my lack of pre-party preparation, and didn't think I'd be able to find fifty pounds of dry ice on less that 24 hours' notice, and on a weekend to boot. (Note 4) Oh ye of little faith...

All things considered, the party came off quite successfully, at least for the first few hours. One of the problems with Aviation Fuel is that it takes a long time to make a batch, and you have to do something to keep the people entertained while they're waiting. I had supplied some alternate beverages and munchies, and hoped that this plus the Arkham paraphernalia plus the anticipation of the Aviation Fuel would keep the masses reasonably happy. As it happened, I needn't have worried: Fate intervened in the guise of a couple of wandering minstrels who found the party and decided to stay and play a few tunes on their guitars. This was a great attraction for more people to come in, which kept the party lively, which induced the musicians to stay, and so on in a nice feedback loop. Between the music and the Aviation Fuel, we were easily the most popular party at the con that night.

It seemed too good to be true, and unfortunately it was. The problem, as it turned out, was with the hotel. I had reserved a room especially for the party, and asked the hotel for a room in a "party floor". The people next to us wanted to sleep, and had asked for a room on a "quiet floor". And the hotel, in its infinite wisdom, put us next to each other. (Note 5) So starting at about midnight, just when the party was starting to get into swing, the people next door started asking us to lay off on the noise... which effectively meant shutting down the party. We tried to reason with them, and held out for as long as we could, but by about 1:30 the con committee had stopped by and given us our final warning. Not wanting to get in any real trouble, I was forced to shut down, but everyone in attendance agreed that it was one kickass party while it lasted.

I didn't expect to have any mementos of this party aside from the good memories, but as it turned out, Linda De Laurentis, a fan photographer, happened to take some pictures at the party. I didn't really get to know Linda until the '96 Asimov Seminar, but after that, she was nice enough to provide me with a copy of the photo. Among other things, this photo is notable for being one of the rare pictures of me with a beard, even though you can't see it too well here.

Note 1: The container of pineapple juice isn't part of the Aviation Fuel mix. It was to give me something to drink while I was mixing. When making drinks that involve grain alcohol and dry ice, it's not a good idea to sample too much of your own wares.

Note 2: The idea was to hold the con on the median strip of I-95, from Maine to Florida. The con would be called "RoadkillCon".

Note 3: NecronomiCon '98. "A convention that has real soul: YOURS!"

Note 4: I didn't actually need fifty pounds of dry ice, but most ice manufacturers won't sell it in smaller quantities.

Note 5: This may have just been a natural consequence of the layout of the hotel. After all, you can walk from the fourth floor of the Escher Hilton to the seventh without going up or down any stairs, so as far as the hotel was concerned, we may have been on different floors.

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