It's not every night you see a drag queen bowling in three inch stilettos, or a group of semi-nude strangers dancing in a hot tub, but such were the bizarre sights I saw in the small hours of Saturday night. It felt a bit like a Fellini film, which was ironic, as Amarcord was showing on the screens above the bowling lanes. (Which reminded me that I've never actually sat down and watched Amarcord before.) Unfortunately we didn't get any photos of the drag queen or the hot tub, so you'll have to shut your eyes and imagine it for yourselves. To be honest, it wasn't nearly as fabulous as it sounds, but, well, it really isn't every night you see that kind of thing, so I thought it was worth noting. And I did manage to get into the party without having to pay anything (much to Annie's chagrin, because she was the one who'd invited me and she'd had to pay!), so that was cool.
It wasn't quite how I expected my evening to end, either, as it had started quite normally, in a nice pub in a Victoria back street, for the Comics Reunited meet-up, with some old comics people. When I say "old" I mean people who were involved with the comics scene a while ago, back in the eighties and nineties. I suppose in some way that makes them old in age, too — I was certainly one of the youngest people there (although Cassandra had me beaten in youth by many years). In fact, most of the people were from before my time, because I never made it to any of the UKCAC events, but there were a few people I'd met before, so it was was good to catch up with them, and to make plans for seeing them more often (although the guy who'd invited me was a no-show — what happened, Ronnie?)
The Phoenix was a good choice of venue, too, as it hit all the right points of what I look for in a nice pub. They have a decent selection of beer (including good guest ales), good food (slightly pricey but cooked to perfection), friendly staff and a great location — it's only a few minutes from Victoria station, but seems like it would usually be pretty quiet at the weekends. Well, at the weekends that it's not filled with hordes of people having a reunion. One to remember, I think.
Speaking of UKCAC, a google brings up Jeremy's comic strip about UKCAC — click through for the whole six pages. It's a pretty accurate account of every comics convention I've been to, actually.
