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Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 18:21:15 -0500
From: politico@wil.net
Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: Politico's Review of Magnum Opus Con 10A
Hello out there in convention land,
In the quest to line up dealers and promote my convention, I attended
MOC-10A, held at the Adams Mark, in Charlotte, NC. I also came at the
invitation of Roland Castle, MOC's owner operator and subject of some very
spirited debate on this part of the 'net for quite some time. Roland has
been a great help to me getting my dealer database built and insight on
convention ops and so on. The convention itself was very nice, quite
friendly and inviting. The dealer's room had a great selection. Gunnar
Hansen was a neat guy. Attendence looked to be around 400-450, not
including dealers, guests, and con staff, which was not bad, considering it
was snowing on Friday afternoon. I had only planned to stay the day to get
info to dealers and hand out flyers, but within a few hours, I had met some
really cool folks, a great lady who gave me crash space with her friends
for the weekend, and I felt almost as free as I did in the Hellfire Club in
NYC, but that's another story. MOC is not a con for the kiddies, it is for
adult fans who want to cut loose and be what they want to be in their wet
dreams and fantasies. The staff was friendly and completely unobtrusive,
but reacted very quickly to trouble spots. There is but one person to
answer to at MOC, and that is Roland. It's his castle, if you will, and all
he asks is that you respect the other guests and not break the law. If you
have a problem, you go to Roland. This kind of personal touch is not the
stuff of larger types of special events, but it does go along way to
providing a sense of security and relaxation while attending his
convention.
I ended up participating in several functions, namely the Mr. Macho
contest (I came in second!!!), the slave auction, hanging from the
suspension cage at the Jim Jones play party Sat. night, the Scavenger Hunt
(which my team won!), and general becoming the stuff of legend for a first
time MOCer.
While at the con, I read up on the whole MOC vs. DragonCon thing, as
Roland published his opinions and stated the fact of what was going on in
the last issue of Fandom, as well as copies of email from people who worked
to trash his con for one reason or another. I spent a good deal of time
with Roland and got to know him fairly well. He is irascible, a bit gruff,
brutally honest in his opinions, and generally very Italian in his
demeanor. However, he never raised his voice to me or to anyone that we
were around, carried himself with respect and civility, and worked hard to
make sure everyone had a good time. If more high minded fans don't want to
be around fans who like to party, try to get laid (the number of bi's and
gay's openly embracing and having as much fun was nicely surprising), dance
their ass off to cool music, not be bothered by basement case fanboys
drooling all over them because they are the only attractive woman there,
get as close to naked as the law will allow (I went down to a T-bar in the
Mr. Macho contest and had the crowd howling), they really ought not go to
MOC. Yes, there were some educational program tracks, as every con should
have a little clean spot for the hell of it, but MOC really is a place for
wilder side of fandom.
I will not at this time go into any speculation about DragonCon or Ed
Kramer, as I have not been to DragonCon nor have I met Ed Kramer. I will
say, however, if it stands true that the effort to trash Roland and his
event behind his back is indeed openly encouraged by either Ed Kramer or
anyone associated with his event, I will never attend DragonCon, but I will
make that evaluation in my own time and through my own research. If
Mr. Kramer would like to offer me the same chance to get his side of the
story and the same chance to evaluate his convention that Roland has, I
will gladly give him the fair consideration that I have given to Mr.
Castle.
In summary, I had an absolutely decadent time at MOC, and look forward
to being able to attend MOC 11 in June. MOC is not a convention for the
whole family. It's like spending a weekend a sci-fi con that Howard Stern
would put together. It's wild, more than a little sexist (there were a lot
more MALE bimbos than female there, including me!), and generally a drunken
romp after 6pm. I got laid, got to throw knives, strip in front of 400
people, dance my ass off, hang from chains and be beaten by latex clad
mistresses, promote my convention, line up dealers, get Roland's side of
this whole pissy little flame war, and did all of this SOBER!!! Roland may
not be the most logical businessman in the world, but what he does comes
from the heart and he keeps his promises. Only one guest did not show up
for MOC-10 and Roland has survived a very seemingly concentrated effort to
smear him, because he dares to let geeks be geeks. MOC-10A was for the fans
that gave their support to Roland over the years and helped him weather
this past year of baggage. By the time of MOC-11, he will have run THREE
conventions in 11 months, so I don't think can reasonably question his
tenacity and heart for fandom. I met a lot new people at MOC and look
forward to seeing them at either my con, StellarCon 20, or MOC-11. I plan
to attend both MOC-11 and DragonCon this summer if my resources allow, to
judge both events in their prime. Of course, this is all just my opinion, I
could be wrong.
Ta ta.
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Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 22:06:04 GMT
From: tnelson@conc.tdsnet.com (Huny)
Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: Re: Politico's Review of Magnum Opus Con 10A
I was there too Pol and had the best time! What a con! I flirted my heart
out and had a weekend long blast. Roland does an excellent job and I always
make a point to tell him so at the end of MOC. He has always been high
profile in his availablity to fandom and is constantly urging us to offer
suggestions to help him give US what we want. I love Roland for his
efforts... I'm just sorry I didn't get a chance to flash him before I left!
hahaha see ya at MOC!
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Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 07:19:46 GMT
From: LadcoDWB@ix.netcom.com (John P. Miller)
Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: MOC-10 A -- A Retrospective
Well, I'm just now getting back to being human after MOC-10A, so here's my
review:
Arrived Thursday afternoon:
Nothing much going on. The hotel screwed up our reservations, but
quickly and efficiently fixed the problem. That was when we realized we
were staying in Rooms 664, 666, and 668. That's right, LADCO was in "THE
ROOM OF THE BEAST!" This boded well for the days to follow. Casino night
was canceled due to conflict with N.C. laws. Bummer. Also, Rocky Horror
didn't go off as planned. As I expected, Thursday was more a day to chill
and get acclimated to the hotel and staff. Checked out the dealers' room
- - small but good variety and GREAT art work!
FRIDAY:
Now things started to roll.
11am - Girls of MOC autograph session. Here was my chance to meet the
models in the Unforgettable Images magazine. GOD I can't wait for issue
#3!
Hung out with friends until later that afternoon. The Home Slave Shopping
Network had to be canceled since there were mundanes in the hotel and it
would be broadcast on convention TV.
Bought a picture of Hope at the ROC of AGEs table. In order to sell her
pics, she said if we sold all her pics for the day, she'd remove her top.
We did. She did. Saw God.
5pm - Knife throwing. If you ever wanted to flame Roland, DON'T DO IT
HERE!
7pm - MOC Marriages. Found a babe. Got married. Didn't get her name.
Oh, well. That's how it goes.
8pm - PMS Contest. Damn, Catwoman! Get over yourself! Any person who
doesn't look where they're about to stick their bare ass deserves to get it
dunked! You know men go to the bathroom drunk and in the dark, too. [g]
9pm - Bimbomania! - Not a wild as the promotion had me expecting. That
probably had something to do with the cops in the room for security.
Still, the judges did seem to have fun!
12pm - Dance 'til dawn. Awesome time and great music.
I also wandered around to various room parties until about 5:30 am. The
only problem was one party wasn't on a party floor and got shut down, but
Roland got them some room in the Convention Center and they moved the party
down to the first floor. Way to go OFMIC!
SATURDAY
Everything up to this point has been prep for Saturday.
Early afternoon- bought a picture package with Hope and Gunnar Hansen.
Same as yesterday, only today two babe would take off their tops and as a
bonus, Gunnar would keep his on! We did. They did. He didn't. Saw God
twice. Damn, how did that girl get those tits under that T-Shirt?
Had yearbook photo taken for purposes as yet unknown. Can't wait to see
what the yearbook's gunnar look like.
Slave Auction - Great opportunity to purchase a slave for 3 hours. Even
Gunnar Hansen auctioned himself off. His skill? "Good with power tools!"
Several babes and studs were auctioned off with the proceeds going to the
Party Smaller Memorial Scholarship Fund.
After getting in costume, me and my partner in the costume contest, Brian
Jones, headed down to the ballroom. Our costumes were of Darth Vader and
Obi-Wan Kenobi. It wasn't until we got to the ballroom that we found out
that the band came on stage to all their gigs to "The Imperial March."
This definitely boded well. When the band cranked it up, the crowd
frenzied as Vader took the center of the dance floor. After all was said
and done, second place went to two of my friends, Pat and Sheryl-Lynn for
their awesome Babylon 5 uniforms. The MooseCon got first prize for their
Moose thing (still not sure what it was) and Best of Show went to:
D A R T H V A D E R & O B I - W A N K E N O B I ! ! ! !
Yee-ha!!! Dancing into the night, with Vader jumping on stage to sing
Kiss' "God of Darkness" with the band.
From the Masque, we headed for the room parties. The two best parties were
Jonestown III (room 1666) and CyberGoth (room 1766). I'd been to both
Jonestown's before at MOC's 8 and 9, and III was just as great; however,
the nod has to go to CyberGoth for the awesome party. They were also the
only room party to have food as well as booze - a necessary consideration
for olympic drinking. Hope was there. She stripped. I saw God. She was
posing for polaroids. I got one. I saw God.
All this continued on until about 5 am. Bouncing from room party to room
party until you couldn't remember where you were. Woke up Sunday morning
with an incredible sense of satisfaction.
Let's see did I miss anything...
Oh, yes: Starting Fluid was a big success. One of the other room parties
was peddling some shit they called "Mech Fluid" that had dubious
ingredients. Since we started the tradition and this wasn't our mix, we
had to set things straight.
MECH Fluid is a sham!
LADCO - Inventors of BattleMech Starting Fluid, as brought to you at MOC 7,
8, 9, 10, AND 10-A. Accept no Substitutes. Further info and samples were
available in "THE ROOM OF THE BEAST". If they couldn't figure out that
meant Room 666, we didn't care to hear from them.
What else, oh yes...Pat won first prize in the wet boxer competition! Yea
Pat!
Well, that's about it. For every MOC since 6 we've noticed a phrase or
saying that keeps getting repeated throughout the weekend that tends to sum
up the week end's experience. I close with the listing of the catch
phrases to date:
MOC 6: "A-weem-a-way. It's a MOC thing, you wouldn't understand."
MOC 7: "It's a buying frenzy!"
MOC 8: "Cthulhu *hic*!"
MOC 9: "Look at me! Don't look at me!... Look at me, dammit!!"
MOC 10: "Na Naw, don't go there."
MOC 10A: "Hope schwings eternal!"
Next on the convention list is ROC of AGEs in May. I'm looking forward to
seeing Hope and all my friends from MOC. Don't miss the Shadow Players
sword fighting show!! After that - Here comes MOC 11!
See you this summer, Roland!!!
John P. Miller
LadcoDWB@ix.netcom.com
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Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 22:20:30 GMT
From: achbar@vnet.net (James Morrow)
Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: MOC it is so unique
I didn't see God in silicon Breast implants like our dear friend John
P. Miller. I did see two lovely ladies.. Hopefully, I will see them
again.
MOC 11 is shaping up to be a Good Con. hell, I don't know who will be
there. It hardly matters at this point. I will be there and so will my
friends.
MOC is a free form sort of Con anyway. You make up your own fun as you
go. There were interesting Panels at MOC 10-A. I participated in several
as a member of the audience. I asked questions and enjoyed myself.
The Parties and the Friends is what has made that con in my view. I hope
it stays that way.
Hopefully, MOC appreciation Cons will continue here in Charlotte NC. I
think it was a Great idea and hopefully Roland Castle will return to the
"Queen City" ( Named after Queen Charlotte of England). I hope he didn't
loose his shirt.
There are times when I think that man runs his Con like the captain of a
Party Yacht. He cleans the barnacles off while the rest of us Party. He
charges just enough to keep her at Sea. Hell maybe I am right, maybe I am
wrong. I had a Great time. That's my bottom Line.
James Morrow
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Date: 23 Feb 1996 02:39:03 GMT
From: aiken@unity.ncsu.edu (Wayne Aiken)
Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: Re: MOC 10A, My Review and Opinions
>I got to the Con early Thursday. I expected a Huge Crowd of People and
>did not want to miss anything. I was disappointed at First. Thursday was
>pretty slow. The huge Crowd I had hope to see was not there. I spent
>time meeting old friends and meeting new ones until the Dealer's Room
>opened.
EXTREMELY slow...
This leads into my first set of comments about this MOC:
PRO: The computer gaming area was one of the best I've seen yet, and I
spent a lot of time there. Stations set up for multi-user Heretic,
Doom, Wing Commander IV, plus a 2-player VR Hexen and a 2-player
full-cockpit Descent.
CON: No videos!!!! Some sort of video room, with cult/action movies,
anime, etc. is a GREAT way to kill time, see something you've never
seen before, etc.. Every other convention I've ever been to
besides MOC has had at least 1 video room running continuously.
It's a very nice con "fixture" that I've never seen at MOC.
Plus, where was the Rocky Horror? It was scheduled on both Friday
and Saturday nights in the Carolina AB rooms; but every time I
looked, it was completely empty.
>Friday was spent catching up with my old friends and again, making new
>ones. MOC is a unique kind of CON. It is pretty much a free Form kind of
>Con. Roland Take No offense. If you walk away from a MOC and not have
>fun...then it is your own damned fault. The schedule had little to offer.
>You had to make your own fun up as you went. The MOC crowd is pretty
>intelligent, so that was easy for most people.
I can understand few guests with a con this small. But, for the most part,
there were TONs of meeting rooms with absolutely nothing in them, or
nothing going on. There were little flurries of activity, then deadness.
I thought the PMS Battle and the Bimbo Contest was a lot of fun. The live
band didn't seem to draw a lot of attention, though.
>The Parties were Fun. I am in The Rogue Society and we had a Great time
>with our Party and everybody else's. I was security for our Con. Out of
>the 400 or so people who atended this Con, ONE asshole gave us a hard
>time. He was taken Care of and the we went on with Life.
They should have used the meeting rooms for the parties. In fact, on
Friday night I was at the Dead Pirate/Wet T-shirt party on the 16th floor,
when the hotel security made them close the door (party floor suddenly
becoming a non-party floor due to mundanes). I suggested that we move the
whole thing down to one of the rooms, and they did. TONS of more space
over that cramped little room made this a big hit. Then, as if that
weren't enough, the Bendovaho Tribe came in and started handing out their
brew. For a good while there, that MOC "magic" was in full swing.
Other good parties: The M00se Illuminati had a nice little room set up with
tons of sushi, chili, and MOOSE PISS! great drink.
The Jonestown After Dark III party was fun, as usual. Nothing new this
year, they had the same Grape Flavoraid and cyanide drinks, plus The
Machine was in full operation. I had a pocketfull of glow-sticks that made
a nice effect. This lasted until around 5am.
The Cybergoths on the 17th Floor, which I think is the Rogues, had one
helluva party. Nice decorations, with chill-out rooms on the side, a DJ,
some hellacious bare skin, munchies, and more. After the Jonestown party
folded, the Moose people moved their stuff to the Cybergoths.
>Will MOC 11-A come back to Charlotte NC? I hope so. The Hotel Staff
>Loved us. I hope Roland remembers this town and will see the potential
>that it has to offer in The future.
Not a bad location at all. Lots of decent food outlets in the area too.
Which leads to another suggestion for cons: do some advance scouting of the
grocery/pharmacy/food/liquor stores in the area. A neat little map could
save some out-of-towner a lot of time scouting around for supplies.
No serious grips, had a lot of fun.
slack@ncsu.edu
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Date: 14 Mar 1996 10:02:14 GMT
From: michael weaver <mweaver@atl.mindspring.com>
Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: Banned from Moc for Life
My name is Michael Weaver I am an artist, I have worked for (among
others ) Wizards of the Coast, TSR, FASA, Ral Partha, Chaosium. I am
frequently a guest at various Science Fiction conventions (I have attended
over 40 by my last estimate).
I wish to relate my experiences with Roland and the Moc convention. I
attended Moc for many years, both as a representative (and art director )
for Ral Partha and a freelance illustrator.
To put things in perspective, I had attending Moc for 4 years. Every
year I barely broke even in the art show (most other conventions, I was
making a fairly tidy profit). As Ral Partha's art director, I repeatedly
brought the company down to Moc, ( Partha barely broke even there also) and
sponsored a large number of events, often at my own personal expense.
Some years ago, Roland decided to cancel the art show. Well, I need not
tell you that the art show is the main reason for me to got to Moc. At the
time I lived in Athens (same city as Roland ) and decided to go over to his
shop and tell him in person that I regretted that I could not make it to
Moc. I gave him my explanation in a very apologetic manner and told him
that my decision was a purely financial one. I was still a student at the
time, and I really could not afford to go to a convention if there was no
art show.
Roland EXPLODED. He told me that not only could I not go to Moc that
year, but that I was BANNED from Moc forever, and that were I to show up,
that he would have me removed by the police. Further more, I was no longer
allowed into his store and that the same police removal awaited me there.
I was, to say the least, speechless.
All my past participation meant nothing to Roland. Simply by choosing to
not personally attend one year, I went from loyal regular supporting guest
to just another someone who wants to f-ck Roland over, in Roland's eyes.
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