... Went to Musecon

Musecon was my first convention ever.  It was held at the Westin in Itasca. 

A rather impressive structure.

As far as I can understand this particular convention is basically a group of people that either pay themselves or pay to (depending on a terribly loose system of judging who has the most knowledge...) hang out with each other.  I say that the system is terribly loose because in almost all of the panels we went to at least one "audience" member (all part of the musecon club) knew more in at least some area than the presenter.  I would have probably enjoyed more of this convention if I (or Ryan) hadn't take college level courses in almost every subject that was being presented by (self-proclaimed) aspiring amateurs.  It was  still a good time, though.  I wish we had been more outgoing. 

There wasn't a lot of good photo ops.  So here are a few from Friday night:

Look!  A funny picture!

Hard to get a picture of Tesla coils in action.

 Have video!

We didn't go at all on Saturday (Ryan didn't feel well and I wasn't super set on most of the panels, though I am a bit sad that we missed Cooking Like an Anarchist... not that I need permission to break the rules in the kitchen.)

On Sunday we watched a guy do some science and I got to see this little contraption:

Do not be afraid.  It is not a torture device.

This can be used to put an electric shock into a insulator which when dusted with powder will show you path the electricity took across the plastic.  Very cool.  May turn up in a library program so stay tuned.

Of the panels we attended on Sunday, the most beneficial to us was probably the one on studio lighting in photography.  Ryan got to play with some light boxes and take pictures of a strange woman.

Look at the awesome shadows!

 They same principals applied in our living room.  Only with the sun instead of subtle studio lights.

It's burning my retinas THROUGH my eyelids 

Dramatic dog doesn't need dramatic lighting.

Fun Fact: I realized that when I try to smile casually in a picture, I totally look like I'm being sly.  Like perhaps just out of frame I am holding something dangerous or inappropriate... 

It's a dildo...
kidding.