#vancon2011

[thesoulbound]

Since it’s exactly ten years since I went to VanCon 2011 (well specifically the day I went home again lol) I decided for once to post a munday post! It was easily the best holiday I’ve been to and Vancouver and the surrounding areas are just absolutely gorgeous. We visited many of the old sets over the week and drove around. We also found the current (at the time season 7 episode Shut up Dr Phil) and met the quest starts there). A real week to remember. The following weekend had the convention itself and man, I don’t miss all the endless queue’s but the guests and friends and hotel was just wonderful :D

I do apologize for my face!

[ehghtyseven]

[x]

[kingswinchester]

[purplewendigo]

I love the amount of posts containing SPN gifs, and general SPN posts containing more SPN gifs.

It made my day awesome. Also got me watching VanCon 2011 panel videos LOL

[kindaskimpy]

The lovebirds at their panel together (VanCon 2011)

[scyllaya]

Vancon Richard and Matt Panel Part 3

[fallen-angel189]

7 days to go!!

So here we are folks we're down to the final week before I leave the country for the first time and fly 14 hours (FUCK!) to the lovely Vancouver, Canada aka Supernatural Land. 

There I will be going to the Vancouver Supernatural Convention, Official Location Tour and in the 2 weeks leading up to that I will be seeing the sites of this far city as well as doing our own location hunt. 

We're also going to go to the Denny's they filmed at for the Bad Day At Black Rock scene where Bela steals the Rabbit's Foot (we all know the one) and sit in that iconic booth :) 

The plan is to do an ongoing tumblr blog about my trip and to post any photos of the town and my experiences on here so watch this space. 

Still so much to do this week before I go. Very excited!!

[canucknoodnik]

NDP's "left" had the wool pulled over them

A little knowledge of the rules of procedure goes a long way. This past weekend's federal New Democratic Party (NDP) convention, held in Vancouver — and known within the party as VANCON2011 — demonstrated this truism perfectly. Before I go further, I want to congratulate the federal NDP for a well run, democratic convention, something their Ontario counterparts seemingly are incapable of doing.

As usual, the NDP's attempts to "moderate" their image look farcical. Unfortunately for "leftist" delegates, the party's new president, BrianTopp, is quite adept at procedural obfuscation, and successfully changed the constitution when he referred the motion to the executive, giving them full authority to change the preamble. Since the motion to refer was passed by more than two-thirds of the delegates, it gives them the ability to make that change, legally.

My problem isn't with Mr. Topp, but rather with the delegates that perennially go to conventions or council meetings unarmed with a basic knowledge of the rules of order. By being unarmed, they are easy "pickin's" for veterans trained in procedural self-defence, such as Mr. Topp. It was obvious from the amount of boos that Pat Martin received, and — oddly in my opinion — the level of support Barry Weisleder received when he actually made a cogent defence for keeping "Socialism" in the preamble, that the motion would fail to get the necessary two-thirds majority to pass.

When the motion to refer made its way onto the table, a cunning procedural move was then set into play. The problem was that the delegates didn't understand this at the time, and yet another 'tip-of-the-hat" to Topp, he knew that a referral motion is non-debatable, so it was not possible to explain what the full implications of that motion were. Was it democratic? Yes. Did it represent the spirit of the delegates? Likely not.

But oddly, it allowed the party to remain united, because all Mr. Topp was doing was following the rules, and it's not up to him to teach people how they work. Roberts Rules are widely available for everyone to learn, being ignorant them is no defence. Party administration 1, "leftist" delegates 0. This was a cruelly timed and placed choke, because the pro forces would have lost, but just like the Vancouver Canucks, the "leftist" delegates at VANCON2011 snatched defeat from victory.