I'd totally forgotten to call the hotel and check about the group AND AAA rates. Doh! rachel_edidin's post reminded me, so I finally did it and they said the two rate discounts don't stack and that the group rate would be the better deal anyway.

Did we ever finalize a decision on who's putting the payment in for the tekanjioliemoonseayacostumegoddess_ room?

Betty, Miles, and I are still looking for a fourth roommate...anyone know of someone trustworthy and okay with co-ed living space looking for a roomshare?

There are at least two Iris peeps who are looking to shack up with us (one of whom y'all should know: costumegoddess). I know that there was some talk of a G-W suite as well.

Since this is where we organized last year, I'm thinking it might not be a bad place to organize from this year, even if we end up having too many people to get a suite and end up going with multiple rooms.

Thoughts?

We should figure out when/where to meet up and how to get in touch once we arrive...

My flight comes in at 4:21 PM on Thursday, and I should be at the hotel sometime between 5:00 and 5:30. I don't have any recent photos, but I have buzzed hair with bright purple bangs, and I'll wear my extremely green CBLDF t-shirt.

My cell phone number is 503-545-8089.

I got wigs! I'm not going to post pictures, because I want to leave them neatly packed in their boxes 'til WisCon, but suffice to say, they are damn nice. And they cost not too terribly much, which is nice, as is the fact that I got them locally and so didn't have to pay for shipping.

Andrea, I have a potential wig for you, but here's the deal: I didn't know your price range, so I wasn't sure what to look for. HOWEVER, I was there with my friend Katie, who fell madly in love with and decided to purchase an extremely Huntress-appropriate wig, which she says that you are welcome to borrow for WisCon. I went ahead and got a wig cap for you, and I can vouch for Katie's hygiene, but if the idea of wearing a borrowed wig sketches you out, I'd be happy to look for a different one--just let me know your price-range.

TWENTY-FOUR DAYS TO GO!

Yay! Mine's finally all fixed. And insanely busy!

Sarcasm and Superheroics: Feminism in the Mainstream Comics Industry.
Saturday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.
2006 has been declared the year of Women in Comics. Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" was one of Time's 10 Best Books, best-selling authors Jodi Picoult and Tamora Pierce were signed up to write for DC and Marvel, and DC announced a new "Minx" line for girls. However, 2006 was also a year of increased feminist activism in mainstream comics. New websites When Fangirls Attack and Girl-Wonder.org collected and encouraged feminist debate on issues of diversity and sexism in comics, and there seemed to be plenty to talk about. Moreover, the Occasional Superheroine confessional memoir recounted a disturbing tale of abuse and misogyny within the superhero industry that was reflected onto the pages of its comics. What has improved in the comics industry? What is yet to be done? What challenges are posed by the industry's peculiar institutional structure? How can women break into the comics mainstream? How can we critique it? And what comics *can* you buy for your kids?
M: Lori A. Selke, Jenni Lauren Moody, Catherine Lundoff, Karen Elizabeth Healey, Charlie Anders, Rachel Edidin

The X-Women
Sunday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. Sunday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. Sunday, 1:00-2:15 p.m.
The X-Men comics are well-loved and have a disproportionately high number of female fans (and strong female characters). X-Men: The Final Stand was nonetheless widely interpreted as quite sexist (out of control sexual women must be destroyed for the good of the world, etc.). Did the problems originate in the adaption to film, or the source material, i.e. the comics themselves? What attracts women to the X-Men story no matter what format it's told in?
Jenni Moody, Karen Elizabeth Healey, M: Rachel Sharon Edidin, Jennifer Dunne, Charlie Anders

Fun Home
Sunday, 4:00-5:15 p.m. Sunday, 4:00-5:15 p.m. Sunday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.
Time magazine named Alison Bechdel's graphic novel "Fun Home" as its top book of the year, and it spent a good chunk of 2006 on the NYT best-seller list. Bechdel is an artist/writer best known for her syndicated comic strip "Dykes To Watch Out For". It's pretty rare for (a) autobiography, (b) lesbianism, or (c) a graphic novel to be at the top of ANY critical list of best books of the year; hitting the trifecta is unprecedented. Which of these 3 aspects is most surprising? Does this bode well for the future?
Vicki Rosenzweig, JJ Pionke, Jenni Moody, Janet Lafler, M: Rachel Sharon Edidin

"Wait and See What I Become": Gender and Performativity in James Robinson's Starman/The Woman's Superpower: Ghosts, Empaths, and Psychics in Contemporary American Prime-Time Television (Academic Papers)
Monday, 10:00-11:15 a.m. Monday, 10:00-11:15 a.m. Monday, 10:00-11:15 a.m. in Conference Room 3

I am shopping for WisCon costume wigs for Karen and me, which is turning out much more difficult than I had anticipated: those things are expensive, and many of them are also horrid. Most of the wig design industry seems to have ground to a halt sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. Fortunately, Karen's Canary wig is in a style that everyone stocks (with some variations, anyway), but finding something Zinda-appropriate for myself is proving difficult.

I'm leaning toward this one, simply because it looks about right and it's from the same place that has one of the nicest-looking Canary-style wigs, which'll help cut shipping. $40 each seems awfully spendy, though.

Does anyone have good advice about where to find good, cheap costume wigs this time of year?

At long last, I've found a pattern that I'm pretty sure I can use to make my Zinda jacket: http://www.burdamode.com/8022_Coat_Jacket,1000003-1275114-1128998-1003469-1392338-1392340,enEN.html .

Now, the question is whether my sewing skills are up to par and whether I can find a buttonhole foot for my sewing machine in time...

So, I'm in the throes of hacking out the basic content of my paper (I know--waaaay behind), and I'm trying to figure out a)how much background on comics theory--specifically idealism vs. deconstruction in the superhero genre--I should give to make Starman's context make sense, and b)just how academic I want to get. The more Butler I read, the more theory-driven I'm wanting to make this puppy, but I'm wondering if that's going to fly with the audience at WisCon: If I start going off on patriarchal clan-based marital exonomy and poststructuralist feminism and Lévi-Strauss and Irigaray, am I gonna lose 99% of the people there? Should I stick with more concrete material, and just pull the theory in to back up points?

And how much do the people at WisCon know/care about comics, anyway?

*panic*