
It pays to read the paper during lunch.
As it happened, I was looking through the Daily Record (our local paper) yesterday and noticed a small pic on the front cover of the Beatles. Of course, anything Beatles is interesting in my book (most of you know my insane love of them already), so I read the article. I hadn't known this, but The Fest for Beatles Fans (aka Beatlefest--one of the best-known U.S. Beatle cons) was this weekend in Secaucus, a mere twenty-something miles away from me. Hell, it was a $37 dollar cover charge, but it was well worth it. I only stayed for about eight hours, but it was a BLAST! Lots of interesting Beatle stuff, from original pictures, artwork and memorabilia (I was in the same room as a lock of framed, authenticated BEATLE HAIR! :p ), and a small handful of famous people such as Mark Lewisohn (author of two of the best Beatles books ever written), Neil Innes (friend of George and one-time Rutle), and Billy Preston (the only non-Beatle to get equal credit on a Beatle record!).
And of course there was the Dealer's Room...lots of interesting and EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE rarities as well as affordable stuff like books, tee shirts, and an insane amount of tchotchkes. So you can just picture me there:
Me: (finds a copy of the infamous "butcher cover" of Yesterday...and Today) Oooooh! Shiny!
Dealer: Interested in buying that?
Me: (looks at price) (winces) No...heh...just wanted to be able to say that I had one in my hands.
Dealer: Would you like to look at the $3000 cover?
Me: (sweating)...uhh...no...
Suffice it to say, I did spend a good amount of money there--probably more than I should have, but at least I got something neat to give to Emm when she comes back. :D
All in all, even though I was there for just under eight hours, I saw a lot of neat things, drooled over a lot of things I couldn't buy, and a splendid time was indeed had by me. :)