EschaCon08

Getcher Signed Books Here!

2008-03-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

He drives the Right right over the edge! Now, you can save 10% on autographed copies of books by political cartoonist -- and EschaCon'08 Comedy & Political Critique panelist -- Ted Rall.

Just click here and scroll down to "Philadephia Book Offer" or click on the links below to save 10% on autographed copies of any of the following Rall books.

America Gone Wild!

2006 · paperback · 168 pages
EschaCon’08 Price: $11.65 plus $5 shipping

Rall's most controversial cartoons assembled for the first time in a single collection. Rall, who views his strips as a vehicle for driving social change, applies his outrageous sense of humor to volatile topics from 9/11 and the Iraq war to social issues such as unemployment, the environment, and religion. Order here.

Wake Up! You're Liberal

2004 · 336 pages · paperback
EschaCon’08 price: $14.35 plus $5 shipping

Declaring that the last "real" Democrat in the White House was Lyndon Johnson, Rall decries the hijacking of the government by right-wingers and the seeming powerlessness of the left to stop them. Fearing his trademark no-holds-barred invective, Rall tells liberal Americans how to organize a vibrant, relevant alternative to rightist rule and make life better for vast numbers of people in the process. Order here.

Generalissimo El Busho: Essays & Cartoons on the Bush Years

2004 · 208 pages · paperback

EschaCon’08 price: $12.55 plus $5 shipping

From the New York Times Book Review: “The best part of Generalissimo is its earliest material, centered on the 2000 election. Rall, unlike practically everyone else, allowed the president no honeymoon. He labeled the election stolen early and often. The resolution of the whole mess was far too casual for his taste; there was, he felt, too much at stake. Given all that has happened since, it appears he was right.” Read the whole review here. Order here.

Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists

2006 · paperback · 128 pages
Eschacon’08 price: $12.55 plus $5 shipping
Cartoons by, interviews with and personal ephemera of, among others Rob Balder ("Partially Clips" 2), Matt Bors ("Idiot Box" 4), Steven L. Cloud ("Boy on a Stick and Slither"), M.e. Cohen ("HumorInk"), Brian McFadden ("Big Fat Whale"), August J. Pollak ("XQUZYPHYR" & "Overboard"), and many more. Order here.

Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?

2006 · paperback · 304 pages
Eschacon ’08 price: $14.04 plus $5 shipping
Part travelogue, part political analysis and part graphic novel, Silk Road to Ruin is a comprehensive look at the "New Middle East." Includes 200 pages of essays about everything from oil politics to the wild sport of buzkashi and 100 pages of graphic novel -- format comics about five of Rall’s trips to the region. Order here.

Final Schedule; Final Details

2008-03-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, travel arrangements and various shuffling has ensued, resulting in the following final final schedule.

FRIDAY NIGHT, MARCH 28.

Registration 5-7 (Marriott Courtyard)

Cocktail party 7-9. Lucy's Hat Shop (247 Market Street in Center City). Preregistration required, or get in good with res ipsa loquitur.

SATURDAY DAY, MARCH 29.

Marriott Courtyard
22 N. Juniper Street

8:30-8:45 Coffee

8:45-10:15 Having an Impact

Jane Hamsher (moderator)
Digby
Atrios
NTodd

10:15-10:30 Break

10:30- 12:00 Comedy and Political Critique
Thers (moderator)
watertiger
The Rude Pundit
Ted Rall
TRex

12:00-1:30 Lunchtime Panel: Creating Constitutional Accountability
Scott Horton
Bob Fertik (moderator)
Kagro X
Eric Johnson (Chief of Staff, Rep, Robert Wexler)
Elizabeth Holtzman (Watergate-era Judiciary Committee (invited))

(Box lunch provided; please contact organizers via link in sidebar
for menu choices.)

1:30-3:15 Media Bias

Susie Madrak (moderator)
Eric Boehlert
Will Bunch
Athenae
Douglas K. Smith
Spocko

3:15-3:30 Break

3:30-5:00 DFH Economics

Paul Krugman
Atrios
Echidne of the Snakes

5:00-8:00pm
Dinner on our own.

SATURDAY NIGHT, MARCH 29.

A Night of Rude Liberal Humor

Marriott Courtyard
22 N. Juniper Street
8pm-12am

Ina Iansiti
Tom Smith
The Rude Pundit
Hamell on Trial

emceed by Sinfonian. Also, raffle winners announced at event.

Tickets for nonconferees available.

SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 30.

Brunch 11:00-1:00

Marathon Grill, 16th and Sansom. Preregistration required.

And register. We can't feed you if we don't expect you. Even if you told us on the threads.

And don't forget to preorder your tees! (WF tees also available.)

Friday 'Con Kickoff

2008-03-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Folks, upon arrival at Lucy's on Friday night, please see your hostesses -- either me or the divine watertiger. We'll check you out, check you in, and give you a wristband so you can drink simelsian elitist Chardonnay to your liberal heart's content.

You'll know watertiger by the fierce kicks radiating from her gorgeous gams. And what will I be radiating? Why, a thirst for a Tanqueray and tonic, a certain je ne sais quoi, and my signature girlish insouciance, of course.

If you haven't already registered and plan to pay at the door, see me with $40 cash in hand and I'll set you up. We'll also have a coat check somewhere on the premises. Sorry, but that's gonna cost you $1.

See you Friday at 7 PM!

res

Registration Redux

2008-03-14T04:20:00.001-07:00

Well we're two short weeks away, this thing is getting cooler by the second, and we actually have some things that are at capacity.

If you'd like to register now, the cost will be $80, but that does not include the Sunday Brunch, which is at capacity.

You can still register for Friday night (we have room for about 10 more people), Saturday day (plenty of room there, and we're now providing lunch) and Saturday night (also lots of space).

Friday night, Lucy's Hat Shop, is now $40.

Saturday day panels are now $35.

Whiskeyina, Filkertom, The Rude Pundit, and Hamell on Trial are now $15.

See you in Philly!

Keep Yer Shoits On!

2008-03-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

As last time, we are accepting pre-orders for t-shirts. Here it is:

We're selling these more or less for cost ($11), and you can order them now to pick up at the Con, or we can mail them to you for $2.50 more. We have sizes ranging from Medium to XXXL, so let me know in the comment box what you'd like and I'll set it aside with your name on it. If you want a child's sized shirt, or an adult small, let me know that too. We ordered 100 of these, but we have a bit of flexibility. Any unordered shirts will be avaliable at the Con, March 28-30, 2008.

Send me a shirt to get at the Con!

Mail me one!

Got all your shirts? Then buy now!

And of course, if you prefer the other design, they are available through our own WalterNeff's CafePress store.

UPDATE: Hmmm, apparently there's no "comment box" when you use the shopping cart option. Feh. Well, tell me in comments (I won't print 'em, I swear), or email me.

Saturday Night Concert

2008-03-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

An Event of fabulous fabulousness, and open to the public (with tix, natch)!

That's our excellent WalterNeff, whose fab designs you can buy here.

The evening begins at 8pm with the lovely whiskeyina, whose musical stylings can he heard here. Then we move onto to longtime poster filkertom, a comic folkie we adore.

Then you might want to send the kids to bed, because The Rude Pundit is taking the stage for his patented blend of foul-mouthed humor and political commentary. No word on whether he's bringing the dolls. (Warning, clip NSFW.)

And the headline act is the raucously funny and charming Hamell on Trial, he of "Coulter's Snatch" fame, who will play us off to sleep. (Also, NSFW.)

Sinfonian will be MCing this delightful event, so it is clearly not to be missed. $10 for conference participants, $15 for the general public. Cash bar. Tickets are limited.

Final Schedule

2008-03-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

We have an (almost) final schedule!!!!

FRIDAY NIGHT, MARCH 28.

Registration 5-7, cocktail party 7-9.

SATURDAY DAY, MARCH 29.

8:30-8:45 Coffee

8:45-10:15 Comedy and Political Critique

Thers (moderator)
watertiger
The Rude Pundit
Tedd Rall
TRex

10:15-10:30 Break

10:30- 12:00 Having an Impact

Jane Hamsher (moderator)
Digby
John Amato
NTodd

12:00-1:30 Lunch
(Oops--stay tuned: working on special lunchtime panel on Holding the Bush Administration Accountable--but a few details to be worked out yet. You like pizza or Chinese?)

1:30-3:15 Media Bias

Susie Madrak (moderator)
Eric Boehlert
Will Bunch
Athenae
Douglas K. Smith
Spocko

3:15-3:30 Break

3:30-5:00 DFH Economics

Paul Krugman
Atrios
Echidne of the Snakes

SATURDAY NIGHT, MARCH 29.

See here.

SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 30.

Brunch 11:00-1:00

Register.

Souvenir Poster Now Available!

2008-02-23T21:38:00.001-08:00

Not really. Well, not yet, anyway.

Artwork by the handsome, talented, and charming Atriot known as Walter Neff.

Kahlo Exhibit

2008-02-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

We'll be making our own fun, but that doesn't mean there's not tons of cool stuff going on in Philly while we're there. Here's one.

Organized in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth, Frida Kahlo is the first major Kahlo exhibition in the United States in nearly fifteen years. It presents over 40 of the artist's most important self-portraits, still lifes, and portraits from the beginning of her career in 1926 until her death in 1954. Rendered in vivid colors and realistic detail, Kahlo's jewel-like paintings are filled with complex symbolism, often relating to specific incidents in her life. In her iconic self-portraits the artist continually reinvented herself. Paintings like The Two Kahlos (1939) demonstrate her penchant for self-examination, and works like Henry Ford Hospital (1932) and The Broken Column (1944) express her struggles with illness throughout her life.

The exhibition includes loans from over 30 private and institutional collections in the United States, Mexico, France, and Japan, several of which have never been on public view in the United States. Frida Kahlo also features a selection of nearly 100 photographs of Kahlo and her husband, Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, by preeminent international photographers of the period, such as Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Lola Alvarez Bravo, Gisele Freund, Tina Modotti, and Nickolas Muray. Personal snapshots of the artist with family and friends, including such cultural and political luminaries as André Breton and Leon Trotsky, are also on view. These photographs—several of which Kahlo inscribed with dedications, effaced with self-deprecating marks, or kissed, leaving a lipstick trace—pose fascinating questions about an artist who was both the consummate manufacturer of her own image and a captivating and willing photographic subject. On loan from the collection of designer and photographer Vicente Wolf, many of these photographs have never been published or exhibited. Major lenders to the exhibition also include the Museo Dolores Olmedo and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of Modern and Contemporary Mexican Art. Presenting an extraordinary combination of paintings and photographs, Frida Kahlo offers a unique perspective of one of the twentieth century's most important and revered artists.

In conjunction with this exhibition, Walker Art Center is publishing a richly illustrated catalogue featuring more than 100 color plates as well as critical essays by Hayden Herrera, Elizabeth Carpenter, and Latin American art curator and critic Victor Zamudio Taylor. A separate plate section is devoted to works from the Vicente Wolf Photography Collection. The catalogue also includes an extensive illustrated timeline of related sociopolitical world events, artistic and cultural developments, and significant personal experiences that took place during Kahlo's lifetime, as well as a selected bibliography, exhibition history, and index.

******************
The exhibit is in the Main Building, located at 26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA 19130. The Main Building is open from 10:00 am until 8:45 pm on Fridays. (It is also open from 10:00 until 5:00 on weekends).

The webpage for the Kahlo exhibit is here. Tickets for regular adults are $23.00

Hecate's going Friday evening, but others are coming in earlier of Friday and going then, or after brunch on Sunday. You can make your plans in the comments.

Silent Auction!

2008-02-12T03:50:00.001-08:00

(by V for Virginia)

ErinPDX had a wonderful idea to help us raise funds at EschaCon: A silent auction. Atriots are invited to send something (or a package of somethings) from wherever they are to be auctioned off at the Con. We can use the money to defray any expenses that are not met through registration fees, and donate any leftover funds to an appropriate cause.

This is a fun way for those who can't attend to be present in spirit, and an opportunity to showcase your area's specialties (or your own creativity).

If you'd like to contribute to this effort please send an e-mail to eschaconauction@gmail.com and we'll make arrangements for delivery of your donation.

(And if this isn't your cup of tea, don't forget: You can still click the "Donate" button and make a contribution to the Travel Fund!)

Note for Parents

2008-02-07T05:23:00.000-08:00

If there is a demand, babysitting will be available. It will cost something, (we're hiring some lovely, dependable young adults, and would like to work in a little trip here, if we think we can swing it transportationally), and might also be an option Friday and Saturday nights.

But we need to plan this, so contact the organizers if you think you might want to take advantage of it.

Fee Structure

2008-02-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

We have more or less intentionally cut the fees on this to the bone (as a comparison, I registered for a conference yesterday for which the fee was $567). But I'm worrying a bit, and so I'm making an announcement: prices will go up March 1.

After March 1: Friday night will be $40. Saturday Panels will be $35. Saturday Night will be $15. Sunday brunch will be $35. And there will be no discount for the group package.

So sign up now, ya louts!

REGISTRATION! (At Long Last...)

2008-01-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long silence, folks--you'd be amazed at how much negotiation there is to this sort of thing.

Here is our Registration Form. Copy it into an email and send here. Calculate payment and submit below. You will receive a confirmation email. I'm sorry this is so low-tech, but I really, really don't feel like we can wait any longer.

Name:

Address:

Online nym/nyms:

Email:

Which events are you interested in attending?
* Friday Night Atriot Meet-Up (7-9pm Lucy's Hat Shop, 247 Market Street) ($35) Two-hour open bar (beer, wine, and well drinks) and hors d’oeuvres in a private room. Music, mingling, and sparkling wit provided at no charge. A 1.4-mile walk from hotel, $5 cab ride, and a straight shot on the subway.
* Saturday Panel Events (8:30-5:00, Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown 21 N Juniper Street) ($30) on blogging and its discontents. Featuring Atrios, Jane Hamsher, Digby, John Amato, and many other brilliant, blogalicious babes and smartass sweaty lunks.
* Saturday Night Concert/Party (9pm -12am, Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown 21 N Juniper Street) ($10) We take over a ballroom and host an evening of music and laughs, featuring Ina Iansiti (whiskeygirl), Tom Smith (filkertom), and the Rude Pundit, plus special guests! Cash bar.
* Sunday Brunch ($32) Marathon Grill, 16th and Sansom.
* Whole Package ($87) Sign up for all the love and save twenty bucks!

(And no, I don't know where the extra spaces are coming from. But the buttons seem to work.)

Smokin'!

2007-12-31T07:33:00.001-08:00

So we always overlook something: it's a rule of life. This time, the oversight was that the Marriott has gone nonsmoking since we last were there.

But our own adorable Uncle Smokes has done some research and found a spot not too far away with smoking rooms.

Travelodge Philadelphia Convention Center
1227 Race Street
Off Hwy 676
Philadelphia, PA, US 19107
Phone number: 215-564-2888

It's a little cheaper, too: $135 for a queen room.

So smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

Secret Passwords and the Like

2007-12-21T08:33:00.001-08:00

Hello, Moonbats!

'Tis the Season, and I'm busy decking the halls with my own version of holly, so this post will be short and sweet. You may now make your reservations for EschaCon '08 on-line. Just go here, and under the "Check Rates and Availability" box on the right side of the screen, enter your arrival and departure dates (March 28 - 31 or any combination of those dates) and the number of rooms you'll need.

Special Group rate for this event is: $ 159.00 for both single and double rooms.

Next, under "Optional Information," in the dialogue box for "Group Codes," type in this code: ESCESCB. The special rate will be applied for our block of rooms. If you're phoning to make your room reservation, make sure you tell them you're with EschaCon 08.

Here's some miscellaneous hotel information, for your records:

Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown
21 N Juniper Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107 USA
Phone: 1-215-496-3200
Fax: 1-215-496-3696

Hotel Highlights:

The hotel is non-smoking
Near Philadelphia Convention Center, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Kimmel Center, art & museums
State-of-art Fitness Center & Swimming Pool
2 Restaurants, Lounge & Courtyard hotel Room Service

Trust this information is good to go. So go ahead, start reserving those rooms, and plan on an excellent time at the end of March, 2008!

Peace on Earth.

~Vicki, Who ♥ Al Gore (And I mean that, Al, I'd love to see you as president)

EschaCon Travel Fund

2007-12-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

Look, we wouldn't be here if we weren't proud liberals. That means we donate all our money to sick puppies and quixotic campaigns. A surprisingly small number of us are hedge fund managers--though I guess that gig isn't quite the ride it used to be.

In order to allow those who may otherwise lack the means to attend EschaCon, we are establishing the EschaCon Travel Fund. Last time, we raised enough money to bring several people who might otherwise have had to miss, and we're hoping to do so again.

Should we (improbably) raise more money than we need, we will donate any remainder to a political candidate determined by an on-site poll.

So be a mensch--toss some sugar to the gang.

The Eagle Has Landed!

2007-12-14T05:29:00.001-08:00

As with our speakers, hotel arrangements have been proceeding apace (with a big hug and kiss to Vicki, who did the bulk of the work).

After doing ample due diligence (as in: months of trying) we ended up at the same place we were last time: not bad, since we know the room and the neighborhood, and got a pretty good deal, considering we're DFHs.

And so, here is the hotel information.

Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown
21 N Juniper Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19107
(215)496-3200

Reservations can be made directly with Marriott reservations at 1(800)321-2211 or 1(215)496-3200.

Our rate is $159.00 a night, and we have reserved 50 rooms for Friday, 50 for Saturday, and 10 for Sunday. (Good news: this is a LOT LESS than we thought we were looking at. Whew!)

Reservations should be made sooner rather than later, but the deadline for the group rate is Wednesday March 5, 2008.

Plans!

2007-11-26T18:04:00.001-08:00

Okay, some news for all you fine Atriots.

The humor panel is shaping up: Moderated by Thers, with watertiger, TRex, Gavin from Sadly, No! (or possibly one of his cobloggers), and maybe Attaturk and TBogg (depends on meatspace work schedule). Other invited but not confirmed panelists include Ted Rall and Tom Tomorrow.

The blogging as journalism panel is pretty set as well: moderated by Susie Madrak, and featuring Jane Hamsher, our own Athenae, and possibly Will Bunch.

The economics panel has Atrios, Echidne, and, quite possibly, the most Conscientious Liberal of them All, Paul F-ing Krugman! (waiting to hear back on that).

Digby, I figure, is a plenary speaker. Here's why. (Who's that sweaty lunk with the appalling posture? I'm telling his seventh-grade gym teacher!)

And soon I'll have news on a fabulous concert event of fabulous fabulousness!

Moneys & Such

2007-10-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, dudes, here we go. The program is so close I can taste it--still waiting to hear from a few souls, but it's already good and only likely to get better.

But.

Inflation has hit Freedom City, and we're looking at hotels being somewhat more expensive than last time. We'll do everything we can to set up travel pooling and roommates and such, but we did want to get this on your radar. (And if you want roommates with benefits, well, you can sort that out yourselves.)

Also, we're working on a fabulous entertainment event which should trim some of our expenses--news to come.

And I'm starting to move into the registration and money part of the program--we're going to revive the Poor Atriots Fund which was such a godsend last time, and try to figure out how much all this is going to run us. But we'll keep you posted.

More News

2007-10-01T03:26:00.000-07:00

Digby's in. WooHoo!

All Work & No Play ...

2007-09-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

So you know there will be paneling at EschaCon '08, but there will also be a social component, specifically a Friday (March 28th) Drink Thing and a Saturday (March 29th) Dinner Thing.

I'll be scouting potential drinking and dining locales in City of Brotherly Love. In the interim, I'd love to hear any suggestions that you may have for specific spots I should check out. Post 'em in comments and when the time comes, I'll drop by and see if these establishments would be interested in hosting a meeting of The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy.

Another Invite Goes Out

2007-09-19T04:22:00.000-07:00

This time to new blogger Paul Krugman. (crosses fingers)

His bio reads:

Paul Krugman joined The New York Times in 1999 as a columnist on the Op-Ed Page and continues as professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Mr. Krugman received his B.A. from Yale University in 1974 and his Ph.D. from MIT in 1977. He has taught at Yale, MIT and Stanford. At MIT he became the Ford International Professor of Economics.

Mr. Krugman is the author or editor of 20 books and more than 200 papers in professional journals and edited volumes. His professional reputation rests largely on work in international trade and finance; he is one of the founders of the "new trade theory," a major rethinking of the theory of international trade. In recognition of that work, in 1991 the American Economic Association awarded him its John Bates Clark medal, a prize given every two years to "that economist under forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic knowledge." Mr. Krugman's current academic research is focused on economic and currency crises.

At the same time, Mr. Krugman has written extensively for a broader public audience. Some of his recent articles on economic issues, originally published in Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, Scientific American and other journals, are reprinted in Pop Internationalism and The Accidental Theorist.

And if that's not enough, he's also one of the few economists discussing the effects of income inequality in the US.

Taking Shape: Susie Madrak

2007-09-09T12:08:00.001-07:00

I've asked Susie Madrak to chair a panel, and she has agreed. If you don't know Susie, she's the brilliant and delightful woman behind Suburban Guerrilla, one of th bright lights of the Philly blogosphere. She and i are still playing phone tag about what exactly her topic will be, but you can rest assured it will be something good. Click around her site to see what her interests are (and one of them is music, so you know I love that).

Susie's interests, like Atrios's, tend to circle around the media, so I expect that that's more or less what we'll be organizing.

I wanted to get back to this, since I think there are a couple of different ideas on the table here re: the media. QL justly pointed out that YKos took some heat for perceived kowtowing to the media, and that's not quite what we do. But Eschaton (the site) started as a critique of the media, and I think leaving them out would be short-sighted. Besides, I'm interested in what the media has to say about bloggers--Will Bunch, who also commented on that thread, is a good example of someone who spans the divide.

I'm not talking here about comping Joe Klein to come and abuse us (though I would love to let simels harangue him in person), but I'd be curious to hear the stories of progressive media people and how they see the shape of their profession. But David Corn? Paul Krugman? Barbara Ehrenreich? Why not?

Prior A's comment has more to do with media coverage of what we're doing, which we obviously can't control. The DFH meme will undoubtedly be as tenacious for them as the Hillary-Ballbuster meme: too much depends upon its continued health to let it rest.

UPDATE: Spocko swung by Eschaton and said he'd be interested in presenting. Few know more about doing battle with the right-wing talk-radio machine than Spocko, whose crusade against KSFO in San Francisco has had real, concrete results (to the tune of about a half million in ad revenues for shit-spewers like Melanie Morgan). I hope he can come!

Planning Begins!

2007-08-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

I know it's traditional to wait for Labor Day for dark shoes and new product, but hey, I'm a college professor, and we start early.

We have a date (March 28-29, 2008), and we have a city (Philadelphia).

So.... we want to keep this low-key, more social than political (we're not the Kossacks, who are lovely folks but have a different vibe than we do: the Student Council kids versus the Freaks and Geeks). But we did pick the date partly because it's just before the PA primary, and we might be able to get some "names." Question is: what names do we want?

Answer in comments.

Inviting the media to EschaCon 2008

2007-08-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

This may not be such a hot idea. One of the major criticisms I read about the KosCon was the attempt to integrate the msm in with the bloggers. Here's one from TeddySanFran over at fdl.

Besides, if we did get some hot shot media people to come, it may be a bit intimidating. Just a thought.

Welcome!

2007-08-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

We're starting to organize EschaCon 08, tentatively to be held in the city of brotherly love on March 29-30, 2008, a scant 3 weeks before the Pennsylvania primary. We're looking for logistical and content details here: Speaker recommendations, restaurant recommendations, anything else you can think of. Jump on it; the water's fine!