Disgusting in Brisvegas

I spent most of last week in Brisvegas attending the biennial conference of the Australian New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies. I stayed at the Riverside Apartments at Southbank but I wouldn't recommend it. It's the most reasonably priced of most of the accommodation in Southbank but the bathroom was shite. This was the first time I've ever gone back to reception and asked if there was a better room (I'm happy to pay the extra'). 'You've got the best room' came the curt reply. Just a really crummy little, very little bathroom, was my main gripe.

Anyway, the conference was really good, I even enjoyed it. Usually I loathe conferences: morning and afternoon teas and lunches I dread because I just can't chat sensibly with someone I don't know over a scone with jam and cream. In fact I'd like to run a conference with the title 'This is Not a Conference' Conference, but that's for another time. But the ANZALS mob are very friendly and I knew quite a few people there, having been involved with the organisation of one of their conferences in Newcastle in the early 90s. This time round I chaired a session, I assessed a presentation by a PhD student and I presented a paper titled 'The thrill of disgust, the attraction of repulsion: examining negative emotions in leisure and tourism experience', which was jointly written with a Newcastle colleague, Nancy Cushing, It went over quite well and seemed to strike a bit of a chord with a number of people, except I think one of the imported (and important) keynote speakers from the states who in his presentation argued strongly that leisure was only about positive emotions and indeed the study of leisure was in his words, 'the happy science'. Oh well, you can't please 'em all.