Thursday, 2 September 2010
[NOTE: The photos will be added later. For now, just the Blog.]
My apparent need for 10 hours of sleep every night really sucks. I laid down on the bed last night for just a few minutes, and now it's 7am on Thursday already, and I'm still in my clothes. Ugh. I have vague memories of getting out of bed to get under the covers, though.
So, I should at least be able to make breakfast downstairs in the hotel this morning. And I need to find out what time the convention starts today.
* * * * *
Ah! I am pleased to see that the computer is now cooperating and will allow me to transfer the photos! I may actually get stuff posted online today!
* * * * *
Wow, that took longer than I expected, but I've at least managed to post the first round of photos and the blog as well. Whew!
Opening ceremonies is the first panel if the day, which is highly unusual for the conventions I've been to. It's at 2pm. The time now is 11:45am, so I still have time for lunch & registration. I just ate a breakfast bar and had some hot tea in the room for breakfast. I'm going to run out of breakfast bars. Oh, darn, I'll just have to visit a store to buy more. ;-)
* * * * *
ID-10-T Alert: make sure you know the PIN to your ATM card before you travel! Thank god I brought them both. I don't like the fees for SunTrust, but at least I can get cash.
I bought a one-week pass for the tram. It's cheaper than 5 days of single-day passes and it's good for all over the city. And this place knows how to do travel by trams!
* * * * *
I've got my registration stuff. Nobody in my P-Z line, so it was super-quick. We have badge cords from Borders Books, and black messenger bags from Voyager. Now I have an egg salad sandwich, salt & balsamic vinegar chips, a coke, and the pocket program to peruse.
* * * * *
Well, that's annoying. Dealers Room/Art Show doesn't open until 2pm, though the program book says Noon. We aren't allowed to take photos of the interior of the convention center that shows the structure. It's a terrorist thing. It's a fantastical, interesting building. Too bad I can't show you.
Also, they've quite missed the point of the VooDoo board at this convention. There's not a list of members to put push pins in with, or paper to leave private notes, just a flip chart on an easel, and a pen to write public messages.
So, back downstairs to wait around and see who I can find, and I run into Jeanne Meally and her SO John Stanley. I gave her the two TARDIS phone charms she wanted to buy, then wound up selling the other two I had in my tote bag as well. I'll have to bring the remaining four with me tomorrow. I bet I really could have sold a couple dozen if I'd had them, especially since there are no dealers here with anything like toys.
* * * * *
At $10/ hour or $20/8 hours for WiFi Access at the convention center, I don't think I'll be sending Tweets from my iPhone. I need to figure out what number to text Tweets from on the Aussie phone. I'll do that tonight.
* * * * *
14:00 Opening Ceremonies: the wrong room number was in the program book, but there were nice people directing us to the right room.
* * * * *
Ran into Juan Sanmiguel in the Dealer's Room. Of course the first thing he asked me about was Hurricane Who. No comment. And he's got a press ribbon because he's writing for Airlock Alpha, and they put him on several panels as a program participant.
* * * * *
Ran into Cheryl Morgan in the hallway. She just started a new online magazine. I'll have to check it out when I get back to the room. Salonfutura.net.
* * * * *
15:00 Panel: Spoiler Alerts - How to review plot-driven fiction without giving away the plot. There were five panelists, none of whom could agree on how to go about writing book reviews, never mind how to not give away the plot. Still a very thought-provoking discussion. And let's not forget the hypothetical story of the boy, his goat, and the aliens who land on his planet who can only communicate with the goats!
I will say that I disagree with two of the panelists who are paid book reviewers. Both are of the mindset that they will not say anything bad about a book. One woman's solution is to refuse to write a review of anything she does not like. The other, who writes for The New York Review of Science Fiction, solves the problem by always pointing out something about the book she likes. I think this is a dishonest approach to reviewing stories. If you are reviewing a story and do not like it, you should say so, and defend your opinion without being nasty. Then, as the reader of your review, I can decide if I disagree with your review or not. Perhaps you, the reviewer, don't like space opera. That's fine. But maybe I do, and could still find the book interesting where the reviewer did not. And it could go the other way around as well.
* * * * *
I ran into both Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell in the hallway and said hello.
I keep seeing convention center employees everywhere, some sitting at tables in the hallways, so I stopped to ask why. Turns out they are stationed outside each cluster of meeting rooms to assist with any AV issues that may arise. Wow! You don't have to search high and low for them, or wait 30 minutes for someone to show up from the opposite end of the building, or return from a lunch break in order to get something working again.
I wandered through the dealer's Room. Bought a copy of Son et Lumiere from the author, Ian Nichols. He autographed it as well. I signed up for an email notification from Douglas Van Belle when his book barking Death Squirrels is available. With a title like that, you just have to check it out!
* * * * *
17:00 Panel: Things To Do In Melbourne When You Are A Geek. Bookstores, an awesome looking library, street art (a.k.a. Graffiti), coffee shops, and how many Nicolas Cage movies that weren't the Wicker Man that were filmed here while it posed as American cities (Ghost Rider, Knowing). ACDC Lane (the sign is stolen frequently), Dame Edna Lane (the sign is too high to steal).
* * * * *
No more panels today. The last ones ended at 6pm. Headed back to the hotel to dump stuff in the room before heading out to dinner, and got on a tram that doesn't stop at my hotel. Sigh. I'm convinced that the ones that stop at the convention center don't stop at my hotel. I really need to find a tram map. This one stopped outside Krispy Kreme, and since I now know it has free WiFi, I popped in for coffee and a donut, and Internet access.
* * * * *
Back in the room for a bit to do another blog post and upload some photos. They are SO slow! It's 9:25pm now, so the parties should be going well now. Off to see, and find food for dinner. I shouldn't go without dinner two nights in a row.
* * * * *
I walked the two blocks to the Crowne Plaza only to find that the "Room Parties" were being held in a lounge that amounts to a wide hallway with some sofas. The right side was supposed to be held by one group, and the left by Anticipation (the 2009 Montreal Worldcon). They had a couple of bags of chips, a few crackers, and bottles fruit punch. I chatted with a few folks, but there was no open seating, so I only stayed about 30 minutes, then left in search of dinner.
Apparently, you aren't supposed to want to eat dinner this late at night. Not even the Crowne Plaza's restaurant was still open. That left me with walking another block down the road to the Crown Casino. I had a very nice spinach and ricotta ravioli, with a glass of sparking Australian Muscato. Both were very yummy.
* * * * *
I perused Friday's program schedule while I waited on my dinner to arrive, and found there isn't much I'm excited to see before noon, but lots in the afternoon all happening at the same time. So, I should be good to join Jeanne & John in the morning to go visit a sky tower here in Melbourne. I didn't know they had one. These folks don't do a very good job of advertising places of interest around town.
* * * * *
Since I was at the casino, I gambled a bit, but lost. Then I walked back to the hotel and got ready for bed.
My apparent need for 10 hours of sleep every night really sucks. I laid down on the bed last night for just a few minutes, and now it's 7am on Thursday already, and I'm still in my clothes. Ugh. I have vague memories of getting out of bed to get under the covers, though.
So, I should at least be able to make breakfast downstairs in the hotel this morning. And I need to find out what time the convention starts today.
* * * * *
Ah! I am pleased to see that the computer is now cooperating and will allow me to transfer the photos! I may actually get stuff posted online today!
* * * * *
Wow, that took longer than I expected, but I've at least managed to post the first round of photos and the blog as well. Whew!
Opening ceremonies is the first panel if the day, which is highly unusual for the conventions I've been to. It's at 2pm. The time now is 11:45am, so I still have time for lunch & registration. I just ate a breakfast bar and had some hot tea in the room for breakfast. I'm going to run out of breakfast bars. Oh, darn, I'll just have to visit a store to buy more. ;-)
* * * * *
ID-10-T Alert: make sure you know the PIN to your ATM card before you travel! Thank god I brought them both. I don't like the fees for SunTrust, but at least I can get cash.
I bought a one-week pass for the tram. It's cheaper than 5 days of single-day passes and it's good for all over the city. And this place knows how to do travel by trams!
* * * * *
I've got my registration stuff. Nobody in my P-Z line, so it was super-quick. We have badge cords from Borders Books, and black messenger bags from Voyager. Now I have an egg salad sandwich, salt & balsamic vinegar chips, a coke, and the pocket program to peruse.
* * * * *
Well, that's annoying. Dealers Room/Art Show doesn't open until 2pm, though the program book says Noon. We aren't allowed to take photos of the interior of the convention center that shows the structure. It's a terrorist thing. It's a fantastical, interesting building. Too bad I can't show you.
Also, they've quite missed the point of the VooDoo board at this convention. There's not a list of members to put push pins in with, or paper to leave private notes, just a flip chart on an easel, and a pen to write public messages.
So, back downstairs to wait around and see who I can find, and I run into Jeanne Meally and her SO John Stanley. I gave her the two TARDIS phone charms she wanted to buy, then wound up selling the other two I had in my tote bag as well. I'll have to bring the remaining four with me tomorrow. I bet I really could have sold a couple dozen if I'd had them, especially since there are no dealers here with anything like toys.
* * * * *
At $10/ hour or $20/8 hours for WiFi Access at the convention center, I don't think I'll be sending Tweets from my iPhone. I need to figure out what number to text Tweets from on the Aussie phone. I'll do that tonight.
* * * * *
14:00 Opening Ceremonies: the wrong room number was in the program book, but there were nice people directing us to the right room.
* * * * *
Ran into Juan Sanmiguel in the Dealer's Room. Of course the first thing he asked me about was Hurricane Who. No comment. And he's got a press ribbon because he's writing for Airlock Alpha, and they put him on several panels as a program participant.
* * * * *
Ran into Cheryl Morgan in the hallway. She just started a new online magazine. I'll have to check it out when I get back to the room. Salonfutura.net.
* * * * *
15:00 Panel: Spoiler Alerts - How to review plot-driven fiction without giving away the plot. There were five panelists, none of whom could agree on how to go about writing book reviews, never mind how to not give away the plot. Still a very thought-provoking discussion. And let's not forget the hypothetical story of the boy, his goat, and the aliens who land on his planet who can only communicate with the goats!
I will say that I disagree with two of the panelists who are paid book reviewers. Both are of the mindset that they will not say anything bad about a book. One woman's solution is to refuse to write a review of anything she does not like. The other, who writes for The New York Review of Science Fiction, solves the problem by always pointing out something about the book she likes. I think this is a dishonest approach to reviewing stories. If you are reviewing a story and do not like it, you should say so, and defend your opinion without being nasty. Then, as the reader of your review, I can decide if I disagree with your review or not. Perhaps you, the reviewer, don't like space opera. That's fine. But maybe I do, and could still find the book interesting where the reviewer did not. And it could go the other way around as well.
* * * * *
I ran into both Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell in the hallway and said hello.
I keep seeing convention center employees everywhere, some sitting at tables in the hallways, so I stopped to ask why. Turns out they are stationed outside each cluster of meeting rooms to assist with any AV issues that may arise. Wow! You don't have to search high and low for them, or wait 30 minutes for someone to show up from the opposite end of the building, or return from a lunch break in order to get something working again.
I wandered through the dealer's Room. Bought a copy of Son et Lumiere from the author, Ian Nichols. He autographed it as well. I signed up for an email notification from Douglas Van Belle when his book barking Death Squirrels is available. With a title like that, you just have to check it out!
* * * * *
17:00 Panel: Things To Do In Melbourne When You Are A Geek. Bookstores, an awesome looking library, street art (a.k.a. Graffiti), coffee shops, and how many Nicolas Cage movies that weren't the Wicker Man that were filmed here while it posed as American cities (Ghost Rider, Knowing). ACDC Lane (the sign is stolen frequently), Dame Edna Lane (the sign is too high to steal).
* * * * *
No more panels today. The last ones ended at 6pm. Headed back to the hotel to dump stuff in the room before heading out to dinner, and got on a tram that doesn't stop at my hotel. Sigh. I'm convinced that the ones that stop at the convention center don't stop at my hotel. I really need to find a tram map. This one stopped outside Krispy Kreme, and since I now know it has free WiFi, I popped in for coffee and a donut, and Internet access.
* * * * *
Back in the room for a bit to do another blog post and upload some photos. They are SO slow! It's 9:25pm now, so the parties should be going well now. Off to see, and find food for dinner. I shouldn't go without dinner two nights in a row.
* * * * *
I walked the two blocks to the Crowne Plaza only to find that the "Room Parties" were being held in a lounge that amounts to a wide hallway with some sofas. The right side was supposed to be held by one group, and the left by Anticipation (the 2009 Montreal Worldcon). They had a couple of bags of chips, a few crackers, and bottles fruit punch. I chatted with a few folks, but there was no open seating, so I only stayed about 30 minutes, then left in search of dinner.
Apparently, you aren't supposed to want to eat dinner this late at night. Not even the Crowne Plaza's restaurant was still open. That left me with walking another block down the road to the Crown Casino. I had a very nice spinach and ricotta ravioli, with a glass of sparking Australian Muscato. Both were very yummy.
* * * * *
I perused Friday's program schedule while I waited on my dinner to arrive, and found there isn't much I'm excited to see before noon, but lots in the afternoon all happening at the same time. So, I should be good to join Jeanne & John in the morning to go visit a sky tower here in Melbourne. I didn't know they had one. These folks don't do a very good job of advertising places of interest around town.
* * * * *
Since I was at the casino, I gambled a bit, but lost. Then I walked back to the hotel and got ready for bed.
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