AussieCon 4, Day 2

Friday, 3 September 2010

[NOTE: The photos will be added later. For now, just the Blog.]
I still say mornings come at the wrong time. At least I managed about 8 hours sleep, so it wasn't 100% impossible for me to wake up when the alarm went off. Now I have to get ready to meet Jeanne Meally & John Stanley downstairs. I'm not sure where we are going, but they said they know.

* * * * *

Off we go from our hotel on foot. It seems that where we are headed is not on a tram line. I've already walked my right knee into non-stop aching, but why should I let that stop me? I'll just hobble a lot and take loads of ibuprofen.

We head away from the hotel, in the opposite direction I've been so far, and walk along the Yarra River for a few blocks, past an enormous bird cage, and then cross the river just behind the enormous Crown Casino. Now I know where I am at least. We continue walking away from the casino toward some really tall buildings, headed for the one on the left of the clump we are near. I love all the buildings in this city! They are all so different from each other, and different textures. We wind up in front of the building that says "Eureka SkyDeck" outside, and head in. Jeanne brought a coupon, so we got in for $16.50 instead of $19.50, then boarded a swift lift to the 88th floor (the building is 93 floors).

This is a wonderfully shaped building for viewing the city. There are all kinds of sections that jut out, giving you the illusion that you are hanging out in space, because you are standing in a corner, yet you can still see the building next to you.

I walked all around the building twice, taking photos and looking at the huge city. There were sets of running letter signs displaying Melbourne trivia. Turns out that Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia. The most common name in the phone book is Smith. The second-most common name is Nguyen.

The only downside was the noisy school children running everywhere.

* * * * *

Back down to ground level. Jeanne needs to get to the convention center in time for a photo with the ANZAPA folks. I parted ways with them when we passed McDonald's so I could get lunch since I skipped breakfast this morning.

The McDonald's was quite interesting. There is no inside seating, it's all outside. And the restaurant is open to the outside as well. Interesting. I got the same thing I usually do, a quarter pounder with cheese. They have good beef here. Yum!

I also partook of the free WiFi, sending a couple of Tweets and reading Facebook updates. Then I headed back to my hotel to grab my badge and the baby afghan. I didn't feel like carrying them all morning while we were out walking. On the way back I stopped at a Gelatto bar for a small chocolate fudge. Yummy!

Back in the room. I sent out the emails and Tweets for the latest blog and photos I posted last night. Yahoo! Was being stubborn last night and not letting me send email.

Time to head to the convention center to make one of the 1:00pm panels I want to see.

* * * * *

13:00 Panel: I Could Do That Better! A team of panelists lead an attempt to generate the better blockbuster.

* * * * *

14:00 only one panel, Shaun Tan's Guest of Honor speech. I opted for walking about and chatting up other fans. Had a nice discussion with a couple of Aussie fans. We talked about all kinds of stuff from science fiction to politics to how kids are raised today. I know it sounds a lot for a 15-20 minute conversation, but it was quite fun. Also, I saw Norway from the Penguin Parade tour (I never did catch his name), making 5 of the 18 on the tour here for Worldcon!

Then I wandered into the Kaffeeklatsch room and found the bid tables, voting, the daily zine and the program update listings, and tables for fans to just sit, rest, and chat.

I sold two more of the TARDIS phone charms, so now have only 2 more left to sell. I also got 3 more ribbons for my badge: Chicago in 2012, I want the keys to a shiny new Australia!, and Bajan Rum Drinkers Down Under.

* * * * *

15:00 Panel: Writing Flash Fiction, which is defined as story of only a few hundred words. The panelists are Shane Jiralya Cummings, Jeff Harris, Martin Livings, Sarah Parker, and Amanda Pillar. Interesting discussion of the pros and cons of telling stories in this method. If you want to write, but aren't long-winded, this may be the format for you. Consensus among the panelists was that this format is best suited to horror, simply because you rarely have to do the world building required in fantasy and science fiction.

I did notice a trend in their discussion, which I also noticed yesterday in a panel, which is that people keep dismissing a stories simply because they've read something like it a hundred times. This is a disservice to new readers, whether they are new to a genre, or simply new to reading fiction, because they haven't read a hundred stories just like it. At least not yet. The "old and jaded" readers and reviewers need to remember that their personal experience is just that: their personal experience. Other people will have a different experience, and will have read different things.

* * * * *

16:00 Panel: Creating Believable Space Travel. The panelists are Greg Benford, Ian Nichols, Gerald David Nordley, Amanda Pillar, and Jeff Harris. Despite the fact that four of the five panelists are physicists, they missed the point. Or I did. I thought it was supposed to be about creating believable space travel for fiction, and they're discussing creating it for reality. None of them agree on how to do it, or why anyone would want to travel in space.

Google: Hand Wavium.

* * * * *

17:00 E. T. Has A Chainsaw - When Science Fiction and Horror Collide. The panelists are Christian Sauve, Bob Eggleton, and Foz Meadows. Strange panel where they mostly discussed horror movies they liked, and why. Very little audience participation allowed. I did learn that Bob Eggleton did some art work for the movie Sphere.

* * * * *

Again, the last panel of the day was at 5:00 pm. The only thing on the program for tonight is the Australia Awards. Not sure what that's about. The parties don't start until 9:00pm, so I headed down near registration to find Jeanne. She said a friend of hers wants one of the "My Ribbon Is Better Than Yours" ribbons.

I found Jeanne, met her friend Alan, and signed a card for Dan, who is in the Stipple APA, and lives in New Zealand, but couldn't attend Worldcon. Jeanne and Alan invited me to join them in a trek to Richmond to see the Art Deco ceiling in Alan's apartment, then go out to dinner.

So, off we go to catch the number 70 tram. But tonight is one of the Footy Finals (Australian football), so there are a LOT of people getting on all the trains. Finally, a number 70 arrives, Alan and Jeanne make it on, but there's no room for me. Jeanne makes it back off, and we wave at Alan from the platform as the train departs. No worries, I know what stop to get off, so Jeanne and I will take the next train and meet Alan there. After a few minutes, a number 70 arrives from the opposite direction, and there's Alan, coming back to meet us.

Finally we were able to get onto the next tram. We've just passed the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), where most of the people got off.

* * * * *

We wound up visiting Alan's house in Richmond for a bit, and took photos of the very interesting art deco ceiling in the living room. He said when he moved in it was all white, and he painted it to make it stand out. Next we had dinner at a very nice Indian restaurant there in Richmond, and then caught the tram back to the CBD (Central Business District). Alan had to go back to his house for something else, so Jeanne and I made the return journey without him.

It had started raining again when we were eating dinner, but just the drizzing kind that still gets you wet if you are out in it long enough. Jeanne and I went to the 7-11 to buy laundry detergent. I have got to do laundry tonight, or I'll be wearing my Darth Stewie pajama bottoms as pants tomorrow. I just hope the detergent I got doesn't have too much smell to it, or I'll have to wash everything a second time with no soap to get the soap smell out.

Jeanne went back to the hotel to do her laundry, and went the other way to the Crowne Plaza to hit the parties. This time, there were four. 2 upstairs in the Corporate Lounge (UK, Ireland, and Continuum 7 on the left, and Texas in 2013 and New Zealand in 2020 on the right), and two downstairs (CSFG (Canberra Science Fiction Group) on the left, and Chicago in 2012 on the Right).

I hit the upstairs parties first, in the Corporate Lounge (glorified large hallway with some seating), where I learned WHY we are partying in the hall instead of in the hotel rooms. Apparently the Crowne Plaza decided that 1) nobody is allowed in a hotel room unless they are paid guests of the hotel; and 2) there can be no more than 3 people in a hotel room at a time. Right. I'm sure there's more than that just STAYING in some of the rooms. After all, the average price at this hotel is $250 per night! And it was supposed to be the party hotel. So now the party-throwers are having to join forces and share spaces. And boy, were those spaces crowded tonight. I had great fun chatting with all kinds of local fans, and giving out more ribbons. I traded someone for one from the MSFC (Melbourne Science Fiction Club). Oh, and I presupported the New Zealand bid for 2020. Even if it doesn't last, you have to admire their guts for starting their bid early! Eventually I made my way downstairs to the Chicago and CSFG parties, and chatted with more fans.

Eventually around midnight I decided that if I didn't go back to the hotel and do laundry, I'd never be able to stay awake long enough to get it done at all, and I headed back to the Penzione for the night. At least the rain had let up, and it was barely raining at all.