EasterCon
So I'm back from EasterCon (the main UK sci-fi/fantasy convention) and boy am I knackered.
I went to a variety of talks and panels ranging from the "Ethics of AI" to "You got Robot Elf Sex in my SF". I could possibly list them all, but I think that sounds like too much like hard work. I also did a chocolate tasting workshop and one which I feel was more aimed at kids (but not advertised at all as such) where we got to make a robot to take part in a sort of robot Olympics. Unfortunately my attempts were thwarted by someone dismantling my robot and re-using the bits. Which is mostly my fault because due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn't attend the workshop and the events on the same day (they had 3 days of workshops and events) and I'd left the robot with the hope of entering it in the following day. I should have just taken it with me or something.
I did my first Kaffeeklatch with Tricia Sullivan. A kaffeeklatch is coffee and biscuits with someone famous and you just sit around, chat and ask questions etc. To be honest I found it kinda overwhelming as the topic of conversation went quite intellectual, but I did manage to get one comment in towards the end. Not sure how much of it was a constructive one or flamebait though. We were discussing how it was bad for authors to go back and tinker with their works once they were published and I gave George Lucas as a prime example of that.
I did a lot of dancing too. There were two discos, one themed on Superheros and a second themed on Robots. I had initially thought about going ot the first as the mild mannered alterego of a superhero and the second wrapped in tin foil as "generic robot". But I was suddenly inspired by the occasional nickname I've been given - The Dancinator - and realised I could (not that anyone bothered asking) go as a T800 in full infiltration mode to the first. Terminators aren't superheroes, but they are superhumanly strong and practically indestructible and certainly in the 2nd and 3rd films, are very heroic even if it's cos that's how they've been programmed. For the second disco, I decided upon going as a battle damaged Terminator, initially by the liberal application of face/body paint but in the end I fashioned some tin foil so that it'd poke out of my sleeve whilst I had my arm hidden behind my back.
The food was a bit naff or hugely expensive so I ended up eating McDonalds far more than I should have. Which was a good thing cos it meant I had more money for buying shines. Something I did possibly go a little overboard with. I do have a lot more books now - some of which aren't even in print.
I think the best out of everything, was getting to talk to a lot of my favourite authors. I had a good long chat at the end of the first disco with Jaine Fenn without reverting to shy nervous fanboy mode for example. But I still have a long way to go to overcome that issue - possibly it's when there is signing stuff involved that it happens the worst? Although I did manage to keep my cool somewhat when Cory Doctorow came up to me to sign the auction item I'd won that he'd donated.
Didn't take much in the way of photos; there's just 2 really. One of me sitting in the throne from Game of Thrones and one of me with my severed arm
I went to a variety of talks and panels ranging from the "Ethics of AI" to "You got Robot Elf Sex in my SF". I could possibly list them all, but I think that sounds like too much like hard work. I also did a chocolate tasting workshop and one which I feel was more aimed at kids (but not advertised at all as such) where we got to make a robot to take part in a sort of robot Olympics. Unfortunately my attempts were thwarted by someone dismantling my robot and re-using the bits. Which is mostly my fault because due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn't attend the workshop and the events on the same day (they had 3 days of workshops and events) and I'd left the robot with the hope of entering it in the following day. I should have just taken it with me or something.
I did my first Kaffeeklatch with Tricia Sullivan. A kaffeeklatch is coffee and biscuits with someone famous and you just sit around, chat and ask questions etc. To be honest I found it kinda overwhelming as the topic of conversation went quite intellectual, but I did manage to get one comment in towards the end. Not sure how much of it was a constructive one or flamebait though. We were discussing how it was bad for authors to go back and tinker with their works once they were published and I gave George Lucas as a prime example of that.
I did a lot of dancing too. There were two discos, one themed on Superheros and a second themed on Robots. I had initially thought about going ot the first as the mild mannered alterego of a superhero and the second wrapped in tin foil as "generic robot". But I was suddenly inspired by the occasional nickname I've been given - The Dancinator - and realised I could (not that anyone bothered asking) go as a T800 in full infiltration mode to the first. Terminators aren't superheroes, but they are superhumanly strong and practically indestructible and certainly in the 2nd and 3rd films, are very heroic even if it's cos that's how they've been programmed. For the second disco, I decided upon going as a battle damaged Terminator, initially by the liberal application of face/body paint but in the end I fashioned some tin foil so that it'd poke out of my sleeve whilst I had my arm hidden behind my back.
The food was a bit naff or hugely expensive so I ended up eating McDonalds far more than I should have. Which was a good thing cos it meant I had more money for buying shines. Something I did possibly go a little overboard with. I do have a lot more books now - some of which aren't even in print.
I think the best out of everything, was getting to talk to a lot of my favourite authors. I had a good long chat at the end of the first disco with Jaine Fenn without reverting to shy nervous fanboy mode for example. But I still have a long way to go to overcome that issue - possibly it's when there is signing stuff involved that it happens the worst? Although I did manage to keep my cool somewhat when Cory Doctorow came up to me to sign the auction item I'd won that he'd donated.
Didn't take much in the way of photos; there's just 2 really. One of me sitting in the throne from Game of Thrones and one of me with my severed arm
