Some random notes on Worldcon and Melbourne in general
This will be short, in point form, and will be missing many details, because lots of stuff happened and I'm too lazy to blog it properly.
The con was great. Had the nice, cozy, casual atmosphere of a SwanCon, only about 6x larger. So that was cool. I think there were only about 5 hours total of the whole thing where there wasn't something I was keen to go to. If anything, I didn't have enough spare, non-panel time to mingle, eat, sleep, chat, wander, etc.
I met some cool new people from other states and countries. I love meeting new people, but have a tendency to play it safe and stick with the ones I know, so I was happy to make a handful of new connections.
The parties were generally quite good. Every night had at least one awesome hanging-out-with-people-and-booze-and-food type event.
I went to a lot of great panels, including several on the business of being an artist (more for Tina's benefit, but I found them very interesting too), videogames as art, cult films, creating original fantasy settings, Lost, internet censorship and a bunch of others that refuse to spring to mind right now.
It was great to watch The American Astronaut again. Only the second time I've seen it. Great movie.
I got books signed by Shaun Tan and China Mieville. Woo!
I didn't actually talk to many authors. Very brief pleasantries at the aforementioned signings, and a short group-conversation with George R. R. Martin. That's it. Bit of a shame, really.
Was lovely to catch up with friends like Shig and Steph, who I hadn't seen in ages.
I talked about con-running related stuff a whole lot, which was cool and interesting.
It was very cool to see The Hugos. China Mieville's acceptance speech was very funny.
It was my first time in Melbourne, and I loved it. I don't think I'd want to live there but annual holiday visits are sounding like a most excellent idea. Considering a March visit to catch the Roxy Music tour that isn't coming to Perth.
I ate in many delicious restaurants and fast food joints. It was really nice and decadent but I'm definitely happy to be back at home eating healthy, home-cooked food again.
I saw the Tim Burton exhibition, which was a lot of fun.
I saw the European Masters exhibition at the art gallery, which was an amazing experience. So many incredible pieces to view. A real highlight.
I spent loads of money of random stuff, including books, a handful of DVDs and CDs, a tonne of graphic novels (damn you Minotaur with your extensive selection and low prices!), an action figure of The Stranger from The Big Lebowski, a book on Cubism, some clothes, probably other things I'm forgetting.
I discovered Off the Hip Records, possibly the coolest little record store I've ever been to. Specialising in garage-rock and related genres, massive selection, decent prices, good second-hand selection, friendly and knowledgeable owner and a really good atmosphere. Definitely felt like one of those "tucked away and super secret" discoveries.
The Victoria Hotel was solid and good value. The Hilton was expensive but ridiculously nice.
Discovered a nifty little cocktail bar called 1806 which had a very cool atmosphere. Went there twice and sampled a few of their cocktails. Very nice. Kind of wish I could be a regular.
That's enough for now. If I think of more (and there was A LOT more) there may be a followup post.
The con was great. Had the nice, cozy, casual atmosphere of a SwanCon, only about 6x larger. So that was cool. I think there were only about 5 hours total of the whole thing where there wasn't something I was keen to go to. If anything, I didn't have enough spare, non-panel time to mingle, eat, sleep, chat, wander, etc.
I met some cool new people from other states and countries. I love meeting new people, but have a tendency to play it safe and stick with the ones I know, so I was happy to make a handful of new connections.
The parties were generally quite good. Every night had at least one awesome hanging-out-with-people-and-booze-and-food type event.
I went to a lot of great panels, including several on the business of being an artist (more for Tina's benefit, but I found them very interesting too), videogames as art, cult films, creating original fantasy settings, Lost, internet censorship and a bunch of others that refuse to spring to mind right now.
It was great to watch The American Astronaut again. Only the second time I've seen it. Great movie.
I got books signed by Shaun Tan and China Mieville. Woo!
I didn't actually talk to many authors. Very brief pleasantries at the aforementioned signings, and a short group-conversation with George R. R. Martin. That's it. Bit of a shame, really.
Was lovely to catch up with friends like Shig and Steph, who I hadn't seen in ages.
I talked about con-running related stuff a whole lot, which was cool and interesting.
It was very cool to see The Hugos. China Mieville's acceptance speech was very funny.
It was my first time in Melbourne, and I loved it. I don't think I'd want to live there but annual holiday visits are sounding like a most excellent idea. Considering a March visit to catch the Roxy Music tour that isn't coming to Perth.
I ate in many delicious restaurants and fast food joints. It was really nice and decadent but I'm definitely happy to be back at home eating healthy, home-cooked food again.
I saw the Tim Burton exhibition, which was a lot of fun.
I saw the European Masters exhibition at the art gallery, which was an amazing experience. So many incredible pieces to view. A real highlight.
I spent loads of money of random stuff, including books, a handful of DVDs and CDs, a tonne of graphic novels (damn you Minotaur with your extensive selection and low prices!), an action figure of The Stranger from The Big Lebowski, a book on Cubism, some clothes, probably other things I'm forgetting.
I discovered Off the Hip Records, possibly the coolest little record store I've ever been to. Specialising in garage-rock and related genres, massive selection, decent prices, good second-hand selection, friendly and knowledgeable owner and a really good atmosphere. Definitely felt like one of those "tucked away and super secret" discoveries.
The Victoria Hotel was solid and good value. The Hilton was expensive but ridiculously nice.
Discovered a nifty little cocktail bar called 1806 which had a very cool atmosphere. Went there twice and sampled a few of their cocktails. Very nice. Kind of wish I could be a regular.
That's enough for now. If I think of more (and there was A LOT more) there may be a followup post.