"Sex, the Young Adult, and the YA novel". Unlike some other panels on sex in science fiction or fantasy that had been known to turn rowdy and funny, this was a rather tame, academic discussion of Young Adult fiction in general. Like 80% of panels, it either didn't have enough material to stay on topic, or the panelists lacked interest for the same ( Read more... )

ApolloCon, more than other science fiction cons, stands out for its gourmet-oriented activities. On Friday night there was a wine tasting with 3 white wines and 3 red wines. The hostess Kim Kofmel had us go through the entire ritual of noting the wine's color, smell, swishing in in the glass than in one's mouth, etc. I can't say that it helped me ( Read more... )

I noticed ApolloCon Friday night panels have a certain rowdy tendency, if the fabulous "101 Uses For A Paperclip" from 3 years ago was any indication. It could be that a Friday night at a convention is some magic time when parties haven't started yet, and the people who would otherwise be partying go to less-than-seriously themed panels, bringing ( Read more... )

"For as long as there has been science, there has been the bleeding edge -- progress at odds with social norms. Centuries ago, no one believed the earth rotated around the sun. For years, the concept of 'zero' was a religious heresy. Today society balks at the thought of cloning and artificial intelligence. How do we balance our cultural identity ( Read more... )

I have a 3-week, multi-city vacation coming up very soon. June 7th I'm heading for Lithuania, and I'll stay there for a week. This trip will be different from similar ones I took over the last few years in that my parents won't be there. They'll be in Paris, where I'll join them a week later, to spend 10 days together ( Read more... )

Wil McCarthy, a scientist and science fiction author, was the Guest of Honor at ApolloCon 2009. He gave a talk on the work he's been doing in programmable matter. He started off by showing the audience a piece of clear glass. Then he heated the glass with a hair dryer. An irregularly shaped reflective blob grew on the glass -- the heat turned the ( Read more... )

I stopped by at a filk session on Friday or Saturday night, since the parties weren't exactly hopping. One quiet guy who sat in the corner until then surprised us (well, at least me) with a Game of Thrones rap. "Rap" is not quite accurate. The song had a simple melody with Celtic motives, but the melody was peripheral to the lyrics, which he ( Read more... )

kgkofmel, ApolloCon chair, doesn't do formal wear. At her husband's suggestion to dress up for the opening ceremony, she upgraded her trademark hat to a gold-embroidered one. Kim reminded us that the year 2009 is the 40th anniversary of Lunar landing. She is old enough to have watched it on a very small black and white television. As a small child, she was ( Read more... )

Well, bugger me sideways - everybody in the writers' workshop thought my story was pretty good. Funny, I thought it was one my worse stories #

A tough @apollocon panel dilemma-tea tasting or Precious commodities in the Space Colony - resulted in me picking a less interesting one. #

After tasting lots of teas, caught the end of Space colony panel; ( Read more... )

At the ApolloCon hotel, crunching on raw vegetables and chips in the Consuite for lunch. Many thanks to Patrice for giving me a ride #

about to go to volunteer at ApolloCon. First time volunteering at a con. Wondering what they will tell me to do. #

Well, my first volunteering gig for @ApolloCon was lame. I was told to walk around and ask if anyone ( Read more... )