Wiscon '08: The Year We Were Bitchy

[vito_excalibur]

Let me say at the outset that I love Wiscon, I always love Wiscon, and this year was no different. I am bitchier than usual about it this year for a number of reasons, including that four panels turns out to be just too many for me to be on, and that I didn't get organized enough to write my notes before I left, so I missed a lot of stuff I wanted

Comments

[tablesaw]

"Maybe the problem is that we all call ourselves white or black or Hispanic..."

Whoo. I had a hard time parsing this one. I believe the intent is the old canard "If we stopped identifying ourselves with labels than differences wouldn't exist."

I'm looking forward to more reports. My gaming con was fun, but I still want to know what happened.

[vito_excalibur]

And indeed there are people who will claim that a lot of those problems stem from our insistence on maintaining a rigid gender binary.

[shoutingboy]

heh heh heh... "rigid gender"

[susansugarspun]

The year Carol Emshwiller was a guest of honor, there was a panel that consisted largely of her and Ursula LeGuin on a stage together, fangirling each other. And it was one of the best panels I've ever seen!

[vito_excalibur]

Awww, that sounds adorable!

Le Guin/Emshwiller

[ansai]

Oh, it was! They told silly stories too. Mrs. Le Guin once spilled beer down the back of Mrs. Heinlein at a party.

[denelian]

OF COURSE Anita Blake is annoying. it's like a trainwreck, and we can't look away... its not even GOOD erotica...

sorry, that was not at ALL the point of this post. i am actually interested in what you have to say about WisCon; i've never been, and want to go. but i haven't been to sleep and it totally threw me off when i saw the Anita Blake thing :D

[vito_excalibur]

Heh, I actually like Anita Blake! Well no. I like the books. (I'm only up to the fourth one I think, Lunatic Cafe, I understand they get crazier in the future.) But I personally think that Ms. Blake is not only entirely unlikeable but more or less portrayed as entirely unlikeable - other characters do respond to her as a person who has a lot of innate power and therefore one instinctively pays a lot of attention to, and yet does have the basic personality of a malfunctioning chainsaw.

But she's such a vivid character, and Ms. Hamilton herself is so colorful, and (appropriately) reanimated the genre of paranormal romance lurching from the dead, and everyone knows what you're talking about, so it's a good basis for discussion.

[denelian]

oh, no.. you totally misunderstand. i'm COMPLETELY addicted to these books. despite the fact that i don't really like erotica, and am much more a sci-fi/alternate history kinda gal (although... the AB universe is KINDA alternate history now that i think of it...)

i just want to smack Anita. repeatedly. with your aforementioned chainsaw. sigh... not to be totally stereotypical with this one, but the crazy girl gets the best guys. okay, LKH thinks this, and it feeds the stereotype, and i'm babbling now :)

[vito_excalibur]

but the crazy girl gets the best guys.

*preens, buffs nails*

Damn straight we do. Once you go wack, you never go back!

[ljgeoff]

I expect even Ursula K. LeGuin fangirls someone, although in her case it's probably God or something, since I'm not sure who else would be qualified.

My first WisCon, I stepped into the elevator with one other person who happened to be Ursula K. LeGuin. God grabbed me by the throat and silenced me, so I just nodded politely.

[vito_excalibur]

Bwahaha! I did more or less the same thing! Except without the God part, being an atheist. :) I just stood there thinking "don't act like an asshole in front of Ursula K. LeGuin... don't act like an asshole in front of Ursula K. LeGuin..." while she was probably thinking "If that girl doesn't blink or breathe in the next thirty seconds, I'm calling the cops, because I think she's dead."

[resolute]

I thought you were a kickass moderator, Vito -- especially on the Elves and Dwarves panel, which tried to make a run for the hills. :)

[vito_excalibur]

Thank you! :)

also, it was nice to meet you.

[resolute]

I got hijakced out of the parties and never did get a chance to tell you about the Fanfic and Slash 201 panel -- I have some notes, I can write them up for you if you still need them. Good to meet you, too. :)

[resolute]

i took the crazy detailed transcript notes of that panel! will be up sometime this week!