WorldCon 2010 Day 5
Sep. 7th, 2010 08:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenWhile this is about Monday, it is not posted until today, due to my Wireless Access at the convention running out, and me not wanting to pay another $10 just to post this.
Last Day of the Convention: Monday
The thought occurred to me in the shower Monday morning: Why is John Marsden not here? He writes YA Spec Fic, and he's Australian. He should be here, he should be on these YA Spec Fic panels that that we've been inundated with (well, there's been multiple YA panels a day so far). So why isn't he?
I also was reminded on Sunday of why the "Voodoo Board" was called that; it's because a proper Voodoo Board (which we did NOT have here) is a board with all the membership names on it, a set of map pins, cards, pens, and a set of pigeon-holes from A-Z. The idea is that if you want to give a message to someone, you write the message on a card, stick it in the appropriate pigeon-hole, and then stick a map-pin next to the person's name. Then, when the person checks the board, they pull out the pin, go to the appropriate pigeon hole, and get the card with the message on it. This is a MUCH better system than the stupid "stick up a piece of butchers-paper for people to write public messages on" system that they actually used. Oh well. In such a complex thing as a WorldCon, there were so many other things that could have gone wrong that didn't, I guess I shall just have to concede this one.
The only Hugo result I was interested in, someone told me Sunday night after it was over: the winner of "short form audio-visual" was the Doctor Who episode "Waters of Mars". Good. I'm glad the vote wasn't so split that it went to something non-Doctor-Who, since three episodes had been nominated. George Ivanoff had pointed out on Sunday afternoon that if a Doctor Who episode won, then Doctor Who would have an equal number of Hugos to Star Trek. Yay.
I didn't manage to encounter Lizbee on Monday, alas. Probably because I didn't end up going to any Doctor Who panels. Some items it was pretty hard to decide which one to go to.
10am: 25 Things I Learned From SF
(Jenny Blackford, Narelle M. Harris, Gerald David Nordley, Priscilla Olson)
I went to this one because I thought it would be fun, and it was, but it also had some unexpected seriousness, more in the life-things that were learned, rather than the fact-things.
* Space is Big
* Time is Long
* Different is okay
* Change is inevitable
* SF helps prevent "future shock" because we've been thinking about the future for years
And some silly ones:
* Beware of beings with red eyes.
* If aliens arrive in a group, they're going to turn out to be evil; if they arrive singly, they will be wise and benevolent.
* It will be easier to learn an alien language than it is to learn French.
11am: The Grandfather Paradox and Other Stories
(Paul Cornell, Jeff Harris, Charles Stross)
The panellists first disclaimed that they were feeling rather wiped, and to please excuse them if they didn't make sense. (A number of people all day did look/sound the worse for wear, I guess there was much partying after the Hugos. That, or it was simply last-day-of-the-con exhaustion.)
Paul Cornell opened with a rant that discussing time travel was silly, because it was discussing the ramifications and rules of something that couldn't happen, like discussing different systems of magic. (Yes, he is a Doctor Who writer. He probably considers DW to be fantasy, and that's fair enough) So instead of discussing their favourite time paradoxes or their favourite time travel stories, they ended up discussing physics and different theories of time travel. I think the most interesting one was Charles Stross describing a theory that the "present" is a phase-boundary between the frozen past, which obeys the laws of "classical" physics, and the indeterminate future, which obeys quantum physics. (Which is actually quite similar to something I first read in a Doctor Who novel - guess that's another thing I learned from SF.)
12 noon: Losing the Plot: Plotting In Advance vs Writing As You Go
(Stephen Dedman, Lezli Robyn, John Scalzi, Melinda Snodgrass, Ian Tregillis)
Interesting stuff. Architects versus Gardeners, though it was interesting that even the "gardeners" in the panel (Stephen Dedman, Lezli Robyn and John Scalzi) weren't completely "seat of the pants" writers, since they all felt that they needed an "A" and a "Z", they just didn't need to know the B,C,D etc beforehand in order to get there. Stephen Dedman was somewhat in between, since he'd used many different methods, and what he felt about outlines was that, while he preferred not to have to use them, they did help him write faster. Ian Tregillis felt he needed an outline because he wouldn't be able to keep it all straight if he didn't. Melinda Snodgrass preferred using an outline because it helped her to be disciplined in her writing, because knowing what she should be working on helped her to do it instead of slacking off.
One thing that I thought pretty telling was that, while the topic was "plot", they couldn't avoid talking about characterisation, and how that can change the plot.
1pm: (lunch)
2pm: Hand-Waving Rule Bending and Other Dirty Tricks Of Hard SF
(Gregory Benford, Jeff Harris, Alastair Reynolds, Charles Stross)
More physics! And a lot of "it depends" answers to questions.
GB: "The Reynolds Boson Engine"
(you heard it here first)
3pm: Fantasy Fiction and the Bechdel Test
I'd been looking forward to this panel, and so, it seemed, had a number of other people, judging by the dismay on people's faces when they saw the notice on the room saying that it had been cancelled. So a few of us sat down on the floor in front of the room, declaring that we could discuss this topic ourselves, without the aid of a panel. And then as more people arrived, we decided to go inside the room (since nobody was using it) and pull the chairs in a circle, and run the discussion ourselves. So we did. (The notice was emended to say "An Amateur Production").
The self-appointed "moderators" of the discussion were a pretty (prettier than me) young (younger than me) woman(*) and one of those ubiquitous "undertall" older ladies one finds in fandom, with long hair with some grey threading through it (me).
It was quite fun and interesting and rambly, as people brought up various examples of fantasy that did and did not pass the Bechdel test (and wandered a bit over into SF and comics too) and what the Bechdel Test means, its usefulness as a tool, and that it's really only one step along the way.
Earlier steps were:
* Is there a woman in the story at all? (This resulted in stories adding a token woman, usually a love-interest)
* Is there a woman who isn't a love-interest?
* Are there two women, who have a conversation with each other, that isn't about a man? (This is the Bechdel Test)
So then the question was, what would be the test after the Bechdel Test? One suggestion was "Is there a woman in the story who isn't described as being beautiful/attractive?" And then people pointed out that that wouldn't quite work as an objective test, because the author could just say "This is fantasy, everyone is attractive." Mind you, until more works pass the Bechdel Test, the question is probably moot.
4pm: Closing ceremony
The usual, lots of names and thanks, the Gavel was passed, the next WorldCon (Reno 2011) did their spiel, and that was it.
Alas, I did not find Lizbee, though I did find SB, then I lost her again.
My knee was killing me, so I retreated to my hotel room, wrote this report, and then ordered room service.
(*) On Tuesday morning, as I was walking through the lobby of the hotel after I'd checked out, I saw her, went up and introduced myself, and she introduced herself back; Sophie,alias_sqbr. Who lives in Perth. Hmmmm, Swancon is suddenly looking a lot more interesting.
She said that she had been exhausted and a bit hyper at the panel (seriously, I hadn't noticed) and thanked me for being focused and helping to keep things on track. Hey, thanks! Glad to have been of help. Gee it only took 45 years for me to overcome my shyness... 8-/
A Few Post-Con Thoughts
One of the mysteries of the convention was: why did I sleep so badly in the hotel? Every single night, even when I had shut the blinds completely, I would wake up at o'dark thirty, and then sleep or doze again. And it's not like the bed or the pillows or the room were uncomfortable or particularly noisy. Perhaps it was too hot, but I did set the thermostat as low as it would go (18 degrees), so I doubt that it was that. I don't know.
vilakins had remarked that most people at cons don't wear costumes, so I had decided to try to take note of whether it was true at this WorldCon. And, yes, I concede, she was correct. I guess part of my perception-skew is that one really notices the people wandering around in costume. Some of them were awesome. No, I didn't take any photos; I deliberately didn't bring a camera, because I wanted to enjoy myself, not think about taking photographs and/or be frustrated by the fact that the photos one did take were crap. Some of the loveliest costumes were a number of ladies in steampunk gear; dressed up as fine Victorian ladies, but wearing goggles, or having Mysterious Clockwork Things on their persons. (One of the jewellery stands was actually steampunk jewellery, and it was cool, but I didn't buy any).
However, even of the people not wearing costumes, they weren't necessarily mundane. Vests covered with badges or patches, T-shirts with spiders or "Lochthulu" on them; I saw one person wearing a jacket with Space Invaders images on the back; women with purple-dyed hair, a couple of guys with their hair dyed in leopard spots. But again, not everyone was like that.
Another interesting thing was that not everyone was uni-student age either, though there were a fair number of those, there were also older people, and even grey-haired people. And a certain number of prams containing the next generation.
As for what I ended up wearing, myself, I went for the almost-a-costume level, and had a bit of fun experimenting with my hair.
Friday: Long-sleeved burgundy crushed velvet top with a black vest.
Saturday: All black, black chiffon beaded blouse, hair loose, chainmail headdress. A number of people remarked on the headdress. Most useful thing I bought at ConFrancisco 1993, I have to say.
Sunday: black-and-white slightly Japanese-style top, but mostly hidden by my full white cloak with silver lining. Hair braided in a single braid, but one of the strands was actually a bead belt. A bit heavy to wear, but I liked it.
Monday: The same black top as Saturday. Heavily beaded shawl worn asymmetrically. Hair loose, but a strand of magnetic jewellery wrapped around my head across my forehead to keep it neat. It was a nice discovery to find that the magnetic bead strand could do that. I tried using two strands, but a single strand worked better.
Membership Stats: 1737 full members, plus a number of day members.
Last Day of the Convention: Monday
The thought occurred to me in the shower Monday morning: Why is John Marsden not here? He writes YA Spec Fic, and he's Australian. He should be here, he should be on these YA Spec Fic panels that that we've been inundated with (well, there's been multiple YA panels a day so far). So why isn't he?
I also was reminded on Sunday of why the "Voodoo Board" was called that; it's because a proper Voodoo Board (which we did NOT have here) is a board with all the membership names on it, a set of map pins, cards, pens, and a set of pigeon-holes from A-Z. The idea is that if you want to give a message to someone, you write the message on a card, stick it in the appropriate pigeon-hole, and then stick a map-pin next to the person's name. Then, when the person checks the board, they pull out the pin, go to the appropriate pigeon hole, and get the card with the message on it. This is a MUCH better system than the stupid "stick up a piece of butchers-paper for people to write public messages on" system that they actually used. Oh well. In such a complex thing as a WorldCon, there were so many other things that could have gone wrong that didn't, I guess I shall just have to concede this one.
The only Hugo result I was interested in, someone told me Sunday night after it was over: the winner of "short form audio-visual" was the Doctor Who episode "Waters of Mars". Good. I'm glad the vote wasn't so split that it went to something non-Doctor-Who, since three episodes had been nominated. George Ivanoff had pointed out on Sunday afternoon that if a Doctor Who episode won, then Doctor Who would have an equal number of Hugos to Star Trek. Yay.
I didn't manage to encounter Lizbee on Monday, alas. Probably because I didn't end up going to any Doctor Who panels. Some items it was pretty hard to decide which one to go to.
10am: 25 Things I Learned From SF
(Jenny Blackford, Narelle M. Harris, Gerald David Nordley, Priscilla Olson)
I went to this one because I thought it would be fun, and it was, but it also had some unexpected seriousness, more in the life-things that were learned, rather than the fact-things.
* Space is Big
* Time is Long
* Different is okay
* Change is inevitable
* SF helps prevent "future shock" because we've been thinking about the future for years
And some silly ones:
* Beware of beings with red eyes.
* If aliens arrive in a group, they're going to turn out to be evil; if they arrive singly, they will be wise and benevolent.
* It will be easier to learn an alien language than it is to learn French.
11am: The Grandfather Paradox and Other Stories
(Paul Cornell, Jeff Harris, Charles Stross)
The panellists first disclaimed that they were feeling rather wiped, and to please excuse them if they didn't make sense. (A number of people all day did look/sound the worse for wear, I guess there was much partying after the Hugos. That, or it was simply last-day-of-the-con exhaustion.)
Paul Cornell opened with a rant that discussing time travel was silly, because it was discussing the ramifications and rules of something that couldn't happen, like discussing different systems of magic. (Yes, he is a Doctor Who writer. He probably considers DW to be fantasy, and that's fair enough) So instead of discussing their favourite time paradoxes or their favourite time travel stories, they ended up discussing physics and different theories of time travel. I think the most interesting one was Charles Stross describing a theory that the "present" is a phase-boundary between the frozen past, which obeys the laws of "classical" physics, and the indeterminate future, which obeys quantum physics. (Which is actually quite similar to something I first read in a Doctor Who novel - guess that's another thing I learned from SF.)
12 noon: Losing the Plot: Plotting In Advance vs Writing As You Go
(Stephen Dedman, Lezli Robyn, John Scalzi, Melinda Snodgrass, Ian Tregillis)
Interesting stuff. Architects versus Gardeners, though it was interesting that even the "gardeners" in the panel (Stephen Dedman, Lezli Robyn and John Scalzi) weren't completely "seat of the pants" writers, since they all felt that they needed an "A" and a "Z", they just didn't need to know the B,C,D etc beforehand in order to get there. Stephen Dedman was somewhat in between, since he'd used many different methods, and what he felt about outlines was that, while he preferred not to have to use them, they did help him write faster. Ian Tregillis felt he needed an outline because he wouldn't be able to keep it all straight if he didn't. Melinda Snodgrass preferred using an outline because it helped her to be disciplined in her writing, because knowing what she should be working on helped her to do it instead of slacking off.
One thing that I thought pretty telling was that, while the topic was "plot", they couldn't avoid talking about characterisation, and how that can change the plot.
1pm: (lunch)
2pm: Hand-Waving Rule Bending and Other Dirty Tricks Of Hard SF
(Gregory Benford, Jeff Harris, Alastair Reynolds, Charles Stross)
More physics! And a lot of "it depends" answers to questions.
GB: "The Reynolds Boson Engine"
(you heard it here first)
3pm: Fantasy Fiction and the Bechdel Test
I'd been looking forward to this panel, and so, it seemed, had a number of other people, judging by the dismay on people's faces when they saw the notice on the room saying that it had been cancelled. So a few of us sat down on the floor in front of the room, declaring that we could discuss this topic ourselves, without the aid of a panel. And then as more people arrived, we decided to go inside the room (since nobody was using it) and pull the chairs in a circle, and run the discussion ourselves. So we did. (The notice was emended to say "An Amateur Production").
The self-appointed "moderators" of the discussion were a pretty (prettier than me) young (younger than me) woman(*) and one of those ubiquitous "undertall" older ladies one finds in fandom, with long hair with some grey threading through it (me).
It was quite fun and interesting and rambly, as people brought up various examples of fantasy that did and did not pass the Bechdel test (and wandered a bit over into SF and comics too) and what the Bechdel Test means, its usefulness as a tool, and that it's really only one step along the way.
Earlier steps were:
* Is there a woman in the story at all? (This resulted in stories adding a token woman, usually a love-interest)
* Is there a woman who isn't a love-interest?
* Are there two women, who have a conversation with each other, that isn't about a man? (This is the Bechdel Test)
So then the question was, what would be the test after the Bechdel Test? One suggestion was "Is there a woman in the story who isn't described as being beautiful/attractive?" And then people pointed out that that wouldn't quite work as an objective test, because the author could just say "This is fantasy, everyone is attractive." Mind you, until more works pass the Bechdel Test, the question is probably moot.
4pm: Closing ceremony
The usual, lots of names and thanks, the Gavel was passed, the next WorldCon (Reno 2011) did their spiel, and that was it.
Alas, I did not find Lizbee, though I did find SB, then I lost her again.
My knee was killing me, so I retreated to my hotel room, wrote this report, and then ordered room service.
(*) On Tuesday morning, as I was walking through the lobby of the hotel after I'd checked out, I saw her, went up and introduced myself, and she introduced herself back; Sophie,
alias_sqbr. Who lives in Perth. Hmmmm, Swancon is suddenly looking a lot more interesting.She said that she had been exhausted and a bit hyper at the panel (seriously, I hadn't noticed) and thanked me for being focused and helping to keep things on track. Hey, thanks! Glad to have been of help. Gee it only took 45 years for me to overcome my shyness... 8-/
A Few Post-Con Thoughts
One of the mysteries of the convention was: why did I sleep so badly in the hotel? Every single night, even when I had shut the blinds completely, I would wake up at o'dark thirty, and then sleep or doze again. And it's not like the bed or the pillows or the room were uncomfortable or particularly noisy. Perhaps it was too hot, but I did set the thermostat as low as it would go (18 degrees), so I doubt that it was that. I don't know.
vilakins had remarked that most people at cons don't wear costumes, so I had decided to try to take note of whether it was true at this WorldCon. And, yes, I concede, she was correct. I guess part of my perception-skew is that one really notices the people wandering around in costume. Some of them were awesome. No, I didn't take any photos; I deliberately didn't bring a camera, because I wanted to enjoy myself, not think about taking photographs and/or be frustrated by the fact that the photos one did take were crap. Some of the loveliest costumes were a number of ladies in steampunk gear; dressed up as fine Victorian ladies, but wearing goggles, or having Mysterious Clockwork Things on their persons. (One of the jewellery stands was actually steampunk jewellery, and it was cool, but I didn't buy any).However, even of the people not wearing costumes, they weren't necessarily mundane. Vests covered with badges or patches, T-shirts with spiders or "Lochthulu" on them; I saw one person wearing a jacket with Space Invaders images on the back; women with purple-dyed hair, a couple of guys with their hair dyed in leopard spots. But again, not everyone was like that.
Another interesting thing was that not everyone was uni-student age either, though there were a fair number of those, there were also older people, and even grey-haired people. And a certain number of prams containing the next generation.
As for what I ended up wearing, myself, I went for the almost-a-costume level, and had a bit of fun experimenting with my hair.
Friday: Long-sleeved burgundy crushed velvet top with a black vest.
Saturday: All black, black chiffon beaded blouse, hair loose, chainmail headdress. A number of people remarked on the headdress. Most useful thing I bought at ConFrancisco 1993, I have to say.
Sunday: black-and-white slightly Japanese-style top, but mostly hidden by my full white cloak with silver lining. Hair braided in a single braid, but one of the strands was actually a bead belt. A bit heavy to wear, but I liked it.
Monday: The same black top as Saturday. Heavily beaded shawl worn asymmetrically. Hair loose, but a strand of magnetic jewellery wrapped around my head across my forehead to keep it neat. It was a nice discovery to find that the magnetic bead strand could do that. I tried using two strands, but a single strand worked better.
Membership Stats: 1737 full members, plus a number of day members.
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 10:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 09:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 08:34 pm (UTC)Your outfits and hairstyles all sound stunning; those magnetic beads must be the ones we bought at the market here (now defunct, woe). I have now decided that if I ever I go to another con (and I might even though they're only little national ones) I shall do the same: not dress as a character but take the opportunity to wear my flowing black velvet cloak, that versatile hand-made shawl-thing I bought with you, and other more flamboyant clothes I have. :-)
I'm so glad you were well enough to go and that you enjoyed it.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 09:17 pm (UTC)Thanks! Most of the tops were in the "wear on special occasions, too pretty to wear" category, and, hey, it was a special occasion, wasn't it? 8-)
those magnetic beads must be the ones we bought at the market here
Actually, not. I did consider whether I would bring that one, but the blue-green dominant colour wouldn't really go with the black-white-grey colour-scheme I had going. Instead I brought another set I had, two identical strands of clear crystal beads interspersed with magnetic beads, not just because they went better with my outfits, but because I thought I could do more with two identical strands than a single strand.
(now defunct, woe).
Oh noes!
but take the opportunity to wear my flowing black velvet cloak, that versatile hand-made shawl-thing I bought with you, and other more flamboyant clothes I have.
Cloaks are good. (grin)
I'm so glad you were well enough to go and that you enjoyed it.
8-)
I was still haunted by a persistant cough, and I didn't end up going to any of the evening things, but yes, you're right.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 09:38 pm (UTC)Oh noes indeed. The roof of the car park underneath the square was considered unsafe (and I'm glad they fixed it after last weekend's earthquake) but they took the opportunity to redesign the square and didn't find another venue for the market. There are some small monthly ones around the suburbs but nowhere near as good as that one. :-(