WorldCon 2010 - Melbourne
- Thread starter GOLLUM
- Start date
Winters_Sorrow
Well-Known Member
Been doing some checking - flights aren't too bad but some of the hotel costs are fairly astronomical (fitting for a sci-fi con I suppose!) but still looking & hoping for a lottery win... 
Have you looked for hotels outside of the city, WS? They might not be quite as expensive. I've just gone for a B & B which charges reasonable rates.
Oh Preciousssss, I did get the message by the way, and thank you for the information.
Oh Preciousssss, I did get the message by the way, and thank you for the information.
Program grid...
http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/files/296.pdf
Program items (alphabetical order)...
http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/files/291.pdf
Official signing sessions.....
http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/files/295.pdf
http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/files/296.pdf
Program items (alphabetical order)...
http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/files/291.pdf
Official signing sessions.....
http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/files/295.pdf
Well I am in the thick of WorldCon and have already bumped into several authors. These inlcude the marvelous Kate Elliott and George RR Martin in addition to Robert Silverberg, China Mieville and Shaun Tan (all again) and hoping to touch base with Garth Nix, John Clute, Kim Stanley Robinson (Guest of honour) and Ian Irvine in the coming days amongst others. Several either know or have heard of the Chrons, whilst others have even identified with this humble servant known simply as "Gollum"....
Rosemary the sword maiden also passes on her best wishes to all at the Chrons.
Bye for now.
Rosemary the sword maiden also passes on her best wishes to all at the Chrons.
Bye for now.
Having a great time at WorldCon so far.
Today was the date for meeting George RR Martin, getting that photo opportunity and a personalised signed copy of Fevre Dream. The line for Martin was predictably out the door and down the hallway. The other main author I got something signed with today was Jay Lake, a predominantly steampunk author these days. Also got to meet John Clute, who is someone I admire.
Yesterday it was meeting Kate Elliot which was another highlight of the Con for me, especially as she made the connection between me and my persona here on the Chrons.
Today I didn't hang about for GOH, Kim Stanley Robinson's signing but with any luck I'll still get a copy signed before the circus leaves town. Still trying to track down signings with Ian Irvine and Garth Nix, albeit being Australian authors they will be a lot easier to track down for further potential signings.
If China Mieville is about on Sunday I'll try to get a pic with him, having already gotten him to sign a copy of Perdido Street Station when he was in town last year for the Melbourne Writer's Festival.
Rosemary the Sword Maiden also says Hi!
Cheerio for now, I need to get some shuteye to be ready for attending the Hugo Awards ceremony tomorrow night....
Today was the date for meeting George RR Martin, getting that photo opportunity and a personalised signed copy of Fevre Dream. The line for Martin was predictably out the door and down the hallway. The other main author I got something signed with today was Jay Lake, a predominantly steampunk author these days. Also got to meet John Clute, who is someone I admire.
Yesterday it was meeting Kate Elliot which was another highlight of the Con for me, especially as she made the connection between me and my persona here on the Chrons.
Today I didn't hang about for GOH, Kim Stanley Robinson's signing but with any luck I'll still get a copy signed before the circus leaves town. Still trying to track down signings with Ian Irvine and Garth Nix, albeit being Australian authors they will be a lot easier to track down for further potential signings.
If China Mieville is about on Sunday I'll try to get a pic with him, having already gotten him to sign a copy of Perdido Street Station when he was in town last year for the Melbourne Writer's Festival.
Rosemary the Sword Maiden also says Hi!
Cheerio for now, I need to get some shuteye to be ready for attending the Hugo Awards ceremony tomorrow night....
I'm enjoying reading the reports, but this has really intrigued me:
Are you in fancy dress? Do you look like Andy Serkis? Are you Andy Serkis?
Gollum, if you run into Alis again (hard to think of her as Kate), please tell her that I said hello.
If I had known she was going to be there, I would have sent her all sorts of good wishes through you.
If I had known she was going to be there, I would have sent her all sorts of good wishes through you.
Nope....I'm enjoying reading the reports, but this has really intrigued me:
Are you in fancy dress? Do you look like Andy Serkis? Are you Andy Serkis?
Actually there were not that many folk dressed up for this Con and those who were, were there fro the Masquerade competition. I note that the general consensus was that the Melbourne Cons tend to be a little more "literary" in nature that other ones.
@Teresa: If I do run into Kate again before the end of the Con, which is tomorrow, Monday, Melbourne time, then I will certainly pass on your best wishes to her. I did mention you as we briefly spoke about Chrons and I'm pretty sure she passed on her best wishes then anyway.
OK, today was Sunday and the second last day of the Con. A highlight of today's proceedings for me was a panel discussion featuring Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories. The panel included Gardner Dozios, George RR Martin and Australian author Terry Dowling, the latter who appears to be a somewhat close friend of Mr Vance. Whilst they focused on the Dying Earth "series" they also spoke about Fritz Leiber's classic Lankmahr series, the point being that both of these series have that timeless quality, which is likely a key reason as to their apparent appeal to readers of today.
Other great works by Vance that were mentioned and that I happily own copies of, included The Dragon Masters, the Demon Princess series, Planet stories and Lyonesse. Key points regarding Vance's work aside from them being, in many cases, marvelous works in their own right, was the deliberate sparsity of Vance's prose that still manages to achieve a level of richness through the judicious use of words but also the employment of dialogue and his obvious admiration for one P.G. Wodehouse. The other thing frequently mentioned was Vance's ability to imbue a certain level of ambiance into his works; Vance loved to breathe life into his worlds as a precursor to populating them with various "characters". One thing I was not aware of was that Vance has been severely visually impaired for the last 20 odd years and as such was using a voice recognition program to help him write up his manuscripts.
Finally the Hugo awards were held tonight and they were fantastic. I personally thought that overall they were better than the ones conducted in Japan in 2007. Australia's Garth Nix was the Master of Ceremonies and he did an excellent job. I'm afraid I can't recall the winners of all 15 Hugo categories in addition to the John W. Campbell award for best debut writer. However, there was a rather unique occurrence that I witnessed during this event and I would need to check back into the records if there has been a precedence already set for this but tonight's novel winner was actually tied. In first place was China Mieville's The City and the City alongside that of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Strange but true...
Other winners I recall included the movie Moon, for best dramatic presentation - long form, Best Novella went to Palimpsest by Charles Stross, Beat short story went to Will McIntosh for Bridesicle, Best related work went to Jack Vance entitled This is me Jack Vance (Or, More properly, is "I"), Best Graphic Novel went to Girl Genius Vol 9 and list as they say goes on.
No doubt someone will post all of the winners but for now it's getting late here, so good night and adieu!
Other great works by Vance that were mentioned and that I happily own copies of, included The Dragon Masters, the Demon Princess series, Planet stories and Lyonesse. Key points regarding Vance's work aside from them being, in many cases, marvelous works in their own right, was the deliberate sparsity of Vance's prose that still manages to achieve a level of richness through the judicious use of words but also the employment of dialogue and his obvious admiration for one P.G. Wodehouse. The other thing frequently mentioned was Vance's ability to imbue a certain level of ambiance into his works; Vance loved to breathe life into his worlds as a precursor to populating them with various "characters". One thing I was not aware of was that Vance has been severely visually impaired for the last 20 odd years and as such was using a voice recognition program to help him write up his manuscripts.
Finally the Hugo awards were held tonight and they were fantastic. I personally thought that overall they were better than the ones conducted in Japan in 2007. Australia's Garth Nix was the Master of Ceremonies and he did an excellent job. I'm afraid I can't recall the winners of all 15 Hugo categories in addition to the John W. Campbell award for best debut writer. However, there was a rather unique occurrence that I witnessed during this event and I would need to check back into the records if there has been a precedence already set for this but tonight's novel winner was actually tied. In first place was China Mieville's The City and the City alongside that of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Strange but true...
Other winners I recall included the movie Moon, for best dramatic presentation - long form, Best Novella went to Palimpsest by Charles Stross, Beat short story went to Will McIntosh for Bridesicle, Best related work went to Jack Vance entitled This is me Jack Vance (Or, More properly, is "I"), Best Graphic Novel went to Girl Genius Vol 9 and list as they say goes on.
No doubt someone will post all of the winners but for now it's getting late here, so good night and adieu!
Glad your having a good time give Rosie my love.... oh and there was something about pink fluffy slippers
...and so very appropriate.
(Who gets the Besźel version and who the Ul Qoma? Or would that be a Breach of etiquette...?)
Not to mention which twin gets the toni...or should that be Hugo....
Yesterday saw WorldCon 2010 draw to an end with the closing ceremony.
All in all a fantastic event. I'll be posting an article/impressions on my time at the WroldCon in the next week or so in this area for those who are interested.
jojajihisc
vast and cool
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2008
- Messages
- 745
Just wondering, what is the total number of votes for the award? That two should tie seems remote. Or do they award a tie if the two top vote getters are within, say, 1% of each other?
I liked The Windup Girl a bit better myself, but I don't really have any problem with the tie. I thought Eugie Foster's novelette was easily the best on of the nominees in that category and McIntosh's Bridesicle was an excellent short story although I'd probably have voted for Kij Johnson's Spar.
I liked The Windup Girl a bit better myself, but I don't really have any problem with the tie. I thought Eugie Foster's novelette was easily the best on of the nominees in that category and McIntosh's Bridesicle was an excellent short story although I'd probably have voted for Kij Johnson's Spar.
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