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Ten Things for the Weekend #4
So on Fridays I ask my Twitterfolk what they have for Ten Things, and they throw stuff at me in an intense pitching session that lasts about an hour until I've filled all the slots. I realised yesterday that, as we do with most tasks, in just four weeks I've evolved a bunch of mental rules about what gets in and what doesn't. Now, I could tell you what those rules are. But I've decided: I'm not going to. The rush to get into Ten Things is like a microcosmic version of being a freelancer, and telling everyone the sort of thing that catches my eye would create a more level playing field, taking away the advantage for those who've been clever enough to do it on their own.
Actually, I'll reveal one rule, because otherwise people who might get in might go away: I do look for variety in a given week, so if I've got one podcast I like that week, I'll probably turn down another perfectly good one.
I'm not sure how long the stream of stuff will continue to present me with a field rich enough for me to draw ten things from every week. It's possible that this is a short term experiment. But it's working well enough now.
Next week's Ten Things will all be taken from those present at the SFX Weekender in Camber Sands, speaking of which:
1: The provisional schedule (and David Bradley wants to emphasise that changes may well happen before the event) for Friday and Saturday's SFX Weekender is here. Now, obviously a convention at a holiday camp, with all-in accommodation, is an experiment, and you can feel the organisational juddering as everything shunts into place (from Friday lunchtime to the end of Saturday night, eh? Okay...), but two things give me cause to believe that this may be well worth it. First of all, the main problem with the three (pretty damn variable) conventions SFX put their name to many years ago was, basically, that not enough stuff happened. The schedule for this one, in contrast, looks packed. There are some big names like Gerry Anderson, Tom Baker and Liz Sladen for the media audience, and loads of SF writers (China Mieville!) and comics folk (Dave Gibbons!). Enough to make this a meaningful event in either of those categories. Secondly, not just David, but event organiser Neil Brittle continues to pop up on the SFX messageboard, looking after the little moans and groans, which indicates he'll be ready for the big ones too. And those Northern Soul and other specialist audiences he normally looks after are probably just as picky as genre fans are. (Okay, probably nearly as picky.) There's the SFX Awards, a Masquerade, a quiz (already got a team, thanks) and the mixed media bar life looks insanely promising. (Seriously, come find me!) It won't be a standard convention. There'll be many people there who've never been part of a fan community before. And there will certainly be teething troubles. But it could well turn out to be great. David's infectious enthusiasm for the event can be heard in his appearance on the new Geek Syndicate podcast here.
2: Geosynchron is the final volume in David Louis Edelman's Jump 225 Trilogy, and it's out in February. Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is holding a contest to win the whole trilogy. Long time readers will remember me ranting about the previous volumes, Infoquake and Multireal, business thrillers set in a future that's simply more history piled on top of now, with no great catastrophe between now and then, but without that future being just now with more stuff. It's a feat, showing your working when it comes to futurology, that very little SF even attempts without the aid of an armageddon reset button. Plus, these are tense, gripping books where sales charts, hostile takeovers and clever tricks are life and death. Also, the life described reminds me hugely of convention life: using social skills to make a living, personality as credit, everything fuelled by coffee and beer. I can't wait. You'll probably find me leafing swiftly through it over breakfast when I'm over in L.A..
2: Geosynchron is the final volume in David Louis Edelman's Jump 225 Trilogy, and it's out in February. Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is holding a contest to win the whole trilogy. Long time readers will remember me ranting about the previous volumes, Infoquake and Multireal, business thrillers set in a future that's simply more history piled on top of now, with no great catastrophe between now and then, but without that future being just now with more stuff. It's a feat, showing your working when it comes to futurology, that very little SF even attempts without the aid of an armageddon reset button. Plus, these are tense, gripping books where sales charts, hostile takeovers and clever tricks are life and death. Also, the life described reminds me hugely of convention life: using social skills to make a living, personality as credit, everything fuelled by coffee and beer. I can't wait. You'll probably find me leafing swiftly through it over breakfast when I'm over in L.A..
3: I often hear from comics artists I'm sitting beside at signings that the worst things about that situation are when they can't remember what a character they've been asked to draw looks like, and being asked to draw the same thing over and over. Vinnie Bartilucci solved both problems by bringing along Norbert, a little caveman trog thing, for his favourite artists to draw. Years later, he has nearly four hundred drawings of the little chap, by such artists as Mark Bagley, Carmine Infantino and Mike Mignola. Some people climb Everest, Vinnie gets people to draw Norbert. Like I said last time about the lady with the scarves: I love fandom like this.
4: Big Finish, purveyors of Doctor Who audio drama to the masses, are giving first time writers a chance to pitch under very specific rules, and the deadline is this coming Monday, February 1st, at 9am. I haven't seen news of this spread far and wide, so have a go. You never know.
5: Similarly, Newsjack is BBC Radio 7's topical comedy show that accepts sketches and short jokes by email. Their deadline is Monday lunchtime and there are a couple of weeks left in the current series. And it pays standard BBC rates. Takes me back to the days of Week Ending.
6: Futurismic will be familiar to SF fans, a collective blog that's usually about current trends in science, technology and society. It's on my net reading list every morning. Publisher Paul Graham Raven writes to remind me that it also features fiction, namely one excellent SF story a month, and that the latest of these will appear on Monday (though he omits to tell me what it's going to be). It's also a paying market, to continue the emergent theme which mocks my claim towards variety in the introduction.
7: Two Minute Time Lord is a podcast I've subscribed to for a while now, which is exactly as described: a very short opinion on some current issue in Doctor Who fandom. I always say about podcasts that brevity is everything. Five minutes of in jokes and intros always has me reaching for the delete button. Chip, the host of this one, is done with his feelings in under two minutes, every time. And they're always refreshingly sane. I think the sanity and brevity may go together. Chip will incidentally be interviewing me at Gallifrey One this time round. 'Yes!' I'll cry, 'no! I don't know! Next! Stop pressuring me!' I hope I don't force him to break his format.
8: I'm sponsoring a room at Centre Point, where a young person in London can live instead of being on the streets. It's only £12 a month, and you get some indication of who's living in your room, and how they're getting on. Which is more info that I need, to be honest, because, unlike many folk these days, I am actually able to trust what an organisation tells me. As long as there's an actual homeless person in the room, I don't need them to be photogenic or spend their time writing to me.
9: I'm starting to think that, when I was very young, I was a girl. Because a lot of the TV shows I loved back then are about horses. The following can still induce a kind of nostalgia seizure, and bring me to the point of tears...
I checked out an episode of Follyfoot at the National Museum of Photography Film and Television in Bradford, and amazingly, it still stood up, full of passion, injustice and youthful anger, salved only by the company of horses. The titles actually play up the twee and duck the grim. This is going to be a bit of a recurring feature, which will aim to hit my generation between the eyes with title sequences from stuff that's embedded right at the beginnings of their consciousness. I won't be responsible for any lawsuits about unearthed traumas involving rusks.
I checked out an episode of Follyfoot at the National Museum of Photography Film and Television in Bradford, and amazingly, it still stood up, full of passion, injustice and youthful anger, salved only by the company of horses. The titles actually play up the twee and duck the grim. This is going to be a bit of a recurring feature, which will aim to hit my generation between the eyes with title sequences from stuff that's embedded right at the beginnings of their consciousness. I won't be responsible for any lawsuits about unearthed traumas involving rusks.
10: The Outer Alliance is a group of SF and Fantasy writers advocating LGBT issues in literature, of which I'm a proud member. To quote their mission statement: 'as a member of the Outer Alliance, I advocate for queer speculative fiction and those who create, publish and support it, whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity. I make sure this is reflected in my actions and my work.' Well worth being a part of, whatever your sexuality. I felt that my adopted religion compelled me to sign up and support them. Which, oddly, seems to be the opposite of what a vocal subset of so-called Christians think. But enough about them. Seriously, enough.
I may well pop up with a blog midweek, but otherwise I shall see you at the SFX Weekender, and with Ten Things from the guests and attendees of it. Until then, Cheerio!
Labels:
Big Finish,
China Mieville,
Dave Gibbons,
Doctor Who,
Edelman,
Follyfoot,
Futurismic,
Geek Syndicate,
Geosynchron,
Gerry Anderson,
Outer Alliance,
SFX Weekender,
Tom Baker,
Two Minute Time Lord
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9. - excellent idea. Looking forward to what you choose. Not sure about the titles playing up the 'twee', though - there's a lot of character-mystery there, particularly in the younger leads, and 'Lightning Tree' points at the emotional undercurrents of the series - of which, to be honest, I saw and remember little.
Thanks for some good market tips in there. Looking forward to see what you choose.
Follyfoot!!! *squeaks*
i look forward to listening to you at SFX
I'm entering a pitch in for #4. Why not, right? :) There's a DW idea I've been carrying around in my head for a while that I've had no idea what to do with, and then you post this. I'm choosing to take that as some kind of sign...or something. :)
I wonder, though, if it's a problem that I'm not a UK citizen? As far as employment issues go? Didn't see anything on the site about that...
Cross your fingers and toes!
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Big Finish thing last weekend! But at least this cuts down on the competition.
Two Minute Time Lord sounds great - will jump on that podcast right away!
Well, there really are only a few more horse title sequences to feature, but let's see if we can get more obscure than one might expect. Indeed, Dora does look sad in the Follyfoot titles, I was thinking more of the comic relief antics. I love that reaction, Staticgirl. Me too! Thanks, Ani, see you there. Teresa: I don't think they'll worry about your nationality. They'd have said. Cross: I wanted to last weekend, but their server was down, and I had no guarantee the link would be there.
Paul: Just wondered if you remember any of these horse shows growing up.
Black Beauty
Mr Ed
Champion The Wonder Horse
Actually those are the only three that spring to mind from my 1970s upbringing. I remember Champion The Wonder Horse was supposedly all made in the late 50s and early 60s. Which is something I never learned until later on.
That said. I could always make honourable mention of Dobin The Panto Horse from Rent A Ghost. Yay I so rock.
Anyway, just watched this weeks Being Human. Oh such fun. George buying himself a cage lol. That cracked me up.
Paul,
Re: Follyfoot - Wow. You were more of a little girl than me growing up, and I WAS a little girl! :)
I'm just kidding, Paula.
But seriously, I read more books about horses than watched shows about them. LOVED The Saddle Club, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saddle_Club_(books)
As for TV, I was a sucker for "Little House on the Prairie." Loved the books, too. I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder when I grew up. Except, you know, with indoor plumbing instead of an outhouse.
That Centre Point thing... that's brilliant. As far as I know, I only have a job for the next seven weeks, but when steady employment comes, I'll definitely be looking in it.
Wait and see what horse shows the future brings. And yes, the Centre Point thing is excellent, thanks for looking into that.
Yes, "into it" is clearly what I meant. I need someone to proofread my life. Sigh.
OMG, Paul I just had the most brilliant idea. If you don't write it, I will. It combines two of your great loves: Horses and SF.
HORSES
IN
SPACE!
Ecological disaster has finally taken its toll on the Earth, leaving supplies of hay severely depleted. A group of horse scientists, led by Dr. Ed (no longer just Mr. Ed after earning his doctorates in astrophysics and biology), fearing that human scientists would be too slow to meet their community's needs, form the Horse Organization for Orbital Variations of Earth in Space (H.O.O.V.E.S)and fund the very first horse-operated space station, from whence they will seek out new worlds compatible with the making of hay and create an Equine Colony, and also let little Janie brush and braid their manes.
Mondays on FOX!
(I'm reeeeally bored at work)
Yes, I can tell!