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Eastercon Approaching
In the end, I only did a couple of days of the World Horror Convention down in Brighton. It was good fun, but with a script to write, and meetings tomorrow, it felt like both indulgence and exhaustion at the same time. I very much enjoyed seeing friends like Rob Shearman (so at home in that genre now), Sarah Pinborough and Kim Newman, and meeting a few new folk, like the great David Pirie, whose A New Heritage of Horror, a new edition of one of the classic books on British gothic film, has been rarely out of my hands since.
So on Thursday I'm off to Heathrow for Odyssey 2010, this year's Eastercon. In contrast to my one panel at World Horror (a rather neat and chirpy one with a whole bunch of us defining the genre), I'm on no less than ten panels or events, which are:
9.00, Friday: Were Fans Bullied at School? I very much wanted to do this, if only to confirm my own instincts that fandom is a culture of post traumatic stress disorder. I'm moderating, and I'm hopeful that, though we may be going over some highly emotional ground, we're going to keep it calm.
11,00, Friday: Kate Bush as Fantasy Author. It's my presentation from Worldcon in Montreal again, updated to include some notes offered by the audience on that occasion.
14.00, Friday: The English in the Marvelverse. About the influence of UK creators on the Marvel Universe. I should think one of the first things somebody will say is that Grant Morrison is Scottish.
9.00, Saturday: Female Superheroes: Why aren't there more of them? As long as the audience don't think it's my fault.
Noon, Saturday: autographs.
15.00, Saturday: SF/F and Social Media. (Do check out the link to moderator Danie Ware's summing up of the panel.) The #LiveCon hashtag will let those of you on Twitter ask questions live, even if you're not physically there, and #EasterCon will be the general tag for the whole weekend. I believe we'll also be in 3D.
15.00, Sunday: Guest of Honour Interview: Mike Carey. I'd proud and somewhat nervous to be interviewing the comics writer and novelist about all aspects of his career.
20.00, Sunday: Writing for Audio. I've done it. A bit. It'll be fine.
14.00, Monday: Icons, Symbolism and Archetypes. A panel about the use and appearance of religious imagery in fantasy and SF. I always used to think that religion panels at SF events were going to end up in a row, but every time everyone's been so worried about that that they turn out to be lovely. Let's hope this one doesn't buck the trend.
15.00, Monday: Dollhouse: Ethics and Identity. Or maybe this will be the scary panel. It's not like I've got an easy downhill run right at the end. Phew.
In other news, I've been interviewed about comics by Stacey and Iz of the Comic Racks Podcast. I think I went on a bit but did okay.
If you see me at Eastercon, do prop me up and offer me vitamins. Until then, Cheerio!
Labels:
David Pirie,
Dollhouse,
Eastercon,
Kate Bush,
Mike Carey,
Odyssey 2010,
SF,
World Horror Convention
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"Fandom is a culture of post traumatic stress disorder" - love it!
Looks like you'll need to utilise your Cornell clone army like you did in the '08 eastercon, fingers crossed none of them go rogue this time round.
Looking forward to this; it'll be my first con
Oooh, this looks interesting. But I'm afraid if I ever made it to a con, I"d probably be the one who sits in the corner and smiles, since I'm really shy in real life.
Holy Post Traumatic Con disorder Batman. That's quite a lot of panels you have there.
As a kid I was bullied. Never got bullied for being a fan though. Though have come across folks since that try to make me feel below them for liking say something as uncool as Star Trek back in the day when Trek was flying high. Or for liking Star Wars or heaven forbid even reading comics.
Doesn't deter me though. I still read comics quite openly in public.
Yet you never get bullied for loving football don't you? Why are we so different?
Paul: I'll listen and give some feedback to your comic racks thing either later on or tomorrow.
Have a great rest of weekend.
Interesting set of panels! I'll definitely make Danie's social media one. Shame so many at 9am! not my favourite time at cons :-)
You can certainly get bullied for liking he wrong football team.
Is it a bit... I'm not sure of the word... but do you really want to suggest to a bunch of people in fandom that they are only in fandom because they are wounded, damaged? It seems an odd way to make friends.
Paul: That was a really good series of interviews that the girls from comicracks did. Was fun to hear Chris Lynch. I interviewed him last month for my show and he's a really funny guy. And his book The Dark is a really cool read:)
I think your interview was a great one for them to end with. Icing atop the cake so to speak. As always I really enjoyed what you shared about Doctor Who and Comics. And what you shared about Pulse was great. Can't wait to see it.
Goodness, Paul! When will you fin time for beers?
I still want to hear this Kate Bush talk! You're not coming to the New Zealand national con, are you? We moved it to the weekend before Melbourne Worldcon especially for you!
Brackers: I've had a number of other people find that chimes with them too. Simon: it was an isolated incident, and there were very few fatalities. I can't stress that enough. Rachel: I hope you have a good time! Garpu: I think you'd find lots of like-minded people. Ian: I don't think people often get bullied for being fans. I think fandom is a culture formed by those bullied at school. And thanks! Pan: yeah, I'm going to be a bit of a sight at the time in the morning. SK: I don't see what's wrong with having been the victim of a bullying. That's how my own fandom was formed. Lee: I fear there may be less beer than usual! John: that sounds good, but I suspect we'll be driving around Aussie for a few weeks before the con.
Nothing wrong with having been a victim of bullying, Paul, but standing up in front of a room full of people you don't know and telling them that they must all be there because they are recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder -- which is how I read 'fandom is a culture of post traumatic stress disorder' -- seems presumptuous.
If there's someone there who claims not to have been bullied at school, how will you respond?
Goodness. I really should have said 'discuss'.
I just assumed it was implicit in putting something up for worldwide publication while inviting comment...
Good luck with all that lot! Wish I could be there. (It *so nearly* happened this year... =:o\ )
I hope one day it does!
Hope you're having oodles of fun conventioning! :)
I've just noticed that all of my previous comments on older entries are all gone! Was it something I said? :( Or is it just that Blogger is messing with me...?
Not my doing, Teresa, you're always welcome here.
Yay! Thanks for making me feel welcome! I'll just set up a cot over here... :)
A couple of notes upon finishing "Doctor Who and the Silurians" just this very now:
- the idea of the Silurians is fascinating, and I'm glad they're apparently coming back in the new series...but would they refer to themselves as Silurians if that's the human name for them?
- was the BBC Radiophonic Workshop made up of a drunk elementary school orchestra back then? Seriously, STOP IT WITH THE FUCKING KAZOO! Timmy, lay off the vodka at birthday parties so you can play the oboe. Your "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game will probably improve, too.
- while the Silurians are interesting, this story was not the best written ever. Also, it felt like all the actors were at a table reading. They were phoning in their performances, and it was only, like, the second story with this Doctor! Sheesh...
- I really want the 3rd Doctor and Liz Shaw to date. :) Maybe I'm just a sucker for a well-built older man who's really smart and has a tattoo, but this is the first Doctor/companion pairing that doesn't feel like "crotchety old man" and "little girl." They seem to really be each other's speed.
- Then again, that would probably upset The Brigadier, who clearly wants this Doctor for himself. Seriously, must he ALWAYS stand TWO INCHES away from him?! ;)
- Lastly, I was surprised by how grim this storyline was, considering that Doctor Who was always intended as a children's show. Not just grim, but I was surprised by how much death happened on-screen, and how much interaction there was with dead bodies. The "monsters" wouldn't have scared me behind my couch as a child, but all the death and disease talk would've kept me up at night.
That is all. :)
I didn't bring vitamins but having reached the Dollhouse panel, you seem to be holding up very well!