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SFX Weekender
6 February 2011 20:54Currently stressed senseless trying to organise these fellowship applications. Things keep being unexpected, but we're getting there and hopefully soon they'll all be submitted in some shape or form so I can think about other things. Talk for tomorrow looking fairly acceptable anyway. So, on to the more interesting...
Spent yesterday at the SFX Weekender, which takes place in the uber-classy holiday resort of Pontin's Camber Sands. Still, one tolerates the rather basic (albeit largely clean-ish) accommodation for a rather jolly little convention.
I think the highlights for me were:
- a panel of authors recommending the must-read classics of sci-fi and fantasy - they intentionally avoided the "obvious" ones and suggested lots that I hadn't read but sounded really interesting
- Sir Terry Pratchett, obviously!
- Russell Tovey, cos he is adorable
- interesting discussions by authors of spin-off and shared universe fiction (Dr Who and Warhammer novelisations, etc.) - mentally comparing their perceptions to the experience of a fanfiction author
I impulse-bought a new hoodie from Genki Gear, in Large so I can share it with CRI if necessary (quite amusing that I actually buy t-shirts and hoodies in a larger size than he does because I like to be swallowed up by them). Apart from that I was quite restrained and didn't overspend (though did spend a while flicking through the books of autographed photos - but mostly because I found their differential pricing fascinating. Robert De Niro photos were going for £120, Johnny Depp for £70, Kirsten Dunst for about £30, and Sara Cox for a mere £15. It must sort of suck to be a celebrity and realise your signed photos are going for one eighth of the price of some other people's!).
There was a costume party in the evening. The friends who organised our tickets had declared that they wanted us to go as themed group, and proposed Harry Potter as the theme. We thusly had a Lucius, a Bellatrix, a Tonks, a Harry, a Generic Death-Eater and I decided to go as McGonagall (= cheap and easy). I didn't look too bad, although it took a fair amount of hairspray to keep my bun vaguely in place, my hat kept on becoming impotent and I took the waist of the skirt in a bit too enthusiastically so getting into it took some wriggling. CRI refused to play along with an enforced theme of any kind, and so dressed up as The Fly. The overall effect was quite disturbing as he didn't look like him at all when it was all in place (a two-person job). Lots of people thought he was awesome, so he posed for quite a lot of photos. Other costumes included a human centipede (scary!) and a baby Davros (yes, someone brought their kidlet and let it wander around in that for a while). There was also a baby Yoda hanging out with a bunch of Jedis. Cuuute.
I now have a list of books to go and acquire (am also really really excited about the book Sir Terry is working on with Stephen Baxter - they talked about it at the con and it sounded really really interesting). Oh, and the rest of the series of Being Human is set to be really cool.
Back home now. Looking forward to a few days of vegetables and hydration (the downside to cons is that both are either expensive or non-existent!) and showers and good heating (with both electric heaters going full pelt, the chalet was still more than a little cold - not that it seemed to mess with my sleep according to reports from the other people sharing the chalet!).
Spent yesterday at the SFX Weekender, which takes place in the uber-classy holiday resort of Pontin's Camber Sands. Still, one tolerates the rather basic (albeit largely clean-ish) accommodation for a rather jolly little convention.
I think the highlights for me were:
- a panel of authors recommending the must-read classics of sci-fi and fantasy - they intentionally avoided the "obvious" ones and suggested lots that I hadn't read but sounded really interesting
- Sir Terry Pratchett, obviously!
- Russell Tovey, cos he is adorable
- interesting discussions by authors of spin-off and shared universe fiction (Dr Who and Warhammer novelisations, etc.) - mentally comparing their perceptions to the experience of a fanfiction author
I impulse-bought a new hoodie from Genki Gear, in Large so I can share it with CRI if necessary (quite amusing that I actually buy t-shirts and hoodies in a larger size than he does because I like to be swallowed up by them). Apart from that I was quite restrained and didn't overspend (though did spend a while flicking through the books of autographed photos - but mostly because I found their differential pricing fascinating. Robert De Niro photos were going for £120, Johnny Depp for £70, Kirsten Dunst for about £30, and Sara Cox for a mere £15. It must sort of suck to be a celebrity and realise your signed photos are going for one eighth of the price of some other people's!).
There was a costume party in the evening. The friends who organised our tickets had declared that they wanted us to go as themed group, and proposed Harry Potter as the theme. We thusly had a Lucius, a Bellatrix, a Tonks, a Harry, a Generic Death-Eater and I decided to go as McGonagall (= cheap and easy). I didn't look too bad, although it took a fair amount of hairspray to keep my bun vaguely in place, my hat kept on becoming impotent and I took the waist of the skirt in a bit too enthusiastically so getting into it took some wriggling. CRI refused to play along with an enforced theme of any kind, and so dressed up as The Fly. The overall effect was quite disturbing as he didn't look like him at all when it was all in place (a two-person job). Lots of people thought he was awesome, so he posed for quite a lot of photos. Other costumes included a human centipede (scary!) and a baby Davros (yes, someone brought their kidlet and let it wander around in that for a while). There was also a baby Yoda hanging out with a bunch of Jedis. Cuuute.
I now have a list of books to go and acquire (am also really really excited about the book Sir Terry is working on with Stephen Baxter - they talked about it at the con and it sounded really really interesting). Oh, and the rest of the series of Being Human is set to be really cool.
Back home now. Looking forward to a few days of vegetables and hydration (the downside to cons is that both are either expensive or non-existent!) and showers and good heating (with both electric heaters going full pelt, the chalet was still more than a little cold - not that it seemed to mess with my sleep according to reports from the other people sharing the chalet!).
