Rixosous

Off to Arisia Tomorrow

I'm heading off to Arisia tomorrow for what promises to be an unusual convention for me.  I'm wearing three hats this weekend:

- Dealer.  I'll be selling the chainmail I make out of room 345.  This will mean that I spend most of my time in the room, so if you want to see me, stop in and say hi.  I do expect to get out for the Steampunk Ball and the odd program item here and there, but mostly I'm going to be hanging out there, maybe catching up on my blogging a little.

- Fast Track (kids) program participant.  I'm doing three craft program items for the children's track: tissue paper collage, mask making, and magic wands.  (I wonder how much interest there will be in the latter now that the Harry Potter series is done with.)

- Party host.  I'm hosting a private party for a friend and have been quietly amassing little oddities of decor like a strobe light and a glowing eyeball and acquiring lots of naked cupcakes (because every party needs cupcakes).

I do Fast Track program every year, but I haven't vended at a con in about fifteen years and have only hosted two con parties since I gave up the worldcon Costumers' Suite after 1997.  I like hosting parties, so if this one goes well I may try to do more.

I'll be happy to see any Rixo readers who are attending Arisia, but you may have to make the effort to come find me.

Bye, Forry

The sad news this weekend is that Forry Ackerman, sci-fi fan supreme, has died at 92.  This was not unexpected; he had been in such poor health lately that his death had already been mistakenly reported at least once.

Good obituaries are at the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.  I'm sure there will be many, many more in fannish publications and on fannish websites.  I won't try to summarize his deliciously weird and eclectic life (see the obits), and he wasn't a personal friend.  I never visited the Ackermansion.  But I encountered him once, and it was memorable:

Darkovercon Schedule

I'm heading down to Maryland again this weekend for Darkovercon (officially known as Darkover Grand Council Meeting, but I've never seen/heard it called that except on the flyers).  Darkovercon is a nifty little con of only a few hundred people that lately mixes a few old-line Darkover fans with a heavy dose of SCA, pagan, and queer fandoms, leavened with a whole lot of folk music and an extremely eccentric video track.  The whole thing is very low-key and fun and a great place to hang out with a small group of authors who are regulars (Katherine Kurtz, C.S. Friedman, Tamora Pierce, etc.)  It's an extremely dance-friendly con, so I have a dance-heavy schedule:

Friday 4:00-6:00pm
Early Playford Dances (1650-1670)
Weird country dances from the early editions of The Dancing Master.  I avoid the standard repertoire as much as I can in favor of progressive rounds, longways multifigure progressives, and some of the more exotic short-set dances.  I usually get a small but enthusiastic crowd willing to follow me through some odd dance history detours.

Saturday 10:00-11:00am
Regency Men's Costume Explored and Explained
Just what it sounds like: I'll talk about men's Regency costume and review some of the commercial patterns available.  I even have a short handout.

Saturday 5:00-7:00pm
Regency Ball
Also just what it sounds like.  Early 19th-century dancing, with live music and without the fancy historical steps.

Saturday 9:00-11:30(ish)pm
Clam Chowder Concert/B.O.G.S. fundraiser
I'm not part of the concert itself, but for the past eleven years I've run a fundraiser at the intermission on behalf of Children's Hospital which has raised tens of thousands of dollars over the years to benefit the sick kiddies, peaking with the $10,000 we raised in our tenth year.  (Think about that number relative to a con of 3-400 people!)  We've scaled down our ambitions since then so as not to burn out our small donor pool, but I still hope to bring in a couple of thousand dollars this year despite the dire economy.  The entire thing started as a slightly naughty joke back in 1997 (explanation here) and has evolved into the con's pet charity with a crew of Wenches and Mensches to collect small unmarked bills and a polished money-counting operation to give us a running total; we raise all that money in well under an hour.  I'll be one of the folks up at the microphone telling stories and begging for money.

As usual, I'd be happy to see any Rixo readers that happen to be at Darkovercon.  I'll have a long relaxed stretch in the middle of Saturday to hang out and lots of free time Sunday.  I'm going back and forth via mobile-wireless-Chinatownoid-bus once again so as not to have to drive through the heavy holiday weekend traffic.

Philcon, anyone?

I pretty much know the answer to this question for the regular commenters here, given locations, but is anyone else lurking around who might be going to Philcon this weekend?  I'm going to be doing the donut version, attending Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday morning/early afternoon, then leaving for a gig in Gettysburg around three in the afternoon and returning Sunday morning.  I'm not on program, but I'll be working program ops, checking in panelists and otherwise being useful, so I should be fairly easy to find.  That's assuming I manage to find the convention, which is actually in New Jersey this year, in a Philly suburb called Cherry Hill.  According to Mapquest there are two different Cherry Hills in New Jersey.  If I find the correct one, the hotel has free wireless, as does my Saturday night hotel in Gettysburg, so I expect to be online now and then all weekend.  (Once upon a time I went to cons and didn't even check my email...sigh.)

Saloncon '08 Ramblings

A few thoughts on last weekend's Saloncon, which I spent merrily absorbing the steampunk aesthetic.  Saloncon bills itself as Victoriana for the 21st century, which apparently means sort of Victorian-Goth with a heavy dose of steampunk.  Overall: small con, somewhat underorganized, but I had a great time.  I took too many pictures to intersperse them in this post, so I've put them all into a photo album which has been up for a couple of days but which folks may not have noticed if they aren't reading the pre-Saloncon steampunk thread.  Follow on for my ramblings...

Studyin' Some Steampunk (Saloncon!)

I'm heading down to Saloncon in Somerset, New Jersey this weekend, which will be my first-ever Steampunk event.  I'm going to be teaching a little bit of Victorian dance (ably assisted by Raven) Saturday afternoon, but otherwise will just be hanging out and enjoying guest author Catherynne Valente's program items and generally soaking up the ambiance.  I would love to do a Steampunk ball (Victorian style) sometime or lure some Steampunk folks into historical dancing.  Plus, I find the whole concept fascinating.

Denvention 3 (2008 worldcon) Schedule

I've been fairly invisible electronically the last few weeks because I'm working frantically to get costumes done for Denvention, the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention.  Since I'm still working on that, this will be short!

I have a light program schedule for Denvention, all dance-related.  If you want to find me, the easiest way is to catch me at the end of one of these items.  With luck and some more intense sewing today, I'll also be entered in the masquerade and will be much more relaxed after that's over.

Wednesday, 6:15pm
Summerfair on Barrayar
CCC - Korbel Room 2BC/3BC
Join diplomats from all over the galaxy at His Majesty Gregor Vorbarra's Summerfair Reception on Imperial Barrayar.

(This item is also known as the Guest of Honor reception.  My part in it will be to lead a half-hour or so of dancing in the style of a Barrayaran Ball.  Careful readers of Bujold's books (especially Barrayar and Mirror Dance), will be pleased that this will include Mazeppa's Minuet and the Mirror Dance, which is considerably harder than it sounds in the books, as well as some waltzing.  There will be ample food and drink and areas to socialize outside the dancing space - come join the fun!)

Saturday, 2:30pm
The Dowager Duchess of Denver's Ball
Sheraton Grand Ballroom
Join us for some whimsical entertainment as, following long-stand fannish tradition, Denvention 3 hosts a Regency Ball....We encourage you to come dressed in your 18th or 19th century best, by we also welcome the normal gamut of con attire from Klingons and elves to t-shirts and jeans.  Our staff is planning a card room for those not inclined to dance, and you are welcome to come observe, kibitz, or participate in a rubber of whist or piquet.

(I assume my part in this is obvious: I'm running the dancing!  Expect a mix of country dances, waltzes, and the delightful Caledonian Quadrilles, all from the 1810-1820 era.  These are not the same dances John Hertz generally teaches, and I tend to run faster-paced balls with dances coming at a lively clip.  My infamous essay on Kickery, "Real Regency Dancers Don't Turn Single" will give you some idea what to expect, though I will not be teaching any footwork at worldcon.)

Other than that, my only definite commitments are the masquerade and the Business Meeting on Thursday and Friday mornings, where I will be attempting to mess with the Hugo Awards as part of the Digital Wilderness committee.  (No, I don't actually think this is fun, but I think it's necessary.)

2008 Hugos: Miscellaneous Cateories

I've discussed each of the Best Novel nominees in separate posts (here, here, here, here, here) and went through the short fiction earlier today; this is a quick zoom through the remaining categories, hangin' my votes and some of my thought processes out for all the world to see and probably complain about.  I do reserve the right to change my mind here and there when I'm actually casting my ballot, but this is where I am right now.

This whole Hugo series has been a ton of work, but it was a great incentive to read some really good stuff and very useful for making me pull my thoughts together and hopefully vote on a slightly more rational basis in some categories than I normally do.

Two principles I was working on this year:
1. Voting on actual work in 2007, not name recognition/reputation/historical track record
2. Actually voting No Award if I think some nominees simply aren't awardworthy or a category is problematic

2008 Short Fiction Hugo Voting

I'm not going to do anything elaborate with the short fiction nominees, just give my choices and a couple of lines of explanation.  All of the short fiction is conveniently available online; a full linked list is on Denvention's Hugo nominee page.  I really, really like this practice; I'd never have tracked these down otherwise.

Time to vote for the Hugos...

...and, as usual, I'm doing all the reading I'm going to do in the last month before the deadline.  Most of it in the last week before the deadline.  Over the next few days I'm going to finish reading the five novels and post a few words about each.  I might do the short fiction as well, depending on how my reading time pans out.  I haven't even started the short works, but I have a holiday weekend coming up with my first days off since mid-May and feel entirely justified in spending at least one of those days in bed reading.

A few thoughts on some of the nominations before I go on to serious vote-planning:

Balticon '08 Ramblings

Balticon memories.  I've been too tired to write about these.  I'm still tired, so I will ignore things like complete sentences in favor of fragments and a few pictures (click the thumbnails for larger versions).  Overall, it was a nice, relaxing convention with just enough work (panels and a ball) and plenty of time to just hang out.

Friday's travel: A car trip of great silliness with Marc, Keira, and Mer.  Did not have to drive, which is fortunate, since I was too tired to drive.  I was also too tired to sleep, so I emitted hyperactive and semi-coherent chatter for several hours while I navigated Keira through my backroads route down NJ.  Conversational highlights of the trip included: (1) The urgent need to figure out while driving through NJ which character sings "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" in Guys and Dolls (not remembering this information makes me feel senile.)  This eventually involved a cell phone call to someone's mother and finally a smartphone google, and was followed by a cheerful round of my out-of-tune singing (more like chanting) of the whole thing to show that I can still remember lyrics even if I can't remember Nicely-Nicely.  (2) Intense analysis of a defective sign which announced a "De ayed Gree".  The relationship of the Gree and the Grue.  Reasons for and methods of removal of the "a" from agree to result in the Gree and the consequences of this to traffic.

There were also some deliciously weird songs on Keira's iPod that I failed to make a note of but must get from her sometime.

Somewhere in Pennsylvania I finally managed to collapse mentally and slept until we got to the Baltimore beltway and I had to navigate again

Balticon 42 Program Schedule

Please say hi if you're going to be at Balticon this weekend!  I'll be around mostly on Saturday and Sunday.  My program schedule consists of two costume panels and a Regency ball:

Costuming for Regency Events and Naomi Novik's Temeraire Universe
(Ladies)
Saturday, 2:00-3:00pm
Susan de Guardiola, Mary Alice Ladd, Keira Sokolowski
Fashion information for the ladies of Naomi Novik's novels or for the Regency dancer/reenactor.  Fashion plates, changes during the early 19th century, recommended patterns and resources, underwear, and accessories for the complete lady of the Napoleonic era.  Information for both the beginner and the experienced costumer.

Costuming for Regency Events and Naomi Novik's Temeraire Universe
(Gentlemen)
Saturday, 3:00-4:00pm
Susan de Guardiola, Marc Hartstein, Jeff Poretsky
Fashion information for the gentlemen (and the female aviators) of Naomi Novik's novels or the Regency dancer/reenactor.  Fashion plates, style notes, recommended patterns and resources, and hands-on lessons on how to tie a cravat in several early 19th-century styles!

and, now that you know what to wear:

Your Attendance is Requested for
The Dover & Trafalgar Ball
Sunday, 1:00-3:00pm, Garden Room
Aviators, naval officers, and all the best of society are invited to celebrate two great victories over Napoleon in Naomi Novik's Temeraire universe with lively early 19th century country dancing led by Susan de Guardiola, assisted by members of The Elegant Arts Society.  Period costume is encouraged and admired, but not required.  (Female dragon captains may wish to wear dresses, to preserve the secret of their presence in the Corps.)  All dragons are requested to remain outside the ballroom!

We'll be doing historical figures of the 1800-1810 era (that's pre-waltz, pre-quadrille), but not historical steps unless you want to!

Patrick Stewart: Class Act

You know, if I had a chance to interview Patrick Stewart, I wouldn't spend four out of my eight questions on Star Trek.  What an insult for Newsweek to send a shallow and ignorant reporter with an obvious agenda to an actor with a career as long, varied, and distinguished at Stewart's.

I've been impressed with Patrick Stewart ever since I saw his Claudius in the BBC's 1980 Hamlet (with Derek Jacobi in the title role) in junior high school in the early 1980s.  More recently, I was hugely pleased with his current turn as Macbeth, now moved to Broadway.  So I really wish I'd been a fly on the wall to watch him take down the reporter who tried so hard in the recent Newsweek interview to make him slam a segment of his audience:

When you're onstage, aren't you worried about weird Trekkie fans in the audience?
Oh, come on, that's just a silly thing to say.

I wasn't a particular fan of ST:TNG and haven't even seen most of it, though I have a huge, huge soft spot in my heart for the original series.  And I certainly don't delude myself that any of Star Trek is a work of art on a par with the works of Shakespeare, which are much more interesting to this "weird Trekkie fan" who toddled down to Brooklyn to see Stewart in the Scottish play back in February.

So it's very pleasant to see an actor of Stewart's stature and range actually go out of his way to defend not only the show, but the fans against this sniggering idiot of a reporter:

But they are weird.
How many do you know personally? You couldn't be more wrong. Here's the thing: if you say the fans are weird, that means there is something essentially weird about the show, and there is nothing weird about it. I'm very passionate when people like you snigger.

That last sentence ought to be on a t-shirt or button (paging Nancy Lebovitz...)

Thanks, Mr. Stewart.  You have class.

Lunacon '08 Ramblings

I arrived at Lunacon very worn out from my business trip to San Diego and determined to have a quiet, relaxing time.  This fell apart immediately, when I wandered in Friday evening with Marc and Keira and had to go straight into my first panel, "Body Language and Costume Presentation", while they got us checked into the hotel and unloaded.  We had more panelists than audience by a factor of 5:1, but the one audience member kept changing, so we gave specific advice to individuals and chatted among ourselves in between.

Program registration was smooth, smooth, smooth.  All items present and accounted for and acquired quickly.  Since pre-con program planning had been last-minute and unpleasantly disorganized, this was a relief and a bit of a surprise.  I did note that one item I had asked to be taken off of (and which did not appear on my personal program schedule) was nonetheless still on the program with my name on it.  Arrgh.  I decided I was not going to make this my problem.  Quiet and relaxing.

The Guests of Honor were Jacqueline Carey (Writer), Johnna Y. Klukas (Artist), Joe Siclari (Fan), and Winston Howlett (Special).  I had met Carey at last year's Darkovercon, so while I've enjoyed the Kushiel books, I didn't feel compelled to spend the con attending her stuff.  I was very, very pleased to see (2001 Hugo base creator) Johnna's unusual sculpture in wood and other media honored.

Lunacon '08 Program Schedule

My Lunacon program online schedule-by-participant still calls the program a working draft, but since the actual schedule doesn't seem to have changed since last week, I'm going to go ahead and post.  I have a light schedule this year, so I hope to have a lot of time to just hang out and chat with people.  Make my day by telling be you actually read Rixo!  My three pleasingly diverse items:

Body Language and Costume Presentation
Friday, 7:00-8:00pm
Lisa Ashton, Byron P. Connell, Susan de Guardiola, Juanita Nesbitt, David Weingart[M]
Body language can affect costuming; not just how a costume fits and falls, but the entire presentation. Learn to adjust your body language so that your costume in the center of attention, not you. A must for anyone who intends to participate in the Masquerade!

Naturally, I'll come at this one from the perspective of a historical dancer/costumer/reenactor and try to get beyond "princesses don't schlep" to how to stand and move so you look like you wear this sort of thing every day.

Worst. Secret. Organization. Ever.
Saturday, 4:00-5:00pm
Susan de Guardiola, Toni Lay, Misty Pendragon, Meredith Schwartz
In Doctor Who's "The Christmas Invasion," the Prime Minister admits she isn't supposed to know about Torchwood. In Torchwood, even their car has their name on it. Are they too busy shagging folks to remember to be covert, or have they just taken the term "undercover" waaaay too literally? A discussion about the dynamics of the Torchwood team and how they approach aliens, civilian life, and, most importantly, sexuality.

The last sentence of the description pretty much guarantees generic fan squee rather than any sort of sensible discussion.  But that's fun too.

Vampires: Soooo Five Minutes Ago
Saturday, 5:00-6:00pm
Susan de Guardiola, Keith DeCandido, Laura Anne Gilman, Michael Grapin, KT Pinto[M]
Are vampires passe? Have Buffy and Angel ruined the genre forever? Have vampires gone from scary things of nightmares to fluffy heroes and brooding lovers? How can we invigorate these ones[sic] terrifying creatures--or do we even want to?

Didn't I just do this panel at Arisia?  Yeah, mostly, but we'll have a slight change of personnel.  Same moderator, though, and I hope she has some new questions ready.  Interestingly, I'm not the only Token Non-Author here: I don't know Michael Grapin (at least not by name), but his bio proclaims him a photographer.  With this group I'm hoping I won't have to be the lonely voice reminding people that there are vampires in literature along with on TV and (if I'm lucky) that there were vampires on TV and in movies before Joss Whedon came along.

 

Hugo Nomination Help Needed!

All right, nominations for the 2008 Hugo Awards (for works of F&SF appearing during calendar year 2007) are due by Saturday, and I have no idea whatsoever who or what I will nominate in the various categories, except that it will not be any of the books/stories I've discussed here in the last week.  Suggestions would be very welcome, either:

1. Stuff I've read/seen and forgotten
2. Stuff I can read/see in the next five days (I read very fast and I bittorrent, but I have very little free time this week)
3. Stuff so good you can make a convincing case that I should nominate it unread/unseen.  That would have to be a really good case, and I will read/see it right afterwards and then complain bitterly about your taste if I think it wasn't worth it.
   

I also need people for the people-categories, though I don't have to have either read or seen them, just their work.  (If they're interesting-looking I'll be happy to look at their pictures too, but I draw the line at reading their palms or tattoos or minds or anything!)

I will probably do my nominating at 11:53pm on Saturday night, so I have until then to make decisions and absorb material.  Categories are:

• Written Fiction (print or electronic): Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story
• Other Writings (print or electronic): Fanzine, Semiprozine, Related Book
• Moving Pictures or People: Dramatic Presentation Short Form & Long Form (yes, I realize that Torchwood S01E12 & E13 are eligible, having aired on 1/1/07!)
• People: Editor Short Form & Long Form, Pro Artist, Fan Artist, Fan Writer, Campbell Award (for a new writer, not a Hugo)

Detailed eligibility rules are here.

And now I find out if more than three people are actually reading this blog:

HELP!

Arisia '08 Ramblings

My Arisia ramblings, containing (in no special order): a dangerous muffin, excess feathers, a secret alien formula, amusing neo-pros, and a short film all geeks ought to see.

Arisia '08 Program Schedule

I gather one posts one's schedule of program items on one's blog so all one's readers can, er, flock to them to gaze upon the blogger, or something like that.

I volunteered to do lots of artsy-craftsy things with Arisia's children's program (Fast Track) this year.  I don't have or plan to have children of my own, but I find that their imaginations are highly and pleasingly contagious.  When I hand a child a beautiful red feather and tell them it's from a phoenix and would go well on their wand, they believe it so intensely that for just a moment the whole annoying adulthood thing melts away, and I can believe it too.  (I am reminded of Miles Vorkosigan and his hat in "Borders of Infinity".  When you can see the phoenix...)

So all zero of my readers under 13 are welcome to come make nice artistic messes with me, and the miniscule number of Arisia attendees in what I fondly (and probably foolishly) imagine to be a tiny but interestingly eclectic flock of quiet lurking adult readers may all come hear me go on about vampire novels from the 1970s to the 1990s, and maybe into the 21st century, since I just have to mention Sunshine and The Historian.

Sat    1:00pm    FastTrack    Mask Making
Sat    2:00pm    FastTrack    Pipe Cleaner Dragons
Sat    10:00pm  Literature    Vampires in 20th Century Fiction

Sun    12:00pm FastTrack    Tissue Paper Collage
Sun    1:00pm   FastTrack    No-Sew Costumes
Sun    3:00pm   FastTrack    Face Painting
Sun    5:00pm   FastTrack    A la Ollivander: Magic Wands

Update: after some thought, I asked to be pulled from one of my Sunday items because I was worried about just burning out entirely on kids by the time I got to the fourth one (a solo item).  Four hours out of six was just a little too much.