Friday, May 25, 2001
A mystery is solved.... I wondered why some people spelled the Minnesota CONvergence as ConVergence, but then I find that there is an Australian ConVergence with the V capitalized instead of the ON capitalized in our CONvergence.
That's the problem with picking a word that includes CON in it as a convention name, I guess... :)
That's the problem with picking a word that includes CON in it as a convention name, I guess... :)
Ain't It Cool Newshas more links to the Fellowship trailer, including some quicktime ones that are a bit easier to download than the one on the official site
The Lord of the Rings
Has the new trailer for The Fellowship of the Ring, but I haven't been able to download it yet....
Has the new trailer for The Fellowship of the Ring, but I haven't been able to download it yet....
Thursday, May 24, 2001
TAP: Vol 12, Iss. 10. Kicking the Hobbit. Chris Mooney.
Interesting article about Tolkien as a more "serious" book...rather than just a book for fantasy geeks and the like...
Interesting article about Tolkien as a more "serious" book...rather than just a book for fantasy geeks and the like...
CNN.com - Jeffords leaves GOP, throwing Senate control to Democrats - May 24, 2001
I totally appreciate his situation -- I can understand his situation, as in a perfect world, I'd probably be a moderate Republican, but it's not a perfect world, and so I really look at the current ultra-conservative Republican party as something I can't be happy with at all, and don't support at all, for all sorts of obvious reasons.
I totally appreciate his situation -- I can understand his situation, as in a perfect world, I'd probably be a moderate Republican, but it's not a perfect world, and so I really look at the current ultra-conservative Republican party as something I can't be happy with at all, and don't support at all, for all sorts of obvious reasons.
Wednesday, May 23, 2001
- Hecklers.com: Sim Shatner
This is actually much better then the series ending to Star Trek:Voyager, which was well, like the rest of the series, a lot of wasted potential....
This is actually much better then the series ending to Star Trek:Voyager, which was well, like the rest of the series, a lot of wasted potential....
Jack Watling - 1923 - 2001
Unfortunately, the two Doctor Who stories he was in don't exist in the BBC archives, so it's mainly through audio recordings and a kind of confusing fan video that most of us encountered him in the series. Even though if you've seen the existing episode of The Web of Fear, or listened to the audio of it, you know that it was one of the better Doctor Who stories out there.
Unfortunately, the two Doctor Who stories he was in don't exist in the BBC archives, so it's mainly through audio recordings and a kind of confusing fan video that most of us encountered him in the series. Even though if you've seen the existing episode of The Web of Fear, or listened to the audio of it, you know that it was one of the better Doctor Who stories out there.
Tuesday, May 22, 2001
rootnode.org has the whole sorted story about Kaycee. It's interesting, in a mystery novel sense.
Well, Buffy was really good tonight. The "previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer" section was fantastic. Did they have a snapshot from the prior 99 episodes? I think so... it's amazing how physically they've all changed since the series started.
Angel was a bit difficult to get into tonight though, after that Buffy ending -- but I understand the logic of the two. I'll be interested to see how both series work on different networks next year....
Oh...today's (well, tomorrow's) trivia fact: I went to my first science fiction convention of any kind fifteen years ago. It was a one day Doctor Who event at the old prom center in St Paul with Peter Davison, run by the old Doctor Who Fan Club of America. I've still got some vivid memories of being a big geek and trying to debate what order we should put the novelizations in; as you could either put them in the order of the book release, or the order of the TV episode airdates.
It wasn't a convention in the sense I like them today -- a couple on stage events and a huge merchandise selection. But it was fun, and it was really good for our club. Our first, small step into a wider world. I should scan in some of my stuff from that sometime...
Angel was a bit difficult to get into tonight though, after that Buffy ending -- but I understand the logic of the two. I'll be interested to see how both series work on different networks next year....
Oh...today's (well, tomorrow's) trivia fact: I went to my first science fiction convention of any kind fifteen years ago. It was a one day Doctor Who event at the old prom center in St Paul with Peter Davison, run by the old Doctor Who Fan Club of America. I've still got some vivid memories of being a big geek and trying to debate what order we should put the novelizations in; as you could either put them in the order of the book release, or the order of the TV episode airdates.
It wasn't a convention in the sense I like them today -- a couple on stage events and a huge merchandise selection. But it was fun, and it was really good for our club. Our first, small step into a wider world. I should scan in some of my stuff from that sometime...
I've been told that the site I refered to here was a hoax, or at least not entirely accurate. I don't quite get it all, as I didn't see where it all was revealed to be a hoax, though I'm a little distressed because it hit me at a bad time personally, where I was thinking about mortality and the like.
How very sad.
But of course, there have been real people with real websites that have passed away too young. And of course all of the people that don't have web sites, aren't online... I'm glad I wrote a check to the American Cancer Society recently, and I hope other people do the same, as it's not a funny thing at all.
How very sad.
But of course, there have been real people with real websites that have passed away too young. And of course all of the people that don't have web sites, aren't online... I'm glad I wrote a check to the American Cancer Society recently, and I hope other people do the same, as it's not a funny thing at all.
Sunday, May 20, 2001
I just realized there was something a bit amusing; my birthday day was pretty much all wrapped up in fan activities of one sort of the other. But at the same time, maybe not so bad. It provides me with new and fresh social interaction, and gets me out of the house. It's sort of fitting, as it's such a big part of my social life these days.
First thing was a CONvergence programming meeting. At this point, it's all a matter of different people brainstorming to find out who they know to fill panels with, and drop panels that aren't working. I'm pretty psyched about the programming -- I wish I had a time machine, so I could be at the convention two or three times simultaneously. I'm really excited about this year's convention, I think it's going to be really fantastic.
Then as I had some spare time in the middle of the afternoon, I went to a Minn-stf meeting. Minn-stf is the "other" general science fiction group in the twin cities -- they're older than MISFITS, and there have been a lot of political problems over the years with the organization and there are some real hurt feelings around, because of some of the changes in Minicon. They've recently had some change in leadership though, and I've been sort of investigating them lately, because I've been curious about how different subgroups of "fans" operate, how they are similar, and how they are different, after my experience at Minicon.
MISFITS is definitely my group, but it's healthy to be in new situations, and I'm trying to not just be isolated in one group, as I think that's caused a lot of the problems in fandom over the last few years. I think it's a good time to be involved in fandom in the Twin Cities right now, I think there are a lot of interesting things going on, and I think they are getting better. And this would be my only chance to stop by one of their meetings for quite a while, as I've got a lot of conflicts. I was there for about an hour -- long enough that it wasn't just a quick cameo, short enough that it wasn't too uncomfortable or where I was stuck by myself. Their meetings are really parties (which I already knew)....and actually not a lot different than a Viewing Society, except without a television. I had a good time while I was there though, and I'll go back someday as my schedule allows...
And so then it was off to tonight's Minnesota Doctor Who Viewing Society gathering. 18 people, not bad at all. It was a Pertwee fest, in recognition of his death. Our main features were Carnival of Monsters, Day of the Daleks, and Curse of Peladon. I'd seen Carnival of Monsters within the last six months -- it was the last Pertwee I saw -- so I spent most of it just chatting away.
I was stunned when I watched Day of the Daleks, because I realized that it's actually the first Eric Saward story; Guns, a flashback sequence, and so on. I mean, take it as given that it's the best Pertwee Dalek story -- and I think it is a good one. If more of the rebels hadn't had any contact with the Doctor, it would have been even more Sawardesque. And of course, it, more than any other Doctor Who story, is one I remember from the novelization more than the TV story; it was probably my first Doctor Who novelization, and my first non-Tom Baker story in any format.
First thing was a CONvergence programming meeting. At this point, it's all a matter of different people brainstorming to find out who they know to fill panels with, and drop panels that aren't working. I'm pretty psyched about the programming -- I wish I had a time machine, so I could be at the convention two or three times simultaneously. I'm really excited about this year's convention, I think it's going to be really fantastic.
Then as I had some spare time in the middle of the afternoon, I went to a Minn-stf meeting. Minn-stf is the "other" general science fiction group in the twin cities -- they're older than MISFITS, and there have been a lot of political problems over the years with the organization and there are some real hurt feelings around, because of some of the changes in Minicon. They've recently had some change in leadership though, and I've been sort of investigating them lately, because I've been curious about how different subgroups of "fans" operate, how they are similar, and how they are different, after my experience at Minicon.
MISFITS is definitely my group, but it's healthy to be in new situations, and I'm trying to not just be isolated in one group, as I think that's caused a lot of the problems in fandom over the last few years. I think it's a good time to be involved in fandom in the Twin Cities right now, I think there are a lot of interesting things going on, and I think they are getting better. And this would be my only chance to stop by one of their meetings for quite a while, as I've got a lot of conflicts. I was there for about an hour -- long enough that it wasn't just a quick cameo, short enough that it wasn't too uncomfortable or where I was stuck by myself. Their meetings are really parties (which I already knew)....and actually not a lot different than a Viewing Society, except without a television. I had a good time while I was there though, and I'll go back someday as my schedule allows...
And so then it was off to tonight's Minnesota Doctor Who Viewing Society gathering. 18 people, not bad at all. It was a Pertwee fest, in recognition of his death. Our main features were Carnival of Monsters, Day of the Daleks, and Curse of Peladon. I'd seen Carnival of Monsters within the last six months -- it was the last Pertwee I saw -- so I spent most of it just chatting away.
I was stunned when I watched Day of the Daleks, because I realized that it's actually the first Eric Saward story; Guns, a flashback sequence, and so on. I mean, take it as given that it's the best Pertwee Dalek story -- and I think it is a good one. If more of the rebels hadn't had any contact with the Doctor, it would have been even more Sawardesque. And of course, it, more than any other Doctor Who story, is one I remember from the novelization more than the TV story; it was probably my first Doctor Who novelization, and my first non-Tom Baker story in any format.
