3anglemark
>2 Aquila: You do have a longer distance to travel than we do, in all fairness.
5Maddz
I know there's a bunch of the Gaming Tavern habituées coming, plus people from the Peterborough SF Club.
We're actually starting our road trip tomorrow, and plan to arrive Wednesday.
We're actually starting our road trip tomorrow, and plan to arrive Wednesday.
6andyl
>5 Maddz:
Waves from Peterborough. We have 5 people going from Peterborough SF Club (and one who has moved to just outside Glasgow a few months ago). I am the only one on LibraryThing.
Waves from Peterborough. We have 5 people going from Peterborough SF Club (and one who has moved to just outside Glasgow a few months ago). I am the only one on LibraryThing.
7anglemark
>5 Maddz: You're obviously taking the high road then, as we'll be there afore ye. (Arriving on Monday, staying in the Hilton Glasgow.)
8Maddz
>6 andyl: That be Neil then! I was chatting with him the other day on Discord.
>7 anglemark: More like the slow road! We're staying a night with Paul's mother to do her shopping, then spending a night at Wroxeter to visit the Roman city, then spending a night in Yorkshire near where I used to stay as a child. It's because I'm the sole driver and *really* don't want to try to do the whole drive in a day (been there, done that when I was a lot younger and had a co-driver). Coming back we're staying with friends in Newcastle after visiting Hadrian's Wall, then heading home. We might stop for the night near York and visit the Jorvik Centre or we'll just take a long lunch break.
>7 anglemark: More like the slow road! We're staying a night with Paul's mother to do her shopping, then spending a night at Wroxeter to visit the Roman city, then spending a night in Yorkshire near where I used to stay as a child. It's because I'm the sole driver and *really* don't want to try to do the whole drive in a day (been there, done that when I was a lot younger and had a co-driver). Coming back we're staying with friends in Newcastle after visiting Hadrian's Wall, then heading home. We might stop for the night near York and visit the Jorvik Centre or we'll just take a long lunch break.
11AnnieMod
I am flying in on Wednesday after a stop in London for some classical music; staying at the Hilton in Glasgow. If someone wants to meet/say hi, drop me a note here in LT.
12MHThaung
I'll be there (we're making it our honeymoon!) although combining it with meeting various friends. This will be my first Worldcon. It's almost paralysing, trying to decide what sessions to attend.
13anglemark
At a couple of previous European Worldcons - at least five years ago in Dublin, I can't remember about Helsinki or London in 2014 - we've arranged a small meetup in the con bar. We might want to do that again.
17pgmcc
>16 RobertDay:
Sorry to hear I will not see you in Glasgow.
Sorry to hear I will not see you in Glasgow.
18Maddz
We've arrived in Glasgow and checked into the hotel. Going to have a little rest, then we'll head over and register.
19Maddz
>12 MHThaung: Don't worry, it's always like that. I usually run through the schedule ticking items that look interesting, then wince to see the number of clashes and the number of lacunae. There is no human way you'll get to everything, so don't even try.
20AnnieMod
>12 MHThaung: Don’t try to over-schedule yourself - schedule some free time as well. You want to go to everything but by Day 2, all you will want will be time to sit down somewhere quietly and do nothing for 30 minutes. So just make sure you leave yourself time to breathe. :)
21Neil_Luvs_Books
One day I hope to make it to WorldCon. It sounds like a lot of fun.
22RobertDay
Streamed my first session today, a panel on Iain Banks' mainstream novels and how they relate to his sf. Very interesting , let down by a very stuttery live feed. Now waiting for the live stream of the "Interstellar" music score, which is either running nearly 30 minutes late or having immense Technical Difficulties.
25MHThaung
Hope everyone who went had a great time!
>19 Maddz: >20 AnnieMod: Thanks for the wise words! We restricted ourselves to 2-3 sessions per day and fitted in visits to various old friends (it being our honeymoon and all...). I'm glad that there are some recordings available for catching up at leisure.
>19 Maddz: >20 AnnieMod: Thanks for the wise words! We restricted ourselves to 2-3 sessions per day and fitted in visits to various old friends (it being our honeymoon and all...). I'm glad that there are some recordings available for catching up at leisure.
28pgmcc
>27 Maddz:
Waves back!
Waves back!
29andyl
>27 Maddz:
I also saw both halves of anglemark.
I really enjoyed the two performances I saw - Dune the Musical and The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. Went to some good panels, had some good beer and chat in the bar too. Oh and bought some books (of course).
I also saw both halves of anglemark.
I really enjoyed the two performances I saw - Dune the Musical and The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. Went to some good panels, had some good beer and chat in the bar too. Oh and bought some books (of course).
30anglemark
I have added the con as a venue, for those of us who use the "Where from" field, by the way.
31RobertDay
BBC Radio 4 has an influential and long-running magazine programme, Women's Hour which has been looking over the past few months, on and off, at genre fiction and how women relate to it. So this morning they got around to science fiction and fantasy, and of course I listened. After the segment, I had to sit down and dash off an e-mail to them. In part, I said:
" I began to wonder if I had myself slipped into some sort of alternate universe - one where the preceding weekend, the World Science Fiction Convention had not been held in Glasgow; one where all six Hugo awards for written science fiction or fantasy had not gone to women writers; one where half of the guests of honour were not women; one where many of the panel and lecture participants were not women; and one where more than half the senior organising committee were not women.
Neither of your two guests seemed to be aware of either the convention, nor of the long-standing role of women in science fiction. Yes, the roots of science fiction were predominantly male, but women have now been visibly active in the field for more than half a century."
I added that their colleagues on R4's arts magazine programme Front Row were more on the ball as they'd interviewed Hugo winner Emily Tesh, even if it was well after the event on Tuesday evening.
It'll be interesting to see if I get any feedback...
" I began to wonder if I had myself slipped into some sort of alternate universe - one where the preceding weekend, the World Science Fiction Convention had not been held in Glasgow; one where all six Hugo awards for written science fiction or fantasy had not gone to women writers; one where half of the guests of honour were not women; one where many of the panel and lecture participants were not women; and one where more than half the senior organising committee were not women.
Neither of your two guests seemed to be aware of either the convention, nor of the long-standing role of women in science fiction. Yes, the roots of science fiction were predominantly male, but women have now been visibly active in the field for more than half a century."
I added that their colleagues on R4's arts magazine programme Front Row were more on the ball as they'd interviewed Hugo winner Emily Tesh, even if it was well after the event on Tuesday evening.
It'll be interesting to see if I get any feedback...
32Maddz
Well, finally made it back home 15 minutes ago. Phew! 222 miles driven today, and 950 miles since leaving home on Sunday 4th. Our itinerary was:
Day 1. Drive from home to Corby, do Paul's mother's shopping as we wouldn't be back for 3 weeks. Overnight there.
Day 2. Drive from Corby to Wroxeter Roman City (M John Harrison's Viriconium, then onto a little village outside Shrewsbury for the night. A reasonable pub grub meal and a comfortable night.
Day 3. Drive from Shrewsbury to Hawes in Wensleydale. I used to stay in Wensleydale as a child in a little village called Aysgarth, so it was a trip down memory lane for me. We stopped in Sedburgh on the way and visited various bookshops where I made my only purchase of the trip: The Fourth Book of Jorkens. Not so comfortable a night - the bed made strange bonging noises if you turned over incautiously, and there were issues in the bedroom - light bulb out, coffee machine didn't work. The bathroom was much better appointed. The meal was OK.
Day 4: Drive from Hawes to Glasgow via the Buttertubs pass, although we managed to drive straight past them. Still, being cold and rainy, not a day for poking around outside; luckily we'd done that the day before driving along Wensleydale to Asygarth village and the Falls, then up to Semer Water. Got to Glasgow, checked into the hotel then did our con registration.
Days 5-9: WorldCon. Our main meal of the day was the hotel breakfast. Strangely, I don't fancy any bacon for the next month given the amount of bacon I've been eating (my usual breakfast is 2 slices of toast with Marmite...). I didn't actually buy any books - just scored a bunch of freebies from the 'fan library' area: Earthsong; Lord of the Two Lands; Queen of the Amazons; The Lost Prince; and https://www.librarything.com/work/23369725/ which isn't coming up as a touchstone. I also got a signed copy of How Like a God from Brenda Clough's table talk. I did buy some artwork and jewellery though, and a nice 3-D flexible Oriental dragon (which is now peering over a shelf in the non-fiction bookcase looking for the Chinese section 3 shelves down)
Day 10: Left Glasgow and drove to Vindolanda Roman Fort along Hadrian's Wall. We reckoned neither of us have been since the 1980s. We got there about 12:30 in time for the 1 pm tour, then visited the museum which neither of us had seen. We then drove to Newcastle where we stayed for the night with a gaming friend (he'd been to WorldCon for the first time) and went out for a meal.
Day 11: Drove 222 miles back home... And now I need to nip out to Morrisons or take lactase until we get there to do the main shop tomorrow morning (we thought there was a spare carton of lactose-free milk in the fridge otherwise we'd have picked some up with Paul's regular milk when we stopped for lunch.
All in all, a good but exhausting trip. I suspect if we go to Scotland again, we'll fly, like we did last time in 2005, but that will involve driving to Stanstead or Luton first... Trains take longer (2 - 3 changes) and are marginally more expensive for the ticket but not necessarily the overall cost once you've factored in getting to the airport and back.
Day 1. Drive from home to Corby, do Paul's mother's shopping as we wouldn't be back for 3 weeks. Overnight there.
Day 2. Drive from Corby to Wroxeter Roman City (M John Harrison's Viriconium, then onto a little village outside Shrewsbury for the night. A reasonable pub grub meal and a comfortable night.
Day 3. Drive from Shrewsbury to Hawes in Wensleydale. I used to stay in Wensleydale as a child in a little village called Aysgarth, so it was a trip down memory lane for me. We stopped in Sedburgh on the way and visited various bookshops where I made my only purchase of the trip: The Fourth Book of Jorkens. Not so comfortable a night - the bed made strange bonging noises if you turned over incautiously, and there were issues in the bedroom - light bulb out, coffee machine didn't work. The bathroom was much better appointed. The meal was OK.
Day 4: Drive from Hawes to Glasgow via the Buttertubs pass, although we managed to drive straight past them. Still, being cold and rainy, not a day for poking around outside; luckily we'd done that the day before driving along Wensleydale to Asygarth village and the Falls, then up to Semer Water. Got to Glasgow, checked into the hotel then did our con registration.
Days 5-9: WorldCon. Our main meal of the day was the hotel breakfast. Strangely, I don't fancy any bacon for the next month given the amount of bacon I've been eating (my usual breakfast is 2 slices of toast with Marmite...). I didn't actually buy any books - just scored a bunch of freebies from the 'fan library' area: Earthsong; Lord of the Two Lands; Queen of the Amazons; The Lost Prince; and https://www.librarything.com/work/23369725/ which isn't coming up as a touchstone. I also got a signed copy of How Like a God from Brenda Clough's table talk. I did buy some artwork and jewellery though, and a nice 3-D flexible Oriental dragon (which is now peering over a shelf in the non-fiction bookcase looking for the Chinese section 3 shelves down)
Day 10: Left Glasgow and drove to Vindolanda Roman Fort along Hadrian's Wall. We reckoned neither of us have been since the 1980s. We got there about 12:30 in time for the 1 pm tour, then visited the museum which neither of us had seen. We then drove to Newcastle where we stayed for the night with a gaming friend (he'd been to WorldCon for the first time) and went out for a meal.
Day 11: Drove 222 miles back home... And now I need to nip out to Morrisons or take lactase until we get there to do the main shop tomorrow morning (we thought there was a spare carton of lactose-free milk in the fridge otherwise we'd have picked some up with Paul's regular milk when we stopped for lunch.
All in all, a good but exhausting trip. I suspect if we go to Scotland again, we'll fly, like we did last time in 2005, but that will involve driving to Stanstead or Luton first... Trains take longer (2 - 3 changes) and are marginally more expensive for the ticket but not necessarily the overall cost once you've factored in getting to the airport and back.
33pgmcc
>31 RobertDay:
Well said.
Well said.
34RobertDay
>32 Maddz: Too late, we found that you could fly from Birmingham to Glasgow for about a third of the rail fare. To drive, it would have been about three tanks of petrol in my car, but it's 25 years old and needs a service before taking it that far.
35pgmcc
>32 Maddz:
Glad to hear you have arrived home. Time for a rest…if you can.
Glad to hear you have arrived home. Time for a rest…if you can.
36RobertDay
>33 pgmcc: The two guests were Moira Buffini and Larissa Lai. Lai is a Tiptree Award winner, and so perhaps should have had a slightly more informed perspective than she displayed.
37andyl
>34 RobertDay:
The fare from Peterborough to Glasgow - via Edinburgh so no strange split ticketing - was £98 each using a Two-Together railcard. Which I thought OK - although the return was much cheaper than the outbound. However the return train was cancelled from Edinburgh back to Peterborough so having to do a claim for compensation.
The fare from Peterborough to Glasgow - via Edinburgh so no strange split ticketing - was £98 each using a Two-Together railcard. Which I thought OK - although the return was much cheaper than the outbound. However the return train was cancelled from Edinburgh back to Peterborough so having to do a claim for compensation.
38Maddz
>34 RobertDay: I topped up after each day of driving, never dropping below 1/2 tank or so. The most expensive was in Glasgow before we left. The car had it's annual service & MoT the previous week as the MoT expired on the 8th...
As far as flying goes, we still have to get to the airport - whichever one we use. Last time we flew was 6 years ago to Greece from Luton, and a return pre-booked taxi was £100 then... Plus all the time faffing around at the airport, and problems with lost luggage - one person we knew flew from Heathrow, but his luggage didn't... I did hear other lost luggage stories. Overall, I think going by train will be easier for us despite needing 2 or 3 changes...
>36 RobertDay: I plan to! However, I have to sort out laundry this evening and then think about a weekly shop tomorrow.
As far as flying goes, we still have to get to the airport - whichever one we use. Last time we flew was 6 years ago to Greece from Luton, and a return pre-booked taxi was £100 then... Plus all the time faffing around at the airport, and problems with lost luggage - one person we knew flew from Heathrow, but his luggage didn't... I did hear other lost luggage stories. Overall, I think going by train will be easier for us despite needing 2 or 3 changes...
>36 RobertDay: I plan to! However, I have to sort out laundry this evening and then think about a weekly shop tomorrow.
39MHThaung
We live in London, so it was easy to travel by train. The outward one was delayed by 31 min (giving us a 50% refund) and the homeward one by 21 min (25% refund). So all in all, we've done pretty well with our travel budget :)
Like >29 andyl:, we watched the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, which was a right hoot! They have a YouTube channel if anyone's interested in checking them out.
Like >29 andyl:, we watched the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, which was a right hoot! They have a YouTube channel if anyone's interested in checking them out.
40Maddz
>39 MHThaung: Our train choice is to go via Peterborough & Edinburgh or add in a 3rd change at York. We could travel via London, but that would be much more expensive.
There is a service from Peterborough direct to Glasgow but there's only 1 train/day and that gets in after 9pm, which means staying an extra night if we want to register the day before. It still takes over 5:30 hours in total.
Most are 2 changes via Edinburgh adding at least 30 minutes to the journey. Ack, not nice, especially if you have to change platforms hauling multiple pieces of luggage.
There is a service from Peterborough direct to Glasgow but there's only 1 train/day and that gets in after 9pm, which means staying an extra night if we want to register the day before. It still takes over 5:30 hours in total.
Most are 2 changes via Edinburgh adding at least 30 minutes to the journey. Ack, not nice, especially if you have to change platforms hauling multiple pieces of luggage.
41andyl
>40 Maddz:
Usually changing at York and Edinburgh is faster than just changing at Edinburgh (fewer intermediate stops). Also getting the fast train to Glasgow Queen Street from Edinburgh rather than the slow train to Glasgow Central and you can get that time to less than 4 hours 50 mins. However I cannot recommend hauling heavy luggage (especially with stairs) - my back is still complaining about me doing that yesterday.
Usually changing at York and Edinburgh is faster than just changing at Edinburgh (fewer intermediate stops). Also getting the fast train to Glasgow Queen Street from Edinburgh rather than the slow train to Glasgow Central and you can get that time to less than 4 hours 50 mins. However I cannot recommend hauling heavy luggage (especially with stairs) - my back is still complaining about me doing that yesterday.
42RobertDay
I've written a blog post as a consequence of stuff that happened - or rather, didn't happen - after the Worldcon. It's been brewing for a while beforehand, though:
https://robertday154.wordpress.com/2024/08/22/i-have-been-faithful-to-thee-scien...
https://robertday154.wordpress.com/2024/08/22/i-have-been-faithful-to-thee-scien...
43Alexandra_book_life
>42 RobertDay: Thank you for sharing!
Sci-fi fans will continue to read sci-fi and ignore the literary "establishment" ;)
Sci-fi fans will continue to read sci-fi and ignore the literary "establishment" ;)
44paradoxosalpha
>42 RobertDay:
Nice essay!
Although there are certainly ham-handed "literary" writers who will write clumsy sf while denying--even to themselves, one suspects--that they are doing so, there are also accomplished writers of sf who have simply dodged the insular marketing and the subculture. I'm thinking of Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, David Mitchell, and even Nick Harkaway to some extent.
Nice essay!
Although there are certainly ham-handed "literary" writers who will write clumsy sf while denying--even to themselves, one suspects--that they are doing so, there are also accomplished writers of sf who have simply dodged the insular marketing and the subculture. I'm thinking of Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, David Mitchell, and even Nick Harkaway to some extent.
45pgmcc
>44 paradoxosalpha:
Nick is very happy to have his work described as sf. He is very grateful to how the sf community accepted his work. He is not immersed in the subculture, but he in no way shies away from the sf label.
Nick is very happy to have his work described as sf. He is very grateful to how the sf community accepted his work. He is not immersed in the subculture, but he in no way shies away from the sf label.
46paradoxosalpha
>45 pgmcc:
That's why I threw in the qualifier "to some extent." I know that he is conscious of the sfnal nature of his work and unembarrassed by it. I've seen him contribute to genre anthologies. But the fact is that he has successfully escaped the marketing ghetto with his sf novels, which I have routinely found in "general fiction" sections of both bookstores and libraries.
That's why I threw in the qualifier "to some extent." I know that he is conscious of the sfnal nature of his work and unembarrassed by it. I've seen him contribute to genre anthologies. But the fact is that he has successfully escaped the marketing ghetto with his sf novels, which I have routinely found in "general fiction" sections of both bookstores and libraries.
47pgmcc
>46 paradoxosalpha:
He was my guest of honour at a science fiction convention 12 years ago and loved it. I would suggest his agent directs where their marketing spend and effort goes. His work is popular beyond the sf community and he does a lot more than write novels.
He was my guest of honour at a science fiction convention 12 years ago and loved it. I would suggest his agent directs where their marketing spend and effort goes. His work is popular beyond the sf community and he does a lot more than write novels.
48paradoxosalpha
>47 pgmcc: I would suggest his agent directs where their marketing spend and effort goes.
Well, props to his agent.
His work is popular beyond the sf community and he does a lot more than write novels.
Sure, I was noticing that he has written a bunch of very good sf novels, which have "science fiction" nowhere on their covers, dust jackets, or copyright pages in the Knopf hardcover editions I've read. That has doubtless contributed to their popularity "beyond the sf community." Gnomon is possibly my favorite single sf novel to be published in the last decade.
Well, props to his agent.
His work is popular beyond the sf community and he does a lot more than write novels.
Sure, I was noticing that he has written a bunch of very good sf novels, which have "science fiction" nowhere on their covers, dust jackets, or copyright pages in the Knopf hardcover editions I've read. That has doubtless contributed to their popularity "beyond the sf community." Gnomon is possibly my favorite single sf novel to be published in the last decade.
49pgmcc
>48 paradoxosalpha:
Gnomon is possibly my favorite single sf novel to be published in the last decade.
Nick would be delighted to hear that.
One thing I feel about Nick's novels is that they often defy classification into a single genre and as such describing them as being in any particular genre would not be telling the whole story. Titanium Noir is science fiction, but it is also a great noir novel. I loved his Sydney Greenstreet cameo.
Gnomon is possibly my favorite single sf novel to be published in the last decade.
Nick would be delighted to hear that.
One thing I feel about Nick's novels is that they often defy classification into a single genre and as such describing them as being in any particular genre would not be telling the whole story. Titanium Noir is science fiction, but it is also a great noir novel. I loved his Sydney Greenstreet cameo.
50pgmcc
>48 paradoxosalpha: >49 pgmcc:
I was correct. I told Nick about your comment, without mentioning names, and his response was:
":) it delights me"
He also said, "Thank you!"
I was correct. I told Nick about your comment, without mentioning names, and his response was:
":) it delights me"
He also said, "Thank you!"
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