Another week flies by

This working full-time business takes a bit of getting used to! Basically I’ve not done much else for the past week. I read a bit, watched a bit of tv, devoured a new (to me) web comic, and tried to keep up with the washing, cleaning and getting kids to school stuff. They started swimming lessons on Monday. Bit of a shock to the system to pay $13 each per lesson after several years of VacSwim where $10 gets you two weeks (ten days) of lessons!! But good for them to keep up their swimming. Master Nine has his school swimming carnival this week coming, so will be interesting to see how he goes.

At work, I’m starting to build a website of resources for teaching and learning. It’s not at all finished, nor does it yet look like I want it to in terms of page layout for links, but it’s started! Ongoing project ahoy.

Today has been about playing catchup – still have to get to the grocery shop before days’ end, but otherwise happy with what we’ve achieved. Hopefully tomorrow will actually involve an activity out of the house!

Thoughts from Outland

This is not a review of the new ABC show Outland. It’s only aired a third of the episodes at my time of writing, and I’m enjoying them so far, but I’m not reviewing it here. I think it’s good – if you have some similar tastes as me, you might like to try it (check out the episodes so far on iView). But this is not a review. Instead, Outland has inspired me to think a bit about fandom.

According to some people in the Australian spec fic community, I’m not a fan. I’m not quite sure what that means, exactly. I’ve liked fantasy (and to a lesser extent, science fiction and other related genres) books and movies since I was a kid. I became hardcore about my preferred reading genre when I was about nineteen, and for many years, read exclusively in spec fic. I did assignments at university on Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, Raymond E Feist, Seaquest DSV and Terminator 2. I helped start a small press magazine ten years ago, devoted to furthering the prominence of the genre in Australia and overseas and to providing a market for writers and artists who might not otherwise have an outlet for their work (I didn’t get paid for the thousands of hours of work I put into the magazine. Volunteering for passion = fan?). I started my own indie press and have worked with others in the same field in many ways, for the same reason. I have been reviewing and judging for almost as long as I’ve been publishing. I’ve helped run a convention. I’ve spoken on panels and dressed up for book launches. I’ve become addicted to writers, tv shows and film franchises. If that’s not what being a fan is, well…

Artwork by osmosis8 on Deviant Art

And I think that brings me to my point; the point of this post. You want to know what the coolest thing about fandom is? I think it’s the same as the coolest thing about humanity. Diversity. I’ve seen some criticism by people in fandom saying that Outland is not representative of fandom. Or it’s poking fun at fandom. Or is too generic about fandom. I find that position so very odd, because fandom, like humanity, infinitely diverse. We are all people, and hence we are all completely different. We might have points of commonality. I might love Doctor Who, but my love of the show manifests differently from your love. I might write DW fanfic. I might not. I might cosplay DW characters. I might not. I might create DW fanart. I might not. I might write reviews of DW episodes to spread the love. I might not. But what’s cool about my love of Doctor Who is that even though it might be different from yours, it still makes both of us fans.

Fandom is made up of hundreds, probably thousands, different points of commonality. You might be an SF film fan, or an anime fan, or a podcasting fan, or a Twilight fan, or a big fat fantasy fan, or a comic fan, or a Whedon fan, or a Fringe fan, or any one of, or combination of, so many different individual fandoms. You might be an extrovert fan or an introvert fan, a cosplayer, a fanfic writer, a fan film maker, a volunteering-type fan or an academic-type fan. We’re all different, but our points of commonality (even that one very central point that we all are mad about something geeky!) are what make us a community. Which is why it makes me sad that people within this community are sometimes not willing to accept that just because others don’t fit their own personal view on fandom, doesn’t make them any less fans.

Picture from Qwertee

The characters in Outland may or may not be over the top (personally, I have met fans in real life who are a lot like each of them – there’s very probably a little bit of each of them in me!). They are fictional creations, written by people who are fans themselves (and who thus actually have experienced fandom in all its glory), and they are not MEANT to be representative of every fan. However, I think that what they do well is represent some ASPECTS of fandom. Again, not all, because you can’t possibly do that in a six episode show (or probably in six THOUSAND episodes!), but some. The creators of Outland have made a show with science fiction fans at the heart of it, which I think is pretty cool, and I’m glad that it’s out there, showing even a small part of what fandom is to those who have never experienced it. You don’t have to love it, just like you don’t have to love every part of every fandom. But being accepting is nice. It’s okay for us all to be different, and for us all to like different things. That’s what makes us human.

It’s Awards season again

The Tin Ducks (WA) and Chronos Awards (Vic) are both open for nominations. FableCroft has a few eligible works from 2011.

The Chronos short story ones are on the wonderful list over here (and instructions on how to nominate are here). My name appears there with Alex for our Vorkosigan reviews as well, which is nice

The Tin Ducks are a little trickier but here they are in screen shot.

Please particularly note that the Natcon Fifty committee put out a fantastic souvenir book for the convention last year, which is eligible for Best Unpaid or Fan Production.

I’d also like to recommend the Nightsiders collection by Western Australian author Sue Isle (Twelfth Planet Press) – not sure whether it’s eligible for Professional Long Written (it’s four interconnected short stories) or Professional Production. WA fan Terri Sellen put together a very cool book trailer for the book as well, which is eligible for Fan Production! And of course, Twelfth Planet Press has been doing great things in 2011.

And finally, I’ve been assisting with the maintenance of the ASIF website for some months now, of which Alisa Krasnostein is managing editor, which is once more eligible for Best Unpaid or Fan Production.

There are many other great Western Australian works out there from 2011, including podcasts such as Galactic Suburbia, Live and Sassy and Panel2Panel, some excellent novels, collections and short stories. Please seek them out and nominate those you think deserving! Oh, and if anyone has links to photos of the Art Show from Swancon last year, I’d love to link it here so we can be reminded of what and who might be eligible in both Fan and Professional art!

 

 

New Who in conversation: The Runaway Bride (S02 Christmas Special)

Original fan art by Kathleen Jennings. Thanks Kathleen! Check out Kathleen's awesome artwork at her blog, particularly her regular Dalek Game pieces! And you might like to know that Kathleen is eligible for Best Fan Artist, if you're nominating for the Hugos…

David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she’s rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all. We’re going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun! 

“The Runaway Bride” – Season two Christmas Special

The Doctor – David Tennant

Donna Noble – Catherine Tate

TANSY:
This Christmas Special was probably one of the most divisive Doctor Who stories in its time, because it all came down to whether you loved or hated Donna (Catherine Tate). I liked Donna at the time, but came to love her more and more in retrospect, and so I find that I like this story more every time I watch it. Having said that, I’m not in it for the plot!

TEHANI:
I love Donna! She was a bit bumpy in this, her first appearance, but she is so awesome!!

DAVID:
I liked Donna as a character, but in terms of the writing there were a lot of lazy stereotypes about women and about brides in this, and a bit too much fun at her expense, rather than fun with her. She was a great contrast to Rose, though.

TANSY:
I agree about the lazy stereotypes – and by the end of the RTD era I was so over WEDDINGS, I can tell you! But ultimately I think Catherine Tate rescued the character from sliding too far into generic chick lit cliche.

After the sweetness of Ten/Rose in Season 2, it feels like such a relief to have a companion yelling at the Doctor and smacking him around! The whole panic-chase sequence in the first act of the story with the two of them bouncing off each other, arguing and hailing taxis was great fun…

TEHANI:
The car/TARDIS chase was loads of fun, but the melancholy of bringing Rose into it was a nice touch. While Rose wasn’t and won’t ever be my favourite companion, it’s good to see she’s not just immediately dropped from memory. And the little flashback scene at the reception to me highlighted the fact that the Doctor actually does have some sort of real feelings for Rose. Which is interesting.

Week 3 in Tasmania

When I start managing to update more than once a week, the titles of these posts might become more interesting! Another busy week at work, but starting to feel like I’ve got a handle on how things work. The kids are just gorgeous so far – am sharing a tutor group with another teacher, and they are all delightful (includes one of the school captains and a prefect who is a colleague’s son, so even better! It’s also a tiny group, which will make getting to know them easier). The staff continue to be almost entirely lovely and helpful, which is also very nice. Am enjoying it a lot, and looking forward to getting into it more as things settle down.

The big kids started school this week! They were fairly nervous I think, but hubby and I took them on the first day and they have enjoyed it very much so far. Master Nine already has some buddies, and has sussed out the library and the four square court. He was also pretty chuffed because they had swimming trials on Thursday and he won all his heats! Miss Six took a little longer to settle but is now talking about new friends by name. They look gorgeous in their uniforms and I’m really pleased with how they are settling in.

Again, very little achieved outside work during the week. Have read a couple of books (although not, ahem, the ones I’m supposed to be reading!) and watched a bit of Fringe, but that’s it! Really need to get some other things done. Have a weekend at home this weekend, and have already finished the tidying up, so no excuses. Best get going!