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!

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.

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!

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.
TANSY:
Part of me winces at the many references to Rose in this episode, but on the other hand I remember watching so many TV shows from the last century when there was a frustrating lack of acknowledgement of characters who had just left, so I haven’t made up my mind about this one. It’s important to Donna’s story that she knows who Rose is and what he means to the Doctor but oh, did he have to be quite so mournful? Am I a bitch for wishing he would put his big girl panties on and get over it?

I can’t understand anyone who reads their relationship as being platonic after seeing “The Runaway Bride”!

DAVID:
Oh, I didn’t get any more from it than someone mourning for a lost, platonic friend.

TEHANI:
*cough* Liar *cough*

DAVID:
But yes, I think it would be very cold if the Doctor had just moved on and never mentioned Rose again after all she meant to him, especially considering the episode starts literally as he is saying goodbye to her!

Whether we run into Donna again or not (and I have tried avoid spoilers as best I can), I am glad that she didn’t come along with the Doctor at the end of the episode, talk about on the the rebound!

TANSY:
Yes, Donna isn’t the first companion to say no to the Doctor (that was Mickey take one!) but it gives her strength that she makes that decision. After an episode that sets her up as not being all that smart, she’s certainly more aware than Rose was about what travelling with the Doctor might mean.

On the rooftop especially, Donna starts to feel more human (instead of frantic and shouty, though I love her shouty) and we get some genuine emotion going on, quiet moments to balance out the crazy. Yes, I’m definitely in the pro-Donna camp.

TEHANI:
The rooftop really showed that Donna has more depth than shouting and smacking about – a good sign!

The music in this was so ANNOYING the second time around. I didn’t notice it first time, but on the rewatch it irritated me so much! Overloud, overly trumpetish or something, and really not at all suiting the story.

The monster was … hmmm. Over the top? And interesting in that we don’t MEET her until almost halfway through! Although to me, Lance is also a monster – horrible man, saying horrible things and breaking poor Donna’s heart.

DAVID:
The Empress was a good concept, but the performance was way too over the top for me, and the jokes? Egads. That “I do” bit makes all my lame jokes look like masterpieces of comedic improv. The idea of hiding something at the centre of a planet being formed was genius though.

TANSY:
Sarah Parrish is a really good and well-regarded British actress – but sadly she now joins the ranks of the Great British Actors who over egged the pudding when faced with a Doctor Who role … possibly there should be some kind of Graham Crowden Award for this phenomenon?

DAVID:
It  may sound overly harsh but when Donna says Lance didn’t deserve his fate, I found it hard to agree. What a  terribly cruel thing to do to someone, and what terribly cruel things to say to someone!

TANSY:
Ha well, I think it’s a bit much to say he deserved to die, but I certainly take some satisfaction in the moment, fictionally speaking – he is horrid to her, and I think it’s a measure of how much we’re on her side that we already know (as does the Doctor) that there’s more to Donna than the ordinary-person-brainless-chatter that Lance complains about.

DAVID:
There were some really nice moments with the TARDIS in this episode. Seeing the TARDIS materialise around them  was a wonderful visual effect, and the car chase was great fun! And, of course, the usual “it’s bigger on the inside” stuff. It did remind me how much I miss the old white interior, though. I do like the steampunk sensibility but I did suffer a brief wave of nostalgia for some reason.

TANSY:

I love the TARDIS chase down the highway, it’s a fantastic scene – I can’t believe people complained about it! It’s utterly joyous and I enjoy the lines when he’s trying to get her to jump out of the cab and she says she’s in her wedding dress. [DOCTOR: Yes, you look lovely, now jump!] Also, David, you might have spotted this one – I really like the moment when she realises she is being driven by a robot Santa, which feels like a callback to the ’70s Auton stories.

TEHANI:
You’re talking again about stuff I don’t know! What’s an Auton??

TANSY:

You saw them back in Rose – walking plastic shop dummies. They appeared twice in the early Seventies and then disappeared for 35 years!

Structurally speaking, I think this works very well as a Christmas special – ie an episode to be watched with the not-necessarily-all-Doctor-Who-fans family (assuming some people have families like that) while everyone’s overstuffed with food and/or a bit drunk, though it has to be said that there isn’t much Christmas content in it. I don’t mind that, though – the Christmas iconography that we do see in the episode is quite heavy handed and/or repeated from the year before. Really, more robot Santas? Were they that popular?  Also I am very much over the fake snow joke already (and not to spoil or anything, David, but this is so not the last of it). The ‘Christmas star’ alien ship is definitely ridiculous, and unnecessary.  

TEHANI:
I’m not yet jaded on the shoehorning of Christmas into these specials – I think it gives a nice continuity of a little something extra to the show, and as you say Tansy, lets people who aren’t necessarily fans enjoy the episode without feeling too lost, because it’s not necessarily part of the continuity. Although of course there is a lot in it for the fans as well!

DAVID:
I was more confused than anything to see the robot Santas, thought I was having flashbacks or something, but they at least addressed that with the halfway plausible idea that they had been left lying around. I actually had no issues with the Christmas Star ship looking the way it did, as it was quite weblike in appearance and fit the spider theme.

TANSY:
I did appreciate the fact that Donna’s chase to get back to her wedding was made all the harder by it being Christmas – and there’s a lesson to anyone planning a Christmas wedding, if you get accidentally teleported during the ceremony, getting a cab back to the church will be very tricky!

Oh, I did love her rant about the lack of pockets in a bridal gown, too, but that has nothing to do with Christmas.

DAVID:
Do people really have Christmas weddings? I found that harder to believe than the ship at the centre of the Earth! I am even more disorganised than usual around Christmas time and, considering I locked myself out of my house the morning of my wedding, I didn’t need any more chaos than I actually had.

I do like the concept of a Christmas special, and even though this was only the second occurrence you get the feel that the show is trying to create a tradition. Yes, they can be a little hit and miss but I went into it happy to give a bit of a chance, knowing I was likely to get something a little different than usual.

TANSY:
I love the tradition, don’t get me wrong! I wonder sometimes about the Christmassy elements, but the sentimentality of it is quite appealing, especially on the day itself. Although … worth noting for context that it’s only the last couple of years that we’ve actually been able to watch the Christmas Special at Christmas (well, Boxing Day) on TV in Australia – in these early days we were getting it just before the new series, often in the middle of the year. If you didn’t have the hang of Other Means which I certainly didn’t at this point, then the sense of occasion was a bit lost on us.

The combination of Doctor Who and Christmas is a lovely thing, and it’s funny to think that it wasn’t always this way. But it doesn’t ALWAYS have to snow (or fake sonic screwdriver snow) and I wasn’t keen on the robot Santa repetition. Having said all that, Raeli was rewatching “The Christmas Invasion” the other day, and the killer Christmas tree did make me grin!  It’s so cheesy it goes out the other side and becomes awesome.

DAVID:
I think that’s a very deliberate thing, and big part of the charm of the Christmas episodes (and to a degree, Doctor Who in general) is their ability to not take themselves too seriously. There always has to be a balance, of course, but they got it pretty right. However, I won’t be disappointed if there are no Santas or fake snow in the next one!

We have already talked about:

“Rose”, S01E01

“Dalek”, S01E06

“Father’s Day”, S01E08

“The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”, S01E09/10

“Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways”, S01E12/13

Season One Report Card – David, Tansy, Tehani

“The Christmas Invasion”, 2005 Christmas Special

“New Earth”, S02E01

“School Reunion”, S02E03

“The Girl in the Fireplace”, S02E04

“Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel”, S02E05/06

Season Two Report Card - David, Tansy, Tehani

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!

Work was almost entirely all I did this week – came home shattered each night and achieved very little else during the week (except for a quick jaunt to Hobart for a fun book launch!). It’s taken me all morning to clean the house, and the washing is STILL mountainous, but feeling a bit more human now. Really need to unpack a box or two! You know you’ve been busy when a week of update takes two paragraphs because nothing much was achieved outside of work!

The Hobart Bookshop is a delightful venue (so many books!) and the proprietors are very friendly. I caught up with a number of people I already know and was glad to see in their home state, and met some more people, including author Lian Tanner, who is very nice, and Tansy’s mum, who is also very nice! I took photos – most of them are here

Richard Harland, Rowena Cory Daniells, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Margo Lanagan

It was also a most pleasant drive down to Hobart – my first visit, and I really enjoyed spotting the silhouette sculptures on the hills, and spying gorgeous big old houses. Look forward to exploring Hobart some more in the near future!

The venue is quite lovely, but tickets are limited. There is an early-bird price of $29.00 (only available until 15 March – full price is $35.00). Last year’s event was a fantastic evening, organised by Spec Faction, and promises to be as good this year!

To book your ticket, visit www.trybooking.com/18485 - don’t miss out on this important event on the Australian speculative fiction calendar. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday we had booked the kids into the Lego Education Centre for a session then more for Thursday. Walked them down to that (was in the streets behind South Bank) and wandered back through South Bank when they had finished. Don’t think we did much else Wednesday, but Thursday was the same again for Lego – they had three sessions in a row, so I had a few hours with Mum while they were there. We actually managed to get Dad to go to the movies too! We were walking past the South Bank theatre to drop the kids off and a session of War Horse was about to start – I think it was the $6.50 ticket price that sold him! He didn’t love it, but at least he went, which we were all pleased about. My aunt and uncle and their son arrived late morning, so I took my cousin (who is 11) with me to pick the kids up, and we met Dad on his way back from his movie, so had a nice walk through South Bank again. Spent the rest of the day with the rellies which was nice.

Friday! Mum and Dad had given us tickets to Mary Poppins for Christmas so this was the day. We dressed up for the occasion – was the first show the kids had been to so wanted to make it special. It was pretty good, but not sure my kids were quite into it – Miss Six liked it I think Master Nine? Not so much into the singing and dancing For me, I thought the sets stole the show! The child actors were pretty darn good too! After the show we went on the Wheel of Brisbane which the kids really enjoyed. I finally got in a game of Scrabble with Mum in the evening (and beat her!) which was also fun

Saturday we finished packing ourselves up and spent a couple of hours with Mum before Dad drove us out to the airport. Was a bit nervous about travelling Jetstar, but other than the smallest leg space I’ve come across, it went pretty well. Master One-day-off-One slept on me  pretty much the whole flight, which made things a bit tricky, but I managed to watch a bit of Doctor Who and Torchwood on the iPad during the flight. Big kids were good. And then we were in Tasmania! At last! Seems like it’s been a long time coming We dropped in to the VERY nearby Coles store to stock up the fresh stuff – can’t believe how close and convenient everything is to the house – very pleased with my choice of rental Husband had, thankfully, set up beds sort of, which meant we had somewhere to sleep at least! Started unpacking a few kitchen boxes, knowing that we were expecting visitors on Sunday.

Finished the kitchen Sunday morning, and Mr Flinthart and Mau-Mau arrived around lunchtime (with a gingerbread house for a housewarming present!), followed not long after by Helen, Stewart and Julia. Master One turned into Master Two! Had trouble finding presents, so luckily Helen brought a very good one! We had a wonderful afternoon (what a great way to warm the house, with old friends!) and Helen etc stayed with us for the night, which was great (although Helen and I stayed up far too late drinking wine). They headed off after lunch on Monday, but not far. Husband took the car to work so we didn’t do too much otherwise.

Tuesday we took husband to his work, via our little house in Rossarden – hmmm, very glad we didn’t end up living there VERY windy hilly road! Back from there, we drove out to Lilydale to meet with Helen and co again, joined once more by the Flinthart & child – the six year old girls hit it off quite well Pleasant BBQ lunch at their camping venue, before went back to town and sussed out some furniture.

Wednesday we walked up to the nearby shops and bought two bags of winterish clothes from the Salvos, visited the local bank & PO and checked out the local shops. Later we went out to my work to pick up a box of books I’d had sent there, and then bought a desk at one shop, a microwave at another, and the rest of our living room furniture at a third! Productive afternoon.

Master Two at Rossarden

Thursday was Australia Day – husband took the day off (mostly) and we went for a drive to the East Coast to visit St Marys, St Helens and the like. We ended up having to come back through Rossarden as the vehicle husband was organising came through. Didn’t end up picking it up (although we did uncover some linen I’d sent over months ago with the husband!) because it had no petrol, (heh, and then husband and his mate managed to miscommunicate and get the wrong fuel for it, long after we’d left him behind!) but eventually husband got home, where I’d managed to clean the living areas in preparation for the arrival of the new furniture.

We spent yesterday frantically trying to finish off all the jobs we needed to do before I start work next week. Got ourselves daycare, vacation care, post box address, sorted the business mail redirections, Medicare stuff, found the place to do vehicle ownership transfer and all that sort of thing. And our furniture came! Very purty and looks great. So nice to have things to sit on again!

After an early night, we got up this morning and took husband once more to work (this time he DID get the ute, so we won’t have to worry about that anymore hopefully!) then came back in, through to Lilydale to pick blueberries with the Flinthart. We all enjoyed that, even if M9 got a bit funny because he was worried about jumping jack ants! M2 was pretty good up until the point he soiled himself and started being a ratbag We ended up with 12 kg of blueberries – that’s a LOT of berries! Yummy though, and $6.00 per kilo. You can be jealous now

And that’s us up to date! In summary, we like Tasmania so far. Really must go unpack something now