Chicago TARDIS 2008: Field Report!
Dec. 4th, 2008 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prof_pangaeaChicago TARDIS 2008
The Field Report!
GOD DAMN THAT WAS AN AWESOME CON. so many thanks to the organisers (like the wonderful![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
renn) for making chicago TARDIS one of the best cons around. SO AWESOME GUYS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
i don't know if i can pick out any one bit as being the most awesome, but probably my greatest acheivement was on friday night. nick had just got in for opening ceremonies and told everyone to excuse his appearance because he had a bruise on his head from running into a door in the dark (bless). i saw nick in the lobby, he said "hi!" (because he must have remembered me making inappropriate interjections into his panels last year), and i said, "hi!" and then we hugged and as we were hugging i said, "oh hey, nick, i'm sorry about your FACE."
WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT, EH?
anyway, chronological tiem!
2008.11.27 (thursday):
travelling! thanks for existing, megabus! then having a two and half hour delay at the metra. booooooo. but then getting into the hotel and meeting up with my most excellent roomiefangrrl_squees (here she is in a fantastic androids of tara rig), one of the many people without whom i would not have been able to attend, as she let me stay on the floor gratis. hurrah! two other roommates were nice gals named denise and emma. you peoples were very cool! after getting settled in there was some wandering, then popping into the pizza social. hopefully no one other than denise noticed me embarrassing myself as i walking past a table and suddenly noticed that lis sladen was sitting at it and thus 4 feet away from me. GUYS SHE MUST EXUDE SOME KIND OF WEAK-IN-THE-KNEES RADIATION OR SOMETHING. it is seriously crazy. i like her, and i like sarah jane, but i've never watched SJA and felt all GAH like i did every time i was around her in person! she was like grace personified. also talked to paul cornell briefly. i have the feeling that i was MAJORLY hyper that first night, so if he had been asked about me right after that it probably would have been like that episode of buffy where dracula says to xander, "you are strange, and off-putting." except more much more nicely, because he is very nice.
i met a few other peoples (hi, edan, if you ever see this!), and then ran over and huggedtaraljc, who i hadn't seen since march. i was telling her a fannish horror story when someone came up and hugged me and it was only after i was in the middle of the hug (such was the level of horror!) that i realised i was being hugged by calapine. yaaay! i has a scottish woman! we had good conversation, then rob shearman finally pulled himself away from some table full of peoples and we three talked for a bit. rob shearman hugs were achieved, yes! some fannish hanging out with peoples followed and i didn't get to bed until... late. hurrah for staying at the hotel this year, is all i can say.
2008.11.28 (friday):
time for the con! Chicago TARDIS Fire Up started, which is like opening ceremonies except not, because not all of the guests/attendees are usually around by 10 am on the first day of the con. this year there were three tracks of programming for the con: main programming (this is where all the big guest panels and stuff like the masquerade happened), alt.programming (where most of the fannish discussion panels were held), and alt.alt.programming (which held the rest of the discussion panels, plus a series of author roundtables, which were my favourite thing for the weekend).
there were two super interesting panels going on to start off the con (-ism -ism -ism, and ethics of downloading), but rob shearman had an author roundtable at the same time so OBVIOUSLY i had to go to that. there was much talking about writing for theatre and now moving over to writing prose more, since his book Tiny Deaths has been quite successful and in fact award-winning. yay rob! also about how tremendously frightening the world fantasy award really is: he showed us pictures of it on his camera and i believe my exact words were, "JESUS CHRIST!" (photographic proof can be found at this entry over on paul cornell's journal). he talked about the troubles with getting the award through customs, and how it scares the hell out of his cat, then about his next book (which is done! or mostly). as he said, "I wrote another book and made it much more horrible, so I won't win another award. It's easier that way."
i went to the fanfic panel next, as i'm not super familiar with benny summerfield (a few books, a couple audios) and a 15th anniversary panel on her was next in main programming. i should have gone because omg paul cornell and lisa bowerman, but i kept thinking, "no, i'll be spoilered for things." wtf, me? the fic panel was loads of fun, though.
then simon guerrier's author roundtable! this panel revealed that simon loves research, and also that he loves badgers. two things i can't argue with. also really interesting thoughts about medium and how that affects the story one is producing (when writing a book, writing a lot about tactile sensations and smells to ground the reader; how he wrote a scene in one audio where, while the doctor is talking, he walks up to the TARDIS, unlocks the door, walks to the console, and takes off, which is something they can never do in the series because of budgetary restraints; how crowd scenes work terrible in a book, but very well in audio; how an audio scene needs to have at least two people in at most times, so that the listener can figure out what's going on without a character having to describe what's going on to themselves for no good reason, etc.).
he went to paul cornell in 1997 for writing advice (at a con, i think), and paul told him, "Well, just go and write, then." he says is was the best advice he's ever got.
big finish panel time! lisa bowerman, jason haigh-ellery, simon, and two gals from the upcoming Key 2 Time series, laura doddington and ciara janson. i got to speak to laura a bit after the con was over, and she was really hilarious and though Key 2 Time was her first doctor who work, she seemed to, you know, Get It. we had fun times talking about fine art and her calling the star wars prequels abominations. heh. she was also in the wonderful bbc radio adaptation of His Dark Materials that was on radio4 about four or five years ago, and that i wish i'd recorded because daaaaamn it was awesome.
meanwhile, quotes!
Jason: "What's the difference between working with the two of them?" (meaning first paul mcgann, and now colin baker)
India: "Well, one's of them's very short, and one of them's very tall."
India: "I'm going to make my way through ALL the Doctors!"
someone's advice to Simon on the artifical humans from Key 2 Time: "You could always make them like The Dude in The Big Lebowski."
Simon: "Isn't it true that Jason came up to you and said, 'Hello, I'm a producer'?"
Jason: "THAT'S NOT TRUE!"
India: "It so, so is."
India: (on nick briggs doing different voices for individual daleks, and always keeping track of what each is doing during any scene): "Nick is, some might say, 'tragically nerdy', although some others might call him 'highly professional'."
then it was time for Big Finish From Both Sides, which was about big finish short trips collections from an editorial point of view, and from the view of the authors (many of whom have had BF be their first professional fictional sale). this was a panel with simon, paul cornell, arnold t. blumberg, andneadods, although she was late getting someone's autograph (colin baker?). OBVIOUSLY WE SPENT THE FIRST HALF OF THE PANEL TALKING ABOUT HER. no, in actuality there was interesting discussion of the editorial process and how it is necessary to have some sort of editorial or critical process to grow as a writer, and also how a writer needs to have a peer group of other artists with whom they can share work in progress, thoughts, ideas, etc. quotes!
Simon: "It's sort of a sire system, like vampires. There is Terrence, who begat Paul, who begat me --"
Paul: "I just had a horrible mental picture."
Paul: "It is your job as a writer to seek out harsh criticism of your work, and change it accordingly."
Paul: "It's not your job to seek out bollocks."
next! Scripting for the New Series! paul and rob! good times. there were some general thoughts about the new series in general that i will bring up in a another post. like the interesting discussion about faith on doctor who, but for now how about paul talking about the much anticipated richard dawkins appearance in journey's end: "And then when he appeared he wasn't even talking about anything he knew about! So, no change there, then." ILU PAUL
Rob: "I've always thought of the Doctor as someone who fishes with the Venerable Bede, and here was a Doctor who would probably kick Bede into the river." (on first impression of nine)
then i FOOLISHLY stayed for the lis sladen panel instead of going to paul's author roundtable. RADIATION, GUYS. she had a panel every day! and paul only had one author roundtable, although at the time i think he had another one, for no good reason. laaaaame. anyway, she was so gorgeous, and she gave every question serious thought and consideration, and she answered all of the kids gently but seriously (i.e., with no indication that their questions were any different from anyone else's). someone asked how sarah felt when the doctor left her for all those years, and she got onto the topic of the doctor. "The Doctor's ruthless, really. He's alien. Why should he come back?" there was also this lovely exchange:
dude from audience: "Is there any significance to the Ontario license plate in Sarah Jane's attic?"
Lis Sladen: *blank stare*
she promised to look for it and see if she could maybe handle it in a scene sometimes. awwwwe.
here is a clip from the panel! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIv8SHR-1wE
Opening Ceremonies! nick briggs had finally arrived, although gary russell was still driving from connecticut (i assume because he is insane). i saw colin baker on stage for the first time. then everyone broke and i wandered around, realising i hadnt eaten anything for most of the day. i think this is when i had dinner withneadods, and by dinner i mean i stole some of her french fries and warm bread, and we talked. and then i ran up to my room and got some lentil soup. NOM.
watched the first half of the fan films after the game show finally ended. OH NOW I REMEMEBER. i was eating soup while watching the end of the game show. yes! it was quite challenging this year, but edan (dude i was sitting with) and i would have pwned if we had been playing, i'm sure. then i ran to the third doctor party that jeri massi does every year, then to a room party upstairs, and had slightly too much vodka. unlike other people who had too much vodka i was able to keep myself from making unwanted sexual advances and comments. and by other people i mean the dude we all called crazy drunk guy. he kept hugging me and telling me how awesome i was, and how also how intelligent. NO I DON'T KNOW EITHER. he remembered me from last year, although i don't know if that explains the random vague gayness. i remember trying to keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn't going too far with the ladies, but then there was too much vodka. anyway EVERYONE WAS DRUNK. i went to bed late.
2008.11.29 (saturday):
damn you vodka. you made me miss the first panel on saturday. obviously i still made it to Writing for Different Media with paul, rob, simon, and gary russell. yay gary russell had not died during his insane car trip! i think half of the panel was dedicated to everyone making owl jokes at paul cornell's expense. "One day there will be a story with a female owl who's also a vicar who's named Mrs. Spring," declared gary russell. so keep an eye out for that one. rob talked about the differences between his writing, and his porn work. i can't for the life of me remember how this story was manufactured, but rob brought it to absurd heights, as he is so good at doing. "I'm always glad when my writing gets better reviews than my porn. Because the one I was just naturally gifted at doing, and the writing is really hard work." there was also freema agyeman love from all the panelists, and simon talking about how freema's badger pirates in her recording of The Pirate Loop were so hilarious that they had him laughing out loud, even though by then he knew every joke backwards and forwards.
main then had The Women of Big Finish, which i skipped because i was like NICK BRIGGS TIEM NAO! he had an author roundtable in alt.alt, which the crowd kind of kept from being much about writing, and more about doing dalek voices. :( nick's really quite a good actor, but i wanted to hear about writing, dammit. he was really gracious and funny, though, as always. "You can buy birthday cakes that sound like me." note to flist: my birthday is in may. although those cakes probably all say "exterminate!" and not, "prof_, you're awesome. let's hang out and have fun with ring modulaters and then mess about on protools." damn!
then there was more nick briggs! and rob and paul and gary russell for another new series panel. there was a roleplaying panel at the same time that looked very interesting, but i was too gay for these guys to miss any of their panels. it included nick finally getting a chance to talk a bit about writing, and the balance between giving just the precise amount of information so that the audience will know what's going on, but you won't be spoonfeeding them. also some hilarious recollection of when everyone was talking about how RTD was going to hire nick to play the daleks in the new series, but sort of not officially informing him of the decision for an agonisingly long time. i forget who said, but it was probably rob, that when nick finally got the call, he finished the conversation, put the phone down, and then said out loud, "I AM THE DALEKS." then texted rob, then texted david tennant. (haha yes!). and then nick relating a wonderful story of when he got an advance copy of the first episode, and he said to the telly, "oh doctor, i missed you!" awwwwwe. so did we.
then we had colin baker!elyssadc was sitting next to me for this panel which made it about one million times more hilarious and awesome than it would have been otherwise, which was already pretty great. she sent me about 200 texts over the weekend that consisted of messages like, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" which it was difficult not to keep cracking up over during panels. colin baker was very sweet, and funny, and i loved how everything in the show was about six. god i am so glad big finish exists. without them all colin baker would have had to talk about was anthony ainley staring at him through holes in fences and we would be deprived of so much goodness. no excellent six, no complex eight, no lonely seven, no introspective five, no benny spin-off, no talking frobisher! this reminds me that nick briggs is going to be in an episode of torchwood this upcoming series! omg guys! until it airs, in my head he will be playing mr. frobisher, who is really frobisher, who is really a whifferdill who looks like a penguin.
here is a clip from one of colin baker's panels, from a different day (he was much more flirtacious during that panel i was at, yes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZSy-21eKEo
next! MOAR BIG FINISH. lisa bowerman, guys! she is wonderful. i mean that from the bottom of mah heart. i think this panel is when they scarred us all by making us listen to a bit of a song from one of the doctor who stage plays. HOLY LORD.
more lis sladen was next. omg why didn't i go to paul's panel the day before? ;______;!!!! this was hilarious for lis sladen talking about going shopping that morning. "You didn't see me this morning when I went to Target. Oh lord, I would rather stab myself in the eye with a pencil than do that again." this is a panel where some asshat ruined the mood by asking a question about why were some actors nice and down to earth while others became divas and charged twenty dollars for autographs. the audience all reacted very negatively to this, andrenn was up immediately, taking control of the situation. to her credit, lis sladen wanted to hear the guy's complaint and addressed it very calmly, saying that it wasn't a personal charge, it was something the con was charging to cover costs, and that he had every right to ask the question but that the panel was an inappropriate space for such discussion. which it bloody well was. he had me feeling rather negative for a an hour or so after he slunk out of the con. thankfully there were a lot of other better questions after that, and children, and lis sladen doing a terrible rendition of "ELDRAD MUST LIVE" for the audience at the end.
missed the beginning of How to Write Better Fanfiction by dithering or something. i don't remember! it ended up being somewhat problematic, in that the first forty minutes of the panel were people debating what fanfiction was, and what better fanfiction was. noooooooooo. that is a thing that should be established within the first few minutes of a panel -- what is the panel about: here is our definition, this is what we're working with, and then progress to the rest of the discussion. i think there were maybe too many people on the panel. it wasn't terrible, but we didn't start getting to the interesting stuff until the panel was almost over.
next two hours were spent socialising, and also trying to figure out how to eat mah soup. yes, i ate soup every day i was at the con. i made a big pot before i left and brought several containers of lentil goodness with me. i managed not to buy any food at all while i was there, much as i would have enjoyed one of the over-priced but delicious meals at the hotel restaurant. i bes poor. i bet my soup and fruit diet was still more nutritious than what many partook of. oh yes! this is where i must mentionthe very very kind bellhop-type employee who heated up my soup for me every day. his name was quinn and he was very nice. thanks, quinn, though you will never read this. i assume.
jigglykat!! was this when we ran into lis sladen?? it must have been, because it was after the panel where the guy was an ass. or maybe that was before i made it to the fic panel, which is why i was late? ARGH I DON't REMEMBER. the important thing is that i was talking to elyssadc and jigglykat, and calapine and rob shearman were there too. lis sladen arrived, after looking for some cold medicine, and was talking to rob and some others for a bit. lis sladen was the one guest who i was wary about approaching, mostly because i know that of all the guests (probably of all the guests of most dw cons ever), she is probably the one approached most often by weird guys saying vaguely inappropriate things (as evidenced by the guy who went on and on during her panel about hot smoking hot she was. yes, this was cazy drunk guy from the party on friday). so i hung back and other people ended up getting hugs! jigglykat and elyssadc, curse you!!) and i was all thinking, "oh, i wish i had a hug." *sadface* BUT THEN I GOT ONE. omg it was great. she was like, "Oh, you can have my germs too," and i was like :D!!!!! RADIATION, GUYS.
next! *my* panel! wtf?? I KNOW. i ran a panel on Slash Fiction with kate orman, of all people! i volunteered for a number of the panels when they were low on peoples, but the only one they needed me on was slash, which i had sort of been hoping not to get so i could go watch the masquerade. anyway, it ened up being a very good panel. i started us off with a short discussion on what slash was (we discussed the various definitions, and how they had developed historically), where the term came from, how it was changing in a day and age where same sex couples were finally being portrayed in the media and literature, and what it means in doctor who, which has canonical pairings like jack/ianto, and might as well be but aren't quite canonical pairings like doctor/master. plus how doctor who has quite a lot of femslash and gen, a much higher percentage than most fandoms. kate complimented me on the quality of my panel running skillz. yay!
next was the Alt.sexuality.whoniverse panel. very good discussion, headed up by lars pearson and christa dickson, plus lynne thomas, and kate orman again. last year was interesting, but much more about squeeing over torchwood (which i sadly hate), this year there was squeeing but also a lot of thought-provoking stuff. including why the end of journey's end is fucking atrocious from the POV of anyone interested in queer issues and representation in doctor who. (i may have brought this up, yes).
then it was BAR TIEM. finally got to hang withcalapine again, plus elyssadc and rob shearman. he spent too much time winding me up and horribly embarassing me. calapine and elyssadc helped by laughing at me. so i stole rob's beer. this was fully warranted from him being a git, but mostly because he had left and he said he would be back but of course this was a lie, so after quite a long time i DRANK IT. mmmm, stolen beer is the best beer. even if it is some crappy american brand. elyssa had to run back to her bro's house, and eventually calapine disappeared off to the wilds somewhere. i kept meaning to go up to a room party but got caught up in talking about doctor/master and martha meta with morgeil and croc_rocketfan, and then i fetched some wine from my room and we three went up to morgeil's room and continued with our excellent fannish discussions. oh! this is where you were fangirled, biichan -- they both mentioned loving your fic! then it was omg 4:00 am so we decided to finally sleep. yes.
2008.11.30 (sunday):
i hit the second half of the liar's panel withjigglykat and her peeps. we were horribly inattentive for a lot of it. *shame* the anon_meme allowed me to understand jokes in which eddie was mentioned. is this a good thing or a bad thing? WHO CAN SAY.
gary russell's panel started off a bit sparse and quiet, probably because most of the con was still asleep or hungover. this included an exchange with someone in the audience that ran thusly:
Dude: "I asked Steven this, so I'll ask you now. What do you think of the Doctor being half-human on his mother's side?"
Gary: "What did Steven say?"
Dude: "He said he might be, we don't know, there's nothing to contradict it."
Gary: "Oh, well then -- he might be, we don't know. There's nothing so far to contradict it."
i think i would horrified if they ever confirmed that the doctor is half-human in canon, but i don't like it being ruled out either, probably because ofnostalgia_lj's excellent fics that somehow persuaded me that no only could i buy it, but it was a really intriguing idea.
next panel was another New Series panel, with rob, paul, nick and gary russell. i think this was the panel where nick had me laughing so hard i couldn't breathe, relating his anxiety dreams the night before he was supposed to direct derek jacobi in "deadline" for big finish. i was randomly laughing out loud for the rest of the day whenever it would pop into my head. oh god I STILL AM. there was also an interesting bit where everyone was talking about patterns that come up in their work; gary tried to restart the owl shenanigans but thankfully they didn't last as long that time, rob talked about the recurring themes of ordinary people thrust into surreal situations in his work, and nick said, "I invariably have a woman who is not what she appears to be -- which is quite worrying really! [laughs] She's an android, she's a traitor, she's... RUINED MY LIFE!" this is where i say that i highly admire artists who are able to look back and see the subtexts and patterns they are creating -- really, it's one of the most important things to do, as an artist.
jigglykat and i wandered to the dealer's room, and we met up with croc_rocketfan and together expounded upon the beauty that is david tennant's crooked nose and wonky eye. also i wanted to buy everything ever but i bought NOTHING. yay me? i was vaguely standing in the autograph line, because i was chatting to rob and paul even though i had nothing for them to sign, when rob was like, "what's that?" motioning at my sketchbook. which i had only been carrying around THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. i replied, "it's my sketchbook. i have drawings in it." he was looking through it and found mah convention notes.
Rob: "Wait -- this is all rude!"
prof_: "It's not my fault! You're the one that said it all."
Rob: [brandishes sharpee] "I think I'll just change this, and this..."
Paul: "No Rob! You can't change history! NOT ONE LINE!"
this is also where we got into a discussion about who first brought up "Naked Cornell, draped in owls." the answer is of course: gary russell, during the new series panel the day before. then gary promised that my sketchbook would be destroyed within twenty minutes. obviously he FAILED at his evil plot. then i got to talk to gary about BRAXIATEL, but i will bring that up in another post. a meta post, full of... meta. and thinkins. yes.
talking about brax made me late for the gender issues panel. a gal named christie was stuck doing it by herself because christa dickson had had to leave early on account of sudden snow storm, and the other panelist (jennifer!) was late because of getting someone's autograph, so i volunteered to help. yay, panel-tiem! it wasn't my panel so i mostly tried to help bring in short thoughts, but might have got slightly side-tracked at the end talking about the amazing love that iS doctor/TARDIS. BUT WHO COULD BLAME ME FOR SUCH A THING? oh god, their love is a wonderful love that crosses the boundaries of sentience and forms of possible life. *sighs*
moar big finish! everyone was lovely and hilarious, as usual. i have n notes, possibly because i was starting to faint from hunger. i think this was the panel where i tried to ask nick a question about what he finds more rewarding, and in what different ways -- performing, or writing (or producing, editing...). but i ended up becoming flustered and not making sense. dammit. or was this the one where i asked about the future of big finish? fuck, i forget. anyyway, i was trying to ask jason about plans for the future, because it seems like people in fandom just assume that big finish will always be there, and there is often talk about, "well, ten or rose or nine or martha or whoever will get to develop when big finish gets a hold of them"; but of course big finish only currently has a their doctor who license until the end of 2010 (last i heard), and even if that keeps getting extended indefinitely their license only covers classic who, and is unlikely to EVER cover new who, because bbc audio won't give up profitable work to an outside company if they don't have to (which they don't). maybe we'll see how things look twenty years from now.
i missed most of State of the Whoniverse hanging out and trying to get mah soup heated. i was very hungry. but i caught a bit where paul, rob, and nick were all earnestly debating what qualities were most important to the master. fanboys!
closing ceremonies were brief. i was eating soup. and sitting withjigglykat and elyssadc. she had to leave after closing ceremonies which was saaaad. OH GOD. when was it when we were out in the lobby and we saw lis sladen just as she was leaving?? it was definitely fairly early in the day, but elyssadc and i were talking in lobby and then lis sladen was rushing through, getting ready to leave early to get back to britain so she could be in a panto. and just as she was walking out the doors she saw us, recognised us from the day before, then walked over, clasped our hands and said, "thank you so much," then left. OMG AMAZING.
the rest of the night was so great. just hanging out with peoples and talking. spent a while withjigglykat talking about animation and comics. later i accidentally knocked over renn's chardonnay at one point, out of clumsiness. she kindly didn't make me buy her another, since i couldn't afford to, but i did pick up another glass for her. i will owe you a drink next year, my dear, when i will hopefully be less poverty sticken. i stole potato chips from the bar and we eated them. fangrrl_squees and renn were serious about costumes. i got to talk to taraljc briefly about handy/jackie, which is obviously Quite Important, got to hear the AWESOME story of how gary russell and paul cornell brought up torchwood babiez during a panel (more at jigglykat's journal here). also was vaguely emotional at people for being able to be at the convention and have such a wonderful experience in the midst of hard times. rob showed up and was lovely as always then a gal named rhonda pulled out a literal cooler full of liquor and everyone got a bit tipsy and stayed up waaaaaaaay too late and talked about doctor who. thus was a convention ended.
thanks to all the many people who made it possible, and to all the wonderful people i talked to and interacted with over the weekend. you've got my love.
<3<3<3
The Field Report!
GOD DAMN THAT WAS AN AWESOME CON. so many thanks to the organisers (like the wonderful
renn) for making chicago TARDIS one of the best cons around. SO AWESOME GUYS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.i don't know if i can pick out any one bit as being the most awesome, but probably my greatest acheivement was on friday night. nick had just got in for opening ceremonies and told everyone to excuse his appearance because he had a bruise on his head from running into a door in the dark (bless). i saw nick in the lobby, he said "hi!" (because he must have remembered me making inappropriate interjections into his panels last year), and i said, "hi!" and then we hugged and as we were hugging i said, "oh hey, nick, i'm sorry about your FACE."
WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT, EH?
anyway, chronological tiem!
2008.11.27 (thursday):
travelling! thanks for existing, megabus! then having a two and half hour delay at the metra. booooooo. but then getting into the hotel and meeting up with my most excellent roomie
fangrrl_squees (here she is in a fantastic androids of tara rig), one of the many people without whom i would not have been able to attend, as she let me stay on the floor gratis. hurrah! two other roommates were nice gals named denise and emma. you peoples were very cool! after getting settled in there was some wandering, then popping into the pizza social. hopefully no one other than denise noticed me embarrassing myself as i walking past a table and suddenly noticed that lis sladen was sitting at it and thus 4 feet away from me. GUYS SHE MUST EXUDE SOME KIND OF WEAK-IN-THE-KNEES RADIATION OR SOMETHING. it is seriously crazy. i like her, and i like sarah jane, but i've never watched SJA and felt all GAH like i did every time i was around her in person! she was like grace personified. also talked to paul cornell briefly. i have the feeling that i was MAJORLY hyper that first night, so if he had been asked about me right after that it probably would have been like that episode of buffy where dracula says to xander, "you are strange, and off-putting." except more much more nicely, because he is very nice. i met a few other peoples (hi, edan, if you ever see this!), and then ran over and hugged
taraljc, who i hadn't seen since march. i was telling her a fannish horror story when someone came up and hugged me and it was only after i was in the middle of the hug (such was the level of horror!) that i realised i was being hugged by calapine. yaaay! i has a scottish woman! we had good conversation, then rob shearman finally pulled himself away from some table full of peoples and we three talked for a bit. rob shearman hugs were achieved, yes! some fannish hanging out with peoples followed and i didn't get to bed until... late. hurrah for staying at the hotel this year, is all i can say.2008.11.28 (friday):
time for the con! Chicago TARDIS Fire Up started, which is like opening ceremonies except not, because not all of the guests/attendees are usually around by 10 am on the first day of the con. this year there were three tracks of programming for the con: main programming (this is where all the big guest panels and stuff like the masquerade happened), alt.programming (where most of the fannish discussion panels were held), and alt.alt.programming (which held the rest of the discussion panels, plus a series of author roundtables, which were my favourite thing for the weekend).
there were two super interesting panels going on to start off the con (-ism -ism -ism, and ethics of downloading), but rob shearman had an author roundtable at the same time so OBVIOUSLY i had to go to that. there was much talking about writing for theatre and now moving over to writing prose more, since his book Tiny Deaths has been quite successful and in fact award-winning. yay rob! also about how tremendously frightening the world fantasy award really is: he showed us pictures of it on his camera and i believe my exact words were, "JESUS CHRIST!" (photographic proof can be found at this entry over on paul cornell's journal). he talked about the troubles with getting the award through customs, and how it scares the hell out of his cat, then about his next book (which is done! or mostly). as he said, "I wrote another book and made it much more horrible, so I won't win another award. It's easier that way."
i went to the fanfic panel next, as i'm not super familiar with benny summerfield (a few books, a couple audios) and a 15th anniversary panel on her was next in main programming. i should have gone because omg paul cornell and lisa bowerman, but i kept thinking, "no, i'll be spoilered for things." wtf, me? the fic panel was loads of fun, though.
then simon guerrier's author roundtable! this panel revealed that simon loves research, and also that he loves badgers. two things i can't argue with. also really interesting thoughts about medium and how that affects the story one is producing (when writing a book, writing a lot about tactile sensations and smells to ground the reader; how he wrote a scene in one audio where, while the doctor is talking, he walks up to the TARDIS, unlocks the door, walks to the console, and takes off, which is something they can never do in the series because of budgetary restraints; how crowd scenes work terrible in a book, but very well in audio; how an audio scene needs to have at least two people in at most times, so that the listener can figure out what's going on without a character having to describe what's going on to themselves for no good reason, etc.).
he went to paul cornell in 1997 for writing advice (at a con, i think), and paul told him, "Well, just go and write, then." he says is was the best advice he's ever got.
big finish panel time! lisa bowerman, jason haigh-ellery, simon, and two gals from the upcoming Key 2 Time series, laura doddington and ciara janson. i got to speak to laura a bit after the con was over, and she was really hilarious and though Key 2 Time was her first doctor who work, she seemed to, you know, Get It. we had fun times talking about fine art and her calling the star wars prequels abominations. heh. she was also in the wonderful bbc radio adaptation of His Dark Materials that was on radio4 about four or five years ago, and that i wish i'd recorded because daaaaamn it was awesome.
meanwhile, quotes!
Jason: "What's the difference between working with the two of them?" (meaning first paul mcgann, and now colin baker)
India: "Well, one's of them's very short, and one of them's very tall."
India: "I'm going to make my way through ALL the Doctors!"
someone's advice to Simon on the artifical humans from Key 2 Time: "You could always make them like The Dude in The Big Lebowski."
Simon: "Isn't it true that Jason came up to you and said, 'Hello, I'm a producer'?"
Jason: "THAT'S NOT TRUE!"
India: "It so, so is."
India: (on nick briggs doing different voices for individual daleks, and always keeping track of what each is doing during any scene): "Nick is, some might say, 'tragically nerdy', although some others might call him 'highly professional'."
then it was time for Big Finish From Both Sides, which was about big finish short trips collections from an editorial point of view, and from the view of the authors (many of whom have had BF be their first professional fictional sale). this was a panel with simon, paul cornell, arnold t. blumberg, and
neadods, although she was late getting someone's autograph (colin baker?). OBVIOUSLY WE SPENT THE FIRST HALF OF THE PANEL TALKING ABOUT HER. no, in actuality there was interesting discussion of the editorial process and how it is necessary to have some sort of editorial or critical process to grow as a writer, and also how a writer needs to have a peer group of other artists with whom they can share work in progress, thoughts, ideas, etc. quotes!Simon: "It's sort of a sire system, like vampires. There is Terrence, who begat Paul, who begat me --"
Paul: "I just had a horrible mental picture."
Paul: "It is your job as a writer to seek out harsh criticism of your work, and change it accordingly."
Paul: "It's not your job to seek out bollocks."
next! Scripting for the New Series! paul and rob! good times. there were some general thoughts about the new series in general that i will bring up in a another post. like the interesting discussion about faith on doctor who, but for now how about paul talking about the much anticipated richard dawkins appearance in journey's end: "And then when he appeared he wasn't even talking about anything he knew about! So, no change there, then." ILU PAUL
Rob: "I've always thought of the Doctor as someone who fishes with the Venerable Bede, and here was a Doctor who would probably kick Bede into the river." (on first impression of nine)
then i FOOLISHLY stayed for the lis sladen panel instead of going to paul's author roundtable. RADIATION, GUYS. she had a panel every day! and paul only had one author roundtable, although at the time i think he had another one, for no good reason. laaaaame. anyway, she was so gorgeous, and she gave every question serious thought and consideration, and she answered all of the kids gently but seriously (i.e., with no indication that their questions were any different from anyone else's). someone asked how sarah felt when the doctor left her for all those years, and she got onto the topic of the doctor. "The Doctor's ruthless, really. He's alien. Why should he come back?" there was also this lovely exchange:
dude from audience: "Is there any significance to the Ontario license plate in Sarah Jane's attic?"
Lis Sladen: *blank stare*
she promised to look for it and see if she could maybe handle it in a scene sometimes. awwwwe.
here is a clip from the panel! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIv8SHR-1wE
Opening Ceremonies! nick briggs had finally arrived, although gary russell was still driving from connecticut (i assume because he is insane). i saw colin baker on stage for the first time. then everyone broke and i wandered around, realising i hadnt eaten anything for most of the day. i think this is when i had dinner with
neadods, and by dinner i mean i stole some of her french fries and warm bread, and we talked. and then i ran up to my room and got some lentil soup. NOM. watched the first half of the fan films after the game show finally ended. OH NOW I REMEMEBER. i was eating soup while watching the end of the game show. yes! it was quite challenging this year, but edan (dude i was sitting with) and i would have pwned if we had been playing, i'm sure. then i ran to the third doctor party that jeri massi does every year, then to a room party upstairs, and had slightly too much vodka. unlike other people who had too much vodka i was able to keep myself from making unwanted sexual advances and comments. and by other people i mean the dude we all called crazy drunk guy. he kept hugging me and telling me how awesome i was, and how also how intelligent. NO I DON'T KNOW EITHER. he remembered me from last year, although i don't know if that explains the random vague gayness. i remember trying to keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn't going too far with the ladies, but then there was too much vodka. anyway EVERYONE WAS DRUNK. i went to bed late.
2008.11.29 (saturday):
damn you vodka. you made me miss the first panel on saturday. obviously i still made it to Writing for Different Media with paul, rob, simon, and gary russell. yay gary russell had not died during his insane car trip! i think half of the panel was dedicated to everyone making owl jokes at paul cornell's expense. "One day there will be a story with a female owl who's also a vicar who's named Mrs. Spring," declared gary russell. so keep an eye out for that one. rob talked about the differences between his writing, and his porn work. i can't for the life of me remember how this story was manufactured, but rob brought it to absurd heights, as he is so good at doing. "I'm always glad when my writing gets better reviews than my porn. Because the one I was just naturally gifted at doing, and the writing is really hard work." there was also freema agyeman love from all the panelists, and simon talking about how freema's badger pirates in her recording of The Pirate Loop were so hilarious that they had him laughing out loud, even though by then he knew every joke backwards and forwards.
main then had The Women of Big Finish, which i skipped because i was like NICK BRIGGS TIEM NAO! he had an author roundtable in alt.alt, which the crowd kind of kept from being much about writing, and more about doing dalek voices. :( nick's really quite a good actor, but i wanted to hear about writing, dammit. he was really gracious and funny, though, as always. "You can buy birthday cakes that sound like me." note to flist: my birthday is in may. although those cakes probably all say "exterminate!" and not, "prof_, you're awesome. let's hang out and have fun with ring modulaters and then mess about on protools." damn!
then there was more nick briggs! and rob and paul and gary russell for another new series panel. there was a roleplaying panel at the same time that looked very interesting, but i was too gay for these guys to miss any of their panels. it included nick finally getting a chance to talk a bit about writing, and the balance between giving just the precise amount of information so that the audience will know what's going on, but you won't be spoonfeeding them. also some hilarious recollection of when everyone was talking about how RTD was going to hire nick to play the daleks in the new series, but sort of not officially informing him of the decision for an agonisingly long time. i forget who said, but it was probably rob, that when nick finally got the call, he finished the conversation, put the phone down, and then said out loud, "I AM THE DALEKS." then texted rob, then texted david tennant. (haha yes!). and then nick relating a wonderful story of when he got an advance copy of the first episode, and he said to the telly, "oh doctor, i missed you!" awwwwwe. so did we.
then we had colin baker!
elyssadc was sitting next to me for this panel which made it about one million times more hilarious and awesome than it would have been otherwise, which was already pretty great. she sent me about 200 texts over the weekend that consisted of messages like, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" which it was difficult not to keep cracking up over during panels. colin baker was very sweet, and funny, and i loved how everything in the show was about six. god i am so glad big finish exists. without them all colin baker would have had to talk about was anthony ainley staring at him through holes in fences and we would be deprived of so much goodness. no excellent six, no complex eight, no lonely seven, no introspective five, no benny spin-off, no talking frobisher! this reminds me that nick briggs is going to be in an episode of torchwood this upcoming series! omg guys! until it airs, in my head he will be playing mr. frobisher, who is really frobisher, who is really a whifferdill who looks like a penguin. here is a clip from one of colin baker's panels, from a different day (he was much more flirtacious during that panel i was at, yes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZSy-21eKEo
next! MOAR BIG FINISH. lisa bowerman, guys! she is wonderful. i mean that from the bottom of mah heart. i think this panel is when they scarred us all by making us listen to a bit of a song from one of the doctor who stage plays. HOLY LORD.
more lis sladen was next. omg why didn't i go to paul's panel the day before? ;______;!!!! this was hilarious for lis sladen talking about going shopping that morning. "You didn't see me this morning when I went to Target. Oh lord, I would rather stab myself in the eye with a pencil than do that again." this is a panel where some asshat ruined the mood by asking a question about why were some actors nice and down to earth while others became divas and charged twenty dollars for autographs. the audience all reacted very negatively to this, and
renn was up immediately, taking control of the situation. to her credit, lis sladen wanted to hear the guy's complaint and addressed it very calmly, saying that it wasn't a personal charge, it was something the con was charging to cover costs, and that he had every right to ask the question but that the panel was an inappropriate space for such discussion. which it bloody well was. he had me feeling rather negative for a an hour or so after he slunk out of the con. thankfully there were a lot of other better questions after that, and children, and lis sladen doing a terrible rendition of "ELDRAD MUST LIVE" for the audience at the end. missed the beginning of How to Write Better Fanfiction by dithering or something. i don't remember! it ended up being somewhat problematic, in that the first forty minutes of the panel were people debating what fanfiction was, and what better fanfiction was. noooooooooo. that is a thing that should be established within the first few minutes of a panel -- what is the panel about: here is our definition, this is what we're working with, and then progress to the rest of the discussion. i think there were maybe too many people on the panel. it wasn't terrible, but we didn't start getting to the interesting stuff until the panel was almost over.
next two hours were spent socialising, and also trying to figure out how to eat mah soup. yes, i ate soup every day i was at the con. i made a big pot before i left and brought several containers of lentil goodness with me. i managed not to buy any food at all while i was there, much as i would have enjoyed one of the over-priced but delicious meals at the hotel restaurant. i bes poor. i bet my soup and fruit diet was still more nutritious than what many partook of. oh yes! this is where i must mentionthe very very kind bellhop-type employee who heated up my soup for me every day. his name was quinn and he was very nice. thanks, quinn, though you will never read this. i assume.
jigglykat!! was this when we ran into lis sladen?? it must have been, because it was after the panel where the guy was an ass. or maybe that was before i made it to the fic panel, which is why i was late? ARGH I DON't REMEMBER. the important thing is that i was talking to elyssadc and jigglykat, and calapine and rob shearman were there too. lis sladen arrived, after looking for some cold medicine, and was talking to rob and some others for a bit. lis sladen was the one guest who i was wary about approaching, mostly because i know that of all the guests (probably of all the guests of most dw cons ever), she is probably the one approached most often by weird guys saying vaguely inappropriate things (as evidenced by the guy who went on and on during her panel about hot smoking hot she was. yes, this was cazy drunk guy from the party on friday). so i hung back and other people ended up getting hugs! jigglykat and elyssadc, curse you!!) and i was all thinking, "oh, i wish i had a hug." *sadface* BUT THEN I GOT ONE. omg it was great. she was like, "Oh, you can have my germs too," and i was like :D!!!!! RADIATION, GUYS.next! *my* panel! wtf?? I KNOW. i ran a panel on Slash Fiction with kate orman, of all people! i volunteered for a number of the panels when they were low on peoples, but the only one they needed me on was slash, which i had sort of been hoping not to get so i could go watch the masquerade. anyway, it ened up being a very good panel. i started us off with a short discussion on what slash was (we discussed the various definitions, and how they had developed historically), where the term came from, how it was changing in a day and age where same sex couples were finally being portrayed in the media and literature, and what it means in doctor who, which has canonical pairings like jack/ianto, and might as well be but aren't quite canonical pairings like doctor/master. plus how doctor who has quite a lot of femslash and gen, a much higher percentage than most fandoms. kate complimented me on the quality of my panel running skillz. yay!
next was the Alt.sexuality.whoniverse panel. very good discussion, headed up by lars pearson and christa dickson, plus lynne thomas, and kate orman again. last year was interesting, but much more about squeeing over torchwood (which i sadly hate), this year there was squeeing but also a lot of thought-provoking stuff. including why the end of journey's end is fucking atrocious from the POV of anyone interested in queer issues and representation in doctor who. (i may have brought this up, yes).
then it was BAR TIEM. finally got to hang with
calapine again, plus elyssadc and rob shearman. he spent too much time winding me up and horribly embarassing me. calapine and elyssadc helped by laughing at me. so i stole rob's beer. this was fully warranted from him being a git, but mostly because he had left and he said he would be back but of course this was a lie, so after quite a long time i DRANK IT. mmmm, stolen beer is the best beer. even if it is some crappy american brand. elyssa had to run back to her bro's house, and eventually calapine disappeared off to the wilds somewhere. i kept meaning to go up to a room party but got caught up in talking about doctor/master and martha meta with morgeil and croc_rocketfan, and then i fetched some wine from my room and we three went up to morgeil's room and continued with our excellent fannish discussions. oh! this is where you were fangirled, biichan -- they both mentioned loving your fic! then it was omg 4:00 am so we decided to finally sleep. yes. 2008.11.30 (sunday):
i hit the second half of the liar's panel with
jigglykat and her peeps. we were horribly inattentive for a lot of it. *shame* the anon_meme allowed me to understand jokes in which eddie was mentioned. is this a good thing or a bad thing? WHO CAN SAY.gary russell's panel started off a bit sparse and quiet, probably because most of the con was still asleep or hungover. this included an exchange with someone in the audience that ran thusly:
Dude: "I asked Steven this, so I'll ask you now. What do you think of the Doctor being half-human on his mother's side?"
Gary: "What did Steven say?"
Dude: "He said he might be, we don't know, there's nothing to contradict it."
Gary: "Oh, well then -- he might be, we don't know. There's nothing so far to contradict it."
i think i would horrified if they ever confirmed that the doctor is half-human in canon, but i don't like it being ruled out either, probably because of
nostalgia_lj's excellent fics that somehow persuaded me that no only could i buy it, but it was a really intriguing idea. next panel was another New Series panel, with rob, paul, nick and gary russell. i think this was the panel where nick had me laughing so hard i couldn't breathe, relating his anxiety dreams the night before he was supposed to direct derek jacobi in "deadline" for big finish. i was randomly laughing out loud for the rest of the day whenever it would pop into my head. oh god I STILL AM. there was also an interesting bit where everyone was talking about patterns that come up in their work; gary tried to restart the owl shenanigans but thankfully they didn't last as long that time, rob talked about the recurring themes of ordinary people thrust into surreal situations in his work, and nick said, "I invariably have a woman who is not what she appears to be -- which is quite worrying really! [laughs] She's an android, she's a traitor, she's... RUINED MY LIFE!" this is where i say that i highly admire artists who are able to look back and see the subtexts and patterns they are creating -- really, it's one of the most important things to do, as an artist.
jigglykat and i wandered to the dealer's room, and we met up with croc_rocketfan and together expounded upon the beauty that is david tennant's crooked nose and wonky eye. also i wanted to buy everything ever but i bought NOTHING. yay me? i was vaguely standing in the autograph line, because i was chatting to rob and paul even though i had nothing for them to sign, when rob was like, "what's that?" motioning at my sketchbook. which i had only been carrying around THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. i replied, "it's my sketchbook. i have drawings in it." he was looking through it and found mah convention notes.Rob: "Wait -- this is all rude!"
prof_: "It's not my fault! You're the one that said it all."
Rob: [brandishes sharpee] "I think I'll just change this, and this..."
Paul: "No Rob! You can't change history! NOT ONE LINE!"
this is also where we got into a discussion about who first brought up "Naked Cornell, draped in owls." the answer is of course: gary russell, during the new series panel the day before. then gary promised that my sketchbook would be destroyed within twenty minutes. obviously he FAILED at his evil plot. then i got to talk to gary about BRAXIATEL, but i will bring that up in another post. a meta post, full of... meta. and thinkins. yes.
talking about brax made me late for the gender issues panel. a gal named christie was stuck doing it by herself because christa dickson had had to leave early on account of sudden snow storm, and the other panelist (jennifer!) was late because of getting someone's autograph, so i volunteered to help. yay, panel-tiem! it wasn't my panel so i mostly tried to help bring in short thoughts, but might have got slightly side-tracked at the end talking about the amazing love that iS doctor/TARDIS. BUT WHO COULD BLAME ME FOR SUCH A THING? oh god, their love is a wonderful love that crosses the boundaries of sentience and forms of possible life. *sighs*
moar big finish! everyone was lovely and hilarious, as usual. i have n notes, possibly because i was starting to faint from hunger. i think this was the panel where i tried to ask nick a question about what he finds more rewarding, and in what different ways -- performing, or writing (or producing, editing...). but i ended up becoming flustered and not making sense. dammit. or was this the one where i asked about the future of big finish? fuck, i forget. anyyway, i was trying to ask jason about plans for the future, because it seems like people in fandom just assume that big finish will always be there, and there is often talk about, "well, ten or rose or nine or martha or whoever will get to develop when big finish gets a hold of them"; but of course big finish only currently has a their doctor who license until the end of 2010 (last i heard), and even if that keeps getting extended indefinitely their license only covers classic who, and is unlikely to EVER cover new who, because bbc audio won't give up profitable work to an outside company if they don't have to (which they don't). maybe we'll see how things look twenty years from now.
i missed most of State of the Whoniverse hanging out and trying to get mah soup heated. i was very hungry. but i caught a bit where paul, rob, and nick were all earnestly debating what qualities were most important to the master. fanboys!
closing ceremonies were brief. i was eating soup. and sitting with
jigglykat and elyssadc. she had to leave after closing ceremonies which was saaaad. OH GOD. when was it when we were out in the lobby and we saw lis sladen just as she was leaving?? it was definitely fairly early in the day, but elyssadc and i were talking in lobby and then lis sladen was rushing through, getting ready to leave early to get back to britain so she could be in a panto. and just as she was walking out the doors she saw us, recognised us from the day before, then walked over, clasped our hands and said, "thank you so much," then left. OMG AMAZING. the rest of the night was so great. just hanging out with peoples and talking. spent a while with
jigglykat talking about animation and comics. later i accidentally knocked over renn's chardonnay at one point, out of clumsiness. she kindly didn't make me buy her another, since i couldn't afford to, but i did pick up another glass for her. i will owe you a drink next year, my dear, when i will hopefully be less poverty sticken. i stole potato chips from the bar and we eated them. fangrrl_squees and renn were serious about costumes. i got to talk to taraljc briefly about handy/jackie, which is obviously Quite Important, got to hear the AWESOME story of how gary russell and paul cornell brought up torchwood babiez during a panel (more at jigglykat's journal here). also was vaguely emotional at people for being able to be at the convention and have such a wonderful experience in the midst of hard times. rob showed up and was lovely as always then a gal named rhonda pulled out a literal cooler full of liquor and everyone got a bit tipsy and stayed up waaaaaaaay too late and talked about doctor who. thus was a convention ended. thanks to all the many people who made it possible, and to all the wonderful people i talked to and interacted with over the weekend. you've got my love.
<3<3<3
