It should be no surprise that Australia has won the site selection for 2010. They were unopposed, more or less, although the friendly aliens from XERPS did put up a great fight. The Australian Guests of Honor are as follows:
There were some very red faces amongst the Melbourne contingent this evening. The bid parties are being held in function space at the Sheraton, and the hotel won’t let alcohol be served. Of course this meant that that more money could be spent on food, and there was a decent spread put on for all of the uber-SMOFs who are gathered here the day before the con begins. Also spotted in the party were Bob Silverberg, Mike Resnick and David Hartwell, not to mention the only member from Malaysia – Glenda Larke, who I was delighted to get to meet at last. It looks like a Worldcon is underway.
But not for everyone. David might be here, but Kathryn Cramer is not. Apparently this is the last week of Summer Camp, and the junior Hartwells absolutely cannot leave for Denver. Far too much fun is being had. So all those of you who think that an early August Worldcon is good for parents with kids, think again. The middle of the month is apparently better.
Anyway, I have arranged to record a short chat with Stephen Boucher about the fabulous new convention facilities in Melbourne. That will probably happen on Thursday, fingers crossed, so it will be a few more days before I can edit it and get it online.
Meanwhile Geri Sullivan and Glenn Gazer have been enthusing to me about the exhibits that Colin Hinz has brought to go along with the mimeo demo. This is going to be good.
Mike Glyer has pointed me to this MSN obituary for Olive Riley, the “world’s oldest blogger”. At 108, Olive was a shining example of what can be achieved if you are not afraid of opening your mind to new challenges. Somehow I doubt that I have any chance of living that long. Indeed, I probably won’t get much past half way. But I hope that while I am around I will continue to keep my mind fresh, just as Olive did.
And to save Justine the need to point it out, Olive lived just north of Sydney, which I’m sure proves the superiority of Sydney women over all other beings on the planet. For now.
I have been reminded that there is also some competition for 2010. A bunch of engaging lunatics from Rochester, NY want to hijack a ferry and run a pirate cruise around the Great Lakes. Needless to say, this is a hoax bid, but given how badly one or two of the Australians reacted to the Alcatraz in 1999 bid it is probably necessary to point out that it has no chance of winning, or indeed affecting the result in any way.
Via Concatenation I learn that there are plans afoot for fans in New Zealand to hold their 2010 NatCon the weekend before the expected Australian Worldcon. As you may know, the Aussies pretty much have a lock on 2010 as they are the only official bid on the ballot. I suspect that the prospect of stopping off in New Zealand the weekend before will appeal to a lot of traveling American and Canadian fans (it is harder from Europe as the flights go the other way). I very much enjoyed the one New Zealand convention I attended, and I’d love a chance to go back there, even if it is out of the Super 14 season. Any Kiwis out there know anything about this?
Worldcon, that is, not me. With my ex-MSFC-committee hat on (the one with the dangling corks) I am happy to say that our bid is still unopposed. What is more, the wonderful Rose Mitchell has set up a LiveJournal community for the bid. Go forth and join.
Still with my Australian friends on the subject of Sorry Day, here’s Glenda Larke.
I try to stay out of Australian domestic politics. I only lived in the country for two years, so I really don’t have much right to pass judgment. Nevertheless, I am very happy about current developments. I shall let one of my Australian friends speak for me.
Over at Fantasy Magazine, Tempest Bradford talks to Justine Larbalestier and Ekateria Sedia about being foreign writers in America. It is good stuff, and there’s a lot I can relate to there.
Of course we must get some things straight, Justine. Let’s be clear about this. Melbourne and Sydney are totally different places. Why, they are as different as… well, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
In California it is Christmas, but in Melbourne it is Boxing Day and that can only mean: cricket!
Australia have won the toss and have elected to bat. I have live TV coverage. Here’s hoping that the Indians put up a good fight.
OK, so I am in New York for the first time in my life. What did I do with myself? First of all I had to catch up with La Gringa and find my out to her delightfully book-filled apartment in Astoria. This is near Queens, so I keep thinking to myself that I ought to be eating refried beans, but I had other priorities this evening. I had a party to go to, in the Australian Consulate.
Yes, really; my good pals Trevor and Deb and Jonathan had arranged a splendid bash and invited a whole load of New York literati. There was free Aussie wine. And it was all paid for by the Australian Government, as part of their drive to export fine Aussie speculative fiction to America. Nobody tell John Howard, OK. Although hopefully his days of being able to be outraged and able do something about it are almost over.
It was a good evening. I met lots of good folks, many of whom I already new well, and others for the first time. I discovered that Australia really does have Cultural Attaches. I got to talk to Margot Lanagan. Garth Nix apologized profusely for the failure of the Australian rugby team to beat England. And afterwards I got dragged off to an Italian restaurant by Ellen Datlow, which was very impressive, though even here they don’t do zabaglione. Italian restaurants are not what they were.
Tomorrow I get to play tourist and go shopping in New York. I already have the subway sussed. I have Spidey Sense when it comes to cities.