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Conflux, Day 2 (Saturday)
Apr. 23rd, 2005 07:29 pmTypically bleah hotel breakfast (what on Earth or off it do they put into those sausages?!?), but a fun panel straight after - With Sword in Hand, arms and armour in fact and fiction. Many weapons arrayed at the front of the room, with demonstrations of swordfighting styles by members of Stoccata and Finesse.
No one in the Trader's Room had EFTPOS facilities (sacrilege!), so purchases must wait until I can find an ATM.
From the panel on Genre is Artifice, which discussed the negative effects of labelling stories "genre", I came away with two conclusions: Dave Luckett makes a rousing orator, and Terry Dowling is OMG!wise.
Free sushi for lunch thanks to the launch of anthology/cookbook Gastronomicon (mwahahaha!), then readings by Richard Harland, Sophie Masson and Terry Dowling. Go and buy Harland's The Black Crusade - bizarre, witty, laugh-out-loud funny and (of course) vile.
The science fiction team won the Great Debate (the topic being "that fantasy fiction has had a demonstrably greater impact on world culture than science fiction"), but only by dint of being funnier. Up fantasy!
Had a hurried dinner at Woodstock pizza restaurant with Chris, Alinta, Chuck McKenzie, Deborah Biancotti, Cat Sparks and Rob Hood, and discovered among other things a universal love of British comedy Black Books.
Usenet has obviously spoiled me: during the questions section of the next panel, I longed for the ability to killfile people in real life. Yes, there are still people in this world who will do the whole Divert Conversation into the Twilight Zone of Irrelevancy thing if you let them speak.
Aaand...sleep.
No one in the Trader's Room had EFTPOS facilities (sacrilege!), so purchases must wait until I can find an ATM.
From the panel on Genre is Artifice, which discussed the negative effects of labelling stories "genre", I came away with two conclusions: Dave Luckett makes a rousing orator, and Terry Dowling is OMG!wise.
Free sushi for lunch thanks to the launch of anthology/cookbook Gastronomicon (mwahahaha!), then readings by Richard Harland, Sophie Masson and Terry Dowling. Go and buy Harland's The Black Crusade - bizarre, witty, laugh-out-loud funny and (of course) vile.
The science fiction team won the Great Debate (the topic being "that fantasy fiction has had a demonstrably greater impact on world culture than science fiction"), but only by dint of being funnier. Up fantasy!
Had a hurried dinner at Woodstock pizza restaurant with Chris, Alinta, Chuck McKenzie, Deborah Biancotti, Cat Sparks and Rob Hood, and discovered among other things a universal love of British comedy Black Books.
Usenet has obviously spoiled me: during the questions section of the next panel, I longed for the ability to killfile people in real life. Yes, there are still people in this world who will do the whole Divert Conversation into the Twilight Zone of Irrelevancy thing if you let them speak.
Aaand...sleep.
