From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V98 #99 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume98/99 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 98 : Issue 99 Today's Topics: Re: [B7L] Standard Speeds (an answer.. kind of) Re: [B7L] "Deliverance" Convention [B7L] Space City [B7L] photo request Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Re: [B7L] "Deliverance" Convention [B7L] Back from Deliverance [B7L] brazilian GP [B7L] Worldcon [B7L] Message for Pat Fenech :-) Re: [B7L] Standard Speeds (an answer.. kind of) [B7L] Blakes 7 videos Re: [B7L] Blakes 7 videos [B7L] Neutral Zone report (1/2) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 18:49:11 +0100 (BST) From: Iain Coleman To: B7 Lysator Subject: Re: [B7L] Standard Speeds (an answer.. kind of) Message-Id: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 3 Apr 1998, Russ Massey wrote: > Neil Faulkner wrote an article on the subject ('Safe at any Speed') in the > Horizon Newsletter 28. In it he postulated that 'Standard' was 5,000c and > Time Distort 1 was 3,000c. In a later series he used these speeds (increased > by 10% for some unexplained reaon) as a basis for calculating the travel > times for every episode of the series. Fascinating stuff, but God only knows > why he thought it necessary to include the effects of relativity so that time on > board was less for the crew than time perceived by planetary-bound > individuals. How on earth did he manage that? For a start, the time dilation factor is imaginary for speeds greater than c. He must have either (a) done something really clever or (b) engaged in some really hokey handwaving. Of course, I would go for (b) every time - a pro keeps it simple. [Mind you, there's always option (c) - develop a new system of physics that allows the superluminal two-way communication that B7 takes for granted - but that would be sadder than learning Klingon.] Iain ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 09:21:57 +0100 (BST) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List Subject: Re: [B7L] "Deliverance" Convention Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu 02 Apr, JMR wrote: > As one of the trio who organised the "Deliverance" convention in Stoke last > weekend, I'd be interested to hear any comments and/or complaints (be > gentle!). I can attempt to answer any questions anyone has (ie Why were > things moved/cancelled) about the way the convention was organised and run. > That's about all for now as I'm still too tired to think straight. Hope all > attending had a good weekend. I think the problems were a mixture of the avoidable and the unavoidable. For instance, I stewarded the autograph queues and saw the problems there first hand. However, I can't think of any system that would have coped better and I've seen a number of different systems in operation at different conventions. With that many guests, and that many people seeking autographs, there is simply not enough time for everyone to get the ones they want. (I don't think timed tickets would have worked here as the availibility of guests varied a lot on different days) Some of the cast, Gareth and Michael in particular, struck me as absolute troopers, fitting in an extra signing and carrying right onto the end of an almost impossibly long queue even though they both looked very tired. The fans were also amazingly patient and well-behaved, even when they knew that they were unlikely to get a particular autograph. The only thing I would suggest there is that someone go down the line at intervals (which is what I tried to do when I was on duty) to let those waiting know who was actually in the room. Being more ruthless about chopping the queue at a certain length would have helped on occasions when a signing was of finite length (such as when the room was needed for another item) as many people queued who had no chance of getting an autograph in a particular session. Good points on the autograph queue were letting children jump the line, and Jon trying to ensure that those who had membership for a single day only managed to get an autograph on the day they were there. (The bootlace system worked well - it was easy to spot who had which kind of registration) The only delayed event that really annoyed me was the fancy dress competition. I left a workshop that I was really enjoying to get there at the specified time, only to stand around for about an hour and a half. I don't know whether the cause of the delay was waiting for judges or waiting for the hall seating to be rearranged or something else. I don't know if the length of the dalay could have been predicted or not, but being given some information would have been nice. Unfortunately, that delay threw out the cabaret and everything that followed it. I'm surprised no one thought of trying to catch up a little by having Dave Walsh do his cabaret routine while the judges were deliberating on the fancy dress results. The auction was late and ran slow. But then auctions always run slow in my experience unless you've got very experienced auctioneers (I've only ever seen two conventions that ran a really fast auction - Closet Con and Neutral Zone). There's always the temptation on the auctioneer's part to hold out for more cash rather than moving speedily onto the next item. With that many items in the auction, it was always going to be difficult to fit them in the time. There were many good points to the convention. My youngest son spent much of his time playing games and really enjoyed himself. Elder son had a great time with the dalek. I enjoyed having a room specifically set aside for filking as opposed to having to filk on landings. But why, oh why was the fan room locked Saturday evening? There wasn't anything valuable in there, only chairs. With the late running of the auction, would-be filkers turned up in dribs and drabs only to be met by a locked door and wander off again without meeting one another. The same happened to the alternative programme room on at least one occasion. Sheelagh Well's workshop was held on the landing with us all sitting on the floor. Cosy and enjoyable, but probably a fire hazard. I caught some of the discussion sessions which were fun. Better signposting of the fan room might have helped more people find it. I'm told that some fans never did discover where it was. Perhaps a notice on the lift doors on the reception level would have helped? The timetabling of events was pretty good. There will always be clashes of events, but I see that as a good thing rather than a bad one. If there are two things that I want to do going on most of the time, then someone is getting things right. If nothing ever clashed, there wouldn't be time to fit everything in in any case. I'd like to have seen the video programme displayed in more places - I wanted to plan around it and found that difficult to do without blocking a corridor while standing looking at the video room door. Overall, things were pretty good. The set up in the main hall was impressive, the guests were numerous (I was surprised to find I really liked Brian Lighthill whom I'd half-expected to have horns at last...), there was cheap food available, ops was in a good location, the video programme was varied (even though I actually ended up missing the ones I wanted because of clashes), the alternative programme was wide-ranging and I met lots and lots of friends. My only serious gripe is this. Who the hell decided to raffle Michael Keating for breakfast when he was arriving at 2am the night before? (I think it was Gareth who insisted that it be altered to lunch instead) Was he even asked? Judith PS. It'll be interesting to see what mistakes we make on Redemption. I've yet to see the perfect con, so I'd be an idiot to assume we'll get everything right ourselves. I'll finish by saying thank you for all the hard work that the organisers put into Deliverance. Being at a con is a bit like watching a swan swimming. You can see the bird sailing on the water, but don't notice all the frantic paddling underneath that is keeping everything afloat. PPS. Watching telly when we got back, my husband yelled, 'come and see this'. Lo, and behold, on the TV, on 'Local Heroes' was the con hotel! -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 Redemption 99 - The Blakes 7/Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 19:01:58 +0100 From: Jill Beach To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Space City Message-ID: <01bd5f2a$988414e0$0de3edc1@default> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thankyou to Carol for info on Space City Jill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 18:34:57 +0100 GMT From: STEVE.ROGERSON@MCR1.poptel.org.uk To: space-city@world.std.com, blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] photo request Message-Id: <49845879MCR1@MCR1.poptel.org.uk> Has anyone got a reasonable photo from last year's Wolf 359 in Blackpool of Gareth made up as Blake presenting the award to JMS that I can use in the next Redemption progress report? cheers Steve Rogerson Redemption 99 - The Blakes 7/Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ "The workers united will never be ignited" Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 12:34:47 +0100 From: Julia Jones To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Message-ID: In message <199804022312.AAA01837@gnasher.sol.co.uk>, Dangermouse writes > >The good news is that Brian Lighthill said at Deliverance that there *will* >be a second B7 radio show towards the end of the year! > >The bad news is that he also said that Barry fucking Letts will be writing >it. Argghhhhhhh! Right, time I sent a letter - dear BBC, thanks for the effort but next time can we have it written by someone who has actually seen at least one episode? -- Julia Jones "Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!" The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 19:16:16 +0100 From: "Dangermouse" To: "Jenni-Alison" , Subject: Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Message-Id: <199804032028.VAA10667@gnasher.sol.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > He also said that next time he'd get a script editor to check out the > continuity errors, and that he'd get someone very familiar with the > characters to check dialogue more closely. And we asked him to do > something a little more scientific, rather than mythic, as it would > be truer to B7, and he said he'd seriously consider it. I think that > even though BL will be writing, he probably won't have the free hand > he seemed to have first time round (we hope). And you never know, if > he does a good job this time, we may forgive him ;-) I fear this means we'll end up with just as bad a script, but with more fanwank references in it... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 14:46:09 -0600 From: "Reuben Herfindahl" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Message-ID: <014001bd5f41$8851b110$660114ac@misnt> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -----Original Message----- From: Dangermouse To: Jenni-Alison ; blakes7@lysator.liu.se Date: Friday, April 03, 1998 2:30 PM Subject: Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news >> He also said that next time he'd get a script editor to check out the >> continuity errors, and that he'd get someone very familiar with the >> characters to check dialogue more closely. And we asked him to do >> something a little more scientific, rather than mythic, as it would >> be truer to B7, and he said he'd seriously consider it. I think that >> even though BL will be writing, he probably won't have the free hand >> he seemed to have first time round (we hope). And you never know, if >> he does a good job this time, we may forgive him ;-) > >I fear this means we'll end up with just as bad a script, but with more >fanwank references in it... What a terrible prospect, what they really should do is round up the bloke that wrote the recent Doctorless Doctor Who novel, Face of the Enemy. Seems to me he could probably do a pretty good PGP story ;-) Reuben reuben@reuben.net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 21:22:52 +0100 From: "Colin Gate" To: , Subject: Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news Message-Id: <199804032053.WAA09727@samantha.lysator.liu.se> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From what I remember of this discussion, he also said it was impossible to get the 'Seven Fold Crown' proof read at all as the BBC retain a full copyright until the release date of the tape (i.e. They will not let anyone outside the BBC even read it). However, Jenni brought forward the point about the mythical nature of the story not being in keeping with the series at deliverance and, apart from her praise for his efforts to exhume the series, probably had more impact than any other comment. I am thoroughly looking forward to the next tape in spite of the 'Seven Fold Crown'. ---------- > From: Jenni-Alison > To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se > Subject: Re: [B7L] Good news and bad news > Date: 03 April 1998 10:16 > > Dangermouse wrote > > > > The good news is that Brian Lighthill said at Deliverance that > there *will* > > be a second B7 radio show towards the end of the year! > > > > The bad news is that he also said that Barry fucking Letts will be > writing > > it. (even though my boss at Enterprises said this wouldn't be > allowed after > > last time... Still at least he's trying to get the rights to do a > book > > series someday.) > > He also said that next time he'd get a script editor to check out the > continuity errors, and that he'd get someone very familiar with the > characters to check dialogue more closely. And we asked him to do > something a little more scientific, rather than mythic, as it would > be truer to B7, and he said he'd seriously consider it. I think that > even though BL will be writing, he probably won't have the free hand > he seemed to have first time round (we hope). And you never know, if > he does a good job this time, we may forgive him ;-) > > Jenni ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 21:32:00 +0100 From: "Colin Gate" To: , "JMR" Subject: Re: [B7L] "Deliverance" Convention Message-Id: <199804032053.WAA09728@samantha.lysator.liu.se> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I for one had a fantastic weekend, there was always something to do. Everyone was open and friendly and seemed to be there just to enjoy themselves. The only down part was when it ended. I'm looking forward to the next one imeasureably. P.S. I have never seen anyone consume as much alchohol as Gareth, Increadible!, and I thought I had drunk with the big boys. ---------- > From: JMR > To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se > Subject: [B7L] "Deliverance" Convention > Date: 02 April 1998 21:37 > > > > Hi All. > > As one of the trio who organised the "Deliverance" convention in Stoke last > weekend, I'd be interested to hear any comments and/or complaints (be > gentle!). I can attempt to answer any questions anyone has (ie Why were > things moved/cancelled) about the way the convention was organised and run. > That's about all for now as I'm still too tired to think straight. Hope all > attending had a good weekend. > > Judith > > > > > J.M. Rolls > jager@clara.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Apr 98 02:04:00 GMT From: s.thompson8@genie.geis.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Back from Deliverance Message-Id: <199804040226.CAA18717@rock103.genie.net> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ... and catching up on e-mail. It's wonderful to have faces and voices to attach to so many of the names here! I now hear Iain's Scottish accent when I read his posts, and I know just what expression Julia has when she's drooling over Avon. Judith Rolls, good to see you here, and many thanks for a most enjoyable con. I also want you to know that I very much like your fiction and am happy to see that there's more of it in the new zines I acquired at the con, although I haven't had time to read them yet. Cylan, I'm enjoying your first-timer's report. Carol K., you asked about the zine =Strategies=. As you probably know, that's an adult novel featuring Avon. I'm pretty sure it's long out of print, but it turns up fairly often in used zine sales. I can keep an eye out for a copy for you if you like. And someone, I can't remember who, asked about Space City. That's a mailing list devoted to discussion of B7 fan fiction, especially erotic fiction, and so you need to be over 18 (or whatever is the age of legal majority in your area) to join. Send an age statement and request to join to the listowner, Susan Beth: sbs@world.std.com . (You may have to wait a few days if she happens to be busy when your request comes in, but usually it doesn't take long.) Then, when you join the list, you should send a little introduction telling what your fannish interests are. Sarah Thompson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 02:23:33 +1000 From: "Roger The Shrubber" To: "B7 Main List" Subject: [B7L] brazilian GP Message-Id: <199804040329.NAA18035@budapest.ozonline.com.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Maclaren pit crew at the Brazilian Formula One GP looked startlingly like Federation troopers ! Which got me thinking .... Soolin & Dayna would be a good fast tyre - changers, I would put Vila in charge of something easy like wiping the gunk off the driver's helmet, I would put Tarrant or Avon in charge of the jack, not Blake - I wouldn't want to risk him making a speech to the opposition crews in the middle of a pitstop. Cally could handle the fuel, but she'd have to prove herself capable of lifting the fuel drum first. Who would make a better Team Manager on race day ? Avon or Blake ? Or someone else perhaps ? I'd want either Tarrant or Dayna as driver - they'd either smash the car or win the race ! Naturally Orac would compute the fuel- stops , tyre -wear etc. You'd also have to use him to interfere with the other teams telemetry ! ___________________________________ from Darren r ..... Comments are welcome ! powerplay@cheerful.com ____________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 12:32:32 +1000 From: Tim Richards & Narrelle Harris To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Worldcon Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980404123232.007e5870@wire.net.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Julia Jones said: >I know what it's like, having now twice missed >out on the opportunity to go to Worldcon when it was within travellable >distance :-( Since you mentioned it... the Worldcon for 1999 will be Aussiecon Three and is to be held in Melbourne. Tim has just uploaded the new website for the con which you can find at http://www.aussiecon3.worldcon.org Maybe if there are enough B7 list members there we could have a room party?! Narrelle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tim Richards and Narrelle Harris parallax@wire.net.au http://www.wire.net.au/~parallax "Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike." - Shakespeare ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 12:35:58 +1000 From: Tim Richards & Narrelle Harris To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Message for Pat Fenech :-) Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980404123558.007f6b10@wire.net.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I know Pat is floating around England there somewhere and hopefully will be catching up with some folks from the list - so if someone could pass on this message to her (which may be of passing interest to the list too...) My novel, Witching Ways, has been shortlisted in the George Turner Award! The winner won't be announced until July, but being one of nine new novels shortlisted has given me the biggest buzz!!!! Several characters in the book are based on some individuals we all know and love (which gives me a tenuous link to excuse my posting this). Thanks for the encouragement again, Pat! Have a great holiday! love Relle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tim Richards and Narrelle Harris parallax@wire.net.au http://www.wire.net.au/~parallax "Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike." - Shakespeare ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 09:26:42 +0100 From: Russ Massey To: Iain Coleman Cc: B7 Lysator Subject: Re: [B7L] Standard Speeds (an answer.. kind of) Message-ID: In message , Iain Coleman writes > > >On Fri, 3 Apr 1998, Russ Massey wrote: > >> Neil Faulkner wrote an article on the subject ('Safe at any Speed') in the >> Horizon Newsletter 28. In it he postulated that 'Standard' was 5,000c and >> Time Distort 1 was 3,000c. In a later series he used these speeds (increased >> by 10% for some unexplained reaon) as a basis for calculating the travel >> times for every episode of the series. Fascinating stuff, but God only knows >> why he thought it necessary to include the effects of relativity so that time on >> board was less for the crew than time perceived by planetary-bound >> individuals. > >How on earth did he manage that? For a start, the time dilation factor is >imaginary for speeds greater than c. He must have either (a) done >something really clever or (b) engaged in some really hokey handwaving. Of >course, I would go for (b) every time - a pro keeps it simple. > Well Neil's purely amateur :) To quote from the article: "Time is also subject to dilation effects of high speed travel - a ten day journey at very high speeds might be experienced by the traveller as no more than 6 or 7 days, perhaps even less. Dilation at sublight speeds is calculated through the tau equation, at supralight speeds as 'arctau', but the effect is the same - subjective time is not the same as 'absolute' time." Yessss. I'll take Neil's word for the equations - not something I've ever felt the need to examine closely. >[Mind you, there's always option (c) - develop a new system of physics >that allows the superluminal two-way communication that B7 takes for >granted - but that would be sadder than learning Klingon.] > Might get you a Nobel prize though. -- Russ Massey ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 16:29:28 +0500 From: Senaka Rajapakse To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Blakes 7 videos Message-Id: <3.0.32.19980404162425.006cdce4@sri.lanka.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Can anyone tell me where I can get the Blakes 7 Videos in PAL by mail order. I live in Sri Lanka, and Blakes 7 is no longer shown here. I did find one site which offered the NTSC tapes. I understand that Fabulous Films are releasing the videos in PAL - Does anyone know their email or fax no? Senaka ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- Dr Senaka Rajapakse Lecturer in Clinical Medicine Department of Clinical Medicine Faculty of Medicine University of Colombo Tel 503333 Fax 689188 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 23:40:31 +1000 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] Blakes 7 videos Message-ID: <19980404234031.10013@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Sat, Apr 04, 1998 at 04:29:28PM +0500, Senaka Rajapakse wrote: > Can anyone tell me where I can get the Blakes 7 Videos in PAL by mail > order. I live in Sri Lanka, and Blakes 7 is no longer shown here. I did > find one site which offered the NTSC tapes. I understand that Fabulous > Films are releasing the videos in PAL - Does anyone know their email or fax > no? No, but I'd suggest the Horizon club http://www.horizon.org.uk or Engale Marketing http://www.cyberscape.co.uk/strtrade/home.htm as alternatives. Engale Marketing (aka Star Traders) have the advantage that they take credit cards, which is a great hassle-reliever for overseas folks. Kathryn Andersen (yes I'm back. Con reports shortly.) -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 02:49:03 +1000 (EST) From: kat@welkin.apana.org.au (Kathryn Andersen) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se (Blake's 7 list) Subject: [B7L] Neutral Zone report (1/2) Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Neutral Zone 20th-22nd March 1998 reported by Kathryn Andersen (part 1) Disclaimer: you may notice that this report is somewhat oriented towards one guest in particular. Considering that he was the main reason I went to Neutral Zone, and that I am now even more inclined towards him than I was before going to this con, this should come as no surprise. No, it isn't Gareth Thomas. (But it was for Judith.) Thursday 19th March I arrived at Heathrow at 5:30am GMT, and by 6:30 I was on the Underground, looking at the stations going past and feeling like I was on a Monopoly board. My trip was relatively simple: I only had to get to Kings Cross - and deal with about three sets of stairs with three bags. Fortunately, I encountered the wonderful English courtesy: three separate people helped me with my bags at each set of stairs! After being persuaded to buy a buffet food voucher by the man who stamped my BritRail pass, and figuring out where to go and what train to get on, I realized I had a while to wait, and, deciding not to put my cases in a locker, I sat on a seat on platform 8 reading my book. Then, the queue for the train-boarding, then the train, grabbing a seat that wasn't reserved, and double-checking that it was indeed going to Newcastle. Then, we pulled out of the brick-and-iron arches of Kings Cross station, past the rows and clusters of identical houses, then the green, green countryside - and more houses! One of the differences between England and Australia: in Victoria (Australia), once you're out of the city, it's country for miles and miles and miles. In England, all that seems to be in smaller clumps. Another thing was the quality of the light. Despite the sky being cloudless blue, it felt as if someone had turned down the intensity of the sun by about 10%. Some advice: never get a buffet food voucher, and don't drink Lucosade in the mistaken impression that it's like Gatorade. As everyone knows, train food is the epitome of medicrity. I arrived in Newcastle, and caught a taxi to the Forte Posthouse hotel. Christine and I *were* booked in (my usual paranoia was thus assuaged) but the rooms were not free yet. Many people were arriving, so we, strangers but fans, went upstairs to the bar lounge, and nattered about Stargate, X-Files and other fannish topics, until the rooms were available. So I dashed down to reception, checked in, turned around, and there was Annie and Linda. Hugs all round. I retrieved my bags from the cloakroom, went upstairs to my new room, and did what I had been longing for for the last 12 hours - a shower and a change of clothes! Then I went down, and Annie & Linda were still waiting to check in, but that moment their room was ready, so they checked in, and I helped them carry their bags up. The rest of the afternoon and evening was a mixture of chatting to Annie & Linda in 303, dashing up to 512, and dashing down to reception to see if Christine or Judith or Pat had arrived yet. And eating dinner, and talking to Christine when she did arrive. On one of those ask-at-reception failures, when I was waiting for a lift, who should come out of the arriving lift but Tucker Smallwood! So, he had arrived already. Friday 20th March I had breakfast with Annie and Linda, checked in to the convention - they spelled my surname wrong of course, so after an attempt to change the 'o' to an 'e' I gave up and blacked out my surname entirely, after finding that most people only had their first names on their badges anyway. The program was three streams of videos, plus guest Q&A sessions and more videos. No discussion panels or anything. And for a convention with two S:AAB and one B7 guest, there was hardly any S:AAB or B7 videos, which seemed rather odd to me. But since I only ended up watching about two videos over the entire convention, I suppose I can't complain - much. I returned downstairs from my room after breakfast, wandered into the downstairs bar area opposite the main hall, spotted Linda and Annie - and did a double-take. The fellow in a pullover and jeans with grey curlyish hair talking to them, was JAMES MORRISON! I hovvered for a moment, he took one step away, and I said "Hello," and we shook hands, and I said I'd travelled 10,000 kilometres to see him. He said, "You're from Australia also?" and we talked a little of accents. I then stumbled to a halt saying something about being tongue-tied, and he said he was a little nervous himself (!) and I said that we were all friendly. Then two other fen came up and made comments about S:AAB, and I left him to them. Or them to him. Whatever. I caught up with Annie and Linda, and they told of how he had talked of spiders. When the S:AAB crew had been in Brisbane for the pilot, in a hotel, he found a big hairy spider in his room, and beat it to death with a golf club. And then been told later that it was harmless. I expect it was a Huntsman spider, which is, indeed, big and hairy, in a velvety, dove-grey way. We then went on a shopping expedition out into the grey, dry and crisp day, and on the way back, I made a remark wondering if James had managed to extricate himself from the fans yet, since the pattern seemed to be that he would get about a foot further into the room and be accosted by the next bunch. When we got to the next crossing, who should we see coming in the opposite direction, but James Morrison, in black overcoat and dark glasses, accompanied by a fellow in a brown jacket. James nodded at us, made a remark about going for a walk, and went on. Obviously, he did manage to extricate himself... After lunch and a Highlander episode, I bumped into Annie & Linda again, discovered that the dealers room was open, looked for Judith and almost didn't recognise her with her new hairstyle. Happy greetings! After buying a few things, going upstairs to grab some Refractions, changing into my new Redemption T-shirt, putting my things-to-be-autographed in a bag, I went back down again and found that Judith was gone. Pat said that I had three guesses as to where Judith was, and then answered herself, "Gareth, Gareth and Gareth." Gareth Thomas and Judith were indeed to be found, as expected, by the bar, with a bunch of people, having an interesting conversation which ranged from former things that Gareth had been in, to Fermet's Last Theorem. I eventually excused myself because my feet were tired of standing, and moved into the main hall to find a seat for the opening ceremony. This began with a S:AAB video clip "Holding On For a Hero", all bouncy and energetic, very good. Then the Guests of Honour were introduced one at a time, starting with the fannish/writing ones, then the actors, and the applause increased with each one. I'm not sure, however, whether James Morrison or Steven Furst got the most tumultuous reception. The actual guests were Jim Swallow, Keith Topping, Joe Nazzaro, Sheelagh Wells, Gareth Thomas (B7), Tucker Smallwood (Space: Above and Beyond), James Morrison (S:AAB also) and Steven Furst (B5). Then the guest Q&A, with all of them sitting in a row and the microphone being passed back and forth. The questions were *not* coming thick nor fast; I certainly couldn't think of any to ask. The best questions were the two which were asked as general questions of all the guests, and I've forgotten the first one, but the last one was basically, "How did you get to be where you are today? How did you start off?" Sheelagh summed it up pretty well - doing what you dreamed of, taking the risk because it was what you wanted to do, because there's nothing worse than looking back and saying "I wish I'd tried." James said, very seriously (prefacing it with "The temptation to be flippant about this is almost irresistable.") that he wanted to make a difference, to influence how people think, and if he can ride on the coat-tails of those greater (at that) than he, so much the better. He then succumbed to temptation and made the flippant remark that he also did it because, like with golf, he gets intermittent results. He also said earlier in the Q&A, jokingly, that he only ever gets hired for things that Morgan & Wong are involved in. Gareth was more relaxed and talkative than anyone else up there, which is no real surprise. Gareth grabbed the microphone just before the committee person was going to declare the session closed, and said that the only reason they were all there was because of us, that we kept them alive, and asked us to give ourselves a hand. (as in clapping). Then the committee person declared it closed, and said, that though the guests had come from places ranging from 5 minutes away (Keith Topping) to across the Atlantic (eg Tucker, James and Steven), that some of the attendees had come all the way from Australia, and asked the Australians to identify themselves, so the half-dozen of us stuck up our hands, and they gave us a round of applause. Then Gareth grabbed the mike and said "Is that the Commonwealth of Australia, or the Republic of Australia?" and Christine (and I think it was Pat & Sandy) yelled out "Republic!" and I countered, "We haven't decided yet!" Then the throng left the room slowly, and by the time I got out, I spotted Gareth making his way to the bar, and James was heading towards the lifts. Then I picked up my key, and there was a huge crowd of people by the lifts, and the first lift that came departed full, which left about five of us waiting for the next lift, including James and a fellow carrying a chair. So when the lift came, the chair fellow got in first and urged James to sit in the chair, but James demurred, saying he had been sitting all day, and he offered it to me, so I sat in it cheerfully, until the first floor, when the chair man took off with the chair. And someone remarked, "I wonder what he is doing with that chair?" James said, "He's stealing it as a souvenir. Some people take towels, other people take chairs." And I said, "Judging by the lack of them, I think people are taking spoons as souvenirs." (because at breakfast, there had been only one teaspoon on the whole table.) James said, with a twinkle in his eye, "I do." Then I had to get out because it was my floor. (sigh). Later, I ate some of the con food for dinner (baked spud) and sat with Judith and we discussed fancy dress ideas, considering the costume resources we had at our disposal. Judith eventually came up with this: "As those who listened to the Sevenfold Crown will know, a teleport malfunction resulted in Avon being cloned. However, fear not, the BBC have now commissioned a new scriptwriter, a man who has watched the entire series, a man who knows the characters inside out, a man who doesn't think he's writing a Doctor Who script with Star Trek technology. No, it's not Barry Letts - it's his seven-year-old son! May we proudly introduce Kerr Avon in 'The Origami Tiara'!" (Kathryn in Avon costume enters, surveys crowd with a snooty look, lifts up bracelet) "Teleport now!" (taps bracelet in puzzlement. Judith and Julie enter from opposite sides of the stage, both wearing different Avon costumes. Kathryn takes a few seconds to notice, does a double-take) "Oh no, not again!" Then we went up to the second floor to do a bit of filking, and then I had to leave to join my alloted time-slot for the autograph queue. I got Gareth to sign my copy of "Morgan" which I had bought from Judith ealier, her Morgan's Boy/Blake's 7 crossover. It looked as if I might have been the first person to come through with an Enarrare' 10 for people to sign, because both Tucker and James examined it and asked me questions about it, so I went into the usual spiel about it being issue 10 of a fanzine and being a S:AAB special. Tucker asked if it was British and I told him it was Australian, and he asked me where I was from, and he said that he'd been to Australia recently for an episode of Flipper, but the little he'd seen of the country would be like going to Las Vegas and judging America by that. I had a nice chat to Sheelagh and Joe because I was wearing my Redemption T-shirt (they are GoHs at Redemption) and when I revealed that I was the artist, they were very pleased to meet me. I didn't know what to say to Steven Furst, so I didn't say anything. James, too, had not seen an Enarrare' 10 before, so I explained about it. When he saw the cover (I'd had it open at the circle poem so that was what he saw first) he was impressed and asked my if I'd done it, and I said no, Annie did it, and he wondered where she'd gotten the photo of McQueen, because it was different from the usual publicity photo of him holding his helmet, and I thought that it was just lighter, but he pointed out that in the usual photo, he was looking down, but on the Enarrare' 10 cover, he was looking up, so I said that I would ask Annie and tell him. Then I went up to 303 and chatted to Annie and Linda, then went up to my room. I sat in bed and read Morgan until 12:30am (!) Must have been gripping, eh? It was good; a character study in both directions, Avon and Morgan. And I loved the recipricocity of each other's salvation. (continued in part 2) -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V98 Issue #99 *************************************