Grand Final day at Culburra

Mark and Sharon kindly hosted a Grand Final BBQ for us at their home in Orient Point (Culburra). A beautiful day for it too. The local wildlife were out and about. The kookaburra below hung around for ages as did a couple of magpies. Thankfully I don't believe in omens.

A good day and good game was topped off by a hilarious result. For the first time in 33 years we have a drawn grand final. The AFL doesn't have any extra time or golden goal rules for the grand final so a draw means a replay next Saturday. For a footy purist that is just gold.
Collingwood Magpies 9.14.68
St Kilda Saints 10.8.68

Mere shadows of themselves...

Beautifying a worksite

Kudos to the Sydney City Council for sponsoring some artists to spruce up the Alfred Park redevelopment work site and turn the usual boring fences into something quite appealing.





Of course over the fence there is still the usual construction site.

100 days to go...

100 days to go if she arrives on the due date. That works out to be 14 weeks. So far so good.

By the way aunties, uncles and grandparents, have you read this yet? Click here to read.

Malcolm Douglas

The original crocodile man, Malcolm Douglas, sadly died today. Malcolm was only 69 and apparently was killed in a motor vehicle accident near his property in Broome, Western Australia. Details here.

I've been watching his wildlife documentaries for as long as I can remember. Long before Steve Irwin appeared on the scene Malcolm was bagging and tagging crocs and bringing outback Oz to us at home through his docos.

We visited Malcolm's Croc Park in 2002 on our Big Drive around Australia. We even managed to catch Malcolm loading his boat and 4 wheel drive in preparation for probably another documentary. I'll try and dig out the video I shot of Malcolm and the croc park and upload it to Youtube.

Malcolm's documentaries were always informative and entertaining and he will be sorely missed.

Whooping Cough or why you should get immunised

Did you know that right now in Australia we're facing a Whooping Cough (Pertussis) epidemic? Pertussis is one of those childhood illnesses we almost had licked. But then, probably because of the anti vaccination movement and general apathy to vaccination, parents stopped vaccinating their kids and adults didn't get their booster shots and this deadly disease rears its ugly head again.

Last week a 5 week old baby died in South Australia and last year 3 babies, including 4 week old Dana MacCaffrey, from the North Coast of NSW died of this horrible disease. The SA health department reported around 2700 cases of pertussis for the first half of this year. For the same period last year there were about 1400 cases reported. Nationally the figures are even worse.

The reason these babies died from this preventable illness is because they were too young to be vaccinated. New born babies rely on herd immunity, the rest of the community being vaccinated, to protect them from diseases like whooping cough. By the community I mean us. Everybody. Especially those people who come into contact with children and babies. As vaccination rates have fallen herd immunity isn't as effective as it once was. Unfortunately for the babies that died they probably came into contact with a person who was carrying the disease. The more people who remain unvaccinated and the more cases that occur the more chance unvaccinated babies will have of coming into contact with carriers of this preventable disease. Remember that, preventable disease.

Unfortunately the Whooping Cough immunisation doesn't last a life time so a DTP booster shot should be administered every 5 to 10 years. DTP stands for Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis. We had the DTP shot 5 years ago when we went to Africa.

What can I do and why should I give a shit? Well, I'm glad you asked. If you know me there is a good chance you know that we are expecting a little girl in December. If you're family there's an even better chance that you will be meeting said little girl shortly after she is born and probably when she is most vulnerable to nasty preventable infections. You can help by wandering in to your local GP and getting the DTP or Pertussis jab between now and December. It doesn't hurt and it is cheap. Fuck, if you're visiting our new baby in 2011 I'll pay for it if you're a tight arse or you don't have the finances. Even if you don't know me and you will probably never meet my baby you should, for the sake of your community and herd immunity, get the jab (but you'll have to pay for it yourself though).

Now before you roll your eyes and think that this daddy to be is just being paranoid remember that babies are dying from a preventable disease. That is stupid. No babies should be dying from Whooping Cough. I know that shit happens and babies die from a myriad of things and some of those things can't be prevented. But wouldn't you like to be proactive and do something today that may just save a life?

Oh, and by the way, some doctors are unaware of the risk and may be reluctant to give adults boosters. The booster for adults has apparently only been around since 2005 after all. If they won't give you a booster see another doctor.

What are you still doing here? Do us a favour and go see your doctor. Now.

Perving and baby update

I was out shopping today when a particularly attractive woman with a baby in a stroller caught my eye. A classic older yummy mummy. A MILF even. I knew that somehow I had crossed some sort of line when I realised that I had turned around and was straining to get a better look of her... stroller. It was a bright aqua coloured Maclaren or Steelcraft stroller and not one of the huge 3 wheeler prams you see most people pushing around. The baby, a big chubby baby, was sprawled out lying flat so the stroller looked like it works well for infants too. Something like what we'll need real soon now. Of course if the mummy had turned around all she would have seen some grey haired chubby bloke apparently ogling her. Yikes.

I used to so enjoy checking out the yummy mummies for their own sake. Now I'm looking at the babies and the baby gear and accessories like prams (that looks good I wonder how much that cost etc etc etc). There must be some truth to the report that testosterone levels for expectant dads drops during the pregnancy.

And speaking of babies. The one baby that preoccupies every other waking thought is apparently wriggling around like a hyperactive monkey. Michelle was enjoying breakfast on the balcony yesterday morning when she happened to look down at her belly and see, not just feel, the baby kick. That is some milestone. I grin like a loon and jig on the spot when she tells me that sort of thing. Which doesn't make for a very attractive picture come to think of it.

Excuse me now but I have to go and do something manly...

George R. R. Martin at the Galaxy Bookshop

Worldcon wise it has been a busy month. The last four weeks have had at least one thing on a week in relation to Worldcon. Four weeks ago Charlie Stross was in at the Galaxy for a book signing. The following week was of course Worldcon/Aussiecon itself, followed in quick succession by Alastair Reynolds, also at the Galaxy, and now the grand poobah of all science fiction and fantasy writers, George R. R. Martin. George visited the Galaxy Bookshop today for a signing. He had also been at Worldcon last week but, again, his books are huge so there was no way I was going to lug them down to Melbourne. Today's signing was the best attended I've seen at the Galaxy in some time. People were queuing up the stairs and almost out on to the street. There were about 50 people already lined up when I got there. George arrived the same time I did. I think he'd been waiting for me. ;-)

No that isn't my big grey noggin in the picture above, just some fellow traveller in the queue.

George signed all seven books I had. I have a few more at home that he'd already signed the last time he visited - back in the 1990s. I told George he signed my British first edition hard cover of A Game Of Thrones back then. He said it is apparently worth $1500 now. Holy shit. I think I'll hide that one. When I buy books that suddenly increase in value by hundreds of dollars it is more good luck than good management. As far as I am concerned I am just getting the first available next book for that author. No one knows whether or not it is going to be a best seller. I think only 1500 copies of the UK hard cover of A Game Of Thrones were printed. Obviously the publisher wasn't pinning all their hopes on the next GRRM novel. The fact that it sold out quickly and the subsequent printings sold in the hundreds of thousands is just my good luck. And of course, good for authors like George too.

GRRM signing "To Shane, my BFF". Not really.

I asked George how Aussiecon 4 compared to Aussiecon 3 in the 1999. He preferred 3 because, he said, there were more room parties back then. The hotels frown upon that sort of thing now. Bastards. I told George I looked forward to him coming back for Aussiecon 5 in 10 or so years. Actually I think the Kiwis are bidding for the 2020 Worldcon. That'd be okay. Auckland is closer than just about anywhere else as far as us antipodeans are concerned. I hope to be getting to another Worldcon well before then though. 2014 is probably going to be in London. That would be cool.

GRRM trying to get me to buy a calendar too.

George's partner Parris was strolling around the shop taking photos and asking everyone in the queue to pose. She also exhorted everyone to not just to buy and read the epic fantasy series but we should also look at George's other works he created over his extraordinary career. There's also some classic sci fi and horror as well as the fantasy. Fevre Dream is a well regarded vampire novel for example. What could be better than Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain for Buffy's sake?

George and Parris.

George is another of those sci fi gentlemen. Good natured and gracious. One of these days I will meet a cranky sci fi writer and blow to shit my theory that the field is filled with nice guys and gals. Actually I do recall one slightly cranky sci fi writer. Harlan Ellison has a reputation for being short with fans and pros alike if they irritate him. I was on the receiving end of a tirade once at a book signing. It was all going swimmingly until he asked me a question. I don't recall the question or the answer. I do recall being flippant and Harlan went into a tirade that lasted for a couple of minutes. At the time I was unaware of his reputation. Now I look back fondly on the occasion. I can forever say now that I was one of the lucky ones who copped it from Harlan. George has been known to be cantankerous too but I think on those occasions it was justified. The next novel in the A Song Of Ice And Fire sequence, book five, has been coming for 5 or 6 years now. Some fans are demanding that George finishes it ASAP. George is sick to death of demanding fans "bullying" him incessantly for the next book. There was no way I was going to ask George today when the next book is due.

There were a couple of girls running around with a video camera and microphone filming the event. I thought they were too young to be professionals. I thought maybe they were podcasters, or worked for a community radio station or they were uni students doing an assignment. I had to ask and they were indeed uni students doing an assignment. They asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed on camera about sci fi fandom and George. Of course I am so shy when it comes to appearing in front of a camera that I declined. Yeah bullshit I declined. I thought I might be too nervous to string more than two words together but they asked me questions about a topic I am passionate about - science fiction and fantasy. So I was able to, in my humble opinion, wax lyrical and amusingly about sci fi, George and fandom. Well I hope I was waxing lyrically. They asked me why I liked George's work? I said the A Song Of Ice And Fire series is the best work of fantasy since Tolkien. I said in many respects it was better the the Lord Of The Rings because it was more... something... My memory fails at this point. I do recall both my interviewers nodding seriously to what I said. Obviously it was very inciteful. I went on to say that George's sci fi and horror is as good as anything else written in the last 30 years too.

My friendly interviewers. I hope they get full marks for their assignment.

I think that is it now for the short but sweet Worldcon season in Oz. I don't know when the next big name author will be heading our way to flog some books. Luckily we have a metric shitload of talented Aussie writers that live here that hopefully will be doing signings over the next whenever to keep me happy. That means I can't put all my books in storage for the minute, but my "library" is being renamed to "the babies room" in just over 3 months. Maybe I can put all the books where the writer is dead or highly unlikely to visit the antipodes in storage? But the baby needs a room and I don't think I need to find her chewing and dribbling all over a fifteen hundred dollar signed first edition George Martin novel. It'd be funny though wouldn't it.

George R. R. Martin's website.

Caturday with Copernicus and Michelle

A lazy Sunday morning before shopping for baby stuff. Michelle and Copernicus were enjoying having breakfast on the balcony and catching some rays. Pregnant ladies need their vitamin D and Perni just likes slothing in the sun.

Bodega

Bodega is muy bueno. Very. It now has one Hat. Yay. It is great for Bodega to get the recognition it deserves but for those of us that have been eating here for years it makes it even harder to get a table. They've never taken reservations so you've either got to queue for 6pm when they open or turn up later and hope a table becomes available in a reasonable amount of time. We arrived well before 6pm and by 5.45 quite a crowd had gathered in front of the door. Most of the people we chatted to had never been before and had come because of the Hat awarded by the Good Food Guide. The bloody awards work. Bodega has always been busy so this just makes it that much harder to get in.

But get in we did. We have been coming here for ages but it has been quite a while, last year I think, since we've been here. I blame Michelle - morning sickness killed her appetite for months and one of our favourite dishes at Bodega, the Fish Fingers, contains raw fish which is another big pregnancy no-no.

Their new found status has not affected the food one iota. We couldn't have the Fish Fingers because, as I said, Michelle is up the duff and I just couldn't eat it in front of her... Tempted though I was. But every thing else was either new, exciting and tasty or traditional tasty tapas. We really couldn't go wrong.

We started with bread and olive oil to die for.
Mushrooms in garlic. Some really tasty goddamned mushys. Garlic, mushrooms and oil. How much simpler could you get but how tasty?
Bodega chorizo with sofrito paste was spicy and succulent.
Fried spiced calamari with aioli (above). Just what it says except I'd also call it delicious.

Seared Scallops with Morcilla, Braised Cabbage and Pickled Cauliflower (above). Morcilla is a Spanish black pudding or blood sausage. This dish is very fine - delicate even, but it packs a wallop of flavour.

Banana Split: Cream flan, dulce de leche ice cream, ginger biscuit and banana. This, like the Fish Fingers, is a house speciality and is always on the menu. It is nothing like any banana split you've ever had before.

The service here is always above and beyond. Great food and great service it is no wonder it one of our very favourite places. Thank god Michelle is over her morning sickness. We can go back. Yay.

Venus, Mars, Spica, the Moon and a UFO over Sydney

The western sky over Sydney last night had an excellent grouping of the moon, a couple of planets and a star. At the top we have a bright Venus. Below that a little bit is Mars. Moving down the photo roughly half way and a little below Mars, according to the excellent Astroblog, is Spica. Just above the tree at the bottom of the photo is the crescent moon.

The second photo is more exciting. I think I managed to capture a UFO*. It is just above the moon. It is a classic cigar shaped craft with what appears to be 5 bright lights. Shiiiit. Somebody call the media.


*Here endeth my attempted UFO hoax. It is just a plane taking off from the airport. The streak of light is what you get after a 4 second exposure (4 secs, ISO 80 and F2.8 at around 7pm).

Alastair Reynolds at the Galaxy Bookshop

Aussiecon Four was my first fannish geekfest and as a virgin con goer I couldn't have had a gentler deflowering. Part of the thrill of attending something like Aussiecon is meeting the authors of the books I admire most. I can remain reasonably cool when meeting and talking to most celebrities except for authors I respect. I get a bad case of the star struck fan boy syndrome. I start sweating, I forget what I was going to say and when I do talk I mumble like a dribbling imbecile. Thankfully nearly all the authors I have been lucky enough to meet the last couple of weeks have been friendly, courteous and generous with their time.

Alastair Reynolds is no exception. I was lucky enough to attend a couple of the panels he was on at Worldcon. He also, very graciously, signed the paperback of Revelation Space I had with me in Melbourne when I baled him up after a panel. I have nearly every other book he has written but they are door stoppers so there was not much chance of me taking them on the plane to Melbourne to get signed. Conveniently for me Alastair visited Sydney after Worldcon and had a book signing at the Galaxy. The Galaxy was also a little quieter than Worldcon so I had plenty time to get all my books signed and have a chat with the charming Mr Reynolds.

Alastair is the author of the brilliant Revelation Space series of hardish far future space opera novels, a couple of other stand-alone novels and a bunch of novellas and short stories.



Thanks Alastair.

Alastair Reynold's blog.
Alastair Reynold's wikipedia entry.

The Hugo

The Hugos are arguably the most prestigious award for works of Science Fiction and are voted on by the members of each year's Worldcon. I got to vote this year and I am more than happy with the results. To put it in context, it is like being able to vote for the Oscars but cooler.

Below we have the Hugo award for this year awarded to Clarkesworld for Best Semiprozine.

Baby update

Michelle's belly is expanding almost exponentially now. At this rate we will need to move into a new flat by December. Speaking of December, that means the aforementioned as yet still unnamed little girl is only about 3 and half months from turning our lives upside down. So far she has been gestating for 24 weeks and now she is kicking and punching like Hit Girl in Kick-Ass. Each time this daddy to be feels his little girl kick, his stomach flip flops and he has trouble swallowing. Apparently he also starts writing in 3rd person.

Worldcon - Day 4 - Part 2... and then it was over :(

After the kaffeeklatsch, I just like saying kaffeeklatsch, it was time for my penultimate panel. I chose Novellas: The Perfect Format mainly because Grand Master and living legend Robert Silverberg was on the panel. Also on the panel were Peter M. Ball, Alan Baxter and Keith Stevenson. Bob Silverberg was funny and inciteful. This is the type of panel that makes you want to go out and start pounding out a novella - frack novels and short stories. There was some discussion about electronic publishing which all the panellists thought was going to be innevitable. Alan mentioned that maybe one day we'd refer to e-books as books and old books as p-books. The look of derision and then wry smile on Bob Silverberg's face was a classic.
Keith Stevenson hosts another SF podcast I listen to, Terra Incognita Australian Science Fiction.

From left - Peter Ball, Robert Silverberg, Alan Baxter and Keith Stevenson.

Robert Silverberg, Grand Master.

The video above is the Q&A session of the Novellas: The Perfect Format panel.

Usually I'd find time to have lunch around one o'clock but because there was only an hour left for me at Worldcon I had to make what time I had count. So a Flake would have to do for munchies. The last panel I chose to see was The Race To The Red Planet with Kim Stanley Robinson, David D. Levine and Jim Benford. Jim is Greg's twin brother. At the time I though Greg looked a little different and when I asked Kim and Jim to pose together for a photo I think I said "Stan can you pose with Greg please"? Oops.

Kim Stanley Robinson and JIM Benford.

Kim Stanley Robinson, David D Levine and Jim Benford.

This was another fascinating panel. All three participants contributed well and they were entertaining considering the almost dry nature of the talk. Not dry for me though. What could be more interesting than discussing nuke rockets to Mars?

This snippet of video is the Q&A session towards the end of the panel.

And that was it. Except for a last swing around the dealer's room to buy more books, Aussiecon Four, the 68th Annual World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne Australia, was done and dusted for me. Still to come this evening for everybody else was the Hugo Awards ceremony and more panels and activities tomorrow. But for me it was all over. I was really reluctant to leave. I knew I had a plane to catch but I wanted to soak in more of the atmosphere before I left. Except for the occasional Steampunk costume I hadn't seen many costumed attendees but as I was leaving I was treated to a few people dressed up in Star Wars costumes. About time too. A quick couple of happy snaps and I headed for the doors. As I crossed the lobby I encountered my final pro guest for the con, Howard Tayler. Fair dinkum he was everywhere. Anyway, I went up to him, shook his hand and said on behalf of this con goer to him as a representative of the pro guests thanks for making my Worldcon fantastic. And it was.

The Polly Woodside is parked right outside the convention centre.

Worldcon - Day 4 - Part 1

Day four at Aussiecon Four is the penultimate day of Worldcon. The Hugo Awards ceremony is held tonight. Unfortunately for me it is also my last day at Worldcon. Somehow, when I'd organised flights and got time off work, I'd forgotten Aussiecon continued to Monday. Stupid stupid boy. When I first realised I'd made a mistake I was quite philosophical about it. But as the con has gone on I came to regret my doofussness even more. I should have realised I was a big enough geek to be totally sucked in by the whole Worldcon experience. In my defence this was the first con I've ever been to so I wasn't totally convinced I was going to have as great a time as I had up until this point.

The final day couldn't even be a full day either. I had to leave the con by 2pm at the latest to have enough time to pick up Michelle in Ivanhoe and get to the airport for our flight to Sydney.

I still couldn't get to the con on time though. Stupid Sunday train timetables. As long as I could get there before 11am for the kaffeeklatsch with Mur Lafferty I would be satisfied. Yes, I was finally able to get onto a kaffeeklatsch. Today's kaffeeklatsch was opened for registrations at 3pm the day before. Because of a panel, coincidently with Mur Lafferty, it was after 4pm before I got a chance to sign on. I was number 9 out of a maximum of 10 registrants. Close.

As wandered into the lobby of the convention centre I happened to glance over to a quiet corner to see Mur Lafferty interviewing, she had her microphone out, Howard Tayler. Mur was probably interviewing Howard for her I Should Be Writing podcast. I Should Be Writing is Mur's podcast for wannabe fiction writers by a wannabe fiction writer. She is actually a little better than a wannabe writer these days. She has actually published a couple of novels and is also, since May, the editor for Escape Pod. Escape Pod is a Science Fiction podcast that presents SF stories in audio format and it is awesome. I've been listening to ISBW and EP since they both began.

A kaffeeklatsch is an informal round table meeting hosted by the author or otherwise famous person where you usually discuss... well... anything. Usually it is a question and answer session with the host. Why would you go to listen to other attendees? A free coffee is part of the deal. We all sat down and started the chat with Mur. After a few minutes everybody was served their coffees or chai lattes or hot chocolates. Except, that is, for me. The one morning I needed my coffee and I was actually expecting one and it didn't arrive. Bugger. The volunteers were pretty helpful though. They did promise that if a coffee didn't turn up I'd get a free coffee voucher to use after the KK. But this is a kaffeeklatsch dammit I was thinking. What I did say was thank you very much that is very kind. Luckily I had a packet of Smarties in my pocket. About 10 minutes before the end of the KK my coffee arrived. Finally I could concentrate on what was being discussed. I could even participate in the discussion. We talked about podcasting and writing and awards and cons and giggled about yesterday's Just A Minute panel. I asked Mur how it felt to come from being a little known podcaster to a guest a major convention. She thought it was surreal. And that was it for the kaffeeklatsch.

Mur Lafferty and some bloke.

Worldcon - Day 3 - Part 2

There were a couple of things on at 4pm that sounded interesting. Something about geoengineering with Kim Stanley Robinson and Greg Benford and the intriguingly titled Just A Minute. Just A Minute didn't have any notes describing what it was about but China Mieville and John Scalzi were on the panel so I thought I'd check that one out. There was quite a crowd lined up outside of Plenary 1 for Just A Minute. Whatever it was going to be it looked popular. By the way, a plenary is an auditorium or a theatre at a convention centre but in the dictionary it means full, complete, entire or meeting. We all milled around the entrance to the plenary for few minutes because apparently there'd been a double booking. An executive decision was made by someone and we all trooped down to plenary 3. Again we, including the panel members Scalzi and Mieville, milled around waiting to be let in. After some time, the panel was close to 30 minutes late by then, the signal was given to go back plenary 1 where, finally, we trooped in.

This was the biggest panel I've been to so far. Paul Cornell and his partner Caroline Symcox, Jennifer Fallon, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Cat Valente, China Mieville, John Scalzi and Ellen Kushner. Just A Minute is a BBC radio comedy gameshow. The object of the game is for the panellists to talk for Just A Minute on a nominated subect "without repetition, hesitation or deviation". If a panellist hesitates, repeats a word or deviates from the topic another panellist can interrupt with a challenge. If the challenge is successful the challenger gets a point and continues to speak on the topic for however long is left of the original 60 seconds until he or she is challenged. If a challenge is unsuccessful the original speaker gets the point and continues speaking. Obviously this leads to much hilarity. In the end the panel hilariously degenerated into the Scalzi Mieville show with Scalzi, in the end, winning on points.

From left to right - Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Jennifer Fallon, Caroline Symcox, Paul Cornell, John Scalzi, Ellen Kushner, Cat Valente and China Mieville.

Below is some video of the panel I shot on my little Lumix LX-3. The audio is a bit crappy and the video is comprised of about 6 shorter videos cut together so the there is not much in the way of continuity but it should give a decent taste of the show. If you view it in full screen mode or over on Youtube you can watch it in HD.

Because the panel went over time because of the late start I was late getting to Kim Stanley Robinson's book signing. I only had one book to sign - I'd got a bunch signed last time he was in Sydney (I saw a signed Red Mars on sale here for $125). With only 20 to 25 minutes left to sign the queue still stretched half way across the room. I'd also ordered a shitload of souvenir t-shirts from the t-shirt vendor to be picked up before 6pm. A clash of deadlines. Get the book signed or pick up t-shirts? I did the only thing I could think of and do both. Co-queuers, a father and daughter, offered to hold my place, and book, in the queue so I could go and sort out my t-shirts. There was another guy in the queue I kept running into at signings. He was dragging a wheeled shopping bag thing around filled with books. We chatted every time we ran into each other. Good people these con goers.

After trying and failing to pay for the shirts from Fo' Paws for 10 minutes because their credit card device wasn't connecting, I told them I would have to get cash and come back after closing if I could. I raced back around to the KSR queue with 10 minutes to go. We were still about 20 people from Kim when the convention volunteers policing the queue said that Kim would be finishing at 6 and we may not make it. They started handing out tickets for the next day just in case. Unfortunately for me the next day's signing was scheduled for 2pm. I was hoping to be on my way to the airport at that time. Bugger. Luckily for those of us that were left in the queue we were able to get our books signed today. Crisis averted.

I still didn't have my t-shirts though. Luckily, again, there was an ATM conveniently located within the convention centre. A good 5 minutes walk but still on site. After a bit negotiating with the volunteers manning the door to the dealers room to let me back in I picked up and paid for my t-shirts.

And that was it for day 3 at Aussiecon Four. Day 4 is next.