Hello!,
and many thanks for taking on a new zine, Dark Matter 1.
For many production houses and distribution companies, Canada is a secondary market, so shows like Spielberg’s Terra Nova may not make it onto TV screens here this year; maybe next. I suspect the same for Iron Sky. The remake of V is here, but I wasn’t too impressed with the original.
Our current plans are to go to the Reno Worldcon next year. I hope we can save enough cash to do it. We enjoyed the Montreal Worldcon, and couldn’t afford to come to Melbourne and join you this year, but next year looks doable. If I can have some of the fun I had in Montreal, it will be worth it.
A great selection of pictures of Aussiecon, too. There were a lot of local fans there, but and some of them are involved in upcoming Worldcons and bids. I had not heard there was a scholarly conference the three days before Aussiecon, but then, there are some scholarly conventions and literary events locally that I don’t hear about. I find that either fandom is left out of these things, or I am just out of the loop.
Looks like you’ve had a professionally-run convention, Armageddon Expo 2010. How was yours? We recently had an enormous one downtown more than a month ago, called Fan eXpo, and it was far too crowded. It had been ten years since we’d been to it, and after this mess, it will definitely be another ten years. Also, I find that these shows do not cater to my interests at all. I guess I’m picky that way. The Star Wars charity dinner this coming weekend looks like fun.
The book Hamlet’s Blackberry might be interesting. For years, I used a Palm Tungsten PDA to keep track of things, but now, it’s smartphones of various kinds, including the Blackberry. It is difficult to know which model of smartphone is best for me, and there seems to be no way to figure that out. Same goes for e-readers. There’s too much selection to know what to get.
I’ve found Facebook to be addictive, but very useful. I have found members of my extended family, old friends who have moved away, and people I went to school with. It’s useful for me now, but as soon as it isn’t… I’m gone. If I had a smartphone where I could access Facebook and other social media, I don’t think I would. I’d want to keep all my Facebook conversations in the one place, my home computer.
I can see that this new zine will be the source of many good conversations and insightful comments. I’m looking forward to issue 2. Take care, and many thanks.
Lloyd Penney.
Lloyd,
Terra Nova is a TV series, but I’m pretty sure Iron Sky will be a cinema release. Hopefully you’ll get it sooner rather than later. See my Armageddon review for comments about SF on Aussie TV.
Thanks to Edward McArdle for Dark Matter’s photographic review of AussieCon.
Good luck with Reno, and thanks for your comments.
Nalini