The Slack Shack

Aug. 31, 2003 - 7:45-8:40 p.m.

In which our plucky young zero observes the flight of rockets.

Well, when I got here, I didn't know who's hosting the 2006 Worldcon or the 2005 NASFiC, but I do know who won the Hugos.

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Wen Spencer

Best Fan Artist: Sue Mason

Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford

Best Fanzine: Mimosa, Rich and Nicki Lynch, eds. (throwing in the sponge as of this year)

Best Semiprozine: Locus, Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall and Kirsten Gong-Wong, eds.

Best Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois

Best Professional Artist: Bob Eggleton

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form): Buffy the Vampire Slayer (episode "Conversations with Dead People," dir. Nick Marck, scr. Jane Espenson & Drew Goddard; 20th Century Fox Television/Mutant Enemy Inc.)

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form): The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (dir. Peter Jackson; scr. Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair & Jackson, based on the novel-segment by J.R.R. Tolkien; New Line Cinema)

Best Related Work: Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril by Judith Merril and Emily Pohl-Weary

Best Short Story: "Falling onto Mars" by Geoffrey A. Landis

Best Novelette: "Slow Life" by Michael Swanwick

Best Novella: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Best Novel: Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

Highlights of the ceremony included Jane Espenson, in her acceptance speech, noting how appropriate it was for her collaborator, Robert Goddard's grandson, to be getting an award shaped like a rocketship; the Magian actually having an acceptance speech ready this year (last year, when American Gods got a rocket, he just stared at it and said "Fuck, I won a Hugo"); and the Pro Guest of Honor, in the course of giving the ~~Big One~~ Best Novel award, saying that he was sure he had it sewn up in Philly, but some damn kid on a broom pushed him aside.

Friday night, dinner was at the Red Tomato. Saturday night, at Marcel's snooty French cuisine. Tonight, at Raaga, an understaffed Indian place.

This afternoon, we went to the Royal Ontario Museum. This morning, we visited the movie room to watch trailers for a whole bunch of genre (and genre-esque, and loosely genre-related) movies, some of which we actually want to see. The trailer for Shaolin Soccer got big laughs for two moments near the end (those who've seen it will know what I mean when I say "homage to Charlie Brown" and "Shaolin parallel parking").

And while I was typing this, I found the latest issue of the con's internal newsletter, the Dam Write Daily (see, for some reason, the mascot is a beaver). The 2006 World Science Fiction Convention will be L.A.con IV; the 2005 North American Science Fiction Convention will be CascadiaCon (that is, Seattle). Whether we'll be going to either is still up in the air.

I'm blowing off the masquerade to write this. I find that, as the years go by, these costume contests do less for me. Or maybe it's just that I'm too jaded by the one where they had passable versions of all seven Endless on stage, with Len Wein in Destruction's armor and Marv Wolfman in Destiny's robes.

-30-

last time, on The Slack Shack - our next inciting exstallment