Sunday

Bloody Sunday started after Newbury feeding time with a panel on 'Biology of the zombie apocalypse, where I was joined (in the long-walk-away room 12) by "world experts in necrological studies" Dr Bob, Rob Haines, and Bill Sellers, moderated by Tom Womack. I was the lowly horror movie geek amongst the boffins, as we tried to figure out what makes the undead shamble about in search of human flesh. The hour went by quickly and the panel was certainly a lot of fun to do. Miraculously, nobody mentioned the taste of chicken.

Just before 11am, I was rushing to the Green Room for a drink, before meeting fellow panellists Dev Agarwal, Martin Easterbrook, and Graham Sleight, with moderator Lapswood (Chad Dixon), for my third and last programme item '20-odd years of CGI'. This was a particularly interesting topic as we tried to highlight various/ best examples of digital animation used in two decades of movies.

At noon, I went to hear Paul F. Cockburn, Paul McAuley, Martin Andersson, and James Treadwell talking about the current 'Sequelitis' affecting Hollywood, but had to leave early because I needed a drink and wanted to visit Ian Sales' launch party for the Rocket Science anthology he's edited for Mutation Press. After lunch, I went to the panel on 'Scientists and the media' in the Commonwealth main hall, where David L. Clements was moderator for Caroline Mullan, Paul Cornell, Jennifer Delaney, and Marek Kukula. It was a very worthwhile panel, as was the next discussion group for 'the science of Rocket Science', with the book's editor Ian Sales, and contributors Iain Cairns, Deborah Walker, and Martin McGrath.

At teatime, I was back in the main hall for a lively panel on 'The nature of heroism' with two guests-of-honour: Tricia Sullivan and George R.R. Martin, plus author Joe Abercrombie, blogger Genevieve Valentine, and moderator David Anthony Durham. Sullivan and Martin were both great, although in disagreement. After Jessica Yates talk about 'Superhero comics, graphic novels and the films they inspired', I went to the panel on 'Fantasy in our time' where Edward James, Andy Sawyer, and James Treadwell, were moderated by Graham Sleight, for a discussion about the influence of Tolkien and Howard.

The busy evening continued wiith the programme item 'Death of the author' as Ian Whates moderated for Ian Watson, Tanya Brown, Roz Kaveney, and Adam Christopher, in a discussion of shared-worlds in fiction. As expected, Watson was hilarious in a 10-minute talk about his contribution to Warhammer 40K. I wasn't keen on 'Multicultural steampunk', anyway, so I left that panel item after listening to a few minutes of authors talking, somewhat defensively, about diversification in a subgenre that seems like a lamentable dead-end in SF. The night's programme was obviously winding down by 10pm, as only a couple of the panellists for 'Worst and best movies of the year' bothered to turn up for the discussion, which started late and seemed haphazard, and was a bit disappointing for me.

Saturday

After breakfast for Olympians, in the Brasserie (where the service is better than in Newbury rooms), I went to 'Ethics of AI' as first panel (at 10 am). Simon Bradshaw, Paul Cornell, Louise Dennis, and Lilian Edwards talked about whether machine sentience should have human rights, and if it's switched off by its creator - does that amount to a death sentence. I spent the rest of the morning looking around the art show, and the dealers room - where Roy was selling Black Static and Interzone, and assorted books.

My first panel, 'Superheroes in the movies' started at 1pm, I was joined by John Coxon, David Anthony Durham, Ian Millsted, and Jesscia Yates for wide-ranging discussion of the best, the worst, and the failures in adapting comicbooks for the screen. Of course, I got in a plug for my forthcoming book about Ang Lee's Hulk. It went quite well, I thought, but John disagreed with my criticisms of Samuel Jackson (who's become a parody of himself, nowadays), and 'the Hoff' (a campy cartoon, not an actor!), as Marvel's boss of SHIELD, Nick Fury.

Drinking through distractions, it was soon 4pm, and time for 'the Fantastic Landscape', a panel where Paul McAuley, Jaine Fenn, and Nina Allan, discussed literary examples of metropolis and forest. I also kept missing interesting stuff on the programme (where does the time go?) until 8pm, when 'Private road to space' was a particularly informative panel with Dev Agarwal (best moderator I've seen so far at this con), in charge of author Geoffrey A. Landis, and tech industry experts like John Bray, and Gerry (no last name).

Returning from the bar for umpteenth time today, I went to see Gaspode (John Medany) lead a review of 'Worst and best TV of the past year', with commentators Paul Dormer, Genevieve Valentine, and Carolina. It was interesting to hear about lots of genre telly that I haven't seen on DVD yet.

IZ 235

The latest Interzone (#235, July-August), from TTA Press, has my 'Laser Fodder' column of DVD & blu-ray reviews. Here's list of this issue's coverage, with ratings:

The Fifth Element (8/10)
Hereafter (4/10)
Eyeborgs (5/10)
The Twilight Zone - season 2 (6/10)
Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame (8/10)
Don't Look Now (8/10)
Never Let Me Go (5/10)
Tenebrae (6/10)
Assassin Rising (3/10)
Caprica - TV series (4/10)
Drive Angry (7/10)
The Pack (5/10)
Robot Chicken - Star Wars episode III (0/10)
The Adjustment Bureau (6/10)
The Funhouse (6/10)
Unknown (6/10)

    Anime Nations
Eden Of The East - The Movie I: King Of Eden (3/10)
Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (6/10)
Akira (8/10)
Musashi – The Dream Of The Last Samurai (6/10)

    Deadweight Horrors: Round-Up
Prey (2/10)
The Rite (3/10)
Hunger (1/10)
Siren (2/10)
World Of The Dead: Zombie Diaries 2 (0/10)
The Resident (4/10) 

This issue of Interzone also includes my review of Michio Kaku's book, Physics Of The Future.
TTA Press have announced a new offer of lifetime subsciptions for Interzone and sister magazine Black Static. 

Odyssey finale

Odyssey 2010 – Monday

Yesterday was busy, starting with a panel on anthologies – Ellen Datlow, Ian Whates, Colin Harvey and Gary Couzens discussing 'the art of compilation'. Al Reynolds' talk about 'SF and the modern cosmos' had tech problems, so it started late and its colour slide-show was only screened in black-and-white. From the main hall, I went to the noon panel about 'writing meaningful reviews' moderated by John Clute, but the panellists (I'd never heard of any of them before) all had completely different perspectives, making any balanced or interactive discussion rather difficult.

I had to leave that item early, to visit Green Room, ready for my panel about Clarke (and whether he's still worth reading), where Colin Harvey moderated our discussion. With Ian Whates, Edward James, Martin McGrath, and Stephen Gaskell, opinions differed but we seemed to agree that such older SF novels ought/ should appeal to younger readers today. After, I listened to some comments from 'Not The Clarke Awards' panel, but found I hadn't read any of the books they were talking about.

Next, meeting Interzone film reviewer Nick Lowe, after his BSFA lecture on “2001 and the Narratology of Transcendence,” revealing the 'untold' story about developing the script for Clarke and Kubrick's masterpiece. I saw Roy Gray just after the dealer's room closed at 6pm, and we went to the poetry readings hosted by Birmingham's former poet laureate Chris Morgan. Roz Kaveney's readings were good, as were some others, but I forgot their names.

I had to leave that room early, in time for my panel on James Cameron's Avatar, where Jetse de Vries moderated our lively discussion of the film's merits and faults. I waited patiently for the Mitch Benn gig to start - much later than expected in the main hall, but his 'adult' comedy/ singing act was not funny and only weakly amusing. I think he's just a retarded Bill Bailey wannabe.

Announcements made in Atrium bar space for 'Steampunk Ball' dance in the main hall were an increasing annoyance during late night drinking and chat, but it didn't really spoil the evening, where conversations included mysterious origins of life and the reportedly surprising popularity of Harry Harrison in Russia... I found a copy of Sentinel newsletter #5, with a picture of my first panel on Friday night. Oh, yay.

This morning, I'll be checking out, but still going to programme items, and I have one more panel to do before the closing ceremony.

Manchester

Got back yesterday from two days in Manchester. We stayed at Sachas Hotel (part of Britannia chain), and the city-centre location put many things of interest in easy walking distance. Saw live-action cartoon Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, which is everything you might expect from Michael Bay’s sequel to Transformers but seeing this film at Odeon IMAX was a cinema experience (premier seating, £11), anyway. There’s no denying Transformers 2 provided visually–stunning sci-fi action, with plenty of epic battles, military hardware, and weapons of mass destruction... yet the benefits of watching this on such a giant screen has confirmed my view that Bay’s recent films have almost nothing to offer – except for spectacular CGI. Take away the widescreen spectacle and the film's genre appeal, even for brainless thrills, dials back to nearly zero.

On Saturday morning, I walked around the city centre, and all along Deansgate to visit the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), which has interactive displays and galleries including exhibits charting Manchester residents’ varied contributions of technological progress to Britain, and the world... I found the adjacent Air & Space Hall of special interest for its helicopter stand, a tandem-rotor Bristol 192 Belvedere.

Main event was The Eagles at MEN Arena (last UK venue of a 100+ date world tour), where the band’s line-up included the core of front-man Glenn Frey, drummer Don Henley, guitarist extraordinaire Joe Walsh, and bassist Timothy B. Schmit (Don Felder was fired in 2001), plus a spare guitar player, other keyboards man, a violinist, and trumpet and saxophones players. The concert started promptly at 7.30 - just as we found our seats. They played many old classics (surprisingly, Hotel California was included in their first set) but recent double-album Long Road Out Of Eden (the band’s first new recording for 28 years!) was quite heavily promoted. Very pleased to report they also played Joe Walsh’s amusingly cockeyed view of fame and fortune, Life’s Been Good (cue head-cam antics), followed by Don Henley’s barbed critique of media celebrity, Dirty Laundry. Lighting arrays, background images (retro and contemporary), artfully composed movies, and a pair of video screens ensured there was always plenty of visual streams to admire, in addition to the dark-suited players on stage. I have always liked the Eagles for the lyrically romantic nostalgia of their Californian pop-rock blend, but also for the brooding melancholy of their darker and often sagely-critical worldviews. The show embraced a variety of moods and musical styles, from country ballads to heavy rock.

I don’t have a complete set-list, but songs included: opener How Long, Guilty Of The Crime, Witchy Woman, Lyin’ Eyes, In The City, and The Long Run, before a break. The band returned for a brief sit-down session with No More Walks In The Woods (a cappella), and No More Cloudy Days, before continuing with other familiar material including (my favourite Eagles' song) Take It To The Limit – introduced as "the credit card song," new album centrepiece Long Road Out Of Eden (a lengthy yet brilliant dissection of modern times’ woes and wonders), One Of These Nights, Funk #49 (a psychedelic improvisation?), Life In The Fast Lane, Take It Easy, and closer Desperado. With five guitarists, two drummers, and a four-man horn and string section, the band produced a slick and super-sized sound of excellent technical quality making this one of the most polished and sharpest performances of arena style rock that I can remember. Despite the £85 ticket, this really was a great show that surpassed all expectations and was certainly worth the money.

Moon hoax

It shouldn't really need such effort, and certainly doesn't deserve further attention - beyond a scorn for its absurdity, but conspiracy-theory nutters' ridiculous claims that the Moon landings were faked gets a debunking episode on the Discovery Channel's TV show MythBusters, as reported here. The very idea is farcical. How can any thinking, or vaguely science-literate person give the 'Moon hoax' credence? Does even a casual TV viewer seriously believe that all those Apollo missions were faked? Are the lunar-buggy chase sequence in James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever, and the cover-up plot of Capricorn One, mostly to blame for popularising the joke? The whole 'hoax' thing is simply an insult to basic human intelligence, but some people will believe anything, no matter how stupid it clearly is.

Cloudbusting

Intriguing New Scientist article here about clouds spotted before earthquakes. Amused by added comments, too, which include one from 'Cloud Appreciation Society' (I wonder about their attention span)!

Mars bozo

Critical review for Mars rover
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6675287.stm

Hard to believe they're still only talking about sending robots to Mars. Where are the big ambitious plans for space missions?

What we've been looking for is a concept that will maximise the scientific return
- Bruno Gardini, ExoMars project team

I had to laugh at that quote. When are these projects going to be rejected in favour of a manned expedition? What are these scientists, explorers, and space industry managers waiting for now..?

Euro sat-nav

Taxpayers 'should build Galileo'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6660629.stm

Can't help thinking such hi-tech systems overlook the inestimable value of local knowledge...

Van drivers who deliver my supermarket grocery orders have got lost in my village because their sat-nav displays no street record of the cul-de-sac where I live.

Instead of spending four billion euros to launch yet more space junk, wouldn't a map reading training-course for couriers and haulage contractors work out a bit cheaper?

Guessbot

'Guessing' robots find their way...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6638209.stm

What these robots really need, when they get stuck, is to be able to phone a friend!
;)

Super-Earth

New 'super-Earth' found
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6589157.stm

It's over 20 light-years away, but only 1.5 times size of Earth, and orbits close to its dim-bulb star (Gliese 581), inside the system's region where liquid water is a possibility, and life (as we know it) might exist. Certainly, this is one of the most fascinating astronomical discoveries yet!

Dwarf planet?

So this month's decision by a meeting of the I.A.U. in Prague has re-drawn the boundary of our Solar system. Pluto is classified as a 'dwarf planet'. OK, I realise that definitions are important in a field of study where things like celestial mechanics are supposed to be an exact science, but this curious astro demotion still sounds like Plan B for Planet 9 to me.

Cast your vote at: Sally Ride Science.

Same time, same planet

Where were you on Earth Day? Here in the Village, I got the leaky bathroom sink fixed, thus saving at least a few drops of (probably undrinkable) water, and made a better effort to recycle tins, bottles, and paper rubbish. It's still a work in progress, and that's the whole point, right?

But are supposedly global events such as yesterday's doing any real good? Is the green household agenda a worthwhile public pursuit when so many multinational corporations - not to mention USA.gov - refuse to agree on the problems, or even the causes of those problems?

Instead of a straightforward 'carbon tax' adding to fuel costs (a measure which impacts all users, and would probably drive inflation rates up), how come there are no easily accessible schemes to provide tax breaks at the grassroots level? I'd like to see lottery money available to fund more domestic solar panels and wind towers instead of the often-wasteful (and frequently ridiculous - see BBC news' football fitness story) projects currently being supported by lotto cash.