NOVACON34 |
7.00 pm: Opening Ceremony Meet the Guest of Honour and the Committee. Last minute announcements. Followed by…
7.30 pm: Space Opera - Ask not what you can do to the universe, ask what the universe will do to you There’s a lot of older SF about how much the universe will be changed by “late-stage” technological civilisations to meet their needs, but when we get out amongst the universe will it change us, rather than us it. Pace Haldane’s dictum, will we become not just stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine?
9.00 pm: Book Launch Drop in to sample the free wine and take advantage of the free nibbles and maybe even get some books signed as we celebrate the re-release of Storm Constantine’s Stalking Tender Prey and Mythanima, Ian Watson’s Alien Embassy and the latest issue of Visionary Tongues.
10.30 pm: Room 101 Ken MacLeod attempts to persuade Steve Green to consign his pet hates to oblivion
Late: Films: Eddie Loves You/Call of Cthulhu The first tranche of Steve Green’s “unusual” presentations for the weekend. Eddie Loves You is funnier than it is horrific (although still quite horrific).
10.00 am: The Cult of Science Are we too reverent and uncomprehending of real science? Is there an “idea” of science that’s more attractive than the petty-politicking, corporate-endowed reality? After all, many of the most highly regarded “hard” SF writers use science that is internally consistent to the plots of their books but (to be polite) “unrealistic”.
11.30 pm: Book Auction From bargain prices for doorstop trilogies to gems that haven’t been in print for years, your chance to pick up something special and unexpected.
1.30 pm: Conventions: what do we do next? Not just about next Easter, although Convoy have said they will be making an announcement this weekend about the future of the 2007 Eastercon. After a successful Worldcon, but with problems organising other conventions, where should fandom put its resources for the best conventions in the next few years?
3.00 pm: Guest Of Honour – Ken MacLeod
5.00 pm: Television – anything to do with us? Someone from the Dr Who team recently repeated the old line about its success being because “it’s not really science fiction”. So is SF on television anything to do with SF fan culture, and why do we have this "proprietary" feeling about say, Dr Who or Buffy, that we somehow "get it" more than general population?
6.30 pm: So what were fanzines, grandpa? Is there still a particular satisfaction from a paper fanzine that's different from web publishing? Is fanac (for those of you who still use the jargon) still distinct from so much else that’s going on? What will the talented writers, artists and editors in fandom be doing with their time a few years from now?
8.00 pm: Film: By kind permission of George Lucas…The Pink Five Trilogy Yes, really – Mr Green had to get permission from the Mr Lucas for us to show these valley girl Star Wars spin-offs.
9.30 pm Science Fiction Pub Quiz Your quizmasters – The Committee. Prizes you’ll want to win now the treasurer’s assured us we can afford it. Start thinking now of the wacky name for your team. The questions won’t be too hard, there’s the SF GCSE in the programme book for that.
11.00 am: Chernobyl Revisited Two decades after the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Martin Hoare, Dave Lally and Jim Walker visited the site. They describe what they found and has become of the region, with video presentations and slides.
12.30 pm: Art Auction An opportunity to bid for some of the fine work that’s been on display over the weekend.
2.00 pm: Greek Theatre 101 As part of his project to stage Aristophanes for an SF audience, Tony Keen gives an introduction to the conventions of Greek drama. May include audience participation. You have been warned…
3.30 pm: People Who Bought This Also Read… There are endless conversations at conventions about books, but many of the works discussed aren’t science fiction. Do we have other writers in common? What else do SF fans read? What else enhances the reading & writing of SF?
5.00 pm : Awards Ceremony The Nova Awards will be presented. Our Guest of Honour and all those who’ve made the convention possible will be thanked. The raffle will be drawn with meticulous efficiency (a full list of all winning tickets will be displayed in the lobby outside the main programme). Next year’s committee will make themselves known.
7.00 pm: Beer Tasting and meal The beer tasting accompanied by Scottish Food. BEER BADGES and MEAL TICKETS must be purchased from the registration desk beforehand.