Saturday, August 6th, 2005 - Glasgow
Convention Items Attended
| Time | Description | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | Science Denial | This discussion was about the recent development whereby the findings of science are being questioned in (for example) schools in the US where they are being taught creationism in addition to natural selection. Most of the panellists were quite alarmed at this prospect and discussed what can be done to address the issue. A couple of interesting comments from the panel: “Fundamentalism is a LACK of faith”. The consensus was that science is about truth and falsehood but the public see this as being about good and bad. |
| 13:00 | Alan Lee Interview | I have known about Alan for quite some time now having watched the extra features on my DVD of Lord of the Rings. He was the Conceptual Designer from the three movies and his work is truly magnificent with lots of detail. The conversation was very interesting to witness with his quiet responses talking about dealing with the director, living in New Zealand and his new work on the King Kong movie (also being directed by Peter Jackson). |
| 14:00 | Anime 2: Robots and Ninja | The second in the series of talks on the history of Japanese Animation as we were taken through to the 80s. More interesting clips from this time period (early versions of some shows still on the air). It has been very good to hear about the reasons for certain things happening and the way the market of Japan drove the way Anime has progressed. |
| 15:30 | Titan and the Imagination: Huygens and Cassini | This was a bit of a strange presentation. The presenter gave us a lot of scientific information but seemed to always be tying it back to Dan Dare and other Science Fiction elements which did not seem to have a lot to do with the Cassini project itself. I was a bit disappointed though the animations were very good and the science information, when given, was very interesting. |
| 18:00 | Quiz: Just a Minute | Absolutely hilarious quiz where the panel members had to speak for one minute on a given topic (determined by the presenter) without hesitation, repetition or deviation. The whole thing seemed to by hijacked by the author Connie Willis who left the crowd crying with laughter as she tried to figure out how exactly to play the game (and doing extremely well at the same time). The presenter had his wife in the panel which also added to a bit of the progress of the show. Manic and terrific fun. |
| 20:00 | So You're Going to Japan | This was an interesting discussion about what we could expect when we attend the World SF Convention in Yokohama in 2007. I thought it was a bit too much of “it is so cute”-type conversation but interesting nonetheless with tips on how to get around and what to do and see. |
| 20:00 | Masquerade | Obviously, having gone to the Japan panel I was late in visiting Masquerade which was held in the “Armadillo” (named due to it's obvious shape) at the SECC. It was very unfortunate that we (Paul joined me there) missed the presentations but we were able to see the show during the time the judges were judging (after the initial costume entries are shown there is about an hour before the judges return their decisions for prizes so an entertainment is staged for the crowd to keep them occupied – very funny this one being two teams asked to create a costume in an hour with a pile of scrap supplied). The winning costumes were, as always, very good and showed a lot of work by the people involved. |
Once again the parties have been very good with MANY people out enjoying them. Tonight it was Kansas City (again), Montreal (unfortunately no cut meat or bagels…oh well), Sweden and Chicago (also again, also with hot dogs – yep, had another one…). No need to eat at night, that is for sure.
⇒ Continue to Sunday, August 7th, 2005 - Glasgow