alias_sqbr

No Swancon for me :(

Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:35:55 GMT

I am a sleepy puddle who will be staying in bed. Hope everyone else has fun! Maybe next year. (I mean I MIGHT feel up to it tomorrow but I doubt it and also tomorrow is forecast for rain, so)

comments

Wiscon is done!!

Tue, 26 May 2020 08:12:35 GMT

It ended very sharply since they made the discord read-only at local midnight (my lunch time, a few hours ago) I've joined a few related discords, though, and had a bunch of new people follow me who I am slowly checking out one by one (if I do this too quickly I just go UGH TOO HARD and never subscribe to anyone).

Anyway, the con was a lot of fun! *waves to everyone I saw there, and also anyone I didn't* I have one more panel to write up and then I'll do a panels post, but in the meantime here's some links I had opened in tabs and stuff.
( Read more... )

comments

I am at Wiscon AS WE SPEAK

Sun, 24 May 2020 06:05:44 GMT

I have been having a lot of fun at the online version of the feminist scifi convention Wiscon this weekend. I was worried I'd be asleep during all the interesting stuff, but even though I've had to miss most of the panels I've still been to a couple and had some great conversations in the discord. Including meeting some new dreamwidth people *waves*
( Read more... )

comments

Wiscon Online

Sun, 10 May 2020 12:48:50 GMT

Wiscon is open for online registration until the 20th.

I got the free ticket because I am pretty sure timezones mean I won't be able to actually attend anything (which is fair enough, it was hardly designed to be an international con!), but will see.

comments

Swancon: ONLINE, and LOVE NEVER DIES

Fri, 01 May 2020 07:13:56 GMT

This ANZAC weekend was the local scifi con, Swancon. And like so many recent cons, it was online.

This was an interesting experience! I was unfortunately very sleepy this weekend so wasn't up for a bunch of content I'd been looking forward to, but participated in couple of Youtube chats via Watch2gether, which were super fun. I also submitted to and checked out the online art gallery, which was a cute virtual space you could wander around.

There were also video chats, online board games, etc. There's been a bunch of discord conversations leading up to Swancon, too, and the possibility of a bookclub etc following the con.

The first thing we watched on Youtube was the Australian production of the Phantom of the Opera Sequel musical, Love Never Dies. It was very entertainingly bad, and we all ended up shipping Meg/Christine and Phantom/Raoul more than any of the canon ships.
( In which I drag Andrew Lloyd Webber for his terrible filk )

comments

Swancon 2019! Sort of!

Mon, 22 Apr 2019 13:29:19 GMT

I did make it in the end, but only for the Saturday. Which was lots of fun and SO MUCH LESS EXHAUSTING than going for the whole con, so I think I'll make it my default from now on.

There's no panel notes or anything, just me rambling about my day.
( Read more... )

comments

We're not going to swancon this year

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:03:44 GMT

Thought I should mention it while I remember. (Also I just gave my self a minor burn and need a distraction, sorry if this is a bit badly worded as a result)

There's no big reason, mainly I've been finding it more of a strain on my health so we wanted to try not going and see if we regretted it. If I feel unexpectedly energetic I might take the train down for Saturday but I wouldn't count on it.

Hope you all have fun without us!

comments

Swancon 2018: everything else

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 13:01:02 GMT

Overall the con was pretty good, as far as I can tell based on what I saw around naps.
( Read more... )

comments

Swancon 2018 panels: Unisfa is 40, Anime with adult protagonists, Disney from the POV of kids

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 12:25:51 GMT

( Read more... )

comments

Ryan Griffen: interview, and commentary on a Cleverman episode

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 11:13:10 GMT

Ryan Griffen is the Aboriginal creator of the highly lauded indigenous scifi show Cleverman. I haven't actually watched the show but found what he had to say really interesting anyway.
( Read more... )

comments

Melbourne trip!

Sun, 22 Oct 2017 11:48:47 GMT

( unexciting travel stuff )

comments

Swancon 2017!

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 10:15:56 GMT

Sorry to the many people I did not speak to/was vague at, I was EXTRA SPECIALLY sleepy this weekend, on the plus side all the resting I had to do means I don't actually feel that bad now.

Between all the resting I still had a pretty good time! The Metro's accessibility issues weren't as bad as I thought they'd be, and having Cam to drive me around meant the lack of nearby restaurants wasn't too big of an issue for me personally. Didn't make many panels but the ones I went to were fun, and next years con looks pretty promising. The only guest I really talked to was Joyce Chng/jolantru but she was very nice and had interesting things to say.

I wore a they/them pronoun sticker and mentioned my genderfluidness when it was relevant, and got no negative pushback whatsoever. I think partly because a sticker on the bottom of a lanyard on a wheelchair using short person with boobs is not going to be noticed by most people, but I'm still counting it as a win.

I didn't take a lot of notes but what I have is under the cut. The con used the Grenadine event management system for the first time, it worked pretty well from my end and is reminding me of what I did.
( Read more... )

comments

Swancon Programming Meeting April 30

Sat, 06 Aug 2016 14:15:58 GMT

Yes, I took a while to get around to writing this up, the important thing is I've done it now >.>

I was the only non committee member to show up, and they were very interested in a wider variety of suggestions. So contact them with ideas! Especially, I assume, relating to the newly announced international guest Wesley Chu.

Games/audience participation etc type stuff:

Johann Sebastian Joust
Virtual Reality demo like the one this year by Stirfire Studios
Workshops: quilting, locks, miniature painting
Competitive team based problem solving thing?
Play Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy game by audience vote

Other kinds of panels:

Anime history, recs
Dr Who
Non Western/English language Scifi beyond Anime: Miraculous Ladybug etc
Video games discussion
Late night Devina (fan guest)
Classics we never saw
Grant's history of Disney continued? If he wants?
Fantasy panels that suit Traci Harding's themes
Can a scifi movie stay true to an interesting scifi premise all the way through but also be exciting with lots of explosions?
Time travel
Endangered Animals
Space Ship Yamoto
Point and Click computer games
Women sent back in time: the genre.
Old franchises changing to suit new times eg getting more diverse
British Scifi Humour
Metaphors politically used for explosions (what does this mean, past self??)

More information about the convention

comments

Random things

Mon, 02 May 2016 10:20:07 GMT

Feeling motivated but sore, so, a post about various minor things.

First: SOON got (positively) reviewed by PC Power Play Australia!! It got ONE WHOLE EXTRA SALE (which was loic, seeing my post about it on Facebook but shh)

Second: yesterday I went to the Maylands festival and it was super fun, I had fancy meat from the gourmet butcher and fancy toasted marshmallows, and a baby goat at the petting zoo fell asleep in my lap omg it was SO CUTE. At first it was all "wtf who are you" but then it decided I was a friend and then it slowly calmed down and went to sleep. It was all brown with a cute little black nose and floppy ears. Having animals at petting zoos sit happily in my lap is an unexpected upside of the wheelchair. I smsed Cam (who was asleep when I left) that there were some nice looking fancy hotdogs (his weakness :D) so he came down and we had fun walking around together. The accessibility was unnecessarily poor, though, they blocked curb cuts and footpaths in a few places meaning I had to take complex detours a few times to get to things an able bodied person could just step to.

Third...uh...I had a weird pain in my side again? But then it went away? FUN TIMES.

Oh wait! Yeah! I went to the Swancon programming meeting, it was pretty good but I was the only non committee member there so am very glad I came to add a different POV. They want more diverse POVs so contact them with ideas for panels! Especially book/writing/academic/social justicey/cutting edge fandom stuff, since their strengths seem to be more older anime/tv/movie fandoms and fun interactive stuff. I took some notes I'll try and write up when less sleepy.

comments

Swancon 2016: everything else!

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:00:17 GMT

Things I was recced:

Little Witch Story and it's creator's twitter SnowMcNally.
Vampire Saga hidden object game
Space Team cooperative game.
Daniel De Lorne Local author of m/m vampire romance

The Swancon community is apparently 37% male, 50% female and 13% non binary. The registration table this year offered neat little pronoun stickers to put at the bottom of your badge and there were unisex toilets.

Stirfire Studios ran a demonstration of a game they're writing for the HTC Vive Virtual Reality headset/controller, I was one of a long line of people who got to play it for a few minutes. It was SUPER FUN, very immersive. They got me to stay in my wheelchair to see how well that could work, the answer being "not very well" (I couldn't reach anything high up) but that was fine just for playing around. Also I was longer at the front than the system expected so I banged my footplate into a wall before the "stop walking!" warning grid came on. I've had a few interesting conversations with them about accessibility, am curious to see where that goes.

I only stayed for the very beginning of the masquerade and had no costume but everyone else looked great.

I did a clay animal making activity in the family room which was HEAPS of fun, I was a sought after artisan of little eyes since the children had trouble making them neatly.

Non Violent Video Games
So You Want To Make A Video Game

( Various Jane Espenson notes, Science Doesn't Work That Way, Trailer Park, Queer characters: Tokenism, realism and support )

comments

Swancon 2016!!! First of a series of posts

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 12:45:25 GMT

So that was fun! And I am predictably tired, it has taken a few days of napping and playing Stardew Valley before I felt up to poking at the notes I took. I managed to achieve all my goals: my panels went well, talked to friends, met new people, attended other people's fun panels, saw some cool costumes, spoke to some of the guests.

The notes all blur together, so I'm going to start from the beginning and see what structure emerges.

( Speak for 3 minutes about local fannish events, Authors Like Lois McMaster Bujold )

comments

Perth Gaming Festival this Saturday

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 06:59:10 GMT

Did I mention I'm going to the Perth Gaming Festival? I'm even exhibiting (from 3-5) and being on a panel (at 1).

My rough panel notes for Diversity in Gaming, feedback welcome!

comments

Swancon pt 2

Sat, 11 Apr 2015 16:08:22 GMT

First, my Dragon Age Inquisitor cosplay.

Second, some random recs:
the movie Joint Security Area
Safety Not Guaranteed
What if my Baby Is A Squib Subtle, dark, Harry Potter fanfic that pokes at the squib=disability thing
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lianne Hearn (next year's guest)
Husbands (by Jane Espenson, ditto, omg)

Third, panel notes:

Has Science Fiction Changed Society?
The general consensus was that it reflects existing changes and can inspire/help individuals, but is rarely on the forefront of any change. It's really bad at predicting the future so not much good at preparing for or inspiring it. I might write up the rest of my notes but while I enjoyed the panel none of it seems worth the effort.

John Scalzi Guest of Honour Speech
The meaning of life is unverifiable.

Poison Elves
I went to this by accident but have always been vaguely curious after seeing the comics in shops, and was amused to discover the hero's name is Lusipher. I wonder if there's a Saetan too.

Science in Speculative Fiction
( Read more... )

comments

PAX AU notes: Let's get Serious: Games are changing, get involved!

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 23:17:30 GMT

Last panel of the con! I may post some photos but otherwise I am DONE.

Let's get Serious: Games are changing, get involved!
Jane Cocks [University of Sunshine Coast], Izzy Gramp [Independent], Dan Monceaux [Danimations Pty Ltd], Amani Naseem [Copenhagen Game Collective], Paul Stapelberg [Well Placed Cactus]
( Read more... )

comments

PAX AU notes: Women in Video Games

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 15:39:48 GMT

Women in Video Games
Rebecca Fernandez [Chapter Leader, IGDA Sydney], Mary King [Digital Marketing Consultant, Contractor], Nicole Stark [Co-Director, Disparity Games], James Dominguez [Journalist, Fairfax Digital], Tara Brannigan [Community Relationship Manager, PikPok], Leigh Harris [Director, Flat Earth Games]
( Read more... )

comments

PAX panel notes: Everyone Games: Creating Inclusive Gaming Communities

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 14:08:04 GMT

A piece of paper came out of my notebook around here, so I'm not 100% sure where one panel ends and the next begins.

Everyone Games: Creating Inclusive Gaming Communities
Ethan Lesh [Founder, Melbourne Gaymers], Alice Clarke [Diversity Lounge Co-Curator, PAX], Joshua Meadows [Co-Organiser, Sydney Gaymers], Jayden Williams [Writer, MMGN], Ashley Zeldin [Independent Developer, Adorkable Games/IGDA Los Angeles]
( Read more... )

comments

PAX AU notes: Playing as a Female Character - does it matter?

Tue, 04 Nov 2014 07:49:13 GMT

Playing as a Female Character - does it matter?

Hex [Presenter, ABC TV], Siobhan Reddy [Studio Manager, Media Molecule], Peter Hines [Vice President of PR & Marketing, Bethesda], Aidan Scanlan [Assistant Director of Design, BioWare], Randy Pitchford [CEO, Gearbox Software], Rex Crowle [Creative Director, Media Molecule]

This was a MASSIVE panel in the huge main theatre, I barely got in. I had to sit right in the back with another guy in a wheelchair, but there was a big screen and decent microphones so it wasn't too bad. It was cool seeing so many people caring about this!
( Read more... )

comments

PAX AU Notes: Queering video games and Pre-gen vs custom characters

Tue, 04 Nov 2014 07:01:09 GMT

I will repeat a little from my previous post here to keep all my notes for these panels together.

( Queering video games )

( Pre-gen vs custom characters )

comments

Some links from PAX

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:04:32 GMT

Back! Had a great time! VERY TIRED! So for now here's some stuff from random fliers I want to record before I lose the bits of paper.

From the Diversity Lounge:

Victorian Bi Alliance Played a cool game of cards with these guys, and let another biromantic ace type know she wasn't entirely alone :) They have general online stuff I mean to look into.

Gaymers.com.au Has a Perth branch??

From the Indie Pavillion:

Influent Vaguely interesting looking language learning game

Appointment with Fear Visual novel/kinetic superhero comic thing, looked interesting!

Boy Goes To Space Atmospheric looking minimalist story

Bonza WORD PUZZLE GAME. The only game in the pavillion I actually got excited about :)

comments

Two instructive examples of cons Getting It Wrong

Sat, 26 Jul 2014 08:58:05 GMT

Chair of the Wiscon Harassment Policy Committee talks about how they ended up with such an unpopular decision about a serial harasser. Lots of discussion in the comments about how the committees ended up missing/losing important information and (badly) reinvented the wheel regarding con harssment.

A discussion at ffa of a Dashcon apology. This con was an UTTER TRAINWRECK and the woman in charge seems determined on shifting blame to everyone but herself.

comments