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salineaIt was pretty cool : saw a friends I don't see often, and saw friends I see often, listened to a few panels, got some books signed, met some writers, watched a couple of movies, played pool, caught a cold, and bought too many books.
Of the panels my favourite one to listen to was one about Fantasy and Folklore with Ellen Kushner, Pierre Dubois, Robin Hobb and Karen Miller, because they were a lot of spontaneous urban legens telling, even if there were relatively few relevent discussions. There was also a Roleplaying Game and Literary influences panel which was pretty fun to listen to, although few of the RPG exeriences of the people speaking wen't farther than Door-Monster-Treasure D&D playing. Hal Duncan's interview was fun despite the horrible translation going on (I know translating someone as they speak has to be the most difficult kind of translator job, but that had to be most horrible job even by the Utopiales' standard which is never great); but he's even more fun when discussing while drunk. I couldn't listen to Robin Hobb's interview because the interviewer was too crappy, and missed Richard Morgan's interview, althought when I caught bits of panels where he was at, he sounded very smart and interesting - I couldn't find my copy of Black Man before leaving , and none of his books were available in English at the local store so I couldn't so I couldn't get anything signed by him and didn't dare broach the subject of our previous discussion at Ran's board without that, though.
Of the movies I watched :
Nirvana, an early 90's cyberpunk movie with Christophe Lambert (where he's actually good, no, really), which was pretty fun, well told and not even much aged. Definetely interesting to watch to compare to the other movies made about virtuality and games as metaphores for level of reality eXistenZ, Matrix, Avalon.
Sleep Dealers a Mexican Science Fiction movie that's going to be released soon. It's actually very good and... credible, with the acting especially very fresh and realistic. The movie has a pseudo-documentary feel to it which works extremely well for it, reminded me a bit of BSG. In themes it tackles the idea of a wall between the US and Mexico, and Mexican workers working in the US via remote control of drones, as well as American soldiers fighting "aqua terrorists" with remote control drones... and it's very well done. It's interesting to see a move done with that kind of cyberpunk themes without having the noir & Blade Runner like aesthetics.
The Evangelion movie You are (not) alone which is pretty cool. Extremely close to the anime series if I can trust my memory (it's been, what, 10 years since I watched the series?), but awesome all the same visually and psychologically. I'm pretty happy of having watched it on a big screen. It's going to be hard waiting for the rest of the movies.
In terms of books I was wiser from previous years, I only bought The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon which I've been wanting to get for a while now since it's been recced to me repeatedly; Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed in the French translation which is probably unfindable in English and which I've already read but it was a long time ago and it was a bargain sale; one volume of Pierre Dubois's Grande Encyclopédie des Elfes et autres petites creatures which I've only been drooling on with envy for years and with a very pretty signatur and drawing ^_^; a couple of pulp fanzines and one short stories book by Sylvie Lainée which I read in the train back to Paris and which was ok but not great.
There was a cosplay contest which was also pretty fun to watch, and which my friend Isabelle won for the indiviual with a very impressive Mazinger. There also were a lot of various CLAMP characters, and I think one of them, the Chobits won for the group (it's true they had gorgeous dresses). I was pretty fond of those who did the XXXholic cosplay, too!
And that's about it.
I think having missed the start of nanowrimo, and having felt too sick since I got back, I'm dropping it without even starting, sorry!
Of the panels my favourite one to listen to was one about Fantasy and Folklore with Ellen Kushner, Pierre Dubois, Robin Hobb and Karen Miller, because they were a lot of spontaneous urban legens telling, even if there were relatively few relevent discussions. There was also a Roleplaying Game and Literary influences panel which was pretty fun to listen to, although few of the RPG exeriences of the people speaking wen't farther than Door-Monster-Treasure D&D playing. Hal Duncan's interview was fun despite the horrible translation going on (I know translating someone as they speak has to be the most difficult kind of translator job, but that had to be most horrible job even by the Utopiales' standard which is never great); but he's even more fun when discussing while drunk. I couldn't listen to Robin Hobb's interview because the interviewer was too crappy, and missed Richard Morgan's interview, althought when I caught bits of panels where he was at, he sounded very smart and interesting - I couldn't find my copy of Black Man before leaving , and none of his books were available in English at the local store so I couldn't so I couldn't get anything signed by him and didn't dare broach the subject of our previous discussion at Ran's board without that, though.
Of the movies I watched :
Nirvana, an early 90's cyberpunk movie with Christophe Lambert (where he's actually good, no, really), which was pretty fun, well told and not even much aged. Definetely interesting to watch to compare to the other movies made about virtuality and games as metaphores for level of reality eXistenZ, Matrix, Avalon.
Sleep Dealers a Mexican Science Fiction movie that's going to be released soon. It's actually very good and... credible, with the acting especially very fresh and realistic. The movie has a pseudo-documentary feel to it which works extremely well for it, reminded me a bit of BSG. In themes it tackles the idea of a wall between the US and Mexico, and Mexican workers working in the US via remote control of drones, as well as American soldiers fighting "aqua terrorists" with remote control drones... and it's very well done. It's interesting to see a move done with that kind of cyberpunk themes without having the noir & Blade Runner like aesthetics.
The Evangelion movie You are (not) alone which is pretty cool. Extremely close to the anime series if I can trust my memory (it's been, what, 10 years since I watched the series?), but awesome all the same visually and psychologically. I'm pretty happy of having watched it on a big screen. It's going to be hard waiting for the rest of the movies.
In terms of books I was wiser from previous years, I only bought The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon which I've been wanting to get for a while now since it's been recced to me repeatedly; Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed in the French translation which is probably unfindable in English and which I've already read but it was a long time ago and it was a bargain sale; one volume of Pierre Dubois's Grande Encyclopédie des Elfes et autres petites creatures which I've only been drooling on with envy for years and with a very pretty signatur and drawing ^_^; a couple of pulp fanzines and one short stories book by Sylvie Lainée which I read in the train back to Paris and which was ok but not great.
There was a cosplay contest which was also pretty fun to watch, and which my friend Isabelle won for the indiviual with a very impressive Mazinger. There also were a lot of various CLAMP characters, and I think one of them, the Chobits won for the group (it's true they had gorgeous dresses). I was pretty fond of those who did the XXXholic cosplay, too!
And that's about it.
I think having missed the start of nanowrimo, and having felt too sick since I got back, I'm dropping it without even starting, sorry!