Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Thursday 17 July 2014

8pm Ambassador Salon 1

I like Opening Ceremonies because, (1) they introduce the major players in this cast of characters, some of whom I know and some of them I've never met or even seen before, and (2) I almost never get to Closing Ceremonies and have yet to make it to a Dead Dog Party at a con.

But that's me. My first impression is why don't more people attend, but of course that's the case and anyway, they usually put the Opening Ceremonies in a big space.


Our intrepid Toastmaster, Michigan author Jim C. Hines. Complete with his Impressive Author Leather Jacket and Magnificent Pimp Jim Hines purple hat with Flamboyant Feather action feature. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

No pictures of Jim's nemesis, Tom Smith. The angles were all wrong and all I could get in the viewfinder was the top hat...


Detcon1 Con Chair Tammy Coxen who is either relieved that it's all going to happen Right Now or is resigned to dealing with a train wreck. (grin) No, Tammy did an awesome job and helped me out with several matters. I think she's happy we're happy to be there. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Revealing the first ever Detcon1 Award for YA and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction. While WorldCon in London gets the Hugos and the Hugos debate whether YA is worthy of having an award. So there, ph-bbbbt! (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Jim graciously offering to hold and safeguard the YA Award. Funny, John Scalzi tried the same trick as Toastmaster at Chicon 7 with the Hugo two years ago... Not sure Tammy is buying it. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Guest of Honor Nnedi Okarafor. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Author GoH Steven Barnes channeling a Rodney Dangerfield joke -- no really! (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


A moment of levity with Science GoH Helen Greiner. I really like this picture, but worry that it's too demure, so... (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


...if you think that's not properly respectful for the CEO of iRobot, makers of the Roomba and many more exciting Real Life Robots, here's a more serious, more traditional and (sigh) more boring shot. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Video Game Special Guest Jon Davis, who hasn't burned out in the industry and has one helluva resume -- and I don't even play video games! (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Musical Guests of Honor Brenda Sutton... (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


... and Bill Sutton. Because each needs to be featured in a good light. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


A perfectly dreadful picture of Artist GoH John Picacio, who was talking so passionately about his expansive new work Loteria. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

There were several other Guests of Honor of note, but they were all presented on the main floor and were frankly not high enough for me to get anything decent. So soon to the start of Detcon and after a drive across the state and a "long" walk to get the wheelchair, I resisted the urge to stand up and get better angles. For the good of my foot.

So I leave you with:

Toastmaster Jim C. Hines shooting a selfie with Detcon1. See? We're all waving. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


We're over there on the right, about an inch or so to the right of the border. See, I told you that awesome hat was purple.
©2014 Jim C. Hines (All Rights Reserved)

And now I had to head back up to 3814 to start writing my story for my Friday noon reading.

Dr. Phil

NASFiC In Detroit

The good news is that my doctor has signed off on me attending Detcon1, the 2014 North American Science Fiction Convention, in just TWO WEEKS. While I will be using a wheelchair to get around, I do have six panels and a reading.

The complete Detcon1 schedule can be found here.
ADDED: Detcon1's version of my schedule is here.

Friday 18 July 2014

356
Michigan Voices 1: Short Readings - Joliet A - Literature
Fri Noon (1 hr.)
A group reading featuring Michigan authors.
Martin L. Shoemaker, Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon), Michael J. DeLuca, David Sklar.

608
The Good and Bad in Science Fiction - Nicolet A - Detention
Fri 7:00 PM (1 hr.)
Damon Knight said in 1959, "People turn to science fiction for a blend of two feelings---the roller coaster shock of fantasy and the instinctive feel of reality; the feeling that this might be true. If we forget either of these things, we start losing our audience. And I think we are forgetting one of them... I am talking about that sense of reality," suggesting too many stories were just "pleasant little intellectual games." Have things changed since then and how? If not, should they?
Chuck Von Nordheim mod, Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon), Carrie Patel.

Saturday 19 July 2014

316
Vehicles: Past, Present, Future - Ambassador Salon 2 - Science
Sat 11:00 AM (1 hr.)
Horses, steam, electric, gas and diesel, then back to electric again. What about hydrogen? Flux capacitors? Where's my flying car? Where do trains fit in?
Mike Substelny mod, Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon), Erik Kauppi, Matthew Alan Thyer, Emmy Jackson, Eric McGlohon.

268
RoboCop: Or There Will Be... Trouble - Nicolet A - Media
Sat 2:00 PM (1 hr.)
For some people, RoboCop is the best SF movie ever set in Detroit (despite being filmed just about everywhere else), and is often cited as one of the best films of 1987. The movie, now 27 years old, was followed by 2 sequels, tv shows, animated shows, comics, video games, and a 2014 remake. Our panel discusses the original RoboCop, its themes and its uses of the idea of the city of Detroit, and compares it to its sequels and the remake.
Pablo Vasquez mod, Alex von Thorn, Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon), Daniel O'Riordan, Margaret Yang.

416
Detention to Detcon1: Science! - Mackinac East - Science
Sat 6:00 PM (1 hr.)
How has science & technology changed, in the time between Detention & Detcon1? How has it changed our lives and enabled projects that simply couldn't be done before? What was supposed to advance, but didn't?
Erik Kauppi mod, John Wardale, Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon), Tobias S. Buckell.

Sunday 20 July 2014

756
Science Fiction and the Space Age - Nicolet B - Detention
Sun 10:00 AM (1 hr.)
At the time of Detention in 1959, the space age had barely started with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. But Science Fiction had already been around for decades. It's now 2014, and this weekend marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. How has our changing relationship with space influenced the genre since 1959?
Steven Shaviro mod, Chad Childers Martin L. Shoemaker, Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon).

247
Clarion 2004 + 10 - Mackinac West - Literature
Sun 11:00 AM (1 hr.)
Ten years ago one of the last Clarion workshops at MSU was held, before the workshop moved to San Diego. Instructors and students of that last class (and others) share their thoughts on the successes, failures, benefits from their Clarion experiences after 10 years.
Dr. Phil (Philip Edward Kaldon) (2004) mod, Al Bogdan (2004), Traci Castleberry (2005), Amelia Beamer (2004).


Ren Center 5th Floor (Click on map for larger.)


Ren Center 3rd Floor (Click on map for larger.)

Full floorplan can be found here.

Main hotel is full. You can find overflow space or still Register at the Detcon1 website.

Dr. Phil