Today is Day Four of Aussiecon 4, the Australian Worldcon. I started with a nasty cold and while still a bit ill, I’m actually getting a little better each day. Surely this means that, against tradition, I should be in perfect health by Day 5, instead of a total wreck like everyone else. I’ve done…
Read moreMortal Words
Melbourne Literary App: Guerilla Literary Launch!
It’s almost spring, the Melbourne Writers Festival is in full bloom, and here comes the Melbourne Literary iPhone app to crank up the literary vibe another notch! Full details of the app are listed below, but we’re also having a last-minute literary launch to coincide with the Writers Festival. Launch: 6pm on Wednesday 1 September…
Read moreGaryView: Get Vajazzled for $17!
This post is the result of seeing this very sign in front of a beautician’s in the city. I posted about it elsewhere, and Sally said I should GaryView the moment. So I did. Gary: I saw something on a sign the other day that I didn’t understand. Lissa: What was it? Gary: It said…
Read moreWorldcon – September 2010
For anyone coming to Aussiecon, the Australian Worldcon being held 2-6 September here in my hometown, I’ll be in several panels during the con. I’ve also been given a slot to do a reading and signing! The confirmed spots are: Saturday 4th September: 10am – Rm 217: Science fiction and the theatre Science fiction and…
Read moreWhere’s the pound of flesh?
Writer and food historian, Gillian Pollack, has sent me some recipes for Election Cake in honour of the Australian election being held this weekend. I was joking that we needed cakes full of nuts to represent our conservatives, or a hollow cake in honour of the policy-free zone that has led up to polling. She…
Read moreA half hour of genius
My partner and I have been rewatching ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’, prompted by reading John O’Farrell’s comic history of Britain and Stephen Fry’s recent event here in Melbourne. ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ has all the trademark humour of the preceding series, and all the writers’ penchants for including historically accurate jokes. It all leads to this final…
Read moreReal life hyperlinks
On Saturday 30 July I was lucky enough to be in the audience at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne for one of Stephen Fry’s two talks. Someone on JJJ remarked that the event was like spending two hours in conversation with one’s favourite disreputable uncle, which I think sums it up nicely. Fry, with nothing…
Read moreGaryView: Sherlock Holmes – “The Last Vampyre” (starring Jeremy Brett)
Gary: That’s not how I remember the original story. Lissa: It’s nothing much like ‘The Sussex Vampire” at all, is it? Gary: Conan Doyle wouldn’t be impressed. Holmes wouldn’t be impressed. Lissa: You’re clearly not impressed. Gary: No. I’m not. Lissa: It’s a shame, because I really liked Jeremy Brett as Holmes. I watched some…
Read moreReview: f2m – The Boy Within by Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy
Ford Street Publishing is certainly not tying itself down to just one genre for its YA readers. There’s been Foz Meadows’ “Solace and Grief” (vampires), George Ivanoff’s “Gamer’s Quest” (fantasy/SF/gaming) and now “f2m – The Boy Within” – a transgender coming of age story. f2m is the first-person story of Finn – born Skye –…
Read moreGaryView: Classic Pop-Up Tales – Dracula by Bram Stoker
Gary: What on earth possessed you to buy this book? Lissa: It’s for your collection. Look! POP-UP CEMETARY!! (pops the cemetary up in his face) Gary: Yes, I can see that. Lissa: Come on, it’s hilarious. Gary: It’s kind of weird. Lissa: I know! Look at this! POP-UP GIANT DOG! (pops the giant dog up…
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