A big invitation Down Under

[channe]

I've never been to a convention, except for a teensy-tiny one in my hometown eight years ago, at which John DeLancie was the only guest (And he almost didn't even show up because the planes weren't running on time. As usual.)

I can't even imagine something like AgamemCon or Creation one of the other bigger cons...

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Channe, who lives for the One and dies for the peanut-butter pie
--
"The secret of writing: get your character up a tree, and throw rocks at him." -JMS

 

[Kaleb]

Ive never been to a con at all, dont think theres ever been one in Edinburgh. Was thinking of heading to something in England or something if I manage to notice the ad before its over.

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As it is, such is life.

 

[SataiDelenn]

Antony... request noted. Gratuitous (? - it's after 1:30am, cut me a break with spelling) but honest praise a'commin'!!

Dean... you're GORGEOUS! Goateed men get me every time!! I'm sure without the goatee you're just as cute and... um... what's a polite way to put this... the stuff a girls dreams are made of!

No, you dirty people, I wasn't going to say shaggable! *laughs*

Channe... you poor thing! I thought you said you were coming to Australia!!?

Canberra isn't part of Australia, it's a Twilight Zone black hole that hovers milimeters above the ground, pretending to be our capital city so it can lure poor misguided tourists into it's Venus Fly Trap like maw!

No seriously, it's just a city some alien civilisation dropped in the middle of nowhere and forgot about.

Canberra is not that bad. I guess... if you're blind, deaf, and no longer have a sense of touch... *grins mischeviously* It's nice enough. Small, with only a population of 300,000 people, and relatively unremarkable. The south of the capital is surrounded by the beautiful Brindabella Ranges, and the north of the capital as Black Mountain, which is also quite beautiful at dawn and twilight.

If you don't know the history, Sydney and Melbourne - our two largest cities - were warring for who would get to be capital. Because the tug of war became so intense, Canberra was built roughly in the middle, and a Territory formed about the city, making it seperate from the state of New South Wales. That supposedly stopped the arguements, but instead created a friendly rivalry between both cities that endures today.

Canberra is a relatively new city, one of only two that is inland, rather than on the coastline.

There's not much to do, but it's only four hours from Sydney and eight from Melbourne by car. If you're going to the ANU, the campus is impressive, and the lifestyle oncampus pretty fun!

You'll love it, just make sure you make time to at least visit Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane - every Australian city is fantastically beautiful, but those three argueably have the most to offer for a tourist. If you love wine, visit Adelaide in South Australia... fantastic vinyards and some of the best wines in the world are made there.

If you like swimming with dolphins, probably Perth and Melbourne. Perth is in Western Australia, and I know for sure that both cities offer tours where you get to splash about in the water and get up close and personal with those beautiful creatures.

You really can't go pass the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (Brisbane and the Gold Coast), if you can only go one place when you make it down here, go there - or go to Uluru in the Northern Territory.

More commonly - though incorrectly - known as Aeyrs Rock.

Good luck with your grant, you'll love Australia... but I might be biased!

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Sheridan: "It's... damn inconvienient!"
Delenn: "The truth often is."

 

[channe]

SataiDelenn - I don't know if I have it yet; I'll know in late January... so I have a ways to go. I have a lot of competition for the money, and most likely, I'll get a rejection notice - but at least I had a competitive proposal, and that's what counts.

I'll be working out of the ANU, yes, even though my research is going to take me to La Trobe, Victoria University, etc. And no more about my project shall I say in a public forum

Here's to hoping January will be a good month for all of us!

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Channe, who lives for the One and dies for the peanut-butter pie
--
"The secret of writing: get your character up a tree, and throw rocks at him." -JMS

 

[Prophet]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SataiDelenn:
You really can't go pass the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (Brisbane and the Gold Coast), if you can only go one place when you make it down here, go.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Damn, this girl knows what she's talking about! Brisbane - The most livable city in Australia! ... Now, if only I had my scanner working, I could show you Brisbane like you've never seen it - at all!

Oh, and one other thing... Brisbane is home to the largest Convention Centre in the southern hemisphere...

Your pagh is strong, my minion.

 

[drakh]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by channe:
can't even imagine something like AgamemCon or Creation one of the other bigger cons...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm no expert in the field, but from what I hear, you want to stay away from Creation ConJobs. Their main purpouse is to milk fans of as much cash as possilbe with a minimum of effort, rather than making sure people have a good time.


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You are not entitled to your own opinion. You are only entitled to your own informed opinion.
-- Harlan Ellison quoting Gustave Flaubert

drakh@spamcop.net

[This message has been edited by drakh (edited October 29, 2001).]

 

[gkarfan]

Channe, I went to 3 AgamemCons (the last one was, unfortunately, the *last* one), & they were all great. "Aggy", as we called it, always felt like a small con, even though it really wasn't! The atmosphere was always casual, & you could hang out with the actors. I'm really going to miss AgamemCon--it was fantastic!

Tammy

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"We're in here! Can anyone hear us?"
"I hear you." [giggle, laugh]
"In here!"
"We are here." [giggle, laugh]
-- Londo and G'Kar in Babylon 5:"Convictions"

Tammy's Station
http://community.webtv.net/gkarfan/TammysStation

 

[bakana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> you want to stay away from Creation ConJobs. Their main purpose is to milk fans of as much cash as possilbe with a minimum of effort, rather than making sure people have a good time.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a pretty accurate assesment.

It also applies to VulCon-jobs.
The people who run the two organizations used to be partners, but split over "personal diferences".
(That usually means Money doesn't it?

)
Both are For Profit groups who make their Livings milking Fans for everything the traffic will bear.

VulCon is also noted for "squatting" on Fan run Cons.
Ie, when they hear about a popular Fan Run convention that is drawing well and has a good, reliable attendance VulCon waits until a couple months before the FanCon's weekend and announces one of Their cons in another Hotel.
Just far enough away that it is too far for those people who might be tempted to try to attend both.
Since VulCon usually has an actor or two and Fan run (ie Not for Protfit) conventions often cannot afford that expense, it has the effect of Killing the Fan Con.

VulCon does this deliberately.
They follow the M$ business model: Destroy everyone who isn't Them.



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The 3 most common elements in the Universe:
Hydrogen, Greed, Stupidity!

 

[Emfeeli]

Why not come to NYC...where our buildings are being blown out of the sky, and major networks are being sent anthrax? Not interested? No I didn't think so. No one wants to visit my city anymore. Oh well. At least I still get sci-fi.

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"Tho' much is taken,much abides; and tho' we are not that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
-- Alfred Lord Tennyson
A poem left by Jeff Sinclair for John Sheridan

 

[gkarfan]

There was a Vulcon scheduled close to the time of the last AgamemCon (at the same hotel). The Vulcon ended up being cancelled, but AgamemCon went on as scheduled.

Tammy

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"We're in here! Can anyone hear us?"
"I hear you." [giggle, laugh]
"In here!"
"We are here." [giggle, laugh]
-- Londo and G'Kar in Babylon 5:"Convictions"

Tammy's Station
http://community.webtv.net/gkarfan/TammysStation

 

[Chris Springob]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dean Marshall:
I'm sure I could convince the Drazi to join me in hitting the locals up for a tasty brew and za for sure. Be it OZ, the UK or Scotland.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I wonder how the Scots will react to the news that they're no longer counted as part of the UK.

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[solaris5]

Or you could all come to Woodbridge! I just found out how many celebrities live here! It's insane, two of my favorite dance artists live here, and I haven't met them...

Well hey, maybe if you all came and had a beer with me (okay, I'd have to drink like orange juice or something

) I could mysteriously become popular and get to meet my favourite singers! Say yes... Say yes....

Well, incase you're wondering who they are, they're Elissa, and Christian Dio. Two very cool people that I really wanna meet. Since I'm a heterosexual male I only offer my oppinion on Elissa, she is hot, quite hot, but too old for me (or so she thinks

) She is 24, and sadly, I'm still a minor.... Not sure how old Christian Dio is, but it is really irrelevant to me, since I just like his music. But hey, yeah, you could meet like two really famous dance people and one really crazy teenager that all the women at this board seem to want (and they admit it too, it's not delusions of grandure or anything

)
Yeps, that was my sales pitch, now please, come to my town...... Please?


May Valen be with you.

 

[Dean Marshall]

Thanks ChrisSpringob....basturd...

BTW. If anyone's looking for me I'm at SataiDelenn's. Thanks for hooking me up, TonyF, I owe you one.

Dean
aka "boom boom"

PS-What IS the biggest Con out there scifi wise?




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[channe]

Aw, come on, Dean, we had a golf game scheduled.

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Channe, who lives for the One and dies for the peanut-butter pie
--
"The secret of writing: get your character up a tree, and throw rocks at him." -JMS

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SataiDelenn:


Channe... you poor thing! I thought you said you were coming to Australia!!?

Canberra isn't part of Australia, it's a Twilight Zone black hole that hovers milimeters above the ground, pretending to be our capital city so it can lure poor misguided tourists into it's Venus Fly Trap like maw!

No seriously, it's just a city some alien civilisation dropped in the middle of nowhere and forgot about.


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ahem! I was born and bred in Canberra I love it. It is safe, unpolluted, friendly. If you get mugged in Canberra, come over my place and I'll write you a cheque.

Seriously, I have been all around Oz and have found better places to holiday at, but never a better place to live. Brisbane and Perth have to be my favourites, but you will never get the complete flavour of Australia unless you travel around it, from town to town and city to city, good and the bad. Some of the stuff through the outback and the kimberleys is just awesome. Give me a yell and I'll take you on the Whitestar tour.

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[This message has been edited by Raptor (edited October 29, 2001).]

 

[bakana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> PS-What IS the biggest Con out there scifi wise? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It Varies. There are several Cons that claim attendance exceeding 10,000 or 20,000 people.

Of course not All those people are interested in the same things. Some come for Babylon 5, others for Trek, Anime or even Dr. Who. Some come for Everything, others come for nothing but Comics. Or Filking.

However, if you want to go for just plain Numbers of bodies, you have to go to Japan.
There are a couple Japanese cons that have an attendance of over 250,000 people.

They call the real biggie DaiCon.
It's a pun.
Daikon is a giant Radish.
Dai is also Japanese for Big.

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The 3 most common elements in the Universe:
Hydrogen, Greed, Stupidity!

 

[Zoriah]

Channe if you do make it to Aussie next year then haul ass across the ditch and check out NZ too, trust me you won't regret it. Especially the South Island. *grins*

And if you stopover in Auckland, I'd be honored to welcome the next JMS and show you around hehe....

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[AntonyF]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Springob:
I wonder how the Scots will react to the news that they're no longer counted as part of the UK.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

*LOL* Let's do Anne Robinson proud and oust Wales from the UK!

Dean, glad to be a match maker again.

As to big cons... there's so many different organizers. Wolf are not popular when it comes to JMS's opinion though, so don't go there.

Solaris, don't babble!

One of the Enterprise cast said he wants a tour of London whenever he's here next. Maybe I could sort of play the B5LR cast off against the Enterprise cast in terms of demanding my time--make myself feel popular.

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"Love isn't brains, children, it's blood. Blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it." -- Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"Evil's still afoot. And I'm almost out of that nancy-boy hair-gel I like so much. Quickly, to the Angel-mobile, away." -- Spike, as Angel, in Angel

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

well the offer still stands there is a huge fan base here given our size , anyway we would love to have yous guys down even if we arn't convention organizies I would luv to help set up a non profit convention if we charged a entry fee it would be to cover the cost of flights and hire for the location the rest can go to charity as far as im concerned so who down here is willing to help?......I invite any one who is willing to help to message karanthas@hotmail.com and would luv to know if the cast are interested if we can get this up and running?

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[Kaleb]

As for not being in the UK I imagine most of us would be rather happy. I might not considering Im largely English in descent and want to go to Uni in Newcastle or Manchester there next year. Getting rid of Wales would be fun.

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As it is, such is life.