Stentorian silence

Posted by jukkahoo

Yes, yes, yes. Silence. Perhaps not that stentorian, but looming overhead kindasorta.

I'm heading to Copenhagen this Friday morning, to take part of this year's Eurocon. Should be fun, interesting and informative. And we're also hoping to get the eurocon-title for Finncon 2009. Fingers crossed. Over twenty other Finns are also heading that way. Wow! What is this sudden urge to go to conventions outside Finland?

Last year saw some 15 of us at Swecon, which was like, well, unexpected, but brilliant. We Finns are usually not really active foreign-wise, but recently it seems that there just might be new interest in international fandom. I think that the Glasgow Worldcon helped a lot. And fen saw that is was and is good. And certainly Åcon played a part as well. (Remember, Åcon2 is coming next year, you know you want to be there!)

My check-ups checked fine. Actually, I didn't even meet a doctor. They just sent me a letter to home, saying everything is hunky dory. A letter! Am I now supposed to believe black on white, instread of a person sitting in front of a computer, wearing long, white doctors coat. (Well, when I worked at the hospital, I also wore long, white doctors coats...) I guess I'm all right, though. I also got the time of my next appointment: September 8th 2008. Should be the last one.

Sigh. Not that I don't think it's perfectly OK to call those check-ups over and done with, but seeing doctors, taking tests and whatnots, CAT-scans etc. has felt soooooooo safe. Alas, no more.

After Eurocon, it's time for the Book Festivals. Turku is the first weekend of October and Helsinki the last. Talking about Oktober, this is a rather nice version of Sekret Oktober. But I digress. I'm actually doing quite a few gigs at both Festivals: moderating panels as well as interviewing authors. Be sure to check out Juha-Pekka Koskinen's new historical novel Seitsemäs Temppeliherra (Seventh Templar) and Anne Lainonen & Eija Lappalainen duo's new YA-novel Devoted Souls, gaming and apparently some fannish stuff: Finncon and mafia-meetings! You could be in a novel! And then there's Päivi Honkapää's Viides tuuli (Fifth Wind), which is personally something I feel somewhat proud of as it is a book I read quite a few years ago for the first time for the publisher and it is finally coming out! It's a very good YA-fantasy that will hopefully find an audience it deserves.

I've been listening a lot of Talk Talk recently and I'm exceedingly leaning toward the proposition that it may well be the Best band that ever came out of the 1980's popmusic circles. (Adam and the Ants, Japan and David Sylvian are of course 1970's product, ahem...) Perfect pop band, which later turned into very ambitious and interesting experimental group. The lead singer/songwriter Mark Hollis managed to put out one solo before retriting to the English coutryside, never to be seen again in the limelights. Sigh. Great music.

Better get some zzzzzzz's now. I hope to be able to write a report of the con afterwards, but one never knows these things. Good intentions and so forth.

Comments

[Tero Ykspetäjä]

You need to add 'http://' in front of the Finncon address. Like this: http://2009.finncon.org/

--Tero

[jukkahoo]

Great. :( The one and only link I just scribbeled down while others I copypasted... Thanks for the correction.

Today, I have been mostly being tired because of the Eurocon, but the report is coming here rsn. After all, I won the bloody kuis! (That's the Science Fiction Quiz by Cheryl Morgan, for the uninintiated.) I need to boast!