Greeting, all.
I am actually posting this blog entry from my mate Tony Kenealy's spacious and palatial gaff in lovely, sunny San Diego as the eleventh day of Keith's 2007 Californian Adventures draws close and the time looms when I must get on the first on three seperate aeroplanes to come back my beloved Walker. And, to my own little flat, which'll probably be cold and damp by the time I get there. Cos it's February and it always, you know, is.
I come to the US for a couple of weeks each year around this time, mainly to attend the annual Gallifrey One Doctor Who/writers/General SF convention held for many years at the leaky-but-wonderful Airtel Plaza in Van Nuys but, these days, at the much-less-leaky-and-more-vast LAX Marriot in downtown Los Angeles.
For the last three years I've made what used to be about an eight day trip with a couple of days holiday either side of the convention into two week vacations with three or four days holiday either side staying with my friends Tony and Jane in San Diego. The idea is to stop any jet-lag from looming whilst I'm actually at the convention itself - and falling asleep in the middle of a panel, or somesuch nonsense (it's happened before!).
I am actually posting this blog entry from my mate Tony Kenealy's spacious and palatial gaff in lovely, sunny San Diego as the eleventh day of Keith's 2007 Californian Adventures draws close and the time looms when I must get on the first on three seperate aeroplanes to come back my beloved Walker. And, to my own little flat, which'll probably be cold and damp by the time I get there. Cos it's February and it always, you know, is.
I come to the US for a couple of weeks each year around this time, mainly to attend the annual Gallifrey One Doctor Who/writers/General SF convention held for many years at the leaky-but-wonderful Airtel Plaza in Van Nuys but, these days, at the much-less-leaky-and-more-vast LAX Marriot in downtown Los Angeles.
For the last three years I've made what used to be about an eight day trip with a couple of days holiday either side of the convention into two week vacations with three or four days holiday either side staying with my friends Tony and Jane in San Diego. The idea is to stop any jet-lag from looming whilst I'm actually at the convention itself - and falling asleep in the middle of a panel, or somesuch nonsense (it's happened before!).
The generocity and friendship shown towards us British writers out here never ceases to amaze us and, as a consequence, each year we come back for more and usually drag a few new converts with us. Plus, it's always nice to see old friends and make some new ones.
This year's event was, as all of the previous nine I've attended have been, great fun with plenty of opportunity to meet and talk to fans with lots of out-of-hours socialising and being taken to nice places to eat (that Persian/Italian place on Manchester Blvd - check it out, it's sensational). I have to admit that, for some odd reason (possibly related to those 'February Blues' that I was talking about in the last posting) I spent a portion of the weekend feeling ... well, a bit melancholy, I guess. Nothing, I hasten to add, whatsoever to do with the con itself which was, as always, superbly organised by the committee; many of whom - Shaun, Suze, Ingrid, Dan, Robbie, Paul etc. - I now regard as close personal friends of mine as opposed to just "some people I meet once a year for a few days."
By the end of the weekend, however, I was as sad to see the end of the event as I always genuinely am. Conventions can be funny things - you're coccooned in your own little world for three or four days and everything that goes on away from it seems trivial whilst you're there.
I took part in just four panels this year - far less than usual. Perhaps I was getting afraid that people are becoming tired of the sound of my voice after all these years (that's the same reason i only did one autograph panel this year instead of the usual two - because, surely by now everyone who wants to get one of my books signed, has done!).
This year's event was, as all of the previous nine I've attended have been, great fun with plenty of opportunity to meet and talk to fans with lots of out-of-hours socialising and being taken to nice places to eat (that Persian/Italian place on Manchester Blvd - check it out, it's sensational). I have to admit that, for some odd reason (possibly related to those 'February Blues' that I was talking about in the last posting) I spent a portion of the weekend feeling ... well, a bit melancholy, I guess. Nothing, I hasten to add, whatsoever to do with the con itself which was, as always, superbly organised by the committee; many of whom - Shaun, Suze, Ingrid, Dan, Robbie, Paul etc. - I now regard as close personal friends of mine as opposed to just "some people I meet once a year for a few days."
By the end of the weekend, however, I was as sad to see the end of the event as I always genuinely am. Conventions can be funny things - you're coccooned in your own little world for three or four days and everything that goes on away from it seems trivial whilst you're there.
I took part in just four panels this year - far less than usual. Perhaps I was getting afraid that people are becoming tired of the sound of my voice after all these years (that's the same reason i only did one autograph panel this year instead of the usual two - because, surely by now everyone who wants to get one of my books signed, has done!).
There was a genuinely fascinating discussion on the development and future of Battlestar Galactica with Paul Cornell, Shaun Lyon, Caroline Symcox and Graeme Burk, Jill Sherwin's amusingly irreverent Buffy and Other Vampires event with Lars and Christa from Mad Norwegian Press, the annual TV Shows on DVD presentation, moderated by my dear friend Clay Eichelberger and including my old mate from the BBC Steve Roberts, and a tribute panel to the late and much missed Craig Hinton which was attended by many of his contemporaries and friends. For much of the rest of the time, I checked out the dealers room (though, thankfully, this year I didn't come away with a bunch of novelty trinkets to clutter up my living room!), took in a few other panels from the floor, networked and chewed the fat in the Green Room, generally wandered the corridors bumping into many old friends and several new ones and held court in the bar on the subject of why $5.90 for a bottle of Heinekin is "an effing disgrace!"
I also ended up in an impromptu room party on Saturday night after Tony and Jane and Clay and Kim allowed me to take them to "that little Thai place on Manchester" that we discovered last year.
So all in all, yet again, Gally has managed to drag me kicking and screaming into a new year and rediscover my enthusiasm for fandom and for the TV shows that I, and other people love. As well as - with a bit of luck - touching base with some people who, one day, I could be working with/for.
In other news, just to note, for anyone interested, that the second of my seven "no really, these are the last Buffy articles I'll ever write, ever, honest" appears in Xpose issue 102 which is available in all good newsagents (and some very bad ones) today:
http://www.visimag.com/xpose/x102_display.htm
So all in all, yet again, Gally has managed to drag me kicking and screaming into a new year and rediscover my enthusiasm for fandom and for the TV shows that I, and other people love. As well as - with a bit of luck - touching base with some people who, one day, I could be working with/for.
In other news, just to note, for anyone interested, that the second of my seven "no really, these are the last Buffy articles I'll ever write, ever, honest" appears in Xpose issue 102 which is available in all good newsagents (and some very bad ones) today:
http://www.visimag.com/xpose/x102_display.htm
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