Viikinsaari Photos

The Roadside Picnic in Tampere last weekend was fun as usual.


Some of the usual suspects waiting for the boat to arrive. The Turku delegation consisted of Ben and Pasi (in the second picture) and me. This time we got there early too and didn’t miss the first boat.


Fen from Tampere. The first one got bored quite quickly, I see.


The favorite pastime of fen in Viikinsaari: photographing ducks coming to cadge for food and treats.


Just smoffing around… and by the end of the day, the Tampere fen had promised to organize a Finncon in Tampere in 2008! Something I’m very happy about, since it’s obvious nothing that big is going to happen in Turku for a while, and so we still have three groups that are making Finncon happen. Go Tampere!


Helsinki fen arriving, late as usual.


The traditional filking session.


After many hours of excessively healthy outside air, everyone was ready to hit some pubs (especially after running out of beer on the island). Tempo Terrace was otherwise very fine, but I was less than keen on the “entertainment”—a guy with a guitar performing less-than-ideal cover songs. Run to the Hills has never before made me actually want to start running! I’m guessing Toni is trying to perform a Vulcan nerve pinch on Sisättö so he wouldn’t have to listen…

The evening later continued in Sputnik (as usual), but since my ride left early, there are no pictures. Which is probably as well. Thanks, Tampere. We had fun; let’s do it again next year!

Finncon Program on the Web

The program info for the upcoming Finncon in Helsinki has been published on their web site. There’s only a short summary and link to the program grid available in English, but more info is available in Finnish, including the program grid in HTML and PDF versions, as well as details about the programming on Saturday and Sunday. The program items that will be in English are marked by having—a big surprise—descriptions in English on those lists.

Update: A handy summary of all the programming in English is available on the site.

Tähtivaeltaja Nominees Announced

The nominees for this year’s Tähtivaeltaja award have been announced. The Tähtivaeltaja award is given annually to the best science fiction book published in Finland the previous year.

The nominees are:

• Sarasvatin hiekkaa, by Risto Isomäki
• Pimeälipas ja muita kertomuksia, by Ursula LeGuin
• Timattikoirat, turkoosit päivät, by Alastair Reynolds
• Salajuoni Amerikkaa vastaan, by Philip Roth
• Kädettömät kuninkaat ja muita häiritseviä tarinoita, by Johanna Sinisalo
  

Fandom Friday at Finncon

(There should be an official announcement on the Finncon LiveJournal soon, but I’m posting an advance notice here to get the info out.)

Fandom Friday—See Helsinki with fans

Coming to Finncon? Want to see a bit of Helsinki? Join Fandom Friday, a guided walking tour of Helsinki for sf fans!

The tour starts on Friday (August 18) at 11 and visits some of the sights in beautiful downtown Helsinki. We’ll also show things that are of fannish interest—book stores, places to get food, Internet cafés and such. And tell where you can get real ale within a walking distance of the convention center.

Fandom Friday is also a good place to mingle with other fans while seeing the sights, and discussing con plans over lunch. The tour will last until around 4 or 5 PM (unless we ge tired before that and just head for the pub).

There is no attendance fee (but everybody pays for their own lunch). If you’re interested in attending, or want to know more, contact <fandomfriday@finncon.org>.

Roadside Picnic

The summer is again full of activities. The Suomenlinna picnic happened already last weekend, so if you weren’t there, all you can do is look at the pictures. But the chance to picnic with other fen isn’t yet completely gone:

The Roadside Picnic in Tampere next weekend (July 22) is perhaps the most traditional summer activity of findom. Boats to the Viikinsaari island leave on the hour (people start gathering there around noon). The picnic is a one day “relaxcon” for everyone in fandom, and there is no official program (except some filking, which is a must when in Tampere). Pack your own picnic. After-picnic will be in a pub later in the evening.

July Mafia In Review

There were fifteen persons present at the Turku mafia last night. The temperature outside was 28°C but things didn’t get too heated.

The Atorox nominees inspired conversation. Some generated fierce controversy, but there was consensus about many others. There was an introduction to the Doctor Who series in the July issue of the mafia fanzine.

Rides to the Roadside picnic were arranged, and I think we’ve got at least three persons from Turku to this year’s Swecon. Some decided to see Tribute to Jim Morrison the next day. I got Lost (end of season 1) back and peddled some of it forward almost instantaneously, but forgot to bring some Buffy for the needy.

There was a guestbook meme running wild, and the term “retrosexual” was coined. Ben was hit by a car, but was ok, except for weird theories about Paris Hiltunen, which you don’t really want to know about. There was no explanation for Mika’s fantasies, as usual.

Some people were older than others had thought. Harri Haarikko was thought to be scary in his day by some. The yumminess of Spike (versus Angel and others) came up, and the food was excellent as always. The drinks were wet and tasty, and I suspect someone had put alcohol in them.

Who Wins Atorox at Mafia

It’s first Thursday of the month again, and so the pub meeting for the Turku fandom takes place at six (Bar Bremer, Uudenmaankatu). A topic for discussion: Atorox voting deadline has passed, and so even those who are so uncertain about their own opinions that they don’t want to know anything anybody thinks about the candidates dare discuss this year’s crop of stories. Also, there’ll be some info about the Doctor Who phenomenon for those interested.

Of course, these topics don’t consume the whole evening of drinking bheer and talking with friends, so if those don’t sound like your cup of tea, I’m sure other subjects come up also. Everyone’s welcome of course!