Mafia Evening

Mafia seemed a bit slow at first—I thought that the Fantasy Feast which starts tomorrow had perhaps taken its toll on participants. It turned out a couple of regulars were setting the feast up, but quite a lot of folk came nonetheless. It was hot in the bar, so we had to drink lots of fluids to keep cool.

A natural topic for discussion tonight was, of course, Finncon. The program book has been published, and quite a book it is too! 64 pages, with the program, introductions of the guests, some background on sf and fandom, a (very) brief history of Finncons and short stories by Jeff VanderMeer and Justina Robson. Wow! I really liked the way they had brought out the themes of the con, with excerpts of the associated program items put together. And the very funny “meaning of Isomäki”—explanations of many familiar-sounding terms in the vein of The Meaning of Liff. Did you know, for example, that a bester is “a book that is advertised as a nominee for an obscure award; also used of a book that has blurbs by complete unknowns,” or that clute means, “a blow instrument band put together impromptu after a night of heavy drinking,” or robson, “a drink that nobody has claimed and thus anybody can take for themselves”?

Many ideas for future fandom activities were thrown around, for example to be used at the book fair (held in October). Some obligatory YouTube mentions were made (such as Darth Smartass and Vader Sessions) before degenerating into British and Japanese quiz shows. There was also a new issue of the mafia zine, with info about upcoming events, some Finncon stuff and a review of Keeping It Real by Justina Robson.

I had to leave early today, so I hope everybody fills in the comments the parts I missed!

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.