hmpf

Last night I attended a meeting of the SF Treff Darmstadt. Lots of people, many of them - I am told - newbies, probably there yesterday to hear the talk given by Robert Vogel, a genre journalist who's been behind the scenes on many shows and has actually worked as an extra on some, too. Last night he talked about Stargate, which of course was not exactly my favourite subject (although I keep telling myself that Farscape's cancellation is not the fault of the people working on Stargate, I still can't help a certain bitterness at its continued existence. Sure, it's decent sf, but it's also 6 years old and even according to some fans does not really need another season, whereas Farscape was killed in its prime. Ah, frell. It's not made any easier for me by the fact that due to the near-complete absence of Farscape from German TV, most German sf fans consider Stargate (and Andromeda... *shudder*) *the* ultimate in current sf television...) --

Err... sorry. Veered off on a tangent there. I'll not even try and finish that sentence.

Well. So, the subject of the talk was not exactly one I was very interested in (though Robert Vogel did a nice enough job of presenting his behind the scenes material, and it would have been fun if I hadn't been so bitter...), but hey, I've made it my mission to spread Farscape in German sf fandom, single-handedly, if necessary, and I have to start somewhere, don't I? ;-)

One funny thing about the sf scene in Germany: it's *tiny*. I've only participated in two larger events - the Darmstadt Space Days 2002, where AnduraNova and I won second place in the costume contest as Delvians, and last weekend's DortCon, where I held my little presentation - and already it seems I know most of the main protagonists... Well, that's not quite true, but there sure as hezmana were quite a few faces I knew yesterday evening...

One of the people whom I've met at *every* single event so far is Bifi, who, it turns out, is also a member of the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft. Of course, I tried to convince her to join our monthly meetings as well as the monthly meetings of the Farscaped mailing list... *g* I really have to join the SFCD soon, I think. I keep telling her I will... and I will. Actually, I already have the membership application form lying here on my desk.

I also talked to a DS9 and literary sf fan about Farscape. Not sure how much headway I made, but hey, at least I'm trying... ;-) He was pretty convinced that Farscape was nothing but Muppets in Space - always a hard preconception to dislodge... and unfortunately very common in Germany, due to the promotion FS got during its very short run on German TV.

Well, and Robert Vogel himself was actually sort of interested in talking to me - told me he would have liked to hear my presentation at DortCon but missed it because he didn't know it was Sunday or something... and he invited Kai and Antje and my humble self to join a smaller, more private meeting of sf fans at his house on Wednesday. I'd actually really like to go there, 'cause I think he might be an interesting source of information... Also, I really do mean to get deeper into the sf scene, not just to spread FS, but also because I really love the genre.

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: Over the Rhine: The World Can Wait

Okay, on to the second day...

Well, we got up sometime between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. (meaning, some of us got up at 8, and the rest got up one by one between 8 and 10 a.m., since there was only one bathroom, anyway. We had a very basic breakfast and then made our way to the con. I was supposed to meet with Mark there at 11 a.m. but he arrived a little late. I passed the time before his arrival standing around in the lobby with Christian, wondering if we were ever going to see a simple con guest - for some reason, everyone we saw seemed to be either an organiser, a helper or someone giving a talk or a presentation. We were really relieved when we finally spotted a guest! Christian seemed to know everybody, btw... and I had a very brief opportunity to meet Claudia Kern, sf serial author and genre journalist, and apparently also a scaper. She seemed nice, but mysteriously missed my talk later that day, although she reportedly had wanted to hear it.

When Mark finally arrived we asked one of the organisers for a room and took our equipment - which Mark had brought - there for a general check-up. Mark, whose claims to fame include the organisation and hosting of our semi-annual mailing list meetings #3 and #5 (http://fstreffen.allabouthmpf.com), had brought a notebook, a video beamer, and the 150 or so flyers Dashan and Christian had produced. (Have I recently mentioned how much I love you guys? Consider yourselves hugged. All three of you.)

Well, the equipment and the video clips I had selected worked just fine together, and after that had been ascertained, I once again tested my presentation in front of a scaper audience, this time consisting of Christian and Mark. Christian told me I had improved a little bit, but I'm not sure if I should believe that... ;-)

Oh, and for those who are curious which clips I was going to show:

- Tazey's fabulous fan vid 'Right Here, Right Now', for which I should have sent feedback ages ago 'cause it's so great!
- a clip from 'We're So Screwed 2: Hot To Katratzi' - the 'American' scene
- one of the CNN clips
- one of our latest batch of commercials
- the 'morale booster' video by Tiriel and co.

At 14:00 Christian left for his own presentation, and Mark and I joined his audience a little while later, after I'd grabbed a banana for lunch. Christian talked about a somewhat 'exotic' subject, the Masters of the Universe cartoon series from the eighties, and the audience was... well, not exactly huge. This had me worried a bit, as I had no idea how popular or unpopular Farscape is in German sf fandom. I half expected only a handful of people would turn up for my talk... After all, the show disappeared from German TV about a year and a half ago. I wasn't sure many would remember it, especially considering that it had been run late night on Sunday. Not the best slot for gaining new viewers, methinks.

At 15:00 Christian and I changed places, me taking his place at the presenter's table, and him joining the audience. At first, there wasn't much of a crowd, but as Mark was preparing the equipment, people started arriving, one by one... and soon I had a good crowd there (some 20 or so people), and began to get seriously nervous. Of course, I handed a flyer to everyone who entered the room!

Well, and then Mark was ready and I sat down at my table with my five pages of text and some rather pronounced 'rattlers in my stomach'. I apologised in advance for being nervous and for reading too fast, and in the following twenty minutes was very glad to find the audience very gracious. I started by stating the importance of Farscape for the genre at large, then spoke about the 'end' of the show, and then launched into an explanation of Farscape's greatness... though I almost decided to skip that part of the presentation as it turned out that most of my audience actually already knew Farscape (so, I probably didn't make many potential new fans... ah well, can't have everything, I guess). After my praise of the show followed a summary of the history and achievements of the Save Farscape campaign.

Of course, I was too fast again. However, the audience was very gracious and kind, and seemed to take into account that I was doing this for the very first time... After having delivered my talk I replied to questions about the cancellation and the campaign, and encouraged everybody to take part (of course!).

Well, and then it was over, or almost... 'cause some people from the audience stayed to talk to me and give me flyers of their own - among them some SeaQuest fans, whom I guess we scapers should consider as something akin to family, since their show was also created by Rockne and DK and cancelled prematurely... Rockne really has rotten luck with networks, it would seem!

Roger Murmann who has a monthly sf program on a local radio station also stayed to talk to me, or rather, to interview me, and Christian as well. Christian went first, and then it was my turn. Once again, I was dreadfully nervous, but Roger was quite good at asking the right questions, so I got to repeat the main points of my talk very neatly for his show... Unfortunately the interview will be aired quite close to where I live, so there's a certain danger of people who actually know me hearing it! I hope I didn't come over too incoherent! ;-)

When the interviews were over the con was almost over, as well, but I had a nice bit of talk with a guy whose name I didn't catch yet, who had actually been convinced to give Farscape a try - should he ever get an opportunity to see it - by the clip from 'We're So Screwed...' (and hopefully also a bit by my talk!!! *g*) So, I may have made at least one potential new viewer. We'll see.

And that was that, more or less. There wasn't much left to do except tell people farewell, and exchange some addresses... Mark was so kind as to take me at least part of the way to Frankfurt, so my train ticket would be a bit cheaper, and after some complications (travelling with two backpacks with a weight of over 20 kilos *always* means complications!) I arrived in Frankfurt at 23:00, very exhausted indeed, but also still on a convention high. Of course, this was followed by the post-con depression the next day... but that is another story... ;-)

I hoped I would be less tired today than I was yesterday, but I'm just as tired. Therefore, I'll just assume it will be no different tomorrow, and will try and write my con report (and a general LJ update) now...

Well, where to start? I'm back in Germany (alas). Getting here was... complicated, but that was my own fault, for making a detour to DortCon on my way from Barcelona to Frankfurt. ;-)

Notes on being home again:

- After using a Spanish keyboard for a month, I'm having trouble readjusting to the German one. I hope it won't take me a month to learn how to type 'in German' again!

- It was good seeing my parents and friends again.

- It was not so good to go back to uni today. I'm not ready for mundane life yet! I feel like there's a head cold waiting to happen lurking in my body, and working is not the best way to prevent it from happening...

- The picture I took of Francis on the last day turned out to be non-existent, since I failed to put the film in right. Frell.

- Seeing my roommates again is nice, though. Even if one of them will only be around a short while anymore, 'cause she's moving out. We're looking for a new one now, and today we interviewed two 'candidates', both of whom were nice. The interviews took very long, though, and afterwards there wasn't much left of my day. *sigh*

Okay, on to the con report now. I bet that's what you're really here for. ;-)

------------

*Preaching 'Scape at DortCon 2003*

I left Barcelona around 10 am, took a plane from Girona airport at 13:00 hours. Arrived at what RyanAir has declared 'Frankfurt-Hahn' but which is really a tiny airport nowhere near Frankfurt. Took a bus to Cologne. There took a train to Dortmund, where I was supposed to be picked up at the station by one of the con's organisers or one of the helpers. However, the guy's cellphone was malfunctioning. So, I spent an hour or so at the station, trying to reach him on the phone - was majorly pissed when the phone ate my whole 2-Euro-coin after a one second call to someone's answering machine. Sat around in a bistro for a while, thinking about how to get to the con with my 20 kilos of luggage - naturally, I'd forgotten to print out the address - in a town I'd never been to. Finally had the brilliant idea of calling Mark, who was going to be my partner-in-crime the next day, and ask him to look it up on the net. Which I did, and he did, then.

Took a taxi to the con and arrived somewhat exhausted at the Fritz-Henssler-Haus. A familiar face was the first thing I saw: Christian from the list was catching the air just when I arrived. After a split-second's uncertainty, we recognised each other - after all, we've stood together in rainy Cologne on October 5, 2002 - and then I was introduced to André Diehl, the guy I'd spoken to on the phone several times from Barcelona, and Torsten Frantz, one of the leading fen from the SFCD (Science Fiction Club Deutschland, the oldest SF club in Germany), who was going to be my host for the night.

Christian and I retired to the gopher room then - after I'd shed my mammoth of a backpack in some room on the ground floor - where I had a Tolkien Day flashback when eating the sandwiches made in the sandwich toaster. (At the Tolkien Day, we used to live on a diet consisting almost entirely of these kind of sandwiches... though they are called 'fried orc ears' there...)

After the orc ears, uhm, sandwiches, I 'forced' Christian to play audience to my Farscape presentation. As always when trying to speak in public, I was Much Too Fast - read five pages in about 20 minutes! Halfway through the text I gained two rather eager listeners who started asking questions about the Save Farscape movement and the show in general when I'd finished. That made me very happy of course, since secretly I'd feared no one would be interested in Farscape at all... (Turns out I was wrong... as proven more impressively by the turnout of my presentation the next day...)

Well, that was all very nice, but I was tired, and so I was rather happy when Torsten Frantz assembled his many charges for the night... a whopping total of eight people were to stay at his place! A few of them chose to stay at the con for the night's movie program, but the rest of us went 'home' where I fine-tuned my script again but didn't get to sleep much... 'cause of course we all sat around for quite a while yet. I got to meet BiFi again, another VIP (or rather, BNF, I suppose) from the SFCD whom I'd met at last year's Space Days. Among the guests was also an older fan who scored two points with me for being a) from Kiel and b) a Scaper. *g*

Well, but finally we did go to bed, or what passed for it. (A sofa, in my and Bifi's case, a mat on the floor in most other's.)

And I think at this point I will end my report today, 'cause I should go to bed now, too. Sunday's report will follow tomorrow. I promise.