Oz Comic-Con and Continuum 2019

With my last assignment for my degree due to be submitted at the end of May I started putting a little thought into what I’d do to celebrate. Getting a degree is a big achievement for anyone and I’m no different to anyone else. I wanted to celebrate. With the Convention finished and the end of my degree on the horizon I figured I could attend Continuum and make that part of my celebration. Then a friend wanted to hang out with me Oz Comic-Con. It was only when I looked at the dates I realised I’d have a problem. They were going to be on the same weekend. This could cause a problem. I could have made a decision and only attend one of them but I knew I’d regret missing the one I didn’t attend. I ended up buying tickets to both.

As time went on I realised I’d better make some decisions as to which days to attend which events. Oz Comic-Con is only two days, Saturday and Sunday. Continuum is four days, Friday afternoon through to Monday afternoon. Decisions are hard and I went through both programmes and decided I could probably miss the programming items at Continuum for Saturday.

During all of this I saw a post on a comic group on Facebook. Someone in Sydney was looking for someone to take some comics to Oz Comic-Con, have them signed by a particular guest and then post them back. I saw this come through my feed a couple of times before I responded. The man made the process so easy. He posted his comics to me, they were packaged better than I used to pack books I’d sold and he included a self-addressed satchel inside the box. When they were signed I was able to return them to their packaging and pop the box into the self-addressed satchel ready to go to the post office. Monday morning they were on their way back to the owner. It was all very exciting! I had the experience of getting something signed by a special guest without having to keep the item afterwards.

I didn’t do what I’ve done at previous Oz Comic-Con events. I didn’t fan girl at every author table and ask questions on camera for uploading to YouTube. I should have, I even have a question ready, but I didn’t. It was a conscious decision but I didn’t have any reasoning behind it. So what you don’t get from my weekend is advice from authors or artists.

Continuum was a whole other experience. Situated in a hotel in Melbourne’s CBD only a short walk from the Queen Victoria Market it’s much more specialised. It is a convention for writers and readers of speculative fiction. It was pretty awesome. I intended to sit in on panels and other programming items but I was totally distracted and ended up talking to people all over the place. I spent a lot of time checking out the Dealer’s Room and Sunday Market. You can see what I mean by the photo I’ve included.

While you’re looking at the photo have a look at the one on the bottom you’ll see an absolute treasure. Produced by Bruce Gillespie in the 1970s it is done entirely by his hand. He typed everything up and produced this copy on a Gestetner machine. Gillespie did a Q&A about his life and work, the fanzine, SF Commentary. At the end he gave away some of the copies he still had on hand. He only gave away multiples. I would have been happy with a much earlier one but this was the earliest he had available and seeing as it was done on a Gestetner Machine I’m pretty happy.

I’ve added my loot to my To Be Read Pile and now I have to actually make inroads into it. I have more time at the moment but I am trying to spend more of that writing, not always on my blog though.

And just to finish off. Last Friday I received my final marks for my final assignment for my final subject for my degree for uni. It’s final that I’ve passed. According to my emotions rather than the calendar I can now celebrate.