Friday at ChicagoTARDIS (I have my keyboard edition)

[neadods]

Before I talk about the con, some random links of interest:

sadbhyl on twitter: "Sat, 02:36: RT @cabin_pressure: Made me laugh: The first rule of Thesaurus Club is, you don't talk about, mention, speak of, discuss or chat about Thesaurus Club..."

Benedict Cumberbatch describes his holiday in the Seychelles Swimsuit pictures, y'all!.

Okay! Friday at ChicagoTARDIS was more interesting than I'd expected it to be, considering. Hung a bit with nnwest and dark_aegis talking Sherlock fic in general (if Aegis is going to admit liking the latest werewolf fic, then it's not just me and I'll rec it with the next set of links) and the stuff we're doing for Pyramids Press in specific.

Kevin dragooned me for his NASA talk so that there would be at least one warm body in the audience. I found it really interesting, actually, with compare-to-reality discussions of what was expected of the Mars rovers vs what they've got, and the photos of what the Hubble can show vs what is hoped for the next telescope.

Robert Shearman's 1-on-1 is a not-to be missed experience, so I didn't miss it. (I would later get The Best book autograph from Rob; I don't know how to get it from Tubso to LJ, so it will be posted later.) Missed a lot of the Big Finish Q&A because I was on a search for lunch (which I ate in the back of the auditorium; it is hard to get lunch at this con). Intend to make up for lost time today at the "Not the Who" panels because I'm really more interested in their Holmes line and the announcement that they're going to start marketing The Scarifyers.

Went to the tumblr panel, but didn't come out feeling that I had a blueprint of how to start from scratch. (Also? Don't talk about how strange Sherlock fandom is with the jam jokes and the cat sweater meme and then talk about tumblrs called "Peter Davison's Toes" or "Peter Davison's Eyebrows." I'm just sayin'.)

Peter Davison's question and answer session was fun, but the most fun really was the final question, when a strong Australian accent asked "Who was your favorite companion?" "You leave me up here alone for an hour and you ask me who my favorite companion is?" he roared at Janet Fielding. "IT WAS SARAH SUTTON!"

TBH, I left the Nick Courtney tribute in 5 minutes, hinked out horribly by the giggly "I've been in fandom so long, I went to these cons and have these old interviews" self-congratulatory attitude of the presenters. It's supposed to be about mourning NIck, not praising your fandom cred!

But for me, the biggest thing was being able to talk to Dr. Paul Booth of DePaul University on his research study "trying to learn more about the role that the academic study of fans has had on fan practices." I marched up to his table in the dealer's room and said "I'm credited in Textual Poachers, I was there for Enterprising Women, I know about the transvestite-and-slash debacle, and we ARE going to talk!" We talked for half an hour and I want to go back and talk some more. Most of what I banged on about was the difference between descriptive studies (fans do x) and prescriptive ones (fans do x because they are y) and how the latter is incredibly offensive because it infantalizes us - we are self-aware and intelligent! - and is usually someone else's bias being imposed upon us. And I put in a bit about my "fandom is a gene" theory.

Today: The Making of the Doctor's Wife; Is Doctor Who Feminist; two Big Finish panels; Goodbye My Sarah Jane; Mark Sheppard's only talk; Masquerade, Mysterious Theater 337, and Paul Booth needs pepper spray to keep me from throwing more opinions at him.

Comments

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

Lunch: Is the convention at the same hotel as when Elisabeth Sladen came? Check the Target next door. Back then, there was a Pizza Hut just inside. I have no idea if it's still there, but it's close enough to check out.

[nonelvis]

Janet Fielding is ♥ ♥ ♥

[neadods.livejournal.com]

She was fascinating at the feminism and Who panel. More on that later.

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

I will hold you to that.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

*roars of laughter at Peter Davison's answer to Janet*

[taiamu.livejournal.com]

Re: Janet Fielding and Peter Davison--They were at Gally last year. Every panel they were on together was hysterical. :)

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I know, I was there. Priceless entertainment. Happens again at 4 today...

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

"the role that the academic study of fans has had on fan practices."

So, basically, observation effect? Or what? More pls.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever answered this. I think it's about observation effect, but it's also about the question of whether someone who isn't a fan actually has a clearer understanding than someone who is part of the culture. Frankly, my answer is "hell no." Most of the not-fan studies I've seen were really the author superimposing their preconceptions on fandom. (you should see the profane comments in the margins of Enterprising Women.)

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Thanks for following up. :)

I know what you mean about Enterprising Women (it felt quite off, so much that I didn't finish reading it, which is unusual for me).

I haven't read much other academic work on fandom. I did read all of Textual Poachers and appreciated that Jenkins didn't get caught up in the sexual aspects of fandom. Yes, there is slash, there is het, but these don't (IMO) define the movement behind fan fiction. There are a lot of people out there who want to tell stories, to bring their own lens to the media we're presented with, and much of that has nothing to do with sex. Heck, even the sex isn't always about sex.