The Difficulty of Writing Near-Future SF...

...Has to do with the complexity of the world and the way that things develop in a very unpredictable way: not totally chaotic, but not quite in a straight extrapolative manner, either.

Take for example the way government and politics have developed over the past 25 years or so in Great Britain. Imagine travelling back in time and telling UK citizens of the early Maggie Thatcher years that in 2008 their country would be well underway to having an Orwellian, '1984'-type government: CCTV cameras everywhere, civil liberties greatly reduced, the UK spending more money per capita on safety, security and surveillance than any other western country: they would probably nod in agreement. Then tell them that this was mainly implemented by a long-time Labour government.

It would be interesting to see their reactions. Then tell them that the tories, desperate to come back in power after a long stint in the opposition benches are -- among other things -- selling themselves as a green party ("making Britain safer and greener"). Do I see the sardonic smile of history stretching from the early eighties to the late noughts? Would these early Thatcher-era Britons believe you?

It what makes writing near-future SF such a daunting task, and a kind of catch-22 exercise: if it looks too believable it (most probably) won't happen; if it looks too implausible it might very well happen.

So if you dive into the world of tomorrow, you need to find a balance between not being too conservative in your predicitions, but also not too 'off-the-wall', either. For example, back in 1997 the movie "Wag the Dog" satirised the Clinton/Lewinsky affair by fabricating a war to cover up a presidential sex scandal. Nowadays, one would not only wish it was only a sex scandal they were covering up, but -- much more importantly -- that the war was 'fabricated' instead of real.

Instead, in the extremely important and hotly contested US election of this year the personalities of the candidates and the subsequent smear campaigns are -- or at least seem to be, like in 2000 and 2004 -- more important than the actual *issues*.

A quick reality check: the US government bails out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which control or own about 50% of *all* American mortgages -- because their losses are so big they both threaten to topple over. It's yet another signpost of how bad the current credit crisis really is, but does it dominate the main American news outlets? One would wish, but it appears that the nomination of a previously quite unknown, but sexy and mediagenic VP candidate completely eclipses this. It's almost as if "Wag the Dog" had it the wrong way around: attractive personality and sex appeal are used to distract from the actual issue: the completely failed economic policies of the past eight years (thanks, Jeremy Lassen). And the fact that it bails out the rich through the US taxpayer's pockets goes unnoticed as the big media focus on polls, more polls (one that seems to support Dutch research that showed that men will indeed become less critical of a purchase when the salesperson is an atractive woman), or fear stories that question science without knowing much about it, and -- against my line of argument, just to show that tracking the present has the same pitfalls -- Fox reporting a near-record deficit.

(Update: as another big US bank reports a record loss, the distraction tactics intensify. "Wag the Pig", anyone?)

Anyway, the main thrust of this post is to show just how difficult it is to extrapolate the near future (and I mean near: even tomorrow is highly unpredictable, especially in socio/political terms).

So what's a poor SF writer to do? Well, dare to make mistakes, try to ride the fine line between extrapolating too straightforwardly or too crazily, and face complexity. More reminisces on that in a following post.

(Yeah: I certainly don't have all the answers. Otherwise I'd be solving all this planet's problems, if I could. But while I'm struggling like a lot of you to make sense of life on this insane, yet also beautiful planet, often putting my thoughts on [electronic] paper helps me move forward.)

Typically...

My internet provider decided to have a central breakdown in the last couple of days, so while I posted my resignation from Interzone on Tuesday night, I couldn't react to the comments and all the emails I've been getting about it on the two subsequent days (and I'm way too busy on the day job to do it over there: I'm just typing this quickly during my lunch break).

I did see that I had internet connectivity back this morning, promptly filling my mailbox with 250 emails, which I was unable to answer before breakfast. I will do my damnedest to get back to everybody tonight.

UPDATE: It's past o1.00 AM on the Friday night (or Saturday morning) here, and I hope I managed to answer all emails regarding my departure from IZ. Many thanks for all the kind words that I received: they're highly appreciated.

Now I'm just dead tired, and will get back to the comments to the post below, and those on the TTAboards tomorrow.

Resigning from Interzone

After four-and-a-half years, I am resigning as an Interzone co-editor.

I do not take this decision lightly, but it is what I feel I must do.

The reason is simple: like a rock band where one musician quits because she/he doesn't like the musical direction the band is taking (the well-known 'musical differences'), I am unhappy with the direction and tone the fiction in Interzone will be taking.

Make no mistake, I think that, fiction-wise, Interzone has had a very good year so far. And there are still some very good stories forthcoming (Jason Stoddard's "Monetized", Alaya Dawn Johnson's "Far and Deep", Hannu Rajaniemi's "His Master's Voice", Gord Sellar's "The Country of the Young" and Paul Evanby's "I Love the Smell of the Lotus in the Morning" immediately come to mind).

However, most of the stories the magazine has accepted this year will appear next year. And -- as mentioned above -- the tone and direction of most of those are moving farther and farther away from what I would prefer to publish. So it's time for me to say my thanks and take my leave.

I'd like to thank Andy Cox for having me all this time. I'd like to thank all IZ editors past and present. I'd like to thank everyone who has volunteered for the magazine, or helped out in any way: they've been great years, and would not have been possible without you.

I wish Interzone, and all other TTAPress publications nothing but success and the best of luck in the future. This may sound a bit strange after my statement that I'm unhappy with the direction IZ is taking, but I really do mean it.

May Interzone live long and prosper. It'll just not be my Interzone anymore.

(I wanted to post this yesterday, but was too sick and tired. Now I feel somewhat better.)

At the Crossroads of Hardrock/Heavy Metal & Science Fiction, part 1: UFOs

(And I don't mean the band UFO...;-)

I've been thinking about the overlap between these two art forms before (as I am a fan of both), but triggered by this blog post by John Scalzi I decided to tackle it, but piece by piece. There is a lot of overlap.

So let's begin slowly, with the most prominent example:

Probably the band that's done the most incorprating of SF into metal (or vice-versa) is Voivod. UFOs and aliens are a recurring theme throughout their albums. Directly in -- for example -- the "We Are Not Alone" and "Jack Luminous" (more an epic) songs of the The Outer Limits album, and somewhat indirectly in other songs, for example check this video of "Clouds In My House" (from the Angel Rat album):

One of their more original takes on UFOs is in "The Unknown Knows" (from the Nothingface album, their best), which is about a legend among Native Americans about UFOs. Below is a live video of it:

On their 10,000 Days album, Tool's "Rosetta Stoned" hails of the adventures of a guy who believes he has been abducted. Since the story is told from the abductee's viewpoint it's carefully left ambiguous if what happened to him was real or not, but the way in which the song superbly crams almost each and every cliché of the UFO legends and sharply typifies its staunchest believers I suspect this is either a great satire, (singer James Maynard) Keenan is a true believer, or both (especially since he sings "I ain't opened my third eye" on the Aenima album).

There are literally hundreds of live videos of that song on YouTube, so I took one from the Lowlands Festival (which is in The Netherlands):

Tool, though, are most probably pulling your leg. However, when it comes to UFOs and metal, Agent Steel's debut album takes the cake (and eats it). Skeptics Apocalypse (gotta love the title) gives short shrift to those who think Unidentified Flying Objects filled with aliens are just a figment of the collective imagination. Singer John Cyriis was a true believer and this added an extra dimension. From the wildly galloping opener "Agents of Steel" (see the live video from the Dynamo Club(*) below, and witness how Cyriis voice rises -- at the fourth iteration of the 'masters of metal, agents of steel' chorus -- through a steel-splintering number of octaves) to the call to "Bleed for the Godz", and reaching its zenith with the duo of "144,000 Gone" ('twas more than just a few that were abducted) and "Guilty As Charged" (the human race, who else?).

Agent Steel (the latest iteration sometimes tours, AFAIK) has made a few more albums with John Cyriis, but none of those quite have the weird combination of full throttle speed metal with the Cyriis UFO madness.

Anyway, these are the ones that come from the top of my head. Does anybody have other recommendations?

(*) And what can I say about the old Dynamo Club (the youth centre in which it was located has been demolished and replaced by a modern one, with the 'new' dynamo club and bar)? Back in the 80s and 90s it was the place to be if you were into heavy metal, and the club has hosted numerous legendary performances. I believe that at that time the official maximum number of people allowed inside (from the fire regulations) was 75, while most soldout shows held more than 300 people. To say it was sweaty and crowded was an understatement: it was a seething pit of chaos, while at the same time the coolest place on Earth (for a metal fan). No wonder we drank so much beer: it was the only way to keep our temperature down!

I am the very model of a singularitarian

Via Damien Broderick, this from YouTube:

I am the very model of a singularitarian.

America: Denver and Denvention, Day One

Tuesday August 5, after returning to Europe from the Asian part of Russia, it was time to visit the third continent in the same week: America.

After an uneventful flight from Amsterdam through Detroit -- nice Irish pub on the C-concourse -- to Denver I met TTAPress publicity maverick Roy Gray and our new electronic editions editor -- who had started up the new Transmissions from Beyond podcast the day before -- Pete Bullock. Pete drove Roy and me to our respective accomodations, and since it was close to midnight, which felt like 8 in the morning on my West European Time, I went to bed. Without a beer: but I would make up for that in the days to come.

The next morning -- let's call Wednesday August 6 Denvention Day One -- I went to the Colorado Convention Center to help Pete and Roy set up the dealer's table, but they wouldn't let anyone in without a badge. The registration line, though, had already stretched over 50 metres. Luckily Pete was already in there setting things up, and Roy was almost up ahead in the line, so without feeling much guilt I went to the Sheraton lobby to meet up with the esteemed Jim Minz.

The plan was a pubcrawl as a way to kickstart Denvention, but apart from me and Jim -- whose idea it was -- none of the usual suspects showed up. Fully understandable, with dealer's tables, presentations and art shows to be set up, and we were going to repeat the pubcrawl on Sunday afternoon. Still, it's vitally important to do some scouting ahead, and, selflessly sacrificing ourselves, we put to the task with vigour.

First stop was Stranahan's, the distiller of 'straight rocky mountain whiskey'. Jim and I and a third gentleman whose name escapes me took a tour at eleven AM. I've been on a few tours of Scottish whisky distillers (whisky or whiskey? See (1)), and what I noted here was that they use a custom-made distillery vessel that is somewhere in between a traditional pot still and a commercial distillery column, which brings their whisky somewhere between bourbon and whiskey. They also keep their casks -- American oak, obviously -- at summer temperatures year-round, at a controlled humidity, to speed up the aging process, so they achieve -- or claim to achieve -- the same maturation of a 6-year-old Scotch in two or three years.

The proof of the (pudding) whisk(e)y is in the (eating) drinking. So Jim and I had our first drink of the day at eleven thirty: tasting Stranahan's whiskey I said: "Jim, we can only go downhill from here." Not specifically meaning the whiskey -- which was very nice, but no match for a good Scottish single malt -- but more the fact that all other beverages of the day would have a lower acohol content. We each bought a bottle: the top of my bottle was cracked by Ian McDonald, Lou Anders and me to celebrate the end of the Pyr party on Friday night, the rest I donated to the Baen party -- hosted by the indomitable Mr. Minz -- the Saturday night after. I had already bought a bottle of Camus XO at Schiphol, and could only import one bottle of booze tax free, so the Stranahan's had to go. Which it did.

Next up was the Breckenridge brew pub, which proved to be -- at least to me -- the best one we visited in Denver. A great selection of beers, and some nice food (although we only found the latter one out on the Sunday, because the macaroni & cheese wedges don't count: while quite OK, they reminded me of their Dutch counterparts nasischijf and bamihap).

The Agave Wheat and the SummerBright Ale were fine drinks, but the Vanilla Porter was the big surprise: imagine a near-perfect mix between beer, coffee and chocolate and you some idea of how it tasted. Quite incredible and very, very good.

Then there was another microbrewery, a bit out of the way, whose name I forgot, which was closed on Sunday. Also quite good, although it was beer only there, with just a few snacks.

Then we went to Falling Rock taphouse, and this place rocks! Over 69 beers on tap: both local and international ones (plenty from Belgium, but at prices -- hey: I live 50 kilometres from the Belgium border. We have Belgium beers, cheap, in our supermarkets -- that gave me pause, even at the current exchange rates). We did a lot of tasting there, together with a local beer enthusiast. Grabbed some excellent onion rings and breaded mushrooms -- that's why beer makes you fat: the greasy food that goes so well with it -- as well. We actually played with the idea of having the whole place relocated to straight across the convention center, as to make it the Con bar, but unfortunately we couldn't make it work. However, we did both get a classic "NO CRAP ON TAP" yellow sticker. Love this place!

We liked it so much in Falling Rock that we had to skip a few other candidates on the list, as we had to get back to the Convention Centre to set things up (and get registered first). On our way, though, we did make a quick stop at the Rock Bottom Brewery, which is close to the pedestrian shopping area. Subsequently, it was very busy down there, but there beer list was impressive. I believe it's become something of a national chain, which, for once, I'll recommend.

Then, at the end of the afternoon, I got registered and checked our table in the dealer's room: Roy and Pete had it set up perfectly, and Pete was even setting up two laptops with headphoes and speakers so that people could listen to our first three podcasts (" ). Great dedication to the cause here.

After the dealer's room closed at 6 PM, it was time (again) for some beer: I checked out the bar in the Hyatt -- across the street from the convention -- and it soon became clear that this would become the central bar of the Con.

(1) snarched from here:

The Bard of Banff

Whisky or Whiskey?

A Scotsman who spells

Whisky with a n ‘e’,

should be hand cuffed

and thrown head first in the Dee.

In the USA and Ireland,

it’s spelt with an ‘e’

but in Scotland

it’s real ‘Whisky’.

So if you see Whisky

and it has an ‘e’,

only take it,

if you get it for free!

For the name is not the same

and it never will be,

a dram is only a real dram,

from a bottle of ‘Scotch Whisky’.

Stanley Bruce.

20th April 2004

Ironically, though, according to Wikipedia, Whiskey was re-adopted by the Irish back in the 1870s 'to distinguish their higher quality product' (because 'the reputation of Scottish whisky was very poor '). How the times have changed.

A Quick Meme I couldn't Resist...

...Snarched from Chris Roberson:

Look up your birthday in Wikipedia. Pick 4 events, 3 births, 2 deaths, and 1 holiday.

Events:

• 1595 - Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
• 1626 - Peter Minuit buys Manhattan. (In exchange for trade goods valued at 60 guilders, or about $24. Can we have it back, and make New York New Amsterdam again? I'll PayPal the 24 bucks...;-)
• 1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction. (We'll rename it to how it should be called: de Breukelen Brug...;-)
• 1992 - The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.

And decidedly unhappy about:

• 1943 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Births:

• 15 BC - Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. 19)
• 1819 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
• 1941 - Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
• 1963 - Michael Chabon, American author (OK: so I smuggled in a fourth. Couldn't resist.)

Deaths:

• 1543 - Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (b. 1473)
• 1974 - Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)

Holiday:

Canada: Victoria Day, on this date if it falls on a Monday or the Monday before it. In Quebec, it is known as National Patriotes Day (Journée nationale des patriotes).
Note: way back when I always wondered why Geddy Lee sang "on the 24th of May" on Lakeside Park from the Caress of Steel album (and it's not exactly his favourite song). But eventually I found out why.

Russia: Moscow, Trans Siberia Express, Novosibirsk & solar eclipse

A short roundup of my trip to Russia. On Sunday July 27 Peter, Bram and I took the 09.30 flight from Amsterdam to Moscow. Thanks to the wonders of early internet check-in (I got up at 03.30 the previous night) we had a row of exit seats. The lady from our travel agent picked us -- and several other people -- up from Sheremetyevo 2 (I've been there when there was only one Sheremetyevo, which was the designated international airport, and Domodyedovo, a hundred kilometres away and to the south of Moscow, was the designated domestic airport, so a transfer included a two to three hour drive around Moscow, back in the Iron Curtain days), and took us to our hotel in the North of Moscow.

Customs & immigration went smooth, and after a quick bite in the hotel we went to the Moscow subway, armed with a map, and in the early evening walked around the Red Square. It was decidedly strange: on the one side there is the Kremlin with Lenin's tomb where the Cold War Soviet Union vibe still resonates, while on the other side there is the GUM department store, which -- at that time in the evening -- with its tacky, Christmas-season-like lightning formed a very strange, capitalistic contrast, not unlike similar department stores in London and New York. The State Historical Museum and St. Basil's Cathedral formed a better complement to the Kremlin.

In a way, it typified modern Russia: the communist old mixing with the capitalist new in an often clashing way: ugly concrete living blocs adorned with screaming billboards and shining neon ads, babushkas in the streets and on railway stations selling Russian staple foods along with typical Western sweets, mostly western cars riding on crowded roads overseen by -- what I asssume to be -- traffic controllers who looked more like KGB agents.

My friend Peter remarked upon it first: Russia, or at least central Moscow still looks and feels like a police state. I started noticing it more and more after he said it: there are security people everywhere, and it was impossible for us to see if they were the local police, state agents, military, or private security people. Just that there were a lot of them. Moscow doesn't have the huge number of CCTVs that London has, but more than makes up for it in security manpower.

The Russians themselves, though, seemed undisturbed by it, and carried on as if it was business as usual (maybe it has been worse). The few times that we almost lost our way -- both in and outside the subway -- people were very friendly and tried to help. And I never felt unsafe in the way I would in the seedier part of most big American cities, but that is probably because we never got into the seedier part of Moscow.

The next day we took an extended walking tour through Moscow, and the cultural clashes continued: old Zadkinesque statues alongside kitschy advertisement columns; two identical flats: one turned into a modern hotel ("Golden Ring Hotel" IIRC) while the other remained a Soviet era, grey concrete block cum living appartment; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: an old building defaced with aircos hanging out the windows; a statue of Peter the Great on the Moskva River (next to the old chocolate factory) that redefines ugliness; the TASS headquarters ("The press bureau that kept announcing that the fall of the decadent west was imminent," I said jokingly, "and they would have been right if the credit crisis had come twenty years earlier.") across the street from a Delifrance coffeeshop (even if it might not have been an official Delifrance outlet, it sure looked like one, and the cappuccino was great); The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour from which a huge bridge crosses the Moskva River: at the oppsite end there was some modern artwork that didn't quite work; and more that I'm not coming up with right now.

There also seems to be a tradition for couples to pledge their (eternal) love on the bridges over the Moskva River by putting a padlock, with the names of the partners written or engraved on the lock, on its fences. There even was a bridge where special -- well, I can only call them -- 'trees' were installed where lovers could snap their locks on its special branches (This was the Luzkhov Bridge: you can find almost anything out on the internet these days). Typically, the fences and/or trees closest to the middle of the river where had the highest lock density. Nice.

Ellen and Freek, our other two travel companions, arrived later in the day by train, and joined us later on. We went around the Red Square again (they hadn't seen it), although this time in daylight. At least the GUM department store looked less tacky. We had an excellent, if somewhat expensive dinner in a steakhouse, figuring a good meal might be in order since we didn't know what to expect on the Trans Siberia Express.

The next day, Ellen and Freek went on an early morning subway trip to check out several metro stations, while Bram, Peter and I took it easy and walked around the local area around our hotel and shopped some stocks for the train trip. The local park wasn't anything special, but one certain 24-hour shop -- nearby the subway station -- caught our interest: it didn't sell food or drinks but solely mobile phones! I guess it's of the utmost import to be able to get a new cell phone 24/7. Oh Brave New World.

In the afternoon we got on the Jenisej train of the Transiberia Express. Because we had booked a year in advance, we were able to get first class cabins: other eclipse travellers we spoke with had to settle for second class ones. The difference? Well, first class cabins have only two bunks -- that double as sitting benches -- while second class cabins have four, and third class cabins have 6 or 8 (not sure). It's the difference between being with 2, 4 or 6 to 8 people in the same space, which can add up the lobger the trip takes.
I only took the Moscow -- Novosibirsk leg, which takes 48 hours. I understand that the full St. Petersburg -- Vladivostok line takes seven days. And there are no showers: only two toilets with little wash basins per wagon, meaning that you have to share the same washrooms with considerably less people in first class than in second or third. I can believe that a third class cabin will not exactly have the most pleasant smell at the end of a full tour, and why hardened Russians live through it by the liberal application of vodka.
Therefore, it's advisable to get out at interesting places like Novosibirsk (mostly because of the solar eclipse), Irkutsk and Ulaan Batar (OK: so my freinds switched over to the Trans Mongolia Express).
There's a schedule -- all in Moscow time -- that tells you where and for how long the train stops at every station. It's important to know, as the train does not blow a whistle or give any other sign when it leaves: it just leaves. If you miss it, well, too bad. I have heared a story from an experienced Russia traveller that this indeed happened to a friend of his, and that in the Soviet era. That man through he was in deep trouble, while the local train station manager took him to his house, had his wife cook some extra potatoes and borsht, put him in the guest bed, and put him on the next train 24 hours later. No problem, and this must have happened many times before.
But we didn't want to miss the train, as then we would have missed the solar eclipse in Novosibirsk. So we took care when we got out for a quick glimpse at several stations, where people sell local food and drinks (see the picture to the left). Also, every wagon has two poborskis -- train stewards would be the best translation I think -- who keep the wagon clean, are available 24 hours a day (that's why there are two: they take turns), and warn unexperienced travellers how long the train stays at every station, and even urge you back on board if necessary. Our poborskis were two blond Russian, middle-aged women who took care of us like mothers.

There was also a restaurant wagon, and while the menu was completely in Russian (and my cyrillic had gone quite rustic over the years), there was a fellow passenger who translated it into English. The food was actually quite OK, and there was also plenty of beer, wine and other drinks. So we only ate food bought at stations for breakfast and lunch -- we had to try that, as well, and some sausages were quite nice -- and had dinner at the restaurant wagon.

Apropos Russian beer -- there will be more beer in the Denvention post -- I mainly found the following ones:

--Baltica: lager from St. Petersburg;
--Stary Melnik (Old Miller): lager from Moscow (I think. Update: from the Efes brewery in Moscow, if I believe teh intarwebs);
--Siberski Corona (Siberian Crown): lager from somewhere in Siberia (Update: it's located in Omsk);

There are much more local beers, but these three were the ones we saw the most. Also, both in Moscow, along the Trans Siberia Express, and in Novosibirsk a wide range of import beers was available: from the inevitable Heineken, Budweiser and Carlsberg to Hoegaarden (half-liter bottles in a supermarket in Berdsk, a village nearby Novosibirsk) to Efes (lots of it in Moscow: a Turkish invasion? Update: they seem to have a brewery in Moscow, which also brews Stary Melnik, which explains a lot).
Anyway, all three were perfectly drinkable, although not really special. Decent lagers, as they go, and since the average temperature was around 28-29 Celsius, they went in well.

So, after a pleasant two-day stay in the Jenisej train, we arrived in Novosibirsk. Novosibirsk is not a very pretty city, to say the least. Actually, the train station was one of the better-looking buildings. However, our hotel was somewhat outside of Novosibirsk in a suburb (or separate village: hard to say) called Mosorow. A local man from the travel agency picked us up from Novosibirsk station and took us there: the next morning, he was also the driver of the bus we hired so we could get to a good spot to watch the solar eclipse. The hotel was luxurious for Russian standards: I suspect it's a resort for better-off Russians. Now, however, it was filled with solar eclipse enthusiasts: two women from Belgium, a group from Portugal, a couple of Americans and five Dutchmen. We had a good meal, and the next day was the big day.

August 1: solar eclipse day. We found out that our driver and bus were the same one who picked us up from the station, which was fine in all things but one: our driver didn't speak English. But with maps, GPSs, hand and feet we got in the direction where we wanted to go. The plan was to go to the shore of lake Novosibirskoye, which is the huge water basin of a dam in the River Ob, mostly meant to supply Novosobirsk and surrounds (the third largest city in Russia with more than 1,5 million people) with water.
The idea being that in the middle of Summer time, clouds form easier overland (the land is then quite warm and water easily evaporates from trees and greenery), while the do not form over relatively cool lakes like Novosibirkoye. We certainly hoped so, because the evening before it was very cloudy, and cloudy weather and rain were forecast for Novosibirsk on August 1. And indeed it was a cloudy day, but as the day progressed the cloud cover thinned.
First we set out to find a bank (we were running out of rubles), and eventually found one in Berdsk. Then we did some shopping (food and drinks as we didn't know where we would end up) in a Berdsk supermarket that was very well-stocked, and had an ATM on which our cards worked. They even had cold half-liter bottles of Hoegaarden: what could go wrong?
Thing was, our driver didn't know the way around that part very well either, so he had to ask around a lot. Eventually we ended up on a little beach resort: the actuall beach was about threee metres down, and the resort had food stalls and a beer tent. I'm fairly sure this (Google Map Location) was the place. There were a few more busses down there, as well, but the place was easily big enough to hold all those people. Mostly Russians, although there was a group of Belgians from the Antwerp observatorium.
So this was my first solar eclipse where there was beer available (others were in the middle of the Zambian highlands and the Australian desert, hours away from habitation). Also, while there were clouds forming all around the lake, they dissipated over the lake, giving us a clear shot at the sun.
By the time first contact came around, the sky was virtually cloudless. Everything went fine. Now, every solar eclipse is different and what I found special about this one was the following:

• It was the first one I saw across a body of water. Normally we try to avoid the sea (too much potential for cloud formation), but here it worked fine. As second contact neared you could see the sun's reflection in the water get dimmer. Also, as the shadow of the moon came from the northeast, this was the first time I actually saw it coming (it moves so fast you have to be in the right spot to see it coming from afar);
• Because of this, I could see the first diamond ring exactly on time (if you look too early -- without eclipse glasses, you're temporarily blinded and miss part of the totality. So timing is very important: in the previous two solar eclipses I missed most of the first diamond ring);
• There were -- I believe -- at least two planets visible nearby the sun/moon totality: Mercury and Venus (need to check this);
• There was only one prominence, at about two o'clock, which was to be expected as solar activity was at a minimum;

(Added August21):

• I didn't expect to see little inverted sun sickles in the shadows of shrubs and trees because it was so windy. But I was wrong: in the wavering shadow of a tree I saw a cornucopia of long sun sickles that were quite big, as well.

I'm waiting for my friends to return from their more extended trip, so I can place some of their pictures of the eclipse. In the meantime, Odd Høydalsvik has some good images here.

Then it was back to the hotel to celebrate another successful solar eclipse. I couldn't celebrate too hard as I had an early morning flight to Moscow (I travelled back home much earlier than my companions because I wanted to attend Denvention), for which I would be picked up at 03.30 AM. To put insult to injury, however, my travel companions would be picked up at the same time -- the hotel was some 30 kilometres from downtown Novosibirsk -- even though their train would only depart at 11.20 AM.

So, as I got down at half past three, very sleepy, and checked out. It wasn't as easy as that, though, since the hotel people claimed I had damaged the bathroom door in my room. Now, when I entered my room two days ago, I did notice that there was a very slight dent in the bathroom door, but I assumed the hotel knew about it and dismissed it. But no: they claimed I did it, and demanded a 10,000 rubles (approx. $500 or 350 euros) payment for it.

Well, I have been travelling around the world very extensively. For 5 years with my previous employer, and for over 10 years with my current one (I settled back into a less travel-extensive job three years ago) I have spent on average 200 to 250 days a year abroad sleeping in hotels. That's some 3500 nights spent in hotel rooms, give or take a few hundred, and I've never had a problem like this. To be absolutely clear: I *never* damage hotel property. I was extremely pissed off.

By that time, my friends were also there, and they -- especially Peter -- supported my arguments. We went back up to my room to photograph the extent of the damage, asked for names of the people involved and when they weren't forthcoming took their pictures, then coughed up the money. After all, with a plane and a train to catch, what choice did I have?

Finally, an act of inspiration on Peter's part, we demanded a receipt in English. This was taking very long, as none of the hotel employees spoke English very well. It was taking so long that I was thinking about forgetting about the receipt, because missing the plane and train would be even more expensive, when suddenly the hotel people dropped all charges.

That was typical: it confirmed my suspicion that I was being conned all along. Anyway: I am used to checking damages of a rental car before driving off (to avoid future conflicts), but never have experienced this with hotel rooms. Let's call this a lesson learned.

Anyway, I made my domestic flight with time to spare. So while I was waiting for the boarding call, somebody walks up to me and asks me if I was Jetse de Vries. Since I was still fuming a bit, I hardly noticed the first time. Then I found out it was C.A.L.: an Australian author (who otherwise prefers to remain pseudonymous) whose story "The Rising Tide" I had lifted from the email slush and which we subsequently published in Interzone #204. The author was also on a Trans Siberia Express/Solar Eclipse tour with a group of Australians, and they were on the same flight.

Just when crossing the Siberian taiga for 48 hours (and then barely covering a third of it) the world had become enormous to me, in that moment it immediately became small again. After my initital bafflement, I had a great talk with the author, and was said when we had to part ways at Sheremtyevo airport Teminal 1 where the author's group had a connecting domestic flight to St. Petersburg, and I had to go to Terminal 2 for my international flight to Amsterdam. The meeting lifted my spirits back up to their post-eclipse high, though.

I had to wait 7 hours at Sheremtyevo, as my connection time to the early morning flight to Amsterdam was too short, and I had to catch the late afternoon one. Got over that with coffee, lunch, beer and reading Racing the Dark, Alaya Dawn Johnson's debut novel (another writer I lifted from the IZ slush: actually the very first one. "Third Day Lights" -- Interzone #200 -- was reprinted in the Cramer/Hartwell YBSF 11). It comes highly recommended (and with a little warning: she lets her characters suffer. And I mean suffer hard before things get somewhat better. If they get better), and Alaya sent me a story set in the same world earlier this year. It's called "Far and Deep" and will appear in a future issue of Interzone.

Finally, I got home at around 10 PM after a very long day (timewise, it felt like 04,00 AM the next day to me), so I reisited the temptation to start up the computer to hundreds of unanswred emails and went to bed. Two days later I had to catch my flight to Denver for Denvention, on which more in a later post.

Holiday 2: Denvention

My WorldCon schedule (preliminary and subject to change, obviously):

(NB: updated August 4.)

Tuesday August 5:

• flight to Denver from Amsterdam via Detroit. Scheduled arrival at Denver airport at about 20.15 hrs. Hope to see Roy Gray at the same airport (arriving with a different flight), and also Pete Butler.
• Then to the hotel and fight jetlag the Australian way(1);

Wednesday August 6:

• 08.00 -- 11.00: set up the TTAPress/Interzone dealer's table with Roy and Pete (dealer's room opens at 12.00 hrs: our table is -- as far as I know right now -- 1106. Map here);
• 11.00 -- ??.00: lunch and cultural exploration of Denver (evil minds might name these activities differently);
• ??.00 -- ??.00: maybe return to dealer's table in time before it closes at 18.00 hrs. Then drinks-shower-dinner-party (sequence subject to change);

Thursday August 7:

• 10.00: open up dealer's table;
• 11.30 -- 12.30: Panel (program item 101 in room 501): "How do eBooks change writing - an eBook writing primer". With Darlene Marshall, (m) Dave Howell, Jetse de Vries, Traci Castleberry. I believe Pete Bullock is on that one, as well. (Update: no he isn't. He's on three other panels on ebooks, namely program item 155: "Choosing a ebook format: technological & economical considerations" on Thursday August 7 at 14.30 hrs, coinciding with my 'Aliens' panel, and program item 492: "eBook pitfalls: what are the publishing, sales & production traps?" on Saturday August 9 at 11.30 hrs, and also program item 547: "A Passion for Electronic Publishing" on Saturday at 16.00 hrs; Good!)
  
• 12.30 -- 13.00 (or so): Business lunch;
• 14.30 -- 15.30: Panel (program item 157 in room 503): "Aliens - Writing about what you don't know", for which I am the moderator. With (m) Jetse de Vries, Larry Niven, LE Modesitt;
• 17.30 -- 18.30 Panel (program item 220 in room 503): "Life After Rocket Science". This is a last-minute add, so I'm not listed on the programming yet. With (m) David Summers, Ian Tregillis, Margaret Bonham, Mike Potter.
• 18.30 -- onwards: evening activities as in Wednesday;

Friday August 8:

• 10.00: open up dealer's table;
• 13.30 -- 15.00: meet up with very good friend in preparation for very good event;
• 13.45: Signing? Que? Scrolling through the program is see that program item 339, in Hall D, is a signing with Jetse de Vries, Lawrence M. Schoen, Michael Bellomo, Walter Hunt. To quote Manuel from Fawlty Towers: "I know nuttin'." This wasn't mentioned in any email sent to me, and I most certainly did not volunteer for it, as I really don't have anything -- like a collection or a novel -- to sign. And I don't see hordes of people with the anthologies or magazines in which I've appeared (with a short story) to be signed. Also, my meeting of 13.30 is *very* important (a commitment I made without knowing about this signing item), and I will give it priority. So I won't be there. Strange, nevertheless.
  
• 15.00 -- 17.00: possibly back to dealer's room;
• 17.30: Sidewise Awards (item 427: in the Sheraton, 2nd level, Tower Court D), where Chris Roberson's "Metal Dragon Year"(Interzone #213) is one of the short form nominees,
  
• 17.00 -- 19.00 (or later): more preparatory activities;
• 19.00 -- 20.00: quick dinner, liquid dinner, and a shower (first two optional...;-);
• 20.00 -- 23.00: Pyr party! Don't miss this one, as I can tell you it will be great.
• 23.30 -- 00.30: Panel (program item 411 in the Sheraton, Terrace Level, Capitol Room): "Lovers in the Slipstream", which I should be moderating. Yes, straight after the Pyr party. Like the "Sex and the Singularity" panel at EasterCon, this should be fun. Or a trainwreck. Or both.
• 01.00 -- onwards: party. I believe Baen is holding a party that night, probably in the Presidential Suite;

Saturday August 9:

• 10.00 -- 11.00: Reading (program item 464, at the Hyatt in Agata A). Indeed, at 10 am, after what promises to be a very intense Friday. Could be fun, or a disaster. At my first reading ever at Interaction, I was scheduled at the same time as Terry Pratchett, which amused my brother no end. Still, 6 people showed up, about 5.5 more than I expected. It remains to be seen if I can top that number...
• 12.00 -- 18.00: predominantly dealer's room presence (to make up for the previous days when I'm mostly not there);
• 18.00 -- 20.00 Hugo pre-party;
• 20.00 -- 22.00 (or thereabouts): Hugo Awards Ceremony;
• 22.30 -- ??.00 Hugo losers party;
• ??.00 onwards: more parties;

Sunday August 10:

• 10.00 -- 14.00 dealer's room. Break off after, or maybe even during that;
• 15.00 -- onwards: second cultural and gastronomical exploration of Denver with the usual suspects.
• 18.00 (or thereabouts): Dead Dog party;

Monday August 11: recover.

Tuesday August 12: Fly home.

Wednesday August 13: Arrive home. Fight jetlag the Australian way(1).

(1): Way back in December 2000 I arrived in Fremantle at about 17.00 after a very long flight. Taped to my hotel room door was a message: "We're in this-and-this [name forgotten] pub. Hurry!"

That was from the Australian superintendent and his boss, for whom I was doing the dry-dock job. I took a quick shower, and went to the pub. Where I was greeted with a cold beer, and my remark that I was very tired and jetlagged was met with the following response:

"Mate, just get drunk"

"?" *slight bewilderment*

"I mean it: jetlag can last longer than a week. A hangover only lasts one day. Just get drunk."

I complied.

Holiday 1: Solar Eclipse

Or: a short dip into Russia.

Sunday July 27 I will -- together with two friends -- fly to Moscow. Two other friends will travel by train (they want to do the whole coast-to-coast thing by train, so go all the way from Amsterdam -- not strictly at the coast -- to Beijng -- also not strictly on the coast. It’s the thought that counts...;-). From Moscow the five of us will be taking the Trans-Siberia Express to Novosibirsk, arriving there on Thursday July 31. The next day we hope to witness the solar eclipse as the line of totality crosses over Novosibirsk and lake Novosibirskoye.

On August 2 I’ll be flying from Novosobirsk to Moscow, and after a lengthy stopover continue onwards to Amsterdam. Then it's back home for two days, then back to Schiphol on Tuesday August 5 to fly to Denver for Denvention. Fly back from Denver on Tuesday August 12, arriving at Amsterdam Schiphol on Wednesday August 13, then back to work the Monday after.

They say some people use holidays to rest...

We had a pre-eclipse meeting in Amsterdam last Saturday, where -- amongst many other things -- I found out that, as nerdism goes, I’m small beans. To wit:

Me (after the discussion was about all the far-off places the recent eclipses take place -- Zambia, Australia, Libya, now Siberia, next year China, the Pacific [French Polynesia or Easter island] in 2010): “Why can’t an eclipse take place somewhere nearer by, like Texel(1).”

Friend 1: “Well, the 1715 eclipse went over Texel.”

Me (incredulous): “You’ve got to be kidding me! For the record: I was joking.”

Friend 1: “It’s true(2): I just remember those things.”

Me: “You are the Übernerd: I bow my head in deference.”

Friend 2: “One doesn’t talk to [friend 1], one consults him.”

Through Futurismic, I am aware of the geek hierarchy. Now I wonder if there is a similar nerd hierarchy(3). As solar eclipse nerdism goes, my friend should be in the very top, possibly only being overclassed by Fred Espanak. But even of that I am not certain.

As it is, my fascination with solar eclipses began in 1999, although it always simmered below the surface as one of the phenomena that you should see at least once in your life (like polar light: I once commissioned a shrimp freezing plant on a Russian fishing vessel when they were fishing for shrimps in January just below Spitsbergen. Air temperature was about -19°C, it was dark all day, and on top of that there was no warm water for the first five days. But I’ve witnessed several displays of spectacular Aurora Borealis, which made it all more than worthwile). Back then, my friend Peter left our holiday in Western Australia a week early to witness the solar eclipse in France. I thought he was crazy.

Peter had some bad luck in France, though: it was completely cloud-covered. Still, he wanted to experience a solar eclipse in clear skies, and the next chance was June 21, 2001: on his birthday. He asked if I was interested to come along, and I did.

Basically, though, I still felt a bit like one of our guides -- Nico -- in Zambia: not an enthusiast, but more to check out what all the fuss was about (and see a place you don’t normally go to in the bargain). It was incredible, and I’ll quote Nico: “I thought all those solar eclipse freaks were crazy. Now I am one of the crazy people.”

So if you wish to remain sane, do not go there.

(1) Texel is a small island just north of Noord-Holland.

(2) Indeed, it’s true. See this link, for example.

(3) And not the Geek→Nerd→Dork hierarchy about cool stuff that goes either like:

1. Geeks design it;


2. Nerds buy it;


3. Dorks break it;

Or:

• Geek: Understands, creates & fixes really cool stuff;


• Nerd: Understands & collects really cool stuff;


• Dork: Confused by really cool stuff.