travelling soon…

Posted on 3 June 2022 by snail

In a couple of weeks I fly to Melbourne for VALA, a conference in person. The 2020 conference was my last major face-to-face conference prior to the COVID-19 pandemic with lockdowns declared a few weeks later. I did manage to make it to Shellharbour a few weeks ago for GLAMawarra and that was my first in-person conference thang since the last VALA. In fact VALA 2022 was supposed to be first but it was postponed from February to June amid concerns of further COVID breakouts.

This will be my first time out of the state in nearly two and a half years and my first time in a plane since then. This will be the most time I’ll spend with folk other than my family. A few days and evenings of people from Melbourne and other parts of the country…not sure where my comfort zone is these days. I know I’m looking forward to it and VALA has always been something of a professional touchstone for me. At the same time. I know I will need to manage my contact time carefully so I’m not too overwhelmed.

Attendance numbers are unclear though well down on past years…not unsurprisingly. This conference will be a hybrid of in-person and online. The delegate list isn’t clear as to who will be attending physically or just virtually. I’m starting to wonder if vendors will outnumber delegates though it’s good to see the commercial support. There are plenty of speakers who will be there but there’s also a bunch of presentations that will be online only. I haven’t got it in my head yet how to be in both spaces. I guess I may well be able to catch some of the online presentations later. I’m keen too, not to conference online, but focus on the physical presentations, and hanging with colleagues.

I am hoping this will be a practice run for more travelling. I have been cautious of booking things and I had a trip to Tassie booked last August that I had to cancel due to another lockdown. I registered for VALA last year but work didn’t book flights or accommodation initially. Turned out that was a good plan so those could be booked fresh a few weeks ago.

day 2 and plans

Posted on 2 June 2022 by snail

I’m cheating a little this year and prepping a few posts in advance. I think I wrote and scheduled yesterday’s post last Friday, and today’s on Monday. This at least means I have two posts done for June. I sorta feel like I need a run-up though I doubt that will matter as the month rolls on.

In years gone by, I have always been able to rely on attending filmfest for providing a goodly chunk of content. Then covid hit and in 2020, filmfest was online with only a small selection of films. FIlmfest was postponed in 2021 but was alas was on too close after the end of lockdown so I skipped it. I lived in an “LGA of concern” as they were called so lived through a tighter lockdown than folk in other parts of Sydney…though we didn’t have it as hard as some. There were restrictions on movement and curfews and so on.

This meant I was a little uncomfortable rushing back to a physical cinema, plus I wanted to focus on friends and family I hadn’t seen in a long time. So I missed filmfest altogether. This year I will miss it again as we moved out of Sydney a few months ago and I’m good with that. My partner is looking at creating a film festival of our own and she is perusing the various streaming services for interesting films to include. The more I think about it the more I like it and perhaps I need to seek out a few films myself.

The last couple of years I’ve had a sort of mental exhaustion and not been keen to watch challenging things…dieting more on action, or what I like to call rollercoaster movies; thrills and spills without being too intense. Actually I’ve not been watching a lot of stuff at all of late. Takes a while to settle post move though I have started reading again…my fancy copy of Dune has arrived…though that was quite the adventure with couriers and such…a tale for another post.

Hmmm…I think that means I might make it to at least 3 posts this #blogjune :-)

#blogjune returns…perhaps?

Posted on 1 June 2022 by snail

Here we are, year 13 of #blogjune

Arrrrrrgggghhhhhhhh!!!!

In recent years I have become increasingly vague and nebulous around my energy and willingness to participate in #blogjune. In 2021 I commented

“If I am in the mood, there will be posts. If I am not in the mood, there may not be posts.”

and in 2019

“Some years I do, some years I don’t. Some days matter and some don’t.”

…and yet I persist though there seems no rhyme nor reason as to my June posting tally as these figures show

YEAR	POSTS
2021	15
2020	27
2019	11
2018	6
2017	30
2016	34
2015	14
2014	30
2013	4
2012	23
2011	24
2010	33

June Posting Figures

Time will tell as to whether there will be more posts….

a little bit forward, a little bit back

Posted on 18 June 2021 by snail

15 months into the new world and the end is still not in sight. There is not a clear, linear march of progress but then there never is…that’s a fictional rhetoric that fails to describe so many things. The onward march of science and humanity as we grow ever greater….not so much. A myth, a fiction. Life and people are always a little messy. Reality is very different to the rinse and repeat of video games.

The news this week is that the age for the AstroZeneca vaccine has been raised to 60. As an aside, I’m looking forward to 60 and bought a couple of magnums of wine upon release a few years ago in preparation. My 60th is still several years off but aged, mature wine is much, much cheaper if it is bought young :-) Assuming I am still drinking wine at 60. I’ve cut back on my wine consumption as I tend to find 2 glasses of red wine in the evening eg over dinner, is enough to disrupt my sleep and I sleep poorly…and thus too, my partner.

My partner has been experimenting with non alcoholic wines and liking them whereas I’m drinking one glass of alcoholic red on some nights and adding argon gas to the bottle which manages to preserve it quite well for some weeks. I’m sorta liking this approach as I can enjoy a single bottle over a week or two. I’m drinking less wine and buying less wine. So far so good. Thankfully whisky doesn’t affect my sleep…which is also curious.

Anyways, I am in my 50s, I won’t say exactly though that’s more to reduce the data I’m giving spammers than any concern about sharing my age with folk. I have no problems with oversharing in person :) When vaccines were first announced, I was looking at first injection around July/August then there were a few changes, more options, and the timetable was brought forward.

I had my first jab of the AstroZeneca 18 days ago with no side effects whatsoever. I timed it well, got a bus to the main Homebush hub and within 10 minutes of getting off the bus, I was through, injected, and sitting in the observation room. Early afternoon on a weekday seems like a quiet time to go, and indeed staff commented that the busiest time was probably late afternoon. I gather the key period for concern is between 4 days and 30 so I’m about halfway through but I’m not anticipating any drama but for some friends it’s an interesting time ahead. My second injection will be late August and I gather that has even less potential side affects.

With that said, I’m a middle aged white male who seems to have been lucky so far in terms of avoiding long term issues etc. so I’m not the most representative of samples.

a room with a chair

Posted on 16 June 2021 by snail

I sat down to type about books and saw Kathryn’s post about a chair and immediately changed direction. I have a favourite chair and it is just right for me. I came across it in a furniture shop long ago and had to have it. I bought it and paid for it and waited for it to be made.

The chair is colourful and comfy. The wings are not pronounced which is a plus as I can’t lean my head against them – leaning my head against people and objects is sometimes tricky due to the ever-present hearing aids in my ears.

I love sitting in my chair and a year or two later, the company produced a matching foot stool and I was in heaven. It’s a lovely spot to sit and read, with bookcases beside, or watch tv, or sip a whisky.

The view from the chair down the wall is of some of my favourite books….including Trixie Belden in the distance. On the opposite wall is a print of a Cezanne that dad picked up at an exhibition long, long ago. He used to have it stuck on the wall. After he died, I had it framed properly and I love staring into it, studying and dwelling in the unfinished village.

looking for nice things

Posted on 15 June 2021 by snail

I talk a bit about fancy editions and the pretty things I buy. They’re mostly from small presses, specialists in science fiction and fantasy. I’m on various mailing lists so I can find out about new releases and hopefully pre-order before they get to market. While there is a rabbit hole of small publishers to find and lose myself in, the big publishers also release nice editions. Somehow I rarely come across those nice editions and I don’t know if it’s because I go to the wrong book shops, or simply many of such things don’t make it to Oz at all.

I have some fancy editions from big publishers including my beautiful copy of Lord of the Rings from HarperCollins. That was possibly my first special edition in the late 80s, and was certainly the most expensive book I’d bought for over 20 years since, only to be beaten a decade ago by Malazan book 1, Gardens of the Moon.

In recent years, I have focused on finding nice editions but really most of my books, especially my science fiction, are paperbacks, many bought cheaply secondhand. And it shows. Lots have yellowed and deteriorated, some need to be handled carefully as I’ve had instances where the soft cover has detached with a mere touch.

I have a few nice Tolkien tomes from HarperCollins and the Quicksilver trilogy by Neal Stephenson from Morrow – actually Morrow is an interesting one as I think it was originally its own company but these days is an imprint of HarperCollins. Gollancz used to publish their new releases in hardcover with yellow dustjackets so they always stood out – was never interested in collecting those plus couldn’t afford hardcovers in those days. These days they look like an imprint of Hachette, along with Orbit and no doubt many others.

I’ve recently found out that Orson Scott Card’s Ender series had some titles published in pretty editions but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them locally and they’re a wee bit eccy to buy on the secondary market. It must be said, that I’ve recently discovered that there were books beyond the trilogy I had read. The trilogy is more a quintet, and there’s a further 14 novels and a bunch of short stories. While I won’t be seeking those other nice editions, Centipede is releasing nice versions of their own, signed, numbered and in a capped case. So far they’ve released Ender’s Game, Ender’s Way (a collection of almost all the short stories) and will soon be releasing Speaker for the Dead.

this ol’ town

Posted on 14 June 2021 by snail

Bankstown. Oh where oh where do I begin. I grew up in Bankstown. Mostly. Actually I grew in Concord West initially, up the road from Concord Hospital – dad had been the minister at the local Baptist church. Parents split up when I was young, 6ish I think, then lived with mum elsewhere in Concord West, before moving into mum’s old house in Bankstown when her mum (my granny) died. Mum’s parents had bought the then weatherboard house in the late 30s, converted to fibro around the 50s/60s.

We moved to Bankstown when I was 14 and had completed two years at Meadowbank Boys’ high (now a TAFE). I was very shy and hated the move. I had a love/hate relationship with Bankstown for a long time and my feelings are still occasionally mixed. Growing up, my tastes were very western, meat and veg for dinner and a roast on the weekend. I used to hang out at Bankstown Square (these days I think it’s Bankstown Central and was Bankstown Centro at some point) playing on the gaming consoles in DJs, skating at Rollarena Bankstown on the weekends.

Later on post uni (still somewhat shocked that I have a post-uni life) I became a librarian and joined the reference team at Bankstown Library, in what is now the old building. We walked past the new building today though as it’s a public holiday it was shut. I worked there for a few years before heading off to my first stint at the State Library.

My partner had mentioned visiting last year, pre lockdown I think and liking the little shops in the plaza. Today we went for a proper wander, down through the old town plaza and what is now Saigon Plaza though the entry statue didn’t exist in my day. Sadly the corner restaurant next to it is long gone though it used to be one of the best places to get phở in Sydney. Not that I had any growing up. I was too shy to ask and wasn’t game to try foods from other cultures…my loss really and thankfully I’m not like that now. The area seemed busier than I remember, greater vibrancy, a mix of ages and generations.

Today walking through the streets, it was one fascinating outlet after another, full of interesting foods, some I know, some I don’t know. Full of interesting corridors, nooks and crannies. At times I felt like a tourist, at times a local. We eventually stopped for lunch at a vietnamese place and the guy at the next table started chatting and suggesting food. At his suggestion, I tried what sounded like a tasty soup, Bún bò Huế, and asked for the spicy version. The spice was mild but just enough to integrate with the other flavours. It was a massive bowl and the vermicelli noodles were divine.

time zones

Posted on 11 June 2021 by snail

One of the challenges of seeking special editions is that they’re usually published in the northern hemisphere at a time that suits folk over there. Some publishers are more sought after than others and one of my favourites is Centipede Press. Like many small presses, it’s a family business, and the main guy, Jerad, seems to handle just about everything including liaising with authors, artists, rights holders, other publishers, printers, binders, distribution, members, subscribers, and customers. I sort of feel like I’m leaving stuff out too. Centipede, like some small presses, have a subscriber base which I think is around 80-100 people who get everything regardless. Typical print runs are usually 300 copies so that’s about a third accounted for, for each release.

Centipede publishes around 20-25 books a year, mostly horror, weird tales and some science fiction. They treat each individually and some of their best books are amazing such as The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers [Warwick Carter did a wonderful pictorial on librarything]. Even their basic volumes are special, printed on good paper stock, nice artwork, a sewn ribbon, and a good heft for reading. I currently own 17 titles with 2 on hold for group postage (individual postage out of the US is rather eccy post covid). The picture below is missing 3 that are too tall to fit on a regular shelf including the aforementioned Anubis Gates, Ender’s Game, and Ender’s Way. I’m hoping Speaker for the Dead will be released in the next month or two.

I’ve generally been lucky in getting Centipede books but particularly in covid times, it’s been harder. More folk stuck at home looking at books on the internet. I’d been waiting a year or so for the release of a 3 book set of Philip K Dick’s work (The Cosmic Puppets, Vulcan’s Hammer, Dr Futurity) and was in the advance email list for it. 300 copies were available and the email arrived around 7am (2pm for part of the US) this morning…I woke at 9. I think they were all gone in the first 30 minutes if that. They may well appear on the secondary market later but will be too much for me. I’m a little sad as I love his books and most of my copies are secondhand paperbacks. On the other hand, it’s not the end of the world :-)

…and on we go

Posted on 10 June 2021 by snail

Time for things is a needed thing. Me making the time or finding time to engage is important. Following my post the other day, I belatedly remembered there are a bunch of folk who continue to blog and engage and do stuff. That would be the new cardigan/ausglam crowd, full of many interesting people with whom I keep not getting round to engaging with much though I am loosely listed with them. Based in Victoria but not limited to Victoria.

They even blog regularly and unite around a monthly topic which seems like an easy way to ensure you blog at least monthly. June’s topic is Exuberance though I’m not feeling it at the moment; neither youthful nor exuberant. Might try and write something this month. I have found myself referenced in the monthly summary when my thoughts align with the topic of the day, most recently in February and April.

A day or two on and Ruth’s quote on the value of time still resonates much.

i am a dodgy librarian

Posted on 9 June 2021 by snail

I don’t read academic papers.

There I’ve said it. For work stuff, it’s more fun doing than reading. Yet with so many things, it is the reading that is the fun part. I go to conferences and listen to folk talk about their papers but rarely read the paper itself. When I hit a thing at work that needs more thought, I’ll check online, do a google, find key blogs or forums in that area.

I don’t even use google scholar.

I’m not active in academic circles. I’m not part of the conversation nor the production around academic papers. I sometimes skim a paper looking for something specific or a key outcome.

Perhaps I am not sufficiently reflective of the work I do. I have access to lots of academic papers via my library. I do engage here and there, usually more in a community of interest sort of way. Conference papers are almost like a calling card of finding people of interest or relevance. I am curious about their insights and the stuff around their papers and what they do.

Perhaps there is some sort of middle career lethargy going on. I’m conscious that I need to share more of what I’m doing but a blog post means I can get to the nitty gritty quicker, academic papers require more work, bigger hurdles. Hmmm…the same could be said of reading…blogs you can get straight into, but academic papers demand more, have more hurdles. Blogs can be conversational and papers formal.

Perhaps I find formal environments challenging, of which academic papers are but one part. I like piecemeal, adhoc, adlib, playing with bits and pieces. Formal papers seem like another sort of space.

While writing this, I read a comment of Ruth’s on another post: