All in all, I think 2013 was a good year. A stressful year, but a good one. I can't really talk about the stressful
parts, because most of it isn't really to do with me directly, or I'm not free to disclose publicly. But I feel
generally content with things, and I feel like I'm able to deal with problems as they arise. So yeah. Good.
I feel kinda bad for posting a measly eleven blog posts in 2013. But I'm
pretty pleased that Bevan and I kept up
the Kwartzlab Radio podcast pretty much all year (with breaks for summer
and Christmas, but we generally kept to our schedule). And, as always, you can keep up with many of my goings on
on Twitter if you're so inclined. (Or Facebook, if you prefer, which gets sent my
tweets as well).
I'm currently basking in the afterglow of my annual NYE party. It was lovely to see everyone, play some games and give
them way too much food. And watch Doctor Who. We'll have to do it again next year.
The next few months are going to be kind of hard on me, but I think I'm up for it. We'll see. I don't particularly like
making resolutions, so I'll spare you that. It generally comes down to "be a better human." And I don't need a calendar
change to tell me that.
I wish you all success in the coming year. Health, wealth and happiness. Here's to the future.
Doctor Who conventions are kind of a rare thing around here. I'd been to a couple Who Party Toronto events, including
the one a couple weeks ago, but
they're fairly small affairs. When I heard that the people who put on Polaris (
see 2008 (2) (3)
for comparison) were putting on a Doctor Who convention for the 50th anniversary, I jumped on it.
Well, okay, I waffled for a little bit, but Ellen convinced me I had to go, so I got myself all signed up and decided to
go.
I'm not sure what I was expecting. Perhaps something like what I'd heard Gallifrey One
is like, though inevitably on a smaller scale. In the end, I had to modify my expectations a bit.
I suppose I should back up a bit. I've been finding myself in a not-so-perky-and-energetic mood the last few months. And
it's been a long time since I've gone off to a convention alone. When I did, as much as I enjoyed aspects on the con I
participated in, I found the overall experience to be pretty depressing. Because I'm not a life-of-the-party,
put-myself-out-there, small-talk-and-cocktails kind of guy. I don't particularly relish meeting celebrities and I don't
really know what to do with my fellow fans unless I've already got some sort of personal connection with them. I do,
however, like hanging out with friends at these things and discussing and deciding what to do, where to go for lunch and
things like that. That's super-fun. But I didn't have that here.
So in setting myself up for going to Reversed Polarity, I probably should've tried harder to rope some friends into
going with me.
But that's probably why my reaction to the thing seems to be one of disappointment. I mean, intellectually, I know it
shouldn't be. It was a whole weekend of Doctor Who stuff! How cool is that?! But I (somewhat inevitably in retrospect)
found myself feeling left out and like I wasn't fitting in. Which is totally my own fault, really.
After I was able to moderate my expectations, I was able to have a good time in a vaguely detached, doing-my-own-thing
kind of way. The panels helped.
Leading up to the con, the programming people announced that there were several "panels in peril." They included the (
one and only) Big Finish panel and
the New Adventures panel. There was no way I could let those die!
So I signed up. On a whim, I put myself down for panels dedicated to the 6th and 7th Doctors as well.
Being on those panels was pretty much the best thing about the con for me. I love talking about this stuff. And I was
able to play off other knowledgeable people as well. They were great. I've done the Doctor Who panel at Con-G before,
and that was fun, but these were far more likely to have a few hard-core Doctor Who fans around I could nerd out at.
Glorious!
Ellen showed up for the main guest talks. She was really excited to see Dick Mills, one of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
engineers, creator of many iconic Doctor Who sound effects and co-"realizer" of the Doctor Who theme. We also
appreciated his stories about orgasm guns and rushing off to see a lady about her tits. He's a lot of fun, really.
Oh, and I should probably mention Peter Davison too. And Graeme Harper and Dan Starkey. I got my Caves of Androzani DVD
signed by Peter and Graeme, and got Dick to sign Ellen's Doctor Who sound effects CD.
Ellen had to leave after the guest talks, though, as the air in that hotel isn't at all good for her.
I'm going to call the event on the whole a success, even if my mood at the time detracted from it. I'm very, very
grateful to the people who put it on and a little sad they didn't announce a follow-up event for next year. Because it's
the sort of thing that often improves as it matures, and I would've liked to see that.
