Nerd memoirs

[lizbee]

I'm currently reading Wiffle Lever To Full, the memoir of a man who, having grown up on a healthy diet of 1970s and '80s science fiction, decided to go on a tour of UK conventions and fanmeets.  Doctor Who is present, of course, and Star Trek, but there's also The Prisoner, James Bond and a really fantastic event at which Blakes 7 and Hitch-hiker's Guide fans meet annually at the quarry where "Destiny of the Daleks" was filmed, and attack each other with water pistols.

It's quite an enjoyable read, with very little pointing and sniggering at the nerdier fans (frankly, once you've admitted to having an Outpost Gallifrey account, there's only so much lower you can get, and I don't think the author has heard of furries).  I'm enjoying it infinitely better than Dalek I Loved You -- which I had planned to buy, until I skimmed it in the bookstore last year, and quickly found myself wanting to punch the author in the face.  Or at least ask him nicely to stop writing, forever.  Wiffle Lever To Full is much more entertaining and informative, and (unlike Dalek I Loved You) hasn't yet hit my embarrassment squick.  (Seriously, prank calling Richard Dawkins?  You really thought that was going to go well?)

Still waiting for a nerd memoir from a woman.  I think I'll be waiting for a while, but it would be nice.  Volunteers?

Comments

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

a really fantastic event at which Blakes 7 and Hitch-hiker's Guide fans meet annually at the quarry where "Destiny of the Daleks" was filmed, and attack each other with water pistols.

that sounds awesome.

also: why are you not on aim. you should be on aim.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I think that all fandom disputes should be resolved with water pistols. I live near a beach, I have a pen that doubles as a super soaker.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

i wish i still had my super soaker xp. it pumped out massive amounts of water, and i would use it to prove that doctor/TARDIS is the one true ship.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to log into AIM, but it keeps failing. *sadfaces*

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Will The Vampire People Please Leave The Lobby (http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-People-Please-Adventures-Fandom/dp/1402208456), and the Amazon reviews are a little meh, but it exists!

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

"a really fantastic event at which Blakes 7 and Hitch-hiker's Guide fans meet annually at the quarry where "Destiny of the Daleks" was filmed, and attack each other with water pistols."

<33333333333333 I want to go to this.

[kerravonsen]

Ah yes, the Winspit Quarry thing has been running for quite a few years. watervole is a regular participant.

[silly-cleo.livejournal.com]

Um. That sounds absolutely brilliant. Can one still go to this water pistol convention? I might!

Also, it's ironic you should mention a nerd memoir from a woman, I was actually contemplating the same thing in Waterstones last week. That there needs to be one, I mean. Maybe I'll do it. ;D

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd be so up for that!

[kerravonsen]

How much does it cost to go from Ireland to England for a weekend?

[kerravonsen]

Can one still go to this water pistol convention?
It's still going, so far as I know. They do it in the summer, I'm not exactly sure when. Not so much a convention as a picnic, really.

[silly-cleo.livejournal.com]

Oh, brilliant! Seriously, that is so the best idea ever. Even better if it's a picnic, really. :D

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

Next to nothing,really, if I don't splash out on a really swish hotel - flights are usually less than a hundred, ferries too!

[Is tempted]

[kerravonsen]

If I recall correctly, it's organized by the ZZ Plural Z Alpha (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) club; if you got in touch with them, you could find out more.

[crytears.livejournal.com]

(Seriously, prank calling Richard Dawkins? You really thought that was going to go well?)

Lol. What exactly was said in this prank call?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Alas that I am no longer in the right country to participate in such hilarious activities.

And SECONDING your female nerd-memoir suggestion.

[melengro.livejournal.com]

(Seriously, prank calling Richard Dawkins? You really thought that was going to go well?)

I feel that my life will be incomplete until I know what happened here.

[onomatopoetry.livejournal.com]

I *have* read Will the Vampire People Please leave the lobby, and I feel that although it is indeed a little meh, it's also funny and equipped with cool anecdotes. Oh, whatever; here is my reaction to it (from over a year ago):

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Beatrice embraces fan culture (she's a Big Name Fan in the Buffy (or Joss Whedon in general) fandom) in her stories about this or that campaign to save a show, hold a party, celebrate a cultural phenomenon. On the other hand, she seems obsessed with not being the geek, the odd one. An entire chapter is dedicated to how sad it is that some interests (scifi, fantasy, whatever) are viewed as lesser than others (say, football), and yet I can't see her embrace geekdom. The fan community, the internet crazy, the BNF interaction with the Powers That Be, it's all there, but I still don't know anything about her as a fan: does she prefer BtVS or AtS? Who is her favorite character, and why? No clues are presented, just a constant stream of tongue-in-cheek babble. If there was anything in the book I really appreciated, it was the last two chapters about the wonders of online community, because I've been there. Oh well.

[silly-cleo.livejournal.com]

If I'm actually back in the UK this summer I really really might. I mean, I'm London based over there, no quarry the BBC filmed in can be THAT far from London...right? And picnics and water pistol fights! Everyone should do them! When I take over the world, I think it'll be one of my edicts. All disputes to be solved with same.

[rivrea.livejournal.com]

and a really fantastic event at which Blakes 7 and Hitch-hiker's Guide fans meet annually at the quarry where "Destiny of the Daleks" was filmed, and attack each other with water pistols.

There should be something similar for, like, every fandom ever!