Hello. This is more or less a continuation of the
July Newsletter (NL from here on), which I sent out
three weeks ago, rather than being the first part of
the August NL. Well, it all makes sense to me...
I want to thank all of you who went to the Octocon
website to vote for this NL as their favourite source
of SF news. Besides the fact that it is very
complimentary, there’s also the fact that it may, at
some stage in the future, be useful to be able to say
that I was chosen as the most popular news source in
an independent online poll, especially if I’m looking
for sponsorship or something like that. I’ve included
the final votes at the end of this NL, for those who
are interested, as the poll is now closed. I should
point out that Albedo 1, which got no votes at all,
should never have been in the running in the first
place, as it is a short story magazine, and could not
really be anyone’s source of SF news. Other that
that, all the rest are bona fide news sources.
They’re having a poll now on the popularity or
otherwise of the Royal Marine Hotel as a convention
site, so I’m sure at least one recipient of this NL,
down in Ennis, will be pleased at the opportunity to
officially register his antipathy. Go to
http://www.octocon.com/2002/ to make your feelings
felt...
Again, thanks to all that voted for me.
After that brief diversion, I’ll get straight to
what’s going on...
WANDERLY WAGON DAY OUT:
After a number of people expressed interest in going
to see the original horsedrawn wagon from ‘Wanderly
Wagon’, I’ve decided to organise an outing! As the
event is on Saturday the 10th of August (and not the
11th, as I inadvertently listed in the bit at the end
of the last NL), at the National Museum of Decorative
Arts & History, which is at Collins’ Barracks, Dublin
7 at 12 noon, I’ve decided that we should all meet in
the main bar in the Ashling Hotel on Parkgate Street
at 11:30 that morning. If you’re interested in going,
let me know, so I’ll know how many of you to expect.
If you’re not sure how to find the Ashling, have a
look at the map at
http://www.ashlinghotel.ie/images/map1.gif
More information on Wanderly Wagon at
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/rlogue/wander.htm
Sadly, RTÉ wiped the tapes as they were going on
for economic reasons, it seems, so there’s no real
chance of Dave Lally deciding to do a Wanderly Wagon
video special at his next convention as video room
supervisor. Almost sad, really...
SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY SET IN IRELAND: A
CHECKLIST:
This is a website run by Dr Nicholas Whyte at
Myself and the lovely Deirdre met the good doctor
in Belfast while we were up there at MeCon earlier
this year, where he got us all locked into the
Botanical Gardens, and showed us various fine
restaurants which we will be returning to. I’m
looking forward to seeing him at Octocon this year.
Maybe I can bring him to the Botanic Gardens...
HORRORTHON:
The best thing for me to do here is quote the
Horrorthon website, which says: “The Horrorthon
Festival is a yearly event at Dublin's IFC, bringing
the best in new and classic horror to an eager Irish
audience. Always well attended and attracting
celebrity guests from the international horror scene,
each year has seen Horrorthon become bigger and more
successful and we look forward to bringing you even
more frights and fun this Halloween 2002.” So now.
I know that the next festival is to take place in
the Irish Film Centre in Dublin’s Eustace Street over
the October bank holiday weekend, from Friday the 25th
to Monday the 28th. More information will be
forthcoming on http://www.horrorthon.com
WITCHFEST UK:
I’m trying to concentrate on events only on this side
of the Irish Sea, but I can’t resist this one.
Witchfest UK is billed as ‘The largest Witchcraft
festival held in Europe within recorded history,’ and
looks fascinating. It’s only a one-day event, on the
9th of November, but they seem to have a lot going on,
with a number of famous authors and experts from the
craft. Sadly I don’t know enough to know who’s who,
but at least I’ve heard of the ‘Mediaeval Baebes,’ who
are providing the entertainment. More information at
http://www.witchfest.net/
IN BRIEF:
Various other things, with a greater or lesser
relevance to the primary theme of this newsletter are:
The 2nd Dublin Tattoo Festival is to be held in the
RDS over the weekend of 22-24 November, and you can
find out more at http://www.bodyshock.ie/
‘Toys of Yesterday’ have another fair in the Sandyford
Community Centre on Sunday the 25th of August. This
is appallingly difficult to get to, though, and beyond
my meagre powers of description... It only costs 70c
to get in, though.
There’s a Militaria Fair in the North Star Hotel in
Amiens Street, just opposite the railway station, on
Saturday the 10th of August from 10AM to 4PM. I don’t
know how much the entrance fee is. As far as I’m
concerned, this kind of think is theoretically germane
to what I’m doing here, but then I’m intending to list
Cats Shows, too, on the basis that most SF fans keep
cats, as well as having a very high percentage of
sword-owners in their midst...
I’m a great believer in free outdoor events, and
therefore I commend to you all the People’s
Photography Exhibition, which takes place around the
railing of St Stephens’ Green in Dublin over the
weekend of 24th and 25th of August. If it’s anything
like the art exhibition they hold there, there’ll be
some awful stuff, and a few great things. Well worth
finding out, though.
I’m not intending to do a lot of “go look at this
great link” sort of stuff, but I have to bring this
one to you attention. It’s called ‘The Curse Engine’
or more properly ‘An tInneal Mallachtaí,’ as it is
simply an Irish language curse generator. Go look at
And a brief plug: Liam Webster sells back issue
comics from a shop in Dublin called Crow Corner, which
he shares with two other sellers. It’s on the corner
of Crow Street and Cecilia Street, opposite the side
door of Urban Outfitters. Besides doing lots of
individual comics, he has a load of graphic novels,
which he’s selling at E10 each, which I think is great
value. There’s lots of desirable things there, but
don’t bother looking for all the reprints of ‘Weird
Science’ and ‘Weird Fantasy,’ as I’ve already nabbed
those.
AND FINALLY:
Don’t forget to write back to me if you’re interested
in going to see Wanderly Wagon. We might even stroll
up to the Militaria Fair afterwards.
Does anyone know how to get mildew off videotapes? Or
where to go to get videos translated from American
format to European? And on the subject, there are
loads of Babylon 5 videos for sale at 3 for E5 in
various pound shops (they’ve not yet got to changing
their names to Euro shops) around Dublin. Try the one
in Thomas Street, for a start.
More stuff before the month is out. Don’t forget that
you’ve still got a week to send in an entry for the
quiz. I have reviews of various recent events I keep
taking out of the NL because I have too much else to
put in. Maybe if I get a quiet month… I’ll be doing
a lot of stuff on Belfast next time, too, and
something about the Transylvanian Tavern, which
slipped past me this time around.
If you know of anything I should have listed here,
let me know.
Regards,
Pádraig Ó Méalóid
FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
August 10: Wanderly Wagon, Collins’ Barracks Museum,
Dublin
August 10: Militaria Fair: North Star Hotel, Dublin
August 15-18: People’s Art, St Stephens’ Green, Dublin
August 24-25: People’s Photography, St Stephens’
Green, Dublin
September 10: Toy Fair, Royal Marine Hotel, Dublin
September 14: Crazy Dog Live! RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin
September 20-22: People’s Art, St Stephens’ Green,
Dublin
September 21: Crazy Dog Live! RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin
September 25: Toys of Yesterday, Sandyford, Dublin
September 28: Crazy Dog Live! RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin
September 28: Crimelords of Sunnydale, Park Avenue
Hotel, Belfast
October 5: Crazy Dog Live! RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin
October 12: Crazy Dog Live! RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin
October 19: Crazy Dog Live! RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin
October 19-20: Octocon, Royal Marine Hotel, Dublin
October 25-28: Horrorthon Festival, IFC
October 26-28: Gaelcon, Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin
October 29 - November 3: Irish Ghost Festival, Cork
City
November 9: Witchfest UK, Croydon, London
November 16: SubCon 4, Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street,
Dublin
November 22-24: 2nd Dublin Tattoo Festival, RDS,
Dublin
November 24: Toy Fair, Royal Marine Hotel, Dublin
December 17: SciFiClub Christmas Party, Bowe’s pub,
Fleet Street, Dublin
2003
7-9 March: MeCon, Queens University, Belfast
REGULAR MEETINGS:
SciFiClub Monthly Meetings: 1st Tuesday of the month
in Bowe’s Pub, Fleet Street, Dublin, at 8PM.
| OCTOCON POLL RESULTS | |
| Irish SF News: | 36 |
| Lost Car Park: | 27 |
| SF in Ireland: | 21 |
| Ansible: | 17 |
| Plotka.com: | 10 |
| SciFi.com: | 8 |
| SFX Magazine: | 8 |
| Locus: | 6 |
| Silveroak.co.uk: | 6 |
| Fans Across the World: | 2 |
| Albedo 1: | 0 |
| Others: | 10 |