Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form – There is a lot of debate about whether METAtropolis was appropriate as a nominee for the category (seems a little strange that fans who claim to be so forward-looking can be so close minded).  If you are unaware, it’s an audiobook, nominated in a category traditionally populated by full-length feature films.  Let me tell you why METAtopolis has my vote:

It is just an outstanding piece of work  -  5 excellent stories by great authors, all which fit within the framework that John Scalzi and the other authors developed  -  beautifully read by 5 pros, led off by a dramatic performance by Michael Hogan.  The concept and the execution (content and production) are simply outstanding, and very different than what’s expected in this category.

This is the kind work that deserves a Hugo.  If you haven’t yet listened to METAtropolis (yes, I know, it’s 9 hours long), stop what you’re doing and start listening  -  it will be well worth your time.

Best Professional Artist – an unbelievably difficult category to vote on, for a couple reasons. 

First, there is no specific piece of work to vote on as there is in the literature categories – so as a voter you are left much more to your own resources than with many of the other categories.  Second, the talent nominated in this category is always just unbelievable  -  every year it is a choice from amongst nominees who are masters in the field, every one deserving a win. 

This year I want to point you toward the work of John Picacio  -  there is a very lot I could say about his work, but the most convincing argument comes from the work itself (see: John Picacio’s 2008 published work).  Review John’s work and I think you’ll agree – this is the work of a grandmaster, the kind of work that honors our genres.

Best Semiprozine – there is a lot of excitement around this category, not because of the nominees but because of the possibility that the category may be discontinued after this year.  I’m told the reason is because Locus has won so many times that a foregone conclusion is that as long as the category exists, Locus will win.

But I think the Hugo should go to a magazine which publishes literature.  And I think Weird Tales has done an outstanding job of bringing us some of the best new authors, and the best established authors, in the last year (see – Year In Review).  From Peter Atwood, whose Weird Tales story “All In” is nominated for a Prix Aurora Award, to Michael Moorcock’s all new Elric novella  -  Weird Tales hit a home run bringing us great stories from great storytellers.  And isn’t that what the Hugos are all about?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the small print that says the opinions above are mine and mine alone.  These opinions may be biased – perhaps by many factors, not the least being my attention to Science Fiction and Fantasy, on screen, in print, and in the spoken word, for over 50 years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just a short entry:

WE'RE HERE!  Got here 36 hrs ago  -  long trip uneventful.

Seeing lots of old friends  -  unfortunately some of the regulars we look forward to seeing each year (you know who you are!) decided not to make the trip.

Japanese are great  -  helpful, polite.

Food is the best I've had at any Con city.  Tons of restaurants, tremendous diversity, good quality - delicious.

Had a chance meeting with George Takei last night  -  spent about 10 min in one-on-one conversation.  Very nice guy.

Also spent some time with the folks from Traife Buffet publishing  -  talk about a quality operation  -  if you haven't seen their (very) limited edition of Greetings From Lake Wu do yourself a favor.  Get a look at it - fantastic - if you're a Wu or Lake fan get yourself a copy while you still can.

That's all for now  -  got to run  -  will try to post again before returning to US.

We need to renew old friendships, and make some new ones – which shouldn’t be hard as this is Japan’s first ever WorldCon, and has been combined with the Japanese National Convention.  Japan should be interesting - beyond the potential language barrier, I suppose we run the risk of looking like idiots, or “Ugly Americans”, but I’ve read/heard the Japanese are very polite, so it’ll probably be just fine.

Stuff I`m particularly interested in this year:

• Art Show – In Glasgow we saw European artists who never get to North America; I just loved the work of Chris Baker.  But I’m hoping we meet fresh, new (to us) artists.  (That is not to say we don’t meet terrific new talent in the US; last year we met Julia Koller, who since has done some illustration for Weird Tales.)
• Future Worldcons
• The 2009 vote is between Montreal & Kansas City.  I always favor the sites out of the US for 2 reasons: 1) Meet new authors, artists, fans who never get to a US con, and 2) seems like all the US Worldcons are in major cities, at big convention centers, and there’s a "sameness" to the venues and cities.
• The only candidate right now for 2010 is Melbourne, and I hope it stays that way.  Seems like everyone in the family, including me, could get excited about visiting "down under".
• Hugo, Movie – There’s no blockbuster or Harry Potter (thank goodness), but there are at least 3 excellent films: 1) Pan`s Labyrinth, 2) Children of Men and 3) V for Vendetta. I especially liked V - creative story, good acting & cinematography - but it seems to be an underdog.
• I have noticed that the multi-talented Stephen H. Segal is one of the Program Participants, and is hosting a Kaffeeklatsche  -  I wouldn’t miss it for the world.  (but can he juggle?)

So for now, the focus is on Nippon, with open minds, our phrase book, and lots of mosquito spray.

If I can get pc access, I’ll post from Yokohama.