"The other spiders scurried away, embarrassed by Boris's incontinence."
-- Paula Robinson (8). Wins the Best First Name for a Shadow Vessel.
"And so, on behalf of the rest of the crew, we thought we'd get you something to say thank-you."
-- Dragon (123). Wins Best Outtake From a Chris Boucher Script
Blake took his ship to Star One
And rushed all around with his gun
Avon was there
But just didn't care
And Travis annoyed everyone.
-- Sue (65). Wins Best Gratuitous Tarrant Insult.
A Vorlon haiku
Could it be that such exists
The answer - perhap.
-- SJ (125). Best Self-Referential Irony.
Tommy never knew
Why spiders look like shadows
Until one ate him
-- Laurie (126). Best Haiku That Should Have Been a 7x5 Story.
A fourteenth level
Psi, I don't start at shadows
Now, except my own.
-- Shadow (137). Best B5 Theme.
Blake: "where is justice?
Will the blood of troopers lay
The Ghosts of the past?"
-- Shadow (137). Best B7 Theme.
Writers block my arse
One blank page, so raise a glass
Poems grow in bars
-- Matt Ryde (135). Most Appreciated By The Judges Who Were Up 'Til 2AM On Thursday Writing Examples.
-- Shadow (137). Best Back From The Dead Character
There was also "Help, those sf weirdos have taken over the hotel", but no badge number, so no prize, alas. :-)
Terry Nation was in a right flap
Dalek royalties showed a large gap
"I'll write a new show: Blake's Seven
...with dodgy special effects...
...and ludicrous storylines...
...and a ship made out of plastic bottles...
...and filming in gravel pits...
...and huge holes in the plot...
...and a box of flashing lights...
...and birds in tight leather outfits...
...and visible wires on spaceships...
...and cardboard scenery...
The beeb will be in heaven -
SF fans will watch any old crap."
There were 41 questions, which gives 82 possible points.
There were a grand total of two entries, with some interesting approaches:
- Mistaking Vonda McIntyre's fantasy "Dreamsnake" for John Carpenter's "Escape from New York".
- Entering Larry Niven's "Ringworld" twice on the same sheet, for different opening lines. [ and an editoral comment: It is an absolute *bastard* to find a copy of Ringworld to get this opening line from. ]
- Having Piers Anthony *anywhere*, for *any* answer. Almost took points off for that. :-)
and writing "Oh, go on," beside it didn't help, Tom.
- writing, "and Asimov's 'The stars like dust' for everything else", thus giving a default answer for more than half the questions, and therefore getting one extra point for the Asimov title.
Tom and Louise got 18 points, while David Brain got 24 points.
It would have been nice to read them out in time. It would also have been nice for me to have realised that I somehow had to get the drazi points to the winners *before* the ceremony (this finally dawned on me during breakfast on Sunday). In retrospect, I'd have done things differently, but it was still fun.
steve
and finally, in keeping with its style...
order for announcement of prizes which had already been awarded:
From Ashford I fled on the train
With a bottle of Sainsbury's champagne
Redemption was great
But I mustn't be late
For that wonderful Vila in Spain.
-- Chris Blenkarn