If you like good related reading, check out The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards, which are given annually to the best genre work with GLBT themes or characters (modelled after the Triptee Awards, and an offshoot of the Gaylactic Network and Gaylaxicon itself). Includes past nominees and winners, which makes for a fantastic reading list.
Esprix
Padeye, I think that happens at every rodeo (well, at least the PETA part). Me, I go for the dancing, and the occassional Japanese cowboy… 
Esprix
PETA people protest rodeos?
Sorry only rodeo I’ve been to was in texas.
Everyone I know who went to the one in 2000 had a blast.
pity I had 5 hrs of lab work to do on the day everyone went and couldn’t go.
a number of those panel talks sounded quite interesting.
CRorex, perhaps not rodeoes in Texas, for even they have a sense of self-preservation. (They feel using animals in the rodeo is cruel, and they make claims that they are not treated humanely; obviously the cowboys and cowgirls disagree.)
And those are just a sample of the panels we had in the past - we’re cooking up some rather new and interesting ones for next year.
If anyone’s interested in checking us out, we’ll be advertising at a bunch of conventions (mostly on the west coast) between now and then, including:
[ul][li]ConFurence (LA)[/li][li]Baycon (SF)[/li][li]LepreCon (Phoenix)[/li][li]Westercon (Seattle)[/li][li]Comic-Con (San Diego)[/li][li]San Diego LGBT Pride Festival[/li][li]WorldCon (Toronto)[/li][li]Coppercon (Phoenix)[/li][li]Conjecture (San Diego)[/li][li]Loscon (LA)[/li][li]Gallifrey (LA)[/li][li]Condor (San Diego)[/ul][/li]
Ought to keep me busy for a while.
Esprix
Oh, and I suppose I should mention Gaylaxicon 2005 is being held in Boston, and word is Toronto might bid for 2006. But, of course, coming to sunny southern California to see me is a far, far better deal, right? Right? 
Esprix
“Gaylaxicon”…almost has as much ring as Tampas NecronomiCon!
Ludovic,
not a Queer sci-fi geek, just a strange fantasy geek
We cover fantasy, too - no doubt there will be quite a bit of Legolas/Aragorn, Merry/Pippin and Sam/Frodo slash benig passed around. (Who does that leave - Gimli/Bilbo/Gandalf? <shudder>)
Esprix
So… is Tigerman coming or not?
Esprix , did I read right? A Chocolate Symposium , at the convention? I’ve been to several cons but I never saw anything like that!
Will there be a charity? At several of the fan-run conventions I’ve been to there were money-raising contests, with proceeds going to a worthy local charity. For example, at a KCCon in the 80’s there was “The Intergalactic Tribble Breeding Contest” Folks had made their own unique tribbles, and they were placed on a table, each with a coffee can in front of them. You dropped change in the can of your favorite tribble, and the winner was the one who raised the most cash. Said cash went to a charity supporting abused children. There was the “Isaac Asatribble” wearing thick glasses, the rainbow striped tribble(hmmmm), there were Siamese tribbles, and so on. But my favorite was Mr. Tribble
This one was brown and mostly hairless, with a black Mohawk. It’s “breeding card” said it won every contest it was in because all the other tribbles usually dropped out, for whatever reason.
astro, I expect Cat will be there, yes.
Yes, Baker, a Chocolate Symposium. Certainly a long-standing Gaylaxicon tradition. Mmmm! Just make sure you bring milk.
And we’re planning on having an AIDS charity auction hosted by none other than David Gerrold, who, ironically enough, wrote “The Trouble With Tribbles” for the original Star Trek series! He’s also written a lot of great books, one of which one a Spectrum award, and another which just got nominated for a Lambda award.
Esprix
Hmm. I wonder if there will be a market for the Balrog/Gandalf bit I wrote a while ago…
Woo hoo! Not only did we finally sign a contract with the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, and ubercool Hawaiian-themed hotel for the convention, but we also got another GoH confirmed - David Gerrold, who, to quote his web page:
I’m giddy with excitement - GIDDY, I tell you! 
Esprix
I want to come.
I have no idea how I’ll get there or rationalise taking the time off so close to finals. But as of now, I really want to come.
I have a year to figure it out.
And this is different from normal how? 
[sub]BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask you: being a SCAdian, do you have a coat of arms? If so what’s your blazon?[/sub]
And I do have a device, although I couldn’t blazon it to save my life - that’s what heralds are for. Basically, the top half is a cow on a blue field, and the bottom half is a horizontal blue feather on a white field.
Why do you ask, m’lord?
Esprix
Do Buffy and Angel fans count as part of the Fantasy fandom? Will there be anything for us there?
Oh, heavens yes, especially considering the lesbian subtext on Buffy. Heck, one of the biggest complaints of Worldcon last year were that there were too many Buff panels. In fact, we’ll probably be inviting Joss Wheadon as a guest (although we probably won’t get him).
Esprix
What position is the cow in? And do you have a link?
(just curious… i’m into heraldry )
Me, too, matt.
Here’s a shot at it:
Blanc[sup]1[/sup], a feather azure fesswise, on a chief of the second a cow[sup]2[/sup] proper[sup]3[/sup] passant[sup]4[/sup].
[ol][li] Technically, white is “argent” (=silver), but there are strong grounds for making the distinction, among them the official arms of the Prince of Wales, which have a white label on the neck of a silver unicorn. Untraditionally but in the interests of precision, I use “blanc” for white as a color as distinct from “argent” which is specifically silver and a metal.[/li][li]Probably ought to be “vache” in the Anglicized Old French vocabulary of heraldry, but modern heraldry has tended to use standard English except for those things which are specifically and traditionally heraldic.[/li][li]“Proper” means in its natural color(s); if the cow is a specific heraldic color, substitute it. A Hereford in its normal ruddy-bronze coloration would be proper; a cow that was fire-engine red would be “gules.”[/li][li]What the cow is doing is important – I used “passant” – walking and facing in the direction he’s walking (assumedly towards the right of the shield as viewed). “Statant” is standing there, “rampant” is rearing. “Gardant” is looking out from the shield at the viewer, and is used after “passant” etc.; “regardant,” used likewise, is looking back over its shoulder towards its tail. (“At gaze,” normally used only of various deer, is identical to “statant gardant.”)[/ol][/li]
To get back to the OP, I’ll be glad to deliver to the offices of The Front Page, our local gay newspaper, any publicity you send me. Don’t forget to mail press releases to the appropriate gay media, particularly the smaller papers that are desperate for interesting gay-themed stories other than “Fred Phelps picketed X last week” – and call the Advocate – they’ll probably do a story if they get enough advance notice (Out, Genre, and their imitators probably won’t; it won’t fit their editorial policy, which as far as I can see consists entirely in flogging their advertizers’ products using sexy models). Dunno if XY would or not, but it can’t hurt to touch base with them. And emphatically be sure to send press stuff to Locus, any SoCal semiprozines and established fanzines, and the conventions column in Analog (see any issue’s conlist for the proper address to send notices).
Lord, Poly - if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a queer geek yourself! (And Locus is a 'natch - their web editor won a Hugo last year at Worldcon and I was lucky enough to meet him and his partner at the Gaylaxians party afterwards.)
And, um some of that blazon is correct, but I’d have to dig up my approval to get it right. We had quite a time figuring it out. And remember, real heraldry isn’t quite the same as SCA heraldry.
Esprix