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          Segment 4: Guests Part II (325 lines)
               Steve Smith, Connie Willis, Alis Rasmussen
               (Kate Elliot), Geoffrey Landis, Melinda Snodgrass


<Vonda> Here's Steve Smith, a visualization scientist from Los
     Alamos. He organized the Los Alamos tours for us yesterday.
<Christoph> Storms have passed. Any awards given out yet?
<Ziggy> hi Steve
<Vonda> [Steve] hi
<Moderator> Not yet, Chris
<Moderator> Hi STeve!
<MMF> None yet.  hey, you still have that driftwood lectern you
     built at Clarion?
<Vonda> [Steve] who all are out there?
<Vanguard-> This is Kate Schaefer; I'm being the Vanguard
     representative for now.
<Vonda> [Steve] great...
<Vonda> [Steve] The tours yesterday went great
<Moderator> Hi Kate, glad you could join us!
<bullet> What IS a visualization scientist?
<Vonda> [Steve] We are hoping to repeat the experience sometime in
     the future
<Christoph> No, no. I cast it back into Eliot Bay so that future
     Clarion Westers would have the opportunity to find it.
<LaurieM> Those sounded very interesting from the SFWA page...
<Moderator> ?? What was the highlight of the tour do you think?
<Vonda> [Steve] I work on VR and Computer graphics for other
     scientists
<Vonda> [Steve] We develop tools and apply them to visualizing
     scientific
<Vonda> [Steve] problems for analysis and for selling to
     Washington DC...
<Vonda> [Steve] Computer graphics basically...
<Vonda> [Steve] Connie is here now!
<pff3> awright!
<Moderator> Excellent, so all those theories are no longer just
     numbers and equations. :-)
<bullet> Cool. I saw a VR submarine General Dynamics has been
     working on once.
<Djonn> <wild eruption of applause throughout the land>
<MMF> Connie!
<Ziggy> hi Connie
<MMF> Sorry about the Lewis Carroll thing at Intuition!
<bullet> Great!
<Vonda> [Connie] Hi, everybody, I'm here at the Nebulas and have
     just eaten an entire buffalo and am now waiting for the
     speeches to begin.
<Moderator> Welcome, Connie. :-)
*** woof has joined #nebula
*** JD has joined #nebula
<woof> buzz buzz vonda, it's nancy in san diego
<Vanguard-> How was the buffalo prepared?  With or without horns?
<Ziggy> hi woof, Nancy, hi Jade
<LaurieM> Please try to tell us something about the speeches...
<Moderator> Hi Nancy, Vonda has temporarily transmorgrified into
     Connie Willis. :-)
<Vonda> [Connie] the crowd is getting restless, of course, but on
     the whole everybody has been comparatively well behaved.
     Except, of course, Gardner Dozois, who has stuck a corn cob
     up his nose.
<MMF> What is this obsession we're having with the buffalo?
<Djonn> An *entire* buffalo?  <glyph of awe>
<woof> well, tell vonda i was here
<Moderator> She'll be back shortly
<jnfr> A *whole* corn cob? 
<Vonda> [Connie] the alternative was salmon, which was caught of
     course in the local streams by natives.
<Kent> At least it was his _nose_, Connie.
<JD> Hi, Connie.  Good luck!
<Kent> Count your blessings.
<Vanguard-> Gardner could have stuck an entire salmon up his nose
     instead of a corn cob?
<Fox> With spears or dynamite?
<bullet> Loved Bellwether! Completely gaga. Good Luck Connie!
<Vonda> [Connie] Gardner is now shouting, "Hot sex!" and "Go,
     Viagra!" to the room at large.
<MMF> BWAHAHAHA!
<Moderator> LOL
<LaurieM> Kate - that would have been quite a site...
<Kent> Tell him to cut to the jets of salmon.
<bullet> Wow. Things are warming up!
<Djonn> The frightening thing about that report of Gardner's
     actions is that it may be true.... <g>
<LaurieM> I spent part of my honeymoon with Gardner...;->
<Moderator> Woohoo, Laurie. ;-)
<Vonda> [Connie] Yesterday all the Nebula Novel nominees were at
     a signing together.  We decided that instead of the usual
     voting, we would have a tontine.  We will attempt to kill
     each other off, and the one left standing at the end wins
     the Nebula Award.
<Moderator> Now there's a plan, leave some openings for us
     newbies!
<Christoph> Ten bucks on Martin.
<JD> Interesting idea, Connie, but would leave us less fiction in
     the future, eh?
<MMF> Oooh, and you can sell the video to those companies that
     produce shows like, "When Mailmen Go Postal."
<sfreader> Connie, That is the GrandMaster
<LaurieM> Trial by battle, an ancient trial...
<MMF> Trial by conga line is more fun, though.
<MMF> Or by limbo stick.
*** JD is now known as JeffryD
<Djonn> And you still ate an entire buffalo *after* declaring the
     tontine.  Very brave.
<Vonda> [Connie] I've got to go eat my dessert and pick the corn
     out of my teeth before they announce the winners, so goodbye
     for now.
<MMF> "Today in Santa Fe, New Mexico, hundreds of SF writers and
     editors dislocated their knees during the Nebula award
     ceremonies. . ."
<Christoph> Eating the buffalo gave her the beasts powers. Geez,
     don't you watch tv?
<Moderator> Bye Connie, thanks. :-)
<Moderator> Good luck!!
<Vonda> Vonda here again. I have Alis Rasmussen, who in her other
     hat is Kate Elliott and nominated for the Best Novel Nebula!
<bullet> Bye Connie, good luck!
<MMF> Kate!  Cool!
<Vonda> Say hi to her -- here she is.
<Ziggy> hi Kate
<Ferragus> Hi Kate!
<Moderator> Hi Kate, glad you could join us! :-)
<Christoph> Hi, Kate.
<jnfr> HI Kate
<sfreader> Hi Kate!
<Djonn> Greetings!  <refraining from "Kate and Allie" joke>
<bullet> Hello, Kate
<MMF> Heya!  I once had a character named Kate Elliott.
<woof> buzz buzz vonda, it's nancy in san diego
<Vonda> [Kate] Hi, everyone.  I'm getting re-used to the internet
     since I've been living in Mexico in a small isolaed town, and
     we have no telephone!
<Christoph> Cool. Where abouts in Mexico?
<Adrienne> <somebody whap Djonn>
<MMF> Welcome back to technology.
<Adrienne> How is everything in Mexico, and how are the kids
     settling in?
<MMF> Djonn, that one was really painful.
<Vonda> [Kate] I've almost forgotten what technology is!  It's
     great!  Christoph, we're living in Arcelia, in the state of
     Guerrero.
<Vonda> [Kate] My god, I know some of you guys!  Who let you in
     here?
<Adrienne> We snuck in, Alis.
<JeffryD> Hi, Vonda.  :)
<LaurieM> No one locked the door...
<Moderator> Sorry, couldn't keep them out!
<MMF> Underneath the fence, as it was.
<jnfr> NO getting rid of us
<Marilee> They're still eating, Chris.
<Vonda> [Kate] Adrienne, the kids are doing fine, slowly adjusting
     to school in a language they don't understand.
<sfreader> Mod- you tried! :-)
<Marilee> In the meantime, I've had an author here in my chat
     room, Megan Lindholm, but she had to ...
<Vanguard-> I'm about to be transformed from Kate Schaefer to Judy
     Kaplan. Good luck, Vonda.  Bye.
<Marilee> leave to write -- coming up on deadline.
<Vonda> [Kate] Bye!
<woof> what kids are these?
<Moderator> bye Kate!
<Vonda> [Kate] woof, my three kids.  Oops. moderator, I was saying
     good bye the the leaving folks not saying goodbye yself!
<MMF> Hey, Vonda!  Get Gardner over here at some point, wouldja?
<Moderator> oops, ok. :-)
<MMF> Oops, never mind, then.
<Vanguard-> judy here. Good luck!
<Vonda> [Kate] Geoffrey Landis is standing behind the chair,
     agitating to get online.  I'll say bye now and he'll start
     typing.  Bye, all!
<Terry> Hi Geoff!
<Vonda> Hi, folks
<Moderator> bye :-)
<Moderator> bye :-)
<JeffryD> Hi, Geoff!
<LaurieM> Oh great, a midwesterner!  Hi, Geoffrey.
<MMF> Hi, Geoff.
<Moderator> Hi Geoff, thanks for joining us. :-)
<Ferragus> Hi Geoff
<MMF> How was dinner?
*** Vonda is now known as Geoffrey
<sfreader> Midwest?
<MMF> Did you have the rattlesnake fritters?
<Ziggy> hi Geoffrey
<Moderator> excellent, thanks
<Geoffrey> Dinner was great.
<Geoffrey> No rattlesnake, alas, but we had bison, which was
     excellent.
*** woof is now known as yashmak
<Geoffrey> Also corn on the cob with hot pepper, and squash
     cheesecake.
<Djonn> Hmmm.  We've had conflicting reports on the bison, then.
<Marilee> Hi Geoff!  Hey, someone who knows how to change nicks!
<Moderator> You seem to be the first to like the buffalo. :-)
<Djonn> Squash cheesecake????
<Geoffrey> Well, *mine* was great.
<MMF> Can't be any worse than bean pie.
<Moderator> That's good.
<Geoffrey> (I had help changing nicknames from Vonda)
<Kent> Eeeeew.  Sounds like I'm-A-Lima Sherbert to me.
<Geoffrey> People are beginning to get a little nervous around
     here.
<Geoffrey> Connie Willis just came by and said that if we're
     bored, we should just
<Moderator> yeah, I can imagine.  How are you holding up?
<LaurieM> just....?
<MMF> Actually, it tastes like pumpkin pie, leading back to the
     squash segue.
<Geoffrey> stick things up our noses.  She says that Gardner does
     that all the time.
<Moderator> LOL
<Geoffrey> It is getting suspiciously quiet here.
<bullet> Squash Cheesecake would be a mess though.
<MMF> Not if you snarf it correctly.
<yashmak> we're all picturing butternut squash cheesecake
<Marilee> I like pumpkin cheesecake.
<Robt> ??Are people still eating?
<bullet> Isn't pumkin a kind of squash?
<Djonn> Suspiciously quiet?  No one is laughing at the
     after-dinner speeches? <g>
<Geoffrey> There's been some controversy here about whether it's
     pumpkin or squash cheescake.
<Geoffrey> The consensus actually seems to be that it was in fact
     pumpkin cheesecake.
<bullet> Pumkin at least sounds edible!
<Ryuuen> Isn't pumpkin a squash anyway? :)
<MMF> I thought it was.
<Geoffrey> Melinda is standing behind me, she''ll be next.
<sfreader> Most canned pumpkin is actually squash
<bullet> deja vu...
<Geoffrey> --here's the announcement, telling us to finish up so
     they can start--
<MMF> Melinda, breathe on his neck -- that'll get him to move
     faster.
<Robt> There have been rumors the buffalo was tough.  Any comment?
<Moderator> Cool, thanks for dropping by and good luck!
<sfreader> M. S. ?
<Geoffrey> bye-- here's Melinda
<Kent> Luck, Geoff!
*** Geoffrey is now known as Melinda
<MMF> Best of, G!
<Terry> Hi, Melinda
<Ziggy> hi Melinda
<JeffryD> Bye, Geoffrey.  Hi, Melinda.
<MMF> Hi Melinda.
<Moderator> Hi Melinda!
<LaurieM> Now THAT was a fast sex change.  Hi, Melinda
<Moderator> Thank you. :-)
<Ferragus> hi Melinda
<sfreader> Bungie jumping this year?
<MMF> And she didn't even have to go to Sweden.
<Marilee> LOL
<MMF> This creates an image of bungee-jumping transsexuals in
     Stockholm, I don't know why. . .
<Moderator> heheh
<sfreader> <snarf!>
<Melinda> Hi, folks.  Well, we're in scenic N.M., it's warm,
    and Gardner Dozois is razzing George R.R. Martin.  By the way,
     I'm the Melinda who did Reasonable Doubts, and that S.F.
     show.  Anyway, speechs are starting so I'm going to say
     goodbye.
*** Melinda is now known as Vonda
<Moderator> ok, maybe catch you again later. :-)
<Vonda> Hi, vonda here again. That was Melinda Snodgrass.
<JeffryD> Hi, Vonda.  What's happening now?
<Vonda> I really appreciate folks' interrupting their dinners to
     come and talk to us.
<Moderator> Yes, give them a BIG thanks from us. :-)
<Vonda> The speeches are starting, as Melinda said, and I probably
     shouldn't do too much bashing on the laptop while that's
     happening.
<yashmak> buzz vonda
<Vonda> I will indeed, Jim.
<Moderator> ok, we'll keep ourselves occupied. :-)
<Vonda> Heya Nancy!
<LaurieM> Not even quietly?
<yashmak> i've been sucking down pizza and waiting to say hi
<Vonda> I'll be on and off when the opportunity presents. The
     laptop isn't TOO noisy.
<Moderator> I still need to run the novelette and short story
     nominees through here.
<Moderator> ok.
<MMF> Go fer it!
<Djonn> Nominees, right.  Good plan.
<Info> ******************************************************
<Info> *          Nominees for 1997 Nebula Award:           *
<Info> *                 Best Novelette                     *
<Info> *                                                    *
<Info> * "The Copyright Notice Case", Paul Levinson         *
<Info> *       (Analog, Apr96)                              *
<Info> * "The Dog's Story", Eleanor Arneson                 *
<Info> *       (Asimov's, May96)                            *
<Info> * "The Flowers of Aulit Prison", Nancy Kress         *
<Info> *       (Asimovs, Oct/Nov96)                         *
<Info> * "The Miracle of Ivar Avenue", John Kessel          *
<Info> *       (Intersections, Tor, Feb96 & Asimov's, Sep96)*
<Info> * "The Undiscovered", William Sanders                *
<Info> *       (Asimov's, Mar97)                            *
<Info> * "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the  *
<Info> *    Human Bloodstream", James Alan Gardner          *
<Info> *       (Asimov's, Feb97)                            *
<Info> * "We Will Drink A Fish Together...", Bill Johnson   *
<Info> *       (Asimov's, May97)                            *
<Info> *                                                    *
<Info> ******************************************************
<Moderator> Very interesting selection this year.
<JeffryD> If nothing else, gotta love JAG's title.  :)
<sfreader> I'm not nuch of a short fiction reader. I've read 3 of
     the novels, but none of the shorter works.
<Vonda> The speeches are still to come.
<Moderator> more delays, or just setting up?
<Info> ******************************************************
<Info> *          Nominees for 1997 Nebula Award:           *
<Info> *                Best Short Story                    *
<Info> *                                                    *
<Info> * "Burning Bright", K.D. Wentworth                   *
<Info> *          (Aboriginal SF, Summer 96)                *
<Info> * "Itsy Bitsy Spider", James Patrick Kelly           *
<Info> *          (Asimov's, Jun97)                         *
<Info> * "Sister Emily's Lightship", Jane Yolen             *
<Info> *          (Starlight 1, Tor, Sep96)                 *
<Info> * "The Crab Lice", Gregory Feeley                    *
<Info> *          (Alternate Tyrants, Tor, Mar97)           *
<Info> * "The Dead", Michael Swanwick                       *
<Info> *          (Starlight 1, Tor, Sep96)                 *
<Info> * "The Elizabeth Complex", Karen Joy Fowler          *
<Info> *          (Crank! 6, Apr96)                         *
<Info> *                                                    *
<Info> ******************************************************