Digging in the fannish archives on YouTube, I unearthed this interview from Armadacon 07, which was held over the weekend of 17-19 November 1995. Steve and I were guests at this fabulously friendly Plymouth convention and I’ve been laughing over the sheer quantity of rubbish I managed to talk in 54 minutes.
From the historical point of view this is interesting for the very limited view we had of nascent world anime fandom at the time, and for the social change it documents. For me, it’s most interesting for all the things I’d forgotten.
I’d forgotten about Euromanga – a project that died before birth, tangled in the Anime UK/FX debacle and the manga trademark fuss. I’d forgotten that we started the final phase of Anime UK with so much goodwill and such very high hopes. I’d also forgotten that I forgot the name of my first convention costume character, the amazing Aphrodisia from John Jakes’ fantasy spoof Mention My Name In Atlantis. Senility obviously set in very early!
This footage reminds me of one thing above all: how very lucky I am that Steve is still in my life.
Helen McCarthy: A Face Made for Radio 