The 2012 Ditmar ballot was announced last week. I’m chuffed that Writer and the Critic appears in Best Fan Publication in Any Medium.

I always look forward to my podcast night with Kirstyn. Not just because she provides baked goods – seriously there are gingerbread men and then there are the gingerbread men baked by Kirstyn – but because her insights blow me away. Just take what she said about the gender of stick men in the last podcast. Seriously, I can’t help but look at that genderless stick person at the front of the men’s toilets and wonder why it doesn’t have a scrotum sack hanging off it.

Aside from that I’m proud to feature with two Hugo nominated podcasts (even if they both use Skype). Seriously, podcasting in Australia is a force to be reckoned with. Coode Street, with it’s quirky Jonathan / Gary chemistry and its awesome interviews (some of the best I’ve heard) deserves to be recognized as one of the best SF podcasts.

As for Galactic Suburbia – well it would be a tad melodramatic to say that it changed my life. But let’s be clear here, Tansy, Alex and Alisa took a 37 year old fanboy, absolutely set in his ways (just ask my wife and how I deal with my underpants) and somehow etched new neural pathways in his brain. Which is a shitty way of saying that they opened my eyes to the issue of gender.

And so, yeah, I’m proud to be side by side with these guys.

But what’s also great is that the four podcasts that feature (Galactic Chat may not be as influential as the other two, but it has caused me to buy more books) don’t even touch the edges of the wonderful Aussie podcasts out there. I’m not going to mention them now – just to say that knowing there’s some strong stuff out there makes me even prouder to be nominated.

Oh, and then there’s Bruce Gillespie. I know it probably sticks in his craw that he’s up against a bunch of people who speak in microphones. But that doesn’t matter. Because without getting all soppy and sad, Bruce is a legend of Australia fandom. A genuine man of letters who should have already received a Hugo. And if you haven’t read SF Commentary, you really should.

OK enough with all that back slapping and praise… I’ve got one more post to go on regarding the Ditmars where I might actually talk about the other categories.