Greatest Hugo acceptance speech of all time?

Behold! The greatest moment in modern Hugo Award history, as Chris Garcia has a complete (and utterly charming) meltdown when he realizes that he's won a Hugo for Best Fanzine for Drink Tank. I was so close as to be in the splash-zone, and it was a wonder and a delight to behold (yes, I know there's an ad -- it's worth it).

Best Fanzine - The Garcia Moment (via Scalzi)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Grey Devil

That award is umm… rather phallic ;0
- penguin_boy
  
  Most rockets are. The design is based on the model used in the 1950 movie “Destination Moon.”
- Anne Trotter
  
  Several people commented on this fact. Also, it has great potential to be used as a weapon.
Alvis

“Hey, you think we should deinterlace this video before we scale it?”
“Nah, it looks cool that way.”
jambon

That link goes straight to 1992. Five minutes later and I’m still watching poorly typeset credits. How about some clue as to when the ‘magic’ happens. What say you commentors – is this the fustiest, most uninteresting link ever posted on BoingBoing?
- bklynchris
  
  goto the Garcia moment link below that one.
http://www.facebook.com/andycoder Andy Coder

“Located 38 miles from downtown Reno, Lake Tahoe is approximately 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, with 72 miles of scenic shoreline. The average depth is 989 feet and the deepest point 1,645 feet; the water is 99.7% pure, about the same as distilled water.”

Huh.
moonmoth

You’ve got to wait a while. Enjoy the rather odd music then do what I did and move it on a good 5 minutes. Its worth it cos the guy who gets the award is very, very happy.
http://profiles.google.com/dgeiser13 Dan Geiser

It’s at 1 hour and 28 minutes, roughly.
bigbanna

that is a sex toy.
RobDobbs

Nice to see he dressed up for the occasion.
- http://twitter.com/kshandra Kirsten M. Berry
  
  If you knew Chris at all, you’d know that the suit coat he fell out of on his way up the stairs WAS dressing up for him….
BillGlover

Weird. The ad didn’t play for me (I’m on Linux though).

That was a sublime moment. I’m glad Cory reposted it here. And @Grey Devil. You should see the comment around 2:30:58 ;)
cap10wow

if you look on the page it sends you to there is a handy link to the clip “best of hugo awards-the garcia moment”. good stuff, i was moved.
jambon

Thank you commentors. I take it all back – Found the link, scrolled past the credits and, yes, it was good!
Peter Chylewski

It’s all fake. Or mostly. But I like it anyway.
- penguin_boy
  
  No, that’s Chris. I’ve known him for years, and he is that passionate about everything. This was his tenth nomination for Best Fanzine or Best Fan Writer. He even owns a t-shirt saying “Six Time Hugo Loser”. But he puts his heart into The Drink Tank, and to finally see him win made all of fandom cheer.
  
  The day of the Hugos he and another of the nominated folk agreed that File 770 was a lock to win. The day after, when he walked into the main exhibit hall at Worldcon, he got a standing ovation. He let me hold it. He let everyone hold it.
  
  What you see on that stage is Chris Garcia realizing that he finally made it. He’s a Hugo Award winner.
HenryPootel

Epic beards do that to a fellow
http://twitter.com/djneshamah Jean Batt

it wasn’t fake at all. i was actually in the audience when it happened. i thought at first he was acting, but good gods no. totally real. he has had ten or more nominations over the years for the drink tank and his own work. but this was his first win.

he also is a friend of mine and a very very sweet man. (besides, the drink tank rocks”
unit_1421

Have they stopped giving Hugos to right wing fuck sticks like Orson Scott Card?
- penguin_boy
  
  Card hasn’t written anything worthy of a nomination in years.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Have they stopped giving Hugos to right wing fuck sticks like Orson Scott Card?
  
  I can’t think of a single author who’s more desperately in need of a fake phallus.
http://www.facebook.com/aelfscine Jon Bakos

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16783348/highlight/196385
Here’s the actual speech, no weird folk music or Lake Tahoe to be found :)
sstair

I actually hurt myself laughing at Robert Silverberg’s presentation.
franko

that was awesome. i have no idea who he is or what his fanzine is like, but dammit, now i want to read it just to support him and his work. anyone with that amount of passion deserves to have as much success as they can get. when he sat down and just hugged it, i kinda lost it myself.
- penguin_boy
  
  http://efanzines.com/DrinkTank/
http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

Ode to joy. His ‘zine has a new fan here.
solstice2005

Me think that the “drink” “tanked” him and that is where he ended…
- penguin_boy
  
  I have never seen Chris drunk. He drinks very modestly.
Cormac

And that is part of why we give people Hugo awards. :)
Snig

I think it’s sweet to see someone so in love with the world and what he does in it.
pjcamp

All I get is about 10,000 hours of godawful filk.
http://www.facebook.com/JackMyersPhotography Jack Myers

Politics aside, what’s with the no love for Orson Scott Card? He’s a bad right wing guy? Is that kind of insulting behavior cool here? What gives and just checking?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Um, it’s pretty commonly held that he’s vile.
http://www.nicolejleboeuf.com/index.php Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little

Thank you for posting this. Chris is such a sweetheart and it was lovely to see him win for all his hard work. And it clearly means so very much to him. I was a little worried for him Saturday night, to tell you the truth — I wasn’t sure if that was pure joy or a terrible nervous breakdown he was having. ALL THE HUGS, CHRIS

The three times I’ve had the pleasure of attending a Hugo awards ceremony, I’ve always been impressed with how every recipient has seemed genuinely moved by the award, be it their first or third (or eleventh!). It’s part of why I love this “tribe” so very, very much.
Anne Trotter

There’s also the Masquerade entertainment break where they’re judging best costume… they put on an edition of “Just a Minute”. It’s long (not quite as long as the Hugos), but damn funny.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16764869
http://www.facebook.com/lynn.ann.gold Lynn Gold

Like Doug Berry said, yep, that’s our Chris. I was seated next to him afterwards at Match Game SF, where he spent much of the night polishing his new award. He was nice enough to let me fondle it….
- Simon Bradshaw
  
  where he spent much of the night polishing his new award
  
  Please, for the love of all that is good, tell me this isn’t a euphemism.
  
  (And congratulations to Chris, who is a lovely guy. Yes, that’s Chris being Chris – I once heard him described as being pretty much Taz the Tasmanian Devil in human form and in a very good mood…)
Daniel Spector

That is Chris, being his utterly-sincere, completely open self.

The man is a joy and Drink Tank has been worthy for years.
Ashley Reid

Some women can appreciate a truly epic beard.