I’m late, I’m late, to claim this is a post on August the Eight(h).
(1) Remember: Jo Walton receives her Tiptree Award for My Real Children in a ceremony at Borderlands Books, San Francisco at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Borderlands Books is located at 866 Valencia St., San Francisco CA 94110.
Somebody please send me pictures!
(2) Adam Rowe on the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi-Fantasy Blog recalls “How One Misunderstanding in the 1870s Created an Entire Sci-Fi Subgenre”.
After observing what he thought to be channels on the surface of Mars, Schiaparelli referred to them as “canali.” That’s the Italian word for “channel,” but it looks incredibly similar to the English word “canal.” English versions of Schiaparelli’s notes didn’t make the distinction, making it seem as if the respected astronomer had documented structures built by intelligent life on Mars.
The recently constructed Suez Canal was still viewed as the pinnacle of modern engineering across the world, so the concept of canals was well-known. And now, Martians were apparently creating them!
American astronomer Percival Lowell became obsessed with the concept in the 1890s, building an observatory in Arizona and publishing three books featuring his extensive maps of hundreds of canals that he believed Martians had built in order to transport water from the polar ice caps to the Martian equator.
(3) Here’s a book I need!
https://twitter.com/vargastonova/status/629914182633279488
(4) I am the muse of an anonymous poet.
The votes are voted,
The threads are bloated,
But I can live through the jumble.
What do I care if commenters fumble?
I have my copyediting skills to keep me humble.— Anna Nimmhaus
(5) Some disagree with Jim Hines’ Hugo predictions, but Steve Tinel demurred about his kind words for one of the co-hosts in “Jim Hines’ Cracked Crystal Ball”.
FLAT CATS: David Gerrold, known for giving vent to foul-mouthed anti-Christian bigotry, is slated to host this year’s Hugo award ceremony. Jim Hines, a government employee who writes scifi on the side, has boldly predicted that Gerrold will do a wonderful job as host.
(That was before Tinel read the Antonelli material, which inspired a second post, “SciFi writer David Gerrold reported to police”.)
(6) This day in history. On August 8, 1978 Garfield’s sidekick, Odie, made his comic strip debut.
(7) Should You Name Your Baby Anakin? It’s a trending name!
This year, a surprising baby name appeared for the first time on the Social Security Administration’s annual list of the top 1,000 baby names in the United States. “Anakin” made its chart debut at #957, the name having been bestowed on exactly 218 baby boys in 2014.
(8) Here’s the place to buy Nathan Fillion’s “I Shoot First” Charity Tee.
Hi Browncoats — I designed this new limited edition tee just for you! — Nathan 100% of the proceeds will go to KUSEWERA whose mission is to empower and educate children in impoverished countries through active and creative play.
(9) And while you’re shopping online, don’t hesitate to order this tacky “Star Wars” lightsaber lamp.
The eye-smacking “Star Wars Original Trilogy Lamp with Illuminated Lightsabers” from the Bradford Exchange is one of those objects.
The lamp hits all the right gaudy notes. It has a cylindrical shade with Luke Skywalker wielding a lightsaber, Han Solo brandishing a gun, Chewbacca looking grumpy, Princess Leia decked out in white and those two droids you’ve been looking for. Darth Vader looms ominously in the background.
(10) Len Wein would be so proud. The Huffington Post has the latest on a real-life swamp thing sighting.
A woman left a church in Bishopville, South Carolina, on Sunday, and was understandably startled at the sight of someone — or some-THING — running in front of some trees. The shock lasted long enough for her to get a grip on her senses — as well as her phone — to snap a picture of what looks like a fast-moving lizard man….
“My hand to God, I am not making this up. So excited,” she wrote to the station, explaining how she and a friend saw the lizard man near the Scape Ore Swamp (see red marker in the following map).
(11) The Duarte (CA) Historical Museum has a modest exhibit about Ray Bradbury.
Honorary Duartean Author Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) is the subject of an exhibit at the Duarte Historical Museum in Encanto Park. Compiled by Jack Collins and former Duarte Librarian Peter Rosenwald, the display features articles, books, photographs, and other memorabilia and will remain through August.
The Museum, 777 Encanto Parkway, Duarte, is open Saturdays 1-4 p.m. and the first and third Wednesday each month from 1-3 p.m. Admission is free.
Bradbury made several appearances in Duarte over the years, donating all proceeds from his book sales at those visits to the Friends of the Duarte Library.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day cubist .]
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Sigh. Maybe I should move my lips more when I read.
Anna Nimmhaus/Noah Ward is my new OTP.
There was concern that JFK would be unelectable due to his Catholic, “non-Christian” faith. (And that if he were elected, the Vatican would dictate US policy.)
Craig Miller on August 9, 2015 at 10:25 am said:
but some of us then go on to snicker at the Chabadniks and other Chasids for being too observant, and scoff at the Reform Jews for being not observant enough (my wife, raised Reform, was told by other kids at summer camp that she wasn’t really Jewish). I’m not aware of any religion without splinter groups and internal strife. You probably know the story of the Jewish man stranded on a desert island, who built two synagogues, one next to his hut and the other on the other side of the island — the one next to his hut was the shul that he went to, and the other one was the shul that he didn’t go to.
Near me, in different directions, are a relatively new large Mormon temple and an older and smaller building belonging to the Reformed Church of LDS.
Some of the antipathy in the US is due to different stages of immigration. Later 19th century immigration was often from Southern Europe or from Ireland and hence there was a sense of Catholics being people of lower social class and also the usual cultural tropes of an invading ideology, split loyalties etc.
I
@Camestros Felapton, I just wanted to offer an example that this particular thing of not considering Catholics to be Christian is by no means universal, and may well be a more US-specific issue; similar to how some rather US-specific politics appear to have been permeating the reasoning behind at least some of the puppies.
Emo Philips had a routine that (sort of) covers the various schisms in (Protestant) Christianity. I don’t think his delivery and the first half of the routine have aged all that well, but I still enjoy the second half.
A newsweek article about that Holocaust Romance affair:
And, oh, look who gets word space: Super Genius Theodore Beale.
http://www.newsweek.com/bizarre-nazi-love-story-thats-tearing-romance-novel-community-apart-360965
I’m glad it’s over now, but I could swear I heard something about Protestant-Catholic strife in Germany at some point.
The trend in the US over the last few decades has been for considerable rapprochement as the Catholic hierarchy has become a reliable ally of conservative protestants on issues of sexual politics, and as white catholics have tended to become as reliably Republican as white protestants have been. You end up with people like JCW, who professes the Catholic faith but who sounds like an evangelical protestant when talking about religion, let alone politics.
I’m sure there are still plenty of people on both sides with theological misgivings, but these days around here, politics trumps all. Anti-Mormonism is probably stronger than anti-Catholicism in evangelical and fundamentalist circles, but to a first approximation it cost Mitt Romney zero votes in the general election last time. He may not have been right with God, but he was right with Mammon, and that was enough.
Well, I’m not surprised that Vox Merda supports a book promoting sympathetic Nazis, but I do wonder why NewsWeek have him so much adaptive to spout his vile views. Maybe they were strapped for anyone willing to publicly come out and support the book (can’t have a need story without two sides), and Vox Merda was the only one at hand?
And of course the airport apologizes for offending people, and of course she was just channeling the story of Esther. Of course.
You are right – it is far from universal even in the US although it is notion that has been re-exported from the US. In the UK and Northern Ireland (of course) anti-Catholic sentiment has a different dynamic. The strength of anti-Catholic feeling is very much tied to the historical relation between England and Ireland both in terms of political control but also in terms of immigration. As the UK itself has become more secular and as the conflict in Northern Ireland became less heated the issue has sort of been forgotten – although there are strong remnants in a few places (e.g. the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers football teams in Glasgow).
tl;dr it is never just religious differences it is ethnicity, history and socio-economics 🙂
And by schism of course we mean: Splitters!
http://youtu.be/gb_qHP7VaZE
Jim Henley on August 9, 2015 at 12:24 pm said:
I guess there aren’t problems that big anywhere in Europe. The big protestant churches are extremely moderate and conciliatory (given that they were founded by people who thought that pope’s the Antichrist), plus theologically very liberal (by American standards, anyway).
It’s the way modern journalism works: once someone has a reputation for giving quotes quickly, they become the go-to for a wide selection of titles and services. If you’re after publicity, you aim to get that reputation. So that’s why you’ll find the same politicians on several different news programmes, because they’ve made onto production assistants and journalists speed dials. After all, you have to file your copy before the other guy…
(And another reason I am glad that specialising in analysis means I’m not beholden to the news cycle…)
Ah the man, who famously despises any hint of romance in SF/F.
Well, A. Nonny Mouse is a good writer of rodent limericks.
Were I first, I might put forth something more than “I’m first”. Having a name that always got me to sit in the back of the room, where I could ignore the teacher and stare out the window and day dream, I’m sure I don’t need to rationalize about not being first.
And someone will write that I’m still rationalizing. Who’s gonna be first with that?
This is why you’re not first.
Dunno, but people will start to doubt you’re Aware of All Internet Traditions if you keep this up.
Why?
No, seriously, why would anyone seek comment from him on this issue? O.o He doesn’t write romance. I’m legitimately confused.
But he thinks Trump is a role-model….
“Donald Trump’s not having any of it, and I’m certainly not either.”
Cheryl Morgan has some additional Hugo predictions.
For anyone who’s curious, there’s a metafilter post about For Such a Time, with a rundown on the controversy and the coverage fromn various sites.
I personally was fascinated by the commentary in Smart Bitches Trashy Books and Jezebel, which goes into all the other problematic elements of modern Romance.
Erm.
Anymore, I think you need to add there.
Unless you don’t think 30 years of domestic terrorism in Ireland and the UK isn’t big enough 😛
I was actually thinking of the Thirty Years’ War, but the Ireland-UK thing (which went on for hundreds of years, no?) also merits a mention.
Dear godzilla… I can’t with people.
At least back to the Normans, but some think the Fomorians started it all 🙂 . Either way it predates the Reformation. The catholic-protestant thing was one of those new-fangled innovations they added to the feud in those crazy modern times (Oliver Cromwell in particular).
The 1994 resolution about the alliance of Southern Baptists and Catholicst.
The anti-Catholicism of evangelican Protestants is, I think, fairly unique to PARTS of the U.S. I was raised in the Presbyterian church until my parents withdrew because of the Church’s support for Angela Davis back in the 60s (I didn’t much care because I was mostly in the choir because I had a crush on the minister’s wife–later became an animistic pagan, then an atheist), and I don’t recall any problems with Catholics, and my Texas students’ overt anti-Catholicism was a shock in the early 1990s.
First time I learned of it was in a multicultural course; we were reading Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine (HIGHLY recommended!), and for group discussion one day I asked them to compare the traditional Chippewa beliefs and the Christian beliefs. Silence. Finally a student in one group called me over and asked where the Christians in the book were. Puzzled, I said the nuns in the mission. She turned white, gasped, CATHOLICS, and, well, my senior colleagues had a hearty laugh at my bewilderment. (The Southern Baptists left the American Baptist church back during the “War of Northern Aggression” because of a disagreement about slavery and, no doubt, states’ rights,
Tiptree awards were a hoot, there was talented singing, audience singing, several rounds of Q&A, a very nice acceptance speech by Jo Walton and cake. I was too late for the cake.
I spent too much money on books 🙂
@Mike Glyer
I have some pictures and audio if Mike can tell me the best way to get it to him. The Tiptree organization also took pictures with a real camera so they may have better pictures on their site soon.
I had a friend growing up (1970s) whose Baptist church in Canada used to send missions to Quebec to convert the Catholics…
The conversation this morning was like so:
“Oh hey! Look at this!”
“…mrrm?”
“Jo Walton is getting the Tiptree Award today at Powell Books!”
“Mmhmm mm s’nice mrmm…”
“They’re putting it on at three, so if we get up now, we could make it.”
“Mmm….”
“Is that a ‘Yes’ Mmm or a ‘No’ Mmm?”
“…..”
And then the cat jumped up on the bed and demanded chin rubs. But in any case, we congratulate Ms. Walton on her win.
I finished reading Seveneves.
Um. Wow. So very thinky, to the point where I couldn’t read it at night before sleeping, because I would stay awake THINKING about it! I really enjoyed it, and it is definitely going on my list for Hugo noms for next year.
This is going to be a book that lives in the back of my head for a long time, occasionally popping up to say BOO!
Shambles: I have sent you an email. But anyone who needs my email address can find it in the About section, disguised as mikeglyer (at) cs (dot) com.
The Southern Baptists used to send missionaries to Latin America to convert the heathens. (Older nephew-in-law’s family has a couple of them in their tree.) I also heard, in the mid-to-late-70s, some remarkably anti-Catholic sentiments from a fellow student/commuter.
The Southern Baptists used to send missionaries to Latin America to convert the heathens.
I used to get button-holed by Mormon missionaries looking specifically for the Hispanic part of Kitchener. As far as I know, there isn’t one.
missionaries looking specifically for the Hispanic part of Kitchener
In Los Angeles, they’re more likely to be JWs than Mormons. There are a lot of Hispanic JWs. (FWIW, I’ve also seen Korean missionaries, from a church whose name I didn’t catch. They’re looking for Asians. There are a lot of Korean Protestants in L.A.)
I grew up in church, and in church functions, but after studying Asian History, serving for two years as a World Civilizations teaching assistant, and a Ph.D in Anthropology (Nautical Archaeology is what it really was, but the department assigns the names on the scrolls…), I have had WAY too much history of religion(s) to accept any of them.
I mean, I can appreciate the religion fits into the cultural toolkit but seeing so many variants of the theme kind of diminishes the desire to pick any of them. Kind of how watching sausage being made or politicians at work reduces your desire for either.
To keep the Balance, though, I am married to a Southern Baptist, who I don’t debate religion with. She does appreciate that I am quite familiar (for a non-believer/lapsed follower of a wrong denomination… I am NEVER gonna win the American bible Challenge) with the bible and Christian doctrine.
15 years ago I could have debated Asian religions (particularly Buddhist variants) just as well, but the swerve into Nautical saved me by sticking me into a different tiny niche…
@Al the Great and Powerful
I swear, I first read that sentence as “15 years ago I could have debated Aslan religions…”
…which gives me terrible terrible ideas for an anthropologist in Narnia. Anthropologists urged to be way too interested in the sexual practices of native peoples to be really welcome in Narnia.
I was also somewhat flummoxed by the notion that Catholics weren’t Christians that I encountered when I moved to the South. Also, the notions that people who hadn’t really met Catholics had about Catholicism. They are idolaters because they pray to Mary and the saints, that’s the big one. I found myself explaining over and over again that it’s not praying like worshipping them as much as it’s the equivalent of calling your connected cousin and asking them to put in a good word for you with the Big Guy.
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