Pixel Scroll 11/16 Time Enough For Hedgehogs

(1) The UCLA Library’s Special Collections include the Gene Roddenberry Star Trek collection and the Robert Justman Papers.

A year ago the Special Collections’ blog posted Justman’s memo to Roddenberry about some wigs and hairpieces that had gone missing. The Captain of the Starship Enterprise was the prime suspect.

Back in the day Shatner’s denials about wearing a toupee were news, but people long ago quit keeping his secret.

That anger spilled out in 1967 when the prestigious Life magazine sent a photographer to the Star Trek set – not to profile Shatner but Nimoy, who was being photographed having his pointy Vulcan ears put on in the make-up room.

James Doohan recalled in his memoir: “Bill’s hairpiece was being applied. The top of his head was a lot of skin and a few odd tufts of hair. The mirrors on the make-up room walls were arranged so that we could all see the laying on of his rug.”

Shatner suddenly exploded angrily from his seat and ordered the photographer to leave. George Takei, aged 70, who played Sulu, recalls: “Leonard was livid. He refused to have his make-up completed until the photographer was allowed back.”

(2) In celebration of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary in 2016, publisher Simon & Schuster is bringing back the popular fan fiction writing contest, Strange New Worlds.

Ten winning selections will be published as part of an all-new official anthology, coming from Simon & Schuster in 2016.

Plus, two first prize winners will receive a free, self-publishing package from Archway Publishing!

Register for the contest here.

(3) “CBS Pulls ‘Supergirl’ Episode Due To Similarities To Paris Attack” reports ScienceFiction.com.

Out of respect for the events that happened in Paris last Friday, CBS has decided to delay the episode of ‘Supergirl’ set to air tonight, titled ‘How Does She Do It?’ Apparently the episode revolved around Supergirl dealing with a series of bombings around National City, which the network felt might be a little to similar to the tragic events that struck Paris. With all of the heartbreak and discord currently enveloping that poor city, it makes perfect sense why the network would delay the episode, especially when shows like ‘Supergirl’ should serve as an escape for people from the real world, not a twisted reflection of current tragedies.

(4) “J.K. Rowling Said THIS Is Her Favorite Harry Potter Theory” – the theoretical tweets are posted on PopSugar.

The first Harry Potter book came out 18 years ago, but not a day goes by where new theories and plot coincidences don’t shock us all (and make us want to reread the entire series). J.K. Rowling keeps up with them too and she recently answered a fan’s question about which is her favorite.

(5) This year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special will be shown in North American cinemas on December 28 and 29. Get tickets through Fathom Events

The Doctor is back on the big screen this holiday season for a special two-night event featuring an exclusive interview with Alex Kingston and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the special featuring Peter Capaldi, Stephen Moffat and more….

It’s Christmas in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveler River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to celebrate the holidays with fellow Whovians in cinemas this December.

 

(6) It seems you can’t guarantee a win by betting on Albert Einstein after all. IFL Science brings word that an “Experiment Proves Einstein Wrong”.

Scientists at the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) have proven beyond reasonable doubt that Einstein was wrong about one of the main principles of quantum mechanics and that “spooky action at a distance” is actually real.

We are now certain that entanglement, the ability of particles to affect each other regardless of distance, exists and that it’s an intrinsic property of the universe. When a pair or a group of particles are entangled, they cannot be described independently from each other. Measuring a particular property, like velocity, of a single particle affects all the other entangled particles.

Einstein and many other scientists believed that this phenomenon was paradoxical, as it would allow for information to be exchanged instantaneously across vast distances. He dubbed it “spooky action at a distance” and he believed that there was a way to reproduce this phenomenon with classical physics. He claimed that there were hidden variables – quantities that we didn’t or couldn’t know – that would make quantum mechanics perfectly predictable.

(7) Mark Lawrence seeks feedback on what really creates a sense of diversity in fiction.

JK Rowling told the world after the event that Dumbledore is gay. There was no need to mention it in the books – it didn’t come up. So … after reading seven books with gay Dumbledore and no mention of it … do gay people feel represented?

If Tolkien rose from the grave for 60 seconds to mention that, by the way, Gandalf is black … would that be delivering diversity?

Or does diversity mean seeing black people’s experience (in itself a vastly diverse thing) represented in fantasy – and the fantasy world needs real-world racism imported so the reader sees that particular aspect of black people’s experience?

In my trilogy, The Red Queen’s War, the main character is of mixed race. It’s not mentioned very often – though he does meet someone in the frozen north who mocks and intimidates him over his ‘dirty’ skin. In the trilogy I’m writing at the moment, Red Sister, the world is reduced to an equatorial corridor hemmed in by advancing ice. All races are mixed and have been for thousands of years. There are many skin tones and it’s of no more note or interest than hair and eye colour. Does a person of colour reading that feel represented – or does the failure to connect with the prejudice of the real world mean that they don’t feel represented?

I don’t know. I’m asking.

I’m not writing these books to promote diversity or represent anyone – the worlds and characters are just the way they are – just how the pieces of my imagination and logic meshed together on these particular occasions. But the question interests me.

(8) Congratulations to Jonathan Edelstein on his first professional story publication, “First Do No Harm”, at Strange Horizons.

For twenty-seven thousand years—through kingdoms and republics, through prophets and messiahs, through decay and collapse and rebirth—the city and the medical school had grown around each other. The campus stretched across districts and neighborhoods, spanning parks and rivers, but few buildings belonged to it alone: an operating theater might once have been a workshop, a classroom a factory floor. The basement room where Mutende sat in a circle of his fellow basambilila was an ancient one and had been many things: office, boiler room, refrigerator, storage for diagnostic equipment. Remnants of all its uses were in the walls, the fixtures, and most of all, in memory….

(9) At The 48th Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, The Invitation, directed by Karyn Kusama, picked up the Award for Best Feature Film in the Sitges 2015 Official Fantàstic Selection. The winners of the festival’s other awards can be found here.

(10) MousePlanet has the details about what’s going on with Star Wars at Disneyland – a long article with lots of photos —  but SPOILER WARNING.

If you don’t want to know anything about Star Wars – The Force Awakens before you see it in the theater, you should probably skip this update too. Before you go, heed this warning: If you wish to remain spoiler-free until December 18th, don’t go into the Star Wars Launch Bay, don’t see the Path of the Jedi feature in the Tomorrowland Theater, and don’t ride Star Tours. Hyperspace Mountain is spoiler-free, and a complete blast – you can enjoy that worry free, and see the rest of the additions in a month….

Star Wars Launch Bay

The lower level of the former Innoventions building – now officially known as the Tomorrowland Expo Center – is now the Star Wars Launch Bay. From the moment you step inside, you enter a spoiler-filled space packed with artwork, props and merchandise from across the Star Wars saga, including from the upcoming movie Star Wars – The Force Awakens. The Launch Bay is divided into six sections, with some smaller areas around the outer ring of the building.

Entrance and Gallery

The largest portion of the Launch Bay is devoted to case after case of props and replicas from the Star Wars Saga, including previews of people, places and things from Star Wars – The Force Awakens. Again, if you’re trying to avoid spoilers, you have no business in this exhibit.

The Light Side (Chewbacca meet-and-greet)

Enter a rebel hideout, and come face-to-face with the best co-pilot in the galaxy. To occupy you while you wait in what could be a very long line, the queue is filled with props from the Light Side, including lightsabers and helmets.

The Dark Side (Darth Vader meet-and-greet)

Like the Light Side, the queue for the Darth Vader meet-and-greet is filled with Sith props. Lord Vader isn’t much one for conversation, but he does have some prepared remarks for your encounter on the deck of a Star Destroyer. Disney PhotoPass photographers are on hand to document your meeting.

 

Star Wars Landing Bay carpet.

Star Wars Landing Bay carpet.

(11) Norbert Schürer discusses “Tolkien Criticism Today” in LA Review of Books. It takes awhile, but he finally finds something good to say.

It is perhaps no wonder, then, that the field of Tolkien studies is in a sad state. This is not to say that there aren’t excellent critics (such as Tom Shippey, Verlyn Flieger, and Jane Chance) and outstanding scholarly venues (particularly the venerable journal Mythlore and the more recent annual Tolkien Studies). However, judging by seven recent works of Tolkien scholarship, there are various challenges in the field. Much criticism features weak, underdeveloped arguments or poor writing, and the field is overrun by niche publishers who seem to have little quality control…..

With the Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien and Tolkien: The Forest and the City (in parts), the future of Tolkien studies is perhaps not entirely bleak. The Companion in particular is a volume from a well-established publisher, which actually gives Tolkien academic cachet by including him in their Companion series. The essays in this volume and in Tolkien: The Forest and the City make well-developed, well-written, comprehensive, and compelling arguments. Thus, these books show the two requirements for good Tolkien criticism. For one, he should be treated like any other author in being discussed in seriously peer-reviewed journals and established academic presses rather than in essay collections and niche publications. Just as importantly, Tolkien should not be treated with kid gloves because he is a fan favorite with legions to be placated, but as the serious and major author he is.

(12) Jennifer M. Wood discusses “11 Famous Books That Have Proven Impossible to Film” at Mental Floss.

6. UBIK

Believe it or not, there is a Philip K. Dick novel that has yet to be made into a movie. Which isn’t to say that an adaptation of this 1969 sci-fi tale of telepathy and moon colonization (set in the then-futuristic year of 1992) hasn’t been tried. As early as 1974, filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin commissioned Dick to adapt his own work for filming. Dick finished the script in less than a month; though it was never produced, it was published in 1985 as Ubik: The Screenplay. In 2006, A Scanner Darkly producer Tommy Pallotta announced that he was readying the film for production. In 2011, it was Michel Gondry who was confirmed to be at the helm … until earlier this year, when Gondry told The Playlist that he was no longer working on it.

(13) Farnam Street Blog’s “Accidents Will Happen” is an excerpt from Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, by Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation, 2001), about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal.

command and control cover

A B-47 bomber was taxiing down the runway at a SAC base in Sidi Slimane, Morocco, on January 31, 1958. The plane was on ground alert, practicing runway maneuvers, cocked but forbidden to take off. It carried a single Mark 36 bomb. To make the drill feel as realistic as possible, a nuclear core had been placed in the bomb’s in-flight insertion mechanism. When the B-47 reached a speed of about 20 miles an hour, one of the rear tires blew out. A fire started in the wheel well and quickly spread to the fuselage. The crew escaped without injury, but the plane split in two, completely engulfed in flames. Firefighters sprayed the burning wreckage for 10 minutes—long past the time factor of the Mark 36—then withdrew. The flames reached the bomb, and the commanding general at Sidi Slimane ordered that the base be evacuated immediately. Cars full of airmen and their families sped into the Moroccan desert, fearing a nuclear disaster.

The fire lasted for two and a half hours. The high explosives in the Mark 36 burned but didn’t detonate. According to an accident report, the hydrogen bomb and parts of the B-47 bomber melted into “a slab of slag material weighing approximately 8,000 pounds, approximately 6 to 8 feet wide and 12 to 15 feet in length with a thickness of 10 to 12 inches.” A jackhammer was used to break the slag into smaller pieces. The “particularly ‘hot’ pieces” were sealed in cans, and the rest of the radioactive slag was buried next to the runway. Sidi Slimane lacked the proper equipment to measure levels of contamination, and a number of airmen got plutonium dust on their shoes, spreading it not just to their car but also to another air base.

(14) Tomorrow you can download Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Stories Inspired by Microsoft

— an anthology of short stories written by some of today’s greatest science fiction authors. These visionary stories explore prediction science, quantum computing, real-time translation, machine learning, and much more. The contributing authors were inspired by inside access to leading-edge work, including in-person visits to Microsoft’s research labs, to craft new works that predict the near-future of technology and examine its complex relationship to our core humanity.

AUTHOR ROLL CALL

Elizabeth Bear · Greg Bear · David Brin · Nancy Kress · Ann Leckie · Jack McDevitt · Seanan McGuire · Robert J. Sawyer The collection also includes a short graphic novel by Blue Delliquanti and Michele Rosenthal, and original illustrations by Joey Camacho.

 

future_visions_sitg_th

(15) Abigail Nussbaum has “Five Comments on Hamilton”.

If you’re like me, you probably spent some portion of the last six months watching your online acquaintance slowly become consumed with (or by) something called Hamilton.  And then when you looked it up it turned to be a musical playing halfway around the world that you will probably never see.  But something strange and surprising is happening around Hamilton–a race-swapped, hip-hop musical about the short life and dramatic death of Alexander Hamilton, revolutionary soldier, founding father of the United States, co-author of The Federalist Papers, and creator of the US financial system.  Unusually for a work of pop culture that is only available to a small, even select group of people, Hamilton is becoming a fannish phenomenon, inspiring fanfic and fanart and, mostly, a hell of a lot of enthusiasm….

(16) Local Three Stooges fans will convene November 28 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The 18th Annual Alex Film Society The Three Stooges Big Screen Event “showcases six classic Stooges shorts featuring Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp preparing, throwing and wearing food. Will high society matrons be hit in the face with cream pies? Soitenly!”

On the bill of fare — A Pain In The Pullman (1936, Preston Black), Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (1938, Del Lord), Idiots Deluxe (1945, Jules White), Crash Goes The Hash (1944, Jules White), Sing A Song Of Six Pants (1947, Jules White), Dutiful But Dumb (1941, Del Lord).

(17) SF Site News announced this year’s ISFiC Writer’s Contest winner:

M. Aruguete won the ISFiC Writer’s Contest with her story “Catamount.” The contest is sponsored by ISFiC in conjunction with Windycon. Aruguete won a membership at Windycon, room nights, and $300. Her story was published in the con program book. This year’s contest was judged by Richard Chwedyk, Roland Green, and Elizabeth Anne Hull.

(18) Jeff Somers, in a guest post for SF Signal, argues that his stories with psionics should stay on the sf shelf at the bookstore.

As the TV Tropes page on psychic powers says, “Telepathy, clairvoyance, pyrokinesis—the powers are supernatural, but the names are scientific, which is good enough for soft Sci-Fi.” This sort of disdain is the top layer of a debate that’s been raging for decades about whether or not a story can have psychic powers and still be considered Science Fiction as opposed to Fantasy. The argument is simple: There is absolutely no evidence that supports psychic powers of any kind being possible, and without at least the real-world scientific possibility, they’re essentially magic powers. Which makes your story a Fantasy, thanks for playing, you might as well shove a bearded wizard in there and start reading Wikipedia articles about broadswords.

Anyway, I started thinking about all this recently because I’ve been writing and publishing digital-only short stories set in the Avery Cates universe, and in that universe (from the very beginning) there are psionic (er, psychic) powers…

(19) Mindy Klasky points out the varied uses of feedback, in “C is for Critique” at Book  View Café.

Critique partners offer authors valuable insight into what works and what does not work in a book. Sometimes, that criticism is directly on point—the mere statement of the problem is enough to help an author see what needs to be fixed. Other times, an author concludes that a critic is mistaken—she doesn’t understand the book, or she isn’t familiar with a particular sub-genre, or she was having a bad day as she wrote her criticism. Even in those cases, the rational writer considers the criticism as a warning that the reader was pulled off track at that particular point. Often, a critic finds fault with a particular aspect of a book (e.g., “your heroine sounds whiny when she talks to her best friend”) but an author discovers a completely different fix (e.g., the heroine shouldn’t be talking to her best friend in that scene; instead, she should be taking steps to solve her problem more directly.) Critics aren’t omniscient, but they can be good barometers of when a story succeeds.

(20) Kameron Hurley says this is “Why You Should Be Watching The Man in The High Castle:

I’m not sure when I realized that this wasn’t a story about the Nazis and Japanese Empire laying waste to the happy United States we have in our happy memories. I think it was when the Japanese Empire raids a Jewish man’s house, seemingly for no reason, and I realized it looked a lot like a swatting raid, or a raid on some innocent brown man with an Arab-sounding name, or the FBI raid on an innocent professor accused of sending sensitive material to the Chinese. And in that moment I realized the entire world I’d been presented thus in the show far wasn’t so much different from the United States in 2015, and that in fact the show was very much aware of that. If you’re brown, or black, or Muslim, or have a non-white sounding name, or you look at a TSA agent funny, or say something about supporting terrorism online (threatening to murder a woman is still OK! But I digress), get ready to get raided, detained, tortured, thrown into prison, or disappeared. I thought about our creepy no-fly lists, about police throwing students to the floor in classrooms, about minor traffic violations that end with somebody strangling you to death in prison and pretending you totally hung yourself with a plastic bag. I thought of this whole world we’ve built, post-World War II, and realized this show wasn’t saying, “Wouldn’t things be so different?” but instead, “Are things really as different as we think?”

(21) Move and groove like everyone’s favorite kaiju with Logemas Godzilla Simulator.

There’s something big coming this way… Logemas’ latest Motion Capture and VR demo!

We’re tracking 7 objects, hands, feet, hips, chest and an Oculus DK2 with Vicon Bonita cameras and streaming into the Unreal game engine for some mayhem!

Of course, we all want to know where they attach the tail-motion-generator.

[Thanks to Petréa Mitchell, Meredith, Will R., Andrew Porter, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]

277 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 11/16 Time Enough For Hedgehogs

  1. FANTASY MOVIE BRACKET – THIRD ROUND

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Ladyhawke (1985)

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)
    Stardust (2007)
    Abstain

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    God Stalk, P. C. Hodgell

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon

  2. FANTASY MOVIE BRACKET – THIRD ROUND

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)
    Labyrinth (1986)

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
    Ladyhawke (1985)

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)
    Stardust (2007)

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)
    Excalibur (1981)

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik
    Jack of Shadows, Roger Zelazny

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
    God Stalk, P. C. Hodgell

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon

  3. FANTASY MOVIE BRACKET – THIRD ROUND

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)
    Labyrinth (1986)

    Judging on hair alone, Labyrinth wins the day.

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
    Ladyhawke (1985)

    I still have that anti-Matthew Broderick bias.

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

    No preference.

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)
    Stardust (2007)

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’S HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)
    Excalibur (1981)

    Ergh. Not really all that fond of either.

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik
    Jack of Shadows, Roger Zelazny

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
    God Stalk, P. C. Hodgell

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    I got nuthin’ on this pairing.

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon

    I will go with Good Omens as far as I can go.

  4. Seriously, Hampus, you’ve done a wonderful job (as did Kyra and Jim).

    Also David and JJ. 🙂

    Horrible, horrible dice.

    FANTASY MOVIE BRACKET – THIRD ROUND

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)

    4. TO THE PAIN
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    Sometimes part of the reason I vote for something is because I think it will lose. Only if I love it as much as the other option, of course.

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

  5. 1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)
    Labyrinth (1986)

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
    Ladyhawke (1985)

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)
    Stardust (2007)

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)
    Excalibur (1981)

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik
    Jack of Shadows, Roger Zelazny

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
    God Stalk, P. C. Hodgell

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon

  6. Oooh. The dice are extra-evil this round.

    1. Labyrinth
    2. (wails, covered in cloths) Holy Grail.
    3. Spirited Away
    4. noooooooooooooooo! Princess Bride, barely
    5. whine!!! Dark Crystal
    6. with a huge “meh”, Stardust. (why couldn’t these two have been separated?)
    7. Urnghngn. Highlander
    8. ow ow ow LOTR
    ————
    1. DRAGON!
    2. godstalk
    3. Li & Ox
    4. Good Omens

  7. 2. Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)

    3. Spirited Away (2001)

    4. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    5. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

    8. Time Bandits (1981)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. Jack of Shadows, Roger Zelazny

    3. The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

  8. 1. Big Trouble In Little China
    2. Monty Python And The Holy Grail
    4. The Princess Bride
    7. Excalibur
    8. LOTR

    Still voting my King Arthur ticket

  9. FANTASY MOVIE BRACKET – THIRD ROUND
    (Hampus’ first language isn’t English? Good Lord, sir. I’m trying to imagine making jokes and puns this funny in *English,* let alone in a foreign language… all hail! All Hail the Glowing Hampus!)*

    *reference to “Welcome to Night Vale.

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)
    Labyrinth (1986)
    Labyrinth holds up shockingly well. The muppets who take off their own heads terrified me, but I’m okay now. Big Trouble: not at all a *bad* film, but it doesn’t have that extra something.

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
    Ladyhawke (1985)
    You’re looking at a guy who flew across the country to see Eric Idle & John Cleese live. (Granted, the main incentive was seeing 3 friends, each of whom I’d known for at least 25 years–I’m 35–but it was Monty Python that provided the reason.) ALSO THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SACKINGS HAVE BEEN SACKED.

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
    Respect for both entries, but no obsessive love.

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
    Gee the dice haven’t been that bad this round
    EYE TWITCH.
    WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.
    WHY. WHY WHY WHY WHY. POSSIBLY THE MOST UNFAIR BRACKET MATCHUP EVER.

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)
    Stardust (2007)
    I remember very little from Stardust except a vague nodding of “Yeah, they got that book right.”
    I will never, ever, ever forget the Pale Man.

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)
    Excalibur (1981)
    TIE: DARK CITY and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. HOW ARE THESE TWO HERE AND DARK CITY WASN’T EVEN NOMINATED.

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)
    Sigh. Gollum arguing with himself finally comes into play, because that scene is so glorious and wonderful it cancels out any of the trilogy’s flaws.

    BONUS BRACKET

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon

  10. Also David and JJ. 🙂

    Yoicks! I apologize. It was brain fog/senior moment/idiocy on my part to forget to mention JJ’s and David’s brackets and their fine work.

  11. 1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Labyrinth (1986)
    Jack Burton has no power over me. Can’t say the same for Bowie.

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Ladyhawke (1985)
    I have forgiven Rutger Hauer so many other roles because of his turn as Captain Navarre.

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)
    If the forehead cloth doesn’t combust as a result of this choice, I will suspect it of containing asbestos.

    4. TO THE PAIN
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
    These might well be my #2 and #3 for the whole competition. To me, only Spirited Away beats either of all that remains standing. Argh!
    The Dark Crystal, by the tiniest shard.

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)
    I keep mine in a jar…?

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)
    Or dwarves as homoerotic subtext. GimlixLegolas!

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

    My votes in the bonus section feel particularly doomed tonight.

  12. 1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Stardust (2007)

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

  13. Meredith: Also David and JJ. 🙂

    junego: Yoicks! I apologize. It was brain fog/senior moment/idiocy on my part to forget to mention JJ’s and David’s brackets and their fine work.

    I appreciate the sentiment, but what I did was hardly the same. I thought about doing brackets for SF and Fantasy book series, then looked at the work of others and said 1) I’m not knowledgeable enough about the stuff I haven’t read to do those fantastic pairing titles, and 2) I could do the research needed to do a great job at it, but 3) nah, I’ve got work and several other things going on right now, and I’m not feeling compelled enough to do so. I have nothing but awe and admiration for those who’ve been running the brackets with their clever and creative titles and little fiction commentaries.

    Having said that, the Hugo Longlist Novel discussion got great participation, the Novella a little less, and the Novelette considerably less. We’ve seemed to move naturally on to discussing 2015 works. So I’ve never asked Mike to post the Short Story or Fan Writer longlist discussion posts I’d prepared, especially since we got hot-and-heavy with the brackets.

    Now that David Steffen’s Hugo Longlist Anthology is out, is there any interest in having that discussion post — since all of the Longlist Short Stories are available to read for free on the Internet? Or interest in the Fan Writer discussion?

    If not, that’s cool, but if so, I can forward one or both posts to Mike.

  14. Under the wire again….

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Litte China (1986)
    Labyrinth (1986)

    Abstain. Haven’t seen either, don’t really care.

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
    Ladyhawke (1985)

    Yeah, no. There are things here that would beat Grail but that ain’t one of them.

    3. JAPANESE BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

    Ooooh. Hard one, but Japanese spirits beat Chinese wuxia.

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982)
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

    I’m not looking forward to having to decide between Totoro and Holy Grail.

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006)
    Stardust (2007)

    Pan’s Labyrinth was really powerful. It gets by.

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986)
    Excalibur (1981)

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981)
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003)

    Dammit, I swear those forehead cloths are hiding from me. Well, once again, for all the adaptations’ flaws it’s still LotR.

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik
    Jack of Shadows, Roger Zelazny

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
    God Stalk, P. C. Hodgell

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon

    The antichrist is funnier.

  15. @JJ

    Not quite the same as the other brackets, perhaps, but certainly worthy of mentioning. 🙂

    I’d be interested in the posts now that the Anthology is out, but I wouldn’t mind having a little bit of time to read it first. 🙂 (Plus by the sounds of it avoiding Thanksgiving weekend would be helpful for a lot of USA Filers.)

  16. I still need more novella suggestions.

    But like everyone here in the USA, I am busy preparing for Gluttony With Friends. Could we start discussions and votes and all after that?

  17. Would people want the Short Story Longlist with online links posted now, so that they could start reading over Thanksgiving?

  18. FANTASY MOVIE BRACKET – THIRD ROUND

    1. BEST OF HAIR CUTS
    Big Trouble in Little China (1986) – 14 votes
    Labyrinth (1986) – 25 votes

    David Bowie or Kurt Russel, who sports the fanciest mullet? David Bowie wins this by a landslide.

    WINNER: Labyrinth

    2. NOW STAND ASIDE, WORTHY ADVERSARY
    Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) – 34 votes
    Ladyhawke (1985) – 7 votes

    What is your favourite colour? This was the question Rutger Hauer never expected, and AAAAAARGH, he is gone.

    WINNER: Monty Python and The Holy Grail

    3. ASIAN BATTLE ROYAL
    Spirited Away (2001) – 22 votes
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – 15 votes

    Hidden Dragon. That is never a good idea as a good dragons is sure to make plenty of extra votes. Pain, revenge and duty against witches, demons and ghosts? Spirited Away is the most popular animated movie ever done in Japan and this proved impossible to beat.
    (notice the sneaky change of title)

    WINNER: Spirited Away

    4. TO THE PAIN
    The Princess Bride (1987) – 35 votes
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) – 9 votes

    It is hard to see how many fingers a rabbit when it plays patty cake. Inigo Montoya storms the room and Roger escapes through a bunny shaped hole in the wall.

    WINNER: The Princess Bride

    5. THERE IS SOME DARK IN EVERYTHING
    The Dark Crystal (1982) – 17 votes
    My Neighbour Totoro (1988) – 20 votes

    This competition has been so close, so close, so close. But winner was Totoro because Catbus. Sorry, Gelflings, the Skeksis will rule for ever.

    WINNER: My Neighbour Totoro

    6. SURVIVING TASKS
    Pans Labyrinth (2006) – 18 votes
    Stardust (2007) – 18 votes

    This one. So close. As one of these movies are on my top five list ever, I was biting my nails, sitting on my hands, screaming at the screen. In the end it was a tie! Both Pans Labyrinth and Stardust goes on to the next round.

    WINNER: TIE!

    7. YOU LACK A KNIGHT’s HUMILITY
    Highlander (1986) – 21 votes
    Excalibur (1981) – 12 votes

    With heart, faith and steel. In the end there can be only one… King Arthur that is. With Excalibur out of the bracket, only the only King Arthur left is Monty Pythons.

    WINNER: Highlander

    8. DID WE SAY DWARVES AS COMIC RELIEF?
    Time Bandits (1981) – 12 votes
    Lord of The Rings – Series (2001 – 2003) – 30 votes

    Yes, dwarves as comic relief. But one dwarf can do more than bump into himself and get in trouble with god. One does not simply defeat the Lord of The Rings. Timebandits loose their map and are stuck in a cage in hell.

    WINNER: Lord of The Rings – Series

    BONUS BRACKET

    1. NAPEOLEONIC WARFARE OR FAUSTIAN STORYTELLING
    His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik – 24 votes
    Jack of Shadows, Roger Zelazny – 7 votes

    Again, dragons. There is something special with dragons used as battleships, especially when they are charmingly fun to listen to. Shadow Jack retreats back into the darkness.

    WINNER: His Majesty’s Dragon

    2. THE DETERMINATION TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED
    The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley – 16 votes
    God Stalk, P. C. Hodgell – 13 votes

    Hoa! God Stalk defeated!? But yes, that is what happened. Close for so long time, but … dragon.

    WINNER: The Hero and the Crown

    3. IT IS MORNING AGAIN. WHERE IS MY COFFEE?
    War for the Oaks, Emma Bull – 13 votes
    The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart – 15 votes

    Another close one, but Master Li and Number Ten Ox took the lead and stayed their. Rockn’ Roll is dead.

    WINNER: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox

    4. A PALADIN AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
    Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – 25 votes
    The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon – 9 votes

    Of course, a paladin stood no chance against the antichrist. Paks is chased away by the hellhound (for the pets bracket?), exactly as prophesied by Agnes Nutter.

    WINNER: Good Omens

  19. @ lurkertype
    re: Novellas

    Here’s my current list in no particular order. I haven’t read all of them but have included what info I have on them, most are recommendations from others so someone liked them. I put a $ in front of those I’ve read. I didn’t love all of them but none were less than 3 stars, imo, six are on my Hugo long list, ymmv. If you have any different titles could you share?

    Pollen from a Future Harvest by Derek Kunsken in July Asimov

    $ The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard – Asimov’s, Oct/Nov 2015
    (SF. Far future space empire based on Vietnamese culture, time travel, grief, missing daughter)

    $ Slow Bullets, Alistair Reynolds

    $ The New Mother, Eugene Fischer, Asimov’s, April/May 2015
    (SF, near future, parthenogenesis disease in humans, journalist pregnant)

    $ Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand, Open Road Media, July 2015
    (Fantasy, 70s folk band, england, isolated house, mysteries/disappearances)

    The Long Wait, Allen M. Steele, Asimov’s, Jan 2015.

    Inhuman Garbage, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Asimov’s #39, Mar 2015.

    $ The Witches of Lychford, Paul Cornell, Tor, Sep 2015

    $ The Life of the Mind, John Scalzi, The End of All Things collection, Tor, 2015
    (SF, OMW universe, forced brainship)

    $ The Bone Swans of Amandale, C.S.E. Cooney, Bone Swans: Stories collection, Mythic Delirium Books, 2015 novella copyright.
    (Fantasy, retell Pied Piper, rats, swans, ogre mayor)

    $ The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred, Greg Egan, Asimov’s, Dec 2015
    (SF, asteroid colonies, rebel escapees, long haul, forced decision, deaths)

    Entrepreneurs, Robert Grossbach. F&SF, May/Jun 2015

    $ Waters of Versailles, Kelly Robson. tor.com, Jun 2015
    http://www.tor.com/2015/06/10/waters-of-versailles-kelly-robson/
    (Fantasy. Water nymph, cruel master, turn around)

    Sleeping Dogs, Adam-Troy Castro, Analog, Jul/Aug 2015.

    $ The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn, by Usman Malik. Tor, Apr 2015
    http://www.tor.com/2015/04/22/the-pauper-prince-and-the-eucalyptus-jinn-usman-malik/

    $ Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson

    Of Sorrow and Such, Angela Slatter
    http://www.tor.com/2015/09/30/excerpts-of-sorrow-and-such-angela-slatter/

    $ The Vital Abyss by James S A Corey from Dozois via @SFEditorsPicks

  20. Novellas: I’ve read much of what junego has so I won’t repeat them, but of the ones not marked read I’ll say that Of Sorrow and Such is well worth getting to, while Sleeping Dogs was fun but didn’t rise above that for me.
    I’d add On the Night of the Robo-Bulls and Zombie Dancers, Nick Wolven, Asimovs, which is a crazed gonzo journey through a city where no-one sleeps any more, and also while I haven’t read Penrics Demon yet, I hear good things.
    The general opinion of filers on Slow Bullets has been rather meh. I found it left no real impression.

  21. @ Mark & lurkertype
    re: Novellas

    Thanks for the new recommendation, Mark. I think many on my list came from you originally. But I did forget two others that are on my list (mis-listed/placed, now fixed). I’ve read both and think they are excellent stories.

    * Penric’s Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold, 2015
    (Fantasy, part of Chalion world, naive young man acquires very old demon, courtship ensues.)

    * The Dead City, Martha Wells, Stories of the Raksura V2, 2015.
    (Fantasy, part of Three Worlds universe, Moon stumbles on one of the myriad sentient races, helps them in fight with unusual & weird sentient opponent.)

    Although both of these novellas are in pre-existing storylines, both stand alone without previous knowledge.

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