Pixel Scroll 11/24/16 And He Pixeled A Crooked Scroll

thanksgiving-meal-astro

(1) AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, I THOUGHT TURKEYS COULD FLY. The astronauts aboard the International Space Station tucked into another technically perfect holiday meal today. Motherboard explains — “Happy Space Thanksgiving: How the Food-Stuffed Holiday Went Orbital”.

Naturally, these hermetically packaged, shelf-stable Thanksgiving edibles lack much of the flavor and flair of the dishes that Earthbound feasters will be piling up on their plates. But these meal packs are still leaps and bounds beyond the humble dinners shared by the crew of Skylab over four decades ago, when manned spaceflight was still in its early years.

(2) SMALL BUSINESS MODELING. Kristine Kathryn Rusch explains why the election was not a Black Swan event, but was one of the reasonably possible scenarios she considered in developing her current business plans — “Business Musings: Running A (Writing) Business In Uncertain Times”.

The first two items in her ten-point plan are —

To do modeling for the next year of your business, you need to be as clear-eyed as possible. You should research trends for your business for similar economic times, if you can.

Then you figure out as best you can what your future will be.

Here’s how you do it.

First, you figure out what the possible futures could be. By July, ours were pretty simple. Clinton victory—then what? Trump victory—then what? Markets react well—then what? Markets react poorly—then what? Civil unrest—then what? Governmental gridlock—then what? Governmental ease—then what? Possible impeachment (either candidate)—then what? And so on.

Second, figure out the impact those scenarios will have on your business. Dean and I were modeling for different businesses. Our retail businesses have a local component that our publishing and writing businesses do not have. Therefore, our models for the retail business were different than our models for publishing and writing.

Some scenarios will have no impact at all on what you’re doing. Others might have a huge impact. Be as clear-eyed and honest with yourself as possible as you set out these scenarios.

(3) ROCKS AND SHOALS. Jules Verne’s status as a hard science fiction writer received an unexpected boost from the latest research reported by New Scientist.

JULES VERNE’s idea of an ocean deep below the surface in Journey to the Centre of the Earth may not have been too far off. Earth’s mantle may contain many oceans’ worth of water – with the deepest 1000 kilometres down.

“If it wasn’t down there, we would all be submerged,” says Steve Jacobsen at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, whose team made the discovery. “This implies a bigger reservoir of water on the planet than previously thought.”

This water is much deeper than any seen before, at a third of the way to the edge of Earth’s core. Its presence was indicated by a diamond spat out 90 million years ago by a volcano near the São Luíz river in Juina, Brazil.

The diamond has an imperfection – a sealed-off inclusion – that contains minerals that became trapped during the diamond’s formation. When the researchers took a closer look at it with infrared microscopy, they saw unmistakable evidence of the presence of hydroxyl ions, which normally come from water. They were everywhere, says Jacobsen.

(4) CAST OF THE RINGS. Empire magazine came up with a cute gimmick: “The Lord of the Rings at 15: the Fellowship interview each other”.

One anniversary to rule them all… To celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, the latest issue of Empire gathered the nine members of the Fellowship, and asked each of them to pose nine questions to one another.

One does not simply walk into a Lord Of The Rings interview. So here, as a little Middle-earth aperitif, we can reveal one answer from each actor. For the full interviews, be sure to pick up a copy of the January issue of Empire, on sale from Thursday 24 November….

Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee)

Where do you keep the sword you were given when you completed Lord Of The Rings? Question set by Ian McKellen

The garage, or maybe a cupboard, or in storage with a ton of fan art. I cried heavily through my send-off. I remember being presented with my costume, including Sam’s backpack (pots, pans, sausages, elven rope, lembas bread, box of salt) and sword. But the most moving trophy was the wee dress [my daughter] Ali wore as she portrayed Elanor in the last moments of Return Of The King.

(5) ALIEN POSTER CHILD. By sharing this image, does CinemaBlend aim to upset turkey-filled tummies? “Alien: Covenant’s First Poster Is Simple And Absolutely Terrifying”.

Following the lukewarm response to Prometheus in 2012, the Alien franchise is aiming to win back hearts with the next entry in the series, Alien: Covenant. As an early Thanksgiving treat, 20th Century Fox just released the first poster for the blockbuster, and it’s making sure fans know that like previous installments, it will be a terrifying ordeal.

(6) UNCLE 4E TALK AT ALIEN CON. A panel discussion about the Ackermonster:

Alien Con marked the 100th birthday of Forrest J Ackerman — writer, literary agent, and professional Sci-Fi geek who not only founded Famous Monsters, but invented cosplay and encouraged the pursuits of monster fanatics everywhere! Hear Forry memories and learn about TALES FROM THE ACKER-MANSION, American Gothic Press’s massive tribute to the man who created the term “Sci-Fi”.  Guests on Panel: Kevin Burns, Joe Moe, William F Nolan, Jason V. Brock

Part I

Part II

(7) SOMEWHERE OVER THE WORMHOLE. Scifinow has it right – “Emerald City trailer is definitely not in Kansas anymore”.

(8) CHIZINE GROWS ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY. ChiZine Publications will expand Imaginarium, its Annual ‘Best-Of’ short story,  and poetry volume, to include more content in an anthology that will be released every two years.

The latest edition,  Imaginarium 5, will be released in Summer 2017 and encompass the best short stories and poetry from 2015 and 2016. It will include an introduction from bestselling Canadian author Andrew Pyper.

There will be a call for submissions for both short stories and poetry published in 2016 for Imaginarium 5 announced via Facebook and the CZP Website in December 2016.

(9) TODAY IN HISTORY

Fifty years ago Thursday, Lunar Orbiter II took a picture of a moon crater. When it was beamed back to Earth, the photo’s then-unique view made the moon real in a way it hadn’t been before — as an actual place, another world that might be a second home for humanity. Seeing the Copernicus crater close up mustered Space Age feelings of wonder. Such wonder is harder to provoke now, but the image reminds us: The moon still waits for us

(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY MONSTER KID

  • Born November 24, 1916 – Forrest J Ackerman

Learn more about him on the Ray Harryhausen Podcast.

November 24th 2016 marks the 100th birthday of sci-fi legend Forrest J Ackerman, founder of ‘Famous Monsters of Filmland’ magazine. Forry was also one of Ray Harryhausen’s oldest friends, the two having met in the late 1930’s after discovering a shared interest in ‘King Kong’.

We caught up with former ‘Famous Monsters’ editor David Weiner to discuss the friendship between Ray, Forry and Ray Bradbury. We also heard a clip of the three legends in discussion, taken from an interview which can be found on the ‘Ray Harryhausen- the early years collection’ DVD.

And in the November issue of Aeromexico’s Aire magazine, Guillermo Del Toro tells how important Ackerman was to his artistic development. (You’ll need to click on the second image and zoom in to make the text readable.)

front

back

(11) TODAY’S ROSWELL BIRTHDAYS

  • Born November 24, 1977 — Colin Hanks
  • Born November 24, 1978 — Katherine Heigl

(12) NEWEST K9 IN THE CULTURE WARS. Sarah A. Hoyt, in yesterday’s Sad Puppies 5 announcement, said: “….One of the things the — for lack of a better term — other side has is bully pulpits…. BUT still, they have magazines that publish recommended lists, and interviews with authors, and turn the spotlight on work they think should be read. We have nothing like that.”

However, as someone pointed out, she had overlooked the brand new review site Puppy of the Month Book Club – where the motto is Hugo delenda est.

Jon Mollison and Nathan Housley explained what they’ll be covering:

So what makes a book a viable candidate for Puppy Of the Month?  Easy:

  • Any novel nominated by the Sad Puppies for a Hugo nomination
  • Any novel nominated by the Rabid Puppies for a Hugo nomination
  • Any work listed in Appendix N of Gary Gygax’s D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide
  • Any work published by Castalia House
  • Any work selected by a Contributor that isn’t shouted down by the rest of the contributors as an inappropriate selection

Their latest post is an interview with Schuyler Hernstrom, a fellow who knows on which side his bread is buttered:

Editor: Rabid or Sad?

SH: Ya know, this is corny but I am actually going to pull a quote from my own work to answer. It is a bit early in the career to pull a stunt like this but it is so apropos I can’t resist:

He took a knife from his belt and cut away the flag and a length of cloth from the sleeve and turned to Tyur. He tied the thing to the hunter’s thick arm. Tyur looked down in awe.

“But I am not of your blood…”

“All who fight tyranny are of my tribe.”

The young man grasped his host’s shoulders and the old man returned the gesture.

(13) REJECTS ZERO SUM GAMES. Kevin Standlee tells how he feels about the latest Sad Puppies announcement in “Perhaps we should be grateful”.

Why don’t these people who are so completely certain (or so they say) that the Hugo Awards are washed up, finished, dead, pushing up daisies, etc. concentrate on the awards that they so confidently insisted would overwhelm the entire field and be the One True Awards That Real Fans Give for Real Good Stuff So There Will Be No Need For Any Other Awards Ever Again? They seem pretty unhappy that the members of WSFS continue to hold their convention and present their awards just like they have been doing for many years, including arguing over the rules (which, for those who have been paying attention, was a running theme long before the Puppies showed up). “Sad” is a good description for people for whom, as far as I can tell, think that the amount of happiness is a finite quantity, so that the only way they can be happy is to make other people unhappy.

(14) WELLS STORY DISCOVERED. The Guardian brings word of an “Unseen HG Wells ghost story published for the first time”.

Here’s a gothic tale for a stormy night: a man called Meredith converts a room in his house into a cluttered and untidy study, and one day asks a visiting friend if he can see anything strange on the ceiling.

Don’t you see it?” he said. “
See what?”
“The – thing. The woman.”
I shook my head and looked at him.
“All right then,” he said abruptly. “Don’t see it!”

This is the beginning of a newly discovered HG Wells ghost story, called The Haunted Ceiling, a macabre tale found in an archive that Wells scholars say they have never seen before. It will be published for the first time this week, in the Strand magazine.

(15) TRUE GRIT. An unplanned furrow plowed when the Spirit rover suffered a broken wheel may have reaped a harvest of evidence for life on the Red Planet — “Scientists Think They Finally Found Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars”.

What the researchers found was that El Tatio produces silica deposits that appear nearly identical to those found by Spirit in Gusev Crater on Mars. The discovery of these deposits in similar environments on both planets suggests life because it implies they were formed by a similar process—specifically, microbial organisms.

“We went to El Tatio looking for comparisons with the features found by Spirit at Home Plate,” Ruff said in a statement. “Our results show that the conditions at El Tatio produce silica deposits with characteristics that are among the most Mars-like of any silica deposits on Earth.”

Exploration by the Spirit rover was discontinued in 2010 when the front wheel broke, causing the rover to get stuck and plow across the ground. This mishap is actually what caused the digging that uncovered the rich deposit of pure silica, and now the discovery of the silica deposits in Chile may be enough to send a rover back to that same site on Mars.

(16) ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE CHURRO TRUCK BELL TOLLS. You’ve got mail!

[Thanksgiving every day for John King Tarpinian and everyone else who contributes to this site, which today includes JJ, and Martin Morse Wooster. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor on Turkey Day, Paul Weimer.]

142 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 11/24/16 And He Pixeled A Crooked Scroll

  1. I’d think that should be “flair” in item [1], rather than “flare.” Unless maybe the food is on fire? I think I’m going to go appertain some sleep.

    By the way, had a great Thanksgiving dinner with a half dozen relatives. After the meal, we ended up in the living room, and talk turned to a physics booklet my uncle was reading (to help his understanding of what my nephew is up to in school) about internally contained fusion. First we said it was the best kind, because that way the fusion’s in a box and you’re outside. Otherwise, in externally contained fusion, you’re in the box and the fusion is everywhere else. Then, though, we conceded that the external kind makes more superheroes, which are better for your department’s publicity. (“More superheroes created than any other academic department! Remember: If you see a superhero with ‘Dr.’ in his name, THEY CAME FROM US!”) We also touched on politics, but since we all agreed, it was kind of boring and we stopped. Wishing everyone the happiest of days!

    PIXO SCROLLENDA EST

  2. Kip W: I’m sure you’re right about the correction needed in item (1). The Motherboard owes you a drink of Tang.

  3. JDC: “And, for some reason, a zombie reboot of WKRP.”
    As soon as I read this, the mind-hampster started spinning out titles.
    “The Falling Dead”
    “The Flailing Dead”
    “The Not-Quite-Flying Dead”
    and, “WRIP in Cincinnati”
    The mind-hampster is now asleep.

  4. (1) AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, I THOUGHT TURKEYS COULD FLY

    Best. Scroll item. Title. Ever.

    (12) NEWEST K9 IN THE CULTURE WARS.

    There is no “other side”, there’s just, “everyone else”.

    (13) REJECTS ZERO SUM GAMES.

    Agreed. Zero sum games: such narrow thinking.

  5. (6) 4E certainly was instrumental in the development of fandom and science fiction (especially movies), but saying he invented cosplay is an erasure of the accomplishments of Myrtle (Morojo) Douglas.

    (12) Given the Puppy of the Month Book Club’s selection system, it seems next to guaranteed to only review old works. I know many Sad Puppies yearn for the Good Old Days, so this might be a sign that they choose to leave the present for the rest of us. (But then, Trump.)

  6. Do the book reports go here?

    The Family Plot by Cherie Priest:

    The owner of a struggling salvage shop purchases a family estate as a last-gasp attempt at solvency. His daughter and her crew travel to the property to assess it and begin stripping it of everything of value.

    Someone should have maybe warned them about the ghosts.

    I’ve been seeing this book described as “unique”, and I don’t really get why. It seemed a pretty straightforward haunted house story to me. Relatively predictable, with some questionable character choices (there’s one early encounter where the main character went back to her shower instead of running downstairs and asking her crew “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?”), but not the kind of blatant hiding of information that I find infuriating. The characters are relatively archetypal. The writing is straightforward, which makes sense given the protagonist. There were some moments where I was genuinely spooked.

    I finished the book because I was curious how the plot would play out, but it didn’t exactly exceed expectations.

    The ending qvqa’g dhvgr jbex ba cncre. Vg srngherq gur glcr bs fgnegyr zbzrag lbh trg bhg bs n zbivr. V nffhzr gung Qnuyvn jnf xvyyrq ol Novtnvy. Jnf Novtnvy fbzrubj genccrq va gur cubar naq gura eryrnfrq jura Qnuyvn jngpurq gur ivqrb? Hapyrne. Ovg bs n JGS zbzrag gung V’z abg fher jbexrq.

    Bu, naq gubfr “zheqre onyynq” ylevpf gung Ohqql jebgr, gung jr ner gerngrq gb ng gur raq bs gur obbx? Pbeal nf uryy. Jnf gung xvaq bs fhzznel, jvgu ercrngrq hfr bs gur obbx’f gvgyr, ernyyl arprffnel? V qba’g guvax fb.

  7. (5) ALIEN POSTER CHILD

    Great, now I’m imagining an Alien trussed and ready for the oven. The arguments over who has to carve are going to be worse than normal in that house.

  8. “If it wasn’t down there, we would all be submerged,” says Steve Jacobsen at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, whose team made the discovery. “This implies a bigger reservoir of water on the planet than previously thought.”

    And the next scientist to be extensively quote-mined by Young Earth Creationists is Steve Jacobsen.

  9. Happy post-Trump Thanksgiving everyone (who celebrates that holiday as, despite appearances to the contrary, it is not celebrated the world over)!

    12) with friends like those, who needs puppies?

    13) I guess they’re not listening to the Donald, who just a week or so ago said “I am so saddened to hear that. And I say: Stop it,” “If it, if it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it.”

  10. Karl-Johan Norén on November 24, 2016 at 10:35 pm said: “4E certainly was instrumental in the development of fandom and science fiction (especially movies), but saying he invented cosplay is an erasure of the accomplishments of Myrtle (Morojo) Douglas.”

    True enough. However, one correction … the two of them invented costuming at conventions, not cosplay, a word that I suspect 4E never uttered. Saying the two of them invented cosplay is sort of retconning history.

  11. (12) No matter what they do, the Puppies seem to end up sounding like bad Robert E. Howard fanfiction. By the by, does their bylaws mean that Neil Gaiman could be up for the Puppy of the Month Book Club?

    [wheat-stalk]

  12. However, one correction … the two of them invented costuming at conventions, not cosplay, a word that I suspect 4E never uttered. Saying the two of them invented cosplay is sort of retconning history.

    I’m wondering–what brand of knife do you use for splitting hairs?

  13. Hoyt –

    “….One of the things the — for lack of a better term — other side has is bully pulpits…. BUT still, they have magazines that publish recommended lists, and interviews with authors, and turn the spotlight on work they think should be read. We have nothing like that.”

    Huh, it’s almost like they could’ve spent the energy recommending works, interviewing and promoting authors, and spotlighting books that they feel are being ignored instead of just complaining that things they like aren’t getting awards.

    Hell even here there’s no suggestion that they should be the ones to maybe take that initiative. Like many of the Puppies Worldcon ‘suggestions’ it’s easier to gripe than to put the work into it.

  14. “….One of the things the — for lack of a better term — other side has is bully pulpits…. BUT still, they have magazines that publish recommended lists, and interviews with authors, and turn the spotlight on work they think should be read. We have nothing like that.”

    Perhaps they should set up some kind of blog? A place where they could talk about their writing and the works they’ve enjoyed and think others might.

  15. @Heather Rose Jones.

    I thoroughly enjoyed your review of Arrival, even though I had already seen the movie and read Ted Chiang’s story. Now I have some more food for thought. Thanks. 🙂

  16. the game is not about “fixing” the Hugos, the game is not about replacing the Hugos.
    The game is about destroying the Hugos.

    The formula is fascistic: identify the cause of your troubles and then attack it to demonstrate that you are doing something.

    Of course, you always need a “source of your troubles”, which is why so many plots uncover even deeper plots. As the attacks on the Hugos apparently uncovered the secret cabal. Which uncovered ties to the nefarious machinations of traditional publishers….

    As Roy Batty said “quite an experience to live in fear”

    Everyone in the world is aligned against me, I must be an important and influential figure to demand so much attention from the powers that be…buy my books!

  17. Well, they are doing a bang-up job in their puppy reviews to show how totally not with Vox Day they are.

  18. Matt Y on November 25, 2016 at 6:39 am said:
    Hoyt –
    “….One of the things the — for lack of a better term — other side has is bully pulpits…. BUT still, they have magazines that publish recommended lists, and interviews with authors, and turn the spotlight on work they think should be read. We have nothing like that.”
    Huh, it’s almost like they could’ve spent the energy recommending works, interviewing and promoting authors, and spotlighting books that they feel are being ignored instead of just complaining that things they like aren’t getting awards.

    Hell even here there’s no suggestion that they should be the ones to maybe take that initiative. Like many of the Puppies Worldcon ‘suggestions’ it’s easier to gripe than to put the work into it.

    Notably, the Longlist Anthology Volume 2 arrived this week. It’s a great way of spotlighting work that’s favoured by Hugo voters, and it’s the result of one guy volunteering his time and a bunch of fans crowdsourcing the initial funds. Not a New York publisher in sight.

  19. @12 – Very few works reviewed yet. Nine Princes in Amber is highlighted and is one of my all time favorite series. I’ve read it multiple times and listened to the audio book multiple times.

    I read 60% of Meta and dropped it. Too many unexplained and convenient events in this Superhero book. I think this was either a freebie or a $1.99 from bookbub.

    Good modern superhero fiction include:
    Wearing the Cape Series – “good” heroes. Protagonist is a 19 year old practicing Catholic. There is a cliffhanger at the end of almost every chapter.
    Confessions of a D-List Supervillain – Protagonist is very gray. Very well written. Some of the good heroes are evil and vice-versa. Many are trying to make a living through theft.

    Please don’t suggest Wild-Cards. I listened to the first book purchased through and audible sale. I did not like such heavy handed leftist political messaging.

  20. @airboy –

    You really ought to give Wild Cards Vol I a second chance. To my mind, it is the best one out of the six books that I have read and I don’t recall that Vol. I had a “message” at all. Not like, say, Jerry Pournelle’s The Mercenary or Starship Troopers.

    If you are really looking for good superhero fiction, you ought to try comics. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series is amazing (though it might have too many “messages” for you) or Filer Kurt Busiek’s Astro City (which is also incredible and I try to use that adjective sparingly). You might want to start with Astro City: Confession, which seems light on “messages” to me, but it is really really good.

  21. Please don’t suggest Wild-Cards. I listened to the first book purchased through and audible sale. I did not like such heavy handed leftist political messaging

    A bunch of different writers contributed originally from a super hero RPG that they were playing at the time, not sure how heavy handed leftist messaging came out of that RPG and different authors but to each their own I guess. I mean I can certainly see the political stuff with Captain Trips stuff, but Zelazny’s Sleeper I can’t see where that’s coming from.

    But regardless awesome Superhero books:
    Tigerman, Soon I Will Be Invincible, The Brilliance Saga, The Mistborn books are pretty much superhero fantasy books, ditto the Black Prism books.

    Whether it’s X-Men or anything else, most Superhero books are likely to cover themes of discrimination over differences, and the concept of equality/justice.

  22. @Rob Thornton

    I have most of the Marvel titles that I like in pdf form. I have a bunch of independent comics from the 1980s – 1990s. “Airboy” was an independent comic. I have all of the original Sandman comics. I agree they are excellent.

    I have a lot of original comics – but have been discarding them as I find acid-free or electronic versions. Bad allergies and putting something musty close to my face is horrible. I always stored them carefully, but the high acid paper causes deterioration. I envy those of you who can buy used books. I cannot.

    If you look at comics from the 1960s to today you have fewer and fewer words. I also strongly dislike the “bug eyes” Anime look. I think limiting a comic to almost all pictures hurts the ability to tell a good story.

    I also have 27 pieces of comic art framed on my office walls. Most of it is from independent comics: Airboy, Mr. Monster, Grimjack; Zot; Doc Savage.

    The first Wildcards book was so heavy handed political that it turned me off. Martin is the editor, he selects the stories, and what he chose for the first book was irritating to me. Most of the 770s are so leftist that they would not notice the politics in the first Wild Cards book.

    Hopefully the 770s are not going to go nuts over my tastes in this. My tastes in entertainment reading are my own.

  23. I forgot. The best superhero books I know of are Larry’s “Hard Magic” series. I’m taking Hard Magic to Liberty Con this year to get it signed. I like that series even more than the Monster Hunter books.

    Matt Y – “Whether it’s X-Men or anything else, most Superhero books are likely to cover themes of discrimination over differences, and the concept of equality/justice.”
    – I liked many of the Marvel books through about 1990. X-Men had the heaviest political message, but it was fine to me.

  24. Airboy says The first Wildcards book was so heavy handed political that it turned me off. Martin is the editor, he selects the stories, and what he chose for the first book was irritating to me. Most of the 770s are so leftist that they would not notice the politics in the first Wild Cards book.

    I think that you’re making a false assumption that 770ers are ‘so leftist’ that we would not notice the politics in a given work. Speaking only for myself, I *do* notice when it’s heavy handed no matter which brand of politics is involved. And I’m betting that most of the folks here are the same in this.

  25. Superhero books? I liked Vicuous and Black and White wasn’t that bad either. Wild Cards I was great, not much messaging at all, but vol 2 was a letdown.

  26. @airboy

    “Most of the 770s are so leftist that they would not notice the politics in the first Wild Cards book.”

    Oh dear, and you’d been doing so well up to that point.

  27. Mark says we comment from airboy: Oh dear, and you’d been doing so well up to that point.

    Indeed he was. There was a piece of pop sociology some twenty years back called the invisible knapsack of privilege. At that time, it applied to white males of better than average income. One Autumn afternoon, I got into a prolonged argument with one supporter of that theory by pointing out that a lot of us have not an invisible knapsack of privilege, but rather an invisible knapsack of assumptions we carry with us but which we’re not always aware of. Airboy just proved he’s got one.

  28. PEDANT MODE INITIATED…

    Wild turkeys can indeed fly, although they will not win points for grace. (They can also swim, which is even weirder looking.)

    Domestic turkeys vary, but our standard eatin’ turkey, the Broad-Breasted White, is simply too top-heavy, and would indeed plummet to earth in tragic fashion.

    END PEDANT MODE…FOR NOW…

  29. 12)Everything I read by puppies always seems to be from a parody account. If I’d opened his book to that part and read it, I would have just tossed it aside as a Conan wanna-be.
    That aside, I checked out the blog belonging to Jon M and learned that ‘alt-right’ is a perfectly respectable term for a certain political viewpoint and that it’s that nasty SPLC that is trying to ruin it for everyone.
    So, I won’t be doing THAT anymore–I’ve got enough crap to wade through.

  30. Red Wombat notes Wild turkeys can indeed fly, although they will not win points for grace. (They can also swim, which is even weirder looking.)

    I saw one thirty feet up in the air as it crossed the interstate here in Maine in front of our car. And no, they’re not at all graceful in flight. And they roost way up in trees at night.

    Fun fact: 300 or so breeding birds were introduced in southern Maine some forty years ago, now there’s well over 60,000 of them all over the region.

  31. Airboy-

    – I liked many of the Marvel books through about 1990. X-Men had the heaviest political message, but it was fine to me

    I’d guess you’d have to consider what made those fine and others not then. Personally I liked the first three Wild Cards books but after that had difficulty sticking with them. Still those first three had a lot of fun moments in them.

    Hard Magic is more urban fantasy, but urban fantasy is pretty much just superhero books really. Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko is a great series if you like that sort of thing. Obviously Dresden Files. Greywalker series is also one I enjoyed. Joe Hill’s The Fireman kind of counts.

    Brilliance series is where it’s at though.

  32. Simon R. Green’s Nightside series, a magical city at the center of London, is a lot of fun and pretty much devoid of left or right politics what-so-ever. It ran twelve novels in all which and was wrapped up nicely.

    Glen Cook’s Garrett PI series is a Marlowe style first person detective set in a city roughly two centuries behind us in technology. Lots of fun with again no left or right politics.

  33. @Cat Eldridge

    I saw one thirty feet up in the air as it crossed the interstate here in Maine in front of our car. And no, they’re not at all graceful in flight. And they roost way up in trees at night.

    Very much indeed. I lived in rural Oregon for awhile and the area was full of them. I had one do the turkey flight version of a jackrabbit dash right across, and inches in front of, the car’s windshield driving one afternoon. Which was both ungraceful and at least a bit surreal.

    Having a bit of a lazy day surfing SF stories. Best find of the day so far:

    http://www.tor.com/2014/08/20/seven-commentaries-on-an-imperfect-land-ruthanna-emrys/

  34. I gotta say, I would be worried about anyone who considered the suggestion that the Red Scare may have hurt people “heavy-handed leftist politics”. I get escapism, but if you need escapism so badly that hearing about something that conservatives did fifty years ago that wasn’t very nice makes you recoil, you may actually benefit from a little less of it and a little more introspection.

  35. Cat Eldridge

    Fun fact: 300 or so breeding birds were introduced in southern Maine some forty years ago, now there’s well over 60,000 of them all over the region.

    Same in MN. Weird driving to work in Minneapolis and seeing flocks of wild turkeys in trees.

  36. Same in MN. Weird driving to work in Minneapolis and seeing flocks of wild turkeys in trees.

    Around here, we have flocks of turkey vultures in trees (when they aren’t on a water tower, or gathered on the roof of one house, likely freaking out the residents.)

  37. Michael:

    However, one correction … the two of them invented costuming at conventions, not cosplay, a word that I suspect 4E never uttered. Saying the two of them invented cosplay is sort of retconning history.

    That’s a little like arguing that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman, but not a superhero, because the word wasn’t applied to the genre until later.

    Rob:

    You might want to start with Astro City: Confession, which seems light on “messages” to me, but it is really really good.

    Thanks. CONFESSION, I’ll admit, strikes me as packed with messages, some of them delivered forthrightly in dialogue. But since the most prominent of those are Christian messages, they may be assumed to be “not political.”

  38. I came out one morning and found a turkey on the roof of the porch. (Cue the Turkey on the Roof musical.) I thought it was lone, but it was just the lookout for the rest of the flock (not a rafter as they weren’t domestic) who were working their way over the lawn.

    Apparently they’re local to the neighborhood as I’ve since seen them a few blocks away sitting in the median of a rather busy street. Or it could have been a different flock. Wild turkeys aren’t particularly distinctive.

  39. What I hated about Wild Cards was making communism seem “ok” and vilifying anti-communist actions.

    Communism was the most evil form of government since the Romans stopped using mass slavery and also human death as entertainment. Communists killed more people and suppressed human liberty more than any form of government. They mismanaged societies so badly that historically massively productive agricultural areas had hunger (Romania and Ukraine).

    Prior to WW2 Lenin & Stalin destroyed churches, shot religious people, and intentionally starved entire regions. The level of absolute evil was horrible.

    I hate communism and always will. I do not enjoy books that make communism seem “ok.” And I lived through the anti-anti-communism period of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. When the Soviet Communist and other Eastern Communist records finally reached the light of day the degree of absolute evil and inhumanity was found to be even worse than what some of the most ardent and educated pro-Western people thought.

    That was what made me so irritated about Wild Cards.

    If you missed this in the first Wild Cards book, then you missed the heavy leftist political message in some (not all) of the stories.

  40. @Cat Eldridge on November 25, 2016 at 10:06 am said:
    “the invisible knapsack of privilege. At that time, it applied to white males of better than average income.” “Airboy just proved he’s got one.”

    Are you frequently a bully? Do you frequently call people names while knowing almost nothing about them? Maybe you should think twice before labeling people.

Comments are closed.