A modest Scroll, but mine own.
(1) WORLD FANTASY CON EVOLVES. Meg Turville-Heitz posted a statement about potential changes in World Fantasy Con on Facebook on August 26.
Apologies for the length of the following, but it is in response to a lengthy letter to the board from Andy Duncan and thus requires some length in return…..
Since we are in the process of agreeing on a new structure for the board, issues of board make up and authorities will be discussed as part of our larger conversation about what we will look like in the wake of David’s passing, and thus will be addressed when that is finalized.
We’ve heard, as well, a number of concerns that we as a board have been non-responsive. This is a product of time scales. We approve conventions two to three years out and thus requirements that we put in place in a given year required already seated conventions to react, which can appear like disorder, when it is not. In 2012, a series of incidents regarding harassment, beginning at other conventions, led us to add a harassment policy to our guidelines and a requirement that upcoming conventions draft one. The word, harassment, however, became a problem. Some of the jurisdictions require anything that can be called harassment be reported to the police for incidents that, in convention culture, wouldn’t be appropriate. We modified this to a requirement for a code of conduct and have been building upon the code of conduct language from DC in 2014. We’ve shared this language with upcoming committees as we work through what we want in place. We are limited, again, by local jurisdictions that could supersede our policy regarding something such as, for example, concealed weapons.
Additionally, concerns about the hotel setup in Saratoga Springs in 2015 (board members were participants on panels where the issues were evident, and were also highly dissatisfied with the hotel’s response to an inaccessible dining room) led the board to add the requirement for accessibility guidelines be provided by incoming conventions and as part of upcoming bids. Board members were working on drafting an acceptable guidance document when David died.
Our difficulty with that document comes from the fact that as a mobile convention, we are landing in places where other laws again supersede our guidelines. We have guidance that we will be looking at that suggests language and kinds of policies, but it must remain flexible.
Regarding Columbus’ program, we have looked at the guerilla site and agree that there are great ideas there. Some topics are not relevant to WFC (e.g. science fiction); others clarify topics we have and we plan to steal from it liberally. Darrell’s role in programming is far advanced, and the timing in the convention planning process does not allow for Columbus to seek a replacement. Ellen Datlow has worked with him to vet and build a better and more diverse program. Critical errors were a draft, unvetted program being published.That’s partly due to disrupted leadership as David had always assumed final authority on the program. We aren’t flush with volunteers who know how to program. If we were, some of these issues wouldn’t even need to be debated
And continues at great length.
(2) SNAIL MAIL SALUTES STAR TREK. Classic Trek went on the air 50 years ago today, and the US Postal Service has issued a sheet of stamps in commemoration.
On September 8, 1966, Star Trek premiered. Centered on the interstellar voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise, the prime-time television program’s mission was to boldly go where no man has gone before.With an intricate futuristic setting, multicultural cast, and story lines that touched on social issues, Star Trek pushed past the boundaries of popular science fiction and became a worldwide phenomenon. Each of the 20 self-adhesive Star Trek stamps showcases one of four digital illustrations inspired by elements of the classic TV show…
(3) PLANETARY POST. Robert Picardo’s latest Planetary Post for the Planetary Society.
In this issue, I share my journey to San Diego Comic-Con, where I quiz Trekkies and NASA scientists with trivia to celebrate Star Trek’s 50th anniversary. Engage:
(4) A TRIBE THAT FITS THE DESCRIPTION. Meir Soloveichik makes a Tolkien-endorsed case in “The Secret Jews of The Hobbit” for Commentary Magazine,
…The dwarves of Middle Earth, the central characters of one of the most beloved books of all time, are indeed based on the Jews. This was confirmed by Tolkien himself in a 1971 interview on the BBC: “The dwarves of course are quite obviously, [sic] couldn’t you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews?” he asked. “Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic.” Similarly, in a letter to his daughter, Tolkien reflected, “I do think of the ‘Dwarves’ like Jews: at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue.” …
(5) NO CHILLS. The Guardian reports on a study that found “One third of parents avoid reading children scary stories”.
A psychologist has stressed the importance of scary children’s literature, after new research revealed that a third of parents would avoid reading their children a story containing a frightening character. A survey of 1,003 UK parents by online bookseller The Book People found that 33% would steer clear of books for their children containing frightening characters. Asked about the fictional creations they found scariest as children, a fifth of parents cited the Wicked Witch of the West from L Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with the Child Catcher from Ian Fleming’s Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang in second place. Third was the Big Bad Wolf, in his grandmother-swallowing Little Red Riding Hood incarnation, fourth the Grand High Witch from Roald Dahl’s The Witches, and fifth Cruella de Vil, from Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians…
(6) DROPPED IN THE PUNCHBOWL. Don’t let the birthday party stop you. Cheat Sheet fights another round in a timeless culture war: “’Star Wars’ vs. ‘Star Trek’: Why ‘Star Trek’ is Losing”
Star Wars versus Star Trek. The classic debate continues to rage on. But while Star Trek has gained popularity in recent years with both Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) achieving mainstream appeal and box office success, it’s still nothing compared to what The Force Awakens (2015) did this past December both at the box office and when it came to popular culture. In fact, to date the Star Wars series has made $2.8 billion with eight films compared to Star Trek’s $1.2 billion through 12 films. So why has Star Wars continued to be such a juggernaut in the cultural landscape compared to its sci-fi foe? Here are six reasons why Star Wars might be winning the long battle with Star Trek.
(7) MARTINSON OBIT. Leslie H. Martinson, a ubiquitous TV director who was active for decades, has died at the age of 101 reports the New York Times.
Just a partial list includes, from the 1950s, the live drama series “General Electric Theater” and “Chevron Theater,” the sitcom “Topper,” the drama “The Millionaire” and the westerns “The Roy Rogers Show” and “Tales of Wells Fargo.” In the ’60s, he directed episodes of “Surfside 6,” “Maverick,” “Hawaiian Eye,” “The Roaring Twenties,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “No Time for Sergeants,” “Run for Your Life,” “Batman,” “Mister Roberts,” “Mission: Impossible” and “The Green Hornet.” His output in the ’70s included “Ironside,” “Love, American Style,” “The Brady Bunch,” “Room 222,” “Mannix,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Wonder Woman” and “Dallas.” He wound up his television career in the ’80s with, among others, “Eight Is Enough,” “Quincy, M.E.,” “CHiPs,” “Fantasy Island” and “Diff’rent Strokes.”
[Thanks to Andrew Porter and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to contributing editor of the day OGH.]
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One more thing: is there a Star Trek equivalent to the Star Wars Holiday Special?
Robert Whitaker Sirignano: We do in fact have ‘Series of Unfortunate Events: the Previous Generation’ (actually I suppose Star Wars is a better analogy there): it’s called All the Wrong Questions. (And it is perfectly open about what ‘VFD’ stands for and what the organisation does; though there’s nothing there it was impossible to work out from the original series.)
Nor have I read a ST novel since James Blish’s Spock Must Die! in 1970; that sufficed.
You’ve missed some good novels, then. (John M Ford, Barbara Hambly, Janet Kagan, Diane Duane.)
@Robert.
Maybe the Frasier/Star Trek celebration?
http://io9.gizmodo.com/remember-when-star-trek-celebrated-its-anniversary-with-1786279291
@Jack Lint:
One I remember hearing from a number of years ago involved fan mail being sent to James Herriot. It was addressed to something like ‘James Herriot, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, Yorkshire’. It was actually successfully delivered, though scrawled on it in a different hand was ‘It shouldn’t happen to a postman, either.’
Out of historical interest, has the original draft of the WFC programme been archived anywhere? The mighty google is no help at all here.
It was probably more fun to do when nobody was paying much attention and you could make the comics about telepathic bunnies, beret bugs, and perpetually-horny red people.
Google translate of French review
Different English review of the same issue.
@Robert W. Sirignano: See John Scalzi’s summary of the Lost Star Trek Christmas Episode: “A Most Illogical Holiday” (1968) at http://whatever.scalzi.com/2004/12/01/the-10-least-successful-holiday-specials-of-all-time.
I did a search through the site and didn’t see this posted. Here’s a Shakespeare nerd’s take on the Klingon Hamlet: part 1 part 2
Has anyone watched Wynnona Earp? I just caught a mid season episode at random and it was surprisingly entertaining. Worth watching more?
There are also two competing stories running in Puppy-lore now*:
1. Worldcon is the old-guard and ageing. It is stuck in the past. Paradigms are shifting, young people want new things, different things. Time to move on. The Puppies are the future.
2. Worldcon has been taken over by new interlopers**. The past has been disparaged. New fangled stuff has taken over. Time to get back to what was great. The Puppies are the guardians of past traditions.
I guess those two narratives can play out together in other contexts e.g. late 70s punk-rock versus prog-rock, in which punk was both new and old (return to basics).
*[I guess they have always been there but they are being more overtly stated now]
**[In one extended metaphor by Dave F, Islamic immigrant carpet sellers at a German beer and sausage festival]
Camestros’s two competing stories of Puppydom would also (at least partially, in a Doublespeak sort of way) explain why Paulk is offering marketing tips to a Worldcon which she seems convinced is not merely pining for the fjords, but has ceased to be and gone to meet its maker, is bereft of life, resting in peace, pushing up daisies and off the twig, has kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible.
There is of course the possibility that some of these people want Worldcon to fold so that they can pick up the abandoned service marks and call their convention “Worldcon,” on the assumption that they’ll harvest past goodwill. I don’t give many of them credit for that much forward thinking, through.
@Kevin
Oh I don’t know about that. The idea that the name has power seems to be something that’s in the mind at least of the Rabids, and I assume the Sads as well.
I do like this analysis of “Worldcon is greying and dying AND the interlopers have turned the Hugos into SJW-central.” Of course, the interlopers have been building their careers for years in most cases, depending on how you count when the Hugos went long. That date still seems to be Schrodinger’s date in Puppy Land –when the soi-disant SJWers ruined the Hugos.
Has anyone watched Wynnona Earp? I just caught a mid season episode at random and it was surprisingly entertaining. Worth watching more?
I enjoyed the hell out of it. The casting of Wynnona was inspired.
Yay, scroll!
5) I’m going to let G. K. Chesterton speak for me here: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
6) This is Puppy thinking. Why does one or the other have to “win”? There are plenty of people who like both, and there’s plenty of room for both in the genre.
@ bookworm 1398: I only recently ran across this hypothesis myself, and it would not have occurred to me independently. I can see it, sort of, if I squint the right way — but for me Dwarves are Dwarves and Middle-Earth is not a giant allegory but a world in its own right.
@ Jamoche: If by that you mean that Abrams should never have been let anywhere near Star Trek, I agree. Star Wars plays to his strengths, but he lacks the imagination and introspection to grok Star Trek, and it shows.
Dragon Con: Where Black Nerds Come Out to Play
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Welcome back, Mike!
@ Darren: Haven’t seen the movie either, but that clip sent me over to Amazon to get the soundtrack album! (And of course a few other things while I was there… I have concluded that the real purpose of the Amazon wishlist is to enable you to get up to the free-shipping limit.)
@ P J Evans: There are indeed some regrettable Star Trek novels, particularly from the early 70s when the guiding principle seemed to be “StarTrek fans are like Mikey — they’ll read anything if it has that name on it.” I recall one particularly execrable example (title mercifully forgotten) that was effectively a novel-length Mary Sue fanfic, in which the violet-eyed protagonist ended up with Kang. But as you note, the quality greatly improved with time.
@Camestros
Most posts by Dave F. are just eye-roll worthy, but that one actually made me furious, because it never happened. Quite the contrary, in Germany Muslims – both longterm inhabitants and newly arrived refugees – happily attend the same festivals as everybody else, though most of them refrain from eating pork and drinking beer. But their kids go on the same carousels and the adults go to the same parties as non-Muslims. Fairs and festivals are actually more at risk due to overzealous security measures driving visitors away than due to Muslims trying to ban them. BTW, there actually was a terrorist bombing at Munich’s Oktoberfest back in 1980. It killed 13 people and is still the worst terrorist attack on German soil after 1945. The perpetrator: a white NeoNazi.
Okay, so Dave F. would say that he only intended the whole “Muslims want to ban a German beer festival” as a metaphor and maybe that’s even true. However, that sort of thing is still harmful, because rightwing Facebook groups are full of stories about Muslims wanting to ban this or that or refugees committing crimes, which never actually happened.
Personal update on my personal update…dad collapsed again. Sis said he probably wouldn’t have made it if he’d been alone. And you’ve all been very kind but I’m going to stfu about this now because my jerkbrain is screaming “YOU JINXED IT”.
Watching Flying Witch until I learn more and find out if I’m taking an overnight bus.
@James Davis NIcoll: yes, he did go a bit wonky towards the end. But I don’t think that impacts his earlier assessment.
Yes, watched the whole SciFi4Me thing with Paulk. I worked with the folks at that site for a while and prior to SP3 it was clear that they lean in that direction. Had a couple of interesting email discussions that ended up foundering on a refusal to accept the “no cabal” argument.
@Dawn Incognito, I’m so very sorry about your dad and about your mean, unreliable jerkbrain (which should definitely stfu).
@Mark: Seconding the “Wynonna Earp” love. It’s a ton of fun and the cast is pretty great (especially Wynonna). I feel it’s similar to “Killjoys” where you have an attractive cast in a sci-fi/fantasy show that is better written and more entertaining than I expected it to be.
(and so sorry to hear about your dad, Dawn)
Dawn Incognito, <hugs> if welcome.
Best wishes to your dad, Dawn.
Awfully sorry to hear about your Dad, Dawn. Best wishes for a complete recovery.
@Dawn–
I’m sorry about your dad’s bad turn, and your mean jerkbrain that ought to stfu. Best wishes to your dad and your whole family.
Lee on September 9, 2016 at 5:25 pm said:
I’ve read several of the regrettable ones (and may still have some in my boxes-o-
doombooks).(I was pointing out that hse missed some that were worth reading.)
(1) The new programming looks much better, although I see they still have “Watership Down” listed as “recent”, the “Occult Investigator” doesn’t list Cornell and Aaronovich, “Timeslip Fantasy” and “Atheist Fantasy” list only old books. “Fantasy from Crisis” lists no crisis newer than 2001, and still only one Shirley Jackson panel. (Plus “I Believe I Can Fly” elucidates the title by explaining a 20 year old song from a dumb movie, by a… problematic… guy.)
Several of the new panels look very good though, and even with the crappy descriptions given in the ones I listed, I suspect the panelists will LOL and talk about things written in this century.
Puppies are all concern-trolling over the aging of Worldcon, they ought to be doing it about WFC, where “recent” work is 20-40 years old.
@Kevin Standlee and I had the same experience, in that when I started going to Worldcon as a teenager, it was “dying” and “graying”. What was I, chopped liver? So even though I myself am certainly graying, I don’t say that for the con as a whole. Indeed, I keep noticing how YOUNG the Hugo winners are.
I hope Dave McCarty listened very carefully to Paulk’s ideas and then decided to do the opposite. She fundamentally anti-groks Worldcon. She krogs Worldcon.
@gottacook: There were a few tie-ins for later ST movies; I have some Burger King “Search for Spock” drinking glasses. Which are not as keen as my Burger King ROTJ glasses, kinda proving the point.
@Dawn: perhaps they can fix jerkbrain along with Dad. I hope you don’t have to get on that bus, both for what it means, and b/c “overnight bus” sounds like a circle of hell.
Dawn, I’m so sorry. That is so worrying. Hugs if welcome.
@Dawn Incognito: You jinxed nothing – but I know that feeling. :-/ You and your dad are in my thoughts – hoping for improvements, thinking positively for ya.
Dawn Incognito, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. Sending best wishes and healing thoughts your way.
Kevin Standlee: Incidentally, to address something that has been floating about: Paulk has been talking to the chair of the Hugo Awards Marketing Committee (Dave McCarty) to discuss promotion of the Hugo Awards. I have no further details. It may sometimes seem (because I’m the one doing most of the updating on the Hugo web site) that I’m in charge of Hugo Award promotion, but the actual committee chair is Dave McCarty. But in any event, Paulk is not lying when she says she was discussing Hugo Award promotion behind the scenes.
What she actually said was that she will be “working with the WSFS committee behind the scenes to help mitigate the damage the motions passed at the business meeting are likely to do to the Hugo brand”.
Having some acquaintance with Dave McCarty, I’m sure that he will be happy to engage in discussion with her; that’s the sort of guy he is. However, I think it extremely unlikely that she will be appointed to either the Hugo Award Marketing Committee or the Helsinki Hugo Awards Administrative Committee, and given her amply demonstrated ideas of what constitutes “mitigation” for the Hugo brand, I think it also extremely unlikely that those ideas will have any measurable effect on what happens (except perhaps in the opposite direction of what she suggests).
@Dawn
I’m so sorry to hear about your father. Please hang in there.
@JJ: Paulk’s calling it “working with” anyone seems like she was overstating. Anyone can talk with someone; that’s not the same as working with someone. 😉
@JJ: Funny how she still insists the motions passed at the Business Meeting are what “damaged” the award, instead of being what had to be done to fix the actual damage she and her cronies did. If she really wants to help the Hugos, she should never mention their existence again, and encourage her little pals to do the same. She certainly won’t be “working with” anyone on any Hugo committee, subcommittee, WSFS, or concom in the foreseeable future. And again with the “behind the scenes”, like she STILL thinks there’s a secret cabal and she really really wants in on it now, instead of the openness and annual reports and things.
Like I said earlier, I hope Dave listens politely and does the exact opposite. That might accidentally make her input of use.
Wonder what color the sky is in Puppydum.
(I’m sure it’s full of phallic spaceships commanded by manly white men who have an eye for girly white women, but nobody talks about their feelings.)
lurkertype: If she really wants to help the Hugos, she should never mention their existence again, and encourage her little pals to do the same.
For people who continually express the utmost contempt and ridicule for Worldcon members and their Hugo Awards, it really is astonishing the many hours and keyboard efforts the Puppies continue to devote to those subjects.
Clearly, they actually do care about the Hugo Awards, hold them in high esteem, and resent the fact that they’re not getting them — if they didn’t, they wouldn’t even be talking about the Hugos any more.
The notion that EPH and other countermeasures will damage the Hugo Awards seems, oh, counterfactual, whether you think the various Puppy strategies are anathema or somehow warranted as a way to overthrow the (nonexistent) SJW cabal. I’ve occasionally amused myself by trying to imagine the world in which Kate Paulk’s conclusions about the impact of EPH are true and I apparently haven’t read enough science fiction or fantasy, because I get nothing.
However, I hope the experience of working behind the scenes in whatever capacity is a pleasant one for all involved. It has happened that people join something in order to dramatically change the trajectory and end up being charmed out of the idea and into a supportive mindset. No, my name is not Pollyanna.
I assumed the analogy was a species of trolling but I agree, it was nastier than usual.
gottacook: Does the number of different ST novels exceed the number of SW novels today?
According to ISFDB, yes.
Once Omnibuses, Collections, Anthologies, Short Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Essays are removed from the mix (which ostensibly leaves only Novels), Star Wars has 353 and Star Trek has 626.
Personally, I find any discussion of which of Star Wars and Star Trek “wins” over the other to be ludicrous, and I am mystified as to why anyone would try to seriously have such a discussion.
They’re two entirely different animals. One is mostly fantasy adventure set in space with some science fictional elements, and one is mostly science fiction adventure set in space with some fantasy elements. But both have wide-reaching fandoms which have some intersection of fans.
It’s like asking whether pizza or pasta “wins”. Both are good in their own special ways, and a lot of people enjoying having some of each at various times.
Jack Lint: My favorite recent postal story was the person who sent a card to a farm in Iceland, but didn’t know the address so they drew a map. (Specified which village the farm was near.) It did get delivered and now tourists are starting to come to visit the farm.
What a fun story!
In Iceland, a Hand-Drawn Map Is as Good as an Address
Mikey? But he hates everything!
@Dawn Incognito
Sorry to hear about your dad. What a tough time your having. We’re here for you.
Well, first of all, we’ll need to work out the limitations of the contest. Are we counting gnocchi and couscous as pasta? If so that really helps Team Pasta. On the other hand, are including Turkish Pide in with pizza or are we just sticking to canon?
I think this debate could run and run.
😉
@Dawn Incognito
I just got this in my inbox. So sorry to hear about your dad. Hoping for the best outcome. We’re here for you.
@Dawn Incognito,
The very best wishes to you, your dad, and all your love ones.
On a Star Trek related note, I can’t help but wonder what melancholy canines might make of a certain Vulcan philosophy – in particular the one about Infinite (something) in Infinite Combinations.
Lurkertype, I think you’ll find that manly white starship captains have a certain amount of eye for off-white pulchritude as well, especially for like the jailer’s daughter, who can get her hands on the escape key (after first proving she has the key to the room with the spare cot in it, if you know what I mean).
Camestros, as is well known, just about every prejudice has a solid factual basis that justifies it, however ugly it may sound to SJWs. Even I, who carefully blind myself to most things in this cruel world, am aware of how deep and ingrained is the German national revulsion for carpets.