(1) GUILLERMO DEL TORO. The Pacific Rim director admires this fan art:
This piece of art by Quivery encapsulates EXACTLY the reason why I did the film. pic.twitter.com/WizRnzgzox
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) March 30, 2016
(2) SHEIKH DJIBOUTI. I always wondered what he looked like.
(3) WORLDCON STAMPS. And for the next few days “Mars & Lunar Colony Postage Stamp Sheets for 11th Worldcon (Philcon II) 1953” are up for auction on eBay.
Unused collection of Interplanetary Postage Stamps in very good condition. The two different stamps were designed by Russell Swanson for the 1953 11th World Science Fiction Convention (PhilCon II) in Philadelphia, PA. One stamp is marked “Luna Colony Postage; First Moon Rocket – 1965; a $5 blue horizontal. The other stamp is a $10 red vertical, “Mars Postage; First Mars Expedition, 1974, and depicted “Preparing the Atmosphere Rocket”. In 1953, these were sold in sheets of 40 for 50 cents by the PhilCon II Committee for publicity and revenue.
(4) I PITY THE FOOL. Will R. can’t get rid of the haunting feeling that he’s been fooled twice by Gmail’s “mic drop” button. Will says —
Though the laugh may still be on me, just so you know: the retraction followed the announcement, and there are actual comments out there (not just the questionable Twitter grabs) from people who seem to confirm that the button was real for at least a while. I admit, though, that it feels a bit phildickian trying to pin it down now, that it would indeed be a clever metaprank if the button never were real, that I’m certainly never long from playing the fool again, and that I hope whatever joke there ever was here is now wrung out.
Really, only meant to apologise if I had steered someone toward a harmful link. No joke!
(5) SPACE PARTY. Yuri’s Night is the World Space Party, celebrated at events on and around April 12.
Yuri’s Night is a global celebration of humanity’s past, present, and future in space. Yuri’s Night parties and events are held around the world every April in commemoration of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to venture into space on April 12, 1961, and the inaugural launch of the first Space Shuttle on April 12, 1981.
“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space….
Since 2001, Yuri’s Night has:
- Featured talks and presentations by Ray Bradbury, Will Wright, George Takei, Richard Garriott, Anousheh Ansari, and many others
- Been celebrated at the South Pole, Hayden Planetarium, and in orbit on the International Space Station
- Planted hundreds of “moon trees” around the world in collaboration with American Forests
- Received the “Best Presentation of Space” award from the Space Frontier Foundation
- Trained the next generation of space leaders for organizations such as the National Space Society, Virgin Galactic, and Space Florida
Anyone can start a Yuri’s Night event, and it’s completely free.
(6) LA EDITION. Find out about Yuri’s Night in LA, April 9 at the California Science Center, on Facebook.
Join with 100+ events around the world in celebrating the 1st human mission to orbit the Earth and all space can make possible for us. Come to the pre-party, make your own space hero trader card, listen to Samantha Cristoforetti talk about her 199 days on ISS last year. Apollo 11 moonwalker, Buzz Aldrin, and Star Trek’s Lt Uhura, Nichelle Nichols will also be there. Your best playa wear or space costume is encourged. DJ Dynamix will be spinning till midnight! Don’t wait, event has sold out every year!
(7) SWIRSKY RECOMMENDS. There was no foolishness in Rachel Swirsky’s April 1 “Friday Fiction Recommendation: ‘One Paper Airplane Graffito Love Note’ by Will McIntosh” —
Will McIntosh is an exceptional writer whose work deserves more recognition than it gets. He won the Hugo Award several years ago for the excellent short story “Bridesicle,” but I wish people had paid more attention to his following novels and short stories. He does aliens really, really well.
However, this story has no aliens. It has dreamy magical realism instead.
The full 2007 McIntosh story is a free read at Strange Horizons.
(8) MORE ACCOLADES FOR BECKY CHAMBERS. While musing about the Hugos (“Hugo nominations for novels: And the final nomination list will be…”) Rachel Neumeier added a paean of praise for The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, which certainly would have been on my ballot if it had been eligible.
This was recommended to me by Linda S, who was right — I loved it. I was trusting her when I didn’t quite have time to finish the book before nominations closed, which worked out fine because I liked the resolution quite a bit. But I notice one File 770 commenter said it might not be eligible. I don’t know why, but if not, too bad! I guess I should have nominated Bryony and Roses instead. Well, at least Ursula Vernon’s story “Wooden Feathers” was on a lot of lists; I was glad to see that.
Anyway, I have not had time to write a review of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, obviously, but I nominated it because it is a really fun SF space opera with a cluttered Star-Trek-Federation type of setting — I haven’t seen anybody tackle a setting like that for a long time. Actually, the closest background I can think of in recent SFF is in Tanya Huff’s Valor series.
I had quibbles here and there with the worldbuilding and story, but OMG did I ever love Kizzy, one of the Best! Characters! Ever! Chambers must have had so much fun writing her, seriously. I have a new ambition: to write a wild impulsive uninhibited extrovert who is as much fun as Kizzy. Wonderful character building through dialogue. I wound up becoming quite attached to all the characters, including the ones who were thoroughly unsympathetic at the beginning. I also liked the rather intimate feel of the story against the very wide-scale background, which Chambers pulled off despite frequently switching the pov. And as I say, I liked the resolution. There are sad things about the ending, but it is not a downer.
(9) INDIE. Today’s Brevity cartoon has a kind word for writers from Middle-Earth.
(10) ANNIHILATION CASTING. Uproxx reports Ex Machina’s Oscar Isaac and Alex Garland are teaming up with Natalie Portman — “’Annihilation’ Becomes A ‘Star Wars’ Party As Oscar Isaac Joins Natalie Portman”.
Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s novel, the story follows a team of female scientists exploring “Area X,” a supposed environmental disaster zone in a future America. Portman’s character, never identified by name in the book, has the ulterior motive of looking for her husband, who was lost on an expedition. In the grand tradition of environmental disaster areas with creepy pedigrees, things get weird pronto for the expedition as Things Are Not What They Seem, but Portman is unlikely to stumble across a little green dude with a strange grasp of sentence structure.
(11) COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT. Jonathan McCalmont was dubious about being quoted in yesterday’s Pixel Scroll:
https://twitter.com/ApeInWinter/status/716524722742280192
The correct context of yesterday’s tweet may not have been Puppies, but rather McCalmont’s general policy, tweeted today –
https://twitter.com/ApeInWinter/status/716526642064130048
(12) DROP EVERYTHING. AWOL announces “Tasmania Is Currently Looking For A ‘Chief Wombat Cuddler’”
OK I know what you’re thinking, what even is a Chief Wombat Cuddler? Well, you’ll be the chief… of… wombat cuddlng at Tassie’s Flinders Island. Makes perfect sense.
Apparently over the past few weeks, a cheeky wombat from our southernmost state has been getting quite a bit of attention online thanks to a real cute YouTube video. Derek the wombat – great wombat name, by the way – lives out on Flinders Island, and because the Internet is all but obsessed with him, the folk over on the island have decided he needs a little company….
All you have to do is fill out the application form here before 10pm on April 16. Entrants must be over the age of 18 and of course, love cuddling wombats. What are you waiting for!?
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Michael J. Walsh, Will R., and Kyra for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor Cora.]
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Another reminder to myself to dig out the Martian stamp (and postmark) from years ago. GRANDIA RESPUBLIKA MARSK! Any day now. But first…
SPACE PARTY: very different from Yuri Night. Seriously, though, space is awesome. And totally fucking terrifying.
Much like yuri.[ticky]
Almost fifth
Fifth – woot
Hey what happened to item numbers?
COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT. Jonathan McCalmont
Poor Jonathan M maybe he needs a File 770 translator.
DROP EVERYTHING
The Wombat story led me down an hour of wombat YouTubes earlier today.
Tasha: Whew, I’m tripping over everything tonight. Numbers added. When I first posted, I also left out the title…
So, did anyone else get a Hugo ballot confirmations tonight? I got three of them so far, which were definitely far from my final ballot. Is there going to be one fro every time I pressed submit that night? Apologies if this has been discussed before, but I got the three tonight after not having seen anything since the 31st.
Hey, kids! Safely You Deliver is up on Google Books! I just bought it, but am taking a minute to update my Calibre program before the conversion to .mobi format.
(5) SPACE PARTY reminded me of a sketch in this week’s SNL where Peter Dinklage sang about (and wore) Space Pants.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/mafia-meeting/3012829
Also a GoT behind the scenes takeoff.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/game-of-thrones-sneak-peek/3012831
All clips ‘Merica only.
I got the email where the title was:
I am not a number, I am a Pixel Scroll.
Lee Whiteside: So, did anyone else get a Hugo ballot confirmations tonight? I got three of them so far, which were definitely far from my final ballot.
MAC II has said that their server got overloaded, and you should gradually receive all outstanding e-mail acknowledgments for your nominations in the next few days. (Note that they may arrive out of sequential order.)
I’m going to wait a week, and then if it doesn’t appear that all my choices were registered, I’ll e-mail MAC II. But I am guessing that they are getting inundated with similar inquiries right now, so it’s probably best if we all take a big breath and sit back with a good book, and wait to see if everything resolves.
Well, since you lot have been banging on about Bryony and Roses and The Raven and the Reindeer but my library has not chosen to stock them, I broke down and bought them on Amazon.
BRB, I’ve got stories to read. 😀
“It’s important for little girls to know not every story has to be a fucking love story.”
YES. This was something I loved about Pacific Rim – Mako didn’t turn into “the love interest.” Thank goodness.
@Mike Glyer
Have you been drinking too much to world peace or not enough?
In case it’s not enough cheers. 😀
Psst, Mike, I think you may have spelt “annihilation” wrong twice in item (10).
Tasha: I did have two beers this afternoon. Didn’t feel blitzed, but my copyediting skills when stone sober are nothing to brag about, so you may have a point.
Blitz Scroll Bop.
Also, re (10): I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this film turns out. Cast sounds good, the books were excellent…
I love it when a scroll comes together.
4 x 5th?
Darn, forgot that using an url from the site known as something-kitsch gets you into moderation. This will be a double post at some point then, unless Mike is kind enough to just delete the first one.
(8) MORE ACCOLADES FOR BECKY CHAMBERS
The novel eligibility thing is a bind, but I’m hoping to see her make the Campbell finalists. It’s a bit hypothetical, but I wonder how I would rank her against Weir. I mean, it’s pretty much book v book*, each of which has some flaws, and each of was just darn fun. (Ok, one of the books was a Hollywood blockbuster as well, but that technically doesn’t count.)
*Chambers has quite a nice short (“Chrysalis”) as well.
(11) COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT
I don’t think McCalmont was being puppyish, I think he’s being grouchy for effect.
(12) DROP EVERYTHING
A title that needs to be read in context, I feel.
Campbell vs Weir
It’s difficult. I enjoyed The Martian a lot more than A Long Way, which was a mite too fluffy for my taste (other tastes are available and the world would be more boring if we all thought the same) but there’s no freaking way the author of a book that gets an Oscar nominated film made of it needs a career boost.
Re 9:
I think that comic, IMHO, would have worked a little better if he had said Elrond or Galadriel (or Celeborn) than Legolas. I could see the Elves of Rivendell or Lothlorien making books. Legolas’ much lesser realm? Not quite so much.
I remember reading the Hobbit and the LOTR in several days when I was young and thinking that the Elf kingdom in the Hobbit was a much poorer cousin to the other remaining Elvish realms. And that I wanted to know more about “the place where those swords came from”. It would be some time before I got to read the Silmarillion..
@Lee Whiteside
I too have been receiving emails that are far from my final ballot. I stopped receiving emails when I saved about the time that the nominating website went down. The only thing I can point to is a facebook post from April first below.
And then a tweet from the twitter account @MidAmeriCon2.
I guess I should contact them and let them know I never received a final update.
I’ve not received any email about any of my saved versions of my nominations :-/
A link that many people here might enjoy — or find infuriating — Wesley Osam’s series of posts on a style of writing he finds infuriating in recent SFF, what he calls “novelisation style”
http://www.superdoomedplanet.com/blog/?tag=novelization-style
And I feel like a pixel
I’m not a pixel
I feel like a pixel
Dammit I’m a scroll
I said I’m a scroll
@Jim Sometimes you feel like a pixel, sometimes you feel…
I am the master of my pixels,
I am the captain of my scroll.
::godstalk::
Like a pixel,
Scrolled for the very first time
And what rough pixel, its hour come round at last,
Files towards Bethlehem to be scrolled?
@Ken And was a Hugo builded here among these dark Satanic slates?
@Andrew Hickey
I’ve read that series of posts and they were very interesting, thank you. I was quite impressed that although he’s criticising a fair chunk of current SF writing he’s not been too inflammatory about it.
His claim that there’s this style of writing influenced by TV makes me ponder, although I’m not sure how true or not it is – maybe the filers who actually write have a better opinion. If it is a real effect, it would be pretty logical given that TV is such a powerful force in the media we consume. If there’s a audience out there who best recognise TV-esque tropes, and dislike intrusive narrative voices, then it makes sense that there would be writers catering to them.
As I came to the edge of the Hive
Scroll pixels – File!
Now if there were quotes up top,
Below it was vile.
Too vile in the Hive for a Pup
Linked from that roll
To better its case for itself,
Though it still could troll.
The last of the tweets of the day
That had caught the eye
Still lived for one last read
On Storify.
Far in the WordPress logs
The comments went –
Almost like a TBR
That one could not dent.
But no, I had things to do;
I was no Dread Ilk.
I skimmed what I could on my break;
And composed this filk.
We are the pixel-makers,
And we are the scrollers of scrolls,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate shoals;
@Andrew Hickey, @ Mark-kitteh
Still reading through those posts of Wesley Osam’s but had to share this aside
“… my implied author version of Robert Heinlein resembles Foghorn Leghorn”
Concerning the comic — it would have to have taken place after the overthrow of Sauron, but before Legolas goes overseas, so he is operating out of Ithilien, and Gimli out of Aglarond.
@Mark — I don’t think it even needs the writers to be influenced directly by TV or film (though it makes sense if they are), but to be influenced by writing advice aimed at screenwriters.
I know that Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, for example, has one of the books dedicated to the late Blake Snyder, author of the Save The Cat screenwriting guide, which Aaronovitch credits for allowing him to write commercially viable work. I’ve seen quite a lot of suggestions that writers should read that, or McKee’s Story, or similar books on screenwriting, for ideas on story structure.
Pix pix pixel scroll high school
Pix(el Scroll) or it didn’t happen
I actually was coming here to ask about receiving an email with some of my nominations missing, but I see that’s been answered. So I will wait and see what else shows up.
Well, they say that there’s an angry troll
That Glyer finds in every scroll
But you don’t see the situation?
See, they start like this, a first, two fifth,
An Aristotle un-asked gift,
Gish Galloping in tag-team inundation.
Inundation, inundation, inundation, inundation
They talk of facts, but what they bring
Is paraphrased dog whistling
And bootless, uninspired insinuation.
They say this year’s list ain’t a slate
But askin’ off it brings their hate.
An’ if you ask twice, it’s cause for inundation
Inundation, inundation, inundation, inundation.
Jack Lint
I reach. One of us must be psychic.
I just received three different emails, in quick succession, with different saved versions of my nominations. The third looks more-or-less like what I remember saving last.
My ballot so far according to the email (we are sharing right?)
Your nominations for Best Novel:
The Grace of Kings Ken Liu
House of Shattered Wings Aliette de Bodard
Uprooted Naomi Novik
Ancillary Mercy Ann Leckie
Seveneves Neal stephenson
Your nominations for Best Novella:
What has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear Bao Shu F&SF
The New Mother Eugene Fischer Asimovs
Shadow of Elysium Django Wexler
Binti Nnedi Okorafor Tor.com
Rolling in the Deep Mira Grant Subterranean Press
Your nominations for Best Novelette:
And You Shall Know Her By the Trail of Dead Brooke Bolander Lightspeed
Our Lady of the Open Road Sarah Pinsker Asimovs
Folding Beijing Hao Jingfang Uncanny
The End of the War Django Wexler Asimovs
Your nominations for Best Short Story:
Tuesdays With Molakesh The Destroyer Megan Grey Fireside Fiction
Never Chose this Way Shira Lipkin Apex
Pockets Amal El-Mohtar Uncanny
The LIght Brigade Kameron Hurley Lightspeed
The Midnight Hour Mary Robinette Kowal Uncanny
Your nominations for Best Related Work:
Sad Puppies Review Books Alexandra Erin
Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity Steve Silberman Avery
You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) Felicia Day Touchstone
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls Hope Nicholson Bedside Press
Queers Destroy Science Fiction Multiple Lightspeed Magazine
Your nominations for Best Graphic Story:
Sandman: Overture Neil Gaiman Vertigo
Nimona Noelle Stevenson Harper Collins
Usagi Yojimbo: Senso Stan Sakai Dark Horse Books
The Sculptor Scott McCloud First Second
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1 Ryan North Marvel
Your nominations for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form):
Daredevil Season 1
Ant-Man
Agent Carter Season 1
The Martian
Jessica Jones Season 1
I’m torn on the essays. Leviathan to me felt like many books from the scifi past (no bad thing there), so maybe it just isn’t the best example for his argument. I do share the sense that we’re in a moment that doesn’t much value the “literary,” and as a person who isn’t ashamed to like such works (heck, even whippersnapper William Gibson has a lot of aspirations in this regard), it is a bit sad. Then again, I’m not sure that’s necessarily attributable to movies and television, nor that movies and television aren’t following many of the same narrative trends.
I tend to think there’s room in the world for popcorn books, white-whale books, and most everything in between. But I’m still considering the premise. Definitely an interesting link.
With apologies to AC/DC:
Some scrolls are held for charity
And some for filking jest
But when they’re read for pleasure
They’re the scrolls that I like best
Mike’s scrolls are always bouncing
To the left and to the right
It’s my belief that Mike’s big scrolls
Should be held every night
…
Oh, we’ve got big scrolls
We’ve got big scrolls
We’ve got big scrolls/And I’m just itching to tell you about them
Dirty big scrolls/Oh we had such wonderful fun
He’s got big scrolls/Book Reviews
She’s got big scrolls/Pups
But Mike’s got the biggest scrolls of them all(Wombat)
Hugo nommer
Hugo nommer
Hugo nommer
@Andrew Hickey
Fair point, although as Aaronovitch came from screenwriting I’m not sure how much to read into it. Actually, Rivers of London is an interesting example to compare to the essay – Aaronovitch gives Peter Grant a pretty distinctive narrators voice.
He does, and I think that’s why I find the Rivers books so readable, even though they’re clearly literary junk food. They fit Wesley’s “novelisation style” in many ways (and of course Aaronovitch’s first published novel *was* a novelisation, of one of his own Doctor Who scripts), but not all.
@Stoic Cynic
hee hee
“You Scrolled Me All Night Long”
As an aside, you haven’t lived till you’ve seen Celine Dion sing the original.
https://youtu.be/3eCxFUZ-2YE
Wombats are cute enough, but I can’t imagine wanting to spend more time interacting with them than with people…
“novelisation style”: This reminds me of the last Michael Crichton book I bothered to read, Timeline. I remember even as I was reading it thinking that from the pacing and the action-heavy “scenes” it was written exactly like a screenplay, and could have been filmed as-is. But from the reviews, I gather that the movie was dumbed down even further than the book.
I like the identification of the elements of “novelisation style” but I guess I do find it more readable than the post author does. Plus I think from a career or money making point of view if you are writing for mass entertainment more than literary ambition, the style makes sense since the easier it is to imagine playing on a screen, the more likely it is to be optioned for tv or movie. Crass but true.