(1) Larry Smith is out of the hospital reports Marcia Kelly Illingworth on Facebook.
Please forgive the lack of recent updates. As they say, no news is good news. Larry is back out of the hospital, and appears to be doing well. He was finally able to attend a convention last weekend, and held up remarkably well. At this point, he is hoping to make all of his November commitments. Clearly, he is not exactly on top of his game, and has had to make some adjustments to his activity level and routine, but he is improving.
Larry and Sally asked me to try to convey the enormous gratitude they feel to everyone who has come to their aid through this very trying time. I say *try* to convey, because there just are not enough words to adequately express how thankful and humbled they feel. And let me just add my thanks as well. These are some very special people, and my heart swells when I see this wonderful family that we call fandom come together to help them like you have.
They are currently still trying to find a replacement van. The one they had was a 15 passenger model, with a long wheelbase and extra suspension to handle the weight of the books. They have found a couple of possibilities (of course, none local), so they hope to find one soon. Give yourselves a much – deserved pat on the back for making this possible for them. Please share this update on any list or social media that you have available to you
(2) David Langford proudly displayed his “Sausage Maker To Fandom” badge ribbon in the new issue of Ansible. It was given to him at LonCon 3.
(3) Thursday night’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert had Seth MacFarlane and Neil DeGrasse Tyson as guests. Stephen is convinced that star KIC 8462852 is evidence of the alien life predicted in one of his favorite books. In the final interview segment, Colbert goes off on a seriously detailed Ringworld rant, including crediting Larry Niven.
“Just because you don’t understand what you’re lookin’ at doesn’t mean it’s alien,” countered Tyson…
In this YouTube clip, the Ringworld bit starts just after the 1:50 mark.
(4) CNN reports “Orbiting bacteria: Space Station may need some tidying up”.
The next time NASA picks an astronaut to live in the International Space Station, it might want to send Mr. Clean. That’s because scientists using a kind of high-tech white glove test found something in the space dust there.
The astronauts are not alone, it turns out. They share tight quarters with some previously undetected, opportunistic bacterial pathogens.
Nothing unusual here. The Sasquan guest of honor left his hotel room in the same condition as every other fan at this year’s Worldcon. A generous tip ordinarily covers these things. In this case, two or three million dollars should do it…
(5) Grantland, ESPN’s pop culture site founded by Bill Simmons, is shutting down. I’ll miss genre-themed coverage like Brian Phillips’ ”50 Scenes That Do Not Appear in the Fox ‘X-Files’ Revival”.
- It does not, at any point, transpire that Assistant FBI Director Walter Skinner joins Kickstarter to seek funding for his “elegantly bound novelization” of Infocom’s Leather Goddesses of Phobos.
- The word “copyleft” — that doesn’t get thrown around a lot.
- Jonathan, who is not making churros, does not tell Scully that “it’s about the cinnamon” and then gasp, “I’ve said too much,” and then get shot in the head by a sniper from Venus.
(6) Charle Jane Anders acknowledges “The Difference Between a Great Story and a Shitty Story Is Often Really Tiny” at io9.
To some extent this is a “Devil in the details” thing: It’s the little details that will trip you up. Small inconsistencies can make your world feel flimsy. But, too, tiny character moments and little bits of emotional resonance, in between the big incidents, can do a ton to make people buy stock in your world and its people.
The difference between a shitty story and a great story is often just one of clarity, also. A great story sets up its premises early on, then builds on them and deepens them, until finally you reach some kind of crisis. Going back to the topic of movies, I’ve been amazed by how many movies I’ve seen lately where the first 20 or 30 minutes are compelling and fascinating (the “first act”) and then what follows is a dull morass. It’s like the “building and deepening” part of the recipe just got thrown out.
(7) That lunar rover that went to the junkyard?
“Although Mr. Clueless opted to dispose of the moonlander for scrap, not so the junkyard owner!” reports David Doering.
Motherboard has an interview with the anonymous buyer.
Tuesday, we told the sad story of a prototype NASA lunar rover that was sold by an Alabaman to a scrap yard. That is true, but there’s a twist: A heroic scrap dealer has saved the buggy, which appears to be in good condition.
The scrap dealer spoke to Motherboard on the condition of anonymity because he says he wants to speak to his lawyer about his next steps, but he did send me the recent photo of the buggy above to confirm it’s in his possession. The rover matches a historical NASA image we believed to be the rover in question. It also matches the description given by NASA in its investigatory documents.
“The man who originally bought it, from my understanding, he bought it at an auction. He was a road conditioner [in Alabama],” the junkyard owner told me. “I can’t confirm this is true, but he bought it at a NASA auction many years ago. NASA just discarded a lot of that stuff back then. When it was brought to my scrap facility, I set it aside because I knew what it was. The unit does exist today. It is not scrapped. I have that unit in storage.”
“I’ve done quite a lot of research on the unit and it’s an artifact that needs to be saved,” he added.
David Doering says, “Sure looks like an easy cut-and-dried Kickstarter campaign to buy the rover!”
(8) Speaking of space exploring antiques, NASA needs a programmer fluent in 60-year-old computer programming languages to keep the Voyager 1 and 2 crafts going. The new hire has to know FORTRAN and assembly languages.
(9) Although written before the revised WFC 2015 harassment policy came out, Alasdsair Stuart’s post on the issue remains revelant for making points like these:
In the last two years I’ve been part of a team asked to deal with a single incident. I saw my colleagues treat the individual who had been harassed with compassion, patience and respect. I saw them be given the space they needed to collect themselves and make decisions rather than be pressured into a choice they might later regret. I have rarely been prouder of the teams of volunteers I’ve worked with over the last few years than I was on that day.
And that’s why the mealy mouthed legal tapdance WFC’15 was throwing up wasn’t just bullshit, it was and still is actively harmful. This event, that proudly lays claim to being the definitive convention for industry professionals, was not bothering to do something that events with a tenth its status and a hundredth its reach have baked into their procedures. The obvious defense here is of course the tiny size of the community and ‘we’ choosing to deal with it ‘in house’.
That’s not even in the same time zone as ‘good enough’.
No one on Earth WANTS to have a harassment policy. Even in building one you’re forced to imagine the absolute worst of the people around you, and in doing so, work out how to minimize the damage they may cause. These people have to, by definition, include your friends and colleagues. It’s an inherently cautious, inherently cynical piece of work that codifies the worst potential human behaviour and how to deal with it. No one wants that, least of all members of a community that likes to pay lip service to inclusion and diversity. But we all need it precisely because of that inclusion and diversity.
(10) John Holyoke reviews Stephen King’s new short story collection Bazaar of Bad Dreams in the Bangor Daily News.
For loyal King fans who devour anything the author produces, these collections are tiny desserts: sweet morsels that can be consumed rapidly, without guilt. Like some? Fine. Love ’em all? Better. Hate a few? Oh, well — move on. Take a bite out of another.
For those who are new to King and unsure whether they’ll like what they find, “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” provides a tasty sampler that, like his other short story collections, showcases the master’s array of talents.
King said a year ago that he was confident he could still “write stories that are sleep-with-the-lights-on scary.” And he can. (Try his novel “Revival” on for size, if you’re in doubt.)
But “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” is a collection of a different flavor and seems to reflect the maturing — and aging — of a writer who likely has left far more tales in his rear view mirror then he has remaining in front of his headlights. Recurring themes this time around include aging, dealing with aging and death itself.
And while that isn’t surprising in itself — there’s often a hefty helping of dying going on in a King book or story — the tone is different, almost melancholy at times, as characters face their mortality and battle with questions like the age-old unanswerable: What’s next?
(11) Lisa Morton, Horror Writers Association president, tells the true, highly commercial origins of today’s Halloween holiday.
The next time somebody tries to tell you that Halloween is a ghoulish tradition that goes back to Druid priests practicing pagan rituals, tell them that companies like Hershey, Coors and Dennison had a lot more to do with the modern Halloween we revere than the Celts from 2,000 years ago.
And that’s a good thing, because these companies have largely created the holiday we now love.
While it is likely that Halloween owes much of its macabre character to the Irish Celtic harvest celebration, Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”), there’s no proof whatsoever to suggest that the Celts dressed in costumes, begged candy from neighbors or staged elaborate haunted scares (although they probably did hold major feasts complete with alcohol).
(12) The Horror Writers Association website has a fine array of posts about the holiday by its members. Today’s entry is “Halloween Haunts: Souled” by Tonya Hurley.
We almost drove past it until I noticed the line snaking around the side of the nondescript-looking Dutch Colonial house on the canal. It hardly looked like the scene of any crime let alone that crime — The Amityville Horror. “112 Ocean Avenue. That’s it!” I shouted with half excitement and equal parts guilt. The latest family to own the house was moving out and this was hyped as a yard sale guaranteed to top them all. Shoppers and rubberneckers from miles around gathered to land a piece of horror history, joking with each other, retelling tall tales, mixing myths with fact about the house and the crime like a demonic game of telephone as they waited. A quick walk through the home yielded little contents owned by the DeFeo family, the original owners, who were famously murdered there…
(13) Amy Wallace has updated her Wired article “Sci-Fi’s Hugo Awards and the Battle for Pop Culture’s Soul”.
It is August 2015, and things are looking up for Team Humanity. Or are they? A record 11,700-plus people have bought memberships to the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, Washington, where the Hugo winners are soon to be announced. A record number have also forked over dues of at least $40 in time to be allowed to vote, and almost 6,000 cast ballots, 65 percent more than ever before.
But are the new voters Puppies? Or are they, in the words of Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, “gathering to defend the integrity of the Hugos”? Just before 8 pm on August 22, in a vast auditorium packed with “trufans” dressed in wizard garb, corsets, chain mail, and the like, one question is on most attendee’s minds: Will the Puppies prevail?
The evening begins with an appearance by a fan cosplaying as the Grim Reaper, and that turns out to be an omen for the Puppies. By evening’s end, not a single Puppy-endorsed candidate takes home a rocket. In the five categories that had only Puppy-provided nominees on the ballot—Best Novella, Best Short Story, Best Related Work, and Best Editors for Short and Long Form—voters choose “No Award.”
Earlier, Beale explained to me that his plan was a “Xanatos gambit”—“that’s where you set it up so that no matter what your enemy does, he loses and you win.” No surprise then, that in an email he sends after the awards ceremony, Beale is crowing. “The scorched-earth strategy being pursued by the SJWs in science fiction is evidence that we hold the initiative and we are winning,” he writes. The number of major categories in which no awards are given “demonstrates the extent to which science fiction has been politicized and degraded by their far left politics.”
Quotes from pro writers only – Kloos, Bellet, Correia, Torgersen, Vox Day, George R.R. Martin, N.K. Jemisin.
Zero quotes from fans, who merely run and vote for the awards. Yet Brad R. Torgersen is outraged that still another pro, Sarah A. Hoyt, wasn’t interviewed.
[Thanks to Michael J. Walsh,Tom Galloway, David K.M. Klaus, Martin Morse Wooster, David Doering, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
@ NelC:
No, the problem with that editor (the “second editor” mentioned in my anecdote here, but he was the 9th or 10th that I worked with, if we only count books editors) was that he was the single most incompetent and unprofessional person I’ve ever worked with in publishing–and that’s saying a lot.
Anyhow, no, in publishing, when you give the final OK to a book cover that’s covered in text, you’re saying that’s the final version of the cover, the one they can print.
They see my skin, vampiric white, then they take in my hair, eye color, accent, and they think (well, not “think”, it’s more of a mental shorthand), no, I must be mistaken, it’s well known Latin people are swarthy, and they correct upward.
lurkertype wrote:
The rules as written (the constitution of the World Science Fiction Society) say no such thing. That’s just tradition, and common sense, if you have the goal of getting the best works as determined by the aggregate tastes of the nominators onto the ballot.
Anna Feruglio Dal Dan: They see my skin, vampiric white, then they take in my hair, eye color, accent, and they think (well, not “think”, it’s more of a mental shorthand), no, I must be mistaken, it’s well known Latin people are swarthy, and they correct upward.
I just don’t even.
I’m sorry that this is something you have to deal with. 😐
@David Shallcross
Ok, so it’s in the FAQ, not the constitution.
@Lisa Goldstein: “Is there something that’s the opposite of a Xanatos gambit, maybe a Sotanax gambit, where whatever happens you lose?”
Well, not exactly, but here’s a story about someone claiming a win when it was anything but…
I’m a pro paintball player, hanging at my practice field. The owner asks me to help out a group of players who haven’t won a game all day (he liked every group to go home with at least 1 win).
They’re playing against an obnoxious group – a combination of prison guards and township policemen. Bottom line, they think that because most of them are in a uniformed service, they are ENTITLED to win all the time. (Not commenting on cops or prison guards – just THIS group of them.)
So I give my group a decent plan and they’re doing pretty well when an a-hole from the other team comes crashing through the woods; he’s already been marked (shot) and has a referee running behind him yelling for him to leave the field. Instead, he grabs the flag out of our station (despite being shot more times by me) and runs all the way back to his station, screaming about the “WIN”, hangs the flag and conducts a victory dance in the face of now four referees, all of whom are telling him he was already shot and the hang doesn’t count for a win.
My group is pretty dejected; they’re trying to have a fun time; they took pretty quickly to the basics I taught them and now we’re in the last game of the day. We huddle up and I look each of them in the eye as I tell them: “the objective of this game is not to win, it’s to shoot that bastard in the balls!” (Huge cheer, lots of grins. See, you can’t “lose” when you aren’t playing the game by the rules.)
I’ve played this game so many times, I know what the punters (occasional players) are going to do. And what I know is, A-hole is going to try and grab the flag again for another “win”. So I position myself on the field at his most likely egress point (way back to his own station) and wait.
Sure enough, here he comes, covered in hits, trash talking the refs and the other players. He grabs our flag and heads out of the station on the route I staked out – where I’m lying on the ground, concealed. He – no exaggeration – steps right over me and I shoot him. In the balls. He howls a choked off howl and pukes as he is falling over, dropping our flag and his gun and rolling on the ground making little squeaking noises. (I knew it was unlikely he was wearing a cup. His kind don’t pay attention to the rules….)
My team wins the game. I make a point of letting a-hole know that if he’d left the field when he had first been hit, his “accident” wouldn’t have happened. His teammates stay as far away from my group as is possible for the remainder of their stay. My guys and gals go home with a real victory, and a moral one.
We’re not playing the same “game” as Day & his cronies. We can’t “lose” no matter what they say and their “wins” are as hollow as the one I described above. Eventually, they’ll metaphorically get shot in the balls, roll around on the ground making squeaky noises and maybe, if we’re lucky, puke themselves where we can see the whole thing go down.
@steve davidson
Ah! I think this must have been the whinging after No Awards were handed out.
@Lisa Goldstein:
Is there something that’s the opposite of a Xanatos gambit, maybe a Sotanax gambit, where whatever happens you lose?
A Skeletor gambit perhaps? I’d also say a Cobra Commander gambit, but that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as well.
As opposed to backstabbing your allies to the point where you lose, which would be a Starscream gambit
@Lisa Goldstein: “Is there something that’s the opposite of a Xanatos gambit, maybe a Sotanax gambit, where whatever happens you lose?”
The Cavilo Gambit: all paths lead to failure.
@Jamoche
Since certain canines are so proud of made-up words ending in “f,”, just acronyise your reply and call it the Aplof Gambit.
(Wile E.) Coyote Gambit? 🙂
Don’t worry, it’s not that bad, I find it mostly puzzling. Besides, most of the shop assistants in question are massively less privileged than me. They eat much worse shit, trust me on this. 🙁
(When I am World dictator, everybody will have to work in a service job for a few months, in the hopes of reducing the total number of assholes being asssholes to people who have to smile and be polite at them for a living.)
A wise and benevolent use of your powers, your dictatorship.
I’ve worked retail, admin, call centre, etc in the past, and now it bemuses me when colleagues give our support staff crap. Quite apart from the basic “don’t be a dick” aspect, the place would fall apart without them, and showing appreciation gets much better results.
Plus it would teach the self-conscious among us the Great Truth that nobody in retail actually registers your existence unless you are particularly rude or particularly kind or extraordinarily unusual of dress. Wet hair? Sweat pants? No makeup? You don’t yell at me, I won’t remember you five minutes later. No one cares a tenth as much as you think they do, as long as you’re polite.
Wombat, I think that extends to nobody in all categories. I learned to give less concern to my appearance when I realized exactly how little I cared or even noticed how other people were dressed or groomed. I mean, there are limits — such as one sees on the People of Walmart website, where you wonder WTF, and there’s a difference between not bothering and having no clue at all. But mostly, eh. I’m not odd-looking enough or badly-dressed enough to get WTF, and I’m not young/pretty/etc. enough to get positive notice. I just sort of am. If everything’s covered, I don’t smell bad, and don’t frighten the children, that’s enough grooming for me.
And I don’t care how “swarthy” or not Hoyt is — words have meanings, and she’s neither Latina nor Hispanic. Those are labels that have nothing to do with your melanin level. But we all know how Puppies like to redefine words.
@steve davidson: a wonderful anecdote. You are a man of the people. Here in 1355, we don’t have paintball guns or even many real ones, but we realize that taking out the testicles of the other guy is a winning move.
@Meredith: Yep, this is the squeaking and (word) vomiting part. Lasting way too long though. C’mon, Puppies, rub some dirt on it and walk it off!
“Fire secondary big ray guns on my mark,” I ordered the starship I apparently had just stolen. Keeping my eyes on the display, I continued shapeshifting my butt to find some more comfortable, well, shape for a seat clearly not designed for a human. Off to my left, Dolores, the nano-enhanced hedgehog given to me by my aunts Hillary and Mercy, whose quantum instincts had somehow enabled me to hijack — hedgejack? — this ship, squeaked unhappily. “Patience, my sweet,” I told her, flicked her another bit of cheese, barked “Mark!” at the ship’s OI — Organic Intelligence — followed by “Cloak! Scatterchaff! Jump!” just before what seems like every possible type of sensory alarm ever invented went off just outside my head. I was beginning to regret having married my father three soldays ago… and more to the point, it looked like the feeling was much, much more than mutual…
And if you are polite, and they’ve had a rotten enough day, they’ll remember that positively. I remember at least a couple times where, when all I was doing was the basic please-and-thank-you-and-smile that comes more or less automatic, the customer service worker said something to me like, “You’re the nicest person to come through all day. Thank you.” Broke my heart to think what their day must have been like, if basic I’m-a-human-you’re-a-human courtesy was the highlight.
(I’ve worked customer service too. It can truly be the pits.)
@Daniel Dern: I was beginning to regret having married my father three soldays ago…
At which point I laughed loudly enough to startle the cat. Well done, sir.
My experience with the coffee shop across the street from work indicates to me that it’s appallingly easy to distinguish oneself as “one of the nice ones” in the eyes of the employees. Be polite or possibly even friendly, recognize that the person on the other side of the counter is a person, and tip. Bam, you’re on the “favorite customers” list. I hate to think about what they deal with if this marks me as exceptional.
FILE 770 LIVE-ACTION TV TOURNAMENT AND BRACKETS
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The Avengers (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
… it was inevitable that DS9 would, in the end, face B5.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The forehead cloths are starting to get a workout.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. Star Trek: Deep Space 9
2. Twilight Zone
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. Firefly
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. abstain
2. abstain
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. Star Trek: The Original Series
2. The Avengers
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
FUCK. IMHO, these are the two best of all time. I vote:
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
solely because at this time it has fewer votes.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
Picard. That’s all I have to say.
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Another brutal one, but: the recessional at my wedding was the theme song to Doctor Who, scored for string quartet.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
No question, for ability to sustain plot, characterization, all that.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
TOS is actually my fave of all time, because of Spock, but I gotta vote f/f here.
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
For inventiveness.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)Came to it a season or two late but I lurved me some B5. DS9 never did it for me.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)Apologies to all my friends from my teenage years who tried to persuade me that Doctor Who was amazing.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)I bounced off Twin Peaks while it was still on the air. Buffy? For Buffy I made vampire cupcakes to take to a viewing party.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)Red Dwarf (3)
Have seen a few New Who episodes. Nice enough, but can’t displace my fondness for Red Dwarf. “Too slow, chicken Marengo!” (I made the mistake of making that reference at my favorite bar not too long ago. Had to explain it to both the bartender and the other regular who was there. “Huh,” said other regular, “that’s a long way around to go for a joke.” I bit my tongue and did not lecture him about it not being my fault he’s unfamiliar with classic SF TV… Harrumph. @kathodus, I wish you’d been there to support the geek side.)
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)When B5 was at the start of its second season I was more excited about watching it than I have been about any other show, before or since.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)Twilight Zone was more groundbreaking, more consistent, and I predicted it winning over BSG.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)Another one where I’m voting against my own bracket prediction. The Prisoner was more exciting, dramatic, and imaginative than ST:TNG ever was.
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sorry, Joss, but you’re not getting me to vote against the Doctor.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)You can console yourself with this one.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)Still not voting against the Doctor.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)Phasers and stuff.
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The Avengers (6)
Abstain. I had Blake’s 7 beating Farscape here, so my choice can’t make the Elite Eight.
I have my internet back! And it only took till 6080!!!!!
FILE 770 LIVE-ACTION TV TOURNAMENT AND BRACKETS
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The Avengers (6)
Cally, I need a fresh case of forehead cloths, or I may never recover.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
It was the best of Trek, but it was just a show among many.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
TOS was an oasis in a decades wide desert
2. ALL MOD CONS
The Avengers (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Mostly because I have a grudge against the OL remake — the ‘twist’ endings got very predictable very quickly.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Augh coin toss and forehead cloth.
Firefly
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)
These are both uneven, but Red Dwarf hasn’t annoyed me lately. So, Red Dwarf.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
nanowrimo first day: 5254 words in 12 hours of clock time
and I can still type, sort of
::Places a bulk order for forehead cloths::
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
Oh come on. This again?! I loved both of them, and to me it just comes down to that DS9 went from strength to strength in its latter seasons, while B5…I’m still not sure on that last season. Eps like The Visitor, In the Pale Moonlight, and even the humourous ones like Our Man Bashir were Just. So. Good. Plus, I realise over the past few months that there’s a whole bunch of people who need to watch Far Beyond the Stars. Repeatedly.
Also, love DS9 for finally making Worf cool again, and finally calling out the lunacy that were the Klingons.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
Yes it was awkward. Yes they never knew what to do with Yar and Wesley and Troi. But godsdammit, when it was on it was *on*. Darmok, Best of Both worlds, Inner Light…these were classics, and deservedly so.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Never ever got Twin Peaks. But BtVS was great dammit, and inspired a great deal of other awesomeness.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Huh. Liked Red Dwarf, but fine, I’ll give this to NuWho.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
Pass on this region.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5
I said before that I will always vote for Babylon 5, and that is still true, even when it goes up against a pale imitation of itself.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone
Someday The Outer Limits hopes to grow up and be as good as the Twilight Zone. Today is not that day.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation
I love The Prisoner, but phasers win.
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic]
Mal and company had a good run, but you just can’t beat a twelve foot long scarf.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Twin Peaks
Sorry Buffy, Agent Cooper isn’t a vampire so you have no power against him.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New]
Time travel in a blue box beats time travel in a giant red space ship.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series
Oh Xena, why did you bring a sword to a phaser fight?
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape
D’Argo, tell them who their daddy is.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
Some tough choices here, but not quite as bad as last round, I think. I only sweated a few buckets.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4). Two very similar shows. One had better graphics, but the other managed to keep me watching a little longer.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2). Both good. I’ll go with the original over the copy, I guess.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1). Argh! If I weren’t already voting for two other treks, I might have had to say tie.
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2). This is the third time I’ve voted for Firefly, and I’m really not a huge Firefly fan. It just keeps going up against things I like less.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1). Twin Peaks only had one good season. Buffy had several.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Red Dwarf (3). NuWho is a *lot* better than OldWho, but neither matches up to the dwarf, IMO.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1). For Nimoy. 🙂
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2). Ouch, ouch, ouch! I really don’t want to choose here, but I guess I’ll go with the more stfnal option.
Bracket bloodbath.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
The “original” vs. the “knockoff” (depending on which rumours you listen to). In the end, B5 was just cooler: cooler effects, cooler races, cooler conflicts.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
The Outer Limits (6)
TZ is fab, no question; maybe OL is just a bit more overtly SF, so it gets the nod.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
The Prisoner is great, but like a lot of these shows, the ending was not the culmination of careful plotting, but a haphazard mess that betrayed the intricacies that came before. TNG ended on purpose, and on a high note. Respect.
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
I can kill you with my brain, says River.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Twin Peaks (5)
Through the darkness of future past, the Slayer longs to see. One chants out between two worlds: Fire, walk with me.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Meh.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
TOS is better SFTV, but I’d rather watch Xena reruns 7 out of 10 times.
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
It’s like Disney on acid! Ten years of really great sex all at the same moment.
Coreward Region
1. Babylon 5
2. The Twilight Zone
Spinward Region
1. The Prisoner
2. Classic Doctor Who
Rimward Region
1. Abstain
2. Red Dwarf
Trailing Region
1. Star Trek: TOS
2. Abstain
Sweet Sixteen/Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The Avengers (6)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The Avengers (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Sorry, Lucy.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
5 for trying something different rather than 9 for variation on a theme
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The paradigmatic one
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
Ouch
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
The Time War is approaching…wait that isn’t Dalek’s attacking Gallifrey but federation starships…
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Twin Peaks (5)
Tough but the Red Lodge beats a gateway to hell.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf helped fill the void left by the Doctor’s departure but the nu-who wins by its return.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Obligatory
2. ALL MOD CONS
The Avengers (6)
On balance either The Prisoner or The Avengers had to get my vote but not both. The Avengers wins.
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
2. ALL MOD CONS
The Avengers (6)
Whoever has the towel concession for File770 will be rich when this bracket finsihes…
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Don’t tell my avatar
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
2. ALL MOD CONS
The Avengers (6)
Another consequence of having internet back: My review of Queen of Shadows is now up. It only took until 9410 to achieve this.
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
The Avengers (6)
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5. Clear winner of the “’90s Space Station that aliens come to visit” wars, even if the CGI dates it pretty hard. (I’m still waiting for the day that the original SFX files turn up in someone’s backuped backup and we finally get an HD version).
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
eh… abstain.
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
TNG. By a hair. Riker’s beard-hair.
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly.
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
OH YOU SON OF A… I need to both. I want to both. I… I’m going with BTVS; it’s occasionally uneven, but still, seven seasons makes for a deep bench.
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
… I want to abstain, but I’m going to vote for Red Dorf instead.
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
‘Flawless’, Lucy may be, but I can’t not vote for Spock. TOS.
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
I wonder if Sarah Hoyt might have been missed because outside of the Baen’s obsessives, no one has ever seen her work in a physical boxstore? That a jobbing poorly selling C-list writer’s opinions don’t deserve to be taken seriously?
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)
2. Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1.The Prisoner (1)
2. Firefly (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
2. Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. Xena: Warrior Princess (5)
2. The Avengers (6)
Sweet Sixteen – Coreward Region
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Twin Peaks (5)
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)
Coreward
1. Babylon 5
The toughest pairing for me, both are my kind of SF
2. Abstain
Spinward
1. The Prisoner
2. Firefly
Uh oh
Rimward
1. Twin Peaks
2. Doctor Who (new)
Trailing
1. ST:TOS
2. The Avengers
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5 (1)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (4)2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone (2)
The Outer Limits (6)Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner (1)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (4)2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Firefly (2)Doctor Who [Classic] (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1)
Twin Peaks (5)2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New] (2)Red Dwarf (3)
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Star Trek: The Original Series (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (5)2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape (2)The Avengers (6)
1. WENT DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
Babylon 5
2. ONE DAMN’D THING AFTER ANOTHER
Twilight Zone
Sweet Sixteen – Spinward Region
1. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE
The Prisoner
2. THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Doctor Who [Classic]
Sweet Sixteen – Rimward Region
1. BORN DOWN IN A DEAD MAN’S TOWN
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. I HAVE COME UNSTUCK IN TIME
Doctor Who [New]
Sweet Sixteen – Trailing Region
1. PERIPATETIC
Xena: Warrior Princess
2. ALL MOD CONS
Farscape