Pixel Scroll 10/3/17 You Are Standing In An Open Field West Of A White House, With A Boarded Front Door. There Is A Small Scroll Here.

(1) HEARTLESS. The day after the worst of recent mass-shootings in American history I don’t want to click on Nerds of a Feather and find “Non-review: Destiny 2 by Bungie (developer)”, a post that begins:

Nameless Midnight is my favorite weapon. It’s a scout rifle with explosive rounds and decreased recoil. It’s good in PVP, but it’s amazing in PVE. Every shot is a bloom of damage numbers. With sixteen rounds, I can empty a room with it. Dump a whole magazine into an elite enemy and I’ve probably killed it. Since it’s a scout rifle, it’s second only to a sniper for range too, so I don’t even have to be close. It’s not even an exotic weapon, so I can still carry my Hard Light as a backup. They’re an amazing pair.

I just despair for fandom.

(2) NEW WAVES. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 has been announced, given to those who contributed to the observation of gravitational waves. Half of the award goes to Rainer Weiss (LIGO/VIRGO Collaboration) and the other half jointly to Barry C. Barish (LIGO/VIRGO Collaboration) and Kip S. Thorne (LIGO/VIRGO Collaboration) “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”

Gravitational waves finally captured

On 14 September 2015, the universe’s gravitational waves were observed for the very first time. The waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the USA.

The signal was extremely weak when it reached Earth, but is already promising a revolution in astrophysics. Gravitational waves are an entirely new way of observing the most violent events in space and testing the limits of our knowledge.

LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a collaborative project with over one thousand researchers from more than twenty countries. Together, they have realised a vision that is almost fifty years old. The 2017 Nobel Laureates have, with their enthusiasm and determination, each been invaluable to the success of LIGO. Pioneers Rainer Weiss and Kip S. Thorne, together with Barry C. Barish, the scientist and leader who brought the project to completion, ensured that four decades of effort led to gravitational waves finally being observed.

(3) BONESTELL DOCUMENTARY. In production, Chesley Bonestell: A Brush With The Future is a feature-length documentary on the life, works, and influence of sff artist Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986). The website is filled with interesting resources.

Long before satellites would journey to planets and deep-space telescopes would photograph distant galaxies, there was an artist whose dazzling visions of planets and stars would capture the imagination of all who beheld them. Before that, he was an architect working on projects like the Chrysler Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. He would later become a matte painter in Hollywood working on films like “Citizen Kane” and “Destination Moon”. Who was this remarkable man? His name was Chesley Bonestell.

 

(4) FREE PICKERSGILL. David Langford keeps rolling in high gear: “With Ansible out of the way for another month, I’ve been overhauling the TAFF free ebooks page.” Here’s a new addition, Can’t Get Off the Island by Greg Pickersgill.

A selection of living legend Greg Pickersgill’s fanwriting edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer, published to mark Greg’s Fan Guest of Honour role at Interaction, the 2005 Glasgow Worldcon. Autobiography, reviews, convention reports, musings on fandom, controversy … with sources ranging from 1970s fanzines to 2005 posts on private email lists. First published 2005; reissued as an Ansible Editions ebook for the TAFF site in October 2017. 76,000 words.

(5) PULPFEST. Seven recordings of program items at the most recent Pulpfest are available for listening:

Compliments of the Domino Lady

Long-time journalist and pop culture historian Michelle Nolan takes a look at a female pulp hero in “Compliments of the Domino Lady.”

100 Years With the Author of Psycho, Robert Bloch

Popular culture professor Garyn Roberts, who was received PulpFest’s Munsey Award in 2013, examines “100 Years With the Author of Psycho, Robert Bloch.”

Hard-Boiled and Dangerous: The Many Characters of Erle Stanley Gardner

Anthony Marks, winner of a 2009 Anthony Award, presents “Hard-Boiled and Dangerous: The Many Characters of Erle Stanley Gardner.”

Hard-Boiled Dicks: A Look at Dime Detective Magazine

Matt Moring, publisher at Altus Press, discuses “Hard-Boiled Dicks: A Look at Dime Detective Magazine.”

The Dangerous Dames of Maxwell Grant: Myra Reldon, Margo Lane, and Carrie Cashin

Will Murray, pulp historian and author of the new adventures of Doc Savage, Pat Savage, and Tarzan, discusses “The Dangerous Dames of Maxwell Grant: Myra Reldon, Margo Lane, and Carrie Cashin.

Guest of Honor Gloria Stoll Karn

David Saunders, pulp art historian and son of pulp artist Norman Saunders, talks with PulpFest 2017 Guest of Honor Gloria Stoll Karn about her career as a pulp artist.

Hard-Boiled at 100: The Don Everhard Stories of Gordon Young

California State University Sacramento professor Tom Krabacher and long-time pulp collector Walker Martin discuss “Hard-Boiled at 100: The Don Everhard Stories of Gordon Young.”

(6) DI FATE’S MAGICON SPEECH. Fanac.org has put on YouTube a video recording of 1992 Worldcon GoH Vincent Di Fate taking up the theme another artist addressed at the first Worldcon, “Science Fiction, Spirit of Youth” (46 minute video):

MagiCon, the 50th worldcon, was held in Orlando, Florida in 1992. As the 50th Worldcon, MagiCon recreated key parts of the first Worldcon program held in 1939. Guest of Honor Vincent Di Fate was asked to speak on the topic “Science Fiction, Spirit of Youth” as a nod to a talk of the same name by the first Worldcon Guest of Honor, Frank R. Paul. Here, Vincent Di Fate provides an engaging view of Frank R. Paul, and his impact on SF illustration. He also reflects on his own influences, on authors such as Robert Heinlein, and on some of the greats of early SF film. His love for science fiction is clear, and contagious.

 

(7) FANTASTIC FICTION AT KGB. Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel will present James Patrick Kelly and Jennifer Marie Brissett at the next gathering of Fantastic Fiction at KGB on October 18.

James Patrick Kelly

James Patrick Kelly has won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. His most recent publications are the novel Mother Go, an audiobook original from Audible and the career retrospective Masters of Science Fiction: James Patrick Kelly from Centipede Press. Forthcoming in November are the premier of his stage play Grouped, at the Paragon Science Fiction Play Festival in Chicago and in February a new story collection from Prime, The Promise of Space. He writes a column on the internet for Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and is on the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine.

Jennifer Marie Brissett

Jennifer Marie Brissett is the author of Elysium. She has been shortlisted for the Locus Award, the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the storySouth Million Writers Award, and has won the Philip K. Dick Special Citation. Her short stories can be found in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Lightspeed, Uncanny, The Future Fire, APB: Artists against Police Brutality, and other publications. And once in her life, a long time ago and for three and a half years, she owned and operated a Brooklyn indie bookstore called Indigo Café & Books. She is currently on the faculty at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop where she teaches Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing.

The readings begin 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 18, 7 p.m. at KGB Bar (85 East 4th Street (just off 2nd Ave, upstairs.) in New York.

(8) DISCOVERY REVIEW. Camestros Felapton, in “Review: Star Trek Discovery Episode 3”, wonders if he has the right address.

Or is this Star Trek: Black Ops? The third episode is full of promise for what could be a really good series. Once again, the broad strokes and characters are good but the plot details still need attention.

It is six months after the events of the first two episodes. Michael Burnham is on a shuttle transport amid some kind of space storm on her way with other prisoners to some space mines etc. Viewer alert: engage disbelief suspension system. Beep, beep, beep. Space opera mode engaged: disbelief suspended.

It’s Star Trek, it wants more fake realism than other SF properties but this is still a rubber headed alien universe with tribbles and space monsters. I resolved to give it some more slack when the hull of the shuttle gets infected with electricity eating bugs.

(9) VEGGIES MR. RICO. In Squashalypse!”, BookViewCafe’s Deborah J. Ross finds a way to avert terrestrial takeover by an aggressive nonsentient species.

Okay, we’ve all heard the warnings. In summer squash season, do not leave the window of your parked car down or you will find a 20 lb zucchini on the passenger seat. And every year we (as do many others) suffer a memory lapse and plant — well, too many squash plants. (This applies only to summer squashes like zucchini, pattypan, and crookneck; winter squashes like butternut, buttercup, and acorn aren’t a problem because they can be stored and enjoyed over the course of months.) However, we have devised several strategies for dealing the the bounty that do not involve breaking and entering our neighbors’ vehicles.

(10) ATTENTION TO ORDERS. Hie thee to Camestros Felapton’s blog where you are instructed to laugh at “McEdifice Returns! Chapter n+1”!

It was week 4 of intensive training for the new recruits of the Intergalactic Space Army. Trainee unit Alpha 57 consisted of Dweeble, Mush, Henumhein, Chuckowitz, Mertlebay, Shumpwinder, Scoot, Pumpwhistle, Pendlebee, Zorb, Feratu, and McEdifice.

“I HAVE NEVER SEEN, a more mangy, misbegotten, NO GOOD, bunch of FLEA INFESTED, scum-bag eating EXCUSES for recruits in all MY DAYS at Bootcamp 67!” Drill Sergeant Ernie (Earnest to his friends of which he had none) was professionally loud, cantankerous and had master degrees in bullying, verbal abuse, and counterproductive unfairness.

McEdifice narrowed his eyes. Sure, he understood the basic principle of psychologically breaking the recruits down so as to rebuild their personalities as a hardened unit of warriors but McEdifice couldn’t ignore his instincts and his instincts told him that the camp had been infiltrated by SPACE VAMPIRES. He didn’t know who the infiltrator was but he knew that he didn’t like Drill Sergeant Ernie.

(11) FOR YOUR NYCC VIEWING PLEASURE. Marvel will be streaming programming from this weekend’s New York Comic Con.

Marvel Entertainment invites you to experience the best of New York Comic Con 2017 LIVE from the heart of Manhattan! Starting Thursday, October 5, tune in to Marvel Entertainment’s live stream coverage of NYCC, starting at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT and get ready to be a part of one of the biggest fan events of the year!

Hosted by TWHIP! The Big Marvel Show’s Ryan Penagos and Lorraine Cink, viewers will be able to watch booth events and panels from the Javits Center, play games with their favorite Marvel comic and television talent, and learn about all the fun surprises happening on the convention floor, from exclusive merchandise to special signings.

Join in on the fun by visiting www.marvel.com/NYCC2017Marvel’s YouTube channel or Marvel’s Facebook page. For the first time ever, you can watch Marvel LIVE! from all three platforms!

(12) FANHISTORY FOR SALE. A copy of the 1946 Worldcon program book is up for auction on eBay with some interesting autographs.

SIGNED 1946 WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION

with ORIGINAL UNCUT STICKER SHEET (see last two photos)

SIGNED By: Ray Bradbury, E Everett Evans, Charles A. Lucase, Dale Hart, Myrtle R. Douglas, Gus Willmorth and Russ

The Big Heart Award was originally named in memory of Evans. Myrtle R. Douglas is Morojo, now commemorated for helping originate convention cosplay.

(13) BEER SCIENCE. Tech of a new alcohol trend: “The Taming Of The Brew: How Sour Beer Is Driving A Microbial Gold Rush”.

Trial and error abounds. “We’ve worked with 54 different species from 24 genera,” Bochman says, to find five yeasts capable of souring beers. Nevertheless, each new microbe — whether isolated from the microbiome of the Jamestown historical site, or some guy’s beard — expands sour beers’ flavor palette and allows craft brewers to work with entirely new compounds.

Note especially:

Bochman, for example, uses sour brewing as a “rubber bullet” to train students who’ll transfer their skills to isolating pathogens. “If they drop a sample on the floor, or ruin an experiment, it’s not $2,000 down the drain. You’re not screwing up some cancer cell line. You just spilled a beer.”

(14) UNCANNY DESTROY STRETCH GOAL FUNDS. Not only did the “Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction / Uncanny Magazine” Kickstarter fund Uncanny’s fourth year and the special SF issue, it also met the stretch goal for an additional Disabled People Destroy Fantasy Special Issue.

[Thanks to Dave Langford, Andrew Porter, Cat Eldridge, JJ, Chip Hitchcock, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Paul Weimer.]

58 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 10/3/17 You Are Standing In An Open Field West Of A White House, With A Boarded Front Door. There Is A Small Scroll Here.

  1. @2: I’m croggled at the speed with which the Nobel committee moved. I’m used to an award going to a theoretician not too long after an experiment has shown them to be correct, but ISTM that recognizing experimental work so quickly is uncommon.

    @9: I don’t commit squash, but I’ve read that the way to avoiding 20# zucchinis in the car is to pick them when they’re much smaller (and probably tenderer…); the writer gestures at this, but also talks of finding squash that are tender when monstrous — which ISTM defeats the goal (says the man who walks past 12″ x 30″ cucumbers, individually supported, on his way to the library — damfino what the grower does with them…).

    First!

  2. (1) HEARTLESS

    I’m not surprised. Video game fandom fiercely rejects any connection between real life and video game violence.

    It still would have been better to postpone the post.

    (3) BONESTELL DOCUMENTARY

    Oooh, neat.

    (8) DISCOVERY REVIEW

    I would also like to know what happened to that pilot. Although no-one in the show seemed to be even a little bit concerned…

    (14) UNCANNY DESTROY STRETCH FUND GOALS

    Yay!

  3. (9) My wife once made zucchini bread (summer squash disposal method of choice in my household) without the zucchini. If not for the little bits of green, I would never have known. I fear that humans have simply been planting / eating these squash out of habit.

  4. Meredith on October 3, 2017 at 8:34 pm said:

    I would also like to know what happened to that pilot. Although no-one in the show seemed to be even a little bit concerned…

    They don’t even seem to have a cast credit! I should note that when I say I want to know what happened to them I mean both:
    * why they fell off
    * where they went
    As well as whether they are now fine and happy somewhere nice.

  5. Chip Hitchcock on October 3, 2017 at 8:31 pm said:
    Ideally, you pick the summer squash two or three days after the flower opened. More than that, and they’re likely to be a bit large, though not over 5kg. (That requires missing them for at least a week.)

    Why, yes, we did grow bush zucchini every year. Some of the hybrids (the volunteers, not the purchased kind) were interesting, for values that included tough-skinned but with tasty innards. (Zucchini bread, zucchini chutney, zucchini cooked with onions and frozen for later use…)

  6. I’ve mentioned this before, but I seem to be the Rappaccini’s Gardener of zucchini and other summer squash. Even encouraging bees with flowering plants alongside last year, my squash would start to grow, get a few inches long, then wither and rot on the vine.

    Growing zucchini is supposed to be one of those idiot-proof things anyone can do. Apparently not.

  7. (1) As an editor of nerds of a feather, flock together, I apologize for posting that specific article two days after the Las Vegas incident. All three of us are sickened and deeply disturbed by what happened.

    I’m not someone who blames violent video games for actual violence–the onus for that falls squarely on our lax gun laws and insufficient mental health care. But I get it. Too soon, for one. And maybe we *do* need to re-examine the glorification of violence in our popular culture, for another.

  8. @GiantPanda

    We pulled it. It was a piece on the video game Destiny, which is a first-person shooter with RPG elements. As such, the author of the piece talks about the various weaponry available in the game.

    Given the timing, we decided it was not appropriate. One of us (not me) actually works in the field–training police departments and other public offices on response to active shooter situations. So we are quite sensitive on this topic. More importantly, we accept the criticism and apologize for the editorial oversight.

  9. @Meredith, Camestros: my assumption is that, since Discovery was right there, they locked on transporters and beamed up the pilot as soon as they spotted she was in difficulties. (Captain Gabriel “Better Living Through Cosmic Mycelia” Lorca may be barking mad, but he’s not heartless. I think.)

  10. You Are Standing In An Open Field West Of A White House, With A Boarded Front Door. There Is A Small Scroll Here.

    >> take scroll
    You are now holding a scroll.

    >> unroll scroll
    You are now holding a large sheet of paper.

    >> read scroll
    “You Are Standing In An Open Field West Of A White House, With A Boarded Front Door. There Is A Small Scroll Here.”

  11. Paul Weimer: even MORE meta than my original…

    I think we need to get Camestros to make a Pixel Scroll Quest, the way he did with the Bortsworth Quest.

    Maybe he could set up a prompt-eater, where we can all go input ideas without anyone else seeing them, and he could use that to build the map.

    What do you see?
    >>

    What do you do?
    >>

  12. I’m waiting for Uncanny to have a satirical issue, “Puppies destroy science fiction”.

  13. Bruce Arthur, that sounds like blossom end rot, which is a result of a nutrient deficiency in the soil. I had the same problem, ended up moving squash to a raised bed and it’s doing better. See here for solutions: Blossom End Rot

  14. Squash and zucchini are versatile enough that I don’t mind the glut during the summer. Mostly just mandolin them thin and saute with a little oil, garlic and pepper as a side or tossed with pesto and fresh pasta. Stuffing the flowers is a good way to avoid the ‘sameness’ of a big crop.

  15. L: “that sounds like blossom end rot, which is a result of a nutrient deficiency in the soil. I had the same problem, ended up moving squash to a raised bed and it’s doing better. See here for solutions: Blossom End Rot”

    Thanks! Bookmarked the link. Will see if I can get better results next time.

  16. There are also problems tomatoes get if they don’t have a consistent amount of soil moisture – it gets the shoulders of the fruit, and is more of a problem with container-grown plants (like in very large pots).

  17. Steve Wright on October 4, 2017 at 1:32 am said:

    @Meredith, Camestros: my assumption is that, since Discovery was right there, they locked on transporters and beamed up the pilot as soon as they spotted she was in difficulties. (Captain Gabriel “Better Living Through Cosmic Mycelia” Lorca may be barking mad, but he’s not heartless. I think.)

    I think she got sucked into a wormhole with the electric bugs and out of anger at the Federation became the progenitor of the Borg. As Pavel Chekov once said “If in the third episode you have thrown a pilot from a shuttle then in the following one it should be leading a proto-Borg army. Otherwise don’t put it there.”

  18. 9) Back when I sold books for a living, I sold the hell out of this one: James McNair’s Squash, part of a line Chronicle had of cheap, special purpose cookbooks. Since everyone has more squash than they know what to do with–I sold cantaloupe and cucumbers in our neighborhood, but had no takers ever, I don’t think, for excess squash–this sold mightily. I was talking about it to a favorite prof in the math department one day, and he said he had an answer to the problem of squash overproduction. What was it, I asked? “Let the little insects thrive!” he replied.

  19. Meredith on October 3, 2017 at 8:34 pm said:

    (1) HEARTLESS

    I’m not surprised. Video game fandom fiercely rejects any connection between real life and video game violence.

    It still would have been better to postpone the post.

    I spent all weekend playing my SNES Classic so I’m probably one of the fandom that fiercely rejects it, however multiple studies have been done and haven’t been able to find a link between real life violence and video game violence. While there are games that can and do glorify violence, a lot of that is more our culture being reflected back by media than specifically video game related and can be seen in all forms of media. Recent studies done with an fMRI haven’t shown any difference in empathy from subjects who have played video games, and violent crime rates haven’t increased as games have become more popular but have decreased (not that there’s a correlation with that either). So I do reject that not because I am a fan of video games, but because the data doesn’t support it.

    That said it’s pretty tone deaf to discuss weapon damage output on a rifle (even in a fantasy sci-fi setting) so soon after the Vegas tragedy and I’m glad they decided to pull it.

  20. @Matt Y

    I don’t think I said that video game fandom* was wrong (last I checked the most influence games have on aggression/violence is a. very short-term and b. tied to frustrating mechanics and not violent ones). Admittedly I also didn’t draw a firm line between ‘rejects the connection’ and ‘wouldn’t think too much about making the post until it was pointed out’ which was the implication I was going for…

    *Which I am part of.

  21. Meredith – Ah gotcha, makes sense sorry that I interpreted your statement incorrectly.

  22. @Matt Y

    Nah, at first I thought ‘but I didn’t say that!’ – which I think is true – but when I read it back I realised I hadn’t exactly been specific about what I mean to say, either, and that left it open to be misinterpreted. My fault for being too vague.

  23. Today’s Meredith Moment:

    Walter Jon Williams’ novel Angel Station is on sale for 99c at Amazon US (and presumably the other usual suspects).

  24. Bonus Meredith Moment:

    Humble Bundle has an “Adventures In Science Fiction” book bundle* which benefits SFWA’s author-support charitable fund.

    The bundle contains 24 works, the first 5 of which are available at the $1 level; 7 more books at the $8 level; 8 more books at the $15 level; and the final 4 books at the $18 level.

    * not to be confused with the current, similarly-named StoryBundle

  25. @JJ Thanks. I was running low on ebooks (since the library insists on taking them back after two or three weeks). I now have $10 worth of stuff. I’ve read some of it before, but I wanted the Arnason, and why not grab some others while I’m about it?.

  26. JJ on October 4, 2017 at 6:40 pm said:

    Walter Jon Williams’ novel Angel Station is on sale for 99c at Amazon US (and presumably the other usual suspects).

    Oh, I like that one. It reminds me a lot of early Delany: a classic pulp plot retold with bizarre, crazy, fringe-of-the-law, body-modded, brain-burnt characters. Deliberately disturbing and challenging at times, but the story never drags. I re-read it fairly regularly. Probably needs some trigger warnings for occasional kinky sex and violence, but otherwise, I definitely recommend it.

  27. JJ on October 4, 2017 at 3:12 am said:

    Paul Weimer: even MORE meta than my original…

    I think we need to get Camestros to make a Pixel Scroll Quest, the way he did with the Bortsworth Quest.

    This is oh so tempting. Twine does branching text adventures quite neatly but it doesn’t quite have that Zork feel of typing in random stuff and seeing what happens…but my Javascript skills are improving. So I might try a prototype and then look for suggestions if it works 🙂

  28. Arifel: Motion to change spelling to “Pyxel Quest” for proper fantasy feel?

    I’ll fifth that motion.

    How about “Pyxel Queste”?

    It sounds like a game from Bill & Ted’s Adventure Studios.

  29. Xtifr: I like “Angel Station” for the first-contact aspects, too; it’s interesting to see first contact between two species where the representatives of the species on both sides are desperate and on the edge of total failure, instead of being the best and the brightest of their kinds.

  30. “Pyxel Quest – The Scrollening”

    Or perhaps “Pyxel Quest–The Enzorkening”?

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