(1) 55 YEARS AGO TODAY. Cora Buhlert has written an article about Franco-Belgian-Dutch comics for Galactic Journey: “[NOVEMBER 18, 1965] HUMOUR, HEROES AND HISTORY: THE COMICS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS”. Cora did a lot of research: “While I read all of those comics as a kid (my Dad worked in the Netherlands and Belgium and while my Dutch was never good enough for novels, comics were no problem), I rarely paid attention to artists and writers nor did I have any idea what was published when and where.” She knows now!
…The comics heart of Europe undoubtedly beats in France and Belgium. For here, comics are considered not disposable entertainment for kids, but a genuine art form. Belgian comics artist Maurice De Bevere, better known as Morris, referred to comics as “the ninth art”.
US comic books only focus on a single character or group. The French-Belgian industry is different, since it focusses on anthology magazines, which contain several different serialised comic strips. The most popular comics are later collected in books known as albums.
Three comic magazines dominate the French-Belgian-Dutch market. The Belgian magazines Spirou (Robbedoes in Flemish) and Tintin (Kuifje in Flemish) and the French magazine Pilote. All three have their own distinct style and voice….
(2) WINDOW ON CHENGDU. At Black Gate Francesco Verso pulls out all the stops for the Chengdu in 2023 Worldcon bid: “Guest Editorial: Let’s Welcome the Future… in China”. A successful Italian sff author, Verso also is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Future Fiction, “a multicultural project, publishing the best SF in translation from 8 languages and more than 20 countries.” He has edited an international SF anthology for the Chinese publisher Guangzhou Blue Ocean Press that was to be distributed to Chinese high schools and universities in 2019.
…Reading Chinese SF gave me a feeling of freshness and cautious optimism; a unique “sense of wonder” permeated many of the stories I read. From climate change to inter-generational scenarios, from android caregivers to futuristic market forces, Big Data and of course the traditional Chinese culture updated to contemporary flavors, the ideas came from a rapidly changing society living them today. To quote Han Song, “You simply need to open a window in China to see a preview of the future.”
The same applies for Science Fiction Conventions. I’ve had the honor and privilege to attend many meetings organized by fandom in collaboration with various institutions (both public and private ones) from Beijing to Chongqing, from Shenzhen to Chengdu.
These conventions are nothing like we’ve seen and experienced in the West.
Thousands of passionate fans, hundreds staff, tens of Special Guests from China and the rest of the world displayed an expertise and enthusiasm which struck me from the very first time, at the 4th International SF Convention of Chengdu in 2017 (see Black Gate‘s report here). During many panels, there were real-time interpreters from Chinese to English and from English to Chinese to help with communication. No guest was left alone and a true sense of community (already strong in all SF conventions) was circulating from morning to night events.
Three years have since passed and I’ve visited China six times to participate in events like the first Asia Pacific SF Convention and the National Chinese SF Convention in Beijing (see Locus Magazine’s report here), the 5th International SF Convention of Chengdu (see Black Gate‘s report here), the opening ceremony of the Fishing Fortress Center of Science Fiction of Chongqing. I can fairly say the following without fear of being proved wrong: No other country can benefit from such a rich past and an innovative present as China.
No other country – from fandom to scholars, from magazine to publishing houses, from conventions to academic meetings – is investing so much energy and passion in Science Fiction as China.
No other country has the level of support – including public sector grants, private institutions funding and fan staff – as China.
That’s an incredible leverage to use for boosting Science Fiction in a highly-populated country that has come to realize that it will shape a relevant part of the future awaiting the whole world.
The committee of the Chengdu bid for the 2023 WorldCon is doing an excellent job to prepare for the event. They are showing the beauty of the city, its many historical traces, such as the Three-Star Piles, the Water Conservancy project of the Qin Dynasty, the poets of the Tang Dynasty and of course the pandas!
(3) SECOND, ER, SIXTH CHANCE. “Academy Museum Gives Debbie Reynolds Her Due as a Costume Conservator” – finally. The New York Times has the story. Tagline: “When the ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ actress was alive, the film academy turned up its nose at her fabled costume collection. Now it has gone to her son with hat in hand.”
… The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences turned her down — five times. Reynolds quoted an uninterested David Geffen in her 2013 memoir as once saying, “Why don’t you just sell that stuff?”
In debt, she finally had no other choice, auctioning Marilyn Monroe’s ivory-pleated halter dress that blew upward in “The Seven Year Itch” for $4.6 million and Audrey Hepburn’s lace Royal Ascot number from “My Fair Lady” for $3.7 million — prices that shocked moviedom’s aristocracy and proved Reynolds had been right. Also sold, in some cases to anonymous overseas collectors, were Charlton Heston’s “Ben-Hur” tunic and cape, the acoustic guitar Julie Andrews strummed in “The Sound of Music” and every hat that Vivien Leigh flaunted in “Gone With the Wind.”
Now, four years after she died at 84, there has been a plot twist in the Debbie Reynolds costume collection saga, one that she would undoubtedly find both maddening and satisfying: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, set to open on April 30 and costing $482 million, finds itself caring about her collection — at least the part that is left, which includes iconic costumes she wore in movies like “Singin’ in the Rain.” Also remaining are screen garments created for Mary Pickford, Deborah Kerr and Cyd Charisse, as well as rare memorabilia from classics like “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Maltese Falcon.”
… So far, Fisher has agreed to lend the Academy Museum one item from his own collection: a set of seven Bausch and Lomb Baltar lenses used by Gregg Toland, the fabled “Citizen Kane” cinematographer. But Fisher, 62, said more items would come, as long as the Debbie Reynolds Conservation Studio exists on the museum’s lower level next to the Shirley Temple Education Studio.
“My mother was one of the most forgiving people ever,” Fisher said. “She would never want me to hold a grudge just because I have knowledge of all the missed opportunities — how the people running the academy in the past were never willing to step up and support her. She would have wanted me to share these important artifacts with future generations. So, as long as they are properly recognizing my mother for her contribution to this discipline, I agreed to provide access to whatever I have access to.”…
(4) HELPING YOURSELF. Advice from the Milford SF Writers blog: “Launching a book during a pandemic: tips & tricks for doing your own PR/marketing by Tiffani Angus”.
… Think beyond the obvious. Sure, you want reviews and other events, but there might be angles that you’re not considering. My book is historical fantasy set in a garden over 400 years. Our list included the usual outlets such as the British Fantasy Society, but we knew we could expand from there. Because the book is historical, we put organisations such as the Historical Novel Society on the list. I also remembered that I used to go to the Garden History Museum in London when I was a student and had a slight correspondence with the director, so I put him and the museum on the list along with National Trust houses near me with inspirational gardens and giftshops in hopes of maybe getting the book on those shelves.
Go local. Smaller towns (and some larger ones) love stories about locals. If your town has a paper, send a press release. If you work in a different town, send one there, too. Writing a release takes some practice, but there is plenty of advice on the ‘net. Small stories about me showed up in the paper where I live and the paper in my work-town, along with a magazine in my work-town. From those, I’ve sold several copies out of the local book shop….
(5) WW84. Lyles Movie Files says mark your calendar: “Wonder Woman 1984 arriving in theaters and HBO Max on December 25”.
Considering the sequel already cost $200 million, Warner Bros. likely expected a massive payday and was hoping to wait out the pandemic so audiences worldwide (specifically domestically) could pay for it.
But with another wave of COVID-19 predicted, the domestic theatrical window seems even more in jeopardy. This will be an interesting development and could signal further changes for delayed 2020 blockbusters like No Time to Die, Black Widow and Fast and Furious 9.
(6) AMY CARPENTER OBIT. Well-liked Pacific Northwest book dealer Amy Carpenter has died Filk Radio reported on Facebook:
Very Sad news. A friend Amy Carpenter, aka Amycat, has passed away. She was a fixture at convention dealer’s rooms selling books as Book Universes. She will be missed.
Many people are leaving warm personal tributes on her FB page.
The cause of death was not posted. However, just two weeks ago Carpenter wrote on Facebook about a trip to the ER for “what seems to have been a small heart attack.”
(7) COCKROFT OBIT. “The Dice Man author George Cockcroft (aka Luke Rhinehart) dies aged 87” – The Guardian pays tribute.
The author of the cult classic novel The Dice Man, in which a bored psychiatrist travels to some very dark places when he lets “the dice decide” his options, has died at the age of 87.
George Powers Cockcroft, who published The Dice Man in 1971 under the pseudonym Luke Rhinehart, died on 6 November, his publishers confirmed to the Guardian.
…The author of 11 books, most recently Invasion, a novel in which furry aliens come to Earth to have fun, Rhinehart remains best known for The Dice Man. Published in 1971, it was seemingly an autobiography, telling of a psychiatrist named Luke Rhinehart who decides to roll a dice each time he has to make a decision.
I knew a guy at LASFS who said he did this for awhile, too.
(8) LONG OBIT. [Item by Steven H Silver.] Artist and author Duncan Long (b.1949) died on December 31, 2016. His death was unreported here at the time. Long wrote the Spider Worlds trilogy and three other novels. His art appeared on the covers of Asimov’s, The Leading Edge, and the Steven Barnes collection Assassins and Other Stories. He also served as the art director for the revamped Amazing Stories.
(9) MEDIA ANNIVESARY.
1980 — Forty years ago, Ray Bradbury was given the Gandalf Grand Master Award for life achievement in fantasy writing. The Gandalf Award was created and sponsored by Lin Carter and the Swordsmen and Sorcerers’ Guild of America, an association of fantasy writers including John Jakes, Poul Anderson, Fritz Leiber, C. J. Cherryh, Tanith Lee and Roger Zelazny to name but a few of the members. (Much of their work is collected in the Flashing Swords! anthology series.) J. R. R. Tolkien, recently deceased, was given the first such Award, and the other recipients were Fritz Leiber, L. Sprague de Camp, Andre Norton, Poul Anderson, Ursula K. Le Guin and C. L. Moore.
(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.
[Compiled by Cat Eldridge and John Hertz.]
- Born November 18, 1922 – Edward C. Connor. Known as “Ecco”. Took over the Fanewscard from Tucker in the mid-1940s, ran it for a year with Frank Robinson. Famous for a Post Office (as it then was) adventure with Ecco’s zine S.F. Echo; that and more here. (Died 1999) [JH]
- Born November 18, 1923 – Alan Shepard. First American in Space. Piloted the Apollo lunar module Antares to the most accurate landing of the Apollo missions. Hit two golf balls on the Moon. Moon Shot with Deke Slayton and two journalists. Two (nonconsecutive) terms as Chief of the Astronaut Office. Not fiction, but the right stuff. More here. (Died 1998) [JH]
- Born November 18, 1936 – Suzette Elgin. Founded the SF Poetry Ass’n; its Elgin Awards (one for chapbook, one for full-length, annually) named for her. Edited Star*Line three years. SF Poetry Handbook by her, with Mike Allen & Bud Webster helping; an SF Site review here. A dozen novels, another of shorter stories (“Lo, How an Oak E’er Blooming” was translated into German as Siehe, die Eiche blüht ewig, another time as Und ewig blühet die Eiche, both titles missing the allusion to Es ist ein Ros entsprungen), three dozen poems; many essays in Star*Line and elsewhere. If SF prose is hard, SF poetry is harder. Or easier. Or – let’s go to the next birthday notice. (Died 2015) [JH]
- Born November 18, 1946 — Alan Dean Foster, 74. There’s fifteen Pip and Flinx novels?!? Well the first five or so were superb. Spellsinger series is tasty too. Can’t say anything about his Stars Wars work as I never got into it. (CE)
- Born November 18, 1950 — Michael Swanwick, 70. I will single out The Iron Dragon’s Daughter and Jack Faust as the novels I remember liking the best. His short fiction is quite excellent, and I see both Apple Books and Kindle have the most excellent Tales of Old Earth collectionwith this lovely cover. (CE)
- Born November 18, 1950 — Eric Pierpoint, 70. I’d say that he’s best known for his role as George Francisco on the Alien Nation franchise. He has also appeared on each of the first four Trek spin-offs. And he’s got a very impressive number of genre one-offs which I’m sure y’all tell me about. (CE)
- Born November 18, 1952 – Doug Fratz. Aerosol scientist and fan. Known for his zine Thrust, later renamed Quantum, then merged with SF Eye. Many reviews there, on SF Site, and in NY Rev SF. More about him here. (Died 2016) [JH]
- Born November 18, 1953 — Alan Moore, 67. His best book is Voice of the Fire. Though the first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is very close. Pity about the film. His worst work? The Lost Girls which is genre in an odd manner. Shudder. I’m also fond of The Ballad of Halo Jones and Swamp Thing as well. (CE)
- Born November 18, 1961 — Steven Moffat, 59. Showrunner, writer and executive producer of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. His first Doctor Who script was for Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death, a charity production that you find on YouTube and I suggest you go watch now. He also co-wrote The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, a most excellent animated film. He has deservedly won four Hugo Awards. (CE)
- Born November 18, 1966 – Madelyn Rosenberg, 54. A dozen books, plus articles, poetry (this one has butter-shined stars). Outside our field, here frinstance is an interview with Doc Watson. “I write because I love telling other people’s stories as well as my own.” [JH]
- Born November 18, 1972 – Lisa Olstein, 48. Four books of poetry and a chapbook The Resemblance of the Enzymes of Grasses to Those of Whales Is a Family Resemblance. Hayden Carruth Award. Guggenheim Fellowship. Pushcart Prize. Here is “Radio Crackling, Radio Gone”. [JH]
- Born November 18, 1981 — Maggie Stiefvater, 39. Writer of YA fiction, she currently has three series, The Dreamer trilogy, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, and the quite superb Raven Cycle. With her sister, Kate Hummel, she writes and records a piece of music for each novel she releases. These are released in the form of animated book trailers. (CE)
(11) HOLIDAY SPECIAL. “C-3PO actor: Original ‘Star Wars’ special was ‘gentle nightmare'” — Anthony Daniels remembers. (There’s video of the interview at the link.)
ANTHONY DANIELS: Here’s the thing, go to YouTube and watch a bit of it, because it’s there. You will be amazed and not in a good way. And go to the back end of it, the end. That’s when myself and Carrie and Mark and Harrison came on. That’s the Star– that’s the real Star Wars. But go through some of the other bits, and you will be astounded that the producers were brave enough to use the title “Holiday Special” because it’s normally– it sets off sirens and heart attacks.
Such a weird experience that you had to laugh at it. And it’s in my book “I am C-3PO– The Inside Story,” where I talk about, in fact, I detail what it was like on the set with these Wookiees, basically treading on things because they couldn’t see in the dark and the dry ice, and how I was only there for three or four days. And I just laughed and laughed as we drove away from the studio because it had been a kind of very gentle nightmare.
(12) THE KERFUFFLE YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT. A little like Macy’s Santa in that movie, KTLA tells people to watch their PBS stations for these: “Charlie Brown holiday specials return to free TV after uproar; here’s how to watch”.
…Last month, Apple TV+ became the new home to the beloved Peanuts holiday specials. That sparked an outcry from viewers who were accustomed to annually tuning in on network TV. Apple offered each special to stream for free for a handful of days, but that didn’t stop online petitions from gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures.
On Wednesday, Apple bowed to the backlash, announcing it had teamed up with PBS for ad-free broadcasts of “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (on Nov. 22) and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (on Dec. 13).
Both specials will also be available for free during three-day windows on Apple TV+ (Nov. 25-27 for “Thanksgiving” and Dec. 11-13 for “Christmas.”) For subscribers, the specials will be available beginning Nov. 18 and Dec. 4, respectively.
(13) INCIPIENT MOTHERHOOD. We first met her singing about Ray Bradbury. Now — “Rachel Bloom Shares Footage of Herself Singing ‘Space Jam’ — While Giving Birth to Her Daughter” reports People.
During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers this week, the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star, 33, shared footage from her delivery room when she gave birth to her daughter in late March with husband Dan Gregor. In the video, Bloom sings the lyrics to “Space Jam” (by the Quad City DJ’s for the 1996 movie of the same name) while laying on her hospital bed.
“You know, I was making a labor playlist, and I was like, ‘What’s going to make me happy? And what’s going to make my vagina muscles wanna push a baby out?’ There was only one answer,” she joked to Meyers.
(14) TIL DEATH. Yahoo! Entertainment shares details about how “Jamie Lee Curtis officiated wedding of ‘Halloween’ superfan moments before his death”. (Curtis also discussed it on The Talk.)
Jamie Lee Curtis made a terminally ill fan’s dream come true.
The actress virtually officiated the wedding of 29-year-old Anthony Woodle and his girlfriend, Emilee, one hour before he passed away. Woodle, a horror movie fanatic who loved the Halloween franchise and holiday, was diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer last year. Emilie opened up about her late husband’s final moments to Charleston’s The Post and Courier.
Woodle, an aspiring director, was diagnosed with cancer on Halloween 2019, three years after proposing to Emilee on his favorite holiday. As his condition worsened over the last year, Woodle got connected to Curtis through Rough House Productions, the local South Carolina based production company reviving the Halloween franchise. They talked about the new movie, his health and how he planned to get married soon. Curtis said that she’s ordained and offered to officiate their wedding, per the paper. Arrangements were made for Sept. 13.
On the day of the ceremony, Woodle turned for the worse. Curtis got on the phone and Woodle’s family gathered around. He was unconscious in bed with Emilee by his side. The actress expressed joy, sadness and said she felt honored as she began the ceremony at 10:30 p.m.
(15) VIDEO OF THE DAY. in “Honest Game Trailers: Plasmophobia” on YouTube, Fandom Games says that Plasmophbia lets you pretend to be a ghost hunter from a cheap cable series of 20 years ago and thrill to having a ghost take you over and make your body act “like a baby who’s failed depth perception.”
[Thanks to Steven H Silver, JJ, John Hertz, Andrew Porter, Michael Toman, John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, and Martin Morse Wooster for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Peer.]
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(10) I enjoyed Foster’s The Damned Trilogy, Glory Lane and To the Vanishing Point (and Splinter too) – never tried the Flinx books (though my wife is a fan of those). Foster’s “The Dark Light Girl” is a memorable short story, too.
Disney iobeleum secundum hos reddet (I hope that’s right).
(2) Thanks, but I do very much like our fan-run conventions. I don’t feel at all enticed by this description of a professional production supported by the government.
Andrew (not Werdna) days I enjoyed Foster’s The Damned Trilogy, Glory Lane and To the Vanishing Point (and Splinter too) – never tried the Flinx books (though my wife is a fan of those). Foster’s “The Dark Light Girl” is a memorable short story, too.
Your wife has good taste in series. I’m thinking of listening to the first three or four Flinx novels this winter as I remember them fondly these decades later.
Now watching: second watching episode of Picard , a quite excellent series so far.
I enjoyed the first 2 or 3 Flinx books way back when.
I enjoyed the first four or so Flinx novels. Then I hit one where a couple of pages had the paragraphs get pied (mixed up) and fixing it so it made anything resembling sense threw me right off them.
And once he found where he came from, it got dull.
Lis Carey: (2) Thanks, but I do very much like our fan-run conventions. I don’t feel at all enticed by this description of a professional production supported by the government.
It looks and sounds very much to me as though they want to put on their same usual annual government-produced massive event complete with nationalist propaganda, and they just want to be able to use the Worldcon name on it. 😐
StephenfromOttawa says I enjoyed the first 2 or 3 Flinx books way back when.
Checking ISFDB, I discovered that I first the very first novel nearly forty years! It’s interesting that I still remember them as being rather good after this time. It’ll be interesting to see how they are this time around.
I’m currently averaging six to eight hours of audiobook listening a day. Not bad. Being house confined has to be good for something.
I went grocery shopping earlier this evening with a friend. First time I’d been in a grocery store since April, a month before the original fall. It was an interesting affair. Spent several hundred dollars for a months worth of food stocking the fridge plus lots of iced tea and chocolate for care givers.
JJ says It looks and sounds very much to me as though they want to put on their same usual annual government-produced massive event complete with nationalist propaganda, and they just want to be able to use the Worldcon name on it
Indeed, I’m certainly not voting for it. Nor do I expect it to be the winning bid.
Now reading: Warren Ellis’ Global Frequency which got turned into a nifty video pilot.
I read great piles of Alan Dean Foster back in the day, plucked from the public library paperback spinners, although I don’t think they had any of the Pip & Flinx or Spellsinger books. Midworld remains a particular favorite. (Plus all of his movie novelizations, and Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, which performed a valuable service back in those pre-VHS days.)
I’ve only read Swanwick’s Iron Dragon’s Daughter once but I loved it and keep meaning to go back and read the entire trilogy, plus his Darger & Surplus and Mongolian Wizard stories.
Note that Duncan Long died back in 2016. It seems to have gone mostly unnoticed at the time.
Joe H. Says I read great piles of Alan Dean Foster back in the day, plucked from the public library paperback spinners, although I don’t think they had any of the Pip & Flinx or Spellsinger books. Midworld remains a particular favorite. (Plus all of his movie novelizations, and Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, which performed a valuable service back in those pre-VHS days.)
I remember that the West Hartford Library in the early Nineties had a great SF and fantasy collection was particularly strong on Foster and had all of the early Flinx & Pip novels.
My first exposure to Foster’s writing was his adaptations of the animated Star Trek. What a long time ago . . .
Steven H Silver: Good catch — you did tell me that in the cover email. With that December 31 alone, it looked like a prediction.
Cat: I really enjoyed the Global Frequency comics, and was sorry the tv show wasn’t made.
A filk inspired by Dolly Parton funding COVID19 vaccine research starts with this tweet:
Jeff Smith says Cat: I really enjoyed the Global Frequency comics, and was sorry the tv show wasn’t made.
I was too. Making it now for cable would allow it to reflect the level of violence, language and digital effects needed to match the source material.
BTW there’s a deluxe edition of Global Frequency that has scripts and notes by Ellis that’s available in both printed and digital formats.
@Bill — I also read several of Foster’s Star Trek Logs for the animated series. The one in particular that I remember was BEM, where he did an entire novel where just the first third or so was the original episode, and then he just ran with things from there.
10) I know Madelyn Rosenberg from the 90s DC music scene, and she is a very good sort. As for Alan Dean Foster, I was fond of Pip & Flinx and Spellsinger back in the day and of course Michael Swanwick is amazing. I would like to mention his early novel Vacuum Flowers, which is a rather original take on cyberpunk and is a really good book.
@Rob: Yeah, Vacuum Flowers was great (I read it when it was serialized in Asimovs). I’m also a huge fan of Swanwick’s Bones of the Earth
I’m happy to see the sentiments above regarding the Chinese Worldcon bid, but I think that to be assured that it will not win the vote, fans everywhere have to speak out more about it: we’re potentially facing the 1st/2nd largest economy in the world, one well-versed in propaganda, unashamed to use it, with the power to persuade with both money and opportunity (I’ll tell you all right now that if they offered me an unlimited budget for the magazine for the next ten years, plus distribution in China and underwritten translations in exchange for shutting up, I’d happily look like an idiot by saying “No Thanks”, and then publicly reveal the offer – something that others who may have had it hinted that riches await if they simply sit back and “do the right thing” ought to be doing right now, instead, they’ll quietly take advantage of the situation and offer their endorsement with silence), it is going to take a long sustained effort to defeat this bid.
It will only be defeated if the government powers in China behind this effort are convinced beforehand that now is not the time for such a thing – before they begin their recruitment efforts and get ten thousand citizens to sign up for DC.
Anyone got any State Department connections?
@steve davidson I lived in China for a number of years, and IMO it’s a fantasy to think that once they have so committed themselves (that is, whoever in the government decided that this bid deserved backing) that they will back down, withdraw the bid, etc. The loss of face would be too extreme. That also goes for the fans who occasioned the bid. Face really matters there, a hundred times as much as in the West. No way they’re backing out now. Sure, a higher level guy in the government could, for whatever reason, decide it’s a bad idea and forbid it, of course. But there’s nothing we can do effect such an outcome.
Also, I’m not convinced the Chengdu bid isn’t a good idea. Never been a WC in China (help make the World in Worldcon more accurate) and I’m sure they’d put on a heck of a show. It’d be a change of pace, add diversity to WC, and just in general be something new. It’s got my vote. Finally, you’re right steve – if the Chinese government really wants WC, they’ll get it. 10,000 paid for memberships? They’ll do 50k if that’s what it takes.
9) Wondering who the artist was for the Gandalf Award statuette? I’ll hazard a guess at Dale Enzenbacher; the style (and bronze medium) are very similar to the Tigerishka statuette we bought from Enzenbacher about forty years ago, which puts it in the right time period as well.
“I remember that the West Hartford Library in the early Nineties had a great SF and fantasy collection was particularly strong on Foster and had all of the early Flinx & Pip novels.”
Ah, someone else who’s appreciated that library! I didn’t live in West Hartford, but as a kid I lived in a town near enough that I leaped at the chance to go to their library when opportunity arose, and I enjoyed a lot of SF there, including a bunch of Star Trek paperbacks by Foster and others. This was in the early Eighties in my case. I hope they’ve gotten lots of appreciation for their collection-building work, and have managed to continue it at the same level.
@Miles Carter
That’s what people thought about basketball and the NBA. Expose the sport to the world, get other countries involved, put on a good show, export American values. But it worked out that the NBA wanted those Chinese bucks so bad that they started importing Chinese values to America, and Daryl Morey happened. The NBA set up training academies in China to develop players. Of course, China did it China’s way, with physical and mental abuse of kids. The NBA was reluctant to look too hard at the situation, again because of not wanting to upset the Chinese gravy train. The response from NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: “My job, our job is not to take a position on every single human rights violation, and I’m not an expert in every human rights situation or violation.”
I have to say, Chengdu is one subject where I 100% agree with bill. We don’t need China deciding how Worldcon is to be run, and what constitutes permitted “diversity,” because you know damned well it won’t include any Tibetans or Uighurs who don’t parrot the Beijing line, just for starters, and it won’t end there.
The Jeddah bid had real problems, and I was happy to help vote it down, but at least they were genuine fans, and well-intentioned. That’s not true of Chengdu.
I have a lot of side-eye for anyone thinking that having the government of a country (any country) promoting Worldcon (and therefore politicizing it) is a good thing.
Worldcon is made by fans, for fans. I don’t want corporate sponsors. I really don’t want government sponsors.
Therefore, I cannot in good conscience vote for China’s bid. I wish their fannish community well, but I simply don’t trust their government not to politicize the convention.
@ Cassy B.
Therefore, I cannot in good conscience vote for China’s bid. I wish their fannish community well, but I simply don’t trust their government not to politicize the convention.
This.
Oh titel credits! Im a bit out of sinc with File at the moment, which is why Im not commenting much. More surprising, that I got a TC! Thank!
China: “a highly-populated country that has come to realize that it will shape a relevant part of the future awaiting the whole world.”
Look how its shaping the future for Uighurs, Tibetans, and Hong Kongers. – K