Pixel Scroll 12/17 We Also Walk T. Rexes

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(1) TALES OF LONG LONG AGO. Ethan Mills knows it’s “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Getting Ready for Star Wars!”

In watching The Empire Strikes Back, I was reminded of this post from several months back: “The Dress: Episode V – Han Solo’s Jacket.”  It turns out the science fiction fans have their own version of that dress that destroyed the internet in February of 2015.  In the Hoth scenes, there is some dispute about whether Han’s jacket is brown or navy blue.  On my TV last night it looked brown to me, but now in this picture it looks navy blue.  Go figure.

(2) THE LIST’S AFOOT. Miriam Burstein has posted a list of the interesting things she read this year, “My Year in Books” at The Little Professor. Sf is among the many genres she covers. Holmes pastiches are another.

Most self-sabotaging novel: Dan Simmons’ Sherlock Holmes pastiche The Fifth Heart, whose characters are awfully insistent that the Holmes stories aren’t very good.

Really, you can stop now: The Sherlock Holmes pastiche industry, which is not improving in quality as it goes along.

…Well, perhaps except for you: Robert Ryan’s Watson series is quite enjoyable.

(3) VINTAGE LINES. “Here’s What the 1977 Star Wars Line Looked Like In Los Angeles” from LAist.

Lines were forming to see Star Wars films right in the very beginning, when the first installment of what would become a massive franchise hit screens in 1977.

They also have a compilation video of news reports about Star Wars lines as the series progressed.

(4) SLOW-PACED COURTSHIP. And how long did people wait in line for the opening of The Force Awakens in Hollywood? Here’s a clue: local fan Obishawn (Shawn Crosby) officiated at a Star Wars wedding today by the entrance of the Chinese theater in Hollywood…

(5) PUNCHBOWL FLOATER. Guess who will cheer Stephen L. Miller’s “Star Wars: Revenge of the Social Justice Warriors” at National Review Online? It’s about PC types who are prepared to bash the new Star Wars film and finding little to bash.

With the long-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening tomorrow, news outlets and social media have been abuzz with the expectations of a new generation of fans. But with The Force Awakens as the first of the films to be released in the age of social justice, the question must be asked: At a time when the slightest violation of PC orthodoxy can set off a deluge of listicles, cable-news segments, and general media outrage, can Star Wars survive such an onslaught launched from the Social Justice Media’s veritable Sarlacc Pit — more commonly referred to as Twitter?

(6) CONCESSIONS LAST STAND. Washington Post writer Drew Harwell, in “The business of ‘Star Wars’ comes with a huge catch”, tells how movie theaters are responding to Disney’s giant slice of the revenue pie by offering Star Wars-related swag and snacks (Marcus Theaters in the Midwest offers the “Wookiee Smash Burger” for only $12.59).

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” may become the highest-grossing premiere in history, but it comes with a huge catch. Disney is demanding movie theaters hand over a much bigger cut of box-office revenue than usual, carving into cineplexes’ profits at a time when they need all the help they can get.

So theaters have gotten creative about the moneymakers they control. One small theater chain, Studio Movie Grill, is offering a daily “Star Wars”-themed brunch, including cinnamon-and-sugar Princess Leia Buns, a Tuscan Raider Quesadilla and cocktails such as a $9 tequila Yoda-Rita, with lime wedges hooked on the rim to mimic the Jedi master’s ears.

(7) ESCAPED PATIENT. The Onion found (invented?) the one fan who brings a fair and balanced approach to the movie — “Fan Just Going To Keep Open Mind About Whether New ‘Star Wars’ Best Or Worst Movie Ever”.

(8) ODYSSEY WORKSHOP. “Odyssey Writers Workshop Application Period Opens” – see details at the SFWA Blog or the Odyssey website.

Odyssey is for writers whose work is approaching publication quality and for published writers who want to improve their work.  The six-week program combines an advanced curriculum with extensive writing and in-depth feedback on student manuscripts.  The director and primary instructor, Jeanne Cavelos, was nominated for the World Fantasy Award this year for her work teaching and running Odyssey.  Top authors, editors, and agents have served as guest lecturers, including George R. R. Martin, Jane Yolen, Robert J. Sawyer, Nancy Kress, Ben Bova, Holly Black, Catherynne M. Valente, and Dan Simmons.

This summer’s workshop runs from JUNE 6 to JULY 15, 2016.  Class meets for over four hours each morning, five days a week.  That time is split between workshopping and lectures.  While feedback reveals the weaknesses in students’ manuscripts, lectures teach the techniques necessary to strengthen them.  In-depth lectures provide advanced insights into the elements of fiction writing.  Students spend about eight hours more per day writing and critiquing each other’s work.

The program is held on the beautiful campus of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH….

The workshop’s Writer-in-Residence will be Mary Robinette Kowal. Lecturers include Meagan Spooner, Patricia Bray, N. K. Jemisin, Deborah DeNicola, and Scott H. Andrews.

(9) DANIEL CHAPTER THREE. The third installment of Daniel’s Castalia House blog series “Safe Space as Rape Room: Science Fiction Culture and Childhood’s End” is a series of nonsequitur sophistries constructed for the purpose of smearing John Scalzi.

(10) ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL. Today John Scalzi was not only using his Twitter trolls for cannon fodder but for artistic inspiration. At least I think that’s art….

(11) THE SATANIC VERSUS. “’Star Wars’-themed church service to highlight ‘parallels’” at MSNBC.

Members of the congregation at Berlin’s Zions Church will be greeted with the theme music from the blockbuster series and can expect to hear about “the juxtaposition of good and bad, light and dark” during the one-hour event, church minister Eva-Maria Menard told NBC News.

Short excerpts from trailers and the George Lucas movies will be shown on a screen below the pulpit.

Vicar Ulrike Garve said that the service will expose “the theological motives and parallels in the Star Wars episodes.”

Garve and colleague Lucas Ludewig plan to highlight Romans 12:21 from the Bible, which states: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

(12) DICKINSON OBIT. The SF Site News obituary for British author Peter Dickinson (1927-2015) who died December 16 notes that his novel The Ropemaker won the Mythopoeic Award for Children’s Literature in 2002, and he was twice nominated for the World Fantasy Award. Dickinson was married to author Robin McKinley. More at the post.

(13) CHECKING IN. In the first 10 days, the “We Are ALL SF Con 2016 Startup” Indiegogo appeal has raised $230 to help launch a fan convention inspired by the motto coined by Lou J. Berger and Quincy J. Allen. They need $9,000.

The operational leadership is Spence Smith, convention chair, and Suzy Thommarson, assistant convention chair. Advisors are Pat and Doug Booze of Norwescon, Shawn Marier of Norwescon and Anglicon, and Chris Nilsson, of Anglicon and Rustycon. “Plus we occasionally pick the brains of some of the old time Worldcon con runners,” adds Karen Junker.

They plan to hold the event November 4-6 in Ocean Shores, WA.

(14) JOVIAN AWARDS. SF Site News lists several pros who announced on Facebook that they received Jovian Awards — each of whom posted a photo of the award and wrote that they didn’t know who it came from.

Jovian Award

Neither The Jovian Award website nor The Jovian Award Facebook page sheds any light on the presenters. What the winners who revealed themselves have in common is that they were Hugo nominees who finished second to No Award.

Hell of a nice looking award, though.

(15) LUKE I AM YOUR FENDER. Jay Leno’s Garage had a visit from Hot Wheels’ real-life Darth Vader car, “which is what you get when you morph Vader’s helmet and other components into a car.”

(16) POSTERS. New Batman v. Superman posters.

(17) ANNOYING COMMERCIAL. James H. Burns asks —

Am I the only one who hates the Geico Peter Pan ad?  I generally really like the company’s spots, and I realize that in some interpretations, Peter can be a real wiseguy…  I wondered why this bugged me so much, and I think it’s two reasons:  One, I just don’t like seeing Pan being such a twerp…  But more importantly, the second worse thing about being Peter would have to be watching your mortal friends pass on…  (There is, however, a pretty neat Tink here!)

 

[Thanks to Steven H Silver, John King Tarpinian, Martin Morse Wooster, and Alan Baumler for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]

Update 12/19/2015: Corrected name of city to Ocean Shore, after having the typo carefully explained to me (the subtler attempts having gone over my head.)

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306 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 12/17 We Also Walk T. Rexes”

  1. I think the Jovian is a very nice looking award and I’m going with the idea that it was kindly meant, as was GRRM’s decision to hand out Alfies. That’s a thought that makes me happy: You didn’t like the way the Hugos were No Awarded in five categories and you did something about it. Yay you!

    In the U.S. “Non-profit organization” has a very specific legal meaning — and organizations which have not legally attained that status, but promote themselves as having done so, can be prosecuted.

    This isn’t aimed at JJ, but his quote is the most concise, so it’s the departure point. You can legally operate as a not for profit organization without having an IRS designation as a 501(c)(3). No, you can’t collect money and then keep it, as if you were a for profit company, because that is illegal. However, you can easily acquire a fiscal sponsor, collect money for a stated aim, disburse those funds as intended and everything is completely legal, even if you never file paperwork with the IRS, including a 990, appoint a board of directors, or do pretty much any administrative work other than cashing the checks, paying for the design and implementation of the awards and then shipping them out.

  2. @JJ:

    I seem to have made a serious oversight and missed the “Why?” page on the Jovian website.

    I’ll grant the spin that site puts on things is not how I would have described events.

    Nevertheless, I sense an attempt at a sympathetic approach and bridge-building there.

  3. With respect to the Jovians, someone did a nice job of producing and distributing a set of “consolation” prizes.

    I have always felt strongly that No Award was the right vote in the slate-dominated categories, and that isn’t going to change. I wonder if anyone’s views of the legitimacy of the slate nominations have changed.

    The atmosphere at the Hugo ceremony must have been interesting. From what I read it was experienced quite differently by different people in attendance.

  4. Cheryl S. There are two important points I would add to your comments about operating as a not-for-profit. First, there are people who confuse nonprofit with not making a profit, although I don’t know if that applies in this case. Second, one can carry on charitable, literary, educational, etc. activities without creating an entity (like a nonprofit corporation) or being recognized as a 501(c)(3), but in that case there is no tax exemption.

  5. @JJ

    I am sure that you can understand why I am more than a little unhappy that you call what I’ve said “disingenuous” without then proceeding to give a legitimate rationale as to why. . . . What I said was that the Hugo Awards represent the preferences of the members of Worldcon, rather than those of all SFF fans. And I’ll thank you not to twist my words in that way again.

    To be fair, I agree that the statement was disingenuous. To wit, it is a semantically true statement that is pragmatically false. I would distinguish mendacious from disingenuous in that a disingenuous statement isn’t actually meant to mislead–it assumes the listener knows the real truth; it merely attempts to confound his/her argument. Calling a statement disingenuous is equivalent to saying “you’re playing games” not to saying “you’re a big fat liar!” (Not everyone makes this distinction, of course, but it’s a useful one.)

    In this case, the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because Worldcon is widely believed to represent fandom. We all (almost all) believe this–even the puppies. That’s why we argue that the puppies claim to represent a silent majority of fans was refuted by the final vote. That would make no sense if we didn’t really believe that Worldcon represented all of fandom.

  7. @JJ

    I don’t care who’s behind it. I just wish they had done it as a nice “we’re giving awards to stories we liked” instead of the “Hugo voters were wrong, their preferences are invalid, and we’re giving these awards to the people who waz robbed of the Hugos to which they were entitled”.

    Agree with you on this one 100%. 🙂

  8. Peace Is My Middle Name: I sense an attempt at a sympathetic approach and bridge-building there.

    I’ll agree that they are sympathetic to the feelings of the runner-ups in the No Awarded categories, and that they are trying to do something nice for them.

    But try as I might, I can’t see how claiming that the opinions of the Hugo voters are invalid is going to do any “bridge-building” — it’s just more of the tearing-down.

  9. @Mike Glyer, yes, that’s an important distinction. With a fiscal sponsor that has 501(c)(3) status, donations are tax deductible, but you can be a not for profit entity that does not have a fiscal sponsor and legally collect and disburse funds, without donations being tax deductible. I can think of at least one all-volunteer organization that has done this for years. I don’t know how common it is, but it isn’t at all illegal.

  10. I don’t see any reason to believe there is anything disingenuous about JJ’s statement as quoted. To call it so suggests that JJ knows better and is adopting the position for rhetorical purposes. I think the accusation of disingenuousness is itself a rhetorical device and one that JJ had every right to take exception to.

  11. Greg Hullender: To be fair, I agree that the statement was disingenuous. To wit, it is a semantically true statement that is pragmatically false… In this case, the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because Worldcon is widely believed to represent fandom. We all (almost all) believe this–even the puppies. That’s why we argue that the puppies claim to represent a silent majority of fans was refuted by the final vote. That would make no sense if we didn’t really believe that Worldcon represented all of fandom.

    Several times now, you’ve presumed to speak for others here on File770, and for other fans. I really wish you would stop doing that. It reflects very badly on you — not least because, every time you’ve done it, you have most definitely not expressed my opinion.

    I don’t believe that Worldcon “reflects all of fandom”. I don’t believe that the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because Worldcon is widely believed to represent fandom. I believe that the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because it has consistently, over the decades, surfaced quality works.

    I see nothing in your post demonstrating that what I’ve said is false, and I see nothing in your post substantiating your claim that what I said was disingenuous.

  13. Greg Hullender

    In this case, the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because Worldcon is widely believed to represent fandom. We all (almost all) believe this–even the puppies. That’s why we argue that the puppies claim to represent a silent majority of fans was refuted by the final vote. That would make no sense if we didn’t really believe that Worldcon represented all of fandom.

    Is it prestigious because Worldcon represents fandom or because when book buyers and readers see Hugo winner on books they are more likely to pick up the book?

    Does Worldcon = fandom or Fandom or the subset of Fandom which holds an annual moving convention and votes on the Hugos?

    I think Fandom is bigger than Worldcon as it contains other fannish things like regional cons, fanzines, etc. And fandom is larger still IMHO. Isn’t part of what’s been going on over the last few years trying to define the terms & who is welcome to Fandom? Like harassers or women, LGBTI, POC, disabled, etc.? But I’ve only maybe been part of Fandom for 6 years and I’ve never attended Worldcon only been an associate member and attend regional cons.

    I didn’t know who voted on the Hugos until a few years ago. I just knew publishers thought the award was important as they put it on book covers. It wasn’t until a friend gifted me with a membership that I learned and got involved. Helped at bid tables, parties, donated to multiple bids, have had a membership every year, got to know people online, read & reviewed & voted on books, got involved in communities, you know took the whole thing seriously to the best of my ability given being bedridden the entire time.

  14. JJ:

    In the U.S. “Non-profit organization” has a very specific legal meaning — and organizations which have not legally attained that status, but promote themselves as having done so, can be prosecuted.

    IANAL, but I’m guessing “promote themselves as having done so” requires more than picking “non-profit” for the “what type of page is this”-field when you set up a facebook page. First, they’re not soliciting donations or doing anything else where their non-profit status is actually relevant. Second, that field is based on picking from a limited list of choices and I don’t think a reasonable person would see that alone as a claim of legal status.

    Also JJ, in a later comment:

    But try as I might, I can’t see how claiming that the opinions of the Hugo voters are invalid is going to do any “bridge-building” — it’s just more of the tearing-down.

    Their award is in many ways similar to the Alfies – where Martin said the slate votes shouldn’t have happened, and that the works pushed off the shortlist by slated works where moral winners, the jovians say the no award vote shouldn’t have happened and the runner ups behind no award are moral winners.

    I think that’s a valid opinion. However, I wish they had been both more explicit and less hostile about it. They could have been less hostile by dropping the “bleed-out” part. They could have been more explicit about why No award was a bad idea, and how and why they picked their own winners. Where Martin acknowledged that being most-nominated non-puppy work doesn’t mean you would have won the final in a non-puppy world (but said it’s the best he could do), the Jovians do no such thing. They have written a text on the diplomas praising the works, but this text is not published by the Jovian award. (Two of the winners have posted pictures of the diploma on facebook.) They don’t really explain why second-after-no award in the Hugo voting is actually a sign of excellence.

  15. In this case, the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because Worldcon is widely believed to represent fandom. We all (almost all) believe this–even the puppies. That’s why we argue that the puppies claim to represent a silent majority of fans was refuted by the final vote. That would make no sense if we didn’t really believe that Worldcon represented all of fandom.

    I can’t speak for anyone else, but I say that because if the silent majority of fandom supported the Puppies there would have been signs of it at the voting end. Since there wasn’t, and the Puppies got resoundly whapped on the nose, the silent majority can’t be Puppies. That doesn’t require me to believe that Worldcon is representative of all of fandom. The silent majority of fandom (little ‘f’) probably hasn’t even heard of Worldcon.

  16. @Johan P

    Your comment about the Jovians seems very fair and reasonable to me. 🙂 I’m glad that they produced the diploma text but it would indeed have been nice if they had shared it publicly, partly because it would have softened some of the anti-Hugo voter rhetoric and partly because I’m sure after this Hugo season all of the Jovian recipients would appreciate some public praise.

  17. So I see that the “Jovian Award” (an attractive trophy, btw) is NOT a bust of Lovecraft.

    The award is =NOT= a bust of Lovecraft!

    OH MY GOD!!! THIS IS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS RUN MAD! THE SJWs ARE TAKING OVER THE PLANET!!

    And the fact that the SMOJs (the Secret Masters of the Jovian) did NOT make their award a bust of Lovecraft CLEARLY INDICATES that we are all being told we can never read Lovecraft again!

    !!!!

  19. @Laura

    You are right ! I forgot to be outraged. Down with the Jovians and their pretty globe of political correctness 🙂

    Actually reading their page, I am not surprised at the wounded snark – it seems like everything I read by the puppies has some tinge of victim hood. I am glad they did something positive here but I don’t think it’s an replacement for the Hugo’s – more of an Alfie style award that pretends NoAward is not a valid choice of a voter.

  23. Where Martin acknowledged that being most-nominated non-puppy work doesn’t mean you would have won the final in a non-puppy world (but said it’s the best he could do), the Jovians do no such thing.

    Martin also didn’t just award people who had been pushed off the final ballot by slate voting. Annie Bellet and Marko Kloos got Alfies. So did Eric Flint and Robert Silverberg.

  25. I still think that the Jovies are a net positive. Looking at the “Why” and “Who” pages makes it clear that this is a continuation of some of the previous Puppy rhetoric – ie, “we represent TRUE diversity”, “only good stories matter”, “voting No Award was illegitimate and a slap to the face of truefans everywhere” – but you know what? Good for them. Their award, their rules. If they want to make an award for the First Loser to No Award in the Hugos, more power to them. And thank goodness it’s more attractive than Ken Burnside’s flaccid rocket trophy.

    I appreciate it far more than them trying to bloc-vote the Hugo nominations.

  27. @Tasha: I think Fandom is bigger than Worldcon as it contains other fannish things like regional cons, fanzines, etc.

    Eggzactly.

    I spent a few years in “con-going fandom” (which far too many people assume is FANDOM!). I’ve spent a lot more years in online fandom, in LiveJournal/Dreamwidth slash fiction fandom, and I love it so much more that it’s impossible to tell (though am actually out of the fanfic writing headspace at the moment).

    And there are major problems with people make assumptions that their specific fangroup/fanac represents “trufans” (which I know the Puppy cohorts spend all the time accusing others of, but really, they’re doing it too).

  28. Shambles on December 18, 2015 at 6:27 pm said:

    I am not surprised at the wounded snark – it seems like everything I read by the puppies has some tinge of victim hood.

    Oh, that’s not called victim-hood, they call it dignity culture.

  29. Soon Lee: It’s not something I would do, but good on them for doing something instead of complaining.

    Actually, they managed to do both at once. So I guess I can give them credit for multitasking, at least.

  30. Runner up awards or not, that’s a nice looking statue. Congrats to those folks and if people want to celebrate works and authors they like by making awards for them I think it’s cool that their fans want to honor them that way. Better than trying to game a system and pretend that’s honoring anyone.

  31. I hope the pretty balls comfort the people-whose-work-didn’t-suck-as-much-as-others. And at least they’re not flaccid cylinders in poop. One is something you could proudly display in the living room in front of the kids and grandma, and the other really isn’t.

    I love (which is to say, NOT) how applauding and maybe cheering the will of the majority made manifest is OH SO BAD but booing the will of the majority is Just Swell. Dignity indeed.

    And no, the Scientologists didn’t whine. They accepted the result and had no outward signs of displeasure or vows of revenge — and you KNOW Scientologists are good at revenge when they want to be. They still kept showing up at cons with their tables of LRH books, and even threw open parties with very good food.

    When you’re whinier, more thin-skinned, and less reasonable than Scientologists, that says a whole lot.

  32. BGHilton,

    I think Filers can avoid chcecking out the podcast since I am going to spoil the best bit!

    When asked to compliment Caliphate one caster chooses as the best thing about the book as being “The word myriad was used once, correctly”

    Now I am not sure if she meant it was only used once and Tom got the meaning right; or if it was used multiple time but was only used correctly once, but if that is the nicest thing to say about a book You have been warned!

  33. lurkertype:

    They still kept showing up at cons with their tables of LRH books, and even threw open parties with very good food.

    When you’re whinier, more thin-skinned, and less reasonable than Scientologists, that says a whole lot.

    Unlike world peace and eradicating poverty, I feel I really might make a difference in in one area, by pointing out to a few people here that if they want their ideas about the proper way for people to treat one another to take hold, a good beginning would be to stop talking about ANYONE as if they are a rhetorical free fire zone.

  34. TMJ:

    Sure. I’m just saying, Facebook doesn’t do that authentication.

    I wasn’t asking if they did.

    JJ:

    I don’t think Kurt was saying, “Oh, if they’re a registered non-profit, let’s go find out who is listed on the Board”, I think he was saying “Um, it’s really not cool to promote yourself as a non-profit unless you’ve attained that legal status”.

    Somewhere in between, maybe. I have no interest in digging up who they are, but it’s a way to go if someone does. And yeah, it’s not cool to promote oneself that way if it’s not so.

  35. paulcarp:

    [13] Ocean Shores. The Pacific is the only ocean it touches, so it is not plural.

    Surely there can be shores plural if the locals identify two or more — Boston’s North Shore and South Shore only touch the Atlantic.

  37. @JJ: Thanks for the info! I’m downloading the sample epub for AbductiCon from Book View Cafe. BTW for those who prefer something-other-than-Amazon, the ebook can be bought directly from Book View Cafe.

    ObReadingUpdate: I’m enjoying Cold Iron – no time to read tonight, unfortunately. The first part was great; now I’m in a slower setting-things-up part, but I expect it to ramp up from here.

  38. Surely there can be shores plural if the locals identify two or more — Boston’s North Shore and South Shore only touch the Atlantic.

    They’re the north and south shore of Massachusetts Bay.

    But in the case of Ocean Shores, what’s being referred to is that you listed the town as Oceans Shores, and no matter how many shores they have, the local ocean is singular.

    I’ve been to Ocean Shores. It has multiple shores, in that it has shores on the Pacific, on the North Bay of Gray’s Harbor and on the entrance to Gray’s Harbor itself. So the shores aren’t all ocean shores, but they’re shores. Still only the one ocean, though.

    But it’s a long drive from any major airport — two hours from Sea-Tac, three from PDX — and along some pretty dang pokey roads. I find it hard to believe it’s a good location for an SF con. Nice beaches, though.

  39. (hoping I don’t offend folks…)

    @Various: I don’t get the pearl-clutching about respecting the Jovians, how folks shouldn’t criticize, etc. They’re part of an ongoing conversation and claim to be a reaction to the Hugos, which were the end result of months – really, years, in a cascading way – of Silly Puppies. So of course it’s legit to critique, criticize, and speculate about who’s behind them.

    (Cue 10 people saying “I wasn’t pearl clutching” . . . please don’t. If you don’t believe you were, then maybe your comment didn’t contribute to me writing that intro. 😉 )

    Personally, I just rolled my eyes at the Jovians after I read the “Why” page. It’s tough to take them seriously with that rhetoric, despite the pretty baubles, which look like they’re from Fire & Ice or a similar store (I like!).

    But hey, it sounds like they had fun sending out these secretive awards, and probably some or all of the recipients appreciated it. So . . . yay? (Our approval’s so not needed.) It almost feels more like a private thing between the Secret Masters of Jove and the recipients. It’s weird that SF Site has more info about the trophy and recipients than the Mysterious Jovian Site.

    Heck, they’re may not continue it next year, they say. I suspect they will (if they haven’t already forgotten about it or tired of it by then). I mean, it’s clear the Puppies gonna pup [slate], so Hugo voters gonna vote [No Award above slates]. So I expect Alfies and maybe Jovians, though I respect the former more.

    This doesn’t sound like the Puppy Award some folks have been hoping for, though – not at all. The end of the “Why” page makes that clear, IMHO.

  40. Kurt Busiek:

    But in the case of Ocean Shores, what’s being referred to is that you listed the town as Oceans Shores, and no matter how many shores they have, the local ocean is singular.

    Oh, it’s that I screwed up! Hadn’t registered that til now. I apologize for my pedantry, though on that score you also properly corrected my “map-o” calling Massachusetts Bay the Atlantic Ocean.

  41. Greg Hullender:

    “In this case, the Hugo Award is prestigious precisely because Worldcon is widely believed to represent fandom. We all (almost all) believe this–even the puppies.”

    Absolutely do NOT agree. Hugo was one of those things I always looked for at a book, because it meant quality. I had absolutely no idea who handed out Hugos. The Hugo Award is prestigiuous because it has managed to give out awards to (mostly) good books for a long time. Who administrates the award is of less interest.

  42. So I expect Alfies and maybe Jovians, though I respect the former more.

    This doesn’t sound like the Puppy Award some folks have been hoping for, though – not at all. The end of the “Why” page makes that clear, IMHO.

    Maybe they’ll have a party at Worldcon next year to give out the Jovies. The “two after award parties to give out secondary awards (Alphies & Jovies) to those who didn’t get actual Hugos” could be a thing. Invitations may have to be sent out early and be conditional for both “not-Hugo awards”.

    May EPH pass and we only have one more year of this. I can’t take much more of this celebratory fun and excitement over SFF.

  43. The phrase “pearl clutching” means “timid, sanctimonious, and expressing shock at things which are now commonplaces.”

    It does not seem appropriate in this context.

  44. Peace Is My Middle Name said:

    The phrase “pearl clutching” means “timid, sanctimonious, and expressing shock at things which are now commonplaces.”

    It also implies that the people being described can be safely dismissed because they are older women.

  45. Mike Glyer said:

    Unlike world peace and eradicating poverty, I feel I really might make a difference in in one area, by pointing out to a few people here that if they want their ideas about the proper way for people to treat one another to take hold, a good beginning would be to stop talking about ANYONE as if they are a rhetorical free fire zone.

    Testify, brother.

  46. Re; Peter Pan–this will be y second time on File770 recommending The Child Thief by Brom. Twerp? Peter Pan was an immortal who stole children from their homes to use as cannon fodder in his war against pirates. (Some of these points may have already been made in the thread–I’m leaping without looking.)

  47. I feel silly asking this… But looking over the “What a nice design for their award” comments, I can’t help but ask “Are decorative glass paperweights not a thing in the US?”. You can get ones like these in charity shops for around $10 over here in the UK.

    Website domain registration, a hot glue gun, a weekend at a flea market, some plate etching, and anyone can hand out awards.

  48. Re pearl clutching, Petréa Mitchell said:

    It also implies that the people being described can be safely dismissed because they are older women.

    Thanks for this. I’ve long disliked the phrase. Time to coin a new one.

  50. @Aaron, you must have edited your original comment. It says “torgersening” in my email.

    If we want to avoid using his name, we could use either “puppying” or maybe “gersening,” I guess. Although nobody outside of here would know what we were talking about.

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