(1) BRAITHWAITE RESTORES CLASSIC ARTWORK. Gracing the cover of Warp #93, the Montreal Science Fiction and Fantasy Association clubzine, is this superlative painting —
The Doctor and his Companion, by Claude Monet (oil on canvas, 1875), a painting dating from a most fertile phase of the renowned French Impressionist’s career, was recently discovered in the attic of a house in Argenteuil in which Monet lived in the 1870s. Little is known of the subjects depicted as the artist left no notes as to their identity or relationship to him. No particulars on the gentleman or lady are to be found, either, in the local historical records of the time and the odd structure beside which the gentleman is standing remains a puzzle. Civic records offer no indication that such a structure ever existed, as if this curious blue box simply appeared out of thin air, and then disappeared just as mysteriously. The title of the work gives us our only clue as to the two subjects, suggesting that the gentleman was, perhaps, a medical doctor travelling with a female relative, Fiancée, or mistress. MonSFFA’s own Keith Braithwaite worked on the restoration of the painting.
(2) BLUE PEOPLE BEWARE. Yahoo! Movies reports “’The Force Awakens’ Barreling Toward ‘Avatar’Record”.
The space opera sequel is moving up the all-time domestic box office charts at a record clip and now is poised to overtake those pointy eared blue aliens as the top grossing film in history. Avatar earned $760.5 million during its stateside run and Star Wars: The Force Awakens has generated $740.4 million domestically after picking up $88.3 million over New Year’s weekend. It should take the crown from Avatar early next week.
(3) AXANAR DECONSTRUCTED. (There’s that word again. I hope I know what it means…) John Seavey at Mightygodking has created a FAQ about the Paramount/CBS lawsuit against Axanar Productions:
Q: Then why are they being sued? Paramount allows lots of these things, don’t they?
A: Oh, yeah. “Star Trek Renegades”, “Star Trek: Of Gods and Men”, “Star Trek Continues”…basically, it seems like as long as nobody’s making any money, Paramount turns a blind eye to these fan films.
Q: But this one they wouldn’t? Why?
A: Well, there is the fact that, in an update on Axanar’s Indigogo campaign, they said, “EVERYTHING costs more when you are a professional production and not a fan film. All of this and more is explained, along with our budget of how we spent the money in the Axanar Annual Report.”
And in that latest annual budget report, they said, “First and foremost, it is important to remember that what started out as a glorified fan film is now a fully professional production. That means we do things like a studio would. And of course, that means things cost more. We don’t cut corners. We don’t ask people to work full time for no pay. And the results speak for themselves.”
And:
“Please note that we are a professional production and thus RUN like a professional production. That means our full time employees get paid. Not much honestly, but everyone has bills to pay and if you work full time for Axanar, you get paid.
Also, no other fan film has production insurance like we do. We pay $ 12,000 a year for that. Again, a professional production.”
Also, in their Indiegogo FAQ, they had this little gem:
“Q: What is Axanar Productions?
Axanar is not just an independent Star Trek film; it is the beginning of a whole new way that fans can get the content they want, by funding it themselves. Why dump hundreds or thousands of dollars a year on 400 cable channels, when what you really want is a few good sci-fi shows? Hollywood is changing. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other providers are redefining content delivery, and Axanar Productions/Ares Studios hopes to be part of that movement.”
Which kind of contradicts the “fan film” statement.
(4) WILL SMITH’S CHARACTER IS LATE. John King Tarpinian imagines the conversation went like this: “You want how much? Sorry but your character just died.” In a Yahoo! News interview, “Will Smith Says It Was Terrible When He Found Out His Independence Day Character Died”.
Will Smith found it unpleasant to learn that the fat lady had sung on Steven Hiller, the character he played in 1996’s Independence Day. “It was terrible when I found out my character died,” Smith told Yahoo.
Hiller’s death was revealed on a viral site for Independence Day: Resurgence. “While test piloting the ESD’s first alien hybrid fighter, an unknown malfunction causes the untimely death of Col. Hiller,” the site’s timeline reads. “Hiller’s valor in the War of ’96 made him a beloved global icon whose selfless assault against the alien mothership lead directly to the enemy’s defeat. He is survived by his wife Jasmine and his son Dylan.” You can see an image of Hiller’s fiery death by clicking here.
(5) ALL KNIGHT. Admiring Fred Kiesche’s Damon Knight quote in a comment here, Damien G. Walter tweeted —
https://twitter.com/damiengwalter/status/683681839463022592
(6) HE FIGURES. Camestros Felapton forays into toy design with his new “Hugo” brand “Stage Your Own Kerfuffle” figures….
(7) JEFFRO MOVES UP. Vox Day is delegating management of the Castalia House blog to “The new sheriff in town”, Jeffro Johnson:
As Castalia House has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to balance my responsibilities as Lead Editor and as the manager of this blog. Because Castalia House shoots for excellence across the board, I have decided that it is time to step back and hand over my responsibilities for this blog to someone else.
And who is better suited to take it over than one of the very best bloggers in science fiction and gaming? I am absolutely delighted to announce that the Castalia House blogger, author of the epic Chapter N series, and 2015 Hugo nominee for Best Fan Writer, Jeffro Johnson, has agreed to accept the position of Blog Editor at Castalia House.
(8) ARISTOTLE. That leaves Vox Day more time to orchestrate his winter offensive. His first target is File 770 commenter Lis Carey.
Even I occasionally forget how fragile these psychologically decrepit specimens are. Anyhow, it’s a good reminder to ALWAYS USE RHETORIC on them. They’re vulnerable to it; they can’t take it. That’s why they resort to it even when it doesn’t make sense in the context of a discussion, because they are trying to make you feel the emotional pain that they feel whenever they are criticized.
Day is developing a Goodreads author page, and Carey mentioned yesterday she had already seen early signs of activity:
Ah, this may explain a recent comment on one of my reviews of last year’s Hugo nominees–and means maybe I can expect more.
The particular comments were on her review of Castalia House’s Riding The Red Horse.
(9) TODAY IN HISTORY
- January 3, 1841 — Herman Melville ships out on the whaler Acushnet to the South Seas.
(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY
- Born January 3, 1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, honored by Emily Asher-Perrin at Tor.com:
But of course, the world remembers Tolkien for changing the fantasy genre forever. By penning The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien set a framework for fantasy literature that countless authors have attempted to recapture over the years. The creation of Middle-earth, from its languages to its poetry to its rich cultural history and varied peoples, was an astounding feat of imagination that no one had managed before with such detail and ardent care.
(11) SEMIPROZINES. Camestros Felapton continues moving through the alphabet in his “Semiprozine Round-Up: Cs and Ds”.
Keeping on going in the Cs and Ds of semiprozines.
- The Cascadia Subduction Zone
- The Colored Lens
- Crossed Genres Magazine
- Daily Science Fiction
- The Dark Magazine
- Diabolical Plots
(12) PARTS NOT TAKEN. “Leonardo DiCaprio Reflects On Turning Down Anakin Skywalker And Two SuperHero Roles” at ScienceFiction.com:
And it’s a philosophy that has led to him turning down parts in some guaranteed smashes and lots of cha-ching. He recently revealed that he actually met with George Lucas, but ultimately passed on playing Anakin Skywalker in the ‘Star Wars’ prequels.
“I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that, yes. I just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point.”
Around this time, DiCaprio instead chose to make ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘Catch Me If You Can’, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Still he must be kicking himself. The role instead went to Hayden Christiansen and look at how his career took… oh, ahem. Nevermind.
(13) REMEMBERING BAEN. While researching another post, I rediscovered David Drake’s 2006 tribute to the late Jim Baen, who had just recently passed. Shortly before Baen’s death the two were on the phone and Baen asked, “You seem to like me. Why?” The answer is rather touching.
And then I thought further and said that when I was sure my career was tanking–
“You thought that? When was that?”
In the mid ’90s, I explained, when Military SF was going down the tubes with the downsizing of the military. But when I was at my lowest point, which was very low, I thought, “I can write two books a year. And Jim will pay me $20K apiece for them–”
“I’d have paid a lot more than that!”
And I explained that this wasn’t about reality: this was me in the irrational depths of real depression. And even when I was most depressed and most irrational, I knew in my heart that Jim Baen would pay me enough to keep me alive, because he was that sort of person. He’d done that for Keith Laumer whom he disliked, because Laumer had been an author Jim looked for when he was starting to read SF.
I could not get so crazy and depressed that I didn’t trust Jim Baen to stand by me if I needed him. I don’t know a better statement than that to sum up what was important about Jim, as a man and as a friend.
(14) PEACE IN OUR TIME. In “The Stormbunnies and Crybullies”, John C. Wright devotes over 2,000 words to making his closing offer irresistible in that special way only he knows how.
But I am a forgiving man, jovial and magnanimous. I make the following peace offer: Go your way. Cease to interfere with me and my livelihood, do your work, cease to libel me and meddle with my affairs, withhold your tongue from venom and your works from wickedness, and we shall all get along famously.
Otherwise, it is against my self interest to seek peace with you. Peace is a two sided affair: both parties must agree. So far only Mr. Martin has even expressed a desire for it.
(15) WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM WRITING? Nandini Balial at Pacific Standard helps writers name their fears — “Gremlins and Satyrs of Rejection: A Taxonomy of Writers’ Foes”
THE SATYRS OF MOUNT OUTLET: Like its cousin Olympus, Mount Outlet stretches far beyond human sight into luxurious billowy clouds. The work its satyrs produce is sharp and daring. Vast networks of bloggers, freelancers, and even reporters churn out viral but self-aware listicles, personal essays that make me cry more than they should, and short stories so good I’m inclined to simply put my pen away. On Twitter, their satyrs (editors) trade barbs and witticisms with the speed of a Gatling gun. A poor peasant like me may approach the foot of the mountain, but my tattered, unworthy scrolls and I will soon turn around and head home.
(16) PUBLISHING STINKS. Kristen Lamb, in “The Ugly Truth of Publishing & How BEST to Support Writers”, says don’t bother reviewing her books on Goodreads, because that’s where the trolls are:
Tweet a picture of our book. Put it on Facebook. People in your network ARE noticing. Peer review and approval is paramount in the digital age. And don’t support your favorite author on Goodreads as a first choice (AMAZON reviews are better). The only people hanging out on Goodreads for the most part are other writers and book trolls.
Support us on your regular Facebook page or Instagram or Twitter. Because when you post a great new book you LOVED your regular friends see that. When they get stranded in an Urgent Care or an airport? What will they remember? THAT BOOK. They won’t be on Goodreads. Trust me.
(17) DISSONANCE. After reading Kristen Lamb’s discouraging words, I encountered M. L. Brennan calling for everyone to get up and dance because “Generation V earned out and what that means”. That’s not the next post I’d have expected to see, straight from leaving Lamb’s black-crepe-draped explanation of the publishing industry.
One thing to bear in mind, because it’s easy to lose sight of it when you look at that last paragraph — if I hadn’t received an advance, I wouldn’t have made more money on this book. I would still have earned $7615.78 on the series — except earning that first $7500 would have taken me two years, rather than being entirely in my pocket on the day that Generation V hit the bookstores. And that $7500 paid my mortgage, my electric bill, and other bills, which made it substantially easier for me to write. Without that advance, it would’ve taken me longer to write Iron Night, Tainted Blood, and even Dark Ascension, because I would’ve been having to hustle other work elsewhere and spend less time writing.
(18) NONE DARE CALL IT SF. Whether Joshua Adam Anderson styles himself an sf fan I couldn’t say (though he did take a course from Professor James Gunn), but his LA Review of Books article “Toward a New Fantastic: Stop Calling It Science Fiction” is a deep dive into the abyss of genre. His attempt to define (redefine?) science fiction is precisely what fans love.
LAST JULY, Pakistani science fiction writer Usman Malik published a clarion call for his home country. In it, he made the claim that “[e]ncouraging science fiction, fantasy, and horror readership has the potential to alleviate or fix many of Pakistan’s problems.” While it would be difficult to disagree with the idea that science fiction is a positive force in the world, many of Malik’s reasons for championing the genre are problematic. To begin with, Malik — along with just about everyone else — still, for some reason, calls “science fiction” science fiction. His essay actually contains a handful of reasons why we should stop calling it “science fiction,” and it also inadvertently addresses how and why we need to liberate ourselves from genre itself — and how “science fiction” can help us do just that.
(19) PLANNING BEGINS: Paul Johnson’s early word is that the event to honor his father, the late George Clayton Johnson, might be in February at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Will R., Paul Weimer, Brian Z., and JJ for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]
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(1) BRAITHWAITE RESTORES CLASSIC ARTWORK
It’s a very pretty pastiche. I think I would have expected more color in the doctor himself — Monet did not use grey — but it looks very nice.
(14) Hi JCW, since I know your ego won’t let you not visit the comments here every now and then.
In response to your magnanimous offer, I have been authorized by exactly no one to make you a counteroffer:
Go your way. Cease to interfere with the Hugos, do your work, cease to libel us and meddle with our affairs, withhold your tongue from venom and your works from our sight, and we shall all get along famously.
Cheers, you pompous buffoon.
PIMMN: Monet did not use grey
Might be partly the repro–I’d love to see the original. It’s just such a cool idea . . .
(8) ARISTOTLE
Ah. Theodore Beale is explicitly targeting for abuse a woman who posts here regularly.
I certainly hope all human beings with the slightest bit of decency and compassion will recognize this for the ugly, sinister, cynical brutality it is.
I feel I have to make excuses for those Lego figures. Having already made a mock-up lego mini-fig model and realizing I could make a passable GRRM figure, I thought other SF notables would be possible. Unfortunately none turned out to be recognizable – so the other is VD and the one in the red shirt is Mr J. Scalzi. I tried to do a JCW in a broad brimmed hat but it looked more like a Terry Pratchett. Also women are nigh on impossible to caricature in this format (due to a lack of distinctive beards or hats). On reflection I should have given Scalzi a mallet.
Eeek! Fifth!
Hey Lis Carey, if you’re around: you’re worth ten of VD. I’m understating for effect. Rhetoric!
Love the Monet.
I suspect I might like that Joshua Adams Anderson essay if I were in the mood to read it. That is my considered opinion on the subject for now.
(14) PEACE IN OUR TIME
Oddly enough, “jovial” is a word I have increasingly in recent years associated with the somewhat aggressive and touchy jolly good humor of abusive bullies who want people to smile when they feel like laughing at someone.
I contrast it with “genial”, which I have been more and more seeing as a sharing sort of humor amongst equals, a warm, thoughtful, friendly, listening humor.
“Jovial” to the contrary sounds like the humor of a supreme Jovian god who demands that He sit above all on His mighty throne and that all must laugh at His jokes when He wants and be silent when He wants or else feel the whip of His righteous wrath.
Is VD conceding to his ilk that they are ineffective in their use of logic?
Here are my terms: remember to tick the box! Or there will be no peace.
(3) AXANAR DECONSTRUCTED. (There’s that word again. I hope I know what it means…)
:snort:
Oh, and Lis, Jim is precisely right, and I second that.
EDIT: Twelve-fifths! (I think.)
(8) Kee-ripes, these people are just horrid. Hang in there Lis.
Recs:
The Expanse, ep 4: “CQB”–Day-um. I really wish Sy Fy had premiered this show earlier, so there would be more episodes before the end of the year to nominate. This one had me sitting on the edge of my seat throughout.
For those in search of novellas: Adam-Troy Castro has made his novella “Sleeping Dogs,” published in the July/August Analog, available to read here. This story has a great main character and setup, but the ending disappointed me, and turned the protag…petty, I guess is the word I want. Your mileage may vary.
Sunny Moraine’s short story, “At Whatever Are Their Moons,” in the Dec. Strange Horizons. This story, with its solid SF idea layered with beautiful, restrained prose, is just lovely.
(16) PUBLISHING STINKS
I am afraid that Goodreads is indeed a haven for trolls and cyberstalkers.
I was shocked at how non-authors over there are third-class citizens. Authors erased reviewers’ lists, or stuffed their own books onto them, however inappropriate. Unfavorable reviews were censored without explanation or recourse. The owners and moderators have really have not shown any inclination to try to clean the place up, except to sweep under the rug anyone and anything the trolls target for elimination. I wish more people could be warned against it.
I suspect that VD’s minions will find that their impact on GoodReads as a whole will be far less than they think it will. They are just about to find out how tiny and trivial their group truly is.
Also, Carey is worth an infinite number of VD’s.
I am afraid that Goodreads is indeed a haven for trolls and cyberstalkers.
Another reason to prefer LibraryThing to GoodReads. The owner of LT banned his own brother from the site when his brother behaved like an unrepentant troll.
Even more than that, an ordinal infinity of VDs + 1
re: 8
Little Ted is really projecting. Keep it up, Lis! Or let them be emperors of whatever little pond will have them.
re: 14
I’m continually astonished by the lengths to which M. Wright will go to miss the point. Of humanity, decency, and the millennia-old message of a man he claims to revere. He has a Christianity without mercy or compassion, and seems to aspire to be a Pharisee of the first order. He seems far too pitiable, far too broken of a man, to be the threatening figure who Teddy’s minions would make him.
So perhaps a perfect figurehead for that movement? Teddy’s foul enough to enjoyably hate. But Wright is just such a sad broken man.
I’m going to second any recs of the Expanse. It’s been steadily spinning up, and really is showing some meat. The thing is, the characterization of the characters is informed by all of the novels, so the core crew has more depth than they did during the actual first book of the series.
PLANNING BEGINS – spellcheck !
‘Paul Johnson’s early word is that the even to honor his father’ – event not even
Nah. He doesn’t need to withhold his works from our sight any more than he did before the kerpupple.
Contrary to Puppy doctrine, no one was censoring, silencing or oppressing these clowns before, and no one’s doing it now. Their big grievance is that they weren’t given awards they wanted, and that’s simply not oppression, no matter how loud they squall. They’re the guys who kept saying things like they had to wipe out Pink SF; no one’s trying to wipe out overwrought Christian fantasy or loud but shallow space opera.
So JCW can pursue his art in the full security that no one’s damaging his career but himself. All we ask of him is that he and his stop trying to game the awards to block out the wrongfans who’ve run them all these decades from having the wrongfun of voting their actual tastes.
Heck, he’s welcome to join in and vote his tastes, too. But if he and his try to game the results, he and his will get the reaction the voters give to them what try to game the results.
Shambles: Thanks for catching that typo. You are hereby named File 770’s Hero Copyeditor of the Day, with all the rights and privileges appurtaining thereto! (Consult JJ for the menu of beverages you can buy yourself…)
One thing to note is the cowardice of VD and his minions. They are specifically targeting someone because they think she is frail and easy to harass. In short, they are sleazy, small-time cowards who are too scared to actually challenge someone they think can put up a fight. It is exactly the sort of slimy pathetic thing that perfectly encapsulates who VD and his sycophants are.
@ Lis Carey – keep in mind that VD is such a towering, manly being that he kept expressing hysterical fear a couple of years ago, bleating with every appearance of high-strung sincerity that his physical safety was in danger from an imminent attack by Lee Martindale. (Lee is an older lady in a wheelchair.) He also bleated a number of times that year about his fear of me, claiming I had threatened him. (In reality, I had never even threatened to speak sternly to him.)
THAT is the person who thinks he’s going to menace you. His wholly unrealistic pretensions about himself would be hilarious if he weren’t so toxic and tiresome.
@ Kurt: “Their big grievance is that they weren’t given awards they wanted, and that’s simply not oppression, no matter how loud they squall.”
Hey, come to think of it… I haven’t been given awards I want, either! Can I be oppressed, too? Please, please, please! Can I, can I??
Lis Carey is a person who makes a positive influence in the world despite adversity. VD is… VD. There’s no comparison between the two that wouldn’t be insulting to the former.
Stay classy, Beale.
Maybe. First, you have to answer these two questions. And mind you, answer honestly, it’s important.
1. Do you deserve the awards?
2. Do you know better than the other voters?
If so, who knows? There may be room for you.
Aaron: One thing to note is the cowardice of VD and his minions. They are specifically targeting someone because they think she is frail and easy to harass. In short, they are sleazy, small-time cowards who are too scared to actually challenge someone they think can put up a fight. It is exactly the sort of slimy pathetic thing that perfectly encapsulates who VD and his sycophants are.
And once again, Puppies demonstrate that they don’t understand how it’s supposed to work:
1) Write good books
2) Get good reviews
It’s a pity that they don’t actually work at #1 and insist on attacking genuine reviewers instead.
Please do not take their abuse to heart, Lis. I really appreciate your insightful reviews and find them helpful.
Which is why he needs to send all them ‘alpha’ minions to puppypile on anyone who criticizes him. Shame he doesn’t take it as a learning opportunity to suck less as an editor.
#14 — Otherwise, it is against my self interest to seek peace with you. Peace is a two sided affair: both parties must agree. So far only Mr. Martin has even expressed a desire for it.
I thought Mr. Wright was a Christian? He seems, here, to be expressly abjuring Jesus’ requirement to turn the other cheek.
18) None Dare Call It SF. It’s an awfully turgid piece of writing. I liked this bit near the end:
“Vectors of Fantasticity” sounds like the name of a new SF magazine, doesn’t it?
I can’t be arsed to read through that much adjective abuse, but since it seems unlikely he didn’t double down on various falsehoods, has anybody thought of contacting Alexandra Erin and asking if Theosiphilus Pratt would like to tackle “JCWs Always Lie : A Sequel”?
Hi! I’m back! … a little. House renovations and moving are *extremely* energy-consuming. And now we’re unpacking, so there are all these *old* books to tempt us — Mr. Dr. Science is currently reading “Tactics of Mistake”.
At least I’ve put up a Star Wars review. Is this still a spoiler-free space?
Doctor Science: Star Wars spoiler thread here https://file770.com/?p=26630
@Cassy B.:
Hey, given Micah’s injunction to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God,” JCW may figure: In for a penny, in for a pound.
@Dr Science
Wonderful review, I concur with your thoughts on representation and myth … I think you should post it in the spoiler thread for the moment …
https://file770.com/?p=26630
But I am a forgiving man, jovial and magnanimous. I make the following peace offer: Go your way. Cease to interfere with me and my livelihood, do your work, cease to libel me and meddle with my affairs, withhold your tongue from venom and your works from wickedness, and we shall all get along famously.
I seem to have missed something crucial here which can be summed up in one word – “Or?”
He’ll pout and whine more? He’ll call fans “CHORFS” and “Puppykickers”? He’ll be rude about gays and Muslims?
It’s rather difficult to see the leverage that can be bought to bear by a B-list sf writer who has to beg for donations to make up for his lack of commercial success.
(1) Nicely done. The lines are a bit too clean around the blue box (and I’d use more blue overall) but I like it a lot.
(8) @Lis Carey, You have my wholehearted support for what it’s worth. Those who would attack you are beneath contempt.
(13) I often wonder what Jim Baen would make of the Sad & Rabid Puppies.
(14) “But I am a forgiving man, jovial and magnanimous.”
Then, please, behave like one.
Because Castalia House shoots for excellence across the board,
…and, judging by the output, is about as accurate as a particularly myopic Stromtrooper
The more I read of Beale’s output, the more I become convinced that he’s some sort of rubbish robot sent to us from the future to convince us of the dangers of developing AI. “SEE THE YOO-MAN CRY WHEN I HURT ITS FEE-LINGS! SILLY WEAK YOO-MAN! SU-PER-IOR BEINGS DO NOT FEEL! POKE WITH STICK! POKE WITH STICK!!” (Because it’s a rubbish robot, you see, can’t exterminate or anything.)
But, alas, he’s just a human being himself, from our time, so I suppose we have to take some sort of responsibility for him.
I would love to read Alexandra Erin’s JCW parody. I can hardly imagine anything more self-parodying. It’s a one in a million chance, but she may just be good enough to pull it off.
And Tom Kratman should be ashamed of himself. But then, that ain’t gonna happen…
Aristotle: Hmm. The risk here is that Theodore Beale has a negative value, or a zero value. I suggest correcting the expression by putting in an absolute value sign and adding one to be on the safe side.
Lis is worth 10 x (|Theodore Beale|+1).
On a more serious note, if there is anything we can do to help, Lis, please let us know.
Peace: In the meantime Mr. Wright wants us to withhold our tongues from venom; nice of you to offer to help with the mote in my eye, but John, that splinter in yours–doesn’t that hurt? Makes my eyes water just to look at it. *shudder*
Classic Artwork: I really like that painting; nicely done!
David Drake’s commemoration of Jim Baen pleases me. When I was much younger, I’d read tributes and think, “Surely ‘can be counted upon to stand by friends in times of trouble’ isn’t that remarkable?” I’ve learned it is, and I like opportunities to think well of people.
@Lis Carey, also warm encouragement from over here.
NelC :
What, worse than THIS?
(1) That is a lovely piece of art. I hope the artist does more like it.
(16) Kristen not Kirsten.
(8) A poster (I believe he posts here too, based on very similar interests and sentence structure, but not under the same name) on Brad Torgerson’s blog was taunting all and sundry the other day about their inability to place in Goodreads Reader’s Choice awards. I wondered how long it would take VD and his body lice to have a moment of clarity and organize a brigade. So, +10 points for quick movement, -500 points for lack of original thinking. Honestly, you’d think someone who bleats about his strategic whatevers would actually be a more robust planner and not need to get his ideas from commenters on the internet.
I’m sorry, @Lis Carey, that you were one of the chosen few. Please let me know if there is anything I can do.
(13) Thanks for posting that remembrance of Jim Baen. I’m not certain why I found it so affecting, but it definitely was.
(14) Yeah, not reading that. I think what I’ve minded the most about the kerfuffle is how incontinent so many of the utterances are by supposed grownups and how unaware they are of the many, many emotional weak points they display with complete abandon. It’s like watching a bunch of exceedingly large toddlers in need of naps and juice boxes being given a public forum and no rules.
Cheryl S: Seems like you should get extra credit here — I had to fix two errors in the main post, plus a tag. Thanks for catching that!
AXANAR: Not really about Axanar, but since the fallout of that case might affect other (less cash-stuffed) fan-Treks, I thought people might be interested in this piece of comics journalism that a friend of mine did recently after he coincidentally met someone who’s worked on both New Voyages and Star Trek Continues.
I’m also a fan of Lis Carey’s well written and useful reviews.
Well said, Peace. “Genial” would be much better.
Eli: That’s really interesting. I’ll put it in the Scroll (even though I expect everyone will have read it by tomorrow…)
JEFFRO MOVES UP: I wonder how Jeffro feels about being credited as “author of the epic Chapter N series” after all the work he did on Appendix N.
PEACE IN OUR TIME: So, pretty much the same “no concessions” stance as always, then. Pity he can’t take his own advice, or even see that he could benefit from it. JCW continues to impress me as someone I’d like to see fold himself until he’s all corners and then insert himself into his own asterisk. I like Scott Frazer’s counteroffer:
PUBLISHING STINKS: Hey, I hang out at GoodReads. I don’t bully anybody, and I do my best to keep my little corner of the site civil and tidy. I also have my account set up to tweet my GR status updates; one need not choose between GR and Twitter.
@Laura: (VD and Lee Martindale)
Oh my, but that’s funny. I see Lee about once a year, and the idea of VD screeching about fearing that she’d do him bodily harm speaks volumes about how craven he truly is. She has strong opinions and no compunctions about expressing them plainly, but physical violence? No.
I can’t help thinking of VD in the old sense, as “a social disease that one pays a doctor to cure.” Is there a physician in the vicinity?
I wonder how Jeffro feels about being credited as “author of the epic Chapter N series” after all the work he did on Appendix N.
I suspect VD’s reasoning is that chapters are inherently superior, since one can have as many chapters five as desired.
BLUE PEOPLE BEWARE: The interesting question at this point is where TFA will finish on the adjusted-for-inflation list. It’d be awesome if a movie with a black leading man finally toppled Gone with the Wind, but that would require it to earn a billion dollars on top of what it already has in the US.
ARISTOTLE: A little birdy informs me that the Rabid Puppies haven’t officially commenced operations on Goodreads just yet, but their first project will be to bomb “If My Love Were a Dinosaur” with negative reviews and upvote the most vitriolic.
Sean O’Hara: A little birdy informs me that the Rabid Puppies haven’t officially commenced operations on Goodreads just yet, but their first project will be to bomb “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” with negative reviews and upvote the most vitriolic.
You know, if the Puppies spent one-tenth of the time and energy they spend doing stupid infantile shit like this on learning their craft, writing good books, and/or reading good books, they could actually get something award-worthy put forward for the Hugo Awards.
But nope, they’d rather spend it waving their tiny penises around.