Pixel Scroll 2/15/18 I Got 99 Problems But An Unscrolled Pixel Ain’t One Of Them

(1) MUCH MORE ON CHILDREN’S BOOK INDUSTRY HARASSMENT. At School Library Journal, Elizabeth Bird advises readers how to catch up on the fallout from Anne Ursu’s survey about sexual harassment in the children’s book industry (linked in yesterday’s Scroll, item 17) with her post “Sexual Harassment and Post-ALA YMA 2018 Thoughts (not necessarily at the same time)”.

If you have missed the current #metoo movement within the children’s and young adult literature industry, then I will break down the order in which you can catch up. While you could argue precisely where to start and where to end, the most necessary articles are as follows:

  1. Read the survey by Anne Ursu on sexual harassment in the children’s book industry
  2. Read the preceding SLJ article Children’s Publishing Reckons with Sexual Harassment in Its Ranks
  3. Read the comment section of that same SLJ article
  4. Read the Gwenda Bond article #metoo #ustoo Change Starts Now: Stand Against Harassment in the YA/Kidlit Community

(2) DASHNER APOLOGY. Comments at School Library Journal also implicated Maze Runner author James Dashner. Dashner tweeted an apology today. Deadline has the story: “‘Maze Runner’ Author James Dashner Tweets Apology Amid Harassment Allegations, Vows To ‘Seek Counseling’”.

Maze Runner author James Dashner, dropped earlier this week by his agent after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, has tweeted an apology “to those affected” by his behavior and pledges to “seek counseling and guidance.”

“I have spent the recent days reexamining my actions and searching my soul,” Dashner writes (see the tweet below), adding he now believes he has been “part of the problem” with regard to sexual harassment and discrimination in the publishing industry.

“I didn’t honor or fully understand boundaries and power dynamics,” tweets the author, whose Maze Runner series has become a successful movie franchise. “I can sincerely say that I have never intentionally hurt another person. But to those affected I am so deeply sorry.”

Dashner was dropped by his literary agent, Michael W. Bourret, earlier this week after reader comments on the School Library Journal website named the writer, along with Thirteen Reasons Why author Jay Asher and others, of misconduct or harassment. Asher was subsequently expelled from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and dropped by the Andrea Brown agency.

(3) #METOO. Likewise, Myke Cole says he has “to own it”.

I am mentioned in the School Library Journal thread that names and shames men who have been inappropriate in their conduct with women in the field.

I wish I could say that the entire comment was false, but I would be lying to you and to myself. I have always prided myself on being “good”. I thought I had a good handle on what that was. It turns out I was wrong. And I have to be accountable to you and to myself. I have repeatedly abused my social power. I have made unwelcome advances in professional settings and that is not okay.

This is humiliating to write, but it is also necessary, because I believe in the #MeToo movement and I 100% support women coming forward to name men who have made them uncomfortable, or worse abused them.

(4) SHORT FICTION. Rocket Stack Rank’s ratings report for stories reviewed up to February 15 has been posted. Greg Hullender notes:

Because so many publications are on bimonthly schedules now, even-numbered months tend to be rather light.

The five-star story, “To Us May Grace Be Given,” by L.S. Johnson was published in 2017, so it’s eligible for this year’s Hugo awards. All the others are eligible for the 2019 awards.

(5) NEW ANTHOLOGY BENEFITS DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS. BookNest creator Petros Triantafyllou has just issued Art of War: Anthology for Charity. Proceeds will go to MSF (Doctors Without Borders). The book was just released and is available for sale in both digital and print formats. The print version includes 40 black & white interior art pieces.

The promotional text on Goodreads asks —  

How do you get forty fantasy authors to contribute short stories for a war-themed anthology without paying them? It sounds as if there should be a good punchline to that, but all Petros Triantafyllou did was twist the moral thumbscrews and tell them all the profits would go to Doctors Without Borders, a charity that works tirelessly across the world to alleviate the effects of conflict, sickness and poverty.

So, with clear consciences, several busloads of excellent and acclaimed fantasy authors have applied themselves to the task of penning a veritable mountain of words on the subject of The Art of War, expect bloodshed, gore, pathos, insight, passion, and laughs. Maybe even a wombat. Who knows. Anyway, as the original blurb said: “It’s good. Buy it.” -Mark Lawrence

The anthology collects works from authors that write within the genre including the grim dark sub-genre. The author list includes: Mark Lawrence, Ed Greenwood, Brian Staveley, Miles Cameron, John Gwynne, Sebastien De Castell, Mitchell Hogan, Stan Nicholls, Andrew Rowe, C.T. Phipps, Rob J. Hayes, Nicholas Eames, Mazarkis Williams, Ben Galley, Michael R. Fletcher, Graham Austin-King, Ed McDonald, Anna Stephens, Anna Smith Spark, RJ Barker, Michael R. Miller, Benedict Patrick, Sue Tingey, Dyrk Ashton, Steven Kelliher, Timandra Whitecastle, Laura M Hughes, J.P. Ashman, M.L. Spencer, Steven Poore, Brandon Draga, D. Thourson Palmer, D.M. Murray, Anne Nicholls, R.B. Watkinson, Charles F Bond, Ulff Lehmann, Thomas R. Gaskin, Zachary Barnes & Nathan Boyce.

(6) COMING TO AMERICA. The Tolkien, Maker of Middle-Earth exhibition discussed in yesterday’s Scroll will be making an American appearance next year, according to the FAQ.

Will the exhibition go on tour?

The exhibition will visit the Morgan Library in New York City from January to May 2019.

(7) SHARKE HUBBLE. Returning Shadow Clarke juror Nick Hubble tells why he reenlisted: “Literary Criticism and the 2018 Shadow Clarke: Introducing Nick Hubble”.

A key part of the purpose of the Shadow Jury last year was not just to comment on the award itself but also on its unofficial status as one of the key hubs, in the UK at least, for a critical articulation of the wider and deeper concerns of SFF fan, convention, and reviewing culture. I think we did achieve that to some extent but I hope that the tweaks to the format and emphasis this year will foreground that aspect of the project and help us avoid getting bogged down in controversies concerning the inclusion/exclusion of particular books from shortlists….

(8) IN VACUO. Joe Stech of Compelling Science Fiction invites readers to check out his personal blog where he provide gristly details about “What happens to animals in the vacuum of space?” Good chance to sort out science from fiction on this topic.

In the vast majority of modern shows, people sucked out into the vacuum of space freeze like popsicles in seconds. This is ridiculous. The reality is much more horrifying. In the 1960s there were several studies done on animals in high-grade vacuums that give us a real idea of exactly what would happen in the “oops, I forgot my spacesuit” scenario, and I’m going to walk you through the gory details, along with links to the original papers published in the 60s.

The first big thing to understand is how heat is transferred in space. You may remember that there are four main ways that heat can be bled off: conduction, convection, radiation, and phase change transfer (e.g. ‘enthalpy of vaporization’). When you’re in space, conduction and convection are out, because nothing cold is touching you (conduction) and there are no fluids to transfer heat away from you (convection). That leaves only radiation and phase changes that can cool you down. The infrared radiation leaving the human body is only about as much as a lightbulb, which is not going to drop your temperature extremely rapidly. You’ll also be cooled when the water in your skin boils away, but that’s only going to affect your outer layer. Your internals will be fine for a while, until they completely run out of oxygen.

So now that we’re clear that insta-freeze won’t happen, what are the actual steps in our grisly space demise? Here they are…

(9) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • February 15, 1950 — Disney’s Cinderella premieres.

(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY

  • Born February 15, 1935 — Grand Master Robert Silverberg

(11) COMICS SECTION.

  • John King Tarpinian spotted a good Conan gag in Bliss.

(12) RETRO-HUGO TOOL. Nicholas Whyte has been working on an eligibility list for the “Best Series Retro Hugo 1943”.

….Obviously, since this category has not been awarded before, the strictures on previous winners and finalists are not relevant. But even so, the pickings are very slim. There are a number of series which started in 1942 but had not published 3 installments by the end of the year (eg Asimov’s Foundation). There are other series with many installments which however do not amount to 240,000 words (eg the Via and Adam Link sequences by Otto Binder, and I think also the Professor Jameson stories by Neil R. Jones). What I am left with is the following rather brief list…

(13) AFROFUTURISM. The CBC posted a video of author Nalo Hopkinson on the power of science fiction and why Black Panther is going to change everything — “Afrofuturism, sci-fi and why ‘it is a radical act for Black people to imagine having a future'”.

(14) THE ROAD TO HELL. Neil Gaiman tweeted some Good Omens set decoration.

(15) ARE WE THERE YET? Ironically, it may hit another planet, but not Mars. “Musk’s Tesla to stay in space for millions of years”.

The Tesla car that Elon Musk launched into space is likely to stay there for tens of millions of years before crashing into the Earth or Venus.

That’s the conclusion of an analysis by Czech and Canadian researchers.

They calculated that the roadster has a 6% chance of colliding with Earth and a 2.5% probability of hitting Venus over the next million years.

But there’s no cause for concern: if it eventually returns to Earth, most of the vehicle will burn up.

The team’s computer simulations suggest there is a very slim chance of the vehicle colliding with the Sun, but little to no chance of the car hitting Mars.

(16) AN ADMONITION. Steven Barnes wrote on Facebook

White people: please don’t go see BP this weekend: you will be denying a deserving POC a seat. If you MUST, and you are really “Woke” you’ll let said POC sit on your lap. Blocking your view. Your Liberal Guilt will be assuaged thereby.

(17) GAG ME. Paul Verhoeven preens about “How we made Starship Troopers” in The Guardian’s profile. Denise Richards is quoted, too.

Paul Verhoeven, director

Robert Heinlein’s original 1959 science-fiction novel was militaristic, if not fascistic. So I decided to make a movie about fascists who aren’t aware of their fascism. Robocop was just urban politics – this was about American politics. As a European it seemed to me that certain aspects of US society could become fascistic: the refusal to limit the amount of arms; the number of executions in Texas when George W Bush was governor.

It’s an idiotic story: young people go to fight bugs. So I felt the human characters should have a comic-book look. Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon auditioned, but I was looking for the prototype of blond, white and arrogant, and Casper Van Dien was so close to the images I remembered from Leni Riefenstahl’s films. I borrowed from Triumph of the Will in the parody propaganda reel that opens the film, too. I was using Riefenstahl to point out, or so I thought, that these heroes and heroines were straight out of Nazi propaganda. No one saw it at the time. I don’t know whether or not the actors realised – we never discussed it. I thought Neil Patrick Harris arriving on the set in an SS uniform might clear it up.

(18) WALKING DEAD WINE. Can’t beat a brand name like that, can you? And to make the vintage even more collectible, “New Walking Dead Wines Will Feature Augmented Reality Labels”.

A new Walking Dead wine will soon come to life in a store near you. We partnered with The Last Wine Company to create a Blood Red Blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon that not only taste amazing, but include some really awesome creative flourishes. Our bottles will have unique augmented reality labels that come to life when viewed through your smartphone. Each bottle is sealed with a collectible cork featuring Walking Dead artwork—walker heads, barbwire, etc.

[Thanks to Mark Hepworth, John King Tarpinian, JJ, Cat Eldridge, Chip Hitchcock, Martin Morse Wooster, Andrew Porter, Camestros Felapton, Dann, and Carl Slaughter for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Bill.]

61 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 2/15/18 I Got 99 Problems But An Unscrolled Pixel Ain’t One Of Them

  1. Ugh, Verhoeven. “No one saw it at the time”, forsooth. Yes, Paul, we *did* see how clever you were with that movie, it just turns out the answer was ‘not as much as you think’.

    And Starship Troopers as a book about going ‘to fight bugs’. He must have skimmed the first and last chapters and had an intern describe the rest of the novel to him.

    (Shakes fist at clouds)

  2. Verhoeven is remembering things with rose-tinted brain cells. Per his comments at the time, he hadn’t read Starship Troopers when he made the movie, and many people noted that the “heroes” were Nazis.

    From Wikipedia: The film started life as a script called Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine. When similarities, especially the “bugs”, were pointed out between this and the novel Starship Troopers, plans were made to license the rights to the book and tweak character names and circumstances to match. Verhoeven had never read the book, and attempted to read it for the film, but it made him “bored and depressed”, so he read only a few chapters:

    I stopped after two chapters because it was so boring … It is really quite a bad book. I asked Ed Neumeier to tell me the story because I just couldn’t read the thing. It’s a very right-wing book.

  3. I love Barnes’ sense of humor. I usually avoid opening weekend, but I’m now tempted to go be a seat cushion.

  4. (8) Every Little Thing covered almost all the same ground about 2 weeks ago (with bonus info on vacuum cleaners)

    Re Black Panther: I went to see it on Wednesday when it premiered here. It’s a very good Marvel movie, one of the better recent ones in fact.

  5. 1) The fact that this keeps happening in one community after another is proof enough that the problem is patriarchy in general. But piece by piece is probably the only practical way to start addressing it.

    17) No one saw it at the time… I thought Neil Patrick Harris arriving on the set in an SS uniform might clear it up.

    Star Ship Troopers was a terrible film but I’ll always respect Verhoven for making it. And the reaction – it seemed like literally every newsgroup sprouted a ‘STARSHIP TROOPERS SUCKED MAJOR WIND!!!!1!!!11’ thread for months after – is exactly why it needed to be made.

  6. I mostly remember Starship Troopers having an enormous fan club and I could never understand why. The same goes for the book btw.

  7. (2) & (3) This is why the problem of harassment is cultural: it literally includes learned behaviour for nearly everyone in society. To the point that people can become serial harassers or appear thretening without ever intending to.

    (16) I have no idea on how to read this. Which I think is symbolic of the trouble with most Internet social media: the lack of any sort of context means there are no clues on how to read a piece. It becomes extra troublesome with jokes.

    (17) I have a strong distaste for the message of Starship Troopers the book, but it isn’t promoting fascism (as I view fascism).

    Science fiction is really a terrible genre for allegory, in any case.

  8. In an earlier thread, I suggested pixel scroll title:There are six pixels on this scroll: two at the rear, two at the front and two over the tick box.

    This has been irritating me ever since, because clearly it should have been:
    There are five pixels on this scroll: two at the rear, two at the front and two over the tick box.

  9. (16) if only POC in my home town went to see it on the opening weekend then the odds are that I wouldn’t be able to see it at all until it came out on DVD.

  10. 14) Getting a Blackfriars Station from Neverwhere vibe from these.

    17) Yup, “Doogie Howser SS Officer” was a visual that hammered the idea home, hard, for me.

  11. Karl-Johan Norén says (16) I have no idea on how to read this. Which I think is symbolic of the trouble with most Internet social media: the lack of any sort of context means there are no clues on how to read a piece. It becomes extra troublesome with jokes.

    It’s troubling for me as the POC I know are from many cultures, generally don’t speak English and seem unlikely to be interested in sitting through a film of this nature. But I can’t speak for them unlike the author of this might be joke who assuredly think all POCers are from Africa and a certain part of Africa at that.

    Made s nice curried noddles recentlt with products from a store on Immigrants from Hong Kong, I doubt they’ll be going. Another store here is all Lebenese immigrants, recent too. Give you low odds they’ll be going.

  12. 16) I read it as a ha-ha-only-serious reminder to white people that it might be polite not to assume Black Panther was made for them. If we feel snubbed or excluded by that, then it’s probably worth contemplating how most Hollywood films and their media coverage feel to people who aren’t white.

  13. 16) If you aren’t certain how to read it, for once I feel good about saying “do read the comments on a trolling Facebook thread”, the linked one in particular. Most of the thread is just very funny–and a bit very not funny–but right there, Barnes gets serious.

  14. “The fact that this keeps happening in one community after another is proof enough that the problem is patriarchy in general.”

    Several of the named YA authors are female.

  15. 16) I (cis white guy) was +1 for Black Panther last night with my ex-girlfriend (who is black) and it was a great flick despite a very few moments of weak CGI. The writing and directing was very strong, and the movie was definitely aimed at a black Diaspora audience so I guess that’s where Steven Barnes was coming from. Michael B. Jordan’s character definitely made the movie work and I hope Black Panther opens up his career to new opportunities.

  16. According to Facebook, today is the birthday of the Master of Chinese Bots, the Lord of all Vileness, the Impresario of things that Puppies and Happy Frogs Hate, OGH, Mike Glyer.

    Happy Birthday Mr. Glyer!

  17. @clack Several of the named YA authors are female.

    “Most of the survey responses I received were about men harassing women… Sexual harassment, whether verbal or physical, interferes with women’s careers.” – Anne Ursu

  18. 8) — So that scene in The Black Hole was less than rigorously accurate? Unpossible! And there’s the famous scene in 2001 where Dave is wearing a pressure suit without a helmet; wonder if that would make things better or worse.

  19. Ghostbird says 16) I read it as a ha-ha-only-serious reminder to white people that it might be polite not to assume Black Panther was made for them. If we feel snubbed or excluded by that, then it’s probably worth contemplating how most Hollywood films and their media coverage feel to people who aren’t white.

    Never assumed that it was made for me. I’m more concerned with the assumption that POC means a group of folk who are just a fraction of the total POC population in the USA. And I seriously doubt that Marvel was aiming just for that particular group is they want it to be the largest grossing genre or otherwise film. They’re capitalists, not social justice centered folk.

    It looks fun, and I applaud their vision of an African civilisation that might existed.

  20. (2) and (3) The apologies are a good first step – especially Cole’s. I particularly appreciate the part where he says, “In the coming weeks and months and years, I will do everything I can do be part of making our community a safe and welcoming space for *everyone*.”

    It’s worth remembering that an apology without action (even if that action is just a change in behavior) is just words. I sincerely hope that these apologies are sincere and lead to change – and not just for the two men apologizing.

  21. 7) Wow–I. A. Richards and close reading get a non-dismissive mention. Looks like some of my early training, like the ties in my closet, might become fashionable again. Can Northrop Frye and Kenneth Burke be far behind? (FWIW, I haven’t worn a tie [since my last niece got married, anyway] or worked in a classroom for decades.)

  22. @Niall McAuley: Verhoeven is remembering things with rose-tinted brain cells.
    I suspect he also shot the movie with rose-tinted brain cells.

  23. (17) “I even put one in an SS uniform. But no one noticed”

    I dare say every single fan of Heinlein noticed, and zero of us were happy.

  24. @Joe H: I think Clarke was working from an estimate that turned out to be close on the money – ten to fifteen seconds of “useful consciousness”. IIRC he discusses that scene in one of his essays in Report on Planet Three. In general, 2001 was as accurate as they could get it, with the techniques and scientific knowledge of the time… and it still holds up pretty well, on that front.

  25. 17) It wasn’t called “90210 in Space” for nothing.
    Any more it seems like his version of events is more of a “Oh yeah–I meant to do that”.
    Hated it. It wasn’t serious enough to be able to “disbelieve’ some things–like a giant ball of flame spouting from a bugs ass that manages to hit something–and not campy enough to be funny.

  26. Yeah, the scene in 2001 is certainly more realistic than my first “exposure to vacuum” movies, Total Recall and Outland.

    Although from reading the article, the part about swelling & bloating was unexpected. And unpleasant.

  27. Just read that Kung Fury will get a big screen adaptation featuring Michael Fassbender and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who thought that might be a good idea? I mean, if it works good for you, but it will be hard to pull off.

    Tank You!

  28. 17) Roughnecks, the animated spin off was significantly more effective than the movie at capturing more of the complexities of the book’s philosophies. Verhoeven’s movie might have gained a cult following now, but it was a fairly facile and shallow interpretation and remained true to Verhoeven’s compulsive necessity to include the sexual assault of women in every film.

  29. Happy Birthday, Mike!

    (16) The best of entertainment invites everyone in regardless of whether or not it is written “for” a given group. Go if it looks interesting to you and leave the identity politics at the door.

    (17) I’m a bit of a heretic. I enjoyed both the book and the film. The book for the deeper elements and the film for the superficial ones. I caught Verhoeven’s intent and discarded it just as quickly.

    Regards,
    Dann
    – CLOSED FOR TAGLINE DEVELOPMENT —

  30. Did notes 17) Roughnecks, the animated spin off was significantly more effective than the movie at capturing more of the complexities of the book’s philosophies. Verhoeven’s movie might have gained a cult following now, but it was a fairly facile and shallow interpretation and remained true to Verhoeven’s compulsive necessity to include the sexual assault of women in every film.

    Verhoeven was also responsible for the animated series which is far superior to the film in every aspect. It apparently had but three or so EPs to go when Sony cancelled it.

  31. 17) Showgirls should require Paul Verhoeven to forever keep his mouth shut.

    Starship Troopers was an execrable movie.

  32. rochrist says that Starship Troopers was an execrable movie.

    Even the topless scene in the showers was awfully scripted. The novel is barely used in the script. Weird because the animated seruiesnwhich Verhoeven executive produced was definitely an intelligent series.

    The Directors edition of Robocop has if I recall correctly just two additional scenes of which one is showing a female officer topless in the police dressing room. It doesn’t add to the film anymore that the scene in ST does there.

  33. Okay, I’m going to say it, and annoy, probably, everyone. Well, maybe not Dann. But only maybe.

    I loved Starship Troopers the book, even while recognizing that it was in many ways deeply problematic.

    And I loved the movie, for capturing on the screen a lot of what I found problematic in the book. It was a Hollywood depiction of how I think a society organized the way Heinlein described would have really functioned. Especially in wartime.

    Boskone is cancelled for me. Dora ate something she shouldn’t have, and got an upset tummy. We went to the vet, and then the supermarket to stock up for a bland diet for her for a few days.

  34. Happy birthday Mike!
    —————–
    Starship Troopers the movie was very bad. And not subtle at all.

    —————–
    @Niall McAuley, your comment prompted:
    How do you know a Scroll’s been in your fridge? Pixels in the butter.

  35. I saw Starship Troopers while, as the young people say, trippin’ balls. (It was college…) I laughed hysterically through most of it. I assume it is just as truly godawful as I remember, possibly more so, but I retain a certain fondness that is more about the crap you do at nineteen in midwinter in St. Paul, Minnesota than anything to do with the movie.

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