Pixel Scroll 2/19/16 The Fifth Editor

(1) LONGEST EVER 1-HOUR EPISODE. A Kickstarter is raising $15,000 to produce “A Skyboat Audiobook of Harlan Ellison’s Star Trek Teleplay”.

On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the launching of Star Trek – the Original Series, we want to make the FIRST-TIME-EVER, 6-hour AUDIOBOOK, full-cast version of Harlan Ellison’s book THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER.

To clarify, this book contains Harlan Ellison’s original teleplay; NOT the one eventually filmed. This is the episode which won the Writers’ Guild Award for best dramatic hour-long script. The filmed teleplay also won Harlan a Hugo Award. The book also contains Harlan’s Essay on the controversy backstory, and several tributes from his colleagues.

Roles will be voiced by LeVar Burton, John Rubinstein (a Tony Award winner, as Captain Kirk), Scott Brick, Jean Smart (Emmy Award winner as Edith Keeler), Harlan Ellison, Stefan Rudnicki, J. Paul Boehmer, Richard McGonagle, David Gerrold, D.C. Fontana, Richard Gilliland, Jim Meskimen, Orson Scott Card, and Robert Forster.

In addition, Harlan Ellison has narrated his essay describing the before, during, and after of the controversy surrounding the episode, which has been voted as the most beloved episode of the Star Trek® series. It also includes:

  • Harlan’s rewrite of the Prologue and Act One to eliminate the controversial “Jewels of Sound” drug-dealing elements that the censors and powers-that-were objected to at the time,
  • plus two screenplay treatments written by Harlan,
  • and tribute essays from authors and colleagues who-were-there.

Gabrielle de Cuir also has an article on the Kickstarter page detailing the many differences between Ellison’s original script and the aired episode which include —

The original opening sequences contain the “Jewels of Sound” subplot that was so controversial at the time, and eventually was eradicated from the teleplay altogether. We have several characters in this version that did not appear in the final: the villains Beckwith and LeBeque, the iconic Trooper (the Verdun veteran) and a delightfully surly Cook.

(2) CLAGS WORKSHOP. CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies in New York City will host “Sci-Fi Alien(ation): Diversity Under Attack, Racism, Homophobia, & Sexism at Hugo Awards & Beyond” on April 8, 2016.

A panel discussion of scholars and science fiction authors including André Carrington, Jennifer Marie Brissett, Craig Laurance Gidney dissect racism, homophobia, and sexism in the world of sci-fi publishing and fandom in general, and the highly-publicized hate campaign at the 2015 Hugo Awards.  A group calling itself the “Sad Puppies” gamed the voting system to assure that most award nominees were white, male, and straight, voicing public statements about gay, black, and women’s themes and authors ruining the genre.  Many non-white, queer, and women authors have received rape threats and death threats in association with this campaign.  This episode mirrors “gamer-gate,” where similar rape and death threats against women in the video game industry who have complained about sexism.

In contrast to GamerGate, which had all of the following things, during last year’s Hugo controversy I did not hear about: people fleeing their homes in response to threats, calling the police for protection (Crazy Uncle Lou, though, did try to get the police to screw Sasquan), filing for restraining orders, and being stalked at con panels by hostile bloggers. The things that happened were bad enough – and some Puppies assuredly tried to interest GamerGaters in getting involved. Hopefully the actual workshop will stick to valid parallels between the two controversies.

(3) BUILDING A RABBIT HOLE. Publishers Weekly tells why the owners of Kansas City’s The Reading Reptile are leaving that business in “Kansas City Booksellers Launching ‘World’s First Explorastorium”.

Kansas City booksellers Pete Cowdin and Deb Pettid, who have owned The Reading Reptile for more than 25 years, intend to close the bookstore Pettid founded in 1988 by the end of March so that they can develop “the world’s first explorastorium,” a project that they have been conceptualizing for the past year. The proposed museum, modeled upon San Francisco’s Exploratorium and St. Louis’s City Museum, and called The Rabbit Hole in homage to Alice in Wonderland, will allow visitors to physically immerse themselves in the narratives of beloved children’s books through interactive exhibits and galleries. There will also be regularly scheduled presentations and workshops led by touring authors and illustrators to complement the full-scale 3-D installations, which will change every three or four months.

explo COMP

The mission of The Rabbit Hole, which is being set up as a nonprofit, is to “create new readers on an unprecedented scale” in a world where “only around 50% of parents read aloud to their kids on a regular basis.”

A prototype of one component of The Rabbit Hole has been installed in a temporary leased space in Kansas City’s Crossroads neighborhood. The prototype is a full-scale, walk-through exhibit bringing to life The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau by Jon Agee, who has assisted the Rabbit Hole team in creating it. The grand opening of this Rabbit Hole prototype will be held on April 9.

(4) THOSE BRONZE AGE SOPHISTICATES. Photos and a videos accompany the BBC article “Bronze Age wheel at ‘British Pompeii’ Must Farm an ‘unprecedented find’”.

“The existence of this wheel expands our understanding of Late Bronze Age technology, and the level of sophistication of the lives of people living on the edge of the Fens 3,000 years ago.”

(5) THE ICELAND CON COMETH. Fans in Iceland have plans to launch a new convention this year.

Icecon 2016 is a science fiction and fantasy fan convention that will be held in the heart of Reykjavík, Iceland, this fall. On the 28th to the 30th of October, Iðnó theatre ( idno.is) will be filled with the fantastic.

There will be panels, readings, a Halloween masquerade and other events.

Information on registration, membership fee, guests of honour, program and accommodation coming soon. All information will be posted on this event-page and a forthcoming homepage. Any interested parties can also email us at icecon2016(at) gmail.com

Icecon 2016 is supported by Reykjavik UNESCO City of Literature ( bokmenntaborgin.is/en/)

(6) DREAM DESTINATIONS. I mentioned the NASA space travel posters before, however, this particular webpage displays the entire collection as large thumbnails, and also has a link to the JPL store if you want to order a literal printed poster.

(7) UNDERGROUND REVOLUTION. The Society of Illustrators in New York City will exhibit “The ZAP Show: A Cultural Revolution” from March 2-May 7 on the main floor.

No one could have known that when struggling illustrator R. Crumb self-published Zap Comix #1 in 1968 and began hawking copies in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, history would be made. By the arrival of issue #4 (1969) and Crumb’s Zap collective (S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffiin, Gilbert Shelton, Robert Williams, and Spain Rodriguez) fully formed, the artists had broken every Comics Code taboo imaginable — and then some. Zap spawned an entire underground comix industry, establishing an adult market for the comics medium that, in turn, set new standards for creators’ rights and ownership that one day would liberate mainstream comic books from the tyrannical grip of corporate publishers, paving the way for literary work by the likes of Art Spiegelman, Lynda Barry, Chris Ware, and Daniel Clowes, among others.

(8) MEYEROWITZ ART DISPLAY. About the same time, the Society of Illustrators will exhibit on the third floor “Rick Meyerowitz in the National Lampoon” from March 1-April 23.

mona%20gorilla

Rick Meyerowitz was a prolific contributor of both artwork and written pieces for National Lampoon from its first issue in 1970 until close to its last in 1991. He collaborated with many of the magazine’s writers on an astonishing variety of topics and themes. Among his most notable works were the “Mona Gorilla” (Mona Lisa as a gorilla); “DODOSAURS: The Dinosaurs That  Didn’t Make It” (which he and Henry Beard turned into a 1983 book); the widely recognized poster for the movie Animal House; and most recently, “DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: The Writers and Artists Who Made The National Lampoon Insanely Great,” published by Abrams as a coffee table size visual history of the Lampoon. A documentary film of the same name was released last year.

(9) NURTURING TALENT. Gregory N. Hullender says Rocket Stack Rank “has a new article comparing the Campbell-eligible writers with the stories we reviewed in 2015 with an eye towards figuring out which editors were the most supporting of new writers in 2015” – “Nurturing New SF Short-Fiction Talent in 2015”.

(10) PLAQUE FOR TONI WEISSKOPF. The National Fantasy Fan Federation has circulated a picture of Toni Weisskopf’s Neffy Award.

(11) HARPER LEE OBIT. Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, died February 19 at the age of 89.

“This is a sad day for our family. America and the world knew Harper Lee as one of the last century’s most beloved authors,” Hank Conner, Lee’s nephew and a spokesman for the family, said in a statement Friday morning.

“We knew her as Nelle Harper Lee, a loving member of our family, a devoted friend to the many good people who touched her life, and a generous soul in our community and our state. We will miss her dearly.”

Conner’s statement indicated that “Ms. Lee passed away in her sleep early this morning. Her passing was unexpected. She remained in good basic health until her passing.”

(12) A REALLY BIG SANDBOX. The B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog knows “How One Mashup Artist Got Legal Permission to Pair Calvin & Hobbes with Dune”.

Calvin & Muad’Dib picked up international attention after a shout-out from io9 in September of 2014, and this attention led to an immediate DMC takedown. But unlike most bloggers, Joe lawyered up.

“I did this because it was clear that I wasn’t profiting in any way from Calvin and Hobbes,” Joe says. “There were no advertisements on my blog, nor did I sell or intend to sell any merchandise or even ask for donations. I felt I had a solid ground to defend myself, and I also happen to believe that most DMCA takedowns are inherently unjust due to the ‘guilty until proven innocent’ nature of DMCA.”

Joe entered into talks with the lawyers of Calvin & Hobbes’ publisher. Though he never spoke directly to Watterson, he did succeed in his goal: Calvin & Muad’Dib went back up six months later, in February of 2014.

“We worked out a licensing deal where I could continue to make comics in the way I intended, and the Calvin & Hobbes lawyers could be ensured that abuse of Bill Watterson’s original works would not occur,” Joe says of the discussion. Every comic on his site now comes with a reminder that the mash-up is legit: “Calvin and Hobbes: © and ™ Bill Watterson, used with permission.”

fear is the mindkiller COMP

(15) TWENTIETH CENTURY FANAC. At Amazing Stories, R. Graeme Cameron opens his time capsule: the script of his 1989 talk about fanzines to the Vancouver Public Library.

There exist people who have never earned a penny writing, yet have published thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of words. They belong to FANDOM. Fandom is something more than merely fans of Science Fiction in its various forms: books, magazines, movies, comic books, etc. Fandom is a mode of behaviour, of attitude, an approach to organized appreciation of Science Fiction which is universal among fans, so that fans as far apart as America and Soviet Russia have enough in common as to establish an immediate rapport should they meet.

People writing for no money! That’ll never catch on… And look who’s one of the people doing it –

FILE 770 is quite a renowned perzine. Mike Glyer has been producing it for a longtime. This is the 77th issue. It’s a kind of NEWSZINE really, reporting on conventions, writers, fan activities, fan feuds, and other fanzines. But it is a one-man operation, so I classify it as a perzine.

(14) ROAD WARRIOR. Someday soon Larry Correia will live at the end of Yard Moose Mountain Road. First he has to build the road. The mountain came built-in….

When we built our current house it was all open fields around us. There were houses near, but we had a little room to breathe. I’m a country boy at heart. I don’t like people all up in my business. We even had a moose come and live in our yard. That’s why we started calling it Yard Moose Mountain. He just kind of camped out under my son’s bedroom window, then he’d wander out and eat our neighbor’s trees, but he never messed with my trees. Good moose.

It was really nice.

Over the last five years our area slowly filled in, until one day I woke up, and realized that rather than living in the country anymore, we were living in a small neighborhood. Sure, it was a nice commuter neighborhood (I’ve got 12 doctors in my ward, no joke) and the people are about as nice as you could possibly ask for, but it was still a neighborhood.  We landscaped and put in a fence for privacy, but it has lost its charm. Add to that, I’d retired from my finance manager job a few years ago to just be a full time author, so I no longer needed to be close enough to the city to commute.

Being a failed D List nobody hack pulp writer with an irreparably damaged career who will never be a *real* author and who can’t even manage to get measly five hundred people to a book signing, my income had still somehow gone up dramatically, but we’d not really changed our standard of living (well, except for more guns and minis, but those don’t count). Plus, because I have a pathological hatred of debt I had been making lots of extra house payments, to the point that I’d knocked 27 years worth of our 30 year mortgage payments out in 5. Because screw debt.

So last year we decided we wanted to move, and this time we were going to move someplace where we’d never have to move again….

(15) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • February 19, 1985 – The movie Brazil premieres in France, 10 months before opening in the USA.

(16) YOUR SCIENCE QUOTE OF THE DAY. From CNN: “Hubble image: Dormant black hole, in a word, is gargantuan”.

“Black holes don’t suck,” van der Marel said. “That’s a common misconception. Material that happens to be moving in the direction of the black hole falls in because gas has friction that gets eaten [by the black hole]. Once the black hole has eaten all the gas there it can just move on and it will be dormant until it gets another dose of material that it can consume.”

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Addressee Unknown .]

160 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 2/19/16 The Fifth Editor

  1. @Kathodus – It’s all true! *sob* My message is overwhelming! Give me a few more years and I’ll be producing quasi-religious plant screeds with titles like “The Parliment of Herbs and Annuals.”

  2. @ Vasha

    your favorite story-central female friendships of 2015

    It’s a complex mixture of friendship and desire, but my most delightful read in this area was Beth Bernobich’s “The Ghost Dragon’s Daughter”.

  3. Let’s be generous. Larry ran an egotistical entitlement campaign. It was Brad, who started PDF trying to run on cronyism that reverted to hate when that didn’t seem to be working.

  4. @Nickpheas

    Well, credit where credit is due: Larry’s entitlement campaign included a lot of hate right from the beginning.

    @Vasha

    Story-central female friendships–I’d bring up _The Pyramids of London_ by Andrea K. Höst at this point. On my Best Novel ballot, as a matter of fact. Lots of women with agency, including 2 of the main characters, who are sisters who make a habit of each using their strengths to compensate for the other’s weak points.

    Re: The Parliment of Herbs and Annuals; I would also buy that.

  5. RedWombat,
    If it had Molly from Castle Hangnail in it as a major character, it would have at least one sale.

  6. @RedWombat – I seem to recall you’ve had to follow through on this kind of “threat” you’ve made in the past on File770. I may have misunderstood, though. I’m thinking of the story about Bob (not the Rev.).

  7. @ Red Wombat
    “The Parliment of Herbs and Annuals”

    This doesn’t seem to be available for pre-order at Amazon yet, I looked. Please Ms Wombat, please update us here when we can order this book/novella/graphic novel/musical tribute to Gilbert & Sullivan/indie movie… (or whatever form your story takes) 🙂

  8. Phantom:

    I think you’re casting too wide a net using the collective opinions of SFWA as a “what not to read,” because it’s so many people. When Spider Robinson was reviewing for Analog, he said that he was pleased to get a letter from someone saying something that they liked everything he panned, and disliked everything he praised, because that meant his reviews were useful to that reader. But it’s a lot more likely to find one person whose tastes are that close to opposite yours, than a very large group.

    Also, if I found that I consistently disliked the books nominated for an award by professionals in a genre, I’d take a break from reading new books in that genre, unless they were by writers I already knew I liked, because reading should be a pleasure*. So: go for the back lists. Go to the movies. Read comics or mysteries.

    *with exceptions for things like technical manuals and other nonfiction that you are reading because you want the information it contains.

  9. (3) I think The Rabbit Hole/Exploratirum sounds wonderful. I would love to visit.

    (5) Would love to attend a con in Iceland someday–or even just visit Iceland!

    (6) Love the NASA travel posters.

    (11) Harper Lee’s death was headline news all day, of course, but I was much sadder to read about Umberto Eco’s death. I know that TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD touched many lives, but I had a very “meh” reaction to the book (I am very seldom engaged by stories told from a child’s point of view–it’s just not my thing), whereas I really liked several of Eco’s novels and essays. I also remember an engaging news story about Eco, maybe 20 years ago, when the floor of his home collapsed beneath the weight of his book collection; he decided he needed stronger floors, not fewer books.

    (14) As long as he’s not engaged in gaming the Hugos or similarly destructive activities that affect people outside of his echo chamber, I have no interest in what Larry Correia does or says.

  10. Vasha on February 20, 2016 at 12:41 pm said:
    And now to you, o Filers, what were your favorite story-central female friendships of 2015, in short prose, long prose, or visual media?

    What popped into my head on reading your challenge were the sisters Lavinia and Antonia in “And To The Republic” by Rachel Kolar. (I hope I did the link correctly!). I could see both sides and how much Lavinia cared for Antonia. That story is such an interesting AU as well!

    ~*~*~*~

    I thought about going to Boskone today, but we are planning our parental 50th anniversary, plus the sibling had car issues. So today was staying in. I’m hoping to hit Readercon this summer!

  11. Not sure where to put this, but thought I’d give a follow-up on Planetfall by Emma Newman.

    …oh man.

    This book will probably live on in my mind as The One With Gur Ubneqre. V srry njshy sbe orvat fb qryvtugrq ol guvf cybg qrirybczrag, ohg…V ybir Ubneqref ba N&R. Gurer’f n arj frnfba nvevat evtug abj.

    Nf sbe gur genhzn gung pnhfrq gur ubneqvat? Zru. V unq ubcrq gurer jbhyq or n yvggyr zber gb Fhu-Zv’f qrngu. Naq jung na bqq punenqr sbe Era naq Svgm gb xrrc hc sbe bire gjragl lrnef. V qvqa’g rkcrpg gur fnintr puvyqera bs gur ybfg pbybavfgf gb neevir, ohg va ergebfcrpg V frr gur pyhrf guebhtu bhe rkgerzryl haeryvnoyr aneengbe’f rlrf. Naq Era’f yvsr arrqrq gb or gbgnyyl qrfgeblrq, gb qevir ure gb fheeraqre gb Tbq’f Pvgl. Abg dhvgr fher jung gb znxr bs gur raqvat. V jnf erzvaqrq bs gung Fgne Gerx GAT jurer vg’f erirnyrq gung nyy bs gur Nycun dhnqenag enprf unq orra frrqrq ba gurve ubzr cynargf. V jbhyq unir yvxrq zber bs na nafjre nf gb jul.

  12. @Kip W

    Because I could not tick for pixels, pixels ticked for me
    The scroll held but ourselves and intersectionality.

    Brilliant, but — needs more dashes.

  13. nickpheas wrote: “Note if this car would just stop shooting on my lap I could probably download two thirds of the short nebula nominees…

    I smell the sinister hand of Autocorrect at work here, methinks. Just trying to retro-engineer what it originally said:

    I’ll go with “if this cat would just stop shitting on my lap”. (Yeah, it’s probably “sitting”, but sometimes my brain decides to be, like, eight.)

  14. @Vasha:

    And now to you, o Filers, what were your favorite story-central female friendships of 2015, in short prose, long prose, or visual media?

    No contest for me: Trish Walker and Jessica Jones in Jessica Jones.

  15. Bruce Arthurs (and nickpheas) having a preschooler means I thought the sentence could stand as written (you’d be amazed what sentences become absolutely normal), but I was a bit curious about context…

  16. Dawn Incognito: thought I’d give a follow-up on Planetfall by Emma Newman… Nf sbe gur genhzn gung pnhfrq gur ubneqvat? Zru. V unq ubcrq gurer jbhyq or n yvggyr zber gb Fhu-Zv’f qrngu. Naq jung na bqq punenqr sbe Era naq Svgm gb xrrc hc sbe bire gjragl lrnef.

    Era jnf va ybir jvgu Fhu-Zv, naq unq orra sbe znal, znal lrnef, rira gubhtu gurl jrer ab ybatre grpuavpnyyl va n eryngvbafuvc. V pna pregnvayl haqrefgnaq jul frrvat gur crefba lbh ybir qryvorengryl xvyy gurzfryirf, naq gura orvat sbeprq gb pbire hc gung qrngu vafgrnq bs orvat nyybjrq gb tevrir choyvpyl jvgu bgure crbcyr jub ner nyfb tevrivat jbhyq pnhfr gung fbeg bs genhzn.

    V qvqa’g guvax gung gur pbire-hc jnf na bqq punenqr ng nyy; rirelbar jub znqr gur gevc qvq fb ba gur sbepr bs Fhu-Zv’f punevfzngvp crefbanyvgl naq gurve oryvrs va fbzr fbeg bs uvture yvsrsbez qverpgvat guvatf. Ure qrngu naq gur shgvyvgl bs vg nyy – gurz abg orvat noyr gb tb onpx naq cvpx hc gurve yvirf jurer gurl yrsg bss – jbhyq pregnvayl unir orra cflpubybtvpnyyl qrinfgngvat gb gur pbybavfgf. Gurl jrer nyernql fgehttyvat gb fheivir nf n pbybal. Gung eriryngvba zvtug irel jryy unir orra n xvyyvat oybj.

    I thought the ending was rather rushed as well, and would have liked it to have been developed more.

  17. I’ve been reading all the spoilered discussions of Planetfall and they’ve made me really curious to read it. Where the @#&$ is the copy I bought months ago and mislaid?

    ETA: Found it! May abandon my current reading, Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef.

  18. JJ:

    Era jnf va ybir jvgu Fhu-Zv, naq unq orra sbe znal, znal lrnef, rira gubhtu gurl jrer ab ybatre grpuavpnyyl va n eryngvbafuvc. V pna pregnvayl haqrefgnaq jul frrvat gur crefba lbh ybir qryvorengryl xvyy gurzfryirf, naq gura orvat sbeprq gb pbire hc gung qrngu vafgrnq bs orvat nyybjrq gb tevrir choyvpyl jvgu bgure crbcyr jub ner nyfb tevrivat jbhyq pnhfr gung fbeg bs genhzn.

    Bu, V qvqa’g zrna gung V gubhtug ure genhzn jnf vafhssvpvragyl genhzngvp; V thrff V jnf ubcvat sbe fbzrguvat qvssrerag va gur cybg. Zl rkcrpgngvba jnf gung Fhu-Zv unq orra xvyyrq be punatrq be fbzrguvat. Ure fhvpvqr jnf fb fhqqra, juvpu znxrf frafr pbafvqrevat fur oryvrirq Tbq unq orra pnyyvat ure naq jnf qrnq. Vg jnf na vzchyfvir npg gung unq funggrevat pbafrdhraprf, ohg qvqa’g ernyyl erirny zber bs gur zlfgrel gung V jnf ernyyl vagrerfgrq va, juvpu jnf gur angher bs Tbq’f Pvgl.

    V qvqa’g guvax gung gur pbire-hc jnf na bqq punenqr ng nyy; rirelbar jub znqr gur gevc qvq fb ba gur sbepr bs Fhu-Zv’f punevfzngvp crefbanyvgl naq gurve oryvrs va fbzr fbeg bs uvture yvsrsbez qverpgvat guvatf. Ure qrngu naq gur shgvyvgl bs vg nyy – gurz abg orvat noyr gb tb onpx naq cvpx hc gurve yvirf jurer gurl yrsg bss – jbhyq pregnvayl unir orra cflpubybtvpnyyl qrinfgngvat gb gur pbybavfgf. Gurl jrer nyernql fgehttyvat gb fheivir nf n pbybal. Gung eriryngvba zvtug irel jryy unir orra n xvyyvat oybj.

    V gubhtug gurl unqa’g rfgnoyvfurq gur pbybal lrg. Znpx znqr n havyngreny qrpvfvba gb xrrc Fhu-Zv’f qrngu n frperg hagvy gurl pbhyq rfgnoyvfu gurzfryirf, naq xvyyrq n ohapu bs crbcyr gb xrrc vg. Ur pbhyq fnl vg jnf sbe gur terngre tbbq (naq V’z fher ur qvq gb Era, bsgra naq ng yratgu), ohg gur snpg erznvaf gung ur znqr hc rirelbar’f zvaqf sbe gurz. Znlor ur npghnyyl oryvrirq gung ur jnf fnivat gur pbybavfgf; gung, qrcerffrq, gurl jbhyq jvgure naq qvr. Znlor ur gubhtug gung gur pbybal zvtug chyy gbtrgure, ohg qrpvqr gurl qvqa’g jnag uvz nf yrnqre fb ur frg hc guvf oenvajnfuvat fvqrfubj gb xrrc gurz qbpvyr. Na vagrerfgvat punenpgre frra guebhtu fhpu n cnffvir aneengbe. V znl syvc guebhtu gur obbx n yvggyr gbavtug gb frr vs V pngpu nalguvat va ergebfcrpg.

    Gah, Rot-13 makes my eyes cross.

  19. @RedWombat Oh lord…I gotta stop making jokes about what to write…

    At least you know you are in demand. But yeah you might want to be careful what you say. I’m anxiously awaiting the new book myself. 😉

  20. Dawn Incognito:

    Bu, V’z abg qrsraqvat jung Znpx qvq, whfg fnlvat gung V pbhyq frr jul ur jbhyq qb vg, naq jul Era jbhyq or fb va fubpx gung fur jbhyq tb nybat jvgu vg ng svefg – naq gura yngre srry urycyrff gb punatr vg.

  21. Vasha: I’ve been reading all the spoilered discussions of Planetfall and they’ve made me really curious to read it

    I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been reading the spoilers if you’re going to read it — because part of what makes the novel really interesting is gradually twigging to what’s really going on.

  22. Focusing on non-canine endeavors, I have once again gone through my notes from the past year regarding Hugo nominees.

    While it will probably get lost in the various episodes (damn, but 2015 had some great SF television), I had to* nominate a podcast episode from Decoder Ring Theatre: The Final Problem
    This is, chronologically, the last episode of the Red Panda “radio show” and was a great episode on its own merits. Being part of the last season, it delves into the passing of the torch from the mystery men of the 30s and 40s to the unabashed superheroes-in-tights of the 50s and beyond.

    *if I ever wanted to sleep un-murderfied by the Wife.

  23. @Dawn Incognito & @JJ: I always love reading thoughts on Planetfall, though I don’t have anything useful to add at this point.

    @Isabel Cooper: LOL! I loved that game.

    @Vasha: OMG reading spoilers on purpose for a book you haven’t read?! 😉 Heretic! I look forward to any thoughts you care to post, if/when you read it.

    Hmm, the spoiler stuff reminds me of the meme from a few days ago, to which I should’ve thought to add:

    SPOILER ACCIDENTALLY NOT ROT-13’D
    …followed by…
    PLEA TO ROT-13 SPOILERS
    …followed by…
    MANY MORE ROT-13’D SPOILERS

  24. @isabel Indeed, when I first heard Emma was writing a novel called Planetfall, my mind went right to Floyd.

  25. Nobody knows me from Adam, but I thought I’d mention things I thought were worthy of consideration for Hugos.

    Best Novel
    The Fifth Season (gosh this was the best thing I read all year, hands down)
    Welcome to Night Vale (Scalzi is right: the failure mode of “clever” is “asshole.” These guys never fail their saving throws against asshole.)
    Gold Fame Citrus (a “real literary book” that I only read because I heard about it on NPR, but it paid off in spades.)
    Ancillary Mercy (no kidding, as soon as I finished the last book, I turned around and read the entire trilogy again, that’s how much I enjoyed it. And endings of trilogies have a tendency to leave me frustrated – that’s said as a life-long series addict.)

    Best Dramatic Work – short
    Orphan Black – Certain Agony of the Battlefield (Helena. The scorpion. Alison’s “music video.” I die.)
    Jessica Jones – AKA Smile
    Sense8 – I Can’t Leave Her (my heart!)
    David Bowie – Blackstar (my heart, again!)

    Best Dramatic Work – long
    Welcome to Night Vale – “The Investigators” (saw this on the tour and it was SUCH a fun evening. I would like to see more SF/F-inspired podcasts and accompanying live performances considered, not just whizz-bang movies.)
    Mad Max: Fury Road (Readers: I cried.)
    Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Readers: etc.)
    Jessica Jones – Season 1 (but god damn you, writers, for throwing in a gratuitous fat joke in episode 1 so that I spent the rest of the season on edge, waiting for you to make some other gratuitous jab at somebody.)
    Sense8 – Season 1 (“It gets better around Episode ___” is never a justification for a series to be given attention. Except here, it is. It gets SO good.)

    Best Related Work
    Stories for Chip – edited by Nisi Shawl & Bill Campbell (seriously, why is there not a “best anthology” category?)
    The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road Abbie Bernstein, Titan Books
    China Mieville, Critical Essays Caroline Edwards & Tony Venezia Glyphi Limited
    The League of Regrettable Superheroes Jon Morris Quirk Books

    Graphic Story
    Nimona (currently winning all kinds of awards for very good reason)
    Lumberjanes v.1
    Bitch Planet v.1 (NC forever!)
    Unbeatable Squirrel Girl v.1
    Step Aside, Pops (which honestly might not qualify? But…?) (FINE, “The Princess and the Pony,” then, which is pretty awesome on all kinds of levels.)

    Best Fan Writer
    Alexandra Erin’s – “Sad Puppies Review Books”
    JamesDavisNicoll.com (the man is a tireless reviewer, parsimonious with words, never fails to make his point without lampshading it, but has probably sold me more contemporary and back-catalogue SF/F than anyone in the past year)

    Fancast
    I Don’t Even Own a Television (they don’t do exclusively SF/F but when they do… their reviews of “A Spell for Chameleon” and “Snow Crash” and “Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon” were GOLD, people. GOLD.)

  26. Nimona (currently winning all kinds of awards for very good reason)

    I believe this may be ineligible, based upon its publication as a web comic, which concluded in 2014. I agree that it is excellent, and would nominate it if it were eligible, but unless I am terribly misunderstanding the eligibility rules, I think it isn’t eligible for a Hugo in 2016.

  27. I believe this may be ineligible

    Seriously? It’s up for a Nebula, and a National Book Award (among others), for 2015. That would really suck, because the visibility for a web comic vs. a print book that obviously got fantastic distribution is orders of magnitude different. That seems a major flaw in the nominating rules right there.

  28. OK, I finished Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef, but only with the aid of several beers. Not that it was bad, it just exceeded my capacity for gore and gruesomeness. If you want a Malaysian story about an amoral antihero struggling to survive as a pawn of various vicious gods and demons, with plenty of splattered guts, here you are.

  29. Also, Stories for Chip is not eligible for Best Related Work; entries in that category must be notable primarily for their non-fiction content. However, the individual stories are eligible in their appropriate length fiction categories.

    And I believe that James Davis Nicoll (whose reviews I also appreciate immensely) said that as he is paid, his reviews are not eligible for Fan Writing — but I’ll let him weigh in on that. (By that metric, I don’t think that Liz Bourke, whose reviews I also really like, is eligible, either.) Or perhaps Kevin Standlee can weigh in, as well.

    Sorry to put a damper on things — but I wouldn’t want to waste a nomination slot on something ineligible, and I figure that you would not want to do so, either.

  30. Seriously? It’s up for a Nebula, and a National Book Award (among others), for 2015.

    Different award, different eligibility rules. The only way to be sure of Nimona’s eligibility status would be to have the Hugo Administrator rule on it, but as the rules are written, web publication counts as first publication for Hugo eligibility.

  31. (9) That might be useful.

    (12) Have always loved this.

    (14) Self-pity and whining aren’t manly, Larry. Suck it up and get over it. I’d advise him to see a therapist for that terrible case of impostor syndrome and need for external validation, but Big Manly Men With Big Manly Guns prefer to suffer with their emotional disorders rather than get help with them and become better people. But at least the Really Manly ones are silent and stoic about it. Did John Wayne whine? It also is a self-fulfilling prophesy; the more you whine about people disliking you, the more they do, even if they didn’t to begin with. HTH.

  32. Lauowolf: That’s a very helpful eye-opener. I’ll work up a post about it after I get home tomorrow afternoon (when the editing lobe of my brain is awake again.)

  33. Lauowolf: Sounds like a very bad time indeed at ConQuest 46.

    Oh dear gods. That is a horrifying story. I feel ill just trying to imagine how awful it must have been.

  34. @Vasha: “OK, I finished Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef, but only with the aid of several beers.”

    Perhaps you should have sent him back to the kitchen, then. Was he prepared improperly? 🙂

  35. “Sounds like a very bad time indeed at ConQuest 46.”

    What the hell? What the fucking hell!? Are any of these people involved in MidAmericon2??? This is putting me in a serious rage mode. Of the type where I know that I should stop writing because I get so angry I will write something stupid.

  36. Hampus Eckerman: What the hell? What the fucking hell!? Are any of these people involved in MidAmericon2??? This is putting me in a serious rage mode.

    I know, the fact that a con chair would relegate a GoH and their guest to a side table so that they themselves could sit by GRRM just makes me see red… I’m glad that they were named and shamed. They should be ashamed of themselves for being so selfish and treating a GoH this way.

    And a panelist pulling their pants down during a panel — then rubbing up against the person next to them? Seriously? What the hell is wrong with this person, that they think this is acceptable behavior?

    I just don’t even.

  37. ? You would think that a pre-con dinner where you were going to have the GoH’s socialize you’d begin by making sure the GoH table had enough room for all the GoHs. Mistakes happen, but…

    And that panel on erasure went fairly…poorly. That happens sometimes, but I’m kind of startled that it went so spectacularly badly, as I read Chris Gerrib’s blog and he has struck me as fairly reasonable, but sometimes people feed back on each other and end up encouraging each other to see things or express things in unfortunate ways. But it worries me, because I think these conversations are important and I think that people harmed by racism are going to be less and less willing to have them if this is an example of how they go.

    And I am saddened and disturbed about the sexual harassment.

  38. Thanks Hampus for the link back here. Posting what I said in the other thread.

    Argh. Just read that account by Mark Oshiro and overall I am dumbstruck at the account.

    I am glad he reported things and came public on his complaints after nothing was done by the con runners to take any action.

    The harassment and objectification of his partner was infuriating. The panels themselves sounded disastrous and some of the behavior of panelists unacceptable.

    Some things like the confusion on covered costs and rooms could happen at a large con but the individual interactions were bad and the panels sounded horrific.

    Do cons ask for feedback after panels ? I am asking because I have never been to one (MidAmerica Con will be my first).

    It’s very common at tech conferences. I realize the very outcome of a panel discussion is very hard to predict but some feedback mechanism should be in place.

  39. Regarding various eligibility questions:

    a. The official reason there is no ‘Best Anthology’ award is that editors of anthologies are eligible for BESF. This may not be a very good reason, but at any rate, under the current rules, that’s the right way to honour anthologies. (‘Noteworthy’ is of course in the eye of the beholder, but I find it hard to see a way in which this particular work would be noteworthy for something other than its fictional content.)

    b. Reduce, Reuse, Reanimate vol. whatever was nominated for the year it appeared as a book, rather than the year its content appeared on the web (as far as anyone can work out), and was not declared ineligible. I have a feeling this may have happened on other occasions as well, but don’t know the details.

    c. James Nicoll is in any case eligible for BFW because of his LiveJournal; people were nominating him on the basis of that even before he started his book blog. One might well feel, though, that his book blog is a better basis for nomination, but at that point issues come up. If the rules (the actual rules, not the informal guidelines) are read strictly and literally, anyone whose work appears in generally available electronic media is eligible. We should probably assume, though, that this is to be read in the light of some assumption about the meaning of the word ‘fan’. The informal Hugo guidelines take it to mean that the work should not appear in a professional publication (which is not exactly the same as ‘no money should change hands). Just how this applies to Nicoll I have no idea.

  40. What bothers me is not the incidents, but the lying. If the con promise that action would be taken, it should have been. Or they should have just said this doesn’t violate our policies.

  41. Very concerning, given that it appears that the same people are the ones putting together the next Worldcon. I’m already seeing comments to the effect that people are deciding not to attend Worldcon as a result of this.

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