Your host will be on the road for a couple days attending Nic Farey’s wedding to Jennifer AlLee on February 29. I have prepared a couple of Scrolls in advance.
(1) CAN’T WE JUST ALL GET ALONG? Roz Kaveny tills the unsatisfactory middle ground between five recent studies of “Tolkien’s English Mythology” in the Times Literary Supplement.
In a sense, of course, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are offcuts from Tolkien’s principal and in the end unfinished and unfinishable work, parts of it published after his death as The Silmarillion, others as the Unfinished Tales. Although he was a Christian who absolutely believed in the literal and metaphysical truth of that body of stories, Tolkien was impressed enough by Elias Lönnrot’s assemblage of Finnish myths and legends as the Kalevala that he wanted to assemble, even forge in both senses of the word, a specifically English mythology that owed nothing to the Celtic or Norse pantheons, or to the Arthurian cycle (he also wrote his own version of that, as he did of Lönnrot’s story of Kullervo). Tolkien wanted to reclaim elves and Faerie from mere decorative prettiness and embed them in a narrative of fall and redemption that functioned as a secondary world; this was a spiritual as well as a creative enterprise, an attempt to understand God by doing imperfectly what He had done.
The success or failure of such an enterprise is in a sense irrelevant; what he produced in the main body of his legendarium is a heap of glorious moments rather than anything entirely achieved. Along the way, however, he wrote a children’s book called The Hobbit which might have been just another light work like Farmer Giles of Ham but turned out to be his gateway into a more approachable version of the legendarium, something that included a voice of the ordinary among gods, monsters and tyrants. In due course, his publishers’s and admirers’ desire for a sequel led to something considerably more ambitious but still puny by the standards of what he intended; one of the most attractive things about Tolkien is how he coped with being famous for something less than his lifelong ambition, not least because it achieved and exemplified some of his aims on a smaller scale.
This is why some of the complaints against him are beside the point – he had planned something compared to which Paradise Lost or the Prophetic Books of Blake would look modest, but if people wanted a superior adventure story, he would give them a superior adventure story with enough of his greater intention embedded in it to make itself visible in sudden vistas down narrative corridors. Whatever Tolkien thought about the literature of his time – not much, since he regarded, or affected to regard, everything that had been written in English after the late Middle Ages as a colossal mistake – he has a lot more in common with, say, T. S. Eliot than he or Patrick Curry would have been comfortable acknowledging.
(2) CCUBED. Those interested in gathering to talk about running conventions should look into ConComCon 2016, which will be held June 10-12, 2016 in Portland, OR at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel.
Marah Searle-Kovacevic says, “The theme will be ‘Building Bridges’ between different types of conventions, the convention and the hotel, convention staff and members, and other bridges. There will also be the usual discussions on hotel contracts, crisis management, parties and hospitality. There will also be a time Saturday afternoon for choosing topics that you want to talk about as programming items.”
You can also buy a membership or book a hotel room at the con web site.
Also, SWOC (founded as the Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee) is offering a scholarship to each convention for one person to attend CCubed. We would like this to be for someone who has not attended a CCubed before. If your convention is interested please contact Searle-Kovacevic through [email protected].
(3) CONTRASTING BLOODLINES. Doris V. Sutherland continues her comparison of non-slated with slated Hugo categories in “2014 Hugos Versus 2015 Sad Puppies: Related Works” at Women Write About Comics.
Sad Puppies founder Larry Correia presumably had this book in mind when he quipped that “the usual [Related Work] nominees are things like Transsexual WereSeals Love Dr. Who.” This seems unfair, as Queers Dig Time Lords has entertainment value—and that, after all, is something that the Sad Puppies are supposed to be fighting for. That said, I will have to admit that the book is closer to a fan blog than to a Hugo-worthy piece of media criticism…..
Given the book’s jack-of-all-trades approach, it is hardly surprising that Letters from Gardner is something of a mixed bag. To be honest, the fourteen-year career outlined here is simply too uneventful to make a particularly gripping biography. It is somewhat novel to see such an in-depth look at the beginning of a writer’s creative period—I can imagine Letters from Gardner inspiring many of its readers to try their hands at fiction themselves, with Antonelli making the process look easy—but too often the book gets bogged down in irrelevant details. The low point is when Antonelli spends multiple paragraphs waxing nostalgic about those Bic ballpoint pens with orange shafts, which are apparently hard to find in America these days.
(4) A NUANCED THEORY. Douglas Milewski explains “Why the Puppies Bid for the Hugos Failed”.
I’m not sure who taught Conservatives that SJWs only succeed because they browbeat everyone else. (Correct me if I’m mis-characterizing.) That’s the sort of information that sets you up to lose. SJWs win by building coalitions from the ground up, and they’ll take decades to do it. Most of this is done quietly, not because of secrecy, but because that sort of projects just takes time. This coalition building isn’t just a fanciful notion, but the cornerstone of their power. The number one weapon of the SJW is the narrative, building a story that holds the coalition together. A good narrative wins the battle. (Gay marriage is a fine example of this.) So who joined the SJW coalition when the fight got started? The best SF&F writers in the world joined, that’s who. They wrote the SJW narrative. That’s the sort of opposition that you must absolutely respond to, and the Puppies did not adapt.
One more analyst proves with geometric logic that writers, not fans, determined the outcome of their own award.
(5) TODAY IN HISTORY
- Feburary 28, 1996 – Tromeo and Juliet premieres.
(6) LIGHTS, CAMERA, MISSING-IN-ACTION. CinemaBlend says he is “The Indiana Jones Actor Who Refused To Come Back For Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull”.
John Rhys-Davies portrayed Sallah in the first and third entries of the Indiana Jones franchise. It turns out, he was asked to make an appearance in the fourth as well, but declined because they only wanted him there for a cameo. What’s worse, he tells Digital Spy that he wouldn’t even have been interacting with any of the other characters.
I was asked to be in the last one, but they wanted me to do a bit of green-screen – walk in, sit down and clap – and they were going to cut that into the wedding scene at the end. I turned it down because it seemed to me that that would be a bit of a betrayal of the audience’s expectations. Sallah is a popular character – there’s a greatness of soul about him that we all love and admire…
(7) H8TERS GONNA H8. In “How real is that Atlas robot video?”, The Guardian pooh-poohs a viral video I linked to the other day.
The Google-owned company’s most recent video shows the latest version of Atlas opening fire doors, prancing about through snow, being abused by an evil scientist wielding a hockey stick, and doing an uncanny impersonation of an Amazon warehouse worker. It looks incredibly impressive, but how much of it can we take at face value?
(8) THEY’RE TEASING. The Spaceballs 2 teaser poster has arrived….
Freaking out. pic.twitter.com/qao2YuRQSF
— Jake Baldino (@JakeBaldino) February 24, 2016
(9) BY POPULAR DEMAND. Here is bloodstone75’s take on Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s Cradle.”
Pup’s in the Manger
A man wrote some books the other day
With Monsters and Guns in the usual way
And they attained some scratch, and won some praise
New writer win? They said “Not today”And when he didn’t nab a Hugo, his anger grew.
He said “It’s ‘cause I’m not like you, right?
I’m never gonna be like you!”And the Pup’s in the manger, and he’s venting spleen,
Larry boy’s blue, and it’s making him meanWhen you giving up, Lar’
“I won’t say ‘when’; but I’m gonna vex the Fen;
You know I’m gonna vex those Fen.”A year went by, Larry couldn’t wait
He said “This time it’s mine, yeah, my story’s great.”
But he wanted revenge — they just had to pay!
“I got to make them cry,” he said. “Meet Vox Day
And he, he carved a slate, and his smile was so grim,
And said “They’re gonna choke on him, yeah.
They’re really gonna choke on him.”CH
Well, he passed his banner to another guy
So much like himself he just had to smile
And he scored a nom, but then he turned it down
He shook his head and said “I’m no clown.
All I really want now is to torment the lefties.
Won’t be happy ‘til they’re on their knees.”CH
So though he’d “retired”, he still mixed it up
He built a slate with the other Pups
He said “You made us do it; you rigged the vote.
I got my own cabal, now you can watch us gloat.”
But the Pox was ascendant, and the shit hit the fan.
And the backlash sign-ups began, yeah,
The fan enrollment began.
And as they read out the votes it occurred to him
Their rocket hopes were dim
His hopes were just so dimCH
(10) ALICE SEQUEL. Coming May 27, Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass.
In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an all-new spectacular adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Directed by James Bobin, who brings his own unique vision to the spectacular world Tim Burton created on screen in 2010 with “Alice in Wonderland,” the film is written by Linda Woolverton based on characters created by Lewis Carroll and produced by Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd and Tim Burton with John G. Scotti serving as executive producer. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” reunites the all-star cast from the worldwide blockbuster phenomenon, including: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.
(11) INTERFACE. Kill Command opens May 16.
Set in a near future, technology-reliant society that pits man against killing machines.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Will R., Andrew Porter, and Woodwindy for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Steve Davidson.]
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Clickies for the love of pixels!
Not-last!
WOW the line spacing in #9 is … generous.
Five?
pre-fifth!
Three, sir!
I tried to improve the spacing in number nine. I’m on my Kindle. May have added a typo or two, hard to be sure…
Actual fifth! (OGH, with his time manipulation posting powers, does not count).
It’s looking better, Mike. It’s tighter now.
(4) A NUANCED THEORY. – Nobody expects the EssJayDubya Conspiracy! Our chief weapon is narrative-building…narrative-building and Marxism…our two weapons are narrative-building and Marxism…and lying…. Our three weapons are narrative-building, Marxism, and lying…and always doubling down…. Our four…no… amongst our weapons…. amongst our weaponry…are such elements as narrative-building, Marxism…. I’ll come in again.
All joking aside, ignoring his culture war rhetoric, Milewski’s pointers to the Pups – be more inclusive of outsiders, and less invested in the grandstanding and rabble-rousing – seems like a worthwhile starting-off point. At least, one that the Pups would in priciple be agreeable to – it’s termed in their favourite Greater War on CocJust language, and has that whole “vast pool of uncommited-but-sympathetic-to-Pups” narrative that they like.
(11) INTERFACE – Looks very Predator-y. Will probably wait for the home release though.
(9)
Worth replaying.
(10) Oh god please make it stop :'(
3) CONTRASTING BLOODLINES. Doris V. Sutherland
Well done and enjoyable
4) A NUANCED THEORY. Douglas Milewski
The best point made in the article is it takes years to decades to change anything related to the Hugos and Worldcon. I think the below quote is something the puppy leaders could have learned during SP1 and SP2 before things went like they did in SP3.
How come so many people doing the history of SP/RP act like SP3/RP1 was the first year? What do they think the 3 stands for?
9) BY POPULAR DEMAND. Here is bloodstone75’s take on Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s Cradle.”
This was fantastic.
(4) Nuanced Theory
Hmmm. OK there was GRRM and Scalzi but other authors involved were not at the super famous scale. Notable was the blog level of involvement (and Scalzi’s role fits better there than as a major author mobilising fans). Other authors involved like Jim C Hines was again more as bloggers involved in fandom.
(8) THEY’RE TEASING.
Oh gods, why?
“Spaceballs” was one of Mel Brooks’ limpest movies, a creaky vaudevillean attempt to satirize something he had no understanding of or sympathy for, with one good gag among too few feeble ones to fill out ninety minutes.
Please, no.
Huh.
What was the good gag, or were you theorizing that there must have been one?
(Trying to think of a worse Brooks movie, but the edit window is getting shorter.)
(4) A NUANCED THEORY.
Yikes. Did anyone else notice this ticking time bomb near the end of Milewski’s essay?
Synonyms for “asymmetrical operation” include “guerilla warfare”, “insurgency”, “terrorism”, “counterinsurgecny” and “counterterrorism”.
Wikipedia describes it as “essentially violent conflict between a formal military and an informal, less equipped and supported, undermanned but resilient opponent.”
Just before this bombshell, Milewsky defines the situation thusly:
Milewsky, unless I am drastically misreading this, appears to be suggesting that the Puppies should use the tactics of terrorism this year.
(4) A NUANCED THEORY.
Did anyone else spot that towards the end of his essay Milewski calls upon the Puppies to take up the tactics of “an asymmetrical operation”, a.k.a. guerilla warfare and terrorism?
ETA: Oh, I thought my wonky browser killed my post, not that it was in moderation …
(4) A NUANCED THEORY
Wowsers. I have two posts in moderation.
Okay, let me put it like this.
In his essay, Milewski calls for the puppies to take up an “asymmetrical operation” against SJWs.
Go look up “asymmetric warfare” on Wikipedia to see what he is really calling for.
Mike Glyer, please accept my apologies. My browser is acting up and in retyping my info I introduced a typo that put my earlier posts into moderation.
I don’t know if the moderation was because of that or because of use of some mighty hot and loaded political terminology.
At any rate, here’s the milder version again, since you are attending a wedding and I hope this isn’t too much of a nuisance for you.
(4) A NUANCED THEORY
In his essay, Milewski calls for the puppies to take up an “asymmetrical operation” against SJWs.
Go look up “asymmetric warfare” on Wikipedia to see what he is really calling for.
@Kip W:
The John Hurt cameo with the Alien Michigan J. Frog.
One very funny bit.
One.
(4) The salient part of that isn’t what “SJWs” do, it’s every writer and fan that didn’t want a politicized Hugo process, every voter who felt disenfranchised because the Puppies successfully slated their candidate
Nothing to do with authors leading the charge or “culture war”; people just didn’t like CHEATING! (Also, yeah — it was their 3rd year of this)
(6) Nope, him not being there was the betrayal of the audience’s expectations.
(8) Having already done Michigan J. Frog vs. John Hurt, now what?
(9) If I was going to be at Worldcon this year, I would totally sing this late at night in an open filk circle.
(10) Stahhp. Do not want.
@Mike Glyer: Thanks for taking care of us via time travel / while you’re at a wedding / through the moderns of wonder tech!
Well I read today the main SJW weapon is being nice. Note ‘nice’ was the word used and said unironically by a stalwart anti-SJW.
I’ve been extra nice to people today. Actually I was just putting the kettle on, does anybody want a cup of tea?
(4) A NUANCED THEORY.
Oh hells, I’ll just say it straight.
In his essay Douglas Milewski is flat out urging that Puppies use terrorist tactics and guerilla warfare against SJWish people.
Peace is My Middle Name
Ah. Thank you. You’ve watched the movie more carefully than I, apparently.
I took it as an extension of his war metaphor (e.g. ‘he SJWs assembled a veteran field army ‘). So in this case the asymmetric warfare would be just like VD’s 4G xanadudupushpineapple tactics. Well, I hope that is what he meant. 😐
@Camestros
You bastard. I hope you’re suitably ashamed of yourself.
@PiMMN – Eh, YMM(o)V, but I don’t think that’s an unfair exagerration..Yes; he’s using the whole “culture-war-as-war”/ Greater War on SocJust type language, but if you go down the same road he is with that kind of terminology, I think it just leads to a great deal more !Rhetoric!
Unless there’s some dogwhistles I’m missing out on of course.
If Mike has prepared a couple scrolls in advance, I’ll just call Fifth! on those now.
Jim Henley on February 28, 2016 at 8:37 pm said:
PlottingPlanning in advance? You must be one of dem dirty SJWs I keep hearing about! 😀ÖI don’t think Spaceballs was quite that awful. It was more more miss than hit, and if you compare it to Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein it doesn’t come off well, but if you compare it to 90% of genre parodies, it’s actually pretty good.
@snowcrash:
It’s really the only meaning of asymmetric warfare. “Asymmetrical operations” is not a terribly subtle dog whistle right after “In military terms, the Rabid Puppies assembled the militia that could, while the SJWs assembled a veteran field army complete with a propaganda machine,” practically the definition of the circumstances that lead to asymmetric warfare.
I am assuming this is about rhetoric, since I cannot see any possible reason or rationale for Puppies to literally take up insurgents’ weapons.
But even in the not quite so lethal realm of rhetoric, such an apocalyptic view of the situation is likely to lead to rash action.
@BGHilton:
For Mel Brooks, “Spaceballs” is a very poor movie. I found it mostly padded, dull, and slow. That it is still better than most films attempting satire is a very low bar to clear.
Peace Is My Middle Name: No idea why your comments got kicked into moderation, though I know it’s not because of cialis or Tank Marmot….
Mike Glyer: Peace Is My Middle Name: No idea why your comments got kicked into moderation
There’s a typo in the e-mail address used for those posts; note the lack of Gravatar icon on those posts.
*cough*not speaking from experience or anything*cough*
Many years ago, I was in an apa with someone who said that he had been dismissively told that his political philosophy was “be nice to each other,” and who started using that as a signoff on his zines.
Peace Is My Middle Name: In his essay, Milewski calls for the puppies to take up an “asymmetrical operation” against SJWs. Go look up “asymmetric warfare” on Wikipedia to see what he is really calling for.
I took it to be his encouragement to the Puppies to try to bring other groups to support them, by doing such things as nominating works featuring lesbians and “My Little Pony” episodes for a Hugo.
I can’t imagine that many lesbians, or Bronys, will be interested in supporting the likes of VD, though.
@Camestros Felapton
Isn’t that part of why we confuse a number of special file770 trolls? We are initially nice and interested in the books they like.
I’ve thought kill them with kindness is good model. I’ll take a cuppa Earl Grey.
@Jim Henley
Well that’s thinking ahead. Mike Glyer/Dad Jim’s cheating on the fifths. It’s not fair. I didn’t think to call it first.
@PIMMM & Mike Glyer
Given I don’t see PIMMM usual avatar on the problem post could it be posting under a different account than usual?
@PIMMM & @snowcrash
Terrorism – different from online threats? I think terrorism began as soon as VD got involved.
Which makes it more !rhetoric and Aristotle! this year. Possibly SP/RP with guns at Worldcon this year but I doubt it. At some point the weapons policy has to go up.
ETA: ninja’d by JJ
(i thought spaceballs was funny)
[ticky]
No, I said [ticky], dammit!
*sigh*
3) I appreciate this series of articles so much and am looking forward to the next/last one.
In my efforts to be nice, I’ll say that the Tim Burton Alice had some very nifty character designs. And one or two good lines. (“But I do not owe you a kindness…”) Alas, it was rather less than the sum of its parts. In all directions.
On the other hand, many, many creators have foundered on those shoals before. Anybody remember that incredibly messed up mini-series in the 80’s with the Jabberwocky exploding out of the gift wrapped box?
(Someday I’ll write a Wonderland pastiche…)
I just received confirmation that Joshua B. Palmatier & Patricia Bray Are eligible for Best Short Editors (nominate together according to Joshua). This year their 4th anthology was released TEMPORARILY OUT OF ORDER (title is caps)
All stories but 2 are eligible for Best Short Story
The other 2 are eligible for Best Novelette:
“Black and White” by David B. Coe
“Not All Is As It Seems” by Faith Hunter
(4) A NUANCED THEORY.
The Sad Puppies & Rabid Puppies adopting the SJW tactics of being nice? Dammit, they’ve finally worked out our vulnerability….
Prepare for:
The Reign of Niceness.
The Polite Disagreement on Terror.
The Gentle Doorknocking of Leningrad
The Fannish Polite Inquiry (which nobody expects, or so I’ve been told)…
@PIMMN –
That’s kind of my point. It’s a poor movie only because it’s a Mel Brooks movie. If Pauly Shore or the Wayan Brothers had made it, I’d have said they knocked it out of the park, for once.
If SJWs are nice, then SIWs, their opposite, are…?
It’s bedtime here, I’ll take something decaf.
I think Alice in Wonderland, could be a decent film…with the sound turned off. And the subtitles translated to Azerbaijani, then Yoruba, then back to English. I think it would make more sense and be more interesting than the actual dialogue.
Clicky
@ Rose Embolism – I feel the same way about Jupiter Ascending.
Re Spaceballs, more smiles than laughs. My best friend and I still quote one line often, though, generally when watching a movie or TV show where the characters are idiots: “Evil will always triumph Lonestar, because good is dumb.”
@Lurkertype: naughty. Obvs.
Burton’s Alice in Wonderland would’ve been better if Burton hadn’t been involved. And they had some good writers who didn’t mash elements of Looking-glass into it for no particular reason.
Or if they made it as a tv series, because Alice (Wonderland in particular) is absolutely unsuited to a continuous narrative like a film. Its chapters would make excellent episodes or even just short films though. But also Burton shouldn’t be involved.
Spaceballs was horribly bad by any given standard. One funny moment in a whole movie. Will rank it somewhere below Scary Movie 73.