201 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 2/6/16 A Man, A Plan, A Canal: Pixel Scroll”

1. First!

   (9) Oooh, that sounds interesting. The editing categories are opaque; hearing GRRM shine some light on them should be awesome.

   (8) Ignore VD. Ignore ignore ignore.

2. I believe that photo is of Nicholson and Kubrick. Close does not bear much resemblance to Kubrick.

   Yeah, yeah, I’ll go appertain my own drink. 😉

3. I’m seriously considering more then one British editor: Gollancz has quite the team, as does Angry Robot.

4. Pre fifth. The Light Side ice cream sounds disgusting.

5. JJ: I’m going to have to arrange for an 18-wheeler for all that appertaining…

6. (2) FROZEN IN CARBONITE. – Dark Side all the way then.

   (4) OMG. – What a scoop!

   (9) GRRM RECOMMENDS. – Enh. I still am probably gonna leave my nomination for this blank then. Would love to know who edited Pratchett’s last though, I think that was well done.

   ETA: Fifth! (OGH does not count*, he has powers over time and space**)

   *=Is a legit rule. Cos I sez so
   **=aka WordPress site admin powers

7. Clicky.

8. Today’s read — The Thrilling Adventures of Adventures of Lovelance and Babbage, by Sydney Padua

   Not at all what I expected — much more information dense (and much less crime-fighting). Ultimately, though, I found it fascinating. And I particularly liked a short joke about George Boole because I’m a big nerd. This will very likely go on my Hugo nominations longlist for graphic story.

9. I may well nominate Malcolm Edwards, though mainly because he seems a nice bloke, and not because I’ve the faintest idea what he edited in the last year. As a lifetime achievement award, then fine. As a recognition of current work? Buggered if I know.
   This seems the wrong way to do it.

   Of course that is contingent on a pin turning up.

10. (9) GRRM RECOMMENDS

    Down in the comments, GRRM gives a good answer to the perennial “how do you judge” question:

    You have put your finger on one of the real problems with this category. Since readers do not have the original manuscript to compare with the published work, it is hard to judge how much the editor comtributed.

    You can do as you have been doing, and find the proof in the pudding: who edited the books you enjoyed the most.

    You can also take a critical approach. If a book is rifecwith typos, if the prose sucks, if the plot makes no sense and the characters are flat… Well, most of that is the writer’s fault, but it does suggest that the editor was not doing a very good job.

    Another factor that weighs heavily for me — how many new writers did the editor discover? Finding amd developing new talent is a hallmark of a great editor.

    I think the last one is particularly useful – turning a novice into a pro is surely a strong sign of editorial skill. I may take a long look at who is editing my Campbell possibilities.

    I’ve been ruminating on Lee Harris as Senior Editor of the Tor.com novella line for one of the Best Ed categories, because they’ve been high quality throughout and he is the named editor on 4 of them. Problem is, I’m not sure that editing a novella line fits neatly into “anthologies, collections or magazine issues (or their equivalent in other media)” for Short Form, while they’re not “novel-length works” for Long Form.

11. Elevirst!

    (And I’m thrilled to see plaindromes get their place in the sun. I’d like to thank all the little people who live in my radiator and steal my clothespins. They do so much, and they live on discarded Ovaltine wrappers.)

12. Re #5
    A few weeks ago, a movie buddy of mine only modestly versed in genre stuff, invited me over because he was curious about Invasion of the Body Snatchers. So we watched the 1956 and 1978 versions as a double feature. It had been a few years since I’d seen either, so it was a treat for me, too. He loved the hell out of both of them.

    Re Carbonite: Dark Side, all the way.

13. Okay, absolutely, positively, definitely do not have the MAC PIN for Hugo noms.

    Am not (yet) a MAC member but was a Sasquan supporting member.

    What now?

14. The MAC website is now saying the PINs will be delivered by Feb. 8th.

15. “Do not look sad. You shall receive your Hugo nomination PIN code soon.”
    “Please, MAC II”, said Lucy, “What do you call soon?”
    “I call all times soon,” said MAC II; and instantly he was vanished away.

    (I kid because I love! A week’s delay in an email necessary for a March 31st deadline is a trivial disappointment at very worst.)

16. I thought you had to register palindrones with the FAA?

    I’ll see myself out…

17. Edited too late to say that as Guest Editor, I wish to dedicate the title to the late Dan Hoey, whose Pan-tastic work of Reversible Canalology,

    A man, a plan, a caret, a ban, a myriad, a sum, a lac, a liar, a hoop, a pint, a catalpa, a gas, an oil, a bird, a yell, a vat, a caw, a pax, a wag, a tax, a nay, a ram, a cap, a yam, a gay, a tsar, a wall, a car, a luger, a ward, a bin, a woman, a vassal, a wolf, a tuna, a nit, a pall, a fret, a watt, a bay, a daub, a tan, a cab, a datum, a gall, a hat, a fag, a zap, a say, a jaw, a lay, a wet, a gallop, a tug, a trot, a trap, a tram, a torr, a caper, a top, a tonk, a toll, a ball, a fair, a sax, a minim, a tenor, a bass, a passer, a capital, a rut, an amen, a ted, a cabal, a tang, a sun, an ass, a maw, a sag, a jam, a dam, a sub, a salt, an axon, a sail, an ad, a wadi, a radian, a room, a rood, a rip, a tad, a pariah, a revel, a reel, a reed, a pool, a plug, a pin, a peek, a parabola, a dog, a pat, a cud, a nu, a fan, a pal, a rum, a nod, an eta, a lag, an eel, a batik, a mug, a mot, a nap, a maxim, a mood, a leek, a grub, a gob, a gel, a drab, a citadel, a total, a cedar, a tap, a gag, a rat, a manor, a bar, a gal, a cola, a pap, a yaw, a tab, a raj, a gab, a nag, a pagan, a bag, a jar, a bat, a way, a papa, a local, a gar, a baron, a mat, a rag, a gap, a tar, a decal, a tot, a led, a tic, a bard, a leg, a bog, a burg, a keel, a doom, a mix, a map, an atom, a gum, a kit, a baleen, a gala, a ten, a don, a mural, a pan, a faun, a ducat, a pagoda, a lob, a rap, a keep, a nip, a gulp, a loop, a deer, a leer, a lever, a hair, a pad, a tapir, a door, a moor, an aid, a raid, a wad, an alias, an ox, an atlas, a bus, a madam, a jag, a saw, a mass, an anus, a gnat, a lab, a cadet, an em, a natural, a tip, a caress, a pass, a baronet, a minimax, a sari, a fall, a ballot, a knot, a pot, a rep, a carrot, a mart, a part, a tort, a gut, a poll, a gateway, a law, a jay, a sap, a zag, a fat, a hall, a gamut, a dab, a can, a tabu, a day, a batt, a waterfall, a patina, a nut, a flow, a lass, a van, a mow, a nib, a draw, a regular, a call, a war, a stay, a gam, a yap, a cam, a ray, an ax, a tag, a wax, a paw, a cat, a valley, a drib, a lion, a saga, a plat, a catnip, a pooh, a rail, a calamus, a dairyman, a bater, a canal — Panama!

    may have been surpassed, but it was done using Dan’s work as a foundation, just as Dan acknowledged the work of two other guys and a jim.

    I sure do miss Dan.

18. I emailed them, they said give it until Saturday morning then email again, I didn’t get one, so emailed again, and got one immediately.

19. @Mark:

    Problem is, I’m not sure that editing a novella line fits neatly into “anthologies, collections or magazine issues (or their equivalent in other media)” for Short Form, while they’re not “novel-length works” for Long Form.

    Editing a stand-alone novella is the same sort of work as a novel, and I’m sure that the editor wouldn’t be disqualified from Long Form on that technicality, especially since a number of those books are over 40K.

20. If nominating for Best Editor, Jonathan Strahan deserves consideration.

    (8) VD provided no commentary, as he has in other catergories, when slating for Semiprozine. Leaving the choice of Strange Horizons as pure unalloyed bogglement.

21. Re OMG, the coup: Congratulations to Diana Glyer!

    Re Frozen in Carbonite, one of those flavors sounds much better to me than the other. They might be combined to good effect, though….

    Re GRRM Recommends, I feel like I should nominate for the editor categories but I also feel like I don’t have the faintest idea how to do it. Just following Martin’s recommendations seems like a step on the path to slatesville even though he has more than five names and didn’t rank them or anything.

    I do like the idea of finding out who edited works by the writers on my Campbell longlist, and maybe on my novel and short works lists… Maybe that is the way to go.

    Re Theodore Beale, Abyss and Apex went full Puppy last year, so I consider them a Puppy nom like Sci Phi Journal. FWIW. Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine was the one (from last year) that didn’t know they were on a slate and were very dismayed to find that out.

22. Yes, Strange Horizons has several regular contributors who write from an unabashedly Marxist point of view. Beale trying to confuse and fake out his “foes” is one thing, but if he winds up confusing his fans, he’s not doing himself a favor.

23. Jack Lint on February 7, 2016 at 6:19 am said:
    I thought you had to register palindrones with the FAA?

    You betcha!

24. One possibility, in re the “Strange Horizons” nomination, is that “Day” has realized he can’t muster up enough votes actually to win anything (except in the sense in which he always wins, no matter what), so he is putting some of his slate behind plausible candidates, so that if they then win, he can claim credit. He cannot be the unquestioned emperor of all he surveys, but he can claim to be the Kingmaker, the eminence grise, the Power Behind The Throne….

    (He can claim that as much as he likes, of course. No law against claiming.)

25. (2) FROZEN IN CARBONITE. What do we say to the god of nine bucks a pint? No. Effing. Way.

26. There is no use, none, in trying to guess a “motive” for Beale promoting one nomination or another.

    Beale wants to stir up outrage, because internet outrage is self-perpetuating. Beale wants to stir up arguments, and it really doesn’t make any difference what the argument is about. Beale wants to stay in the spotlight, because that – and pretty much only that – is what’s fanning flames and keeping the internet drama going. Which is the only reason he has any influence at all.

    Don’t feed the troll. Ignore ignore ignore.

27. (2) FROZEN IN CARBONITE.

    Where’s Rey?

28. @Jim
    I’ve seen worse, believe it or not. I had heard good things about an Ohio ice cream, Jeni’s. I discovered that it was available at a Co-Op in St. Paul and headed over to get myself some. The asking price was $12 for a pint of the stuff. So, yeah…

29. Filers in the hive are full of the jive
    When they do
    The Pixel Stomp
    Really rollin when they join in scrollin
    When they do
    The Pixel Stomp
    .
    .
    [It’s the miracle of hovertext! I thought it was gone forever, but it lives on in HTML5 with abbr title.]

30. Re the ice cream stuff: for some reason the ice cream fishbread stuff has Star Wars promotion on it, for the paltry sum of 1000 won (maybe 80 cents?) They’re also delicious – can’t go wrong with vanilla ice cream and sweet red bean paste.

    I expect once the hype dies down they’ll go back to the original packaging and they’ll still be good and cheap.

31. It is interesting to note that Toni Weisskopf has indicated that this Summer she will be attending GenCon. “As for me, I’ll be at Gencon this year.” she wrote. The Baen readers counted Baen volumes on the Locus list. You can count them on the thumb of one hand.

32. @Paul Weimer: $12? No wonder my friends pack it back in coolers from Origins. I imagine it’s much cheaper there in Ohio where it comes from.

33. @Standback – perfectly right, of course; I do apologize!

    I’m currently playing catch-up on my reading, working my way through Aliette de Bodard’s “Obsidian and Blood” trilogy… however, the end of that is in sight, and I’ve got a number of other things on my to-read pile, including The Invisible Library, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, and Linda Nagata’s “The Red” trilogy. Any suggestions as to what would best follow a lot of blood-fuelled Aztec sorcery?

34. ULTRAGOTHA on February 7, 2016 at 7:34 am said:
    (2) FROZEN IN CARBONITE.

    Where’s Rey?

    I put her on a shelf with my valkyries http://prntscr.com/a06gp0

35. Wishing all of you sucess in your authoring, editing, blogging, publishing and bloviating in this Year of the Monkey.

36. @Steve: I saw your slew of write-ups on the new Hugo Recommendations novel set! Kudos for all the work. I’m making my way through them. (If I manage make time, I hope I’ll chime in to chat a bit about Dark Orbit, which I found to be a weird book in a few very particular ways.)

37. This one goes out to all the PINless Filers out there. Take heart.

    TTTO Slip Slindin’ Away by Paul Simon

    CH: PIN pinin’ today, PIN pinin’ today
    You know the nearer the nominations, the more you’re PIN pinin’ today

    I know a man
    He is a noisy clown
    He wore his hatreds and obsessions like a thorny crown
    He said “My Minions, I live in fear;
    My credo’s just so unconvincing I’m afraid that I will disappear.”

    CH

    I know a woman
    Became a Pup
    And she can’t tell her golden chalice
    Is a Dixie cup
    She said “A good day ain’t got no Left.”
    She said “A bad day’s when I realize my reasoning just might be effed.”

    CH

    And I know a writer
    Who is a fool
    He waxed vainglorious beyond the point of ridicule
    He took the long way
    Just to proclaim
    That his art should be rewarded, but he knew inside that all he’d earned was shame

    CH

    Ghu only knows
    You need to nom
    But still that damn PIN’s unavailable
    You have damaged calm
    Puppy’s will yap
    Claim it’s their day
    Believe they’re destined for the Hugos, when in fact they’re slip slidin’ away

    CH x 2

38. @Jim Yeah,.Jeni’s has got to be cheaper at the source. Even the local higher end ice cream made around here: Pumphouse, Izzy’s, Grand Ole Creamery, isn’t THAT expensive.

39. Speaking of the Year of the Monkey, are there any SeaMonkeys* here who would be interested in a Filer meetup?

    *SeaMonkeys are participants in the JoCo** Cruise***, which takes place in two weeks

    **Jonathan Coulton, internet musician most famous for writing the Portal music

    ***A week-long Caribbean (this year, Baja California next year) cruise for geeks, nerds, and tabletop gamers, with entertainment provided by Paul & Storm, JoCo, John Flansburgh, John Scalzi, Cameron Esposito, and assorted other nerd favorites. Including Allie Brosh this year!

40. Standback – it is you, not I, who are speculating on the motives of VD’s current slating activity. I merely note the absence of commentary from him and express my surprise at one selection.

41. @ Oneiros: I love those fish-shaped ice cream sandwiches with the red bean in them. Sadly they’re often freezerburned when we get them here.

    At this point I would say VD’s current plan is probably to make the adoption of EPH seem less urgent, possibly combined with getting as many people as he can to attend the business meeting and vote against it.

42. re (8)

    Going by the comments Teddy’s dread elks leave when they come here, with the blathering about Stalinism and the almighty gun, I’m honestly curious as to whether a lot of them have the reading comprehension to understand Strange Horizons, much less have an opinion on it.

    I have every faith in the people at that site dismissing the elks with a statement well worth reading.

43. @Standback: I would love to discuss Dark Orbit (which I left my own long comment about on 1/22). Do talk!

44. Standback on February 7, 2016 at 7:30 am said:

    Beale wants to stay in the spotlight, because that – and pretty much only that – is what’s fanning flames and keeping the internet drama going. Which is the only reason he has any influence at all.

    Don’t feed the troll. Ignore ignore ignore.

    We can’t ignore him because, assuming he really has 586 followers, he can control the Hugo ballot completely. If nominations are way, way up, and if people average closer to 5 than 3 nominations, he might not sweep Best Novel, and Best Dramatic Performance (Long Form), but that’s about it.

    After EPH passes, he’ll never be able to sweep an important category again, and his followers will melt away. At that point, it’ll be possible to ignore him. That’s why I think it doesn’t matter whether he claims victory this year; there will no longer be any reason for anyone to listen to him by then.

45. So I’m guessing that like the commenters, VD has taken his discussion of his picks and strategery to some private preserve.

    Congrats to Diana!

    Long form editor is one that I skipped last year in the voting, but I do like the idea of a nomination for the Tor novellas editor. That is a very strong series. Are posthumous nominations valid?

46. @Vasha

    Beale trying to confuse and fake out his “foes” is one thing, but if he winds up confusing his fans, he’s not doing himself a favor.

    I think his strategy is easy to understand. First, he means to fulfill his vow to destroy to Hugos. He wants to see MidAmeriCon II wind up giving no Hugo Awards to anyone. And he wants to be able to blame the “SJWs” for doing it.

    Second, I think he honestly believes his own propaganda. He believes that fans will vote down worthy nominees simply because they were on his slate, and so he wants to be sure that 100% of the final ballot is from his slate. Whenever something is popular enough that it might get on the ballot despite his numbers, he simply adds it to his slate. Hence Strange Horizons and Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

    The comments he drops on his blog from time to time support this interpretation of his plans. He’s constantly saying that the SJWs will do this themselves.

    His backup plan seems to be to claim victory if any of his choices wins a Hugo, but, as I said earlier, that’s a very poor plan. Once EPH passes, no one will be listening to him anymore, so he can claim to be God Emperor of Dune and no one will care.

    To defeat his plans, all the fans have to do is vote for the nominees on the final ballot strictly on their own merits, and be sure EPH gets approved. And it wouldn’t hurt to make an all-out effort to nominate as many works in as many categories as possible this year. The way I look at it, if anything gets on the final ballot that wasn’t on his slate, he loses.

47. @bloodstone75

    \o/ **standing ovation**

48. Greg Hullender:

    “We can’t ignore him because, assuming he really has 586 followers, he can control the Hugo ballot completely.”

    We can ignore him, because there is no reason to assume that he has that number of followers and it shouldn’t affect our own nominations anyhow.

49. Cmm on February 7, 2016 at 8:45 am said:

    Long form editor is one that I skipped last year in the voting, but I do like the idea of a nomination for the Tor novellas editor. That is a very strong series. Are posthumous nominations valid?

    Yes they are, provided the work(s) appeared in 2015.

50. @Hampus Eckerman

    We can ignore him, because there is no reason to assume that he has that number of followers and it shouldn’t affect our own nominations anyhow.

    In 2014, his Opera Vita Aeterna got 161 votes for Best Novella. In 2015, he got 162 nominations for Best Editor (short form). That means he carried over 100% of his core supporters. In the 2015 final ballot, he got 586 votes for Best Editor, and all 586 of those people are eligible to nominate right now.

    What’s your argument that they’re not going to support him?

    As for our own nominations, it tells us that we need to go all-out. We need to make the effort to find five qualified nominees in every category we care about if we can possibly do so.

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