Pixel Scroll 6/6/18 Rishathra And the City And The City

(1) EMMY CAMPAIGN. Comicbook.com spotted these “For Your Consideration” videos touting Star Trek: Discovery for costuming and makeup Emmy nominations.

(2) WISCON PROGRAM NOTES. Yes, there were other panels at WisCon… Lady Business has launched a series of posts to tell you about them, beginning with – “WisCon 42 Panel Writeups: ‘Positive Representations of Masculinity’”.

I didn’t think to say this during the panel itself, but I’ve seen the “helping hand” ethos more and more on reality tv lately. I’ve been watching a lot of Face Off, which is a makeup/special effects artist competition show, and once of the great sellings points of that show for me is how often the competitors help each other. On that show there’s often an element of “this person’s idea for the makeup is so good and it would be a shame if they didn’t manage to realize their vision because of [impediment of the hour].” It’s great to see this approach spreading through more and more competition shows. It’s not just a question of what kinds of contestants are on these shows, but deliberate editing decisions about choosing to play up cooperation rather than conflict. Face Off started out playing up the conflict a lot more in early seasons, but as the show went on they chose more and more to highlight the collaborative aspects and the artistry. I think this is a really important trend in terms of what producers and editors predict or perceive audiences reacting well to, and it’s a trend we can and should reward.

(3) WISH FULFILLMENT. C.E. Murphy’s friends made it happen — “Agent Carter Kisses”.

I have, from time to time, made noises about how much I wanted the Agent Carter kit from Besame Cosmetics, all with a “maybe someday I can buy it” wist.

Well, some of my friends conspired and got it for me as a birthday gift! In fact, I got the package from the Lead Conspirator, my friend Mary Anne, and I thought “???” and turned it to see ‘cosmetics’ written on the customs form, and, as Young Indiana will attest, said, “Oh, she didn’t,” right out loud.

… Later, after everybody said BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER ONES I went to try them, too, and holy carp.

Me, looking at the color of the 2nd lipstick (“Forget Me Not”): oh, this will definitely by my least favorite of three colors.

Me, putting it on: holy shit if this is my LEAST favorite this is gonna be an AMAZING trio!!!

The products are still available from Besame Cosmetics’ Agent Carter Shop.

We are overjoyed to introduce our 1946 Agent Carter collection. This labor of love was sparked by Marvel’s use of our popular shade, 1946 Red Velvet, on the iconic Agent Carter. Peggy’s fierce independence, glamour, and intelligence — as well as our love for the series — inspired us to create a collection dedicated to the show.

(4) GUFF. Congratulations to Donna Maree Hansen for publishing her GUFF Trip Report so quickly!

My GUFF trip report is complete at 62 pages comprised of 26,000 words and photos. The report contains the account of the trip I made to Finland for Worldcon 75 and my adventures meeting fans around northern Europe, Ireland and the UK.

If you would like a copy then please order below. All money raised from the report goes to the GUFF to support other SF fans to travel to SF cons in Europe and Australasia.

I’ve set the minimum donation to $7.00.

Thank you in advance.

(5) IT COMES IN THE MAIL. Seen at ~12:00 in this video, Campbell (best new writer) nominee Jeanette Ng sent a copy of her book with a thank you note to the creators of a wrestling podcast she thanked in the acknowledgements.

DMS, who sent the item, says “And, yes, I do watch a show about opening mail.”

(6) A PEEK AT THE BALLOT. Joe Sherry resumes his Nerds of a Feather series with “Reading the Hugos: Novella”

River of Teeth: From my review: “Um, did you know there was a serious plan to bring hippopotamuses to America to alleviate a meat shortage? I didn’t either, but Sarah Gailey did. I’m so happy that she knew this because it grew into this insanity of a novella that delivers a fantastic story that feels like the wild west as seen from hippoback. River of Teeth is glorious, but it is more than just the wonderful idea of using hippos as beasts of burden and transit (and oh, this idea is so well excuted) – it is also filled with striking characters like Winslow Remington Houndstooth and Regina Archambault, but the whole cast, really. It’s great.” The fact that this is my least favorite of the finalists does not denigrate River of Teeth at all, but rather it shows just how high the bar is in this category.

(7) ON FIRE. Paul Weimer’s latest Nerds of a Feather contribution is “Microreview [book]: Fire Dance, by Ilana C Myer”.

In 2015, attracted by it’s cover and premise, I became interested in the work of then debut novelist Ilana C Myer. Her Last Song Before Night was a triumph of poetry, language and worldbuilding that immersed me from the first page and refused to let me go. I was left wanting to learn much more about Lin and her world of Court Poets, returning magic, and vivid language.

Fire Dance, although not strictly a sequel to Last Song Before Night, returns us to that same world, set not longer thereafter. The consequences of Lin’s unleashing of long suppressed magic in the land of Eivar is only starting to be felt, with none understanding what this will truly mean….

(8) VACATIONING FROM THE NEW AND SHINY. Book Smugglers’ Ana Grilo turns back to “Old School Wednesdays: The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus #1) by Jonathan Stroud”.

This is another entry in a series of Old School Wednesdays posts, brought to you by the amazing folks who supported us on Kickstarter. As one reward level, backers were given the opportunity to pick an Old School title for one of us to read and review online.

It starts with the summoning of one of the most powerful djinn in history, Bartimaeus. He is tasked with stealing the Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, one of England’s greatest and most powerful magicians. Bound and controlled by the magician who summoned him (and WHO could have that kind of power?), Bartimaeus sets out to accomplish the deed.

(9) TIMESCAPE IMPRINT. James Davis Nicoll reminds Tor.com readers “Why Editors Matter: David Hartwell’s Extraordinary Timescape Books”.

Thanks to Asimov’s repeated admonitions that editors matter, I began at an early age to pay attention to the humans responsible for the books I consumed en masse. When I knew which editors were behind the works I liked, I would follow them from company to company. Thus I first became aware of Hartwell as the person behind Pocket Books’ remarkable Timescape imprint1.

(10) MAREN OBIT. Jerry Maren, the last of The Wizard of Oz’ Munchkin actors, died in May. The Hollywood Reporter has the details: “Jerry Maren, Last Surviving Adult Munchkin From ‘Wizard of Oz,’ Dies at 98”.

He also appeared in ‘Superman’ and Marx Brothers movies, as well as on television in ‘The Gong Show’ and ‘Seinfeld.’

Jerry Maren, the last surviving adult Munchkin from The Wizard of Oz, has died. He was 98.

The actor, who stayed active in show business long after Dorothy had returned to her home in Kansas, died last month, a niece and his nephew reported in separate Facebook posts.

Maren had been residing in an assisted-care facility in the San Diego area, Steve Cox, co-author of the 2006 book Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin, told The Hollywood Reporter.

At age 19, Maren (at 3-foot-4) appeared as one of the three Lollipop Guild Munchkins (the green one in the middle) in the classic 1939 movie. He had been spotted by an MGM scout while performing in a show at the Bond Hotel in Connecticut and was the youngest of the 124 adult actors to suit up as a Munchkin. (A few children were used as a well.)

(11) PEW PEW. The Pew Research Center has published a new study of how Americans view the roles of NASA and of private companies in space endeavors: “Majority of Americans Believe It Is Essential That the U.S. Remain a Global Leader in Space”

Despite the increasing role of private companies in space exploration, most believe NASA’s role is still vital for future.

Sixty years after the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), most Americans believe the United States should be at the forefront of global leadership in space exploration. Majorities say the International Space Station has been a good investment for the country and that, on balance, NASA is still vital to the future of U.S. space exploration even as private space companies emerge as increasingly important players.

…And, as the private sector increasingly ventures into space – through companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic – 65% of Americans believe NASA should still play a vital role in the exploration of space, while a third (33%) say private companies will ensure enough progress in this area even without NASA’s involvement.

Pew summarizes their findings as regards NASA with this graphic:

Three news sources provide their own takes on what the Pew research “really” means (note the variability in headlines, in particular):

A study published today by the Pew Research Center has found that a majority of Americans reckon that staying on top of the space pile should be a US priority, with NASA still attracting a lot of love.

However, party poppers are unlikely to be fired within NASA’s scattered spaceflight centres since the idea of putting boots back on the Moon or on Mars doesn’t attract quite the same levels of affection.
While previous studies, like this one by the National Science Board, found that 25 per cent of Americans felt too much was spent on space exploration (45 per cent said it was OK and 21 per cent wanted more), the new research focussed on where US citizens think space priorities should lie and who – NASA or the private sector – should be doing the work.

Americans rank monitoring Earth’s climate and detecting asteroids and other objects that could hit the planet as top priorities for NASA, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Lowest on the list: returning astronauts to the Moon — a top priority for the White House.

For the future: Half of the 2,541 Americans surveyed think people will be routinely traveling to space as tourists in the next 50 years. But 58% of respondents said they wouldn’t want to orbit Earth.

The Trump administration has vowed to make America great again in spaceflight, and the centerpiece of its space policy to date has been a re-prioritization of human spaceflight as central to NASA’s activities. As part of this initiative, the White House has sought to reduce funding for satellites to observe environmental changes on Earth and eliminate NASA’s office of education.

However, a new survey of 2,541 Americans by Pew Research Center, which aims to represent the views of US adults, finds that these views appear to be out of step with public priorities.

(Special thanks to Mike Kennedy for pulling this item together.)

(12) MEANWHILE, BACK AT REALITY. NPR reports “Space Station For Sale: NASA Administrator Is In Talks With International Companies”.

Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft is scheduled to blast off Wednesday morning with its three-member crew to begin what is billed as Expeditions 56-57 at the International Space Station.

But new NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, this week is talking openly about a very different future the International Space Station and space travel in general. The big idea is less government and more private investment.

In an interview with the Washington Post published Tuesday, Bridenstine says he is in talks with international companies about commercial management of the space station.

Bridenstine, who was sworn in this past April, says there are many large corporations that are interested the commercial potential of the ISS.

(13) FROM HERE TO THERE. Camestros Felapton became positively obsessed with working up a list of all the possible ideas about “How To Teleport”. Amazing! Here are three examples –

  • Transport only your consciousness, transmit into clone or robot bodies somewhere else. Obviously has a potential duplication issue. Seems a lot like demonic possession the more you think about it.
  • Quantum tunnelling. Fundamental particles can do this so why can’t you? There’s a chance that you might be somewhere else and so sometimes you are somewhere else. Requires messing with the fundamentals of probability.
  • A wormhole/portal. You physically move but through a piece of space that is a shortcut. The implication is that places in space ae all physically closer than they appear.

Then he followed up with a 19-paragraph set of model “Terms and Conditions” for using such a device — highly entertaining!

Teleport-buffer Terms & Conditions

1 You must access and use the HereThere!(tm) teleport-buffer (“teleport-buffer”) only in accordance with these terms and conditions (“Teleport-buffer Terms and Conditions”) the Energiser/De-energiser Terms and Conditions and any instructions for use provided or made available by Tel-E-Port-U Centauri Pty Ltd or its affiliates (“Tel-E-Port-U”) or Engineering Officers from time to time.

2 The teleport-buffer is designed for HereThere!(tm) VIP Club members (“Members”) to contain their own thoughts, DNA-profiles, matter states and continuity of persistent existence profiles. The materials holding thoughts and opinions contained on this teleport-buffer (including the responses in the ‘HereThere!(tm) Help Panel and the ’DNA-check sum’ area) are the thoughts and opinions of the teleported parties and not those of Tel-E-Port-U. Tel-E-Port-U does not endorse or support any buffered thoughts or opinions or guarantee the accuracy of any of the information, beliefs or perceived facts stored on the teleport-buffer no matter how brief or protracted storage in the buffer might be.

(14) CONCAROLINAS. Author Jason Gilbert, who ran ConCarolinas’ film festival, told Facebook readers why he won’t be involved anymore.

On a professional level, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.

ConCarolinas was the first con that ever accepted me as a guest, and I have considered it my “Home Con” for years. But the past few years have shown the con to be moving in a direction that I cannot go. The event itself and the past few days have made my decision easier. Where I was originally going to resign from running the film festival since I only agreed to do it for one year, I cannot make myself return in any capacity. I have seen ConComm members treating guests and vendors with disrespect. I have seen scheduling that made any form of professional development almost impossible, and turned what could have been good panels into a conversation led by people who have no knowledge in that particular subject, and are questioning why they were placed on the panel in the first place when they never signed up for it. Filmmakers who worked hard on their projects and were rewarded with recognition and awards were treated as an afterthought.

But, beyond that, I have seen horrific behavior from the ConComm on social media. A disabled guest was openly mocked in two separate Facebook threads, which disgusted me to my core. I have screenshots. Complaints about John Ringo’s fans using the ConCarolinas page to hunt down Guests and Attendees in efforts to troll and harass them on their own walls to the point of abuse and hate speech were ignored. I have screenshots. The conchair went to David Weber’s page and offered discount passes to next year’s event if those on the “Right” could tell stories of actions taken against them by those on the “Left.” I have screenshots. Two con security volunteers, both with no more than the basic, required 8-hour training in order to receive a permit to carry a concealed weapon in North Carolina, were carrying over the weekend. One of them the head of the team. I have screenshots. I have contacted the hotel and gotten their policy. Based on my conversation with them, they had no idea that, not only were there loaded guns at the event, but that there have been loaded guns at the event for years. One guest will be having a conference call today over this, as management is apparently floored.

(15) TREK ACTORS REUNITED. GeekTyrant has this story covered: “First Trailer For The Sci-Fi Thriller 5TH PASSENGER Brings Together Several Fan-Favorite STAR TREK Actors”

The first trailer has been released for a new sci-fi thriller 5th Passenger and the cool think about this film is that it brings together several fan-favorite Star Trek cast members.

…The cast of the film includes Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery), Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations), and Armin Shimerman (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).

5th Passenger was funded through Kickstarter and they ended up raising a little over $80,000. The goal was to create the film centered around a strong female lead. The director of the film, Scott Blake, had this to say about his film:

“I directed 5th Passenger because it’s a film I wanted to see. It is inspired by my love of the science fiction genre, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. All twisted storylines with principled characters thrown into extreme situations where society breaks down and their morals and values are tested.”

 

(16) KISSY-FACE. Iphinome hit it out of the park with these two scales for measuring literary displays of affection:

Having given it some thought, here’s a kissy-face scale.

0 – No kissy face
1 – rare and chaste kissy face
2 – What you would expect from two people who date
3 – Delectable, some people do like to make kissy face and it is wonderful but that’s not the main plot
4 – There’s a lot of kissy face here. Might be uncomfortable.
5 – They’re kissing again. Is this a kissing book?

And a second scale for grownup sexy times

0 – Eww no keep your cooties out of my reading time
1 – This book contains grown ups and you should assume they like sexy times from time to time but it isn’t really talked about.
2 – Implied grownup sexy times. I hate a great time last night. Come to my room later. Cut away to another scene after the kissy face.
3 – On page low detail grownup sexy times.
4 – Grown up sexy times with detail, low frequency. One or two such events in a novel length work.
4.5 – Outlander
5 – You’re reading this story because you really like reading detailed depictions of grown up sexy times.

Swordspoint gets three kissy face emoji.

[Thanks to Chip Hitchcock, JJ, DMS, Mike Kennedy, Martin Morse Wooster, Carl Slaughter, Andrew Porter, Cat Eldridge, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories, Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]

141 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 6/6/18 Rishathra And the City And The City

  1. I could collate all the fiction
    And every new depiction
    Of fandom as a whole
    With the pixels I was filin’
    I’d be in the groove and stylin’
    If I only had a scroll.

  2. (14) CONCAROLINAS. The conchair went to David Weber’s page and offered discount passes to next year’s event if those on the “Right” could tell stories of actions taken against them by those on the “Left.”

    Ah, yes, this would be the same con chair who famously proclaimed the convention “politically neutral” in the closing ceremonies. 🙄

    That con chair has turned the convention into a trainwreck. My sympathies to the people for whom it used to be a con they enjoyed, but is now something they can no longer bear to attend.

  3. (9) TIMESCAPE IMPRINT.

    I will be eternally grateful to Hartwell for the Star Trek imprint from Pocket Books, novels which were a lifeline thrown to an isolated fan in the pre-Internet days.

  4. 14) Holy mackerel. I’d want to see screenshots before I believed a couple of these, just because that’s so beyond the pale, but if true…yikes.

  5. (“And the City and the City” is a reference I’m not getting, right? I always hesitate to point out things that look like errors because they tend to highlight my ignorance.)

  6. Kip W: “And the City and the City” is a reference I’m not getting, right?

    It’s a mashup title of (Alien) Sex and the City  and  The City and the City (Miéville novel).

  7. (3) What do they charge for the packaging minus the makeup? That, I’d be interested in.

    (9) I always took a look at those, because more often than not they were really, really good. Still have a number of them.

    (11) Makes sense. An asteroid makes all the rest of it moot.

    (13) The T&Cs are quite good.

    (14) So even before their horrific social media-ing, they were clueless about how to do panels? Regardless of any politics, that’s failing at the main point of having a con.

    (16) I have finished the most recent Astreiant novel and give it a .25/1.3 on the Iphinome Scales. Really, they’re not kissy at all.

    @RedWombat: With all the other toxic crap they’ve put out on social media, I find ALL of it sadly believable. And he does say he has screenshots

  8. (1) Not that SyFy is going to do this, but I wish someone would put together “For Your Consideration” videos for The Expanse. So far, the season has absolutely been on another level.

    (14) Does this seem like similar #MeToo scandals? Not for harassment particularly, but just when one card falls, people start coming out of the woodwork.

  9. (9) I see that David Hartwell bought under the Timescape imprint the first two of David Gerrold’s Chtorr novels, and I’m still waiting for Gerrold to finish the series. I guess Bantam is to blame for including an excerpt from the as yet unpublished fifth volume in the fourth volume, so I can’t blame David Hartwell for that.

    (14) I wonder if Jason Gilbert will regret going public, since it’s likely that Ringo’s sycophants and other CarolinaCon attendees will be harrassing him if CarolinaCon loses its hotel.

  10. Typo is totally my fault since it’s in the original. Rare and chase kissy face should read rare and chaste.

    Mike please put all of tonight’s appertianments on my tab.

  11. @Kip W

    I would battle any Shoggoth
    From Sunday up to Sabbath
    And never feed a troll
    Like credentials I’d be leaping
    Social justice I’d be reaping
    If I only had a scroll

  12. (14)

    have contacted the hotel and gotten their policy. Based on my conversation with them, they had no idea that, not only were there loaded guns at the event, but that there have been loaded guns at the event for years.

    You would think that “hotel had no idea that con staff carried loaded guns in hotel” would cost the con its hotel contract, at the very least. That seems like serious stuff.

  13. (14) @Bonnie McDaniel:

    One person going public does tend to lead to other people going public in other forms as well, yes. Perhaps even more important though is the initial reaction to that first person. If the first person get support, then more people tend to tell their stories; if the first person get belittled, then it silences more witnesses. And it is already hard to tell these things.

    We are social animals, and we find strength in numbers.

    Within fandom, RaceFail, Wiscon, and ReaderCon all provide good examples of this mechanism as well. It is also arguably part of the reason why #MeToo had such a huge presence here in Sweden. It was not because we were much worse at dealing with harassment and sexism than anyone else, but because we had managed to lower the barriers for telling these stories.

  14. (14) I’m looking forward to watching the delicate little snowflakes absolutely lose their shit if the hotel terminates their contract over flagrant and dangerous rules violations. From the safety of having an ocean between me and them.

    Re the accusations of harassment, I hope that permission is given before the screenshots are brought to light as I suspect that they’d be relatively easily identifiable even with efforts to anonymise, and could lead to further harassment.

  15. (2) I think it’s a very good thing that cooperation is starting to catch on as a thing audiences may want to see, in reality shows.

    (11) If we don’t pay attention to asteroids and global warming, we may not need to worry about anything else for too much longer.

  16. (14) Man, watching the ConCarolinas fallout is like déjà vu, in which I see others publicly go through the sort of questioning that led me to ditch LibertyCon.

    By way of obligatory disclaimers, I will note that the one time I attended ConCarolinas, I found myself on a panel about gaming. (As I recall, the topic was supposed to be something about how people can get into gaming – to which my response was that anyone who’s played Clue or Monopoly has already “gotten into gaming” – the next step is finding out how wide the field is and trying something not published by Hasbro.) It was lightly attended, to the point that I invited the audience up to the table and we made it more of a round-table and demo. Seemed to go okay.

  17. “I’m a Pixel File, in a Pixel world.
    Life is Scrolly, oh gosh golly!”
    [ freely, very freely, modeled on Aqua’s Barbie Girl ]

  18. This whole ringo/con/correia/carolinas* set of things is ever so Facebooky. It all seems to be playing out in Facebook threads.

    *[I’m not coining a name for it. I assume there’s an official body for that kind of thing.]

  19. Camestros Felapton on June 7, 2018 at 2:09 am said:

    *[I’m not coining a name for it. I assume there’s an official body for that kind of thing.]

    Kissy-Facebook?.

  20. Considering that the prohibition on weapons (firearms) in hotels is, regardless of local, state and federal laws that may apply and corporate policy that may apply a LIABILITY INSURANCE issue, and considering that liability insurance rates for all kinds of hotels have done nothing but rise since at least 2004, this is a serious matter and could put lots of conventions in jepordy of having to post additional bonds or other financial guarantees for compliance with their contracts.

    This is what happens when we start running into people who have decided that the rules only apply to the other guys.

  21. Hey I am a scroll item!

    I have a copy of Donna’s report and can and do commend it to all of you. (I do show up in the report, since Donna went to Worldcon, and readers of my own report know we became friends when I was down in Australia for DUFF)

  22. I’ve always been impressed by the cooperation involved in FaceOff, too, and think that part of the reason for it is that the industry the contestants are breaking in to is an extremely cooperative and team-oriented one. With the exception of the very smallest projects, you’re never going to be working alone, pursuing your own solo vision; you’ll almost always be working as part of a team, and, in part, working to execute someone else’s vision.

    And since the judges are legitimate industry heavyweights (and even the host/presenter is the daughter of an industry legend who regularly shows up to give advice), the contestants have all the more reason to demonstrate that they are team players who can get along with other people. And, in fact, many past contestants have gone on to work on major Hollywood projects under the direction of their former judges.

    Still, as Lis points out, the editors could choose to emphasize personality conflicts among the contestants — the famous Reality TV “villain edit” — but they wisely have moved away from that as the show has gone on. If I want to watch creative people yell at each other (I don’t), I can always watch American Chopper (which is back on the air now?). I prefer shows that are a little less shouty.

  23. #14 I know a number of the staff who were involved at ConCarolinas this year and they are all unhappy about any number of things. Many had already been having issues with the general organization (or lack thereof) of the concom. (Remember that Jada Diaz said at one point that the announcement about Ringo was delayed because she had suffered a concussion – something obviously beyond her control – and not been able to post the announcement earlier due to a doctor ordered ban on using digital advices. And, apparently, since everyone else was a volunteer with other jobs none of them would have had time to do it even if she had asked.)

    As for Gilbert, perhaps he will now rethink his statements prior to the convention in which he berated the folks who were withdrawing over Ringo’s presence (before the invitation was reversed, obviously) and told marginalized folks that they were “protesting wrong” for allowing their concerns about their personal safety to force them to leave a space/event. [I haven’t seen anything from him after that because I told him that was not solid ally behavior – to criticize the folks he was claiming to support – and he blocked me.] I don’t doubt his claims regarding how things were organized, the way some guests were treated, or the events on Weber’s page, but I too, am a little concerned about how he handles his documentation of it given his past attitude of “I’m not afraid to stand my ground and no one else should be either.”

  24. (2) Cooperative and nice can be fun. We recently discovered The Great British Baking Show* . It’s become the Monday night show for the family. The baking is cool and all but it’s the charm of watching the folks that makes it.

    * Actually The Great British Bake Off but title changed in the United States due to Pillsbury having a copyright (or maybe a trademark, can’t remember which) on the phrase Bake Off.

  25. You would think that “hotel had no idea that con staff carried loaded guns in hotel” would cost the con its hotel contract, at the very least. That seems like serious stuff.

    That con seems determined to make it as difficult as possible to find a hotel. Assuming the current hotel doesn’t let them come back, which seems likely given that they violated its gun policy and openly acknowledged this on social media, they will have to find a new one. What are the odds the new venue won’t hear about their flagrant disregard for hotel gun policies?

  26. (14)

    Complaints about John Ringo’s fans using the ConCarolinas page to hunt down Guests and Attendees in efforts to troll and harass them on their own walls to the point of abuse and hate speech were ignored.

    FTR, that’s BS and shouldn’t be tolerated.

  27. I don’t know how to link Facebook comments but I found the comment offering discounts in a response to David Weber’s June 4th Facebook post reported on an earlier scroll. Here’s the link if I did this right.

    https://m.facebook.com/comment/replies/?ctoken=1942679852432308_1942791489087811&count=1&curr&pc=1&ft_ent_identifier=1942679852432308&gfid=AQC7uJOjKD1ArvoL

    ETA While this comment confirms she’s political, I don’t think that it actually says that. I read it as two different things.

  28. @2, I remember watching part of the first season of Survivor, making the (to me) reasonable assumption that the challenges would resemble those of people actually marooned on a desert island and that the contestants would be rewarded for finding food, shelter, working together to overcome problems, etc. Because that’s the way you survive when marooned on a desert island. I was appalled that it went all Lord of the Flies and the people that were genuinely good at living on a desert island were the first voted off because they were seen as the hardest competition. Never had any interest in watching any of those Survivor-type shows again.

    But cooperation? I’ll have to start watching Face-Off….

  29. @rcade

    That con seems determined to make it as difficult as possible to find a hotel. Assuming the current hotel doesn’t let them come back, which seems likely given that they violated its gun policy and openly acknowledged this on social media, they will have to find a new one. What are the odds the new venue won’t hear about their flagrant disregard for hotel gun policies?

    The hotel industry can be notoriously clannish. Most managers come from other local hotels and they tend to swap personnel regularly. If you burn a hotel in a city hard with your behaviour, it is not surprising to find it follows you from hotel to hotel when you try to swap out.

    (Just an aside, in the early 90s, there was a crude online merchants network in New York that was supposed to be used for hotels to communicate to do things like swap out event tickets for guests, limo needs, alternate accommodations, etc. Of course, it was mostly used to broadcast warnings about rich deadbeats who delayed payment as long as possible, guests with a tendency to smash up rooms or bring in a train of hookers and drugs, and call out people who didn’t tip. It didn’t come to light for a decade, after it was basically shutdown as being out of date.)

  30. @rcade:

    It’s not just “flagrant disregard for hotel gun policies,” though that’s enough to be a problem. This is likely to go around the industry as “they willfully signed a contract they had no intention of abiding by, deliberately did something the contract said they couldn’t do, and eventually boasted about that to their customers.”

    Even a hotel run by someone who is all the way over on the “any restriction whatsoever on letting anyone carry a gun, anywhere, at any time is wrong” may not want a customer whose attitude appears to be “contract, what contract?” because that suggests they may be equally cavalier about things like paying for un-comped meeting space.

    Lots of people sign contracts they don’t mean to abide by, but they don’t generally tell the other party they’re not going to abide by them. “If they say they won’t enforce X clause you dislike, make them take it out of the contract” is fairly standard advice, in part because if they won’t take it out, there’s a reason, and the likeliest reason is that they do mean to enforce it. Also (I am not a lawyer), it’s one thing to risk “yeah, the contract says I have to deliver a virginal unicorn if Mount Shasta erupts, but that’s not legally enforceable, because California law says you can’t demand delivery of only Disney can contract for unicorns,” and another to do so because you think you can conceal the eruption.

  31. Seems the concarolinas train crash is accelerating. Be a shame that a con gets shutdown due to a snowflake not being able to leave his security binky behind. I suspect the hotel will have a sense of humor failure, especially due to him being apparently married to the chair. They might get away with it if it was some rando on the security team, but the head is going to take some explaining.
    Not been to either Carolina, but in Texas many places have no gun signs (Arlington and Austin in my experience), not sure if the same applies there?

    BTW I’m not being sarcastic, losing a con, even one I have no interest in going to, would be a shame.

  32. (2) One of the reasons I like watching American Ninja Warrior is that the participants are actively cheering each other on. They often train together as well. There’s such a feeling of camaraderie that it’s fun to watch.

  33. @Daniel Dern & @Mike Flyer: A quick note before I dive into today’s Pixel Scroll to say what a great title that is!

  34. World Weary: Link seems broken from here.
    ______________
    In general: I keep wondering; did they think it was okay because it was security personnel, and not random con goers? Because while that’s not how it works, it feels like a slightly more reasonable assumption on their part than “oh, if we break the contract, that’s not going to burn bridges at all.”
    _____________
    Agent Carter set is pretty! I am totally not into make-up and not that interested in collecting collectibles either, but still nice to admire from here.

    One of the ways I got out of Disney and Universal Studios spending as little as I did was taking pictures of some of their more clever souvenirs, because I can admire the execution without needing the mug in my house, and sigh over the crystal without needing to spend $200 to take it home. This falls into that category.

    (And if others actually want to buy, well, they can, and win for them, too!)

  35. @Kip W (and @microtherion): Applause!

    @Dex:

    If you burn a hotel in a city hard with your behaviour, it is not surprising to find it follows you from hotel to hotel when you try to swap out.

    As the late lamented Disclave learned 20 years ago. Insurance is more subtle than a flood, but could be just as expensive. Ancient anecdote: according to Twain, the riverboat pilots’ union finally beat steamship owners because the “underwriters” required the use of union pilots, who had developed a secure reporting system such that any fellow union member could get river-condition updates much more recent than their own last trip and so was much less likely to prang their boat.

  36. @World Weary: “I don’t know how to link Facebook comments but I found the comment offering discounts in a response to David Weber’s June 4th Facebook post reported on an earlier scroll. Here’s the link if I did this right.”

    That link pulls up a “Content Not Found” error for me, but I don’t know if it’s a problem with the link or if I’m not allowed to see it.

  37. (14) I’m not on a lot of social media platforms, but I’ve been following the ConCarolinas thing here and on a couple other forums I’m on, and I’m increasingly getting the impression that the lesson Concarolinas took from the problems other conventions have had (both in terms of handling of problems and in the communication surrounding the handling of said problems) is “hold my beer.”

    It will be interesting to see what happens next year, because ConCarolinas is also DeepSouthCon, and I do know a number of people who have never missed a DSC since they started going to cons. Because DSCs are voted on 2 years in advance in a live meeting at the relevant seated DSC (not mail in ballots or online voting), I suspect some people will go but be unhappy about it.

  38. (2) WISCON PROGRAM NOTES. “Yes, there were other panels at WisCon…”

    LOL. WisCon has other panels??? ABOUT MENS?!?!?!

    (14) CONCAROLINAS. What a toxic ConComm. And gee, who could’ve predicted that bragging about flouting hotel policy could reach the hotel. Idiots.

    @JJ: Fortunately, there are other cons in the area – not all trainwrecks, one hopes. 😛 It bites to have to leave one’s “home con,” but hopefully people fed up with it find another con and help it grow, by their support and attendance.

    I’m not heartened to see Trinoc*coN is dead and StellarCon also seems like it may be dead (web site not found; last Facebook page from 2016). But, ConGregate appears to still be alive, and they link to several other North and South Carolina conventions (and a couple in Virginia). So yay, ConCarolinas isn’t the only con in the area.

    @Cathy: I’m not familiar with DeepSouthCon, but an unfortunately-high-ranking hit for it is deepsouthcon.org, which is seriously outdated (last one listed is 2010 at, amusingly, ConCarolinas). I found a much better page, listing all DeepSouthCons through 2019. I’m impressed at how long it’s been around!

  39. 3) I notice that they have a limited-edition sampler set — 5 mini colors, including the 1946 Red Velvet, for $25. That’s a damn good deal if you want to check out their stuff.

    14) Con staff packing against the explicit policy of the venue? This is not what I’d call the behavior of responsible, law-abiding gun owners. Frankly, I hope they do lose their contract over it.

    Also, mocking disabled fans? Trump mocked a disabled reporter and got away with it. The rot trickles down from the top — and now we know who ConCarolinas’ concom’s role models are.

    @ Lis: Seconded, on both counts.

    This is one of the places where what the media chooses to show can shape societal attitudes; you’d have a hard time convincing me that the flood of “reality”-TV shows with the “who gets thrown off the island this week” theme hasn’t contributed to the current epidemic of hatred for policies and programs that help people who are down on their luck.

    @ Dex: It goes the other way too. GAFilk is in their current hotel (a major step up from their first venue) because someone from the first venue was hired on at the current venue and actively recruited them.

    @ evilrooster: I thought it was green M&Ms.

  40. I also recommend illogiCon — it’s small but a good crowd. ConTemporal was another good NC con with a Steampunk time-travel concept, but it seems to be gone, sadly. Looks like they lost their venue in 2015 and never recovered.

  41. We all live in a yellow Pixel Scroll, a yellow Pixel Scroll, a yellow Pixel Scroll.

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