(1) Henge proliferation. Now a huge ritual arena has been discovered near Stonehenge. You almost end up thinking Stonehenge, which used to seem quite big in itself, was nothing but the cherry on top….
Researchers find hidden remains of massive Neolithic stone monument, thought to have been hauled into position more than 4,500 years ago
The Stonehenge Hidden Landscape project has transformed how archaeologists view the ancient site, which sprawls over 4 sq miles of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. The main monument stands at the heart of a landscape rich with burial grounds, pits and chapels. Last year, researchers found the remains of 17 new chapels and hundreds of other archaeological features scattered across the site.
Two huge pits have been discovered in a two mile-long monument called the Cursus that lies to the north of Stonehenge. The pits seem to form an astronomical arrangement: on midsummer’s day, the eastern pit’s alignment with the rising sun and the western pit’s alignment with the setting sun intersect where Stonehenge was built 400 years later.
The rise and fall of the newly discovered monument at Durrington Walls suggests that buildings were modified and recycled since the first stones were laid around 3100BC. A large timber building encased in chalk is thought to have been a house of the dead where defleshing was performed as a burial ritual.
(2) This unnaturally leads us to Dr. Faustus AU’s The Call of Cthulhu – for beginning readers at Deviant Art.
(3) I sure didn’t score very well on Revolvy’s The Batman 1960s TV Show quiz. Must have missed more episodes attending choir practice than I thought.
(4) You won’t need an alarm to wake up once you have the spider clock – you’ll be too scared to go to sleep.
In Arachnophobia, the clock has been reimagined as the body of a spider, its mechanical movement engineered to sit partially outside the body as the spider’s head, where it can be viewed and admired as it sits on a table, or mounted to a wall.
(5) Idaho Public Radio offers advice for writers from science fiction author David Levine.
David D. Levine is the author of the upcoming novel ‘Arabella of Mars’ (Tor 2016), as well over fifty science fiction and fantasy stories. His story “Tk’Tk’Tk” won the Hugo Award.
We spoke with Mr. Levine at the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane this August, and asked him what advice he had for aspiring writers. “Persistence is the only thing you cannot do without,” he said.
(6) Galactic Journey’s idea is intriguing —
Imagine living through the post-Golden Age of science fiction and fantasy. What would it be like to experience this journey at the plodding, one day per day pace?
Though I’m a bit disappointed with its 1960 Worldcon report — [September 6, 1960] The 1960 WorldCon in Pittsburgh!
Of course, I wasn’t actually present at the con, it being held some 2500 miles away on the 17th floor of the Penn Sheraton in Pittsburgh. But I know people, and I have access to a million-dollar ‘fax machine. Thus, even though the custodial staff is just barely finishing its sweeping up after some 300 attendees had a roaring great time, I am already able to bring you this report:
The primary purpose for a convention is to allow fellow fen (plural of fan) to mingle. Gordon Dickson likens it to a Gentleman’s Club where adventurers can meet and compare notes before heading off back into the wild. Fred Pohl calls it a family gathering.
It looks like the demographics of fandom match that of publication: women are in the distinct minority, but they are present and often outsizedly significant.
Not sure what the point is of a report that doesn’t acknowledge the names of anybody but the pros (not even all of those pictured are named).
If somebody is writing a throwback account of everyday life in the genre, I’d expect to see more evidence of research from sources that aren’t available online. Harry Warner Jr., anyone?
(7) Brandon Kempner at Chaos Horizon has worked up a new estimate of the number of Sad and Rabid Puppies based on the 2015 nominating data released at Sasquan.
(8) Django Wexler has coded an E Pluribus Hugo simulator.
Important Caveat: I am not a voting theory expert! Smarter people than me have thought about this. However, I am a programmer of sorts, and interested in this stuff. So, I wrote up a thing that runs the EPH algorithm on test data. (I obviously don’t have access to actual Hugo data!) I thought other people might get something out of it, so I’m posting it here.
Here is the EPHConsole project as a Visual Studio ’13 project.
Here is the compiled self-installer for the EPHConsole project.
Here is the EXE file, which should work if you have .NET installed on your machine.
(9) I like Joe’s attitude.
https://twitter.com/joethepeacock/status/640973827145494528
(10) Chuck Wendig has found the silver lining in all those one-star reviews people have dumped on his new novel Star Wars: Aftermath.
Others have suggested that there may be a campaign by some Legends fangroups to “raid” the book’s reviews to tank its ranking with these one-star reviews — an interesting tactic that does indeed tank its actual review score, but not its sales ranking given that Amazon algorithms are interested not in the quality of the reviews but rather the attention that the reviews and the book get. (Meaning, a passel of negative reviews actually elevates the book’s overall sales ranking. Which in turn garners it more sales. Amazon reps have been clear with me on this point: buyers buy books with reviews, period. Not good reviews, not bad reviews. But rather: quantity of reviews impress buyers to make purchases. So, leaving a ton of bad reviews actually increases the book’s sales. Ironic, and not likely what anyone supporting such a campaign intends.)
Ben Lindbergh at Grantland outlines the basic problem for Extended Universe fans:
It’s an apt title for a story at the intersection of two climactic events concerning the galaxy far, far away. The in-universe aftermath is the power struggle that succeeds the destruction of the Second Death Star and the loss of the Empire’s Sith-heavy C-Suite at the end of Return of the Jedi. But the book also arrives amid a meta-aftermath: the Alderaan-like extinction of the old Expanded Universe, which started as a supplement to the movies and soon outstripped them in scope, sprouting into a story-surrounding-the-story that spanned thousands of years and unfolded via hundreds of books, comics, and video games from 1976 until 2014, when Disney decided to clear the decks for future films by declaring all that came before non-canon.
(11) Police are circulating the photo of a person of interest in a sexual assault at Dragon Con this weekend.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution —
Atlanta police are asking for the public’s help identifying a man who may be connected to a sexual assault at the popular sci-fi convention Dragon Con.
Officer Kim Jones said the female victim was in town for the convention and was sexually assaulted early Sunday “by a white male wearing an FBI baseball cap.” The man reportedly introduced himself as “Gary from Marietta.”
Police also released a photo of the suspect. Further details about the incident were not immediately available.
Dragon Con draws tens of thousands of people to Downtown Atlanta each year, many in costumes and other paraphernalia celebrating comic books, movies and pop culture. This year’s festivities began Friday.
In an emailed statement, Dragon Con media relations director Don Carroll said it is the convention’s policy not to comment on “specific incidents.”
“Dragon Con is proud to offer a safe and inclusive convention for its members that is free of harassment or assault of any kind,” the statement said. “We work with the Atlanta Police Department all year to develop and install procedures to prevent issues such as these. If and when they occur (we) insure they are handled by the appropriate authorities. APD is on site throughout the convention.”
Anyone with information about the alleged assault or the person of interest is asked to contact Detective R.C. Sluss at 404-546-4260. Tipsters can also remain anonymous — and be eligible for rewards of up to $2,000 — by contacting Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS and crimestoppersatlanta.org.
[Thanks to JJ, Andrew Porter, Eric Lindsay, and John King Tarpinian for some of these links. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]
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So yesterday the first recommendation for Best Fan Writer at the SP4 site was for Michael Z. Williamson. Today somebody made a second recommendation — Declann Finn recommended himself.
Oh, the humility!
re: right wing internet royalty
If you value your SAN points, do not Google ‘cuckservative’.
It starts off asserting that most conservatives are actually traitors to the Cause, and then dives headfirst into the crazy. I’m a bit surprised that about hasn’t started using it.
How about the story of the person who was asked out on a date by Poxy, but got a chance to read his blog first, and so gave the reply “If You Weren’t a Hate-filled Crypto-Fascist Asshole with Delusions of Grandeur, You Choad.”
Wait, I blew it. Oh well.
Maybe they should go for full-on self-nominations only. They could argue that it made sure that the nominator had always actually read the work in question. (Though I expect some doubt could be cast as to whether they’d re-read it. Doubtful that, considering many of the puppy scribblings I’ve seen.)
I agree Time Salvager was better than the Tao books. I read it non-stop and his writing style has improved greatly. I really hate his portrayal of women or men for that matter. It’s all so depressing. And to get to the end to be left hanging. But yes I may read the next one to watch his continued growth.
Like JC Wright he’s a staunch catholic and, like most Catholics, they are both big humility and modesty.
ETA: I’m assuming this is for his Sad Puppy fanfic?
There is also the story, told from the POV of the *victim* in Swirsky’s original story, who attempts to communicate from out of a highly opiated haze:
“If You’re Worried, I’m Not Sore, My Love!”
Michael Moorcock was allegedly asked by a ladyfriend if he could get her a part in the movie adaptation of Burroughs’ The Land That Time forgot. To which he is rumoured to have replied “If you were a dinosaur, my love”
Maybe they need to add pages for “eligible works/people”. This way self-nominators have an appropriate place to put their stuff. I think I’ve seen Scalzi have authors/editors mention what they are eligible for in comments on his “I’m eligible thread” over the last couple of years (or maybe it’s a separate post).
A good thing about Calibre is you can edit the metadata for series. It has a slot for Series Title and Number. That way you don’t have to screw with the title.
And thus a typical day on File770 comes to an end*; it’s spiders and Swirsky puns all the way down, with the occasional wail about the stupidity of people who foist unwanted software on us. Perhaps whilst I’m asleep someone will finally make the connection and provide us with puns combining arachnids, dinosaurs and micro-apples.
*Yes, it is the end of the day here in England; you don’t get to be a hive of scum and villainy without a global base, and frankly those nominating on SP 4 aren’t global…
@Hypnotosov: Well played.
Ah, yes, the Aussie Huntsman. I once had one, roughly hand-sized, crawl up onto my freaking WINDSHIELD while I was driving. Couldn’t’ve timed it better, as I had two USAian visitors in the car with me, and they were properly gobsmacked.
Better yet, the little bugger somehow stayed aboard through my entire 40 minute commute from Darlinghurst to Homebush Bay. Crawled up over the roof and onto the rear window. Once we got to the studio gate — the first practical place to pull over — I stopped the car, we all got out, and lo and behold, the Huntsman was still there, on the rear quarter-panel, and posed for photographs from my freaked-out-but-fascinated passengers.
(And the gate guard pissed himself laughing at these three frantic Yanks getting so worked up about a harmless little critter…)
Nigel on September 8, 2015 at 3:15 pm said:
God, I hope that if Rachel Swirsky finds out about this she doesn’t mind too much.
You mean, you’d ask
“If you were okay with this, or
If you were bit pun-sore, my love.”
JoeH, orderofbooks.com is useful: Glen Cook’s books.
lauowolf wrote: “It ends up that somehow it was delivering the content, chapter-by-chapter, on shuffle.” Heh. My very, very first published piece of fiction, a fantasy story that got into my high school’s literary magazine, was typed up by the school’s office secretary, who didn’t include page numbers. So OF COURSE the pages for my story were sent to the printer out of order. I did, however, get a $5 gift certificate for a bookstore* and a free copy of an anti-drug booklet; I don’t know if the anti-drug book was commentary on my writing or not.
*This was long enough ago that I was able to purchase, iirc, three paperbacks with that $5 certificate. Yes, I’m old. Has GEEZERS DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION! opened for submissions yet?
We should probably put some of these on a t-shirt. Wouldn’t it be nice if you wear a dinosaur, my love?
“We should probably put some of these on a t-shirt.”
And we need songs! Perhaps: “The T.Rex Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” (perhaps sung by T Rex?)
What if the cops send in a T Rex as a C I? “If You Wire A Dinosaur, My Love”
What if you gene-spliced some salamander in, so when you stepped on its tail, it grew another dinosaur… “If you were a dinosaur, mile of”
My wife wants to know if she’ll change into a velociraptor at the full moon. If you’re a were-dinosaur my love.
I had better go bed now hadn’t I.
Isopeda villosa: Caramba!
The search also brought up I. vasta; from the name I am guessing that this species appeared in ’50’s movies involving the eating of Tokyo and its residents. (Many moons ago, I saw one such big-bug movie. In the scene where citizens flee, waving their arms and screaming, a subtitle said: “Aieeeeee!”)
As the creator of the were-dinosaur, I feel compelled to defend my mark.
https://file770.com/?p=24772&cpage=8#comment-337570
Did you hear that after the controversy generated by a previous Campell nominee who would’ve refused to wear the tiara if he’d won, they thought of changing it to a spiky stegosaurus hat? I turned to my husband and asked him to ponder the possibilities. And he asked, “What possibilities?” I said: “If Chu wore a dinosaur, my love.”
Please tell me this hasn’t already been done…
And then there was the Beany and Cecil episode about a voyage to a far island, searching for the ‘Singing Dinah-Shor”. It was a sauropod, doing a fair imitation of guess who?
Today I was on the 17th floor watching some relatively large Canadian spider catch some kind of flying insect about the size of a wasp in its web. It was wrapping its catch in its web when a gust of wind caught shook the web–and the spider watched its dinner fall 17 stories.
I’ve never felt sorry for a spider before. Even if I’d spent the afternoon thinking of Tolkien’s spiders.
Tasha
Since sleep is playing hard to get I can answer your query re Scalzi; in addition to noting his own qualifying works, he provides authors in various categories with the opportunity to draw attention to their qualifying works, and for fans to draw attention to their favourite qualifying works, for nominations.
That’s the Hugos; he also does something similar for the creators of Xmas/solstice/whatever presents, not only books but art, jewellery and so on. Fortunately he’s never featured the orrery watch since we would have all died of uncontrollable envy.
I have just realised that ‘uncontrollable’ contains ‘troll’, which I think is more than a coincidence…
@Nigel: IIRC she wrote a parody of it herself in response to some recent happenings and posted it to her Tumblr. Though admittedly, since I do not follow her doings very closely, I may have mixed her up with, like, Cat Valente or someone.
Richard Brandt, for reasons unknown to the vast majority of the world population, the taxation of intellectual property such as your mark shares strong similarities with the taxation of financial instruments; they started out together.
I rarely do pro bono work, but should you need someone then I would be honoured to step forward..
And then there’s the story of the man with a clock-fetish who looked at his girlfriend and sighed:
If you were a timer store, my love….
Vasta than empires and more…leggy?
For anyone who wants to take a look, I have reviewed the Hugo-eligible graphic story Ms. Marvel: Generation Why.
Yes, it is the end of the day here in England; you don’t get to be a hive of scum and villainy without a global base, and frankly those nominating on SP 4 aren’t global…
But of course — I mean, you’ve got the Greenwich Marillion Line there; where else would the day begin and end?
Teka Lynn: except for the specimen that had met with some accident and lost 4 legs. It was half-vasta.
In the land of the buttless, the half-vasta—omighod what is that thing Jesus who would do something like that to an innocent spider oh Christ just look at it
For more on this, see the upcoming short story written by PJ’s significant other, “You Actually Are a Dinosaur, My Love”.
I had this image on my cube wall, along with a pic of a snapping turtle. (Alas, no significant other….)
*This was long enough ago that I was able to purchase, iirc, three paperbacks with that $5 certificate. Yes, I’m old. Has GEEZERS DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION! opened for submissions yet?
You kids get off my lawn! [g] (I remember my first copy of Dune was a 95-cent paperback.)
Marillion Dustbin actually http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-dustbin-of-geography
Or the text message I got after the life-sized brontosaurus statue I made was delivered to the wrong address:
“FU! Where Dinosaur? Mile off!”
@Mike Glyer
His contribution was particularly odious; terribly written and gleeful arrogant.
Mike Glyer: Today somebody made a second recommendation — Declann Finn recommended himself.
Oh, the
humilityhumiliation !BigelowT and Camestros: well done, indeed.
I’ve collected the variations on If you were a dinosaur, my love.”
Thanks Soon Lee! :goes off to share on the twitters, as you all would long since expect me to… :
A curious fact about Stonehenge is a script carved into one of the stones. Reseachers finally realised it was a form of gaellic and read “The stones of Wales make me not so bored – by Lludd map Beli Mawr”.
Early graffiti is always so much fun.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to add more but I was busy trying to convince a good friend to go with me and visit a factory that builds Automated Teller Machines. As I said to them “If you were a Diebold Tour, my love.”
Apropos of nothing, the Oxford U Press page for a book I’ve assigned my class skips Chapter 5 in its table of contents. I’m guessing VD and his parodists on both sides have caused a worldwide Chapter 5 shortage.
I want to thank everyone for the laughs and shared frustrations today (but not the spiders). This delurker appreciates being made to feel like part of the hive of wretched scum.
For reading I’m going to the past and rereading Patricia Briggs Dead Heat book 4 of her Alpha and Omega series Urban Fantasy a spinoff of the Mercy Thompson series.
My husband is reading the latest chapter (3) of Indexing:Reflections by Seanan Macguire as we navigate the bugs in the household sharing kindle feature.
As the Day Of Long Puns wanes, and we sit toasting our just desserts over the glowing Pentiums, we say, quietly, “If you were a demi-s’more, oh my…”
The janitor working the summer break wended his way down the hall, entering and polishing each of the school’s classroom floors with his rotating floor buffer. When he got to the end of the hallway, he opened the door to the principal’s office and stared at the carpeted floor in dismay — then closed the door and turned away, murmuring
“If you were a lino floor, my love…”
I’ll get my coat.
One side effect of the Dinosaur puns is I start reading messages and wondering what the pun at the end will be.
JJ: These Swirsky takeoffs are like the Feghoots of the 21st century…
Hi Pogonip,
If only you had a DLSR camera with a nice macro lens in your hands. 🙂