The All-Purpose Hugo Post

Do you want to liveblog along? Comment on the proceedings? This is the place for it. Jump right in. Play along from home.

Just this moment I am sitting in the back of the hall where the pre- and post-Hugo show will be broadcast. But I soon will migrate to the auditorium. They fixed me up with a seat in press row, which was very kind.

1,039 thoughts on “The All-Purpose Hugo Post

  1. a novella nomination–Bujold’s Penric’s Demon!

    Unfortunately, there isn’t a version for the Kobo readers. (They can handle epubs fine. If there is one.)

  2. The problem I have with short fiction is that if it’s good, I feel the need to gaze off into space for a bit after each one going “…huh.” With a novel, it’s much easier to go into bookslurp mode.

    This is not a major complaint, mind you.

  3. @Anna Feruglio Dal Dan

    From what I know, Finnish is… challenging to learn.

    I just speak Quenya at the natives very loudly and it seems to work fine.

  4. WOuld this be compatible?
    Looks like it – my thanks! [/grovel]

    Or maybe not…it wants to download some other stuff first. Not cool.

  5. WillR: My plan for defying the pups is to nominate the works I think deserve the award. No more, no less. No coordinating, other than reading stuff others recommend in genuine love. Anything else, but especially voting for a work I don’t love in earnest because I imagine every other non-pup is doing it, would be losing to the pups in a way that is mountains worse than their slate crowding out the ballot.

    Now the struggle is going to be to read enough.

    (BTW, am I the only non-puppy who liked Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer or does it just not get talked about because it didn’t make the ballot? I know some others who liked Goodnight Stars, but that made it far enough to earn discussion)

  6. Lenora Rose: I liked Molakesh the Destroyer, too. Definitely haven’t forgotten it.

  7. Kendall:

    Now I have two years to learn how to say, “Can you recommend a good local wine” in Finnish (one of the few phrases I remember from a trip to Italy in my 20s). ? Along with please, thank you, “where’s the restroom,” and “do you have any batteries” (which I had to learn in Switzerland when I needed batteries ? ).

    Being a Finn, I thought I’d help you out a little:
    Go to Youtube and look for Finnish language lessons. There are plenty and some of them are quite good. To get you started:
    Thank you – Kiitos.
    Sorry – Anteeksi.
    Where’s the restroom? – Missä on wc?
    Do you have any batteries? – Onko teillä paristoja?
    I would not ask for any nice local wines because growing grapes is a bit challenging in Finland. 😉 We do have some nice wines and liqueurs made out berries, though.

  8. Anna Feruglio Dal Dan on August 23, 2015 at 1:20 pm said:
    I have a fondness for Helsinki since I saw this:

    The Complaints Choir of Helsinki

    We Finns like our choir music *grin*.

    This is another nice video.
    The flash mob was supporting the first openly gay presidential candidate in Finland during the presidential elections 3.5 years ago. (This happened in January and that’s the reason for winter clothing.) The location is the main train station in Helsinki that you will see a lot of if you come to the Worldcon, because one the most convenient ways to get to the Con location Messukeskus Expo Center from central Helsinki, is to take a commuter train from the main train station to Pasila train station (it’s about 5 min by train) and then walk to Messukeskus (another 5 minutes or so).
    Welcome to Helsinki!

  9. I liked Molakesh too!
    I don’t know if I’d nominate it myself, but I wouldn’t object to seeing it on the ballot next year, on its own merits.
    I also got the sense that even among the Puppies, Tuesdays With Molakesh was one of the stories that was suggested by fans in the threads and had a lot of direct support – they just got the publication year wrong. Forex, there was a pro-Puppy I talked to online who gave it as his pick for a Hugo-worthy story.

  10. SocialInjusticeWorrier on August 23, 2015 at 7:47 pm said:
    @Anna Feruglio Dal Dan

    From what I know, Finnish is… challenging to learn.

    I just speak Quenya at the natives very loudly and it seems to work fine.

    Fountain of coffee through the nose, quick visit to A&E. But no keyboards were hurt!

    And since I am linking, and I know my fans:

    The essentialist explanations entry on Uralic languages:

    Uralic
    Finnish is essentially Estonian spoken in the genitive case.
    –Eugene Holman
    Conversely, Estonian is essentially Finnish with most unstressed and final syllables suppressed.
    –Eugene Holman
    Finnish is essentially bastardized Hungarian.
    –Ferenc Valoczy
    Finnish is essentially Japanese spoken with an Italian accent.
    –John Davies
    Finnish is essentially Turkish in the snow.
    –Mike Taylor
    Conversely, Turkish is essentially Finnish in the sun.
    –Mike Taylor
    Sámi is essentially Finnish spoken with a lisp and a sore throat.
    –Benct Philip Jonsson
    Conversely, Finnish is essentially Sámi with a PIE substrate.
    –Daniel Andreasson
    Ffiinnnniisshh iiss eesssseennttiiaallllyy aa llaanngguuaaggee ffoorr ppeeooppllee wwiitthh ddoouubbllee vviissiioonn.
    –Clint Jackson Baker
    Hungarian is essentially Finnish spoken by Czechs.
    –Benct Philip Jonsson
    Hungarian is essentially the noise one’s dad makes when he has accidentally hit his thumb with a hammer.
    –And Rosta
    Finnish is essentially Proto-Estonian.
    –Benct Philip Jonsson
    Estonian is essentially Finnish spoken by Swedes.
    –Benct Philip Jonsson
    Hungarian is essentially German with all sounds randomly shuffled.
    –Egbert Lenderink
    Hungarian is essentially a Scotch snap with double-long rounded vowels.
    –Dan Seriff
    Hungarian is essentially all counterintuitive consonant pairings.
    –Dan Seriff
    Finnish is essentially Hungarian spoken while drunk, freezing, and morose.
    –Dan Seriff
    Sámi is essentially Hungarian spoken while drunk, freezing, and standing next to a reindeer.
    –Dan Seriff
    Finnish is essentially Swedish with all sounds randomly shuffled.
    –Egbert Lenderink
    Votic is essentially Finnish with a German accent. Or perhaps with a strong Russian accent, in which case it is Estonian that is Finnish with a German accent.
    –Alfredo Garcia Gonzalez
    Votic is essentially extinct (25 speakers and falling).
    –John Cowan
    Estonian is essentially an inflecting form of Finnish whose lexicon is just Finnish mangled by syncope and apocope with a whole bunch of foreign words pretending to be native.
    –Trebor Jung
    Hungarian is essentially a mangling of Uralic, Turkic, Slavic, and German words, with a remarkably Uralic-esque grammar.
    –Trebor Jung
    Hungarian is essentially German disguised as a Uralic language with Turkic and Slavic influence.
    –Trebor Jung
    Estonian is essentially mumbled Finnish as written down by a German.
    –Philip Newton
    H?ngarian eszensialy egy lang?agy dizaind all f?rein t??risztsz t? perpleksz every aszpekt-in iz.
    –Hanbing Feng
    Mordvin is essentially Uralic that stayed at home. in: West Germanic (Low)
    –Jörg Rhiemeier
    Hungarian is essentially Finnish as spoken by Norwegians and written by Poles.
    –The Multilingual Kitten
    …no, by anti-Poles. No self-respecting Pole would flip s and sz around.
    –spamsink
    Finnish is Estonian spoken by a Hungarian with a stutter in very cold weather.
    –Ken Westmoreland
    Finnish is essentially a language nobody really needs to learn.
    –Ivan Amaya
    Votic is essentially Finnish with a German accent.
    –Old Chatot

    See also the Tolkien section, part of the conlang section.

  11. Terhi on August 23, 2015 at 10:36 pm said:
    The location is the main train station in Helsinki that you will see a lot of if you come to the Worldcon, because one the most convenient ways to get to the Con location Messukeskus Expo Center from central Helsinki, is to take a commuter train from the main train station to Pasila train station (it’s about 5 min by train) and then walk to Messukeskus (another 5 minutes or so).
    Welcome to Helsinki!

    I can’t wait (drops coin in Saving for Helsinki jar). Beam.

  12. @snowcrash

    Wonder what’s Finnish for God Stalk?

    I am guessing something on the order of 43 syllables including 60+ vowels and a couple of syncopations.

  13. @snowcrash

    Wonder what’s Finnish for God Stalk?

    ::ticks the check box::

    … and then…

    ::actually ticks the check box::

    Literally lol’d 🙂 I never remember that damn box!

  14. Everything I know about Finland, I learned from folk metal*. Which is to say that if I make it to Helsinki I look forward to running through a forest while carrying an axe and shield.

    *Do you like polkka? Do you like metal? They’re even better together

  15. What’s Finnish for “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting and I would like to talk more, would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?”

    [he asks, innocently…]

  16. MaxL:

    “Do you like polkka? Do you like metal? They’re even better together”

    Polka and metal? Well, try Eläkeläiset.

  17. Hampus Eckerman on August 24, 2015 at 12:45 am said:
    Look forward to meeting you, Terhi!

    Likewise Hampus! 🙂

  18. WOuld this be compatible?

    It might be, but is it an honest copy? It looks kind of piratey. I mainly read on Kobo, but I buy most eBooks from Amazon and convert them to ePub using Calibre.

  19. Iphinome on August 24, 2015 at 1:21 am said:
    Wonder what’s Finnish for God Stalk?

    Jumalakyttäys for stalking a god

    or
    Jumalavaaninta
    or
    Jumalaväijyntä
    or
    Jumaljahti (a bit old-fashioned sounding shortened from from Jumalajahti) that sounds rather good in Finnish but “jahti” is more like a hunt (God is Jumala in Finnish, or if a god, just jumala).

    God Stalker is Jumalavaanija, Jumalaväijyjä or Jumalakyttääjä. 😉

  20. Anna Feruglio Dal Dan on August 23, 2015 at 10:56 pm said:
    ….
    And since I am linking, and I know my fans:

    The essentialist explanations entry on Uralic languages:

    That was hilarious! Thanks for the links!

  21. Everything I know about Finland, I learned from Finnish artist Minna Sundberg.

    Which reminds me, I should put Stand Still, Stay Silent Book 1 on my nomination list for Best Graphic Story. And since I’ve benefited from many a recommendation here on File 770, let me recommend it to anyone who enjoys post apocalyptic sci Fi.

  22. CPaca on August 24, 2015 at 1:47 am said:
    What’s Finnish for “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting and I would like to talk more, would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?”

    My source says… Ei millään pahalla, mutta sä olet erittäin mielenkiintoinen. Lähekkö kahville mun hotellihuoneeseen niin voidaan jutella lisää

  23. > “Ei millään pahalla, mutta sä olet erittäin mielenkiintoinen. Lähekkö kahville mun hotellihuoneeseen niin voidaan jutella lisää”

    *slaps Iphinome in the face, stalks off*

  24. Kyra on August 24, 2015 at 4:04 am said:

    > “Ei millään pahalla, mutta sä olet erittäin mielenkiintoinen. Lähekkö kahville mun hotellihuoneeseen niin voidaan jutella lisää”

    *slaps Iphinome in the face, stalks off*

    Surely you meant “God Stalks off”?

  25. Kyra on August 23, 2015 at 2:40 pm said:

    All of them will, however, be waiting at least until I finish the Tredana Trilogy by Joyce Ballou Gregorian because I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR LITERALLY MORE THAN THREE DECADES TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO SYBIL.

    I have very bad news and good news. Joyce Ballou Gregorian died in 1991. The Great Wheel was published by New York: Ace, 1987, ISBN 978-0-441-30257-4 .

    Now, for Sanditon and The Universal Pantograph, you’re on your own.

  26. > “I have very bad news and good news. Joyce Ballou Gregorian died in 1991. The Great Wheel was published by New York: Ace, 1987, ISBN 978-0-441-30257-4 ”

    I am aware of this now. But I’d given up on looking for the third book sometime around 1984 or so (book two came out in 1977), and had always assumed the trilogy had never been competed. A chance comment by Kelly Link in an interview made me aware it had actually been finished after all. Hence, my three decade wait to find out the ending.

  27. @CPaca

    What’s Finnish for “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting and I would like to talk more, would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?”

    “Mennäänkö mun huoneeseen kahville?”

  28. @kyra
    What was the kelly link interview ? it’s been ages since I read the great wheel.

  29. I was so very, very disappointed with The Great Wheel. To me, it felt like an utter betrayal of the two previous books. I read it twice, and have never been able to return to the trilogy since then. I so very much loved The Broken Citadel and it lives in my heart. But I fear to read it again, because I know I won’t be able to stop before The Great Wheel and TGW will break my heart yet again. I was happier when I thought the trilogy had never been completed.

  30. Which is to say that if I make it to Helsinki I look forward to running through a forest while carrying an axe and shield.

    Well, here’s hoping they at least have some tango at Helsinki so (I mean, getting that close to the home of Tango in Europe and missing that opportunity? Yikes!)

Comments are closed.