Oakfairy

With the recent news that Roland Emmerich would like to make a second, big screen, Stargate movie, questions surrounding the future of the franchise have again started popping up throughout fandom.

It’s been three years since Stargate: Universe was cancelled and fans want to know: What’s next?  Whither Stargate?

Well in my humble and somewhat informed opinion: Beats me.

But let’s look at the possibilities…

THE BIG SCREEN REBOOT (TWO WAYS TO DO IT)

Look at the re-imagined Star Trek.  Both movies did HUGE business.  And, like Star Trek, Stargate is an established scifi franchise that would undoubtedly wow with a big screen treatment and visual effects budget.  The potential box-office returns could be tremendous!

Or not.  If the summer of 2013 has taught us anything, it’s that Big Budget Star-driven features don’t guarantee success.  The Lone Ranger ($215 million dollar production budget), White House Down ($150 million dollar production budget), Turbo ($135 million dollar production budget), RIPD ($130 million dollar production budget), After Earth ($130 million dollar production budget), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ($60 million dollar production budget).  What do the aforementioned have in common?  Yep, you guessed it: Big hopes, Big budgets, and, all of them, Big box office disappointments.  Also, keep in mind that the listed amounts in parentheses are the approximate production budgets which don’t take into account the equally sizeable costs of marketing these movies.  Ouch.

So, it’s clear that “throwing money at it” won’t guarantee a movie’s success. Neither will casting hitherto bankable actors like Johnny Depp and Will Smith.  BUT Stargate is an established property with a pre-existing fan base, so it’s got that going for it. Right?  Well, okay, so did The Mortal Instruments movie but, for argument’s sake, let’s just stick to Stargate for now.  Big budgets aside, the Stargate franchise is much like Star Trek in that it has that built-in SF fan base eager for more.  So it stands to reason that it should follow the Star Trek model and find success as a big screen reboot!

Well, not so fast…

First of all, as proud as I am of everything we accomplished with the Stargate franchise, I’ll be the first to admit it doesn’t have quite the reach or support of Star Trek.  And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.  Sure, we produced three series, two direct-to-dvd features, and some 300+ episodes over 15 years but, while impressive a feat, it pales in comparison to Star Trek’s five series, twelve theatrical features, and some 700+ episodes over 46 years.  As a result, Star Trek’s influence reaches far beyond its fandom – which is important given that, despite its established fan base, Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled after four seasons.  This is not to minimize the impact of fans but simply to suggest expectations should be tempered.  A robust and passionate fandom doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.  Having said that, however, it’s in instances such as these, where a franchise’s reach may not be as wide-ranging as a Star Trek, that fandom is even more important in a studio’s campaign to “get the word out”.

It’s for this reason that you want to make sure you get fandom “on your side”.  And this is where reboots can get a little tricky.  On the one hand, re-imagining a property offers first-timers the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.  They’re on equal footing with longtime fans in that they don’t need to come in to a movie knowing what has come before.  It’s fresh and new to them as, ideally, it would be to longtime fans.  A new beginning of sorts.  Problems arise when you start distancing those longtime fans, the support crew that could prove an indispensable part of any pre-release online campaign, who may not take kindly to the franchise they’ve come to know and love being messed with.  And, by messed with, I mean…

Ignoring what has come before.

Yes, a fresh start is a great idea when it comes to reaching out to a potential new audience, and while some fans would undoubtedly be pleased with a complete relaunch, many others would no doubt take umbrage with a complete dismissal of established canon.  In some ways, it’s the equivalent to the Bobby Ewing in the shower scene in Dallas.  Remember?  Actor Patrick Duffy decided to leave the series and his character was killed off at the end of the show’s eighth season.   But then Duffy had a change of heart and decided he wanted to come back.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t a scifi show and cloning, time travel, and ascension were not viable options.  So, to address the issue and bring back Bobby Ewing, Duffy’s character makes an inexplicable appearance in the final episode of of the show’s ninth season. His wife hears the water running, walks into the bathroom, and is shocked to see him there, showering.  When season 10 got underway, it was revealed that Bobby never died and that the show’s ninth season was just a dream.  An insanely detailed dream that ran 31 episodes!  Which leads me to wonder how that ninth season performs in syndication and alternate media purchases (i.e. downloads). Anyway, my point is that a creative clean slate could hurt rather than hinder a reboot’s prospects as it slams shuts: a) the book on beloved characters and b) the door on the faces of longtime fans.

On the other hand, instead of a complete reboot, the studio could opt for a reboot that makes use of established characters – which is what Star Trek did.  We are presented with  a new version of long-established characters – Kirk, Spock, McCoy – but the potential to piss off longtime fans is minimized because the story takes place in an alternate universe.  So, quite literally, fans can have the best of both worlds. The new adventures don’t undo what has come before.  Fans will, of course, have a preference, but both versions can happily co-exist without trumping one another.

Of course, one could argue that the reason this type of reboot worked for Star Trek is that, while these classic characters have long been engrained in the SF consciousness, it’s been almost twenty years since we’ve seen them onscreen in a new adventure.  In the case of Stargate, well, it’s been about two years since we last saw Jack O’Neill grace the small screen.  Is it perhaps too soon to expect fans will embrace someone other than Richard Dean Anderson in the role?

A SMALL SCREEN EVENT (TESTING THE WATERS)

Another possibility is to produce a one-shot Stargate television event that could potentially act as a backdoor pilot for a new Stargate series.  If the ratings are great, the studio can move forward with an all new t.v. series while, if the ratings disappoint, they can cut their losses with this single production.  At first blush, this seems like a great idea.  Creatively, it would allow the franchise to head in a bold, new direction while still paying its respects to what has come before, leaving the door open for established characters to make an occasional appearance and help bridge the gap between old fans and new.  Upon closer scrutiny, however, it becomes clear that a “one and done” deal wouldn’t make much financial sense.  In order to do it properly, especially if it was going to serve as a potential backdoor pilot, $$$ would need to be spent, and broadcast license fees and alternate revenue streams may not be enough to make the venture worthwhile. Like any show, it would be a gamble, but the fact that science fiction requires more of a financial investments makes this even more risky.  At some point, the studio needs to ask itself what would be the better scenario: strike now or wait?  There’s an argument to be made for both.  The fact that the last Stargate episode aired only two years ago suggests the fans are still out there and, if a movie or series is produced sooner than later, one could count on their support – in addition to the potential support of new viewers.  Strike while the iron is hot!  Then again, the ratings for SGU’s final season could suggest viewer fatigue and maybe waiting is advisable.

A CLASSIC STARGATE MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES

As much as I would love to see a television mini-series or movie based on either of the three past Stargates (SG-1, Atlantis, or Universe), this one is the longest of long shots mainly because the sets no longer exist and rebuilding them for a one-time adventure doesn’t make a whole lot of financial sense.  At the very least, if one were going the backdoor pilot route, there is the very real prospect of recouping those upfront expenses in an ongoing series.  Back in the day, the two Stargate direct-to-video features, Ark of Truth and Continuum did VERY well.  But that was before the bottom fell out of the dvd market.  Sadly, a “classic Stargate” miniseries or movie isn’t the slam dunk it used to be.

A NEW STARGATE SERIES

Well, yes wouldn’t that be great?  A new set of characters and host of new adventures with the potential for guest spots from the likes of Rodney McKay, Daniel Jackson, and maybe even Eli Wallace.  A new Stargate-based television might be the best way to go.  After all, while the original movie was successful, it was the television franchise that proved an incredibly lucrative earner for MGM.  But some of the same questions arise.  When should the studio look to put another series in development?  Sooner or later?  Has enough time passed?

LOOKING AHEAD

So, having said all that, what DOES the future hold for Stargate?  Again, I haven’t a clue and I’ve long since accepted the sheer folly of applying logic to Hollywood decision-making.  But, for what it’s worth…

My gut instinct tells me the studio would LOVE to follow the Star Trek model: take an established property, re-imagine it for the big screen, and makes hundreds of millions of dollars.  Of course, it could be argued that that is a very best case scenario.  If the studio does consider going down this route, careful consideration will present two indisputable facts: a) Stargate is not Star Trek, and b) alienating long-time fans in favor of a new audience could prove  disastrous.

As much as I would love to see that Atlantis movie or SG-1 movie or even a mini-series that incorporates elements from all three Stargate shows, this is the unlikeliest of scenarios for the simple reason that the risks far outweigh any potential rewards.

No, given the history of the franchise, it would seem a new television series would be the best way to go – a fresh take on Stargate that would bring in new viewers while rewarding the long-suffering fans.

However, I’m not the one making the call.

In the end, I think there’s only certainty: On the question of Stargate’s glorious return, it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN.

Tagged: science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television, SG-1, SGA, SGU, Stargate, Stargate Universe, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: SG-1

Stop what you're doing, set aside five minutes of your time and watch this from start to finish (no skipping around). It's stunning. Easily one of the best depictions of the aging process we've ever seen.

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archiemcphee:

Something awesome recently happened in Istanbul, Turkey. As a city with many hills, Istanbul is home to lots of long staircases that intersect its centuries-old neighbourhoods, enabling pedestrians to avoid streets filled with heavy car traffic.

Last week Huseyin Cetinel, a retired forestry engineer, decided to paint the stairs connecting the neighbourhoods of Findikli and Cihangir all the colors of the rainbow.

"He told the local news media that his original motivation for applying a fresh coat of paint to the stairs was not activism, but the desire “to make people smile.” Mr. Cetinel said he spent nearly $800 on paint and devoted four days to sprucing up the stairs, with help from his son-in-law.”

Public reaction to the colourful stairs was overwhelmingly positive. People turned out in droves to pose for photos on the cheerful staircase. Some decided it was a gesture of support and call for equal rights for the city’s LGBTQ community.

But then sometime strange happened. Just a few days after Huseyin finished beautifying the staircase, residents woke up to discover that overnight the city had hastily re-painted the rainbow steps a dull, disheartening gray. The gray cover-up was so secret and sudden that locals took it very personally. It was interpreted as “a sign of intolerance and a lack of respect for their right to claim public space.”

Speaking to Turkish television reporters after the stairs were painted over, Mr. Cetinel pointed out that all of nature — “cats, birds, flowers, mountains” — is brightly colored. “Where does this gray come from?” he asked. “Did we have another Pompeii and got flooded with ash?”

What happened next is what’s really awesome. Residents began to organize with each other via twitter and soon, not only were Huseyin Cetinel’s stairs returned to their rainbow glory, but - as a sign of solidarity - entirely different stairways all over the city, and eventually in other Turkish cities as well, were painted too.

Click here to view more photos of Istanbul’s new rainbow staircases.

[via Street Art Utopia and The New York Times]

When I was in my early twenties, I started thinking about getting a tattoo. I had no idea what I wanted to commit to having on my body for the rest of my life, though, so I’m 41 and still don’t have any tattoos.

I thought that getting tattoos when I was in my 40s was maybe too late, so I asked a bunch of my friends who are heavily-tattooed if it was weird to start now, and they all told me that it was the perfect time to start, because I’d save myself the unfortunate experience of having that tattoo you get when you’re 20.

So I spend lots of time thinking about what I’m going to have inked on me (that’s what the kids call it, I heard from the TV box), where I’m going to have it done, and other related matters. This has given me a heightened sense of tattoo radar — tattoodar, if you will — so I’ve been noticing lots of tattoos on people that I probably never would have seen before.

Today, I walked past a guy who had a really cool Klingon Empire tattoo on his forearm. I thought to myself, “I should totally say qapla’ to him!” But before my mouth could form the word, another part of my brain said, “shut up, you fool! He’ll think you’re making fun of him!” I hate it when my brain fights with itself, so I just said, “Dude, that Klingon tattoo is badass.”

He looked up at me and said, “thanks, man!” He took a couple steps away, stopped and turned back to me. He said, “actually, I guess I should say qapla’!”

“Dude!” I exclaimed, “I was totally going to say that, but I didn’t want to be That Guy.”

He pointed at his tattoo and sheepishly said, “well, I’m clearly That Guy, so…”

“Oh no,” my brain shouted, “I made him feel bad!”

Thinking quickly, I gave him the Klingon salute and said, in my gruffest Klingon voice, “Today is a good day to be That Guy.”

He returned the salute with a closed fist and a smile. We went our separate ways, and I thought to myself, “maybe I’ll get myself an original series command insignia tattoo…”

 

 

 

_{"If you think homosexuality is an unnatural condition, I cannot agree with you."
Kevin Rudd smashes a pastor’s views on marriage equality on Q&A [x]}

meanmisterdharma:

Zen

It's pretty amazing how much eye-candy Continuum boasts, considering it's a relatively low-budget Canadian import. This effects reel from the VFX studio, Artifex, shows just how much digital wizardry they manage to pack into every episode. Including some stuff you probably didn't know was CG.

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Today, Amazon announced a new feature called Matchbook that will allow owners of hard copies of books to purchase extremely cheap ebook versions for their Kindle collection.

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Over the weekend, some dudebro with a history of shitting on women took this picture of me (which you may remember from here) and meme-ized it, with the intent, given his personal history and predilections, of mocking me — both for my views as regards women, and for wearing a dress.

Well, this dudebro clearly knows his way to this site, where the picture was originally posted, by me, so let me go ahead and address him directly.

Dudebro: Let me detail for you the various ways this picture has utterly failed you as an attempt to ridicule me.

One: This picture was taken as a result of a dare, to wit: if people on Twitter pledged $500 to the Clarion Foundation in a half hour, I would take a picture of myself in a regency dress, of which there just happened to be one in the house because my friend Mary Robinette Kowal, writer of a number of successful, award-nominated regency-era fantasies, was visiting and had one with her. Twitter came through with $600 in the allotted time, and, well, fair’s fair.

So when I see this picture, what I am reminded of is that I have the power, with just a simple, entirely mild instance of cross-dressing, to raise hundreds of dollars in minutes for a worthy charitable organization. If you had that power, would you not use it? Well, actually, I don’t imagine you would use it, since the idea of being a man in a dress apparently fills you with sniggering, confused terror. Fortunately for Clarion, I don’t have that problem. Which brings us to this:

Two: Mocking me as a feminist means you are mocking me for this:

Aw, SNAP, bro. Someone hand me the phone, because it looks like I just got TOLD.

Now, bear in mind that I know this isn’t what you mean by “feminist.” What you mean by “feminist” is GWAAAAARGH UGLY WOMEN WHO WON’T LET ME HAVE SEX WITH THEM AND THEIR COWERING MALE GAMMA SLAVES WHO HAVE COME TO SNATCH MY MANLY TESTICLES AND ROAST THEM OVER A BONFIRE OF HUSTLERS AND PORN BLU-RAYS AND THEN MAKE ME WATCH WITH ALL MY OTHER EMASCULATED DUDEBROS WHILE THEY FEAST ON OUR HOT BARBEQUED DUDE OYSTERS GWAAAAAAARGH, although I’m sure you have many layers of self-justifying verbiage that helps you avoid confronting this fundamental reduction of your views. Nevertheless, that’s not actually what “feminist” means.

Sorry. I know this hard for you to grasp. If you want to take a moment to process the news, we can pause for a few.

Ready? Okay, let’s move on.

Three: Let me draw your attention to something in this next image:

Now, I see you going “wha?” to this, so let me explain. When you use a picture to mock someone, the idea is that you show them as an object of ridicule — that your life, whatever else it is, is better than theirs in a fundamental way. But, here’s the thing. I may be a dirty dirty feminist, but I’m also a feminist with five acres of really awesome lawn, on which rests a lovely, large house, in which I have lots of very cool things. I got the lawn and house and things by being successful — that’s right! I am financially successful through work! It’s not like, say, I’ve generally failed at everything I’ve done and have wealth from living off family remittances. Nope, I worked for this stuff. Go me.

The point is that whether you processed this in your brain or not when you slapped up the picture, what you’ve ended up doing is showing me exhibiting some of the benefits of being who I am — and one of the things I am, as you maintain, is a feminist. I am not saying that being a feminist is sufficient for having a successful career, big house and a ridiculously large lawn that is the size of a New York City block — but on the other hand it certainly hasn’t hurt me in acquiring those things, has it. And as you clearly believe in correlation as causation — Because I am a feminist, I have worn a dress — then you should also believe that because I am a feminist, I have a nice lawn, a nice house and a nice career.

So, yes: this is what a feminist looks like: A successful man standing on the land he owns, enjoying his life and all the opportunities it affords him, including wearing a dress if he feels like it, which clearly he does. Mock away, chuckles.

Four: Which conveniently brings us to the next point:

Or, to put it another way, after some random dudebro has attempted to insult me on the Internet by taking a photo of me in a dress that I’ve already posted on my own site and slapping the word “feminist” on it, all I have to go back to is a successful career, a loving family, a circle of amazing friends and talented peers, and a social system whose systematic biases favor me in nearly all cases as a well-off straight white man. Even when I put on a dress.

I mean, I know that’s not much compared to the awesome power of a random Internet dudebro calling me a word I don’t find in the least bit insulting, but it will have to suffice. Somehow. 

It would be nice to live in a world in which any time a dudebro tried insulting someone else, that person had the same level of insulation from the effects of the attempted insult as I do — we don’t, and this dudebro is working hard to keep it that way. I know one of the reasons he’s working so hard on it is because even if we’re not there yet, we’re well on our way to it. Rear guard actions are always the most frantic.

Speaking of which:

Five: Seriously, now: “This is what a feminist looks like” qualifies as arch mockery in your world? Dudebro, please. This is so much more devastating:

Look, I don’t want to tell you your job, but you’ve got a slightly chubby, slightly balding middle-aged dude in a mint green regency dress here. There is so much to work with. That all you’ve managed is “Hurrrrr hurrrr feeeeeemineeeeeest hurrr” is not just disappointing, it’s a waste of awesomely good meme material. If you can’t do better, dude, you might as well turn in your Reddit membership right now.

But I know, little dudebro. I know. In your world, calling another dude a feminist is the worst possible thing you can do. So one more picture for you:

I mean, these are my choices, right? One or the other? Well, then, if these are my choices, I know which way I am going to go. Which, I suppose, means that by your definitions, this was right all along:

Yes. Yes it is.

I believe this graphic is mistaken. If you look closely, that space actually has a picture of a bull pooping. 

And he’s been on the can for hours. That’s an awful lot of bullshit.

I recently had a conversation with someone who said that he thought that reports of racism were exaggerated in America. Sure, he said, it happens, but not as often as the media is leading us to believe. He also opined that Obama had missed an opportunity to bring the country together by furthering the idea that prejudice is widespread, instead of telling black people to let the past go and stop being angry.

After I stopped gaping speechlessly at him, I talked to him about one of the markers that we live in a racist society.

As a white male, he thought that he hadn’t experienced racism firsthand. In fact, that’s not true. And it’s probably not true for you either. What he had experienced was making decisions based on the racist baggage that is embedded in American society. The marker that’s easiest to spot is this:

• That moment when you decide not to do something racist, because racism is bad.

How is that a marker? Let me use the example that this fellow and I discussed.

He said that he goes out of his way to treat blacks and Latinos fairly, and probably treats them better than whites in an effort to not be racist. The fact that he has to think about it is a sign that he’s inherited baggage, at some point in his life, that says that blacks and Latinos are Other.

His counter-argument was that he has to acknowledge that they are visibly different.

The first thing to note is the use of “us” and “them” language. Anytime you break society into lines like this, it’s a marker that people who are not like you are Other, whether the difference is gender, race, sexual orientation, disability… you name it.  While the temptation is to respond that there’s nothing wrong with noting that a person is different from you, what’s telling is when that language comes into use.

For instance: Given the choice of hiring two blondes, one with curly hair and one with straight hair, would you even think about their appearance in relationship to how you treat the candidates? They’re visibly different. At no point would you be likely to think, “Hm… people with curly hair let their hair air dry, so they might be late or come to work with wet hair.”

It’s a visible difference, yes, but not one that causing unconscious Othering reactions.

If I walk in as a redhead, would you think, “I need to be careful not to make any jokes about tempers, so Mary doesn’t think I believe that stereotype about redheads.”

The point is that if you have a moment where you guard against racism, that means that you absorbed the lessons built into our society. Even if you later learned that it was wrong, the imprint is still there. The same way sitting on corduroy will leave an imprint on your skin after you stand up.

If there’s a moment where your lizard brain offers up the racist reaction, “Scary black man walking toward me!” — even if it’s so fast that all you’re aware of is the counter-thrust, “Smile, so he doesn’t think you’re scared of him” — then it is a marker that you’ve inherited some of the racism that’s woven into American society. You’ve since learned that it’s bad, but the imprint is still present. You’ve still been sitting on corduroy.

And here’s the thing… you’re one of the enlightened people, but even you still have that brief inherited reaction. Think about all the people you know who aren’t as smart or as self-aware as you. People who’ve only got the lizard brain reaction. People who cross the street to feel safe, lock the car doors instinctively at the sight of a young man of color, or don’t realize that they only hire people like them.

Racism isn’t over-reported, mostly because it’s so present that people think the markers of it are normal. We haven’t just been sitting on corduroy, we’ve been wrapped in it.

The post A marker that even if you’re not racist, you are still a product of a society that is. appeared first on Mary Robinette Kowal.

Oh, is it August already? That means it’s time for the nonsense that is the “Mars will be as big as the Moon” claims once again.

Yup. I saw this is getting spread around on Facebook:

WARNING!

August 27 at 00:30 Lift up your eyes and look up at the night sky. On this night, the planet Mars will pass just 34.65 million miles from the earth. To the naked eye it looks like two of the moon above the ground! The next time Mars will be so close to the Earth as much as in 2287.

Share the news with your friends, because no one living on this earth has ever seen!

Sigh.

Every year in August, somewhere, somehow, this silly claim springs from the cold, dead ground, rising once again to shamble across the Internet. The first time it was just a mistake, but ever since then it’s been a hoax. Simple as that.

This all started in 2003, when an email got spread around claiming that Mars would look as big as the Moon in the night sky on a specific date in August. Because I am kind-hearted, I attribute that to a simple misread of the original idea: On that date, through a telescope that magnifies an image 75x, Mars would look as big as the Moon does to the naked eye.

As far as it went, that was about accurate. Around that time, the Moon really was about 75x bigger than the red planet, so through an eyepiece, Mars would be magnified enough to look the same size as the Moon does without a telescope.

But this being the Internet, that got all mished and mashed up, and somehow became this idea that if you went outside Mars would look huge in the sky, looming over the world like something out of an H. G. Wells novel.

Once the date passed, I breathed a sigh of relief. That was that, I thought.

Oh, such naïveté ! Of course I was wrong. The email reappeared in 2005. And in 2006. And 2007, 2008, and 2009. Over the past couple of years it’s been dormant, but now it’s back once again and looking to eat your brain. When I saw it on Facebook, for example, it had 450,000 shares as I write this. Half a million people, or thereabouts, have spread this rumor. 

At least this year they added the twist of it looking as big as two Moons. Maybe they're looking for better Google SEO.

Still, this claim is even worse this year than previously. On Aug. 27, Mars won’t be anywhere near Earth; in fact it’ll be on the other side of the Sun, about as far away as it can be. Despite the Facebook claim, it won’t be 35 million miles from Earth; it’ll be 210 million miles (350 million kilometers), so tiny it will look like a dot even through big telescopes, with a size only about 0.2 percent as big as the Moon.

That’s right: The Moon in the sky will be 500x bigger than Mars, not half as big. But what’s a factor of a thousand between Facebook friends?

If I sound a bit exasperated, that’s because I am. This rumor started off innocently enough a decade ago, but now is clearly a hoax. And whomever starts the rumor every year must know it’s not real and is just playing a joke. I generally have no problems with good-natured pranks on the 'Net, but this one is tiresome at best and is damaging at worst. Why?

Because people believe and then go outside to find Mars. They’ll be disappointed, which is just about the worst emotion I want people to feel about astronomy! I remember back in 2003, when this all started, astronomy clubs and observatories were packed on the fated night as people lined up for blocks to see Mars. Thing was, even at best Mars isn’t terribly big through a small telescope; it’s not a large planet, and it’s a long way off. If people are expecting to see it like the Earth seen from low orbit, they won’t be happy. I had a lot of people tell me exactly that, too.

And since folks aren’t all that familiar with the sky, they fall for this prank year after year. I know there are bigger things in the world (and Universe) to worry about, but this bugs me. We have enough woe and misfortune in the world as it is. Astronomy, the beauty of the sky, and the natural awe laid out before us are instead a source of wonder and joy.

I’d prefer to keep them that way.

So instead of going out on Aug. 27 and looking for Mars when it can’t be seen, instead go look for the waning gibbous Moon in the morning after sunrise. Watch Orion rise after midnight, or spy Venus shining like a beacon in the west right after sunset. Got dark skies? The Milky Way flows across the sky eponymously and gets higher overhead the farther south you are. Maybe we’ll even get an aurora if you live at extreme latitudes.

The sky is wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross.^* Go experience the reality of it.

^* With no apologies whatsoever to Q.

“How does this [Manning] prison sentence compare with those of the major banks, lenders and servicers behind the mortgage bust? Oh, wait.”

- Adam Weinstein (via kateoplis)

"Can I have some hot tea with my breakfast? I’m a little horse."

In the comments section to the post immediately below, someone asked about voting for this year's Hugo Awards.  Alas, Hugo voting closed some time ago... for the 2013 awards, at least.

You can still cast your vote at LoneStarCon, however... not for the Hugo Awards, but for site selection.

It's the fans who nominate and vote for the Hugos, and the fans who decide where the world science fiction convention will be held. Unlike Dragoncon (always in Atlanta), Comicon (always in San Diego), or other megacons of their ilk, worldcon moves to a different city every year, just as it has since its founding in the 1930s.  Cities wishing to host worldcon must put together a concom, find a suitable site and hotels, and bid for the rights to hold the con.  Bidding, like American presidential elections, sometimes seems to go on forever, but the actual site selection ballot takes place two years in advance.

At this year's San Antonio worldcon, LoneStarCon 3, fans will decide where the worldcon goes for 2015.

(The site of the 2014 worldcon was determined at Chicon 7, last year's worldcon.  The winner was London, England).

There are three contenders for 2015: Spokane, Washington; Orlando, Florida; and Helsinki, Finland.  All three will be campaigning vigorously and throwing parties at Texas, I'm sure, selling pre-supporting memberships, and bending the ears of everyone who cares to hear about their wonderful cities, amazing facilities, and experienced committees.  So who to choose?

As it happens, I've been to all three cities.  Back in the mid 90s, I was GOH at a small regional con in Spokane.  Nice fans.  The city has its charms, and the surrounding countryside was lovely.   It's a small city, though, and it was a small friendly low-key con, which makes me wonder if the committee is ready to tackle something as large and contentious and complex as worldcon.

Orlando hosted the worldcon once before -- MagiCon in 1992 -- and was supposed to be the site once even earlier -- SunCon in 1977.  But SunCon was a disaster, had to move to Miami Beach after the fans voted for Orlando, and still ranks as one of the worst worldcons ever.  MagiCon was much better... but hot, swelteringly hot.  I have fond memories of the Peabody Hotel, but the new Orlando bid isn't using the Peabody, instead they will actually be inside Disney World, using Disney facilities.  I like visiting Disney parks from time to time, and I love attending worldcon, but that does not mean I want to mix the two.  The Orlando convention set-up has some undeniable advantages... I love the idea of having all of worldcon under a single roof, without elevators... but if you've ever been to Disney World or Disneyland, you probably know that there will be drawbacks as well.  Under the Mouse's roof, the Mouse's rules apply.  And what with global warming and all, Orlando in 2015 will probably be even hotter than Orlando in 1992.  Just thinking about it makes me want to turn the air conditioner up to "ARCTIC BLAST."

Fortunately, I think there's one choice for 2015 that stands head and shoulders above the other two:



No, no, no, NOT England.  England is next year.  I'm talking FINLAND!  Helsinki!

Singing, dancing, fish-slapping, reindeer, lingonberries...

Well, no, not really.  But Parris and I were guests at Finncon just a few years ago, and we had a great time.  Helsinki is a great, lively, historic city, and the Finnish fans are terrific... warm and friendly and hospitable.  They all speak English, by the way.  Every Finn we met spoke English.  So no one need worry about getting lost in a country where you cannot understand the language.  You can eat reindeer and lingonberries if you have a yen... but there's plenty of other types of food for those who'd rather not.  Saunas are omnipresent... but not compulsory, if you are the shy sort who would rather not take off your clothes around other people.  Helsinki's not quite north enough for a midnight sun, but we got a ten-oclock-at-night sun, and that was pretty cool too.   Hell, you could even find good pizza.  (I prefer never to go anywhere where you cannot find good pizza).

Even more than the charms of the city, however, it was the competence and experience of the committee that impressed me.  We have had too many badly-run worldcons in recent years (need I mention Montreal, anyone?).   The Finncon we attended was huge, drawing something like 30,000 people to Helsinki as I recall.  That's six times as large as any worldcon since the 80s, yet the con ran smoothly start to finish, and everyone seemed to have a great time.  I have no doubt that a Helsinki worldcon would be well run as well... and I know the Finnish fans would love to show your their city, their castles, the herds of reindeer wandering the streets.   Oh, there's vodka too.  And saunas.  Did I mention the saunas?

But seriously... if you'd like to know more about the Finnish bid, check out their website here:  http://www.helsinkiin2015.org/

Anyway, those of you who will be attending LoneSTarCon should be sure to visit the site selection booths, check out the literature for the competing bid, then sign up for 2015 and cast your ballot.

Me, I'll be voting for Helsinki... to put the "world" back in worldcon.

(And for KANSAS CITY IN 2016 as well, but that vote is next year, in London).

POST LONESTARCON ADDENDUM

Alas, Helsinki did not win the rights to host the 2015 worldcon.  The Finns threw the best parties and had the most first place votes, but after leading on all the early ballots, they lost out in the end when Orlando was finally eliminated, and their votes swung en masse to Spokane.  The vagaries of the Australian ballot.

The Finns will rise again, I hope.  But it's Spokane in 2015.

(Future bids announced or rumored at the con included New Orleans, Washington DC, and Dublin.  I like the sound of all of those.

It never fails.  We’ll be out walking the dogs or preparing dinner or working out when Akemi will turn to me and ask: “What’s the English world for…”.  And then proceed to lay out the most ridiculously detailed scenario like “What’s the English for when you’re trying to lose weight and keep at it for a while but, eventually, you give up and have, say, a piece of cake ?” or “What’s the English world for when you’re not hungry but you have something to eat because your mouth feels lonely?”.  I’ll inform her there is no English equivalent, word or phrase, that perfectly encapsulates such a comprehensive definition and she is, as always, surprised and disappointed.  Because, you see, the Japanese seem to have a word FOR EVERYTHING!

For example…

Age-otori: The state of looking far worse following a haircut.

Arigata-meiwaku: When somebody does you a favor you didn’t want them to do but they went ahead and did it anyway and, as a result, caused you a huge inconvenience but social convention requires you to thank them anyway.

Aware: The bittersweetness of fading moment.

Bakku-shan: A woman that looks far better from behind than from the front.

Boketto: The act of staring blankly out into space, devoid of any thoughts.

Happou bijin: The act of being ungenuinely nice to everyone out of fear of being disliked.

Karoshi: Death from overwork.

Kenjataimu: Period directly after the sexual act when a man is free of desire and can think clearly.

Kintsugi: The act of repairing broken pottery with gold.

Koi no yokan: The feeling, upon first meeting someone, that you will eventually fall in love.

Kuchi zamishi:  When you’re not hungry but you eat because your mouth is “lonely”.

Kyoikumama: A mother who relentlessly pushes her child to study.

Shrinrin-yoku: “Forest bathing” – visiting a forest for some R&R.

Tsujigiri: The act of trying out a new sword on some random stranger.

Tsundoku: The act of buying  a book and never getting around to reading it.

Wabi-sabi: A world view that accepts the transcendent and imperfect nature of life.

Yoko meshi: The stress experienced speaking a foreign language.

Familiar with any words in other languages that lack an English equivalent.  List away!

Tagged: Japanese, Japanese words

Cross a border, lose your ebooks:

Jim O’Donnell was at a library conference in Singapore when his Ipad’s Google Play app asked him to update it. This was the app through which he had bought 30 to 40 ebooks, and after the app had updated, it started to re-download them. However, Singapore is not one of the countries where the Google Play bookstore is active, so it stopped downloading and told him he was no longer entitled to his books.

It’s an odd confluence of travel, updates, and location-checking, but it points out just how totally, irretrievably broken the idea of DRM and region-controls for ebooks is.

Meanwhile, someone who got those books some other way, perhaps from a certain Bay, for example, would be able to read them anywhere on the planet, as long as that hypothetical person had electricity.

DRM is stupid, broken, punishes honest people, does nothing to deter piracy, and will never be used by me in any way as long as I am publishing my own works.

Sushi is delicious, and at the end of the day there are few ways to really get it wrong, but this graphic from I Love Coffee and illustrated by The Oatmeal can help you up your sushi game and enjoy the experience a bit more.

Read more...

SUPERNATURAL: Why so sad?
ME: You know why
SUPERNATURAL: Don't be sad...
ME: ...
SUPERNATURAL: Here's a new character
ME: ...
SUPERNATURAL: Don't you like the new character?
ME: No. I don't want to.
SUPERNATURAL: Why not?
ME: Oh don't pretend you don't know.
SUPERNATURAL: It's not gonna be like last time
ME: Yeah right
SUPERNATURAL: I swear
ME: Whatever
SUPERNATURAL: Come on, it's okay, go ahead and like the new character
ME: I don't think I can go through that a--
SUPERNATURAL: Look at that great personality
SUPERNATURAL: Oh pretty too
SUPERNATURAL: Great chemistry with the boys
ME: Well, I guess I could--
SUPERNATURAL: Oh wow totes kicks ass and totes three-dimensional
SUPERNATURAL: Such great promise for the storyline
ME: OH MY GOD THIS CHARACTER'S GREAT
SUPERNATURAL: Are you in love yet?
ME: Uhh
SUPERNATURAL: Well?
ME: I'm not sure...
SUPERNATURAL: Look at that really touching back story
SUPERNATURAL: Doesn't that make you want to cry but in a good way?
ME: ...yeah
SUPERNATURAL: You can totally relate, huh?
ME: Yes...
SUPERNATURAL: Are you in love yet?
ME: Mhmm
SUPERNATURAL: Say it
SUPERNATURAL: Come on, admit it
SUPERNATURAL: DECLARE IT
ME: OKAY FINE! I LOVE THIS CHARACTER SO MUCH I WANT TO WRAP IT IN A WARM BLANKET AND GIVE IT A CUP OF HOT CHOCOLATE!
SUPERNATURAL: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FANTASTIC
ME: YOU'RE BRILLIANT! THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS CHARACTER INTO MY LIFE
SUPERNATURAL: Yeah I'm killing it off
ME: WHAT?
SUPERNATURAL: I'm not even going to give it a proper send off.
ME: YOU'RE JOKING RIGHT?
SUPERNATURAL: Just a quick meaningless death.
ME: NO. YOU CAN'T JUST--
SUPERNATURAL: Yep. It's dead.
SUPERNATURAL: I'm probably not gonna resurrect it, just fyi

Which is to say, a note to those (mostly) dudes in geek circles, who decide it’s their job to determine who is geeky enough to enjoy the same entertainments and recreations that they do (hint: If you’re a woman, you start off with a failing grade). Yes, we’ve talked about this before, but they’re still doing it, because apparently some dudes just have a hard time learning.

So this time, let me talk to these dudes from the point of view of being a creator, i.e., one of the people who creates the stuff these (mostly) dudes spend their time defending from the horrible encroaching interest of others (mostly women).

Dudes: Cut that shit out. You’re fucking with my livelihood.

Let’s break this down a bit.

First: I didn’t ask you to be a gatekeeper. Did I, John Scalzi, come up to you and say, “Dude. I am so worried that the wrong people will like my stuff, and by ‘wrong,’ I mean ‘teh womans,’ so if you’re not too busy I totally want to deputize you into the Society of Dudes Keeping Scalzi’s Stuff Safe From Teh Womans”?

No? Then it’s not your job. Quit pretending that it is. When I want your help, I will ask for it. Directly to you. Until then, back off.

Second: I don’t need you to be a gatekeeper. You dudes understand this is my job, right? As in, this is what I do for a living. As in, if I don’t sell what I produce, I don’t pay my mortgage, my kid doesn’t go to college, and my pets start evaluating me for my protein content. Books, which are what I produce, aren’t terribly expensive, and I don’t get to keep every penny of their sale price — I get a percentage. So in order to make money from these books, I have to sell a lot of them. Some of them get sold to geeky dudes. But a lot of them get sold to other people, who aren’t necessarily geeky, or dudes.

When you attempt to gatekeep my work, you’re trying to wave off people I want to have buy my work. If you manage to do this, then congratulations, you’ve made it more difficult for me to be successful with my work, and thus, make more of the work which you also like. Well done you. I’m curious how you think I should feel about people who make it more difficult for me to make a living. Do you think I should feel grateful? Because of the many words I would use to describe how I would feel, “grateful” isn’t one of them.

I write books geek dudes like. But I don’t write books for only geek dudes to like. The difference there is subtle but real. Which brings me to my next point:

Third: Gatekeeping runs entirely counter to my intent as a writer. I’ve always been very clear that I write science fiction that’s meant to be readable to people who aren’t science fiction fans — or as I prefer to think of them, people who don’t know yet that they might like science fiction. Old Man’s War, Redshirts, Fuzzy Nation — all of these books were written with the intent of being readable to outsiders to the genre. To people who are willing to take a chance on trying something other than what they already know they like. I write gateway science fiction — science fiction designed to make the reader want to read more science fiction.

So, when I take the time and effort to create a gateway, to invite people into the genre, and then some dude shows up at that gateway, unasked, telling people they can’t come through unless they can name every Heinlein book in reverse chronological order (or whatever), I am, shall we say, less than pleased. One, demanding that people new to something be versed in all its trivia is stupid (it’s also stupid when they have liked it for some time). Two, assuming that one’s own interests are the only interests that define real geekdom is also stupid.

Three, get the fuck out of my gateway, asshole, I’m working here. Working to expand not only my audience, but the audience for written science fiction and science fiction in general. You are not helping. Go find someone one who really wants to you to gatekeep their work.

But here’s the thing about that:

Fourth: Almost no one wants you to be a gatekeeper. Geek dudes: Do you honestly think Marvel comics, owned by Disney, wants you to harass women away from enjoying the X-Men? Do you think DC Comics, owned by Time Warner, appreciates when you demand a woman present you with a list of every Green Lantern in order to be worthy of “true geekdom”? Do you think Paramount Pictures, owned by Viacom, is grateful that some dude has appointed himself Arbiter of Star Trek Fandom? Do you believe that Tor Books, owned by Macmillan, one of the world’s largest publishers, will pat you on the head for judging any potential customers of their books, including mine? Do you actually understand what it is these corporations do? They produce commercial art. To be widely enjoyed. By as many people as possible.

Moving away from corporations, do you think individual writers and creators really want you to wave away potential fans from their work? Almost all of them are in the same boat as I am, either directly or indirectly dependent on volume of sales for income. They are happy you like their stuff. They would be even happier if not only you liked their stuff. When you attack other people who like their stuff, you’re potentially cutting into their livelihood. You’re not making friends with the people whose work you’re making a centerpiece of your life. You’re hurting them.

Do you think the staff of the conventions you attend are in any way happy when you troll the other attendees? Those attendees go on Twitter and Facebook and blogs and talk about how unfriendly or even dangerous that convention is. Others pick up on that and amplify the complaints. The people who are trying to run the convention have to deal with it and have to apologize for the fact that you are being an asshole, because they are getting some of the blame for it. Who do you think the convention staff would prefer to have as an attendee? The cosplaying woman who is excited to be there and is enthusiastic about the convention, or the geek dude who spends his time shitting all over other people’s enjoyment of a convention, which the staff has invested so much time in to make work?

Nearly every creator wants you to enjoy what they create. Almost none of them want you to police it.

Now, bear in mind that I understand that when you’re off haranguing a woman (or anyone else) on the subject of geek worthiness, you’re not actually thinking of me or any other person or company who makes the work you enjoy and have made a focus of your life. You are effectively working under the assumption that all this stuff just magically appears out of nowhere, a golden store of treasure, of which there is a limited supply, and thus must be defended at all costs against the unworthy, which in this case are usually Teh Womans.

Well, surprise. It doesn’t come out of nowhere; we creators make it.  It isn’t a limited resource; we can make enough for anyone who wants it. It doesn’t need to be defended from anybody; we like it when it’s shared as widely as possible, including to Teh Womans.

And as for who is unworthy of it: Well. It’s not the women or anyone else who wants to try it, or who has tried it, liked it, and wants in to get more. It’s the people who are trying their hardest to keep them out.

[video] [h/t: dpaf]

My oven is broken.

“Ho ho!”you say.  ”Joe is running out of ideas for his blog!  He did the old “my oven is broken” blog entry five months ago!”

February 28, 2013: The Not-So-Lonely Maytag Repairman!

True, but my oven is broken again.

“Ha ha!”you say.  ”Joe is REALLY desperate for writing material.  He already did the “my oven is broken – AGAIN!” blog entry a month ago!”

June 20, 2013: Homeward Bound!

All true, but my oven is broken again.  Again.  Like the previous two times, the digital touchpad won’t work – unless I press “CANCEL”.  I can cancel to my heart’s content, but cooking is a problem.

Well, screw Maytag.  Tomorrow, Akemi and I go oven shopping!

Speaking of Akemi, today she was talking about some of the interesting t.v. dramas that aired in Japan back when she was living in Tokyo.  One in particular struck me as ripe for North American adaptation:

It’s called “Yamma Onna Kabe Onna” which translates to “Mountain Woman and Wall Woman”.  It’s a series about a flat-chested woman who works in the handbag section of a department store who befriends a busty new sales person.  Hilarity ensues.  No.  Really.

Some equally intriguing overseas productions…

Urakara focuses on a group of female operatives who work for a secret underground organization.  Each week, they are given a new target, anyone from a powerful politician to a simple salaryman.  Their mission - to kill get their targets to fall in love with them…at all costs!  But the fact that they inexperienced in the ways of love leads to many complications…Wait! What?  Inexperienced in love?  Wouldn’t it behoove the “secret underground organization” orchestrating these ops to hire hire actual professionals?  Ah, forget it.  I’m sure it all makes perfect sense by episode 3.

Beethoven Virus.  It’s like House – except that instead of practicing medicine, Gregory House conducts an orchestra.  And instead of saving lives, he composes music.  Is it Lupus?  No, it’s Puccini!

Teeth of Love (aka Love Teeth) tells the tale of a girl who rejects a boy and ends up getting a brick thrown at her which causes her back pain whenever it rains.  She falls in love with a married man who dumps her and ends up marrying a man she doesn’t love only to dump him later.  The latter responds by removing his tooth and giving it to her.  Hmmm.  Maybe it loses something in the translation.

Ice Girl - Just before her wedding, a woman falls seriously ill.  Her surgeon father, unable to save her, puts her in stasis.  Twenty-five years later, she wakes up – and falls in love with her fiancé’s son.  [I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often].

Imi wa Petto (You’re My Pet) is a series about a girl who comes home one night to find an unconscious man sitting in a cardboard box outside her front door.  She reacts like any normal person would do in this situation – taking him in and nursing him back to health.  But once he’s back to full health, the guy doesn’t want to leave.  She agrees to let him stay on the condition he becomes…her pet.  I’m sure it’s a lot less kinky than we’re imagining.

Ah, screw this.  I’m moving to Japan to work on a show there!

Akemi loves a good Starbucks cappuccino, but the taste of those foam-topped semi-espressos is invariably laced with a touch of (non-coffee) bitterness due to the fact that the baristas can never seem to get her name right.  ”Akemi,”she tells them. “A-ke-mi!”.  And they’ll nod and head off to make her drink and then, when it’s done, she’ll receive something like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

Finally, this morning, on the advice of her blog regular, Jeanette, she elected to use the much simpler “Lulu” (our french bulldog) as her Starbucks name.

And this is what she received:

Today’s blog entry is dedicated to my sis, the Birthday Gal!

reginasmom:

i could not consciously go to bed tonight without reblogging this

We are having entirely too much fun making Not The Flog.

This week, I’ll discuss some smartphone and tablet app versions of games we’ve played on Tabletop, forgetting to mention one of the very best, Forbidden Island.

Oh, and the intro that Sean Becker made is maybe the best thing on the Internet today.

Enjoy!

A thousand years ago—in July 1054, to be somewhat more precise—the light from a cosmic catastrophe reached Earth. A massive star, probably 20 or more times the heft of the Sun, exploded. This titanic event was vast almost beyond human grasp: It released as much energy in a few weeks as the Sun will over its entire 10-billion-year lifetime.

The devastation was nearly total: Most of the star was torn apart, its octillion tons of matter blasted outward at a good fraction of the speed of light, while the very central core of the star collapsed to form a rapidly spinning white-hot neutron star. Now, 10 centuries later, the expanding debris is 100 trillion kilometers across, glowing from both the influence of the neutron star’s fierce magnetic field, and the violent collision of the filaments of the gas itself, creating epic shock waves in the material.

We call this cloud the Crab Nebula, and you can see it in the picture above, taken by my friend Adam Block using the 0.81-meter Schulman Telescope in Arizona. The total exposure time on this image was a whopping 17.5 hours, using several different filters to produce those glorious colors.

Amazing as the image is, there’s another, subtler aspect of it that will cook your brain. That debris you see is still expanding, and quite rapidly. Because the Crab is tremendously far away—6,500 light-years or so—any motion is shrunk down to near invisibility. But we’ve been observing it for decades, which is a pretty long baseline. That means that if you compare an earlier image to a later one, you can actually see the physical expansion of the supernova explosion.

Adam did this: He created the video below, which shows his image taken in 2012 compared to one taken in 1999 using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

Holy. Wow. That’s not a trick using exposures or magnification or anything like that. Keep your eyes on the stars and you’ll see they are in the same positions in both frames; then pick a knot or filament in the nebula and you can see the material moving. To me it looks like a heart beating, especially given the gas cloud’s overall shape.

I’ve written about this visible expansion before; in fact a few years back when I was developing educational activities based on NASA satellites, I reworked an old classroom exercise where you could compare two images of the Crab and determine how fast it’s expanding and trace it back to determine how old it is. Astonishingly, you get the correct date to within a small margin of error!

It’s easy to think of the sky as static, unmoving, and unchanging. Because most objects are so terribly far away, we don’t notice the motion they undergo. But sometimes they move rapidly enough, and our technology is sensitive enough, that their velocity betrays them. And seeing that motion, as in the video, gives you a real sense of it. Remember, what you’re seeing is a superheated cloud of gas with five times the mass of the Sun screaming outward into space at speeds up to 1,500 kilometers per second—well over 3 million miles per hour!

The Universe is an amazing place. I love that we have such a wonderful chance to study it.