An archival transcription project from the University of Iowa invites us to explore the history of #scifi.
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Capt. Xerox
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Capt. Xerox
Here's proof that weird theories have been part of 'Star Wars' fandom for decades. https://t.co/RId5GUoihW
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Capt. Xerox
The SyFy channel is rebooting with a new focus on science fiction fandom. https://t.co/f2dUy2SYJz
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Capt. Xerox
Just catching up on this year's 2017 Hugo Award Finalists. Looks like those Rabid puppies are still at it. https://t.co/LXM0Ge7zRz
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Capt. Xerox
A Victorian science fiction book and tea club? Sounds like jolly good fun, old sport! https://t.co/bEYHXIEjRk
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Lazarus
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Capt. Xerox
Indeed. Almost makes me want to wear a monocle.
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Capt. Xerox
Loved watching this science-fiction costumer's outfits change over the years from 1967 to 2000. Amazing stuff! https://t.co/pN1hHAaoO8
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Capt. Xerox
Just read in Ansible how online science fiction community SFF.net has closed shop. Looks like another Facebook casualty. https://t.co/w1VC9Xzzfb
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Capt. Xerox
Your favourite genre stars are taking home pots of money for their convention appearances. https://t.co/B6XlnT0k4Q
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Capt. Xerox
Here's how the Puppies siege of the Hugos is like Donald Trump's own presidential campaign. https://t.co/IHcRznWxlL
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Capt. Xerox
Fan-made Star Trek sets become tourist attraction in Ticonderoga, New York. https://t.co/uL7ObBbBAy
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Capt. Xerox
Meet the woman who invented cosplay. https://t.co/A8LADkeZtM
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Capt. Xerox
Lifehacker offers some helpful tips on how to survive a con. http://t.co/qsw5jJgkOo
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Capt. Xerox
Annoyed that Mardi Gras in New Orleans has gone commercial? Why not march in the #scifi themed Chewbaccus instead? http://t.co/B2Xww7QWNc
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Capt. Xerox
What strikes me most about these 1980 cosplay photos is how few are imitating existing media characters. http://t.co/QXHgkuYhfn
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Lazarus
Take out Star Wars and I think you’re left with one Alien and one Star Trek. Love the last pic with Horace Gold and the “Galaxy is Back” pin.
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Capt. Xerox
I finally watched Morgan Spurlock’s Comic-Con documentary last night and didn’t see much in the way of original costumes on display in that film. Everyone was wearing outfits copied from existing media franchises.
If you’ve never seen the movie before, it’s a pleasant ode to fans everywhere who are passionate about the things they love. What is a nice surprise that it didn’t set out to mock nerds and geeks, but portrayed them as real people who care about the imaginary worlds that are so important to them.
What it didn’t do was make me every want to step foot at Comic-Con, which looks like too much of a gigantic commercial venture designed to suction money from your wallet.
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Lazarus
Hmm, have not seen that Doc. Gotta get it.
You know, there was a time when Comic Con was about … comics. (snicker)
It used to bug me that these cons have strayed from comics so much, but I must admit, bundling all things genre has not only expanded the shows, it has made them more feasible and given them new life. Too much success in fact when you see some of the outrageous prices (and I’m not talking about celeb signings and all that, I’m talking entrance!).
I like a lot of the bundling, but not all. But I must say that when all these different fans come together, they play nice and don’t cross one another. Its just one massive geekfest and you can enjoy yourself if you come for one aspect or many.
I still go for the comics mainly (really enjoy meeting the artists and writers) but I take it all in.
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Lazarus
News coming out of worldcon includes some interesting worldcon bids for 2017. Montreal and Nippon. I sorely regret not going to Japan a few years ago for their worldcon but I may have a that chance again. On the other hand if Japan loses it’ll be another Montreal worldcon. This is what you call a win-win situation.
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Lazarus
If the voting was done in the usual manner, I think many people not only voted solely on author recognition, but in this case a pretty cool title as well. I shudder to think what the percentage of voters actually read what they voted for, much less reading all the nominees to make an honest comparative vote.
Sorry to hear your streak of reading all the nominees was broken. You still read two more than me, if that makes you feel any better. (It should!)
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Capt. Xerox
I can’t see myself ever getting to Japan for a Worldcon, but I sure could dig another go at Montreal, but what are the odds that it would be back there so soon?
Took the time to look up the winners for this year’s Hugo and was a bit surprised to see that Redshirts by John Scalzi had won. I forgot that it was nominated! At least it’s an original story, if not actually that good a book. Not sure why it got so many raves among critics, because it left me cold. I found it a bit too self-conscious. Still, it was a lot more entertaining than Kim Stanley Robinson’s brick, 2312. As for the other nominees, I never got around to reading any of them.
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Capt. Xerox
Why does this brawl between rival Star Wars and Doctor Who fan clubs sound like a scene from Fanboys? http://t.co/YecFnnhdpl
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Capt. Xerox
If you’ve attended Montreal’s Con*Cept convention in the past, you probably received this message:
What : Convocation for a special general assembly
When : January 20th, 2013, at 12h30
Where : Hôtel Espresso, 1005 rue Guy, Montréal, room to be determinedAgenda
======1. Start of the special general assembly
2. Reading of the agenda
3. Resolution to dissolve/liquidate “ConCept SF&F inc”
3.1. Nomination of the liquidator
3.2. Disposition of the goods4. End of the special general assembly
Marc Nadeau
ConCept SF&F inc – Secretary-treasurerIt’s sad news, but probably not surprising. The convention has been limping along for a few years now, not due to any lack of effort on the part of the organizers. Bravo to all of the volunteers who have worked so hard since Con*Cept began. I have a lot of happy memories from my visits.
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Jeffrey Allan Boman
With the exception of the 3 1-day Relaxacons, I’ve been at Con*Cept since ’92, and was on concom from 1993-99.
I’m sorry to see it fail.
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Capt. Xerox
Sound’s like Ottawa’s Can-Con is growing. Too bad Montreal’s Con*Cept is going in the opposite direction. http://t.co/Scr3VIzq
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Lazarus
Still small for sure but I find it hard to believe that last year there were only 125 people. That number is probably from the first year and there was a noticeable increase last year.
I had an interesting conversation last weekend at the Montreal Comicon (I went Saturday only) with someone who was trying to keep Concept afloat. He thought that the recent success of those comicons probably had an influence on the downturn at traditional SF cons. It’s hard to argue. I went to both Ottawa and Montreal comicons this year and spent considerable coin at each. I can easily see people having to decide on one or the other. I guess I’ll find out this weekend at Can-con.
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Capt. Xerox
The subject has come up at other cons. Comicon and media-related cons are bringing in the young folks, but the traditional fan cons are declining in attendance because those fans are aging and they’re not being replaced in sustainable numbers. What are media cons doing that the others aren’t or is it the subject matter?
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Capt. Xerox
Did you see the news on who won the Worldcon bid for 2014? It was London. Weren’t the Olympics enough? http://t.co/tuw67GWZ
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Capt. Xerox
Can you find yourself in one of the thousands of photos in the Midamerican Fan Photo Archive? http://t.co/hFxRyNsj
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Capt. Xerox
Never been to a Worldcon? Mike Resnick offers this informative guide for beginners. http://t.co/LPkkYokx
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Capt. Xerox
I was just perusing the list of Hugo nominations. I am going to go out on a limb and predict, without reading any of the nominated novels, that China Mieville will with for Embassytown.
Okay, I confess that I have read some of Embassytown as I picked it up in anticipation of it being nominated. I think that there is enough being said and written about the book that it will be an easy winner.
Seeing that the Hugos are more of a popularity contest these days, I think the closest competitor for Mieville will be George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons, not because it’s a great book, which it very well may be, but because Martin’s Game of Thrones has been such a success in its HBO television adaptation. That name recognition factor will go a long way to helping it win votes.
Don’t get me started about how something with dragons in the title is being nominated for a science fiction award. You don’t see stories about rockets and robots when the World Fantasy Awards are handed out.
Probably the strangest nomination is for something called “The Drink Tank’s Hugo Acceptance Speech” by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon from Renovation. How meta is that? If it wins, could the acceptance speech for that award be nominated for a Hugo next year?
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Jeffrey Allan Boman
I’ve known Chris for about 6 years now. He was one of my nominators for DUFF in 2010. He’s a very entertaining person, so his speech was likely gold.
I’m glad his zine (which I’ve written for) won. In the past years podcasts and other unrelated things have instead. He deserved one just for being prolific.
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Kevin
The Hugo Awards are not exclusively for science fiction. It says so right in their official definition in the WSFS Constitution, section 3.2.1: Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year.
The World Fantasy Awards are presented by a small jury with strong administrative powers to arbitrarily define what they consider “fantasy” and “not-fantasy.” The Hugo Award administrators are strongly discouraged from applying any form of value judgements on the works, and to leave the decision as to whether a work is SF, Fantasy, or related to the field in some way up to the voters. Think of it as having a “jury” of over 1,100 members.
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Capt. Xerox
Thanks for the clarification. I never looked that closely at the definitions for the awards. In my mind, they’ve always been awards for science fiction, but clearly they are not. There certainly have been other fantasy books that have been nominated and won over the years and a few borderline cases that had me scratching my head over their inclusion.
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Capt. Xerox
An entertaining story about an 85-min edit of the Star Wars prequels that seems oblivious of http://t.co/6bp4UOxY. http://t.co/I87C8LHS
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Capt. Xerox
Before the web, fans complained about movies in Starlog letters. James Cameron replied to some of them in this essay. http://t.co/KzneNaQm
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Capt. Xerox
Interesting story about how CBS blocked fans from filming an unused Star Trek script written by Norman Spinrad. http://t.co/0xv52ooL
Capt. Xerox and 
Kevin are discussing. 
Only in El Paso you say. Pity.