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Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Time:2:59 pm.
O MAN! Rumor has it that Sean Bean has been cast as Ned for the pilot of HBO's upcoming A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I had him as Ned in my fantasy casting from years back. I so hope that this rumor isn't a dirty lie.
Comments: 8 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Time:1:10 pm.
I just saw the first pieces of art for a publishing project I hope I can bring to market sometime next year. It is freakin' gorgeous. When you people see it, you will just plotz.
Comments: 1 punk - Do you feel lucky?.

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Time:10:27 am.
Much love to [info]xraytheenforcer, who goes in for surgery today to get her Dark Passenger removed.

Remember, Martha, I want a copy of the pathology report when all is said and done!
Comments: 4 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Subject:Dear fandom
Time:11:55 pm.
Did you ever wonder why Worldcon is shrinking, why fandom is greying, why new people aren't joining at the same rate that the old-guard is dying out?

This is the problem, friends. This is the problem. In fact, honestly, every single comment by Eric Van in these two posts is the problem.

Now, it would be easy to say that [info]calimac and [info]ericmvan's tin-eared comments weren't carefully considered, the result of post-con burnout and irritation and ultimately just the cranky brayings of a couple of disgruntled old-timers. That may or may not be, but ultimately their attitude is representational -- and symptomatic of the greater issue.

In brief, the problem is that like any other dynamic entity, fandom is constantly faced with the choice to adapt or die, and time and time and time again, they have chosen not to adapt. The old guard, having found their promised land, promptly built a wall around it and decided that anyone who didn't conform to their standard would be rebuffed, rejected and cast out from their private playground. I see this attitude reflected a hundred times a day at every convention I go to, in every programming track, every panel discussion, every dealer's table, every closed circle of grey ponytails at almost every room party I've ever been to. It's a combination of institutional myopia and the fear of becoming irrelevant -- it's difficult, after all, for the chronically insecure to relenquish their stranglehold on being the big fishes in the tiny, tiny pond.

As a result -- well, see for yourself. Worldcon, once the gathering of the nerd tribes, has a good year when it hits 8,000 people, the average example of which is probably pretty close to collecting Social Security. By contrast, Otakon is a non-profit, volunteer-operated anime convention that started in 1994 with less than 400 attendees. Today, average draw is about 26,000 with an average attendee not old enough to legally drink yet. And it's by no means unique -- DragonCon has 30,000, the bigger anime cons pull 40,000, and San Diego Comicon regularly breaks 100,000.

The simple, logical and Darwinian solution is to let the old-model conventions die out by simple attrition -- sooner or later, peanut-butter-and-cheeto sandwiches and scooter accidents will take their toll, and all that will be left are the for-profit, new-model conventions, the slick commercial operations run by multibillion-dollar corporations.

On the other hand, where does that leave us, the (dwindling) generation of younger fans? I'm looking at you, [info]stegoking, [info]yuki_onna, [info]tithenai, [info]redstapler, [info]rosefox, [info]misunderstruck, [info]farwing, [info]xraytheenforcer, [info]aghrivaine, [info]zarhooie, [info]kdsorceress and all the rest of you that I'm too tired to name. What's the solution, assuming we don't all decide to pull a Paul T. Riddell* and retire from fandom to pursue a (admittedly very entertaining) career of flinging poo at the grognards from the sidelines?

Frankly, I don't really know, but something's going to have to be done. I tend to be conservative by inclination, but every con that I attend makes me want to declare a revolution, storming the barricades and flinging greybeards** from the ramparts, just a little bit more. It seems as if the first step might be organization, though what form that organization would take, I have no idea.

And yes, [info]txtriffidranch, I know what you're thinking, but first of all I don't have chains that heavy, and besides where would we find anthills big enough?

* Whose books, incidentally, I highly recommend.
** a gender-neutral term, often literally so.

ETA: Cross-linking of this post would be welcome. I'm looking for dialogue, to help create ideas.
Comments: 174 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Subject:A haiku on the topic of the five-episode Torchwood miniseries Children of Earth
Time:3:21 am.
There's grim, then there's grim.
When did George R.R. Martin
Start writing this show?

Bonus haiku:

Dear Russell Davies,
I'm sorry that some bastard
Ran over your dog

Bonus bonus haiku:

I did not predict
That, or that, or that. That, though
That was obvious.

Bonus bonus bonus haiku:

This is what happens
When the Doctor takes a break
Amateur hour.

And a last one:

A show jumps the shark
When it goes asymptotic
To its own fanfic

ETA: Spoilers allowed in the comments
Comments: 12 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Time:1:54 pm.
Readercon was an adequately good time. It was fun to hang out with the usual suspects. [info]stegoking's trenchant and insightful commentary constant, juvenile and unremitting piss-taking made some of the more boring panels a bit more tolerable, and I got some networking done as well.

Now I'm poor and tired.
Comments: 18 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Subject:I love that dirty water...
Time:9:16 am.
I'm Boston-bound, y'all. See some of you soon, and the rest Monday.
I love that dirty water...

Comments: 3 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Subject:Better Off Ted
Time:1:29 pm.
Why has nobody told me about this show? This is a brilliant goddamn show!
Comments: 4 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Time:9:19 am.
Belated congratulations to [info]kylecassidy for being elected King of the Internet last week.

I'd like to remind his fawning public that as his chief of staff, I must insist that any lobbying or bribery attempts be brought to my door first. Access to the Great Man is strictly controlled.
Comments: 2 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Time:12:19 pm.
Hey [info]revsaintmichael, someone's stealing your business model.
Comments: 1 punk - Do you feel lucky?.

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Subject:Who Would Win In A Fight? Vol II, No. V
Time:12:53 pm.
Poll #1426379 Who Would Win In A Fight? Vol. II, No. V
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who Would Win In A Fight?

View Answers

The Blob
4 (16.0%)

The Stuff
0 (0.0%)

The Mist
2 (8.0%)

The Thing (John Carpenter version)
2 (8.0%)

The thing growing in [info]xraytheenforcer's sinus cavities
11 (44.0%)

My (Yagathai's) Friends List
6 (24.0%)

If it existed in real life, of which would you be most terrified?

View Answers

The Blob
0 (0.0%)

The Stuff
0 (0.0%)

The Mist
3 (12.0%)

The Thing (John Carpenter version)
5 (20.0%)

The thing growing in [info]xraytheenforcer's sinus cavities
9 (36.0%)

My (Yagathai's) Friends List
8 (32.0%)

Which is your favorite movie?

View Answers

The Blob
2 (8.0%)

The Stuff
1 (4.0%)

The Mist
2 (8.0%)

The Thing (John Carpenter version)
8 (32.0%)

The thing growing in [info]xraytheenforcer's sinus cavities
4 (16.0%)

My (Yagathai's) Friends List
8 (32.0%)

Comments: 15 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Time:10:45 pm.
RIP Tom Wilcox, aka EnlightenmentHK.

You were my political brother from another mother. I'm gonna miss the hell out of you.
Comments: 12 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Time:5:34 pm.
A very interesting interview with Henry Kissinger on statesmanship, idealism and the failings of the Treaty of Versailles.
Comments: Do you feel lucky?.

Subject:66 reasons that chicks cry
Time:2:08 pm.
Illustrated and annotated, kinda.
Comments: 1 punk - Do you feel lucky?.

Subject:Music Monday
Time:1:47 pm.


Today's Music Monday entry is by "Trollhammeren" by Fintroll, a Finnish band which hybridizes folk music, black metal and polka*. Yes, that's right: Folk-polka-death metal. By trolls.

Don't say I never got you anything nice.

*Technically humppa, which is a Finnish take on the more familiar oompa, which is the kind of polka you hear at Oktoberfest.
Comments: 1 punk - Do you feel lucky?.

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Subject:4am
Time:4:03 am.
4 AM? Ah, insomnia, my old foe. I see you have returned.
Comments: 2 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Subject:Happy Canada Day!
Time:9:37 am.
Comments: 4 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Subject:Who Would Win In A Fight? Vol II, No. IV
Time:11:12 am.
Poll #1423309 Who Would Win In A Fight? Vol. II, No. IV
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who Would Win In A Fight?

View Answers

Oprah
7 (18.9%)

Martha Stewart
11 (29.7%)

Jesus
4 (10.8%)

Beelzebub
10 (27.0%)

Me (Yagathai)
5 (13.5%)

Who Owns The Most Souls In Modern Western Culture?

View Answers

Oprah
27 (71.1%)

Martha Stewart
4 (10.5%)

Jesus
1 (2.6%)

Beelzebub
4 (10.5%)

Me (Yagathai)
2 (5.3%)

Upon Whose Bad Side Do You Most Fear Getting?

View Answers

Oprah
12 (32.4%)

Martha Stewart
8 (21.6%)

Jesus
3 (8.1%)

Beelzebub
3 (8.1%)

Me (Yagathai)
11 (29.7%)

Comments: 20 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Subject:Music Monday
Time:12:57 pm.
And now for something completely different:

Comments: 3 punks - Do you feel lucky?.

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Subject:6/25/09
Time:8:36 pm.
Apparently Thursday is my night to get drunken. I blame the Mad Scientist for bringing rum instead of beer. Pity that I am running Houses of the Blooded. Players are in for a fun time.
Comments: Do you feel lucky?.

LiveJournal for Names Is For Tombstones, Baby.

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