When copyright infringement isn't...supposedly

If it is a "Tribute novel" sequel to Twilight.

What to do when you're children's movie premiere is getting dull

If you're Emma Watson you can start musing on when you're going to get naked on film. We've already seen [pun intended] this with Daniel Radcliffe in Equus. I can remember the kerfuffle when that went down. I shudder to think of just what would happen if she does stripped-down at some point.

"Why are there a lot of people here wearing scarves and carrying broomsticks at this art-house premiere?"

Considering my love-hate relationship with Google all I need is to get a high ranking for Emma Watson nude. If you did search on that sorry I can't hook you up. You can explain to me what she's doing in this picture...

Why I don't go to conventions

Checkout this awesome review of a convention. Admittedly I haven't been to one this bad but there's nothing here that really surprises me.

Twilight fans riot

And on the creepy side of the news there's this. Talk about not understanding your audience. Oh it gets better Robert Pattinson asked to bite seven-year-old.

Fan fiction and novel writing

An interesting review of a novel from a former fanfic writer. It does a very good job at expressing the differences between the two forms. Warning: the review uses various four letter Anglo-Saxon words you've been warned....

Bloody Sunday: Lord Widgery's Report 1972: Lord Widgery's Report of Events in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 edited by Tim Coates

Bloody Sunday: Lord Widgery's Report 1972: Lord Widgery's Report of Events in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 edited by Tim Coates this is the first government report that was commissioned on the controversial shooting of protesters by the British Army. Bloody Sunday is one of the most famous incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

This book was published as part of a series called Uncovered Editions. These consist of material taken out of the British archives making it accessible for a wider public. This is a truly admirable program that entrepreneurial souls in other countries should consider doing.

The report itself essentially takes the side of the army units. The only real criticism of the authorities was that the rules of engagement were unclear and could be difficult to parse when being shot at. Today the report is considered to be flawed both in its acceptance of forensic evidence and in other particulars. Frustratingly I did not learn this from Coates' introduction I had to look it up online. There was no attempt to put the report in context. Definitely a lost opportunity.

Recommended for the report but not for the apparatus surrounding it.

Paul T. Riddell

He is shutting things down [link will be up for 24hrs]. I first came across his work back in 1999 at the Healing Power of Obnoxiousness. He took evident glee at making fun of the arrogant, delusional or just plain stupid in and out of the science fiction community. My favorite would have to be Cat Piss Man. Paul you will be missed.

Fandom has always had crazy

interesting piece on Claude Degler a crazy science fiction fan from the 1940s. Apparently people compared things to the Nazis even then.

In the outside world we are fighting a war for freedom and democracy — in fandom the P.F.F. has always stood for Democracy and the rights of newer and younger fans, as well as the old timers. I can only say that if this monsterous farce takes place here tonight, it will be a victory for the forces of totalitarianism and reaction all over fandom –- this concerns every reader of stf and fantasy fiction on this planet!

He also believed that science fiction fans also made up a new species that needed to be fostered. This would involve a farm in the Ozarks. Perhaps for a little breeding.... So crazy fans existed well before the advent of LiveJournal and the Internet. It makes you wonder if Homer had fan boys following him around pointing out inaccuracies in the Odyssey.

This is why I avoid forum discussions

The latest slap fight in the science fiction and fantasy community is over the short story The Stolen Word by Lisa Mantchev that was in Fantasy Magazine. Was I offended? No not really. Did I like the story? No not really. I don't like phonetically spelled out accents. I do find the discussion [all 130 comments of it at this point] very interesting.

They appear to be stuck in some sort of time loop. At this point they've cycled through this series of responses at least four times. I wonder how many more they'll manage before the admin throws up their hands and shuts down the thread. It could theoretically go on forever. In brief the cycle looks like this.

"I'm offended!"
"I'm not offended calm down!"
"How dare you invalidate my anger!"
"Calm down!"
"I'm offended!"

Along the way there are occasional sidebars about European history, race relations and debate etiquette. It's exhausting just reading the thing let alone actually participateing. In the end it won't matter nobody's opinion is going to be changed. I probably would have stepped in and pulled the plug after the first cycle but it's not my bandwidth.

Aren’t they just special snowflakes

I’ve always found the hippie free love facet of science fiction fandom to be particularly amusing. There’s probably an anthropological paper in there for someone.