Category: Around the Intertubes

Trisha’s Cosplay Pic of the Day: Princess Leia at San Diego Comic Con

Trisha Lynn
Princess Leia at San Diego Comic Con // Picture by Carrie Goldman // Click to enlarge
Princess Leia at San Diego Comic Con // Picture by Carrie Goldman // Click to enlarge

A long time ago, on an Internet far, far away, Carrie Goldman’s parenting blog “Portrait of an Adoption” was swarmed by Star Wars fans who wanted to show her daughter Katie that it was totally okay for girls to like the movie and series.

Now, Goldman is at San Diego Comic Con to moderate the con’s first-ever panel about “anti-bullying” on Sunday at 4:00 pm in Room 4, featuring panelists like NOH8 founder Adam Bouska, TV writer Jane Espenson (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Once Upon a Time”), and voice actor and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Her Universe). She’s also there to promote the book she wrote, Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know About Ending the Cycle of Fear, which grew out of her work with Katie’s school to address the “bullying” problem.

And like most people who go to Comic Con for the first time, Goldman posted a selection of her favorite photos of people in cosplay. But what strikes me about her selection of photos and captions is that Goldman emphasizes how much fun everyone in her photos is having or how great they look, not how “hot” or “sexy” or whatever.

(Also, this Princess Leia? So much gravitas!)

It’s a nice, refreshing change, and if her panel goes well tomorrow, I hope to see more of this kind of refreshing change when viewing cosplay galleries.

Trisha’s Link of the Day: “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage”

Trisha Lynn

If you were to ask me where you could find a webcomic which tells the tale of Charles Babbage’s self-proclaimed war against street musicians, I wouldn’t have had any recommendations for you… until now.

The Organist part 1 (c) Sydney Padua // Click to enlarge
The Organist part 1 (c) Sydney Padua // Click to enlarge

With its tongue lodged firmly within its cheek, I present to you this short story arc out of “2D Goggles or The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage,” lovingly entitled “The Organist” by Canadian illustrator Sydney Padua.

Much thanks to Jane Irwin and her comic Clockwork Game for the hat tip.

Trisha’s Quote of the Day: Why joke-thieves will never prosper

Trisha Lynn

But why is it—and this only seems to apply to comedy—that some people so deeply resent those that can write jokes, can invent new perceptions of the world that actually make people laugh? Resent them so much that they have to denigrate the entire profession, just so they can feel better about themselves? Do they really think they’re less of a person if they can’t make up a joke, or be funny in the moment? Why is it so crucial to them? Is it because all of us, at some point of darkness or confusion or existential despair, were amazed at how absurd a thing as a simple joke suddenly lit the way, or warmed the cold, or made the sheer, horrific insanity that sometimes comes with being alive suddenly, completely, miraculously manageable?

Those people—the public and, sadly, a lot of journalists—those people were my target, in all of my seemingly “unmeasured responses” to thievery. Because I can’t stop joke thieves. They’re always going to be there.

But what I can hopefully stop—or, at least, change for the better—is the public (and media’s) response to joke thieves, by hammering away at this same, exhausting refrain every time I see some thumb-sucking “think piece” by a writer who should fucking know better, cyber-quacking away about “cover songs” and “vaudeville” and a million other euphemisms and deflections away from the simple fact that an uncreative person took a creative person’s work, signed their name to it, and passed it off as their own for their personal glorification, monetary benefit and career advancement. There’s no wiggle room there. Even the thieves know that, better than the dullards who are rationalizing and defending them.

—Comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, educating the media on why he’ll never be sympathetic to joke-thieves. The other two parts on heckling and the ongoing discussion about rape jokes are worth reading as well.

Trisha’s Video of the Day: GODDAMNIT, Neil Patrick Harris!

Trisha Lynn

Why the fuck can’t the people who put on the Oscars have this much fun with opening numbers?

Also. while not as epic as his closing rap number from 2011 (check out how it was written!), his closing number with singer/actress Audra McDonald as also quite sweet.

Trisha’s Music Video of the Day: “Might Get Up Slow”

Trisha Lynn

In the same vein as Punks Not Dad, I present to you No Small Children, composed of three schoolteachers from Los Angeles, California named Lisa Parade (lead singer, lead guitar), Nicola B. (drums), and Joanie Pimentel (bass). I totally love their look and sound, and I wish that I had the confidence that they seem to exude from their pores and hair follicles.

Trisha’s Link of the Day: Hogwarts magic comes to old movie posters

Trisha Lynn

Did that movie poster for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire surprise you? Apparently, this was a new online marketing gimmick in 2012 as Empire Online.com handily showed.

But what if you did the same thing for older movie posters? Then, you turn to the fine folks at The Shiznit.co.uk with their look at moving movie posters for Jaws, The Shining, Metropolis, and more.

Trisha’s Quote of the Day: How to apologize on the Internet, part 2

Trisha Lynn

By our organization’s current bylaws, the president of SFWA has unilateral control of, and therefore is ultimately responsible for, the organization’s publications. This includes the Bulletin. This means that when all is said and done, I personally am responsible for the Bulletin and what is published between its covers.

I have said this before but it bears repeating: This is on me, and I accept both the responsibility and criticism for it. I have some read criticism of the Bulletin’s editor Jean Rabe, so I want to be clear that Ms. Rabe, in her role as editor of Bulletin, had my full support. She took over the Bulletin at a problematic time in the publication’s history, got it back onto a regular schedule and otherwise righted what was a foundering ship. When previous concerns about sexism regarding the Bulletin were aired, specifically the cover of issue #200, Ms. Rabe listened, understood and was responsive to them and solicited work relevant to the concern, in the hope of furthering discussion. She has always acted in good faith for the organization, and I have valued and continue to value her dedication.

As publisher, I was aware that there would be two articles in Bulletin #202 about the cover of issue #200, one by Jim C. Hines and one by Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg. I did not read Mr. Hines’ piece and glanced cursorily at the Resnick/Malzberg piece but did not give it a significant read; I do not as a matter of course closely read the Bulletin before it is published. It’s possible if I had more closely read the article I might have alerted Ms. Rabe to portions that might be an issue. She might then have had the opportunity to take those concerns back to Mr. Resnick and Mr. Malzberg, who I have no reason to believe would not have taken editorial direction.

This did not happen. I as publisher gave the go-ahead—and once again, the responsibility for the event, and the offense it caused, falls on me.

So once again I apologize to the members who we have offended through the last few issues of the Bulletin. It is my place to accept the responsibility, and so my place to offer the apology.

—Outgoing SFWA President John Scalzi shows loads of class, why he was elected back in 2010, and actually apologizes in his statement on the recent debacle.

And I hope that this is the last I’ll have to report about this kind of situation regarding the SFWA from now on.

Trisha’s Picture of the Day: Ursula Vernon is the best artist, ever

Trisha Lynn

Among the good things that have come out so far regarding the problem with the most recent SFWA Bulletin is this encounter between Ursula Vernon, creator of the Digger webcomic and the Dragonbreath series of books, and John Scalzi. I’ll let Vernon speak for herself here:

SFWA announced that they’re putting a task force on fixing the Bulletin RIGHT NOW and that’s a good thing. We are hopeful!

John Scalzi said, somewhat ruefully, on Twitter that this is what he gets for thinking that the last month of his tenure as SFWA president would be quiet.

I told him that he had tempted the Fannish Misogyny Fairy with such thoughts.

He said he wanted to see an illustration.

There are very few people for whom I will whip off a spontaneous illustration, and I have to be in the right mood (my buddy Mur is still waiting for her sugar cube golem!) but all the stars aligned, I found photo ref of Hoary Marmots (because A) these are very hoary attitudes and B) if you google them, there are some marvelous shots of hoary marmots sitting around in groups, looking like grumpy old men) and…well…

Continue reading “Trisha’s Picture of the Day: Ursula Vernon is the best artist, ever” →

Trisha’s Take: How Jean Rabe screwed the pooch for the SFWA Bulletin and how the SFWA can make things better going forward

Trisha Lynn16 Comments

[Editor’s Note: This article has been partially revised from its original form at the request of the SFWA to remove material which may have infringed on a copyright.]

ETA: For some links and commentary on this issue, check out this list which Jim Hines compiled.

Considering that I’m not a member of the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America), anyone reading this article can take it with so much salt that they go into a self-induced hypertensive shock. But rather than add my name to the list of voices condemning writer-members Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg for their ill-written rebuttal to critiques of their anti-feminism in the organization’s most recent quarterly newsletter, I’m going to instead talk about how the entire mess could have been avoided in the first place. And to do that, I have to throw Bulletin writer/editor Jean Rabe under a bus.

Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: How Jean Rabe screwed the pooch for the SFWA Bulletin and how the SFWA can make things better going forward” →