| Total Eclipse WorldCon? |
[Jul. 7th, 2011|04:06 pm] |
It was suggested that I crosspost this to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2) worldcons from my own LJ blog. I realize this is some years off, but I suspect it will take planning different from the "usual" sort of WorldCon. (grin)
This Would Be Awesome
Ken Schneyer posted the following on Facebook and I totally have to shout this out to the world. Can't we make this happen? (grin)
Ken Schneyer
Total Eclipse WorldCon? In 2017 there'll be a total eclipse of the sun in late August, when Worldcon is usually held. It'll cut a swath along the entire contintental U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina. It would be soooo nifty to hold Worldcon in one of the cities along the path of totality in order to coincide with the event. Just sayin'...
NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 Aug 21
eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov
This is part of NASA's official eclipse home page. It plots solar eclipse paths on Google maps.
Monday 21 August 2017 Midday
Google Maps image from NASA's official eclipse home page - reduced view.
Larger, more detailed Google Maps view here. And detailed particulars here.
Note the list of cities (expanded) which fall in the zone of totality:
Salem OR, Corvalis OR, Idaho Falls ID, Scottsbluff NE, Aliance NE, North Platte NE, Grand Island NE, Lincoln NE, St. Joseph MO, Kansas City MO (barely), Columbia MO, St. Louis MO, Cape Girardeau MO, Clarksville TN, Nashville TN, Greenville SC, Charleston SC -- with Portland OR, Eugene OR, Boise ID, Knoxville TN, Chattanooga TN, Athens GA, Augusta GA, and even Atlanta GA within a hundred miles of totality.
Surely someone can come up with a bid in a place with access to good visibility, potentially good weather (grin), worthy of a WorldCon. It's not the greatest total solar eclipse ever at only 2 minutes 40 seconds maximum totality, but it's the last one on the continental U.S. for a while, I do believe, and how often do these things show up in the typical WorldCon summer window of opportunity?
Fact is, I've never seen a total solar eclipse. Hell, here in West Michigan we almost always get cloudy nights and rain for total lunar eclipses. Best we got was a 91% total annular eclipse in May of 1994. So I was planning to be on the road and hoping I'd find good weather in 2017 anyway... having a WorldCon to go to -- and having a large group of friends to commiserate with if the weather turns awful (evil grin) -- would be a huge plus.
Yeah, yeah, I haven't been to a WorldCon either, though I expect that to change with WorldCon 2012 being in Chicago next year.
So what say you, good people? Can we make this happen?
Dr. Phil |
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| Proposed motion for the 2011 WSFS Business Meeting |
[Jun. 1st, 2011|05:56 pm] |
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After a great deal of discussion on several fan forums and fan blogs, with the help of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) kevin_standlee, I have drafted the following motion to put before the 2011 WSFS Business meeting:
The purpose of this motion is to remove audio-visual periodicals (such as pocasts) from the "Best Fanzine" Hugo category, and recognize them with their own Hugo award category. Full text and commentary are included in the linked Google Doc.
Feel free to comment here or send email to the address in the Google Doc |
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| Collecting anecdotes... |
[May. 18th, 2011|04:59 pm] |
I could do this as a LJ survey, but I would rather have answers in the comments for reasons that will be clear in a moment.
- Do you nominate or vote for the Hugo Awards? If your answer is no, thank you for participating, you don't need to comment.
- Do you listen to fan podcasts or watch fan video periodicals? If your answer is no, thank you for participating, you don't need to comment.
- How many fan podcasts do you follow?
- Are they centered around a single topic or multiple fannish topics?
- How many fan podcasts do you follow that are good enough you would nominate them in the Hugo Awards if there was an appropriate category?
- Are you a podcaster?
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| Re.: "The Doctor's Wife", Doctor Who |
[May. 18th, 2011|09:30 am] |
| [ | mood |
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I think it's clear from the episode's ending (and many others) that The Doctor's Room is the Console Room, plain and simple, even if it's an alternative console room such as the 4th Doctor used at the end of Sarah Jane's time in the TARDIS or the surprise return to the 9th/10th Doctor's console room we saw here. That they used a fan-submitted design for the home-built console was cool too, and there's even precedent for using a console without an outer shell: the 3rd Doctor tried it at least a couple of times.
Also, Amy is having Schrodinger's Baby, both there and not there at the same time until someone makes the wave/particle determination by whatever means.
Finally, Amy should stop doubting Rory's devotion. He waited two thousand years for her to come back. And he should stop doubting hers. She made the choice to die rather than live in a universe without him. Grow up, you two!
"I may not take you where you want to be, but I always take you where you need to be." -- the most astounding and yet at the same time logical quotation from the episode, making explicitly clear (as if there were any more doubt) that the TARDIS is a sapient being.
Thank you, Neil Gaiman. |
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| Renovation Site Review |
[May. 14th, 2011|09:34 am] |
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I recently spent a couple of days in Reno in the Atlantis Hotel, one of the two main hotels for this year's Worldcon, Renovation. I've been writing a series of posts about the site, hotels, and surrounding area with pictures and practical considerations (like the actual walking distances between major points and the layout of the hotel rooms and where grocery stores and transportation are). I hope this information is of use to other people coming to Worldcon this summer. |
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| What are you reading? What are you watching? |
[May. 5th, 2011|03:03 pm] |
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Sure, the votes for the 2011 Hugos, to be presented this summer at Renovation, haven't even been tallied. Why should you be thinking about 2012 already?
Well, because the stories you're reading, the art you're viewing, the shows and movies you're watching right now might be eligible for a Hugo in 2012, and members of Renovation and Chicon 7 are eligible to nominate. If you've just read or seen something new and good enough you think it's Hugo-worthy, join hugo_recommend and tell us all about it!
Join hugo_recommend, the Hugo Awards recommendation Livejournal community
Get the button and help promote the community!
And while you're at it, share the community. Just copy the following code-fragment and paste it into your LJ editor.
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| WSFS Resolutions of Continuing Effect |
[Apr. 30th, 2011|02:16 pm] |
Besides the WSFS Constitution, which governs the selection of Worldcon sites, the operation of the Hugo Awards, and other incidental matters about Worldcon organization, and the Standing Rules, which regulate the WSFS Business Meeting, ( Discussion of WSFS minutae )
If you would like a copy of the 2008 and 2009 Resolutions and Rulings of Continuing Effect report, write directly to me (you can write to my LJ handle @livejournal.com if you don't have my e-mail address, or send me an LJ message) and I'll send it to you. The files are in MS Word 97 (DOC) format or PDF. If neither of these work for you, let me know what does and I'll try to convert to that format. |
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