Tag Archives: Hugo Awards

Our Sensors have detected…

A few items collected over the past week or so while I was away from the keyboard.
  • Highlights from Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines
  • Burt Kwouk (1930-2016)
  • Trailers for Star Trek series & new MacGyver series
  • Hugo Awards, how to foil the Puppy slates
  • Cybercrime

2007 OR10: Largest unnamed world in the solar system (Astronomy Magazine)

Astronomers combined data from two space observatories to reveal something surprising: This dwarf planet is significantly larger than previously thought.

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Dwarf planets
New K2 results peg 2007 OR10 as the largest unnamed body in our solar system and the third largest of the current roster of about half a dozen dwarf planets. The dwarf planet Haumea has an oblong shape that is wider on its long axis than 2007 OR10, but its overall volume is smaller.  Read more.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, May 27 – June 4

May through June:   Have you been watching the Mars-Antares-Saturn triangle change shape? It’s stretching as Mars moves westward away from the head of Scorpius. This will continue until the end of June. Then Mars will start to slingshot back to fly right between Antares and Saturn in late August. Plan to watch this slow summer drama!

As darkness arrives these evenings, look south about halfway between Jupiter and Mars. One star there stands out: Spica, in Virgo. High above it shines brighter Arcturus in Bootes. Half as far to Spica’s lower right is the constellation Corvus, the Crow, eyeing Spica to steal it from Virgo’s hand as she looks the other way.  (complicated way to find Spica, IMO, esp since Jupiter and Mars move around. Better to use this tried and true method: Find the Big Dipper. Use the handle to “Arc to Acturus, then spike down to Spica. You can’t miss Arcturus, it’s bright orange.  –CPL)

 Is your sky dark enough for you to see the Coma Berenices star cluster naked-eye? As soon as twilight is completely over, look above Jupiter by about 25°, about two and a half fists at arm’s length. The cluster is dim but big, at least 5° wide, the size of a golf ball at arm’s length. Its brightest stars, near its middle, form a sort of inverted Y shape. Binoculars bring its stars right out.

Thursday, June 2:   Now it’s Saturn’s turn at opposition. It’s the second-brightest point in the area of Mars, 16° to Mars’s lower left.Finding Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars

WEBvic16_Jun03evWEBvic16_Jun03ev2

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, June 3

• For much of the spring at mid-northern latitudes, the Milky Way lies right down out of sight all around the horizon. But watch the east now. The rich Cepheus-Cygnus-Aquila stretch of the Milky Way starts rising up all across the east late these nights, earlier and higher every week.

Cassiopeia at its lowest

Cassiopeia inches along sideways low in the north at dusk.

Saturday, June 4

• New Moon (exact at 11:00 p.m. EDT). A new lunar month begins. Unlike a calendar month, which averages 30.437 days long, a lunar month (from one new Moon to the next) averages 29.531 days. So, on average, you’ll see the Moon in the same phase about 1 day earlier every month bu the calendar.

 

Burt Kwouk (1930-2016)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/05/24/burt-kwouk-actor–obituary/

Best know for his role as Cato in Pink Panther Films, but also had genre roles in the Curse of the Fly and various TV series.  Hop over to IMDB for a full listing.

Trailers for Star Trek series & new MacGyver series

At the CBS Upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 18, CBS unveiled the logo for the new STAR TREK television series within the first-ever promotional video for the highly-anticipated program. (Only the premiere will be available on CBS, after that it goes to streaming.)

IMBD http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399045/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

A reimagining of the television series of the same name, following a 20-something MacGyver as he creates a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening. Written by CBS

Happy PuppyHugo Awards, how to foil the Puppy slates (or any other kind of slate)

The whole messy Puppies/Hugo situation– this is a thread on File 770 in which various ideas on how to stop slates from screwing up the Hugo awards are discussed and dissected.  Last year, there were 5 no awards because those 5 categories were owned by Puppies.

Cybercrime

Since Steven’s presentation on cybercrime and the series, CSI Cyber, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to the subject. It’s worth checking into blogs such as this one from the Norton Community Forum

Cybercrime in Canada is growing. http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/pubs/cc-strategy-strategie-cc-eng.htm

Cybercrime: an overview of incidents and issues in Canada is the RCMP’s first report on cybercrime, and focuses on aspects of the cybercrime environment that affect Canada’s public organizations, businesses and citizens in real and harmful ways.

 

 

Puppies are barking, some are biting

Happy Pup001
Cathy had this badge made for her last year at Sasquan.

Yup–that didn’t take long. Even before the finalists were announced, The Guardian newspaper was interviewing GRRM and Vox Day. This is a really good article for somebody wondering what all the fuss is about. Funny cartoon to go with it.

File 770 has a table showing the finalists compared with the recommended list from the Sad Puppies, and the slate from the Rabid puppies.

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I wish I could be at this year’s business meeting, but Helsinki next year is going to cost me an arm and a leg. I hope it is well attended, and that the EPH proposal is given the green light. Something has to be done to repair the damage done to the Hugos.  Granted, there have always been a few nominations, even winners, that we look back at and wonder what possessed the nominators and voters, but the stuff proposed by Vox Day is just plain horrible by any measure.

 

The Hugo Award Finalists

The Hugo Award Finalists were announced at noon, CDT, on the MidAmeriCon III website.  http://midamericon2.org/home/hugo-awards-and-wsfs/2016-hugo-finalists/

I see a few puppies in there. 🙁

2016 Hugo Award Finalists

The finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at 12:00 PM CDT. The announcement was made live to social media, including the Twitter and Facebook accounts of MidAmeriCon II, and via press release.

4032 valid nominating ballots (4015 electronic and 17 paper) were received and counted from the members of Sasquan, MidAmeriCon II, and Worldcon 75.

BEST NOVEL (3695 ballots)

  • Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
  • The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
  • The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
  • Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

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BEST NOVELLA (2416 ballots)

  • Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
  • The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
  • Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
  • Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
  • Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

BEST NOVELETTE (1975 ballots)

  • “And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb2015)
  • “Flashpoint: Titan” by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
  • “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
  • “Obits” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
  • “What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)

BEST SHORT STORY (2451 ballots)

  • “Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
  • The Commuter by Thomas A. Mays (Stealth)
  • “If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
  • “Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
  • Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)

BEST RELATED WORK (2080 ballots)

  • Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe, 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
  • “The First Draft of My Appendix N Book” by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
  • “Safe Space as Rape Room” by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
  • SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)
  • “The Story of Moira Greyland” by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY (1838 ballots)

  • The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
  • Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)
  • Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
  • Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
  • The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM) (2904 ballots)

  • Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  • Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
  • Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM) (2219 ballots)

  • Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
  • Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf(Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
  • Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
  • Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)

BEST EDITOR – SHORT FORM (1891 ballots)

  • John Joseph Adams
  • Neil Clarke
  • Ellen Datlow
  • Jerry Pournelle
  • Sheila Williams

BEST EDITOR – LONG FORM (1764 ballots)

  • Liz Gorinsky
  • Vox Day
  • Sheila E. Gilbert
  • Jim Minz
  • Toni Weisskopf

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST (1481 ballots)

  • Lars Braad Andersen
  • Larry Elmore
  • Abigail Larson
  • Michal Karcz
  • Larry Rostant

BEST SEMIPROZINE (1457 ballots)

  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews, Nicole Lavigne, and Kate Marshall
  • Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
  • Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie
  • Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin,Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff
  • Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

BEST FANZINE (1455 ballots)

  • Black Gate edited by John O’Neill
  • Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
  • File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
  • Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
  • Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale

BEST FANCAST (1267 ballots)

  • 8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
  • Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
  • HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
  • The Rageaholic, RazörFist
  • Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick

BEST FAN WRITER (1568 ballots)

  • Douglas Ernst
  • Mike Glyer
  • Morgan Holmes
  • Jeffro Johnson
  • Shamus Young

BEST FAN ARTIST (1073 ballots)

  • Matthew Callahan
  • Christian Quinot
  • disse86
  • Kukuruyo
  • Steve Stiles

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER (1922 ballots)

  • Pierce Brown *
  • Sebastien de Castell *
  • Brian Niemeier
  • Andy Weir *
  • Alyssa Wong *

* Finalists in their 2nd year of eligibility.

 

 

Local Sensors Detect…

Some stories picked up on File 770 that I thought might interest members.

  • Record-Setting Number of Votes for 2016 Hugo Nominations MidAmeriCon II reports over 4,000 nominating ballots were received for the 2016 Hugo Awards, nearly doubling the previous record of 2,122 ballots set last year by Sasquan, the 73rd Worldcon held in Spokane, WA.

    This is the eighth consecutive year the record has been broken. Prior to Sasquan, Loncon 3 (2014) received 1,923 ballots; LoneStarCon 3 (2013) 1,343; Chicon 7 (2012) 1,101; Renovation (2011) 1,006; Aussiecon 4 (2010) 864; Anticipation (2009) 799 — each a new high-water mark at the time.

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Hugo Awards/DragonCon Awards/Puppies

Does SF/F really need another award? I swear they multiply like rabbits. The latest is from Dragon Con and will be known as “The Dragon”.

Click here to see the official Dragon Con press release. The list of rules and conditions is here.

Since Dragon Con announced it would start its own awards, there has been a lot of talk comparing them to the Hugos and of course the Puppies are involved in the discussion. If you believe the Puppies, they were the driving force behind the new awards.  Well, they were told many times to start their own awards if they didn’t like the Hugos, so apparently, now they have.

I don’t see why some would think the DC awards would be in competition with the Hugos (largely a different crowd), but I think Good Reads as a popular vote award already covers most of the same ground.

DC has a few little bugs to iron out, but I think their biggest problem will be the fact that anyone can vote and the door is open to abuse. They do say they will remove suspicious votes, but that’s easier said than done.  Might explain DC’s need for the legalese in the rules. It’s like reading the rules and conditions for a contest, written by the folks over at QC’s Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux.

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DC has a lot of categories, and IMO, there is too much overlapping. There are 7 categories for best novel. I can see a voter getting tied up in knots trying to decide whether to nominate a book in Military SF, or just SF, or maybe even YA.  Especially as you can only nominate one in each category! There are no short story, novella, or editor categories. This is viewed negatively by the fen, but I think it simply reflects a different electorate, which is perfectly fine.

I also find this FAQ somewhat disturbing. Of course, candidates for an award will do some advertising of the fact, I’ve been quite happily making sure lots & lots of potential Aurora voters know Keith and I are on the short ballot, but a full page on a website explaining how to promote oneself is a bit tacky on the part of the awards organization.

Can someone nominate just my book, game, movie, or comic? Yes, a fan can leave any category they wish blank.

File 770 is following the debate, Puppies and all, and is worth scrolling through if you have an interest in the subject.  It starts here, with the announcement.  Comments and reactions from all and sundry, including Pups, interesting as always.

 

 

2016 Hugo Nominations

Nomination period for the 2016 Hugo awards ends March 31st at 11:59 pm PDT .

If you are a member of the current World con, MidAmeriCon II, you have nominating and voting rights. If you were a member of Sasquan last year,  or a member of Helsinki in 2017, you may nominate for this year’s awards.

Happy Pup001I’ve been asked a few time lately if the Puppies are still around. Sadly, the answer is yes, they are. However, some seem to think that the Sad Puppies are being more transparent this year. * This cannot be said for the Rabid Pups. You can find the foaming-jawed mongrel over here.  And btw, Castillia House is Vox Day.  Count how many times he nominated himself, or someone he publishes. If you are feeling particularly masochistic, read the comments from the minions. The term SJW stands for Social Justice Warrior, and for some reason Vox Day and his pack think there is something not only wrong, but even disgusting about wanting to work toward a more liberal, more tolerant world. As someone who has signed petitions, walked in manifs, etc, I am not at all bothered by being called an SJW.

A number of authors have already put oars into the troubled waters, John Scalzi (of course):    Apparently some folks are confused why I don’t want to be associated with a group who spent a couple of years saying I was talentless scum. George RR Martin is making his own recommendations, over here. After the Hugo ceremony last year, Martin presented his own awards to people he felt should have won in categories the Rabids ruined.

File 770 seems to want to continue the blow-by-blow account of the battle over the Hugos, so if you wish to keep up to date on the Puppies, and their inexplicable need to destroy the reputation of the Hugos they claim not to care about, check in daily. Beware, it is never a pretty picture.

Cathy
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*Personally, I find (Sad Puppy Alpha) Kate Paulk’s sarcasm hard to take.

Alastair,

I will not insult those who consider your novella to be Hugo-worthy by removing you from the List. I will, however, be updating the version of this post at http://sadpuppies4.org/the-list/ to note that you prefer that your work not be purchased, enjoyed, and nominated without your prior approval.

 

 

Ask Lovecraft — Sad Puppies explained

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