Hmmm, Got Too Many Grab Bags Around Here -

time to consolidate…

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Now I know why some folks like to do link lists:? there’s just so much damned interesting stuff out there!? I could spend all day doing nothing but (I think that’s called a ‘time suck’ or something…)

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I’ve also discovered that – at least here – “top posts of the month” (or of all time) DO increase blog traffic.

Interesting dynamic going on with the blog and Adsense revenue (I make enough to pay for hosting, registration and a bit left over:? let’s say enough to keep me believing that I can earn more).

Here it is.? On a consistent basis, my revenue is UP when traffic is DOWN, and vice-versa.

So please stop coming here.? LOL.

I certainly don’t get it and I don’t have enough data to figure things out like whatever could be causing the trend.

I do know that ‘new audiences’ are a spur.? At least in that regard I seem to have stumbled on a good decision when formulating the blog:? a central theme (classic SF and being a fogey about it) while loose enough to branch out to anything and everything.? I’ve caught the attention of Franklin Pierce fans, antique truck fans, snowplow fans (!), all kinds of SF people, movie people and, most recently, gaming people (not to mention old time radio people and not a few nutjobs).

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READERCON is coming up rapidly and I am REALLY looking forward to attending.? I like having ’something to do’ when at a con (rather than just attending) and getting photos for the Cordwainer Smith website of the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award presentation is certainly something to do.

I’ll be wearing a COF t-shirt (tag for blatant commercialism) – which are now available in the Zazzle store -

and drinking coffee out of my COF coffee mug -

(note the continuation of the stylish ‘blue’ theme).? What – you thought I’d have whiskey in there?? Nope.? Haven’t had that stuff in there at least since Mike Brotherton got surprised.)

and there will be a large BLUE COF mini-poster (a large mini?) taped to the top of my laptop, inviting anyone who sees it to stop on by while I post and/or twitter (tho some of the twittering may be verbal, depending upon circumstances).

I will be there for Friday – not sure about any of the other days – and I invite anyone who is attending to please look me up.

(If you don’t like me or the blog, buy a shirt and impersonate me – leave a bad impression, lol)

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A couple of days ago I wrote a very bad piece about Jetse DeVrie’s polemic on optimistic near future SF (an exercise in demonstrating what he is NOT looking for with his new SHINE anthology).? I did a bad job of writing, a good job of displaying how easy it is to demonstrate bad reasoning and generally shat all over the bed.

It was also proof positive that I am not afraid to piss off people who I might be trying to sell stories to.? And a practical demonstration of the fact that you can keep a steady hand, even while shooting yourself in the foot.

I dithered over it during the evening following the posting (sans internet) and determined to remove it – but too late, Jetse had already replied in the positively negative (or negatively positive – I guess viewpoint is all in this case) so rather than removing it I allowed Jetse’s comment through and then emailed him, asking his preference(s) regarding removing both or leaving both on the site.

While waiting for a response I wrote an edit, explaining the above and apologized for having gone off half-cocked.? Then the response arrived and Jetse’s preference was to put the whole sorry thing behind us (he admitted to making the same mistake I did – writing early in the morning and being rushed), so I honored that request and removed the post.

But, you know, the Internet SEES ALL and yesterday the post (or lack of it) was a featured one on the FAIL Twitter feed.

I honestly didn’t take Jetse’s response negatively.? I know he was being a bit sarcastic and a tad dismissive – but that’s a fair response when defending a position that you’ve spent some time working at.? I took it as a well-meaning defense from a classy guy who isn’t afraid to take a position and defend it.? Even against idiotic ramblings.

Well, anyway.? I promised to read the piece more thoroughly and respond more thoughtfully, and with that in mind I ran across excerpts from this interview with Robert Charles Wilson in Locus, and this one in particular:

?People have a set of default futures in their heads now, which is odd. Back in the ’80s, a group of college students was asked, ‘How do you see the world in 40 years?’, and the answers were really pessimistic — they tended toward nuclear wastelands patrolled by killer robots, that sort of thing. Then they were asked, ‘Where do you see yourself in 40 years?’ and the answers tended toward ‘Well, I’ll be ready for retirement.’ So there’s a cognitive disconnect, but I think it’s because our culture is now pervaded with these default notions of the future derived from science fiction.

?Sometimes I think the purpose of modern science fiction should be to challenge those notions, not to further indulge them. One of the things I wanted to do in Julian Comstock was to write a post-apocalypse novel that (a) wasn’t about survival and (b) was a kind of dystopia that wasn’t just an Evil Empire run by the worst human beings — a dystopia more like European monarchies or aristocratic institutions, where there are cracks in the wall; an oppressive set of governmental bodies, but at the same time a lively popular culture. In other words, I wanted something with contradictions built into it. I was tired of dystopias that were triumphant Evil and oppressed Good. Real life isn’t like that.?

(There’s also an email interview with Wilson on IO9)

This almost touches on my core philosophy regarding SF and optimism.? At it’s heart, ALL science fiction is optimistic – regardless of the plot or setting.? It presumes that there is some kind of future – good, bad, indifferent or incomprehensible – and I take that as a positive.

Maybe it’s a Cold-War mentality but I always figured that if there were survivors after the big one? (and I happened to be one of them) most of the world’s books (however many survived) belonged to ME!? There’d be plenty of unspoiled canned goods left to get by on, I know how to start a fire and if you can’t build a shelter out of the rubble of NYC, well then, it’s the radiation pits for you.? Now, if I can just find a damned can-opener…(yes, you can open a can with a pair of pliers and doing so beats hunting for mutant deer all to hell).

I WILL be reading Jetse’s piece much more carefully today.

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And now, a new feature on COF – Classic Hugo Award Winners, as featured on my Zazzle-enabled t-shirt of the same exact name.

A while back I decided that the Hugo Awards, Worldcon, WSFS, et al, needed a bit more attention, so I put together a t-shirt design commemorating all of the winners of the Hugo Award from its inception through 1984 (25 years old being the definition of classic) and then made arrangements to license the use of the Hugo Award rocket design and the Hugo Award name, from WSFS.

Permission and fees were arranged (a portion of all sales go to WSFS:? if there are sufficient sales, an additional portion of each sale will go towards TAFF or DUFF or other suitable fannish fund) and I figured that I’d use the proceeds to attend Worldcon.

NOW – with Anticipation only a few short months away, I must begin to buttonhole people.

Here is the text of the design:

Now see, the way this works is:? if YOU are actually listed up there, you are OBLIGATED to buy one of these shirts. With the front design that says “I’m On The Back!”

If I had the money, I’d buy everyone on the list who can still use clothing a shirt? and send it to them, but then again, if I had the money I’d already be going to Anticipation.

(Note also that the way Zazzle works, you don’t have to purchase the design on the shirt displayed – you can find less expensive or more expensive ones.)

If you are a relative, the partner of or a fan of someone listed on the shirt, you’re also obligated to buy one.

Sadly, the first name mentioned is Forrest J Ackerman’s, and 4E is no longer with us.? But I know that lot’s of folks who love 4SJ ARE still around – so why not remind everyone that he was the first recipient of the #1 Fan Personality Award?

Fortunately, the next name down IS still with us – Brian W. Aldiss.? Hothouse, Barefoot in the Head, Frankenstein Unbound, The Billion Year Spree – where would we all be without such works (or his editorial contributions as well)?? Certainly not as far along nor as well-informed as we are now.

Poul Anderson also, sadly, no longer needs a shirt either.? The High Crusade remains one of my favorite all-time stories, Flandry one of my all time favorite characters.? But I’m sure there are other fans of his works that would like honor his contributions.

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That’s it for now.? I’ll be featuring a couple of award winners every day between now and Anticipation – unless you all want me to stop.? In which case – BUY a shirt.