Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS)
A little more related to BSFS and Balticon
Sunday, March 11, 2012
75 days to Balticon
Balticon - The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention
Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS)
A little more related to BSFS and Balticon
Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS)
A little more related to BSFS and Balticon
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Yesterday: a Leap (Day) ... Today: a Big Jump
The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett is the Phoenix Pick free e-book for March. Not receiving our monthly newsletter, which contains the code for the free e-book? Sign up by sending us an e-mail ... click here.
For more information about Leigh Brackett, check out these sites:
An interesting way to explore things related to Leigh Brackett
Not from Sweden, but close ... Finland.
"Leigh Brackett: Much More Than the Queen of Space Opera!"
"The Astounding Leigh Brackett"
The Leigh Brackett Solar System (from Wikipedia)
Mars in the fiction of Leigh Brackett (from Wikipedia)
An audio interview with Leigh Brackett
An interview with Leigh Brackett & Edmond Hamilton
An appreciation of Leigh Brackett by Michael Moorcock
Leigh Brackett at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
And, of course, there's the "Star Wars sequel" screenplay.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sweden and Science Fiction
On this day in 1660, Charles XI became the king of Sweden.
Well, okay, sources disagree as to whether it was the 23rd or the 13th ... but here are some Sweden-SF-related links for you anyway:
picture of a 1950s Swedish SF magazine
Eurocon 2011, Stockholm
Hans Persson's list of SF published in Sweden
Call for papers for upcoming workshop
Swedish public broadcaster SVT and Real Humans
Stieg Larsson
Short SF fiction in Swedish
Are you familiar with other things SF-related in any of the Nordic countries?
Well, okay, sources disagree as to whether it was the 23rd or the 13th ... but here are some Sweden-SF-related links for you anyway:
picture of a 1950s Swedish SF magazine
Eurocon 2011, Stockholm
Hans Persson's list of SF published in Sweden
Call for papers for upcoming workshop
Swedish public broadcaster SVT and Real Humans
Stieg Larsson
Short SF fiction in Swedish
Are you familiar with other things SF-related in any of the Nordic countries?
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day!
Here are some Valentine words for you:
"How does woman look? What makes you woman?"
"I have learned two ways to tie my shoes. One way is only good for lying down. The other way is good for walking. And I have learned conjugations. I am, thou art, he is, we are, you are, they are, I was, thou wast—"
"Only an Old One can always be sure of right action at a cusp ... and I have much learning to learn and growing to grow before I may join the Old Ones."
"... on Mars, when we needed to know anything, we asked the Old Ones and the answer was never wrong. Jill, is it possible that we humans don't have 'Old Ones'? No souls, I mean. When we discorporate—die—do we die dead ... die all over and nothing left?"
"Goodness is not enough, goodness is never enough. That was one of my first mistakes, because among Martians goodness and wisdom are identical."
"The Truth is simple but the Way of Man is hard. First you must learn to control your self. The rest follows. Blessed is he who knows himself and commands himself, for the world is his and love and happiness and peace walk with him wherever he goes."
Have you read Stranger in a Strange Land?
"How does woman look? What makes you woman?"
"I have learned two ways to tie my shoes. One way is only good for lying down. The other way is good for walking. And I have learned conjugations. I am, thou art, he is, we are, you are, they are, I was, thou wast—"
"Only an Old One can always be sure of right action at a cusp ... and I have much learning to learn and growing to grow before I may join the Old Ones."
"... on Mars, when we needed to know anything, we asked the Old Ones and the answer was never wrong. Jill, is it possible that we humans don't have 'Old Ones'? No souls, I mean. When we discorporate—die—do we die dead ... die all over and nothing left?"
"Goodness is not enough, goodness is never enough. That was one of my first mistakes, because among Martians goodness and wisdom are identical."
"The Truth is simple but the Way of Man is hard. First you must learn to control your self. The rest follows. Blessed is he who knows himself and commands himself, for the world is his and love and happiness and peace walk with him wherever he goes."
Have you read Stranger in a Strange Land?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
From Charles Dickens to Jules Verne ... sixteen years and one day
Some bits of Jules Verne, born on this day in 1828:
Entry for Jules Verne at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
and more
and a video of an octopus going on a little land excursion.
"Ah! sir, live—live in the bosom of the waters! There only is independence! There I recognise no masters! There I am free!"
Never was solitude equal to this, never had any living being been so utterly forsaken.
"It was just when I was alone that I was not afraid."Jules Verne at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Entry for Jules Verne at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
and more
and a video of an octopus going on a little land excursion.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
From Charles Dickens to science fiction in eighteen steps ... sort of
Charles Dickens was born 200 years ago, on February 7, 1812.
I've always liked this passage from Bleak House:
So I had the number eighteen in my head, and came across this at io9.com:
Eighteen Science Fiction Authors Remember the Moon Landing
For a more comprehensive list, check out this tor.com page where Tor "invited authors, artists, critics, and fans in the science fiction community to share with us what they were doing that day, and tell us how it informed their relationship with science fiction."
And more from Tor on today's bicentennial.
I've always liked this passage from Bleak House:
Eighteen of Mr. Tangle's learned friends, each armed with a little summary of eighteen hundred sheets, bob up like eighteen hammers in a pianoforte, make eighteen bows, and drop into their eighteen places of obscurity.
So I had the number eighteen in my head, and came across this at io9.com:
Eighteen Science Fiction Authors Remember the Moon Landing
For a more comprehensive list, check out this tor.com page where Tor "invited authors, artists, critics, and fans in the science fiction community to share with us what they were doing that day, and tell us how it informed their relationship with science fiction."
And more from Tor on today's bicentennial.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Robert A. Heinlein: Why should the average decent citizen bother with politics?
Phoenix Pick is proud to announce the reprinting of Take Back Your Government by Robert A. Heinlein. Written in 1946, just after World War II, the work was originally titled How to Be a Politician, and was published by Baen ... in 1992. It was out of print for several years but is now available in trade paperback format and also in Kindle and Nook formats.
The book has a new introduction by William H. Patterson, Jr., author of Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve.
Patterson writes in the introduction, "[Heinlein] starts with practical advice about how to get started and covers the landscape of local political activities—all the pitfalls (and rewards!) of cultivating the passions and dedication of an all-volunteer local organization and growing it to a state of political influence."
Heinlein notes in the preface:
As to his "credentials" for writing the book, Heinlein notes that
Take Back Your Government lays out some hard truths about the role the average citizen needs to play in politics if government is to be of any use to "ordinary" people. There are no easy answers. It's hard work, but Heinlein emphasizes why it's worthwhile.
In these days of this "movement" and that "party," Heinlein delves into the pros and cons, the good and bad, of practical politics. He doesn't mince words and doesn't let anyone off the hook—for him, government problems are everyone's responsibility and everyone needs to be part of the solutions. The alternative is to stop complaining and accept what non-involvement brings. Ignorance + apathy = a disaster that can build to almost unconquerable proportions.
Since the work was originally written decades ago, it contains some things that are outdated. Phonebooks have become web searches, postcards have been replaced by e-mail. But the basic requirement is still the same as when Heinlein penned the words. The message is that getting what you want from government requires your involvement. From knowing what you want, to finding others who want what you want, to telling those in power what you want, to becoming one with the power to work toward what you want, to working with others in power to achieve what you want ... If you really want your government to work, Heinlein asserts, then you have to be willing to do a good bit of work yourself, and in this book he provides practical advice on how to do that.
Heinlein writes:
The book has a new introduction by William H. Patterson, Jr., author of Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve.
Patterson writes in the introduction, "[Heinlein] starts with practical advice about how to get started and covers the landscape of local political activities—all the pitfalls (and rewards!) of cultivating the passions and dedication of an all-volunteer local organization and growing it to a state of political influence."
Heinlein notes in the preface:
"The individual, unpaid and inexperienced volunteer citizen in politics, who is short on both time and money, can take this country away from the machine politicians and run it to suit himself—if he knows how to go about it.
"This book is a discussion of how to go about it, with no reference to particular political issues. I have my own set of political opinions and some of them are almost bitter in their intensity, but, still more strongly, I have an abiding faith in the good sense and decency of the American people. Many are urging you daily as to what you should do politically; I hope only to show some of the details of how you can do it—the mechanics of the art."
As to his "credentials" for writing the book, Heinlein notes that
"I have been a precinct worker, punching doorbells for my ticket. I have organized political clubs, managed campaigns, run for office, been a county committeeman, a state committeeman, attended conventions including national conventions, been a county organizer, published political newspapers, made speeches, posted signs, raised campaign funds, licked stamps, dispensed patronage, run headquarters, cluttered up 'smoke-filled rooms,' and have had my telephone tapped.
"I suppose that makes me a politician. I do know that it has proved to me that a single citizen, possessed of the right to speak and the right to vote, can make himself felt whenever he takes the trouble to exercise those twin rights."
Take Back Your Government lays out some hard truths about the role the average citizen needs to play in politics if government is to be of any use to "ordinary" people. There are no easy answers. It's hard work, but Heinlein emphasizes why it's worthwhile.
In these days of this "movement" and that "party," Heinlein delves into the pros and cons, the good and bad, of practical politics. He doesn't mince words and doesn't let anyone off the hook—for him, government problems are everyone's responsibility and everyone needs to be part of the solutions. The alternative is to stop complaining and accept what non-involvement brings. Ignorance + apathy = a disaster that can build to almost unconquerable proportions.
Since the work was originally written decades ago, it contains some things that are outdated. Phonebooks have become web searches, postcards have been replaced by e-mail. But the basic requirement is still the same as when Heinlein penned the words. The message is that getting what you want from government requires your involvement. From knowing what you want, to finding others who want what you want, to telling those in power what you want, to becoming one with the power to work toward what you want, to working with others in power to achieve what you want ... If you really want your government to work, Heinlein asserts, then you have to be willing to do a good bit of work yourself, and in this book he provides practical advice on how to do that.
Heinlein writes:
"This is intended to be a practical manual of instruction for the American layman who has taken no regular part in politics, has no personal political ambitions, and no desire to make money out of politics, but who, nevertheless, would like to do something to make his chosen form of government work better. If you have a gnawing, uneasy feeling that you should be doing something to preserve our freedoms and to protect and improve our way of life but have been held back by lack of time, lack of money, or the helpless feeling that you individually could not do enough to make the effort worthwhile, then this book was written for you."