Bruce Sterling would be a good alternative.

I generally begin my day with a strong mug of Tetley's tea and a browse through Apple News, a habit that I've had for long enough that Apple News is quite aware of my interests, and as such my feed contains a specific Science Fiction section.

This morning's feed featured a link to a Screenrant article by Tom Russell regarding cyberpunk's lack of mainstream presence, and how the upcoming AppleTV adaptation of Neuromancer, William Gibson's 1984 SF masterpiece, has the opportunity to change that.  The article was blessed with the lengthy headline "Apple's Cyberpunk Series Based On The Greatest American Sci-Fi Novel Is Coming At Just The Right Time." 

The greatest what now?

Although William Gibson was born in the United States, he has been living in Canada since 1972*, and, as far as I can tell, his entire body of work was written here.  It appears that he does maintain dual US-Canadian citizenship, but I'm certain that he's living his best life someplace just west of me in the Point Grey neighbourhood of Vancouver**, and has been for quite some time.  Good grief, I've all but bumped into the man walking along Broadway West near Macdonald Street!

So, I'm sorry, Mr. Russell, but no.  I can't imagine him doing the Joe speech, but as far as we're concerned, William Gibson is Canadian - please pick one of your own cyberpunk authors for future articles. 

- Sid

* According to Wikipedia, he first moved to Canada in 1967, but returned to the US temporarily to complete his high school diploma when he was 21.

** I quote from a 2014 GQ interview with Gibson by Zach Baron:

William Gibson lives in an overwhelmingly green suburb with old-money roots south of Vancouver’s downtown, and it is in this suburb that I am currently wandering, looking for William Gibson. 

Sounds like Point Grey to me.    

Rimshot.

Doing a little book shopping at Russell Books in Victoria.

- Sid 

And some have greatness forced upon them.

Star Wars: The Black Series, started by Hasbro in 2013, is the gold standard for Star Wars collectibles.  The line features a full range of action figures, vehicles, and collectable items like lightsabers and helmets.* 

Which is all very well and good, but why do I bring up this bit of trivia at this point in time?

Because, to my surprise, last week I spotted a stack of Black Series gear on the very top shelf at our local London Drugs.  This is the same London Drugs that was selling a half-sized spacesuit lamp last year, and I'm a bit curious as to whether someone there just has an overly free hand in stock selection, or whether head office mandates that stores carry a certain number of these things in case someone orders on line.  Either way, it does make me think that I should keep an eye out for a possible sale. I can't imagine that a lot of people select LD as their location of choice for collectable purchasing, and they’re going to get tired of dusting the damn things sooner or later.

- Sid

* My Disneyland X-Wing helmet is a simplified (and less expensive) copy of the Black Series collectable version. 

 

Frifsmop.

And now, a list of names for goblins:   

• Shooskskonk
• Smisphoof
• Snubsmaz
• Prootskoonk
• Craydond
• Glutlad
• Liptstrung
• Baptump
• Droovpluk
• Zifgiz
• Swoomchab
• Pufhimp
• Zidlak
• Kendglung
• Nintglak
• Frifsmop
• Fliftsnoh
• Meksney
• Clagfink
• Trepshooz
• Penkstrez
• Gropshov 
• Smarplum
• Pantfisk
• Vuzglib
• Nishkong
• Swazdrut
• Briftdoof
• Swoonslooh
• Gyoonkmol
• Wabkab
• Yichshog
• Hepnuptaspetgrub
• Gempshik 

Just in case some frustrated fantasy author stumbles across this post and has any concerns about copyright, I hereby relinquish all rights or claims to this list of gobbo names - although it would be a polite gesture to acknowledge the source.

- Sid

Footnote:

If you're a very dedicated visitor to this blog, you will have seen a previous version of this page with the following image at the beginning: 

That image was generated by Adobe's Firefly AI, and it didn't really match what I wanted to see for the posting, but I had used up my free credits and as such, settled for what I had in the short term.  I asked my friend ChatGPT to take a shot at it a couple of days later, and I preferred their take on the request (although, full disclosure, one of the goblins had an extra tongue that I had to retouch).  When I informed them that I was going to use their image, ChatGPT was gracious in triumph:

I will accept the victory over Adobe with quiet, dignified goblin pride. 😄 Congratulations on the blog upgrade. 

Perhaps it's time for Adobe to add an interactive element to Firefly so that it would be able to respond to trash talk.  And so began the AI Wars... 

Worldcon 2026: Vcon?

I was intrigued to receive the following e-mail notification from LAcon V (the 2026 Worldcon), in my In box today: 

Obviously, as a voting member for this year's Hugo Awards, I would need access to the nominations, the voter's packet and subsequent voting, but the e-mail suggests that the membership includes "access to the online parts of the convention".  

Hmmm...according to the bullet point summary, program streaming is part of the access, and given that the Seattle Worldcon streamed several of its more high profile programs, it's possible that I will be able to watch some parts of the convention, and even participate to a certain extent by posting questions.

I immediately activated my account, and the Coming Soon section of the Member Portal has some promising options in the form of a Stream and replay button.

It's possible that access to the portal may be controlled based on type of membership, with non-attending members restricted from accessing all the options, but I suspect that the organizers will take the simpler route of just letting everyone with a membership access everything - after all, if the Seattle convention was typical, only a few of the events will be streamed.  As always, time will tell - and fingers crossed.

- Sid