Fan Boy.

 

Many years ago, someone suggested to me that I should mention something about my personal life on my resume. After a little thought, I cautiously added the following:

PERSONAL INTERESTS

• Science Fiction
• Military History *

I can't honestly say that this has had any overt effect on being hired since then, but I did once have an job interviewer say to me, in the same conspiratorial tone of voice that one would use to discuss a shared interest in latex or lingerie, "So, science fiction....do you go to...conventions????"

In response, I laughed a bit, and said, "No, never, I'm not that kind of a fan."

Which is quite true. I know a few people who have similar interests to my own, but for the most part my fandom has been a private activity.**  I'm also enough of an introvert that I'm not a huge fan of crowds, and as such, I've always viewed conventions and so forth as being a bit too busy for my tastes.  Nonetheless, last Saturday I found myself picking out a suitable t-shirt for an experimental visit to the second day of Fan Expo Vancouver.

After all, conventions have become the great public face of fandom and should be recognized as such. The first World Science Fiction Convention was held in New York in 1939, with a classic guest list from the Golden Age of science fiction: Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Jack Williamson, John W. Campbell, Hannes Bok, E. E. "Doc" Smith, L. Sprague de Camp, and so on. (It also featured the first example of cosplay - legendary fan Forrest J. Ackerman and his partner Myrtle R. Douglas wore "futuristicostumes" that she had designed and created for the gathering.)

The current standard for conventions is the San Diego Comic-Con, which started with a modest 300 attendees at its debut in 1970, but has since grown to over 200,000 attendees in 2018, with New York Comic-Con pulling in similar numbers on the East Coast.  I really don't think I'd be comfortable participating in an event on that scale, making the expected 30,000 guests for the 2019 Fan Expo look like a much more approachable option for a neophyte like myself.

My final t-shirt choice for the show is my lenticular Astroboy souvenir shirt from our 2015 trip to Japan.  It's apparently a good choice, based on the handful of compliments and comments that it garners from random people in the convention crowd once I'm on site. 

 

I arrive around lunch, at which time the con floor space is not terribly crowded (to my mild relief).  For a small show, they've done all right for guests - for old school fans there's George Takei and Billy Dee Williams representing the Star Trek/Star Wars camps, and Cary Elwes and Wallace Shawn from The Princess Bride. The balance of the theatrical guests relies heavily on the number of television shows being shot locally, with representatives from Riverdale, Arrow, Flash, and Supergirl.  Coming in from further afield we also have Bruce Wayne and Alfred from Gotham - David Mazouz and Sean Pertwee - Pom Klementieff from The Guardians of the Galaxy, and Khary Payton (King Ezekiel in The Walking Dead, as well as voice acting for Big Hero 6 and Teen Titans).

Other attractions include the usual Artist's Alley area for comic creators - I've been out the market for quite a while but I recognize a few names:  Arthur Suydam, Ty Templeton, Arthur Adams, and Steve Englehart, legendary for his work on Batman with Marshall Rogers in the 70s. (My friend Christi*** had the good fortune to walk away with an original Ty Templeton drawing from one of the Sketch-Offs between artists.)

The cosplay crowd is represented by the famous 501st Legion of Imperial Stormtroopers, along with the Mandalorian Mercs and the Falcon Base Rebel Legion, and some individual cosplayers such as Oshley Cosplay, Evilyn13, and Cherry Amaru. The 502st Legion is accompanied by a remote controlled R2-D2, which gets a lot of attention as it wanders the floor.

 

There's also a pretty good selection of cosplay on the part of the attendees. Right in front of me when I enter is a very well done classic Time Lord costume from Doctor Who, and as I wander through the retail area there are a lot of anime characters, an excellent Ghostbuster, an eight-foot tall Bumblebee from Transformers, a wide range of game-derived costumes, and easily a dozen Harley Quinns - for future reference, please be careful with those giant wooden mallets, ladies!

Some of the costume references are quite obscure - until I noticed the TV set in Viking gear, I didn't realize that the green-faced woman with wizard's hat and six-foot tall wand was Dot Matrix from the computer animated Reboot! series. (The TV is named Mike, not that it's important.)  It's safe to say that you're mining a very narrow vein of fandom if you wear a costume that appeared in a single episode**** of a show from 1994.

The booths cover the expected range of broad geek shopping categories:  comics, weapons, toys, clothing and art, along with a few unexpected items that you probably never thought you'd need (Imperial AT-AT planters, anyone?) 

 

I don't leave the show empty-handed, although Star Wars planters don't make the cut. The Canadian Comics booth has a number of attractive deals, and after browsing through several boxes of half-price graphic novels and omnibus collections, I select a Captain Canuck Compendium and a DC New 52 collection of Dial H for Hero, written by science fiction/fantasy author China Miéville, whose surrealistic style should make for interesting reading. I also buy a souvenir shopping bag, because really, you should always get at least one piece of show schwag - and I don't really need any more t-shirts.

Overall, I would have to say that it was an interesting experience, but unless they had someone on the guest list that I desperately wanted to meet in person, I probably wouldn't go again.  It's not that I found any problems with the event, it was well organized with a good selection of guests for a small show, but ultimately I'm more at home at home, where I can peacefully browse shopping opportunities and science fiction updates online.

I guess it's true - I'm really just not that kind of a fan.

- Sid

* The science fiction part has gotten a comment or two, but NO ONE has ever asked me about military history - why does no one want my opinion on how the Russian T-34 was the game changer in WWII tank design?

** Says the man with 816 posts about his hobby on the internet.

*** Yes, her insignia is on the wrong side, but let's not be picky about this.  (In her defense, the dress itself appears to be mirror reversed - the wide part of the collar should be on the left.)

*** Episode 9, Season 1: Wizards, Warriors and a Word from Our Sponsor.

The glass will just keep filling up.

 

I was chatting with my co-worker Wendy this morning and she asked if I was a 90210 fan.  I explained that I was not, but that my wife had already informed me of Luke Perry's premature passing at the age of 52.

Wendy is currently studying to become a personal trainer, and she mentioned that it had come up as part of her course material that there are some people who just have a genetic predilection for problems like strokes, heart attacks, what have some, and some people who just don't.

"Oh well," she concluded, "There's nothing you can do about your DNA."

"Well, not yet," I replied.

Which, really, is the ultimate expression of being a science fiction fan, and one of the things that I most enjoy about science fiction.  There's a kind of optimism to it - yes, there are people who are predicting the apocalypse in 30 years, but really, science fiction suggests that there will be a future, and that we will be in it.  And,  that hopefully we will be able to solve some of the problems that we just have to accept right now, like dying of a stroke when you're 52.

- Sid

Gateway.

 

 “Canada is going to the moon.”

- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada's commitment to NASA's planned Lunar Gateway space station, which will hopefully begin construction sometime in the 2020s.  As in the past, our two billion CAD contribution to the orbital platform will take the form of a smart robotic manipulator - the Canadarm3, of course - which will be composed of a primary large-scale arm and a smaller arm similar to the current DEXTRE unit in use on the ISS.

 

I confess that I'm a bit conflicted regarding the Gateway Station*.  On one hand, I'd prefer to see more of a focus on Mars, in spite of the recent resurgence of interest in lunar exploration, as demonstrated by the Chinese Chang'e 4 lunar probe landing on the dark side at the start of this year, and a planned return to the Moon by NASA.  However, the name "Gateway" is well chosen - a station in lunar orbit would also be a useful stepping stone for Martian exploration while providing the perfect overwatch for lunar missions, and also allow for the development of dedicated vacuum shuttles for ISS-Gateway travel, which would be far more efficient than the hybrid craft that have made the Earth-Moon circuit in the past.

Ultimately, it's important to be sensible about things like this. To paraphrase Bachman-Turner Overdrive**, any space exploration is good space exploration. Everything we do moves us forward on the path of exploration, and, like the song says, we should take what we can get.

- Sid

* All other issues aside, I do think it's a cool name for a space station, no offense to the ISS.

** 70s band from Winnipeg, for the younger members of our audience.  The song being misquoted here is You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.

Updates.

"Sergeant Storm, Major Matt Mason's Space Friend!"

 

Over time, I've kept a casual eye on opportunities to add to my little collection of Major Matt Mason toys from the 60s, but generally the options on eBay are either a bit more than I want to spend, or not in very good condition.

However, it would seem that perseverance is its own reward.  I had the misfortune of waking up early on Wednesday morning, and as a result had some extra time before getting ready for work.  So I checked on a Matt Mason figure that I'd been following on eBay, only to discover that it had been purchased by someone else.  However, it recommended another auction:  a Sergeant Storm figure in relatively good condition at only $49.00 for the Buy It Now option - a very reasonable price compared to similar listings. Not only that, but the seller would only ship within Canada, which sounded to me like a clear message. A few quick clicks and voila, a new addition to my toy collection.

The slightly damaged 1966 "blue strap" figure comes with a slightly damaged flight propulsion pack - interestingly, the damage on the pack matches the damage to the paint on the back of the figure. It turns out that if you leave a painted rubber action figure in contact with a polystyrene accessory for long enough, the paint will glue itself to the plastic - remind me to keep an eye on the Major, who spends all of his time strapped into his near-mint Supernaut Power Limbs. I'd really hate to see him get stuck in there.


"He had it coming, he had it coming, he only had himself to blame..."

 

I'm now on my third Survival attempt in The Long Dark game.  The second one ended 81 days in after repeated falls through thin ice (my own fault for not paying attention to the health bar - the game was telling me that my Risk of Hypothermia affliction was Healed, but apparently it doesn't matter what temperature the water is when you drown).

I'm currently 41 days into my current run, and after recently recovering from multiple wolf attacks, it was with a certain sense of grim satisfaction that I returned to the scene of the crime after finding some .303 ammo for my battered Lee Enfield rifle at the Hunting Lodge in the Broken Railroad map.  The score:  two bullets, 10 kilograms of wolf meat, and a couple of useful hides for crafting.  And hey, they started it.



"A red day, a sword day!"

 

Wish me luck:  I'm finally registered for a month of Longsword Training at Vancouver's Academie Duello, starting next Tuesday at 7:30.  I generally avoid group activities like this, a stance reinforced by an unfortunate experience with ballroom dance classes many years ago, so I'm a bit nervous about how things will work out in practice. At least in this case no one has falsely assured me that there will be lots and lots of potential partners in attendance - and if I do have to dance with the instructor, well, the circumstances are a little different.



Coming Soon!

Does anyone else mark book release dates on their calendars?  Anyone?  No?  Well, not the biggest surprise in my life...   On that basis, let me just remind everyone that the eighth book in the Expanse series, Tiamat's Wrath, will be dropping from Orbit* on March 26th.

Authors often struggle to keep a concept fresh over multiple novels, but the team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the writing partners behind the nom de plume of James S. A. Corey, have done an excellent job of maintaining the ongoing story of Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante.  Damn - that reminds me, I still need to find some time to sit down with the first season of  the SciFi adaptation that I purchased on Blu-ray...so much media, so little time.


At least the cover art is finished...

 

The present tense made him nervous.

William Gibson, Neuromancer 

Speaking of books on the "Coming Soon" list, I was curious as to whether or not Agency, William Gibson's follow-up to The Peripheral, was going to make its scheduled debut in December after I had mentioned it in last year's Geekmas list.

Given that it was originally supposed to be released on December 25th in 2018, was pushed to April 2nd of 2019, and is now scheduled for September 3rd, I'm just a little concerned as to whether or not Bill is doing okay. Now, for all I know William Gibson has been late with every novel he's ever written, I've never tried to track that before, but it seems worrisome that the release date has been so publicly changed twice now.

The joke, if there is one, is that Agency is apparently set in an alternative 2017 in which Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election - a what-if version of the world that we are getting further and further away from every single day.

- Sid

* Ha, little science fiction joke:  Orbit is the publishing company.

Where is John Nada when you need him?

Oh, by the way, I've cracked the code.
I've figured out these shadow organizations
And the Illuminati know
That they're finally primed for world domination.
And soon you've got black helicopters comin' cross the border
Puppet masters for the New World Order
Be aware: there's always someone that's watching you.
And still the government won't admit they faked the whole moon landing
Thought control rays, psychotronic scanning
Don't mind that, I'm protected cause I made this hat
From aluminum foil (foil)...
Wear a hat that's foil lined
In case an alien's inclined
To probe your butt or read your mind.
Looks a bit peculiar ('culiar)
Seems a little crazy
But someday I'll prove (I'll prove, I'll prove, I'll prove)
There's a big conspiracy.

Weird Al Yankovic, Foil

Free, free for the first time from the subliminal voices of our reptilian overlords!!  But for how long?

- Sid

Mission Complete.

My battery is low and it's getting dark.

Final message from Opportunity rover, June 10, 2018.

After over a thousand attempts at contact*, NASA has officially announced that it is no longer attempting to revive the inactive Opportunity Mars rover, thereby ending the longest running rover mission to date. 

When you consider that Opportunity operated for close to 15 years and covered 45 kilometers of the Martian landscape, it's almost ridiculous to look at its original mission as part of the Mars Exploration Rover program:  to last 90 Martian days and travel one kilometer from its landing site.  On that basis, I appreciate the fact that NASA has logged this as "Mission Complete" - that's a much better epitaph for Opportunity than any of the various headlines announcing that the rover is dead.  It's equally appropriate that Opportunity's last resting place is in Perseverance Valley, on the edge of Endeavour Crater. 

In his 2012 book Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson makes the following comment:

Robots are important also. If I don my pure-scientist hat, I would say just send robots; I'll stay down here and get the data. But nobody's ever given a parade for a robot. Nobody's ever named a high school after a robot. So when I don my public-educator hat, I have to recognize the elements of exploration that excite people. It's not only the discoveries and the beautiful photos that come down from the heavens; it's the vicarious participation in discovery itself.

I'm sorry, Neil, but I have to disagree with you.  I think that in this case, it would be completely appropriate to name a high school after a robot: you'd be hard pressed to find a better example of how to overcome obstacles and exceed expectations than Opportunity.

- Sid

* Including an 18-song playlist.