I really enjoyed John Hodgman’s speech at the Radio & TV Correspondent’s dinner for the jokes but mostly for the use of Speculative Fiction to communicate complex and emotionally charged political ideas.  Before we get into that let us take The John Hodgman are you a SF fan test, are you more of an SF fan then the President?  Watch the Video below.

1. What are the name of all 3 types of hobbits?
2. Who is the Father of Superman?
3. Do you have a particular technology addiction?
4. Do you have a picture of yourself in Cosplay or on a pilgrimage to a SF place?
5. Can you flash the Vulcan solute?
6. What was the name of the God that Conan the Barbarian worshiped?
7. Do you know what the Kwisatz Haderach is?
   1. Bonus points if you know which version of dune the picture is from?
8. What is the name of the giant sandworm?
9. What is the name of the machine to summon such a sandworm?
10. What is the name of the fluid that they expunge from the sandworm?

I love his comment on the Constitution as a big faq for the U.S. and the founding fathers perspective of God as a distant Dungeon Master.

The beauty of John Hodgman’s speech is the use of SF to communicate complex and emotionally charged political ideas in an approachable manner.  He was able to reach out to both sides of the political spectrum and get them to think about ideals like

• Consensus
• Eagerly looking forward to the future
• Appreciating our diversity, EDIC

(via Huffington Post)

Related posts

• Speculative Fiction Today #413 “Hodgman’s Nerd Test” (0)
• Project:Shadow 2007 December Newsletter (0)
• P:SI #335 “Where Do You Fall on the Fan Spectrum” (0)
• What makes a fan a fan? (0)
• What is Progressive Speculative Fiction? (0)

In Dollhouse a person could hire the Dollhouse to program an active with whatever the client wants. What if I need a vampire hunter.

Could Topher program Victor with enough skills and knowledge to actually hunt down and slay a vampire?

What psychological profiles would Topher use in Victor’s Vampire Hunter Active?

Related posts

• P:SI #362 “A Spud, A Dud, and Diversity” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #409 “Vampire Hunter V” (0)
• Playing in the Dollhouse (0)
• P:SI #347 “Venetian Vampire Found” (0)
• P:SI #338 “Letter To A Young Fan” (0)

When asked “Do I love Speculative Fiction?”  The answer is yes I know in my heart that I love Speculative Fiction and would consider myself a fan.  If that question is followed up with “How do you know?”  Then the answer is more difficult and involves a man in a batman suit playing guitar at a street light but more on that latter.

One could just claim “I know because that is how I feel.”  It is my first answer to this question but people feel many different things throughout the day and even have feelings that contradict previous feelings or their own believed position.  This does not belittle the gut check but it does reduce it’s value to one method of discerning one which should be tempered with something else.

Actions speak louder than words.  A phrase that has so much truth to it and is very applicable to this process of discovery.  Our actions toward Speculative Fiction gives us evidence of our true feelings toward it.  Take this real life experience as an example.

Friday, traveling in my car through town I noticed a man standing in the grass near a three way intersection.  This was not ordinary man for he was wearing a Batman costume and jamming away on a guitar with a smile of joy on his face.  I realized by my own thoughts that this is the moment of truth, what are your thoughts about this man?

My thoughts first went toward protection of Speculative Fiction by discerning if the man was doing this out of mockery.  Satisfied that he was not, my mind turned toward fraternal thoughts.  I celebrated in his expression, became excited, thought about which Batman suit he chose and found myself wishing he could have a catwoman singer and a robin playing drums.  If your thoughts turned destructive, toward mocking this man tearing him down and robbing him of his joyous moment then your feelings are in question because your actions say your  not a fan.

How Do You Know If You Love SF?  You know that you love Speculative Fiction if you celebrate it, cherish it and express those feelings in fraternal /constructive actions.  If your actions are hateful, mocking and destructive than you do not love SF.  You are not a fan.

By the way his Batman costume was blue and grey 1960’s style Batman costume.

Related posts

• What Costume Will You Wear For Halloween? (1)
• Theater or Renter: The Dark Knight (0)
• Theater or Renter: July 2008 (0)
• The Evolution of Batman’s Symbol (1)
• Speculative Fiction Today #413 “Hodgman’s Nerd Test” (0)

This clip of Darth Jackson on Britain’s Got Talent is hilarious.  The mashup of Michael Jackson and Darth Vader is great.  I laughed so hard, though I have a weakness for dancing Storm Troopers.  The only thing I think he should have done differently is when they asked him to take off his helmet he should have had a Michael Jackson mask on underneath.  If he had done that I think he would have won… he still had my vote but what can I say Dancing Stormtroopers!!!

Watch the clip below

(via Club Jade)

update:  Here is the link to watch the video, it has been disabled by request… maybe Simon didn’t like how he looked in it.

Related posts

• Why Progressive Speculative Fiction? (0)
• What Would Empire Currency Look Like? (1)
• Weekend Crafts: Fathers Day Fun (0)
• Star Wars: Visions of the Blade Online Comic (2)
• Speculative Fiction Today #396 “Cheeper, Shorter With More Cut” (0)

I love the growing robot technology and how it can better everyone’s lives.  The idea that one day I  could crawl into a Mech suit to “run around in” excites me and is one of the things I’m looking forward to in the new G.I. Joe movie.  This suit is of no exception it uses sensors attached to the skin of the wearer to operate.

“HAL catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer’s muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer’s daily activities. This is what we call a ‘voluntary control system’ that provides movement interpreting the wearer’s intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement. Not only a ‘voluntary control system’ “HAL” has, but also a ‘robotic autonomous control system’ that provides human-like movement based on a robotic system which integrally work together with the ‘autonomous control system’. “HAL” is the world’s first cyborg-type robot controlled by this unique Hybrid System.”

The humor of the company working on this is at no loss to me either:

• Naming themselves Cyberdyne after the Terminator films
• Naming the suit Hybrid Assistive Limb or Hal

I’m not sure if I like their use of all the darker films where the robots turned on the humans and killed them but being an optimist I go to my happy place and think that the ominous warnings given in the films is what was on their minds… besides the suit needs us so if it gained sentience and went crazy it would merely assimilate humans instead of killing us off.

(via /Film)

Related posts

• Speculative Fiction Today #403 “Being Human and The Sisters of The Agiel” (0)
• P:S I #134 "Apple Bobbing for Pirates" (0)

We at dashPunk say Fandom saves lives and here is a great story of how it literally saves lives.  It is also a great demonstration of the power of myths and having mythology in our lives.  Myths really set up a great communication short cut that is clear communications.

(via /Film)

Related posts

• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)
• Tobey Magire in Spider-man 4 and 5 (7)
• Speculative Fiction Today #402 “Are You A Janova’s Witness” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #384 “Amazon Fail Part 2: Die, Kindle Die!” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #367 “Boxee To Hulu This Means War” (0)

The Hugo Awards nominations are out!  I was so thrilled when I saw that Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.  This is great because they are recognizing web series along with television series.

Now comes the hard part… picking only one winner.  Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and two other top picks from the category is “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” (Doctor Who) and “Turn Left” (Doctor Who).  This is a very hard pick because I really want Doctor Horrible to win as recognition and validation of web series yet “Turn Left” deserves to win since it is the best dramatic presentation out of the three.

Some other categories with difficult picks.

• Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: The Dark Knight vs. Hellboy II vs. Iron Man.   The Dark Knight will probably garner an undeserved win due to the last 20 minutes of the film which is a shame since Iron Man is the best dramatic presentation.
• Best Graphic Story:  The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle vs. Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones vs. Serenity: Better Days.  I’m going to have to give this one a lot of thought they are all deserving of best graphic story.

Which one will you vote for?

See the full list of nominations here.

Related posts

• P:SI #233 "The Risky Business of Speed and Porno" (0)
• P:SI #236 "Aliens, Doctors, and Water Bears Oh My!" (0)
• P:SI #212 "Elseworlds Lives" (0)
• P:S I #156 "Del Toro’s Death Lair" (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #406 “Knocking Down Total Eclipse of The Heart” (0)

As I sit here burred under ice and suffering from the ill effects of an ice storm I like being reminded of the positive side.  This ice sculpture if truly a thing of beauty and awe.  I love just starring at it, taking in the intricate details and getting lost in the colors.

(via Pink Tentacle)

Related posts

• Ice Art: Namdaemun Snow Sculptures (1)

Margaret Guroff  is health editor of AARP The Magazine. In her first story for Urbanite, she takes out her inability to build an annotated Moby Dick website out on all fans who are not so swift to give up.

One distinctly modern form of obsessive weirdoism is fandom: becoming so devoted to a work of art that you want to augment or even inhabit it. Out of this impulse was born the Klingon Language Institute (www.kli.org), the phenomenon of “fan fiction” (unauthorized stories by civilians advancing new plotlines of beloved films and TV series) (The Urbanite Magazine),

Merriam-Webster defines Obsession as:

a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling ; broadly : compelling motivation (M-W)

What she fails to see is that fandom is a nascent culture:

a: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time <popular culture><southern culture> c: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization <a corporate culture focused on the bottom line> d: the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic (M-W)

Fandom began to form in 1960’s and 70’s, as Speculative Fiction began taking on the role of mythology.  It gave a set of values, goals, and practices that have developed and grown over time.

Through our conventions, filksings, fanfic, and fanfilm, we have developed a culture that is uniquely ours.  Like all subcultures, it is misunderstood and mocked by the dominate culture.  The very idea that we are merely obsessing over favorite stories is an insult not only to us, but to every culture.  These characters are our heroes, and these stories are our folktales.

The problem we are having is that all of the foundations of culture now ( not just those of fandom) are copyrighted and sold by corporations that neither understand nor care that they wield so much power.  Just because our mythology is copyrighted does not change the power these stories have over our lives.  In fact, it only increases our outrage when our stories are treated with the same disdain that corporate media has for the mythology of the Greeks, Romans, or even the beloved stories of the Christian Bible.  The Corporation cares only for its own profits, not the effect it has on culture.

While our interest in these stories may seem obsessive to some, I wonder how they feel about those who share other folktales, or folk songs.  I wonder if she shares this same disdain for others who do not subscribe to her culture.  People mock what they don’t understand, and it is clear she just doesn’t understand.

Related posts

• Will There be a Sequel to Harry Potter in Court? (0)
• Where have all the SF Fans gone? (0)
• What is the Future of Media? (0)
• Vision of a Fan Works Economy (0)
• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)

Eoghann Irving has posted an interesting rebuttal to my post, Fandom v The Scifi Channel, where he tackles the question What makes a fan? The critique of my position is an interesting one, and I have to say, I agree with his assertion that it sounds like I am trying to say that a fans define themselves by their interest in SF.

While there are some who have adopted the fan culture for themselves, cultural adoption is not a requirement to be a fan.

There is one hard and fast rule that separates Fans from Enthusiasts:

Fans Know Stuff

That is it.  Fans know things about the things they love and enthusiasts don’t.

Anyone can quote Star Trek or Star Wars because many of the aphorisms have gone mainstream, but a Star Wars Fan knows who Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun are.  They have become such an important part of the Saga.  They recognized Asajj Ventris when she first came on the screen in the new Clone Wars film.

I am not saying that fandom is defined by obscure knowledge, but rather, a fan remembers the details and more often than not knows the minutia.

A good analogy is to look at music fandom.  Many people may like that one song, but a fan knows the lyrics, the band members, and the albums by that artist.

A fan is someone who has fallen in love with a piece of art, and seeks out more on that subject.  What I was trying to say in my last post is that a fan not only craves more, but seeks it out.

Who is a fan?

In the end then this definition works to the extent that it refutes the notion of a splintering fandom by simply stating that they were never really part of fandom in the first place. It’s a reductionist argument which simply eliminates that which doesn’t fit instead of seeking a way to acknowledge it.

And there’s something very defensive about that approach that I don’t like. It almost has the smell of “but we’re better than them” and oh I do so detest cliques (Solar Flare).

What I am talking about is not about cliques or any sense of superiority, I believe many people consider themselves fans when they truly are not.

Eoghann Irving is a fan because, like me he cares enough about this topic to post about it and event to rebut my challenge of his original premise.  That is a clear demonstration of the passion I talked about in my last post.

Since he mentioned Cliques, I have to say, every culture and subculture has its own cliques, that is as true of fandom as it is with the mainstream culture.  These do exist within fandom, but I don’t believe that they define it.

Related posts

• WTF Star Trek Super Bowl Ad!?! (0)
• Why Progressive Speculative Fiction? (0)
• Where have all the SF Fans gone? (0)
• What makes a fan a fan? (0)
• What is Mythology? (1)