Origami Unicorn

Second World

Video games have become increasingly complex and interactive and many an sf story has been set in the "vurt" or whatever term the author prefers for the virtual, so it was inevitable that Second Life would appear. The only question was when and where. You can join for free, although living a full second life can get costly, something you can defray by economic enterprise in this virtual world—fashion designers do very well and there are fashion magazines with the latest—or by buying "Linden dollars" with your credit card. It is by no means a sophisticated reality, but here is a quick tour of selected locations. The idea is sufficiently cutting-edge to have already attracted a potential presidential candidate to appear in it—as told in a virtual reporter's blog—much as politicians took to appearing on MTV. Also in the world of Second Life, Burning Life, their version of the Burning Man, which was discussed a while ago in Origami Unicorn. Indeed, more than enough happens in Second Life to have attracted real world reporters like those from the Guardian Unlimited and CBS to events within it. It is reported that, in China, one man murdered another because he had sold a magical sword that had only been lent, not given, in the virtual. The world may not be real, but the passions, and the money, are.

How Graphic Presentation Works

We're so used to seeing graphic works of fiction that it it is interesting to look at how the same method of presentation works for history. Slate is running an abridged version of a graphic book about the events leading up to and on 9/11: The 9/11 Report, A graphic adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón. Notice how the characters are drawn, colored, and positioned within the frames and on the page influences the emotions. These are experts with an agenda and they do nothing so crude as to caricature anyone, but, judging from the story's presentation to date, their theme may well be, "missed opportunities."

Just to pick a few examples, almost at random, look at page 31, where each picture is complete within itself but the flow of strong diagonals into and out of the page itself helps tell the story. Then go to page 52 and see how—with many more pictures—the same technique is used again, along with flash-forward to increase the tension. Finally go to page 84, where the reader's eye is drawn left to right, back to follow the conversation, over to see the rear view of the 747, and then down and across again to the final figure on the page, who looks out of the frame—an encouragement to look at the next page.

The color palete is complete, but often muted, subdued. Generous use is made of figures rendered in monotone, both to convey depth and to frame backgroup scenes, but their expressions often suggest how we should react to what they frame, as in the upper right of page 59. One of the most important pages, 29, is entirely in black, white and shades of gray. This adds punch and conviction to the pull-quotes and the statements they enclose.

An unusual and interesting presentation, well worth your critical attention.

But Do They Know of Flurbbing?

Rudy Rucker is a name well known to us all and it is probably inevitable that he should, at some point, try a webzine: Flurb. All of its bits and pieces, taken individually, are at least interesting, but the whole is somewhat unsettling. Our editor has not yet mastered online layout but he gets by with a little help from his friends: Paul Di Filippo, Richard Kadrey, Marc Laidlaw, John Shirley, Terry Bisson, Michael Blumlein, Cory Doctorow, and Kris Saknussem. The picture, "Surf Tiki," goes with his book and website, Saucer Wisdom, which shows another facet of his multi-faceted personality, as he does sort of a James Thurber riff.

Surprise, It's Denver

The final vote making Denver the city of the 2008 WorldCon, over much-favored Chicago, came as a surprise to many people, some of them being those working for the Denver bid. Tom Veal blogged a description and analysis of why things turned out as they did, which will be of interest to die-hard fans. Those less-interested in how the decisions and major prizes in the genre are made may be startled by how few people vote for the WorldCon sites, the Hugos, and other major awards.

Popular opinion among smofs—secret masters of fandom and/or convention runners—is that the numbers don't matter as long as the voters are well-informed and take their role seriously. It's not clear this is actually the case when the numbers drop into the low hundreds, as has happened fairly often in the recent past. There's no denying in any case that lavish partying accompanies bids, and while the ability and people to organize them make offer some clues has to how well a group can handle the demands of a WorldCon, plenty of chocolate and sushi have been know to make believers out of voters.

At any rate, Gnomes on the Range it is for 2008!

Awards! Awards! Awards!

Numerous awards are announced at the WorldCon. Find them in Quick Links, to your lower right: the Hugos, the Campbells, the Sidewise Awards, and others.

The 2008 WorldCon

The 2008 WorldCon will be Denvention 3 in Denver, Colorado. By only eight votes. But a win's a win. The 2007 WorldCon is already scheduled for Yokahama, Japan. The 2007 North American Science Fiction Convention will be Archon 31 in more or less, real near, St. Louis, Missouri.

Anaheim WorldCon

The WorldCon is in progress and one of best places to monitor it is the soon-to-be-past-tense blog Emerald City, which not only has its own commentary but is a nexus for links to other blogs. Also of interest is Views from Medina Road, by Mark R. Kelly, writing for Locus Online. Stay tuned, the Hugos will be announced...

Coming Up, Live From the WorldCon

It would be NPR. Weekend America goes to the con and, in a late development, will be interviewing James Gunn at around one in the afternoon, Saturday. 10,000 people with imagination partying in Southern California with Krissy Clark reporting on the experience.

Indiana Jones IV

Word on FilmForce is there will be a fourth movie in the series some feel is already two movies too long. Indiana Jones IV is on the production ways at Lucas, Inc. Lucas has found a MacGuffin and all is well on the path to create another astounding film like The Phantom Menace. Obviously Lucas is not a man to let a minor matter like reviews discourage him. Rotten Tomatoes is already throwing a few warm-up pitches, with fifty comments in the queue.

Icelander

Icelander is pomo—post modern—literature, which, unlike the magic realism that long preceeded it, lets fantasy in by the back door with a broad wink implying it doesn't really matter because we're all in on the joke.

It is beach reading for the literary set, and as such does a very good job, from the dogs folicking in and out of the grass like porpoises, to the "Two Story House" with writing all over the walls plus the dead body around which much of more-or-less plot revolves.

But as one letter about the Salon review points out, its easier to write loose-jointed comedy than to craft something tight, where the reader is not conspiring with the author to laugh at his own creation, which is mostly about someone striving to live a life that is not so much like something scripted. Since everyone knows but is trying to ignore the fact all novels are created by writers, this doesn't quite come off.

In short, fun, but you're probably going to pass it on to a friend or give it to the library. However, one thing everyone agrees on—including the author, Dustin Long—is that the cover by Josh Cochran is very good indeed. Even Long's wife, who wrote a review for Amazon, which has not yet posted that (yet) but does have some others.