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I watched the live streaming video of the announcement of the Hugo nominations being made at Eastercon this past weekend. I was pleased that I knew a few of the nominees personally: fan writer nominees Chris Garcia and Steven Silver and professional artist Bob Eggleton. Also nominated were two publications in which I've appeared, the fanzine "The Drink Tank" (which has a rave review of Jar Jar Binks Must Die... and other Observations about Science Fiction Movies in the current issue) and the "semi-prozine" Clarkesworld to whom I've just sent off another feature essay. Congratulations and good luck to the nominees (although Bob may need to build a new wing to his house if he wins again).

Naturally I was focused on the two dramatic presentation categories. Although the overall lineups represent different tastes than my own (he said, diplomatically) I was pleased that my first choice in each category did make the ballot and I'm hoping both win.

For "long form" that would be "Inception," arguably the only science fiction film among the nominees. The others are all fantasies, which is permitted under Hugo rules. I thought "Inception" was the best SF film of 2010 and it richly deserves the Hugo.

For "short form" it is the hilarious -- and NSFW (not safe for work)-- video by comic writer Rachel Bloom, "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury." If you haven't seen it yet, you can check it out here: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/70bf... And she says she's coming to Reno for the Hugos. Having already met Bradbury himself (who reportedly found it most amusing) this would be a fitting capstone for her and this entertaining and unusual video.