Lynne M. Thomas's Blog, page 21
July 7, 2016
Be careful what you ask for…
As you may know, I was at CONvergence last week, which is one of my favorite conventions, enjoying the vast array of nerdery, geekery, enthusiasm, and awesome made available there.
I was attending as a former CONvergence Guest of Honor.
Current Guests of Honor at CONvergence tend to be heavily scheduled, so one of their practices is to assign each GoH a liaison/minion/handler– someone to make sure that you eat, sleep, hydrate, get where you’re going when you need to be there, and generally don’t implode during your GoH gig.
One of my panels (about mentoring the next generation of creative geeks) was with one of this year’s GoHs, Daren Dochterman, and another former GoH, Kelly McCullough. Daren’s assigned handler, Anton Pedersen, was checking in on him, and, because this is how things happen at CVG, Anton kindly also asked both Kelly and I if we needed anything (water, a snack?).
Now, keep in mind that Anton and I are acquainted, and Kelly and Anton have known each other for years, and Kelly and I are very good friends who troll each other A LOT. Kelly demurred, and I quipped “I’d like a pony.” An approximation of the conversation that followed is appended; these may not be the fully correct words, but the sense is there.
Kelly: I don’t think they’ll let a live pony in here
Lynne: I didn’t say it had to be a LIVE pony
Kelly: that could be messy; I think the hotel would frown more on a dead pony
Lynne: It never needed to be alive! Health code violations are bad!
…I’m easy! a My Little Pony would totally do!
At which point, we all laughed, Anton went off to his duties, and the panel began in earnest.
… halfway through the panel, Anton returned, and quietly placed a pony savings bank on the panelist podium while I gawped.
He got me a pony.
Not only did he get me a pony, he found TWILIGHT SPARKLE, the closest thing to a librarian pony you get in the My Little Pony universe. In the dealer room! Which means an attending dealer/artist at CVG also made a sale!
Behold, dear reader, the evidence. I offered to return it to him, acknowledging that I was joking and that I didn’t really need a pony, but he insisted that I keep it. My understanding is that this is considered part of their guest services suite, and that he will be reimbursed by the convention if he submits a receipt.[image error]
CONvergence bought me a pony, y’all.
:ded of awesome:
Picture of Lynne, holding a Twilight Sparkle Bank. Photo credit: Kelly McCullough
July 6, 2016
New Verity! Ep 113 – Law & Order: Marinus
Our trip through classic season one is back to moving pictures! Join Deb, Erika, Lynne, and Tansy as we cover Terry Nation’s eclectic 6-parter, “The Keys of Marinus”. There’s a lot to love and some to not-love. Listen and see who thinks which parts are which!
How do you feel about this story? Do you love its fairy-tale nature and the multiple adventures? Or do you think it drags? If the latter, which parts drag? We’re super-curious to know, so please tell us in the comments!
^E
Also covered:
Lynne
guested on the Just Enough Trope podcast!
acquired the 12th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver!
Erika celebrated Canada Day with a Lazy Doctor Who mini-marathon!
Tansy watched 60s Doctor Who (including “The Underwater Menace”) with children!
Deb
enjoyed the Doctor Who: The Fan Show + Doctor Puppet!
LOLed at David Tennant reading tweets to Donald Trump (NSFW)!
Bonus…
View original post 43 more words
June 29, 2016
Extra! – Truly Titanic Comics
New Verity! Extra!
Comics! Join Deb, Liz, and Lynne as they celebrate Titan’s Doctor Who Comics Day by chatting about some of the lovely comics they’ve read for the first time this year!
^E
Related link:
Supremacy of the Cybermen #1
Download or listen now (runtime 55:17)
CONVergence Schedule!
Behold, my schedule for CONvergence!
I will have badge ribbons for both Verity! and Uncanny Magazine. Ask me!
Thursday June 30!
Outlander, Season 2
At the end of season 1, Claire and Jamie were headed to France to try to stop the Jacobite uprising. Come talk about their continuing adventures. Panelists: Lis Morton, Michelle Farley (mod), Lynne M Thomas, Amy Fischer, Anne Fry
Thursday June 30, 2016 8:30pm – 9:30pm
DoubleTree Plaza 3
Friday, July 1
Learning From a Master
How do you pass on your mastery of a subject to the next generation? What are some ways for someone new to an art form learn it? These experts are already mentoring the next generation. Find out how. Panelists: Kelly McCullough, Roy C. Booth, Michael Shappe (mod), Daren Dochterman, Lynne M Thomas
Friday July 1, 2016 12:30pm – 1:30pm
DoubleTree Plaza 1
Positive Disability
Let’s talk about good examples of disability and disability culture in SF&F, such as the character with a hearing impairment in Dr. Who. Does not talking about it make it mainstream? Not a big deal anymore? Panelists: Vetnita Anderson (mod), Josie Browning, Lee Blauersouth, Michael Damian Thomas, Lynne M Thomas
Friday July 1, 2016 7:00pm – 8:00pm
DoubleTree Atrium 3
Saturday, July 2
Building Worlds for Fiction
Building a comprehensive world, whether it is for a novel, comic, or serial can be a huge challenge. Join the panelists as they discuss tools, strategies, and both successes and failures in world-building. Panelists: J.M. Lee, Melissa Olson, Michael Carus (mod), Greg Weisman, Lynne M Thomas
Saturday July 2, 2016 9:30am – 10:30am
DoubleTree Plaza 1
Why We Need Representation in Superheroes
Heroes come in every size, every shape, and every color. From Jubilee, Black Widow, and Ms. Marvel to Cyborg, Oracle, and Hawkeye, we’ll discuss the importance of diversity in the superhero biz. Panelists: Khary Payton, Greg Weisman, Christopher Jones, Lynne M Thomas, Bri Lopez Donovan
Saturday July 2, 2016 11:00am – 12:00pm
DoubleTree Edina
June 27, 2016
What I did on my summer vacation
I learned to throw knives.[image error]
Photo by Kelly McCullough
Check out @KellyDMcC’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/KellyDMcC/status/747486429396107264?s=09
June 23, 2016
June 15, 2016
Extra! – In Defence of…5 Rounds Rapid
It’s time for another silly Extra! Join Deb, Erika, Katrina, and Tansy as we defend the very-nearly-indefensible. We had some excellent topics left over from our live show at Gallifrey One, so we put them to good use!
Do you have some topics you’d like us to defend on a future In Defence Of? Let us know in the comments!
^E
Download or listen now (runtime 53:24)
June 14, 2016
4th Street Fantasy! The SCHEDULE
Keen-eyed observers will note that I’m about to head to the 4th St. Fantasy Convention in the twin cities.
BEHOLD! A SCHEDULE for the Thomases!
SATURDAY, JUNE 18
11:00 AM The Multi-Creative Household
4th Street has quite a few family groups with multiple professional creative folks. How do they mitigate different levels of success, competing careers, and/or high environmental levels of stress and impostor syndrome?
Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Benjamin Kinney, Lynne M. Thomas
2:00 PM Disability in Speculative Fiction
Representation of disability and chronic illness often comes in two forms: writing *the* experience or writing *an* experience. How much you define the character by their condition can define the story. Caitlin R. Kiernan’s The Drowning Girl follows India Phelps’ struggling with her schizophrenia and treatment for it, while N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Kingdom follows Oree handling bloody plots of the gods while happening to be blind. Has there been a quantitative or qualitative shift in treatment of disabilities in SF/F in its recent history?
John Wiswell, Michael D. Thomas, Mishell Baker, Marissa Lingen
WOO!
June 8, 2016
Verity! 111 – Losing The Long Game
In which we discuss The Long Game.
It’s Eccleston time again! Join Deb, Erika, Katrina, and Lynne as we discuss a real workhorse of an episode, “The Long Game”. Adam, the not-quite-companion fails, the Doctor and Rose aren’t the most mature, and we play “we’ll fix it for you” to help Lynne handwave something that bugs her. Then we talk about potato chips. No, really.
What did you think of this one? Did it make an impression? Have you revisited it since the first time you saw it? Let us know in the comments!
^E
Also covered:
Lynne’s collection of Doctor Who DVDs is once again complete, with the purchase of The Underwater Menace !
Erika inspired a Mexican Doctor Who podcast, Doctor Quien!
Kat discovered the existence of a Doctor Who board game, Doctor Who, The Game of Time and Space!
Deb’s heart is warmed by the goodness of fandom:
Listener Helen made it possible…
View original post 64 more words
June 3, 2016
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Not So Deep Thoughts
Last weekend, I spent some quality time with Mary Robinette Kowal, and that quality time included a viewing of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Fear not, we had Manhattans.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2629480985/imdb/embed?autoplay=false&width=480
We live tweeted a small number of observations, mostly plot based, but still I felt an overwhelming need to point out some of the other things that deeply irritated me about this Austen adaptation. So here you go.
This was indeed an adaptation using characters and places from Pride and Prejudice, but tonally, thematically, and in terms of the point of the book is nowhere near the original novel, or even other adaptations. Pride and Prejudice is from LIZZIE’S point of view. Not in this version. This film, much like the PPZ book (which I did indeed read a while back so that I would have the right to complain about it; I am less kind in retrospect) fundamentally misunderstands what Jane Austen was doing in her novels. Austen’s works are specifically about women’s experiences in her world. Women are in every scene. Women are the vast majority of the point of view characters. Adding zombies to Austen should absolutely change it, but I was disappointed with the direction that the changes took, which I thought were less than awesome.
Plot/Character Focus: This adaptation comes across as, ultimately, a fight of Darcy vs. Wickham (with Lizzie as the prize) framed with their conflicting philosophies of killing zombies vs. coexisting with them. Which means that Lizzie is sidelined from her own book. NO.
Lizzie: for what she was given to work with, Lily James did fine. But she was not given much, really, and a whole lot of her costuming was just… wrong. Wrongity wrong. Astonishingly wrong. Off the shoulder sleeves on that blue ballgown? Seriously? The initial Lizzie/Darcy proposal fight scene, however, was what I wanted the whole movie to be. Alas, it was not.
Social Status: How does the ability to dance play into zombie killing skills? This is a burning question that could have been answered in an epic manner and was not addressed. So much more could have been done, especially exploring how there are now two methods to becoming an Accomplished Lady: The Typical Refinements and Martial Skills. Show us how the Bennet sisters demonstrate their Marriage Mart value through their martial skills. Is that what’s holding poor Mary Bennet back, rather than her piety?
Insufficient Bennet Battle Squads: There were only like 2 scenes of the Bennet Sisters Kicking Ass In Regency Wear. Which, frankly, is why I signed up for this film. I was very disappointed in how sidelined the sisters were from their own book. Have them rescuing Darcy and Bingley constantly. Have them rescue Collins too, for good comic measure. This story is not about Darcy and Wickham. Also, were we short a ball that could have been turned into a zombie attack? You want to add something? ADD THAT.
Double Plus Un-fun Darcy: Sam Riley was … not my favorite incarnation of Darcy. This version of Darcy was completely dour. He had no twinkle, no verve, no particular reason to keep living in this incarnation of the P&P universe other than sheer cussedness and an outsized sense of duty. It is incredibly difficult to see what Lizzie would have seen in this version of Darcy AT ALL, given that what Lizzie appreciates about Darcy once she gets to know him is the combination of his honorable nature and his overwhelming urge to gently, twinklingly troll his friends and loved ones. Darcy is shy, but once you get to know him and he’s comfortable, he’s playful. That was decidedly missing here. Also, his hair was awful. The leather duster coat for zombie hunting was almost acceptable.
Wickham: Was just creepy in this version. No reason why Lizzie would find him sympathetic, never mind attractive. Just EW all around to the point where switching up the plot so Lydia is literally kidnapped rather than seduced and ruined at least makes more sense.
Catherine De Burgh and Mr. Bennet: Both excellent castings (Lena Headey and Charles Dance, respectively). Turning Lady Catherine into The Ultimate Zombie Hunter was awesome, but we needed to see more. We got one flashback, and one pretty decent fight scene for her ultimatum to Lizzie. MORE.
Jane and Bingley: In this case, they were well handled. Bingley was pretty and relatively useless even when soldiering, and Jane was spot on and lovely.
Parson Collins: Matt Smith’s comic stylings were kind of wasted. One scene of silly dancing, and that is it. I hope it was a good paycheck.
Charlotte: Completely underserved and underused. Lizzie’s wonderful snarky relationship with her best friend is how we understand that she and Darcy are actually quite compatible. That’s missing here.
So, there you go. I don’t think I’d recommend this as a film in general, but it was entertaining enough with an adult beverage to hand if you can get past the whole not-actually-understanding-the-point-of-Jane-Austen thing.
