The Drink Tank 284 (2011).pdf

Another ﬁne Mo Starkey Cover! It makes me happy that I get to run

them!

So, there was a BayCon last weekend and it was a great time. The best

run convention I’ve ever been to? No, but the GoHs were great, especially Mr.

John Picacio and Mary Robinette Kowal. They were both great and I was lucky

enough to get to hang with them for a signiﬁcant portion of the weekend. I

doubt that anyone will contradict the statement that the two of them were

easily among the best guests BayCon has ever had.

Me? I was working one of the days, so we had a Fanzine Lounge only in

the evenings. They couldn’t afford to give us a room on the party ﬂoor, whcih

was far deader than it has been in recent years, so we had a boardroom on

the Mezzanine level. Not optimal, but we had a great time, especially on Sun-

day when we sat around at various levels of intoxication, played some card

games with GoH Mary, recorded some Westerconversations (including one

with Dave Gallaher that had me on the ﬂoor) and generally had a real good

time. It was the people, like Espana, Leigh Ann, Andy, Kevin, Fred Moulton, The

Lovely & Talented Linda, Jason Schachat, Bob, Milt Stevens, Digby and so on,

that made the place lively.

I did a few panels, the best of which being a great panel on Steampunk

Literature which just had me and an author and we managed to keep the

crowd rolling. I did one on Computer History where Bobby Toland, Steve

Savitsky and andother guy had a great time. The best panel I’ve done on books

was 5 Recent Books You Must Read. it was on current-ish SF (the last 10

years) and there were four of us, so we talked about impressive books that

we loved. I had The Dervish House by Ian McDonald, Perdido Street Staion

by China Mieville, The Half Made World by Felix Gilman, Soulless by Gail Car-

riger and The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. I would have had Anathem by Neal

Stephenson on there, but Leigh Ann had it on her list. Jeremy, the publisher at

Night Shade Books, was on the panel too. it was a good bunch of folks.

The parties were down, the attendance seemed low, as I understand

roomnights were off from previous years. Art Show sales weren’t great. Deal-

er’s Room did OK, it seems from the couple of dealers I chatted with. The

food in the buffet was hit (the Meatloaf was great) and miss (thin hockey pucks

with ketchup for Chicken Parm) and the drinks at the bar were hella pricey.

Still, the staff has always been very good to us and the rooms are nice save for

the funky bathrooms.

Does BayCon need an injection of new blood, new management, new

attendees? Yeah, that’d help. The next chair is set (Cruz, who has a Pleasure

Cruise concept down) and there’s already talk about getting some new folks

into new positions. This is a good thing, but they need to work in three areas:

getting a party culture happening again, making a real masquerade happen

and making it worthwhile for costumers, and attracting younger attendees.

This can be accomplished by having more guests who aren’t in the higher age

brackets. Getting the folks from xkcd or Schlock Mercenary would be a start,

maybe some signiﬁcant Cosplayers as GoHs. The Costumers used to be a big

part of the event and now it’s a costume dead area for the most part.

Still, check out http://johnnyeponymous.podbean.com for Westercon-

versations with folks like Milt Stevens and Dave Gallaher and other Audio

from the con!

Other news is that I’m running another Fanzine Lounge at Westercon

in San Jose over the weekend before July 4th! I’m psyched because it’s got a

good location and there are so many folks from all over who are comin’ out!

I’ve also got a good bit to use that’ll help everyone who is looking for answers.

I’ve just ﬁnished the Dining Guide, which is pretty good, I think. I’m hoping that

I can ﬁnd another time to use it. It’s been used at three different cons, a Librar-

ians meeting and for some friends I’ve had from out of town. I love multi-use

materials!

Coming up after that is WorldCon and it’s likely I’ll have friends visit-

ing before and after. I’m so excited and the events are going great. Of course,

there’s a bit of annoyance with the fact that the Big Heart and First Fandom

awards aren’t going to be given out at the Hugos. To me, that’s a bad idea, but

it happens. We’re working on giving them an appropriate position in the week.

I’m not one of those folks who thinks that the Hugos are too long, far from

it. I really think that the Hugo ceremoneis aren’t overly long, but they’re not

well-ﬁlled. I know folks don’t like it when I compare the Hugos to the other

big awards (and let’s be honest, the Oscars, Tonys, Emmys and, Ghod Help

Me, even the Grammys, are many times bigger), but that’s what we should be

shooting for. You put on a few awards, have a segment of tribute, then do a few

more awards, then a stand-up bit, then more awards, then a big production

number and then the ﬁnal big awards. It’s a formula that leads to a longer show,

but it also makes it Must See Entertainment! Imagine if we got a few good acts

to throw in, a chance to use a few more big names to present and interact with

the audience. This would make the Hugos a bigger deal to the attendees, and

possibly give them more respect for the awards in general. I I’m not saying a 4.5

hour ceremony like the Oscars, but even a three hour ceremony can afford a

lot of great stuff to go on. Perhaps even a chance to present a Musical Guest

of Honor with some time in front of the biggest audience of the convention.

There are possibilities.

So You Think You Can Dance is back and I’m enjoying it. I have a new

obsession: Princess Lockerooo. She’s an amazing dancer in a style called Waack-

ing. It’s related to Vogueing and the House music/dance movement. She put on

perhaps the ﬁnest bit of high-energy dancing the entire episode. I’ve been

following her on YouTube and she’s just amazing. Arms like rubber, face that

strikes fear in the hearts of man! I’m going to try to get an interview with her

for these very pages because if the Drink Tank isn’t about promoting dance,

what is it about?

We’re working on several theme issues that you might be interested

in. We’ve got the second annual Hugo for the Best Novel issue, which will be

fun, and then an issue dedicated to Mr. Tim Powers, Renovation GoH, and one

issue of Journey Planet where we’e got a special Guest Editor: Emily McLeay!

I’m psyched! Exhibition Hall is doing an issue dedicated to Gail Carriger and

The Anubis Gates! Fun Fun Fun!

OK, this issue has some Taral Wayne, some photos (on the last two

pages) from Craig Glassner (aka Ranger Craig aka one of my favorite people

in fandom!), Some art from Brad Foster and Michelle Guerrero and Cousin

Claire, a piece from Dann Lopez, and a little more amazingness! Also, this is the

episode of 52 Weeks about one of the ﬁlms that is most identiﬁed with the

1950s and ﬁlm. Invasion of the Body Snatchers! I’ve always had somethign of a

bit of a bee in my bonnet about it, and you’ll see why, but it’s one of the best

SF ﬁlms ever made!

Letter Graded Mail

sent to garcia @ computerhistory.org

We got lots of letters on Handicapping the Hugos, including some from John Picacio, SaBean

MoreL, Judith Morel, Beth Zuckerman, Claire Garcia, and various comments on Facebook and LJ. We’ll

be doing some of those with the Hugo for Best Novel issue that’s coming up.

Let’s start with Mr. Joel Zakem on issue 281!

Chris-

Just a few short notes about Drink Tank 281 (and the pictures that ran in 277). I checked with Jeff Beeler

and that was indeed Ted Reynolds in the picture on page 17 of the Glicksohn issue. And contrary to Jerry’s sug-

gestion, the fact that there is no money on the table and Becca was playing leads me to believe that the people

were playing Wizard (a trump game that Mike helped introduce to Midwest fandom) rather than Poker in the

picture on page 15.

Thanks Joel! I’ve heard of Wizard and it’s a game I might have to ﬁnd out how to play.

Like Jerry, I also discovered Monty Python in Toronto. Fo me, the discovery took place at Torcon 2,

when Paul Williams dragged me to see “And Now For Something Completely Different.” which the convention

screened.

Let’s see, *no top shelf, foreign or mixed drinks* probably leaves out most of the Whiskeys (primarily

scotches or bourbons) that I drink. I guess I will have to settle for a decent micro-brew, preferably something

with a nice hop kick.

Joel Zakem

And I’ll happily provide the delicious hoppy goodness! Thanks, Joel!

And Eric Mayer!

Chris,

It’s hard for me to say much about all these sf movies because I am fearfully ignorant of such ﬁlms and

even if I’ve seen the ﬁlm I really don’t know enough about movies to have any useful comments. Which is not to

say these issues aren’t interesting. They are an educational experience. I am at least learning a bit about the his-

tory of sf movies which is cool.

And that’s why I’m doing it!

I loved the Mo Starkey cover by the way. Terriﬁc.

I love Mo’s covers! She’s my favorite ﬁrst time Hugo nominee.

Hey, Taral bemoans the state of fandom. Now there’s a topic I can handle. I’ve bemaoned the state of

fandom practically ever since I discovered fandom. The ﬁrst time an editor cut part of my letter of comment I

knew fandom wasn’t what it used to be.

I try to make sure that when I edit a letter. I only cut out the parts that make the writer look better than

me!

Okay, Taral is only bemoaning one aspect of fandom, let’s be fair, and I agree with him to a point. That is to

say, I agree that one of the best things about fandom is that it is small enough to allow us to enjoy the talents of

people who have a lot to offer, but maybe not quite

enough to offer, or not quite the right sort of thing,

to have hit the Big Time. Often it is just a matter of

not having the luck, or the right personality, or the

ambition, that prevents an artist of any sort from

making a living doing the art. There are a lot of peo-

ple who are immensely talented who don’t make a

living off their talent but are hobbyists instead.

I’m a big fan of Fan for Fan’s sake. I’d never

wanna be a writer for a living, largely because

I don’t have the chops, but also because once I

start doing anythign for a living, I start to hate

it a little.

When Mary and I lived in Rochester we

used to go to a lot of plays, from touring Broadway

shows to local theater groups who perfomed in

high school auditoriums. And at every level we saw

actors, and singers and dancers who entertained

us.

But today everything is measured on a national scale. On television and in the movies and on CDs we can

all get art produced by those very few artists good enough (and lucky enough) to have reached the highest level.

So the talent of a lot of people not at that pinnacle is neglected. Fandom was, and could still be (maybe still is) a

great place for talented hobbyists to share their efforts.

So, yes, I see Taral’s point about the local talent being overwhelmed.

Very, very true. There is always a talented artist who you’d never know if you didn’t pay attention to teh

smaller local stuff.

However, awards are awards. The Hugo is not a measure of how “good” anything is, or how “deserving”

or any sort of measure of quality whatsoever. The Hugo signiﬁes simply who, according to the Hugo rules, won.

Why argue with that? Maybe more people should vote in the FAAn awards.

I’d love to see more folks voting in the FAAns. There are other who don’t share that view, sadly, but I really

wish that we’d have HUGE numbers.

As for you, Chris, congratulations. I’ve always admired your writing, and zines and frantic, friendly ap-

proach to fandom and I guess a lot of Hugo voters share my views for once. And, heck, Taral gets nominated too.

Isn’t that more important than winning. The winners is selected by people who are given a list of nominees and

check off a name. To be nominated people have to come up with your name themselves and vote for you.

Anyway, them’s my thoughts.

Best,

Eric

Thanks much! I love doing the zines, and writing for other folks, and I’m planning on doing it for a long

time more!

And, on Handicapping The Hugos and The Model Train Issue... Lloyd Penney!!!

Dear Chris and James:

Still so much catching up to do. I have here The Drink Tank 282 and 283, and there’s a little time for com-

ments and predictions...

And always, we’re here for YOU!

282...Handicapping the Hugos...not easy at any point. We haven’t voted yet, and there’ll be some categories we

won’t vote upon, simply because we aren’t really qualiﬁed to vote on them, meaning we haven’t read anything in

the category. Who can afford new books and magazines these days? Certainly not me, but I will vote in the cat-

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