At about 5 p.m. Monday November 21st, 2011, Anne McCaffrey passed away.

Mum was getting ready to go back to the hospital because she was feeling “puny” and collapsed while she was moving into her wheelchair. Her daughter, Georgeanne Kennedy, and son-in-law, Geoffrey Kennedy were with her. She was in no pain and it was over in an instant.

She first had a heart attack in late 2000 and a stroke in 2001, so we were well-prepared and knew that we were on “golden time” with Mum these past ten years and more.

She leaves behind an incredible legacy of marvelous books and a huge legion of fans. She won practically every major award in available to authors of science fiction and fantasy, including both Hugo and Nebula Awards, the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards award for Lifetime Literary achievement in Young Adult fiction, was an inductee into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and was a SFWA Nebula Grandmaster.

She was also a great cook, magnificent mother, doting grandmother, ardent quilter, knitter, bridge player, horsewoman, fencer, actress, singer, and all-around nice person.

We are blessed to have known her, just as we are blessed with the knowledge that she has touched so many lives and made such huge changes in them.

Mum always said, “Don’t just pay back a favor — pass it on!” In light of that spirit, we ask that, instead of condolences or flowers, that commemorators make a donation to their favorite charity.

We know that we haven’t lost Mum — that she has truly passed on her legacy of love and honor to all those who were touched by her — and that we have only to open one of her books to find her again.

Rest well, Mum, you’ve earned it!

I never wanted to ride a dragon, as so many McCaffrey fans did. Continue reading “Remembering Anne McCaffrey” →

{advertisement}

A Doctor Who Movie?

November 15, 2011 Stephanie Zvan22 Comments

I…um…hmm. I just don’t know about this.

“Harry Potter” director David Yates is teaming up with the BBC to turn its iconic sci-fi TV series “Doctor Who” into a bigscreen franchise.

Yates, who directed the last four Potter films, told Daily Variety that he is about to start work on developing a “Doctor Who” movie with Jane Tranter, head of L.A.-based BBC Worldwide Prods.

“We’re looking at writers now. We’re going to spend two to three years to get it right,” he said. “It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena.”

I like Doctor Who, but I’m not a fanatic. (I can tell. I have friends who are.) Peter Davison and David Tennant are “my” Doctors, Nyssa and Martha “my” companions, even though some of their scripts were appalling. I’m tickled at what Steven Moffat has done with the show. I’m a little in love with Rory.

But I’m just not sure about the movie, partly because I stopped watching the Harry Potter films after the first one Yates directed. Like any good geek, I’m a bit possessive of my stories. I know that the worst that can come of this is a bad movie I won’t want to see, but…still.

What do you think?

Your Morning Dose of Hmmm

October 23, 2011 Stephanie Zvan6 Comments

Because you’re already used to the idea of furries, I bring you the endlessly dressable, posable ball-jointed doll.

The uncanny valley isn’t the only unsettling part of watching the videos made by BJD enthusiasts.

Continue reading “Your Morning Dose of Hmmm” →

Halloween Is Popular; Therefore, God

October 21, 2011 Stephanie Zvan9 Comments

An opinion piece by Amity Shlaes on the significance of Halloween being popular was published a couple of days ago. It’s not the best laid-out article, but here’s her thesis in a nutshell:

There’s a reason for the pull of the pagan. In the U.S., we’ve been vigorously scrubbing our schools and other public spaces of traces of monotheistic religion for many decades now. Such scrubbing leaves a vacuum. The great self-deception of modern life is that nothing will be pulled into that vacuum. Half a century ago, the psychologist Carl Jung noted the heightened interest in UFOs, and concluded that the paranormal was “modern myth,” a replacement for religion.

Children or adults who today relish every detail of zombie culture or know every bit of wizarding minutiae are seeking something to believe in. That church, mosque and synagogue are so controversial that everyone prefers the paranormal as neutral ground is disconcerting. There’s something unsettling about the education of a child who comfortably enumerates the rules for surviving zombie apocalypse but finds it uncomfortable to enumerate the rules of his grandparents’ faith, if he knows them.

Tl;dr: Halloween is popular now because there isn’t as much god in our lives. And this is a bad thing.

You understand that I can’t just leave this alone.

Continue reading “Halloween Is Popular; Therefore, God” →

Oh, Is It Blasphemy Day?

September 30, 2011 Stephanie Zvan6 Comments

Taking enmellishment’s advice:

I don’t pay a lot of attention to these events.
Nonetheless, if you think your belief is sooooo much awesomer than the thousands or millions of competing beliefs out there, let it stand up on its own without government protection.
Religion is a propped-up means of saying “STFU! I’m better than you!”
Rebecca Watson has been awesome in the way she handled “Elevatorgate” from beginning to, well, now at least. I doubt that will change by the time it ends.
It is highly amusing that the principles of radical feminism are still considered radical.
Anger, sarcasm, insults, and mockery can all be very powerful tools.
Power tools require skill and practice to use, because they can make a bloody mess.
A stereotype is not scientific evidence. There is no “extraordinary claim” requiring mountains of proof inherent in sneering at a stereotype.
IQ is in large part a measure of institutional competence.
Social sciences frequently require far more scientific competence than “hard” sciences because they tackle more complex subject matter.
Everyone (yes, even you) is irrational about, not just something, but far more than they’d ever stop to consider.
Government is a requirement for civilization on this scale.
Politics is a tool and not a tool of Satan.
The evidence says that Ron Paul is a hard-core racist who’s merely learned to shut up about it.
Marriage is not and never has been–not even in the 1950s–one man and one woman. Nor has it ever been forever. Marriage laws only dictate what marriage looks like from the outside for those in the middle class, and they’re not very good at that.
Porn can be pretty cool.
The answer to “No” is not “Pleeeeeze” or “La La La La La La” for anyone over the age of eight.
There is a cat in another room who is gearing up to die, though she may last quite some time. I’m pretty sure that’s more important than blogging right now.

Science Museum Is Not All-Ages

September 21, 2011 Stephanie Zvan3 Comments

The Science Museum of Minnesota recently started a great new program–child-free programming. By child-free, I mean no one under the age of 21 and featuring science aimed at adults. Tonight, we’re talking brewing.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
7 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Eat, drink and be nerdy. Explore the science of beer brewing and wine making, and roam the museum during a special adult-only evening. Enjoy music, games, live demonstrations and more, and of course all our galleries are open for you to explore.

Prices are cheap for a museum event, and all the cool geeks (what?) are going to be there, my husband and I included. Come hang out!

Geeking Out About Leverage

September 12, 2011 Stephanie Zvanspeakgeek8 Comments

This week is Speak Out With Your Geek Out, a week dedicated to celebrating the positive in fandom and geekery. It’s a week for setting aside how XYZ ruined your childhood with a reboot or director’s cut. It’s a week for geeks to take some of that boundless enthusiasm and apply it to ourselves, instead of allowing ourselves to be defined by the mainstream other. It’s geek pride writ small and personal on a massive scale.

Given that I’ve recently been locked in battle with myself on sleeping versus watching one more episode of Leverage, it seemed natural to write about that for the event. So, here is why I love Leverage.

The Cons

No, I don’t mean that I love the show for its faults. Leverage is about a group of con artists, with a new job each week. It’s possible that may not sound exciting to you, but I have an abiding love for fraud. I love watching the team find their mark’s weaknesses, their irrationalities and uncontrolled desires, and build a plan to exploit them. I love watching them herd people into blind canyons or adapt on the fly to problems or unexpected opportunities. This is one very smart, tricky show.

Continue reading “Geeking Out About Leverage” →