If We’d Been Abducted By Aliens, The Internet Would Dim for a Week
Posted on May 31, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 17 Comments
(picture by Ron Hogan of Galleycat)
Here you see Patrick Nielsen Hayden, me, Markos Moulitsas and Cory Doctorow on that BEA panel about writers and their online communities. Yes, I talked about you. Yes, I said only good things about you, and said you were a wonderful online community. Except for that one time. Let us not speak of that one time. It still wounds me. Let’s move on. The panel went very well, I thought; we talked about some of the challenges of building and maintaining communities and also what impact having such active sites had on our writing of books and our overall careers, and it seemed most folks found it interesting.
Tor brought Cory and my books to the panel, so we briefly did a quick signing (should have been there, folks, you could be reading Zoe’s Tale right now) at which I met Jessica Harper, who was in one my favorite comedies of the 1980s (My Favorite Year), so I told her “Give me a second; I’m having a fan boy moment.” Because she has Merle Oberon’s eyes, you know. As it turned out she had a book, too (a kid’s book), so we exchanged books. It’s fun to meet people.
Today: More meetings, and book-related stuff, and so on, and I think I might stalk David Anthony Durham, because he’s supposed to be at the Convention Center today and it’d be fun to meet him. Shhh. Don’t tell him I’m stalking him. I’d hate to ruin the surprise.
If Jessica Harper has Merle Oberon’s eyes, how does Merle see?
Wish I could be at the BEA. Always enjoyed it when I went.
It’s only because of Markos that I found out that you weren’t going to the corporation (formerly?) known as BEA, and it made a lot more sense with that bit of information.
Patrick looks really bored :).
I wish I’d gone. :-/ I thought about it. Maybe next year.
1) That one time, huh? You mean the time our toe hurt? Oh, wait, that wasn’t us, was it? But as you say, let’s move on…
2) Jessica Harper? Jessica “Phoenix from Phantom of the Paradise” Harper!? ::fanboy-moment-by-proxy:: WHOOO!
and said you were a wonderful online community. Except for that one time.
As I recall, you’re the one who brought up the goatse/felch thing.
I wasn’t in the least bored, although I may have had a moment of being overcome with jet lag. It was late in the afternoon of a pretty long day.
Jessica Harper was there after the panel? Phantom of the Paradise Jessica Harper? OMG WTF BBQ. I was talking to Markos and missed her completely. Probably just as well.
Pennies From Heaven Jessica Harper? Whoo!
Jessica Harper? From Suspiria? Rockin’!
(Finally got ZT, by the by.)
Is having Merle Oberon eyes a common compliment? Somebody told me I had Merle Oberon eyes a few months ago. I had originally chalked it up to the fact that he was an older gentleman, but you seem about twenty years too young to be able to use that phrase, John.
Patrick demonstrates with 6 why he is one of my favorite people in the industry (and on the internet).
I must say that your title is a lot less gloomy than saying if we had been bombed or hit by a bus which is what is commonly said to justify cross training and documenting. I believe that I shall start saying “I’m documenting the server config in case I’m abducted by aliens.”
Alan Swann: [gazing deep into K.C’s eyes] These eyes. They’re Merle Oberon’s eyes.
Benjy Stone: Merle Oberon’s! Oh, and what’s Merle doing for eyes? Using Katharine Hepburn’s?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084370/quotes
Shock Treatment Jessica Harper? She’d have to have Merle Oberon’s eyes, because Bette Davis’ eyes have already been taken.
Sweet mother, if only green power generation technology was far enough along they could have tapped that room and run SoCal for a week off that energy.
And as Jeff mentioned, let us not talk of the hurt toe incident again.
Merle Oberon’s eyes still captivate….even if Jessica Harper has them…
Of course, single day tickets are $55! That’s a real pricey copy of ZT!
$55 is about what you’d pay for a Scalzi HB in Australia because AFAICT none of John’s books are available here except through special import.
Of the SF/Fantasy category that I read about the only authors I can be pretty sure will get an Oz release now are Mieville, Banks, Donaldson, Gaiman and Stephenson and even then when is always up in the air (not to mention, will it be UK or US edition).
RRP is always much more than the cost of personally importing via Amazon, regardless of whether they were shipped or printed locally. Taxes comprise 10% of the cost.
I can look to US/UK release dates on Amazon or other sites, but while that may give a ballpark date for a release here, we may get the book earlier, slightly later or more commonly, never.
I got to meet David Durham at WisCon and had a great time hanging out with him.
He’s a really nice guy who put up with MY annoying ass for a while, so I can’t say enough good things about him.
Enjoy!