9 February 1998: Targeting

Monday, 9 February 1998:

Targeting

The radio is playing a Rolling Stones concert right now, and then will go into the "House of Blues Radio Hour". I've never been much of a Stones fan (their single "Saint of Me" from their latest album is probably the best song I've ever heard from them), and I really am not a blues fan at all, so instead I turned to Jethro Tull, an old standard for me. A friend of mine is borrowing both 20 Years and Nightcap, so instead I pulled out my copy of their live album, Bursting Out (the import copy, natch, which doesn't excise a couple of tracks like the US edition) and put it on. It was released in 1979, right after two of their best albums - Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses - had come out. The band was really at the top of their form then, and it's an excellent set.

eBay actually had a 1974 Tull concert booklet available this past week. It looked like it would end up going for $20-to-$30, and while I was tempted I decided I wanted to spend the money elsewhere right now. (On what? Well, a few more hardcover Marvel Masterworks, and I've decided I'd like to get Neil Gaiman's Sandman series in hardcover, if I can get them relatively cheaply. Plus I still have these really nice maps I need to get framed to put on my wall...)

Sunday was a much better day than Saturday. I was really in the doldrums on Saturday (you may have noticed). It certainly wasn't a weather thing; Saturday it was bright, sunny and warm, while Sunday it was overcast, gloomy and chilly. Saturday I went out and did errands, while Sunday I stayed indoors all day. But Sunday was a better day.

I called my Mom on Sunday. She's been ill with strep throat lately. Since she's allergic to penicillin, she's taking something else, which is upsetting her stomach. So I called to say hi, maybe cheer her up, and chat. She says an old friend of mine recently had his car totalled. Coincidentally, I was about to mail him some recent issues of The Onion ("America's Finest News Source"). I should give him a call, too.

I got my Dad's birthday presents wrapped, and mailed them and the Onions this morning. I also mastered the two episodes of Babylon 5 I had sitting on tapes, and checked my e-mail. All that by 6:00 or so, I was done with everything I'd planned to do! So I spent the rest of the evening reading, and going out with Karen to get frozen custard. I also got a chili dog, which seemed to throw the people at the custard stand off their stride. Now, I ask you, what's more natural to order in the middle of February: A hot chili dog, or frozen custard? The answer, apparently, is (b).

I finished Ballard's Memories of the Space Age last night. It was okay, but not great. The stories become very repetitive after a while, and the last few have very little to differentiate them. Ballard is certainly a terrific word stylist, though. I'd say the first half of the book is certainly worth reading. But since it's only 215-or-so pages it's not exactly a stretch to finish the whole thing.

Now I'm reading C. J. Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy, which I finally found a copy of (for the longest time I was only able to find two of the three). I finally decided I don't have the interest to even try to finish the Tiptree collection I was reading recently, not even after taking a break from it, so I put it back on my bookshelf.

I was ruminating again tonight about some of the things about science fiction fandom that irk me. In particular (and I'm sure I've said this before), there's too much fandom and not enough science fiction. There's not the feeling that I envision of a whole bunch of SF fans (people who read SF) sitting around and talking about what they've read and enjoyed. It occurs to me that maybe fandom was never this way, although some of what I've read about fandom of the 30s, 40s, and even 50s suggest that to some extent it was.

I thought for a little while and decided that a couple of things that I think would make nice centerpieces for an SF-focused convention might be:

Dedicate a track or two tracks of programming to discussing books, collections, or stories that have been published in the past year-or-so. Solicit suggestions early and publicize them early so people can read them before coming to the convention.
Solicit suggestions and set up a suite of programming to discuss notable books and stories published in the past, particularly those worthy works which have not become "classics" which have been read by everyone and discussed by everyone (such as Asimov, Heinlein, Dune, The Martian Chronicles). It seems to me that something like The Faded Sun trilogy would be a perfect example. Or Cyteen. Or The Armageddon Rag.

It seems to me that the main reason this isn't done might be that not enough people would actually read the books and be prepared to talk about them. And yet it seems to me that this is exactly why people ought to want to go to conventions in the first place, to talk about books they've read, enjoyed, and are enthusiastic about.

I mean heck, to me that's what a fandom ought to be about! Not partying and con suites and masquerades.

And the dealer's room should be targeted towards getting books into the hands of people who want to read them, and supplying books that people think ought to be read because they're good books. In my (admittedly limited) experience, the worst dealer's room is one that features little more than the recently-published books that you can buy at any local Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Darnitall.

Michael Rawdon (Contact)