Uncle Hugo’s is back!
Several posts on this blog have covered the burning of Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore and its progress toward reopening, and the news is now good: It’s open again!
The Sanity Project
WSFS condemns Lukianenko; Chengdu doesn’t care
The business meeting of WSFS, held at Chicon, passed a resolution saying “[Sergey] Lukianenko should neither be platformed nor celebrated, and we ask the Chengdu 2023 committee, fans and members to refuse Sergei Lukianenko as your guest. it is shameful that he is honored by Worldcon.”
Leaving aside the sloppy language about “platforming,” I agree with the resolution, but it’s unlikely to have any effect on the guest list next year. As I’ve said before, the committee has to watch its step to avoid the Chinese government’s displeasure.
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Followup on Balticon
In June I wrote about Balticon’s treatment of Stephanie Burke, which appeared to be outrageous. This week Balticon issued a statement on the matter. It shows they took the matter seriously, which is good, but I’m not convinced they got to the heart of the problem.
Just to be clear, I wasn’t present and I don’t know any of the people directly involved. However, I’ve encountered enough similar cases at fan-run conventions to know that there is a problem with speech codes and arbitrary accusations at several of them. This includes one person, who prefers not to be named, who has been the target of false accusations by the Balticon organization. The situation with Burke gave the impression from the beginning that Balticon was in the wrong, and their statement acknowledges it. It dumps all the blame on one staffer, though.
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A new article from me on Verdi
Liberty Fund’s Online Library of Liberty has given me a chance to turn my love of classical music into paid work. My third article on an operatic subject is now up on the site, discussing Verdi’s Don Carlo. This piece also let me put my study of the 16th century to good use. In fact, the opera’s strange ending makes more sense if you assume intervention by my Magic Battery mages, as in “Snares of Satan.” How else could Charles V have rescued the protagonist ten years after his death?
But seriously, the opera gets into themes of religious oppression and liberty, which were very important to Verdi. It deals with the rebellions in the Spanish-held Low Countries, fueled by the Protestant Reformation. The Grand Inquisitor is creepy, and the auto-da-fé scene is spectacular. I enjoyed the chance to watch the opera again online and write about it.
These are my previous opera articles on the same site:
- The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
- Fidelio (Beethoven)
Here’s my author page, now with links to my articles.
The war on words
Calling someone a “villain” is a city-ist insult. The word originally means “base or low-born rustic,” clearly an insult by the urban higher classes aimed at farmers, serfs, and others from the villages. By the censorious standards we run into so often, we should stop using the word and denounce anyone who does. This is, of course, silly, but no sillier than many actual attacks on words.
In some circles, you can’t have a “master” switch or password anymore. The word has a range of meanings, generally in the categories of someone in authority or someone with extensive knowledge and skill (or at least a degree saying so). One of these meanings is “a person in authority over slaves,” so the use of the word is deemed an endorsement of slavery, and it has to go. There are even people trying to rename the Maine coon cat. The origin of the name is obscure, but the most likely explanation is that the tail somewhat resembles a raccoon’s. However, the term “coon” has been used as a racial insult, so the name has to go. Probably raccoons need to be renamed as well.