Debrief: Dragon Con 2020

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Debrief: Dragon Con 2020
September 3 through September 7, 2020

 

 

Dragon Con 2020 is done.

Obviously, it wasn’t the situation that we wanted, but the Dragon Con social media team did phenomenal work to develop a platform that could deliver the convention experience at home. Alongside the convention staff, several track directors and their respective staffs were fantastic in both building content and stoking the fires throughout the weekend.

This convention gave me a chance to get comfortable with video content at home, and it gives me plenty of ideas going forward to develop ideas and content going forward. It was also good to touch base with my geek family, and even though it wasn’t in person, it still offered me the chance to catch up with them in an era when so many of us are isolated.

 

Thursday

Typically, Thursday would include breakfast at the local Waffle House, picking up our badges for the weekend, and introducing hundreds of newcomers to the convention via the Dragon Con Newbies events.

Instead, the convention got started here with a Zoom recording with the irregulars from the American Sci-Fi Classics Track. In what was scheduled as a one-hour event, we sat much longer and swapped tales of our various shenanigans and favorite memories from the convention.

It was a good way to catch up and almost feel home again.

 

Friday

Friday started with some browsing of the Dragon Con Goes Virtual channels before settling in for a chat about the second season of Lost in Space on the American SF & Fantasy Media Track.

The panel was moderated by my long-time friend Lindy Keelan, who I met during our time at The Scapecast. We were joined by Kevin Eldridge of The Flopcast and Nathan Laws of The 42Cast, and the panel was a great discussion about the season, the series so far, and what might be ahead for the family Robinson.

The next panel for Friday was one that I recorded before the convention with the BritTrack and the crew of Earth Station Who. Mike Faber, Mike Gordon, Mary Ogle, and I joined Caro and Rob to talk about where to get started in Doctor Who.

It’s a large topic to tackle, especially since the franchise has been around since 1963 in so many various ways, but this was a fun and informative discussion and I hope that newcomers and long-time fans find it useful.

 

Saturday

Saturday started with a bit more Dragon channel surfing and a trip at 88 miles per hour with the 35th anniversary of Back to the Future.

I teamed up with Michael Williams, Shaun Rosado, James Palmer, and Joe and Gary to talk about this film, its franchise, and the legacy that they still maintain in science fiction. It got deep at times and was really fun.

Later that night, I popped back into the Classics Track for a look back at the Marvel films that preceded the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Michael Bailey, Jessa Phillips, and Keith R.A. DeCandido also joined the party as we tried to cover the history of Blade to Iron Man in one hour. We needed so much more time.

 

Sunday

Sunday brought me back to my podcasting roots on the Digital Media Track with a topic that Mike Faber and I have been talking to people about for quite a while: How to get started in digital media.

The video is available on the track’s Twitch channel, and (with Mike and myself) included Matthew Malis, Sean Weiland, Tyra Burton, and podcasting newbie Channing Sherman. The goal now is to get Channing to record a podcast. Because he really needs to get his content and character on the airwaves.

 

Monday

Monday brought three more events to round out the weekend.

First up was a pre-recorded panel about Doctor Who that is similar in style to the classic Roll-a-Panel.

With Sue Kisenwether, Jm Tuffley, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Keith DeCandido, and me, Caro spun the wheel and let fortune drive the discussion through the universe of Doctor Who.

The second panel was a discussion on mathematics in science fiction.

I joined Darin Bush, Deanna Toxopeus, Sue Kisenwether, Gary, and Joe on a journey through how our favorite genre uses and abuses one of our favorite technical topics. This is another one that could easily spawn multiple discussion panels.

Finally, the convention came to a close for me with the Dragon Con Newbies team and a quick discussion on Dragon Con TV about coming to the con in person next year.

I joined Kevin Bachelder, Kim McGibony, and Sue to cover some of the basics. We also invite anyone interested in Dragon Con to visit both the website and the Facebook group to get information from a group of helpful convention veterans.

 

General Notes

As I mentioned before, the biggest benefit to going virtual was that we could have some semblance of a convention this year. That’s key in a time where we’re all siloed and unable to physically convene in celebration of our favorite works.

The other benefit that really stands out is two-fold and focused on the fan tracks: First is ingenuity and creativity, and second is continued access.

Each of the fan tracks had to decide how to best present themselves this year to a virtual audience, and many of the ones that I was able to follow this year did so through widely available platforms like YouTube. Using Zoom or Streamyard, these tracks were able to bring experts and fans together and stream their panels to the world. Those panels remain available for as long as YouTube stores them, and they remain an example of both creative problem solving and what the track has to offer for newcomers.

It’s a win-win.

That path was forged by Joe and Gary with the “quarantine panels” that they have done for months leading into this event. Search this site for “Quarantine Con” or visit their YouTube channel and see. In my estimation, those two are the MVPs of this event.

I’m not just trumpeting that to, as Michael Bailey would say, “wax their car”. It’s absolutely true.

 

And that brings me to the things that would improve this system going forward.

First, there was too much divergence on where content was available, and that was confusing for the man-on-the-street who just happened to wander in. My perspective on this comes from the fact that I have a Roku device, an XBox, and a television that can run apps. That means that I can stream YouTube and Vimeo from my couch.

I could literally attend Dragon Con this year from my couch.

The convention’s core programming (Dragon Con Main, Dragon Con Fan Tracks, and Dragon Con Classics) was available in one location (dragoncon.tv/virtual). Those streams were hosted on Vimeo and mirrored to a Roku app, but that app was broken for the first day and did not transmit the Fan Track channel.

If it hadn’t been for the broken code, the Roku app would have been perfect for that intent. But, it also limited who could simply switch on and watch since not everyone has a Roku. Ideally, going forward, a Dragon Con streaming app should be available on multiple platforms for more universal access.

A contributing factor was each track’s individual programming. Some tracks used YouTube, which is universally available for anyone who can click a link. Others were limited to Facebook and Twitch, which are fine for attendees who were on their computers or could use one of the streaming sticks (Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, etc) to mirror the computer to the television. But Facebook and Twitch are not available on the Roku, and that was a deciding factor in which Dragon Con Goes Virtual content I chose to partake from.

An argument of “well, you wouldn’t have watched anyway” won’t fly here because I have watched several other panels this year that I usually don’t have the time to watch at a live event. One that stands out is the Star Wars droid-building presentation. Others were puppetry panels, including interviews and a Puppetry 101 discussion, and Michael Bailey’s presentation on Green Lantern and The Flash.

I also have a long list that I want to see because they’re now stored on YouTube for the foreseeable future.

An easy solution to that hurdle is to require every streaming track to have a YouTube channel. It’s not that far of a reach since everyone was using Streamyard and Zoom to broadcast, and those tools have the built-in capability to stream to YouTube.

If a track director has a question on how to do it, we obviously have several experts available to share that knowledge. I’m sure that we also have experts who could tie those YouTube videos into the apps (like the Roku one) to make one-stop-shops for people.

The second big stumbling block was the schedule. The main schedule for the three Dragon Con TV channels was available in the Quick Start Guide and on the Eventeny site for the con. The fan tracks, on the other hand, were buried behind a link hidden in plain sight in the Quick Start Guide. That schedule was a Google Sheets file which was not formatted well.

The schedule should have been more accessible and legible. So much content for this con was hard to find because of this stumbling block.

And, again, ingenuity and ease of access, I’ll point to an example: Kelley at the American SF & Fantasy Media track set up all of her panels ahead of time. She sent emails in advance to the panelists with their links to join the Streamyard recording, and she set up each YouTube livestream in advance so anyone subscribed to her track’s channel would have a ready list of what was going on at what time.

All anyone had to do was select the video and wait for it to start. Joe and Gary did the same on Classics, but I noticed it first from Kelley.

Both of these issues popped up while the con was in motion. Fixing them going forward would greatly improve the experience in the future.

 

Wait. Going forward?

Yes. Because there is some serious potential here for “off-season” programming and contingency planning for the future. Each of these tracks can literally produce panels at any time with this infrastructure, thereby keeping the interest alive throughout the year outside of Facebook groups and localized meetups.

Joe and Gary have a huge library of material to choose from – Dragon Con defines a sci-fi classic as any genre property over ten years old that is not taken by another track – and they have proven that there is interest beyond the scope of their mandate with panels on representation, social issues, and more.

Classics, SF & Fantasy Media, BritTrack, Digital Media, Star Wars, TrekTrack, Space, Science, Skeptics, Animation, Puppetry, the literature tracks… that’s just off the top of my head. All of these tracks have an evergreen presence because there’s so much to talk about. Doing panels year-round (even on a monthly basis) baits the hook for people who might want to come to contribute in person.

The potential is nearly endless.

 

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed Dragon Con Goes Virtual, and I applaud the teams that made it happen. This wasn’t an easy choice, I’m sure, but they did fantastic work under the circumstances.

My deepest gratitude goes out to the staff, the directors, the pros and guests, the volunteers, and the attendees for this event. As one of the local news stations reported, the programming was accessed over 600,000 times by fans from over 49 nations.

That’s not insignificant.

You’ve done good work, gang. Congratulations.

I’m looking forward to see you in person next year.

359 days to go until next Dragon Con.

 

Until then…

The Thing About Today – September 8

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 8, 2020
Day 252 of 366

 

September 8th is the 252nd day of the year. It is Victory Day in Malta, also known as the feast of Our Lady of Victories or il-Vittorja, which recalls the end of three historical sieges made on the Maltese archipelago. Specifically, the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottoman Empire ending in 1565, the Siege of Valletta by the French Blockade ending in 1800, and, the Siege of Malta during the Second World War by the Italian army ending in 1943.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Ampersand Day, National Ants on a Log Day (observed on the second Tuesday in September), and National Another Look Unlimited Day (observed on the day after Labor Day).

 

It is also National Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses Day and World Physical Therapy Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1504, Michelangelo’s David was unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
  • In 1522, Victoria arrived at Seville, technically completing the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation of the world.
  • In 1565, St. Augustine, Florida was founded by Spanish admiral and Florida’s first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
  • In 1810, the Tonquin set sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor’s newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor’s men established the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon.
  • In 1841, Czech composer and academic Antonín Dvořák was born.
  • In 1925, actor and comedian Peter Sellers was born.
  • In 1930, 3M began marketing Scotch transparent tape.
  • In 1937, author and illustrator Archie Goodwin was born.
  • In 1938, American sergeant and radio host Adrian Cronauer was born.
  • In 1945, the division of Korea began when United States troops arrived to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
  • In 1960, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA had already activated the facility on July 1st.
  • In 1966, the landmark American science fiction television series Star Trek premiered with its first-aired episode, “The Man Trap”.
  • In 1971, actor Martin Freeman was born.
  • In 1973, Star Trek: The Animated Series premiered.

 

September 8th is International Literacy Day, declared by UNESCO on October 26, 1966. It was celebrated for the first time in 1967 with the goal of highlighting the importance of literacy to individuals, communities, and societies.

Some 775 million adults lack minimum literacy skills. One in five adults is not literate and two-thirds of them are women. 60.7 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out. The ability to read would mean so much to improve their lives.

Among several other initiatives to support literacy, the UNESCO mission is supported through the Writers for Literacy Initiative by authors including Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Philippe Claudel, Paulo Coelho, Philippe Delerm, Fatou Diome, Chahdortt Djavann, Nadine Gordimer, Amitav Ghosh, Marc Levy, Alberto Manguel, Anna Moi, Scott Momaday, Toni Morrison, Érik Orsenna, Gisèle Pineau, El Tayeb Salih, Francisco Jose Sionil, Wole Soyinka, Amy Tan, Miklós Vámos, Abdourahman Waberi, Wei Wei, and Banana Yoshimoto.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – September 7

Michael Falkner1 Comment

September 7, 2020
Day 251 of 366

 

September 7th is the 251st day of the year. It is Independence Day in Brazil, celebrating its separation from Portugal in 1822. It is also Labor Day in the United States and Canada, which honors and recognizes the labor movements and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of their respective countries.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Beer Lover’s Day, National Neither Snow Nor Rain Day, National Grandma Moses Day, National Acorn Squash Day, National Salami Day, National Grateful Patient Day, and National New Hampshire Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1695, Henry Every perpetrated one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatened to end all English trading in India.
  • In 1776, according to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee made the world’s first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. No British records of this attack exist.
  • In 1911, French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum but was released a week later. The theft of the Mona Lisa was perpetrated by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian house painter who acted alone and was only caught two years later when he tried to sell the painting in Florence.
  • In 1914, physicist and philosopher James Van Allen was born. He was instrumental in establishing the field of magnetospheric research in space, and the Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following his discovery using Geiger–Müller tube instruments on the 1958 satellites Explorer 1, Explorer 3, and Pioneer 3 during the International Geophysical Year. He led the scientific community in putting scientific research instruments on space satellites.
  • In 1923, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) was formed.
  • In 1924, composer and conductor Leonard Rosenman was born.
  • In 1927, the first fully electronic television system was achieved by Philo Farnsworth.
  • In 1936, the last thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial named Benjamin, died alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. This was the inspiration for National Threatened Species Day in Australia.
  • In 1950, actress Julie Kavner was born.
  • In 1951, trumpet player and composer Mark Isham was born.
  • In 1954, actor Michael Emerson was born.
  • In 1955, Croatian-American actress Mira Furlan was born.
  • In 1973, director, producer, and screenwriter Alex Kurtzman was born.
  • In 1979, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) debuted.
  • In 1986, Desmond Tutu became the first black man to lead the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town.
  • In 1987, actress and singer Evan Rachel Wood was born.
  • In 1988, Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, returns to Earth after nine days on the Mir space station.
  • In 1993, actor Taylor Gray was born.
  • In 1997, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor took its maiden flight.

 

In 1857, Mormon settlers began a series of attacks that slaughtered most members of a peaceful emigrant wagon train. It became known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre was directed toward the Baker-Fancher emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. It was a place of rest and grazing used by pack trains and drovers on the Old Spanish Trail, and later by Mormons, Forty-niners, mail riders, migrants, and teamsters on the Mormon Road on their way overland between Utah and California.

The attacks began on September 7, 1857, and culminated on September 11, 1857. They resulted in the mass slaughter of most in the emigrant party by members of the Utah Territorial Militia from the Iron County district, together with some Southern Paiute Native Americans.

The wagon train was comprised mostly of families from Arkansas. They were bound for California on a route that passed through the Utah Territory during a time of conflict later known as the Utah War. After arriving in Salt Lake City, the Baker-Fancher party made their way south, eventually stopping to rest at Mountain Meadows. While the emigrants were camped at the meadow, nearby militia leaders, including Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee, made plans to attack them.

The militia, officially called the Nauvoo Legion, was composed of Utah’s Mormon settlers. They were motivated by war hysteria about a possible invasion of apocalyptic significance. In the months prior to the massacre, Mormon leaders prepared their followers for a seven-year siege predicted by Brigham Young. Mormons were directed to stockpile grain and were prevented from selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed.

During the Utah War, an armed confrontation in Utah Territory between the United States Army and Mormon Settlers, far-off Mormon colonies retreated. Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts, and Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the “Americans”, encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.

In August 1857, Mormon apostle George A. Smith (of Parowan) set out on a tour of southern Utah, continuing to instruct Mormons to stockpile grain. He met with many of the eventual participants in the massacre, including William H. Dame, Isaac Haight, and John D. Lee, noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight and that some of them were anxious to take vengeance for the “cruelties” that had been inflicted upon them over the existence of their religion. On his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Baker-Fancher party. The wagon train received a suggestion to stop and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows, and Smith’s party started rumors that the Fanchers had poisoned a well and a dead ox in order to kill Native Americans. These rumors preceded the wagon train to Cedar City.

In a further attempt to give the impression of tribal hostilities, the militiamen armed some Southern Paiutes and persuade the Native Americans to join with a larger party of militiamen disguised as Native Americans in an attack. During the militia’s first assault, the emigrants fought back, and a five-day siege ensued. Fear eventually spread among the militia’s leaders that some emigrants had caught sight of white men and had likely discovered the identity of their attackers. As a result, militia commander William H. Dame ordered his forces to kill the emigrants.

At this point in the siege, the emigrants were running low on water and provisions and allowed some members of the militia to enter their camp under a white flag of surrender. The militia members assured the emigrants they were protected and escorted them from their hasty fortification. After walking a distance from the camp, the militiamen, with the help of auxiliary forces hiding nearby, attacked the emigrants. The perpetrators killed 120 men, women, and children, but spared seventeen children, all younger than seven.

Following the massacre, the perpetrators hastily buried the victims, ultimately leaving the bodies vulnerable to wild animals and the climate. Local families took in the surviving children, and many of the victims’ possessions were auctioned off.

Investigations, after interruption by the American Civil War, resulted in nine indictments during 1874. Of the men indicted, only John D. Lee was tried in a court of law. After two trials in the Utah Territory, Lee was convicted by a jury, sentenced to death, and executed by Utah firing squad on March 23, 1877.

While growing up in Utah, I found the massacre to be spoken of in hushed tones. Various monuments to the event had been constructed over the years, and the site was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2011 after joint efforts by descendants of those killed and the LDS Church.

In 2007, the 150th anniversary of the massacre was remembered by a ceremony held in the meadows. Approximately 400 people, including many descendants of those slain at Mountain Meadows and Elder Henry B. Eyring of the LDS Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles attended the ceremony.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – September 6

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 6, 2020
Day 250 of 366

 

September 6th is the 250th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Swaziland, commemorating their independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Coffee Ice Cream Day and National Read A Book Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1620, the Pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower to settle in North America.
  • In 1642, England’s Parliament banned public stage-plays. The Long Parliament ordered the closure of all London theatres, citing the current “times of humiliation” and their incompatibility with “public stage-plays”, representative of “lascivious Mirth and Levity”.
  • In 1803, British scientist John Dalton began using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.
  • In 1870, Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming became the first woman in the United States to cast a vote legally after 1807.
  • In 1916, the first self-service grocery store was opened in Memphis, Tennessee by Clarence Saunders. It was the Piggly Wiggly.
  • In 1958, actor Michael Winslow was born. He is The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects.
  • In 1969, The Brady Bunch premiered.
  • In 1972, actor Idris Elba was born.
  • In 2018, the Supreme Court of India decriminalized all consensual sex among adults in private, making homosexuality legal on the Indian lands.

 

September 6th is Unification Day (Ден на Съединението) in Bulgaria. It commemorates the unification of Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria in 1885.

By the terms of the Treaty of Berlin in  1878, Southern Bulgaria (named Eastern Roumelia) was separated from the newly formed Bulgarian state and returned to the Ottoman Empire with partial autonomy. Bulgarian citizens considered the decisions of the Berlin Treaty to be unfair and began a peaceful demonstration against them.

The plan was to annex all territories that Bulgaria had gained after the Treaty of San Stefano but later it became clear that was impossible because of the unsuitable international situation. The Bulgarians had to leave Macedonia and the rest of Thrace and concentrate on the East Roumelian issue.

The first actions were taken in 1880, but it wasn’t until September of 1885 (after a lot of political movements) that the people rose in Goliamo Konare and advanced on the capital. Knyaz Alexander agreed to become a leader of the Unified Bulgaria and dismissed the temporary government. Diplomatic efforts failed and Bulgaria had to defend its interests on the battlefield in the Serbo-Bulgarian War where the Bulgarians were victorious.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – September 5

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 5, 2020
Day 249 of 366

 

September 5th is the 249th day of the year. It is the flag-flying day for Denmark’s deployed personnel, during which the country expresses their gratitude for Danish service members.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cheese Pizza Day, National Be Late For Something Day, National Tailgating Day, and World Beard Day. The last two are typically observed on the first Saturday in September.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1661, Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was arrested. He was Superintendent of Finances under Louis XIV, and was arrested in Nantes, France by D’Artagnan, captain of the king’s musketeers.
  • In 1698, in an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposed a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry.
  • In 1774, the First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • In 1914, make-up artist Stuart Freeborn was born. The “grandfather of modern make-up design”, he was responsible for the design and fabrication of Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
  • In 1927, the first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Trolley Troubles, was released. It was produced by Walt Disney and distributed by Universal Pictures.
  • In 1929, comedian and actor Bob Newhart was born.
  • In 1939, Australian actor George Lazenby was born. He was the second official James Bond.
  • In 1940, actress and singer Raquel Welch was born.
  • In 1942, German actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Werner Herzog was born.
  • In 1951, actor Michael Keaton was born.
  • In 1960, Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) won the gold medal in the light heavyweight boxing competition at the Olympic Games in Rome.
  • In 1976, Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show premiered. Mia Farrow was the first guest star.
  • In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

 

September 5th is the International Day of Charity.

The observance is an international day and was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. The prime purpose of the International Day of Charity is to raise awareness and provide a common platform for charity related activities all over the world for individuals, charitable, philanthropic, and volunteer organizations for their own purposes on the local, national, regional, and international level.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – September 4

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 4, 2020
Day 248 of 366

 

September 4th is the 248th day of the year. It is Immigrant’s Day in Argentina.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Chianti Day (the first Friday in September), National Wildlife Day, National Newspaper Carrier Day, National Macadamia Nut Day, National Lazy Mom’s Day (the first Friday in September), National Food Bank Day (the first Friday in September), and National College Colors Day (the Friday before Labor Day).

My college colors are red and white. Go Utes!

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1781, Los Angeles was founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels) by 44 Spanish settlers.
  • In 1888, George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
  • In 1923, the maiden flight of the USS Shenandoah, the first United States airship, occurred.
  • In 1928, actor Dick York was born.
  • In 1957, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel.
  • Also in 1957, actress, dancer, and choreographer Khandi Alexander was born.
  • Also in 1957, actress Patricia Tallman was born.
  • In 1960, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Damon Wayans was born.
  • In 1968, voice actor John DiMaggio was born.
  • In 1972, The Price Is Right premiered on CBS. It is the longest-running game show on American television.
  • In 1981, singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress Beyoncé was born.
  • In 1985, Buckminsterfullerene, the first fullerene molecule of carbon, was discovered.
  • In 1995, Xena: Warrior Princess debuted.
  • In 1998, Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.

 

September 4th is National Newspaper Carrier Day.

It honors Barney Flaherty, the first newspaper carrier (or paperboy) hired in 1833, as well as all current newspaper carriers. Flaherty’s hiring was on September 4th, conducted by Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun. It is also observed by The Armidale Express, NSW, Australia.

This is not to be confused with International Newspaper Carrier Day, an annual observance created by the Newspaper Association of America and celebrated in October.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

Dragon Con 2020: Gone Virtual

Michael Falkner1 Comment

Dragon Con 2020
September 3 through September 7, 2020

 

Dragon Con!

It’s an annual tradition for me, but thanks to COVID-19, it’s not going to be in person. And, as someone who personally has risk factors for the infection and lives with people who have risk factors, I’m okay with that. It sucks, but it’s understandable.

Dragon Con is going virtual, including three official video channels – Main Programming, selected programming from the fan tracks, and a classics track of panels from past years – as well as copious amounts of fan-generated content from the various tracks.

And all of it is free. No badges, no memberships… just tune in and get a taste of what Dragon Con does every year.

 

This year will be my twelfth time attending and my fifth year as an attending professional. I have done some work already with pre-recorded content, and I’ll also be on some live panels as well.

The main schedule is available in the 2020 Quick Start Guide. The Quick Start Guide is the overall guide to the convention that is given to each attendee every year. It includes a link to the large scheduling spreadsheet of fan panels, which points you to the channels where that video content will be hosted.

 

Note: All Dragon Con schedules are tentative until the convention ends on Monday. Even then, things are a bit suspect. As things change before the convention, I’ll update this post.
Revision History:

    • Rev 0 – 03 Sep 2020: Initial post.
    • Rev 1 – 04 Sep 2020: Added Doctor Who and available videos for Friday
    • Rev 2 – 07 Sep 2020: Added available videos for the weekend
    • Rev 3 – 11 Sep 2020: Added the Thursday video

 

9:00p: Shenanigans and Tails of Dragon Con! (4 hours)
American Sci-Fi Classics
Streaming live on Facebook (Event)
It’s here! It’s here! 2020 tried to stop us, but it couldn’t as Dragon Con Goes Virtual! As always, the American Sci-Fi Classics Track starts off on Thursday, because why wait for Friday? To kick things off, Joe, Gary, and a gaggle of the Classic Track Irregulars gather to tell the untold tales of Dragon Cons past. Well, untold until now. Now they’ll be totally told. So get your virtual con badge, an over-priced slice of pizza, settle in for the silliness, and remember to let Streamyard have permission to use your name, so the panel can see your name on your comments!

 

12:00p: Lost in Space – Season 2 Revisited (1 hour)
American Science Fiction and Fantasy Media
Live on YouTube
Trials and tribulations finally bring the Jupiter Two and the Robinsons back to the Resolute only to deal with robot slavery, mutinies, and all the mixed up trouble that only ‘Dr. Smith’ could get into.

2:00p: Doctor Who: Where to Get Started with the Earth Station Who Podcast (1 hour)
BritTrack
Pre-recorded on YouTube
Earth Station Who Podcast joins the BritTrack to chat about where new fans can get started with the Classic Doctor Who Series, New Series, novels, comics, and audios!

 

2:30p: Back to the Future 35th Anniversary (1 hour)
American Sci-Fi Classics
Streaming live on Facebook
The Avengers were wrong! This movie is awesome, and scientifically accurate, of course.

8:30p: Pre-Dawn of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 hour)
American Sci-Fi Classics
Streaming live on Facebook
We look at Blade, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more.

 

3:00p: Getting Started With Digital Media: The Ups & Downs (1 hour)
Digital Media
Live on Twitch
This panel will help newcomers and veterans alike find the ins and outs of creating both audio and video podcasts, on multiple platforms.

Video available at Twitch.tv

 

10:00a: Doctor Who Potpourri (1 hour)
BritTrack
Pre-recorded on YouTube
Similar to “roll-a-panel,” Doctor Who panelists spin a wheel and get a topic with only five minutes to answer!

11:30a: Making Sci-Fi Add Up: Math in Classic Sci-Fi (1 hour)
American Sci-Fi Classics
Pre-recorded on Facebook
All slide rules must be peace bonded for this panel.

2:00p: Dragon Con 101 (1 hour)
Dragon Con Facebook and Instagram channels
First Dragon Con? Confused or overwhelmed? Savvy con attendees will share their tips and tricks for making your experience an awesome one.

 

The Thing About Today – September 3

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 3, 2020
Day 247 of 366

 

September 3rd is the 247th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Qatar, commemorating the second independence from the United Kingdom in 1971.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Welsh Rarebit Day and U.S. Bowling League Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 301, San Marino was founded by Saint Marinus. One of the smallest nations in the world, it is the world’s oldest republic still in existence.
  • In 1651, the Battle of Worcester was fought. It was the last significant action in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
  • In 1777, during the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge in the American Revolutionary War, the Flag of the United States was flown in battle for the first time.
  • In 1783, The American Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
  • In 1838, future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery.
  • In 1875, the first official game of polo was played in Argentina after being introduced by British ranchers.
  • Also in 1875, Ferdinand Porsche was born. He was the Austrian-German engineer and businessman who founded Porsche.
  • In 1923, cartoonist Mort Walker was born. He created Beetle Bailey.
  • Also in 1923, Glen Bell was born. He was the businessman who founded Taco Bell.
  • In 1935, Sir Malcolm Campbell reached a speed of 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour.
  • In 1943, actress Valerie Perrine was born.
  • In 1959, actor Merritt Butrick was born.
  • In 1974, actress, producer, and screenwriter Clare Kramer was born.
  • In 1976, the Viking 2 spacecraft landed at Utopia Planitia on Mars.
  • In 1981, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international bill of rights for women, was instituted by the United Nations.

 

Since this project is partially a quest to learn new things each day, I took a look at Welsh Rarebit. Also known as Welsh Rabbit, it is a traditional British dish often associated with Welsh cuisine. It consists of a savory sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients, served hot, after being poured over slices of toasted bread. The names of the dish originate from 18th-century Britain, but the dish itself contains no rabbit meat.

I grew up with something similar consisting of gravy (sometimes with meat chunks) poured over toasted bread. We called it S.O.S., short for Shit on a Shingle.

Variants of the Welsh Rarebit may include ale, mustard, ground cayenne pepper, paprika, wine,  and/or Worcestershire sauce. The sauce may also blend cheese and mustard into a Béchamel sauce.

Other variants include the Scotch Rabbit…

Toast the bread very nicely on both sides, butter it, cut a slice of cheese about as big as the bread, toast it on both sides, and lay it on the bread.

…the English rabbit…

Toast the bread brown on both sides, lay it in a plate before the fire, pour a glass of red wine over it, and let it soak the wine up. Then cut some cheese very thin and lay it very thick over the bread, put it in a tin oven before the fire, and it will be toasted and browned presently. Serve it always hot.

Alternatively, toast the bread and soak it in the wine, set it before the fire, rub butter over the bottom of a plate, lay the cheese on, pour in two or three spoonfuls of white wine, cover it with another plate, set it over a chafing-dish of hot coals for two or three minutes, then stir it till it is done and well mixed. You may stir in a little mustard; when it enough lays it on the bread, just brown it with a hot shovel.

…the Buck rarebit, also known as the Golden Buck…

It’s a Welsh Rarebit with an egg served on top.

…and the Blushing Bunny.

Welsh rarebit blended with a tomato or with tomato soup.

The first recorded reference to the dish was “Welsh rabbit” in 1725, in an English context, but the origin of the term is unknown.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

Timestamp #TW30: Children of Earth – Day Four

Michael Falkner4 Comments

Torchwood: Children of Earth – Day Four
(1 episode, s03e04, 2009)

 

Torchwood suffers a terrible loss.

Confronted by Clem, Jack recalls his actions in 1965. The 456 offered a cure for a deadly flu pandemic that was about to break out, but they wanted twelve children in exchange with the promise that those children would live forever. Jack was specifically chosen because they needed someone who couldn’t die and didn’t care.

The children were taken to the specific coordinates, during which Clem escaped. His escape went unnoticed because the 456 left before disappeared first. Jack didn’t notice his escape, and it’s uncertain why the 456 didn’t notice either. It’s possible that Clem was on the verge of puberty and was thus undesirable to the aliens.

Clem, haunted by Jack’s face in his nightmares, steals Gwen’s gun and shoots Jack. After Jack resurrects, Gwen talks Clem down. Ianto is upset that Jack never mentioned this before.

Meanwhile, Agent Johnson takes Alice and Steven to her facility. Alice warns Johnson not to anger Jack.

The Torchwood team tunes back into the summit with the 456. While Frobisher questions what will happen to the children they demanded, the aliens state that a “remnant” is watching. Clem assumes that the 456 is speaking of him, while everyone else believes that it is the camera linking the summit to the party in the Prime Minister’s office.

The 456 demand that Frobisher sends a camera into the tank. When he does, a 456 is captured in profile and three heartbeats and distinct forms of life are detected. One of them is a child, one of the chosen from 1965, who has not aged a day since. The child’s eyes widen in shock. Presumably, it has not seen another human in the decades since its abduction.

The cameraman leaves as the 456 spew more green goo and transmit a recording of Frobisher’s voice announcing that this is off the record. The 456 says they do not harm the children, that they feel no pain, but if humanity refuses their demands, the entire species will be destroyed.

The Americans are furious. They demand all the records of the 1965 encounter and threaten Prime Minister Green with United Nations sanctions for withholding the information.

Ianto feels betrayed by Jack’s secrecy about 1965. Jack leaves to call Frobisher. Confirming that the 456 have returned, Jack warns that their return is proof that they cannot be trusted. After the call, Frobisher is summoned to the Prime Minister’s office for an emergency planning meeting. Lois continues to record the proceedings as the PM decides to negotiate with the 456 as they explore options for viable children that no one would miss.

Frobisher returns to the isolation room and offers the 456 one child per million people on the planet, approximately 6,700 in total. The 456 refuse and the children around the world start chanting various numbers, each country with a different value.

The hard line is ten percent of the children of Earth. No negotiation.

Agent Johnson discovers that her unit has been cut off by the government, so she decides to go to London to get more information. As she travels, the assembled officials try to decide how best to select the “units” for delivery and how to sell it to the pubic. The meeting becomes contentious as they bounce from random lottery to alphabetical selection to simply filtering out the “drains on society”.

They finally decide that those who are less likely to contribute to society are the viable targets, including those living on benefits and those destined for prisons, based on school league tables and academic performance.

The proposal is accepted and given to Frobisher for execution.

The Torchwood team decides to use the recording as leverage to blackmail the Cabinet. Jack and Ianto head to Thames House while Gwen secures Lois’s cooperation. As Jack and Ianto hit gridlock in the city, Ianto calls his sister to warn her, fully aware that the line is being traced. He extends the warning to the government officials monitoring the call before telling his family that he loves them. He also calls Gwen, therefore providing Johnson with the location of the new Hub.

Frobisher outlines his plan to the Cabinet, offering a vaccine against the chanting as a cover story. When the vaccine goes wrong, they can pretend that they didn’t know and that the 456 were behind it all. When Jack is in position, Lois addresses the Cabinet on behalf of Torchwood, informing them of the recording. Jack and Ianto surrender themselves at the entrance of Thames House.

When Johnson arrives at the Torchwood warehouse, Gwen shows her the recording and informs them of the gravity of the situation. Rhys has a copy of the recordings and is ready to send them to the public if anything goes wrong.

Jack and Ianto are taken before the 456. The 456 refuse to yield and Jack declares that they are making it a war. The 456 responds by releasing a virus into the facility, prompting an immediate lockdown. Ianto demands that an anti-virus be deployed or he will destroy the tank. The 456 refuse, and the tank is bulletproof. The 456 starts to shriek, a scream that goes beyond the recording as Clem screams in agony and starts to bleed. The 456 declare that the Remnant will be disconnected and Clement dies in Gwen’s arms.

Jack promises to get Ianto out, but it’s too late. Ianto has already been exposed. Ianto collapses and Jack catches him.

Dekker has donned an environmental suit. Jack is immortal. Everyone else in Thames House dies.

Including Ianto.

Jack says that it’s all his fault, but Ianto says no. Ianto says that he loves Jack and asks him to never forget him. As Ianto slips away, the 456 tells Jack that humanity will deliver the children. Jack succumbs to the virus as he kisses Ianto goodbye.

The Cabinet is left with two choices: Deliver 35 million children or face annihilation. Brian Green chooses to deliver the children.

Gwen arrives some time later in a room filled with body bags. She finds Ianto and Jack, knowing that Jack will come back but Ianto has paid the price for their efforts. As Gwen mourns, she declares that there is nothing they can do.

 

Working with Torchwood is not conducive to a long life. We learned this on Gwen’s first adventure, and it was reinforced with Suzie Costello, Owen Harper, and Toshiko Sato. But this one was a deep cut for Jack, the team, and the fans. Jack lost the man he loved and the team has already seen so much death, but the fans reacted by building a shrine in Cardiff Bay. The memorial was a persistent feature for several years and eventually became a permanent attraction in the area.

This episode and its terrible toll also proved that the 456 were a significant threat. In fact, one to be taken seriously. One that could not be defeated by sheer strength alone. The team was outmatched and outmaneuvered, and they’re left with little hope at the end of the chapter.

That makes this part a very powerful one.

A minor note comes by way of the mention that the 456 are only in the market for pre-pubescent children. That explains why the Bannerman Road Gang does not crossover into this series.

 


Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

 

 

UP NEXT – Torchwood: Children of Earth – Day Five

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – September 2

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 2, 2020
Day 246 of 366

 

September 2nd is the 246th day of the year. It is Independence Day in several locales today. The first is Transnistria (also known as Transdniestria, Pridnestrovie, or officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic), a breakaway state in a narrow strip of land between the river Dniester and the Ukrainian border that is internationally recognized as part of Moldova. The second is Artsakh (officially the Republic of Artsakh), a breakaway state in the South Caucasus that is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The independence of those two republics is not officially recognized. The third locale is Vietnam, which commemorated President Hồ Chí Minh reading the Declarations of independence of Vietnam at Ba Đình Square in Hanoi, which separated them from Japan and France in 1945.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Blueberry Popsicle Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out and burned for three days. The fire destroyed 10,000 buildings, including Old St Paul’s Cathedral.
  • In 1752, Great Britain, along with its overseas possessions, adopted the Gregorian calendar.
  • In 1789, the United States Department of the Treasury was founded.
  • In 1912, Arthur Rose Eldred was awarded the first Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America.
  • In 1932, Arnold Greenberg, the co-founder of Snapple, was born.
  • In 1948, educator and astronaut Christa McAuliffe was born.
  • In 1951, actor and producer Mark Harmon was born.
  • In 1963, CBS Evening News became the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast on American network television when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
  • In 1964, Lebanese-Canadian actor, singer, and producer Keanu Reeves was born.
  • In 1966, Mexican-American actress, director, and producer Salma Hayek was born.
  • In 1970, NASA announced the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon: Apollo 15 (which was used by a later mission) and Apollo 19.
  • In 2001, the adult-oriented television block Adult Swim debuted on Cartoon Network.
  • In 2012, the decades-long ban on veiled female news presenters was lifted from State television in Egypt.

 

In 1945, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed by Japan and the major warring powers aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay, thus ending World War II.

It is known as Victory over Japan Day, V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, and V-P Day. It is celebrated around the world, both on August 15th (the initial date of surrender) and September 2nd (the official declaration of surrender).

Since the 1960s, it has been suggested September 2nd be declared as an international holiday to be called World Peace Day. However, when this holiday came to be first celebrated beginning in 1981, it was designated as September 21st, the day the General Assembly of the United Nations begins its deliberations each year.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.