Links for April 20th through April 28th

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Sometime between April 20th and April 28th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • Elements of Twitter Style: "Twitter has become hugely popular and is only getting bigger. Some users don't understand that the formatting and content of their tweets has a huge impact on how well or poorly they are received as individuals, and by extension, how likely they are to be followed. I have strong opinions about what works well on Twitter, and what doesn't. I decided I would start writing down these opinions so that I can easily reference them in the future."
  • Blag Hag: And the Boobquake Results Are In!: "Not only did all of the earthquakes on boobquake fall within the normal range of magnitudes, but the mean magnitude actually decreased slightly! Now, this change isn't statistically significant, but it certainly doesn't support the cleric's claim. In fact, I think it develops an even more interesting alternative hypothesis: Maybe immodest women actually decrease the amount of earthquakes! Man, that would certainly be a fun way to provide disaster relief. Of course, before we can make any claims about that, we'd have to greatly increase our sample size. You know, I have this gut feeling that a lot of people would like to do our boobquake experiment again…"
  • Daring Fireball: Gizmodo and the Prototype iPhone: "Imagine, say, that someone offered to sell you a unique and notable piece of stolen artwork. You pay them and take the item. You are subsequently arrested and charged with buying stolen property. What do you think your chances are of being acquitted on the grounds that you didn't know for certain whether the item was a forgery at the time you paid for it?"
  • You Ever Think About How In, Like, a Tom Hanks Movie…?: "You ever think about how in, like, a Tom Hanks movie, everyone lives in a reality in which there's no such person as Tom Hanks? Because otherwise, people would be mistaking the main character for Tom Hanks all the time? So either Tom Hanks doesn't exist in the world the movie takes place in, or he does exist but he looks like someone else?" Be sure to scroll down to the comments, there are some fun mentions of shows or movies that break this pattern.
  • Henge Docks: "Henge Docks has created the first truly comprehensive docking station solution for Apple's line of notebook computers. This means you can quickly, easily and cleanly incorporate your MacBook computer into a desktop setup or your home theater system, so you get the best features of a laptop, desktop and media center PC all from one computer. Henge Docks patent-pending design doesn't require any hardware, software or settings changes to your computer. In fact, every current MacBook is compatible with our system, right from the factory."

Imagine if…

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Via a number of people on my reading list: Imagine if the “tea party” was black, by Tim Wise. I’ve excerpted it heavily here, but there’s much more at the source link.

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure – the ones who are driving the action – we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters – the black protesters – spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? […]

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” […]

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” […]

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.” […]

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do, and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they tried to get away with half the shit we do, on a daily basis.

Links for April 14th through April 19th

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Sometime between April 14th and April 19th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • The Alot Is Better Than You at Everything: "The Alot is an imaginary creature that I made up to help me deal with my compulsive need to correct other people's grammar. It kind of looks like a cross between a bear, a yak and a pug, and it has provided hours of entertainment for me in a situation where I'd normally be left feeling angry and disillusioned with the world."
  • The 120 Minutes Archive – Playlists, Videos, and Interviews From MTV’S Classic Alternative Music Series: "Since 2003, we've been traveling back through time to rediscover and preserve the history of the legendary MTV U.S. series, 120 Minutes, which played alternative music videos with VJs, guests, and live performances, as well as its official successor, Subterranean on MTV2. Music videos still exist, of course, but it's just not the same. We want to remember some of MTV's better moments, so we've assembled an incredible archive of playlists, videos, and interviews."
  • Christ, It Works for Everything: "It was recently theorized that all New Yorker cartoons could be captioned with 'Christ, what an asshole' without compromising their comedic value. I discovered this is true of virtually all comics, old and new."
  • How Apple Designed the iPad Out in the Open: "Like military research that eventually ends up in consumer tech, Apple's drive to invent the iPad trickled into its old computers. The big difference is that military research is top-secret. In this rare case, the famously tight-lipped Apple put every part of the iPad out in the open, years before it was ever announced."
  • NOVA | The Pluto Files | Hate Mail From Third Graders: "'It's not easy being a public enemy,' writes Neil deGrasse Tyson in his book The Pluto Files. When Neil's museum grouped Pluto not among the planets but rather with icy comets in an obscure region called the Kuiper Belt, he heard from thousands of outraged Pluto defenders. It's tough being called a heartless Pluto-hater, particularly by a dismayed eight-year-old. Below, peruse a few of the letters elementary schoolkids sent Neil, and see how their tone shifted over the years, as the public slowly came to accept Pluto's fall from planethood."

Norwescon 33 Wrapup

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I’m home! Home, and recovering from another fun Norwescon. In something of a break from previous Norwescon wrapup posts, this one is going to be picture free. However, this is by no means due to a shortage of photos…in fact, just the opposite! As this was my first year volunteering as official staff photographer, I have, if anything, an overabundance of photos to process (the final count: 4,474). I will be working my way through them over the next few weeks, but as I’m also a student in my last few quarters before graduation, photo processing will have to take a back seat to homework. Still, I’ll be posting them to the official Norwescon Flickr account as I can. In the meantime, other congoers are already adding photos to the Norwescon 33 group.

Overall, the con was, as always, a lot of fun. In addition to this being my first year volunteering, this was also my first year getting a hotel room and staying on-site for the entire weekend. As Prairie isn’t into this kind of über-geeking, she went down to visit with her family for Easter, and I shared the room (and split the costs) with Laurie (Rowan Silverwing) and Brad.

Thursday

Thursday morning, Prairie went off to work, and I finalized all my prepping and packing for the weekend. Said prepping and packing consisted of two bags and one box: one backpack of clothing, toiletries, and general hotel room stuff; one backpack of photo gear, which had my small day-use camera bag attached to it; and my iMac, nice and snug in its original packaging from Apple. I’d debated that last item, but given the number of photos I was expecting to shoot, and that I was planning on at least a minimum amount of posting from the con, it seemed the best approach.

Round about 11 AM, Tim showed up to pick up my old G5, load me and my gear into his car, and drive me up to the hotel. I got there a little after noon, checked in, and headed up to find my room, conveniently running into Laurie and Brad on the way (who were kind enough to help me schlep my gear through the halls).

The room ended up being the one downside to the con. Not that there was anything wrong with the room itself — it was simply that as I wasn’t sure I’d be staying at the hotel until fairly late in the year, and ended up reserving my room not long before the con’s reserved block entirely sold out, I ended up with a room in the party wing. Five doors down from Dethcon, and across the hall from Shockwave. While the hotel rooms are soundproofed enough that only a bare minimum of sound from the parties themselves carried through the walls, the people carrying on in the halls were plenty loud enough to make sleeping difficult. Still, now I know, and next year, our room will definitely be in some other wing of the hotel!

Anyway, with everything dropped off, I went down to registration just in time for their servers to crap out. Thankfully, from what I understand, this was the only time they had a major glitch at registration during the weekend. An hour or so later, I had my registration, and about half an hour after that (after a minor amount of confusion) I had my “official photographer all-access” badge, and was ready to go!

My t-shirt of the day — Princess Leia as the iconic Rosie the Riveter “We Can Do It!” image, with “Join the Rebel Alliance Today!” text at the bottom — got a lot of grins, compliments, and “where did you get that” questions (to which there was often disappointment when I had to tell them that it was a one-day sale only item).

The rest of the day — much like the rest of the weekend — was divided between wandering around the halls, getting shots of congoers and volunteers alike, and attending the various panels and events that I’d worked out ahead of time as being the most necessary to photograph. I began with the Thrill the World dance class, with zombies-to-be learning the steps of the “Thriller” dance; moved on to the Guest of Honor banquet, where I got my first shots of most of the Guests of Honor (Cory Doctorow, at this point, was still held up at customs); the Opening Ceremonies were next, by which point Cory had arrived; a quick stop by the Zombie 101 room for zombie training, makeup, and planning their attack on the con; finally, the Zombie Walk and the Thursday night dance.

Eventually, I made it back to my room, dumped my photos, and crashed.

Friday

Friday morning I established my morning routine: up between 8 and 8:30 AM, shower, breakfast in the Hospitality suite at 9 AM, then back up to the room to make a quick scan of the prior day’s photos to choose five “highlights” to post (straight out of the camera, as-is and uncorrected) to Norwescon’s Facebook page. Once all that was done, off I went!

Friday’s run covered the premiere of “Courage,” a Firefly fan series; an interview with Science Guest of Honor Dr. Kramer; the Gothic Tea Party, hosted by Jillian Venters, the Lady of the Manners; the first autograph session; the Single Pattern Contest, for which I took “beauty shots” of the entries, ran back up to the room to process them, then provided .jpg files on a thumb drive so the contest head could put them in a PowerPoint slideshow for presentation the next day; the Philip K. Dick Awards, which four of the seven nominated authors were able to attend; the Fannish Fetish Fashion Show, where I met a couple other local photographers (one of whom has been kind enough to show me some of his shots from the FFFS, and he did a wonderful job); upstairs to Maxi’s for their evening party sponsored by Weird Tales; and finally, the Friday night Stardance. Somewhere in the middle of all that I found some downtime for an hour’s nap.

Friday’s shirt was my “I’m Just Here to Get Laid” t-shirt, which got the usual number of laughs, grins, thumbs-ups, and inquiries as to how successful I’d been. No offers, though, so at least I didn’t have to turn anyone down (as much as Prairie is amused by the shirt, she’d probably frown at it being anything more than a fun joke).

Saturday

Saturday morning was essentially a repeat of Friday, aside from heading over to Denny’s for a more substantial breakfast.

Saturday’s events covered the Star Trek: Phoenix fan film premiere, which packed one of the largest rooms in the con; both autograph sessions; an interview with Vernor Vinge conducted by another notable science fiction author, Greg Bear; the Masquerade costume photo area, which accounted for the majority of my shots on Saturday, racking up 1,625 at this event alone; upstairs to Maxi’s, sponsored this night by Star Trek: Phoenix; and again, finally, the Saturday night dance. One again, somewhere in the middle I managed to squeeze in time for an hour’s nap.

Saturday’s shirt was one I just had made a couple months ago, and which had its major public debut this weekend: “This man isn’t wearing any pants!” This comes from something shouted at me a few years ago while I was wandering around the Fremont Solstice Parade wearing my kilt (when it was “That man…” rather than “This man….”), and has been making me laugh ever since. It’s a fun bit of silliness to wear when I’m wearing my kilt (It might even more fun to wear at some point when I am wearing pants). Many laughs on this one as I wandered around.

Sunday

Sunday morning, again, was a repeat of Friday’s, complete with breakfast at Hospitality. Added to the routine, however, was packing everything up and schlepping it down to the cloak room so that we could be all checked out of our room by noon.

My shirt for the day was my Cylon toaster shirt. Again, it got some grins, but it’s been around longer (and is a little more obscure), so not as much of a reaction. That was what I’d expected, though.

Sunday’s mad dash for photos covered the Easter Egg Hunt for the youngest set (four and younger); the Fannish Flea Market, a new event for Norwescon and one that appeared to be going over incredibly well; the Art and Charity Auction; getting shots of congoers leaving the movie preview session wearing t-shirts supplied by the movie studios; the filk music jam; a few shots at the Fandance Film Festival, which included the hilarious final results of the “Let’s Make A Movie!” event that had been going on throughout the con; the Onions and Roses panel, where I was pleased to hear the Twitter and Facebook updates that I assist with get a few nice comments; and finally, the Closing Ceremonies bringing the con to a happy and successful end.

I wandered over to the cloak room, picked up my stuff, had the hotel staff call a cab for me, and made it home by 7pm that night, happy and absolutely exhausted.

Other Thoughts

I’m thrilled that we were able to successfully expand our social media presence this year. Last year I’d created a Norwescon Twitter account just for fun, as a bit of unrecognized fan-run promotion. It picked up a few followers and seemed to go well, and so over the course of planning for Norwescon 33, the con’s Publications department had asked (and I’d happily agreed) to take over the administration of the account.

Once I was on-board as photographer, though — also a part of the Publications department — as we got closer to the con, and we started discussing ways to use the Twitter account during the con, I volunteered to once again take the reins for the account (in part because our webmaster, normally in charge of the Twitter account, was unable to attend the con due to scheduling conflicts with his day job). We got it tied together with the Facebook page, pre-wrote and -scheduled a number of updates to go out over the course of the con, covering event announcements, program changes, and other miscellanea, and did our best to check it in person every so often to answer any requests that had come our way. This ended up working really well, and I heard a number of appreciative comments over the course of the con. I’m quite proud of that.

As far as my first year as con photographer went, overall, I’m quite happy with how it all worked out. The big thing I’m going to be considering over the next year as we wind down from Norwescon 33 and prepare for Norwescon 34 is just how exhausting it was for me to try to cover the entire con on my own. I think I did a pretty decent job, but there were a few things I wanted to hit that I wasn’t able to get to (the Match Game, for instance, along with many of the more popular panels). I’m going to be putting some serious thought (and discussion with the Publications head, once my ideas are a little more solidified than they are at the moment) into seeing if I can take on one, perhaps two “assistant” photographers to assist with getting full coverage of the con next year.

I also heard from a few of the other photographers that the Saturday night Masquerade photo area continues to be a source of frustration for many, something that I’ve thought myself in past years, and that was only partially mitigated by my status as “official” photographer this year. This is an area that I’m going to be brainstorming on over the next few months to see if I can come up with any workable ideas and suggestions for alleviating the issues that seem to be occurring each year.

My single biggest regret, though, is one that in many ways has nothing to do with the con itself. It’s simply that, as I’m a student (and, by the time Norwescon 34 rolls around, will be graduated and (knock on wood) gainfully employed), now that I’m back in the “mundane” world, I’ve got to concentrate on silly little things like homework, and I can’t devote the next week to getting all these thousands of photographs sorted, processed, edited, and uploaded! I’m thrilled to see the man photographs already appearing in the Norwescon 33 Flickr group, as well as the catch-all Norwescon Flickr group, so those people who are looking for photos will be able to find them…I just wish I had the time to get the “official” shots up on the Norwescon account sooner! Still, real life has its responsibilities, and I’m pretty sure that everyone knows that I’ll get them up as soon as I can, and there’s certainly nobody (other than myself) rushing me.

And…I think that’s it! Another fun year, and my first year volunteering, and I had a lot of fun doing it. Here’s to Norwescon 34!

Links for March 18th through April 6th

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Sometime between March 18th and April 6th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • Flickr: Teabonics: "Teabonics- the bizarre, mutant variant of English used by self proclaimed members of the Tea Party when making their protest signs. The TEABAG Movement sweeping across America has forged a new English language vernacular. A phenomenon that linguists are calling TEABONICS."
  • FINALLY: The Difference Between Nerd, Dork, and Geek Explained by a Venn Diagram: "To all of you nerds and geeks who–like me–have been unfairly and inaccurately labeled 'dorks,' only to then exhaustively explain the differences among the three to a more-than-skeptical offender, I say: You're welcome. This nerd/dork/geek/dweeb Venn diagram should save you a lot of time and frustration in the future."
  • An Open Letter to Conservatives: "You're going to have to come up with a platform that isn't built on a foundation of cowardice: fear of people with colors, religions, cultures and sex lives that differ from your own; fear of reform in banking, health care, energy; fantasy fears of America being transformed into an Islamic nation, into social/commun/fasc-ism, into a disarmed populace put in internment camps; and more. But you have work to do even before you take on that task. Your party — the GOP — and the conservative end of the American political spectrum have become irresponsible and irrational. Worse, it's tolerating, promoting and celebrating prejudice and hatred. Let me provide some examples — by no means an exhaustive list — of where the Right as gotten itself stuck in a swamp of hypocrisy, hyperbole, historical inaccuracy and hatred."
  • Waterloo: "No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the 'doughnut hole' and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents' insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there — would President Obama sign such a repeal?"
  • How today’s college students use Wikipedia for course–related research: "Findings are reported from student focus groups and a large–scale survey about how and why students (enrolled at six different U.S. colleges) use Wikipedia during the course–related research process. A majority of respondents frequently used Wikipedia for background information, but less often than they used other common resources, such as course readings and Google. Architecture, engineering, and science majors were more likely to use Wikipedia for course–related research than respondents in other majors. The findings suggest Wikipedia is used in combination with other information resources. Wikipedia meets the needs of college students because it offers a mixture of coverage, currency, convenience, and comprehensibility in a world where credibility is less of a given or an expectation from today’s students."

…but there your rights stop.

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I’m no big fan of Philip Pullman — not that I go so far as to actively dislike him for any reason, I just didn’t think the His Dark Materials trilogy was really all that good — but this quote, in response to someone asking whether his latest book was “offensive,” is a thing of beauty:

It was a shocking thing to say and I knew it was a shocking thing to say. But no one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don’t have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don’t have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or bought, or sold or read. That’s all I have to say on that subject.

(via Boing Boing)

Norwescon, Sakura-Con, and Easter Weekend

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I keep seeing questions about why Norwescon and Sakura-Con are both scheduled for Easter weekend this year. Here’s my attempt at an answer, with the disclaimer that I’m not speaking officially for Norwescon or Sakura-Con. This is just what I’ve picked up while chatting with people over the past couple years, and what I can verify over the ‘net (using the past convention dates from Wikipedia for Norwescon and Sakura-Con and this table of Easter dates).

Historically, Norwescon has been on Easter weekend for the majority of its existence, and the past 14 years consecutively:

  • On Easter Weekend: NWC 1, 11, 14, 17, 19-32
  • Near Easter Weekend: NWC 2-10 (and Alternatcon), 12, 15-16, 18

Sakura-Con, which has been in existence for fewer years (13) than Norwescon’s been consistently using Easter weekend (14), spent most of its first decade using weekends other than Easter weekend, very probably in an attempt not to conflict with Norwescon, as there is a lot of fan crossover between the two conventions. In fact, the first two years of Sakuracon were held at the SeaTac DoubleTree, the same hotel that Norwescon was using at the time (and is still using now).

  • On Easter Weekend: SC 10, 12-13
  • Near Easter Weekend: SC 1-9, 11

So, in a sense, Norwescon does have the elementary schoolyard ability to stick its tongue out at Sakura-Con and stamp its feet, saying, “We were here first!” But that would be silly.

So why the change in Sakura-Con’s schedule, if (as I’m guessing) since they at first attempted to work around Norwescon’s established schedule?

Simply put, it’s business. Easter weekend isn’t one of the big travel holidays, and conventions are more able to negotiate better usage rates (in everything from space rental fees to discounted room rates). It’s a win-win for both the convention and the hotel: the convention gets to use the hotel for as little money as realistically possible; the hotel gets a huge amount of business on an otherwise traditionally slow weekend.

So, as Sakura-Con grew in popularity, and needed to expand to find more and more space, I’d be willing to bet that after a while, it simply worked out that the best deals it could get for space (claiming space at the downtown Seattle Convention Center) and its fans (it looks like at least one downtown hotel is offering discounted rates for Sakura-Con attendees) were going to be on Easter weekend.

So yes, at times, it can be a little frustrating to have two major local conventions with a fair amount of cross-pollination in their fanbase going on over the same weekend. However, it’s a friendly competition, and there are always a small number of fans who do their best to bounce between both cons, or at least stop by the other convention once they’ve established a “home base” at one. Doing so is even easier than ever this year, now that the Central Link light rail is in operation: from Norwescon, just take a shuttle from the DoubleTree to the airport, hop the Link downtown, and you can probably be at the Washington State Convention Center and in the midst of Sakura-Con in right about an hour.

Whichever con you choose, though (for me, it’s Norwescon), have fun!

UPDATE: While I’m keeping the “not speaking officially” disclaimer up, I’ve received a number of comments from various people on the Norwescon ConCom (Convention Committee) thanking me for this post, and indicating that they’ll be passing it around as an answer to this oft-repeated question. Awesome!

UPDATE #2: Former Sakura-Con staff member and con chair Isaac Alexander contacted me via Twitter with a few minor corrections to what I wrote:

The Double Tree Inn at South Center is completely different then the Double Tree Sea Tac(which used to be the Red Lion Sea-Tac). The Double Tree Inn at South Center was torn down a couple years ago to make space for the mall expansion.

You were absolutely correct about us not wanting to conflict in the early years with norwes because of the crossover with fans.

Law and Order and the Lakewood Shootings

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I’m finding myself quite intrigued by my reactions as I watched last night’s Law and Order, “Four Cops Shot,” which was based loosely on the Lakewood police shootings of last fall. When I saw last week’s promos for this episode, I had wondered about the possibility of it being a fictionalized take on the Lakewood shootings, but it was soon quite obvious that this was the case (and would have been even if KING5 hadn’t run a special “viewer advisory” banner over the first few minutes of the show).

Law and Order, like many of the modern crime shows, does occasionally supplement its totally fictional shows with shows “loosely based on” real events. There have been times in the past when we’ve enjoyed realizing that, hey, they’re doing this story, or that one. Of course, between the realities of compressing events that often take months into a single hour, and the particular demands of the format, these events are rarely, if ever, presented exactly as they happened, and sometimes, part of the fun is catching where the show is true to the source material, and where it veers away for the sake of television drama.

However, that game becomes a little less fun when the subject of the show in question is one that I’m actually familiar with. Suddenly, those moments when events change for the sake of the show — the “loose” parts of “loosely based upon” — seem more jarring, more unsettling.

(NOTE: From here on out, there will be spoilers for this episode.)

For the majority of the episode, they did a fairly good job of mirroring the events as they transpired last November. From the initial shooting of four off-duty officers (but no-one else in the eatery), to the city-wide manhunt for a wounded suspect, to the suspect’s getting assistance from friends and family, to the political fallout for a high-level politician who had earlier pardoned the suspect, everything moved along more or less as it had in the actual case. The first major change was the capture of the suspect, rather than his being shot and killed by an officer on the street, but this had been expected, as a live suspect is fairly necessary for the courtroom drama of the “Order” half of the show.

However, as the investigation proceeded and moved into the trial, some relatively major changes were made to the background of the suspect and the motivations for his actions — changes that, given how recently this happened, how well-known the four Lakewood officers were in their community, and how tender a subject this still is for many people, had both Prairie and me thinking that a number of locals are likely to be quite upset by how the story was presented.

I mentioned this on Twitter last night…

djwudi: “Wow. This Law & Order was staying fairly close with the broad strokes, but just took a sharp turn and gave the shooter a sympathetic motive.”

djwudi: “I’ve got the feeling a lot of locals are going to be upset about how Law & Order decided to fictionalize the Lakewood shootings.”

…and not long afterwards, found this:

politicallogic: “NBC Law & Order Outrage! Dramatizing Lakewood Police murders. Make Cops bad guys & portray murderer as a victim. Disgusting!”

So what did they do? In the real world, shooter Maurice Clemmons was bad news. Here’s the Wikipedia summary:

Prior to his alleged involvement in the shooting, Clemmons had at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington.2 His first incarceration began in 1989, at age 17. Facing sentences totaling 108 years in prison, the burglary sentences were reduced in 2000 by Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee to 47 years, which made him immediately eligible for parole. He was released in 2000.

Clemmons was subsequently arrested on other charges and was jailed several times. In the months prior to the Lakewood shooting, he was in jail on charges of assaulting a police officer and raping a child.

In the days before the attack, Clemmons talked about his plan to shoot police officers:

On November 26, 2008, less than one week after Clemmons posted his bail bond, during a Thanksgiving gathering at the home of Clemmons’ aunt, Clemmons told several people he was angry about his Pierce County legal problems and that he planned to use a gun to murder police officers and others, including school children. He showed a gun to the people in the room and told them he had two others in his car and home. Clemmons said he planned to activate an alarm by removing a court-ordered ankle monitor, then he would shoot the police officers who responded to his house. In describing the planned murder, Clemmons said, “Knock, knock, knock, boom!” Darcus Allen, a convicted murderer who previously served in a Arkansas prison with Clemmons, was allegedly present for the conversation. On November 28, Clemmons showed two handguns to friends Eddie and Douglas Davis and told them he planned to shoot police officers with them; the exchange was witnessed by Clemmons’ half-brother Rickey Hinton, with whom he shared a house.

However, in the Law and Order episode, Kelvin Stokes is presented as a young man, who, though troubled and with a dangerous past, had been working with police as an informant in an attempt to make up for his previous crimes. In a much larger departure from actual events, it comes out that two of the officers killed by Stokes had been the pair working with him, and they had overstepped their authority, pressuring him through threats against himself and his mother to get him to turn in higher-profile targets. Stokes, in turn, who had been getting paid by the officers for his work as an informant, was asking for more money — which eventually became the trigger for the shooting.

So: in the real world, a violent criminal with a grudge against the police who intentionally targets four random officers. In the fictional world, a former thug trying to make good, pushed over the edge into violence by the pressure of two cops who, if not dirty, were certainly overstepping ethical lines.

Of course, the reality is that for Law and Order, the actual events wouldn’t have provided the drama necessary for the courtroom scenes. Had Stokes been shot on the street as Clemmons was, there would have been no courtroom scenes; had the cops been innocent, random victims with no ties to their killer, there wouldn’t have been the “will-they-or-won’t-they-convict” drama in the courtroom.

It seems quite clear to me that the changes made were made for the sake of the story and for the one-hour crime drama format, and I must admit that I don’t feel the “outrage” or “disgust” that politicallogic does on his Twitter account (though from the looks of it, we have extremely different political ideologies, so other differences of opinion aren’t entirely surprising). In the end, this is a fictional entertainment show, and it would be silly to expect it to slavishly follow the events as they actually happened.

I did, however, find my own surprise and initial discomfort with the changes quite interesting to consider, and I’m sure there are many who were more closely affiliated with the Lakewood officers and their families who would be far more discomfited by this episode — and now I can’t help but think a little more about all those other episodes “loosely based on” real events, wonder how close they came to the real story, and how the changes made for those stories affected the people who had to deal with the real events.

Norwescon Preplanning

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As part of yesterday’s Norwescon planning meeting, I sketched out a basic idea of the events that I’m going to concentrate on being around to photograph for at least some portion of the event — which also necessarily ends up as a rough map of where I’ll be at any particular time during the con. With everything that’s going on, I can’t guarantee I’ll be at each of these events for the entire scheduled time. Still, I’ll be doing my best to catch as much as I can. It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend, but one that should be a lot of fun.

Thursday

  • 1pm-3pm and 4pm-6pm: Thrill the World Dance Class, Maxi’s Ballroom: On October 26, 2009, 22,596 people worldwide participated in the 4th annual Thrill the World event dancing to Michael Jackson’s entire Thriller song; yes, the entire 5 minutes, 58 seconds. Anyone in reasonable shape can learn this dance! If you’re a little awkward – hey, you’re a zombie! Dress comfortably and wear shoes you can dance in. We will teach the entire dance in each session. Thursday night at the end of the zombie walk, you are encouraged to join in as we perform this for the crowd at the dance! (I may stop into one or both of these at some point during the class.)

  • 5pm-7pm: Guest of Honor Banquet, Grand Ballroom 2: Dr. John G. Cramer, Corey Doctorw, Caren Gustoff, David Hartwell, Lelsie How, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

  • 7pm-8pm: Opening Ceremonies, Evergreen 1 and 2: William Sadorus(M), Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, David Hartwell, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

  • 8pm-9pm: Zombie 101, or Walk, Zombies, Walk, Grand 2: Shamble yourselves down to Grand 2 to learn what it takes to be a zombie. Our zombie pros will teach you how to move, think, and act like a zombie. There will also be people available to apply basic zombie makeup to help you achieve that zombie feel. Wear old clothes and get in the spirit, because this is the start of the 1st Norwescon Zombie Walk. Feel free to come already zombified.

  • 9pm-11pm: 1st Norwescon Zombie Walk, Grand 2: Join us here to be a part of the 1st Norwescon Zombie Walk; take over the halls of the Doubletree. Zombies will shamble around the con, ending up in the dance where they can take part in the Thrill the World zombie dance to Michael Jackson’s entire “Thriller.” Please see the earlier panels today that will teach the Thrill the World dance if you wish to learn it in advance.

  • 9pm-2am: Thursday Night Dance, Grand 3: Join us for a Tour of a House of Horrors as DJ Irah hosts a night of frights and delights. Watch out for zombies on the dance floor as they “thrill” us with their moves, dancing to music from back in the day up to today’s hottest hits.

Friday

  • 12pm-2pm: Courage: The Series – A Firefly fan series panel and episode premier, Grand 3: A two hour panel with the entire cast of the new fan series, Courage, based on Joss Whedon’s Firefly universe. Ask the cast questions and get to see special footage followed by an episode premier! Attending cast include: David Townsend (Director), Chris Kimball (Director/Producer), Justin Rister (Creator/Actor), Phil Delorenzo (Actor), Daniel Wolf (Actor), Aimee Binford (Actress), John Branch (Actor), and Alyssa Roerenbeck (Actress).

  • 1pm-2pm: Interview with John Cramer, Evergreen 3 and 4

  • 1pm-3pm: Gothic Tea Party, Presidential Suite: What is a Gothic Tea Party? Don’t be left in the dark, stop by and find out.

  • 4pm-5pm: Autograph Session #1, Evergreen 3 and 4: Alexander James Adams, Alma Alexander, Bethalynne Bajema, Richard Baker, Steven Barnes, Arthur Bozlee, Andy R. Bunch, Alan M. Clark, Greg Cox, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, Elton Elliott, James C. Glass, Todd Lockwood, Lisa Mantchev, John Jude Palencar, John A. Pitts, Mark Rahner, Leo Roberts, Merrillee Schedin, Jeanne C. Stein, Eric James Stone, Jeff Sturgeon, Vernor Vinge, Jaye Wells, Saje Williams

  • 4pm-7pm: Single Pattern Contest Judging, Olympic 1: Closed Judging session for the Single Pattern Contest entries. Judges and pre-registered participants only.

  • 7pm-8:30pm: Philip K. Dick Award Ceremony and Reception, Grand 2: William Sadorus(M), Carlos Cortes, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, Daryl Gregory, David Hartwell, Ian McDonald, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

  • 9pm-11pm: Fannish Fetish Fashion Show, Evergreen 1 and 2: We want…Flesh! Flesh for fantasy. Surrender your flesh to your fantasies of delicious latex and lustful corsets. The Fannish Fetish Fashion Show is at it again! This year there is magic in the air, mystery around the corner, Tempting Tarts Burlesque and a few surprises hidden up our sleeves (or is that tucked away snug under that bustier?). You know you want to take a peek… (18+ with ID)

  • 9pm-1am: Match Game, Cascade 9 and 10: Get ready to match the stars! In this SF/F- themed version of the classic Match Game game show, contestants will be randomly selected from the audience to compete in guessing how our panel will complete fill-in-the-blank questions such as ‘Captain Kirk has the biggest [BLANK] in Starfleet!’ Prizes include book packages worth more than $100, gift certificates to selected Norwescon dealers, and a membership to next year’s Norwescon. All contestants will also receive “Lovely Parting Gifts.”

  • 9pm-2am: Stardance, Grand 2 and 3: Come on down to Bartertown, that outpost of civilization on the edge of the apocalypse. Leave your weapons behind and be careful not to pick a fight or you might find yourself facing death in the Thunderdome! DJ’s Girly Girl and Black Maru play music to accompany the end of the world as we know it.

  • 10pm-2am: Weird Tales Night, Maxi’s Lounge: Ready for an exciting night of music, drinking, dancing and literature? Yes, literature. Weird Tales is sponsoring tonight’s party in Maxi’s Lounge on the 14th floor. This is Norwescon’s first year with exclusive use of Maxi’s Lounge; help make it a huge success by joining Weird Tales and your friends up in our new space. Weird Tales and their fabulous authors will be providing the night’s entertainment. It is 21 and over, with ID and Norwescon badges required. You must match your ID, so watch the makeup and masks. Weird Tales promises to give you a thrilling time you won’t soon forget, so join us for the inaugural night in Maxi’s Lounge. (21+ with ID)

Saturday

  • 10am-5pm: 501st Charity Photo Shoot, Rotunda 2: Have you ever wanted to have your picture taken with Darth Vader and/or Storm Troopers on the Death Star? Your dreams can come true; the 501st Legion is back again, but in a new location. You can find them in the second floor Rotunda where a photographer will take your picture in front of a backdrop of the Death Star. Your picture will be printed out on-site, ready to show off to your friends! This year all proceeds will be donated to Clarion West, a charity that provides high-quality educational opportunities for writers of speculative fiction at the start of their careers. Norwescon is very excited to be sponsoring Clarion West this year as it is dear to many of our panelists and guests.

  • 11am-1pm: Star Trek: Phoenix Premier, Grand 2: Star Trek: Phoenix is returning to Norwescon! Cast and crew are coming back to share the premiere in a special fan screening of the Phoenix pilot, ‘Cloak & Dagger,’ on April 3. The pilot takes place in 2422, one year into the USS Phoenix’s maiden voyage. After a major attack on the ship, the captain and crew launch a mission to rescue an away team stranded on the remote planet Katrassii Prime. But, the closer they get to rescuing their shipmates, the more they become entangled in the secrets contained on the perilous, hostile planet. A “Making Of” documentary and a Q&A session featuring cast and producers follow the screening. Star Trek: Phoenix is a fan-based series set 42 years in the future from Star Trek: Nemesis.

  • 1pm-2pm: Autograph Session #2, Evergreen 3 and 4: John P. Alexander, Carol Berg, David Boop, SatyrPhil Brucato, Ted Butler, Bruce R. Cordell, Dr. John G. Cramer, Jeff Davis, A.M. Dellamonica, Cory Doctorow, James Ernest, Yasmine Galenorn, Daryl Gregory, Jeff Grubb, Eileen Gunn, Brandon Jerwa, Jak Koke, Ian McDonald, John Jude Palencar, Kevin Radthorne, Ken Scholes, Lorelei Shannon, Jack Skillingstead, G.Robin Smith, S. J. Tucker, Vernor Vinge, Gareth Von Kallenbach

  • 2pm-3pm: Autograph Session #3, Evergreen 3 and 4: Myke Amend, Brenda Cooper, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, S. Joe Downing, Roberta Gregory, Mark Henry, Jean Johnson, Rosemary Jones, Mary Robinette Kowal, G. David Nordley, John Jude Palencar, Joshua Palmatier, Adrian Phoenix, Cat Rambo, Sean K Reynolds, Renee Stern, Ben Thompson, Amy Thomson, Vernor Vinge, Rob Welch

  • 3pm-4pm: Interview with Vernor Vinge, Evergreen 2

  • 6pm-8pm: Babel, Presidential Suite: Come join representatives from local fannish clubs and learn about opportunities to help your community while having fun! Several of our local fan groups will be available to fill you in on what their club does. If you’ve always wondered what these groups do, come meet them, and find out!

  • 8pm-10pm: Masquerade Photo Shoot, Lobby: (I won’t be shooting the Masquerade itself; rather, I’ll be in the photo pit set up in the lobby, taking shots of Masquerade entrants and as many hall costumes as we can haul over to the backdrop.)

  • 9pm-2am: Star Trek: Phoenix Night, Maxi’s Lounge: Beam up to Maxi’s Lounge and have some drinks with your fellow congoers! This fabulous event will be sponsored by Star Trek: Phoenix so prepare to boldly go where no congoer has gone before. Make sure you bring your Norwescon badge and your photo ID (21 and over). The drinks will be out of this world and the music hopping, so don’t miss your opportunity to be part of this brand new event. (21+ with ID)

  • 10:30pm-3am: Saturday Night Hoedown, Grand 2 and 3: Put on your best square dancing shoes and help put Norwescon to bed with mc300baud and his eclectic collection of tracks. Expect the unexpected as he spins rave, wave, goth, alternative, electronica and more late into the night and won’t let up until the cows come home.

Sunday

  • 10am-2pm: Fannish Flea Market, Grand 3: Love to go to flea markets and garage sales? Ever wished they had more fannish stuff? The SFFM is everything you have wished for: Norwescon attendees clear out their houses of stuff they don’t want, and it is all here for you to buy or barter for. Bring your cash and check out the bargains and incredible stuff people are getting rid of.

  • 11:30am-2pm: NWC 33 Art Auction, Grand 2: The Norwescon Art Auction will be a fun and exciting battle for most desired works of art from this year’s art show. And if that isn’t enough, come help support our two charities this year, Clarion West and Northwest Harvest, by bidding on art, jewelry, and other objects of interest that have been donated by our dealers, professional guests, and fans to support these two great organizations!

  • 2pm-4pm: Fandance Film Festival, Evergreen 1 and 2: In its eleventh year, the Festival is a celebration of low- and no-budget cinema, brought to wondrous lurching life by amateur filmmakers from all around the Pacific Northwest. More than just the movies, this 120-minute extravaganza of entertainment also includes the filmmakers regaling you with terrifying tales of their productions. Be there or be a regular right quadrilateral! The Fandance Film Festival is the final terrifying phase of the Let’s Make a Movie Workshop, in which participants walk through every step of making a movie, from conception to the premiere of the finished product. This year at Norwescon marks the eleventh installment of the Let’s Make a Movie Workshop!

  • 5pm-6pm: Closing Ceremonies, Evergreen 3 and 4: William Sadorus(M), Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, David Hartwell, Tracey Knoedler, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge