Conorado Announcement

Things have finally come together and so I'm announcing that Conorado will go ahead in May 12-14 2006. We've concluded a contract with the Indian Springs Resort in Idaho Springs, Colorado. Though originally conceived around the idea of organizing crews that would put on the convention and reduce the work for the organizing committee I realized that the structure wasn't going to get anything done. Therefore I'm going ahead in the traditional convention chair and committee model. Though we will expect all attendees to bring a potluck item in addition to buying a membership and anyone who does not will have to treat a committee member to a drink.

Membership rates will be $25 now and $40 at the door. Plus a potluck dish.

Conorado
Chair- M. Mishalak
Treasurer- Martin Heck
Party Coordinator- Rose Beetem
Food Chair- Timmy Simpson
The Chair's Sex Slave- Steve Berman
Security- Robin Owens

Useless People 2

You know that old line about "Those that can, write, and those that can't criticize"? I think that isn't actually true. It is just that the 90% rule applies to people writing about what's wrong with a genre today just as much as it does to the fiction itself. So it really isn't surprising that I've recently noticed quite a number of badly written essays that seek to excoriate writers for producing stuff that is crap by whatever metric the critic has made up.

A good example of this badly thought out "essay" is one by Seán Harnett over at Spike. The best I can say of his writing is that he at least doesn't make some startlingly bad spelling mistakes that other internet windbags make. Though he does make the same unsupported jumps of logic to "prove" how much better things used to be and how if writers or editors were just brave then everything would be better. Totally ignoring the contrary evidence that mostly (never totally) the reading public gets what it wants.

The best I can say for him is that at least he doesn't make his rant a political tract against the vast leftwing conspiracy crushing hard science fiction like famous net-idiot Dave Truesdale does over on Tangent. It is terribly useful for me to have these people around. They make easy targets for my cynical humor and nasty comments. Keep up the good work my brainless punching bags.