If you’re unclear on who the enemy is… » « Uh-oh, warning about future content

Convergence postponed!

I expected this, but it’s now official: the wonderful Convergence convention has been postponed for a year.

I guess I’ll see some of you in 2021!

Related but unrelated: Uncle Hugo’s and Uncle Edgar’s legendary bookstore has been burned to the ground. I regret the loss, but blame it on a few centuries of injustice.

If you’re unclear on who the enemy is… » « Uh-oh, warning about future content

Comments

  1. whheydt says

    I’ve been watching public events get cancelled and postponed, mostly to see how far in advance it happens. For instance, Half Moon Bay, CA just cancelled their Pumpkin Festival for this year. It was scheduled for late October. Pacificon (the gaming one) scheduled for Labor Day is still looking like they think it’s going to happen, but a friend of mine referred to it as a “Dead Con Walking”. Since it is scheduled to happen in a hotel in Santa Clara County, I think he’s right. They’re probably waiting for the hotel to officially tell them that the county health department won’t let it happen, which will trigger the “act of God” clause in their contract and get them out of any cancellation penalties.

    It’s an interesting balance between looking at the situation and knowing the event can’t happen, but also knowing you can’t afford to actually cancel it because of the cancellation costs in your contracts. So you have to wait for the venue to tell it can’t happen…and they–of course–really don’t want to to do that. At least not any sooner than they absolutely have to.

  2. whheydt says

    I feel about the torching of the SF book store about the way I’d feel about someone torching a museum and it’s entire collection. Some things can’t be replaced. Just how mad do you have to be to destroy the priceless? Doesn’t that put the people that burned the store on a level with the Taliban?

  3. otto says

    I was lucky enough to be there at Uncle Hugo’s/Edgar’s a year and a half ago. I got a couple of Marc Lovell’s Apple novels from the Edgar’s. It was a wonderful and special place, and I’m horrified to see it gone.

  4. antigone10 says

    They said there will be a fundraiser. Keep your eyes open.

    I don’t think Uncle Hugo’s was local rioters. They pried open the windows and poured in accelerant. This does not feel like local protestors .

  5. chrislawson says

    “Doesn’t that put the people that burned the store on a level with the Taliban?”

    Not even close.

  6. susans says

    You wrote that the city deserved to burn. Does that include these book stores?

  7. whheydt says

    Re: chrislawson @ #5…
    Only because those that burned down the bookstore aren’t in charge.

  8. ghedipunk says

    whheydt:

    @#2:

    Human lives are harder to replace than collections of books.

    @#7:

    If the angry mob is responsible for the loss of replaceable slabs of wood pulp with ink inscriptions on them…

    Who is responsible for the loss of an irreplaceable life?

  9. ghedipunk says

    I recognize that a book is the work of several years… Often 3-4 years of thinking, including 2 years of writing… but quite often a full decade of education and background research.

    How does that compare to a life, though?

    A life is more than a decade of “ehh, I heard this and that, and it’s a good idea that I might compile.”

    A life is more than 4 years of “This is a great idea that I can fixate on.”

    A life is FAR more than 2 years of “I woke up today, spent 14 hours of typing/revising/proofreading/fearing my editor… my partner made food, and I fell asleep again.”

    I’m sorry that books burned… Be even the Library of Alexandria; an incalculable loss, was not worth a single life (though a few lives were lost when it burned.)

  10. John Morales says

    Well, some books are indeed irreplaceable, in the sense that no other copies exist or are otherwise unique, such as incunabula or rare first or annotated editions.
    Mass market paperbacks, not-so-much.

    —

    In passing and not directly on topic, the worship of Mammon is pretty bad, too (or, corporate indifference):
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-26/rio-tinto-blast-destroys-area-with-ancient-aboriginal-heritage/12286652

    Extracts:

    “Our people are deeply troubled and saddened by the destruction of these rock shelters and are grieving the loss of connection to our ancestors as well as our land,” said John Ashburton, chair of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama Land Committee.

    “Losing these rock shelters is a devastating blow to the PKK traditional owners.”

    Rio Tinto received permission to conduct the blasts in 2013 under Section 18 of the WA Aboriginal Heritage Act.

    Mr Ashburton said PKK traditional owners were frustrated by a system which they say does not consider new, important information once the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs gives consent under Section 18.

    “We recognise that Rio Tinto has complied with its legal obligations, but we are gravely concerned at the inflexibility of the regulatory system,” Mr Ashburton said.

    […]

    [archeologist] Dr Slack said he was surprised when he heard the news of Rio Tinto’s blast at the site.

    “It’s always a bit upsetting to hear about a fantastic cultural site being lost,” he said.

    He said plaited hair dating back 4,000 years was also recovered, believed to be part of a hair belt worn by traditional owners, and a kangaroo leg bone dating back 28,000 years which had been sharpened into a pointed tool — the oldest examples of bone technology found in Australia.

  12. brucegee1962 says

    Besides “Umbrella Man” the Autozone window smasher, how likely is it that others of the most destructive rioters might not actually be Boogaloo boys, possibly in blackface, hoping to jump-start their longed-for civil war? That’s what I’d do if I shared their goals.