Sidetracks - September 23, 2016

[helloladies]

Sidetracks is a collaborative project featuring various essays, videos, reviews, or other Internet content that we want to share with each other. All past and current links for the Sidetracks project can be found in our Sidetracks tag.

Clare

➝ This limited edition Subterranean Press edition of Kushiel’s Dart is GORGEOUS.

➝ super ☆ business ☆ dancing ☆ night is the only thing I want to watch all day, every day, so get yourself some joy.

KJ

➝ I finally got around to watching Star Trek: Beyond this weekend, and although I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more than Tim Phipps did, I still appreciate his review at Strange Horizons, especially as a fellow fan of Deep Space Nine (which is not just the best Star Trek but my favorite television show of all time).

➝ Another one on Star Trek: Emily Asher-Perrin writes on Tor.com about Trek's need to recommit to diversity in the 21st century. "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations" was one of Gene Roddenberry's mottos, and although the original show made great strides in that direction by 1960s network TV standards, modern Trek looks positively quaint today. Like Asher-Perrin, I'm hopeful for the new Bryan Fuller series, and I hope it follows through on its promise.

Renay

➝ There Are no Losers — part of the speech that Pat Cadigan gave at the end of the Hugo Award ceremony. The whole ceremony is worth watching — the toastmaster from the support hosts were excellent — but this was a great moment. (Also, I was in front of one of the groups yelling "Cadigan" which was great; it was much louder in the audience.)

➝ Cementing Pat Cadigan in my heart forever is this story about her flying to MidAmeriCon.

➝ The U.S. will never have high-speed rail on a country-wide basis (we chose CARS, of course), but I can dream.

➝ Read this interview with Alison Watson! Alison works on Open Doors and Volunteers & Recruiting! She is the most competent organizer and project manager I have ever had the pleasure of working with.

➝ To find Hillary Clinton likable, we must learn to view women as complex beings was an excellent piece of writing. (Sexism and internalized misogyny; it's not rocket science but the kind we're dealing with now is so insidious that it's almost invisible while it's happening and the only way to see it is to look at the aftermath.)

➝ There is no hijab emoji. This 15-year-old student is trying to change that. A super cool project and also a look into the system behind emoji's, which are becoming part of digital language.

➝ The Kickstarter for Year Two of Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu is live...and already funded. But this is a good chance to get Year One if you missed out last time. :)

Book Acquisitions

Added TBR: Mirror: The Mountain by Emma Ríos and Hwei Lim, The Harbors of the Sun by Martha Wells, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry, Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown, Eternity's End by Jeffrey A. Carver, The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire, Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire, When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire, Metaltown by Kristen Simmons, Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy, The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds by Leo Braudy, Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer, Ella Morton, & Dylan Thuras, Want by Cindy Pon, The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff, Reading the Silver Screen: A Film Lover's Guide to Decoding the Art Form That Moves by Thomas C. Foster, Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus

Susan

➝ When Representation Lifts, When Representation Hurts — This is a good article on intersectional identities being represented in video games, especially in games with character customisation, and the degrees of "acceptable" in different visible identities. (Although I am so disappointed on the author's behalf that her friend couldn't give her five minutes of happiness about her own representation before harshing her squee.)

➝ Kameron Hurley talks about the pushback against New Wave SF, which... For an article about how hard SF has fought against progress is actually quite hopeful.

➝ Sarah Kuhn talking about the fears that come with representation as a consumer and a creator is heartbreaking and hopeful.

I think the bit that got me most was the discussion of the conflict between a character being unable to represent — in this case — All Asians Everywhere, and the fact that due to a dearth of representation, they might be called on to do it anyway.

Will the representation be good? Will it be stereotyped? Will it set us back so far that we'll have to wait decades for another chance at the spotlight?

Comments

[jb_slasher]

omg I need to read more Cadigan, she is fantastic!