The world is doomed
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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Allan Rosewarne" journal:[<< Previous 10 entries]
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03:06 pm
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People are weird!
When I lived in Chicago I had a friend, J, who was staff of an area convention for some years. Later I met folks, at least three people on separate instances, who were also staff of the same convention, and I would ask naively, "Well, then you might know J?" The replies were all "No!". Of course, now we move to present day and most of the answerers are on my Facebook Flist, and J is on their Flists too. WTH! Was it just easier to tell me 'No' then to tell me correctly, I think so. And naive me I thought I might get a accurate answer to an innocent, inocous, harmless question.
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04:31 pm
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This might sound a bit like an ole fart's rant, but...is it important.
This is going to sound like a cranky ole fogey's message. But it's on my mind anyway. Some years ago when I still a member of the Chicago Dave and Buster's meetup http://www.meetup.com/Chicago-sf-org/ a visitor came to the D&B event and while there they commented to several others that the group seemed to be the SF TV and movie meetup and there seemed to be noone there really interested in books. After that comment myself and Jason Robertson http://pyropyga.livejournal.com ,along with one or two others started the group's 'closed reading group' and it turned out to be whole lots of fun, but never attracted a large following but had a very loyal group of readers who showed up to each session. Regarding the D&B visitor's comment, it made its way around the community and the collective reaction was the lady had a lot of gall and nerve to say what she did, without knowing the community better than just visiting. IOW, one might say many of the D&B regulars took some issue with the comment and were not pleased it had been made.
Now it's February 2012 and there's a large Dr. Who convention in L.A. We come upon a community that eschews, actively denigrates, is collectively hostile and diminishes any heritage that has existed and continues to exist in common with more known fen. Additionally, one might want to argue the position that media fandoms (Whedonist, Browncoats, Trekkers, film geeks, gamers, otaku, Whovians, Colonials, etc.) have only marginal heritages with conventional fandom; however, I'd offer Fred Patten's Reading Manga, Watching Anime as some counter evidence.
I don't think this message can be reduced to those crazy kids just don't read enough books anymore. But that might be true.
A second point that might have some relevance to the topic at hand. in the Fall of 2010 I went to a well known meetup in Orange County, called O.C. Geekdom. A few days before I had suggested LosCON as potentially relevant and related event for their meetup. When I met myself with the group's organizer, she asked me (and I did not know) why the convention's website as so messed up; IME, messed up websites are fairly common for convention websites? My short answer was sort of, 'I don't know, and are websites what conventions and fandom are about?' A longer answer is her question presumes some things I know might not be necessarily true; examples, the ConCom member in charge of the website knows anything about computers or websites, owns a computer or has interweb access. There remains a a contingent in fandom that still goes around as if printed and mailed fanzines and APAs will be making a comeback of popularity, and that this internet is a temporary fad that all the kids will grow out of real soon now.
Maybe I'm an ole fogey, too! YMMV
Current Location: Fox Cafe, Redlands
Current Mood:  anxious
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03:04 pm
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EPIC FAIL!
EPIC FAIL!! Saturday, February 18, 2012, I went to Gallifrey 2012 at the Marriott by LAX. Knowing from FB that the author Nancy Holder would be there I brought several of her books to sign. Arrived at LAX right around 11.45 and after going through the convention's FRACKED UP registration (OMG, it was worse than ACen's foulup from a few years back and that was because ACen was maliciously hacked, this was because the registration people were not on the ball), I get my badge and stuff. Hang around folks who are there including Mike Tax from Chicago, Sara Jackson from Riverside SciFi http://www.meetup.com/riversidescifi . After attending a few things and scoping out the dealers room. I go to the autographing areas expectjng to find Ms. Holder and there I'm told that her signing time was earlier in the afternoon. EPIC FAIL; BTW, I suck, too!
Current Location: starbucks, redlands
Current Music: dylan
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04:01 pm
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Not usually thought of as frugal, but...
Yesterday, left for Riverside SciFi http://www.meetup.com/riversidescifi book group with about $6.00 on my person. And by the evening, I bought and consumed at Back to the Grind http://www.back2thegrind.com/ coffeeshop a medium Americano and a large white chocolate chip cookie, bought myself a Riverside Library Friends of the Library bookbag; additionally, at the Eastside branch of the Riverside Library, I go to use free WiFi and borrowed four manga. For the day I consider that's a fair amount of swag, and yes, I know the borrowed manga has to be returned, BUT they're mine temporarily.
Current Location: Starbucks, Loma Linda
Current Mood:  cheerful
Current Music: cool jazz
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03:19 pm
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WTF has it come to, or maybe I'm just a crochtedy ole fogey
It seems like it was when we used "Continental's" as paper currency, but it goes back to when I worked in retail. One of the first lessons I was taught when I worked in retail was to face your currency in the cash drawer. BTW, 'face currency" means take your paper currency and make all of it face side up and turn them so all the bills are facing the same way; if you're asking, it makes counting out the cash drawer about twice as easy as it could be. :) YMMV So this practice is now an artifact of the prehistoric past, because at least two or more instances in the last few weeks, I gotten change back and the bills have been every orientation one could imagine. Anyone?
Current Location: starbucks, redlands
Current Mood:  nostalgic
Current Music: no clue
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04:25 pm
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meetup in Orange County
This might sound cruel and judgemental, but... So around a week ago I went to the Orange County, California Geekdom meetup http://www.meetup.com/OC-Geekdom/, as I had went a few times in 2011, too. This time while attending I got the distinct impression I had walked into some sort of Mensa event. Please put in a sort of foreboding, scary and hostile mood.
Current Location: Cafe Royale, redlands
Current Music: weird new age
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04:21 pm
[Link] | Here's the deal! Been going to fan conventions regularly since around 2002, and since around mid 2007 I've attended more than a couple anime conventions. There are a few things fandom could really learn from anime conventions, and a few of this items are referencing process and some are content issues! Registration, please the ole fashioned way of printing out forms mailing them in with membership payments, and then retrieving the information when one retrieves one's membership packet; whatever, it's all so 1980. Example, when I registered for a local anime convention Pacific Media Expo http://pacificmediaexpo.info/2011/ and at a late date when one needs to pay at the door, but still their on-line form took all my relevant information and it will be with the registration department prior to my getting to the venue on Sunday a.m. On-line forms and on-line storing of all the data; however, this may not be coming to fandom anytime soon, because we all know that this whole computer deal is just sum krazy wacky fad the kids do, it's not going to last. Next handling volunteers, and a few friends of mine are fan convention department heads, I've volunteered, IOW gophered, at a few anime convention and more than a few fan conventions and really the way anime conventions handle their volunteers is efficient; example, even after finishing gophering at a few fan conventions I've never really known how many volunteers hours I've accumulated. At the anime conventions I've gophered for every volunteer is always up-to-date on how many volunteer hours they've accumulated. Make a database spreadsheet to handle this, I might be able to do it and I would need to look at the program manual, but I know it's easy. Another thing about volunteers, when gophers show up to the 'gopher hole', the on duty staff should be completely up-to-date about where gophers are needed to go. To many times I've heard at fan cons the staff in gopher hole say, "I don't know, maybe art show (con-suite, green room, etc.) needs someone". And lastly, when an attendee shows up in gopher hole to start their volunteer time, don't send them to three different people to get them started.
Lastly, here's a content issue that I have recently raised in one or two other fan forums. Many anime conventions have a 'manga suite'; naturally, this is a set e room for the reading of manga. If one of the purposes of fandom is to preserve the literature that forms the basic, core, ontological reason for fandom's existence then I think it's essential and critical that fan cons have a reading room for that literature. If this is not done then, IMO, there's a probable scenario that this literature will disappear. When I started going to fancons, copies of books, ARCs with packets, were often included in membership packets, or sometimes the con arranged for mass distributions of said books, but this happens all too seldom. Most likely, such activity would provoke the anger of either the book sellers in the hawkers room, or the authors.or both.
So this is starting to sound like an ole man rant, so this is enuff for now..
Current Location: cafe Royale, redlands
Current Music: weird new age
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04:48 pm
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Is it all the same?
I know regular watchers of the McLaughlin Report and David Brooks and Mark Shields commentaries on NPR's News Hour, who sincerely and earnestly believe that if different sides start yelling at each other, in other words turning up the intensity and volume of the rhetoric, that the respective content does not matter who says what. Therefore, when Eleanor Clift raises her voice to Patrick Buchanan, and in turn Buchanan raises his in response, the difference in their content from each other becomes irrelevant. This is what now passes for deep analysis. Perhaps as subset of this cursory mode of looking at things is illustrated from the following. Some years ago the mother of a good friend was talking to me about Rush Limbaugh, and she said "Limbaugh should not sound so bombastic on his radio show!" Seemingly, it did not matter that the big radio gas bag said hurtful, wrong, hateful, bigotted things! Thoughts, comments and more.
Current Location: cafe Royale, redlands
Current Mood:  confused
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03:53 pm
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A "librarygasm", a neologism.
So on Saturday October 1, 2011, I visited the http://www.lapl.org/index.php
Central Library of the Los Angeles City Library, 630 W. 5th St.. First time I'd visited there since I'd been in High School. OMfG, what a cool and awesome place. The outside architecture as you walk up Hope Street is pretty impressive, reminds me a bit of the Chicago BoT building but way better. Walking in just gives the feel this is how all public libraries ought to be. Even though I spent only a good portion of Saturday afternoon there I still was impressed, and before this I held the Washington Library in Chicago as most impressive public library ever. Consider the following, Central LIbrary's foreign language collection is very likely a rival for libraries in foreign countries and this shows an extraordinary understanding of 'diversity', and their collection of foreign language learning materials would be impressive if found in a post secondary library again showing extraordinary understanding of 'diversity'. Since I grew up in Los Angeles suburbs, my contact with Los Angeles's Library was minimal, our local suburban libraries always belonged to the library system of http://www.colapublib.org/
Los Angels County which is a pale comparison. . .
Current Location: starbucks, redlands
Current Mood: cheerful
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02:52 pm
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Is it possible?
I infrequently order a frappucino from Starbucks. However, when I do I order it with one or two extra shots of espresso, and is it possible that sometimes when I order this special order they staff just ignore the request and make the drink without the espresso shots? Because, sometimes I cannot tell if it's been added or not.
Current Location: Starbucks
Current Mood: curious
Current Music: redlands
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