Octothorpe

25: Some of the Rocks Are Going to Be More Interesting Than Others

John has cats, Alison has a milkman, and Liz has a gecko.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast or tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• Picocon is on 20 February 2021
  • Programme on Crowdcast
  • Social space (with games and pub quiz) on Discord
  • “Picocon 38 celebrates all things robot in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. This year the guests of honour are Jeff Somers, Dan Moren, SJ Kincaid and David Brian Johnson. Games will be starting at 11:00, with the first guest talk scheduled for 2pm.”
• Letters of comment
  • Letters: Bridget Bradshaw; Chris Garcia; Mark Plummer; Claire Brialey; Christina Lake
  • Tweets: Ang Rosin; DC; Duncan MacGregor
  • No Gecko Spray
  • The Weetabix and Beans Tweet
• Boskone
  • Jane Yolen’s Skylark story
• Eastercon have announced they’re using a platform which is neither Discord nor Zoom
  • The YouTube video/podcast episode in which this was announced
  • The discussion on JOF about online convention platforms
• Music credits
  • Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license
  • Dun Dun Dun Brass is by Orange Free Sounds, used under a CC BY NC 4.0 license

HI CLAIRE

24: You May Not Really Be the Target Audience for Television

John wants Palm Springs to win a Hugo, Alison is lonely, and Liz is not going to buy a Nintendo Switch.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast or tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• Letters of comment:
  • Duncan MacGregor
    • Anonymous Claire
    • Sheffield SF and Fantasy Society
    • First Thursday Fandom Drinks
    • A party in a Google Sheet
  • Claire Brialey
  • Chris Garcia
  • Mark Plummer
• DisCon III
  • They announced that they were going to make an announcement, but not what it was
  • Then it turned out that the announcement they had announced was an announcement regarding the lack of anything to announce
  • Their hotel is going bust
    • This is not particularly recent news though
• Capricon
  • The 2021 UK filk convention Long (Distance) Play
• Boskone
• Mass Con ’21
• Hugo reading/nominations
  • John’s reading list:
    • The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
    • The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky
    • Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
    • Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
    • Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
    • Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang (translated by Ken Liu)
    • Network Effect by Martha Wells
    • A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
    • The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
    • The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
  • Movies
    • Palm Springs (coming soon to Amazon Prime)
    • The Vast of Night
    • Ice Cold in Alex **(buy or rent)
  • The big Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.
• Dun Dun Dun Brass is by Orange Free Sounds, used under a CC BY NC 4.0 license.

23: A Lot of Foreshadowing

John thinks that arguments should be more nuanced, Alison disagrees in every conceivable way, and Liz summarises.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast or tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

A graph of Hugo finalists with more than four names:

• Letters of comment:
  • Ang Rosin
  • Claire Brialey
  • Mark Plummer
  • Chris Garcia
• Upcoming events:
  • FANAC are hosting an Interview of Ted White by John D. Berry
    • 23 January 2021, 4pm (Eastern Standard Time)
  • Critical Mass are hosting a single-day mini convention!
    • 31 January 2021, Noon to 8pm (Adelaide time)
    • John will be appearing on a panel about podcasting at 7:30pm (Adelaide time, 9am UTC)
  • Capricon: 4–7 February 2021
  • Boskone: 12–14 February 2021
• All of Fandom is Plunged Into War
  • DisCon III posted a Tweet about the numbers of people allowed to be Hugo finalists
  • Chris Garcia discusses the effect on JP in previous years
  • Colette H. Fozard posted a statement on File 770 about her resignation from DisCon III
  • Jared Dashoff statement on his resignation
• Are the Hugos a massive cankerous boil on the Worldcon that just needs to be completely purged?
  • Steve Cooper posts to JOF on how much the Hugos cost a Worldcon and some of the considerations therein
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.
• Dun Dun Dun Brass is by Orange Free Sounds, used under a CC BY NC 4.0 license.

22: I Occasionally Bum Anger Off People

John edited a podcast, Alison ran all the parties, and Liz programmed a convention.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast or tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• Letters of comment:
  • Mark Plummer
  • Roman Orszanski
  • Andrew Hogg
    • The Upgradies
  • Dave Mansfield
  • Maggie
  • Claire Brialey
• What was 2020 like?
  • Alison ran some Zoom parties
    • First Thursday meetings
    • Went on a three-week virtual GUFF trip
    • Made a lot of tissue paper art which was very good
  • John did some fanac
    • Wrote his TAFF report
    • Interviewed Anna Raftery for her TAFF report
    • Edited Journey Planet #56 by James Bacon, Christopher J. Garcia, and Alissa McKersie
    • Edited Lulzine #5–6 with España Sheriff (feel free to subscribe!)
    • Did a small podcast with some mates
  • Liz lived in a country which might have dealt slightly more effectively with COVID–19
    • Liz did more work for Punctuation than anyone else
• Eastercon
  • You can become a member for £50
• Boskone is now selling memberships for $25
  • Why isn’t Boskone 58 free?
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.

21: A Visit from St. Octothorpe

John was on time because he’s stuck at home, Alison was on time because she’s stuck at home, and Liz was late because she was having her toes done.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast or tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• Letters of comment:
  • Peter Sullivan wrote to us about virtual conventions
  • Claire Brialey (of Croydon)
• Less hot takes on the Hugo Award for Best Video Game:
  • What we reckon
  • The Games Hugo website
  • DisCon III’s announcement of the Best Video Game Special Hugo Award
  • MJ Newman’s discussion of ludonarrative in games
  • F. Murray Abraham Totally Looks Like Tony Amendola
  • The Best Game Writing category at the Nebula Awards
• The music is It’s Christmas Time by Frank Schröter, used under the filmmusic.io standard license

20: Mozilla

John went to bed before Alison, Alison is not at all sleepy or hungover, and Liz had a better offer.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast or tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• Buy our merchandise!
  • T-shirts and other apparel
  • Fridge magnets
• Letters of comment:
  • Claire Brialey wrote to us and used the word “onfridge”
  • Duncan MacGregor told us that Boxing Helena was directed by Jennifer Lynch
  • Ang Rosin tweeted to tell us that she doesn’t like “key learnings”
  • Jerry Kaufman commented on John’s TAFF report
• Gather
  • A recent article which nicely explains what’s nice about spatial socialising/proximity chat
• Virtual Reality
  • Hubs by Mozilla
  • AltspaceVR
  • Rec Room
  • How to pronounce Mozilla
• DisCon III polled members on a potential date change to December 2021
  • See the first story in this Pixel Scroll
• Hugo for video games? We like video games
  • DisCon III can do a thing (and they are)
  • If you prefer more informed takes, check out the Games Hugo website
• Poetry corner!
  • You might have just run an online Punctuation
  • But Octothorpe still had a clear obligation:
  • What must you do in the con’s aftermath?
  • Ducking a challenge would seem quite pathetic;
  • So would a lie – but here’s proof, quite magnetic:
  • Covered in Weetabix, John in the bath…
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.

19: Very Niche Fanzine

John is bathing with Weetabix, Alison is eating a croissant, and Liz has good hearing.

• Letters of comment:
  • Claire Brialey collects her point
  • Helena McCallum
  • Roman Orszanski
• Mark Plummer commented on John’s TAFF report
• Punctuation:
  • Fanzines came out for the convention!
    • Lulzine #5
      • Available for the usual
    • BW #8
      • Full of Widowers poems
      • Available at editorial whim
    • Cloud Chamber #164
  • We won against This Never Happens, ya boo sucks to them (love them really)
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.

18: More Than Averagely Distracted

John, Alison, and Liz are QUITE BUSY

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• You can now join Punctuation.
• Letters of comment:
  • Jo’s Tweet about social spaces
  • Ang Rosin’s flurry:
    • Tweets about mushrooms and poached eggs
      • Gordon Ramsay’s
    • And a letter of comment with a poem!
      • Oh bugger I forgot
      • I was told to write a rhyme
      • This is the best I’ve got
      • In the available time.
  • Max thinks vigorously about The Thrill of the Fight
  • Claire Brialey of Croydon:
    • Claire would like to discourage us from encouraging the people reading this to nominate her fanzine (Weekend Weetabix) for a Hugo Award
    • Claire sent a poem! (You may want to read this first)
      • Online strain can mean physical pain
      • So you stretch but say ‘Ow’ – is that blood?
      • You won’t hurt your necks if you just enter text
      • In WIDOWER’S WONDERFUL MUD.
    • People set lakes on fire
  • Mark Plummer of Croydon is a very gifted fan writer and a very gifted LEGO engineer
  • Alex Holden listened to most of Octothorpe while making Alison’s concertina
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.
  • Thanks to Max for recommending we separate the audio credit from the music!

17: This Podcast Will End at the Burp

John has finished his TAFF report, Alison wants you to upgrade to Zoom 5.3, and Liz ate a cake.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• You can now join Punctuation.
• Letters of comment:
  • “Crazy” Dave Mansfield
    • I have a longer form of this in draft, but just wanted to say that I’ve listened to 11 to 14 this morning. And it was really amusing hearing the shift from reviewing online conventions, to worrying that the wrong format was getting to be a tradition, to it being clear (with hindsight) that you were going to run one. Then episode 15 running with that as an accidental gag of failing to announce it was perfect. Hopefully I’ll finish the actual LOC today.
    • If Zoom is methadone for con social spaces, and Discord paracetamol, is Octothorpe one of those double blind trials, where it turns out placebo is better than the current version?
  • Claire Brialey of Croydon
    • ”…the Discord chat has already made me feel quite fannish - i.e. interested and engaged and amused and occasionally irritated.”
    • “…please continue with your attempts to baffle Neil Gaiman by sending him a corner of a completed jigsaw puzzle.”
    • “If that all becomes too difficult, you could probably achieve the same immediate effect by sending him some Weetabix.”
• FIYAH Literary Magazine
  • FIYAHCON 2020
  • Vida Cruz on #FiyahConFringe
• Essence of Wonder’s weekendly panels
• Ineffable Con 2
  • Rachael’s Twitter thread on the unnamed technology used
• Using Game Design to Make Virtual Events More Social
  • Multi-User Dungeons
  • Play the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy here
  • Read John’s walkthrough here
• Punctuation has a venue to tell us what you miss about conventions and socialising in the pandemic.
• Staying sane in the apocalypse
  • Using Buddymove to stretch throughout the day
  • Alison has bought a concertina from Alex Holden
    • Alex’s Instagram
    • Alex’s photo of Alison’s concertina
    • The history of the concertina according to Wikipedia
  • Liz had a cake spray-painted with rum
  • John has had (whisper it) friends over for tea
    • John has an outdoor heater
    • John has finished his TAFF trip report
    • John spent 14 hours playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game yesterday
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.

16: Coca-Cola is Not a Meaningful Naval Power

John is an internet historian, Alison is an investigative journalist, and Liz is a time-traveller.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and use #OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

• Letters of comment:
  • Steven Cain writes “TwillTone sounds like a record label”.
  • Karen Schaffer
    • DaVICI made Karen’s Russian puzzle
    • Alison’s puzzles on Jigsaw Planet
  • Claire Brialey
    • We didn’t mention this in the podcast, but she writes “I’m not sure that I’m strong enough for the crossover podcast ‘Alison and Lilian shout at movies’, though,” which is a shame given that the Alison/Lilian project now has Christina editing and appears to be A REAL PODCAST.
• Futuricon and Octocon happened!
  • Alison presented a talk at Futuricon on her GUFF trip with mmhmm (which John recommended to her, and which requires macOS Catalina or later)
• Alison is going to/has been to Zoomtopia
• Eastercon will happen!
  • Online-only memberships are £50, £30 for concessions.
• FIYAH are running a convention.
• Finland (The Åland Islands) is bidding for the ’25 Eurocon.
• You can now join Punctuation.
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.