Octothorpe

7: Pontificating from a Complete State of Ignorance

Black lives matter.

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

• Black Lives Matter:
  • Black UK racial justice organisations
  • Anti-racism resources
  • FIYAH Magazine
  • The 2017 #BlackSpecFic Report
  • The 2018 FIYAH Black SFF Writer Survey Report
• Virtual conventions:
  • Balticon:
    • A mixture of Zoom and Discord with Twitch and YouTube
    • España Sheriff attended Balticon
  • CoNZealand:
    • The platform announcement: Using a similar pattern to Balticon
  • The Nebulas:
    • Alison spoke to Steven H. Silver about how the Nebulas went
    • John Scalzi posted his set list from the disco
  • Wiscon:
    • We did not attend! If you did, send us locs!
  • Virtually Expo (UK Games Expo)
    • 21–23 August 2020
    • Free at the point of use, but you can donate
• Hugo Voter Packet
  • It has been made available
  • What’s in the HVP
  • ALL THE COMICS
• Staying sane in the apocalypse
  • Oculus Quest
  • Calla: Specialized Voice Chat for Meetups
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license

6: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Extruded Product

John has seen it all, Alison hasn’t seen Us, and Liz hasn’t seen Star Wars.

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
  • España went to WiFi SciFi
• Two Chairs Talking
  • A podcast from two Australian ex-Worldcon chairs about SF
  • Let us know about any other fannish podcasts!
• BSFA
  • Awards
  • Vector Readings
  • Discord
• Hugo Award finalists for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
• Michael Sheen and David Tennant are to star in Staged on BBC One
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license

5: The Pope of All Worldcons

John needs validation, Alison hatches a scheme, and Liz is definitely never going to run a Worldcon.

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

• The tiles that Alison helped make
• CoNZealand
  • They have announced they will hold Worldcon virtually
  • They have a streaming partner
  • Memberships are $300 (NZ): approximately £150
• The SFWA Nebula Conference 2020 is also being held virtually
  • Registration is $150 (US): approximately £120
• Alison’s virtual GUFF trip is on Facebook!
  • If you’re not on Facebook, email us and she’ll send the itinerary to you
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license

4: Several Degrees Less Sane

John got drunk, Alison threw a party, and Liz was awake early.

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

• ConFusion 2021 is the next Eastercon
  • We were right about the Guests of Honour:
    • Dan Abnett
    • Nik Vincent
    • Dave Lally
• The provisional bid for 2022 is to be launched at Novacon
• Fan fundery:
  • Alison won GUFF
  • Anna Raftery’s trip report is being streamed on Zoom and will be available afterwards
    • The next instalment is on Friday 8 May
  • John’s trip report is (almost) finished
  • We got trip report bounties wrong:
    • SCIFI (in California) awards $500 within five years
    • FANAC (in Florida) awards $500 within five years or $250 thereafter
    • Notably, neither California nor Florida is in Canada
• Staying sane in the apocalypse
  • The Arkham Horror Tabletop Simulator mod got taken down after we recorded
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license

3: Can I Pin Three People at Once?

John has a pin, Alison has a lot of pins, and Liz has opinions.

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
  • Kevin MacLeod also does excellent graph paper
• Easter without Eastercon
  • “A Toast for Alison Scott” (the Facebook group)
  • The card for the Concentric 2020 committee
  • John Robertson did The Dark Room for 48 hours
    • His website
    • His Twitch channel
  • Alison’s Zoom party was a great success
  • Bid session
    • ConFusion 2021 won the bid for that year
    • Phil Dyson is head of a 2022 bid which will launch at Novacon
  • Drawn to the Flame did a live podcast which John listened to
• Hugo Awards
  • 2020 Finalists
  • Fanzines:
    • The Book Smugglers
    • Galactic Journey
    • Journey Planet (John edited Journey Planet #45, on The Matrix)
    • nerds of a feather, flock together
    • Quick Sip Reviews
    • The Rec Center
  • 1945 Retro-Hugo Finalists
• Staying sane in the apocalypse
  • Virtual exercise
    • Team Body Project
    • Dancing Stage Fusion
    • Ring Fit Adventure
    • Beat Saber
      • PlayStation VR
      • Oculus Quest
  • Board games
    • Tabletop Simulator
    • Arkham Horror: The Card Game
      • Buy online
      • Play on Tabletop Simulator
    • Marvel Champions: The Card Game
      • Buy online
      • Play on Tabletop Simulator
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license

2: The Pre-Discord Times

John grumbles, Alison parties, and Liz can’t stay awake.

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

• The BSFA have a Discord server
• First Thursday London pub meetings (“the Tun”)
• CoNZealand announces they’re going online
• Alison is still running for GUFF
• Concentric 2020 is hosting a virtual Eastercon bid session on Easter Sunday
• WiFi SciFi
  • Panel 1: Fear, Hope and Speculative Fiction
  • Panel 2: The Plague-Writer’s Tale
• Zoom has had some problems with respect to privacy concerns:
  • Every Zoom Security and Privacy Flaw So Far, and What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
  • The Washington Post was able to view private, archived Zoom videos
  • Bruce Schneier goes in-depth on Zoom’s relationship with marketing
  • Zoom’s response to the technical issues that have been highlighted
• Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 3.0 license

1: Joy Con

John is bad at Twitter, Alison discovers jigsaw puzzles, and Liz exercises.

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

• Eastercon
  • Concentric 2020 cancelled
    • This episode was recorded on Sunday 22 March, before gatherings of more than two people were banned in the UK
  • Convoy (the cancelled Liverpool Eastercon)
  • Contemplation (the last-minute Chester Eastercon)
• Fan funds
  • The funds are:
    • The Transatlantic Fan Fund (TAFF)
    • The Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF)
    • The Going Under/Up-and-Over Fan Fund (GUFF)
  • A primer: “TAFF in Thirteen Paragraphs” by Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
  • Michael Lowrey is cancelling his TAFF trip
  • Alison is running for GUFF
    • CoNZealand is the 2020 Worldcon in New Zealand
• Online fandom
  • Concellation 2020
  • Journeyfolk of Fandom
• Staying sane in the apocalypse
  • The Metropolitan Opera and Royal Opera House are offering free streams
  • Games:
    • Joy Con drift
    • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch)
    • Polyhedral Park Planner (tabletop)
    • Free print-and-play games on PNPArcade (tabletop)
    • One Shot Safety Net on GoFundMe (tabletop)
    • Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)
    • The Last of Us (PS4)
    • Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (PS4/PC)
  • Books:
    • A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
    • The Labyrinth Index by Charlie Stross
    • The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
      • Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies are the first and second instalments
    • Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchison
    • Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller
  • Toilets:
    • How to use bidet sprayers