Norwescon III—Live Dalek, Julie Dillon, Throne

This is a wrap-up of my time at Norwescon—the region’s largest science fiction and fantasy convention for writers. 

Here’s another Dalek. This one was live.

We also had Lady Sif.

She criticized herself for lacking a shield, but I said, “You look great. You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

The artist guest of honor for the convention was Julie Dillon. Back in January, I posted that her cover for Upgraded was the best science fiction cover of last year.

So when I heard that Julie Dillon was going to be at Norwescon, she was my chief reason for going. Her session in which she showed samples of her art and explained her process was fascinating. Afterwards, she gave away six of her artbooks to some of us who stayed around and asked her questions.

I managed to get a picture with her.

And here’s a video of her Kickstarter project.

Finally, here’s the picture you will see in your mind even when you close your eyes tonight. Please choose the best caption.

KNEEL BEFORE ME

or

YOU WILL BUY MY NOVELS WHEN I’M PUBLISHED

or

SORRY, I LEFT MY BIG SWORD AT HOME

Norwescon II—Carbon, It’s Her

Here are a couple pictures from Norwescon. If you don’t get the one below, read her T-shirt.

Below is Torrey Stenmark. She is an organic chemistry major who teaches college chemistry.

Miss Marvel

She said “Miss,” not “Ms”

Unfortunately, her panel talked mostly about industrial carbon, which didn’t give her much to add. She deals with the more messy, organic compounds. And yes, she spoke on the panel dressed like that.

When looking up things to spell her name right, I realized it’s HER. She’s the one I saw at Worldcon in Reno in 2011.

I saw her again at Norwescon in 2012.

Then she changed into Padmé Amidala.

It’s the same person each time. And I fail to recognize her when she changes. 

[Permission granted to use any photo on this post, so long as it is labeled “Photo by Mark Murata”]

Norwescon I—Reading, Dalek, Footfalls

I was at Norwescon—the region’s largest science fiction and fantasy convention for writers—over the weekend. On Thursday I only arrived in the evening, so besides attending the opening ceremonies, I simply listened to one author do a private reading from an upcoming book of hers.

There was also a Dalek

Parking was terrible. I had to park at the overflow parking a few blocks down. I do not like walking in SeaTac in the dark. (Believe it or not, the SeaTac—Seattle-Tacoma—airport came first, then the area around it became incorporated as SeaTac later.)

As I did the final long walk towards the other hotel’s parking lot, I heard footfalls behind me. Running. They were some distance away. I changed the way I was walking and carrying my case to hear better. Still the sound of running. Catching up.

I approached the parking structure. Not afraid, I paused to take a picture of it. As I proceeded in, I heard a cough behind me. Not breathing over my neck—it was how sound carries at night, but still getting closer.

I went to the passenger’s side of my car. I store an object there that can be handy for a time like that. But no need. After I put my case and got in my car, I saw an older fellow with gray hair head for the parking elevator. He was the one who would have coughed.

But where was the person who was running?

Emerald City Comicon Pictures

A friend of mine went to Emerald City Comicon in Seattle. Here are some of her pictures.

She’s on the right, her husband is dressed as Spider-Man

Guess which one he is

Plus one

Plus two

The new Avengers

Insurgent Poster

Look at the size of this outdoor poster for Insurgent. The field lights above and the railing below for the walkway give you the scale of the thing.

The firemen below weren’t stopping to see the movie. They were giving CPR lessons at the nearby mall.

Cherry Blossoms at Dawn

Anybody can take pictures of cherry blossoms in broad daylight. Here’s one in just the light from early dawn.

The one below is half in dawn light, half lit from below by a building’s ground light.

Click to enlarge

Leonard Nimoy—In Memoriam

public domain

1931 – 2015

Please click on the video below to watch
(with speakers on)

Progress

I’ve started work on a new novel manuscript. All I’ll say so far is it’s science fiction. I’m already writing chapter 3.

These handwritten pages are not in focus enough for you to read. But take it from me, you’re looking at great content.

Movie Review: Jupiter Ascending

Jupiter (Mila Kunis) is a typical girl on Earth who earns a living swabbing toilets. Caine (Channing Tatum) is a furry-looking alien who constantly tries to save her from inter-planetary aliens who want to kill her, marry her, or dissect her for their own devious reasons. That’s pretty much the plot.

What is outstanding about the movie is the visual effects. Incredible planetary scapes and enormously complicated spaceships fill the screen, evoking awe. The battle scenes are also elaborate, but hard to follow. Just to let you know, critics panned the movie for reasons having to do with my first paragraph, but the people who did choose to see it enjoyed the movie.

And now for some literary analysis.

Jupiter Ascending references Cinderella early on. But really, it’s a version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (the movie version). Caine is the Cowardly Lion who never passes through a cowardly phase, and who appears early in the story. But then it pretty much follows suit. Jupiter, as Dorothy, goes up in a way that blows her mind, then comes back down. She encounters the forces of a wicked witch (Balem, one of three evil siblings). Jupiter then meets a wise Scarecrow (Stinger played by the ever-reliable Sean Bean). She then encounters a good witch (Kalique, one of the siblings). This is out of order, but it’s a matter of whatever serves the flow of the story.

She is captured by an evil witch who prepares for the precise moment to kill her (Titus, one of the siblings). Jupiter is helped along the way by an intrepid Tin Man of a starship captain (Captain Tsing). And the sibling Balem changes roles from wicked witch to Wizard in the ultimate battle scenes, where he unexpectedly flips personalities.

Am I saying they copied The Wizard of Oz on purpose? Maybe, maybe not. With three evil siblings, maybe they wanted to put a twist on Cinderella and ended up imitating another familiar story on accident. But the overall series of characters seem so strongly to identify with Oz that I think they mentioned Cinderella at the start to throw us off. If nothing else, it shows the lack of originality in Hollywood.

I think what disappointed the critics was the lack of connections and growth. Dorothy had to retrieve the witch’s broom for the Wizard. And each of her companions experienced character growth. Nothing like that happens in Jupiter Ascending. But I did like it, and the 12:30 matinee I went to was packed.