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Lloyd Penney
1706-24 Eva Rd.
Etobicoke, ON
Canada M9C 2B2
May 4, 2008
Dear Petréa:
Sorry it's taken a while since you've let everyone know about it, but here are some comments on Picofarad #12. Happy Star Wars day!
I am not much into anime, but I will say one thing about it...it is terribly sanitized for North American children. God-fearing bible-thumpers wouldn't know what to do if Sailor Moon took on more sailor scouts, especially the other ones in Pretty Soldier, and especially the one that changes gender when he transforms...
I am certain that so many people will tell you that the Hugos are for science fiction and not anime, although the boundaries between all these genres are getting blurrier all the time. The local anime convention gets 15k each year, and revenue flow is in the seven figures. Olphartism has me in its grip, and I like what I like.
I hadn't heard about Spirit taking the Martian winter off; I might check in with NASA and see what their website says. I just hope that with it being shut down for that long, Spirit will be able to start up again. It's amazing that both rovers have been going for as long as they have, a tribute to their builders.
I think it's official, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have written more Dune than Frank Herbert ever did. I admit I have not been tempted to see what the post-Frank Herbert books read like. I did receive a sample of one book years ago, and it didn't attract me at all.
My loc...that dollars are about par now, which meant our trip to Las Vegas about a week and a half ago now, which was expensive enough as it was, didn't have to pay that much more for the exchange rate. Je comprend un petit peu de Francais, and that's about it. Having a smattering of French would definitely help in your stay in Montréal, but it isn't necessary. There will be some French-language programming at Anticipation, but the majority of the programming will be for the vast majority of the people who will be there, English-speaking fans, whether English is their first or second language.
I never did see Will Smith's I Am Legend. I have the book, and from what I saw, the book will do just fine. The idea of a destroyed America is becoming an old idea, and an all-too-possible reality, and this is why there may be few people actually trying to do something constructive and green.
I've met Ursula LeGuin once; nice lady. I'd wonder what her grandkids think of all this SF/fandom stuff, if they even suspect it's there?
Of the conventions listed on the Social Calendar, I attended Eeriecon Ten and Corflu Silver, and might be attending Anime North and Polaris. No promises on those two, though. There used to be an Ambercon up here, but like many things, it went away out of lack of interest.
I think I'm done here. Take care, and let me know when the next issue is due up.
Yours, Lloyd Penney.
Well, it's no problem when the anime actually is sf, right? As for sanitization, there wasn't quite so much problem with that on Adult Swim (until it gave up anime completely) or G4/Tech TV (until it gave up anime completely) or Encore (still hanging in there). And now that we can get it legally straight over the net... yes, probably, it'll be another excuse to censor YouTube. Never mind.
I suppose it depends on whether Ursula K. Le Guin's grandkids are at the age where everything Grandma does is cool, or where everyone older than 20 is a pathetic old person.
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