How Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful” Commercial Could Have Been Awesome

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It was a pretty good commercial, I thought.

But they missed a great opportunity to make a simply good commercial into something spectacular.

Coca Cola Sign in Decatur Texas
(“Coca Cola Sign in Decatur Texas,” by anyjazz65, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

I understood what they were getting at in the commercial: that people who originate all over the world have come — and continue to come — to this land of freedom and opportunity. Not only that, but no matter where we originate we can all appreciate both the physical grandeur of this country and the truths we hold self-evident in this marvelous nation.

So what would have made it awesome?

If, in the finale, they had gathered all the singers and other participants into one place, and had them sing “from sea to shining sea” as one chorus.

Doing so would have illustrated the “melting pot” ideal, in which no matter our origins we become part of the magnificent cultural alloy that is the U.S. citizenry. In some respects it would have fulfilled the promise of the old “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” commercial. And, perhaps most important, it would have reminded us that we are at our best when we are “E Pluribus Unum” — out of many, one.

It could have been awesome.

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One Week Until the Election Filing Period Opens …

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Maybe it’s the flu talking, but once again I’m thinking about whether I’d like to run for office. (Seriously.) (Okay, sort-of seriously.)

Hope is a belief in a positive outcome...
(“Hope is a belief in a positive outcome…,” by Vince Alongi, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

It would be interesting to see if my unconventional approach to politics — from the Anti-Campaign to my political anthem — would generate any interest in an actual election. To get on the primary ballot, I’d have to sign up and pay money before the end of February.

The filing fee is one percent of the annual salary of whatever office you seek, so I would need to decide whether I should try to serve at the local level or the state level or the national level. From my time in the USAF, and especially my work on the Air Staff, I’m most familiar with how things work at the national level. And, as proof of my arrogance and megalomania, I think I would be as fine a member of Congress as anyone. On the other hand, all politics is local and serving at the local level would have its own set of challenges and rewards. And it would cost a lot less to file.

Of course, if I did file, I’d have to actually campaign — and that takes time and money, too, neither of which I have in abundance. Which is why I wrote,

I’d like to run for Congress, and play the political game
But I don’t have very much money, to wage a big campaign
I’m okay with giving speeches and debating might be fun
If I took myself more seriously, then I might really run

— “I Think I’ll Run for Congress“

So the driving factor in whether I should file and run for office has to be whether anybody wants me to — and wants it enough to help organize, fund, and execute a campaign.

What about it, local folks? Any interest in working on a political campaign?

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Today’s the Last Day …

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… to join the World Science Fiction Convention if you want to nominate and vote for the Hugo Awards.

Hugo Award Logo

It costs 25 Pounds Sterling, or about 40 US dollars, to join as a Supporting Member. (I had the price wrong on my earlier post, Want to Nominate and Vote for the Hugo Awards?) For that price, you get an electronic package with nearly all of the nominated works: novels, shorter works, and much of the artwork.

Sign up as a WorldCon member at this site, then you can nominate here.

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And if you haven’t already done so, check out Larry Correia’s Sad Puppies Campaign to encourage fans of his Monster Hunter and Grimnoir novels to nominate and vote..

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A School of Sphericity

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Many years ago I thought about starting a school that would emphasize “sphericity,” by which I meant the property of being well-rounded.

Armillary Sphere
(“Armillary Sphere,” by francisco.j.gonzalez, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

To me the concept of personal sphericity is summed up in one of my favorite Robert A. Heinlein quotes —

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

— which seemed like the basis of a unique and interesting curriculum (so long as we didn’t push students so far as to experience the last item in the long list). My idea was to start a school that would equip every student not only with the “three Rs” but with practical skills, and would give them experience not only with those specific tasks listed but with related activities that they represent.

This idea came back to mind recently when a colleague wrote this blog post. She wrote about designers Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller, who started Studio H in Bertie County, North Carolina, as a “‘design/build’ public school curriculum that sparks community development through real-world, built projects.” They taught “fundamentals of design, architecture and construction to high school students,” though after the first year they took the program to California because the local school district had cut funding for their salaries.

In that one project, then, we find several items from Heinlein’s list: not only the obvious “design a building” and “build a wall,” but “balance accounts” (in terms of budgeting for the project), “cooperate,” “analyze a new problem,” and likely several more. It seems like a wonderful educational experience to me, and I applaud Pilloton and Miller for pursuing the idea and wish them luck in the future.

I don’t know quite how to go about starting such an enterprise, but I think a school of sphericity would be marvelous, and its graduates would be well-poised to take on whatever challenges awaited them. What do you think?

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So, What is a ‘Related Work,’ Anyway?

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A few days ago, when I posted a reminder about nominating and voting for the Hugo Awards,* a friend asked if my album was eligible in the “Best Related Work” category.

Gray Rinehart presents Truths and Lies and Make-Believe
(Image by Paul Cory Photography.)

The answer, I’m afraid, is no.

At first glance it seemed as if Truths and Lies and Make-Believe (or one of the songs) might be eligible, since most of the songs on the album are science fiction or fantasy-related. The World Science Fiction Society constitution defines “Best Related Work” as

Any work related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom, appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year or which has been substantially modified during the previous calendar year, and which is either non-fiction or, if fictional, is noteworthy primarily for aspects other than the fictional text, and which is not eligible in any other category.

“Any work related to the field” might seem to include music, but I don’t usually think of music as “non-fiction” or “fictional.” So I looked around some more and found that over at the Hugo Awards site, the category description adds this:

The type of works eligible include, but are not limited to, collections of art, works of literary criticism, books about the making of a film or TV series, biographies and so on, provided that they do not qualify for another category.

By “collections of art,” they seem to mean printed volumes of visual art — collections of music or other arts apparently need not apply. There is that magic “not limited to” phrase, though, and the award is no longer limited to printed books, having gone last year to the Writing Excuses podcast that some of my friends put together. The Wikipedia entry explains the history.

The award was originally titled the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book and was first awarded in 1980. In 1999 the Award was retitled to the Hugo Award for Best Related Book, and eligibility was officially expanded to fiction works that were primarily noteworthy for reasons besides their fictional aspects. In 2010, the title of the award was again changed, to the Hugo Award for Best Related Work.

Looking over the list of nominees and winners, it appears that science fiction and fantasy music — known in the community as “filk” — has never been considered as a “related work” for the purpose of the award. Which makes me wonder what would happen if enough fans put in nominations for music, since the Hugos are fan-based awards; since the award is no longer limited to printed works, would the Hugo committee honor those nominations, or would they disqualify them? Unfortunately, I don’t have enough fans to test that hypothesis in the manner of Larry Correia’s Sad Puppies Campaign.

So, strictly speaking, neither my album nor my songs would be considered “related works.” But if you decide to write in one of my songs anyway, let me know!

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*Want to Nominate and Vote for the Hugo Awards?

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Want to Brainstorm about the Pegasus Awards?

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Okay, music fans, what do you think the best SF&F music of 2013 was?

Pegasus Award Logo

The awards cycle has started for the annual Pegasus Awards, which honor science fiction and fantasy-related music. Unlike other awards, the Pegasus Award cycle begins with a wide-open “brainstorming” phase.

Pegasus Awards are given out in four permanent categories, as well as two categories which rotate from year-to-year:

  • Best Filk Song
  • Best Classic Filk Song — a song at least 10 years old that has “entered filk community public consciousness”
  • Best Performer
  • Best Writer/Composer
  • 2014 Rotating Category: Best Adapted Song — which can include adapting or parodying a mundane song or a filk song, but can also mean adapting a poem or book
  • 2014 Rotating Category: Best Song of Passage — which can relate to any kind of passage (e.g., passage to adulthood or some other life stage, travel, etc.)

Anyone who has an interest in filk — which, as noted, is science fiction and/or fantasy-related music — is considered part of the “filk community” and can participate in brainstorming possible nominees. The award by-laws define “exhibiting interest” using examples such as filking at SF&F conventions, attending filk conventions or “house sings,” taking part in related on-line forums, and just “discussing filk and filk related issues with other filkers.”

If you made it this far in this post, you can probably claim to have exhibited interest and therefore would be qualified to participate in the Pegasus Award process. So if you have a favorite you’d like to suggest, fill out the Brainstorming Poll Form. There’s only space for five suggestions in each category, but you’re allowed to fill out as many brainstorming forms as you like.

The nomination phase will start in the spring, and voting takes place in the late summer. The Pegasus Awards are awarded at (and administered by) the Ohio Valley Filk Fest in October.

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illogiCon Wrap-Up

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It took longer than anticipated to recover from illogiCon, because it was such an enjoyable convention. It took longer than expected to post this wrap-up, too — no excuse!


(At dinner with many of my writing friends. I’m the one in the hat. Photo courtesy of James Maxey.)

As with other conventions, the best part was hanging out with my friends. illogiCon featured two Guests of Honor, Mary Robinette Kowal and Lawrence M. Schoen, both of whom are terrific folks, as well as many of our local North Carolina authors who are among my favorite people in the world.

But, holy moly, illogiCon was BUSY!

On day one of the convention, last Friday, I was on two panels: one a serious discussion about how technologies such as robotics and smartphones are impacting our lives, and then “Lies With Words,” in which GOH Lawrence Schoen led five of us through a game similar to Balderdash. (Yours truly came in third; Baen Books author Mark Van Name took the prize.) The evening ended, as most of my convention evenings do, with filk — though the filking was pretty subdued.

Saturday was a whirlwind of activity in more ways than one. First was a panel discussion about whether social media and rapid communication are fragmenting society into “A Million Nations,” followed by an enjoyable discussion about science fiction from the perspective of social scientists. A few of my friends came to my reading, which was followed by a recording of the Baen Free Radio Hour — though right about that time we had two tornado warnings in quick succession! (The storm was close enough that it damaged trees just up the street from my house.) Once things calmed down, and after the podcast recording, we put on the Baen Books Travelling Roadshow, after which I had a delightful dinner with my friends (as seen above). I split the rest of the evening between attending other friends’ events, visiting with folks in the lounge, and finally more filking.

Sunday started with a panel that examined “Hard SF vs. Soft SF,” and ended with a discussion of “New Trends in Speculative Fiction.” In between I again attended some of my friends’ events, and afterward I came home and, frankly, crashed pretty hard.

I think I went to work on Monday, but I don’t remember much of it. But that’s probably another indication that illogiCon was a pretty good convention!

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Another Panel for illogiCon: Baen Free Radio Hour

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I got my final illogiCon schedule, and in addition to my other panels I get to be part of the Baen Free Radio Hour on Saturday afternoon!

The “Baen Free Radio Hour Live Q&A” will be a live recording of the Baen Books weekly podcast. The recording will take place at 2 p.m., right after my reading.

The other panelists will be Baen author and editor Tony Daniel, Baen author and “chief technologist” Mark Van Name, the “Chainmail Chick” Allegra, and Nebula (and other) award-winning author (and NC State professor) John Kessel. I’ve been on panels before with each of them, so it should be fun!

If you want to see what else is happening at illogiCon, check out the full program schedule.

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Want to Nominate and Vote for the Hugo Awards?

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The nomination period for the Hugo Awards opens this week, and you can still sign up to nominate and vote!

Hugo Award Logo

The Hugos are roughly equivalent to the People’s Choice Awards, in that the awards are determined by science fiction and fantasy fans rather than professionals in the field. The categories include Best Novel, Best Short Story, Best Related Work, Best Dramatic Presentation, and so forth.

Anyone with an Attending or Supporting membership in last year’s, this year’s, or next year’s World Science Fiction Convention can submit nominations. Supporting membership in this year’s Worldcon, Loncon 3 — to be held in London in August — run about $60 $40 (depending on the exchange rate), for which you receive electronic copies of nearly every nominated work, including portfolios from the nominated artists. Only members of the current Worldcon can vote for the Hugos, and you have until the end of January to join the convention in order to nominate and vote.

Anyway, even though this page says you can nominate now, the Loncon3 front page says the Hugo nomination period opens later this week, which seems to be the case since the nomination form wasn’t working as I prepared this blog post. In the meantime, you can find general information on this Hugo Awards page, and nomination-specific information here.

The nomination period closes at the end of March, but remember: if you want to nominate, you need to join Worldcon before the end of January!

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