I agree completely, both about the "can't we all just get along" and the role-playing. BTW, on the subject of role-playing, a cherished snippet from the SciFi Channel flick BASILISK.  Two teens and an older guy are sitting in the food court playing D&D and thesaid Basilisk slithers down the escalator.  The most attention they pay to it is to question whether it's a dragon, a basilisk or a wyvern, then it's back to the game.
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion" Arthur C. Clarke

--- On Thu, 4/16/09, E Susan Baugh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


From: E Susan Baugh <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [SF-LIT] Fw:] Hugo Nominations Announced
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 1:25 PM


    "expansion of horizons" seems to me to be exactly what is needed. Thank you for placing the
solution (what I perceive as a solution) in such clean terms. You are also right in thinking that snobbish & cliquish is part of problem inside and outside of fandom.
    I'm probably wearing blinders, but I don't think that the snobs ruled fandom as much as when I discovered fandom some thirty odd years ago. It probably did, but I was so happy to discover others who shared my tastes in reading that I probably overlooked any differences in opinions.
    Unfortunately I am seeing something that I love (fandom) dying, because of "it is my way or the highway" type of thinking. I guess that I am of the "can't we all just get along" and stop being mean to each other group. I enjoy the freshness that the youth and their passions bring to fandom, even if I don't share their passions. I'll probably never enjoy live action role-playing as much as my grandchildren, but I do enjoy their love for role-playing and anime.
    It is time for me to go and expand my horizons. Thanks again for your thoughts on the problem and your solution.

Susan

    PS: Please excuse any spelling errors. Dyslexics are known as creative spellers. Even with a spell checker, my spelling is spotty at best.

Susan


On Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:53:46 -0400, Helge Moulding <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Susan Baugh wrote:
>> Instead of cliquish, I suspect that they are snobs. Vampire fiction is
>> hot in the current market place, so some feel that it can't be real
>> fantasy or science fiction. I believe that this mind set is currently
>> killing SF/F fandom.
>
> Snobbish or cliquish, I guess you mean by your observations that
> attendance of "real" SF/F conventions is down, because us snobs or
> cliques don't realize that Harry Potter fans or Stephenie Meyer fans are
> in fact part of fandom. I think the snobbishness or cliquishness is part
> of both sides of that. I've seen Star Trek clubs get peeved because too
> much attention was paid to authors, while old-timers think there are
> too many Klingons running around the con. Some expansion of
> horizons seems to be needed all around.
>
> Diana Harold wrote:
>> One of my soapboxes is how WorldCon refuses to see YA or teen as
>> part of the sf mainstream and won't even consider a YA category for
>> the Hugo awards. Right now YA publishing is hot and many of the
>> best writers are writing to this market.
>
> Well, Rowling did win the Hugo in recent memory, and there've been
> others, so it's not as if YA authors are excluded. There are awards for
> YA SF/F (e.g. Golden Ducks), too. I'm inclined to side with the Hugo
> committee on that - I think there are already too many categories, where
> only a small fraction of the voting members even know what they're
> voting for. (I'm not inclined to debate if YA writers are better than those
> writing for the adult market. But even if they were, why would that call
> for a separate Hugo category?)
>



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