Hugo Bullshit

Recently the Hugo Awards for 2006 were announced. In case youre unfamiliar with what that means, the Hugos are generally accepted as the most prestigious awards in Science Fiction. I am a big fan a science fiction. I am also a science fiction purist, as in I think theres a lot of crap in the sci-fi world. This crap can basically be summed up by the standard practice of combining the sci-fi and fantasy sections in almost every book store. The man who invented geosynchronous orbits used by satellites long before they were invented (Arthur Clarke) should not be shelved with bullshit about dragons and unicorns. Dammit. At least Harlan Ellison talked shit to everyone there. Ah yes the old school is keepin' it real.
So I've skimmed through and read some of the nominees and one of my favorite new writers lost the novelette category to a story about a unicorn and a befuddled magician named Schendrick. Thats cool its nothing new really, but I wish he’d at least have lost to an actual science fiction story as that what the awards are supposed to be about. I started searching around to prove to myself that there is still some quality out there, the picture above was another loser for the 3D art awards given by a seperate organization called the Chelsea awards. Don’t bother looking for them though if you were thinking about it, because most everything is more crap.
So the writer I mentioned before is Paolo Bacigalupi whose story was made available once it was nominated here. Its really an intresting read, a lot of commentary about corporate hunger to own the world, what it does to people, and the approaching crisis of limited resources, but it still doesnt come off as heavy handed in any way unless you count sourt of obscure technology. I found a really intresting 2 year old interview with him that is pretty revealing. He is actually not all that active in the community, which is probably a good thing, and got a call from the same Harlan Ellison a while back telling him to get out of sci-fi while he still could. Good thing he didn’t since we need more people in there doing it the way it should be done.
Oh yeah, here are some songs written by unicorns from the future, that may or may not have been played in outer space.


Kraftwerk - Spacelab

John Anderson and Vangelis - I'll Find My Way Home

William S. Burroughs and Kurt Cobain - The Priest They Called Him