By Jan S. Gephardt I am happy to report that I’m going to Archon 44 after all. Why? Because—and only because—Archon’s doing it right. The Email That Changed Everything You may recall that a few weeks ago, I very reluctantly decided to withdraw from this year’s FenCon, a Texas science fiction convention that my son and I have come to love. I had been watching the COVID-19 trends in the St. Louis area and growing more and more convinced I’d…
By Jan S. Gephardt One schedule-change. That’s all it technically boils down to. One simple scratch-out on a calendar. I’d planned on going, but now I’m not. Except, it’s not a simple thing at all. Not simply one schedule-change. No, it’s actually a whole end-of-summer tipped upside-down in a cascade of if-this-then-that change, after change, after change. Deciding not to go to FenCon, it turned out (as I knew it would), led to way more than one schedule-change. I Love…
By G. S. Norwood With the number of new COVID-19 cases dropping, and Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, what’s it gonna take to get you out of the house and back into large entertainment venues this summer? I’m thinking specifically of movie theaters and concert halls, but that’s just me. What about sports arenas and churches? County fairs, rodeos, and festivals? Are you prepared to dive back into public pools and farmers’ markets? Just how comfortable are you going…
By Jan S. Gephardt At the coldest, bleakest time of each year in the United States, we observe first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in late January, and then Black History Month in February. I know there are non-racist reasons for this scheduling. Dr. King’s birthday is January 15. February was chosen by a Black historian for Black History Month (originally Black History Week) because Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass both were born in February (Feb. 12 and 14, respectively)….
By Jan S. Gephardt In the wake of the holiday that honors him, I’ve been wondering “what might Dr. King say to us today?” The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a man whom many of us consider a moral beacon for the ages. His life ended more than fifty years ago, but we value moral beacons because their guidance transcends their own times. We certainly could use a moral beacon right now. We’ve just lived through a year…
By G. S. Norwood Civilization and music go hand-in-hand. Human civilization does not exist without music. I’m not saying that Music creates Civilization. I’m saying that music has been an important part of every known human culture, as far back as we know human cultures to exist. Archaeologists have found primitive musical instruments dating back 40,000 years, and some evidence suggests civilization and music date back 400,000 years. It’s a pretty safe bet that, almost from the dawn of humanity…