WWWednesday: May 13, 2020

Conventions:

San Diego ComiCon has cancelled its live event for this year as you know. They are working on alternatives. And, they offer this humorous ad for “ComiCon Home.” (Thanks to File770.)

Awards:

The Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic people) inaugural awards announced its shortlist. This new award acknowledges excellence in under-represented voices in speculative fiction.

The 2020 Leo Awards celebrate works of excellence featuring furry characters published in 2019. The short list has been announced. (Thanks to File770.)

Books and Writing:

Peter Capaldi narrates a new edition of Watership Down by Richard Adams. Here is more information about the upcoming edition.

At Book Press Café, Marie Brennan provides a nice essay about working animals. Good world-building tips here!

N.K. Jemisin and Rebecca Roanhorse are headlining a fundraiser for San Francisco’s Borderlands Books.

Here’s a follow-up to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation story of a couple of weeks ago. They are preparing to distribute $950 thousand to comic book stores.

Also from Shelf Awareness, a review of an nonfiction book about women in competitive bike racing.

Ilze Hugo shares the inspiration for the novel Down Days on The Whatever.

Tor.com’s James Davis Nichol takes a look at some truly inhospitable planets.

The garden shed at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden’s vegetable patch.

TV:

Did anyone watch Dispatches from Elsewhere? I binge-watched it. It is absurdist but has speculative elements. I think The Verge’s review really captured it.

Games:

Adri at Nerds of a Feather plays Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

I don’t completely understand what Twitch is, or why it’s fun to watch other people play video games, but if you do, then Twitch Roulette might be just for you.

I’ve been seeing hopscotch challenges in my neighborhood (and even attempted parts of them), and I wondered where they came from. I don’t think I discovered the origin of these enhanced hopscotch games but I did find this article and a cool video on YouTube.

Internet:

In California, as part of Phase 2 of the Covid-19 re-opening plan, bookstores along with certain other retailers have been allowed to open via curbside service only. (We will discreetly ignore the fact that many have them have been doing that already.)

Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, has pulled its proposed Toronto project.

Ars Techica recommends A Medium-Sized Book of Boring Car Trivia, written by Sniff Petrol, a pseudonym  for Top Gear’s Richard Porter.

Space:

Space.com offers some photos and video of earth and space.

Videos:

For youngsters (adult supervision will be needed): cool tricks with salt.

For everyone, a baby elephant plays in a pool.