| The day's not over yet |
[Apr. 10th, 2008|08:22 pm] |
I knew I had this in my old correspondence somewhere.
In September '98 I bought my first Palm Pilot, which in a conversation soon after Mike quickly likened to an itty-bitty Etch-a-Sketch (Graffiti(tm), and all that), so when not long after that someone else sent me the Y2K Etch-a-Sketch Humor post I forwarded it to him... and found this in my email the next day (Mike's emendations in blue):
We have defined a lower cost alternative for the conversion to new computers that will address the Y2K (Year 2000) problem:
The goal is to remove all computers from the desktop by Jan, 1999.
Instead, everyone will be provided with an Etch-A-Sketch for Windows(tm), a new product from the Microsoft Corporation's There Must Be A Way to Get Money out of the Luddites Division(tm). There are many sound reasons for doing this:
1. No Y2K problems
2. No technical glitches keeping work from being done.
3. No more wasted time reading and writing emails.
4. Manual features the lovable Muppets.
Thank you.
Frequently Asked Questions from the Etch-A-Sketch for Windows(tm) Help Desk:
(to which the original answer to all but the last was "pick it up and shake it.")
Q: My Etch-A-Sketch has all of these funny little lines all over the screen. What do I do?
A: You need Microsoft Peer-and-Play compatible eyeglasses (contact lenses available early 2004).
Q: How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch for Windows(tm) off?
A: Attempts to turn off any Microsoft product may result in fines, prosecution, destruction of personal property, injury, and death, usually in that order.
Q: What's the shortcut for Undo?
A: Mircosoft osurs dont mark sitamkes..
Q: How do I create a New Document window?
A: What was the matter with your old one?
Q: How do I set the background and foreground to the same color?
A: Rumors that Mr. Gates has poor color sense are slander, unless you expressed them in a message to Microsoft Customer Service, in which case they are libel.
Q: What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A-Sketch for Windows(tm)?
A: Implications that a Microsoft product would ever hang, crash, or cause your cat to commit suicide by leaping on a hot Pentium chip will be responded to by a visit from Bob(tm), the Microsoft Smiling Enforcer.
Q: How do I delete a document on my Etch-A-Sketch for Windows(tm)?
A: A new Win98 enhancement, Conceptual Delete, makes it easier than ever to delete documents permanently! Merely look away from the screen briefly. For long documents, you may wish to go for coffee.
Q: How do I save my Etch-A-Sketch for Windows(tm) document?
A: How much money are you willing to spend?
[10/06/1998, in email]
Vista, feh.
Happy Mike's birthday, all. |
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| I wrote this on the anniversary of Mike's death. |
[Nov. 7th, 2007|12:36 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Cedar Falls | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sad | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Everybody Knows - Concrete Blonde cover. | ] |
And sent it off to Making Light, where it never got posted - then got insanely busy through October.
I give it here to the Society, in free usage. If any money is ever made off of this, I ask that half the profits go to the library fund.
====
He shew'd us dreamburst
Not so long as we'd like
Raconteur abetting thirst
We hope again to see the like
The challenges of Euterpe*
Barely shows us adequate for art.
Inspired, but without his quiet example
Words, once joyous, pierce the heart
Though joyous dwelt, given freely
Perhaps this is the lesson learnt?
I think he'd find it unseemly,
To hide our hearts from dreamburst
Though we had him not so long as liked
In gratitude, thanks for the miracles, Mike. |
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| A Year |
[Sep. 25th, 2007|06:21 pm] |
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It's been a year and I still miss him. I miss his written words in Making Light, his verbal words at Minicon, and the words that he left to grow inside my mind. I was able to make a small memorial donation to his Memorial Fund at the Mpls Library, which is nothing compared to what he gave us. |
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| Heat of Fusion |
[May. 21st, 2007|04:16 pm] |
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I turned up another copy of Heat of Fusion and Kevin told me he had more people ask for his copies than he had copies, so I thought I'd offer it here. Free for the cost of shipping. You can email me at marilee@mjlayman.com. |
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[Aug. 25th, 2007|02:44 pm] |
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An odd question: In the course of commenting on someone's entry, I was reminded of a conversation I once had at a convention, in which I was told that John M. Ford was an extra in Breaking Away. The person with whom I was speaking offered no further verification, and didn't specify any particular scenes in which to look for him; is there anyone here who can confirm (or Snope) this rumor? |
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| A memento |
[Jun. 23rd, 2007|02:46 pm] |
I was cleaning my office, and came across a postcard in Mike's handwriting. It's postmarked 28 June 1994, and depicts a doorway from the abbey church of Moutiers-Saint-Jean, near Dijon. The text is as follows:
"Experiamus tempus mirabilis.
Volanus hic sua tua.
Camera nostra propinque
comitatus conventus.
Amo, amas, amat,
M. Elise
Teresa
[obscured by Post Office fu, but presumably] Patrick"
Pamela |
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| Tarot as Story Frame |
[May. 4th, 2007|04:38 pm] |
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So far in Heat of Fusion, there's been two stories that use the tarot court cards as the story frame. I don't remember this in the other books of Mike's I've read -- was this common? And are they just story frames as I'm seeing them, or was the Tarot itself more important to him? |
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| The John M. Ford Automonous Exploration Vehicle |
[May. 4th, 2007|04:33 pm] |
I'm reading the copy of Heat of Fusion that I got from Kevin and at the end of a short story for Nature, Mike's short bio reads:
Autonomous Exploration Vehicle John M. Ford was one of the first private citizens to undergo cortical shift, first to a netlinked mainframe, passing through a series of mobile installations to an AEV hull.
That's a nice way to think about his death, isn't it? Out there exploring the galaxy. |
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| If you can be there, read one for me |
[Apr. 9th, 2007|09:54 pm] |
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Mike would have turned 50 tomorrow. They are having a reading at Dreamhaven books. I can't be there since I am 705 miles away. But if I were there I would read SF Clichés VI: Immortality. I read it when we spread my father's ashes and I had "Heat of Fusion" opened to that page at Dia de los Muertos service at my church last October. |
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| John M. Ford Memorial Reading and Reception |
[Apr. 2nd, 2007|12:29 pm] |
DreamHaven will be hosting a John M. Ford reading and reception on Tuesday, April 10, 6:30 PM
This would have been Mike's 50th birthday.
Join us for readings, conversation and refreshments.
DreamHaven is located at 912 W. Lake St.
You can reach us at 612-823-6161 or email us at dream@dreamhavenbooks.com |
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| Free copies of Heat of Fusion available |
[Mar. 25th, 2007|11:33 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | philanthropic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "I Believe in a Better Way", Ben Harper | ] |
I picked up a pile of Heat of Fusion while I was at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts. I gave away several copies there, but I have a stack of them awaiting good homes, or for donation to local libraries.
They are available for the cost of shipping, but if you wanted to make a side donation to the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library John M. Ford Fund, that would be swell. Please contact me at mikeford@maroney.org for details. One per request unless, like, you want more.
Update: Wow, that was fast. All eight copies are gone and if I had had eight more I think I could have found them good homes. Thanks to everyone! |
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| Boskone 44 Auctions Report |
[Mar. 3rd, 2007|03:00 pm] |
(I'm sorry about the posting delay. I came home from the con with the hed coad my sweetie had sworn all weekend he wasn't getting--and he didn't, but I did--in time to unpack, do laundry, pack, and be in another city most of the next week working with clients. Came home, still with the hed coad now accompanied by an ugly dry cough, to sleep much of the next weekend and as much of the following (this past) week as I wasn't actually working. Ugly dry cough became icky gooey cough; doctor visit and antibiotics ensued. Cough now giving ground, but not quickly or with grace. I'm still wearing down too quickly and too often, and still sleeping more than usual.)
Anywhich, the fun part:
The Boskone 44 John M. Ford Memorial Auction & Extravaganza was a notable success.
Auctions, actually: there were so many excellent donations that it wasn't possible to include them all in the voice auction Friday night, so auction manager ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) debgeisler had the inspired notion of tagging the rest and laying them out on the long divider tables between the Art Show and the Con Suite (in the big shared downstairs ballroom) for a silent auction running from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday. Excellent exposure, everything got bids, everything was sold.
Donations included:
- a collection of nine originals of Mike's holiday poem missives, including an original of "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station";
- a full set of Boskone 34 publications including the Souvenir Book and the libretto and program of Another Part of the Trilogy;
- a complete run of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, in their wondrous variegated formats;
- two different Tuckerizations in future novels, one each from Jo Walton and Charles Stross;
- Idea #12, edited by gerisullivan, including Mike and Elise's Guy Fawkes Songbook;
- a boxed limited-edition copy of Greetings from Lake Wu;
- the stunningly gorgeously Evilrooster custom-bound copy of Sandman: the Dream Hunters, which I successfully bid as agent for a friend so got to actually hold it my very own self for a little while, oooooh, before packing it carefully and shipping it off to its new home;
- various copies of Mike's books, games, and small-press or limited publications;
- great selections of books, games, and merchandise from George R.R. Martin and Jane Yolen;
- two individual agate and silver pendants by elisem, with tags calligraphed by Mike
(and watching the interested parties converge like piranha on the poor runner carrying each of those was something I was glad to be doing from across the room);
and many other special, first edition, advance reading copy, or limited edition books and other special items.
We did, as promised, intersperse the auction sets with performances of selected Mike's works. Auctioneering and MC duties were managed with some finesse by Jim Macdonald.
The set list, and presenters:
- "The Overture" ("What's Happenin' At the Castle" from Boskone 43's Grim's Fairy Cabaret): Chip Hitchcock and Tom Courtney, with Kip Williams accompanying;
- "Hot Gingered Pygmy Mammoth & Jumbo Shrimp Salad" recipe: Teresa Nielsen Hayden;
- "Harry of Five Points" (dialogue with the French Ambassador): Alexx Kay and Tom Courtney;
- "The Fellowship of the Woosters" excerpt: Greer Gilman (it's unpublished; Mike read it at the WFC in Madison in 2005);
- "Scrabble With God", published in From the End of the Twentieth Century: Patrick Nielsen Hayden;
- "Ya Got Worries" (the "River City" piece from Another Part of the Trilogy): Larry Seiler, with Denise Gendron accompanying and a rather good pick-up chorus;
- "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station" excerpt, most recently published in Heat of Fusion and other stories: Jane Yolen
The rehearsal accompanist was Faye Ringel, pinch-hitting on no notice when Kip was delayed in traffic.
debgeisler and a select crew of highly competent Minions(tm) managed the Friday night auction processing neatly and efficiently. I saw lsanderson, lesliet_ma, marykaykare, ckd, calygrey (whom I drafted in, heh), and I don't
remember who else, sorry. sethb was pressed into service Sunday afternoon as the silent auction cashier, on little notice since we were unexpectedly scrambling.
The Friday night live auction raised a little over $3300, and the silent auction almost $800. That's another $4100 into the endowment, thanks to so many people
contributing their efforts. |
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| Boskone Auctions |
[Feb. 19th, 2007|10:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Home | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  curious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | keyboard clicking | ] |
Would someone who was there care to report on them?
I understand Friday evening had many great performances of some of Mike's work... |
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| Klingons |
[Jan. 20th, 2007|08:13 pm] |
Everyone here is probably familiar with John M. Ford's The Final Reflection (and if you're not, go read it). However, fewer people are likely familiar with its connection to the Star Trek role-playing game published by FASA. This was the second such authorized game (the first was a forgettable job published by Heritage Models) and was quite popular for some years.
The Klingons supplement was published as a boxed set in 1983, with a second edition consisting of two books published in 1987. The first edition credits "Designers: John M. Ford, Guy W. McLimore, Jr., Greg K. Poehlein, David F. Tepool." The second edition credits design to Fantasimulations Associates (i.e., everyone in the previous credit except JMF), and writing is separately credited to "Fantasimulations Associates (based on original material by John M. Ford)."
Exactly what relation the game supplement and novel have to each other is best explained by Guy W. McLimore, Jr., in his introduction to the first edition and designers' notes in the second edition (they're similar, but not enough that I wanted to post just one). They are reproduced here with his permission.
( First edition introduction (well, half of it) )
( Second edition designers' notes )
Here's one of those excerpts from An Informal Guide to the Klingon Empire that McLimore mentions. These actually appeared in both editions, despite only being mentioned in the second piece above:
Students of Klingon trivia will recall that, at first contact, the Klingons referred to the Federation as an Empire, i.e., they used the same word for both.
The word komerex means "the structure that grows". Its counterpart/antonym is khesterex. All societies are described by one of these two words. Khesterex cultures are, by definition, kuve (servitor races). There is no Klingon concept of an equilibrium culture, "Zero Population Growth", etc. If a society is not growing, it must be dead.
Khex (or kh'ex) is a slang term for "corpse", analogous to the human "stiff" or "flatliner", and is used in general for anything non-functional.
[NOTE: The authors are seeking funding for a sociolinguistic study of the enormous array of terms for things that do not work: the Rigellian/Orion "discount goods", the Tellarite quat (literally, "tastes lousy" or "inedible"), the Andorian bouf ("pink"), and so on. Only the Vulcans have no such word - apparently on Vulcan everything always works. We disallow the famed "illogical", because something may be illogical and still work. This study, when completed, will be entitled A Bushel of Lemons.]
For those who will be at Boskone, it may be of interest to note that a copy of the first edition of The Klingons will be in the auction. |
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| "When creative people die...." |
[Jan. 6th, 2007|03:52 pm] |
I'm reading The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: 13th Annual Collection (stories from 1999), and Jim Frenkel writes in his intro to the obituaries:
When creative people die, they leave a part of their lives with those who remain. In the fruits of their creativity lie the seeds that may bring forth new creative works in generations that follow. Our cultural traditions are built upon the works of genius of preceding generations.
This reminded me of Mike in general, but also because we're seeing a lot of sonnets and sestinas and such in Making Light and he paved the way for those. |
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| Exciting Annals of Bibliographic Research, 1st of N |
[Jan. 4th, 2007|09:10 pm] |
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Does anyone know what the title of JMF's poem in Patti Perret's The Faces of Fantasy might be, or if it has been published elsewhere? (No title is given in the book.) The first line is "How lovely that the chemistry of silver." |
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| Still Cleaning |
[Jan. 4th, 2007|01:24 pm] |
We cleaned some more this morning and what did I find?
Another Part of the Trilogy by John M. Ford, and I was wondering what else NESFA Press has of his?
and I found
A xerox copy of a manuscript entitled MUNCHKIN: THE ADVENTURES ISSUE ONE: THE PARTY OF THE FIRST PART (He found out I had played the game so he gave it to me to show to my friend darkwolf69 who had introduced Munchkin to me. I wonder if I did?)
So now I'm wondering, did Steve Jackson or someone ever publish that? I forgot who Mike had told me might draw it. It is 20 pages long. I'm wondering what else of Mike's stuff is out there or worse yet... lost. |
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| JMF Endowment Fund Auction at Boskone 44 |
[Jan. 2nd, 2007|11:27 pm] |
NESFA is hosting an auction at Boskone 44 to benefit the MPL Endowment Fund established in Mike's memory. Full details here.
If you'll be at Boskone, we hope you'll join us Friday evening to celebrate Mike and raise money for the book fund. |
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