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Sneak Peek of SF Museum
maxentius writes "Posted on Trufen.net: Paul Allen's Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, due to open June 18, is offering early "Charter Memberships" to a select list of e-mail recipients (and apparently to anyone else who happens to hear about it before the June 5 deadline). The museum will adjoin the Experience Music Project in the very odd Frank Gehry-designed building near downtown Seattle. Allen, a life-long SF fan, has been working on the project for a few years, and it will probably be the same sort of sensory extravaganza as the EMP. The e-mail promises "exclusive access" for Charter Members, including the chance to go to an pre-launch tour and party, a t-shirt, and a limited-edition lapel pin. There are many levels of membership, from "Terran" ($40), through "Hive Mind" ($75), "Replicant" ($500), all the way to "Immortal" ($10,000). It's hard to say just how this will turn out, but with the likes of Greg Bear and Forry Ackerman as advisors, and some interesting ideas, it might be okay."
Isn't this Paul Allen, aka "one of the zillionaires from Microsoft," aka "Charter Communications," aka "richer than God" ?
Why the heck does he need to take donations for this?
Here's what you get!
A Discount! 10% off! A Membership Card!
They must think sci-fi geeks are dumber than they...wait, a newsletter too? Sign me up!
I see that Forry is an advisor, but I didn't find anything in a quick RTFM that says how much of his collection made it into the museum. Does anyone know?
I know that he had to sell off some due to health and legal costs and it destroyed my dream of visiting the Ackermansion, which I'd wanted to do since reading Famous Monsters starting about 30 years ago.
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
Isn't that a bit like an inflatable dartboard?
At least they can have a display about all the broken flying car promises.
Beep beep.
Now I'm really sold. If it's a "limited time offer" it must be really, really, cool. What would sci-fi be without free lapel pins...for our lapels?
Are these memberships annual or lifetime, that was the only thing I couldn't find on the site.
I'm not close enough that an annual membership would be any value, but lifetime I would get all over that... prolly android level in case I have kids.
Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
the guy who made his own Tron costume is cutting the ribbon at the opening.
There are many levels of membership, from "Terran" ($40), through "Hive Mind" ($75), "Replicant" ($500), all the way to "Immortal" ($10,000).
What can I get for 1$? "Oompa Loompa"? "Ugnaught"?
Can I get "Q" for a million bucks? How about "Operating Thetan"?
Now, if only more geeks could get rich. We'd have more SETI telescopes, sci-fi museums, space project funding....
Let's face it, boys (and most of you are boys), we've had it. Computers aren't cool anymore. The next big fortunes will be made in biotech or something else, and the suits have taken control of the industry.
We're not going to see geeks (what's that you say? he's a bigshot at Microsoft so he's not a geek? yeah, business types use their spare cash to fund a *science fiction museum*) rich enough to fund scifi museums again. So we might as well smile and remember the late 90s, when computer people actually were hip, as we work overtime for piddling salaries until our jobs are finally sent to India.
Nice. Pay $500 to be labelled a 'Replicant'
>>" Terran" ($40), through "Hive Mind" ($75), "Replicant" ($500), all the way to "Immortal" ($10,000)
Those are the "membership" levels for Scientology too, except the prices are all off by two orders of magnitude.
Greg Bear
Forrest J. Ackerman
Robin Wayne Bailey
Betty Ballantine
Astrid Anderson Bear - Daughter of Poul Anderson / Wife of Greg Bear
Gregory Benford
Jeff Bezos
Ray Bradbury - this shows taste
David Brin
Charles Brown - A cartoon?
Octavia Butler - I like her work
James Cameron - give me a break!!!
Orson Scott Card - Ender was it
Arthur C. Clarke - nice ideas but fluffy
Freeman Dyson - the creater of sphere!
Harlan Ellison - yes!!
James Gunn
Ray Harryhausen
David Hartwell
Tim Kirk
Lawrence Krauss
George Lucas - twenty years way past his prime
Syne Mitchell
Dennis Muren
Kim Stanley Robinson
Majel Barrett Roddenberry - I know still running the "Great Bird" business, but have you seen some of the lastest works?
Stanley Schmidt
Steven Spielberg - Not SciFi - pretty pictures
Neal Stephenson
Gary Stiffelman
Phil Tippett
Bjo Trimble
Michael Whelan
Jane Yolen
Allan was also the largest contributer of the New Seattle Library that opened up this week. I have to hand it to him, his money went to good use.
Not only it is an architectural masterpiece, but it has 11 floors with ramps that gradually wrap down to the bottom levels, and an ingenious system for finding books easily. Combined with the RFIP chips in all the books, along with the conveyor system that automatically scans and sorts the books, it is another great masterpiece, financed by the big man.WIFI for the entire building doesnt hurt either :)
Are Slashdot subscribers are exempt from this fee?
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Hopefully it will be like traditional museums, and lend items out for exhibitions around the world.
The design of this building came from the cutting up of several Fender Stratocaster guitars. Although I don't see the resemblance much in the finished product. :)
My company did the structural steel portion of this project and let me tell you it's amazing. The building was litterally a finished handbuilt model on a desk, then digitized into a computer using a device similar to this. Much of the design work was then done with Catia. I thought I new 3D when I started this project this pushed the limits of our knowledge, workstations and server storage way beyond. When we got ahold of the models we developed the connections and members in 3D and finally onto shop drawings using AutoCAD.
When visiting the museum a couple years ago we got the back stage tour. You would not believe the amount of computer and sound horse power in that place. They stuck servers rooms where ever there was space and nice setup's too.
Probably one of the neato things we learned was about one of the drywallers. You see we were walking through all those back hallways and kept noticing amazing artwork drawn or painted just on the walls. Many face portraits of Hendrix. One of us asked "Is this hallway public access?", to which our guide answered "No." So then we asked what was up with all this expensive looking artwork. He told us Paul Allen was touring the project during construction and noticed the same thing. He asked who was going around making pencil sketches all over the walls of his building. They figured out that it was this one drywall guys and Paul asked for him to come and see him. Paul told him to go tell his boss he just quit, then to come back and get the details on his new job for more artwork! Can you imagine?! "Honey, I'm home! I got a raise!"
Please tell me who wants to be labelled "Artificial Intelligence" after spending 1,000 bucks?
~ All comments automatically moderated -1 since 2004 ~
While it is nice that Allen donated this money, does anyone else see what is going on here? Corporations are soaking their workers, and the US population by not paying taxes. Their bringing in exorbitant profits, and yet we thank them when they give a little back to us. It was nice that Enron, after ripping off the state of California, gave Houston Enron field. Ken Lay obviously has a good heart. This is just a new form of serfdom where our labor is taken, and we're given new shiny things to play with worth a fraction of our excess. Vil
TGitH Fast, Encrypted IM with Voice Chat for Win, Linux, Mac:
I'm sure some readers are sure that Paul Allen is just out to rape the SF world. Here's a true story that I hope will cast this project in a positive light.
There already is a Science Fiction Hall of Fame. It was started several years ago, sponsored by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (KaCSFFS) and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. Financial backing was primarily provided by KaCSFFS, with the bulk of the money raised in a benefit auction each Memorial Day weekend at ConQuesT. KU has never really embraced the SFHoF, declining to even provide a place to hang the plaque listing all the inductees.
Along comes Paul Allen and his project. Now, they could have very easily said "screw you, we'll do our own Hall of Fame!" But they didn't. Instead, they are taking over the Hall of Fame, with full acknowledgement of the history of the existing hall and inductees. After the 2004 induction ceremony, held at the Campbell Conference, responsibility for the Hall will be transferred.
Is this some huge financial windfall for KaCSFFS? No, we aren't getting a penny out of the deal. What we are getting is the acknowledgement of our past efforts, and the comfort of knowing that future inductions are going to be done by a group with the money and PR presence necessary to do it right.
Do you know who has been inducted in the past? Probably not. Our efforts have mostly fallen on deaf ears in the media. But I suspect that when the 2005 inductees are announced, you'll see the story on Slashdot!
Expanded who's who (my comments in parens).
Greg Bear -- (Local Seattle hard-SF writer and all-around nice guy)
Forrest J. Ackerman -- (If you don't know who he is, don't bother reading on)
Robin Wayne Bailey -- (Don't know)
Betty Ballantine -- (Local Seattle SF BNF [Big
Name Fan], well know for her belly dancing workshops and ability to sing anything in Klingon [not to mention being the only person I know that can sing the cantina scene song from 'Star Wars'])
Astrid Anderson Bear -- Daughter of Poul Anderson / Wife of Greg Bear (and organizer of this years Nebula awards)
Gregory Benford -- (Hard SF writer and physicist)
Jeff Bezos -- (You already know this one)
Ray Bradbury -- this shows taste (agreed)
David Brin -- (SF writer and iconoclast)
Charles Brown -- A cartoon? (No, the editor and publisher of Locus, the top-rated magazine about the SF biz)
Octavia Butler -- I like her work (You had damn well better, she is a nice lady; also now local to Seattle)
James Cameron -- give me a break!!! (agreed)
Orson Scott Card -- Ender was it (If you say so)
Arthur C. Clarke -- nice ideas but fluffy (Eh? 'The City at the Edge of Forever' fluffy?)
Freeman Dyson -- the creater of sphere! (and way more; I can listen to him talk for hours, too bad the Dyson Sphere is all people think of when they hear his name)
Harlan Ellison -- yes!! (No!!! Unless, that is, you are the kind of person who slows down to look at car wrecks)
James Gunn -- (SF writer, not too well known anymore)
Ray Harryhausen -- (stop-motion animator of many a SciFi film and director, not too well known anymore)
David Hartwell -- (SF writer and major name editor)
Tim Kirk (Tolkien artist)
Lawrence Krauss (Science writer, wrote 'Physics of Star Trek' among other things)
George Lucas -- twenty years way past his prime (uh, yeah...)
Syne Mitchell -- (Local SF writer, fairly new but promising)
Dennis Muren -- (don't know)
Kim Stanley Robinson -- (Bay area SF writer best known for his Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy which, if sold by weight, would have made him rich)
Majel Barrett Roddenberry -- I know still running the "Great Bird" business, but have you seen some of the lastest works? (Roddenberry had some good ideas, but taking every thing he ever scratched on a napkin and making it into a series is dumb; plus Rick Berman has completely destroyed Roddenberry's best work anyway)
Stanley Schmidt -- (SF writer and editor)
Steven Spielberg -- Not SciFi - pretty pictures (well, he did do 'AI'; never mind, that isn't a reccomendation)
Neal Stephenson -- (Local Seattle SF writer and 'recluse' [OK, not really], currently taking the crown for heaviest trilogy)
Gary Stiffelman -- (don't know)
Phil Tippett -- (Animator and filmmaker)
Bjo Trimble (Somewhat local SF writer)
Michael Whelan (SF artist of consummate skill)
Jane Yolen (SF writer)
- -
Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
Arthur C. Clarke had nothing to do with "City...", but is rather a SF visionary in his own right (The "Rama" books, et. al.) In fact, the "Clarke Belt" -- the distance above the earth through which satellites travel yet retain their relative geo-stationary locations -- was first prognosticated by and later named after him. However, if you _do_ like "City...", you might be interested in knowing that it was penned by Harlan Ellison, for whom apparently you have little use.
Life is funny like that sometimes.