Uhus *finest-assorted* Weblog Droppings

Järnsvenskan 2017 will take place!
Thanks to the Juggers in Lindesberg, it will happen in 2017 as well. You know the boys'n'girls from JSV 2016 (Juggerklubben Bergslagstrollen), and they were also the ones that did set up the technical stuff for the music bands – some of them even played, as Canis Lupus and R/C Sideburns. Whether it can happen at the same place as in 2016has to be seen first; depends on booking etc.
I just need to take a rest for that year, since quite a lot is going on of which I have to take care of first. Therefore, I will have to focus my energies on Järnsvenskan 2018.
I will of course be available for any questions and as a comms relay, if needed.

Oh and thanks to Ann Marie Burke for the fantastic fan-art and all the Juggers who are so very fascinated that they actually minted a new name for my Swedish Jugger festival (2014–2016 we had access to the fantastic water park at Gustavsvik): #Rubenstock .
I feel deeply honoured!


(© Ann Marie Burke)

Keep cool. Not that long ago, US-Amerika had elected a "reborn" ex-alcoholic who waged wars which boosted crisis in parts of the world to blast furnaces – which keep going and spreading until today. A person who, together with his junta, tried to make torture (please imagine a moment what that means) a legitimate and moral tool in "western democracies". Who imprisoned people without charge like one is forbidden to keep cattle, some of whom are under lock and key for over ten years now. There is hardly something worse to happen. And the alternative today was probably not that much better.

It is just a shame that this must happen after the election of such a hope-inspiring positive figure like Obama. Oh, USA.

Stephen Donaldson has become popular with his strange novels about Thomas Covenant, a man who has Leprosis yet earns power by some kind of magical ring—which burns him up when he uses it. With the Gap series, Donaldson delved into Science fiction. Yet the five novels are not set in the visionary style Science fiction that, for example, Stanislav Lem excelled in—or, to quote more recent authors, Stephen Baxter or even Andreas Eschbach with "Quest".

In this respect, there is not much to see. Donaldson creates a handy pocket universe with a need-to-know level of technology. Gap is the hyperspace jumping ability, tech standards resemble today followed up just a bit into the future. Armaments range from matter cannon and super-light proton cannon [sic] to singularity mines and torpedoes, without much further elaboration. The one alien species is well chosen and characterized yet not specifically visionary. Taking all together, Donaldson invents a setting that just fits his needs for a good stage. This is indeed what the Science fiction aspect is all about in the Gap series: It is "just" the stage for the play.

The really important thing for Donaldson are the characters. Here he excels greatly, overshadowing other science fiction writers, including the above named, with ease. As with Covenant, we, again, meet persons who wield extreme power, yet are constricted by both physical as psychical restraints that torture them to the extreme. At the same time, Donaldson manages to create factions on all sides with inner conflicts that make snake pits look like a sunny holiday beach. Those who are on the same side quarrel with each other, up to the point of wanting to kill each other any minute yet can't do so: The focus lies on the interpersonal relationship between people who absolutely loathe, rape and torture each other to no ends, while at the same time being bound to rely on, support and rescue each other. Even those who are innocent are laden with guilt, unable to free themselves from the bonds that hold them. And so even the most vicious, ruthless, hateful, almost purely evil and combat-wise near-almighty character Angus Thermopyle does not only have the guts to claim that his victims have earned no right whatsoever to judge him, but is supported in his claim by his victims themselves.

At the same time, the protagonists remain real—when Ensign Morn Hyland claims command of a ship of battle, she soon hits her limits since she might have an incredibly strong will yet lacks experience in command itself. Her strong counterpart remains strong accepting defeat, thus showing that this counterpart is not just an artificially strong "fight to the death" personality but can indeed stand up for it.

Donaldson brakes and turns his characters with such force and at such a high frequency that it really hurts reading, pushing each one of them to their extremes, questioning everything one might take for being just. He presents a near-unequalled brilliance in this respect, a fury of emotions clashing with reason, humanism and raison d’État. While he also uses plots and schemes as some kind of tool (a bit like the stage itself), his focus lies clearly on the torn protagonists themselves with their aims, feelings, and bonds. Great reading. And what are novels about, if not about human relations, strange ways of thinking and characters?

On a side note, I hit ^{that was Swedish, sorry} found the complete Gap series in an "open library" at a bathing place in Sweden: Take it and leave other books ins return. (Oh, and if anyone thinks "oh those are old books, why bother", then one has really no idea whatsoever about literature.)

Kurz wurde es bereits in den alten Uhus *finest-assorted* Weblog Droppings erwähnt: Jugger^{Youtube link} ist in "Perry Rhodan" aufgetaucht, in der ältesten Science-Fiction-Heftromanserie Deutschlands; 1961 startete sie und erzählt seither erfolgreich von der fernen Zukunft. Und zwar handelt die STELLARIS-Kurzgeschichte Nr. 54 von Heft 2870 "Die Eiris-Kehre" von einem sonderbaren Passagier, der nicht nur der stellvertretenden Kommandantin den Kopf verdreht, sondern auch den merkwürdigen Sport "Kedälium" mit an Bord bringt ... leicht angepasst an die technischen Möglichkeiten der Zukunft.
Wenn auch der Gedanke an Jugger in Kontaktanzügen mehr als gewöhnungsbedürftig ist, in dieser Form würde das Spiel Spaß machen. Viel bunter Funkenregen. Und verzählen könnte man sich auch nicht mehr ...

Ein kleines Rätsel für die Kniffelfreudigen: der Name des Sports bei Perry Rhodan ist nicht willkürlich verschrieben. Was kann der Dreh dabei gewesen sein sein, ihn so zu schreiben?



Wie dem auch sei, die Arbeit an der Kurzgeschichte hat großen Spaß gemacht!

Titelbild © Pabel Moewig Verlag KG, 2016

Das ist doch mal etwas Besonderes: Eines der kleinen Spielerpositionssymbole, die ich vor vielen Jahren für Jugger gemacht habe – eigentlich für Aufbügler auf Trikots – hat es als Tattoo auf Haut geschafft^{facebook link}! Der Uhu ist erfreut.

EN—Now this is special: One of my designs for Jugger patches has made it on flesh—as a tattoo (flickr-Link). Really impressive!

Gerade ist das Belegexemplar von "Indianer-Leben. Eine Werkstatt" eingetroffen. Der Druck ist erfreulich gut, das Papier in einem schönen cremeweißen Ton gehalten. Sowohl die Linienzeichnungen, als auch der Farbdruck überzeugen. Die Ringheftung wurde bewusst gewählt, um die Kopiervorlagen auch gut kopieren zu können; der beidseitige Druck, um den Preis günstig zu halten. Selbiges gilt für die Auswahl der Seiten mit Farbdruck.
Print on Demand erfreut!

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Beispielseite "Die Jagd"


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