Friday, August 8, 2008

Roll On, Big Mimeo, Roll On!

Today is an important date for fandoms everywhere, whether they know it or not. Thomas Edison received a patent on this date 132 years ago for the mimeograph machine. For years this device formed the foundation of communications between members of every fandom, as newsletters and fanzines were painstakingly typed out and mass-mailed to the faithful, fanfics and fan art lovingly included. (The blue-tinted text at right strongly resembles what "mimeo" papers looked like. I should know, as I used mimeographs for school projects back in the Cretaceous Period.) Find a middle-aged Trekkie and ask about "the good old days" if you want more information on this topic. Or, you know, don't.

A mere nine years ago today, Martin J. Pollard wrote and posted his essay, "Shipping Out," about the problems he saw in Daria/Trent (and other) romance stories. Follow the link and see what was on everyone's mind in 1999.

Swimmer par excellence Esther Williams was born 87 years ago today, but we've covered her in another blog entry. The world's first paying space tourist was born 68 years ago today. What a wild world we live in. If you think that is weird, however, wait until August 10th and see what happened then in history. Mohr laytr.

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