Fift & Shiria

Fift & Shiria

By Benjamin Rosenbaum

Father Frill cocked his head to one side, and narrowed his eyes, searching the feed. “Hmm. He’s been fighting – your friend. He’s a little old for that. At your age Bails should be learning to keep their fights on the mats.” He shook his head. “That’s not good for ratings.”

The hairs on the backs of Fift’s nechs stood up. “What would happen, if they take Shria away? Away to where?”

Frill shrugged. “He’s not too old to be trained as a Midwife. They live at the pole – “he gestured vaguely southwards. “It’s a great honor.”

Fift could see her own faces over the feed. She looked horrified: one day she’d come to class and Shria would be gone, taken from his cohort, forbidden to talk to his parents, off to the pole to become a Midwife forever. How many mor fights would it take? Could Umlish cause this all by herself, with her words? Fift struggled to compose her expressions into mildness, like Grobbard’.

Fift & Shiria. Photo by Elena

The closed and skeptical look on Shria’s face softened, as he syared at Fift. He yanked the last of the mossy sticks from the pile (in her other body, Fift yanked the log free from a knot of underbrush; there, shed could hear the sounds of the campsite through the trees. They were building the bonfire). He raised one of his thick, curling eyebrows.

“You’d better plan on being the Older Sibling, though,” Umlish said, “because Shria doesn’t want any Younger Siblings. He was glad to get rid of that little baby – weren’t you, Shria?”

Shria blinked. His nostrils flared, a long indrawn breath, his eyes still locked on Fift’s – drawing strength? Then he turned to Umlish. “Don’t spit all your poison today, Umlish,” he said. “You might run out, and then what are you going to do tomorrow?”

Umlish drew herself up, scowling. « You sluiceblocking – »

« You used « sluiceblocking » already, » Shria said. « See? You’re running out. »

« Let’s go back, Umlish, » Kimi said. « We don’t want to miss when they light it the fire – »

Fift cleared her throat. Her hearts were pulsing, unstaidishly fast.

fift_shriaIllustration by Megan Jorgensen

Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015, edited by Rich Horton, Prime Books, 2015.

The Hand is Quicker

The Hand is Quicker

By Elizabeth Bear

Everything changed at midnight.

Not my midnight, as if honoring the mystical claptrap in some dead fairy tale. But about the dinner hour, which would be midnight Greenwich Standard Time – honoring the mystical claptrap of a dead empire, instead. I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere. The world is full of the markers the remnants of the one in Arizona to the remnants of the one in Berlin.

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.

I was thinking about that poem as I crossed Henderson – with the light : I knew somebody who jaywalked and got hit by an unskinned vehicle. The driver got jail time for manslaughteer, but that doesn’t bring bback the dead. Ot was a gorgeous October evening, the sun just setting and the trees stil full of leaves in all shades of gold and orange. I barely noticed them, or the cool breeze as I waited, rocking nervously from foot to foot on the cobblestones.

I was meeting my friend Numair at Gary’s Olympic Pizza and I was running a little late, so he was already waiting for me in our usual corner booth. He’d ordered beers and garlic bread. They waited on the table top, the beers shedding rings of moisture into paper napkins.

The Hand is Quicker. Photo by Elena

I slid onto the hard bench opposite him, trying to hide the apprehension souring my gut, The vinyl was artistically cracked and the rough edges caught on my jeans. It wasn’t Numair making me so anxious. It was finances. I shouldn’t be here, by rights – I knew I couldn’t afford even pizza and beer – but I needed to see him. If anything could clear my head, it was Numair.

One of the things I liked about Numair is how unpretentious he was. I didn’t skin heavily – not like some people, who wandered through underwater seascapes full on sentient octopuses or dressed up as dragons and pretended they kufe ub Elfland – but he was so down to earth I’d have bet his default skin looked just like him. He was a big guy, strapping and barre-bodied, witch curly dark brown hair that was going gray at the temples. And he liked his garlic bread.

Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015, edited by Rich Horton, Prime Books, 2015.

Pernicious Romance

Pernicious Romance

By Robert Reed

Case Study:

Tenured professors are allowed to purchase season tickets, though they are relegated to some famously poor locations. BB and his wife had seats high in the southwestern portion of the stadium. These were fit people but far from young, They left for the restrooms before the first half ended, and they were slowly climbing the steps when the stadium fell into darkness. Probably neither noticed the helmet and golf cart stopping in the middle of the field. BB does recall his wife hesitating in the gloom avove him. He speaks affectionately about touching her back, trying to reassure her with his presence, and then came the flash that transported him to another world where he lived and loved fore three alien days – long days which would translate to perhaps two weeks by the human count, he estimates.

To an accomplished physicist, that alternate world appeared perfectly credible.

Twenty-three minutes after the blast, BB woke to fund himself lying on top of his wife. To his horror, he realized that she had fallen hard, driven in part by his own body. Her forhead sharp struck the edge of a concrete step. BB tended to the bloody wound as best he could, and then this man in his late seventies tried to lift his wife, and failed, before screaming as loudly as he could, begging for anyone’s help.

Pernicious Romance. Photo by Elena

Sitting nearby were ù brother and sister, alert and conversing with one campus police officer. All three came to the rescue, and despite his own head wound, the brother carried the dying woman across other bodies and out into the nearest parking lot. But the medical personnel were esewhere, luicd or otherwise, and this spouse of fifty-eight years died in the back of a useless ambulance.

BB’s subsequent depression was prolongedd and useful.

Two months after the funeral, he began working on an explanation for his wife’s murder and the transforamtion of so many innocent lifes. Thos efforts let to a series of dense, harshly reasoned papers that have mostly gone unpublished. But the professional indifference hasn’t jept his conclusions from being shared by others, both within his field and far beyond.

BB clamis that what happened isn’t possible. Not according to natural laws, and according to any compilation of wild hypotheses.

Impossibility is itself a clue, says BB.

He has written nothing about his fictional love affaire, but alie world is a different subject. Throughly rendered, complete with estimates of size and mass, apparent history and harsh climate, he argues that the world was to intricate and perfect for even an expert to dream up. That means that his vision had to be the work of another mind, a much more competent and relentless mind. According to the old professor, each of us exists inside the dreams of someone greater, and what happened on that October evening was an accident, a sorry mistake.

The universe is a cosmic fiction.

Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015, edited by Rich Horton, Prime Books, 2015. 

Guild Park

Guild Park in Scarborough

Until 1947 the site of the Guide Park was known as Scarborough Hall, a hospital for the treatment of nervous disorders. In 1978, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority purchased the Guild Inn and continued its operation as a hotel.

The surrounding Guild Park is notable for a sculpture garden. Guild Park includes a Sculpture Garden featuring works by notable Canadian artists including Sorel Etrog, Emanuel Hahn, Francis Loring, E.B. White and Florence Wyle. This outdoor tour highlights those sculptures, as well as architectural remnants saved from dozens of Toronto’s heritage buildings demolished in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Guild Inn was an historic hotel in the Guildwood neighbourhood of Scarborough, Toronto. It was once an artists colony. The surrounding Guild Park is notable for a sculpture garden consisting of the rescued facades and ruins of various demolished downtown Toronto buildings such as bank buildings, the old Toronto Star building and the original Granite Club.

In 1999, the Guild park was designated a heritage property by the Heritage Canada Foundation. A non-profit group called Artscape approached the city with a proposed strategy for a cultural precinct on the Guild Inn site, which was met with interest. More concrete plans came, however, in 2008, when the city of Toronto approved a plan by Centennial College to operate a hotel, restaurant, and conference centre on the site for use in the school’s hospitality courses, as well as to act as a location to house the college’s Cultural and Heritage Institute.

Though a fire on 25 December 2008 destroyed The Studio, preparations for Centennial’s development continued, and the city in January 2009 approved the demolition of the hotel tower. In 2013, the Toronto Star reported that the park is in a state of decay with sculptures eroding and some plaques missing. The Heritage Canada Foundation characterizes the park’s situation as one of “demolition by neglect”. A volunteer group, Friends of Guild Park and Gardens, was formed in 2013 to try to rescue the park and restore the inn.

The park surrounding the abandoned Guild Inn has been used in recent pop culture pieces. The Guild Inn and surrounding area were used in the filming of “The Skulls”, the Warehouse 13 Pilot episode, and even in the popular artist Drake’s music video for his hit song “Headlines”.

This outdoor tour highlights those sculptures, as well as architectural remnants saved from dozens of Toronto’s heritage buildings demolished in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 2001 the hotel and restaurant were closed, with only the park remaining open to the public, while new tenants were sought.

Venus of Guild Park.

In 1999, the park was designated a heritage property by the Heritage Canada Foundation.

The Quebec Bank 1818.

The plans included the use of the facilities in the school's hospitality courses, as well as to act as a location to house the college's Cultural and Heritage Institute.

The Heritage Canada Foundation characterizes the park's situation as one of "demolition by neglect". A volunteer group, Friends of Guild Park and Gardens, was formed in 2013 to try to rescue the park and restore the inn.

Remnants of the Greek civilisation.

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In 1993, with the buildings noticeably run down, the property was turned over to the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, which used the park and structures for private functions; namely, wedding photo shoots.

You can take pictures with this lovely bear and with any other animal here.

In 2013, the Toronto Star reported that the park is in a state of decay with sculptures eroding and some plaques missing.

The Guild Inn and surrounding area were used in the filming of "The Skulls", the Warehouse 13 Pilot episode, and even in the popular artist Drake's music video for his hit song "Headlines".

Guild Park was site of the innovative Guild of All Arts, founded in 1932.

Martha and The Muffins filmed the video for Danseparc here.

The park’s 88 acres includes a Sculpture Garden featuring works by notable Canadian artists including Sorel Etrog, Emanuel Hahn, Francis Loring, E.B. White and Florence Wyle.

General view on the sculptures in the garden.

Ancient portic.

Walls coming out from a fantasy world.

Gothic scene in Guild Park.n 1999, the park was designated a heritage property by the Heritage Canada Foundation.

A guild abstract sculpture.

Forgotten story.

Ruins of ancient times

Dating Sites and Facebook

Dating Sites and Facebook

After reading several reviews about dating sites I decided to give it a try. First of all, there are a lot of users on those sites. I have used Plenty of Fish or PoF as I’ve read reviews about the many messages one instantly gets when one signs up. For the most part, it is true. If you put a decent profile with a few flattering pictures, many people will message you right away. Sometimes, even more people than you can handle and definitely a lot more people than you need to score a date. What is more important, however, is the quality versus quantity dilemma.

From personal experience, I noticed that most people just want to chat, email and exchange pictures. Many users see dating sites as an alternative to Facebook. Such users change profile pictures often, do not really care much for interaction and generally try to meet people online with the sole intention of leading them from one social networking platform to another. Indeed, for many users, one of the first questions that comes to their mind after a brief exchange on a dating site is “Do you have Facebook?”

Sure, one may say that trying to find out whether you have a Facebook account and who you are on Facebook is a strategy for many to figure you out, to find out if you have what they are looking for in a potential partner. But so many social norms have to be broken! Ideally, people only become Facebook friends with those they already know in real life. We all know this is not always the case, especially for those who have thousands of friends on their timelines, but Facebook even has a policy against letting you become friends with people you do not really know, or at least failed to meet in person. But I digress…

Meeting someone is hard, especially if you are looking for a meaningful, long-term connection with a like-minded other. After all, throughout your lifetime you will meet only certain people who share both your values and your interests. The same goes for dating sites. An additional problem with such networking platforms is that many consider that users of such resources are somehow desperate; that it is only despair and desperation which pushes users to sincerely look for a connection on a dating Website. Perhaps the same can be said about matchmaking services. Clearly, whether it is possible to find true love through a matchmaking service or on an online dating platform, one must remain cautious, as caution is always important when interacting with strangers, regardless of the medium chosen.

Self-confidence matters in many undertakings, be it standing on the CN Tower’s Glass Floor, to the dating game. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Finding a Partner on a Dating Site

Most people in the world want to be loved, and for many this means being romantically involved with another person. Today, in addition to the traditional ways of finding suitable mates, such as through friends or at social gatherings, the Internet provides a new venue. Thus, social networking Websites such as MySpace, Facebook or Twitter have led people to find and meet that treasured, elusive significant other most songs centre on. Indeed, the very idea of romantic love is omnipresent in our culture, be it through the media, the music and movie industries or greetings cards on Valentine’s day – the day of celebration of love. But before jumping to conclusions about dating sites and social platforms, it may be interesting to review them.

One of the biggest dating sites out there is Plenty of Fish, whose current name has been shortened to PoF. The Website indeed offers a lot in terms of users who are on it. There are several features, you can describe yourself at length and post pictures, you can and message other users, and you can even view who’s currently online and who has viewed your profile, unless they disabled that option. However, the situation does not mean you’ll get anywhere. Interestingly enough, with some good, inviting pictures and a friendly, self-respecting but open-minded profile description one can usually get a ton of messages. And that really, almost literally means a lot of messages. An overwhelming quantity of messages, which will be hard to sort though once you actually start replying to them in the hopes to finding the perfect person for you.

A positive attitude is essential in most undertaking, including finding someone. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Many messages may sound like a good thing, but the problem with these Websites is the actual intentions of the users. Many, if not most, users want to chat and exchange pictures online and little more, without ever meeting in person and obviously not seeking a relationship even if their profile status indicates they do. Thus, caution is in order. As they say, you never know and you might have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince or princess, but if you’re willing to give it a chance, make sure you keep your wits about you.