Ansible 255 [long]
ANSIBLE 255
OCTOBER 2008
From DAVE LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU. Web
news.ansible.co.uk. Fax 0705 080 1534. ISSN 0265-9816 (print) 1740-942X
(e). Available for SAE or bandicoots with thalassaemia.
[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.co.uk/a255.html for the nice HTML
version. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below --
please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]
### THE BLAST OF THE BOOK ###
RAY BRADBURY mourns the impending closure on 18 October of his favourite
bookshop, Acres of Books in Long Beach, Los Angeles, recently acquired
for city redevelopment: 'If this place could be kept here, if you're
going to build a mall, they should build it around here. They should be
the center of the mall. They should be a shrine. They should have a
crucifix up in front. I will come and bless the goddamn place. And I mean
that. I want this store to remain here and they can build a mall around
it ... It should be surrounded by other fascinating stores. It shouldn't
be moved.' (_LA Observed_) [PY] No chance, it seems.
EOIN COLFER is to write a sixth novel in the late Douglas Adams's
_Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ series. [DKMK] Oh dear.
HARLAN ELLISON is reportedly suing Paramount for failing to pass on
income from licencing of his _City on the Edge of Forever_ storyline for
a Simon & Schuster tie-in trilogy by David R. George III. Did
_Courthouse News Service_ really have to headline this story 'Harlan
Ellison Wants Paramount To Beam Up Royalties For "Star Trek"'? Of course
they did.
MARC GASCOIGNE, late of Games Workshop's Solaris and Black Library
operations, is to run a new sf imprint for HarperCollins: 'Angry Robot,
to provide the global science fiction/fantasy community with new content
both in physical and digital form.' Angry Robot should publish 2-3 books
per month from July 2009. _Ansible_ imagines a corporate brainstorm
session which -- after noting that Paranoid Android had been used by some
other guy -- considered Mad Mechanoid, Grumbling Golem, Enraged Replicant
and Surly Cyborg before inspiration came.
BORIS JOHNSON's 2008 Tory conference speech remembered past appearances
there: '2006 when I was physically pelted with pork pies by the press
corps or last year when my speaking style was criticized by Arnold
Schwarzenegger. / And it was a low moment, my friends, to have my
speaking style denounced by a monosyllabic Austrian cyborg.'
Nevertheless, 'Ken Livingstone was terminated.' (_The Register_, 29 Sep)
GEORGE TAKEI and his long-time partner Brad Altman were married as they'd
planned on 14 September, with Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols as best
man and matron of honour. (Associated Press)
### CONCK ###
3 Oct [] SCI-FI LONDON OKTOBERFEST (film), Apollo West End Cinema, Lower
Regent St, London. Box office 020 7451 9944.
11-12 Oct [] NEWCON 4, The Fishmarket, Bradshaw Street, Northampton, NN1
2HL. Pounds40 reg (BSFA members Pounds35). Pounds10 supporting; Pounds20
per day. Contact 16 Albany Road, Northampton, NN1 5LZ.
15 Oct [] BRIAN ALDISS lectures on 'Science and Civilisation': Jack
Leggatt Theatre, Victoria Bldg, U of Liverpool. 5 pm, Admission free.
17-19 Oct [] FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS, Day's Hotel, Sackville St,
Manchester. Pounds70/$140 reg; Pounds30/$60 day. Under-17s Pounds30;
under-13s Pounds20. Contact 95 Meadowgate Rd, Salford, Manchester, M6
8EN.
18-19 Oct [] OCTOCON, Royal Dublin Hotel, O'Connell St, Dublin. Euro30
reg to 12 Oct; students Euro12; under-18/supp Euro10. Octocon 2008 c/o
Electric Dragon, 19a Main St, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
22 Oct [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, The Antelope, 22 Eaton Terrace, London, SW1W
8EZ. 5pm/6pm onward. With John Clute.
25 Oct [] TELEDEUX! (pub event), London. CANCELLED. Because.
1-2 Nov [] UNCON 2008 (Forteana), University of Westminster, 309 Regent
St, London, W1B 2UW. Pounds36 advance reg, Pounds20 day. Booking on-line
only, it seems: http://www.wegottickets.com/f/319.
3-9 Nov [] SHIPPING LINES (Liverpool Literary Festival) includes Philip
Pullman on 'The Elementary Particles of Narrative', 7 Nov, 6:30-7:30pm,
Sherrington Lecture Theatre Two: Pounds5 (Pounds3 concessions). Pullman
reappears 'In Conversation', 8 Nov, 8-9pm, same venue and cost.
7-9 Nov [] ALT.FICTION HORROR WRITING WEEKEND, Dove Valley Centre, nr
Buxton. Workshop: Pounds150 reg including 2 nights full board. Contact
Alex, 07768 635293, or alexdavisevents at hotmail co uk.
7-9 Nov [] ARMADACON XX, Royal Fleet Club, 9-12 Morice Square, Devonport,
Plymouth, PL1 4PQ. Pounds35 reg; Pounds30 concessions. Contact 20
Pinewood Close, Plympton, Devon, PL7 2DW.
8 Nov [] MUSIC FROM THE 21ST CENTURY: Barry Gray (_Thunderbirds_ and
other Gerry Anderson music) centenary concert, Royal Festival Hall, South
Bank, London. Tickets: www.southbankcentre.co.uk.
11 Nov 08 - 4 Jan 09 [] SCIENCE FACT & SCIENCE FICTION exhibition,
National Space Centre, Exploration Drive, Leicester, LE4 5NS. Contact
info at spacecentre co uk; phone 0116 261 0261.
14-16 Nov [] NOVACON 38, Quality Hotel, Bentley, Walsall. Pounds38 reg;
Pounds42 at the door. Contact 379 Myrtle Road, Sheffield, S2 3HQ.
14-15 Feb 09 [] HI-EX (comics), Eden Court, Bishop's Rd, Inverness, IV3
5SA. Tickets (prices to follow) from www.hi-ex.co.uk or the venue box
office: 01463 234 234. Contact hiex dot comics at gmail dot com.
10-13 Apr 09 [] LXCON (Eastercon), Cedar Ct Hotel, Bradford. Pounds50
reg, Pounds30 concessions/under-25s, Pounds20 under-17s, Pounds5 under-
12s, under-5s free. Contact 379 Myrtle Rd, Sheffield, S2 3HQ. Dirk Maggs
had to drop out as a GoH. Main hotel and dealers' room both full. A free
shuttle bus (two at peak times) will run half-hourly between the main
hotels.
23-25 May 09 [] PLOKTA.CON 4.0, Sunningdale Park, Berks. Pounds30 reg,
under-17s Pounds15, under-12s free. Cheques to _Plokta_ c/o 13 Collette
Court, Eleanor Close, London, SE16 6PW; PayPal to mike at plokta dot com.
19-21 Jun 09 [] AETHERICA (fantasy), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chester.
Pounds35 reg _until 16 Nov_; Pounds20 supp; under-18s Pounds25; under-5s
Pounds5. Contact membership at aetherica dot org for booking form, or
join online.
25-26 Jul 09 [] SATELLITE 2, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. Pounds40 reg,
_this rate extended to 31 Dec 08_; Pounds10 supp/junior (5-14), Pounds1
infant (0-4). Contact 33b Hardridge Road, Corkerhill, Glasgow, G52 1RH.
31 Jul - 2 Aug 09 [] CONSTITUTION (sf, fantasy, RPG), New Hall,
Cambridge, is also the 2009 Unicon. Still Pounds20 reg. Contact 207
Campkin Rd, Cambridge, CB4 2LE; info at constitution-con org uk.
2-6 Sep 10 [] AUSSIECON 4 (68th Worldcon), Melbourne Convention &
Exhibition Centre. $A160/$US155/$CAN155/Euro100/Pounds80 reg _until 3
Nov 08_; discount information at www.aussiecon4.org.au. Contact GPO Box
1212, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia; info at aussiecon4 org au.
25-27 Sep 10 [] ALBACON, Holiday Inn, Glasgow Airport. Pounds30 reg until
16 November 08; Pounds20 concessions; Pounds10 supp; under-12s Pounds15;
under-5s free. GoH Liz Williams, Peter F. Hamilton. Contact 1/2 10
Holmlea Rd, Glasgow, G44 4AH.
_Rumblings_ [] DISCWORLD CONVENTION. The next in this biennial series is
planned for August 2010, and against all expectation the guest of honour
will be Terry Pratchett. More to follow at www.dwcon.org.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
AS OTHERS SEE US. HMV, having consulted newspaper style manuals, knows
how to woo sf fans: 'Welcome to our first ever sci-fi newsletter, boldy
_[sic]_ going where no email has gone before. If you love all things sci-
fi, know your Star Wars from your Stargate and hide behind the sofa when
the Daleks are on telly, then this one's for you ... So strap on your
Spock ears and let hmv.com get you closer to sci-fi.' [PT]
AWARDS. _David Gemmell Legend Award_: new memorial award to be first
presented in 2009 for the best heroic fantasy of 2008. On-line voting for
the shortlist opens at gemmellaward.com on 26 December.
R.I.P. _P.C. Bartrum_ (1907-2008), scholar of Welsh genealogy and the
earliest versions of the Arthur legend (in the _Mabinogion_ etc), died
on 14 August aged 100. (_Independent_)
_Bill Melendez_ (1916-2008), Mexicon-born US animator -- with Disney
1938-1941 -- who created 75+ _Peanuts_ specials through his own
production company and directed the animated _The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe_ (Warner 1979), died on 2 September aged 91. [SD]
_Paul Newman_ (1925-2008), legendary US film star, died on 26
September aged 83. Like most long-time actors he had accumulated a few
sf and fantasy credits, including _Quintet_ (1979) and _The Hudsucker
Proxy_ (1994).
_Brian Thomsen_ (1959-2008), US, writer, anthologist and sf/fantasy
consulting editor at Tor, died from a heart attack on 21 September; he
was 49. [ML] Thomsen co-wrote Julius Schwartz's autobiography, _Man of
Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics_ (2000).
_David Foster Wallace_ (1962-2008), US novelist, essayist and
professor of creative writing best known for the long and surreally funny
sf novel _Infinite Jest_ (1996), hanged himself on 12 September. He was
46. [GVG]
_Joan Winston_, US fan who co-organized the first _Star Trek_
convention in 1972 and wrote _The Making of the Trek Conventions_ (1977),
died on 11 September aged 77. [JM]
THOG'S BIG SCIENCE MASTERCLASS. 'The Large Hadron Collider -- basically,
a big-bang simulator -- opens in Switzerland next week. There's been much
talk of the possibility that it could create a lethal black hole, so
perhaps it's worth emphasising how unlikely that is. One estimate put the
chance at 1 in 1,019. To put that in context, you have a one in 1,011
chance of spontaneously evaporating while you shave.' (Archie Bland,
_Independent_, 6 September; figures strictly _sic_.) Clearly I've been
pushing my luck with all those years of Extreme Shaving.
LHC background information: 'Europe's most eminent scientists are
trying to recreate, in laboratory conditions, the atmosphere millions of
years ago that led to earth's existence in the first place during the
"big bang."' (Helen Stanley, _Bournemouth Daily Echo_, 10 September) [GD]
COURT CIRCULAR REDUX. US judge Robert P. Patterson decided in favour of
Warner and J.K. Rowling in their suit against RDR and its intended print
edition of Steve Vander Ark's _Harry Potter Lexicon_: 'Ultimately,
because the Lexicon appropriates too much of Rowling's creative work for
its purposes as a reference guide, a permanent injunction must issue to
prevent the possible proliferation of works that do the same and thus
deplete the incentive for original authors to create new works. [...]
Defendant's publication of the Lexicon (Doc. No. 22) is hereby
permanently enjoined, and Plaintiffs are awarded statutory damages of
$6,750.' (8 September) The judgment, read in context, doesn't attack the
principle of fair use or threaten such reference books in general, but
concludes that this specific Lexicon 'copies distinctive original
language from the Harry Potter works in excess of its otherwise
legitimate purpose of creating a reference guide.' One clinching point
was the use of material from Rowling's _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and
_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, already structured as
reference books. With this guidance, the _Lexicon_ could presumably be
re-edited into acceptable form. RDR's Roger Rapoport (who happily 'said
the legal tangle has boosted business for his company.' -- _Detroit Free
Press_, 15 September) has also made noises about an appeal. Steve Vander
Ark can't discuss this, not being a party to the suit, but writes: 'I
don't feel bad about the decision, actually. I think it was very well
thought out and fair. My only real regret is that we couldn't come to a
settlement, which I think would have been by far the best solution, as
it would have shown that both sides honestly wanted to work together to
solve this problem amicably.' (email, 26 September)
AS OTHERS SEE US II. 'Diora Baird is beaming onto the big screen in J.J.
Abrams' upcoming _Star Trek_. "I play the green girl. There you have it,"
Baird tells _Maxim_ in the Oct. issue. "It hasn't quite hit me, because
I've never been a big sci-fi fan. I'm not a horror fan, either, and then,
with [_Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning_], suddenly I was at these
conventions with really scary people. Combine that with the _Star Trek_
stuff and I'm going to have the perfect psychopath as my fan.' (_New York
Daily News_, 26 September, quoting from _Maxim_) [DB]
BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS. NOVEL Ramsey Campbell, _The Grin of the Dark_.
NOVELLA Conrad Williams _The Scalding Rooms_. SHORT Joel Lane, 'My Stone
Desire' (_Black Static_ 1). COLLECTION Christopher Fowler, _Old Devil
Moon_. ANTHOLOGY Stephen Jones, _The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18_.
SMALL PRESS Peter Crowther, PS Publishing. ARTIST Vincent Chong. NON-
FICTION Peter Tennant, _Whispers of Wickedness_ website reviews. SPECIAL
Ray Harryhausen. NEWCOMER Scott Lynch.
CENSORSHIP UPDATE. After 28 years of repression, Torbay Council has
lifted its ban (actually, X-rating) and allowed local Devon cinema-goers
to watch _Monty Python's Life of Brian_. (_Telegraph_, Sept) [MP]
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Steve Sneyd_ vs BBC Radio 4: '_Just a Minute_ (Sept
1) had Science Fiction as a topic. Chris Addison started, saying sf was
genre for those who can't find girlfriends. Sue Perkins challenged, and
went into a riff that sf is for folk who want to explore brand new worlds
while failing to understand there's one here that they're living in now.
Julian Clary in turn challenged, and gave as an e.g. of sf Mr
Gobbledegook walking down the road and turning into a frog: Paul Merton
challenged for deviation on basis that wasn't sf, though would have been
if Mr Gobbledegook had turned into a spaceship. Sue Perkins then got in
and summarized what she said was a Vonnegut tale, re Martians depriving
humans of voiceboxes/ability to speak. Finally Julian Clary got back in
v. briefly to try again at an example of sf, giving as that Daleks came
in a spacehip but when its door opened, out popped a four-foot Welshman.
Clearly missionary work is required!'
MAGAZINE SCENE. The on-line _Helix SF_ is to cease with its tenth (Fall
2008) issue, for reasons of general editorial exhaustion and not-quite-
adequate reader support. Co-editor William Sanders writes: 'As of the end
of this year the magazine will no longer exist, except as a fond memory.
(Anybody for whom the memory isn't a fond one can blow me.)' There is,
he insists, no connection with the recent _Helix SF_ mini-controversy
reported in _A253_. More at HelixSF.com.
_Oddlands_, another web magazine, has also closed after editor Omar
Singleton's embarrassing mishap: '... my computer imploded. I have lost
ALL submissions, correspondence, personal work, etc. I simply never
backed everything up on a regular basis. I would file this under TOTAL
STUPIDITY.' The five published issues are at oddlandsmagazine.com.
FANFUNDERY. _TAFF_ reminder: 2009 race nominations close on 5 November.
Fuller details in _A254_ and at taff.org.uk. Administrator Chris Garcia
dynamically announces a current US TAFF kitty of some $9,500.
RANDOM FANDOM._ James Bacon_ is promoting sf cons with flyers and free
books at events like Collectormania in Milton Keynes: 'If any of your
readers are having a clear-out and want a good home for their books we
will even collect them if possible and use them as lures for new con-
goers.' (piglet at indigo dot ie)
_David V. Barrett_ broke his left arm in two places in a fall on 24
September: 'I'm thinking of suing my local council for the state of their
pavements.'
_Steve Green & Martin Tudor_ plan to relaunch their newszine
_Critical Wave_ in November as an on-line monthly of 'convention reports,
brief news, fanzine listings, etc.' _CW_'s first series ran from 1987 to
1996.
_Terry Jeeves_ is home again, with four visiting carers, and so can
be reached at the old address: 56 Red Scar Drive, Scarborough, YO12 5RQ.
[SH/J]
_Teresa Nielsen Hayden_ suffered a minor heart attack on 12
September and spent a few days in hospital, mostly undergoing tests; the
general prognosis seems good.
THE DEAD PAST. _25 Years Ago_, Charles Platt reported from the New York
Forbidden Planet convention: 'I did an interview with Phil Farmer as a
substitute for a GoH speech. He gave me a list of questions to ask him,
including "If you had never been born, where would you be now?" He said
he didn't know the answer, but after a moment's reflection came up with
one. There is a large reservoir of souls (he said), far more than there
are available bodies. Surplus souls are allotted individual body parts.
"So if I had been reincarnated as one of those souls," said Philip Jose
Farmer, "I would like to have been Ronald Reagan's cock. Then whenever
he wanted to have sex, I could say, uh-uh, sorry Ron. That way, he would
never have been elected because no one's going to vote for an impotent
President."' (_Ansible_ 35, October 1983)
C.O.A. _Keith Brooke_, 2 Pylon Court, Elmstead Road, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7
9HX.
CALL IT PLEASE, 'RESEARCH'. Stephen James Walker's _Something in the
Darkness_, his second unofficial _Torchwood_ guide, annoyed a number of
fans whose LiveJournal reviews were excerpted as 'Fan Comment' --
reportedly some 5,000 words in all. Walker responded graciously to LJ
complaints that doing this without asking permission was naughty: 'I've
been pretty much put off LiveJournal for life now, and no-one need have
any fear that I'll be quoting from it or even reading it again.'
_A254_ UPDATES. Warner's lawsuit against the non-fantasy Bollywood film
_Hari Puttar -- A Comedy of Terrors_ was thrown out by Judge Reva
Khetrapal of the Delhi High Court on 22 September. (_Times of India_)
Despite the obits, Mornington Crescent reportedly existed years
before Geoffrey Perkins introduced it to _I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue_.
[BC/SS]
THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Creature Features Dept._ 'Brown John studied her
smile as it performed about her face.' 'She seemed to be frowning, but
it was difficult to tell. Her firm smooth forehead was barely co-
operating.' 'Her eyes were large, beautiful, wet wounds.' 'She twisted,
rolled again until she was a ball of soft shadows exposing only a pink
earlobe, warm, tender and inviting.' 'It was as if her lips were a perch
where a soldier could stand guard.' (James Silk, _Death Dealer: Prisoner
of the Horned Helmet_, 1988) [AR]
_Dept of Constructive Metaphor._ 'She takes grains of truth and
builds them into vast deserts.' (Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, _Paul
of Dune_, 2008)
_Dept of Neat Tricks with Your Arms Securely Trussed in a
Straitjacket._ 'Percy yipped with pain and began rubbing his lips. He
tried to speak, realized he couldn't do it with a hand over his mouth,
and lowered it.' (Stephen King, _The Green Mile_, part six of the
original serial version, 1996) [SK]
### GEEKS' CORNER ###
SUBSCRIPTIONS. To receive _Ansible_ monthly via e-mail, send a message
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LiveJournal syndication --
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Back issues -- http://news.ansible.co.uk/
_Ansible_ Links -- http://links.ansible.co.uk/
CONVENTIONS/EVENTS LONGLIST
Details at http://links.ansible.co.uk#cons
London meetings/events -- http://news.ansible.co.uk/london.html
Overseas -- http://news.ansible.co.uk/conlisti.html
[] 2008
Until 25 Oct 2008: Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain, Science
Museum, London
3 Oct 2008: Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest (film), London
4-5 Oct 2008: Birmingham International Comics Show, Birmingham
11-12 Oct 2008: NewCon 4, Northampton
17-19 Oct 2008: Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester
18-19 Oct 2008: Octocon, Ireland
CANCELLED 25 Oct 2008: Teledeux!, London
1-2 Nov 2008: UnCon 2008 (Forteana), London
3-9 Nov 2008: Shipping Lines (Liverpool Literary Festival), Liverpool
7-9 Nov 2008: ArmadaCon XX, Plymouth
11 Nov 2008 - 4 Jan 2009: Science Fact & Science Fiction exhibition,
National Space Centre, Leicester
14-16 Nov 2008: Novacon 38, Bentley, Walsall
5-7 Dec 2008: Battlestar Starfury (_BSG_), Heathrow
[] 2009
20-24 Jan 2009: Wyrd Sisters: The Directors' Cut (play), Abingdon
6-8 Feb 2009: AXXIdental (filk), Grantham
6-8 February 2009: SF Ball (media), Bournemouth
14-15 Feb 2009: Hi-Ex (comics), Inverness
20-22 Feb 2009: Redemption 09 (multimedia sf), Coventry
26-29 Mar 2009: Eurocon 2009, Fiuggi, Italy
27-29 Mar 2009: P-Con VI, Dublin.
10-13 Apr 2009: LXcon (Eastercon), Bradford
29 April - 4 May 2009: Sci-Fi London (film), London
8-10 May 2009: Bristol International Comic Expo, Bristol
23-25 May 2009: <plokta.con> Release 4.0, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire
19-21 Jun 2009: Aetherica (fantasy), Chester
CANCELLED: 26-29 Jun 2009: Sectus 2009 (Harry Potter), North Wales
25-26 Jul 2009: Satellite 2, Glasgow
31 Jul - 2 Aug 2009: Constitution (sf, fantasy, RPG), Cambridge
6-10 Aug 2009: Anticipation (67th Worldcon), Montreal, Canada
[] 2010
17-18 or 24-25 Jan 2010: Conrunner 2, 'The North'
2-5 Apr 2010: Odyssey 2010 (Eastercon), Heathrow
2-6 Sep 2010: Aussiecon 4 (68th Worldcon), Melbourne
25-27 Sep 2010: Albacon, Holiday Inn, Glasgow
### ENDNOTES ###
APPARITIONS.
[] 4 Oct 2008: Mark Chadbourn, Stan Nicholls and Juliet E McKenna at
GamesFest III, Tring.
[] 5 Oct 2008: Alan Grant and others, _Wasted_ comic launch at
Forbidden Planet, 40-41 Southbridge St, Edinburgh. 2-3pm.
[] 10 Oct 2008: Brum Group, Briar Rose, Bennett Hill, Birmingham city
centre. Speaker still TBA. 7.45pm. Pounds4; members Pounds3. Contact
07845 897760 or bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk.
[] 19 Oct 2008: Bryan Talbot, Hannah Berry, Paul Grist and Paul
Gravett panel, Manchester Literature Festival, Whitworth Art Gallery.
2:30pm. Tickets Pounds4/Pounds3.
[] 23 Oct 2008: Bryan Talbot talks at Eccleston Library, St Helens,
Lancashire. 7:30pm. Admission free. Contact 01744 677575.
[] 7 Nov 2008: Brum Group, Briar Rose, Bennett Hill, Birmingham city
centre. With Graham Joyce. 7.45pm. Pounds4; members Pounds3. Contact
07845 897760 or bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk.
[] 15 Nov 2008: creative writing course and discussion with Juliet E
McKenna and Chaz Brenchley, Wokingham Library, 10am-1pm. Details 0118
978 1368.
[] 22 Nov 2008: Sarah Ash and Juliet E McKenna talk at Welling
Library, 11am-12.30pm. Details 020 830 37777.
[] 6 Dec 2008: Brum Group Christmas Social, Selly Park Tavern,
Birmingham. Tickets to be bought in advance. Contact 07845 897760 or
bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk.
[] 17 Dec 2008: Stan Nicholls, Juliet E McKenna, Chaz Brenchley,
Conrad Williams and Paul Magrs talk at Stretford Library, Manchester,
from 7pm. Details 0161 912 5150.
EDITORIAL. The multiple _Ansible_ event lists cause occasional
puzzlement, not least to the editor. Everything above the _Geeks'
Corner_ heading is from the print edition, still appearing and still a
single sheet of A4 paper, where space is tight and the _Consomething_
list covers newly announced, significantly updated and imminent
events. Below the line, as it were, the _Conventions/Events Longlist_
is meant as a reminder of what's on the links-page event list: I'm
frequently tempted to reduce this section to a bare link.
_Apparitions_ deals with signings, library talks and other doings that
don't make it into the main listing -- but _not_ appearances at main-
list conventions with their (warning: literary effect ahead) perpetual
plethora of peripatetic panel pundits.
PAYPAL DONATION. Support _Ansible_ and keep the editor happy! Or just
buy his books ... please.
http://ansible.co.uk/paypal.html
http://ansible.co.uk/biblio.htm
END OF THE WORLD POSTPONED ... while the Large Hadron Collider has two
months' downtime for repairs.
GUFF 2009. Candidates for the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund trip from
Australasia to Europe for LXcon (Easter 2009) are: Sue Ann Barber and
Trevor Clark (joint), Norah Ding, and Alisa Krasnostein. _Voting ends
24 November 2008_. Details here:
http://www.users.on.net/~juliettewoods/guff2008.html
OUTRAGED LETTERS II. _Simon R. Green_ is a man of taste: 'Interested
to see the furore about labelling books for children, and designated
age ranges. I'm blessed if I can see where most of my books would fit
in. Perhaps there should be a new rating system: tasteful, not very
tasteful, and very definitely in bad taste. As an author who once
provided a rewrite of the Alamo in a leper colony, I think I know
where my books would go.'
_Diana Wynne Jones_ heard from the NoToAgeBanding campaign people,
who were worried that _A253_ 'reported an email that _they_ haven't got
and can't trace. Mine to Philip Pullman seems to have vanished into
cyberspace. He was just about to Meet With the Mighty in Publishing and
my guess is that he nervously cancelled it for fear of overload. But it
all goes to show that _Ansible_ reaches places other zines can't get to.'
LATE NEWS. _Clive Newall_, Melbourne fan and ANZAPA contributor who
for some years had suffered from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, died
in the small hours of 1 October; he is survived by his wife LynC.
[AIP]
AS SOME OF US LIKE TO BE SEEN -- from, alas, _The Sun_:
http://tinyurl.com/4wprgh
Ansible 255 Copyright (c) Dave Langford, 2008. Thanks to Damien
Broderick, Barry Cryer, Steven Dunn, Sandra Hastie/Jeeves, Stephen
King, Jim Meadows, David K.M. Klaus, Making Light, Marion Pitman,
Andrew I. Porter, Adam Roberts, Steve Sneyd, Paul Tomlinson, Gordon
Van Gelder, Pete Young, and our Hero Distributors: Vernon Brown (Brum
Group), Janice Murray (North America), SCIS/Prophecy, Alan Stewart
(Australia).
1 Oct 08
--
David Langford | http://ansible.co.uk/ | http://news.ansible.co.uk/
See http://ansible.co.uk/bibcent.html for bibliographical horrors.
date: Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:33:35 +0100
author: David Langford
|
