Ansible 250 [long]
ANSIBLE 250
MAY 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 a recursion in metastories.
[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.co.uk/a250.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]
CLARKE AWARD 2008. Sir Arthur C. Clarke was remembered at the usual boozy
gathering in the now-traditional Apollo Cinema, Lower Regent St, London.
Our genial hosts, the Sci-Fi London film festival, laid on a costumed
ensemble of Darth Vader and other _Star Wars_ icons who were much
photographed. All six award finalists turned up -- the ever unlucky
Stephen Baxter making his seventh nominee appearance, still without a win
-- and the inflation-adjusted Pounds2008 cheque went to Richard Morgan
for _Black Man_ (US title _Thirteen_). According to jury chair Paul
Billinger, this is 'a complex and passionate exploration of prejudice and
identity ... bold and risk-taking yet compelling and coherent.' After
criticism of the shortlist for perceived over-emphasis on fringe and
slipstream work, there was a sense of relief that the winning novel is
unashamed sf and published as such. Another pre-award cavil came from
that PC bastion _The Sunday Telegraph_, making cautiously negative use
of the g-word: 'You don't have to be a male geek to like -- or write --
science fiction, but it may be significant that there is only one woman
-- Sarah Hall, author of _The Carhullan Army_ -- on the shortlist for the
2007 Arthur C. Clarke Award.' (Anne-Marie Conway, 27 April) [TH]
### THE WALL OF DARKNESS ###
ROALD DAHL's name was conspicuously not bandied in a Birmingham (UK)
radio quiz. _Elliott Webb:_ 'Who wrote _Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory_?' _Caller:_ 'Was it H.G. Wells?' (96.4 BRMB Birmingham) [PE]
J.K. ROWLING and Steve Vander Ark each had a little weep while testifying
in the Warner/Rowling lawsuit to block print publication of SVA's _Harry
Potter Lexicon_. Despite various pundits' total certainty that the
_Lexicon_ is (a) a transformative work of scholarship protected by the
fair-use doctrine, or (b) a sloppy mass of paraphrase and cut-and-paste
that uses far too many of JKR's original words, the law seems less than
clear. On the third day of the April hearing, as he had on the second,
Judge Robert Patterson Jr. dropped a strong hint: 'I think this case,
with imagination, could be settled.' (AP) Some points -- false
advertising and deceptive trade practices -- were indeed settled, but the
copyright/trademark infringement decision is up to the judge. And then,
no doubt, the court of appeal. Rowling fans' hackles rose at Patterson's
comment that he'd read the first Potter novel to his grandchildren and
found the 'magical world hard to follow, filled with strange names and
words that would be gibberish in any other context.' Comments by sf
people ranged from Neil Gaiman's mild bemusement ('Well, if it was me,
I'd probably be flattered' ... 'My heart is on the side of the people
doing the unauthorised books, probably because the first two books I did
were unauthorised') to an authentic Orson Scott Card weblog rant:
'Rowling's hypocrisy is so thick I can hardly breathe ... Her greedy
evil-witch behavior now disgusts us. ... What a pretentious, puffed-up
coward.' etc. For some reason, though it's utterly irrelevant to the
legal issues, Card seems most incensed by Rowling's 'Dumbledore was gay'
revelation.
STANLEY SCHMIDT, not yet an Editor Emeritus, was mysteriously referenced
as 'Stanley Schmidt, former editor of the science-fiction magazine
_Analog_ ...' (Marcus Chown, _New Scientist_, 12 April) [PDF]
PATRICK STEWART's Broadway role as Macbeth drew some highly relevant
questions from _Newsweek_'s Nicki Gostin: 'When you're onstage, aren't
you worried about weird Trekkie fans in the audience?' _PS:_ 'Oh, come
on, that's just a silly thing to say.' _NG:_ 'But they are weird.' _PS:_
How many do you know personally? You couldn't be more wrong. Here's the
thing: if you say the fans are weird, that means there is something
essentially weird about the show, and there is nothing weird about it.
I'm very passionate when people like you snigger.' [AL] Of course
_Newsweek_ (7 Apr) headlined this _Macbeth_ interview 'Mr. Stewart Loves
His Trekkies', with the photo caption 'Is that a Klingon I See?'
### CONGRAFFET ###
Until 18 May [] ANNE SUDWORTH art exhibition, Strawberry Hill House,
Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, London. Contact 0208 8922804.
Until 25 Oct [] DAN DARE AND THE BIRTH OF HI-TECH BRITAIN, exhibition,
Science Museum, South Kensington, London. Free admission.
3-5 May [] FFORDE FFIESTA, De Vere Hotel, Shaw Ridge, Swindon. Pounds30
reg. Day tickets are available. Booking: www.ffordeffiesta.com. Cheques
to The Fforde Ffestival, 37A Oak Close, Bristol, BS34 6RB.
9-11 May [] BRISTOL INTERNATIONAL COMIC EXPO, British Empire &
Commonwealth Exhibition Hall/Ramada Hotel, Bristol. Pounds12 weekend;
Pounds6.00 Sat or Sun; Pounds1/day child. Bookings www.comicexpo.net.
15-18 May [] EUROCON/ROSCON, Lesnye Dali Hotel, Gorki-10, Moscow West,
Russia. $100 reg; same at the door; Euro20 supp; all-inclusive
membership Euro250 (with 3 nights' accommodation and 3 meals/day; must
be booked in advance). See www.eurocon2008.ru.
28 May [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, The Antelope, 22 Eaton Terrace, London, SW1W
8EZ (closest tube, Sloane Square). 6pm on; fans present in the bar from
5pm. With Andrew Wilson.
7 Jun [] BSFA/SF FOUNDATION AGM EVENT, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square,
London, WC1R 4RL. GoH Geoff Ryman for SFF, Peter Weston for BSFA (50th-
anniversary theme). 10:30am-5pm (then to pub), with SFF AGM 12:30-1pm,
BSFA AGM 2-2:30pm. Admission free.
1-2 Nov [] UNCONVENTION (Forteana), University of Westminster, 309 Regent
St, London ('site of Britain's first public moving picture show in 1896',
a demo by the Lumiere brothers). Further details TBA.
2-5 Apr 10 [] ODYSSEY 2010 (Eastercon), Radisson Edwardian Hotel,
Heathrow, London. _Now Pounds45 reg_, Pounds35 unwaged, Pounds20 supp.
Junior (under 17) Pounds20, child (under 11) Pounds5, infant (under 5)
Pounds1. Contact: 5 Langhaul Road, Crookston, Glasgow, G53 7SE. Odyssey
is also bidding, this month in Moscow, for the 2010 Eurocon: Euro rates
will follow if it wins.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
AS OTHERS SEE US. Sam Wollaston of the _Guardian_ bewails the effort of
comprehending _Battlestar Galactica_'s season-four opening without having
watched a single past episode: 'What I'm trying to say is, I'm not very
good at sci-fi -- in books, on television, anywhere. There's not enough
food in it, or baths -- the important things in life. When was the last
time you saw a bathroom on a spaceship? Or a kitchen? Or a bedroom for
that matter, and any of the things that go on in there? It's so concerned
with the massive issues -- time, space, war, distant galaxies, the future
of the human race -- that it forgets the little things that make life
interesting and human and sensual. Sci-fi has no smell.' In short: 'I
don't understand half the complexities. (That, incidentally is another
problem: it's so bloody complicated. Why is sci-fi like that -- a
competition for boys to see who's best at working out what the hell is
going on?) [...] This obviously makes me a girl.' (_Guardian_, 16 April)
[CP]
MORE AWARDS. _Nebulas._ Novel: Michael Chabon, _The Yiddish Policemen's
Union_. Novella: Nancy Kress, 'Fountain of Age'. Novelette: Ted Chiang,
_The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate_. Short: Karen Joy Fowler,
'Always'. Script: _Pan's Labyrinth_. Andre Norton Award (YA): J.K.
Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_.
_James Tiptree Jr_, for gender-exploring sf: Sarah Hall, _The
Carhullan Army_.
WISDOM OF THE MAINSTREAM. Joe McNally reports: 'A friend took part in a
panel discussion with Toby Litt at the weekend, on the future of the
short story. As the conversation turned to online fiction and authors'
online presences, Litt made the frankly bizarre assertion that "nobody
has ever written a story about Kirk and Spock having sex." Cue collapse
of several stout parties, many of them wondering whether Mr Litt has ever
actually seen the internet.' (7 April)
R.I.P. _Bebe Barron_ (1925-2009), pioneer of electronic music who with
her husband Louis created the score for _Forbidden Planet_ (1956), died
on 20 April; she was 82. [GD]
_John Berkey_ (1932-2008), noted US sf artist whose work is
collected in _The Art of John Berkey_ (2003, text by Jane Frank), died
on 29 April. [ML] Paul Barnett writes: 'He was one of the most
_painterly_ of sf artists, and managed to convey both splendour and
strangeness with a power and sense of wonder that it's hard to describe.'
_Johnny Byrne_ (1935-2008), Irish-born writer and script editor best
known in sf for his work on the first year of _Space: 1999_ (1975-6),
died on 3 April. He also wrote five stories for _Science Fantasy_ (1964-
5) and three _Doctor Who_ tv scripts. [CM]
_Tristram Cary_ (1925-2008), UK-born electronic music composer who
scored several _Doctor Who_ episodes including the 1963 debut of the
Daleks, died in Adelaide, Australia, at age 82. His music was also heard
in the Hammer _Quatermass and the Pit_ (1967) and his effects in _When
the Wind Blows_ (1986). [CM]
_Hugo Correa_ (1926-2008) Chilean sf author -- largely untranslated,
though some stories appeared in _F&SF_ -- died on 23 March. [SFS] []_
Hazel Court_ (1926-2005), UK actress who co-starred in such popular genre
movies as _Devil Girl From Mars_ (1954) and several of Roger Corman's Poe
adaptations -- notably _The Raven_ (1963) -- died on 15 April; she was
82. [SJD]
_Alex Grasshoff_ (1928-2008), US director of _Future Shock_ (1972),
3 episodes of _Kolchak: The Night Stalker_ (1974) and _The Last Dinosaur_
(1977), died on 5 April aged 79. [SFS]
_Lawrence Hertzog_ (1951-2008), US producer/scriptwriter who worked
on _SeaQuest DSV_ (1990s) and _Painkiller Jane_ (2007), died on 19 April
aged 56. [SJD]
_Charlton Heston_ (1924-2008), US actor with famous sf roles in
_Planet of the Apes_ (1968, followed by an extended cameo in the 1970
_Beneath the Planet of the Apes_), _The Omega Man_ (1971) and _Soylent
Green_ (1973), died on 5 April. He was 83. [GW] Inevitably, many people
wrote of assorted unlikely objects being prised from his cold, dead
fingers.
_Margaret J. Howes_, US fan and author of the sf novel _The Wrong
World_ (2000), died on 15 April aged 80. [DL]
_Ollie Johnston_ (1912-2008), last survivor of the 'Nine Old Men'
of classic Disney animation, died on 16 April. He was 95. His career
began in 1935, included work on the 1937 _Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs_, and continued until _The Rescuers_ (1977). [JY]
_Kay Linaker_ (Kate Phillips, 1913-2008), US actress and
screenwriter who co-wrote _The Blob_ (1958), died on 18 April aged 94.
[AIP]
AS OTHERS RESEARCH US. From a positive article on sf (and Ken MacLeod)
at the Glasgow Science Festival: 'The whole basis of the internet was
famously inspired by William Gibson's book Neuromancer and Isaac Asimov,
who recently died, "invented" earth-orbiting satellites in one of his
tales.' (Jasper Hamill, _Sunday Herald_, April) [KM]
FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ Chris Garcia completed his 2008 trip report and sent
it to me for the TAFF website on 10 April: 'And here, finally, is my TAFF
Report. I sleep now.' By Chris's request, web access is password-
controlled. Details from the man himself: garcia at computerhistory org.
THOG'S RADICAL POLITICS MASTERCLASS. Sherlock Holmes is briefed on the
Great Game's state of play in 1924: 'Our enemy may have changed his hat,
but the Bolsheviks want a Communist East as much as the Tsar did, you can
count on it.' (Laurie R. King, _The Game_, 2004) [YR]
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Ramsey Campbell_ mourns his mother-in-law: 'Jenny's
mother (and Penny's and Chris's), Joan, died today aged 93. She was
married to A. Bertram Chandler and later to John Newman but outlived
both.' (29 April)
_Chris Morgan_ writes: 'Today (Mon 31 March) we attended the
cremation service for Ray Bradbury (29 March 1950 to 17 March 2008). The
chapel at Robin Hood Crematorium, Birmingham, was completely packed, a
third of the attendees standing. It was a mixture of family, friends,
fans, magicians. Those attending included Chris & Pauline Morgan, Rog &
Arline Peyton, Pete Weston, Dave Hardy, Vernon & Pat Brown, Martin Tudor,
Tony Berry, Steve Green and Dave Holmes. There were moving tributes from
his wife Carole and three friends, stressing Ray's generosity, his high
quality workmanship in numerous fields and his sense of humour. Not
entirely a serious occasion.'
_Mark Newton_ of Solaris takes issue with the Games Workshop mole
report (_A249_) on the firing of Solaris/Black Library founder Marc
Gascoigne: 'I was most surprised to hear of our impending demise, in the
recent issue of _Ansible_, especially given that today we were
celebrating George Mann's promotion to Head of Black Library and Solaris.
Just to reassure any interested parties that changes were mostly related
to our Role Playing Games imprint, and that both Black Library and
Solaris continue to thrive in double-digit growth.' Guy Haley, late of
GW, added a pungent comment but thought better of it.
SQUIDS IN SPACE, REDUX. The US procurement magazine _Defense AT&L_ offers
an sf parable about expensive weaponry aimed at bygone threats. Warlord
Korg muses on the end of the Cold War: 'Obviously we're not fighting the
Torrapians anymore. Are we?' Alas, his Peregrine starship [stealth
bomber] isn't much use against 'a technologically backwards group of
jelly-fish-based terrorists with very limited spacefaring capabilities.
[...] They lack both the means and the inclination to conduct combat
operations in space. Their most effective planetary defense weapon flings
a cloud of debris in the general direction of a spacecraft and hopes to
punch a hole or two in the hull.' They are called ... the Minotaur-Squids
of the Indigo Zone! (_Wired_, 13 April) [TL]
FAAN AWARDS were presented at Corflu in April. Fanzine: _Prolapse_. Fan
Artist: Dan Steffan. Fan Writer: Arnie Katz. Letterhack (Harry Warner
Memorial Award): Robert Lichtman. New Fan: John Coxon. Fan Website:
eFanzines.com. Number One Fan Face: Arnie Katz.
NEW WAVE DENOUNCED. Egyptian novelist Alaa Al Aswany reveals the secret
of his success: 'I am writing for ordinary people. I want everyone to be
able to read my books. The problem with Arab literature has been that it
forgot to tell stories and lost its way in experimentation. Too many
novels that start with lines like "I came home to find my wife having sex
with a cockroach."' (_New York Times_, 27 April) [DB]
C.O.A. _Mog Decarnin_ is moving soon. _Don West_, 16 Rockville Drive,
Embsay, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 6NX. [HA]
FUTUROLOGY CORNER. Christine Peterson of the Foresight Nanotech Institute
in Menlo Park, California, 'has one recommendation: Read science fiction,
especially "hard science fiction" that sticks rigorously to the
scientifically possible. "If you look out into the long-term future and
what you see looks like science fiction, it might be wrong," she says.
"But if it doesn't look like science fiction, it's definitely wrong."
(Joel Achenbach, 'The Future Is Now', _Washington Post_, 13 April) [AL]
SIDEWISE AWARDS (alternate history) finalists: LONG FORM Michael Chabon,
_The Yiddish Policemen's Union_; _Robert Conroy_, _1945: A Novel_; Mary
Gentle, _Ilario: The Lion's Eye_ (US ed in two volumes, #2 being _Ilario:
The Stone Golem_; Jay Lake, _Mainspring_; Sophia McDougall, _Rome
Burning_; Jo Walton, _Ha'penny_.
SHORT FORM Elizabeth Bear, 'Les Innocents/Lumiere' (_New
Amsterdam_); Michael Flynn. 'Quaestiones Super Caelo Et Mundo' (_Analog_
7/07); Matthew Johnson. 'Public Safety' (_Asimov_'s 3/07); Jess Nevins.
'An Alternate History of Chinese Science Fiction' (_No Fear of the
Future_, 17/5/07); Chris Roberson. 'Metal Dragon Year' (_Interzone_ 213);
Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 'Recovering Apollo 8' (_Asimov's_ 2/07); John
Scalzi. 'Missives from Possible Futures #1: Alternate History Search
Results' (_Subterranean Magazine_, Winter).
MARKET REMINDER. Henry Gee of _Nature_ continues to solicit: 'Futures SF
column is alive and well and always on the lookout for copy. Inquiries
to the Third Park Bench On The Left, The Esplanade, Cromer, Norfolk, or
by email to futures at nature dot com.'
THE DEAD PAST. _Forty Years Ago._ 'Due to hit the presses later this year
is a book titled Pop-Corn, written by James Sallis and Michael Moorcock.
Pop-Corn has been described as "a fierce attack on the world of pop
culture and the cults that surround it." Tolkien, James Bond and Alfred
Hitchcock are just three targets of the way of life some of us hold dear.
The book, not yet quite complete, is already scheduled for joint
publication by Gollancz and Penguin.' (_Skyrack_ 95, May 1968).
SFWA ELECTIONS. As reported webwide, the hot news seemed to be not so
much that Russell Davis won the presidency with 330 votes as that the
somewhat controversial Andrew Burt (with 53 votes) didn't. World interest
in this momentous poll was signalled by Ian Whates's unopposed win as
Overseas Regional Director 'with one of the biggest turnouts for his
region in years', being 19 votes. [SFWA]
THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Pole Shift Dept._ 'Unsmiling, the Secretary of the
Interior mumbled, "I wonder if the earth will topple all the way over --
I mean -- like this." He made a rolling motion with his hands.' (Edwin
Woodard and Heather Woodard Bischoff, _Storehouses of the Snow_, 1980)
[AR]
_Dept of Naval Rhetoric._ '"Mr President," [the Admiral] began,
"here is a message, sir, the like of which no man has received since the
days of Noah!"' _(Ibid)_
_Bathos Dept._ 'All the men were acutely aware of the tremendous
events taking place: the change in the earth's axis; the great
earthquakes which had apparently occurred, the sudden eruptions of many
old and new volcanoes; the breaking up of the Great Ross Ice Shelf; the
torrents of meltwater, and evident speeding up of the flood of glacial
ice tossing thousands of giant icebergs into the sea. Making several
trips, they brought out many cans. Some of them were dented.' _(Ibid)_
_Dept of Who Knew?_ 'Weather was always changing somewhere.'
_(Ibid)_
_Rhetorical Poultry Dept._ 'The man nodded briskly, now
looking like a chicken that had finally been proved correct over a point
that had long been in bitter dispute.' (Michael Marshall Smith, _The
Servants_, 2007) [PB]
_Dept of Inexorable Fate._ 'It would not be like that, but that was
the way it would be.' _(Ibid)_
'It was that way, but also it was not.' _(Ibid)_
_Alternative 'Spung!' Dept._ 'Suddenly Kris had boobs. Boobs that
she knew all too well how to make go boom.' (Mike Shepherd, _Kris
Longknife: Audacious_, 2007) [PM]
### GEEKS' CORNER ###
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CONVENTIONS/EVENTS LONGLIST
Details via 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 4 May 2008, Sci-Fi London film festival, London
Until 18 May 2008, Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art, Barbican Art
Gallery, London
Until 18 May 2008, Anne Sudworth exhibition, Strawberry Hill, London
Until 25 Oct 2008, Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain, Science
Museum, London
3-5 May, Fforde Ffiesta (Jasper Fforde), Swindon
9-11 May, Bristol International Comic Expo, Bristol
15-18 May 2008, Roscon or Euroscon (Eurocon), Moscow
20-22 June 2008, SF Masterclass, London
RELOCATED TO USA: 24-27 Jun 2008, SF Research Association conference,
Dublin
28 Jun, Tolkien Society Seminar, London
28-29 June 2008, ConRunner 2008 (conrunning), Wolverhampton
6-10 August 2008, Denvention 3 (Worldcon), Denver, USA
21-25 August 2008, Frightfest film festival, London
22-25 Aug 2008, Discworld Convention 2008, Birmingham
29-31 August 2008, Mecon, Belfast
5-7 September 2008, ZombieCon, Bentley, Walsall
12-14 September 2008, Reunion5 (media), Coventry
19-21 September 2008, Fantasycon 2008, Nottingham
25-28 September 2008, Oxonmoot (Tolkien), Oxford
4-5 October 2008, Birmingham International Comics Show, Birmingham
11-12 October 2008, NewCon 4, Northampton
17-19 October 2008, Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester
18-19 October 2008, Octocon, Ireland
7-9 Nov 2008, ArmadaCon XX, Plymouth
14-16 Nov 2008, Novacon 38, Bentley, Walsall
[] 2009
20-22 Feb 2009, Redemption 09 (multimedia sf), Coventry
?? Mar 2009, Eurocon 2009, Fiuggi, Italy
10-13 Apr 2009, LXcon (Eastercon), Bradford
CANCELLED: 26-29 Jun 2009, Sectus 2009 (Harry Potter), North Wales
25-26 July 2009, Satellite 2, Glasgow
6-10 Aug 2009, Anticipation (67th Worldcon), Montreal, Canada
### ENDNOTES ###
APPARITIONS.
[] 3 May 2008: Stephen Hunt signing, Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury
Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR. 1-2pm.
[] 3 May 2008: Simone Lia & Bryan Talbot, Hexham Literary Festival,
6pm.
[] 9 May 2008: Brum Group, Briar Rose, Bennett Hill, Birmingham city
centre. 7.45pm. With Ian R. MacLeod. Contact 07845 897760 or
4bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk. Further meetings: 13 June Eric Brown, 11
July TBA.
[] 10 May 2008: Eric Brown signing, Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury
Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR. 1-2pm.
[] 15 May 2008: Ramsey Campbell & Conrad Williams, Waterstone's, 91
Deansgate, Manchester. 7-9pm. Tickets Pounds3.
[] 7 Jun 2008: Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Duncan Fegredo & Sean
Philips signing, Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London,
WC2H 8JR. 1-2pm.
[] 14 June 2008: Steve Dillon & Bryan Talbot, Waterstone's, Oxford
Street, London. 2pm.
[] 1 July 2008: Hannah Berry, Paul Gravett & Bryan Talbot, Ipswich
Literary Festival.
[] 22 August 2008: Alan Grant & Bryan Talbot, Edinburgh
Literary Festival. 8:30pm.
RANDOM LINKS. Rather than save them up for _Ansible_ each month, I now
add topical links to a sidebar column on the links page:
http://links.ansible.co.uk/
PAYPAL DONATION. Support _Ansible_ and keep the editor happy! Or just
buy his books ...
http://ansible.co.uk/paypal.html
http://ansible.co.uk/biblio.html
http://ansible.co.uk/books/buy.php
EDITORIAL ODDMENTS. The magic number 250 ought to be marked by modest
celebrations (I'll have a drink later; feel free to join me) and a
supplement of special tributes from the great and good of science
fiction (but unfortunately I forgot to ask for any). Let's just say
that when Peter Roberts wheedled me into taking over the _Checkpoint_
subscription list and launching _Ansible_ in 1979, I didn't expect to
be still publishing it in 2008. And the paper edition still appears
first, before any new-fangled on-line release. Tell that to today's
youngsters, and they'll snd a disblving txt msg. [] John Scalzi
invites fellow fan writer Hugo nominees to promote their cause on his
weblog _Whatever_, for an audience of 'between 30,000 and 40,000
unique visitors daily.' It's a kind thought, but one which brings out
that native Langford indecisiveness in full force....
http://ansible.co.uk/link.php?id=20080430
RANDOM FANDOM. _Martin Hoare_ sends some explosive news: 'The Southern
Heat of the British National Firework Championship is on 10th May.'
http://www.britishfireworks.co.uk/
'Skyburst is competing and I am on the team. Pangbourne Fete with
usual fireworks is on Saturday 7th June.'
http://dev.dynamicweb.co.uk/pangbournevillagefete/index.html
Ansible 250 Copyright (c) Dave Langford, 2008. Thanks to Hazel
Ashworth, Paul Barnett, Damien Broderick, Gary Dalkin, Paul Di
Filippo, Steven J. Dunn, Tom Hunter, Tony Lee, Denny Lien, Andy Love,
Ken MacLeod, Making Light, Petrea Mitchell, Chryse Moore, Andrew I.
Porter, Chris Priest, Private Eye, Adam Roberts, Yvonne Rousseau, SF
Site, Gary Wilkinson, Jessica Yatesm and our Hero Distributors: Vernon
Brown (Brum Group News), Janice Murray (North America), SCIS/Prophecy,
and Alan Stewart (Australia).
2 May 08
--
David Langford | http://ansible.co.uk/ | http://news.ansible.co.uk/
See http://ansible.co.uk/bibcent.html for bibliographical horrors.
date: Fri, 02 May 2008 19:10:40 +0100
author: David Langford
|
