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date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:46:00 +0000,    group: uk.people.sf-fans        back       
Ansible 224 [long]   
ANSIBLE 224
MARCH 2006

From DAVE LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5AU.
http://ansible.co.uk. Fax 0705 080 1534. ISSN 0265-9816 (print) 1740-942X
(online). Available for SAE or the formula for 3-blindmycin.

[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.co.uk/a224.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 COSMIC PUPPETS ###

STEVE COCKAYNE, UK fantasy author, spoke at February's BSFA London
meeting and revealed his deep sf background. _Mark Plummer_ reports: `He
told us about his parents who ran something called the Pegasus Marionette
Theatre. This gave performances in various indoor and outdoor venues in
North London in the 1950s, and one of their shows was (at least loosely)
inspired by the radio programme _Journey into Space_. [] The show would
start with a rocket landing, a sound created using an extended cymbal
roll from one of those "Special Effects" records, with the tone varied
by careful application of the thumb to the side of the disk. The spaceman
marionette then emerged, wearing a classic fish-bowl helmet manufactured
from a child's plastic rattle. He confronted and killed the moon monster,
a (Wells-inspired) tripod with a body made out of an old pickled gherkin
tin. Three flying saucers appeared -- red, green and blue -- and then the
rocket took off again. It is, Cockayne admits, not much of a plot, but
apparently the show was incredibly popular with North London children in
the 1950s. [] And then Cockayne climbed up on the table to show us his
father's spaceman marionette. It was probably about 18" high, with a
carved wooden body and, yep, that fish-bowl helmet -- though now sporting
a couple of ear pieces, a best attempt to cover up damage that'd occurred
at some point in the last fifty years. Cockayne's father had drilled a
couple of holes through the hard plastic helmet so that strings could
manipulate the marionette's head inside it, and another string enabled
the puppet to effect a fast draw of its ray gun. Sadly, the moon monster
has not survived into the 21st century, and whilst there was much support
for its recreation so that they might duel again at some upcoming meeting
or convention, it was pointed out that you can't get pickled gherkins in
tins any more. However there was a rumour that they might still be
available in Poland so all is not entirely lost....'

LYNETTE COOK, space artist, explains that her paintings of extrasolar
worlds are untainted by genre: `This is not science fiction ... These
planets are so far away we cannot look at them with a camera close up,
so we can't have the assurance at this point of time that it's 100
percent accurate. And that's fun for me because I can use some
imagination as long as it is scientifically plausible. It can't be too
far-out or I can't do it.' Nothing but hard-edged factuality: `Cook
imagined a Jupiter-style gas giant planet harboring life, but not on its
gassy surface. Instead, there are hypothetical floating life forms, a
cross between jellyfish and hot-air balloons, drifting along on air
currents.' (Reuters) [DSZ] No doubt Sir Arthur C. Clarke will be
delighted to learn that his 1971 gas-giant story `A Meeting with Medusa'
was science fact all along.

HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of the
25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous Visions,
explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his lawyer, to stop using
the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore which went virtual-only in
2002. We have complied with his wishes and are now openly soliciting the
public for a replacement name. Send us your recommendations and we will
post the top ten on our site. The person who provides the best name will
win a $50 gift certificate -- good on any purchase -- and our undying
thanks. The next five runners-up will receive a $10 gift certificate.
Name selection ends April 30th. Until then, we remain readsf.com.' Could
this long-delayed request be intended to clear the way for web
publication of some long-delayed anthology?

DAVID G. HARTWELL received NESFA's Skylark Award at Boskone.


### CONVERTEND ###

The Science Museum SCIENCE OF ALIENS exhibition closed on 26 Feb.

11-12 Mar [] P-CON III, Ashling Hotel, Dublin. Euro25 reg; Euro15 supp.
Contact Yellow Brick Rd, 8 Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1, Ireland.

13 Mar [] READING AT BORDERS, Oxford St, London. Top floor, 6:30pm. With
Pat Cadigan, Neal Asher, and `a special surprise guest'.

18 Mar [] ENLARGED (informal Sproutlore/beer/Rankin event), The Flying
Swan aka The Alexandra Hotel, 203 Siddals Rd, Derby. Free. Also pub crawl
on Fri 17 Mar. Contact deepblack23 at hotmail dot com.

20 Mar - 29 Apr [] LES EDWARDS/EDWARD MILLER art exhibition, Redbridge
Museum, Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford. 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 4pm
Sat. Admission free. Contact 020 8708 2317. [] _25 Mar tie-in events:_
Stephen Gallagher on TV sf, 2pm-4pm, Pounds8. Les Edwards, S. Gallagher,
Steve Jones & Kim Newman on cover art, 7:30pm, Pounds4.50.

22 Mar [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, The Star pub, West Halkin Mews, London, SW1.
6pm on; fans present in the bar from 5pm. BSFA Award nominations
discussion panel led by Dan Hartland.

7-9 Apr [] THE CHILD AND THE BOOK (academic conf on children's lit),
Newcastle University. Pounds40 reg to Sarah Barber, NIASSH, Newcastle
University, Architecture Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU. Cheques
to Newcastle U; for credit cards call 0191 222 5064.

13-16 Apr [] EUROCON 2006, Kiev, Ukraine. Euro35/$35 reg, Euro10/$10
supp. GoH Sergey Poyarkov, Harry Harrison. info at eurocon kiev ua.

14-17 Apr [] CONCUSSION (Eastercon), Glasgow Moat House Hotel. Pounds55
reg; supp/concessions Pounds27.50; ages 12-18 Pounds15; 5-11 Pounds5; 0-4
free. Same at door. _Day rates:_ Fri Pounds5, Sat Pounds20 (Pounds10
evening), Sun ditto, Mon Pounds15. Contact 23 Ranelagh Rd, Bruce Grove,
London, N17 6XY. `Concussion needs a driver. Must be over 25, with clean
license. Willing to drive van from London via Birmingham to Glasgow (and
back a week later). Free room night offered.' Reply to farah dot sf at
gmail dot com.

6 May [] ALT-FICTION (sf/fantasy/horror), Darwin Suite, Assembly Rooms,
Derby. `Workshops, discussions, talks and readings from major names.'
12:30pm-8:30pm. Pounds18 admission, Pounds15 concessions. Contact Alex
Davis, 01332 715434 or alex dot davis at derby dot gov dot uk.

2 Jun [] BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY open night, Devereux pub, Essex St, off
Strand, London. 6.30pm onwards. All welcome. Future meetings are on 1 Sep
and provisionally 8 Dec. (I heard too late about 3 Mar.)

22-24 Sep [] FANTASYCON 2006, Britannia Hotel, 1 St James Street,
Nottingham. GoH Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Raymond Feist, Neil
Gaiman, Juliet E. McKenna. Pounds45 reg to 30 Jun 06, then Pounds55; BFS
members Pounds40 and Pounds50. Day rate for Saturday only: Pounds20.
Contact (SAE) Beech House, Chapel Lane, Moulton, Cheshire, CW9 8PQ.

_Rumblings_ [] EASTERCON 2007. Convoy, the Liverpool/Adelphi bid, is
taking presupporting memberships at Pounds2. Send to Convoy, 81 Western
Rd, London, E13 9JE. No rival bid has yet revealed itself to _Ansible_.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. Yet another determined attempt to draw the line between
good stuff and mere sf: `"But beyond its sci-fi trappings and nerdy
pedigree, _Battlestar Galactica_ is, above all, a drama -- and a deeply
human one, at that. These aren't stock sci-fi characters wearing capes
and speaking in a lame faux Shakespearean dialect; instead [...] they're
real people with flaws and ambitions and hopes and fears who are
instantly recognizable and believable.' (_Toronto Sun_, 19 Feb) [AM]

NEBULA SHORTLIST. NOVEL Geoff Ryman, _Air_; Joe Haldeman, _Camouflage_;
Terry Pratchett, _Going Postal_; Susanna Clarke, _Jonathan Strange & Mr.
Norrell_; Jack McDevitt, _Polaris_; John C. Wright, _Orphans of Chaos_.
     NOVELLA Bud Sparhawk, `Clay's Pride' (_Analog_ 7/04); Robert J.
Sawyer, `Identity Theft' (_Down These Dark Spaceways_); Paul Witcover,
`Left of the Dial' (_SCI FICTION_ 9/04) Kelly Link, `Magic for Beginners'
(_Magic for Beginners_); Albert Cowdrey, `The Tribes of Bela' (_F&SF_
8/04).
     NOVELETTE Kelly Link, `The Faery Handbag' (_The Faery Reel_); Daniel
Abraham, `Flat Diane' (_F&SF_ 10/04); James Patrick Kelly, `Men are
Trouble' (_Asimov's_ 6/04); Eileen Gunn & Leslie What, `Nirvana High'
(_Stable Strategies and Others_); Paolo Bacigalupi, `The People of Sand
and Slag' (_F&SF_ 2/04).
     SHORT K.D. Wentworth, `Born-Again' (_F&SF_ 5/05); Dale Bailey, `The
End of the World as We Know It' (_F&SF_ 10/04); Carol Emshwiller, `I Live
With You' (_F&SF_ 3/05); Nancy Kress, `My Mother, Dancing' (_Asimov's_
6/04); Margo Lanagan, `Singing My Sister Down' (_Black Juice_); Anne
Harris, `Still Life With Boobs' (_Talebones_ Summer 05); Richard Bowes,
`There's a Hole in the City' (_SCI FICTION_ 6/05)
     SCRIPT _Battlestar Galactica_ `Act of Contrition/You Can't Go Home
Again'; _Serenity_.
     ANDRE NORTON AWARD (YA) Louise Spiegler, _The Amethyst Road_; Ann
Halam, _Siberia_; Susan Vaught, _Stormwitch_; Holly Black, _Valiant: A
Modern Tale of Faerie_.

THE LIVING DEAD. _The Bookseller_ gave its Diagram Prize for Oddest Book
Title of the Year to a self-help book about being haunted, entitled
_People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to
Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It_. (Reuters, 3 March) [BT]
I think I've met a number of these people at sf conventions.

PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. The late Byron Preiss's publishing companies
Ibooks and Byron Preiss Visual Publications both filed for bankruptcy and
vacated their New York offices on 22 February. [SFWA]

R.I.P. _Peter Benchley_ (1940-2006), US author famous for _Jaws_ (1974),
died on 11 February aged 65. A genre venture was _White Shark_ (1994),
featuring a Nazi-engineered man/shark hybrid. [GW]
     _Octavia Butler_ (1947-2006), distinguished and much-admired black
US sf author, died with shocking unexpectedness on 25 February after a
fall outside her house. She was 58. Butler won 1984 Hugo awards for
`Bloodchild' (short story) and `Speech Sounds' (novelette); the latter
also won the Nebula, as did her 1998 novel _Parable of the Talents_. Most
unusually for an sf author, she received a MacArthur Foundation `genius
grant' in 2000. Newspaper and on-line obituary coverage has been
extensive, and rightly so. I was proud and slightly overawed to be on the
guest list with her at Intervention, the 1997 UK Eastercon.
     _Phil Brown_ (1916-2006), US actor whose genre roles included Uncle
Owen in _Star Wars_, died on 9 February. He was 89. [GW]
     _Andreas Katsulas_ (1946-2006), US actor best known for playing
G'Kar in _Babylon 5_, died from lung cancer on 13 February; he was 59.
[GW]
     _Don Knotts_ (1924-2006), US actor who starred in such minor genre
films as _The Incredible Mr. Limpet_ (1964) and _The Reluctant Astronaut_
(1967), died on 24 February. He was 81.
     _Darren McGavin_ (1922-2006), US actor best known to genre fans for
his title role in the 1970s cult TV series _Kolchak: The Night Stalker_,
died on 25 February aged 83. [GW]
     _Myron Waldman_ (1908-2006), US animator and art director who was
the last surviving head animator of the Max Fleischer Studios, died on
4 February aged 97. His work included Popeye, Casper, and the original
Superman cartoon series. [CH]
     _Dennis Weaver_ (1924-2006), US actor who is best remembered for TV
roles but also played the lead in Spielberg's _Duel_ (1971), died on 24
February. He was 81. [SJD]
     _Jack Wild_ (1952-2006), UK actor who starred in the late-1960s US
fantasy TV series _H.R. Pufnstuf_, died on 1 March aged 53. His best-
known part was the Artful Dodger in _Oliver!_ (1968). [GW]
     Late notice: _Charles Garvin_ (1945-2005), eccentric US book dealer
and small-press publisher, died in January 2005 at age 59. His and Jeff
Levin's Pendragon Press published chapbooks by R.A. Lafferty and Ursula
Le Guin, including the 1973 first edition of `From Elfland to
Poughkeepsie'. [DAA]

AS OTHERS SEE US II. According to _The Week_, the end of February was a
"GOOD WEEK FOR Science-fiction fans, after a mysterious black goo bubbled
up between cracks in the streets of downtown Los Angeles, forcing the
evacuation of hundreds of residents.' (5 Mar) [MMW]
 
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Kim Huett_ shares a magical sf moment from `The Coming
Of the Ice' (1926) by G. Peyton Wertenbaker, which resonates with the
current UK debate on animal testing: `Now, I made a slight mistake one
day in experimenting with a guinea-pig, and I re-arranged certain organs
which I need not describe so that I thought I had completely messed up
the poor creature's abdomen. It lived, however, and I laid it aside. It
was some years later that I happened to notice it again. It had not given
birth to any young, but I was amazed to note that it had apparently grown
no older: it seemed precisely in the same state of growth in which I had
left it.' Kim observes: `I don't think I'd ever want this bloke pet-
sitting for me. If he can put a guinea pig to one side and forget about
it for years then he doesn't fit my definition of responsible adult. On
the other hand he has the makings of a fine politician.'
     _Ben Jeapes_ knows how to cheer a former Big Engine author: `I
thought you might appreciate this testament to your most famous work.
This morning I took delivery of a new bed, which required wheels to be
inserted into the base. The instructions suggested a rubber mallet, which
I don't have. I do have a very strong steel hammer that could have
shattered the wheels nicely with one tap. I needed something to put
between hammer and wheels to soften the blow and thought of a book. But
which book? Obviously a book I would never read. / And the answer turned
out to be _Deravy Urad_, the Czech-language equivalent of _The Leaky
Establishment_. The wheels went in a treat. So, on behalf of myself and
my wife to be, may I thank you for your fine work and express a hope that
all your past and future writing continues to be so useful in the lives
of your readers.'
     _Tony Lee_ has been reading _Battlestar Galactica: The Official
Companion_. `Somewhat bemused by this bit from the Afterword by David
Eick (exec. producer of the remake), re watching _Star Trek_' and other
TV space operas ... "I knew how they felt to me: antiseptic, stately,
austere, polite. I wanted something cruder, more real and more textured
by the rawness of humanity; something like _Blade Runner_, _2001_, and
_Alien_; an epic, compelling, deeply emotional drama ..." I assume Eick's
talking about a wholly re-imagined version of Kubrick's opus here, one
that's all grungy and vulgar ...?'
     _Mike Moorcock_ mourns deaths reported in the gloom-laden January
_Ansible_: `Fucking terrible year for losing good guys. Ken [Bulmer] was
hugely encouraging to me when I was a callow 15 year old but at least I
was able to get him into IPC a couple of years later which at least
improved his income. I was in touch with him towards the end, I'm glad
to say, and he remained in his letters just the same sweet person he'd
always been. Similarly with Bob Sheckley who once literally pulled me out
of the gutter.'

C.O.A. If anyone moved house last month, they failed to tell _Ansible_.

EULOGY MASTERCLASS. At Octavia Butler's memorial service: `Harlan Ellison
also spoke via phone, calling the 6-foot Butler a King Kong to his 5-
foot-5 Fay Wray ...' (_Seattle Post-Intelligencer_, 4 March)

RANDOM FANDOM. _Jonathan Cowie_ bewailed the disappearance of the
www.concatenation.org website in February as a result of ISP naughtiness:
`Serverspace.co.uk aka ClickHosting have literally done a runner from all
their customers (William Gibson's near futures were always pretty gritty
and street orientated but I don't recall folk doing an old fashioned
runner). We have no e-mail, no site and no easy way of proving to our
internet registrar (based in Australia) we are who we are to get the site
relocated....' Sanity was restored, with Ukrainian fan assistance, before
the end of the month.
     _Neil Gaiman & Steve Jones_ are seeking Ian Pemble, the 1980s editor
of _Knave_, in order `to give him _Now We Are Sick_ money.' Neil has a
touching belief that practically any such person must read _Ansible_ `if
he hasn't been eaten by badgers....'
     _Jan Stinson_ has been laid low by pneumonia but should by now have
published the October 2005 issue of her fanzine _Peregrine Nations_.

ANOTHER AWARD. The Cambridge Theatre production of _Something Wicked This
Way Comes_ received a Laurence Olivier Award in the Best Entertainment
category on 26 February. [SG]

THE DEAD PAST. _Thirty Years Ago:_ `SF Monthly is folding with the April
issue. The passing-away of Britains only SF magazine will be mourned
dearly by John Brosnan and Peter Weston who between them managed to keep
some sort of standard.' (_Checkpoint_ 65, March 1976.)

GROUP GROPES. In _Ansible_ 218, Paul Treadaway suggested a special event
to mark the 60th anniversary of the first post-war London pub meeting in
March 1946. Nothing came of this, but Mark Plummer points out that
there's another opportunity in April, when it will be 60 years since the
first meeting in the legendary White Horse pub.

HIDEOUS GAFFES! _A223_ R.I.P.: Al Lewis was probably born in 1923 despite
his claim of 1910 (source: his son). [GVG] Cynthia McQuillin is so spelt
and died in 2006, not 2003. John Stewart, UK fantasy/horror illustrator,
died on 18 January and not 8 January (writes Steve Jones, correcting his
earlier note); his work appeared in _Whispers_, _Fantasy Tales_, an
Arkham House collection and various European paperbacks.

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Dept of Cosmic Ennui._ `A cyclone stood still
compared to the _White Bird_. The flight of bullets, the flight of
meteors, the flight of light, were snails in relation to him. He
annihilated the far reaches of the universe at hundreds and thousands of
light-years per second. A flash in infinity, a silvery bolt through the
black, a ghost that was gone more quickly than the messengers of death,
the _White Bird_ bored the known universe, and went on.' (Donald Wandrei,
`Colossus', 1934) [TMcD]
     _Brighter Than You Think Dept._ `... it appeared the night sky would
be cloudless and the land exposed to the revealing light of the new moon
....' (Terry Brooks, _The Sword of Shannara_, 1977) [CCF]
     _Visionary Dept._ `Closing his eyes, he stopped in front of the row
of sloping narrow windows in the ceiling and gazed at the cold sterile
beauty of the stars.' (David Mack, _A Time to Kill_, 2004) [MF]
     _Dept of Moderate Ruthlessness._ `"If you make a sound, I will kill
you where you stand." / "What do you mean?" he asked in amazement. /
"Exactly what I say. We have returned from ..."' (Captain S.P. Meek,
`Awlo of Ulm', 1931) [TMcD]
     _Neat Tricks Dept._ `She shrugged with her buttocks.' (Ron Goulart,
_The Enormous Hourglass_, 1976) [BA]


### GEEKS' CORNER ###

SUBSCRIPTIONS. To receive _Ansible_ monthly via e-mail, send a message
to ...
ansible-request{at}dcs.gla.ac.uk
.... with a Subject line reading:
subscribe
(Message body text irrelevant.) Please send a corresponding
`unsubscribe' to resign from this list if you weary of it or plan to
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the following URL -- updated August 2004.
https://mr1.dcs.gla.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ansible

RSS:
 http://news.ansible.co.uk/rss.html
LiveJournal syndication:
 http://www.livejournal.com/users/ansiblezine/
Back issues:
 http://news.ansible.co.uk/
_Ansible_ Links:
 http://news.ansible.co.uk/ansilink.html
Dave Langford:
 http://ansible.co.uk/

CONVENTION LONGLIST
Details at http://news.ansible.co.uk/ansilink.html#cons
London meetings: http://news.ansible.co.uk/london.html
[] 2006
12-13 Mar 06, P-Con III, Dublin
7-9 Apr 06, The Child and the Book (conference), Newcastle U
14-17 Apr 06, Concussion (Eastercon), Glasgow
26-30 Apr 06, Sci-Fi London film festival
4-6 Aug 06, MeCon 9, Belfast
18-20 Aug 06, Discworld Convention, Hinckley, Leics
23-27 Aug 06, L.A.con IV (Worldcon), Anaheim, California
1 Sep 06, Iain Banks conference, U of Westminster
1-3 Sep 06, Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester
22-24 Sep 06, Fantasycon 2006, Nottingham
20-23 Oct 06, Cult TV 2006, Great Yarmouth
10-12 Nov 06, Armadacon 18, Plymouth
10-12 Nov 06, Novacon 36, Walsall
[] 2007
??? date and venue TBA, Year of the Teledu
23-25 Feb 07, Redemption (multimedia SF), Hinckley, Leics
Easter 07, Convoy (Eastercon bid), Liverpool
10-12 Aug 07, Recombination (Unicon/RPG), Cambridge
30 Aug - 3 Sep 07, Nippon 2007 (Worldcon), Yokohama, Japan
21-23 Sep 07, Eurocon 2007, Copenhagen, Denmark
[] 2008
Easter 08, Orbital (Eastercon bid)


### ENDNOTES ###

APPARITIONS. [] 10 Mar: Brian Stableford talks to the Brum Group,
Britannia Hotel, New St, Birmingham. 7.30pm for 8pm. Pounds3 members,
Pounds4 non-members. Forthcoming talks: 7 Apr, Les Edwards; 12 May,
Storm Constantine; 9 June, Jim Burns.
[] 18 Mar: Tom Lloyd signs debut novel _The Stormcaller_ at Forbidden
Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H. 1pm-2pm. 020 7420 3666.

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

RANDOM LINKS. I've been trying to keep breaking-news links a little
more up to date on the _Ansible_ links page -- see `Infinitely
Improbable' in the panel at the left:
 http://news.ansible.co.uk/ansilink.html

MORE FROM MOORCOCK. On his January publicity tour and Alan Moore
interview: `It was hugely successful. They reckoned they could have
filled the theatre four times over. Of course, it might have something
to do with an even rarer appearance from Alan Moore.... But it was a
great trip. My ego swole up so much it burst out through my foot
again, but I'm all healed up again and back to normal after a bout of
Cedar Fever. When I first got to Texas I asked when Cedar Fever ended.
'Bout when Elm Fever starts, they said. The audio of the Moore-
Moorcock Battle of the Beards can be found at my Moorcocks Miscellany
website:
 http://www.multiverse.org/modules.php?name=Downloads [free
 registration required]
`Back to Texas and ego slowly subsided back to normal as adrenaline
levels dropped and Cedar Fever took hold....'

EDITORIAL. Since the last issue I have enjoyed such distractions as a
hard drive failure, further deadline panic, and (now) a filthy cold.
Many thanks to all the correspondents who kept _Ansible_ going by
sending interesting stuff.


Ansible 224 Copyright (c) Dave Langford, 2006. Thanks to Brian
Ameringen, Anon, Douglas A. Anderson, Steven J. Dunn, Charles Coleman
Finlay, Michele Fry, Steve Green, Chip Hitchcock, Tim McDaniel, Anne
Marsden, Bruce Townley, Gary Wilkinson, Gordon Van Gelder, David
Stewart Zink, and as always our Hero Distributors: Rog Peyton (Brum
Group News), Janice Murray (N America), SCIS, and Alan Stewart
(Australia).

5 Mar 06

-- 
David Langford | http://ansible.co.uk/
Latest nonfiction: =The SEX Column and other misprints= (Cosmos, 2005)
Latest fiction: =Different Kinds of Darkness= (Cosmos, 2004)
date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:46:00 +0000   author:   David Langford

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In message , David Langford 
 writes
>
>ANSIBLE 224
>MARCH 2006

>HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of the
>25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous Visions,
>explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his lawyer, to stop using
>the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore which went virtual-only in
>2002. We have complied with his wishes and are now openly soliciting the
>public for a replacement name. Send us your recommendations and we will
>post the top ten on our site. The person who provides the best name will
>win a $50 gift certificate -- good on any purchase -- and our undying
>thanks. The next five runners-up will receive a $10 gift certificate.
>Name selection ends April 30th. Until then, we remain readsf.com.' Could
>this long-delayed request be intended to clear the way for web
>publication of some long-delayed anthology?

I hope they go with something like Hazardous Vistas.

Regards

Robin
-- 
Robin Low
date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 18:27:30 +0000   author:   Robin Low

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In message , Robin Low
 writes
>In message , David Langford
> writes
>>
>>ANSIBLE 224
>>MARCH 2006
>
>>HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of the
>>25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous Visions,
>>explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his lawyer, to stop using
>>the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore
>
>I hope they go with something like Hazardous Vistas.

 How about BHA books, similar to the way somebody's software project
name changed from "Sagan" to "Butt-Hole Astronomer" after Carl
complained.
-- 
 My gmail account is nojay1                 Robert Sneddon
date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 19:10:35 +0000   author:   Robert Sneddon

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:46:00 +0000, David Langford 
    wrote:

> C.O.A. If anyone moved house last month, they failed to tell _Ansible_.

Having got a GPS device, it seems that my house moves on a daily basis,
the thing tells me that I am parked at a different address every day.
So far it has managed to not get my actual address right at all.  Either
that or I really am parking in someone else's drive and they haven't
noticed yet...

Chris C
date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 19:36:31 +0000   author:   Chris Croughton

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
Robert Sneddon  writes:

> In message , Robin Low
>  writes
>>In message , David Langford
>> writes
>>>
>>>ANSIBLE 224
>>>MARCH 2006
>>
>>>HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of the
>>>25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous Visions,
>>>explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his lawyer, to stop using
>>>the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore
>>
>>I hope they go with something like Hazardous Vistas.
>
>  How about BHA books, similar to the way somebody's software project
> name changed from "Sagan" to "Butt-Hole Astronomer" after Carl
> complained.

It was the internal name used inside Apple for one of their early PowerMac
models that got changed from "Carl Sagan" to "Butt-Hole Astronomer", and yes,
I agree that "BHA Books" would be an excellent new name for the bookstore
in question.
date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 14:12:31 -0600   author:   Richard Todd

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In article ,
Robert Sneddon  wrote:

>In message , Robin Low
> writes
>>In message , David Langford
>> writes
>>>
>>>ANSIBLE 224
>>>MARCH 2006
>>
>>>HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of the
>>>25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous Visions,
>>>explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his lawyer, to stop using
>>>the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore
>>
>>I hope they go with something like Hazardous Vistas.
>
> How about BHA books, similar to the way somebody's software project
>name changed from "Sagan" to "Butt-Hole Astronomer" after Carl
>complained.

It was Butt _Head_ Astronomer (after he complained about the association
with the other two codenames for the original PowerMac range - Piltdown
Man, Carl Sagan, Cold Fusion. No, I can't remember which was which but
they were the 6100, 7100 & 8100[1] models). 

On the litigious wossname front: "The Last Dangerous Visions" strikes
me as being a suitable riposte. (Failing that, the name of that early
novel that he refuses to sign....)

Chris.
[1] Who remembers an entirely _different_ 8100: a fridge-sized computer
    made by IBM for distributed systems back in the early 1900s)

-- 
An entire village where nobody's prepared to admit to being root,
and everyone has to be addressed by number because both forward 
and reverse DNS is broken.  -- The Prisoner, described by Tanuki
date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 20:55:40 +0000   author:   chris+ (Chris Suslowicz)

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In article ,
David Langford   wrote:
>AS OTHERS SEE US. Yet another determined attempt to draw the line
>between good stuff and mere sf: `"But beyond its sci-fi trappings and
>nerdy pedigree, _Battlestar Galactica_ is, above all, a drama -- and
>a deeply human one, at that. These aren't stock sci-fi characters
>wearing capes and speaking in a lame faux Shakespearean dialect;
>instead [...] they're real people with flaws and ambitions and hopes
>and fears who are instantly recognizable and believable.' (_Toronto
>Sun_, 19 Feb) [AM]

I think "another determined attempt to draw the line between good
stuff and mere sf" is unfair just based on this quotation.  It
acknowledges that BSG is sci-fi (it has trappings), and the criticism
is aimed squarely at Old BSG in particular, which tended to have stock
sci-characters (but they're not saying that all sci-fi characters are
stock).

>Nothing came of this, but Mark Plummer points out that there's
>another opportunity in April, when it will be 60 years since the
>first meeting in the legendary White Horse pub.

Was that the origin of the sfnal White Hart comma Tales from the?

>(Donald Wandrei, `Colossus', 1934) [TMcD]
>(Captain S.P. Meek, `Awlo of Ulm', 1931) [TMcD]

YES!

>     _Neat Tricks Dept._ `She shrugged with her buttocks.' (Ron
>Goulart, _The Enormous Hourglass_, 1976) [BA]

I saw that once, in a late episode of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.
Dawn, Buffy's sister (erm), was getting a snack in the kitchen.  Some
sort of Mexican-sounding music was on, and Dawn was bopping around the
kitchen.  Except her upper body was stock upright, and her hips and
buttocks ... well, with the motions they were making, they didn't seem
attached to anything else, or if so, there were only springs with low
spring constants.  Made me briefly reconsider heterosexuality, it did.

-- 
"Me, I love the USA; I never miss an episode." -- Paul "Fruitbat" Sleigh
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd@panix.com
date: 5 Mar 2006 15:11:00 -0600   author:   (Tim McDaniel)

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In message <dufk54$j91$1@tmcd.austin.tx.us>, Tim McDaniel 
 writes

> Except her upper body was stock upright, and her hips and
>buttocks ... well, with the motions they were making, they didn't seem
>attached to anything else, or if so, there were only springs with low
>spring constants.  Made me briefly reconsider heterosexuality, it did.

Compound harmonic motion can be a wonderful thing.


-- 
Once more in search of cognoscenti
Bernard Peek
bap@shrdlu.com
date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 22:46:46 +0000   author:   Bernard Peek

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In article <dufk54$j91$1@tmcd.austin.tx.us>, tmcd@panix.com (Tim McDaniel) writes:
>In article ,
>David Langford   wrote:
>>AS OTHERS SEE US. Yet another determined attempt to draw the line
>>between good stuff and mere sf: `"But beyond its sci-fi trappings and
>>nerdy pedigree, _Battlestar Galactica_ is, above all, a drama -- and
>>a deeply human one, at that. These aren't stock sci-fi characters
>>wearing capes and speaking in a lame faux Shakespearean dialect;
>>instead [...] they're real people with flaws and ambitions and hopes
>>and fears who are instantly recognizable and believable.' (_Toronto
>>Sun_, 19 Feb) [AM]
>
>I think "another determined attempt to draw the line between good
>stuff and mere sf" is unfair just based on this quotation.  It
>acknowledges that BSG is sci-fi (it has trappings), and the criticism
>is aimed squarely at Old BSG in particular, which tended to have stock
>sci-characters (but they're not saying that all sci-fi characters are
>stock).

And more explicitly, old BSG had "stock sci-fi characters wearing capes and 
speaking in a lame faux Shakespearean dialect'.

-- Alan
date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 23:57:51 GMT   author:   (Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing)

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
On Sun 05 Mar Chris Croughton wrote:
> Having got a GPS device, it seems that my house moves on a daily 
> basis, the thing tells me that I am parked at a different address 
> every day. So far it has managed to not get my actual address right at 
> all.  Either that or I really am parking in someone else's drive and 
> they haven't noticed yet...

Mine once told me I was doing 1500mph at 300ft over the North Sea, 
headed for Spitzbergen. This surprised me, as I thought I was parked on 
my driveway going nowhere.

-- 
...Rick Hewett				http://www.chocky.demon.co.uk/
Kryten: The inquisitor... prunes away life's wastrels.
Rimmer: We're in big trouble.
	-- [Red Dwarf "Inquisitor"]
date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 22:45:09 -0000   author:   Rick Hewett

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 20:55:40 +0000, Chris Suslowicz 
   <chris+news@suslowicz.org> wrote:

> Chris.
> [1] Who remembers an entirely _different_ 8100: a fridge-sized computer
>     made by IBM for distributed systems back in the early 1900s)

Wow, I thought they were still making Hollerith tabulators back then...

(We ran out of numbers years ago, I remember being most confused about
the Intel 4004, a number which I knew as a CMOS gate...)

Chris C
date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 14:26:56 +0000   author:   Chris Croughton

Mobile Homes (was Re: Ansible 224 [long])   
On Sun, 5 Mar 2006, Chris Croughton wrote:

> On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:46:00 +0000, David Langford
>    wrote:
>
>> C.O.A. If anyone moved house last month, they failed to tell _Ansible_.
>
> Having got a GPS device, it seems that my house moves on a daily basis,
> the thing tells me that I am parked at a different address every day.
> So far it has managed to not get my actual address right at all.  Either
> that or I really am parking in someone else's drive and they haven't
> noticed yet...

You should rig up an RSS feed, so your friends can keep track of your 
house's latest movements.

Last July, the Postmaster jacked up my house in the middle of the night, 
slid ZIP Code 60504 out from underneath it, and left us in ZIP Code 60502.
It was unsettling to have to issue a Change of Address without moving.

-- 
Another product of the Twentieth Century,  | Bill Higgins
          the innovative century            | Fermilab
             that brought you               | Internet:
           WW I, WW II, and WWW.            | higgins@fnal.gov
date: Mon, 06 Mar 2006 19:42:23 GMT   author:   Bill Higgins

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
Robin Low  wrote in news:734ow8HS2yCEFwf7
@celephais.demon.co.uk:

>>HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of the
>>25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous Visions,
>>explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his lawyer, to stop using
>>the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore which went virtual-only in
>>2002. We have complied with his wishes and are now openly soliciting the
>>public for a replacement name. 
> 
> I hope they go with something like Hazardous Vistas.

How about "Screaming Dwarf Books"?

Johan Larson
date: Mon, 06 Mar 2006 23:55:34 -0600   author:   Johan Larson johan0larson8comcast0net

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
In article ,
Johan Larson  <johan0larson8comcast0net> wrote:
>Robin Low  wrote in news:734ow8HS2yCEFwf7
>@celephais.demon.co.uk:
>
>>>HARLAN ELLISON has been talking to lawyers again. Lydia Marano, of
>>>the 25-year-old American sf bookshop formerly known as Dangerous
>>>Visions, explains: `Harlan Ellison has asked us, through his
>>>lawyer, to stop using the name Dangerous Visions for our bookstore
>>>which went virtual-only in 2002. We have complied with his wishes
>>>and are now openly soliciting the public for a replacement name.
>> 
>> I hope they go with something like Hazardous Vistas.
>
>How about "Screaming Dwarf Books"?

Or "Do Crush That Dwarf"?

-- 
"Me, I love the USA; I never miss an episode." -- Paul "Fruitbat" Sleigh
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd@panix.com
date: 7 Mar 2006 00:32:07 -0600   author:   (Tim McDaniel)

Re: Mobile Homes (was Re: Ansible 224 [long])   
Bill Higgins   wrote:
>Last July, the Postmaster jacked up my house in the middle of the night, 
>slid ZIP Code 60504 out from underneath it, and left us in ZIP Code 60502.
>It was unsettling to have to issue a Change of Address without moving.

And that tiny difference to the ZIP Code matters -- same thing happened
to a friend in WA and because I forgot to update my address book the
Christmas card I sent got bounced back across the Atlantic.

-- 
\S -- siona@chiark.greenend.org.uk -- http://www.chaos.org.uk/~sion/
  ___  |  "Frankly I have no feelings towards penguins one way or the other"
  \X/  |    -- Arthur C. Clarke
   her nu becomeþ se bera eadward ofdun hlæddre heafdes bæce bump bump bump
date: 07 Mar 2006 13:29:26 +0000 (GMT)   author:   Sion Arrowsmith

Re: Ansible 224 [long]   
On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 16:46:00 +0000, David Langford 
wrote:

>13 Mar [] READING AT BORDERS, Oxford St, London. Top floor, 6:30pm. With
>Pat Cadigan, Neal Asher, and `a special surprise guest'.

Here we go again:

"Due to the unavailability of guests, I have to cancel the March Borders  
event. Please pass the word. We will return in April. -- Pat Cadigan"

Dave
-- 
David Langford | http://ansible.co.uk/
Read Ansible at http://news.ansible.co.uk/
date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:19:44 +0000   author:   David Langford

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