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On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:33:30 +0000, David Langford <...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
ANSIBLE 246
JANUARY 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 the casebook of Bulent Hellbag.
[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.co.uk/a246.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 NAMES OF THE PONDS ###
DOUGLAS ADAMS has inspired a US fan campaign to rename 42nd Avenue in
Portland, Oregon, as Douglas Adams Boulevard. (_The Register_)
ARTHUR C. CLARKE celebrated his 90th birthday on 16 December. He
announced three birthday wishes: for world adoption of cleaner energy
sources, evidence of alien life, and lasting peace in Sri Lanka. One week
later the _New York Times_ magazine ran a full-page ad for something
called the TurboChef Speedcook Oven, with a headline beginning: 'It's
been said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic." ...' This timely quotation was not credited. [JDB]
HARLAN ELLISON's wrath -- at net rumours that the new _Star Trek_ film
will use characters he invented for 'City at the Edge of Forever' -- was
misplaced. (See _Ansible_ 245.) He's been reassured, and others have
confirmed, that the story is false. Our correspondent Una Tribble has a
theory of its origin: 'My sources tell me the Guardian of Forever prop
seen on the Paramount lot is not in fact for the new film but the new
_Star Trek_ tour that's recently been press-released over on
Startrek.com.'
SIMON R. GREEN's latest novel had to be changed: 'It was originally
called _Just Another Damned Hero_, but the publishers said it couldn't
be called that, because none of the book chains in the US would accept
a book title that had the word "damned" in it. Really. In this day and
age. So, the book now has a new title: _Just Another Judgement Day_.'
Perhaps _this_ is why Tim LaHaye's 'Left Behind' series wasn't
rapturously entitled 'You're All Damned, Ha Ha, Except For Some Of My
Buddies.'
DORIS LESSING was quizzed again about her sf, and mentioned hearing from
Some Of Us since the Nobel win: 'I had a wonderful letter from the
science fiction people, which was absolutely charming of them, because
I've always been just a little bit difficult for them. They said ... so
glad your novels have won: we don't know if you're ahead of us or we're
ahead of you, or words to this effect, and that was very sweet.' (Mark
Lawson interview, BBC Radio 4 _Front Row_, 10 December) [RC] I wonder who
those mystery well-wishers could have been....
IAN MCKELLEN had top billing in the UK New Year honours, as a Companion
of Honour. The 97-page list included only five goodies for services to
literature. Children's author Jacqueline Wilson, who has published at
least one supernatural novel, was upgraded from OBE to Dame CBE; and
historical novelist Peter Vansittart, whose early utopian novels earned
him an _SF Encyclopedia_ entry, received the OBE.
TERRY PRATCHETT sent an email circular: 'I would have liked to keep this
one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of
course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to
withhold the news. I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early
onset Alzheimer's, which lay behind this year's phantom "stroke". / We
are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild
optimism. [...] All other things being equal, I expect to meet most
current and, as far as possible, future commitments but will discuss
things with the various organisers. Frankly, I would prefer it if people
kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few
more books yet :o). / PS: I would just like to draw attention to everyone
reading the above that this should be interpreted as "I am not dead". I
will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else.
For me, this [is] maybe further off than you think -- it's too soon to
tell. I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do",
but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high end experts
in brain chemistry.' [11 December] Fingers fervently crossed, mate.
_Later:_ 'Well, that was a weird few weeks. Not unpleasant, but kind of
odd, like being a guest at one's own wake. We couldn't ring out on the
phones and the mail boxes just went crazy; Rob thinks there were around
40,000 contacts all told. Lots of helpful advice and informed
suggestions, though; a strategy is unfolding.' [29 December]
BRANDON SANDERSON, the US fantasy novelist, has been chosen by the late
Robert Jordan's wife and editor Harriet Popham Rigney to complete the
final novel in the stupefyingly popular 'Wheel of Time' fantasy series.
Jordan's own title for this is _A Memory of Light_. [SFWA]
### CONSTIPE ###
23 Jan [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, The Star pub, West Halkin Mews, London, SW1.
6pm on; fans present from 5pm. With Robert Holdstock.
26 Jan [] BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY OPEN NIGHT with ghost story readings,
York Brewery, York. See www.britishfantasysociety.org.
2-3 Feb [] HI-EX (comics), Eden Court, Bishop's Road, Inverness, IV3 5SA.
Pounds10 weekend, Pounds6 day; child Pounds5/Pounds3. Box office: 01463
234 234.
8-10 Feb [] SF BALL (media), Carrington House Hotel, Bournemouth.
Pounds90 weekend (very few such tickets left), Pounds29 day; child
Pounds29/$15. More expensive options: 'gold ticket' Pounds175, 'dining'
Pounds105; child Pounds88/Pounds53. Contact Flat 3, Blighwood, 57 Surrey
Rd, Poole, BH12 1HF.
23 Feb [] PICOCON 24, Imperial College Union, London. 10am-7pm/8pm.
Pounds8 reg, Pounds6 concessions, Pounds4 ICFS members. Contact ICSF,
Beit Quad, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BB.
21-24 Mar [] ORBITAL (Eastercon), Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow,
London. Pounds55 reg; Pounds20 supp or junior (12-17), Pounds5 child (5-
11), Pounds1 infant. Contact 8 Windmill Close, Epsom, Surrey, KT17 3AL.
Credit card bookings: http://www.orbital2008.org.
15-18 May [] EUROCON/ROSCON, Lesnye Dali Hotel, Gorki-10, Moscow West,
Russia. (Date change from the original 3-7 May.) _Now $100 reg (same at
the door)_; Euro20 supp; all-inclusive membership Euro250 with 3 nights'
accommodation and 3 meals/day -- this must be booked in advance. See
booking form at http://www.eurocon2008.ru.
26-29 Jun [] CONRUNNER 2008 (conrunning), Britannia Hotel, Wolverhampton.
_Now Pounds35 reg_. Pounds50 at door. Day rate Pounds25. Contact 56
Jackmans Place, Letchworth G.C., Herts, SG6 1RH.
6-10 Aug [] DENVENTION 3 (66th Worldcon), Denver, CO, USA. Denvention,
PO Box 1349, Denver, CO 80201, USA. _New rates from 1 January to 10
July:_ $200 reg, $50 child or supporting. Contact Denvention, PO Box
1349, Denver, CO 80201, USA.
22-25 Aug [] DISCWORLD CONVENTION 2008, Hilton Metropole, Birmingham
(NEC). _Now Pounds55 reg;_ Pounds36 junior/concessions. Online booking
(www.dwcon.org) closes 1 Aug or earlier if the membership limit is
reached. Contact PO Box 4101, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 5XD.
19-21 Sep [] FANTASYCON 2008, Britannia Hotel, 1 St James St, Nottingham.
GoH Christopher Golden (more TBA?). _Now Pounds45 reg_ (BFS members
Pounds40) to 31 Jun 08; then Pounds55 (Pounds50). Supp or day rate
Pounds25. Contact 3 Tamworth Close, Lower Earley, Reading, RG6 4EQ.
18-19 Oct [] OCTOCON, Royal Dublin Hotel, O'Connell St, Dublin. Euro30
reg; students Euro12; under 18s/supp Euro10. Octocon 2008 c/o Electric
Dragon, 19a Main St, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
26-29 Jun 09 [] SECTUS 2009 (Harry Potter), Bodelwyddan Castle, North
Wales. Pounds290 inc 3 nights' accommodation with breakfast/dinner,
rising to Pounds300 on 1 Nov 08, Pounds310 on 1 Feb 09. (Instalment plan
available.) Contact 114 Bassnage Rd, Halesowen, W. Midlands, B63 4HF.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
CONSPIRACY CORNER. Boris Johnson proposed the most plausible explanation
to date of the 'mystery' surrounding Princess Diana's death: 'I will
reveal how the Duke of Edinburgh secretly trained the Loch Ness Monster
to swim up the Seine until it reached the Pont d'Alma and then I will
explain how Philip then gave a kind of ghillie's whistle and Nessie
reared out of the water and so startled Henri Paul that he swerved into
the path of Elvis Presley in the white Fiat Uno, at which point Prince
Charles -- hovering overhead in a Luftwaffe helicopter -- switched on the
supermagnet installed by MI6 in the concrete pillar of the tunnel and
sucked the Merc to its doom.' (BBC _What the Papers Say_, 22 Dec) [JL]
AS WE SEE OURSELVES. Glen Erickson on the 30th-anniversary 'Ultimate
Edition' DVD release of _Close Encounters_: 'When Neary goes on his
cross-country quest, he's already been reduced to a total loser in the
grip of an infantile obsession -- an insecurity that science-fiction
addicts surely identify with.' (DVDtalk.com, 8 December) [GD]
ANOTHER TOP 50. _The Times_ ran its list of 'The 50 greatest British
writers since 1945' (5 January). Philip Larkin came first, and many
authors of genre interest followed: 2 George Orwell, 3 William Golding,
5 Doris Lessing, 6 J.R.R. Tolkien, 9 Kingsley Amis, 10 Angela Carter, 11
C.S. Lewis, 13 Salman Rushdie, 14 Ian Fleming, 16 Roald Dahl, 17 Anthony
Burgess, 18 Mervyn Peake, 19 Martin Amis, 27 J.G. Ballard, 28 Alan
Garner, 29 Alasdair Gray, 38 Iain Banks, 42 J.K. Rowling, 43 Philip
Pullman, 50 Michael Moorcock.
Further 'names on our longlist that didn't make the cut' include
Peter Ackroyd, Robert Conquest, Lawrence Durrell, Penelope Lively, David
Mitchell, Brian Moore, Christopher Priest, Iain Sinclair, Fay Weldon,
Angus Wilson, and Jeanette Winterson. The first website comments
complained bitterly about the absence of Terry Pratchett from both lists.
No actual research went into this momentous compilation -- just the
opinions of assorted _Times_ hacks.
R.I.P. _Marit Allen_ (1941-2007), UK-born film costume designer, died on
26 November aged 66. Genre work includes _Don't Look Now_, _Hulk_, the
upcoming _Justice League of America_, and the _Little Shop of Horrors_
musical. [CH]
_Frank Capra Jr_ (1934-2007), US film producer/director and son of
the more famous Capra, died on 19 December; he was 73. Genre work
includes his first film _Marooned_, three _Planet of the Apes_ sequels,
and _Firestarter_. [SFS]
_J Lawrence 'Larry' Cassingham_ (1918-2007), US inventor, journalist
and actor, died on 23 December -- the day after his 89th birthday. In the
1940s, Cassingham developed the first practical portable Geiger counter.
His scientific background and California location led him to being
technical advisor on many 1950s-60s 'atomic' movies and tv shows,
including _Zombies of the Stratosphere_ (1952), _The Magnetic Monster_
(1953) and _The Atomic Kid_ (1954). He recalled arguing with directors:
'They often wanted more drama, and I wanted more technical accuracy. I
usually lost!' [SG]
_Roger Eldridge_ (1944-2007), UK author and photo-journalist whose
sf novels were _The Shadow of the Gloom-World_ (1977) and _The Fishers
of Darksea_ (1982), died on 4 November. He was 63. [JC]
_George MacDonald Fraser_ (1925-2007), UK author of the very popular
'Flashman' historical or alternate-historical adventures (1969-2005),
died on 2 January. He was 82. Fraser wrote the screenplay for _Octopussy_
(1983) and received an OBE in 1999.
_Bill Idelson_ (1930-2007), US screenwriter/actor who began by
scripting _The Flintstones_ in the 1960s, died on 31 December aged 87.
He also wrote for _The Twilight Zone_, _Bewitched_ and _The Ghost and Mrs
Muir_. [SFS]
_Tony Tenser_ (1920-2007), UK film producer who founded Tigon Films
in 1966, died on 5 December aged 87. His releases included _Witchfinder
General_ (1968), _Blood on Satan's Claw_ (1971) and the 1972 _Doomwatch_
film. [SG]
_Marion Van Der Voort_, who with her husband Richard ran the well-
known UK sf bookshop At The Sign of the Dragon for 35 years, died at home
on 26 December. She was hospitalized with double pneumonia from early
October to Christmas Eve, and had seemed to be recovering. All sympathy
to Richard.
AS OTHERS SEE US. 'Connie Willis is known as a science-fiction writer,
but Laura Miller of Salon.com doesn't want to give people the idea that
these stories are going to be about spaceships or robots or aliens.
They're an unusual mixture of subject matters that might be dealt with
in literary short stories [...] Connie Willis is not very well known
because she's not a conventional science-fiction writer, and she's not
really known in literary circles.' (NPR.org, 21 December) [MW]
FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ Chris Garcia's TAFF win, reported last issue, was 'on
the first ballot with 62.7% of the total combined NA/Europe votes. No
other candidate received 20% of this combined vote.' [ST] Detailed
figures delayed by administrators' attacks of Real Life....
_DUFF:_ 2008 southbound race announced in late December with a _31
January_ voting deadline. Candidates are Steve & Sue Francis (jointly)
and Murray Moore. Ballot form at http://www.fanac.org/DUFF2008.pdf.
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Brian Aldiss_ is all breathless: 'I can't help it but
I am having my portrait painted in oils. In fact, this is quite an
exciting week. On Tuesday I have my feet examined, Wednesday my head --
no, sorry -- Wednesday a lecture on "Science and Civilization" at the
ScienceOxford venue (to be filmed). On Thursday, a lady with the exciting
name of Sue Fox comes to interview me for "The Worst of Times, The Best
of Times". On the seventh day I rested. Then chaps come to lunch with me
and discuss the possibility of a movie of _Non-Stop_. (Pretty quick off
the mark, since it appeared only half a century ago.)' [2 December]
_Mike Glicksohn_ passes on a Sidney Coleman story: 'Sid was late for
a panel at a physics conference but as he walked in one of the panelists
said, "I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question." Sid replied:
"I do. What was the question?" You had to love the man.'
_Diana Wynne Jones_ wonders if it ever happened: 'Er ... is there
a particular reason why you left me out of the [_A245_] World Fantasy
awards list? I ask because I could have dreamt that I and another woman
whose name I don't know shared lifetime achievement thingies. I think I
dreamt that I sent a speech of acceptance to my proxy in America, which
arrived as total gibberish, and that they in return promised me a Thing
by post, which was put in a rowing boat that got swamped halfway across
the Atlantic so that they lost the Thing overboard. No, no, it was all
a mad dream. Forget that I asked you.' My paltry excuse is that the WFA
life awards to Diana and to Betty Ballantine were announced, or leaked,
months before the other results and reported in _Ansible_ 242 (September
2007).
_Martin Morse Wooster_ knows Terry Pratchett's social calendar
better than the man himself: 'Terry Pratchett did NOT attend "the
Washington Literary Festival." He was at the National Book Festival.'
HUGO STUFF. Hugo nominations opened on 1 January with a 31 March
deadline. Possible future rule changes: Jay Lake's proposal of a Lifetime
Achievement Hugo has had a somewhat mixed reception so far, while a straw
poll at Sfawardswatch.com showed an overwhelming majority in favour of
scrapping the Semiprozine category. Wait and see....
AS NEAR RELATIONS SEE US. Petrea Mitchell writes: 'My favorite radio
show, _Whad'Ya Know?_, is right now rerunning a show I previously missed.
This turns out to have been from during the 2005 World Fantasy
Convention. Parts of the show involve the host chatting with random
members of the audience. He was talking to someone who was in Madison
primarily for the WFC.... _Host, in what I stress was a friendly manner:_
Do you dress up funny there? _Audience member, horrified:_ No, no, that's
_science fiction_, _not_ fantasy and horror. _Host:_ Do you go to those
conventions too? _Audience member:_ As little as possible.'
RANDOM FANDOM. _Garth Spencer_ announces that his fanzine _The Royal
Swiss Navy Gazette_ will henceforth appear only online.
THE REWARDS OF VIRTUE. Simon R. Green enjoyed an end-of-year gloat over
his _Romantic Times_ Career Achievement Award nomination, in the urban
fantasy category. 'For the Nightside series. And all this without a
single sex scene. Mother would be so proud.'
C.O.A. _Tommy Ferguson_, 125 Haypark Ave, Belfast, BT7 3FG.
PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. Musical chairs at Little, Brown UK: George
Walkley moves from being Orbit Business Manager to Marketing Director and
also Director of Digital Strategy for L,B. Samantha Smith is now Orbit
Marketing Executive, dealing with publicity etc.
THE DEAD PAST. Some author centenaries this year: Nigel Balchin, Nelson
S. Bond, Howard Browne, Cleve Cartmill, John Creasey, Simone de Beauvoir,
John Russell Fearn, Ian Fleming, Pamela Frankau, Gertrude Friedberg, Carl
Jacobi, Olof Johannesson, George Langelaan, Angus MacVicar, Robert Merle,
George Pal, Paul Tabori, Stephen Tall, Mervyn Wall, Donald Wandrei, Jack
Williamson. The first issue of Hugo Gernsback's _Modern Electrics_ also
appeared in 1908.
GROUP GROPES. _Hackney Libraries SF/Fantasy Reading Group:_ first meeting
15 Jan at CLR James Library, 24-30 Dalston Rd, London, E8 3AZ. 6.30pm.
Contact ReadScienceFiction at Hackney dot gov dot uk.
AMAZON.COM paid Pounds1,950,000 at auction for one of 7 handwritten
copies of J.K. Rowling's _Tales of Beedle the Bard_ -- proceeds to
charity. Being unable actually to publish these 5 fairy tales, Amazon
described their plots in a longish review at http://www.amazon.com/beedlebard/.
[PM] A handwritten advance copy of _Ansible_ 246 was withdrawn from the
Sotheby's auction when bidding, though initially spirited, failed to
reach the reserve of 50p.
AEON AWARD 2008. For unpublished stories <8,000 words; usual MS format,
Euro7 entrance fee, first prize Euro1000. Send to 8 Bachelor's Walk,
Dublin 1, Ireland; enquiries bobn at yellowbrickroad dot ie.
THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Visual Effects Dept._ 'The night sky was like a
piece of soggy velvet, wrung out by giant invisible hands.' (Shaun
Hutson, _The Terminator_ novelization, 1984) [AR] 'In the blackness, his
left eye glowed like a pool of boiling blood.' _(Ibid)_
_Dept of Status Symbols._ 'From an expedition case she pulled a
small metallic cube, slightly smaller than the fuzzy dice classy people
hang from rear view mirrors.' (Walt Becker, _Link_, 1998) [AK]
_Pathetic Fallacy Dept, or The Rapture of the Sentient C-4._ 'The
jumpy molecules of explosives felt the shock waves hit the large room.
Barely able to contain themselves, they waited two hundredths of a second
longer before they too saw God.' _(Ibid)_
_Psychosomatic Dept._ 'Sometimes, when he slept, he would awaken
screaming and with the feeling of evil scraping at his mind like a cold
lump of conviction resting heavily in his stomach.' (Lee Harding,
'Dragonfly' in _New Worlds_ 117, April 1962) [JB]
### GEEKS' CORNER ###
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Back issues -- http://news.ansible.co.uk/
_Ansible_ Links -- http://links.ansible.co.uk/
Dave Langford -- http://ansible.co.uk/
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
2-3 Feb 2008, Hi-Ex (comics), Inverness
8-10 Feb 2008, SF Ball (media), Bournemouth
22-24 Feb 2008, Nostromo SF Festival, Newcastle upon Tyne
21-24 Mar 2008, Orbital (Eastercon), Heathrow
29-30 Mar 2008, P-Con 5, Dublin, Ireland
CANCELLED: Spring 2008, Distraction, Newbury
15-18 May 2008, Roscon or Euroscon (Eurocon), Moscow
RELOCATED TO USA: 24-27 Jun 2008, SF Research Association conference,
Dublin
26-29 Jun 2008, ConRunner 2008 (conrunning), Wolverhampton
6-10 Aug 2008, Denvention 3 (Worldcon), Denver, USA
22-25 Aug 2008, Discworld Convention 2008, Birmingham
18-19 October 2008, Octocon, Ireland
5-7 Sep 2008, ZombieCon, Bentley, Walsall
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
26-29 Jun 2009, Sectus 2009 (Harry Potter), North Wales
6-10 Aug 2009, Anticipation (67th Worldcon), Montreal, Canada
### ENDNOTES ###
APPARITIONS.
[] 11 January 2008: Brum Group, Britannia Hotel, New St, Birmingham.
night. 7.45pm. AGM and Auction. Contact 07845 897760 or bhamsfgroup at
yahoo co uk. Further meetings 8 Feb, 14 Mar, 11 Apr, 9 May.
RANDOM LINKS. Rather than save them up for _Ansible_ each month, I now
add topical links to a sidebar column on the links page. Note the new
(2007) shorter URL:
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
http://ansible.co.uk/books/apricot.html (new! Well, sort of)
DUFF 2008: on-line voting with PayPal payment is available here:
http://jeanweber.com/duff2008/
ME. Recent Langford website updates included _Cloud Chamber_ 157 and
the never even slightly legendary 'Fission Fragments' news columns
from _Ad Astra_ (1979-1981):
http://ansible.co.uk/cc/cc157.html
http://ansible.co.uk/ff.html
All thanks from Hazel and myself for heaps of Christmas cards and the
various messages within. Much appreciated.
SF FOUNDATION MASTERCLASS (London, June): just a reminder that the
application deadline is 31 January. See _Ansible_ 245 for more.
http://news.ansible.org/a245.html#events
STOP PRESS! Today's Guardian Book Blog has a kindly word for sf and
the Hugos:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/01/why_do_critics_still_sneer_at.html
http://tinyurl.com/22kr6a (if the above is too long and wraps)
Ansible 246 Copyright (c) Dave Langford, 2008. Thanks to John D.
Berry, John Boston, John Clute, Gary Dalkin, Ric Cooper, Steve Green,
Chip Hitchcock, Amanda Kear, Jim Linwood, Petrea Mitchell, Adam
Roberts, SF Site, SFWA, Suzanne Tompkins, Mike Williams, and our Hero
Distributors: Vernon Brown (Birmingham SF Group), Janice Murray (North
America), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia). Happy New(ish)
Year!
7 Jan 08
--
David Langford | http://ansible.co.uk/ | http://news.ansible.co.uk/
See http://ansible.co.uk/bibcent.html for bibliographical horrors.
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