• Ansible 442 -- May 2024

    From David Langford@21:1/5 to All on Wed May 1 16:33:44 2024
    XPost: uk.people.sf-fans

    ANSIBLE(R) 442
    MAY 2024

    From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE,
    or the complete and uncensored text of _The Avatar's Apprentice_.

    [NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a442.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a442.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


    ### SCROLL FROM THE NINTH DIMENSION ###

    J.G. BALLARD's 1962 fantasy 'The Garden of Time' is the official theme for
    this month's New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit gala, whose guests must presumably make the tough choice between dressing
    as doomed aristocrats or as the oncoming barbarian horde. (Vanessa
    Friedman, _New York Times_, 22 April) [DP]

    CORY DOCTOROW on certain billionaires who claim to be influenced by sf:
    'These people are saying "we finally created the utopia of _Neuromancer_".
    And I look at them and I go, "I don't think you read _Neuromancer_. Maybe
    you just played Cyberpunk 2077."' (_Nautilus_, 5 April) [BA]

    CHINA MIEVILLE cancelled his acceptance of a literature fellowship at
    Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service)
    owing to this institute's seeming complicity with 'a shameful program of repression and anti-Palestinian racism.' (Xitter, 23 April)

    J.M. STRACZYNSKI, introducing a new edition of _Dangerous Visions_,
    explains the terrible wasteland that was sf before Harlan Ellison: 'For
    most of their history, the science fiction and fantasy genres were known
    for stories of vast alien civilizations, far-flung galactic adventures,
    ragtag groups against an empire ... and for being studiously safe and relentlessly unprovocative. There were exceptions, to be sure: _1984_ by
    George Orwell, _Brave New World_ by Aldous Huxley, and _A Clockwork Orange_
    by Anthony Burgess all being notable examples.' [PDF]

    LIZ TRUSS's memoir _Ten Years to Save the West_ (which incidentally 'broke
    the rules in place for ministers publishing works about their time in
    office' -- Sky News, 18 April) has been sighted in a City of London
    bookshop shelved with other 'Sci-Fi and Fantasy'. [SB]


    ### CONTURBATION ###

    Until 19 Oct [] HEROES: THE BRITISH INVASION OF AMERICAN COMICS
    (exhibition), Cartoon Museum, London. See tinyurl.com/yf54dm38.

    3-6 May [] PARACINEMA CULT FILM FESTIVAL, QUAD Center, Derby. GBP45; GBP25 concessions. Tickets available at paracinema.co.uk.

    4-5 May [] GALACTIC GATHERING (_Star Wars_ theme), National Space Centre, Leicester. See www.spacecentre.co.uk/whats-on/.

    11-12 May [] PORTSMOUTH COMIC CON, Guildhall, Portsmouth.GBP37; GBP19.50 concessions; day rates and more at portsmouthcomiccon.com.

    15-17 May [] GIFCON (University of Glasgow conference), 'Conjuring
    Creatures and Worlds', online. See tinyurl.com/yfdbvdwj.

    18-19 May [] HORRORCON UK, Magna, Sheffield. Weekend tickets GBP45 (11am
    entry) or GBP55 (10am entry); more at horrorconuk.com.

    18-19 May [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

    25-26 May [] LAWLESS (UK comics), Hilton Doubletree, Bristol. Weekend
    ticket GBP75.60 inc fees; day rates at lawlesscomiccon.co.uk.

    31 May - 2 Jun [] CYMERA: Scotland's Festival of SF, Fantasy & Horror
    Writing, Edinburgh. See www.cymerafestival.co.uk.

    31 May - 2 Jun [] FUNCON ONE, Palace Hotel, Buxton.GBP70 reg; GBP80 with
    added 'warm fuzzy feeling'; GBP40 concessions. See funcon.lol.

    8-9 Jun [] EM-CON (media), Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham. Weekend tickets
    GBP30 (11am entry) or GBP40 (10am) at www.em-con.co.uk.

    9 Jun [] SEEK-LOCATE-CELEBRATE (_Blake's 7_; formerly Forever Avon),
    Steventon Village Hall, Steventon, Oxford, OX13 5RR. 10am-4pm. See www.facebook.com/TeamBlakeForeverAvon.

    12 Jun [] TOLKIEN LECTURE by Neil Gaiman, Oxford Town Hall, Oxford. 6pm.
    See tolkienlecture.org.

    22 Jun [] STARS OF TIME (comics), LC, Steam Museum, Swindon. Adult ticket GBP17.50; other rates at www.starsoftime.co.uk/swindon.

    7 Sep [] FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 5, Univ of West London, Ealing. GBP45 reg;
    YA GBP20. See www.fightingfantasy.com/fighting-fantasy-fest-5.

    24-27 Oct [] CELLULOID SCREAMS horror film festival, Sheffield. Weekend
    passes and day tickets awaited at celluloidscreams.com.

    18-21 Apr 2025 [] RECONNECT, Hilton Lanyon Place Hotel and ICC,
    Belfast.GBP70 reg; GBP40 discounted (_under-18s, concessions, Eastercon first-timers, fans living in Ireland__)_; GBP25 supporting. See easterconbelfast.org. _Refunds are offered to those who now qualify for a discount and paid more._

    17-20 Oct 2025 [] IRISH DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Cork International Hotel,
    Cork. Membership sales awaited at idwcon.org.

    RUMBLINGS. _Glasgow 2024_ (Worldcon) warns in PR4 that projected in-person attendance is now between 6,500 and 8,500, the latter 'probably above the maximum holding capacity for the site'. There may be a cap on in-person attendance: join early and don't join often. But full-page Worldcon ads in _SFX_ magazine continue. [SF2C]
    _Hugo Voting_ is open (email, 20 April) and closes on 20 July. See
    login page at glasgow2024.org/hugo-awards/hugo-awards-final-ballot/.
    _Contabile 35_ (filk, February 2025): venue announcement still awaited
    at www.contabile.org.uk/c35/.


    ### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

    AS OTHERS SEE US. UK convention fans were mildly surprised by a report of
    the '_All Tomorrow's Futures_ book launch at EasterCon, British Sci-Fi Association Fest in Telford', hardly any of them having noticed amid the general desperate fun that 'An increased wave of anxieties about rapid advancement of AI and impact on jobs has been at the epicentre of EasterCon this year.' (Cybersalon.org, 18 April) [LE]

    AWARDS. _Arthur C. Clarke:_ the complete submissions list of 117 titles was released on 22 April.
    _Compton Crook_ (sf/fantasy/horror debut): _The Splinter in the Sky_
    by Kemi Ashing-Giwa.
    _Horror Writers Association:_ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Steve Rasnic Tem,
    Mort Castle, Cassandra Peterson. SPECIALTY PRESS Thunderstorm Books.

    THOG'S SCIENCE MASTERCLASS. _Higher Mathematics Dept._ 'In both the cerebro-geometric figures I have mentioned, the complicate figurate of the empress was mechanically woven into the matrix, and because speed was an absolute essential, the possible influence of other minds was reduced to a
    high level Constant, modified by a simple, oscillating Variable --' (A.E.
    van Vogt, _The Weapon Makers_, 1947) [LP]

    R.I.P. _Sergey Abramov_ (1944-2024), Russian sf/fantasy author whose 30+
    novels include ten collaborations with his father Aleksandr Abramov and six with his son Artyom Abramov, died on 7 April aged 79. [AM]
    _Paul Auster_ (1947-2024), noted US author whose work includes sf --
    such as _In the Country of Last Things_ (1987) -- and magic realism, died
    on 30 April aged 77. [PK]
    _David Barrington-Holt_ (1945-2024), UK puppeteer and special effects artist long associated with the Jim Henson Company, died on 13 March aged
    78. [AIP] His films include _The Witches_ (1990), _The Phantom_ (1996),
    _George of the Jungle_ (1997) and _Cats & Dogs_ (2001).
    _John Barth_ (1930-2024), US academic and major author who often made postmodern play with fantasy themes and whose sf magnum opus was _Giles Goat-Boy_ (1966), died on 2 April aged 93. [PDF]
    _Andreas Bjorklind_ (1967-2024), Swedish fan who was founding chairman
    of the Linkoping sf club and co-organized the early ConFuse conventions
    held there from 1991, died on 17 April aged 57. [J-HH]
    _F. Yorick Blumenfeld_ (1932-2024), Dutch-born UK author whose sf
    works are the post-holocaust story _Jenny Ewing: My Diary_ (1981) and
    _2099: A Eutopia_ (1999), died on 8 April aged 91. [AIP]
    _Mark D. Bright_ (1955-2024), US comics artist active since 1977, who worked on _Iron Man_, _Green Lantern_, _Quantum and Woody_ (as co-creator)
    and others, died on 27 March aged 68. [F770]
    _Robin Browne_ (1941-2024), UK cinematographer and visual effects
    artist whose many credits include _Moonraker_ (1979), _Krull_ (1983) and
    _King Kong Lives_ (1986), died on 28 March aged 82. [AIP]
    _Antonio Cantafora_ (1944-2024), Italian actor -- also as 'Michael
    Coby' -- in _Baron Blood_ (1972), _Supersonic Man_ (1972) and _A spasso nel tempo_ (1996), died on 20 April aged 80. [SJ]
    _Terry Carter_ (1928-2024), US actor in _Battlestar Galactica_
    (1978-1979, film and tv) and other genre series, died on 23 April aged 95.
    _Carolyn Caughey_, Canadian-born former publishing director at Hodder
    & Stoughton, where she published many crime and sf authors 1981-2000, died
    on 14 March. [AIP]
    _Ray Chan_ (1967-2024), UK art director of _Thunderbirds_ (2004), _Children of Men_ (2006), _Guardians of the Galaxy_ (2014), _Avengers:
    Infinity War/Endgame_ (2018/2019) and others, died on 23 April aged 56.
    [SJ]
    _Jubilee Cho_ (1998-2024), author of the forthcoming children's
    fantasy _Wishing Well, Wishing Well_, died on 6 March aged 25. (SFWA)
    _Ray Daley_ (1969-2024), prolific UK flash-fiction author whose self-published collections are _Lightning Strikes Twice_ (2012) and _A Year
    of Living Bradbury_ (2014), died on 9 April aged 54. [F770]
    _Samantha Davis_, often uncredited actress in _Willow_ (1988),
    _Through the Dragon's Eye_ (1989), _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2_ (2011) and others, died on 24 March; she is survived by her husband,
    _Willow_ star Warwick Davis. [AIP]
    _Roger Dicken_ (1939-2024), UK visual effects artist who worked on
    _2001_ (1968, uncredited), _When Dinosaurs Ruled the World_ (1970), _Alien_ (1979) and others, died on 18 February. [LP]
    _Joe Flaherty_ (1941-2024), US writer, producer, comedian and actor in _Second City Television_ (1976-1981, often as vampire host Count Floyd), _Really Weird Tales_ (1986, also as co-writer), _Back to the Future Part
    II_ (1989), _Maniac Mansion_ (1990-1993) and others, died on 1 April aged
    82. [TM]
    _Ray Garton_ (1962-2024), US horror author with many books published
    since his first novel _Seductions_ (1984) and first collection _Methods of Madness_ (1990), died on 22 April aged 61. [SJ]
    _Travis Heermann_, US author of historical fantasies beginning with
    the Japan-set 'Ronin Trilogy' (2009-2015), died on 26 April. [SHS]
    _BarbaraO_ aka _Barbara O. Jones_ (1941-2024), US actress in _Demon
    Seed_ (1977) and genre tv series, died on 16 April aged 82. [SHS]
    _Bruce Kessler_ (1936-2024), US director of _Simon, King of the
    Witches_ (1971), _Cruise into Terror_ (1978), _Deathmoon_ (1978) and
    episodes of many genre tv series, died on 4 April aged 88. [SJ]
    _Margaret Lee_ (1943-2024), UK actress long in Italy whose films
    include _Colossus of the Stone Age_ (1962), _The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars_ (1964) and _New York Calling Superdragon_ (1966), died on 24 April aged 80. [SJ]
    _Michael A. Linaker_ (1940-2024), UK author of the 1981-1982
    'Scorpion' monster novels and 1990s 'Cade' sf police procedurals, died on
    10 February aged 84. [SH]
    _Ed Piskor_ (1982-2024), US alternative comics artist whose credits include _X-Men: Grand Design_ (2017) and who won a 2015 Eisner award,
    committed suicide on 1 April aged 41.
    _Lynne Reid Banks_ (1929-2024), Barrie Award-winning UK author of children's and YA fantasy including _The Farthest-Away Mountain_ (1976) and
    the series opening with _The Indian in the Cupboard_ (1980), died on 4
    April aged 94. [SJ] As a young reporter she covered the 1957 London
    Worldcon for ITV; some footage still survives.
    _Trina Robbins_ (1938-2024), US fan and artist who first published in fanzines and underground comics, designed Vampirella's costume in 1969,
    adapted Tanith Lee's _The Silver Metal Lover_ and from 1986 worked on
    _Wonder Woman_, died on 10 April aged 85. [MJ]
    _C.J. Sansom_ (1952-2024), UK author of historical mysteries whose sf novel is the alternate-history _Dominion_ (2012), died on 27 April aged 71. [JC]
    _Adrian Schiller_ (1964-2024), UK actor in _Victor Frankenstein_
    (2015), _A Cure for Wellness_ (2016), _Beauty and the Beast_ (2017) and
    genre tv series, died on 3 April aged 60. [SJ]
    _O.J. Simpson_ (1947-2024), US footballer and actor notorious for
    other reasons, whose rare genre credits include _Capricorn One_ (1977),
    died on 10 April aged 76. [LP]
    _John Trimble_ (1936-2024), long-time Los Angeles fan, con-runner,
    fanzine publisher and 2002 Worldcon fan guest of honour with his wife Bjo Trimble (to whom all sympathy), died on 19 April aged 87. [DG] The Trimbles
    ran the 'Save _Star Trek_' write-in campaign of the late 1960s, which won a third season for the series.
    _Lorena Velazquez_ (1937-2024), Mexican actress in _The Ship of
    Monsters_ (1960), _Santo vs the Vampire Women_ (1962), _Planet of the
    Female Invaders_ (1966) and many more, died on 11 April aged 86. [SJ]
    _Dan Wallin_ (1927-2024), Emmy-winning US sound engineer whose very
    many genre films include _Howard the Duck_ (1986), _Star Trek_ (2009),
    _Super 8_ (2011) and _John Carter_ (2012), died on 10 April aged 97. [SJ]
    _Hiroshi Yamamoto_ (1956-2024), Japanese author active since 1978
    whose translated work includes _The Stories of Ibis_ (2006; trans 2010) and _MM9: Monster Magnitude_ (2007; trans 2010), died on 29 March aged 68.
    [JonC]

    THE WEAKEST LINK. _Q._ 'The core of Harry Potter's wand consists of a
    feather of what mythical creature?' _A._ 'An owl.' (BBC1, _The Edge_) [PE]

    COURT CIRCULAR. Conan the Barbarian may be in the public domain in the UK,
    but comics creator John Allison has had to abandon his homage story _Conan
    & the Blood Egg_ after grim legal threats from the trademark owner Conan Properties International LLC. (Blog, 22 April)

    THE DEAD PAST. _10 Years Ago:_ 'Ari Handel, one of the screenwriters of
    _Noah_, responded to complaints about the film's all-white cast by
    explaining how diversity leads to extreme uncoolness: "Either you end up
    with a Bennetton ad or the crew of the Starship Enterprise."
    (_Independent_) / Peter Jackson's altered subtitle for the third _Hobbit_
    movie was not, as I'd expected, _The Battle of the Three Armies_ with a
    fourth film added to do proper justice to _The Battle of the Other Two Armies_.' (_Ansible_ 322, May 2014)
    _20 Years Ago,_ Jeff VanderMeer was overwhelmed by the ambience of the 2004 Eastercon: 'Blackpool is just one degree away from being _Clockwork Orange_. I've never seen pigeons eating human vomit before. Nor have I seen such a display of flouncing breasts before, and yet been strangely unmoved, given the context. Nor have I ever emerged from a men's room stall before
    to realize that there were people having sex in the stalls to either side
    of me before. Nor have ... but the list is too long. I'm in shock.'
    (_Ansible_ 202, May 2004)
    _30 Years Ago_, 'William Gibson muttered that, working on the _Johnny Mnemonic_ film and meeting a producer, he knew exactly how a virus felt
    when it met with its own specific antibody.' (_Ansible_ 82, May 1994)
    _60 Years Ago_, selected news snippets: 'Bruce Montgomery _[Edmund Crispin]_ spent an interesting two seconds on Easter Sunday breaking his
    arm ::: _New Worlds SF_ 142, the first under the Moorcock administration
    due anytime, pocket book format, and @ a reduced cost of 2/6d ::: In _The
    Outer Limits_ programme of 23rd April, _It Crawled Out of the Woodwork_ by _Psycho_ screenplay writer Joe Stefano, the villain was called Bloch :::
    S.E. Essex Technical College recently banned _Village of the Damned_.' (_Skyrack_ 67, May 1964)

    AS OTHERS STUDY US. _The Best Bait to Use:_ '... science fiction writers
    have been drawn irresistibly to maps'. (Jerry Brotton, _A History of the
    World in Twelve Maps_, 2012) [CM]

    FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund:_ the 2024 winner is Sarah Gulde with
    60 votes to Vanessa Applegate's 31. (Hold Over Funds 4 votes; No Preference 25.) See taff.org.uk for _Taffluorescence!_ #3 and #4 with full details.
    _European Fan Fund:_ Joro Penchev (Bulgaria) won with 34 votes to 27
    for Jane Mondrup (Denmark) and will travel to the 2024 Eurocon (Erasmuscon, Rotterdam, 16-19 August). See latest post at fandomrover.com/category/eff/.
    _Get Up and Over Fan Fund (GUFF):_ Kat Clay won the 2024 northbound
    race with 42 votes to 32 for Ian Nichols (7 No Preference), and will travel from Australia to the Glasgow Worldcon. See taff.org.uk/guff.html for full announcement. As a bonus, Ian Nichols plans to come to Glasgow at his own expense.
    _Levitation 2024:_ the Fan Funds Auction etc raised some GBP1000 for
    EFF, GUFF, TAFF and (thanks!) the _SF Encyclopedia_.
    _Sign of the Times._ Both TAFF and EFF received unusually many ballots lacking the essential donations or voting fees that keep fan funds going.
    Tut tut.
    _TAFF Books._ New in the Free Ebook Library is _New Worlds Profiles_, collecting the 120 author/artist/etc profiles published 1952-1963 while
    John Carnell was editor; Rob Hansen's _Challenging Moskowitz: 1930s Fandom Revisited_ is now greatly expanded from its 2019 edition; both are also available as trade paperbacks with proceeds to TAFF. Further TAFF trip
    reports added: Sue Mason's _Into the Wide Purple Yonder_ for her 2000 trip
    and Tobes Valois's _Tobes TAFF Ting_ for his in 2002. To see all recent additions go to taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?all&chron.

    VOICE OF DOOM. 'A recent _Washington Post_ article indicated that only 12%
    of the reading public were interested in reading science fiction. A perusal
    of bestseller lists for science fiction shows an even more alarming truth:
    the science fiction books that do sell are a shrinkingly small number of reprints, classics and novels that had been adapted into movies. _[...]_ Science fiction is not selling.' (_Typebar Magazine_, 24 March) [RG]

    RANDOM FANDOM. _Sandra Bond_'s research into the Ken McIntyre award for UK fanzine artwork (1972-2000) confirms that -- there being no one to pass it
    on to -- the trophy remains in the hands of its last winner, Sue Mason.
    _Sic transit._ See the now updated _Fancyclopedia 3_ entry for details of
    many exciting typos in the engraved award inscriptions.

    EDITORIAL. Your editor is perpetually exhausted by maintenance work on the
    _SF Encyclopedia_, which is now very close indeed to the statistical thrill
    of 20,000 entries and seven million words, well over three million of them
    by John Clute; Roger Robinson's tireless work on the Picture Gallery has
    just taken us past 34,000 cover scans. (sf-encyclopedia.com)

    THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Every Fibre of His Being._ 'I could feel the fibers of
    my body turning liquid, going limp, rejecting the scent and moisture of
    her.' (Theodore Roszak, _Flicker_, 1991) [BA]
    _Neat Tricks._ 'The sound of her breath flamed in my lungs ...' (Paul Hazel, _Yearwood_, (1980) [BA]
    _Eyeballs in the Sky._ 'I cast my eye once more through all the
    branches.' (_Ibid_) [BA]
    _Boo! Hiss!_ '"You fool!" the Druid whispered -- and there was rage in
    the sibilant sound.' (Henry Kuttner, 'Dragon Moon', January 1941 _Weird
    Tales_) [BA]
    _Climate Change Dept._ 'They were clever, and being short of water on
    one side of their globe, with much ice on the other side, they decided to
    make an explosion to tilt the world and bring the ice in a more direct line with the sun. The idea was good, but it was badly managed. The explosion
    was too big and there was more ice on the Pole than they knew. This great
    mass melted in a moment and rushed across the world, overwhelming
    everything and everybody, to fill a great depression on the other side.
    This caused the world to wobble, and presently overbalance, so that it fell into a new orbit, farther from the sun, where the water again froze. Now everything is covered with a thick skin of ice.' (Captain W.E. Johns, _Now
    to the Stars_, 1956)


    ### GEEKS' CORNER ###

    SUBSCRIPTIONS. To receive _Ansible_ monthly via email, send a message to: ansible-news+subscribe [at] googlegroups.com
    You will be asked to confirm by email that you want to join the group. To resign from the Google Groups list, send email to:
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    More details, and an ALTERNATIVE LIST subscription form for those averse to Google, on this page (which is also where to unsubscribe from the
    alternative list, hosted at ansible.uk):
    https://news.ansible.uk/asubs.html
    Home page -- https://news.ansible.uk/
    RSS feed -- https://news.ansible.uk/rss.html
    LiveJournal syndication -- http://www.livejournal.com/users/ansiblezine/
    Back issues -- https://news.ansible.uk/aseries2.html
    Printable PDFs -- https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/
    Email the editor -- https://news.ansible.uk/contact.php
    Books Received -- https://ansible.uk/books.php

    CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
    British Isles -- https://news.ansible.uk
    London -- https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
    Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


    ### ENDNOTES ###

    PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
    https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
    https://ae.ansible.uk/
    https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

    GROUP THEORY.
    16 May 2024, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each
    month. 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.' https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f

    R.I.P. II -- LATE AND LAST-MINUTE REPORTS. _Sharon Green_ (1942-2022), US author of two sf series in the manner of John Norman -- 'Jalav/Amazon
    Warrior' (1982-1986) and 'Terrilian' (1982-1988) -- plus much fantasy, died
    on 17 February 2022 aged 79. [L]
    _Rick Lai_, author of _The Bronze Age: An Alternate Doc Savage
    Chronology_ (1992, revised 2010) plus historical fantasies and vampire
    stories, died on 29 April. (_The Lovecraft Ezine_)
    _Olga Larionova_ (1935-2023), award-winning Russian author of a dozen
    sf novels from 1965 to 2005, died on 8 October 2023. [AM]
    _Vladimir Veverka_ (1958-2024), important 1980s Czech fan and club organizer, founding editor of the newszine _Interkom_ in 1984 and later a bookseller and publisher, died on 23 April aged 65. [JV]

    SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
    Beatrix Potter and the Cruciverbal Inquisitor https://www.fifteensquared.net/2024/04/30/inquisitor-1852-made-runny-by-charybdis/
    Clarke Award: complete submission list https://clarkeaward.substack.com/p/carbon-based-bipeds-apr-22nd
    _SF2 Concatenation_ Summer 2024 Newscast http://www.concatenation.org/news/news4~24.html
    TAFF newsletters
    https://taff.org.uk/news/Taffluorescence3.pdf https://taff.org.uk/news/Taffluorescence4.pdf

    THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 202, May 2004. _Dept of Settlement._
    'The unsettling potential of the situation settled hard in Susan's
    stomach.' (Dan Brown, _Digital Fortress_, 1998)
    _True Romance Dept._ 'Still, it wasn't her mind that Martinez was
    admiring at the moment. Simply gazing at her was like being hit in the
    groin with a velvet hammer.' (Walter Jon Williams, _The Sundering_, 2003)
    _Swinging Sixties Dept._ 'Blake had a tantalizing glimpse of two
    impudent little breasts which made up in quality what they lacked in
    quantity.' _[Later:]_''Blake noticed that when she was angry her bust measurement was fully adequate.' (J.T. McIntosh, 'Planet on Probation', _Science Fantasy_ 42, 1960)


    _Ansible_(R) 442 (C) David Langford, 2024. Thanks to Brian Ameringen,
    Sandra Bond, Jonathan Clements, John Clute, Paul Di Filippo, Lilian
    Edwards, _File 770_, David Gerrold, Roy Gray, Steve Holland, John-Henri Holmberg, Steve Jones, Martin Jukovsky, Paul Kincaid, _Locus_, Todd Mason, Andrey Meshavkin, Chris Moore, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, David Pringle, _Private Eye_, Alison Scott, Steven H Silver, _SF2 Concatenation_,
    Jan Vanek jr, and our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Brum Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia).

    1 May 2024
    --
    David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to David Langford on Wed May 1 19:12:44 2024
    On 5/1/24 11:33 AM, David Langford wrote:
    CHINA MIEVILLE cancelled his acceptance of a literature fellowship at Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service) owing to this institute's seeming complicity with 'a shameful program of repression and anti-Palestinian racism.' (Xitter, 23 April)

    I don't know what she's referring to. This is about the most relevant
    item I could find:

    https://www.daad.de/de/der-daad/daad-journal/themen/2024/bildungschancen-fuer-palaestina/

    Translating some of the text:

    "The situation of the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in
    the Gaza Strip, is coming to a head. With the acute threat from combat
    action, hunger, and illness, the almost complete collapse of the
    educational infrastructure, educational perspectives, and the chances of
    an entire generation are on the line. DAAD will go against this trend
    with a series of measures.

    "The terror attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 has hit the
    land hard. DAAD has very quickly declared its solidarity with Israel.
    'Our sympathy goes to the victims and their families, and we express our sincere sympathy to those who have lost dependents or fear for them,'
    said DAAD president Joybrato Mukherjee in a statement just a few days
    later. 'We stand strong in solidarity with all Israelis, especially our numerous friends and partners in Israeli colleges.'

    Very racist, opposing the murder of Jews. Next thing you know, they'll
    denounce the Nazis.


    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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