Ansible 293 -- December 2011

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE 293
DECEMBER 2011

From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Web
news.ansible.co.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available
for SAE or demonstration that 1 + 1 = 1.5708.

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### THE SHIP WHO MOURNED ###

STEPHEN BAXTER learned that his former fan site baxterium.org.uk is
now devoted to the sf dream of cosmetic dentistry: 'Good God!'

HARLAN ELLISON's lawsuit against the _In Time_ movie people (see
_A291_) has been voluntarily dropped, according to the _Hollywood
Reporter_ (30 November), after Ellison actually saw the film himself:
'It's conceivable that he wasn't very impressed.' Each side is to pay
its own legal costs. The earlier online report that this case had been
settled in Ellison's favour, with a screen credit for him added to the
film, was false: a Yahoo News contributor failed to check the claim
found in an undocumented Wikipedia entry. (_Airlock Alpha_, 10/15
November) [AIP]

PETER JAMES, the thriller author, has a new book: _Perfect People_,
about a geneticist offering a designer baby service selecting for
traits like empathy, or the ability to survive on just a few hours'
sleep a night. On _Radio 5 Live_, the host asked him if this was sf.
His Atwoodian reply: 'No, it's about the science of the near
future.' (30 November) [MPJ]

JOHN MEANEY remembers: 'Anne McCaffrey was the finest, most
accomplished and brightest human being I ever met, or could meet in
any universe. She had the biggest heart of all, touching and helping
so many people.
My first memory of Anne: in the elegant bar-with-indoor-swimming-
pool of the Novacon hotel in '78, a charismatic, silver-haired vision
in a deep-turquoise gown strode into sight; and I asked the nearest
person: "Is that Anne McCaffrey?"
After hearing _yes_, I said: "I have to meet her."
By two o'clock in the morning, it was just the two of us in the
bar, and I was captivated by her warmth and intellect; and my life was
altered forever. Her final gift to me came floating across the
decades, when I was guest of honour at Novacon ten days before her
death. Our mutual friend Rog Peyton related something Anne told him
that weekend in 1978: a message I will carry always.
To visit Dragonhold (both the second and third incarnations) was
to experience a near-mystical air of peacefulness permeating a busy
hold filled with people, horses, cats and love.
And books, of course.
My debt to Anne is surpassed only by my love and admiration. She
touched so many hearts because she employed emotion in her stories;
and she accomplished that because she felt for other people: sympathy
and empathy beyond imagining.
Her story "The Ship Who Sang" was a eulogy to her father. She
could never read it without crying.
Neither, now, can I.
Bless you and thank you, Anne.' (26 November)

JASON QUINN, working on a graphic-novel adaptation of H.G. Wells's
'The Chronic Argonauts', explains why: 'It's like looking at Da
Vinci's doodles. Without "Argonauts" there would have been no _Time
Machine_. Without _Time Machine_ we'd have no _Doctor Who_, no _Time
Tunnel_, none of the great sci-fi comics of the '50s. Even Dr. Doom
would be stuffed without his time machine.' (_Wired_, November) [MMW]

J.K. ROWLING gave evidence at the Leveson phone-hacking enquiry on 24
November, and Sky producer James Old provided a helpful note:
'Needless to say the public seating area of the room is full. A sane
and sensible looking lot. No crazed Potter fans in here.' [MMcN]

TERRI WINDLING and family have expensive 'health and legal issues'.
You can help: see the benefit auction at magick4terri.livejournal.com.

### CONTRECTANT ###

9 Dec [] BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY OPEN NIGHT and (for members only)
Extraordinary General Meeting at the Mug House, London Bridge, London,
SE1 2PF. The open meeting starts 7:30pm; the EGM 6:30pm.

10 Dec [] CANNY COMIC CON, Newcastle City Library, 10am-5:30pm-ish.
Free. GoH Bryan Talbot, Mary M Talbot, Paul Davidson.

15 Dec [] LONDON XMAS MEETING (additional to First Thursdays), cellar
bar, Melton Mowbray, 18 Holborn, EC1N 2LE. All evening.

3-5 Feb 2012 [] DUPLE TIME (filk), Ramada Grantham Hotel. Now Pounds40
reg; Pounds27 unwaged; under 18 Pounds1/year; under 6 free. Cheques:
UK Filk Con, c/o Flat 1, 61 Marks Rd, Salisbury, SP1 3AY.

18 Feb 2012 [] PICOCON 29, Imperial College Union, London. 10am-7/8pm.
Pounds10 reg at door; Pounds8 concessions; Pounds5 ICSF members; past
GoHs free. Contact ICSF, Beit Quad, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7
2BB.

22-24 June 2012 [] SF FOUNDATION CRITICISM MASTERCLASS, London
Middlesex University, Hendon. Pounds190 reg. Applications with CV and
writing sample to farah.sf at gmail.com by 28 ebruary.

10-12 Aug 2012 [] CONGENIAL (Unicon/RPG), Murray Edwards College
(formerly New Hall), Cambridge. GoH Phil and Kaja Foglio. Pounds30 reg
to Congenial, 19 Uphall Road, Cambridge, CB1 3HX. Book before 10
January for room discounts: see congenial.org.uk.

27-30 Sept 2012 [] FANTASYCON 2012, Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton.
Pounds50 reg (BFS members Pounds45) _until 31 December_. Payment via
PayPal at fantasycon2012.org/join.php, or to 10 Haycroft Gardens,
Mastin Moor, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S43 3FE.

20 Oct 2012 [] BRISTOLCON, Ramada Hotel, Bristol. Multiple guests of
honour. Pounds15 to 31 May; Pounds20 to 19 October; Pounds25 at the
door. Cheques to 34 Dongola Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 9HP.

9-11 Nov 2012 [] ARMADACON 24, Plymouth. Details are awaited at
www.armadacon.org, currently 'under construction'.

9-11 Nov 2012 [] NOVACON 42, Park Inn, Nottingham. GoH Jaine Fenn.
Pounds40 reg. Contact 379 Myrtle Road, Sheffield, S2 3HQ.

31 Oct - 3 Nov 2013 [] WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION, Hilton Brighton
Metropole. _Now Pounds100 reg_; Pounds50 supp; no at-the-door or day
memberships. Cheques to 130 Park View, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 6JU;
PayPal payments at www.wfc2013.org.

RUMBLINGS. As usual: no London BSFA meeting in December.

### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. Question to _Esquire_ sex columnist Stacey Grenrock
Woods: 'I've been watching a lot of _Game of Thrones_ lately. Does it
give a historically accurate depiction of sex acts?' Answer: 'The
_Game of Thrones_ franchise has its hooves firmly dug into the genre
known as "fantasy", which, according to my _Norton Anthology_, relies
on supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or
setting, and permits the creator to put in as many tits as he
wants.' [MMW]
_Dept of the Blindingly Obvious:_ 'The funny thing is that _Cat's
Cradle_, in the central structure of its plot, is essentially a genre
novel: no more or less than an Agatha Christie mystery, a Georgette
Heyer romance, or a Louis L'Amour western.' (Joseph Bottum reviewing
Kurt Vonnegut's _Novels and Stories, 1963-1973_, _Weekly Standard_, 21
November) [MMW]

AWARDS. _Children's BAFTAs:_ best film was _Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows Part 2_, which also won the 'Kid's Vote' audience
award. [MPJ]
_Evening Standard Theatre Awards:_ best actor, Benedict
Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller jointly for their alternating roles
as creator and creature in the National Theatre _Frankenstein_. [MPJ]
_First Fandom Hall of Fame:_ Jay Kay Klein; (posthumous) Oliver
Saari.
_Gaylactic Spectrum_ (gay etc sf/fantasy): Kathe Koja, _Under the
Poppy_. [L]
_Honorary Oscars_ went to James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader)
and make-up expert Dick Smith (_The Exorcist_ etc). (BBC) [AW]
_Nova Awards_ for UK/Irish fan achievement: FANZINE _Head_, ed.
Doug Bell & Christina Lake. FAN WRITER: Claire Brialey. FAN ARTIST:
Dave Hicks. [SG]
_Rotsler Award_ for long-time achievement in fanzine art: D. West
of the 'sour wit and satirical eye'.
_Scottish BAFTAs_ (tv): Terry Pratchett personally accepted the
Best Single Documentary award for his 2011 'Terry Pratchett: Choosing
To Die'. (_Scotsman_, 14 November) [SB]

SCIENCE MASTERCLASS. 'Prehistoric Digs. Discover a hidden 3D dinosaur
skeleton! Excavate and discover scale replica bones of your favorite
dino embedded in soft, sedimentary rock. Then assemble the scattered
bones to reveal your very own 10" museum quality reproduction of a 70
million year old 3D dinosaur skeleton. Specify T-Rex, Triceratops,
Stegosaurus, or Mammoth.' (Museum Tour catalogue, 2011-2012) [PL]
_Weather Control Dept._ 'In some sections of the planet it was
literally raining bathtubs.' [The cunning solution:] 'He began burning
the water in the atmosphere, turning it into vapour which he then shot
into space where it wouldn't harm any primitive spaceships that these
people might some day send up.' (John M. Faucette, _Crown of
Infinity_, 1968) [BA]
_General Relativity Dept._ 'The earth's rotation slows and days
lengthen, first by six minutes, then 12, then 24. As the phenomenon --
known as "the slowing" -- takes hold, days stretch to 48 hours, and
gravity weakens, with birds ceasing to fly and astronauts stranded far
from earth.' (_Guardian_ summary of Karen Thompson Walker's 'eerily
prescient novel' _The Age of Miracles_, forthcoming in mid-2012) [AL]

R.I.P. _Mick Anglo_ (1916-2011), UK comics writer and novelist who
created the British superhero Marvelman (much later renamed
Miracleman) in 1954 and wrote over 730 issues of this and related
comics, died on 31 October aged 95. [PDF]
_Chris Croughton_ aka _Keris_, popular UK fan, filker and sound-
desk technician at various conventions, died in a road accident on 10
November; he was 55. He had been inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame
in 2007. [RC]
_Les Daniels_ (1943-2011), US author of the 'Don Sebastian de
Villanueva' historical vampire novels beginning with _The Black
Castle_ (1978), died in early November. He also edited horror
anthologies and published nonfiction studies of horror and,
extensively, comics. [PDF]
_Richard Gordon_ (1925-2011), London-born producer of many sf/
horror B-movies including _Fiend Without a Face_ (1958), _Corridors of
Blood_ (1958), _First Man into Space_ (1959), _Devil Doll_ (1964) and
finally _Inseminoid_ (1981), died on 1 November; he was 85. [AMB]
_Anne McCaffrey_ (1926-2011), Irish-resident US author who as the
much-loved author of _Dragonflight_ (1968) and many related books
needs no introduction, died from a sudden stroke on 21 November. She
was 85. Another hugely popular work that led to several sequels was
_The Ship Who Sang_ (1969). Her honours include the Hugo (she was the
first woman to win one for fiction) and the Nebula (she and Kate
Wilhelm were the first female winners) for _Dragonflight_'s component
stories 'Weyr Search' and 'Dragonrider'; the SFWA Grand Master Award
in 2005; and entry to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. See
John Meaney's eulogy above.
_Michelle Muijsert_ (1962-2011), New Zealand-born fan, fanzine
publisher (_The Space Wastrel_) and convention runner who was highly
active in the 1980s and 1990s, died unexpectedly in Melbourne on 8
November. She was 49. [ML]
_John Neville_ (1925-2011), UK stage and later film actor whose
best-known genre roles were the title part in _The Adventures of Baron
Munchausen_ (1988) and the 'Well-Manicured Man' in _The X-Files_, died
on 19 November; he was 86. [MPJ]
_Susan Palermo-Piscitello_, popular and multi-talented US fan who
had been Vice President of Operations for Sandy Frank Productions
(which imported Japanese sf films and tv) and more recently worked in
independent horror videos, died on 23 November; she was 49. [JHB]
_Anne Ridler_ (_circa_ 1930-2011), Shanghai-born UK actress who
appeared in several genre tv series from the 1960s to the 1980s --
_Doctor Who_ 'The Wheel in Space', _Moonbase 3_, _Tom's Midnight
Garden_, _The Tomorrow People_ and _Terrahawks_ -- reportedly died in
early August. [DP]
_Ken Russell_ (1927-2011), UK film director whose work ranged
from the bizarrely to the brilliantly eccentric, died on 27 November;
he was 84. Films of genre interest include _Billion Dollar Brain_
(1967, remotely based on the novel by Len Deighton), _Tommy_ (1975),
_Altered States_ (1980; Paddy Chayefsky), _Faust_ (1985), _Gothic_
(1986; about Mary Shelley and _Frankenstein_), _The Lair of the White
Worm_ (1988; Bram Stoker) and _The Fall of the Louse of Usher_ (2002;
remixing Poe).
_Alvin Schwartz_ (1916-2011), US comics writer who from 1942 to
1958 scripted the adventures of many DC superheroes -- notably Batman,
Superman (where he took credit for inventing the Bizarro concept),
Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern -- died on 28 October aged
95. [PDF]
_Karl Slover_ (1918-2011), Austria-Hungary-born US actor who
played four Munchkin roles in _The Wizard of Oz_ (1939) and was one of
the last surviving cast members, died on 15 November; he was 93. [MPJ]

AS OTHERS SEE US II. On sf magazine letter columns and other
'departments' containing input from readers: 'Pseudo-scientific and
other specialized fiction sheets devote a bit more space to
departments because so many of their readers are cranks who take a
grim pleasure in finding flaws and showing off their juvenile
knowledge.' (Harold Brainerd Hersey, _Pulpwood Editor: The Fabulous
World of the Thriller Magazines Revealed by a Veteran Editor and
Publisher_, 1937) [BHi]

COURT CIRCULAR. The lawyers of the Tolkien estate and The Saul Zaentz
Company (t/a Middle-Earth Enterprises) have told the small Birmingham
cafe The Hungry Hobbit to drop the trademarked word 'Hobbit' -- though
the place had just been named as 'official cafe' of the authorized
Tolkien tourist attraction across the road at Sarehole Mill. Would
'Hungry Halfling' be OK? (_Birmingham Mail_, 19 November) [SN]

OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Simon R. Green_ places his pulse on the cultural
finger: 'Back in the early sixties, when Dalekmania was at its height,
the _Blue Peter_ tv show demonstrated its favourite toys for
Christmas. (Plugging? Perish the thought.) And one of them was the
Daleks Cutamatic. A sheet of plastic with Dalek shapes on, and a
heated electric wire you could use to cut round the shapes. I was
eight, but even I could see the drawback; namely, cut-off little
fingers dropping to the floor. I'm pretty sure the thing was
withdrawn. But it's just turned up on eBay! For six hundred pounds!'
_SMS_ on science fiction foreshadowings: 'Remember the _Soylent
Green_ sequence of armoured police clearing tent-inhabiting protesters
off the streets by treating them as "Refuse"? Were the events at Wall
Street on 15 November 2011 a darkly humorous homage to Harry Harrison,
or just The News?'

MAGAZINE SCENE. _Realms of Fantasy_ has gone down for the third time
at issue 102 -- sold by Sovereign Media to Warren Lapine in 2009, by
Lapine to Damnation Books in November 2010, and now cancelled by
Damnation since it's losing money still. (_SFScope_, 2 November).
_New Worlds_: the promised November relaunch seems to have got no
farther than a registration sign-up form at www.newworlds.co.uk.

AS OTHERS SEE US III. _Never Too Late To Learn Dept._ 'If you don't
know who the "Hugo" is named after, incidentally, SF is not for
you.' (John Sutherland on Vernor Vinge in _Lives of the Novelists_,
2011) [JB]
_Spot the Omission Dept._ The December _Good Housekeeping_
announces a 'Best Novel from a New Author' competition, run in
collaboration with Orion Books, with a Pounds25,000 prize (runners-up
get laptops) for the best entry in 'any grown up genre -- whether it's
historical romance, whodunit, comedy or international spy
thriller.' [CM]

WE ARE EVERYWHERE. Realizing that it's about time we catalogued the
Big Dumb Objects strewn through interstellar space by enigmatic
Forerunners, the Australian National University is advertising for two
Research Fellows in Galactic Archaeology. (jobs.anu.edu.au) [SU]

THE DEAD PAST. _60 Years Ago:_ '"He thought that the Army was useless,
and that an international police force should be established. But he
emphasised that he would be prepared to fight an invasion from Mars or
some other planet." (Glasgow Conscientious Objector's Tribunal Report
-- "Morning Ad".)' (_Science Fantasy News_ 10, Christmas 1951)
_30 Years Ago_, news of what (renamed) would be a major
international remainder: 'L. Ron Hubbard's thrilling sf novel _Man,
the Endangered Species_ is being inspected by George Hay: apparently
this snappily-titled tome runs to 20,000 pages....' (_Ansible_ 22,
December 1981)

FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund._ Last reminder: the 2012 TAFF
voting deadline is _9 December_. See taff.org.uk for the ballot form.
Likewise for GUFF at taff.org.uk/guff.html; deadline 22 January.

THEOLOGY CORNER. Father Gabriele Amorth, former chief exorcist at the
Vatican, pinpointed two manifestations of hell in a single sentence
while introducing _The Rite_ -- another movie about exorcism -- at a
film festival in Umbria: 'Practising yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil
just like reading Harry Potter.' (_Telegraph_, 25 November) [MPJ]

RANDOM FANDOM. _Chris Garcia & James Bacon_ put sluggish _Ansible_ to
shame by publishing the 300th issue of _The Drink Tank_ in November.
Having 300 contributors would have been too obvious: there are 320.

PUBLISHERS & SINNERS. The Night Shade Books term of 'probation' as a
qualifying market for SFWA (see _A277_) was ended by SFWA on 30
November.
Michael Rowley is now Editorial Director at Ebury Press.

EDITORIAL. My New Year resolution will be to write an editorial.

C.O.A. _Leigh Kennedy_, 212 Old London Road, Hastings, TN35 3LX. _Mike
Sherwood_, 26 Steppingley Road, Flitwick, MK45 1AJ.

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Dept of the Low-Minded._ 'She twisted her body on
top of his and Tengo could feel her pubic hair against his thighs.
Thick, rich hair. It was like her pubic hair was part of her thinking
process.' (Haruki Murakami, _1Q84_, trans Philip Gabriel, 2011) [PY]
_Introspection Dept._ 'She watched, fascinated, as the resolution
of her eyes improved quickly during the last three hundred metres of
her descent.' (Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee, _Rama II_, 1989) [BHa]
_Dept of Fractal Geometry._ 'Lily glanced into courtyards as they
passed and saw the children coming out of tiny doors in their school
uniforms ...' (M.T. Anderson, _Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of
Delaware_, 2009) [MMcA]
_Woodshed of Gross Anatomy Dept._ '[I] shuddered as the denatured
alcohol corroded its way through my GI tract, not stopping until it
reached the basement, where my tailbone and testicles resided like an
old croquet set.' (Joseph Gangemi, _Inamorata_, 2004) [PB]

### GEEKS' CORNER ###

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### ENDNOTES ###

APPARITIONS.
[] 2 December 2011: Brum Group, Christmas Social at Selly Park Tavern,
entry by Pounds10 advance ticket only. Normal venue is the Briar Rose
Hotel, Bennett's Hill, Birmingham city centre, 7:30pm for 8pm; Pounds4
or Pounds3 for members. Contact bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk or
rog.peyton at btinternet com. Further meetings: 13 January, AGM/
Auction; 10 February, quiz.

SFWA ESTATES PAGE. A useful resource for people wanting to arrange
reprint, translation etc. rights to deceased authors' works.
http://www.sfwa.org/estates-contact-information/

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep
the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
http://ansible.co.uk/paypal.html
http://ansible.co.uk/books/index.html
http://ansible.co.uk/books/starcomb.html

DELTA FILM AWARDS. Entries are now invited, with a 1 September 2012
deadline.
http://pics.livejournal.com/stevegreen/pic/000b6t08

R.I.P EXTRA. Chris Nelson writes from Australia: '_Arthur Haddon_
(1927-2011), early member of the Futurian Society of Sydney (under the
name Arthur Duncan) and a key player later, died on 3 July aged 83. He
served as Secretary of the FSS post-war, had roles in several of the
early Australian conventions and published two issues of Telepath.
_Loralie Glick_ (nee Giles, 1930-2011), widow of Phineas (Bluey)
Glick, passed away on 29 August. The two met through Futurian Society
friends and were both active in Sydney fandom for a period from the
1950s.'

THOG REMEMBERS ANNE MCCAFFREY. 'No planet-bound society can fight a
voracious fungus that is falling upon the entire planet every second
from the sky.' (John M. Faucette, _Crown of Infinity_, 1968) [BA]

Ansible 293 Copyright (c) David Langford, 2011. Thanks to Brian
Ameringen, John Bark, Paul Barnett, Stephen Baxter, James H. Burns,
Andrew M. Butler, Rafe Culpin, Paul Di Filippo, Steve Green, Bob Ham,
Bill Higgins, Martyn P. Jackson, Locus, Mark Loney, Andy Love, Pamela
Love, Monica McAbee, Martin McNeill, Caroline Mullan, Stan Nicholls,
Andrew I. Porter, David Pringle, Stewart Unwin, Andrew Wells, Martin
Morse Wooster, Pete Young, and our Hero Distributors: Dave Corby
(BSFG), SCIS/Prophecy, Alan Stewart (Australia). Seasonal good wishes
to all readers, and may 2012 be less awful than 2011.

1 December 2011