Ansible 159 [long]
David Langford
ANSIBLE 159
OCTOBER 2000
From DAVE LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5AU, UK. Fax
0705 080 1534. ISSN 0265-9816. E-mail ans...@cix.co.uk. Available for
SAE or combs cut from the Great Sky Lantern.
[NET NOTE. Please see the last section for subscribe/unsubscribe
information: such requests should NOT be sent to my personal e-mail
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SOCIETY SPOT. John Clute's sixtieth birthday party in September
attracted the usual suspects to the famous Camden Town salon, including
Peter Nicholls and Clare Coney from far-off Australia. Judith Clute
dispensed unfailing streams of wine and sushi. David Pringle came
clutching an early proof of _The Amber Spyglass_ and babbling about the
terrifying legal documents he'd had to sign to get it; Paul McAuley, not
to be outdone, handed out proofs of his upcoming _The Secret of Life_
from a large carrier bag. Pat Cadigan demanded that Thog must `start
poring over my work and find something to make fun of for the next six
consecutive _Ansible_s, or face dire consequences. You dog.' M.John
Harrison grumbled about having an `unofficial' website thrust upon him.
Also sighted were Hilary Bailey (with children and grandchild), Robert
Irwin, Roz Kaveney, the Kincaid Spellers, Steve Jones, Kim Newman, Pamela
Sladek, and others, all making remarks highly characteristic of
themselves. Afterwards, John Clute cheerfully wrote: `Couple of drunks
at the end, whom I'd never met in my life; which is bog standard.'
### THE PROTECTING ANCESTORS ###
RAY BRADBURY will be awarded an ever so prestigious (non-genre) lifetime
achievement medal at the US National Book Awards in November.
SAMUEL R.DELANY, at Readercon, remembered _Analog's_ editorial policy in
the swinging 1960s: `John Campbell rejected _Nova_. He said his audience
could not relate to a black central character.' [BD]
STEPHEN KING fulminated in an _Observer_ interview about `Kingsley Amis
types' persecuting genre authors like King and J.K.Rowling with
accusations of `not literature'. Even those ignorant of Amis's unashamed
publication of sf, supernatural, spy and crime novels (and enthusiastic
essays on these genres) might suspect that he said rather little about
Rowling, having died two years before her first novel appeared. [D]
MICHAEL MOORCOCK on piracy of yore: `The French magazine _Fiction_ was
inclined to carry translations of _New Worlds_ stories which the authors
didn't know about. Ian Watson blamed me because the editor, Michel
DeMuth, told him I'd given permission to reprint various _NW_ stories by
other authors (I'd told him he could reprint mine only). When I objected
to this and sorted it out, he got stroppy. Years later at a convention
I was admiring his large, handsome Briard dog. He wouldn't tell me its
name. Turned out it's called Moorcock.'
HARRY HARRISON on Chicon (excerpts from long report): `Joan and I went
down for breakfast at the crack of dawn the first day. Fanac began when
Bob Silverberg joined us. A few minutes later Terry Pratchett did as
well. I was going to tell them what a great flight we had in animal class
in a 777, but Terry described the joys of BA first class -- just him and
one other passenger. When Bob described buying opals by the handful in
Australia. I realized I was outclassed and remained silent. [] I met a
chubby guy with a bald head and a stick who resembled the Gene Wolfe whom
I knew a scant twenty years ago. The resemblance was more than
accidental. He reminded me that he was a neowriter then and that I had
bought his almost-first story "The Horars of War". The years weighed
heavily.... [] Dave Kyle, in the huckster room, bulged his eyes at me and
kept saying "Oh my God!". Either I looked at death's door -- or in the
pink -- after my open heart surgery. But when I asked him which it was
he gasped and said "Oh my God!" Life is full of little mysteries. [] Fred
Pohl has quit smoking after about 70 years of puffing away at it and, as
you can well imagine, this did not improve his humor. [] A nice con. Got
good vibes from lots of fen. Signed at least 3,000 autographs. Fat Fandom
is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable, probably
exponential, rate....'
J.K.ROWLING dislikes critical works like the Foundation's _Terry
Pratchett: Guilty of Literature_, explained her agent Christopher Little
as he forbade quotation from the sacred texts (at least their British
editions) in the proposed _Harry Potter and the Ivory Tower_.
Coincidentally, the _Publisher's Lunch_ e-newsletter rumours that Rowling
is thinking of changing agents, having discovered that an alleged 20%
commission _plus_ deduction of all charges and overheads is not exactly
standard.
ALISON SPEDDING, the UK fantasy author imprisoned in Bolivia for drugs
possession (see _Ansible_ 132-3, 147), has been released on #1,300 bail
to await the supreme court's final decision on her case. [CP/AS]
IAN WATSON was invited to open Nottingham University's forum on `Artists
and the Built Environment' with a reading: `What story could be more
suitable than my "Talk of the Town", in which a Midlands town reveals to
my hero its private language, understood by nobody else? "Hoodabonda?
Shoochoo moochabal" et cetera. East Midlands Arts neglected to tell me
that, laudably just in case any of the audience needed this, everything
would be simultaneously translated into Sign....'
### CONCURBIT ###
7 Oct [] MARGATE POETRY FESTIVAL, Margate Museum, Market Sq, Old Town.
GoH Lionel Fanthorpe reads his own poetry! #5 admission.
15 Oct [] PAPERBACK/PULP BOOKFAIR, Victoria Hotel, Buckingham Palace Rd,
SW1. 10am-5pm. #2.50 entrance. With author signings.
21-22 Oct [] OCTOCON 2000, Royal Dublin Hotel, O'Connell St, Dublin 1.
#25(I) reg to 42 Capel Court, Dublin 1, Ireland; sterling #20 to Dave
Lally No. 2 A/C, 64 Richborne Tce, London, SW8 1AX.
25 Oct [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, Florence Nightingale, on York Rd/Westminster
Bridge Rd roundabout. 7pm on. With Martin Millar.
27-9 Oct [] BATS 2000 (multimedia/horror), Heathrow -- CANCELLED. Members
offered full refund or membership of Eclectic 21, 25-7 May 01, Leicester.
Contact (SAE) 47 Bennetts Court, Bristol, BS37 4XH.
27-30 Oct [] CULT TV FESTIVAL, Barton Hall, Torquay. Contact Cult TV, PO
Box 1701, Peterborough, PE7 1ER.
10-12 Nov [] ARMADACON 2000, Copthorne Hotel, Plymouth. GoH #27 reg;
concessions and day rates available. Contact 165 Eggbuckland Rd, Higher
Compton, Plymouth, PL3 6QB. Phone 01752 257635.
10-12 Nov [] NOVACON 30, Britannia Hotel, New St, Birmingham. #32 reg,
#35 at door. Contact 379 Myrtle Road, Sheffield, S2 3HQ.
11 Nov [] DAY OF THE DALEKS, Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool. #29 reg; less for
Dalek owners? Contact 8a Dovedale Rd, Wallasey, CH45 0LP.
24-7 Nov [] CON-FICTION (_Trek_/media), Imperial Hotel, Blackpool. #45
reg. Contact 36 Finsbury Ave, Blackpool, Lancs, FY1 6QN.
29 Dec - 1 Jan [] HOGMANAYCON, Glasgow -- CANCELLED owing to lack of
members (it's a tough time of year) and sponsorship. Refunds to follow.
Contact 26 Avonbank Rd, Rutherglen, Glasgow, G73 2PA.
3-4 Mar 01 [] MICROCON 2001, Devonshire House, University of Exeter.
Contact 22 Cottey Brook, Tiverton, Devon, EX16 5BR.
29 Mar - 1 Apr 02 [] HELICON 2 (Eastercon), Hotel de France, Jersey.
_Guests announced:_ Brian Stableford, Harry Turtledove, Peter Weston. #30
reg, #15 supp/junior. Contact 33 Meyrick Drive, Wash Common, Berks, RG14
6SY.
28 Aug - 1 Sep 03 [] TORCON 3 (Worldcon), Toronto, Canada. GoH George
R.R.Martin, Frank Kelly Freas, Mike Glyer. Rates, to 31 Dec 00:
$170C/$115US; site voters $105C/$70US; presupporters $140C/$95US; presupp
voters $75C/$50US. Visa and (shortly) Mastercard accepted. Contact PO Box
3, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5W 1A2.
_Rumblings_ [] CHICON statistics: 178 artists exhibiting, art show sales
$109,000, 21 newsletters, 613 programme participants in 1024 items, adult
attendance 6204. Hugo eligibility extended by one year for all 2000 work
published outside USA. [AIP] [] THE MILLENNIUM PHILCON (Worldcon 2001)
will present additional `retro Hugos' for 1950 work.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. _SF World_ folded after the September-dated issue
4. Editor Steve Holland says: `The reason was a lousy level of
advertising revenue which could not support the magazine. The state of
magazine publishing in the UK is terrible, and most titles are reliant
on their advertisers ... and unfortunately they weren't there for us.
[...] I was more disappointed than shocked. The decision was made long
before the publisher would have had sales figures for issue 3 (with the
reduced price), so we'll never know whether we could have survived on
sales alone. We ran a very tight ship when it came to our editorial
budget and still managed to get a lot of first-rate features. With that
in mind, I hope that other publishers don't look on this as proof that
an SF magazine can't survive in today's market.' [] _Gollancz_ death
reports by UK newspapers were exaggerated, as in the 16 Sep
_Independent_: `The venerable Victor Gollancz list is in effect no more.
The logo that once graced books by J.B.Priestley and Michael Foot will
now appear only on science fiction titles.' [DG] _Malcolm Edwards_
confirms that VG will focus on sf/fantasy from January 2001: `This is not
such a big shift as you might imagine, as this year those lists accounted
for over 60% of all Gollancz sales and in next year's budget it was
looking like 75%. [...] We will stop using the Millennium name on
paperbacks, though the logo will remain (with the "M" changing to "G").'
Ah, Gillenniug.
R.I.P. _Eddie Powell_, the stunt-man who appeared in countless UK-made
sf and horror movies from 1949 to 1996, died in August. His mostly
uncredited roles included regular doubling of Christopher Lee in Hammer
and other films, and the title role in _Alien_. He discovered conventions
in 1998 and was tickled to find that he had a fan following. [S/JC] []
_Nancy Tucker Shaw_ (1928-2000), US fan of many years' standing and Bob
Shaw's widow, died on 17 September; her health had been poor since her
1998 stroke. She is much missed. [] _Iain Thomas_, Scots fan who in
Cuddles's words was `famous for his acerbic fanzine _Failed Voyager_ and
wild, drunken antics at cons', died early in September.
AS OTHERS SEE US. _Geoffrey Wheatcroft_ on the late Kingsley Amis: `He
became a science-fiction fan, rarely a good sign ...' (_The Atlantic
Monthly_, September 2000) [SC]
FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ 25 years after tied winner Bill Bowers was unable to
make his trip in 1976, TAFF hopes to bring him to the 2001 UK Eastercon
-- if his health permits. (He was hospitalized on 27 Sep with pulmonary
oedema.) The date of the next `normal' eastbound race is undecided. Vijay
Bowen has taken over NA administration: PO Box 156, Village Station, New
York, NY 10014-0156, USA. [] _DUFF._ Nominations open for 2001 race from
America to Swancon down under: candidates need 3 NA and 2 Aussie
nominations, 100-word platform and $25 bond, sent by 31 Oct to Janice
Gelb, 1070 Mercedes Ave #2, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA. Whose 1999 DUFF
trip report is indeed now out: $5 (US or Australian) in person, $6.50
surface mail, from above address or from Cathy Cupitt, PO Box 915,
Nedlands, WA 6909, Australia.
Thog's Alien Biology Masterclass. `"Think back to _The War of the
Worlds_," Van Buren retorted. "Terrestrial microbes would have killed
them, because they would have had no resistance. So they've been
gradually integrating terrestrial DNA into themselves during the so-
called abductions -- genetically modifying themselves until they are
essentially human."' (Nick Pope, _Operation Thunder Child_, 1999) How
splendid that to UFOlogists like Pope, H.G.Wells is the cutting edge of
science.
C.O.A. _Eileen Costelloe_, Trinity Hospice, Elizabeth Clark Ward, 30
Clapham Common N Side, London, SW4. _Jonathan `Jonjo' Jones & Sharon
Lewis_, 37 St Peters St, Duxford, Cambridge, CB2 4RP. _Mark Manning_, 915
Queen Anne Ave North #506, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. _Joe Siclari & Edie
Stern_, 661 Hanover St, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA.
RANDOM FANDOM. _Dave Clark_ fondly recalls a Chicon GoH speech: `Ben Bova
talked, but that's when digestive torpor from dinner hit me, and I kept
dozing off.' [] _Peter F.Hamilton_ sends `an entry for the _Hello_
section', which I suppose is this one: `I've just got engaged to Kate
Fell; which might come as a shock to _SFX_, who in the last interview
wrote that I was happily married.' [] _Ed Kramer_, writer, editor, and
co-founder of Dragon*Con, was `charged with aggravated child molestation
of a 13-year-old boy,' reported the _Atlanta Journal-Constitution_ on 14
Sep. [] _Robert Lichtman_ forwards a 19 Sep _Santa Rosa Press Democrat_
small ad that you need to know about: `SKULL OF CHRIST -- This is the
actual skull of our Savior. Passed down for many generations in my
family. Radio carbon dated to 0 AD. Remarkably good condition ...' That
would be his skull as an infant, then; I'm holding out for a grown-up
one. [] _Perry Middlemiss_ illuminates: `I'm currently reading a document
containing the acronym SMOF which, in this context, means "Single Mode
Optical Fibre". Surprisingly apt don't you reckon?' [] _Jonathan Palfrey
& Ana Llaurado_ announce the birth of their first child, Marc Diego
Palfrey Llaurado, on 18 Sep. [] _Marion Pitman_'s Twickenham bookshop was
destroyed by fire in mid-August, and her flat made uninhabitable.
`Attitude of all authorities and bureaucrats seems to be I am at fault
for causing them inconvenience by having my house burn down.' Ouch!
Marion plans to go into some entirely different line of business.
AWARDS. _Sidewise Awards _for alternate history: LONG _Resurrection Day_,
Brendan DuBois -- the only shortlisted item. SHORT `The Eighth Register',
Alain Bergeron (_Northern Suns_; _Tesseracts_). SPECIAL Randall Garrett's
Lord Darcy series. [SHS] [] _British Fantasy Awards:_ KARL EDWARD WAGNER
(life achievement) Anne McCaffrey. NOVEL (August Derleth award) _Indigo_,
Graham Joyce. SHORT `White', Tim Lebbon. ANTHOLOGY _Mammoth Book of Best
New Horror 10_ ed. Stephen Jones. COLLECTION _Lonesome Roads_, Peter
Crowther. ARTIST Les Edwards. SMALL PRESS Razorblade Press. [DJH] []
_Prometheus Award_ for libertarian sf, whatever that is exactly: _A
Deepness in the Sky_, Vernor Vinge.
HAZEL'S DEVOUT LANGUAGE LESSONS. `He had heard that some pamphlets had
been found at Chatsworth in a language which no one could understand.
Consultation with the British Museum proved them to be from the _Society
for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge_ translated into Maori. Re-
translated, the organization's name was found to have been rendered as
"_Society for Extreme Pleasure in the Sexual Act between Christians_".'
(Violet Powell, _The Constant Novelist: A Study of Margaret Kennedy 1896-
1967_, 1983) [YR]
SMALL PRESS. _Sansato Press_ launches Oct with _88 Gray's Inn Road_,
comprising an unpublished sf novel plus shorter work by William F.Temple,
introduced by his old flatmate (at the title address) Arthur C.Clarke.
Cold Tonnage, 22 Kings Lane, Windlesham, Surrey, GU20 6JQ. [] _Fanthology
'94_, published Spring 2000, is available for $15 postpaid, $14 in USA
-- with Corflatch t-shirt while supplies last; choose M/L/XL. Andy
Hooper, 4228 Francis Ave N #103, Seattle, WA 98103, USA.
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Mike Cule_ ponders: `On p239 of _Darwin's Radio_ Greg
Bear describes a woman as having a "thickly flossed pubis". Am I the only
one this makes think of _vagina dentata_?' [] _Diane Duane_ is thrilled
by the reissue of J.P.Martin's classic `Uncle' children's books -- see
Amazon.co.uk. [] _Simon R.Green_ has abandoned the pre-owned term
`necronauts' in favour of his familiar-sounding coinage `death-walkers',
and adds: `I've contributed enough material to _Ansible_, I almost feel
justified in asking you to send me the top quarter inch of your Hugo.'
[] _Chris Priest_'s call to kill off Thog's Masterclass brought 46 votes
to keep Thog, two -- other than Chris -- for ditching him, and one fence-
sitter. Thog fans included Pat Cadigan, Mike Moorcock (`Expecting Thog
to spot my worst literary moments is what keeps my standards up, Dave.
I live in constant terror.'), Teresa Nielsen Hayden, and Ian Watson; but
I'm now persuaded that the department needs to be kept short.
OOPS. Ned Brooks's _IGOTS_ 22 offers a sample from Tom Cockcroft's pile
of evidence that sf pulp illustrator Virgil Finlay copied many details
of his drawings from Aussie artist Norman (_The Magic Pudding_) Lindsay.
ANOTHER MAJOR PARTY. _Maureen Kincaid Speller_ was there: `John and Eve
Harvey celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in energetic
style, with a gathering of the clans, family and fannish, who, as
tradition required, sat in entirely different groups throughout the
evening. "Is that Ian Maule?" enquired someone, and indeed it was, along
with Janice Maule, who gleefully revealed that as Chief Finance Officer
she'd just been on the front of the local paper for tellng Hillingdon
Council it couldn't spend any more. [] John and Eve entertained us in
great style, including Eve demonstrating newfound skills on the keyboard
while John strutted his stuff with the band Jack o' Herts (to be seen at
Novacon 30, where we just have to get Ken MacLeod and the band's lead
singer together; the resemblance is uncanny). The band's contribution to
the celebration included making a tape of a particular favourite,
enabling the lead guitarist on that number to enjoy the novelty of
dancing with his wife to his own music.'
THE DEAD PAST. _5 Years Ago:_ Kirsty Watt of Ringpull Press caused alarm
with her _Ansible 99_ (Oct 95) brag that `we are the first publishers to
accept unsolicited submissions over the Internet. The idea is to speed
up the whole process of submissions and make publishing rather more open
than it may appear at the moment ...' Anyone heard from Ringpull lately?
[] _20 Years Ago:_ Keith Walker announced his return to fanzine
publishing with, `well sorry, to disappoint you ...' (_Ansible 13_, 1980)
Thog's Masterclass. _Dept of Communications:_ `They went back to the
pilot's room where Solly blinked the running lights. / "Please inform us
if you can hear this transmission," came the reply. "One blink for yes.
Two for no."' (Jack McDevitt, _Infinity Beach_, 2000) [] `The housekeeper
found her way into the bedroom and lay down in a pathetic crumble.'
(James Patterson, _Virgin_, 1980) [] `And he burst himself with
chortles.' (Sheri S.Tepper, _The Family Tree_, 1998) [] _Dept of Thog
Bites Creator's Hand:_ `He glanced behind him, careful to move only his
eyes, not his head ...' (John Grant, _The World_, 1992) [all JG] NB: the
John Grant obituarized in the 4 Oct _Guardian_ is not `our' JG, alias
Paul Barnett.
### GEEKS' CORNER ###
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CONVENTION E-MAIL
* 2000
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Discworld Con 3 (Hinckley, Leics, Aug), in...@dwcon.org
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ENDNOTES.
_Harry Harrison_'s complete Chicon report appears in stunning
Sensurround at ...
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/SF-Archives/Ansible/a159supp.html
_M.John Harrison_ comments on `his' web pages: `This Jeremy Alan Smith
person has set up an "unofficial" M John Harrison website. Not having
an official one, I would be quite happy with this except for his
dazzling incompetence. He's now begun bothering anyone he can get hold
of who might know me, which is just deeply unhip & embarrassing. If
you hear from him, could you give him a firm no? (To any request at
all ...)'
Ansible 159 Copyright (c) Dave Langford, 2000. Thanks to Ned Brooks,
Scott Campbell, Erica Costelloe, Jonathan Cowie, DarkEcho, Bob Devney,
David Garnett, Marcel de Graaff, John Grant, David J.Howe, Farah
Mendlesohn, Andrew I.Porter, Chris Priest, Yvonne Rousseau, Andy
Sawyer, Steven H.Silver, Simo, and our Hero Distributors: Tanya Brown
(London Circle floozy), Janice Murray (NA), SCIS, Alan Stewart (Oz),
Martin Tudor (Brum Group News).
5 Oct 00
--
David Langford
ans...@cix.co.uk | http://www.ansible.co.uk/
Dave Locke
> FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ 25 years after tied winner Bill Bowers was unable to
> make his trip in 1976, TAFF hopes to bring him to the 2001 UK Eastercon
> -- if his health permits. (He was hospitalized on 27 Sep with pulmonary
> oedema.)
Pulmonary edema. I don't think Bill was ever an OE.
> _Chris Priest_'s call to kill off Thog's Masterclass brought 46 votes
> to keep Thog, two -- other than Chris -- for ditching him, and one fence-
> sitter. [...] but I'm now persuaded that the department needs to be kept
> short.
Boo, hiss! I was hoping this would be considered a mandate to
expand it.
--
Dave | dave...@fan.net | "And these atomic bombs which science
burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men who
used them." -- H. G. Wells, "The World Set Free", 1914
Nancy Lebovitz
David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>
>SAMUEL R.DELANY, at Readercon, remembered _Analog's_ editorial policy in
>the swinging 1960s: `John Campbell rejected _Nova_. He said his audience
>could not relate to a black central character.' [BD]
Wouldn't that have been the same audiance that (presumably) bought
Reynolds' _Border, Breed, nor Birth_ and _Black Man's Burden_?
Did those stories make a splash when they came out?
Meanwhile, I have an excuse for rereading _Nova_--the only black
characters I can remember are two of the triplets. Or is that the
point?
>
>MICHAEL MOORCOCK on piracy of yore: `The French magazine _Fiction_ was
>inclined to carry translations of _New Worlds_ stories which the authors
>didn't know about. Ian Watson blamed me because the editor, Michel
>DeMuth, told him I'd given permission to reprint various _NW_ stories by
>other authors (I'd told him he could reprint mine only). When I objected
>to this and sorted it out, he got stroppy. Years later at a convention
I think I've only seen "stroppy" in a Modesty Blaise novel. Is it in
common use?
>I was admiring his large, handsome Briard dog. He wouldn't tell me its
>name. Turned out it's called Moorcock.'
>
> Signed at least 3,000 autographs. Fat Fandom
>is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable, probably
>exponential, rate....'
>
Poor fellow. I wish I had more of a habit of moral indignation, since
this definitely deserves it.
I am currently distracted by an excessively nasty rejoinder. Perhaps
I will come up with something appropriate by the time I'm back from
a weekend at Far Point.
--
Nancy Lebovitz na...@netaxs.com www.nancybuttons.com
John Boston
> In article <ie5rtsoguhhidfqo8...@4ax.com>,
> David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >SAMUEL R.DELANY, at Readercon, remembered _Analog's_ editorial policy in
> >the swinging 1960s: `John Campbell rejected _Nova_. He said his audience
> >could not relate to a black central character.' [BD]
>
> Wouldn't that have been the same audiance that (presumably) bought
> Reynolds' _Border, Breed, nor Birth_ and _Black Man's Burden_?
> Did those stories make a splash when they came out?
Does anybody know the basis for Delany's statement? Does he say that
Campbell said this to him directly? Or is this some degree of hearsay, and
from whom?
John Boston
[snip]
Kevin J. Maroney
>J.K.ROWLING dislikes critical works like the Foundation's _Terry
>Pratchett: Guilty of Literature_, explained her agent Christopher Little
>as he forbade quotation from the sacred texts (at least their British
>editions) in the proposed _Harry Potter and the Ivory Tower_.
Did the agent also forbid passing around copies of the books to
friends, or loaning them out at libraries, or reading aloud from them
to one's children? All of these are equally forbiddable.
>_Simon R.Green_ has abandoned the pre-owned term
>`necronauts' in favour of his familiar-sounding coinage `death-walkers',
>and adds: `I've contributed enough material to _Ansible_, I almost feel
>justified in asking you to send me the top quarter inch of your Hugo.'
Why does this make me think of circumcision?
--
Kevin Maroney | kmar...@ungames.com
Kitchen Staff Supervisor, New York Review of Science Fiction
<http://www.nyrsf.com>
Robin Low
<na...@unix3.netaxs.com> writes
>>inclined to carry translations of _New Worlds_ stories which the authors
>>didn't know about. Ian Watson blamed me because the editor, Michel
>>DeMuth, told him I'd given permission to reprint various _NW_ stories by
>>other authors (I'd told him he could reprint mine only). When I objected
>>to this and sorted it out, he got stroppy. Years later at a convention
>
>common use?
I believe so. I certainly use it.
Regards
Robin
--
Robin Low
Omega
<na...@unix3.netaxs.com> writes
>In article <ie5rtsoguhhidfqo8...@4ax.com>,
>David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>
>common use?
>
kids.
--
Omega
Currently reading the entire set of Modesty Blaise after Harry bought me Cobra
Trap.
Omega
Maroney <kmar...@ungames.com> writes
>David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>_Simon R.Green_ has abandoned the pre-owned term
>>`necronauts' in favour of his familiar-sounding coinage `death-walkers',
>>and adds: `I've contributed enough material to _Ansible_, I almost feel
>>justified in asking you to send me the top quarter inch of your Hugo.'
>
>
--
Omega
"It doesn't matter what you do in the bed-room as long as you don't do it in
the street and frighten the horses."
Mrs Patrick Campbell
Harry Payne
Maroney <kmar...@ungames.com> writes
>David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>>Pratchett: Guilty of Literature_, explained her agent Christopher Little
>>as he forbade quotation from the sacred texts (at least their British
>>editions) in the proposed _Harry Potter and the Ivory Tower_.
>
>friends, or loaning them out at libraries, or reading aloud from them
>to one's children? All of these are equally forbiddable.
I suppose I should ask how much of Rowling's work the Foundation were
going to quote (brief passages? huge bleeding chunks?) but the ongoing
struggle by holders of all intellectual property to turn the rights of
copyright enjoyed by readers, listeners et al. into the Mephistophelean
sophistry of a software licence is getting bloody depressing. IIRC it
took a court ruling to stop book publishers from taking second-hand
bookshops to court for the heinous crime of selling their books without
permission. Sometime around the turn of the last century?
--
Harry Payne
"The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy
way to factor large prime numbers."
Bill Gates, `The Road Ahead'
Richard Horton
On 6 Oct 2000 13:46:15 GMT, na...@unix3.netaxs.com (Nancy Lebovitz)
wrote:
>In article <ie5rtsoguhhidfqo8...@4ax.com>,
>David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>SAMUEL R.DELANY, at Readercon, remembered _Analog's_ editorial policy in
>>the swinging 1960s: `John Campbell rejected _Nova_. He said his audience
>>could not relate to a black central character.' [BD]
>
>Wouldn't that have been the same audiance that (presumably) bought
>Reynolds' _Border, Breed, nor Birth_ and _Black Man's Burden_?
>Did those stories make a splash when they came out?
>
I'm assuming Campbell's real reason was "I didn't get it."
>Meanwhile, I have an excuse for rereading _Nova_--the only black
>characters I can remember are two of the triplets. Or is that the
>point?
>
I thought the narrator was black.
Time for my embarrassing story re Delany. I first read _Nova_ when I
was 14. At that time, the idea that a black person might write SF
didn't really occur to me. (It didn't occur to me that black people
=wouldn't= write SF, I just had a standard template image of SF writer
that was white and male.) The copy I read was the original Doubleday
edition, borrowed from the library. There was a picture of Delany on
the back. I'm assuming that it was quite faded in the 6 or 7 years
since the library bought it: because I saw the picture, and I saw
another white guy.
A couple of years later, I read enough critical material about SF to
come across a mention of his race. I remember going back to the
library and checking _Nova_ out again. "I guess that could be a black
guy", I thought.
_Nova_ was then and remains one of my favorite SF novels of all time.
>I think I've only seen "stroppy" in a Modesty Blaise novel. Is it in
>common use?
>
I see it with some mild regularity in British stuff.
--
Rich Horton | Stable Email: mailto://richard...@sff.net
Home Page: http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton
Also visit SF Site (http://www.sfsite.com) and Tangent Online (http://www.sfsite.com/tangent)
Robert A. Woodward
> ANSIBLE 159
> OCTOBER 2000
>
<SNIP>
>
> SAMUEL R.DELANY, at Readercon, remembered _Analog's_ editorial policy in
> the swinging 1960s: `John Campbell rejected _Nova_. He said his audience
> could not relate to a black central character.' [BD]
>
I saw this in his essay in _Dark Matter_ when I glanced through it. I must
confess that I don't remember noticing this when I read _Nova_ (long time
ago, book probably had been out less than a year at the time). In his
esssay, Delany also mentioned that the character's father came from
Sengal. Which caused me to wonder if I didn't recognize the name as that
of an actual country, but had read it as the name of a planet. This could
have happened, I am old enough to have been taught geography in elementry
school before Sengal was granted independence and young enough to not be
reading newspapers regularly until the mid to late 60s. I would have
noticed the names of countries that had significant internal or external
problems, but it appears that Sengal has avoided turmoil.
<SNIP>
--
rawoo...@aol.com
robe...@halcyon.com http://www.halcyon.com/robertaw/
John Boston
"John Boston" <jbo...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:39DE0A9B...@mindspring.com...
> Nancy Lebovitz wrote:
>
> > In article <ie5rtsoguhhidfqo8...@4ax.com>,
> > David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
> > >
in
> > >the swinging 1960s: `John Campbell rejected _Nova_. He said his
audience
> > >could not relate to a black central character.' [BD]
> >
> > Reynolds' _Border, Breed, nor Birth_ and _Black Man's Burden_?
> > Did those stories make a splash when they came out?
>
that
> Campbell said this to him directly? Or is this some degree of hearsay,
and
> from whom?
>
> John Boston
> [snip]
>
Thomas's anthology DARK MATTER contains an essay by Delany stating that
Campbell's declaration was made to Delany's agent. Campbell also supposedly
said that aside from the protagonist's race, he liked NOVA just fine. Now
_that_ is implausible.
John Boston
P Nielsen Hayden
John Boston <jbo...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Someone answered this in another forum, pointing out that Sheree
>Thomas's anthology DARK MATTER contains an essay by Delany stating that
>Campbell's declaration was made to Delany's agent. Campbell also supposedly
>said that aside from the protagonist's race, he liked NOVA just fine. Now
>_that_ is implausible.
Do you mean you don't believe Campbell, or you don't believe Henry
Morrison? The latter is still alive and still, so far as I know,
Chip's agent; you could ask him about it.
I do recommend Chip's essay in DARK MATTER, a fascinating piece in a
generally very interesting book. (Hardcover from Warner Books, just a
few months ago.) Chip's essay is about race and racism inside the SF
field; being by Chip, it's not bitter and accusatory, but it certainly
is eye-opening.
--
Patrick Nielsen Hayden : p...@panix.com : http://www.panix.com/~pnh
P Nielsen Hayden
Harry Payne <ha...@menageri.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <lq4sts8ngn5kdjg3u...@4ax.com>, Kevin J.
>Maroney <kmar...@ungames.com> writes
>>David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>>>Pratchett: Guilty of Literature_, explained her agent Christopher Little
>>>as he forbade quotation from the sacred texts (at least their British
>>>editions) in the proposed _Harry Potter and the Ivory Tower_.
>>
>>friends, or loaning them out at libraries, or reading aloud from them
>>to one's children? All of these are equally forbiddable.
>
>I suppose I should ask how much of Rowling's work the Foundation were
>going to quote (brief passages? huge bleeding chunks?) but the ongoing
>struggle by holders of all intellectual property to turn the rights of
>copyright enjoyed by readers, listeners et al. into the Mephistophelean
>sophistry of a software licence is getting bloody depressing.
I couldn't agree more. Copyright is a deal between creators and
society, not a guarantee of infinite rights writ on the fabric of the
universe by God.
John Boston
> On Sat, 07 Oct 2000 02:24:02 GMT,
> John Boston <jbo...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> > Someone answered this in another forum, pointing out that Sheree
> >Thomas's anthology DARK MATTER contains an essay by Delany stating that
> >Campbell's declaration was made to Delany's agent. Campbell also supposedly
> >said that aside from the protagonist's race, he liked NOVA just fine. Now
> >_that_ is implausible.
>
> Do you mean you don't believe Campbell, or you don't believe Henry
> Morrison? The latter is still alive and still, so far as I know,
> Chip's agent; you could ask him about it.
I'd say I'm a little skeptical of the account of what Delany said Morrison
told him Campbell said, and invoke THE MOTION OF LIGHT IN
WATER, rather than the more accusatory "don't believe." I have no
reason to doubt anyone's veracity, and my skepticism is based on
my own perceptions of what Campbell liked (based on what he
published) and the kind of racist Campbell was (based on my tedious
slog through as much of the second volume of THE JOHN W.
CAMPBELL LETTERS as I could tolerate). Delany's essay
says that Campbell communicated his views both in a phone call
and in a note. It would be interesting if the note were still extant.
John Boston
Gary Farber
na...@unix3.netaxs.com (Nancy Lebovitz) wrote:
> In article <ie5rtsoguhhidfqo8...@4ax.com>,
> David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
[quoting Michael Moorcock:]
> > Signed at least 3,000 autographs. Fat Fandom
> >is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable,
> >probably
> >exponential, rate....'
> >
> Poor fellow. I wish I had more of a habit of moral indignation, since
> this definitely deserves it.
This is an example, incidentally, of the sort of comment which Ulrika
described as being not so uncommon in Britain and British fandom as
might be desirable, which assertion Patrick backed up, which I'll also
attest to finding so, and which a couple of posters took offense at as a
slur upon all British males.
[. . . .]
--
Gary Farber New York
gfa...@panix.com 2000
garyf...@juno.com
gfa...@my-deja.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Gary Farber
> > _Chris Priest_'s call to kill off Thog's Masterclass brought 46
> > votes
> > to keep Thog, two -- other than Chris -- for ditching him, and one
> > fence-
> > kept
> > short.
>
> Boo, hiss! I was hoping this would be considered a mandate to
> expand it.
I cast another vote against short Thog. Short Thog bad. Long Thog
good. Thog make Igor sweat.
David Langford
[giving the impression that she was quoting Michael Moorcock from
=Ansible=]
>> Signed at least 3,000 autographs. Fat Fandom
>>is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable, probably
>>exponential, rate....'
>>
>Poor fellow. I wish I had more of a habit of moral indignation, since
>this definitely deserves it.
I should point out that this passage comes not from Moorcock but from that
well-known British Americophobe (clearly credited in the relevant paragraph
of =Ansible=) Harry Harrison.
Dave
Chris Malme
>In article <8rkl37$e...@netaxs.com>,
> na...@unix3.netaxs.com (Nancy Lebovitz) wrote:
>> In article <ie5rtsoguhhidfqo8...@4ax.com>,
>> David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>
>[quoting Michael Moorcock:]
>
>> > Signed at least 3,000 autographs. Fat Fandom
>> >is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable,
>> >probably
>> >exponential, rate....'
>> >
>> Poor fellow. I wish I had more of a habit of moral indignation, since
>> this definitely deserves it.
>
>This is an example, incidentally, of the sort of comment which Ulrika
>described as being not so uncommon in Britain and British fandom as
>might be desirable, which assertion Patrick backed up, which I'll also
>attest to finding so, and which a couple of posters took offense at as a
>slur upon all British males.
Great theory, except, as Dave Langford has since pointed out, Nancy
misquoted. The comments about Fat Fandom were made by Harry Harrison, not
Michael Moorcock.
Chris
Gary Farber
David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
> On 6 Oct 2000 13:46:15 GMT, na...@unix3.netaxs.com (Nancy Lebovitz)
> wrote:
>
> [giving the impression that she was quoting Michael Moorcock from
> =Ansible=]
>
> >>is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable,
> >>probably
> >>exponential, rate....'
> >>
> >this definitely deserves it.
>
> that
> well-known British Americophobe (clearly credited in the > relevant
> paragraph of =Ansible=) Harry Harrison.
And mins...@filklore.com (Chris Malme) writes:
> Great theory, except, as Dave Langford has since pointed out, Nancy
> misquoted. The comments about Fat Fandom were made by Harry Harrison,
> not Michael Moorcock.
A necessary correction, but Harry Harrison hasn't lived in America in
many decades. I will cheerfully agree that this sort of attitude was
quite different in America decades ago. Thus, Harry's need to report,
based on his expedition, on those Fat American Fans.
Oh, drat, I missed the first minute or so of _Andromeda_. Those
uniforms look terribly hot for a shipboard environment. Metallic robots
with breasts?
Vicki Rosenzweig
And sooner or later, I hope, *someone* is going to go to court in
the US and point out that the Constitution specifically requires
that the protection of copyright be for "a limited time." This
isn't a defined period, of course, but the current trend of
extending copyright, and extending the extensions, strikes me as
contrary to this idea. And as contrary to the purpose of copyright,
again as stated in the US Constitution (a clause that the Supremes
have used as the basis of at least one ruling since I started to
pay attention to these things).
--
Vicki Rosenzweig | v...@redbird.org
r.a.sf.f faq at http://www.redbird.org/rassef-faq.html
Zack Weinberg
>Quoth p...@panix.com (P Nielsen Hayden) on 7 Oct 2000 03:21:23 GMT:
>
>>>struggle by holders of all intellectual property to turn the rights of
>>>copyright enjoyed by readers, listeners et al. into the Mephistophelean
>>>sophistry of a software licence is getting bloody depressing.
>>
>>
>>I couldn't agree more. Copyright is a deal between creators and
>>society, not a guarantee of infinite rights writ on the fabric of the
>>universe by God.
>
>the US and point out that the Constitution specifically requires
>that the protection of copyright be for "a limited time."
Someone has: Eldred v. Reno, currently before the Ninth Circuit - not
sure if this is the final appeal from the district court, or an appeal of
a preliminary judgement, or what. See
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/eldredvreno/
zw
Nancy Lebovitz
David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>On 6 Oct 2000 13:46:15 GMT, na...@unix3.netaxs.com (Nancy Lebovitz) wrote:
>
>[giving the impression that she was quoting Michael Moorcock from
>=Ansible=]
>
>>>is even more gross than ever as they expand at an unbelievable, probably
>>>exponential, rate....'
>>>
>>this definitely deserves it.
>
>I should point out that this passage comes not from Moorcock but from that
>well-known British Americophobe (clearly credited in the relevant paragraph
>of =Ansible=) Harry Harrison.
>
attributed to the right person.