Ansible 438 -- January 2024

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE(R) 438
JANUARY 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 indexed location of the secret _taynik_ or _potaynik_.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a438.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a438.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]


### THE CROWN JEWELS OF ZEMBLA ###

TOBIAS BUCKELL is annoyed by an AI-written online article about him: 'ChatGPT has also been utilized by award-winning author Tobias Buckell. Buckell wrote his latest novel, It Has Come to Our Attention, with the assistance of the platform. In an interview with Locus Magazine, Buckell said that using ChatGPT allowed him to create more complex, nuanced, and realistic characters without sacrificing pacing or plot. He stated that without ChatGPT's help, he would not have been able to finish his manuscript on time.' He retorts: 'I don't use ChatGPT (or LLMs), nor ever have, on my fiction.' (BlueSky, 10 December) We live in a post-truth era.

CAIT CORRAIN (who?) ruthlessly sabotaged her own debut sf novel _Crown of Starlight_, now removed from the 2024 schedule at Del Rey. The author Xiran Jay Zhao assembled evidence that Corrain was responsible for a spate of 'review bombing' using multiple fake accounts at Goodreads to attack the perceived opposition with negative reviews of unreleased first novels -- targeting POC authors, some from Del Rey -- while giving high ratings to _Crown of Starlight_.Corrain's claim that all this was done by a 'former friend' (whose existence could not be verified) was widely disbelieved; she later tweeted a 'sincere apology' blaming everything on 'alcoholism, depression and substance abuse'. Her literary agent Becca Podos 'will not be continuing our partnership'. (xTwitter _passim_; _The Mary Sue_, 11 December; xTwitter 'apology', 12 December)

ALTANY CRAIK, author and long-time Labour councillor in Fife, stepped down as a 2024 general election candidate 'for family reasons', strongly rumoured to be because the party objected to his Father Andrew Steel occult crime thrillers as 'too sexy and satanic'. (_Guardian_, 13 December)

LAUREN M. DAVIS, US author of a fantasy novel featuring sun-derived superpowers, made legal threats -- with a generous side helping of racism -- against Nigerian author Marvellous Michael Anson for the hideous copyright violation of using sun-themed powers in her _Firstborn of the Sun_. Citing such prior art as Apollo, Ra and a huge list (including Superman) in the Superpower Wiki was of no avail. (Daily Dot, 19 December)

DIANA L. PAXSON the US fantasy author was repeatedly stabbed -- as was her son -- in her home in Berkeley CA on 8 December. Both received hospital treatment; neither is in danger. [SB/LW] The 23-year-old attacker Byron Decles, 'a member of our extended family' with a history of mental health problems, was found and arrested on 12 December. (CBS, 8 December; Wildhunt.org, 11 December; _Berkeley Scanner_, 12 December)

LAVIE TIDHAR gleefully tweeted: 'Take that, Louis Theroux and L. Ron Hubbard!' His novel _The Circumference of the World_ was in the top place (with Theroux at #4, and Hubbard at #6 with _Dianetics_) of the no doubt prestigious list 'Best Sellers in Scientology'. (xTwitter, 8 December)


### CONVIVE ###

Until 17 January [] FANTASY REALMS OF IMAGINATION (exhibition), Leeds Central Library, later touring smaller community libraries. Free. See secretlibraryleeds.net/2023/12/08/fantasy-realms-of-imagination.

23 Jan [] A BILLION AND FIFTY YEAR SPREE (SFF symposium), Liverpool and online. See www.sf-foundation.org/fresh-about (26 Oct).

2-4 Feb [] CONTABILE 34 (UK filk), Palace Hotel, Buxton. _Now GBP42 reg; GBP32 unwaged;_ under-18s GBP1 per year of age when joining; under-5s free. The same rates apply at the door. See www.contabile.org.uk/tripletime.

2-5 Feb [] SCOTIACON (furry), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. 'Prehistoric Panic' theme. GBP100 reg; GBP45/day. See www.scotiacon.org.uk.

16-18 Feb [] UK GHOST STORY FESTIVAL, Museum of Making, Derby. GBP105 plus booking fee. Also online 12-15 February, GBP40 plus fee. See www.ukghoststoryfestival.co.uk.

24 Feb [] IAIN M. BANKS CELEBRATION at Faversham Literary Festival, The Alexander Centre. 3pm. Tickets GBP6. See tinyurl.com/2uyfcbk8.

29 Mar - 1 Apr [] LEVITATION (Eastercon), Telford International Centre. GBP125 reg; GBP50 concessions; GBP35 supporting; day GBP50; virtual access included. See eastercon2024.co.uk. _At-the-door rates apply after 31 January -- also the deadline for hotel bookings (at con rates) and child care._

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

25-26 May [] LAWLESS (UK comics), Hilton Doubletree Hotel, Bristol. Tickets sales open on 26 January. See lawlesscomiccon.co.uk.

6 Jul [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR on his 'Romantic Resonances', Leeds Hilton and online. Free. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/.

19-21 Jul [] FANTASY FOREST (cosplay), Sudely Castle, Cheltenham. Camping tickets sold out. GBP54.95 reg, under-16s GBP29.95 (plus booking fees); under-8s free. Other rates at fantasyforest.co.uk.

16-19 Aug [] ERASMUSCON (Eurocon), Rotterdam, Netherlands. Euro125 reg; under-23s Euro75; under-13s Euro10, under-3s free. Under-19s must be accompanied by an adult. See www.erasmuscon.nl for day rates.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. 'Science fiction is not simply politically useless, it's dangerous. Two centuries of sci-fi have been a net negative for the world, fueling the megalomaniacal fantasies of tech tyrants and inspiring the invention of untold horrors. The world would be a better place without it.' (Tyler Austin Harper, xTwitter, 9 December)

AWARDS. _Prometheus Hall of Fame_ shortlist: _Orion Shall Rise_ (1983) by Poul Anderson; _The Truth_ (2000) by Terry Pratchett; 'The Trees' (1978 song) by Rush; _Between the Rivers_ (1998) by Harry Turtledove. [F770]

BLURBISMO. A mere author _[name redacted]_ ascends to a higher state: 'Leadership has always been in her bones, however ... with a meticulous nature, a raw understanding of the writer's psyche and a memory for details, it was almost inevitable she would evolve from a novelist, editor and poet to then, events organiser.' (Facebook, 10 December) [JLG]

R.I.P. _Yuri Arabov_ (1954-2023), Russian writer and poet who wrote genre film scripts -- including the Strugatsky-based _Days of Eclipse_ (1988) -- and the alternate-history novel _Stolknoveniye s babochkoy_ (_A Butterfly Encounter_, 2014), died on 27 December aged 69. [AM]
     _Selma Archerd_ (1925-2023), US actress in _Americathon_ (1979), _Meteor_ (1979), _Scrooged_ (1988) and genre tv series, died on 14 December aged 98. [LP]
     _Jack Axelrod_ (1930-2023), US actor whose films include _Hancock_ (2008), _Super 8_ (2011) and _Transformers: Dark of the Moon_ (2011), died on 28 November aged 93. [AIP]
     _Rick (Richard) Bowes_ (1944-2023), US author whose sf debut was the alternate-New York adventure _War Child_ (1986, with 1988 sequel _Goblin Market_), died on 24 December aged 79. [PDF]
     _Andre Braugher_ (1962-2023), US actor in _Frequency_ (2000), _Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer_ (2007), _The Mist_ (2007), _The Andromeda Strain_ (2008 tv), _Superman/Batman: Apocalypse_ (2010) and others, died on 11 December aged 61. [LP]
     _Kathy Chow_ (1966-2023), Hong Kong actress whose genre credits include _Holy Virgin vs. The Evil Dead_ (1991), _Time Before Time_ (1997) and _Vampire Controller_ (2001), died on 11 December aged 57.
     _Kamar de los Reyes_ (1967-2023), Cuban-US actor in _LA Apocalypse_ (2015) and _Sleepy Hollow_ (2017), died on 24 December aged 56. [AIP]
     _David Drake_, popular and prolific US author of sf, fantasy and horror whose first success was the 'Hammer's Slammers' military sf series opening with _Hammer's Slammers_ (1979), died on 10 December aged 78. [LP] He was a co-founder in 1973 of the small press Carcosa, which received a 1976 World Fantasy Award (special non-professional category).
     _Shirley Anne Field_ (1936-2023), UK actress in _Horrors of the Black Museum_ (1959), _The Damned_ (1962), _House of the Living Dead_ (1974), and _U.F.O._ (1993), died on 10 December aged 87. [SGr]
     _D.G. Finlay_ (Dione Venables, 1930-2023), UK author and publisher who wrote historical fantasies beginning with _Once Around the Sun_ (1978), and founded the Orwell Society in 2011, died on 12 September aged 92. [BD]
     _Brigit Forsyth_ (1940-2023), Scots actress in _R3_ (1965), _Doctor Who_ (1967) and _Crystalstone_ (1987), died on 1 December aged 83. [SJ]
     _Richard Franklin_ (1936-2023), UK actor best known as Captain Mike Yates in the Pertwee-era _Doctor Who_ (42 episodes, 1971-1983), died on 25 December aged 87. He was in other genre series and _Rogue One_ (2016). [SGr]
     _Miguel Angel Fuentes_ (1953-2023), Mexican actor in _The Bermuda Triangle_ (1978), _L'uomo puma_ (_Pumaman_, 1980), _Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie_ (1984), _Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell_ (1988) and others, died on 28 December aged 70. [LP]
     _Ian Gibson_ (1946-2023), UK comics artist best known for his work in _2000 AD_, including _Robo-Hunter_, the classic _The Ballad of Halo Jones_ (scripted by Alan Moore) and _Judge Dredd_, died on 11 December aged 77. [GW] Later work included _Mister Miracle_ for DC and _Star Wars_ titles for Dark Horse.
     _Dan Greenburg_ (1936-2023), US author and humorist/satirist whose many genre books for children include the 'Zach Files' (paranormal), 'Maximum Boy' (superhero) and and 'Secrets of Dripping Fang' (horror) series, died on 18 December aged 87. [AIP]
     _Eva Hauser_ (Eva Hauserova, 1954-2023), Czech writer, editor, translator and fan who was a founding editor of _Ikarie_ magazine in 1990 and whose books include an sf novel, died on 22 December aged 69. [CS] She was the 1992 GUFF winner.
     _Roger Hill_ (1948-2023), US comics historian who wrote for the EC appreciation fanzine _Squa Tront_ (launched 1967), and compiled and wrote the text of art books such as the Wally Wood showcase _Galaxy Art and Beyond_ (2016), died on 6 December. [AIP]
     _Dr James Hosek_ (1964-2023), US author active in SFWA as Nebula Commissioner since 2017, died on 3 December aged 59. (SFWA)
     _Bob Johnson_ (1944-2023), UK Steeleye Span guitarist whose concept albums include the Dunsany-based _The King of Elfland's Daughter_ (1977) and the Pratchett-based _Wintersmith_ (2013), died on 15 December aged 79. (_Guardian_, 20 December)
     _Ken Kelsch_ (1947-2023), US cinematographer for _Spookies_ (1986), _Killer Dead_ (1992 aka _Non Vegetarian Zombies from Outer Space_), _The Addiction_ (1995), _4:44 Last Day on Earth_ (2011) and others, died on 11 December aged 76. [SJ]
     _Norman Lear_ (1922-2023), US producer and screenwriter whose credits include _All that Glitters_ (1977, as writer) and _The Princess Bride_ (1987), died on 5 December aged 101. [LP]
     _David Leland_ (1941-2023), UK director and actor in _Scars of Dracula_ (1970), _Time Bandits_ (1981) and the tv _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ (1981), died on 24 December aged 82. [AIP]
     _David McKnight_ (1936-2023), US actor in _J.D.'s Revenge_ (1976), _The Astral Factor_ (1978), _Superhero Movie_ (2008) and genre tv series, died on 3 December aged 87. [AIP/LP]
     _Vladimir Mitypov_ (1940-2023), Russian author of five novels, three of them sf -- beginning with _Zelyonoye bezumiye Zemli_ (_Earth's Green Madness_, 1966), died on 11 December. [AM]
     _Olexandr Mokrovolsky_ (1946-2023), Ukrainian translator of Richard Adams, Brian Aldiss, Eoin Colfer, Neil Gaiman and J.R.R. Tolkien, died on 22 December. [AM]
     _Marilyn 'Fuzzy Pink' Niven_ (1940-2023), US fan and convention worker active since the 1960s in MITSFS, NESFA (as a founder member), LASFS and SCIFI, died on 3 December aged 83. [F770] All sympathy to Larry Niven, her husband since 1969.
     _Mike Nussbaum_ (1923-2023), US actor in _Field of Dreams_ (1989), _The Water Engine_ (1992) and _Men in Black_ (1997), died on 23 December aged 99. [F770]
     _Ryan O'Neal_ (1941-2023), US actor in _Epoch_ (2001) and _Waste Land_ (2007), died on 8 December aged 82. [LP]
     _K.M. Peyton_ (Kathleen Wendy Peyton, 1929-2023, often with her husband Michael P. Peyton), noted UK author of YA fiction including the fantasies _A Pattern of Roses_ (1972) and _Unquiet Spirits_ (1997), died on 19 December aged 94.
     _Richard Romanus_ (1943-2023), US actor in _Wizards_ (voice 1977), _Heavy Metal_ (voice 1981), _Ghost of a Chance_ and others, died on 23 December aged 80. [SHS]
     _Mark Samuels_ (1967-2023), UK weird fiction author and Lovecraft/Machen enthusiast whose first collection was _The White Hands_ (2003), died on the night of 2/3 December aged 56. [DAA]
     _Kenpachiro Satsuma_ (1947-2023), Japanese actor who played rubber-suit monsters -- often mighty Godzilla/Gojira himself -- in many kaiju films beginning with _Godzilla vs. Hedorah_ (1971), died on 16 December aged 76. [LP]
     _Ann Schlee_ (1934-2023), US-born UK author whose one sf novel is the dystopian _The Vandal_ (1979) -- which won the _Guardian_ Children's Fiction Prize -- died on 1 November aged 89. [A]
     _Tom Smothers_ (1937-2023), US comedian and actor whose genre credits include _The Great Bear Scare_ (1983), _Timmy's Special Delivery_ (1993) and _Once Upon a Mattress_ (2005), died on 26 December aged 86. [LP]
     _Lee Sun-kyun_ (1975-2023), South Korean actor in _Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration_ (2019), _2036 Apocalypse Earth_ (2019) and _Dr Brain_ (2021), died on 27 September aged 48. [LP]
     _Camden Toy_ (1955-2023), US actor who played memorable villains in _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ (1999-2003), died on 11 December aged 68. [CM] Films include _Immortally Yours_ (2009), _Big Bad Bugs_ (2012), _Bedeviled_ (2016) and _Average Joe_ (2021).
     _Mario Valdemarin_ (1926-2023), Italian actor in _Hercules Conquers Atlantis_ (1961) and _La citta dell'ultima paura_ (1975), died on 12 December aged 96.
     _Natalia Vitko_ (1977-2023), Russian sf editor for various publishers and an organizer of the St. Petersburg Fantastic Assembly sf critics' convention, died on 23 December. [AM]
     _Tom Wilkinson_ (1948-2023), UK actor in _Black Knight_ (2001), _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ (2004), _Batman Begins_ (2005), _The Exorcism of Emily Rose_ (2005) and others, died on 30 December aged 75. [F770]
     _Nikolay Yutanov_ (1959-2023), Russian sf publisher -- CEO of Terra Fantastica -- novelist and an organizer of the annual Congress of Russian SF Writers, died on 23 December. [AM]

WORMSIGN. A public poll has named San Jose BART's huge new tunnel-boring machine 'Shai-Hulud'. (_Mercury News_, 19 December) [F770]

RANDOM FANDOM. _Caroline Mullan_ asked Bing AI chat about her years as a Clarke Award judge: 'I could not find any information that suggests Caroline Mullan is a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. However, I did find that Caroline Mullan has served as a judge for the Rotsler Award and the British Science Fiction Association awards. She has also won several fanzine awards.' All wrong! (Facebook, 28 December)

PUBLISHERS & SINNERS. Small Beer Press is closed to submissions, perhaps forever, owing to the publisher Gavin Grant's post-Covid health problems; but existing titles will stay in print. (Tor.com, 20 December)

COURT CIRCULAR: LEGAL ADVICE DEPT. 'Meta Platforms' (META.O) lawyers had warned it about the legal perils of using thousands of pirated books to train its AI models, but the company did it anyway, according to a new filing in a copyright infringement lawsuit initially brought this summer.' (Reuters, 12 December) [AIP] We live in a post-expert-advice era.
     Meanwhile at _The Register_: 'The Science Fiction Writers Association (SFWA) has asked us all to imagine a future in which builders of AI models offer a price they're willing to pay for the copyrighted material they need, and creators choose whether to pay _[presumably meaning 'accept']_ it until enough deals are struck that all stakeholders achieve satisfaction.' (Torrentfreak, 14 December; _The Register_, 15 December)

THE DEAD PAST. _20 Years Ago_, _Instant Message_ 538 confirmed that the New England SF Association notoriously plans for every contingency: 'The rules for other organizations suing the clubhouse were re-stated ...' (_Ansible_ 78, January 1994)
     _50 Years Ago_, early rumblings of the first Brighton Worldcon: 'No sooner does Kansas City abandon 1979 than a triumvirate of Pete Weston, Pete Roberts and Malcolm Edwards step forward with a U.K. bid for that year. Things are just in the talking stage now ...' (_Fiawol_ 8, January 1974)
     _60 Years Ago_, a newszine fate which _Ansible_ has so far been spared: '_A Checklist of Typographical Errors and Misspellings in_ Starspinkle_'s First Year_ has been arduously compiled by and is available from Walter Breen as part of _Fanac_ 97 _[address here omitted]_. It's warming and comfortable to know I've such an enthusiastic fan and proofreader ...' (Ron Ellik, _Starspinkle_ 29, 16 January 1964)

FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund._ Final warning: nominations for the 2024 TAFF race from North America to the Glasgow Worldcon close on 7 January. Full details in _Taffluorescence!_ at taff.org.uk.
     _European Fan Fund:_ nominations are open for the 2024 EFF race to the coming Eurocon (Erasmuscon in Rotterdam, 16-19 August) and close on 25 January; voting will then run to 1 April. Details at fandomrover.com/2023/12/05/2024-eff-call-for-nominations-for-the-second-race.
     _TAFF Paperbacks_ at ae.ansible.uk/?id=taff have now raised over GBP1000 for the fund.

MAGAZINE SCENE. _Dark Matter_'s November-December 2023 issue is its last after 3 years of publication; publisher Rob Carroll is switching to a series of _Dark Matter Presents_ anthologies. See darkmattermagazine.shop. [F770]
     Not content with relaunching _Worlds of IF_, Justin T. O'Conor Sloane is doing the same with the sister magazine _Galaxy_, perhaps semiannually with one short story per issue. (From new editorial in _Galaxy_, February 1951, reissued at Starshipsloane.com, 14 December)

SCIENTIFIC UNITS REDUX. NASA's sample capsule from asteroid Bennu may in fact hold less than the expected 250g, 'likened by one space agency official to the weight of a large hamster.' (BBC, 12 December)

COURT CIRCULAR II. The Tolkien Estate won two lawsuits against US author Demetrious Polychron, who was ordered to withdraw his blatant Tolkien rip-off _The Fellowship of the King_ and destroy all physical and electronic copies. The estate and Amazon were also awarded $134,000 in legal fees for his 'frivolously and unreasonably filed' plagiarism suit against the _Rings of Power_ tv series. (Press release, 18 December) [DVB]

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Now You See It ..._ 'Now if you break a drop of water into its component atoms of hydrogen and oxygen you do not get less water. You get nothing at all.' (W.E. Johns, _To Outer Space_, 1957)
     _True Romance._ 'He contented himself with kissing her knuckles, like a gourmand licking the skin off a well-roasted chicken leg.' (Kim Newman, 'Angel Down, Sussex', 1999) [BA]
     _Headbutt Dept._ 'Jarid wiped his brow with his trembling palm, then slammed it on his map.' (Brandon Sanderson channelling Robert Jordan, _A Memory of Light_, 2013) [AR]
     _Savour That Simile._ 'Karam began to tie a coin pouch at his waist: the gold coins inside had melted into a single lump, like pigs' ears in a jar.' 'Sweat crept down Mat's brow like ants.' (_Ibid_) [AR]
     _High Fantasy Diction._ 'A middle-aged woman entered _[...]_ She was squat, shaped kind of like a bell.' 'The dragons probably looked busted up something good.' (_Ibid_) [AR]


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### 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.
     18 January 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

WORLDCON NEWSFLASH. Tanya DePass, US editor and game designer, has been announced as Special Guest of Glasgow 2024. (Press release, 28 December)

UK NEW YEAR HONOURS. Sir Ridley Scott's knighthood was upgraded to Knight Grand Cross for services to film; Kate Mosse, CBE for services to literature; Emilia Clarke of _Game of Thrones_, OBE for services to people with brain injuries; Oliver Ford Davies of the _Star Wars_ prequels, OBE for services to drama.

R.I.P. II -- LATE REPORTS. _Bryan Ansell_ (1955-2023), UK games and miniatures designer since the 1970s, who became MD of Games Workshop in 1985, imposed changes on its magazine _White Dwarf_ (whose May 1986 contents list carried the acrostic message SOD OFF BRYAN ANSELL), staged a management buyout in 1991 and went on to other gaming enterprises, died on 30 December aged 68. [SGl]
     _Yilmaz Atadeniz_ (1932-2023), Turkish screenwriter for the fantasy films _Killing in Istanbul_, _Kilink: Strip and Kill_, _The Red Mask_ and _Yilmayan Seytan_, died on 13 December. [SHS]
     _John M. Burns_ (1938-2023), noted UK comics artist active in many comics and magazines since the 1960s, whose tv tie-ins included _The Bionic Woman_, _Doctor Who_ and _Space: 1999_, and who did memorable work on _Judge Dredd_, _Nikolai Dante_ and others for _2000 AD_, died on 29 December aged 85. [HM]
     _Shecky Greene_ (1926-2023), US comedian and actor in _History of the World: Part I_ (1981) and _Splash_ (1984), died on 31 December aged 97. [LP]
     _Rossy Mendoza_ (1943-2023), Mexican actress in _Capulina contra los vampiros_ (1971) and others, died on 29 December aged 80. [SJ]

RANDOM FANDOM II. _James D. Nicoll_ reports that Google, 'having done all the damage to it they can', is cancelling its access to Usenet on 22 February. _Ansible_ is still posted monthly (not via Google) to Usenet rec.arts.sf.fandom and uk.people.sf-fans, but will it soon be time to stop?
https://support.google.com/groups/answer/11036538?hl=en

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     2023 Hugo voting statistics
https://www.thehugoawards.org/2023/12/2023-final-ballot/
     _Doctor Who_ and the Cruciverbal Inquisitor
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/12/05/inquisitor-1831-shipshape-by-methuselah/
     MidJourney AI and sf/fan artists: names are named
https://file770.com/court-exhibit-names-artists-midjourney-scraped-to-train-its-ai-includes-many-hugo-winners/
     Francis Spufford on 'The books of my life'
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/29/francis-spufford-it-was-the-sorrow-of-my-life-at-age-10-that-there-wasnt-one-more-narnia-book-to-read

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 198, January 2004. _Eyeballs in the Sky (Retro Division)._ '... she threw her eyes upon the walls, and saw their shattered condition.' (Ann Radcliffe, _The Mysteries of Udolpho_, 1794)
     _Dept of Mass Destruction._ '... they were upon him, smothering him, squeezing and squashing him, with the sheer weight of their weightlessness.' (Terrance Dicks & Barry Letts, _Doctor Who: Deadly Reunion_, 2003)
     _Double-Take Dept._ 'As with most aerial bombardments in my era, the effects of the attack were more terrifying than the results.' (Dan Simmons, _Ilium_, 2003)


_Ansible_(R) 438 (C) David Langford, 2024. Thanks to Ahasuerus, Brian Ameringen, Douglas A. Anderson, David V. Barrett, Sandra Bond, Brett Davidson, Paul Di Filippo, _File 770_, John Linwood Grant, Steve Glover, Steve Green, Steve Jones, Helen McCarthy, Andrey Meshavkin, Craig Miller, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, Adam Roberts, Steven H Silver, Cyril Simsa,Gary Wilkinson, Liz Williams, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia). Happy Newish Year!

2 January 2024