Ansible 295 -- February 2012

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE 295
FEBRUARY 2012

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 the latest model of Outlandish Watch.

[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.co.uk/a295.html for the nice HTML
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-- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


EYEBALL IN THE SKY. More excitement I could have lived without:
worries about a growing shadow in my right eye led to urgent retinal
surgery on 20 January. This was successful, but things will be blurry
for a while yet and _Ansible_ may have (even) more typos than usual.


### SO BRIGHT THE VISION ###

LAURIE ANDERSON, US performance artist, tries to predict the future:
'I think we probably won't be making things of the nature that we have
now. I think we'll just be trying to appreciate things more. Maybe
we'll develop better ears. I mean, our hearing's crappy. We'll have
huge ears and we'll be able to tune in to Mars, or we'll have a
hundred lenses which we can use to look onto the surface of Mars with
our so-called "bore eyes," or look through our hands. We'll be able to
be present more effectively.' (_The Believer_, January) [MMW] Take
that, H.G. Wells!

RUSSELL T. DAVIES generalizes wildly: 'Magic and science fiction are
never combined.' (_Guardian_, 28 January) [TP]

CARRIE FISHER carries on. _New Yorker_: 'You occasionally sign
autographs at _Star Wars_ conventions. Are you contractually obligated
to wear the cinnamon buns?' _Fisher:_ 'There's a level of whoring that
even I won't do. But those autograph shows are celebrity prostitution
because they give you cash. We work all our lives but never actually
see the money we make. But this is like being a drug lord. Don't talk
too much about this, because the tax people will come.' (6 January)
[MMW]

RICHARD GARRIOT aka Lord British, videogame developer and 2008 space
tourist (at a reported cost of $30m), shot an eight-minute movie
called _Apogee of Fear_ on the International Space Station -- the
first sf film made in space -- which for unclear reasons NASA wouldn't
allow him to release. [DKMK] Following many January news reports of
the ban, a NASA spokesman indicated a rethink: 'NASA is working with
Richard Garriott to facilitate the video's release. [...] We hope to
resolve the remaining issues expeditiously ...' (_Wired_, 19 January)
One imagines a high-level NASA committee holding out for some less
ominous title, such as _Apogee of Strong Arguments for Increased
Agency Funding_.

CONNIE WILLIS has been named as the 2011 recipient of the SFWA Damon
Knight Grand Master award for life achievement. [L]


### CONFITENT ###

2-5 Feb [] SFX WEEKENDER 3, Prestatyn Sands, Holiday Park, North
Wales. Charged by accommodation, from Pounds250 for 2 (Pounds545 for
5) 'basic' up to Pounds400 for 2 'VIP'. Online booking (with Pounds6
booking fee) at www.sfxweekender.com. Contact & children's bookings:
08700 110034.

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

9 Feb [] OPEN DAY for MA in Creative Writing (SF & Fantasy), Middlesex
U, Hendon campus. Enquiries 020 8411 5555 (option 1).

18 Feb [] 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 Feb [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, Melton Mowbray (_new venue_), 18 Holborn,
London, EC1N 2LE. 6pm for 7pm. With Liz Williams.

24-26 Feb [] SATELLITE 3, Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow. GoH Charles
Stross. _Now Pounds50 reg_; same at the door; advance booking closes
mid-month. Contact Satellite 3, PO Box 3738, Glasgow, G41 4YD.

25-26 Feb [] MICROCON 32, University of Exeter, Streatham Campus. 10am
Sat, Devonshire House JCR; Sun in Cornwall House, Various speakers.
Pounds12 reg at door, students Pounds10, EUSFS members Pounds8.

2 Mar [] BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY OPEN NIGHT, The Mug House, London
Bridge, London, SE1 2PF. 5/6pm for 7:30pm. All welcome.

3-4 Mar [] P-CON IX, Irish Writers' Centre, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.
Euro20 reg: payment via PayPal only. See www.pcon.ie.

28 Mar - 27 May [] 'IT'S LIFE JIMMY, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT': SF in
Scotland (exhibition), National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge,
Edinburgh, EH1 1EW. Free. 10am-8pm; to 5pm Sat; 2-5pm Sun.

29 Mar - 1 Apr [] DEAD BY DAWN (horror film festival), Filmhouse,
Edinburgh. Pounds70. Box office 0131 228 2688; www.deadbydawn.co.uk.

6-9 Apr [] OLYMPUS 2012 (Eastercon), Radisson Edwardian Hotel,
Heathrow, London. Pounds65 reg, Pounds55 unwaged. Pounds20 supp/
under-17s, Pounds5 under-12s, Pounds1 under-5s. Contact 4 Evesham
Green, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 9RX, or enquiries at olympus2012 dot
org.

18-20 May [] WALTZ ON THE WYE (steampunk), Chepstow. Pounds40
including ball, Pounds25 without, Pounds10 day. 3% booking fee at
wyewaltz.org.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. TV presenter Fern Britton, having opined that 'I
think _Doctor Who_ is the most dreary thing,' added: 'I tried to watch
_Star Wars_ three times but I've never got past the first 12 minutes
as I've always fallen asleep. / I hate sci-fi as it's not real and all
these people who are fans think it's real and it's some sort of
religion to them.' (BBC2 _Room 101_, 20 January; previewed in _The
Sun_, 17 January) [JS]

AWARD SHORTLISTS. _BSFA:_ NOVEL Kim Lakin-Smith, _Cyber Circus_; China
Mieville, _Embassytown_; Christopher Priest, _The Islanders_; Adam
Roberts, _By Light Alone_; Lavie Tidhar, _Osama_. SHORT Nina Allan,
'The Silver Wind' (_Interzone_ 233); Paul Cornell, 'The Copenhagen
Interpretation' (_Asimov's_ 7/11); Kameron Hurley,
'Afterbirth' (author's website); China Mieville,
'Covehithe' (_Guardian_); Al Robertson, 'Of Dawn' (_IZ_235).
NONFICTION Mike Ashley, _Out of This World: Science Fiction but Not as
We Know it_; John Clute, Peter Nicholls & David Langford, eds., _The
SF Encyclopedia, Third Edition_ (website); Abigail Nussbaum, review of
_Arslan_ by M.J. Engh (Asking the Wrong Questions blog); Ian Sales,
ed., SF Mistressworks (website); Jared Shurin & Anne Perry, ed.,
Pornokitsch (website); Graham Sleight, Tony Keen & Simon Bradshaw,
eds., _The Unsilent Library: Essays on the Russell T. Davies Era of
the New Doctor Who_. ART Dominic Harman, cover of Ian Whates, _The
Noise Revealed_; Jim Kay, cover/illustrations of Patrick Ness, _A
Monster Calls_; Pedro Marques, cover of Lavie Tidhar, _Osama_; Anne
Sudworth, cover of Liz Williams, _A Glass of Shadow_.
_Philip K. Dick:_ Jean Johnson, _A Solder's Duty_; Maureen F.
McHugh, _After the Apocalypse_; Mira Grant, _Deadline_; Robert Jackson
Bennett, _The Company Man_; Matthew Hughes, _The Other_; Drew Magary,
_The Postmortal_; Simon Morden, _The Samuil Petrovich Trilogy_. [GVG]
_Kitschies_ (novel category): Jesse Bullington, _The Enterprise
of Death_; China Mieville, _Embassytown_; Patrick Ness & Siobhan Dowd,
_A Monster Calls_; Jane Rogers, _The Testament of Jessie Lamb_; Lavie
Tidhar, _Osama_.

THE WEAKEST LINK. _Host:_ 'Which writer's birthday is commemorated on
Pooh Day?' _Contestant:_ 'Shakespeare.' (ITV, _The Chase_) [PI]

R.I.P. _Robert E. Briney_ (1933-2011), one of the founding partners of
the important sf small press Advent: Publishers, died in November. He
was valued for commentary on multiple genres including mysteries and
sf. [EK]
_John Celardo_ (1918-2012), US comics veteran who drew and later
wrote the _Tarzan_ newspaper strip 1954-1967, died on 6 January aged
93. [PDF]
_James Farentino_ (1938-2012), US actor who co-starred in _The
Final Countdown_ (1980), died on 24 January aged 73. [PDF]
_Carlo Fruttero_ (1926-2012), Italian sf author -- mostly in
collaboration with Franco Lucentini, with whom he also edited the sf
magazine _Urania_ 1964-1985 -- died on 15 January. [SHS]
_Mark Hall_ (1936-2011), who with Brian Cosgrove founded the
animation studio Cosgrove Hall, died on 17 November; he was 75.
Popular CH productions included _Danger Mouse_ (1981-1992), _The Wind
in the Willows_ (1983; Bafta winner), _Count Duckula_ (1988-1993),
Roald Dahl's _The BFG_ (1989) and three Terry Pratchett novel
adaptations. [MPJ]
_Reginald Hill_ (1936-2012), popular UK author of the Dalziel and
Pascoe detective series -- of which _One Small Step_ (1990) is sf set
on the Moon -- died on 12 January aged 75. As Dick Morland he wrote
the sf dystopias _Heart Clock_ (1973) and _Albion! Albion!_ (1974).
[JC]
_Bob Holness_ (1928-2012), South African-born radio/tv presenter
and quiz host who in 1956 became the second actor to play James Bond
(in a radio version of _Moonraker_), died on 6 January aged 83. [GD]
_Howard Hopkins_ (1961-2012), US author of graphic novels and the
'Chloe Files' urban fantasy/horror series, died from a heart attack on
12 January; he was 50. [PS]
_Phyllis MacLennan_ (1920-2012), author of several short sf
stories 1963-1980 and the novel _Turned Loose on Irdra_ (1970), died
on 8 January aged 91. [SHS]
_Lister Matheson_ (1948-2012), Scots-born academic at Michigan
State University who was a former director of the Clarion East sf
workshop, died on 19 January aged 63. [SFS]
_Martin Sherwood_ (1942-2011), UK author of the sf novels
_Survival_ (1975) and _Maxwell's Demon_ (1976), died on 10 May 2011
aged 69. [DPB]
_Arne Sjogre_ (1940-2012), Swedish fan, critic and short-story
author with several sales in the 1960s, died on 7 January; he was 71.
[J-HH
_Dick Tufeld_ (1926-2012), US voice actor who voiced the _Lost in
Space_ robot ('Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!'), died on 22 January at
age 85. He was also heard in _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_ and
_The Time Tunnel_. [BB]
_Alice E. 'Badger' Washburn_, US fan, convention-goer and filker
active in the Boston area, died from acute respiratory distress
syndrome on 26 December. [PT]
_Nicol Williamson_ (1936-2012), distinguished Scots stage and
screen actor whose best-known genre role was Merlin in the 1981
_Excalibur_, died on 16 December aged 75. Other relevant film credits
include _Return to Oz_ (1985), _The Exorcist III_ (1990), _The Wind in
the Willows_ (1996) and _Spawn_ (1997). [PDF]

STRANGER THAN FACT. In a poll of 1000 people carried out by the
_Encylopedia Britannica_ to investigate scientific misconceptions, 16%
believed the discoverer of radioactivity was Dr Emmett Brown of the
_Back To The Future_ films. (_Telegraph_, 6 January) [MPJ] This
confirms the vital scientific principle that including stupid answers
in a multiple-choice quiz ensures jolly amusing results from
guesswork.

AS OTHERS SEE US II. Yes another resistible opportunity: 'MTV is
looking to create a "Jersey Shore" for geeks. The network has put out
a casting call for something called "Fandom Rising", which doesn't
make any bones that it's a show tailored to the nerd set. "If you are
a guy or girl and get all the references in 'The Big Bang Theory,' can
quote the Original Trilogy, can spot a Cylon among us, wish you
could've attended Hogwarts, Starfleet Academy, or Xavier's School for
the Gifted, join the horde, and revere masters of science fiction and
fantasy we want you!" (_New York Post_, 23 December) [PL]
Guess who wants to tap the mighty talent pool of _Ansible_
readers? 'Big Brother ... is BACK FOR 2012! / I am contacting you from
Endemoluk, we are currently in the process of casting Big Brother 2012
and I wanted to get in contact with you. Big Brother returns to our
screens on Channel 5 in summer 2012 and we're looking for vibrant and
interesting characters to enter the house. / Big Brother is widening
the search and, as ever, is keen to represent all aspects of society.
I wanted to pass on my contact details for any of your members that
might be interested in applying?' Contact, if you dare, frazeryorke
[at] endemoluk com.
An sf themed brothel is planned in Nevada (where this is legal),
catering for 'sci-fi nerds who dream of having sex with exotic alien
women.' Work continues on 'the project's finer details, like whether
the girls themselves will be painted green.' (_The Week_, 4 January)
[SL]

MEDIA AWARDS. The best movie of 2011 was the sf _Melancholia_,
according to the European Film Awards and US National Society of Film
Critics. _Producers Guild:_ best animation, _The Adventures Of
Tintin_; Vanguard award, Stan Lee. _Golden Globes:_ animated feature,
_Tintin_ again; best director, Martin Scorsese for _Hugo_; best
supporting TV actor, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in _A Game of
Thrones_. _American Soc of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement:_
Harrison Ford. [MPJ]
_Oscars:_ Martin Scorsese's sf _Hugo_ had the most nominations
(11) of the nine films contending for Best Picture in the Academy
Awards.

OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Earl Kemp_ objects to _A294_: '... too damned many
obits. Stop the killing!'
_Dave Lally_ on the death of Don Sharp (_A294_): 'He did two of
his films using my home town in Ireland as a location: _The Face of Fu
Manchu_ (actually 1964) and _Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon_. As is
I hope well known, this young SF buck played the dead boy -- astride
the bike, as a extra -- when Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) bombs (the
fictional Essex coastal village of) Fleetwick with his deadly-below-
freezing-point gas. I remember his Assnt Dir/Prodr would produce wads
of money in cash (usually English money as well -- very welcome in
Ireland at the time) to get instant locations (eg the half-eaten
breakfast left in a living room in Fleetwick).'
_Colin Smythe_ on the death of Darrell K. Sweet (_A294_):
'Darrell also painted cover illustrations for nine of the Signet/Roc
editions of Terry's works -- _The Dark Side of the Sun_, _Sourcery_,
_Wyrd Sisters_, _Pyramids_, _Guards! Guards!_, _Eric_, _Moving
Pictures_, _Reaper Man_ and _Witches Abroad_.'

O TEMPORA, O MORES. Keith Watson on the sad decline of UK nudism: 'My
guess is you're more likely to see modern youth hanging out at sci-fi
conventions than you are in the buff down the local naturist
club.' (_Metro_, 13 January) [MT] Depends which you go to, I suppose.

REFUSENIKS. A list -- excluding the living -- of those who declined UK
honours 1951-1999 was released to the BBC after a Freedom of
Information Act request. Names of genre interest include Roald Dahl
(OBE 1986), C.S. Forester (CBE 1953), Robert Graves (CBE 1957, CH
1984), Alfred Hitchcock (CBE 1962), Aldous Huxley (knighthood 1959),
C.S. Lewis (CBE 1952) and J.B. Priestley (life peerage 1965, CH 1969).
[IC] Not listed, being post-1999: J.G. Ballard, who refused a CBE in
2003.

RANDOM FANDOM. _FAAn Awards_ for 2011 fanzine activity: voting is
open, with an 8 March deadline. Ballot form at corflu.org.
_Bruce Gillespie & Jan Stinson_ are folding _Steam Engine Time_
owing to Jan's poor health. Read the final issue #13 at efanzines.com/
SFC/#set.
_Pulpfest_, the pulp magazine convention, renamed its Munsey
Award for service to the pulp cause as the Rusty Hevelin Service Award
(or Rusty).

MORE AWARDS. _Bram Stoker_ (horror) life achievement: Rick Hautala,
Joe R. Lansdale.
_Crawford_ (fantasy): Genevieve Valentine, _Mechanique: A Tale of
the Circus Tresaulti_ (2011). [L]

THE DEAD PAST. _50 Years Ago_, John Brunner peered with keen eyes into
futurity: 'Suppose I married a Chinese girl, say ...' (_PITFCS_ ed.
Theodore R. Cogswell, February 1962)
_70 Years Ago_, UK fans were polled about a national sf
organization: 'Name to be (i) British Fantasy Fan Federation..... (ii)
Futurian Society of Great Britain..... (iii) British Fantasy
Society..... (iv) Any other title.....' (_Futurian War Digest_ 17,
February 1942) Winner: British Fantasy Society (not the present one).

FANFUNDERY. _GUFF_ results for the northbound race to Olympus 2012:
Kylie Ding wins with 47 votes to Grant Watson's 46 (no preference 5).
_TAFF_ voting figures were released in January. First round: Jacq
Monahan 35 votes (27 NA + 8 Euro), Warren Buff 30 (28+2; eliminated by
20% rule), Kim Kofmel 27 (12+15), no preference 8 (6+2). After
redistribution of WB voters' second choices, JM won the second round
with 45 to KK's 42. Full details at taff.org.uk.

WE ARE EVERYWHERE. More _Star Trek_ in odd contexts. Anthony Quinn
reviews the biopic _J. Edgar_ [Hoover]: 'Let down by the make-up
department, which turns his liver-spotted dotage into a Borg from Star
Trek, [Armie] Hammer still conveys a strong pathos in the final
stretch.' (_Independent_, 20 January) [MPJ]
Tim Abrahams of Sky Sports on Abu Dhabi's cricket ground, venue
of the Pakistan v England Test: 'It looks as if the starship
_Enterprise_ has landed in the middle of the desert. England need to
boldly go where they've never played Test cricket before.' (23
January) [MPJ]
Debate about _The Iliad_ 'has led to bitter exchanges in the
pages of scholarly journals, filled with abstruse proofs that, to the
uninitiated, might seem like the dialogue to a "Star Trek" episode
("Movable _nu_ was already being used in this early period for the
sake of preventing hiatus caused by the loss of digamma").' (_New
Yorker_, 7 November) [MMW]
At the Jaipur Literature Festival, A.C. Grayling made the
traditional error: 'One of the best known examples of this divide
between emotions and reason was Dr Spock of _Star Trek_. He thought he
was a poor logician because he was always in love with someone or the
other. It's another matter that he was suspected to be in love with
Captain Kirk ...' (_Hindustan Times_, 27 January) [JW]

C.O.A. _Rose Fox, Josh Jasper and Xtina Schelin_, 460 Prospect Place,
Brooklyn, N.Y., USA. 'No incendiary devices, please.'

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Eyeballs in the Sky._ '... abandoned buildings
where the homeless hide and hungry eyes that will take your cigarettes
and your wallet.' (Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., 'To Live and Die in Arkham'
in _The Book of Cthulhu_ ed. Ross E. Lockhart, 2011) [NR]
_Dept of Visible Poverty_. 'Neela looked at him, her face
destitute.' (Dani & Eytan Kollin, _The Unincorporated Man_, 2009) [CH]
_Mirth of No Human Shape Dept._ 'Gibbous laughter flicked at the
edges of his consciousness.' (Barbara Hambly, _The Witches of
Wenshar_, 1987) [KAM]
_Dept of Central Casting._ 'General Vigo, a tall, snowy-haired
albino from Urinal, fourth satellite moon of Saturn' ... 'Morganus
Thaeller, the Chief Control Commissioner of Troublesome Planets and
Asteroids' ... 'Regina Zelda, loveliest and most delicately nurtured
of all the inhabitants of the Four Worlds' ... 'Zelda, her soft comely
breasts rising and falling rapidly beneath their torn flimsy
coverings, stood beside him, her eyes alight with tenderness.' ...
'Carlyon, like all Martians, a brown-skinned giant of six hectares
high' ... (all 'Bengo Mistral', _Pirates of Cerebus_, 1953) [PH via
BiB]

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### ENDNOTES ###

APPARITIONS.
[] 4 February 2012: Mary & Bryan Talbot are guests at the SWALC micro-
arts festival, 1pm-6pm at the Lord Clyde pub, 340-342 Essex Road,
London, N1 3PB.
[] 10 February 2012: Brum Group, quiz night; 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: awaited.

VAMPIRE NOVEL OF THE CENTURY. To mark the centenary of Bram Stoker's
death on 20 April 1912, a Horror Writers Association jury is busy
selecting the supposedly most influential vampire novel published
1912-2011. Their shortlist: Charles L. Grant, _The Soft Whisper of the
Dead_; Stephen King, _'Salem's Lot_; Richard Matheson, _I Am Legend_;
Kim Newman, _Anno Dracula_; Anne Rice, _Interview with the Vampire_;
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, _Hotel Transylvania_.

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/leaky.html

SOME LINKS FROM READERS. Because I can't face writing even a token
editorial.
[] Claire M. Jordan remembers the prototype of Severus Snape:
http://www.whitehound.co.uk/Fanfic/A_true_original.htm
[] Andrew I. Porter was the first of many to send this story about
Tolkien and the Nobel Prize:
http://tinyurl.com/7j2356e
[] Mike Glyer discovered a web page about a fictional character of
curious interest to me:
http://pipl.com/directory/name/Tappen/Roy/
[] Duncan Lawie points out a sports article revealing how a famed sf
writer missed his true vocation: 'The American writer Philip K Dick
was a pretty sharp analyst of human psychology. He had a keen nose for
paranoia, delusion and perceptive muddle, which made him a brilliant
observer of McCarthy-era America, where paranoia was general currency
and public discourse was doublespeak. / Dick mostly wrote sci-fi but
today he would have been a handy football journalist.' (_Evening
Standard_, 26 January)
http://tinyurl.com/dickandfootball

LATE R.I.P. Ardath Mayhar (1920-2012), long-time US author active
since the 1940s and in sf/fantasy since 1973, has died at the age of
81. Her first science-fantasy novel was _How the Gods Wove in
Kyrannon_ (1979); many more followed, plus two story collections; she
was honoured by SFWA as Author Emeritus in 2008. [LP/SHS]
http://nofearofthefuture.blogspot.com/2012/02/ardath-mayhar-has-passed-away.html

THOG'S SECOND HELPING. _Headdesk Dept._ 'Syme struck the table with a
radiant face.' (G.K. Chesterton, _The Man Who Was Thursday_, 1908)
[JDB]


Ansible 295 Copyright (c) David Langford, 2012. Thanks to Barbara
Barrett, John D. Berry, Dirk P. Broer, Bill Burns, John Clute, Ian
Covell, Gordon Davie, Paul Di Filippo, Phil Harbottle, Chip Hitchcock,
John-Henri Holmberg, Earl Kemp, Sam Long, Pamela Love, Klaus AE.
Mogensen, Lawrence Person, Trevor Prinn, Private Eye, Nonie Rider, SF
Site, Steven H Silver, Phillip Spencer, James Summerson, Markus
Thierstein, Persis Thorndike, Gordon Van Gelder, Martin Morse Wooster,
James Worrad, and our Hero Distributors: Dave Corby (BSFG), SCIS/
Prophecy, Alan Stewart (Australia). And thanks for all good wishes
about the eye.

1 February 2012