Ansible 435 -- October 2023

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE(R) 435
OCTOBER 2023

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, dead bards, lonely tapeworms or love-lorn truffles.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a435.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a435.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 STUFFED OWL ###

MICHAEL CHABON has joined the authors suing Meta, Bloomberg and others for using a database ('Books3') of 'more than 191,000' -- some say 187,000 -- pirated books to train their generative AI systems. (_Atlantic_, 25 September)
     There's a Books3 author name search at full-stack-search-prod.vercel.app/ -- though Neil Clarke warns '... you may still be in there even if your name doesn't turn up any results. / Pirates are not known for their data entry skills. Aside from typos, they may only list some of the _[anthology]_ contributors or editor(s).' (Facebook, 26 September) Thus there are no hits for 'David Langford', but searching for 'Mike Ashley' or 'David G. Hartwell' shows several of their anthologies containing my stories.
     See also US Authors Guild comments at authorsguild.org/news/you-just-found-out-your-book-was-used-to-train-ai-now-what/.

GRADY HENDRIX, learned author of _Paperbacks from Hell_, revealed on the Barnes & Noble website that 'Horror didn't exist as a literary genre before 1967 when _Rosemary's Baby_ hit the bestseller lists and became a hit movie.' (Barnesandnoble.com, 19 September) [TM]

ALAN MOORE has a good word for Thog the Liberator in his BBC Maestro storytelling course. 'As a prospective writer, I would urge you to not only read good books. Read terrible books as well, because they can be more inspiring than the good books [...] If you are inspired by a good book, there's always the danger of plagiarism, of doing something that is too much like that good book. Whereas, a genuinely helpful reaction to a piece of work that you're reading is, "Jesus Christ, I could write this sh*t!" That is immensely liberating ...' (Upworthy.com, 9 September)

BILL WILLINGHAM declared that after years of frustrating disputes with DC Comics over his _Fables_ sequence -- about fairytale/folklore characters living in the real world -- he was allowing the _Fables_ IP to enter the public domain, so others can make free use of the setting. DC was quick to announce that, contrariwise, they own all rights to absolutely everything and, what's more, have many highly paid lawyers. (_Lavie Tidhar:_ 'Let me be the first comics writer to release a whole bunch of public domain characters back into the public domain.' -- Xtwitter, 23 September)


### CONCHA ###

Until 1 Nov [] LONDON MONTH OF THE DEAD events, various venues. Speakers include Kim Newman. See londonmonthofthedead.com.

6-8 Oct [] GRIMMFEST (film), Odeon Great Northern, Manchester. Full pass for all screenings and events GBP79.50 plus fees at grimmfest.com.

7-8 Oct [] NEVERMORE (Gothic), online. GBP15 weekend or GBP10/day. See www.thefolklorepodcast.com/store/c9/Forthcoming_events.html.

7-8 Oct [] OCTOCON, Gibson Hotel, Dublin. Euro60 reg; concessions Euro40; YA or supp Euro20. Registration open at octocon.com.

18-22 Oct [] WORLDCON 2023, Chengdu, China. $70 reg (first Worldcon $50) plus $50 WSFS voting rights. See en.chengduworldcon.com.

19-22 Oct [] CELLULOID SCREAMS (horror films), Showroom Cinema, Sheffield. Full pass GBP105 or day rates at www.celluloidscreams.com.

20-22 Oct [] FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS, Pendulum Hotel, Manchester. GBP110 reg. For day rates see 'Book Tickets' at fantastic-films.uk.

20-23 Oct [] IRISH DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Cork International Hotel, Cork.Euro75 reg; Euro55 concessions; under-17s Euro20. See idwcon.org.

21 Oct [] BRISTOLCON, Hilton DoubleTree Hotel, Bristol. GBP40 reg; GBP25 under-18s, concessions, disabled; under-14s free; GBP15 supp. _The Dealers' Room is full -- no more bookings accepted._ More at www.bristolcon.org.

21-22 Oct [] FILM & COMIC CON CARDIFF, International Arena, Cardiff. Weekend GBP16; GBP32 for early entry. See filmandcomicconcardiff.com.

21-22 Oct [] FINAL FANTASY FESTIVAL, ExCel, London. Weekend tickets GBP159.99. See fanfest2.finalfantasyxiv.com/2023-24/eu/.

21 Oct [] OCTOBER COUNTRY (Ray Bradbury), QUAD, Derby. Noon-8pm. GBP30 reg. Details at www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/octobercountry.

21-22 Oct [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

26-31 Oct [] EDINBURGH HORROR FESTIVAL, Banshee Labyrinth and other city venues. Event tickets from edinburghhorrorfestival.co.uk.

27 Oct - 25 Feb 2024 [] FANTASY: REALMS OF IMAGINATION (exhibition), British Library, London. GBP16; under-12s free; other discounts vary with weekdays, school terms, etc. See www.bl.uk/events/fantasy.

27-28 Oct [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Cineworld, Leicester Square, London. Tickets on sale from 1 October at frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html.

29 Oct [] HALLOCON, Leasowe Castle Hotel, Wirral. 11am-5pm. GBP9; under-16s GBP7; under-10s GBP5. See www.ljeventsentertainment.com.

3-4 Nov [] 16TH STARFLEET/KLINGON BANQUET, Peterborough Marriott Hotel. GBP68 reg; more at www.starbase24.co.uk/Banquet.html.

3-5 Nov [] ARMADACON 2023, Future Inns, Plymouth. GBP45 reg; GBP35 concessions; single day GBP25/GBP20. More at www.armadacon.org.

26 Nov [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR on Tolkien and religion, free online. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events.

9 Jun 2024 [] SEEK-LOCATE-CELEBRATE (_Blake's 7_; formerly Forever Avon), Steventon Village Hall, Steventon, Oxford, OX13 5RR. 10am-4pm. See www.facebook.com/TeamBlakeForeverAvon.

8-12 Aug 2024 [] GLASGOW 2024 (Worldcon) Glasgow SEC. GBP190 reg; concessions GBP140; YA (under 26) GBP120; under-16s GBP80; under-11s GBP50; under-6s GBP5; other rates at glasgow2024.org. _A price rise of 'on average' 10% will take effect on 1 October -- GBP210 reg expected._

31 Aug 2024 [] WHOOVERVILLE 15 (_Doctor Who_), QUAD Centre, Derby. Tickets GBP55; concessions GBP38; under-12s GBP10; registration open at www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/whooverville15/.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

THE WEAKEST LINK. Invited to complete a Labour of Hercules when given an anagram of one of its words, the team brilliantly came up with 'steal the glider of Hippolyta'. (BBC, _Pointless_, September) [POM]
     _Bradley Walsh:_ 'The planet Jupiter is made up mainly of helium and what other element?' _Contestant:_ 'Stones.' (ITV, _The Chase_, 14 September) [RJ]

TIMEBINDING: EVER SINCE COLOSSUS. 'And you have been able to scroll through Word (or WordPerfect or WordStar or plain text) documents for as long as computers have existed, even if few would call such an experience _reading_.' (_The Atlantic_, 14 September) [GD]

AWARDS. _Bard Fiction Prize:_ _Brother Alive_ by Zain Khalid. [L]
     _Booker Prize:_ shortlist includes the genre title _Prophet Song_ by Paul Lynch. [F770]
     _British Fantasy:_ HOLDSTOCK (fantasy novel) _The Spear Cuts Through Water_ by Simon Jimenez. DERLETH (horror novel) _Just Like Home_ by Sarah Gailey. NOVELLA _The Queen of the High Fields_ by Rhiannon A. Grist. SHORT 'Morta' by James Bennett (_The Book of Queer Saints_). COLLECTION _Under the Moon_ by E.M. Faulds. MAGAZINE _Interzone_. AUDIO _The Stranger Times._ INDEPENDENT PRESS Luna Press Publishing. ARTIST Vince Haig. ANTHOLOGY _Someone in Time_, ed. Jonathan Strahan. NON-FICTION _An Earnest Blackness_ by Eugen Bacon. BOUNDS (newcomer) Hiron Ennes for _Leech_.
     _Dwarf Stars_ (SFPA very short poem): tie. 'Believe the Graves' (_Deadlands_ 16) by Rasha Abdulhadi; 'In Perpetuity' (7/22 _Analog_) by Bruce Boston.
     _Elgin_ (SFPA poetry): BOOK _The Last Robot_ by Jane Yolen. CHAPBOOK _Some Disassembly Required_ by David C. Kopaska-Merkel.
     _Eugie Foster Memorial_ (short): 'Quandary Aminu vs The Butterfly Man' (Tor.com) by Rich Larson. [F770]
     _Reuben_ (US National Cartoonists Society), online comics category, long form: Phil Foglio of fannish and _Girl Genius_ fame. [F770]

FASHION DEPARTMENT: COMFORT WEAR. 'Author Ned Beauman rarely dresses in anything other than Rick Owens, whose interests in "Cronenbergian" body mutations and Brutalism mirror his own.' (_Financial Times_, 'The Art of Fashion' supplement, 22 August) [PE]

R.I.P. _Allan Asherman_ (1947-2023), author of _The Star Trek Compendium_ (1981) and other nonfiction books about the series, died on 22 September aged 76.
     _Helena Binns_ (1941-2023), Australian fan and artist active in the Melbourne SF Club since 1958, official photographer for the 1975 Australian Worldcon, and widow of Merv Binns (1934-2020), died on 18 September aged 82. [BB/BG]
     _Jean Boht_ (1932-2023), UK _Jackanory_ narrator and actress in _The Cloning of Joanna May_ (1992) and _Jim's Gift_ (1996), died on 12 September aged 91. [SHS]
     _Jimmy Buffett_ (1946-2023), US musician and actor seen in _Congo_ (1995) and _Jurassic World_ (2015), whose soundtrack credits include _Arachnophobia_ (1990), _Contact_ (1997) and _Angry Birds 2_ (2019), died on 1 September aged 76. [LP]
     _John Cairney_ (1930-2023), UK actor and _Jackanory_ narrator seen in _Target Luna_ (1960), _Jason and the Argonauts_ (1963), _Spaceflight IC-1_ (1965) and _Nightmare Man_ (1999), died on 6 September aged 93.
     _Dick Curtis_ (1928-2023), US actor in _The Day It Came to Earth_ (1977), _Motel Hell_ (1980) and _What Waits Below_ (1984), died on 16 September aged 95. [SJ]
     _Marcia de Rousse_, US actress in _True Blood_ (2009-2014) and _The Disappointments Room_ (2016), died on 2 September aged 70. [AIP]
     _Sandra Dorsey_ (1939-2023), US actress in _Gordy_ (1994) and _Frankenstein_ (2004), died on 26 September aged 83. [SHS]
     _Martin Ellis_, 2nd unit/assistant director whose credits include _Curse of Chucky_ (2013), _The Flash_ (2016-2017) and _The Power_ (2023), died on 22 August. [AIP]
     _Bernie Evans_, UK fanzine, APA and con-running fan who chaired Novacon in 1987 and 1990 and received the 1995 Doc Weir award, died on 27 September. Another old fan friend gone.
     _Sir Michael Gambon_ (1940-2023), multiple BAFTA-winning Irish actor who played Dumbledore in six Harry Potter films, died on 28 September aged 82. Other genre credits include _The Wind in the Willows_ (1985), _Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow_ (2004), _Fantastic Mr Fox_ (2009) and _The Book of Eli_ (2010).
     _Rose Gregorio_ (1925-2023), US actress in _Eyes of Laura Mars_ (1978), died on 17 August aged 97. [LP]
     _Vyacheslav Grishechkin_ (1962-2023), Russian actor in the children's sf film _Asiris nuna_ (2006) died on 15 September aged 61. [AM]
     _Edward Hume_ (1936-2023), US screenwriter best known for _The Day After_ (1983), died on 13 September aged 87. [AIP]
     _Gayle Hunnicutt_ (1943-2023), US actress in _The Legend of Hell House_ (1973), _The Martian Chronicles_ (1980) and _Hard to Be a God_ (1989), died on 31 August aged 80. [AIP]
     _Nathan Louis Jackson_ (1978-2023), US playwright and screenwriter who co-produced and wrote episodes of _Luke Cage_ (2016-1018), died on 22 August aged 44. [AIP]
     _Pete Kozachik_ (1951-2023), US cinematographer and visual effects artist whose films include _Innerspace_ (1987), _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ (1993), _Starship Troopers_ (1997), _SW: Attack of the Clones_ (2002), _Corpse Bride_ (2005) and _Coraline_ (2009), died on 12 September aged 72. [AIP]
     _Lisa Lyon_ (1953-2023), US bodybuilder and actress in _Vamp_ (1986), died on 8 September aged 70. [AIP]
     _Aleksandr Khvan_ (1957-2023), Russian director and actor in the fantasy film _Serdtse permy_ (_Land of Legends_, 2022), died on 17 September aged 65. [AM]
     _David McCallum_ (1933-2023), UK actor whose many genre credits include _The Man from U.N.C.L.E_ (1964-1968), _The Invisible Man_ (1975-1976), _Sapphire and Steel_ (1979-1982) and several animated Batman series (voicing Alfred), died on 25 September aged 90.
     _Michael McGrath_ (1957-2023), US actor in _Spamalot_ (2005 Broadway musical), _The Secret of Kells_ (2009) and _Wolfwalkers_ (2022), died on 14 September aged 65. [CH]
     _Bill Malley_ (1934-2023), US art director/production designer whose films include _The Exorcist_ (1973) and _The Fury_ (1978), died on 1 September aged 88. [SHS]
     _Eddie Marks_ (1947-2023), US costume designer for _Buckaroo Banzai_ (1984), _Cocoon_ (1985), _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ (1989) and others, died on 11 September aged 86. [SHS]
     _Gherman Mazurin_ (1932-2023), Russian artist who illustrated children's fantasies including a many times reprinted edition of Lazar Lagin's classic _Old Khottabych_ (1938), died on 19 September. [AM]
     _Brent Monahan_ (1948-2023), US supernatural horror author whose first novel was _Deathbite_ (1979; filmed as _Spasms_, 1983) with Michael Maryk, died on 31 August aged 75. [GVG]
     _Beth Porter_ (1942-2023), US-born UK actress with voice roles in _Dick Deadeye_ (1975) and _The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe_ (1979), died on 1 August aged 81. [AIP]
     _Buichi Terasawa_ (1955-2023), Japanese manga and anime creator whose credits include _Space Adventure Cobra_ (1982 plus spinoffs) and _Karasu tengu Kabuto_ (1992), died on 8 September aged 68. [LP]
     _Ira M. Thornhill_ (1953-2023), US fan and publisher who co-founded Corroboree Press, publishing R.A. Lafferty and others from 1982 to 1986, died on 25 July aged 69. [L]
     _Michael D. Toman_ (1949-2023), US librarian and author who published a number of sf stories from 1974 to 1991, was found dead at home on 2 September; he was 73. [TM]

AS OTHERS AVOID US. 'Just heard Sebastian Faulks on _Start the Week_ explaining why his dead-centre science fiction novel which uses a well worn SF trope is not, in fact, science fiction. Hilarious!' (MD Lachlan, Facebook, 18 September). Or as a kindly reviewer put it: 'Now, for his 16th novel, he's thrown a curveball, and turned to the future, and to science fiction. / Well, not quite sci-fi, which still conjures up images of spaceships and Captain Kirk asking of Scotty whether he can "beam me up". Instead, _The Seventh Son_ is more speculative fiction, concerning a likely tomorrow so close you can almost reach out and touch it.' (Nick Duerden, inews.co.uk, 7 September -- with reservations about 'a sex scene so unexpected, and so very wrong, that it will curl the toes of all but the most insensate of readers.') [KM]

INFLATION. A Lyon & Turnbull auction offered an early US edition of Jules Verne (est. price GBP300-GBP500) with a somewhat exaggerated sense of its scope: _Seventy Thousand Leagues Under the Seas_. [BV]

OUR MAN ON LUNA. 'A Russian spacecraft Russia _[sic]_ has crashed into the Moon after it ran into "unspecified trouble", Russia's space agency has said. [...] Are you at the scene? Did you see what happened?If so, email web...@trinitymirror.com.' (_Daily Mirror_ online, August) [PE]

'CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.' Scots MP Chris Law is very annoyed by 'Created in London' posters featuring the animated _Dennis & Gnasher_, based on the _Beano_ 'Dennis the Menace' strip launched in 1951 by D.C. Thomson of Dundee. (Downthetubes.net, 27 September) Owing to the identically titled US strip, the UK Dennis is sadly no longer a Menace.

RANDOM FANDOM. _Cora Buhlert:_ 'It's a fact that 30% of all habitable planets in the Universe look like British Columbia, 30% look like Vasquez Rocks and 30% like a quarry in Wales.' (Xitter, 25 September)
     _WSFS Hugo Awards Marketing Committee:_ buried in the September/October report is this sign of the times. 'Due to changes at the company formerly known as Twitter, we are discontinuing updating the @TheHugoAwards Twitter and will redirect people to the BlueSky account.'

THE DEAD PAST. _40 Years Ago_, a Japanese con publication printed many 'messages of support' from UK/US authors. J.G. Ballard rose to the occasion: 'That great feat of arms, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, must now be repeated in the realm of the imagination -- let the SF writers of Japan set out across the skies of the human psyche, each carrying a piece of that explosive future which will torpedo the battleships of complacency and inertia!' (_Ansible_ 35, October 1983)
     _50 Years Ago_, Robert Bloch remarked: 'We have just five major divisions in science fiction: Neo-fans -- big name fans -- hacks -- pros -- and J.G. Ballard.' (Worldcon GoH speech, 1973)
     _70 Years Ago_, George O. Smith told an almost plausible Origin Story: 'L. Ron Hubbard happened to hook an electric eel. Inside the eel he found an IBM typewriter with a sheet of paper in it, and typed on that sheet of paper were the first four sentences of _Dianetics_.' (_Psychotic_ 4, October 1953, ed. Richard E. Geis)

MAGAZINE SCENE. _Cossmass Infinities_ is no longer buying stories and will cease at the end of 2023 when the existing stock has been published. 'The website will remain.' (www.cossmass.com, 6 September) [L]
     _Interzone_ 295, dated September 2023, did indeed reach me in September.

FANFUNDERY. _TAFF Books:_ our latest from Rob Hansen is _Generation Femizine_, on women in early UK fandom and the 1950s fanzine _Femizine_ that became their rallying point. But there was a lurking hoaxer in the 'all-woman' team.... Free ebook plus simultaneous trade paperback with all proceeds to TAFF. Read more at taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=GenFez.
     _GUFF:_ The 2020 winner Alison Scott's long-delayed tour of Australia and New Zealand has begun! Excitement runs high: 'This is the third day of my trip and I haven't done anything yet.' (Facebook, 28 September)

RIPOFF ALERT. The US dealer Fifth Generation Books is selling Rob Hansen's TAFF-benefit paperback _Bixelstrasse: The SF Fan Community of 1940s Los Angeles_ on the Walmart website for $43.50 (allegedly discounted from the wholly made-up figure of $50.50), presumably filling orders by buying copies at $22.50 from the official Ansible Editions/Lulu sales page (linked from ae.ansible.uk/?t=bixel). They reproduce the AE blurb in full, including the assurance IN CAPITAL LETTERS that all proceeds will go to TAFF, but somehow one has one's doubts. [RH]

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Eyeballs in the Sky._ 'Her wide eyes paraded around every curve of his jaw and the edges of his cheekbones.' (Dwain Worrell, _Androne_, 2023) [FM]
     _Cover-Up Dept._ 'The sky was a careless silvery gray, like an expensive whore's mink coat covering bizarre garb or nakedness.' (Fritz Leiber, 'Midnight by the Morphy Watch', 1974) [BA]
     _Dept of Kryptonian Anatomy._ '"How soon can you get him here?" "How soon do a wrangled beast's testicles go up into its cervix?"' (David Kob, _Krypton_ season 1 episode 8, 'Savage Night', May 2018) [BA]
     _Hazards of Very Small Asteroids._ 'Gravity was so slight that the slightest movement would cause a man, practically weightless, to bounce about and break his bones.' (Captain W.E. Johns, _Return to Mars_, 1955)
     _Dept of Planetology._ 'Toby sniffed. "There's carbon dioxide here," he murmured.' (_Ibid_)
[]_ Speedy Spaceflight with Solar Cells._ '... the _[journey]_ time would be short. Their ships, he said casually, were operated by a power drawn from light, which was the fastest thing known.' (_Ibid_)
     _Blunt Instrument._ 'The parting in his short grey hair was almost unnaturally straight and his narrow toothbrush moustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide-rule.' (J.K. Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_, 2000) [BA]
     _Coal-Fired Dept._ 'Her taut skin glowed with the light rising from the furnace of her ovaries ...' (Viet Thanh Nguyen, _The Committed_, 2021)


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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.
     19 October 2023, 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

SOCIAL MEDIA HORRORS. As that-which-was-Twitter continues on its decaying orbit around the black hole (and has now been fingered by the European Commission as top outlet for Russian and other disinformation: see first link below), new issues of _Ansible_ are now also announced on Bluesky and Mastodon, where the _SF Encyclopedia_ too is beginning to establish a presence. Note that Bluesky is still invitation-only.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/26/twitter_eu_disinformation/
https://mastodon.nl/@ansible
https://bsky.app/profile/ansiblemag.bsky.social
https://mastodon.social/@SF_Encyclopedia
https://bsky.app/profile/sfencyclopedia.bsky.social

LATE NEWS. I missed the 2022 revival of the Melbourne-based Norstrilia Press, by Rob Gerrand solo with the blessing of his former partners:
https://www.norstriliapress.com/

LAST-MINUTE AWARDS EXTRA. _Rhysling_ (poetry): LONG 'Machine (r)Evolution' by Colleen Anderson (_Radon Journal_ 2). SHORT (tie) 'Harold and the Blood-Red Crayon' by Jennifer Crow (_Star*Line_ 45.1); 'In Stock Images of the Future, Everything is White' by Terese Mason Pierre (_Uncanny_ 46). [F770]

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     Glasgow Worldcon PR2
https://glasgow2024.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/glasgow2024_pr2.pdf
     Kristine Kathryn Rusch on _F&SF_
https://kriswrites.com/2023/09/06/business-musings-my-magazine-my-voice-my-rules/
     _SF2 Concatenation_ Autumn 2023 Newscast
http://www.concatenation.org/news/news9~23.html
     WGA strike ends (CBS)
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/wga-ends-strike-releases-details-on-tentative-deal-with-studios-writers-hollywood/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 195, October 2003. _Dept of Inventions Suppressed by Oil Companies._ 'He and the other Farm driver, an old man by the name of Jenkins, had meticulously revamped most of the cars here, and had converted the engines so that they ran on oxygen; they had solved the age-old problem of running out of petrol, and as long as they kept the engines clean, the cars could theoretically run forever for nothing.' (Paul F. Savage, _The Man Who Saw the Future_, 2002)
[]_ Eyeballs in the Sky._ 'Her jolly brown eyes made a complete circuit round my head, instead of looking at me straight when she answered.' (E.F. Benson, 'Home, Sweet Home', 1927)
     _Paper Cuts Scissors Dept._ 'Can you wrap this letter in a stone and drop it in front of the farmhouse where people will see it?' (Terry Pratchett, _The Wee Free Men_, 2003)
     _Visual Imagery Dept._ 'O'Malley had a face like an inflated punctuation mark.' (Joel Goldman, _Motion to Kill_, 2002)


_Ansible_(R) 435 (C) David Langford, 2023. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Bob Blanchett, Gary Dalkin, _File 770_, Bruce Gillespie, Glasgow 2024, Chip Hitchcock, Rob Hansen, Rob Jackson, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Fraser McHarg, Kev McVeigh, Todd Mason, Padraig O Mealoid, Andrey Meshavkin, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, _Private Eye_, Steven H Silver, Gordon Van Gelder, Brad Verter, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia).

29 September 2023