Path: ...!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-4.nntp.ord.giganews.com!nntp.brightview.co.uk!news.brightview.co.uk.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:36:33 +0000 From: David Langford Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom,uk.people.sf-fans Subject: Ansible 445 -- August 2024 Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2024 16:36:37 +0100 Organization: Ansible Information Message-ID: <2ranajpqqls0frn636rjlojh2i18tfi8pk@4ax.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.93/32.576 English (American) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 452 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-LXNv89If4ft+s2tT+IQOBp3o42Y3CHBfjmVpCu3xUGnal9QMqTaGB94G1c18G3sRUYC3eNaZFJOZI+3!Y/IK4axBBF/a10JOzfD+Bsbs1htdX0W1tpB9ZOnazZnDn9hy0nSxeF5rfUlRGR9Z0o74EHFBnRuH!1fbP+vpIXwCHKWhuIQ== X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 25393 ANSIBLE(R) 445 AUGUST 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, a deeglo for a cup of oglo, or a first-class return ticket to Tranai. [NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a445.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a445.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 GALACTIC WHIRL ### FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE, novelist and screenwriter with many genre credits including _Cosmic_ (2008) and three authorized _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_ sequels, was named as the new UK Children's Laureate on 2 July -- taking over from Joseph Coelho. (BBC, 2 July) [PY] GREG EGAN on the great IT disaster of 19 July: 'Crowdstrike have advised that the world will be reverted to its last valid backup set, dated 7 Jan 2014, within the next 30 minutes. Please make paper notes of anything important to you from the intervening period, and tape them to the refrigerator door in a prominent position.' (Mastodon, 20 July) STEPHEN KING, in a newspaper symposium where many authors named their '10 Best Books of the 21st Century', was not afraid to include _Under the Dome_ (2009) by Stephen King. (_New York Times_, 8 July) [AIP] GEORGE R.R. MARTIN had a little grumble about Glasgow 2024: 'I am not on any programming. It is not for lack of trying, though.' He wanted a phone discussion of proposals for a Wild Cards event and a Howard Waldrop memorial (with films), but was asked to fill in the official online 'Planorama' form like everyone else; whether he did isn't clear from his post, but one assumes not. (9 July) The story was picked up by the local and then national press (_Glasgow Times_, 11 July; _Guardian_, 17 July; BBC, 18 July), and large tracts of social media were duly Plunged Into War. MIKE RESNICK's five Hugo awards have been donated by his widow Carol to the US Worldcon Heritage Organization for their regular Worldcon exhibit. (WHO press release, July) J.M. STRACZYNSKI's afterword to _The Last Dangerous Visions_ (of which advance copies have been circulating for a while) takes the unusual step of naming and shaming eleven authors, mostly women, whom he invited to contribute but who said no or didn't reply. He suggests they're afraid of online outrage ('This is not necessarily the best time to be dangerous'), neglecting less exciting possibilities such as lack of time, lack of interest or simply not wanting to get involved with a Harlan Ellison project which for several decades was a cobwebbed fannish joke. Of the 102 authors announced in 1973 plus the uncertain number later acquired by HE, fifteen have made it to the final cut, with nine more added by JMS. JACK VANCE's anagrammatic homage, the major _Dungeons & Dragons_ bad guy Vecna, appears on one of the Royal Mail _D&D_ stamps. (25 July) ### CONFRIAR ### SOLD OUT 2 Aug [] WRITING FANTASY (discussion and signing) with George R.R. Martin and Sir Philip Pullman, Oxford. Live streaming to be available via the link at www.oxfordwritershouse.com/events. 3-4 Aug [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials. 6 Aug [] EXTRA LONDON PUB MEETINGS before Worldcon: Cask Pub & Kitchen, 6 Charlwood Street, Pimlico, from 3pm (meet the GUFF delegate!) and The Crown, 51 New Oxford St, upstairs 7-11pm. All welcome. If the Crown is closed try Bloomsbury Tavern, 236 Shaftesbury Avenue (ground floor, same times). See also news.ansible.uk/london.html. 8-12 Aug [] GLASGOW 2024 (Worldcon), Glasgow SEC. GBP230 reg; first Worldcon and 'historically under-represented' GBP165; Scots residents GBP150; under-26s GBP135 (GBP95 if Scots); under-16s GBP90; under-11s GBP55; under-6s GBP5. Virtual membership GBP80. Day rates at glasgow2024.org. _Owing to a mix-up regarding the cancelled 1 July price rise, PR5 as initially released gave higher at-the-door rates (GBP255 reg etc.) which will not take effect._ 9-11 Aug [] TFNATION (_Transformers_), Hilton Birmingham Metropole near the NEC. Various day ticket rates at tfnation.com/2024. 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. 17 Aug [] SMALL PRESS DAY, various events throughout the UK and Ireland, and online. See smallpressday.co.uk. 17 Aug [] STARS OF TIME (comics), Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare. GBP11.55; child/concessions GBP7.21. See www.starsoftime.co.uk. 23-26 Aug [] FRIGHTFEST (film), London, Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square. Festival passes GBP225 rear circle, GBP240 stalls, GBP250 circle; for day passes at various rates see www.frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents/. 23-26 Aug [] ASYLUM XIV (steampunk), The Lawns and other Lincoln venues. Weekend pass GBP45 inc fees at www.ministryofsteampunk.com. 24-25 Aug [] DUBLIN COMIC CON, Convention Centre, Dublin. Various ticket prices (extra for early entry, etc.) at dublincomiccon.com. 29 Aug - 2 Sep [] OXONMOOT (Tolkien Society), St Anne's, Oxford. GBP120 reg. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2024/. SOLD OUT 31 Aug [] WHOOVERVILLE 15 (_Doctor Who_), QUAD Centre, Derby. No more tickets at www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/whooverville15/. 7-9 Feb 2025 [] CONTABILE 35 (filk), Wensum Valley Hotel, Norwich. GBP43 reg; GBP33 concessions. More details at c35.contabile.org.uk. 18-21 Apr 2025 [] RECONNECT, Hilton Lanyon Place Hotel and ICC, Belfast. _Now GBP80 reg_; GBP40 discounted (under-18s, concessions, Eastercon first-timers, Irish residents); GBP25 supp. See easterconbelfast.org. 23-26 May 2025 [] JODIWORLD (Jodi Taylor), Doubletree by Hilton, Coventry. Waiting list -- GBP10 deposit asked -- at www.jodiworld.org. 7-8 Jun 2025 [] EM-CON (media), Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham. Weekend tickets GBP30 (11am entry) or GBP40 (10am) at www.em-con.co.uk. 21 Jun 2025 [] STARS OF TIME (comics), Steam Museum, Swindon. Ticket sales awaited at www.starsoftime.co.uk/swindon. RUMBLINGS. _Glasgow 2024_ tweeted on 15 July that draft programme schedules had gone out to nearly a thousand people. 'There is over 1000 hours of programming!' _Business Meeting_ agenda publication was slightly delayed because there are a record 50 items of business, with multiple proposals sparked by the horrors of 2023. What a fun meeting it will be. _Hugo Voting_ closed on 20 July; two days later, Nicholas Whyte's Glasgow Hugo team announced that 3,813 final-ballot votes were cast and that 'at least 377' fraudulent votes, with 'obvious fake names' etc., had been detected and disqualified. Many favoured a particular 'Finalist A' in an unspecified category. Reportedly at least one sponsor refunded WSFS membership fees for those who confirmed they'd voted as instructed. See full statement at glasgow2024.org/hugo-awards/statement-22-july-2024/. Much media coverage followed; the _Guardian_'s headline (23 July) asserts that, as was carefully not stated, Finalist A is 'one writer'. ### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ### SCIENCE MASTERCLASS. 'Hippopotamuses can become airborne for substantial periods of time, researchers discover' is a Sky News headline somewhat deflated by the revelation that 'substantial periods of time' here means 'up to 0.3 seconds' (6 July) Hey, I myself can levitate! For a little bit. AWARDS. _Arthur C. Clarke:_ _In Ascension_ by Martin MacInnes. _Prometheus_ (libertarian): NOVEL _Critical Mass_ by Daniel Suarez. HALL OF FAME _The Truth_ by Terry Pratchett. _Scribe_ (media tie-ins): ADAPTED NOVEL _Ultraman_ by Pat Cadigan. GRANDMASTER ('Faust' award) James Reasoner. _SF and Fantasy Hall of Fame_ creators: Nicola Griffith, Nnedi Okorafor. _Shirley Jackson:_ NOVEL _The Reformatory_ by Tananarive Due. SPECIAL/NOVEL _A Haunting on the Hill_ by Elizabeth Hand. MAZING STORIES. The 2024 York Maze design commemorates the 25th anniversary of Julia Donaldson's _The Gruffalo_ (1999, illustrated by Axel Scheffler), with characters from the book outlined by winding paths in a 15-acre field of more than a million maize plants. (_i_, 14 July) INVISIBLE IDIOT: AI MASTERCLASS. 'The researchers found that feeding AI-generated data to a model caused subsequent generations of the model to degrade to the point of collapse. In one test, text about medieval architecture was used as the starting point, but by the ninth generation the model output was a list of jackrabbits.' (_Nature_, 25 July) [JH] R.I.P. _Erica Ash_ (1977-2024), US actress in _Scary Movie V_ (2013) and _We Have a Ghost_ (2023), died on 28 July aged 46. [SJ] _Zeev Bar-Sella_ (1947-2024), Israeli writer and critic who wrote a 2013 biography of Russian sf author Alexander Belyaev, died on 27 July aged 77. [AM] _Leo (Lee) Chaloukian_ (1927-2024), US sound director for _Near Dark_ (1987) and _The Puppetoon Movie_ (1987), died on 18 July aged 97. [AIP] _Cheng Pei-pei_ (1946-2024), Chinese-US actress whose films include ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========