• Ansible 435 -- October 2023

    From David Langford@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 29 17:06:25 2023
    XPost: uk.people.sf-fans

    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 webnews@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)


    ### GEEKS' CORNER ###

    SUBSCRIPTIONS. To receive _Ansible_ monthly via email, send a message to: ansible-news+subscribe [at] googlegroups.com
    You will be asked to confirm by email that you want to join the group. To resign from the Google Groups list, send email to:
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    More details, and an ALTERNATIVE LIST subscription form for those averse to Google, on this page (which is also where to unsubscribe from the
    alternative list, hosted at ansible.uk):
    https://news.ansible.uk/asubs.html
    Home page -- https://news.ansible.uk/
    RSS feed -- https://news.ansible.uk/rss.html
    LiveJournal syndication -- http://www.livejournal.com/users/ansiblezine/
    Back issues -- https://news.ansible.uk/aseries2.html
    Printable PDFs -- https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/
    Email the editor -- https://news.ansible.uk/contact.php
    Books Received -- https://ansible.uk/books.php

    CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
    British Isles -- https://news.ansible.uk
    London -- https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
    Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


    ### 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
    --
    David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Peter Trei@21:1/5 to David Langford on Sat Sep 30 19:36:13 2023
    On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 12:06:28 PM UTC-4, David Langford wrote:

    '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.

    Remarkably, both versions debuted on the same day: 12 March 1951.
    As a small kid living in the US, I was familiar with the early 1960s TV version.
    When I moved to the UK in 1968, it was quite disorienting to see the BEANO version.

    Pt

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  • From Paul Dormer@21:1/5 to Peter Trei on Tue Oct 3 11:14:00 2023
    In article <2601f76b-faea-4d2e-8b47-bc9163482f00n@googlegroups.com>, petertrei@gmail.com (Peter Trei) wrote:


    Remarkably, both versions debuted on the same day: 12 March 1951.
    As a small kid living in the US, I was familiar with the early 1960s
    TV version. When I moved to the UK in 1968, it was quite disorienting
    to see the BEANO
    version.

    Interesting. I knew the strips started about the same time but I hadn't realised that although the UK version had a 17th March issue date, it
    actually appeared earlier.

    I actually remember the American sitcom version from the late fifties. I thought it was shown on British television under the title Dennis the
    Pickle but the IMDb gives it as Just Dennis.

    About the same time, the series Top Cat was shown on the BBC but they
    changed the name to Boss Cat, as Top Cat was a brand of cat food and the
    BBC does not carry advertising. As the Wikipedia article points out the
    only change was a title card with the new name. Dialogue wasn't changed,
    so he was still TC and Top Cat still appeared in the title song.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to Paul Dormer on Wed Oct 4 05:48:50 2023
    On 10/3/23 6:14 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:

    I actually remember the American sitcom version from the late fifties. I thought it was shown on British television under the title Dennis the
    Pickle but the IMDb gives it as Just Dennis.

    About the same time, the series Top Cat was shown on the BBC but they
    changed the name to Boss Cat, as Top Cat was a brand of cat food and the
    BBC does not carry advertising. As the Wikipedia article points out the
    only change was a title card with the new name. Dialogue wasn't changed,
    so he was still TC and Top Cat still appeared in the title song.

    I've heard that The Avengers (the one about the team of MCU heroes) was released in the UK as Avengers Assemble, perhaps because of the earlier
    UK cloak-and-dagger TV series The Avengers. Is that true?

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From Paul Dormer@21:1/5 to All on Wed Oct 4 12:38:00 2023
    In article <ufjce2$3pjm$1@dont-email.me>, garym@mcgath.com (Gary McGath)
    wrote:


    I've heard that The Avengers (the one about the team of MCU heroes)
    was released in the UK as Avengers Assemble, perhaps because of the
    earlier UK cloak-and-dagger TV series The Avengers. Is that true?

    Yes, I believe that was so.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Blueshirt@21:1/5 to Gary McGath on Thu Oct 5 20:58:55 2023
    Gary McGath wrote:

    I've heard that The Avengers (the one about the team of MCU heroes) was released in the UK as Avengers Assemble, perhaps because of the earlier
    UK cloak-and-dagger TV series The Avengers. Is that true?

    That is correct. The MCU film "The Avengers" was released as "Marvel's
    Avengers Assemble" in the UK.

    The fact that there had been a big screen adaptation of The Avengers UK television series a few years before was probably a big factor (Ralph
    Fiennes was Steed in that movie) as that was, unsurprisingly, called "The Avengers"!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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