Pixel Scroll 9/12 Vouching Tiger
(1) The Register is running a poll for the worst Doctor Who of all. Was Colin Baker, dressed in his multi-coloured dreamcoat, simply taking a wrong turn on his way to a rehearsal for an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical – … Continue reading ?
Help Cat Valente Design an Award
Cat Valente got active in discussing Jay Maynard’s award proposal at Black Gate and suddenly had an inspiration of her own, which has been discussed on Twitter and in File 770 comments all day. Oooh, what if the awards were … Continue reading ?
An Anthropomorphic Century To Launch at RainFurrest
Fred Patten’s sf anthology An Anthropomorphic Century will be published on September 24 and released at the RainFurrest 2015 convention, in Seattle on September 24-27. The book can be ordered from FurPlanet. Patten has selected 20 short stories and novelettes … Continue reading ?
2014 Urania Mondadori Award
Two books shared the 2014 Urania Mondadori Award announced in July. Bloodbusters by Franceco Verso L’impero restaurato (“The Empire Restored”) by Sandro Battisti The Urania Mondadori is the most prestigious Italian award for speculative fiction. [Via Europa SF.] … Continue reading ?
Today In History 9/12
September 12, 1956 The Blob drives audiences into movie theaters. The film was originally going to be called The Glob. They changed the title after discovering that cartoonist Walt Kelly had already used it. The Blobsite, dedicated to the movie, also coordinates the annual BlobFest … Continue reading ?
Pixel Scroll 9/11 ETA: The Scrollers Support Me in Email
(1) James H. Burns recalls the effects of 9/11 on Broadway in “Delphinus, in the Northern Sky” (posted in 2012). It’s eleven years later, and we’re still here. Still able to perform, or write, or otherwise create, or, also wonderful, … Continue reading ?
Long List Anthology Kickstarter
David Steffen’s Long List Anthology, designed to celebrate more of the fiction loved by the Hugo Award voting audience, will go as far as Kickstarter donors want to take it — which may be all the way, because the appeal has … Continue reading ?
Syrian Refugees Focus of Rothfuss Appeal
Today Patrick Rothfuss is using his fundraising acumen to aid Syrian refugees. That night I read a few more chapters [from The Long Winter, in the Little House on the Prairie series] to my boy about a pioneer family trying … Continue reading ?
New Award Proposal at Black Gate
Jay Maynard has proposed “An Award for SF Storytelling” in a post on Black Gate, essentially the anti-Hugos, copying many of the existing Hugo categories and rules but purified of the tendencies Maynard disapproves. The rationale for the (insert name here) Awards … Continue reading ?
Can Alien Life Save Us From Ourselves?
By Brandon Engel: Stephen Hawking is one of contemporary history’s greatest living geniuses. He is a leader in the fields of theoretical physics and cosmology as well as something of a medical miracle; having battled the motor-neuron disease amyotrophic lateral … Continue reading ?
2015 Forry Award Winners
Spider Robinson and Charles Lee Jackson II have been voted the 2015 Forry Award, a lifetime achievement award presented by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. The award is named after Forrest J Ackerman. … Continue reading ?
Pixel Scroll 9/10 The Camestrulan Neutral Zone
(1) Today’s birthday girl — Born September 10, 1953 – Pat Cadigan She had a good day – “My Birthday Wasn’t All About Cancer” Even though it started with a blood test at the Macmillan Centre, my birthday was all … Continue reading ?
Larry Smith Update
Larry Smith continues to improve, and they have enough volunteer help to assist Sally Kobee with the van, Marcia Kelly Illingworth has reported on Facebook: Larry Smith update – Larry continues to improve. He is still on target for release … Continue reading ?
Recruiting Martians
Morgan Freeman narrates this promo for a career as an astronaut in the Ares program. Astronaut Mark Watney’s pre-mission training program highlights the rigorous emotional, physical, and mental preparation required of the ARES 3 crew in order to prepare for their … Continue reading ?
Stephen King Receives National Medal of Arts
Stephen King and other winners were presented the National Medal of Arts at a White House awards ceremony today. The citation read by President Obama, reports NPR, called King — “One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, Mr. … Continue reading ?
Bookdealer Larry Smith and Joni Dashoff had a rollover in Larry’s van on the way back from Dragon Con on September 8 reports Marcia Kelly Illingworth. The accident occurred near Sweetwater, Tennessee. Smith was injured and is in the University … Continue reading ?
(1) Blastr reports the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum needs photos or film of the original Enterprise model to assist them in replicating what the Enterprise looked like during and after the cult-classic episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.” That apparently … Continue reading ?JordanCon Places Emergency Bid to Host DeepSouthCon 54
JordanCon will enter an emergency bid to host DeepSouthCon in 2016. This follows last month’s cancellation of the previously scheduled ABC DSC, which would have taken place in Atlanta next May. DeepSouthCon (DSC) is a traveling science fiction fan convention held in the southeastern … Continue reading ?NYRSF Readings Series Opens 25th Season with Swanwick and Khanna
By Mark L. Blackman: On the evening of Tuesday, September 8 (a record-breaking scorcher in New York, and, per the Swanwicks, it was also “hot as Hell in Philadelphia”), the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings Series opened its … Continue reading ?Smofcon Scholarships Offered
CanSMOF Inc. will provide up to three scholarships for convention runners to apply towards the cost of attending Smofcon33 in Fort Worth, Texas, December 4-6, 2015. SMOFCon is an annual convention with a focus on the running and organization of science fiction … Continue reading ?Dragon Con Sets Attendance Record
The 2015 Dragon Con drew over 70,000, crushing the record of 62,000 set a year ago, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Charities also benefitted from fan support at Dragon Con. One of the positives from that assemblage of humanity (and other … Continue reading ?Oxonmoot 2015 This Weekend
The Tolkien Society’s annual Oxonmoot will take place at St Antony’s College, Oxford from September 10-13. Shaun Gunner, Chairman of The Tolkien Society, said: “Oxonmoot always takes place in September to coincide with the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo, but … Continue reading ?Pixel Scroll 9/8 Perfidious Etceteras
(1) This day in history: …in 1966, “Star Trek” premiered on NBC-TV. Which makes it the perfect day to release Captain Kirk’s autobiography: “The Autobiography of James T. Kirk – The Story of Starfleet’s Greatest Captain,” is to be published … Continue reading ?
Rough Justice at MetaCon
MetaCon owner and AnimeCon.org CEO Ryan Kopf reportedly attacked vendor David Silvieus of “PLUSH in the USA” in the dealers room at MetaCon this past weekend reports Trae Dorn of Nerd & Tie. MetaCon staffers challenged Silvieus about selling bootleg … Continue reading ?
Eugie Foster Honored With Reinhardt Award
Eugie Foster, who passed away in September 2014, was named the winner of the 2015 Hank Reinhardt Fan Award. Formerly called the Georgia Fandom Award, it has been presented annually at Dragon Con since 1990 to an outstanding Georgia writer, artist … Continue reading ?
THE Man from U.N.C.L.E.
By James H. Burns: When I chatted with Robert Vaughn a few weeks ago, there was a fascinating surprise… Now, I’m pretty certain he had only agreed to the interview, because, as you know, it was primarily about his friend, … Continue reading ?
Pixel Scroll 9/7 Recount, Harlequin…
(1) Henge proliferation. Now a huge ritual arena has been discovered near Stonehenge. You almost end up thinking Stonehenge, which used to seem quite big in itself, was nothing but the cherry on top…. Researchers find hidden remains of massive … Continue reading ?
Hitch in Sasquan Nominating Data Turnover
Plans to make transcribed data from the 2015 Hugo nominating ballots available upon request have been put on hold. E Pluribus Hugo advocates, who want to use the data to demonstrate the EPH vote tallying method is effective at coping with slates, got the … Continue reading ?
Doctor Who Season Kickoff in Theaters
Fathom Events and BBC Worldwide invite fans into their local theaters next week for a reprise of Doctor Who Season 8’s two-part finale, plus the never-before-seen prequel to the Season 9’s first episode. Around 700 theaters in the U.S. will host broadcasts … Continue reading ?
Williamson Story Wins “Year’s Best Military SF”
“Soft Casualty” by Michael Z. Williamson has been voted the accolade “Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction Story” by readers of Baen’s The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera edited by David Afsharirad. The announcement was made at the Baen … Continue reading ?
2015 Parsec Award Winners
The winners of the 2015 Parsec Awards were announced at Dragon Con on September 6. All of the following information is copied from the Parsec Awards Twitter feed. Best Speculative Fiction Story: Small Cast (Short Form) “O’Malley’s Media Storm” by … Continue reading ?
Pixel Scroll 9/6 With Six, You Get Egg Scroll
(1) A postcard from the Baen beachhead at Dragon Con. This #dragoncon photo goes out to my fiends at File770: pic.twitter.com/78ejOGHsRS — Ray Radlein (@Radlein) September 5, 2015 (2) The Stanley Hotel in Colorado inspired Stephen King’s novel The Shining, … Continue reading ?
Lennart Sörensen (1936-2014)
By John-Henri Holmberg: Very belatedly, I am sad to announce the death of Swedish critic, translator, academic and editor Lennart Sörensen, born 1936, on May 18, 2014. LennartSörensen was raised and lived in Malmoe. An early SF reader, he attended the first Swedish … Continue reading ?
Warren Murphy (1933-2015)
Warren Murphy, co-creator of the Destroyer series with Richard Sapir, died September 4 in his Virginia Beach home. The first Destroyer was written in 1963, while Murphy served as secretary to the mayor of Jersey City and Sapir worked as a … Continue reading ?
Raquel Welch: Still “The Fair One”
By James H. Burns: In the 1970s, many of us, film fans that is, would chat about the roles Raquel Welch could play. I can still remember, in January of 1976, meeting Jerry Iger, the great comic book impressario of … Continue reading ?
Sasquan Official Attendance and Membership
Sasquan’s Glenn Glazer has announced the final attendance and membership figures. Attendance: 5,171 Includes all paid admissions including one-days. (One-day admissions are usually not technically … Continue reading ?
