Lucy Huntzinger, the Down Under Fan Fund’s acting North American administrator, took over the duties from Juanita Coulson in May. She has just published a year-end financial statement on the DUFF site. She began work with a bank balance of … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/28 Sympathy For The Devil’s Arithmetic
(1) Connor Johnston opens a different doorway into the commonplace activity of reviewing Doctor Who episodes by “Ranking the Writing Debuts of the Capaldi Era” at Doctor Who TV. Doctor Who is home to some of the greatest and most … Continue reading →
Actor Al Markim, who played the role of Astro, the Venusian friend of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, died November 24 at the age of 88. Space Cadet aired in the early days of television from 1950 to 1955, and was … Continue reading →
Bradbury Dramas Reprised on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 Extra has online Ray Bradbury – Tales of the Bizarre, “Strange and chilling tales from the master of thrillers.” First broadcast in 1997, each episode includes an introduction by Bradbury that explains how he came to write … Continue reading →
Jackson Accepts Forry Award
Forry Award winner Charles Lee Jackson II, who received his plaque during ceremonies at Loscon on November 27, sent along his acceptance speech: Forry Ackerman would have been pleased that I’ve received this. He and I were friends for nigh … Continue reading →
How J.K. Rowling Spent Black Friday
.jk_rowling’s own drawing of Severus Snape with caption. pic.twitter.com/JEG5o0hQDO — Harry Potter World (@PotterWorldUK) November 27, 2015 J.K. Rowling was constantly online Friday trying to set her Twitter followers straight about why Harry Potter named his son after Snape (and … Continue reading →
On This Day In History 11/27
“Milan. What a beautiful place to die.” Last words of John Carradine, who died on this day in 1988. Did you know? Carradine played Count Dracula in four films: House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), Billy the Kid … Continue reading →
The Wait Is Over
“The wait is over,” but not for what you expect. This return to a Star Wars style cantina proves to be a promo for Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, a late-night topical comedy coming to TBS in February 2016.… Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/27 The Pixel Scrolled Back from Nothing at All
I’m off to Loscon for the day — so a very early Scroll. (1) ARTISTS AND NEW WFA. Several tweets of interest about the call for submissions of World Fantasy Award designs. @MKKare (tangentially: If WFA is actually in need … Continue reading →
On the Friday After Thanksgiving: Enchanting Chances, And Cosmic Dances
By James H. Burns: There was a special television treat for youngsters, at Thanksgiving weekends during the 1960s and, if memory serves, some time beyond. To be sure, many families began their holiday Thursday with the Macy’s Parade from Manhattan … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/26 The Strange High Pixels on the Blog
(1) TRADITIONAL THANKS. Joe Vasicek’s “Giving Thanks” at One Thousand and One Parsecs is one of the best posts I saw that combined an sf theme with a serious reflection on the holiday. So in the spirit of that first … Continue reading →
A “Secret” Bookstore in Brooklyn, And a Black Friday, And a December 5-6 Sale!
By James H. Burns: Can there be a secret bookstore? One with over 40,000 volumes, many at a buck a piece? And with over one million comic books? And magazines, and games, and toys….? And just oodles of items that … Continue reading →
Brooks’ Fanzines Donated
Ned Brooks’ fanzines — over one ton of them — are being donated to the Special Collections of the University of Georgia Library. Brooks passed away August 31. The report comes from Brooks’ literary executor, George Beahm, a brief mention … Continue reading →
Third Volume of Free Stories Eligible for 1941 Retro Hugos
Short Fiction Eligible for the 1941 Retro-Hugos Vol. 3, a collection of 30 public domain stories by Ray Cummings and Henry Kuttner, has been issued by File 770 commenter von Dimpleheimer. (Earlier posts contain links to Volume 1, and Volume Two.) These books … Continue reading →
The Celebrated Thanksgiving Ape
Intro by James H. Burns: For a generation of New Yorkers and indeed, folks all around the country, Thanksgiving became not just about family and friends, and the Macy’s parade (and football!), and early dreams of mistletoe, but a journey … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/25 Have Space Suit, Can’t Get Through Babylon 5 TSA
In response to a suggestion I am adding subtitles to go with the item numbers. Some feel that will make cross-references to Scroll topics less confusing when they are talking about, say, item 8 from two days earlier. (1) Royal Treatment. File 770 doesn’t get a lot … Continue reading →
Captain America: Civil War Trailer
This is the trailer debut for Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War.… Continue reading →
2015 Endeavour Award Photos
Thanks to Jim Fiscus for these photos and captions. The news post about the award is here.… Continue reading →
2014 Hugo Best Short Story Longlist Discussion Thread
By JJ: We spent a lot of time over the last several months reading and discussing the 2014 Hugo Best Short Story finalists. This thread has been created to give us the opportunity to discuss the rest of the entries … Continue reading →
Two Tiptree Fellowships Awarded
The 2015 Tiptree Fellowship winners have been selected, Walidah Imarisha and Elizabeth LaPensée. The Tiptree Fellowship program, created earlier this year by the James Tiptree Jr. Literary Award Council, is “designed to provide support and recognition for the new voices who … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/24 The Choler out of Space
(1) Fans beat the pros at trivia – well, of course they did. The awkward moment when Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss came third in a Doctor Who pub quiz. The trio – who called themselves The Time … Continue reading →
Jay Lake Wins 2015 Endeavour Award
Last Plane to Heaven, the final collection of stories by the late Jay Lake, won the 2015 Endeavour Award announced November 20 at OryCon. Lake died in June 2014 following a fight with cancer. The Award comes with an honorarium … Continue reading →
Here are the winners and accepters of the 2015 Prix Aurora Awards given November 22 at Canvention 35/SFContario 6 in Toronto. In the back row: Karl Schroeder, Kari Maaren, Derek Newman-Stille, Peter Watts (Awards MC), Clifford Samuels accepting for Copper Pig Writers’ … Continue reading →
Group Forms To Explore 2024 UK Worldcon Bid
A team has formed to discuss bidding for a UK Worldcon in 2024. They have issued a statement inviting interested people to join the discussion: At Novacon in Nottingham, UK (November 13-14), it was announced that a group has been … Continue reading →
Call for New World Fantasy Award Design
The World Fantasy Convention has invited artists to submit designs for a new World Fantasy Award that will replace the traditional Lovecraft bust. The new design will not represent any historic or living person. The Administration has decided that it … Continue reading →
Scooby in Long Island
By James H. Burns: So walking around Franklin Square in Long Island, again, I was stunned to suddenly see, in the distance, a very familiar vehicle… Now, I first saw “The Mystery Machine,” way back last spring — oddly enough, … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/23 Mister Scrollman, Bring Me A Screed
(1) Syfy offers a free viewing of the first episode of The Expanse — Episode 1: Dulcinea. (Also available on the Syfy Now App, Hulu, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, iTunes, Playstation, Xbox, and Facebook.) (2) Variety says additional episodes have … Continue reading →
Fiction writer, critic and essayist Carmen Maria Machado has received the Speculative Literature Foundation’s 2015 Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds Grants. The $500 Diverse Writers grant is intended to support new and emerging writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups, such … Continue reading →
Vincent Price Gallery at Creature Features
By John King Tarpinian: This weekend Creature Features in Burbank, California hosted a photo gallery retrospective of the career of Vincent Price from the David Del Valle archives. Lovely black-and-white photos of the man that gave us so much pleasure … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/22 The Lurking Fear Supports Me In Email
(1) David G. Hartwell posted his photo with the comment, “Signs of the cultural times: NYC subway cars entirely decorated in PKD.” (2) “Red, Reich and Blue: Building the World of ‘The Man in the High Castle’”, a New York Times … Continue reading →
2015 Prix Aurora Awards
The 2015 Prix Aurora Awards were presented November 22 at Canvention 35, hosted by SFContario 6 in Toronto. Best English Novel A Play of Shadow by Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books Best English YA Novel (TIE) Lockstep by Karl Schroeder, … Continue reading →
SNL Star Wars Screen Tests
J.J. Abrams shared “never-before-seen screen tests” for The Force Awakens on Saturday Night Live. Actual cast members Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were there to provide support to the SNL cast’s best celebrity impressions, with a few surprise appearances mixed … Continue reading →
Amazing Stories Plans 1940 Retro Collection
FuturesPast Editions, an imprint of Digital Parchment Services, will soon be releasing The Best of Amazing Stories, The 1940s Anthology. FPE has advanced the publication schedule of this volume for the benefit of readers interested in nominating for 2016’s Retrospective Hugo … Continue reading →
Orphaned Rover Still Available After Auction
Editor’s Note: Buddy’s Antique Auction in Arab, Alabama might not be the first place you’d look to buy a genuine Lunar Rover — but it should be! The salvaged LRV recently in the news was scheduled for auction on November … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/21 The Incredible Linking Fan
(1) For lovers and others of giant movie monsters, “Doc Kaiju” — well known at the Classic Horror Film Board — has put together a rather remarkable compendium of such creatures: Kaijumatic: House of 1,000 Giant Monsters Or, as he … Continue reading →
