Running To Save The Rhino
By Jim Mowatt: “We’ve got a bloody fanzine to get out. Where’s your stuff?” Nic Farey has written a series of messages demanding, quite rightly that I get my finger out and send in my contributions for the fanzine, Beam. … Continue reading →
Fourth Volume of Free Stories Eligible for 1941 Retro Hugos
Short Fiction Eligible for the 1941 Retro-Hugos Vol. 4, a collection of 13 public domain novellas published in 1940, is the latest collection from File 770 commenter von Dimpleheimer. (Earlier posts contain links to Volume One, Volume Two, and Volume Three.) Volume Four … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 12/5 Old Man Zombie Song: “I’m scared of living, and I’m tired of dying”
(1) CLICHE KILLER. Charlie Stross has left the story! Or at least heaved the book across the room. He’s posted a rant about “Science-fictional shibboteths” with examples of “what makes me yell when I kick the tires on an SF/F … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 12/4 “Nightrise, Nightfall,” from Astronomer On The Roof
(1) SAFETY LAST. I didn’t know it was this dangerous to work for J.J. Abrams. Or to be J.J. Abrams. In his interview on the Howard Stern show, Abrams tells stories about (1) how a hydraulic door on the “Force Awakens” … Continue reading →
Perry Chapdelaine (1925-2015)
Perry A. Chapdelaine Sr. (born Anthony di Fabio), sf author, early Dianetics exponent, and editor of two collections of the letters of John W. Campbell, Jr., died November 24 at the age of 90. Chapdelaine joined the Army in World … Continue reading →
Libertarian Star Wars Special
From ReasonTV: Just in time for the holidays, The Star Wars Libertarian Special features Senate filibusters, border patrol stops, eminent domain, a guest appearance by Edward Snowden, and rarely seen footage from Chewbacca’s galaxy-trotting documentary series about free-market economics.… Continue reading →
That Sweet, Little Old Gollum
Not many friends of mine would want to depend on Peter Jackson’s knowledge of Tolkien to keep them out of jail, but Deadline says Jackson has left comments on social media in an attempt to help Turkish doctor Bilgin Çiftçi avoid a … Continue reading →
The SEA Is Ours: Steampunk from Rosarium Publishing
After a successful IndieGoGo campaign, Jaymee Goh and Joyce Chng’s collection, The SEA is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia, is available for purchase on Amazon. With steampunk stories set in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, The SEA Is … Continue reading →
Balticon 50 Fundraiser
To help bring back as many former GoHs as possible for Balticon’s Golden Anniversary in May 2016, the con is raising money, beginning with the sale of this souvenir t-shirt for $35 a copy. In addition to Guest of Honor George … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 12/3 The God Stalk De-Steams The Gnocchi
(1) SPELLING BEE. Blake Hennon has the answers in “Is it Wookie or Wookiee? The Times’ definitive ‘Star Wars’ style guide” at the Los Angeles Times. When most people think of “Star Wars” style, Princess Leia’s side-buns hairdo and white … Continue reading →
The All Bradbury Post
(1) Creature Features and Intrada pay tribute to Disney’s 1983 adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes on December 6, starting at 2:00 p.m. We’re proud to host an unprecedented symposium celebrating Intrada’s brand new CD release of … Continue reading →
Batman v Superman Trailer 2
Here’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Official Trailer 2. This should be like the matchup of the Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon — it should be a challenge to keep Superman from mopping the deck with Batman. And Wonder Woman shows … Continue reading →
Apex Magazine #79 Released
Apex Magazine #79 brings readers original fiction by Troy Tang, Nick Mamatas, Sam Fleming, and Jes Rausch, plus the winners of Apex’s Christmas Invasion flash fiction contest, Melanie Rees, Gina L. Grandi, and Marlee Jane Ward. J.J. Hunter and Lara … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 12/2 Have Rocket, Will Unravel
(1) SECOND OPINION. The President of Turkey is not a forgiving audience for social satire. So we learn from “Turkish Court to Determine if Gollum-Erdogan Comparison is Insult” at Voice of America. The fate of a Turkish doctor is in … Continue reading →
Sasquan’s Donations
Sasquan, the 2015 Worldcon, announced today that it has distributed some surplus funds from the convention. Sasquan is delighted to announce our surplus disbursements: Pass-along funds to Kansas City, Helsinki, the winner for 2018. — sasquansf (@sasquansf) December 2, 2015 In addition, … Continue reading →
43rd Annie Award Nominees
The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced the nominees for its 43rd Annual Annie Awards on December 1. The award, created in 1982 by voice actor June Foray, recognizes the year’s best in the field of animation in multiple categories, … Continue reading →
A Sprout Finds Christmas Joy at BBC One
In BBC One’s ad for Christmas 2015 programming, an unloved sprout finds friendship with stars from Doctor Who to Sherlock. Creativity Online explains — It’s the tale of ‘Sprout Boy’ an unloved Brussels sprout, a sort of vegetable ugly duckling who’s turned … Continue reading →
Tiptree or Sheldon?
A unique occurrence or the start of a trend? SF Signal’s link collection for December 2 includes this entry: Noted feminist sci-fi author Alice B. Sheldon is subject of two-day symposium at University of Oregon. That is, of course, the … Continue reading →
Tiptree Award Sets Record
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award received 280 nominations by the December 1 deadline, representing about 250 individual works. The administrators say that’s a record, “and probably double the largest number we’ve ever gotten before!” A table at the link has … Continue reading →
Corflu Chiflu in 2016
Registration and hotel information has been posted for Corflu Chiflu, the 33rd edition of the fanzine fans’ convention, to be held in Chicago from May 13-15, 2016. Fans will gather at the Club Quarters in downtown Chicago. The convention rate … Continue reading →
2016 Roswell Award Entry Deadline Is January 15
Entries for The Roswell Award, sponsored by Sci-Fest LA, The Los Angeles Science Fiction One-Act Play Festival, are being taken through January 15, 2016. The Roswell Award was created to identify, encourage and promote up-and-coming science fiction writing talent, and is … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 12/1 Beyond The Wails of Creeps
(1) BANGLESS. In the beginning…there was no beginning? At Phys.org — “No Big Bang? Quantum equation predicts universe has no beginning” The universe may have existed forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein’s … Continue reading →
The Doctor Makes A House Call
Will Peter Jackson direct an episode of Doctor Who? In a video shot at his home in New Zealand, Jackson and his daughter Katie converse about Steven Moffatt’s efforts to sign him for the series. The byplay is described in … Continue reading →
Batman v. Superman Sneak Peek
Here’s a nightmarish clip from the movie, a video that ends with a card advising the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer will debut December 2 on Jimmy Kimmel Live.… Continue reading →
Top 10 Posts for November 2015
The decision to quit using Lovecraft’s likeness on the World Fantasy Award was by far the most-read news item last month, and S.T. Joshi’s complaints about it were such a comment magnet that a post about them cracked November’s otherwise Scroll-filled … Continue reading →
Rotsler Award to Harvia
By John Hertz: Texan Teddy Harvia (“har-VEE-a”) has won the 2015 Rotsler Award, named for the late great Bill Rotsler (1926-1997), sponsored by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, and announced at L.A.’s local convention Loscon. The winner receives … Continue reading →
2015 Goodreads Choice Awards
The winners of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced. Readers nominated 20,000 books overall, and more than 3 million votes were cast to select the top book in each of 20 categories. Here are results of genre interest. … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 11/30 The Doom That Came to File770
(1) TOLKIEN AT THE PLATE. Pitchers’ faces turn almost gargoyle-like at the moment they deliver the baseball. Major league baseball blog Cut4 decided it would be amusing to match those expressions with melodramatic quotes from Lord of the Rings. The pitch … Continue reading →
Somtow’s New Opera Debuts in Thailand December 5
Suwana Sama – The Faithful Son, a new opera in Somtow Sucharitkul’s series “Das Jati – Ten Lives of the Buddha,” will be performed for the first time on December 5 at the Suryadhep Music Sala in Rangsit, Thailand. His … Continue reading →
Orcs Dance, Win Arrow Shirts
From every direction fans are responding to the File 770 (lack of) News Emergency. Martin Morse Wooster realized I had neglected to report last month’s viral video “The Orc Dance! Featuring Legolas” and sent me the link… There’s an even longer “making … Continue reading →