many theories, ideas and fears for the future. I, for one, expected a great megapolis across the south of Sweden COUNTERCL CK and Denmark, where Copenhagen and Malmö is situ- ISSUE 10 FEBRUARY 2009 ated. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For sure we would have a lunar base as in 1999! For A random fanzine by Wolf von Witting, Via Dei Banduzzi 6/4, sure we would have landed on Mars! It was questionable 33050 Bagnaria Arsa (Ud), Italy. Email: halluciraptor at gmail.com how far the mining operations in the asteroid belt had Assistant Editor: Floria Anca Marin, Bagnaria Arsa, Italy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - come by the year 2000, but for sure it had been thought of. So I gathered. But no, really. I didn't expect any third world war to wipe most of us out. It didn't happen either. Yet. Also; the world is still far from overpopulated as in Soylent Green, where we are forced to eat our neigh- bours. The environment is being so gradually ruined from year to year, that we barely notice it. And the random occasions at which nature retaliates mostly hit remotely living people who we have little affinity to. My mode of travelling is low tech, since our time travel technology hasn't advanced far enough yet in my home era. But I prefer to be thorough in my research and considered it prudent to get started early and learn more along my way. I was 20 years old when I left the 70's behind to investigate the future. Since then I have had little reason to fast forward in time, since life has been full of interesting events and surprises. REPORTING BACK : The 80's were wonderful years in many ways, with many memorable events. In 1984 people still cared about George Orwell's vision and objected to authority imposed by big brothers watching eye. It would take another twenty years before the population had become too numb or too dumb to protest against infringements on their personal freedom. On the other hand, many who lived in a communist country at the time, felt they already have experienced the reality of Orwell's 1984. And when they moved to the west, they first experienced an illusion of freedom. But slowly and surely humankind slipped into a state in which most citizens feel they are unable or just do not care about what their elected authority does. Artwork: Christian Holl In 1981, John Carpenter depicted the year 1997 as the future in his thriller Escape From New York . But no wall INTRODUCTION has yet been erected around Manhattan and no plane I am a time traveller from the 70's. From the 1970's. My had until 1997 crashed into the city. life is not linear. I have spent more than ten years in the On september 13th in 1999 I watched the sky carefully. aforementioned decade. By choice! It is my opinion that But there was no moon! How the hell did Gerry Anderson civilization peaked then. Culturally, intellectually and soci- do that? The moon was just gone for several days. Not ally. But since then humankind has degenerated. visible in the night sky over Stockholm anyway. But hold For some time I was contemplating upon, if the madness on a minute! We didn't have any moonbase. Not that we of the world perhaps was a constant, and merely my lacked the technology, or any technology we could see in ability to recognize it was increasing. There was always a SPACE 1999 . Our computers were even vastly superior possibility that the following generation would accumu- to the ones in the show. But building a base on the moon late wisdom and knowledge in the same pace it was lost would not render any profit to its investors. Hence no by the frailty and demise of the previous one. Now I am moonbase Alpha. So how could the moon possibly have certain this is not the case at all. The accumulation of taken off without Martin Landau and Barbara Bain? It knowledge is considered and activity for nerds and didn't. The moon is still up there. geeks . It is more fashionable to be ignorant. A lot of people carry cell phones smarter than themselves. Some We didn't launch any Jupiter mission in the year 2001. people spend more time on futile attempts to improve We haven't even landed on Mars yet. But in the pilot their appearance, while their minds get naught, or little episode of The Lone Gunmen (a spin off from the X- enriched. Therefore humankind is degenerating. I am not Files ) a commercial airliner was aimed for the World however, entirely sure if this is intentional. Trade Center (collision was fortunately averted). But half a year later it happened in real life. Talk about global My mission is to compare the visions of science fiction to traumatic experience. And that's when reality sort of reality. How did George Orwell's 1984 turn out? How was began to drift into sf mode. The US of America slowly 1999 compared to the tv-series Space 1999 , and what came to accord with the dystopian vision. Soon the year became of Arthur C Clarke's 2001 and 2010 ? The further 2010 is here! away, the more difficult it was to speculate. We had so COUNTERCL CK # 10 AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CLOCKW LF W: That is correct. Another disaster, if I may say so. The Q: How come you suddenly decided to pick up CC after plan was to start an IT-business in London (with 3 10 years of silence? others). This was in the autumn of 2002. But the first W: Actually, not so suddenly at all. It was suggested by bailed out before I even had arrived. I was the last one to Lloyd Penney about half a year ago. I wasn't sure about give up. Maybe because I was determined to survive doing so to begin with, but a quick survey on facebook long enough to be able to attend QUINZE, 15th british convinced me otherwise. I was surprised to find that filk convention in Ipswich, in February 2003. I was broke Lloyd was not the only one who'd might be looking at the time. forward to read another issue. I owed Chris Malme some money for CD's, which was Q: Surprised? Why? my intention to repay him for at the convention. He W: People must be tired of all the information and blogs declined generously. But he didn't know how desperate that gets "thrown at them" these days. I fear my musings my situation really was at the time. At least I had money may drown in the general whirlpool of publications. It is for food at the time, but not for the hotel. my hope that my writing has improved in the past ten Q: Was it worth the ordeal ? years and that the readers will recognize it. W: Oh, yes! Absolutely! It was a sheer pleasure to meet Q: Have you considered a blog? the GoH Teri Wachowiak from Augusta, Georgia (well- W: I wouldn't want to write a blog where I'd be forced to known amongst the filkers of Atlanta). It was also nice to produce words more or less every day, on a regular finally meet Dave Weingart. basis. Chance is I'd run out of meaningful things to say. I have a particularly fond memory of Lawrence Dean And who is interested in my opinion anyway? Everyone performing a beautiful song about the First Flight of Wilbur has an opinion already. In CC I have to choose my words & Orville Wright . At the time it was exactly 100 years ago more carefully. Certainly I expect a number of new (Of course, it has been argued the Wright brothers were readers. I will bear in mind that I might have to explain not the first at all. Gustav Albin Weisskopf made the first some of the sf fan speak we are used to. flight two years earlier). Q: What stopped the publication of CC 10 years ago? It was also quite a surprise to run into Mark Harwood from Springvale Studios in the bar at the convention. W: I only got 150 copies of issue # 7. My friend who was Nice guy! He was there in company of Louise Robey (the supposed to print the rest mislaid the originals and by the knockout redhead from the TV-series Friday the 13th) time new originals were produced, that particular printing and introduced her to myself and Chris O'Shea. Chris option was no longer available. I never found another and I were invited to the studio where we had tea, who could print at a reasonable cost. But this way, remembered old episodes of Friday 13th and got a little making the fanzine available in pdf-format is a very good Hollywood-inside gossip, which I do not intend to share. idea. Who ever wants to, can print their own copy. We got a ride in a white Jaguar back to the convention I had a preview version of issue # 8 ready for Nasacon and the next day we met Cradle of Filth drummer Adrian 2000, but there was some dispute with Anders Bellis Erlandsson at the studio. After roughly an hour of about a translation (him being professional). I lost drumming the man was literally oozing. He was probably momentum, not only because of this but also because of the most athletic person I ever saw.