DOCSLIB.ORG

Asfacts Feb16.Pub

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

ASFACTS 2016 FEBRUARY “S PACE ODDITY ” V ALENTINE ISSUE ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ are free of charge. These panels are sure to provide a wide ENMU WILLIAMSON LECTURESHIP range of topics and free-wheeling discussion and debate between panelists and audience. SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY , A PRIL 8 On Saturday, April 9, a Writers Workshop for aspir- ing young writers is planned 10:00 am-Noon at the Por- The 40th annual Jack Williamson Lectureship will be tales Public Library with Connie Willis and Steven held Friday, April 8, at Eastern New Mexico University in Gould. Interested participants can contact the Portales Portales, NM. Special guests are Albuquerque’s Victor Library, 218 S Avenue B, in Portales, at (575) 356-3940. Milán and Mistress of Ceremonies Connie Willis (of For more information, contact Caldwell by phone or Colorado). Friday events include Milan’s reading, a email her at [email protected]. luncheon and various panel discussions. A campus tradition since 1977, the Lectureship annu- ND ally draws well-known authors to visit the ENMU campus EXPANSE GETS 2 SEASON and discuss the interactions of science and the humanities. Williamson, long-time SF author and professor of Syfy has given a second season to The Expanse and is English passed away in 2006. Williamson’s novella, “The increasing the episode order from 10 to 13 for the futuris- Ultimate Earth,” won a 2001 Hugo Award, and his last tic mystery’s sophomore turn, Variety.com posted at the novel, The Stonehenge Gate , was released in 2005. end of December. Milán is the author of more than 60 novels, including The Alcon Television Group series gained traction last year’s The Dinosaur Lords and this year’s sequel, The from an online debut last November that brought in 4.5 million viewers before its official premiere on December Dinosaur Knights (to be released in July). He also wrote technothriller Red Sands , the award-winning The Cyber- 14 on Syfy. The first three episodes that have aired on netic Samurai , Star Trek novel From the Depths, Wild Syfy have brought in an average 1.6 million P2+ linear Cards 1993 solo novel Turn of the Cards , and Battletech viewers (L3). novels; and co-authored Runespear with Melinda “The Expanse is firing on all cylinders creatively, Snodgrass. He is a charter member of the NM-based Wild building a passionate fan base among viewers and critics Cards “mafia,” and also has written novels under pseudo- alike, and delivering on Syfy’s promise of smart, provoca- nyms in the Rogue Angel, Guardians, Stormrider and tive science fiction entertainment. We can’t wait to see Donovan Steele universes. The Washington Post calls where the story takes us in season two,” said Dave Howe, Milán a “contender for major stardom” in science fiction. president of Syfy and Chiller. The Lectureship formally opens Thursday, April 7, Set 200 years in the future, The Expanse stars Tho- with a tribute to Jack, in which friends and colleagues mas Jane and Steven Strait as a hardened detective and a read from their own or favorite excerpts of Jack William- son’s 5:30 pm in room 112 of the Jack Williamson Lib- UPCOMING ASFS M EETINGS eral Arts Building on the ENMU campus. • Tonight: Film journalist Jeff Berg talks on New On Friday, Milán reads and answers questions 10:00- Mexico Filmmaking , especially SF/horror flicks... 11:30 am in Room 112 of the JWLA Building. The lunch- • March 11: Time for the traditional ASFS Auction eon, hosted by Willis with a keynote address from Milán, with Bob Vardeman at the helm. Look for 2-6 items takes place 11:45 am in the Campus Union Ballroom. The to donate to the club’s cause, and cash to spend. Luncheon cost is $10.00 (payable at the door). Books will • Wed, March 30: Bubonicon 49 guest nominations be available for purchase and autographing by writers in meeting. Must be present to vote on 2017 guests... attendance. Reservations (and any dietary restrictions) are • April 15: Meeting 1 Week Late - Devin O’Leary needed by Monday, April 4. Call Patrice Caldwell at of the Weekly Alibi looks at film trailers for this (575) 562-2315 or email [email protected]. summer’s genre releases! Also, the Spring issue of Panel discussions happen 3:00-6:15 pm in the Wil- ASFacts will be out (deadline Sun, April 10). liamson Special Collections area of Golden Library, and • May 13: Program not confirmed at this time. Craig Chrissinger, normal editor. Darth Vader, guest editor each December. Please Send All Correspondence to — PO Box 37257, Albuquerque, NM 87176-7257. Contact: (505) 266-8905 or via [email protected]. ASFACTS published February, April, July & October for the Albuq SF Society. SITH FACTS out each December. NEXT DEADLINE : Sun, April 10. Club Officers: Craig Chrissinger & Jessica Coyle, co-Zec Secs (505) 266-8905. Geneva Schult, Moderator. Julie Hef- fernan, Alternator. Cupid, Holiday Host. Bubonicon Co-Chairs: Caci Cooper & Craig Chrissinger (505) 559-0931. rogue ship captain whose unlikely alliance may end up adaptation is broadcast. exposing the greatest conspiracy in human history. In her “Yes, there’s a lot written,” he wrote. “Hundreds of review of the series, Variety critic Maureen Ryan credited pages. Dozens of chapters. But there’s also a lot still left the show for being “openly political, and tak[ing] on is- to write. I am months away still…and that’s if the writing sues of class, representation and exploitation.” goes well.” Based on Albuquerque authors Daniel Abraham and Martin and his publishers had wanted The Winds of Ty Franck’s series of books written under the pen name Winter to be published before the sixth series of the hit James S.A. Corey, The Expanse has Mark Fergus and HBO television series airs, but this will now not be possi- Hawk Ostby ( Children of Men, Iron Man ) serving as writ- ble, he told fans, adding, “There are no excuses. No one ers, executive producers and showrunners. Executive pro- else is to blame... It’s on me. I tried, and I am still trying.” ducer Naren Shankar ( CSI, Farscape ) also is showrun- The fantasy author has been criticized by fans in the ning. past over the speed of his writing; in 2009, it reached such The Expanse is reportedly Syfy’s most expensive levels that Neil Gaiman was moved to pledge his support, series to date. Ahead of its debut, Howe told Variety this telling a demanding reader that “George RR Martin is not was necessary. “[Once they see it,] people will realize that your bitch.” not many networks are investing as much as we are in this This time, though, his readers were quick to encour- quality content,” he said then. “This is not just big. This is age him, with more than 1,000 comments on his blog premium network scale.” ranging from “Love your work, George! Get it done when Season two of The Expanse is expected to air in 2017. it’s done. I’ll be there” to “Don’t sweat it, George” and “Take as long as you need to, sir.” “That couldn’t have been fun to write,” wrote one GOLDEN GLOBES INCLUDE SCI -FI reader in response to Martin’s blog. “But fact is in 50 The 73rd Golden Globe Awards honored the best in years readers will judge on the book’s quality and not if film and American television of 2015 and was broadcast they met some arbitrary deadline and beat the TV adapta- live on January 10, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly tion. As much as I’d like to see it released soon, I ulti- Hills, CA. mately approve of the priority on quality.” Among the winners from the Hollywood Foreign Martin later responded to his fans, saying that “the Press Association were some science fiction and horror outpouring of support in response to my post on The projects such as The Martian as Best Comedy Film, Matt Winds of Winter has been astonishing. Thank you all, so Damon as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Motion very much. There were 40 pages of screened comments Picture for The Martian , “The Writing's on the Wall” on the post by the time I logged on this morning. I haven’t sung by Adele from Spectre as Best Original Song, Inside even been able to read half of them as yet. I cannot tell Out as Best Animated Feature Film, and Lady Gaga as you how much I appreciate all the kind words and good Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Film for American wishes.” Horror Story: Hotel . The fifth novel, A Dance With Dragons , was pub- lished in 2011, shortly after the first season of the HBO series Game of Thrones began to air. MARTIN MISSES DEADLINE , Addressing fans concerned that the new TV series, which airs in April, might “spoil” the books, Martin ad- “A STONISHED ” B Y FAN REACTION mitted, “Given where we are, inevitably, there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of Game of by Alison Flood, The Guardian , 01-04-2016 Thrones that have not yet happened in the books.” After Santa Fe author George RR Martin author con- But he added, “Some of the ‘spoilers’ you may en- fessed January 2 that he would not finish the sixth Game counter in season six may not be spoilers at all…because of Thrones book, The Winds of Winter , before the sixth the show and the books have diverged, and will continue season of the TV series airs in spring, his blog was del- to do so”.
Recommended publications
  • Stairway to Heaven? Geographies of the Space Elevator in Science Fiction

    Stairway to Heaven? Geographies of the Space Elevator in Science Fiction

    ISSN 2624-9081 • DOI 10.26034/roadsides-202000306 Stairway to Heaven? Geographies of the Space Elevator in Science Fiction Oliver Dunnett Outer space is often presented as a kind of universal global commons – a space for all humankind, against which the hopes and dreams of humanity have been projected. Yet, since the advent of spaceflight, it has become apparent that access to outer space has been limited, shaped and procured in certain ways. Geographical approaches to the study of outer space have started to interrogate the ways in which such inequalities have emerged and sustained themselves, across environmental, cultural and political registers. For example, recent studies have understood outer space as increasingly foreclosed by certain state and commercial actors (Beery 2012), have emphasised narratives of tropical difference in understanding geosynchronous equatorial satellite orbits (Dunnett 2019) and, more broadly, have conceptualised the Solar System as part of Earth’s environment (Degroot 2017). It is clear from this and related literature that various types of infrastructure have been a significant part of the uneven geographies of outer space, whether in terms of long-established spaceports (Redfield 2000), anticipatory infrastructures (Gorman 2009) or redundant space hardware orbiting Earth as debris (Klinger 2019). collection no. 003 • Infrastructure on/off Earth Roadsides Stairway to Heaven? 43 Having been the subject of speculation in both engineering and science-fictional discourses for many decades, the space elevator has more recently been promoted as a “revolutionary and efficient way to space for all humanity” (ISEC 2017). The concept involves a tether lowered from a position in geostationary orbit to a point on Earth’s equator, along which an elevator can ascend and arrive in orbit.
  • FANTASY FAIRE 19 81 of Fc Available for $4.00 From: TRISKELL PRESS P

    FANTASY FAIRE 19 81 of Fc Available for $4.00 From: TRISKELL PRESS P

    FANTASY FAIRE 19 81 of fc Available for $4.00 from: TRISKELL PRESS P. 0. Box 9480 Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1G 3V2 J&u) (B.Mn'^mTuer KOKTAL ADD IHHOHTAl LOVERS TRAPPED Is AS ASCIEST FEUD... 11th ANNUAL FANTASY FAIRS JULY 17, 18, 19, 1981 AMFAC HOTEL MASTERS OF CEREMONIES STEPHEN GOLDIN, KATHLEEN SKY RON WILSON CONTENTS page GUEST OF HONOR ... 4 ■ GUEST LIST . 5 WELCOME TO FANTASY FAIRE by’Keith Williams’ 7 PROGRAM 8 COMMITTEE...................... .. W . ... .10 RULES FOR BEHAVIOR 10 WALKING GUIDE by Bill Conlln 12 MAP OF AREA ........................................................ UPCOMING FPCI CONVENTIONS 14 ADVERTISERS Triskell Press Barry Levin Books Pfeiffer's Books & Tiques Dangerous Visions Cover Design From A Painting By Morris Scott Dollens GUEST OF HONOR FRITZ LEIBER was bom in 1910. Son of a Shakespearean actor, Fritz was at one time an actor himself and a mem­ ber of his father’s troupe. He made a cameo appearance in the film "Equinox." Fritz has studied many sciences and was once editor of Science Digest. His writing career began prior to World War 11 with some stories in Weird Tales. Soon Unknown published his novel "Conjure Wife, " which was made into a movie under the title (of all things) "Bum, Witch, Bum!" His Gray Mouser stories (which were the inspira­ tion for the Fantasy Faire "Fritz Leiber Fantasy Award") were started in Unknown and continued in Fantastic, which magazine devoted its entire Nov., 1959 issue to Fritz's stories. In 1959 Fritz was awarded a Hugo, by the World Science Fiction Convention for his novel "The Big Time." His novel "The Wanderer," about an interloper into our solar system, won the Hugo again in 1965.'-His novelettes Gonna Roll the Bones," "Ship of Shadows" and "Ill Met in Lankhmar” won the Hugo in 1968, 1970 and 1971 in that order.
  • Fruhjahr 2018 .. Die Uberschreitung Der Gegenwart

    Fruhjahr 2018 .. Die Uberschreitung Der Gegenwart

    .. Fruhjahr 2018 .. Die uberschreitung der Gegenwart Wie alt kann ein Mensch werden, ohne seine Menschlichkeit zu verlieren? Ein Thriller über das Alter und den Wert des menschlichen Gedächtnisses ine einfache Zeitungsmeldung führt ihn über die Grenzen unserer Existenz: In Sevilla Esoll der älteste lebende Mensch entdeckt worden sein. Der namenlose Erzähler macht sich auf die Suche und merkt schnell, dass der Älteste gute Gründe hat, sich und sein Leben zu verbergen. Immer tiefer verirrt der Suchende sich in einem bedrohlichen Labyrinth aus selt- samen Erscheinungen und Zweifeln an unserer Realität, bis er endlich auf einen jugendlich erscheinenden Mann und seine kindliche Tochter trifft. Sie führen ihn in die Abgründe menschlicher Geschichte, zeigen ihm die dunklen Seiten des Gedächtnisses, ständig auf der Flucht vor Neid und Verrat. Er erfährt von menschlichen Optimierungen und wird vor die Frage gestellt, ob wir eine Gesellschaft ohne Tod ertragen können … Otmar Jenner spielte in einer Rock- band, arbeitete u.a. als Kriegsfotograf und schrieb den viel besprochenen Ro- © privat man »Sarajevo Safari«. Er lebt in Berlin und unterrichtet Sterbebegleitung. Neben eigenen Musikproduktionen beschäftigt er sich mit fotografischer Kunst. 2 SPITZENTITEL März ➤ Für Leser von Frank Schätzing und Andreas Eschbach ➤ Presseschwerpunkt ➤ Autorenlesungen, u.a. auf der Leipziger Buchmesse ➤ Ihr LEX ab Januar beim Verlag bestellbar Otmar Jenner DER ÄLTESTE Roman ca. 480 Seiten Geb. mit Schutzumschlag, 13,5 x 21,5 cm € [D] 24,90 / € [A] 25,60 ISBN: 978-3-946503-22-4 [WG 1120] | Auch als E-Book erhältlich ISBN: 978-3-946503-23-1 Erscheint im März 2018 3 Originalausgabe Avantgarde aus Nord-Neukölln: »Tobias O.
  • Reading William Morris, Peter Kropotkin, Ursula K. Le Guin, and PM in the Light of Digital Socialism

    Reading William Morris, Peter Kropotkin, Ursula K. Le Guin, and PM in the Light of Digital Socialism

    tripleC 18(1): 146-186, 2020 http://www.triple-c.at The Utopian Internet, Computing, Communication, and Concrete Utopias: Reading William Morris, Peter Kropotkin, Ursula K. Le Guin, and P.M. in the Light of Digital Socialism Christian Fuchs University of Westminster, London, [email protected], http://fuchs.uti.at Abstract: This paper asks: What can we learn from literary communist utopias for the creation and organisation of communicative and digital socialist society and a utopian Internet? To pro- vide an answer to this question, the article discusses aspects of technology and communica- tion in utopian-communist writings and reads these literary works in the light of questions con- cerning digital technologies and 21st-century communication. The selected authors have writ- ten some of the most influential literary communist utopias. The utopias presented by these authors are the focus of the reading presented in this paper: William Morris’s (1890/1993) News from Nowhere, Peter Kropotkin’s (1892/1995) The Conquest of Bread, Ursula K. Le Guin’s (1974/2002) The Dispossessed, and P.M.’s (1983/2011; 2009; 2012) bolo’bolo and Kartoffeln und Computer (Potatoes and Computers). These works are the focus of the reading presented in this paper and are read in respect to three themes: general communism, technol- ogy and production, communication and culture. The paper recommends features of concrete utopian-communist stories that can inspire contemporary political imagination and socialist consciousness. The themes explored include the role of post-scarcity, decentralised comput- erised planning, wealth and luxury for all, beauty, creativity, education, democracy, the public sphere, everyday life, transportation, dirt, robots, automation, and communist means of com- munication (such as the “ansible”) in digital communism.
  • The Imagined Wests of Kim Stanley Robinson in the "Three Californias" and Mars Trilogies

    The Imagined Wests of Kim Stanley Robinson in the "Three Californias" and Mars Trilogies

    Portland State University PDXScholar Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Publications and Presentations Planning Spring 2003 Falling into History: The Imagined Wests of Kim Stanley Robinson in the "Three Californias" and Mars Trilogies Carl Abbott Portland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/usp_fac Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Citation Details Abbott, C. Falling into History: The Imagined Wests of Kim Stanley Robinson in the "Three Californias" and Mars Trilogies. The Western Historical Quarterly , Vol. 34, No. 1 (Spring, 2003), pp. 27-47. This Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Falling into History: The ImaginedWests of Kim Stanley Robinson in the "Three Californias" and Mars Trilogies Carl Abbott California science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson has imagined the future of Southern California in three novels published 1984-1990, and the settle ment of Mars in another trilogy published 1993-1996. In framing these narratives he worked in explicitly historical terms and incorporated themes and issues that characterize the "new western history" of the 1980s and 1990s, thus providing evidence of the resonance of that new historiography. .EDMars is Kim Stanley Robinson's R highly praised science fiction novel published in 1993.1 Its pivotal section carries the title "Falling into History." More than two decades have passed since permanent human settlers arrived on the red planet in 2027, and the growing Martian communities have become too complex to be guided by simple earth-made plans or single individuals.
  • Ethel the Aardvark #197

    Ethel the Aardvark #197

    February 2019 – March 2019 Number 197 © Mark Ford 2019 Meetings:- St Augustine’s Anglican Chuch Hall, 100 Sydney Rd, Coburg, Vic. Getting there: Tram No 19 North Coburg, from Elizabeth St in the city, or Tram no 8, Moreland Rd from Glenferrie Rd, Toorak, to Stop 132. Upfield train line to Moreland Station. On street parking. Space on the road next to it, which is closed to through driving. Melway Ref 29 H3. Cyclists can use the Upfield bicycle path. Meetings of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club take place on the third Friday Night of the month. Unless it is Good Friday. Since 1952 The MSFC is a place where people who enjoy science fiction and fantasy meet to Most Club Nights – Gold coin for members, $5 for nonmembers. discuss their love of books, TV, film and Some nights may cost an extra fee, such as Trivia Nights. coffee. Premises open at 8pm on the third Friday of the month, events start CONTACTING THE MSFC. at 8.30pm. Lights out at 11pm. General enquiries. Sustenance - Hot food, cold snacks, coffee and hot chocolate and Soft [email protected] Drinks are available. Clubzine. Editor: LynC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNTS FOR MEMBERS [email protected] Single membership $35 Website Show your MSFC membership card Family or household $45 www.msfc.sf.org.au when asking for these benefits. Interstate Ethel the Aardvark email subscription $25* Our Facebook page: 20% discount with cash or debit card, https://www.facebook.com/Mel and 15% discount with credit cards off bourneSFClub *plus $10 for interstate subscribers all books at: Our open Facebook group: wishing a hardcopy Ethel subscription.
  • 13Th Valley John M. Del Vecchio Fiction 25.00 ABC of Architecture

    13Th Valley John M. Del Vecchio Fiction 25.00 ABC of Architecture

    13th Valley John M. Del Vecchio Fiction 25.00 ABC of Architecture James F. O’Gorman Non-fiction 38.65 ACROSS THE SEA OF GREGORY BENFORD SF 9.95 SUNS Affluent Society John Kenneth Galbraith 13.99 African Exodus: The Origins Christopher Stringer and Non-fiction 6.49 of Modern Humanity Robin McKie AGAINST INFINITY GREGORY BENFORD SF 25.00 Age of Anxiety: A Baroque W. H. Auden Eclogue Alabanza: New and Selected Martin Espada Poetry 24.95 Poems, 1982-2002 Alexandria Quartet Lawrence Durell ALIEN LIGHT NANCY KRESS SF Alva & Irva: The Twins Who Edward Carey Fiction Saved a City And Quiet Flows the Don Mikhail Sholokhov Fiction AND ETERNITY PIERS ANTHONY SF ANDROMEDA STRAIN MICHAEL CRICHTON SF Annotated Mona Lisa: A Carol Strickland and Non-fiction Crash Course in Art History John Boswell From Prehistoric to Post- Modern ANTHONOLOGY PIERS ANTHONY SF Appointment in Samarra John O’Hara ARSLAN M. J. ENGH SF Art of Living: The Classic Epictetus and Sharon Lebell Non-fiction Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness Art Attack: A Short Cultural Marc Aronson Non-fiction History of the Avant-Garde AT WINTER’S END ROBERT SILVERBERG SF Austerlitz W.G. Sebald Auto biography of Miss Jane Ernest Gaines Fiction Pittman Backlash: The Undeclared Susan Faludi Non-fiction War Against American Women Bad Publicity Jeffrey Frank Bad Land Jonathan Raban Badenheim 1939 Aharon Appelfeld Fiction Ball Four: My Life and Hard Jim Bouton Time Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues Barefoot to Balanchine: How Mary Kerner Non-fiction to Watch Dance Battle with the Slum Jacob Riis Bear William Faulkner Fiction Beauty Robin McKinley Fiction BEGGARS IN SPAIN NANCY KRESS SF BEHOLD THE MAN MICHAEL MOORCOCK SF Being Dead Jim Crace Bend in the River V.
  • Argentuscon Had Four Panelists Piece, on December 17

    Argentuscon Had Four Panelists Piece, on December 17

    Matthew Appleton Georges Dodds Richard Horton Sheryl Birkhead Howard Andrew Jones Brad Foster Fred Lerner Deb Kosiba James D. Nicoll Rotsler John O’Neill Taral Wayne Mike Resnick Peter Sands Steven H Silver Allen Steele Michael D. Thomas Fred Lerner takes us on a literary journey to Portugal, From the Mine as he prepared for his own journey to the old Roman province of Lusitania. He looks at the writing of two ast year’s issue was published on Christmas Eve. Portuguese authors who are practically unknown to the This year, it looks like I’ll get it out earlier, but not Anglophonic world. L by much since I’m writing this, which is the last And just as the ArgentusCon had four panelists piece, on December 17. discussing a single topic, the first four articles are also on What isn’t in this issue is the mock section. It has the same topic, although the authors tackled them always been the most difficult section to put together and separately (mostly). I asked Rich Horton, John O’Neill, I just couldn’t get enough pieces to Georges Dodds, and Howard Andrew Jones make it happen this issue. All my to compile of list of ten books each that are fault, not the fault of those who sent out of print and should be brought back into me submissions. The mock section print. When I asked, knowing something of may return in the 2008 issue, or it may their proclivities, I had a feeling I’d know not. I have found something else I what types of books would show up, if not think might be its replacement, which the specifics.
  • Ominous Faultlines in a World Gone Wrong: Courmayeur Noir in Festival Randy Malamud

    Ominous Faultlines in a World Gone Wrong: Courmayeur Noir in Festival Randy Malamud

    Ominous Faultlines in a World Gone Wrong: Courmayeur Noir In Festival Randy Malamud In the sublime shadows of the Italian Alps, Courmayeur Confidential, Mulholland Drive, The Dark Knight trilogy), Noir In Festival’s 23-year run suggests America’s monop- hyper-noir (even ‘noirer’ than noir! Sin City, Django Un- 1 oly on this dark cinematic tradition may be on the wane. chained), and tech noir (The Matrix, cyberpunk) it remained The roots of film noir wind broadly through the geogra- a made-in-America commodity. phy of film history. One assumes it’s American to the core: Courmayeur’s 2013 program proved that contemporary Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles, Dashiell Hammett. But noir, like anything poised to thrive nowadays, is indubita- au contraire, the term itself (obviously) emanates from bly global. Its December event featured Hong Kong film- a Gallic sensibility: French critic Nino Frank planted the maker Johnny To’s wonderfully macabre comedy, Blind flag when he coined ‘‘film noir’’ in 1946. He was discussing Detective (with the funniest crime reenactment scenes American films, but still: it took a Frenchman to appreci- ever); Erik Matti’s Filipino killer-thriller On the Job; and 2 ate them. Or maybe the genre is German, growing out Argentinian Lucı´a Puenzo’s resonantly disturbing Wakol- of Weimar expressionism, strassenfilm (street stories), da, an adaptation of her own novel about Josef Mengele’s 3 Lang’s M. 1960 refuge in a remote Patagonian Naziphile community. In fact, film noir is a hybrid which began to flourish in The Black Lion jury award went to Denis Villeneuve’s 1940s Hollywood, but was molded by displaced Europeans Enemy, a Canadian production adapted from Jose´ Sarama- (Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger) and go’s Portuguese novel The Double (and with a bona fide keenly inflected by their continental aesthetic and philo- binational spirit).
  • Twisted Trails of the Wold West by Matthew Baugh © 2006

    Twisted Trails of the Wold West by Matthew Baugh © 2006

    Twisted Trails of the Wold West By Matthew Baugh © 2006 The Old West was an interesting place, and even more so in the Wold- Newton Universe. Until fairly recently only a few of the heroes and villains who inhabited the early western United States had been confirmed through crossover stories as existing in the WNU. Several comic book miniseries have done a lot to change this, and though there are some problems fitting each into the tapestry of the WNU, it has been worth the effort. Marvel Comics’ miniseries, Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather was a humorous storyline, parodying the Kid’s established image and lampooning westerns in general. It is best known for ‘outing’ the Kid as a homosexual. While that assertion remains an open issue with fans, it isn’t what causes the problems with incorporating the story into the WNU. What is of more concern are the blatant anachronisms and impossibilities the story offers. We can accept it, but only with the caveat that some of the details have been distorted for comic effect. When the Rawhide Kid is established as a character in the Wold-Newton Universe he provides links to a number of other western characters, both from the Marvel Universe and from classic western novels and movies. It draws in the Marvel Comics series’ Blaze of Glory, Apache Skies, and Sunset Riders as wall as DC Comics’ The Kents. As with most Marvel and DC characters there is the problem with bringing in the mammoth superhero continuities of the Marvel and DC universes, though this is not insurmountable.
  • JUDITH MERRIL-PDF-Sep23-07.Pdf (368.7Kb)

    JUDITH MERRIL-PDF-Sep23-07.Pdf (368.7Kb)

    JUDITH MERRIL: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE Compiled by Elizabeth Cummins Department of English and Technical Communication University of Missouri-Rolla Rolla, MO 65409-0560 College Station, TX The Center for the Bibliography of Science Fiction and Fantasy December 2006 Table of Contents Preface Judith Merril Chronology A. Books B. Short Fiction C. Nonfiction D. Poetry E. Other Media F. Editorial Credits G. Secondary Sources About Elizabeth Cummins PREFACE Scope and Purpose This Judith Merril bibliography includes both primary and secondary works, arranged in categories that are suitable for her career and that are, generally, common to the other bibliographies in the Center for Bibliographic Studies in Science Fiction. Works by Merril include a variety of types and modes—pieces she wrote at Morris High School in the Bronx, newsletters and fanzines she edited; sports, westerns, and detective fiction and non-fiction published in pulp magazines up to 1950; science fiction stories, novellas, and novels; book reviews; critical essays; edited anthologies; and both audio and video recordings of her fiction and non-fiction. Works about Merill cover over six decades, beginning shortly after her first science fiction story appeared (1948) and continuing after her death (1997), and in several modes— biography, news, critical commentary, tribute, visual and audio records. This new online bibliography updates and expands the primary bibliography I published in 2001 (Elizabeth Cummins, “Bibliography of Works by Judith Merril,” Extrapolation, vol. 42, 2001). It also adds a secondary bibliography. However, the reasons for producing a research- based Merril bibliography have been the same for both publications. Published bibliographies of Merril’s work have been incomplete and often inaccurate.
  • Season 5 Article

    Season 5 Article

    N.B. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE READER USE 2-PAGE VIEW (BOOK FORMAT WITH SCROLLING ENABLED) IN ACROBAT READER OR BROWSER. “EVEN’ING IT OUT – A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE LAST TWO YEARS OF “THE TWILIGHT ZONE” Television Series (minus ‘THE’)” A Study in Three Parts by Andrew Ramage © 2019, The Twilight Zone Museum. All rights reserved. Preface With some hesitation at CBS, Cayuga Productions continued Twilight Zone for what would be its last season, with a thirty-six episode pipeline – a larger count than had been seen since its first year. Producer Bert Granet, who began producing in the previous season, was soon replaced by William Froug as he moved on to other projects. The fifth season has always been considered the weakest and, as one reviewer stated, “undisputably the worst.” Harsh criticism. The lopsidedness of Seasons 4 and 5 – with a smattering of episodes that egregiously deviated from the TZ mold, made for a series much-changed from the one everyone had come to know. A possible reason for this was an abundance of rather disdainful or at least less-likeable characters. Most were simply too hard to warm up to, or at the very least, identify with. But it wasn’t just TZ that was changing. Television was no longer as new a medium. “It was a period of great ferment,” said George Clayton Johnson. By 1963, the idyllic world of the 1950s was disappearing by the day. More grittily realistic and reality-based TV shows were imminent, as per the viewing audience’s demand and it was only a matter of time before the curtain came down on the kinds of shows everyone grew to love in the 50s.