Neither Rain, Noir Murder... 04

Bill Bowers 6000 Townevista Dr Apt 114 Cincinnati OH 45224-1762 This is My Publication #224, dated 03/24/04, which is being aimed at the 176th Mailing of DAPA-Em ...and electronically distributed to a few Others, soon thereafter

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Please note the new address. Oh, how easily the phrase rolls from the fingertips … now! As hinted at in the final paragraphs of NRNM03, written long ago on my 60th B'Day -- although the process wasn't quite as quick, nor as 'easy', as I'd hoped… I have relocated … body, soul, possessions (most), and all. Having my Social Worker replaced just as things were starting to gel was not helpful, and then totally freaking when first shown what was to be available to me in a city/county operated "Senior" apartment [my SW laughed at me in the parking lot afterward: I had asked the guide, in all sincerity, "Are you sure this is a one-bedroom, and not an efficiency…?"] -- I was thisclose to simply giving it up until I no longer could manage the stairs at all…. But then a (literal) Miracle gave me a reasonable, hell, an almost-adequate option! The movers first came to Glenway on Friday, October the 3rd, to transport the Essentials -- me; the electronics, what furniture I was taking, and as many boxes as I thought would fit -- to the new apartment. In addition to bringing back a car trunk-load almost every time I went back, there were two more full-fledged moves toward the end of De- cember … mainly to the 10 x 10 self-storage locker I'd rented, about half a mile from here. And on Thursday, February 26th (has it really been that long!?), I hired them for one Final Final Trip …taking the long buried Basement Treasures to the storage locker. I'd moved into the house on Glenway just before Thanksgiving of 1988, and pretty much filled it up then. And de- spite much of the furniture, electronics and "media" having been liberated by the da EX in the early 90s, I'd managed to eliminate the vacuum -- and then some, by last Fall. Fifteen years there … longer than I've resided at one address in my entire life … and, despite the traumas, enough Good Memories to make me forever Nostalgic, I suspect. Nevertheless, as a result of the last move-of-choice I am ever likely to make, I am now officially down-sized to a one-bedroom apartment. Plus the storage locker. I had tremendous help and support, from both ever-so-patient friends and the HMO staff. It was also slightly ex- pensive, since I was (in essence) paying rent on two places for five months, but that's the way it had to be done.

Where I've ended up -- the "miracle" mentioned above -- a six+-story, 150 apartment HUD-friendly building -- goes by the moniker "Booth Residence". Those of you familiar with Yuletime kettle-ringers will recognize the name of the founder of the Salvation Army. The facility is run by a Lady "Soldier", and my apartment looks out to the base of a very steep hill surmounted by another S.A. building containing a Chapel (there is an enclosed walkway from the fifth floor of this, to the first floor of that one) -- but no one pushes any religious, or political, agenda. I chose to accept it simply as the Salvation Army's Good Deed -- and to be damned grateful for the stroke of luck that landed me here. [I'm working on getting 200 miles UpState to see my (as of this Saturday) 94-year-old Mother the end of April, but other than that, and MidWestCon 55 (June 24 - 27; see http://www.cfg.org/midwestcon/index.htm ) -- if any of you want to see me, you'll simply have to Come Visit. My Travelin' Daze are, realistically, over.] I am still recouping & regrouping -- and have only just begun unpacking / unwinding (not to mention selling off enough 'collectibles' to pay down the debt), but, apart from the always fluctuating energy levels that are an inescap- able reality of my "health", my quota of "reasons" for not resuming publishing fanzines seems to be diminishing. I'll still grump and procrastinate, but, hopefully the Members of both DAPA-Em and FAPA will see me just a wee bit more frequently. Not that I'm making any rash promises, you understand! --- Bill <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> Rain-drenched Splatter

This 'title' -- so far -- doesn't seem to be generating nearly the percent- Then again my affection for, and appreciation of that method just age-of-(non-apa)-response -- specifically in the form of LoCs -- in re- might be influenced by the way it was configured at Christ Hospital: lation to the number of 'copies' distributed -- that Xenolith does. Part as I lay on my side, and after the Tech wandered away, as the camera of it is because, as I've observed before, mystery fans don't seem to be tracked above me, I had a clear line of vision to the monitor. Let me hard-wired (for any number of logical reasons) that way; certainly tell you, it is both Weird and Awesome to watch the layers of your not to the extent (to use an euphemism) sf fans are. body being wiped away, until only the skeleton -- your skeleton -- re- Another factor of course, is that -- as has been discussed A Time mains. or Two on several Mailing Lists -- a primarily electronic platform of I hadn't felt that nakedly exposed since the last time I'd attempted distribution beings along its own set of baggage... to reread one of my more angst-ridden 70s apazines! But -- candidly -- the fault is primarily my own: The sporadic publishing schedule -- and the last-minute rush-jobs when I do manage -- doesn't help. But, in the end, it's up to *me* to produce Comment Hooks suffi- Richard E. Geis ciently interesting to bestir you all from your lethargy.... I really enjoy your trail of memories and assorted feedbacks and all that stuff dealing with forgotten writers, time-binding, Sheryl Birkhead trivia and so on... But as usual, bad eyes, little time for fan- doms and daily duties intrude on the few hours I have to myself

that are not tied up with small household tasks and a bit of fic- I don't recall having "read" anything by Willeford -- I'll have to tion writing I kid myself into thinking is viable. I think that take the page I printed out up to the library -- or, come to think sentence needs deconstruction. of it, I think I can hunt the library online! -- and see if they have So far I've read half of Neither Rain... 03 and will get any if his works on tape. through it eventually. Thanks for sending it. Summer finally hit and there have actually been a few days [Mon, 28 Jul 2003] without rain! I fell off a ladder yesterday -- no harm done...or at least not much -- it was a short ladder! I thought I was on the I suspect my Life needs "deconstruction" far more than does your sen- bottom rung and stepped down blindly and -- wham! I gotta tence Dick! But I'm glad to know that you are still there, as indomita- admit that it is much nicer to fall on grass than onto a hard floor ble as ever! -- if you have to fall. Had a bone density test run -- last year it was normal -- so I get to see if it still is without any specific meds -- I really LOVE the chocolate calcium supplement -- not difficult to re- Scott Ponton member to take it at all. Thanks for a look at your zine for the mystery fans! Well, what can I say?? My first ever LoC, and it gets put in the [Sun, 27 Jul 2003] pages!! WOW Stress can cause major asthma attacks as much as any of the 'normal' Thanks a bunch Bill, #3 was received with great anticipa- set-offs, and by mid-December "the breathing" (as we refer to it here tion, and again, didn't disappoint. at Gasp Central) was really ragged; enough so that I was Concerned. Keep it up. So much so, that even though I'd finally weaned myself off the Magic Scott [Thu, 31 Jul 2003] Steroid for the first time in over twenty years, I didn't argue too strenu- ously (with what little breath I had to work with…) when my Doc ..so where's the second? eh? opted for the Sure Cure: mega doses of Prednisone. I could (almost) hear my spine crumbling to dust but, by golly, I could *breathe*! [Cleared up my skin, also. Oh … that's right: it was a derma- Joe R. Christopher tologist who originally put me on the drug. * duh * ] I'm working my way back down, but I'll probably never be able to completely bid it farewell. Still, with the nasal spray, and by treating Your impulsive purchase of three books from Crippen and Tums™ as a Major Food Group -- plus being overly cautious in ap- Landru ties to my standing order for both series of books that proaching what I do manage to schlep around -- I have … Knock Monitor … managed to avoid major back pain for several years, now. Doug Greene publishes. Your and my tastes are different -- I This Is A Good Thing, but I've still lost another inch or so in stat- like the puzzle plots of Ed Hoch and Ellery Queen (and others), ure. Eternal Payback for all those "short jokes" I used to, benignly, and I enjoy the Lost Classics more than many of the standard direct at my friends. …and Glicksohn. series. (The recent Complete Curious Mr. Tarrant was a de- I haven't had a bone density test since January, 2002. January light, even if the EQMM stories were weaker than the others. 2003 … it was too damn cold on the day I was scheduled to Go In … The straight fantasy from F&SF was as good as the early sto- so I didn't; nobody has said anything this year, so far. But the last one ries.) But I try all of serieses and read many all the way I did have wasn't exactly Inspiring. Intellectually I can accept that the through. mission can be accomplished by sticking one heel in a device resem- Yandro was also, I think, the first fanzine I subscribed to, bling a metal shoe-sizer, but, emotionally, it probably requires a greater leap of faith, at least in comparison to the Old Tried & True although I may have received some freebies from Ruth Berman mini-MRI-type. earlier. But it's difficult to decide whether some of my other zines were exactly fanzines or not. Karen Rockow's Unicorn, Intro Pkg.... As long as you resist *all* Special Offers, it works out Ed Meskys' Niekas, The Tolkien Journal, Mythlore, The economically, on a Cost-Per-Book basis. For me.] Rohmer Review... Well, I guess Ed's was (and is), since it won And now I see Half-Price Books is having one of their periodic a Hugo for best fanzine. I even remember something from way 20%-Off sales this weekend.... I really don't need the temptation ... but it has been well over a back when called Outworlds .... year since my last Fix.... [Thu, 14 Aug 2003] Hopefully inertia -- and the difficulty of Getting Out & About -- will prevail. The shock & awe of dealing with moving (or otherwise disposing of) We shall see. the, well, substantial -- nearly 50 Years in the Making -- Accumulation of Printed Matter (variations: several...) from October thru February Somewhere -- in a box either here, or in the locker, I should still have [combined with economic constraints] has definitely curbed -- if not several issues of Karen Rockow's Unicorn, since -- for a while -- we cured -- my acquisition of More Books. I'm really really trying to be- traded. (Guess that makes it a "fanzine", eh?) I remember it as a have until my Stated Goal of No Unpacked Boxes in the apartment is neatly produced example of the Selectric School of Publishing, but achieved. [We won't even think, for the moment, about the 10 x 10 primarily what I recall was her ragging on me for using "the eclectic self-storage locker, up the Hill, down the Road...! ] That Goal is not fanzine" as a sub-title, when she was using a variation of that phrase progressing at warp speed; I've basically vegged out in the three for Unicorn. I wrote back -- hopefully not too brusquely -- to point weeks since the final Final move -- until motivated, belatedly by the out that Outworlds ... and my use of those three words as a Mission DAPA-Em Deadline to Do (at least) Something, no matter how inade- Statement ... pre-dated Unicorn -- by several years. quate.... At this far remove I don't recall if she responded directly, but But I admit there are dangerous moments of weakness: I rejoined shortly thereafter, issues of her eclecticism stopped appearing in my the SF Book Club, and will probably rejoin the Mystery Guild ... as PO Box. soon as they offer the newest Spenser.... [They probably, both, hate me: I -- steadfastly -- only buy my Minimum Required Quota -- and So it goes. then quit, until they build up a number of New Books to justify a new

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ListMania 2003

CONVENTIONS ATTENDED [1]

206 MidWestCon 54 [33]

FANZINES PUBLISHED [4]

220 Neither Rain, Noir Murder... 02 03/17/03 6pgs [40] for DAPA-Em 170 220e.1 eNOIR MURDER 02 812kb MSWord Version 220e.2 eNOIR MURDER 02 122kb .pdf Version 220e.3 eNOIR MURDER 02 27kb .rtf Version 220e.4 eNOIR MURDER 02 23kb .txt Version 221 XENOLITH 49 04/10/03 10pgs for FAPA 221e.1 eXENOLITH 49 70kb [ ] text Version 221e.2 eXENOLITH 49 278kb [ ] MSWord Version 221e.3 eXENOLITH 49 107kb [ ] .pdf Version 221e.4 eXENOLITH 49 80kb [ ] .rtf Version 222 Neither Rain, Noir Murder... 03 07/20/03 4pgs [40] for DAPA-Em 172 222e.1 eNOIR MURDER 03 347kb [12] MSWord Version 222e.2 eNOIR MURDER 03 45kb [42] .pdf Version 222e.3 eNOIR MURDER 03 27kb [17] .rtf Version 222e.4 eNOIR MURDER 03 22kb [6] .txt Version 223 XENOLI(s)T 49.5 07/28/03 28pgs [No Print or eText Edition] 223e.2 eXENOLITH 49.5 600kb+ [ ] MSWord Version 223e.3 eXENOLITH 49.5 170kb [ ] .pdf Version 223e.4 eXENOLITH 49.5 180kb [ ] .rtf Version BOOKS READ [0] *sigh*

SHORT FICTION READ [14]

Haldeman, Joe - Giza [IASFM 2003 03] Biggle, Jr., Lloyd - The Pristine Planet [Analog 2003 03] Resnick, Mike - Unsafe at Any Speed {article} [Analog 2003 03] Resnick, Mike - Here's Looking at You, Kid [IASFM 2003 04] Sheckley, Robert - Legend of Conquistadors [f&sf 2003 04] Sheckley, Robert - The Refuge Elsewhere (novelet) [f&sf 2003 05] Malzberg, Barry N. - Tripping With the Alchemist (nf) [f&sf 2003 06] Kessel, John - Of New Arrivals, Many Johns, and the Music of the Spheres [f&sf 2003 06] Dern, Daniel P. - For Malzberg It Was They Came [f&sf 2003 06] Malzberg, Barry N. - A Short Religious Novel [F&SF 2003 06; from f&sf 1972 09] Pronzini, Bill & Barry N. Malzberg - A Clone at Last [f&sf 2003 06] Levine, David D. - The Tale of the Golden Eagle [f&sf 2003 06] Killheffer, Robert K.J. - My Week as a PoD Person (nf) [f&sf 2003 07] Eklund, Gordon - Sense of Wonder (novella) [Trap Door 22; 2003 05]

FILMS VIEWED [80]

Monsters, Inc. [2001] [1:32] Dream with the Fishes [1997] [1:37] Pavement [2002] [1:31] Chicago [2003] [1:40] theater Sopranos [Complete 4th Season] Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? [2000] [1:43] Die Another Day [2002] [2:12] Theater Badlands [1973] [1:33] Metropolis [1927; 2002 Restored Version] [2:04] Identity [2003] [1:27] theater Lara Croft - Tomb Raider [2001] [1:40] Welcome to Collinwood [2002] [1:26] Quest For Fire [1981] [1:40] (3) Pitch Black [1999] [1:52] Far From Heaven [2002] [1:47] Theater Dash and Lilly [1999] [1:34] Dark Blue [2002] [1:58] Theater The Piano [1993] [2:01] Taken [2002] [Runtime: 90 Min (10 Episodes)] The Singing Detective [BBC 1986; 6 ep.; 7:30] Two Weeks Notice [2002] [1:41] Theater The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [03][2:00] Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone [01] [2:32] Hit Me [1996] [2:08] Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets [02][2:41] (Jim Thompson's novel A Swell-Looking Babe) Daredevil [2003] [1:43] Theater Joe [1970] [1:45] Reign Of Fire [2002] [1:42] The Hitch-Hiker [1953] [1:11] Donnie Darko [2001] [1:52] A Mighty Wind [2003] [1:31] theater LoTR: The Two Towers [02] [1:59] Theater The Monkey's Mask [2000] [1:31] Cruel Intentions [1999] [1:36] 28 Days Later... [2003] [1:53] + alt ending The Hours [2002] [1:54] Theater Insomnia [1997] [1:37] Adaptation [2002] [1:54] Theater Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle [03] [1:46] Paranoid [2000] [1:33] Matrix, The [ [2:16] (2) Phone Booth [2002] [1:21] Theater Matrix: Reloaded [2003] [2:18] Star Trek: Nemesis [2002] [1:54] Animatrix [2003] [1:29] Salton Sea, The [2002] [1:43] Bend It Like Beckham [2003] [1:53] theater Feeling Minnesota [1996] [1:39] Empire Records [1995] [1:31] State And Main [2000] [1:46] Winged Migration [2001] [1:33] Chasing Amy [1997] [1:53] Blow-Up [1966] [1:51] Original Sin [2000] [1:58] The Killer is Loose [1956] [1:13] Intolerance [1916] [2:58] The Unsuspected [1947] [1:44] (2) The Asphalt Jungle [1950] [1:52] The Case of the Black Cat [1936] [1:05] The Gangs of New York [2002] [2:44] theater A Shot In the Dark [1941] [0:57] The Swap [1969 'Sam's Song'; reshot 1979][1:25] Portrait of Jennie [1948] [1:25] (2) Leaving Las Vegas [1995] [1:52] Cat People [1942] [1:12] (2) Down With Love [2003] [1:35] theater The Curse of the Cat People [1944] [1:10] Goodbye Lover [1998] [1:41] [1942] [1:25]( ) Winter People [1988] [1:51] Dangerous Female [1931] [1:20] X-Men [2000] [1:44] {orig. The Maltese Falcon} Bride of the Wind [2001] Bowling for Columbine [2002] [2:00] The Big Squeeze [1996] [1:47] Waiting for Guffman [1996] [1:24] X2: X-Men United [2003] [2:14] theater Baby Doll [1956] [1:55] Tuck Everlasting [2002] [1:28] Diabolique [1955] [1:56] Sex and the City: First Season [5:00] Jewel Robbery [1932] [1:10] Secretary [2002] [1:51] Whale Rider [2003] [1:41] <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <->