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Anybody else read The Ansible? It's one of my favorite ezines.
OSC is mentioned in this month's issue.
quote:Orson Scott Card told the LA Times why few notable sf novels become films, with particular reference to his own development hell: `The problems that have plagued Ender's Game are the same that have plagued other award-winning science fiction books. Science fiction is set in a world contrary to our reality, so you have to have an explanation. And explanation time on screen is unbelievably dull.' [PL] Explain that to me again, Professor Card, as though I knew nothing of it....
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My favorite section, each month, is inevitably As Others See Us, which is basically a collection of the most asinine things prominent figures of one sort or another have said about SF in the past month. Margaret Atwood is quoted fairly frequently. This month's isn't as good as usual, but still kind of funny:
quote:As Others See Us. At last our genre has found an antidote to the austere intellectual chill of Star Wars and Star Trek, thanks to Will Smith's performance in I, Robot. According to Bruce Snyder, head of distribution at 20th Century Fox: `He's just so likable, he takes something like science fiction, which can be a little cold, and he makes it warm and entertaining.' (BBC News) [EM]
Another section that I generally enjoy is Thog's Masterclass, in which examples of fairly bad or nonsensical writing from SF short stories and novels is featured. The authors range from the obscure to recognized SF masters, and the excerpts are generally good for a laugh. Again, this month's selection isn't quite as entertaining as usual, but it's still worth a look:
quote:Thog's Masterclass. Neat Tricks Dept. `"You will manually feel this object with your left hand," he said to himself, "and at the same time you will look at it with your right."' (Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly, 1977) [DW] • Dept of Cruel and Unusual Geometry. `The casket was a cube. It was about a meter and a half long, a half-meter wide, another half-meter deep.' (Robert Wells, Spacejacks, 1975) [CS] • `... the dull-red mists seemed to flow together, enclosing the three sides of a circle.' (Murray Leinster, The Forgotten Planet, 1954) [AW] • Dept of This Won't Hurt A Bit. `She looked away, then let him slide gently into the corner of her eye.' (Isaac Asimov, `Satisfaction Guaranteed', 1951) [MD]
quote:Sic, Sic, Sic. My favourite moment in media coverage of the Cassini-Huygens mission came from UK Meridian local news, which unexpectedly highlighted the artistic angle: `... the probe was named after Christiaan Huygens who discovered Titian.' [C]
...and yes, I am aware that I'm probably the only person reading this thread. Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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