Loc on Interstellar Ramjet Scoop June & August (Bill Wright, ed.)
Dear Bill:

I’ve got the last couple of issues of Interstellar Ramjet Scoop. The June and August issues, and felt that it’s time to join in with Chris Garcia and loc these issues. I promise the best that I can do, as long as you keep uploading them to eFanzines.com

June…I always enjoy Ditmar artwork, no matter the subject. The textures and colours always do it for me. Excellent mood piece, indeed.

I find that as our researches become clearer, we find that those people we’ve credited with inventing something we take for granted may not have been the first to use that technology. Bell may not have invented the telephone, Edison may not have invented the light bulb or the phonograph, Lindbergh may not have been the first to fly across the Atlantic, and there are still people who believe that Columbus discovered America.

I have the Science Fiction Hall of Fame books, four books, three volumes, considering Volumes Two A and Two B. Volume Three was edited by Arthur C. Clarke and George W. Proctor, both of whom unfortunately died fairly recently. The copies I have are in paperback, and are in still fairly good condition.

Creating artificial intelligence is an admirable idea, but I would prefer that we create a lot more naturally-occurring intelligence. There are times that the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence should be supplanted by a search right here at home. So, no matter where we look, we haven’t found signs of intelligence anywhere.

August…too many governments now admit that global warming exists, but will do little about it because it might hurt their country’s economic output. The bottom line comes before the future of the planet. Short-sightedness will kill us all for sure. I hope I don’t need to be as pessimistic as I might sound.

The total energy of the universe is zero? It’s good to know that I am in harmony with the universe…zzzzzzzzzz…

I had not read of James Branch Cabell, not thinking that he was perhaps a fantasy writer. I will add his name to my list of authors I must read…no promises made, so none can be broken, but the written word is expanding faster than one can read it.

The buck can stop on George W. Bush’s desk all it likes…pretty soon, it won’t weigh enough to be affected by gravity, anyway. I did suspect that anything on this continent that calls itself an Australian steak house probably wasn’t authentic, but these days anything that has to call itself authentic has to rely on the ignorance of the public.

I would have liked to have seen that presentation on SpaceX by Elon Musk. Over the last number of years, Yvonne and I have been going to space conferences, and we’ve seen some modern-day, real live wonders. Unfortunately, these space conferences are just as bad as fandom for its politics and SMOF-types. We plan to go to the International Space Development Conference next year in Orlando, Florida, but after that, we may stay with local SF cons. They’re not getting any cheaper.

I’m going to fold it up, and we’ll see how long it takes to send a paperless letter across the world. I’m sorry I haven’t locced your zines before this, but I promise regular responses from now on. Many thanks!

Yours, Lloyd Penney.