Lloyd's Locs Box - Fanzine letters of comment

Loc on The Drink Tank 233 & 234 (Chris Garcia, ed.)

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:54:22 GMT

Dear Chris:

I've taken some time off for Christmas! No kidding...back on getting the letters written, and this time for issues 233 and 234 of The Drink Tank. Special letter this is...

233...Oooo, messy. Brianna, there's got to be a simpler way of slicing watermelons. You've got red pulp all over the place here. Heard of a food processor? Either that, or that letter opener has to be sharpened.

Got the word on the TAFF winners, and congrats to Anne and Brian. I've already seen something on File770.com about people complaining that artists don't get no respect when it comes to the fan funds. Hey, Frank got a silver rocket, gotta spread the love around.

Great article on Susan Wood, and remarks on A Woman's Apa reminds me that Janet Small, now Janet Wilson, has recently moved from Toronto, and settled in New Westminster, British Columbia, one of the suburbs of Vancouver. When Susan Wood died, I was busy with school in Toronto, but only on the periphery of local fandom. I never did get the chance to meet her, but I have been told about her.

My loc...that title of Anne KG Murphy's fanzine should be, of course, MidFanZine. I plead early senility. The Halton Radial Railway Museum also operates several trolley cars on a private line that at one time made up the radial line that was in use close to a century ago. Yup, we are going local cons only in 2010.

Looking forward to the next Exhibition Hall. I am working on a second costume, and we'll see if it looks good, or just a rush job.

234...the Death issue? How festive, just in time for Christmas! I am now officially closer to 51 than 50, and I see more and more familiar faces in the obituaries of zines like Ansible and File 770. I am more and more concerned about my health, and one regular employment comes about, there will be more time and more money to look after things. I have not been touched by suicide, but I know of at least one person who might consider it. She is not happy, and we try to be close to her and cheer her up, but she just won't cheer. I think she is depressed because while she is well-educated, she is not very wise. Life has not been kind to her, and her marriage disintegrated, and all the support from her friends seem not to make any difference.

Some of those wonderful fannish names I am happy to have met. Some, I wasn't lucky enough. I hope we might show some appreciation to the names that make our fandom what it is today. After all, they'll never know that appreciation if it happens after they die.

I think I may be done. This has been a special letter. The main reason that it's special? It's because I have been very busy with letter writing in 2009, and this is my 300th letter of comment for the year, and I am sending it to you. Yvonne and I hope your Christmas was a blast, and may 2010 be the best yet. Protect yourself from the lovely Linda, and roast Jason alive in return. (Great fanzine Yipe! is...) See you next year!

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on File 770 157 (Mike Glyer, ed.)

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:07:08 GMT

Dear Mike:

I’m still resting up from a strenuous Christmas, with all the usual things…too much food, lots of presents, not enough exercise, all the right things to make us feel guilty enough to do better in the new year, for a few days, anyway. I’ve decided that in between the excesses of Christmas and the further excesses of New Year’s, I’d get right back on my computer and hack out a loc on File 770 157.

Brianna Wu sure draws the great covers, doesn’t she? Always action-packed and pretty, a winning combination for me.

Congratulations to LASFS on 75 years of fanning. Many fannish organizations are lucky to last a few years these days, so to care enough to keep this organization not just alive, but thriving for 75 years is an achievement for all who have cared enough to give time, effort and money to the health of the club. I would like very much to see that 75th Anniversary Memory Book. Once all members have a copy, would extra copies be available for sale, for club fundraising? LASFS’s story is one that others should read.

The Heinlein Award that Joe Haldeman and John Varley won may be the same and/or different as the Heinlein Award given to space advocates each year. I believe that the two awards come out of the same fund. My own limited attendance of space conferences showed me how few space advocates were aware of RAH’s science fiction achievements. It’s almost like one group ignores the other, and it may even sound like their were two Heinleins with the same name.

Medical updates…Joe’s back in the hospital, I hope he didn’t spend Christmas there, and Mike Glicksohn’s had some cancerous results. Do we ever catch a break, or is the modern fannish equivalent, of “Well, you think YOU had it bad…” Get well, everyone!

Tadao Tomomatsu may have announced his gafiation, but he is still busy on Facebook with the odd general announcement. Think this is more a fafiation?

I can only imagine Guy Lillian’s reaction when he read this news item, plus the insert that came with this issue. He has said loudly that if he’s going to not win the Best Fanzine Hugo, he’d like Challenger to lose to a fanzine. If blogs and websites can qualify, it’s quite possible they will use their subscribers to get on the ballot. It may an indication of how old our fanzine interest is, but could it be possible that we’d be crowded out of the Best Fanzine category?

John Hertz’ report on Ray Bradbury’s birthday party mentions that Jan Bender had been daunted from showing her art work at the Montreal Worldcon by the prospect of Customs problems. And yet, the Montreal Worldcon has been blamed for a poor dealers’ room and art show. If the dealers and artists would have discovered what problems there might be instead of assuming there’s be problems they couldn’t surmount, both dealers and art show would have been better with more selection, and very possibly increased sales.

This goes directly into Taral’s report…I have to agree with him re Torcon, but then, I was privy to all the hard work that went into the bid, and about six months afterwards. That’s when they got rid of me because the chairman of the BoD didn’t like either of us. The committee, unfortunately, did a grand job of ignoring all offers of help and contributions, and they did everything themselves without benefit of outside help, and it showed. I wanted to be a part of my local Worldcon, and I was completely shut out by relative strangers to Toronto fandom. I still appreciate the fact that the L.A in 2006 committee took us on as Canadian agents, and they treated us far better than the Torcon 3 committee ever did.

I have never flown Porter Air, but it is the only local airline that doesn’t fly out of Pearson International, but what is now known as Toronto Billy Bishop Island Airport, I believe… I have been inside a Q400, and I envy Taral’s trip. I did very much enjoy being able to take part in awarding the Hugos…it was indeed something I’ve wanted to do, and it was a lot of fun to work with Diane Lacey and crew in helping it come about. I can’t deny that. However, a Jos. Louis won’t kill you. Having one for dessert after a plate of poutine will. (Just thinking about that is making my arteries harden.)

I also admit that I had a good time with the fanzine lounge, so much, that I didn’t get to see a lot of the convention itself, but that was okay. We got to the Aurora banquet, I took part in a voice play panel, and we gave Cheryl Morgan her Hugo. In fact, I think that might be me third from the left in that dark photo on page 36. In the long run, an excellent time was had by many, and I honestly thought that after Torcon 3, we’d never see another Canadian Worldcon again. I am pleased to be wrong, and hope I may be wrong again in a future year. Easter Canada has had it, and Western Canada sounds pretty good to me…

My own experience when it comes to expanding the number of interests in a convention is that by trying to satisfy all fans, you wind up satisfying none. Each interest will feel that by giving in to others, you are failing to cater to their own. I have also found that most people being basically lazy, some groups would rather take over an existing con than start their own, or have others cater to them. I have heard of cons taken over by specialty groups once invited to take part by an unsuspecting committee. I know of other cons that are vigilant against those specialty groups coming in and taking over…that has been their stated intent. They won’t or can’t start their own con. Literary SF cons are in danger not only because of reduced sales and reduced literacy, but because of predation from others. Perhaps litcons are careful because we fear being overrun by the barbarians at the gate.

There are so many reasons why Worldcons are down in size, and you’ve listed most of them. Thank you for being very knowledgeable about the industry here. I attended the last few Book Expo Canada shows, as a worker and as a reader, and over those three years, saw the trade show area shrink about 40% in size. Many Canadian publishers suffer from reduced sales, but also from increased competition from American publishers, so many of them have gone out of business. I recall there was an attempt to replace Book Expo Canada, but not even that came about. Reed Exhibitions is a business, and will run only the shows that work.

I know the origin of the name, but baseball notwithstanding, if you’re going to have the word World in your name, you should expect the world to want to participate, unless you’re simply going to build a brick wall along both borders, just to keep us northern wetbacks from crossing the border. (There are still too many fans convinced that they needed a passport to come to Canada. They needed a passport to get back home, but of course, that was Anticipation’s fault. Huh?) The conditions for crossing the border change regularly, and those changes come from both government, but Canadian policy is heavily influenced by American policy, and that changes with ever incident, major or minor. The two incidents at Detroit International with planes coming in from Amsterdam show that the world can still be dangerous, and those who fly will now have to reduce their carry-on luggage, be patted down suspect-style. We will have to endure much to go to Worldcons in the future, but we will go…Alex von Thorn certainly knows, as do I, that media conventions build little in the way of community, and for those of us who were loners in our youth, having some community to bind us together, even loosely, is valuable to us. Part of that community is in the running of the Worldcon itself, which we would lose if the Worldcon became Dragon*con-sized. We seem to be at the size the market will allow, and I think that’s fine. Allowing those other interests in would push written SF to the side or out entirely, much like I detailed a couple of paragraphs ago, and we’d lose our own convention. Should we keep to ourselves and support this particular interest, we will be the size we need to be…if the convention goes away altogether because of a lack of interest or bidders, perhaps we should say c’est la vie, such as it should be. We could fight to keep our annual big convention, the way many special interests do, but if people can’t go or can’t afford the expense… Increased costs of travel, accommodation, food, etc., may also keep attendance down to those fortunate few who will be able to afford it in the future. The average Worldcon attendee is also aging, and at some point, a lot of us may be unwilling or unable to travel. This discussion will continue as long as there are fans left to care about it. Will there be a Worldcon in 2025? Who will the committee be, and what will their average age be? We may not be as good as foretelling the future as we’d like to be, but that’s never stopped us before.

I can judge a size of the loc it generates. Three pages should tell you something. Many thanks, Mike, and while I wait for the next issue, I will keep checking the very informative website. We’ll see you then.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Alexiad 48 (Joseph Major, ed.)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:03:30 GMT

Dear Joseph and Lisa:

Alexiad 48 is here, and there’s now time to respond. Yes, it’s very early, but I am trying my best to get through as many zines as possible before the end of the year. I’m trying to set a mark. Comments will follow, and with luck, they may make some sense.

Surprise birthday parties…nope, never had one, and didn’t want one. Yvonne wanted to have a party for me for my 50th birthday, but I just wasn’t interested. I didn’t want to be the centre of attention for that reason. When I was a kid, a birthday party seemed to be an imposition, and when I did have one, few friends showed up. I will celebrate with Yvonne, and she just had her birthday recently.

We saw the video, and there’s a copy of it under the tree. It’s a documentary on Harlan Ellison, entitled Dreams with Sharp Teeth. Doesn’t make me like Ellison any more, but it does explain a lot about him. I can see why many people would be disgruntled with him, but I will just enjoy his writing, and be done with it.

I take glucosamine/chondriotin tables twice a day. It’s supposed to help with keeping the knee and hip joints lubricated, same with the omega-3 caplets we also take. Knees and hips are just fine, thank you. I am not sure what it does about arthritis, but that’s not one of our concerns right now. Maybe it’s been keeping that away, too.

My loc…we’re lucky in Toronto in that our local SF book store is moving to larger facilities in the spring. I don’t think it’s thriving, but it is still around. I think it’s the target of the old punchline, how do you make a million dollars running a bookstore? You start with $2 million… I would need to do my research to see what stores are around any more.

DUFF…looks like two candidates rising up to take the bait are John Purcell and Jeff Boman. We agreed to nominate John, literally an hour before Jeff asked. Both are good candidates, and this should be a good race.

I think I am Tuckerized as Lloyd Simcoe in Flashforward. Rob Sawyer knows that I grew up in the town or Orillia, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. (I was also Tuckerized in the Sawyer book Illegal Alien.) I don’t need coffee to run around with my shirt over my head, I need coffee to stay awake! I am pulling off some long 18- and 19-hour days, and need some chemical stimulus to keep my head from hitting my desk.

John Purcell, any other words about James Halperin and the Warner collection? Is the cataloguing started, or are the zines still sitting on their pallet?

To the best of my knowledge, because of privacy laws based in the province of Québec, Anticipation legally could not publish the list of all of its members in the convention publications unless each member had given them the permission to do so. They were just following provincial statute, and this seems to have been the province’s response to the increased demand for privacy, especially online.

Well, that wasn’t much of a loc, was it? Like I wrote above, I’ve had some 18- and 19-hour days, and I am seriously fatigued. Even sleeping in this Christmas Eve Day didn’t help me much. We plan to sleep in again tomorrow. Christmas.

There’s been a birthday and anniversary in your home recently, so congratulations on those special days, and we wish you both the best of Christmases and New Years. We will soon enter that SFnal year 2010, so enjoy, and we will see you next issue.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Yipe! Vol. 1 No. 2 (Jason Schachat & Kevin Roche, eds.)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:54:31 GMT

Dear Yipe!Eds:

Many thanks for Vol. 1 No. 2 of Yipe! You're becoming as frequent at putting out zines as one of your contributors. Full colour, photographs...I am glad I have other computers to use when it comes to downloading a 50Mb document. Hey, no complaints, I'd rather see the hi-rez edition. Comments should follow on this long-awaited Zap CG Good issue...

Just noticed something...could you tell me how to pronounce Schachat? Schachat, Roche, Trembley...all very French. Parlez-vous francais, tout le monde?

Where do you work, Jason? Years ago, I worked for Sears Canada, but never worked in any of their stores. I was one of the editors of their catalogues. (Sounds like you'd enjoy the comic strip Retail. It's one of my favorites.)

Lounges are fun...I did the usual stuff at my fanzine lounge because I had no budget and no leeway as to what to do. You folks were allowed to use imagination and fun and alcohol!

I love Leigh Ann. LMAO! Chris, if you're going to roast Jason alive, I'll have white meat, thank you. I still think that if you get a big vest for Chris to wear, he'll have someplace to put that pocket watch, and he'll look steampunkish enough to pass inspection at any of the various costume events BArea fandom enjoys. It'll be Captain Caveman in a vest, but still... (I love the picture on page 8...the Frito Bandito, and his Band of No-Goods. And the picture on page 10...when Linda's done with Chris, he'll burn up on re-entry.) Leigh Ann, don't bottle it up, tell us how you really feel. I can hardly wait for Linda's response next issue. The pix on page 13… you mean he didn't have a beard when he was 4? There is a chin under the beard?

(When Bill Burns put up notice of this issue on eFanzines, he also put up notice of Alan White's new fanzine called Smellzine. Can you smell the fandom? I can smell it from over here! Coincidence? Hmmmm...)

We must all take a break from abusing poor Chris, for if we do it all the time, it'll take all the fun out of it... I know some fans who razz the costumers the same way they might razz the filkers and just about any other creative group within fandom. I always liked costumes because wearing them got you a little added attention, especially if you were a little neofan fading into the background, and when Yvonne and I hooked up, it was the attention I got with a really neat costume, and attention for Yvonne as the costume’s tailor. I would think most fans would appreciate something SFnal and creative. With steampunk, I can now wear costumes that I can design, and assemble the pieces, because most of them are clothing bits. (That’s a great phrase, “raise the freak flag straight into the stratosphere”, and the guy in the rubber rabbit suit suits it. When the press comes to your con, guaranteed, this is the first guy they go to for an interview.) España and Jean, you know it best, it’s all about participating, and making your own fun. I just have my steampunk garb (hehehe, he said garb!), but that’s my costuming fun right now.

My letter! Yes, the 80s were snarky times in costuming. So many people I know and costumed with left around that time. The only one who really stuck with it was Jacqueline Ward, and she’s now a long-time master costumer. You’re right, I meant to write L.A.Con II was where we showed off (most of) Neptune and Pet. More articles from Chris in the future? Can Leigh Ann do her stuff again? Leigh Ann, did I mention I love you? Do it again! (All this time I keep hearing the bellow of CAPTAAAAAAAIN CAVEMAAAAAAANNN! in the distance.)

Well-considered analysis? This is diarrhea of the fingertips, folks. It could probably get a lot better, but it’s not likely to.

Thanks to everyone for the best laugh a zine’s given me in quite some time. From Yvonne and me to all of you, the best Christmas ever, and have yourselves a cool SFnal 2010. Guess I’d better write up a loc for The Drink Tank, hm?

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on MarkTime 96 (Mark Strickert, ed.)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:35:57 GMT

Dear Mark:

Thanks for the holiday newsletter, better known as MarkTime 96. I am responding to as many fanzines and other fannish publications as I can before the end of the year so we can enjoy Christmas holidays without feeling too overwhelmed. I didn't think there'd be much in the way of fanzines coming out this year, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

I thought I'd be spending my life as a bachelor, so I would do as I pleased, but regretted not having anyone to share those good times with. For me, Yvonne came along, and this coming May will see our 27th wedding anniversary. I have never had a moment of regret, and deep down, there is true comfort in knowing that I will never be lonely again. You've gone from bachelor to groom to husband to dad in such a short time, so I think you know where I'm coming from. Nancy has transformed your life, and you have transformed hers.

I've been in the Burlington IKEA many times, but there's one just south of us we now go to all the time, especially for cheap breakfasts. In this post-9/11 era, it's good to have a passport when crossing from anywhere into the United States, but always be careful. I've heard of many Canadian guards being rude and snarky, but a friend of mine was beaten up by guards in Port Huron, Michigan, and he now has to defend himself against charges that he was violent.

Ah, if only we could pop in for a visit to your place in Colton! We'd like nothing better, but parts for the transporter are on back order. Enjoy the new year's get-together, and it should be quite the party.

Current transit news...as work continues on the Spadina line extension going up to York University and Vaughan, the ground has just been broken on the Sheppard East LRT line. I think that in a couple of years, the TTC will take delivery of the next generation of streetcars, and they will go not only onto the existing streetcar lines, but also the new ones they want to build, especially in eastern Toronto.

I think this is all I can do right now, so off it goes to you. Yvonne and I wish you and Nancy and your family the happiest of Christmases, and may 2010 be prosperous and lucky for us all. See you next issue!

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on OSFS Statement 368 (Sandi Marie McLaughlin, ed.)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:33:11 GMT

Dear Sandi:

Thank you for the newest Statement, issue 368. I'd wondered what had happened to it, and of course, now I know. A lot has happened to you and the club.

First of all, hope you've happy and healthy again. We're not the kids we once were, and health becomes more and more of a concern. I hope it hasn't been anything truly serious. If it is, the presidency and the editorship can wait. So, let's address that. Seeing you're stepping down as president, did I see Starwolf taking it over again? That's fine...how about who will be editor of issue 369? I think you've done a fine job in both positions, and it will take some effort to truly replace you. When I saw that you were stepping down, I was worried that it might be the end of the Statement. I sure hope not. We don't have enough Canadian fannish publications. Thank you for all your hard work for this club over the years. I'd like to see what kind of stamp the succeeding board puts on the club.

My letter...the convention in Rochester was relaxing and enjoyable, but it was expensive. I think that in 2010, we'll just be going to local conventions that year. We have upcoming expenses we need to handle, plus family obligations that will need to be handled.

I look forward to what Alex von Thorn and Marah Searle-Kovacevic will be staging in Toronto next November, SFContario. I believe they wanted a convention that was more literary than Ad Astra, which has shifted focus to a more general SF convention over the years, IMHO. I am impressed with SFContario's guest lineup, and I may be doing some programming there. There will also be another new convention coming up this spring...Furnal Equinox, which bills itself as Toronto's new furry convention.

Great science columns...by the time we actually perfectly understand the nature of the universe, will people be alert enough to care? NASA seems to know enough that nothing catastrophic will happen in 2012. I wish something remarkable would happen that year, but NASA may be in a parking orbit at that time. No shuttle, dependent on Soyuz to get up and down...

I will pass along word that one of the first conventions in Toronto in 2010 will be Ad Astra 2010, at the Toronto Don Valley Hotel & Suites (formerly the Crowne Plaza), and it takes place April 9-11, 2010. Guests include Eric Flint, Todd McCaffrey, Aaron Allston and the creator of Flashforward, Robert J. Sawyer. All information is at the website at ad-astra.org.

Some news of my own...daytime work is now as a production assistant, editorial work at the Law Society of Upper Canada. Good place to work, the pay is great, and this is the first time in a while that the office is a good place to be, and I'd like to stay, if they'll have me.

I guess I'm done. Thank you, Sandi, for all the good work you've put into the Statement. You will miss it, and we will miss you. I don't know who will succeed you as Statement editor, but I do look forward to seeing how they edit the clubzine. I still think club publications like this are important. Take care, and hope to see you at a convention somewhere.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Picofarad 19 (Petréa Mitchell, ed.)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:28:35 GMT

Dear Petréa:

Many thanks for Picofarad 19. I'm so busy these days, time is carefully managed and used. At least now, the tree is up, and the presents are purchased, wrapped and under the tree. And, that's when I can get some writing done, like below...

I have read all the Harry Potter books, and some of the related books by other authors, and I wouldn't be surprised if Joanne Rowling did take ideas from others, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. It's difficult to think of anything these days without someone else claiming that idea of their own. Sometimes, it can't be proved, but sometimes it can, and that when the courts get their exercise. Even if some of her ideas were lifted from other sources, she was the one who blended those ideas together for this magical run of juvenile literary success that may have brought some kids back to the world of books. I wish another series would arise to keep the kids reading.

Both Yvonne and I loved the movie Up, and we've got the DVD ready to see for Christmas Day. We got the message that together, you and the one you love can had great adventures, and that's something Yvonne and I have tried to do. The further message is that when your love goes away, through divorce or in this case, death, that shouldn't stop you from having further adventures. I'd rather share those adventures, but I don't think I'd want to shut myself away, remembering those adventures as days gone and past. You've got to get out and have some more, by yourself, but with your fellow adventurer in mind. Yvonne and I are both in out 50s, and the premise behind Up is all too possible. Getting out and exploring is expensive, but we've decided that it's great to reminisce about all the things we've done, but we've got to get out and do more things to reminisce about later.

Virgin Galactic unveiled Space Ship Two recently...it must have Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites that created it, but Richard Branson has been front and centre, while Rutan has been strangely missing from the whole thing. Maybe Scaled Composites and Burt Rutan didn't build it, but I cannot think of who else might.

Anticipation...that speaker was Marc Garneau, who went up on the Shuttle twice, I believe. Indeed, he was a former director of the Canadian Space Agency, and is now a member of parliament for the district that the Palais de Congres is in. The perfect gig for him...SF and space, and in his riding, too.

If you get back up here, try an Anime North. This Toronto convention attracts now about 14,000 people every year, and after steady rising of attendance, they have become (depending on the year) the third or fourth largest anime convention on the continent. Many of the people who started Anime North have their roots in literary and media SF fandom, so not only have their introduced interactive programming and fan panels, but also non-anime programming to let others know about the other aspects and interests of fandom. Last year, there was a steampunk fashion show, and Yvonne and I participated in it. We are not anime fans, but there was enough there for us to have a good time.

My letter...obviously, we did get to see Up and The Time Traveler's Wife in a local second-run movie house, and definitely enjoyed both. I left one web comic off my list... Menage a 3, partially because it is set in Montréal. The convention in Rochester, NY was some fun, but we had to wonder if it was worth the cost of travelling and money exchange. We have decided that in 2010, we will be staying home for cons, and not travelling. We some family responsibilities coming up, and we also need to save for our proposed trip to Reno for the 2011 Worldcon. I wish I could take credit for the Worldcon having two fanzine lounges, but I don't know where that came from. There's some that like the daytime lounge in the convention centre, and others that like the evening lounge in a private room. I think we got both because the convention didn't realize it was a choice they could make between the two. Bonus for us, but as for the daytime lounge, I did get the feeling that we were an after-thought, and we were stuck wherever they had some extra room. Originally, the space I was told I'd be getting was a lot larger, and I think they just shaved away space until they had what they needed, and we got what was left. I think for Reno, we may offer to do panels, but otherwise, we're there for fun.

Days of Yore... Arnie Katz has written extensively about the fiasco of Collectingchannel. The idea is such a good one, but it just didn't make the money expected. The founders' expectations were pure pie in the sky, unfortunately.

Conventions...I expect that my next convention locally may be the Furnal Equinox furry con that's new to Toronto in March. I'm not a furry, but I may be there to manage our local con's table there. It will be interesting to see how many people travel that far to go to a furry con, and what kinds of costumes will be there.

Ran out of pages, so I guess I am done for right now. Yvonne and I wish you the best Christmas ever, and a very happy 2010, a very SFnal year. Prosperity and peace for us all is my wish. See you in the new year.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on eI 47 (Earl Kemp, ed.)

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:29:42 GMT

Dear Earl:

Once again, I'm not waiting for the .pdf version to come along; it's just as easy to save the webpage itself, and loc from there. Here are some comments on eI 47.

Season's Bleedings to Steve Stiles! Ah, yes, red is such a festive colour. Why am I getting hungry?

Each issue of this fine zine is in memory of someone well-known and important to the SF field. It's depressing enough when this happens, but when it is happening continuously, I can't help but feel we are losing our roots, and contemporary SF consumers have no idea where all of this came from, and I doubt they care. All I can do is hope that those roots are recorded and written about for posterity. That's what I care about, I watch little modern SF on television or in movies; I enjoy SF from my personal Golden Age, and I suspect that's what I'll do for the rest of my days. (I've also discussed the number of SF greats dying with Dave Langford, whose Ansible contains a list that seems legion at times.)

The locol...it was a pleasure to be able to kibbitz with Dave Kyle; I hope we can see him happy and healthy in Reno in less than a couple of years.

Congratulations to Terry on this Anthem Series. This is what I'm talking about above, a recording of our books for posterity. These books may not have been the best written, and some may be considered a little cheesy today, but this was yesterday's breakthrough wide-eyed fiction. It may never see further reprints, but it deserves better than cultural obscurity. The same goes for fandom. In my 32 years of fandom, I can see where the level of organization within this anarchy is fading. Fewer travelling jiants, fewer BNFs, less connection between the fan groups of big cities. If it has to go away, we need a recording that showed that it was here, posterity for anyone in the future that might care. I hope they will. Could an imprint like Gnome Press exist today? Perhaps it does; I'm not aware of it.

The bulk of this issue is highlights from Terry's Gnome Press collection. Thank you for this, Terry, there's treasures here I never suspected existed. I didn't know about the issues of The Science-Fiction World, and there's books I have heard of, but have never seen before. Such a collection, just another chapter in the series, too. So many of these stories I've read, but so many more I haven't. I see mention of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone Magazine. I have the whole series except the last issue, which was borrowed by a friend, and never returned.

A little personal news...we all know how difficult it is these days to work in publishing of any kind. I have been able to return with a new six-month contract, of which I'm already five weeks done. I am working as an editorial assistant with the Professional Development & Competency Department of the Law Society of Upper Canada. The work is good, the pay is great, and I have finally found a place I'd like to stay to work. I hope they like me enough to want to keep me, but I will find out for sure this spring.

All done for the moment, Earl, again, many thanks for each issue. Yvonne and I wish you, and Terry, the happiest of Christmases and best of new years. 2010 is a truly SFnal year; let's hope for the best.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Scratch Pad 73 (Bruce Gillespie, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:46:28 GMT

Dear Bruce:

One last letter of comment for you this year…just got Scratch Pad 73, and thought I’d get to it, and respond.

Fractals always catch the eye, well done, Elaine… Where this might have taken a supercomputer at some point, we now have software that can do it quickly and easily. A very intense blue, too. I used to download square-sized fractals to serve as backgrounds for my old Palm Tungsten PDA. I’ll happily look for more of this in future issues.

I hope you’re back on track to improved health. I checked my schedule, and my next trip to my ophthalmologist won’t be until April, and not January as I had thought. I think my cataract is getting a little worse, but it won’t take much to put it right in the spring. I would recommend, to keep the joints working, glucosamine/chondroitin tablets, plus Omega-3 fatty acids capsules. We take those in the morning and in the evening to keep our joints working properly. The replace the lubricants an aging body doesn’t produce in the right amounts any more. Now that I have two jobs, I find that I could take streetcars from one to the other, but I could walk it to get some exercise, and it’s a 35-minute brisk walk between one and the other, mostly in Toronto’s underground walkways called The PATH. I’ve been doing this for six weeks now, and my hips and feet don’t hurt any more, and it’s easier to get up off the couch or out of a chair. I haven’t weighed myself, but I’m sure I’ve lost a few pounds.

Good for both of us on paying work. It’s getting more difficult to make a living, and it shouldn’t be so, but it is. May we continue to work to ease the pressures of paying for living.

Again, condolences to Gerald Murnane on the loss of Catherine, but good for him for getting on with life, and excelling in literature once again. TAFF winner Steve Green is dealing with much the same, losing his wife Ann, but life is still there to be lived, and Steve is doing just that with running for TAFF and touring the continent. I’d hope I could handle this most terrible thing, should it ever happen. I expect I might curl up in a fetal ball, but there’s still the slight possibility I might actually get on with things.

I am afraid I cannot comment at all on opera, but I can say that I work across the street from the Four Seasons Centre, Toronto’s still relatively-new opera house. I gather that just to the west in Mississauga, Hammerson Hall at the Living Arts Centre, the sound’s even better, and it’s been around longer, too.

Retirement? Sounds nice, but given that the cost of living keeps spiraling up, I cannot see myself retiring at all, not unless one of the provincial lotteries burdens me with untold wealth. I keep hearing that people have a tendency to die when they retire, as their sudden change in routine and activity is more than their tired bodies can take. I think I’d rather stay working and relatively active.

I tried to keep a diary many years ago, but I couldn’t get into it, and tried twice. Today, when I store my letters of comment on my LiveJournal, that’s about as close to a diary as I think I’m going to get. Probably better serves my purposes, too.

I will fold up here, Bruce, it truly is holiday time for us. Tomorrow, the 19th, is Yvonne’s birthday, and it’s time to spoil her a little bit. It’s nice to afford to do that for once, and I plan to take advantage of that. Then, I’ll still be at work, but I’ll be by myself proofing law texts. Then comes our big day, followed by New Year’s. Our best to you and Elaine, and may we all prosper and thrive in the new year.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Opuntia 68.1E (Dale Speirs, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:44:28 GMT

Dear Dale:

No sooner than I get a letter in the mail to you about issue 68.1D of Opuntia, issue 68.1E arrives. I promised myself to get as many letters written and as many zines handled before Christmas arrives, so here comes one more loc.

There must be more money in the world than we ever guessed, and I don’t mean the billions of dollars that seem to be trapped in various African banks. (At least that’s what my spam tells me.) The U.S. government whose debt is rapidly becoming a financial black hole, is offering $100 billion over ten years for emissions control worldwide. Great offer, not likely to be taken up by countries like China who see their sovereignty as stake, but where does this $100 billion come from? It just gets piled up on the debt already accrued. When will this bubble pop? I don’t think I’d like to be around when it does. Fiat dollars appear from nowhere, and with numbers like trillions (amount of US debt) and quadrillions (number of US dollars out there), does the current new investor think he can make any money with a few thousand dollars? With fewer opportunities to make any money via banks, and far too many opportunities to spend, how does anyone keep their heads above water? No wonder too many people are over-extended on their credit cards.

Precious metals are scarce, which does give them some measure of value, but when large purchases are made, it does make the average investor wonder. A couple of months ago, the Indian government purchased 200 metric tonnes of gold from the open market in order to shore up its currency, among other things. When a government can purchase this much gold, the word ‘scarce’ is relative, at least to the inexperienced investor, and that can drive the price down, as it did at that purchase.

We monitor the value of the CA$ in terms of what it’s worth in US$, but that’s only if we plan to travel to the US, and we do not plan to do so in 2010. That comparison is not enough information for most; the US$ keeps dropping in value against other currencies, so as we stabilize at around 94 cents US or so, the currencies are dropping in value together.

I’ve never heard of osmium trading, or even coins made of osmium, say like the palladium coin on page 8, but it would be interesting to pick one up…I believe that osmium is even heavier than lead.

The madness of the current economic model…we yearn for simpler times, and as economies slowly collapse, and oil becomes too expensive for nearly anyone to use, we’ll get those simpler times, perhaps more simple than we may want.

Your comment on not drinking rainwater as it contains various chemicals reminded me of an article seen online recently about not eating snow, not even the white stuff. Snowflakes form around a core, sometimes a molecule of whatever may be floating about in the upper atmosphere, and with what we’ve been putting into the air, the centre of that innocent snowflake may be poisonous or carcinogenic.

Done for the moment…again, the best of Christmas to you, and I may soon be giving myself a short holiday from writing…I am so sleep deprived right now, with the two jobs, I have doubts I am making sense as I write. Let me know if I’m not. Take care, see you in 2010.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on NASFA Shuttle Vol. 29 No. 12 (Mike Kennedy, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:42:07 GMT

Dear NASFAns:

The December Shuttle is here, and I'm writing as fast as I can to keep up with the end-of-year flood of zines. With that in mind, let's go get hacking away.

Joe Haldeman's back home in Florida, just in time for Christmas, and he's already got a pretty good present...he is the new SFWA Grand Master. Well-deserved, and that should help with final recuperation.

I have my diploma in safe-cracking from Wossamotta U.! If there were t-shirts and school sweaters available, I'd be wearing 'em. Most people wouldn't remember the reference, but I sure do. I have some old Rocky and Bullwinkles on VHS tape at home. I should see if I could get them transferred to a DVD.

With Vince Docherty's essay in a supplement to the current File 770, I know some people are afraid that a paper fanzine may never again win a Best Fanzine Hugo, with the theory that so many fiction websites and other sites have dedicated mailing lists, they will simply ask for nominations and votes, and get them. Well, paper fanzines have mailing lists, too...this may be an indication of how many people are on the mailing or e-mailing lists, and how many of them can do to Worldcon, and care enough to nominate and vote.

I hope the Bailey Cove readers know that the original title of the Richard Matheson book they will be reading is Bid Time Return. Still, after all these years, our favorite fantasy novel and movie is Somewhere in Time.

I read a short time ago that based on the success of the Dr. Horrible video, and the fact it won a Hugo Award, Joss Whedon will soon be working on a sequel. Dr. Horrible Conquers the World, perhaps? A good dose of weird never hurt anyone, so I look forward to it.

Christmas greetings to PieEyed. Goblins and orcs are pesty types, aren't they. And, there seems to be so many of them for PED to munch on. Wonder what goblins and orcs taste like? Chicken? Potato chips? Hey, PED, bet you can't eat just one...

My loc...I am still at the Law Society of Upper Canada, the work is still good, and the pay ensures that our Christmas will be bright this year. One Christmas wish I might have for Santa is that Worldcons and WFCs continue to be bid for and successfully staged.

Time to go...the final presents are purchased, the tree is yet to be decorated, those presents need wrapping, it's Yvonne's birthday on Saturday, we're going out to do some shopping for her and to have a birthday dinner, plus her family is having a birthday lunch for her on Sunday. I hope we can get around to the trivial items, like sleep. Take care all, make it through the crazy holiday season, and we can relax just a little in January, 2010. See you then.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Home Kookin' 11 (Arnie Katz, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:39:57 GMT

Dear Arnie and the rest of you Vegrants:

I hear there’s more Kookin’ out there… (Well, it’s not like I can smell it…) Home Kookin’ 11 is fresh picked off the IntarTubes, and out of my inbox as well, and I’m here to write a loc for it. I’m doing a massive clean-up of zines before Christmas hits us all like a foot of snow. (Now, what would you Vegas types know about a foot of snow?)

The Hallowe’en weekend was spent fanaccing up a storm, hm? Kick him in the butt and candy comes out? JoHn Hardin’s a piñata? Doing a one-shot every time you get together would mean you’d be producing more zines than Chris Garcia, and I can barely keep up with just him.

Hi, Ken…they’re still railing at you for Corflu Silver? Get over it, you lot. No wonder Ken’s staying in Arkansas. Hi, Jacq…we went to a same-sex wedding on Hallowe’en, and we were all in costume, including the two grooms. Sounds like we both enjoyed a very surreal evening.

Hi, Aileen…we were all younger, thinner and sexier in years past. At least for me, younger and thinner…the only thing thinner about me is my hair. Who needs costumes? I come as I am, and scare people anyway.

Fifty years old? Just a kid!, saith I, who just turned 50½ a few days ago. Not gonna grow up, you can’t make me, so there, nyeaahhh! Hello there, Mr. Mills, hope you are doing well, and a big hug to Roxanne next time. Wish there was a good excuse and a transporter pad so I could join you for a party. I think you should all buy houses next to each other, and tear down the fences.

My condolences to Ken on the passing of Chris/Dandi. I do not remember her name in any of the Katzines of the past years, nor from any of the other zines such as those VSFA put out eons ago. I have not belonged to many clubs over the years, but I do get a good handful of clubzines, and I see the activities they provide for their members…the people who help a club work are too valuable to ignore, but these days, as the only office line goes, no one knows the work I do until I don’t do it.

Hey, I can launch a full-fledged letter of comment and write two pages about how this isn’t a good loc, and here’s how I should have done it, but I promise better next time, etc., etc., and I’m done, and I’ve sent you a few of those locs, too. We can write without having it be about anything.

My loc…PAL Reading Services never did return my calls, but that’s okay. I’ve got myself a lucrative six-month contract job, being an editorial assistant with the Law Society of Upper Canada. I am helping to edit the texts the LSUC provides to law candidates as they study to pass their bar exams. It will keep me employed until April at the latest, but to make sure of things, I am keeping my evening job. Once again, I am overemployed, but you won’t hear me complain.

An idea, James…stage a mini-convention in the heart of the Worldcon, a Toner to complement Chris Garcia’s fanzine lounge there. Greetings to Ben Zuhl, another name I haven’t seen in a fanzine in a dog’s age. The myths of fandom help to keep it alive, true, but we need some kind of publication to keep those myths from being lost to future fannish generations. The Fancyclopedia is still a good idea, haven’t seen much about it lately. All we need right now is Ted White’s memory to gush forth with six columns of reminiscences. Keep the fanhistory coming, folks, it’s always added the depth to the length and breadth of fandom for me.

I said above that I could complain that this wasn’t the best loc I could write? Well, I fulfilled that destiny, didn’t I? I promise I’ll do better with issue 12. And that’s how we persuade faneds to pub their ish again, with empty promises about superior locs next time. And you will produce issue 12, won’t you? Looking forward to it, see you then.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on It Goes On The Shelf 31 (Ned Brooks, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:38:01 GMT

Dear Ned:

Many thanks for It Goes On The Shelf 31, and here's a loc. I know, this is an annual fanzine, and there's no rush, but the longer it sits, the more likely I'll forget it. Let's get to it immediately.

I wonder what Brad's bookwyrms are seeking? More books for the collection? Some titles to ban or control? Are they being evicted? Were they responsible for the musty smell? They look like baby sandworms being sent back to Dune.

When I first saw the article about Gov. Schwarzenegger firing the people he later needed made me smile, and reminded me of the local friend who got an unlikely job because he was one of a handful of people who still remembered how to programme in Fortran. It was short-term, but he remains on-call with this company, until they put in new software, I guess.

I have heard about several "new" Roger Zelazny books lately. Maybe it's old books being repackaged, or scraps of unfinished work being assembled. There was someone who died before his time. Again, I may be thinking only of his SF; he also wrote mystery, but I am basically unaware of those books. I get the feeling that Amber paid the bills.

Even though they are elected to represent the wishes of the people, politicians will do as they please, and there seems little we can do to stop them outside of electing someone new. Nothing we can do, or write, will change them. (I am reading about our prime minister's stonewalling about climate change, and governmental lack of action in Copenhagen. I am disgusted, but not surprised.

So many of the magazines you receive are about particular writers or themes. Arthurian studies, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Machen, Mervyn Peake... there are real and fictional people that certainly deserve study, but when the magazines' editors pass away or shut down their publications because of lack of funds, what happens to the Arthurs, Sherlock, Mervyn and so many more? Gone to oblivion to ignominy, every one? Will they matter to future generations, further removed from the joys of literacy?

The Rolling Stones reference remind me of the fate of two magazines important to those who are literate... Nielsen sold off many trade magazines recently, but shut down two entirely, Editor and Publisher and Kirkus Review. Are magazines on newspapers and book reviews that unsalable?

The most recent issue of Ethel the Aardvark from Melbourne, Australia had something on Jack Vance, and repackaging some of his best works. Yes, he is now blind, a shame for someone whose books were full of visual feasts. I cannot imagine losing my sight, but it does happen to many, and I have a cataract forming in my right eye. I wish Jack well, and if there are any further tributes to go to this man who is now 93 years old or so, this is the time to make them.

Also, the entry for the Wolverton Bible reminds me that I read of Oral Roberts' passing at the age of 93, I believe, same as Jack Vance above. It is always interesting to see where artists get their creations published, and there's always something about artists we never suspect. I had always enjoyed Brad Foster's work, never suspecting he also drew soft-core...that was a while ago, Brad...

You wondered about Jay McInerney...I see him from time to time on the Trufen list, and in the locols of some fanzines. Wonkette seems to be a political blog and website written by someone using that same name. Must be new in that Google is now listing Twitter entries.

I will pass along notice about being able to download Richard Harland's The Vicar of Morbing Vyle. Might not be my style, but there's plenty of horror/dark fantasy fans and readers here.

There are still discussions about 9/11, and there are many television documentaries about it, about how all the buildings that dropped that day looked like they were imploded/exploded in a demolition style. I can understand that the two main towers dropped because of fire and burning aviation fuel, but few remember that WTC 7 also fell that day, and suspicions are still around more than 8 years after that horrible event. Since that event, plus the 8 years of the Bush regime, I haven't heard the phrase "My country, right or wrong." I think some Americans were disgusted by the tactics of Bush and his cronies; the election of Barack Obama is seen by many outside the US as an innate desire to not only be strong, but to be right, in every meaning of the word.

I saw the article about how cats can alter your personality on the BBC News website. We always knew that cats could work to change people; now, we know how it's done. Some of the characteristics of the personality change sound quite fannish, and many fans have many cats. This explains a whole lot.

I think I'd done here...chaos, panic and disorder, my job here is done. Always an intriguing selection of books from our past; let us not forget them, or our past is paler and shallower. Many thanks, have the best Christmas and New Year's ever, and we are now entering that SFnal year 2010. Enjoy, and keep finding those great books.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Interstellar Ramjet Scoop December (Bill Wright, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:36:14 GMT

Dear Bill:

The December Interstellar Ramjet Scoop is here, waiting for some kind of response, as it deserves. This month is busy for the obvious reasons, but a little time management keeps me busy and caught up, relatively speaking.

When it’s time to relax, which isn’t nearly as often as I’d like it to be, I’ll still take a book. Instant readout, don’t need anything electronic to use it, and it doesn’t crash, unless you drop it. To go with your Captain Future, I have a DVD you might like. Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe. More than just a little cheesy, but still, watching all 12 episodes gave us something to smile about.

My loc…I would have thought that with Palm moving towards phones, and the PDA field being ignored, another company might step into the gap. PDAs seem to have evolved into smartphones, with built-in cameras and more. I just want a decent PDA, but they don’t seem to be stand-alone units any more.

Wonderful Frank Paul artwork. SF or fantasy adventure, matters not to me, as long as it’s a good story. The bad science within was all they knew or could extrapolate way back then.

I still have hope for what Barack Obama may yet achieve, but I guess I’m like many in that I wish he’d deliver on some of those promises soon. He’s an enlightened man; he may be discovering just how much you want to do, but can’t in Washington. The Peace Prize a little positive reinforcement, and a positive reminder that the world is still watching.

It’s almost time for the world leaders to make their way to Copenhagen for this big climate summit, and I hope Obama will make some promises to cut back on emissions so that our know-nothing prime minister Harper will actually deign to do something. Canadians know that we need to cut back on emissions, but our PM doesn’t seem to believe anything of the sort.

Hope you all enjoyed Julie Czerneda’s company. Julie’s a sweetie, and a good writer, and she lives in the town where I grew up, Orillia, Ontario. I knew her before she launched her writing career; in fact, I used to sell dealer’s tables to her husband Roger at our local convention. It was good to see her busy at the Worldcon in Montréal, too.

I try to remind others that fanzine fans are still around, but I am reminded that we have become a specialty group. Of course, I might disagree, but then, they’ve gone onto to other interests. Fanzines will be relevant, as long as someone cares enough about them.

Yvonne and I have purchased our supporting memberships to Aussiecon 4, so at least we’ll be able to vote for the Hugos. Wish we could be there.

Where I am, there are new television channels every year, but you will certainly pay for them if you want to see them. Some of the companies that own pay channels that have been around for years are in financial straits, so I am expecting that in the next few years, the number of channels available to me will decrease. Just as well, for I don’t watch the pay channels, and many of the basic channels don’t interest me, either.

Finally got myself more work. I’ve got a six-month contract doing editorial work at the Law Society of Upper Canada. Good work, great money, and there might be a chance for renewal.

Time for me to wrap this up and fire it off to you. We wish you the best of Christmases and let’s make the SFnal year of 2010 the best yet. I think we deserve and need it. Take care, and see you with the next issue.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Yipe! Vol. 1 No. 1 (Jason Schachat & Kevin Roche, eds.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:34:12 GMT

Dear Yipe! Editors:

I don't know how I missed the notification, but I didn't find out about Vol. 1, No. 1 of Yipe! until today, poking about on the Internet. It's quick letter of comment time!

More staff, always good to see that more and more want to contribute to the final product. Letter column soon?

It is difficult to loan out any creation without fearing that someone with their own vision, and a lack of give-a-damn for the original artist, will alter it. Buy it, and you can do what you like to it. If it's not yours, it's not yours to screw about with. Some friends purchased all of our old costumes (ST, SW) to use as theatre wardrobe. They altered them...and made them look even better. No problem, they were ours, but became theirs, and they made repairs and changes.

I wouldn't want to lose my skin...it's covering a multitude of sins. If I could keep the skin and lose the layer of fat underneath, then we've got something there. (Ah, if only fandom wasn't so fattening. :-))

I wrote a loc to SF/SF just yesterday...I said that it's good to see that this WFC had a lot of parties on the go. The only WFC I'd been to had been the Montreal WFC in 2001, and we ran the green room. If there were parties to go to, we never heard of them, and we certainly weren't invited to any. So, we made the Saturday night of the WFC our night on the town, with a great dinner and a trip to the theatre to see the new Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. I had certainly heard of the Ottawa WFC in the 80s, where fandom arrived in costume, and were turned away.

Ideas for future issues...steampunk, of course, it's my current fun costuming thing to do, and given that fandom is definitely not tall and thin (I am definitely none of the above), perhaps costuming ideas for the short and squat among us. One thing I like about steampunk is that body type and build truly do not matter. Dress as you like and as you will, and you're good.

Full colour always looks good, guys, and issue 1 looks great. Many thanks, and I will keep a better eye out for notifications when issue 2 comes out. See you then.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Opuntia 68.1D (Dale Speirs, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:32:09 GMT

Dear Dale:

I’ve had to become adept at time management over the years...I have two jobs, it’s Christmas with the shopping mostly done, and there’s so much writing I want to get done, and fortunately for me, it is. Here’s a quick letter on Opuntia 68.1D.

I’ve read a few Western novels, just to say that I’ve done so, and they are about a stylized version of the American West, not the Canadian West. The two experiences are completely different, and the novels might as well be science fiction. I still remember the Canadian Heritage Minute television spot about an American gold miner being promptly hustled out of town by police, especially after he pulls a gun on an unflappable Samuel Steele of the Northwest Mounted Police. The American West was untamed, while the Canadian West was firmly policed. Maybe the same novel is being re-written continuously in Western fiction, plus any other genre we might name. Is there the possibility of another genre of fiction arising in the future to perhaps replace the older genres that may be dying? As a species, I think humanity needs a new frontier to explore, but I cannot think of where we could look. Outer space? Inner space? Under the oceans? Into the mind? I think we’re getting desperate for something new.

A phrase from your description of Blazing Saddles sums it up for so many of us who read and dream, whether it’s Western fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, dark fantasy, steampunk, Victorian, renaissance faires, recreation balls, and so much more...we yearn for a time that never existed, for an utopian past that comes directly from our minds, more imagination than memory.

It is one think to look at the current state of the economy and say that the recession is over, things can get back to normal, but the recession is over based on economists’ definitions; it’s not over for most people who are still struggling to get back on their feet. We seem to have landed on ours, so after our modest Christmas, the one thing I want to do is pay off some long-standing debt. My new job, with luck, will let us do that. (Actually, it’s a six-month contract with the Law Society of Upper Canada. I am working in the heart of downtown Toronto, the work is good, the money is great, and I am pleased and relieved. There may be the possibility of renewal of the contract; we shall see in the spring.)

Time to wrap it up...we hope your Christmas will be happy, and the new year prosperous. We could all use that to end our own personal recessions. Take care, many thanks for the generosity of sending Opuntia to me all these years, and we’ll see you in 2010.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on The Reluctant Famulus 72 (Tom Sadler, ed.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:30:21 GMT

Dear Tom:

It’s great to see The Reluctant Famulus again, this time issue 72. I hope I can get this ready in time…at least I’m going to get it started, and see how far I can get with it.

Those nasssssty little hobbitses are gonna get checked right into the boards. Wonder what position Smaug plays? Looks like forward to me…

I wonder how many people never went beyond page 2. Would they have thought that you really had nothing to say? So, water has been found on the moon and on Mars. Now to see if there is enough on both bodies to actually make a difference when it comes to supporting human life, or possibly producing rocket fuel for going to Mars or back home. This assumes that NASA will have the cash to do it with…it never has enough money.

It seems that editorial work and publishing aren’t all that important, anyway…the Nielsen Company owned a lot of magazines, and they recently sold eight of them, and just plain shut down two of them. They were Editor and Publisher Magazine, in the business of reporting on the newspaper industry for 108 years, plus Kirkus Reviews, providing book reviews for many years. I guess any publications about any level of literacy are just not wanted any more.

When I was a student, living in a overpriced dump of an apartment, I had mice, but couldn’t really afford to do anything about it, and the superintendent sure wouldn’t. I was told that I could use-square-bottomed lunch bags and a bit of peanut butter to make the perfect, humane mousetrap. The bag was laid on its side, with a smear of peanut butter on the upper edge. When the mouse jumped up to get at the peanut butter, the bag righted itself, and the mouse was trapped, but happily snacking away on the PB. Pick up the bag and dispose of, possibly to a hungry cat, who might like a mousy bag lunch.

I hope there’s some solution to the Hugo Awards problems…if we went for the voting memberships, we’d definitely let in bloc voters who might purchase that particular Hugo outright…beyond that, what do we do to make the Hugos relevant and encourage people to take part and vote without making it too expensive to participate? Given the attendance figures of Worldcon, Dragoncon and Comicon, is our literature attractive any more, or do people just want character rather than plot?

What’s SF about? Guys explorin’ stuff, and flyin’ spaceships around. Meeting aliens, and killin’ ‘em. There’s no true definition, and for most of us, SF is what I like, for different values of ‘I’. I do pick up some books that I don’t like; they’re science fiction, says so on the spine, but it’s just SF I don’t like. I’ll keep looking for SF I do like.

I am looking forward to another issue of Trap Door…it has been a while, so I shall wait for it with great anticipation (I can use that word again now that the Worldcon’s done).

I hate to say it, Tom, but I think I’m done for the nonce. I had hoped for a longer loc, but not to be this time. Yvonne and I wish you and your family the best of Christmases, and a happy and very SFnal 2010. See you with the next issue.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on SF/SF 99 (Jean Martin & Chris Garcia, eds.)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:28:47 GMT

Dear Jean and Chris and David and España and Tom:

Thank you all for the 99th SF/SF. Ever think you'd get to this many issues? I would think you provide an invaluable service to BArea fandom, and I hope the realize it. Comments to come, and then, the inevitable question...

I'm surprised you were able to get as many promises of Tuckerization as you did. That's a good sign that there's less of a gap between fans and authors as there used to be. I will have to see if I can bid, but I've seen Tuckerizations go for $600 and more, and that's entirely out of my league.

The locol...the local radio station we listen to has temporarily changed its format. It's now all Christmas music, all the time. This is the only time of year where you might hear Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and Burl Ives (I'm dating myself here), but already I'm sick of hearing them.

Chris, you don't think you could pull off the Slave Girl Leia costume? You know, no matter where I go with this, I'm just going to get in trouble, so I will leave it to our daring fan artists to draw it up, risking years of therapy as they do so... (Jean, if that was you responding, you'd look great. Chris will probably stick to the steampunk costumes.)

Yes, there are more steampunk cons happening here and there all over the continent. I've gotten wind of something local. Can't divulge details, but it is in the works. 2012, perhaps? (Did you see that movie, by the way? 2012? Everybody sing! It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fiiiiiiiiiiine...)

Hi, Jean...I've been in the same position you've been in. We were on our way home from a local con (Ditto, about five or six years ago now), and Yvonne was very tired...we were in a car accident not far from home, and once extricated, we were taken to the ER at Etobicoke General Hospital. Yvonne broke her wrist, and I banged up both knees on the dashboard. Needless to say, we didn't get back to the convention. We are talking about going back to driving home again from local cons to save getting a room, but we have to keep that in mind, too. Being strong and independent is fine, but friends can help you get through these tough times, and there's nothing wrong with letting them help. I can't comment on any of the shows you've seen, Jean...I haven't seen any of them. And, I didn't even know there'd been yet another remake of Robin Hood.

I’ve been reading that steampunk groups have invaded some ren faires for a Victorian walk in the country. I am not sure what the ren faires have thought of this, but hey, if that’s not creative anachronism, I don’t know what is.

I have to wonder sometimes…have we not got registration solved yet? Is it so difficult to provide something you so desperately want yourself, to be processed at registration quickly? Perhaps I am making the assumption that people who are running steampunk cons have run or at least attended SF cons. España, any idea who the Canadians were there? I know there one steampunk fan from Edmonton who is very involved in SP.

I’m glad there was such a high level of hospitality at the San Jose WFC. When we attended the Montréal WFC, I do not recall any parties… Yvonne confirms it. If there were any parties, we certainly weren’t invited to them. I also don’t remember any kind of con suite. Still had a good time, but not nearly as god a time that I could have had by joining you folks in SJ.

The meeting attendees should know that it was me and Yvonne who got to give Cheryl her Hugo. Those things are heavy most years, and this one was especially heavy because of the base. Well deserved, and the Australian Hugos will be very interesting to see.

I’m going to fold it up, folks…it’s getting late for me, and I have a lot of writing to do before the end of the year. Yvonne and I wish you all the best Christmas…stay warm, folks, we’ve had it a little cold here. Here comes the obvious question…what are you going to do for the 100th issue? I look forward to seeing what you’ve got. See you then!

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Exhibition Hall 4 (Chris Garcia, James Bacon & Ariane Wolfe, eds.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:06:18 GMT

Dear Chris, James and Ariane:

It’s a Christmas rush for me, but not for shopping, but for loccing! I want to see how many zines I can respond to in this month to set a personal goal. In the meantime, next up is Exhibition Hall 4.

I have downloaded the Gatehouse Gazette and Steampunk Magazine, all issues, and I wondered if you all have, too. Responses from you about them, and any responses from them about EH? I found out that one of Nick Ottens’ assistant with Gatehouse Gazette is a Col. Adrianna Hazard, who with a little research turns out to be the Toronto Steampunk Society’s very own Amanda Stock.

I’ve been on a steampunk panel at Astronomicon in November, but it was more for enthusiasts than with anyone with true credentials. So much of steampunk seems to be based on something British or pseudoBritish or paraVictorian, in service to the Empire, Sean Connery in a red uniform and pith helmet, just back from InJAH!

There’s Nova Albion, the Steampunk World’s Faire in New Jersey, the World Steam Expo in Michigan, and I’d also heard about other events that may be taking place in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. I think Steamcon in Seattle may happen again next year. The one in Dearborn, MI we had thought to go to, but it’s up against one of the biggest anime cons on the continent in Toronto, and we will be there, with its own steampunk content, I hope.

So much reading to catch up on. I have just started The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt. He advertises his stuff all over Facebook, so Yvonne bought a copy for us to read, and we will see what it’s like. It’s very British without being British at all, and I get the feeling it’s the typical story of a young girl from the dregs of poverty rising to become the top of society. Not sure, but I’m about ten pages in.

Greetings to Mike Perschon! I’m always doing my research…it’s awfully cold here right now, Mike, so it must be doubly cold in Edmonton.

This World Fantasy Convention must have been a rarity in that it was so inviting towards the fans and casual readers. Kevin and Andy’s con suite must have had a sizable budget to bring all of this together in such style. Windycon looked great, too…I gather the Foglios are going to be at the convention in Dearborn! Can I clone myself and go to both conventions that weekend? Pleeeeze?

Chris, you’re a slightly rotund guy, same as me, but even with a t-shirt, a button-up vest goes good. Get yourself one of those vests, and there’s something to hang that pocket watch on. I have two pocket watches, both with locomotives on them. Also, I’ve been poking around the web for something unique that could be added to any costume to make it steampunk. I have it. Spats. Look it up, and they are easy to make for any men’s shoes.

I don’t think I’ve really done a good job this time around, but there it is, and they you have it. The best of Christmases and New Year’s to you all. God Save the Queen!, and God help the rest of us. Take care, see you all soon, I hope.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Ethel the Aardvark 145 (Murray MacLachlan, ed.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:03:34 GMT

Dear MSFCers:

Thank you for the .pdfed Ethel 145. (Paper fanzines are great, but I'll bet you've seen the difference in the treasury, not sending fanzines to me.) The cover looks great, and the idea of dissecting Charlaine Harris is enough to make me to go to page two...

Just the first few pages of colophon, ToC, contributors, fine print and legal stuff...everything looks healthy and popular and good. I wish this long-lived club further long life and health in 2010.

My loc...I still have a few copies of our CUFF trip report, if anyone is interested. Send me $10 Australian, and I will send you a copy. (Having a little foreign currency on hand always helps...if I sell enough copies, I could always send A$40 to the club for an international membership.) I have indeed gotten the first of Stephen Hunt's steampunk-style books, The Court of the Air, and it starts as a tough read, describing the paraVictorian atmosphere, the heavy mechanical style of life, the grinding poverty and high-minded heroism of its main characters. Definitely steampunk, and I'll keep going with it.

Hello, Sheryl...yes, I do now have an electronic Ethel, or e-Thel, perhaps? I have felt that the club and its members have been generous enough to supply me with paper copies for more than 20 years, and in this day of enormous costs for printing and postage, an e-copy will save the club a surprising amount of money each year.

And, hello, Bill Wright... I may have some criticisms about how Anticipation was run, but any group that wants to bid for and stage a Worldcon has my respect. You take your best shot at it, it's a new group each time, and there's no rehearsals, and fandom is so unforgiving sometimes. The lounge was small, but at one point, there was about 20 people in it, and with a few tables full of zines, and a working Gestetner cranking out copies, the whole thing felt so comfortable. We still get good words for the room. There's many things I wish we'd had, like refreshments and electricals, but I think the lounge was fun and an island of nostalgia for some.

Movie goers must have been a little confused...within the space of a month or so were movies called District 9, Nine and 9. I never did see this 9, and I guess I prefer the more upbeat message/cautionary tale delivered by Wall-E.

Yvonne and I purchased our supporting memberships for Aussiecon 4, and Clare MacDonald has made sure that we are on the membership list. We'd like nothing better than to come and join you for the convention, but...the money only goes so far. I have found some daytime editorial work with the Law Society of Upper Canada, but more work also means less time to spend doing the things you want to do.

Congratulations to the new life members Jocko Allen and Helena Binns, and indeed to all the life members. Toronto doesn't have a club like this one per se, but we are honourary members of the Buffalo Fantasy League. Jocko's probably seen my letters of comment for too long, as I think I started getting Ethel from Ian Gunn around the time Jocko joined.

Who was it who toured Canada? Anyone get to Toronto? And why didn't you call up? We would have loved to have given you the grand tour. I am still hoping to read trip reports from Anticipation.

Deadline for issue 146 is in late January, so my Christmas message won't get out until nearly a month afterwards, so we hope that your Christmas was grand, your New Year's celebrations happy, and your future bright as we launch ourselves into that SFnal year 2010. If only Sir Arthur were here to see it... Take care, all, and see you next issue.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on The Fortnightly Fix 4 (Steve Green, ed.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:00:53 GMT

Dear Steve:

Yup, me again, already. There’s been one last flood of fanzines as the year comes to a close, and you’re a part of it. Here comes a quick loc on The Fortnightly Fix 4.

I see so few movies because with two jobs now, there’s so little time to actually go to the multimegaplex down the street and go it. I also admit I’d not interested in most of what’s being shown, and I don’t know if I’m getting my $13.50’s worth. Yvonne can get cut-rate tickets through her local Canadian Automotive Association store (she’s a member), but still, some of the descriptions of today’s movies are nearly insulting. I can paint television shows with the same brush.

Now, what do I see? Well, we purchased DVDs of Up and Star Trek recently, and Yvonne’s a born-again Harry Potter fan, so HP and the Half-Blood Prince is at home. Perhaps that says more about us than about the state of the movie industry, which has already set a record for overall box office this year.

The nature of loss when it comes to death takes on another meaning when you see lists of passings like you might in Ansible, and used to see on the front cover of Locus. Ansible’s RIP column shows how many people are involved in the SF&F industry, and how quickly they’re passing. It does get depressing, it’s a sign of your own agedness, and the genre you wrapped yourself in to comfort yourself is perpetually fraying at its edges.

Fandom is a contradiction in that it looks to the future with hope, yet back at the past with fondness. With that in mind, I may not get many paper fanzines, but it is nice when I do.

I am not sure if your LJ e-mail address has been bouncing; let me know if you got my loc on issues 2 and 3. I will send it to your LJ and Yahoo! addresses, and I should be covered. Take care, and see you in 14 days or less.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Littlebrook 7 (Jerry Kaufman & Suzanne Tompkins, eds.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:58:46 GMT

Dear Jerry and Suzanne:

Thank you for another issue of Littlebrook. Time is so subjective, it drags by or flashes past as it will. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since issue 6, but now that issue 7 is here, let's grab it and write a loc.

I smile to think that Corflu is now serving as a poke in the ribs to get going with your next issue, no matter what your title is. Incentive? Guilt trip? No matter, every Corflu now seems to start up a small wave of fanzines, and I am certainly pleased with that.

I would hope that no one would ever be able to do all the things they've ever wanted to do. There's so much I've wanted to do, but never had the time or money to do. At the age of 50 now, I think perhaps I should make up my bucket list, and at least have specific targets to aim for.

Good to see that old mimeos have a life elsewhere. We need to shake the idea that old tech is bad tech, and being old doesn't mean it's useless. It still has its uses, and we just need to find those uses. Having the Gestetner at Anticipation added some atmosphere and nostalgia to the fanzine lounge there. Good for Colin Hinz for being willing to ship that heavy thing all the way to Montreal.

The closest I've ever come to being caned was at my high school. I was usually a good kid, but I don't recall why I was summoned to the principal's office and wound up getting smacked on the hand three times with a ruler. I remember the principal as being a decent man, but was physically weak, and he climbed up on a chair and jumped to add some momentum to the ruler. I left with tears in my eyes, not because my hands hurt, but because I was more embarrassed than anything else.

The locol…the discussion on Sherlock Holmes is just in time for the newest version, with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and Holmes and Watson. I sure do have my doubts. I’m sure we all miss Jeremy Brett, rest his soul. Joseph Major, they not grits, they’re greeeyits. Your cousin may not have known what your were speaking of.

Jerry, that pictures of you at le Metropolitain…I’d swear there was a portal just like it in Montréal. I’d swear that if you’d gone, you’d have done a classic doubletake, and wondered just where, and when, you were.

I think I will send this off to you both…work approaches, and it’s getting quite cold outside. Take care, and I hope it won’t be near two years until nextish.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on The Panoramic Route (Guy H. Lillian III, ed.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:55:19 GMT

Dear Guy:

I am streaking (ooo!) through all kinds of zines as the year slowly comes to a close, and the SFnal year 2010 soon arrives, so I have now come to your Anticipation trip report, The Panoramic Route. There's a lot of things to talk about, remember and correct, and I'll get to it all immediately.

Yorkies are great fun. I've never owned one, but some neighbours of our had a Yorkie named Rocky (perfect name for a Yorkie, no?), and Rocky would be brave, for a fraction of a second, anyway. Rocky would race up to people, stand his ground, bark bravely, and then run, yiping all the way. The neighbours had another name for him...psychopuppy.

Rose's idea of checking to see if Pepper could cross the border with you was indeed a good idea. Many people don't realize that these things must be thought of...you are crossing and international border, and things are bound to be a little different. The US had guards to check with people as they cross, and so do we. The most common misconception about crossing our common border is that people think that you need a passport to come to Canada, which automatically makes Canada the bad guy, and Yvonne caught flak for that a couple of times. Actually, you don't need a passport to come to Canada, but you do need one to get back home, and I need one to enter the USA. The Department of Homeland Security demands it. We truly live in a post-9/11 era.

I would like nothing better than to go to England myself. I know Chris Garcia is going to a future Novacon, I believe. One year soon, I hope.

Crossing into Canada at the Thousands Islands bridge is the best thing you could have done. It gets you onto the 401 fairly quickly, and there's not much highway between there and Autoroute 20 and Montreal. For every surly Canadian guard I hear about, I see a surly American guard when I cross into New York state for a con or two. And I have never heard "out" pronounced "oot" by anyone, let alone a Canadian. "Shedule" rather than "skedule" shows the difference between American English and British English, and I am quite used to both.

Canadians do NOT denote their money as 1,00$ or 2,00$ That is the way it's done in Quebec, but that's because of the French way of denoting currency. English speaking Canadians will write down $1.00 or $2.00, same as you. You're right about the toonie, the outer ring is made of nickel, while the interior is mostly copper. I think the mint saw how common bimetallic coins were in Europe.

(I have seen that children's show you wrote about, with characters dressed very Cats-style, as cats, monkeys, etc. Seems to be popular with French-language and French-immersion kids.)

One breakfast place we were looking for was Chez Cora. It’s a near-nationwide chain of breakfast restaurants that started in Quebec, and blossomed. I’d met Marc Garneau some years ago…he remembers Yvonne and the super-volunteer at various space conferences. Wish I’d gotten to some of the other events, but the ones I did get to were special.

I gather a number of Tuckerizations for the Fan Funds have been assembled. I can only imagine what kinds of bids will come across…a few of us have deep pockets. The Hugo rehearsal was a weird time, but fun for chatting with Dave Kyle. Ask me some time how Claude Degler got into the Best Fan Writer melée… How did I get involved with WOOF? Igot a nice letter from John Hertz, asking if I would be shanghaied into reviving this wayward apa. I said sure enough, and brought equipment to put it all together. Julie Czerneda’s translator for the Hugos and other events she toastmastered was none other than Quebec SF writer Yves Meynard. Yes, we’d like to be nominated, and we’d like to win. We all have our dreams. Maybe, one day…

You must have driven the Confederation Bridge to get to PEI…for the longest time, a ferryboat was needed to get to the island, but with the bridge, not long in operation, 12 years says the website. If there’s anyone who loves Anne Shirley, it’s the Japanese. They come to PEI in droves every year; they love her red hair, and red’s a lucky colour.

Every Canadian knows his Tim Horton’s…gimme my Timmies, and no one gets hurt. There’s one a short distance from home, and other short distances from both my jobs. It’s everywhere…good coffee, sandwiches, donuts and other sweet stuffs, and even a decent bowl of chili. That bottle of blue from PEI…I remember the maker as Seaman’s, and it’s probably a bubblegum flavour.

Can’t blame Canada Post for late mail to the USA…remember, Canada Post handled it first, but then gave it to the good old USPS…I think that explains it all. Whatever amount goes on your letter, just remember that half of it pays for storage.

Finally, the last picture. I think I recognize that truck stop. That’s just inside the Quebec border from Ontario. We’ve been there a few times, too.

Happy that you enjoyed Anticipation…we had ourselves a marvelous time. We have supporting memberships for Australia, but that will be all we can afford there. The saving up for Reno has already begun. I am looking forward to the 31st Challenger…remind me that you’ve got my loc on issue 30. See you then!

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on Banana Wings 40 (Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer, eds.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:52:14 GMT

Dear Claire and Mark:

Thank you very much for Banana Wings 40, a very handsome publication with a very handsome colour cover, even before I truly noticed the bananas behind the statue. I must not be getting enough sleep these days... It is time to respond with what I hope will be a very handsome loc, but I am not holding my breath.

One of my realizations when I turned 50 is that there's so much of the world I haven't seen or gone to, and at this age, I'm not likely to do it. I'd love to go to Australia too, but I am also at the age where travel is becoming a little uncomfortable, and I'd rather stay local. I am pleased with the places I'd like to go to, but television programmes about Australia may be about all I can do. I have tried to not let age determine how I feel and what I do, but my body and brain are starting to betray me.

(Should have put this higher up, but congratulations on forty issues, and having the fanzine creation process still be a fun one. Most people would have gone on to other projects by now, so way to go in keeping with the project.

Hi, Randy...I still keep recalling the good memories from Montreal, and I still smile. Quebec beers are strong, and Quebec ciders are always good, and I lived in British Columbia for a while. My French accent is pretty good, but then I married into a French-Canadian family; it had better be. I know all about tasty and so-bad-for-you Quebec cuisine; at least it's better than what passes for Newfoundland cuisine. Look up scruncheons and brewis, and see if you don't agree. Because we were busy, and because Yvonne has such bad food allergies, we didn't partake of much in the way of local delicacies. The faneds' feast at the Fourchette in the Palais de Congres was good fun and good food. (It must have been Abigail Nussbaum who dropped off some glossy paper Israeli fanzines in the fanzine lounge. They were a curiosity for many, and I don't know if anyone who could read Hebrew actually sat down to read them.)

I am glad that people enjoyed the lounge. It would have been nice to provide more like a larger area, more couches, more chairs and some refreshments, but that is what I was given, and we seemed to do well with it. Thank you for covering for us that day, Randy, much appreciated. We did indeed follow through with our intended shtick. We were among the first presenters of the evening, and we’d just had the in memoriam, the list of big SFnal names who’d left us over the past year, folks like Forrie, and people seemed a little depressed. Our little gag, we were told by several people, helped to lift spirits, and got the ceremony back in its happy groove again. (By the way, Yvonne is not a native Québecoise, but is actually a Torontoise, that rarity, a native French-speaking Torontonian. Her folks were from Québec, and her mother grew up with former prime minister Jean Chrétien.)

Randy, your native guide Robin is correct about Melissa auf der Maur’s father. Nick auf der Maur wrote for the Montreal Gazette, if I recall, and I met him once when I was at journalism school. Melissa comes by it honestly, it seems…

Niall’s Anticipation report…there are few big literary conventions in Canada, and too many mediacons, so while there were some good books to be had in the dealers’ room, there weren’t many. I was also surprised that Bakka-Phoenix Books wasn’t there, but I suspect that management either couldn’t afford the trip, or didn’t have enough staff to man both the table and the store. Some years, we’re lucky to get them out to our own local litcon. Every Canadian Worldcon (Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal) I’ve been to has had a small dealers’ room, mostly because while there are some barriers to getting merchandise into the country, many American dealers who usually go to Worldcon won’t come up to Canada because of some regulations, and others don’t want to bother. I expect the selection to improve in Reno, but with more and more booksellers hanging it up, who knows that the Reno dealers’ room will be like?

I think Chris Garcia’s administration of TAFF was great. The fund got lots of coverage, and it appeared as lively and bright, just like Chris. The next TAFF winner will have his/her work cut out for him/her, but at least more people are nominating and voting.

Yvonne wants the early morning coffeehawk on a t-shirt. Just saying…

Yvonne and I have been Fan GoHs at cons before, and the feeling was wonderful. We got the feeling it was some kind of reward for being visible and busy all those years, but we had to wonder if our names on the flyer brought in even a single fan more. Nope, we didn’t think so. More and more conventions are dropping the position, looking for more author and actor names to draw in more people. With the further disintegration of the local fannish community, fewer people know who the FanGoHs are, no matter who they are.

Mike Glicksohn describing himself as deadwood. Not in my fandom, he isn’t. I know he won’t respond to e-zines, but if he just looked at how many there are, he’d know that we are having the same kind of fun fans of a past era are…it’s just that some are using a slightly different media. Mike, when it comes to letters of comment, I’ve never been busier. (And, as I read further, I blush bright red. The next drink’s on me…)

My loc…now, I have found some daytime work after all. I am an editorial assistant in the Professional Development & Competency department at the Law Society of Upper Canada, established 1797. I still have the evening job, too, so I am a little sleep-deprived, which is nothing new.

Steve Jeffery calls respondents to many fanzines promiscuous? I can only imagine what he’d call me. Wonder what Yvonne would say about that? Once she stopped laughing, of course…

Books are wonderful. They are symbols of our lives spent in the pleasures of reading. We must have spent many days looking around in public libraries when we were kids, wondering about the contents, and asking ourselves if we’d ever get around to reading them all, or even scratching the surface. I’m sure we all have too many books, and we wouldn’t want it any other way, except when we have to move… A good book can also be a work of art, or at least of craftsmanship, when bookbinding was still a viable trade.

Joseph Major should know that when he refers to block voting by the Canadian club he refers to, well, that’s what I thought at first. I talked with some of the people I may have painted with a wide brush, and they said that they hadn’t done anything of the sort. However, the club is a close group, and they may see the same person as the best in any particular category. Also, like I said myself, they are large in number, so when they vote, it’s very likely that their choices can overcome other votes. It says something about the number of Canadians outside of the club who vote on the Auroras.

Based on current reading on the File 770 website, it looks like e-zines and webzines may qualify to go into the Best Fanzine category in the future. That mushroom cloud you might see on the far horizon might just be Guy Lillian finding out about this. Chris Garcia has described Guy’s reaction to Electric Velocipede winning Best Fanzine in a few zines; I am not sure I’d want to see Guy’s reaction to future Hugo ballots.

My greeting sot John Hertz, Hope Leibowitz (rarely seen in the locol, having some fun, I hope) and Rose Mitchell, bless her heart.

Ah, the bacover is all colour, too, by Ditmar. Stellar back to front and back again. Thank you for a very loccable issue, this is the third page I’m on, after all. Happy 40th, and as you say, 41 goes back to black and white. Well, I look forward to it just the same. Ta, and see you then.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Loc on SFC Update Vol. 1 No. 12 (Warren M. Buff, ed.)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:48:39 GMT

Dear Warren:

Greetings to all in the SFC, I gather some of you have had snow already. Seeing I live in Toronto, I shall say nothing more, except that we haven’t. Time to move on and respond to The SFC Update Vol. 1, No. 12.

Oh,ho,ho, I can’t do that, Walt… Instead of something by Richard Strauss, we might get to hear a Merry Melody or a Silly Symphony? Great cover, and I had to look at it a couple of times.

Laura Haywood-Cory got a letter of comment from me on the first A Change of Heart, so I look forward to seeing the second. If anyone missed the first issue, I have a lot of them. I brought them all home from the Montreal Worldcon fanzine lounge. If anyone wants a copy, send me an e-mail, and I’ll send you a copy if you’ll promise to send some money along to TAFF or DUFF or any fan fund you feel is important.

The steampunk conventions we have been tempted by have been joined by yet another steampunk con, this time in the Detroit area. So close, but we must be strong, and keep our ears open for reports on how these conventions went. Our attendance may depend on those reports.

I want to hear about how Smofcon went this year. That’s another con I haven’t been to in a long time…Yvonne and I went to some of the early ones. Smofcon 3 was held in Lowell, Massachusetts, and I was the chairman of Smofcon 9 in Toronto. It’s been a long time, and I am really feeling out of the loop.

This isn’t much of a loc, but I’ve already told you what’s happening here in past letters, except to say that Yvonne and I wish everyone in the Confederation the best of Christmas, New Year’s or any other celebrations you might partake of. Any year that begins with a 2 sounds SFnal, but few years can beat 2010, and we are about to enter it, and see that the future holds. Everyone stay safe and warm, and we’ll see you next issue.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.