Fri 30 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 1 Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

gone


Fri 30 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

gone


Podcastery

Fri 30 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

One of these days we will start a podcast. You, You, You (Tu, dear), can subscribe to it now using the Podcastery link up there on the right hand side (of the site—I doubt this will show on your RSS feed).

Individual category RSS feeds! The niched-info future is coming. Soonish.


Lost people

Wed 28 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

More people we have lost:

Heather Pioro: sorry, we didn’t notice the reply envelope in your submission was missing a stamp. The post office returned it to us but by then your submission was gone. Sorry!

Missing people:

Jennifer Woodroffe, once of Greenville, NC.
Tim Luke, once of Elizabethtown, KY.
George Tucker, once of Oakland Park, FL.
Guillermo James, once of Columbus, OH.

Where did you go? We have zines for you!


Tue 27 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 3 Comments| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Venus Zine was asking for questions for Patti Smith, so naturally I forward that to Liz Hand and decide that some You Tube research is necessary. So I’m well into “Horses“, “Land“, &c. but then in the related box up pops an absolutely irresistible video: “Furry Happy Monsters” from a visit by REM to Sesame Street. Instantly curious who was doing the harmony, google led to more info:

In case you’re wondering, the red-haired female Muppet singing harmony was modeled on B-52 Kate Pierson. Puppeteer Stephanie D’Abruzzo, who manipulated the Kate Monster puppet, also provided the vocal part.

If you’re looking at this on Firefox using a Mac for some reason the video doesn’t appear (although it does on Safari, que??), so watch it here.


Tue 27 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Venus Zine was asking for questions for Patti Smith, so naturally I forward that to Liz Hand and decide that some You Tube research is necessary. So I’m well into “Horses“, “Land“, &c. but then in the related box up pops an absolutely irresistible video: “Furry Happy Monsters” from a visit by REM to Sesame Street. Instantly curious who was doing the harmony, google led to more info:

In case you’re wondering, the red-haired female Muppet singing harmony was modeled on B-52 Kate Pierson. Puppeteer Stephanie D’Abruzzo, who manipulated the Kate Monster puppet, also provided the vocal part.

If you’re looking at this on Firefox using a Mac for some reason the video doesn’t appear (although it does on Safari, que??), so watch it here.


Tue 27 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 1 Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

“Grey or Gray?” someone asked recently. One of those questions that always pops up and no matter what the answer is going to leave someone unhappy (or amused at the poor choice).

Grey has that e in the middle that slides along like a car skiding on a wet street, like a cat dragging its sodden tail.

Gray has the giant space of the a encompassing the sea, the sea, and everything from ash to storms. Very overdone, very baroque, but cutting through all those down to the simplicity of itself. Gray.

Either/or, then. Depending on mood, year, weather, dinner, book last read, road last driven, election last voted on, bird just seen.

A long time ago Kelly wrote about this in The Specialist’s Hat:

Mr. Coeslak can tell the twins apart, even if their father can’t; Claire’s eyes are grey, like a cat’s fur, he says, but Samantha’s are gray, like the ocean when it has been raining.


Tue 27 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

“Grey or Gray?” someone asked recently. One of those questions that always pops up and no matter what the answer is going to leave someone unhappy (or amused at the poor choice).

Grey has that e in the middle that slides along like a car skiding on a wet street, like a cat dragging its sodden tail.

Gray has the giant space of the a encompassing the sea, the sea, and everything from ash to storms. Very overdone, very baroque, but cutting through all those down to the simplicity of itself. Gray.

Either/or, then. Depending on mood, year, weather, dinner, book last read, road last driven, election last voted on, bird just seen.

A long time ago Kelly wrote about this in The Specialist’s Hat:

Mr. Coeslak can tell the twins apart, even if their father can’t; Claire’s eyes are grey, like a cat’s fur, he says, but Samantha’s are gray, like the ocean when it has been raining.


Mon 26 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , , , | 4 Comments| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Last Wednesday some of us here trundled down the glorious winter roads to New York to the KGB Bar to see Carol Emshwiller and David Louis Edelman read. Both readers were worth getting the matched pair out and the (somewhat long) curricle ride. And is there anything more beautiful than the rural fields of Stamford and the rolling hills of New Haven on the approach to the glittering metropolis of New York?

However, despite the lovely readings and the feast following the reading, we left with something unexpected: a “Devil Bug of Doom” (copyright Gwenda Bond) which had us shaking like Elvis for a couple of days. Or maybe just Shakin’ Stevens.

Things You the Reader Could Do*:

Send us the new Adobe Creative Suite…? MacRumors says the pricing will be released tomorrow — which is far enough ahead of the software packages’ ship dates (which run April to June) for us to get over the sticker shock. We are using new (for us, maybe 6 months old now) MacBooks (tiny, cute computers!) and PhotoShop and InDesign run a bit slow so these upgrades are much anticipated. The Design package is what we’re looking at:

CS3 Design Premium (up) $1799.95
CS3 Design Standard $1199.95

…although we might be able to get an upgrade from PhotoShop 7 for only $900. So, Johnny, you know how we promised to take you to DissMeLand for your birthday this year? Small Beer says, Sorry Kid, maybe next year, maybe never. Don’t cry kid. Aw.

* If you were perhaps either stuck in traffic for 36 hours and bored out your head. Or just a little more than tipsy. Or a crazy stalker**. Or just wealthy. Or just plain crazy.

** We don’t have any of these, yay!

In other news:

  • John Crowley’s Endless Things received one of its first big reviews in Book Forum: “With Endless Things and the completion of the Ægypt cycle, Crowley has constructed one of the finest, most welcoming tales contemporary fiction has to offer us.”
  • Liz Hand (whose novel is will shipped from the printer next week) is part of a new group blog, the inferior 4 +1.
  • Matt Cheney posted the contents for the first Best American Fantasy anthology which includes Kelly’s “Origin Story” from A Public Space, Liz Hand’s “The Saffron Gatherer”, as well as a ton of other great stories.
  • Happy to see that Michael Dirda’s Washington Post piece was run by the Austin American Stateman this weekend.
  • Did Scotland actually win at football? Reports say the final score in some kind of European tourney was Scotland 2, Georgia 1. But we were in Georgia recently, in Atlanta, and while the accents were strong, they did not seem to be Europeans (and I could have sworn we drove, so how did we cross the water?). Scotland play Italy on Wednesday. You never know. Unless you’re a Scotland fan.

Mon 26 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , , , | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Last Wednesday some of us here trundled down the glorious winter roads to New York to the KGB Bar to see Carol Emshwiller and David Louis Edelman read. Both readers were worth getting the matched pair out and the (somewhat long) curricle ride. And is there anything more beautiful than the rural fields of Stamford and the rolling hills of New Haven on the approach to the glittering metropolis of New York?

However, despite the lovely readings and the feast following the reading, we left with something unexpected: a “Devil Bug of Doom” (copyright Gwenda Bond) which had us shaking like Elvis for a couple of days. Or maybe just Shakin’ Stevens.

Things You the Reader Could Do*:

Send us the new Adobe Creative Suite…? MacRumors says the pricing will be released tomorrow — which is far enough ahead of the software packages’ ship dates (which run April to June) for us to get over the sticker shock. We are using new (for us, maybe 6 months old now) MacBooks (tiny, cute computers!) and PhotoShop and InDesign run a bit slow so these upgrades are much anticipated. The Design package is what we’re looking at:

CS3 Design Premium (up) $1799.95
CS3 Design Standard $1199.95

…although we might be able to get an upgrade from PhotoShop 7 for only $900. So, Johnny, you know how we promised to take you to DissMeLand for your birthday this year? Small Beer says, Sorry Kid, maybe next year, maybe never. Don’t cry kid. Aw.

* If you were perhaps either stuck in traffic for 36 hours and bored out your head. Or just a little more than tipsy. Or a crazy stalker**. Or just wealthy. Or just plain crazy.

** We don’t have any of these, yay!

In other news:

  • John Crowley’s Endless Things received one of its first big reviews in Book Forum: “With Endless Things and the completion of the Ægypt cycle, Crowley has constructed one of the finest, most welcoming tales contemporary fiction has to offer us.”
  • Liz Hand (whose novel is will shipped from the printer next week) is part of a new group blog, the inferior 4 +1.
  • Matt Cheney posted the contents for the first Best American Fantasy anthology which includes Kelly’s “Origin Story” from A Public Space, Liz Hand’s “The Saffron Gatherer”, as well as a ton of other great stories.
  • Happy to see that Michael Dirda’s Washington Post piece was run by the Austin American Stateman this weekend.
  • Did Scotland actually win at football? Reports say the final score in some kind of European tourney was Scotland 2, Georgia 1. But we were in Georgia recently, in Atlanta, and while the accents were strong, they did not seem to be Europeans (and I could have sworn we drove, so how did we cross the water?). Scotland play Italy on Wednesday. You never know. Unless you’re a Scotland fan.

Not for the squeamish

Sat 24 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Fury: Manson holds a skinned fox in the ad aimed...

Shirley Manson says: “Here’s the rest of your fur coat”:That’s the rest of a fox. Manson’s pic is for PETA and one of the best parts of this piece in The Scotsman is a quote from Frank Zilberkweit, a director of the British Fur Trade Association and owner of a London furrier:

“Peta is employing a cheap stunt by using a fox carcass. It’s a cowardly and shameful attempt to try to condemn a real industry that provides employment while regulating standards in animal welfare.”

Um, yes. In the same way perhaps that euthanasia regulates standards for the elderly?

Oh come now, that’s a bit much.

Yes, but how dumb is that statement? Could someone (Mr. Zilberkweit, perhaps…?) explain exactly how it’s “cowardly” to show a fox carcass? Aren’t fox, chinchilla, mink, dog, etc. carcasses a part of your “real” industry (as opposed to say, car manufacturing, an “unreal” industry)?

http://helpinganimals.com/images/FamkeJanssen_ad.jpg

If that poster is a bit much, you can order a print quality version of this one instead and print it in glorious full color in your zine. Ladies and gentlemen: Famke Janssen!


Tue 20 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 1 Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

While writing the Year’s Best summation (big voice: “The Year in Fantasy!” Chorus, drums, piles of books, a little research, another cup of tea, please nurse) I typed that William Nicholson’s Seeker was the first in his Nobel Warriors series.

He is the Seeker. He has hunted down medals in Medicine (that bark had a pretty good bite), Physics (how much force does a mace carry?), Chemistry (who is that surprisingly pretty boy from nowhere?), Economics (how much bread and ale does a gold piece buy?), Literature (that old library kept him warm all winter), and now, in his greatest adventure, he has to fight for the last, greatest Prize: for Peace.


Tue 20 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

While writing the Year’s Best summation (big voice: “The Year in Fantasy!” Chorus, drums, piles of books, a little research, another cup of tea, please nurse) I typed that William Nicholson’s Seeker was the first in his Nobel Warriors series.

He is the Seeker. He has hunted down medals in Medicine (that bark had a pretty good bite), Physics (how much force does a mace carry?), Chemistry (who is that surprisingly pretty boy from nowhere?), Economics (how much bread and ale does a gold piece buy?), Literature (that old library kept him warm all winter), and now, in his greatest adventure, he has to fight for the last, greatest Prize: for Peace.


Mon 19 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Want a free copy of Liz Hand’s new novel Generation Loss? There’s a dozen going The Great American Book Giveaway.


Mon 19 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

Want a free copy of Liz Hand’s new novel Generation Loss? There’s a dozen going The Great American Book Giveaway.


Monkeys & others

Mon 19 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Leave a Comment| Posted by: Small Beer Press

This week Monkeybicycle.net is featuring a hilarious piece from Rob Bloom: “A Zagat Writer Reviews Everyday Life.”

Save Short Fiction Online has an offer for online zines: they will host your site for free if your mag:

  1. publishes short fiction online that is available to the public and
  2. pays its contributors.

Terri Windling and Midori Snyder, among others, are keeping it fasinating over at the Endicott blog. They recently covered the IAF blog and Interfictions (review copies are mailing now) anthology and (great title:) Monkeys and Revelations.

It’s been four years since the US invaded Iraq under false pretences. Has the monkey boy President noticed there are no WMDs, there is was no Al Queda link? Does he care? No. Are thousands of people dead? Yes. Is he to blame? Yes.

If SFWA is your thing the idealistic young whippersnapper John Scalzi, Esq., is chatting up future here.

Gwenda and Christopher, worried that small cute dogs are not properly represented in the blogarium adopt another.

Made it to the last showing of the Ateh Theater Group’s adaptation of The Girl Detective in NYC and it was great fun. There were three big dance numbers (memo to writers: make sure you include a chorus of dancing girls in all stories) and the cast, given a play which involves a lot of talking directly to the audience, seemed to be enjoying themselves. The audience seemed to like it, too—did wonder what it would be like to see the play without knowing the story. More news on another adaptation of the story to come at some point in spring (no, not a movie or TV thing).


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