I, too, have been snapshot by Kathryn Linge.

According to the blog of marine biologist Kevin Z., now that all species of the squid genus Moroteuthis have been reclassified as genus Onykia, someone has the unenviable task of explaining this to the squid. Hence the new pastime of squid wrestling.

Photo courtesy of Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Upgraded to 2.2. Talking Squid gone. Gone, I tell you. Conniption activated: hyperventilation mode. Realised need to reactivate plugins for Squid to appear. Reactivated plugins. Talking Squid back, oh joy oh joy! Conniption downgraded to mild pique.

For those of you who thought that math classes were a waste of time because you were never going to visit whichever country it is where they speak algebra, Matt Bailey has done a detailed statistical analysis of the notoriously high mortality rate of red-shirted crewmen beaming down to the planet - and he has [...]

Stage Noise has a podcast interview with our own Sean Williams and then Jeff Wayne, the creator of the War of the Worlds musical. Although the interviews were recorded separately, this is a serendipitous juxtaposition. I know for a fact that Sean Williams is a big fan of Wayne’s WotW and I suspect he could [...]

I wouldn’t normally quote at such length, but this letter to Norman Geras is too glorious to truncate.
Norm, I was surprised not to see a comment on your blog about the furore surrounding the knighthood awarded to Sir Ian Botham.
I understand that the British High Commissioner was called in by the government in Canberra and [...]

The 2007 Ditmar results can be found at HorrorScope — it’s an excellent list, by the way, and well worth your time to seek out the winning works, artists, and authors.

The SFWA has announced this year’s Nebula winners. Justine Larbalestier won the Norton Award for Young Adult Fiction after holding out against strong competition from her own husband, Scott Westerfeld. Other Nebula winners were Jack McDevitt, James Patrick Kelly, Peter S. Beagle, Elizabeth Hand, and Hayao Miyazaki/Cindy David Hewitt/Donald H. Hewitt, while lifetime awards went [...]

In terrible news, Christopher James Bishop is confirmed as being among the thirty-two murdered at Virginia Tech, where he taught German and managed a student exchange program. Jamie is the son of author Michael and school counsellor Jeri Bishop, and leaves behind a wife, Stephanie, who also teaches at Virginia Tech.
On Michael Bishop’s website, readers [...]

It seems to be the season for announcing the closure of independent fiction outlets. First Shadowed Realms, now Potato Monkey. Editor Ben Payne has decided to let Potato Monkey lie fallow “for the indefinite future.”
I love the magazine with all my heart, but there are now better magazines providing venues for new talent.
Potato Monkey never [...]