K37

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K37, an APAzine for PIECES OF EIGHT, from A. Vincent Clarke, 16 Wendover Way, Welling, Kent, DA16 2BN.

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UPDATE

The domestic routine of 16WWW was briefly broken during the month by a flying visit from John Berry, author of the Goon stories which Ken Cheslin distributed to PoE two or three months ago.

John spent many years in the police force, then retired to become editor of a 'zine for the Fingerprint Society. He's retired from that also, but brought along some of the zines for me. A sort of fanzine, I suppose, tho' very professional, as devoted to its subject as the Ocarina one or the Rat Fanciers one previously mentioned – or, come to that, Derek, football fanzines.

Some fascinating facts in them too, such as the historical note that in 1964 New Scotland Yard had a collection of 1,800,000 sets of prints, but even in 1957 the F.B.I. had 141,321,713 sets of which only a small part belong to criminals.

And amongst other forms of fingerprint detection there is 'superglue fuming', ie., using the evaporation from superglue to develop prints.

And I don't know if John was responsible, but the 'zine has a title redolent of '50s sf fandom and its lousy punning – FINGERPRINT WHORLD.

John also brought around, amongst other items, one for the archives – though it can be borrowed, like everything else here – WESTWÄRTS HO, a German version of THE GOON GOES WEST. John wrote the latter after a special fan fund had been created to take him across to the Denver World Con. in '59, and it's an account of his travels in America at that time, mostly of course as the guest of fans. Oddly, although TGGW had all Arthur Thomson illos, WH includes many by Eddie Jones, later a well-known professional sf artist.

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Another curiosity that turned up during the month, from Geri Sullivan in the States, was a copy of THE UNOFFICIAL BAGGIECON VI PROGRAM BOOK published by her.

BaggieCon?

Seems that there's an annual Winnipeg Folk Festival held in Canada that's been attracting an increasing number of sf fans. Of course, it's held out-of-doors, and when it started the organisers 'selected after exhaustive statistical

research based on historical data from 1900 onwards' the second weekend in July as being the driest weekend of the summer.

By an inexorable law of nature, it then started to rain on that particular weekend – 'In his first ten festivals, Dave needed his sun hat only twice.' In a flash of inspiration, sf fans then invented giant baggies (plastic bags) in which to shelter from the rain and mud ... 'the first production model was big enough for four...' and things have progressed further since then. 'We gradually realised that we were sharing the essence of a Con, the warmth and happiness of good friends, good talk, and good music – the foundation of fandom'.

There's now rules (of a sort) governing baggies and various accessories ('Look for the pink glow-in-the-dark necklaces'... 'handle baggies (and fans thereon) with care...') which open up new and interesting sidelights. It takes all sorts to make a fandom.

COMMENTS ON AUGUST MAILING

THROUGH THE SPEAKING TRUMPET – JDR

Written with verve as usual. Er – the spelling is poctsarcd. Hope Ian makes it back.

MARAUDER Vol.4 No.8 – Ken Cheslin

Ah, your lady-boss is, as Alf Garnett used to say, a silly moo. The photocopier is one of the most astonishing inventions of the 20th. century. Incidentally, do some schools still photocopy books for their pupils, or has this been stamped on by publishers? I would have thought the lady-boss would have appreciated that aspect of p/c's.

You're right on the 'offog', and I don't know about Piers Anthony on the four motor-cyclists of the Apocawhatsit, but Pratchett & Gaiman had them in Good Omens.

RYCT Tara/Barry: Information on Nestor Ivanovich Makhno?

(1889-1935), Ukrainian Anarchist leader. Imprisoned for terrorism in 1907, he was released after the 1917 Revolution. During the Russian civil war he organised a band of followers in S. Ukraine which attracted many peasants who were against both the Red and the White sides. M's raids were invariably accompanied by great violence and, despite his condemnation of anti-Semitism, pogroms. In 1919 and 1920 he allied himself for a time with the Red Army, and his movement was legalised...but a new conflict soon broke out between the Army and M's band and he was defeated. He then emigrated.

Above slightly condensed from the '67 Everyman's Encyclopedia. He doesn't sound like the kind of person you'd invite to your kid's birthday party, but who knows? He might have been kind to his old mother. It's odd that he wasn't summarily executed in 1907, so he must have had something going for him.

The original source of the above was a paper not in general circulation, but there has probably been more information published since 1967.

RYCT me: Don't (particularly) like to feel superior, but every bit I photocopy, mostly fanzine pages, has details of origin scribbled thereon. Saves a lot of hassle. But your method is OK if you have a good enough memory, cf. Rob Hansen's note in THEN 4, where he says he relies on the latter when citing refs.

Have you read H. Allen Smith's (fictional) Rhubarb? A cat of the sort that beats up dogs inherits a baseball team. HAS was an American reporter of a sort which doesn't seem to exist over here – strong sense of humour and a curiosity about people. See his Low Man on a Totem Pole.

RYCT JDR – Re. kids and calculators; if I say my daughter had two 'O' level maths. and still didn't know her 'seven times table' does this make me hopelessly old fashioned?

Interesting the plot details of The Mummy!. Wish I had a chance of reading it, tho' like so many Victorian books it was in three volumes. I have only two references to it, one of which describes it as an 'exuberant Gothic romance.' But notice the dates? The first notable book she wrote at 20 years old?

Good on your cleaning the attic, but what if Heather comes back?

K36 – self

Against all common sense I've had a return of book-buying fever – The Beginning Place by Le Guin, With Fate Conspire, Shupp, The Unexpected Universe, Loren Eiseley, The Essential James Joyce ed. Harry Levin, Napoleon Disentimed, Peirce, Language and Learning, James Britton. And others. Too many to read at once, of course. I'm into self-indulgence in a big way.

O! I REPENT GOTHIC FICTION etc. – Dop

The cleverness of the title can only be appreciated if, like me, you tried to construct a third anagram using the same letters. Very very ingenious ....

I like the off-hand reference to the 'Roberts algorithm for self-hidden line removal'; dear Dop, this might just as well be another anagram to most of us. But the rest was smooth reading, and thanks for the info. on the Apple Mac.

Best of luck on the job seeking.

WATCHER FROM THE SHADOWS – Jenny Glover

Nicely written and finely detailed pub crawl. So detailed that it eases my conscience a little. It provides an explanation of why I've never finished even a half-pint of beer. I just don't like the taste. I gave up trying about 1939.

There! I've said it! And I'm glad I said it, d'you hear? Glad!

Nice piece on frogs, tho' I'd like to see some discussion on a certain presumed dichotomy. I suppose you'd extend the same protection to foxes or birds. They both eat frogs.

Seems a little odd.

SILVER PENNIES – Helen Gould

Fashions? This is what some other people are concerned with. I think it should raise feminist hackles. Personally, I've no particular objection to an industry which is based on females trying to be as attractive as possible to males, speaking as one of the latter.

FRAGMENTS – Mike Gould

Certainly a brilliant effect from the Makeup add-on, but after the first time....?

Yes, my daughter had the same problem – her car failed the MOT a couple of days after she went to a local garage for a specific check. Can't remember the outcome, but I believe that they re-did the work under protest. I remember thinking at the time that it would be nice if someone started a sort of Michelin guide to garages.

My attitude to Jehovahs Witnesses and similar has changed over the years. Once I used to argue, nowadays I find (a) I can't spare the time and (b) if these people want to give up their own time to try and help me avoid hell-fire, then they deserve at least a "Not today thank you" as I close the door.

RYCT Kench, slightly amused by your reference to CIVILISATION RENEWED as an 'olde fanzine'. I'm helping on a check-list of '80s fanzines and see I have CR as numbers 1 – 5 (inc. 4½) from '87 to '89. This is 'olde'? Shakes greying balding head. You youngsters!

I like the size of the type-face you use, but would really prefer it in two columns for ease of reading.

ROPE OF SAND – Brian Jordan

Very very interesting on comparative low computer prices, and also on Mindreader, which sounds dreadfully slow for anyone with a little speed.

(I've been trying to work out how many fingers I use on the keyboard, and I think it's about three, (3½?), but slowing down isn't the right way to find out. Like the centipede in the rhyme who fell over when calculating how his legs worked)

The trouble with the humble Amstrad 8256 is that there's so many accessories to make it appear a better package – I have various DTP add-ons and even the ability to make letters from 6pt to 72pt, but none of it seems worth the time. Okay for playtime, tho.

Amused to see your note that 'monthly is quite a stiff schedule'; it is if, like me, you have the urge to communicate to everybody!

(By the way, how does Mindreader re-act to exclamation marks and queries? Same as commas?)

That's a horrible engraving on the back page – looks unfinished.

DAY FOR NIGHT – ? – Paul Kincaid

Interesting package – Golding and Golf. Next time Hardy and Hang Gliding? The eloquent review of Golding's works makes me want to read at least something of his aside from Lord of the Flies. (Note – next time in the library...).

Golf...old time fan Walt Willis is a passionate golfer and so is his wife. Chuch Harris plays a little but his wife and twins are club championship material. So some of my nearest and dearest friends are fascinated by it. And I'm not. It is, obviously, just another pastime, like making model aeroplanes or reading, but I wonder what makes it so hypnotic? Constantly waging war against the vagaries of Chance, ie., a few grass blades in the way of the hole? The quest for perfection? Interesting.

THE ONE PERCENT FREE – Darroll Pardoe

RAEBNC

GALANTY No.10 – Derek Pickles

Glad to see you bouncing at least half-way back after operation etc.

Yes, the 1st. World War should have left an indelible scar on the psyche of the whole of humanity, let alone Bradford, so that it would never happen again. I remember, in the early thirties, little processions of be-medalled men in various stages of incompleteness – missing arms, legs – begging outside Woolworths in Croydon on a Saturday afternoon amongst all the shoppers. And the two-minute silence when everybody stopped. You'd have thought similar scenes would have been enacted world-wide, and the horrible memory of having so many young men killed and maimed would have taught a few lessons. And yet......

Nice clipping, tho' I've become used to mentions of Vincent Clarke since that singer (or whatever you call them these days – vocalist?) of the same wonderful name was in the news a few years ago. But that 'man of limited intelligence' is so true; fancy stealing a keg of beer, of all things!

THE ARACHNO FILE – John D. Rickett

JDR bounds across the peaks of PoE like a yøung middle-aged gazelle, and the footnotes (the influence of Pratchett?) are a joy.

Otherwise, I feel a louse but just can't think up sprightly comments at the moment. Deadline looms.

THE STRUTHIAN PERSPECTIVE – Theo Ross

(TQ5) Never heard of 'a hiding to nowhere'. On a hiding to nothing...ie., a thrashing to nothing in the betting sense – yes. Someone mis-remembering?

(TQ6) Query on 'billion' used as a thousand million. Probably in use because there was no other reasonably condensed term suitable for newspaper headlines?

Lively stuff. Read and enjoyed it as best as I could without having the previous mailing by me to refer to the cryptic comments. Um – is this a case of pot calling kettle black? Broods.

TRAVELS IN HYPER-REALITY – Maureen Speller

"I long for normality. I must be ill." Nice one, Maureen. Otherwise, RAEBNC except see notes on golf to Paul.

A BRIDGE TOO FAR – Brian Stovold

Nice light stuff, not a lot to comment on except that comets almost always look like blobs of luminous cotton wool. I thought I saw one with a proper tail once, but on blurry recollection guess it might have been a searchlight reflection off a barrage balloon (yep, we're back in the war years).

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Increasing shortness of comments reflects desperation about oncoming deadline. Will try to do better next time.