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Hugo: Best Editor, Long Form - starting point

The finalists are:

You can find lists of books published in 2019 edited by each of these finalists at this crowdsourced page at File 770, of which:

  • Brit Hvide: 2 books on my wishlist
  • Devi Pillai: 1 read, 2 on wishlist
  • Miriam Weinberg: 2 on wishlist
  • Navah Wolfe: 1 read, 1 on to-read pile

Devi Pillai edited A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, which I love so much, and Navah Wolfe edited The Twisted Ones by Ursula Vernon, which is one of the few marketed-as-horror books I have willingly read. (It won't ever be my favourite Vernon book, but it was a good read.)



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Hugo: Best Professional Artist - starting point

The finalists are:

Just looking up those websites has given me a lot of pleasure - my art knowledge continues to be "I don't know much but I know what I like" - and I'm looking forward to taking more time to consider each of the finalists more carefully.

I'm pleased to see Galen Dara on the shortlist, I've seen her work frequently in Uncanny, Lightspeed & Fireside Magazines, and usually like it. I was lucky enough to get into a kaffeklatsch with John Picacio at Dublin Worldcon last year (although I came there sideways, through interest in his work founding The Mexicanx Initiative, which was a finalist for Best Related Work), which was a great experience.



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Hugo: Best Semiprozine - starting point

The finalists are:

  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
  • Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, audio producers Adam Pracht and Summer Brooks, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart
  • Fireside Magazine, editor Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson, copyeditor Chelle Parker, social coordinator Meg Frank, publisher & art director Pablo Defendini, founding editor Brian White
  • FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editor Troy L. Wiggins, editors Eboni Dunbar, Brent Lambert, L.D. Lewis, Danny Lore, Brandon O’Brien and Kaleb Russell
  • Strange Horizons, Vanessa Rose Phin, Catherine Krahe, AJ Odasso, Dan Hartland, Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz and the Strange Horizons staff
  • Uncanny Magazine, editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, nonfiction/managing editor Michi Trota, managing editor Chimedum Ohaegbu, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

In this category, everything but FIYAH is available free online, supported by subscriptions / Patreons etc. FIYAH puts a list of contents of each issue, and also publishes a Spotify playlist for each quarterly issue. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fireside Magazine and Strange Horizons also all publish podcasts of each of their fiction / poetry, and Uncanny Magazine publishes two podcasts per issue which cover some but not all of the content (as far as I can tell). Escape Pod is of course a fiction podcast to start with, but does provides transcripts of its episodes.

I subscribe to Uncanny Magazine & FIYAH, I had a subscription last year to Fireside Magazine, I support Strange Horizons on Patreon and I'm on Beneath Ceaseless Skies's mailiing list to get notifications of new issues, even if I don't always read them. I'll need to have a bit of a think about how I'll rank them.



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Hugo: Best Fanzine - starting point

The finalists are:

The only one of these I follow is The Rec Center, a weekly email of fan news and fanfic recommendations, which I've subscribed to for about 18 months now. That's also the only finalist where the 2019 output isn't easily viewable (but cunningly I already have the emails in my archive folder).



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Hugo: Best Fancast - starting point

The finalists are:

I'm not familiar with any of these, and I'm not confident of finding time to change that between now and voting time. But I have at least bookmarked the YouTube playlist (she helpfully made a "Hugo Voter Packet" playlist!) and downloaded some sample episodes from each podcast to listen to.



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Hugo: Best Fan Writer - starting point

The finalists are:

Another category in which everything is free to read online. Some of the fan writers already helpfully have their Hugo packets prepared and easily found on their respective sites too, which is pretty impressive. My starting point is that I sometimes read James Davis Nicoll's reviews and I've read some of Bogi Takács's work, but I haven't routinely read any of these finalists.



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The creepiest tour of my house

Hey.  This isn’t a real post but I thought you might enjoy. Recently the Yorkshire Museum had a curator battle where they challenged museums to post the #creepiestobject in their collection on twitter.  And it was fantastic and a million … Continue reading




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Lots of weird but interesting stuff

It’s Sunday so that means this is a good place to put all the stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else, like: ONE Let’s Pretend This Never Happened has a new cover and it’s adorable.  This means that if you have … Continue reading




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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: The 2019 Theszies (the rec.sport.pro-wrestling Awards)

This is the Call for Nominations for the 2019 Theszie Awards (the rec.sport.pro-wrestling Awards). To nominate candidates for all categories, you may use this form. Nominations are due by January 5, 2019. Finally, to see previous years’ results, click here for 2018, click here for 2017, here for 2016, here for 2015, here for 2014, […]



  • Interactive Fun Time Party
  • The RSPW Awards / The Theszies
  • Wrestling



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2017 Best Music: Slenderbodies

musicisart magazine 2017 Best Music: Slenderbodies

Los Angeles-based duo Slenderbodies create music that feels like your watching the ocean. Slenderbodies recently released their brand new project fabulist out now via Majestic Casual Records. The five-track collection is full of whispers of sensuality found within falsetto vocals accompanied with vibrations of soft guitars melted into funky and soulful bass-lines that collide together […]

The post 2017 Best Music: Slenderbodies appeared first on musicisart magazine.




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2017 Best Music: Jacques Greene

musicisart magazine 2017 Best Music: Jacques Greene

Jacques Greene is blessed with the ability to create music that not only makes you feel good but makes you want to move. This spring Jacques Greene released his debut album “Feel Infintite” on March 8th, 2017 via LuckyMe Records. The Montreal native has always had a knack for being a DJ and music tastemaker mixing artists and beats that were energetic and unique. By […]

The post 2017 Best Music: Jacques Greene appeared first on musicisart magazine.





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[spicy guest post] Pippa Park’s Favorite Korean Stew by Erin Yun

So pleased to welcome NYC author Erin Yun to the blog today. Her debut middle grade novel, Pippa Park Raises Her Game (Fabled Films Press, 2020), is a contemporary reimagining of the Dickens’s classic Great Expectations.     Life is full of great expectations for Korean American Pippa Park. It seems like everyone, from her … Continue reading [spicy guest post] Pippa Park’s Favorite Korean Stew by Erin Yun




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Malta Philharmonic Orchestra


Malta Philharmonic Orchestra has given concerts in series of concerts called Community Outreach Concert including one concert in St Gregory Church in Sliema, which The Observer attended. Conductor was Michael Laus. It was a fantastic experience to listen to this orchestra, that Malta has all reasons in the world to be proud of. The concert included such well known works as Sarabande by G. F. Handel and Adagio in G minor by Albinoni. The entrance was free of charge. It is a pity that so few people came to listen to this wonderful concert. One can only admire the people who took the initiative to these concerts and hope that more people will attend future concerts. Well done Malta Philharmonic Orchestra!




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Mr. Gonzi's victory; was the contest necessary?

PM in Marsascala during his tour for support
In todays The Times one can read that PM Lawrence Gonzi gained 96,5 per cent of the vote in the PN leadership contest. It gives The Observer a flashback from the sixties when Leonid Brezhnev gained 105 per cent of the vote in former Soviet Union. That is what can be called a good and fair election! To avoid any misunderstanding; of course yesterday's election can not be regarded otherwise than fair. But was it necessary? Even if Mr. Gonzi felt that he needed to have his leadership confirmed, the outcome of the vote is still not a true and fair view on the situation in The Nationalist Party since Mr. Gonzi was the only candidate. Say for instance that Mr. Debono had challenged Mr. Gonzi regarding the leadership (he has challenged him about almost everything else). Of course Mr. Gonzi would not have gained 96,5 per cent of the vote. That is as certain as it is that Mr. Debone would have lost such a debacle. Mr. Debono has previously tried very hard to commit political suicide and if he had challenged Mr. Gonzi regarding the leadership he would surely have succeeded. One can wonder if all this really was necessary. Mr. Gonzi is the undisputed leader of the Nationalist Party no matter what Mr. Debono tries to do. Even if there are a number of opponents to Mr. Gonzi in the party they are not as stupid as to challenge Mr. Gonzo in this political situation. They would, in that case, have gone down together with Mr. Debono.




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A Maltese priest’s distorted view of the judiciary's role in society

In yesterdays The Times a Maltese priest, Mgr. Anton Gaucia, complains once more that a High Court in London a few weeks ago gave a sentence ruling that “the Catholic Church can be held liable for the wrongdoings of its priests”. Mgr. Gaucia have earlier, January 8 in Sunday Times, made the same complaint. Now Mgr. Gaucia also complains over the fact that a Mr. Justice in London has ruled that “the saying of prayers as part of the formal meeting of a council is not lawful”, adding that “there is no statutory power permitting the practice to continue”.
First things first; of course the Church shall be liable for what its employees/priests do in Alphain their capacity as priests. The children in these cases were in the care of a Catholic institution. I wonder what Mgr. Gaucia would say about if a municipal employee at a daycare sexually molest a child that the child’s parents left in its care. Of course, the municipality would be responsible for its negligence and for its failure to protect a child. The same goes of course for the Church. Mgr. Gaucia may of course, probably not being a father himself in the more down to earth sense, not understand what damage the Church and its priests done to these children. The people The Observer talked to in this matter in Malta all agree with The Observer and I think it would be wise of the Church to listen to the people in this.
Second; it might soon be time for priests like Mgr. Gauci and his colleagues to realize what century they live in. The time when Catholics ruled southern Europe is gone forever. There are Muslims, Hindus, Jews and many other people of different beliefs that have and are going to have positions in the society among which, of course, also positions in a council. Does Mgr. Gauci really mean that these people must attend Catholic or Protestant prayers? Or shall they leave when such prayer is to be said? Another possibility would of course be to have, say ten, different rooms where people of different beliefs could pray in accordance with such belief before the council meeting. Mgr Gauci, please grow up and realize what reality you live in.




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Making buildings higher and thus destroy their appearance

Terrible building on Tower Ro
Terrible example on Tower Road
Beautiful building on Tower Road
Villa Aurora on Tower Road
As a foreigner I sometimes wonder how it is possible that some buildings in, for instance, Sliema have had floors built-on in a completely different style than the existing house. On Tower Road there are several terrible examples. Before one start such development one must get permission from the authorities, I suppose that the authority in such case is MEPA. Either there are no rules in what way you can change a building’s appearance or, someone, apart from the owner and the developer, have had some odd interest in granting permission despite the rules. One can only hope that this destruction of buildings does not in the future affect Villa Aurora or the other lovely buildings on Tower Road that not yet have been in the hands of irresponsible developers and, if there are rules, civil servants with a private agenda. However, there are good examples of buildings where the developer has tried to build the extra floors in a style that are more consistent with the older part of the building





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ICFP Programming Contest 2018

Yep, it on!




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Kans op 2e golf, maar contactopsporing moet 2e lockdown vermijden: bekijk de beste fragmenten uit "Het coronadebat" - VRT NWS

  1. Kans op 2e golf, maar contactopsporing moet 2e lockdown vermijden: bekijk de beste fragmenten uit "Het coronadebat"  VRT NWS
  2. Het Corona Debat met Marc Van Ranst, Erika Vlieghe, Maggie De Block (Open Vld), Bart De Wever (N-VA) en anderen  De Morgen
  3. 'We moeten tijd winnen tot vaccin er is'  De Standaard
  4. Het grote coronadebat: “We moeten tijd winnen tot vaccin er is”  Het Belang van Limburg
  5. Hele verhaal bekijken via Google Nieuws





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173 gestrande Belgen eindelijk thuis na quarantaine in Tenerife: “Regering liet ons aan ons lot over. We hebben twee maanden op ons terras moeten doorbrengen” - Het Laatste Nieuws

  1. 173 gestrande Belgen eindelijk thuis na quarantaine in Tenerife: “Regering liet ons aan ons lot over. We hebben twee maanden op ons terras moeten doorbrengen”  Het Laatste Nieuws
  2. 173 gestrande Belgen eindelijk thuis na quarantaine in Tenerife: “Regering heeft te weinig gedaan!”  Het Laatste Nieuws
  3. Na quarantaine in Tenerife: 173 Belgen eindelijk weer thuis  De Morgen
  4. Belgen die vastzaten op Tenerife charterden zelf vliegtuig naar huis  De Standaard
  5. West-Vlaming regelt repatriëring gestrande Belgen  Focus en WTV
  6. Hele verhaal bekijken via Google Nieuws







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Book Review: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

The Best of Both Worlds S.P. Miskowski Trepidatio Publishing May 1, 2020 Reviewed by Elaine Pascale  The Best of Both Worlds is a sequel to The Worst is Yet to Come in the sense that the plot runs parallel and the characters’ story arcs intersect in subtle yet important ways. The Best of Both Worlds […]




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The Devil's Bestiary

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Marianne Porter's nanopress imprint, Dragonstiars Press,  has just announced its latest chapbook!

The Devil's Bestiary, a dark, brooding, and occasionally scabrous piece of fun composed by your truly, will be made available for purchase tomorrow, Thursday April 9, at noon Philadelphia Time (that's 4 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time) at the Dragonstairs Press website, www.dragonstairs.com.

But not a minute before then.

Here's the official announcement:

The Devil's Bestiary is Michael Swanwick's cynical,whimsical take on twenty nine creatures of myth and fables.  It is 5 ½ inch square format, with an outer wrapper of hand-dyed kozo paper, hand-stitched, numbered, and signed by the author.  It is published in a limited edition of 45, of which 40 are available for sale.   

The signed and very limited edition chapbook will go for $12 in the USA and $14 elsewhere, postage included. (When I tell Marianne she's not charging enough, she just glares at me.)  Which means that it will sell out pretty much immediately.

It's a lovely thing and I'm proud, as the content provider, to own a copy.


And rather than buy a pig in a poke with a blind horse . . .

Here are a couple of typical entries from The Devil's Bestiary:


A thousand years ago, a demon grew tired of his existence and came down to Earth to surrender himself to the first saint he encountered. He’s still looking.


A ghoul was caught in the act of anthropophagy by a camera crew from the local Action News, who needed something sensational for sweeps week. He was tried by an ambitious D. A. and defended by a lawyer from the ACLU. The jury was hung, asnd he got off. But afterward? Afterward, it was lean times for him indeed. He was not allowed near graveyards and he could not stomach non-human flesh. Vegetarianism was out of the question. He almost starved to death before an innovative mortician offered him honest work.

Today he’s the picture of affluence. Respectable people pay extremely well for his services, for he returns the remains of their loved ones to the earth in the most environmentally responsible way imaginable.


Those, at the low-rez pic above, should tell you right away whether you need a copy or not.



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The Best (and Simplest!) Writing Advice You Will Ever Receive

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Over on Facebook, Samuel R. Delany, answering a question in a post, offered the best and most succinct writing advice anyone has ever codified. Here, in its entirety, it is:

Writing advice: Read and reread. Think of a story you have never read but wish you had; then write it as carefully as you can. Finish it, and send it around till it's published.

The third sentence, as Chip noted at the time, was a condensation of advice that Robert A. Heinlein offered. So what you have above is the combined wisdom of two of the greatest careers science fiction has ever seen.

I could unpack that brief paragraph at enormous length. But, honestly, there's no need. You read it and you understood it. Now you only have to live it.


Above: The photo by James Hamilton was lifted from The Nation, where it illustrated a typically thoughtful and enlightened interview with Chip. You can find it here.


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Habitat: Environmentalists eye city’s investment policies

Divestment is “more urgent” in Toronto than NYC

A growing list of large institutional investors around the world – state and provincial pension funds, university endowments, and most recently, New York City itself, have been aggressively divesting from fossil fuel investments so as to do their part in mitigating against climate change. Here in Toronto, it’s been a different story. Prominent institutional investors, […]

The post Habitat: Environmentalists eye city’s investment policies appeared first on Torontoist.





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Mad Max My Darkest Days Come Undone

One of the people that I'm subscribed to on YouTube a while back did a tribute video to this song by My Darkest Days to the new Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe. I thought this song would be a perfect match to the Mad Max trilogy




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Google Keyword Tool And Google Traffic Estimator

Google Keyword Tool and Google Traffic Estimator, both of which are free tools provided by Google to help you analyze and find keywords that you can use to help promote your website and drive targeted traffic to it. And while these tools are very similar (there pages look almost identical) there are some key differences between the two free tools.




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When Is The Best Time To Tweet

If you’re trying to promote your website or blog one way to go about this is to use Twitter. In a very short time you can reach thousands of people quickly resulting in traffic back to your site. But just firing out tweets at random and hoping for the best isn’t enough if you’re serious about promoting your site. You need to know when to tweet, and that means knowing what the best times to tweet are.




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5 Questions You Should Ask At Your Next Job Interview (blog post)

It’s normal to be nervous when being interviewed for a new job, especially if that job is one you really want. Because of that most prepare and rehearse what the interviewer is going to ask them, what your strengths are, do you have any weaknesses, can you work evenings and weekends that sort of thing................




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Stupid Questions On Yahoo Answers (Blog Post)

I like using Yahoo Answers, it’s an easy way to get the word out about your site and build some good back links in the process. I’ve noticed in increase in really stupid questions in the last little while though. And while there have always been people who ask the obvious, or ask questions that make you want to reach through your computer screen and strangle them. Lately it seems to be ever second question. Perhaps it’s because it’s summer, maybe it’s something in the water who knows..........




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7 Tips To Be A Successful Guest Blogger

Guest blogging or guest posting depending on how you call it is another way you can spread the word about your site by attracting visitors you might not normally get. If done right it’ll not only build good relationships with other sites but can drive that every so sought after targeted traffic to your site. The problem is getting it right, all too often guest posts are nothing but a long winded advertisement for their site that offers nothing of any real value. A spammy guest post won’t do you any good other then give your site a bad reputation. Here are some tips to be a successful guest blogger............






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Axed Western Force to rejoin Aussie rugby competition in July - PerthNow

  1. Axed Western Force to rejoin Aussie rugby competition in July  PerthNow
  2. New Zealand plotting stunning multi-billion dollar escape from World Rugby  Fox Sports
  3. RA to ditch Super Rugby?  RugbyPass
  4. Forget the Kiwis, Australian rugby's future is local  Sydney Morning Herald
  5. Half of New Zealand Rugby staff face redundancy amid $NZ7m lockdown loss  The Guardian
  6. View Full coverage on Google News




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ABC’s Four Corners to investigate NRL’s financial woes - Daily Telegraph

  1. ABC’s Four Corners to investigate NRL’s financial woes  Daily Telegraph
  2. Report: Rugby league players to be forced to decide between state and Test level footy  Wide World of Sports
  3. NRL 2020: Peter V’landys set to cut $50m from League Central  Courier Mail
  4. How a farm system could help the NRL expand  The Roar
  5. View Full coverage on Google News






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Researchers build the world's fastest 'soft' robot, THREE TIMES faster than the last record holder - Daily Mail

  1. Researchers build the world's fastest 'soft' robot, THREE TIMES faster than the last record holder  Daily Mail
  2. Soft robots can now run like cheetahs and swim like marlins  Engadget
  3. Inspired by cheetahs, researchers build fastest soft robots yet  Tech Xplore
  4. Meet the world's fastest soft Robot!  NEWS9 live
  5. Fastest Soft Robots To-Date Developed by Researchers  Unite.AI
  6. View Full coverage on Google News








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Coronavirus restrictions to lift in NSW from Friday, but will not be following all National Cabinet measures - ABC News

  1. Coronavirus restrictions to lift in NSW from Friday, but will not be following all National Cabinet measures  ABC News
  2. Berejiklian's roadmap to freedom in NSW  Sydney Morning Herald
  3. Mother's Day state by state: What can and can't you do?  The Canberra Times
  4. Permission to mingle: NSW will ease lockdown laws on Friday  Daily Telegraph
  5. NSW to ease lockdown restrictions from Friday  The Age
  6. View Full coverage on Google News