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   9-12 Oct [] GRIMMFEST (film), Odeon Great Northern, Manchester. Weekend   
   pass (not Thursday) GBP96.54; other options at grimmfest.com.   
      
   12-13 Oct [] OCTOCON, Maldron Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin. Euro40 reg;   
   concessions Euro25; under-22s Euro10; under-13s free; supp/online Euro20.   
   In-person convention on Saturday; online only on Sunday. See octocon.com.   
      
   17-20 Oct [] IRISH DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Cork International Hotel, Cork.   
   Euro95 reg; concessions Euro60; under-18s Euro20; under-7s free. Further   
   details at idwcon.org.   
      
   8 Nov [] DOUGLAS ADAMS celebration, Royal Geographical Society, London.   
   7:30pm. Tickets from GBP49.95. See tinyurl.com/25ble5tz.   
      
   2-6 Sep 2027 [] MONTREAL WORLDCON 2027, Montreal, Canada. GoH announced in   
   PR0: Jo Walton, Yves Menard, Chris Barkley; since added, Jeph Jacques. All   
   rates CAD: adults $250 (inc $70 WSFS membership), under-31s $200 (ditto),   
   under-18s $90, under-13s $45, accompanied under-8s free. Rates may rise in   
   December 2025. See montreal2027.ca.   
      
   RUMBLINGS. _Eurocon 2027_ is Forum Fantastico, Lisbon, Portugal. 2028: a   
   bid from Croatia. 2030: BSFA Eastercon/Eurocon bid planned.   
      
      
   ### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###   
      
   WORDS, WORDS, WORDS. Among the 6,000+ words to be added to the _Cambridge   
   Dictionary_ this year is 'skibidi', which has apparently entered the   
   language as a nonsense term that might mean 'cool' or 'bad' or 'this is a   
   placeholder for something actually funny' -- introduced and made famous by   
   Alexey Gerasimov's surreal YouTube animated sf sequence _Skibidi Toilet_,   
   in which singing human-headed toilets battle camera-, speaker- and   
   tv-headed humanoids in an ever-escalating arms race. (BBC, 18 August) _The   
   Plain People of Fandom:_ Too much information!   
      
   AWARDS. _Aldiss_ (speculative fiction worldbuilding) inaugural shortlist:   
   _Dreadful_ by Caitilin Rozakis, _Kavithri_ by Aman J. Bedi, _Saints of   
   Storm and Sorrow_ by Gabriella Buba, _Shigidi and the Brass Head of   
   Obalufon_ by Wole Talabi, _The Dance of Shadows_ by Rogba Payne, _When   
   Among Crows_ by Veronica Roth. One might have expected a few worldbuilding   
   examples in the Aldiss/Helliconia sf vein, but all the above are fantasy.   
        _Gaelic Literature:_ the four 2025 fiction finalists include _Draoidh   
   Druidhteach Oz_ by L. Frank Baum (trans Zachary Wallace), _A' Hobat_ by   
   J.R.R. Tolkien (trans Moray Watson) and _Inneal na Time_ by H.G. Wells   
   (ditto). [SF2C]   
        _Mythopoeic:_ ADULT _The Melancholy of Untold History_ by Minsoo Kang.   
   YA _The Isles of the Gods_ duology by Amie Kaufman. CHILDREN'S _Island of   
   Whispers_ by Frances Hardinge illus Emily Gravett. SCHOLARSHIP/INKLINGS   
   _The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien_ ed. Christina Scull and Wayne G.   
   Hammond. SCHOLARSHIP/OTHER _Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity through   
   Magic_ by Stefan Ekman.   
        _YA Book Prize_ (UK/Ireland, set up by _The Bookseller_ in 2014): the   
   dystopian _Songlight_ by Moira Buffini. [SF2C]   
      
   AS OTHERS LEARN FROM US. 'In the nineties, DNA was the stuff of science   
   fiction -- I first heard about it in _Jurassic Park_ -- but here it was   
   something real, with real-life consequences.' (Jennifer Wilson, _The New   
   Yorker_, 25 August 2025) [PL]   
      
   R.I.P. _Loni Anderson_ (1945-2025), US actress in _The Magnificent Magical   
   Magnet of Santa Mesa_ (1977), _All Dogs Go to Heaven_ (1989), _Munchie_   
   (1992) and genre tv series, died on 3 August aged 79. [LP]   
        _Chris Bidmead_ (1941-2025), UK _Doctor Who_ script editor (1980-1981)   
   and writer (14 episodes 1981-1984, plus later audiobooks and podcasts),   
   died on 6 August aged 84.   
        _Tor Age Bringsvard_ (1939-2025), pioneer and grand old man of   
   Norwegian sf -- active since the 1960s, winner of many awards, and   
   responsible with his friend Jon Bing for introducing sf to a wide audience   
   in Norway -- died on 4 August aged 85. [CS]   
        _Ray Brooks_ (1939-2025), UK actor in _Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150   
   A.D._ (1966) and tv series including _Jackanory_ (30 episodes 1969-1978)   
   and _Mr Benn_ (14 episodes 1971-2005), died on 9 August aged 86. [CM]   
        _Joe Caroff_ (1921-2025), US graphic designer who created the   
   007/pistol logo for _Dr No_ (1962) -- used with modifications for many more   
   James Bond franchise films -- died on 17 August aged 103. [AIP]   
        _Franklin Dominguez_ (1931-2025), Dominican actor in _Rat Man_ (1988),   
   _Raiders of the Magic Ivory_ (1988) and _Killer Crocodile_ (1989), died on   
   26 August aged 94. [SJ]   
        _Norman Eshley_ (1945-2025), UK actor in the Dennis Wheatley-based   
   _The Lost Continent_ (1968) and genre tv series, died on 2 August aged 80.   
   [SJ]   
        _Marc Estrin_ (1939-2025), US author whose sf novel is the Kafka   
   quasi-sequel _Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa_ (2002), died on   
   10 August aged 86.   
        _David Gullen_, South Africa-born UK author (active from 1995) and   
   Milford stalwart whose first sf novel was _Shopocalypse_ (2013), reportedly   
   died in August. [LW]   
        _Ann Harris_, US publisher's editor who worked on William Peter   
   Blatty's _The Exorcist_ (1971) while at Harper & Row, died on 1 June aged   
   99. [AIP]   
        _Greg Iles_ (1960-2025), US author whose thrillers included the   
   supernatural _Sleep No More_ (2002) and the sf _The Footprints of God_   
   (2003, aka _Dark Matter_), died on 15 August aged 65. [TM]   
        _Tom Jeffers_, Toronto fan and filker who entered the Filk Hall of   
   Fame in 2012, died on 6 August. [RR]   
        _David Ketchum_ (1928-2025), US screenwriter and actor in _Get Smart_   
   (13 episodes 1966-1967 as Agent 13), _Love at First Bite_ (1979) and   
   others, died on 10 August aged 97.   
        _Ivan Krasko_ (1930-2025), Russian actor whose credits include _Gibel   
   31-go otdela_ (1985, based on Per Wahloo's sf _Murder on the 31st Floor_)   
   and _The Hobbit_ (1985 tv), died on 9 August aged 94. [AM]   
        _Floyd Levine_ (1932-2025), US actor in _Cellar Dweller_ (1987),   
   _Repossessed_ (1990), _Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills_ (1996),   
   _Babylon 5: Thirdspace_ (1988) and other, died on 24 August aged 93. [SJ]   
        _Guy H. Lillian III_ (1949-2025), long-time US fan who received US   
   Southern Fandom's Rebel Award in 1984, won DUFF in 2003 with his wife   
   Rose-Marie, and whose many fanzines included _Challenger_ (1993-2022, a   
   multiple Hugo nominee), _Spartacus_ (2013-2024) and _The Zine Dump_   
   (2006-2024), died on 23 August aged 76. [JG]   
        _Enrico Lucherini_ (1932-2025), Italian 'press officer to the stars'   
   who promoted many genre films from _Medea_ (1969) and _Queens of Evil_   
   (1970) until well into the new century, died on 28 July aged 92. [SJ]   
        _Stanley McGeagh_ (1936-2025), Northern Irish actor in _The Land That   
   Time Forgot_ (1974) and genre tv series including _Doctor Who_ and _UFO_,   
   died on 5 August aged 88.   
        _Kelley Mack_ (1992-2025), US actress in _The Walking Dead_   
   (2018-2019) and _Broadcast Signal Intrusion_ (2012), died on 2 August aged   
   33. [AIP]   
        _Terry A. Murray_ (1953-2025), US collector and bibliographer whose   
   _Science Fiction Magazine Story Index, 1926-1995_ (1999) covers more than   
   30,000 stories, died on 7 August aged 72. [L]   
        _Frank Price_ (1930-2025), US tv/film executive who as 1970s head of   
   Universal TV developed or supervised _The Six Million Dollar Man_, _The   
   Bionic Woman_, _The Incredible Hulk_, _Battlestar Galactica_ and others,   
   died on 25 August aged 95. [SJ]   
        _Lorna Raver_ (1943-2025), US actress in _Drag Me to Hell_ (2009),   
   _Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage_ (2014) and tv series -- often playing judges as   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)