More Disease Guide reading

This time at the Star Tavern in Belgravia, a lovely pub in a Georgian mews and the BSFA's latest venue. Deirdre and I had a little trouble finding this, as the entrance looks as though one is walking straight into the German Embassy. Turns out it's at the back. And it's only a 15 minute walk from Victoria, so no need to battle commuters on the tube.

A big audience for the BSFA. I read my contribution and Mark Roberts read Jeff Ford's. Then Claire Weaver interviewed both Mark and myself, in character as, presumably, mad doctors. This gave me an opportunity to make a nuisance of myself beforehand ("But what's my MOTIVATION?!").

Then there were questions from the audience, still in character, and this swiftly degenerated as Mark and I became the Pete 'n' Dud of the Disease Guide, at least as far as filthy innuendo is concerned:

Simon K: Dr Williams, have you ever come across anything of particular interest in your medical enquiries?

Me: No, but several things of interest have come across me.

Then some of us hung around drinking, and those of us who hadn't eaten went off to dinner, and thence out into the sleety London night. On Brighton station I ran into a friend whom I haven't seen for ages, just back from delivering toys to kids in Uganda.

Writing

Weather: unspeakably vile

Writing: just finished the S3 short story. Comes in just under 5K, which is fine. I want to start something which may turn into a novella, but I need to do some more thinking about that first. Otherwise, still waiting for the latest round of edit letters on the novel.

Another one bites the dust

Last night we got told that Murder One in Charing Cross Road is moving over the road and, alas, dropping its SF section due to lack of space. We still have Forbidden Planet, but it's a sad loss.

Isle of Woman

Uh huh....

The Isle of Man, sober home of tax exiles, Sir Norman Wisdom, and people who would prefer to live in 1958, is to go all silly at the weekend and rename itself the Isle of Woman.

For two days, women will benefit from a pink bill of rights which will command men to wait on them hand and foot, lower the toilet seat after use and not complain when the phone is in constant use.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gender/story/0,11812,1398723,00.html

A Very Long Engagement

We've just been to see this. Pretty good, though don't go if you don't want to be harrowed by scenes of the Somme. Audrey Tatou is excellent, though I can see why some people find her a little winsome. I also didn't buy aspects of the plot, but it's a war fairy tale, really, and probably not for too close an inspection. And it has a Corsican whore turned ingenious serial killer, so that's all good...

Amazing what people did and did not survive, though. Charles' grandfather had been in the trenches and he had scarring from shoulder to groin through being machine-gunned. He wasn't that old when he died, but it was a good 30 years or so after WWI ended.

Dead lady of Clown Town lives!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0125_050125_chimeras.html

Human-animal hybridisation. Sounds good to me! What do you mean, 'don't be so enthusiastic?'