Tag Archives: Randy Byers

2009 FAAn Awards Voting Begins

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Corflu ZedJust about two months from now someone will come to the podium at Corflu Zed and announce the winners of the Fanzine Activity Achievement (FAAn) Awards. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, first you’ll need to do your part. Vote!

The 2009 FAAn Awards Ballot is now on the Corflu Zed page at eFanzines.com.

Voting deadlines: Votes sent by postal mail must be postmarked February 26, 2009. Votes sent via e-mail are due by Midnight, March 5, 2009.

There will be no on-site voting during Corflu. Submission of an actual ballot is not required to cast a vote by e-mail, just the list of preferences. See the instructions on the ballot form for further details.

The winners will be revealed at the Corflu Zed banquet on March 15.

None have said it better than Arnie Katz: “The Fan achievement Awards are probably the best way to distribute deserved egoboo among the fans who have done so much to make our Fandom so enjoyable.”

If you’re curious about last year’s top voter-getters, after the jump I have the list Arnie enclosed with his e-mail distribution of the ballot.

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Corflu Zed Posts PR #2 Online

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Corflu Zed logo

Randy Byers writes: “The second issue of the Corflu Zed progress report, AmaZed and CorfluZed, is now available at <http://efanzines.com/Corflu26/index.htm>. Corflu Zed, the 26th Corflu, will be held the weekend of 13-15 March 2009 in Seattle.

“This edition of the progress report contains plenty of news and information about the convention, and it also includes reminiscences, Dickian dreams, and faan fiction by Earl Kemp, Jerry Kaufman, Terry Floyd, Lucy Huntzinger, and Otto Pfeifer, plus cartoons by Steve Stiles, Brad Foster, and D West. We also have a lettercol this time, and we hope you’ll write us with your comments and questions for the third and final issue, which we’ll publish in February. Send letters to [email protected].”

Update 12/11/2008: Added Jerry Kaufman to credits.

Corflu Zed Auction Is On!

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Corflu Zed logo

Andy Hooper is running an auction on eBay to raise money for Corflu Zed. “He has many rare and fascinating items for sale, including books, fanzines, and magazines,” writes Randy Byers. At this moment, several Harry Warner FAPAzines are on the block. “Search for the character string ‘[Corflu Zed]’ on eBay to find these items. Any support would be greatly appreciated!”

And don’t forget to check http://www.corflu.org for the latest news about Corflu.

2009 Corflu Posts First PR

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Randy Byers announces that the PDF of the first Corflu Zed progress report, AmaZed and CorfluZed #1, is now available at eFanzines:

We’re attempting something more fanzine-like in our progress reports, so this one features an exhortation by John Hertz and a reprint of a 1960 piece by Wally Weber (you’ll want to read that if you want to understand the cover), along with the usual brass tacks of convention-related information. If we get any LOCs, we’ll have a lettercol in the next issue. You can send letters to Luke McGuff at pubzed (at) corflu.org.

Corflu Fifty Picks Curt Phillips

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Rich Coad has announced Curt Phillips is the winner of the Corflu Fifty fan fund, wrote Randy Byers on the Trufen list. The fund will allow Phillips to go Corflu Zed in Seattle next year.

You can learn some more about Curt from this autobiographical bit on his website. He has an array of interests, the most dramatic being his participation in historical re-enactments. Click on the link to see Curt in uniform with the 30th Infantry Division at the 1998 Battle of the Bulge re-enactment.

Rich Coad told how the fund got started, in Vegas Fandom Weekly #98:

The Corflu Award is an outgrowth of the successful oneoff funds to bring Bruce Gillespie and William Breiding to Corflu Titanium in 2004 and to bring Harry Bell to Corflu Quire in 2006…. Andy Porter came up with the excellent suggestion of getting a group of fifty fans, each willing to donate 25 dollars or 15 pounds, to be the fund-raisers.

The Corflu Fifty supported Steve and Elaine Stiles’ trip to Corflu Silver in Las Vegas this year. And as Randy Byers says, the name Corflu Fifty reflects how many contributors they want to have, versus the 25 they already have. Interested fans can contact Rich Coad at richcoad @comcast.net [remove the extra space].

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

The Law According to John Bangsund

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Every time I leap into a Smofs list debate, or get into any kind of e-mail argument, I can count on making invisible typos that will erupt from the screen as if written in letters of fire the moment my message hits the list.

I just learned a few days ago that a subset of this experience is so widespread it has inspired Muphry’s Law, an adage that states that “if you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written.”

Muphry’s Law was invented by John Bangsund, the great Australian fan writer, in 1992. While it is easy to imagine Bangsund writing something of worldwide interest, Muphry’s Law implies John sometimes made copyediting mistakes — he’s such a polished writer I find that beyond belief.

A lot of superb fan writers who thrived in the age of the mimeograph have none of their articles online. We’re fortunate that a treasure trove of Bangsund’s work is available. Don’t miss out!

[Via Mark Manning, Randy Byers, Andrew Porter.]