Obituary: Bill Kunkel

Fan artist Bill Kunkel (b.1950) died on September 4 following a fall. Bill’s artwork consisted of satirical cartoons and he also c0-founded the first magazine devoted to video and computer games, Electronic Games. Kunkel worked as a game designer, a comic book writer, and professional cartoonist.

Pratchett at National Press Club

Sir Terry Pratchett will speak at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on October 14 as part of the book launch for his Discworld novel Snuff. The event is sponsored by the Club’s Book & Author Committee and a limited number of tickets are available.

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CanSMOF Offers SMOFCon Scholarship

CanSMOF Inc., the parent organization for Anticipation, has announced it will offer two scholarships to convention runners to help them attend this year’s SMOFCon in Amsterdam. One of the $1,000 scholarships is reserved for a Canadian conrunner with the other available to any applicant. This year’s SMOFCon is scheduled to run from December 2–4.

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Pegasus Nominees

The nominees for the 2011 Pegasus Awards, presented for excellence in filk, have been announced. All ballots are due by October 17, 2011 and the awards will be presented at Ohio Valley Filk Fest, the weekend of October 21-23.

Best Filk Song

• ”Die Puppen (The Dolls),” by Eva Van Daele-Hunt
• ”Joan,” by Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps
• ”Paper Worlds- Talis Kimberley
• ”Somebody Will,” by Ada Palmer
• ”Wicked Girls,” by -Seanan McGuire

Best Classic Filk Song

• ”Gone Filkin’,” by Tom Jeffers
• ”Little Fuzzy Animals,” by Frank Hayes
• ”Nessie, Come Up,” by Dr. Jane Robinson
• ”The Phoenix,” by Julia Ecklar
• ”Storm Dancing,” by Tom Smith

Best Performer

• Amy McNally
• Playing Rapunzel
• Stone Dragons
• Toyboat
• Tricky Pixie

Best Writer/Composer

• Barry Childs-Helton
• Dr. Mary Crowell
• Phil Mills
• Ben Newman
• S. J. Tucker

Best Badass Song

• ”Crispy Danish,” by Andrew Ross
• ”Evil Eyeball,” by Sibylle Machat
• ”Evil Laugh,” by Seanan McGuire
• ”My Brother, My Enemy,” by Ada Palmer
• ”Tough Titty Cupcakes,” by Betsy Tinney

Best Romantic Song

• ”As I Am,” by Heather Dale
• ”One Small Boat,” by Marilisa Valtazanou
• ”Rain On Berlin,” by Eva Van Daele-Hunt
• ”Starlight & Saxophone,” by Tom Smith
• ”Too Many Years,” by Bill Roper

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Lucas Changes Star Wars

Lucas Film has confirmed that changes will be made to the Blu Ray releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, including a re-dubbing of the sound made by Obi-Wan Kenobi when he first approaches Luke Skywalker and the Tuskan Raiders and having Darth Vader scream “Noooo!” when the Emperor is attacking Luke in the third film among other changes. Purists have already indicated their displeasure with the decision.

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Obituary: Paul Metz

Fan Paul Metz (b.1961) committed suicide on August 27. Metz was active in Bay Area fandom and a frequent attendee at Baycon. He worked for Atari writing computer games and hosted gaming nights at his home.

Obituary: Paul Cherry

Oklahoma City fan Paul Cherry (b.1958) died on August 30, the day after his 53rd birthday. Cherry was active in running Soonercon and chaired the only Conestoga. He went into the hospital near the end of July.