As l sit writing this. three tlays reinain helnre the spaee prnhe
( iinttn intereepts ( 'nniet l lalley . antl eyen at this stage nn nne ean say with ahsnlute eertainty exaetly w hat it‘s made nlf By the time this inaga/ine enmes nut. hnwey er. l lalley 's seerets. pnntleretl hy mtt‘nnniners. astrnlngers antl philnsnphers lnr centuries. w ill hay e heen llashetl. hy the miraeles nl teehnnlngy . aernss nur 'l‘\' sereens. l’erhaps nn nne w ill eare. except the experts \y hn w ill spentl ninnths sil'ting thrnugh the data ( iinttn sentls haek. But
whatey er we tliseny er. there w ill he snine enthusiast in a tlark enrner nl (ilasgnw 's ( 'entral llntel w hn w ill tell ynu sinugly . ny er a pint nl real ale. that he knew it all the time.
.'\ltLl he will prnhahly he right. lnr the ( 'entral llntel is playing hnst tn the 371h British ;\nnual Seienee l‘iietinn(‘nnyentinn
('alletl. ennlusingly ennugh. Alhaenn lll. it is alstt the l lth Si" (itllH elitittii ttt he lieltl iii ( ilasgnw. Sueh w as the reaetinn tn the prey inus twn .r\lhaenns that a third liasterenn (the hig ey ent in any British Sl‘ hulls tliary ) was lneatetl in the eity. Running lrnrn Its 31 \lareh. menihership ensts L13. hut lnr the size til the ey'etit that‘s nnt ttm steep.
'l‘here is sn mueh gning mi. in tact. that it hm prny etl neeessary tn split the eyent intn three prngrammes. 'l‘he Main prngranirne has the witlest appeal. with films like Hangs In ('nme. Blur/e Runner. the mighty Brazil and (i/imI/iuxten (pltis ahntit 15 nthers) tn tempt the eye thnugh whether .‘s-l) gnggles w ill he giyen away l'nr a speeial shnwing iii The (ireulure [7mm Iii/1U B/ut‘k l.i1gnn21.as happened in 1‘)i\'ll.limnnt heen - ennt‘irmetl. \Vhat hm heen enntirmetl is the appearanee ntfilne llaldeman. award-winning authnrnl The former War. a strnng. Iuturistie anti-war nnyel l‘;t.\cLl nn his experienees in Vietnam. As always at these al‘l'airs there will he pletin nl panel tliseussinnsnyer the weekend. inelutling the in:riguing-snuntling ‘l’netry in Seienee liietinn‘. (Well. tlitl ynu knnw that the nnly Sl“ hnnk eyertn win the \nhel l’ri/e was a w‘nrk nl‘ pnetryl’ l
The mnre esnterie talks and eyents are nn the Alternate and Fan prngrarnmes. nne prninisetl highlight heing a late-night hnrrnr reading hy guest (‘liye Barker (eleseriheti as ‘the next Stephen King‘. apparently hy Stephen King). The auetinn taking plaee in the Fan
‘Rnnm s'hnuld tint he missed. as it‘s
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pnssihle tn earry away nriginal artwnrk and similar items lnr well helnw their true y alue. and is tisually an entertaining speetaele in its nwn right.
.v\lsn tlnttetl arnuntl the ( entral llntel w ill he the ineyitahle Dealers. Rnnm. with mnre hnnks. maga/ines. enmies antl unearthly mernnrahilia thanynu ean shake a phmer at ( ln ths'lI l piek'etl up an .v\meriean impan enpy nt ;\rthur ( i ( 'larke‘s Hie [Wit/11mm(it'l’anu/rye.nnly tnlintl the new l’an etlitinn at the next tahle. eheaper and with a nieerenyer l; a (‘nmputer Rnnm. aimetl mainly at ynunger enn-gners. with games and tlisplays; a \Vargaining rnnin. enmplete with l)ungenns antl Dragnns(gamesnlwhieh appear sninetiines tn last the entire weekentll; a spaeellight exhihitinn; rnnins tletlieatetl tn l)r Him and Star Trek. thnugh it‘s unlikely that these w ill tnp the eurrent ( ierry .‘\llLlCFstill exhihitinn in litlinhurgh: antl nl enurse there will he the elirnaetie l’aney l)ress Shnw nn Saturtlay. where thnse whn are intn the inn nl it all get tn let rip. and the mnre serinus—mintletltliseuss the depth nl Rnhert Silyerherg with passing repnrters. ()uite where a 17th Century Battle Re—enaetrnent Sneiety tits intn all this is anyhntlys guess. hut m lnng as eyerynnes haying l'un. whn eares‘.’
At the heginning nl .‘ylareh. nllll hatl signetl up lnr the neeasinn. and the nrganisers. a lneal Si” grnup. expeet ny er llllHl penple. ll that happens. l was tnltl hy Neil ( 'raig. prnprietnr iii the Future Shnek' shnp in \Vnntllantls Rnatl. (ilasgnw . it w ill he nnly the second time that a British liasterenn hatl hrnken that harrier. ‘lt is my npininn. heltl hy a nurnher nl' nther penple. that Senttish cttiis are the hest in Britain. \Ve wnultln‘t hay e wnn the hitl it a lnt nl penple hatln‘t generally agreed with tliat.' l'he lttcatittn til the liasterenn is decided hy the memhers M the prey inus year‘s ennyentinn. whn ynte lnr the hitls put up hy' yarinus grnups arnuntl the enuntry. last year a strnng hitl
was ptit up hy Birmingham. htit (ilasgnw ‘s reputatinn tippetl the scales. l’uhlieity lnr the ey ent ey en includes the legetitl ~( ilasgnyy is l ight Years Better'. .>\hnut hall nt thnse expeetetl In turn up w ill he lrnin nutsitle the West nl Sentlantl. ahntit halla tin/en enming lrnm the States (where there are a enuple nl huntlretl ennyentinns a year). snine frnm llnllantl. Sw etlen. anti pnssihly lurther LlliiL‘ltl. "l'he tarthest away theres gning tn he a hig enntingent limit] is Brightnn.‘ he says. antl I am sninew hat let tlnwn. \n sinall hrnw n furry ereatures lrnni :\lpha
(‘entauriI’ l’nr l leayen‘s sake. it‘s nnlyg/iiurlie/Hyeury.’ Nn . . . httt apparently ‘there's a grnup in Brightnn w hnwear enstuniesantl things and lime a lnt nl tun~ Despite the genre generating snine nlthe largest-grnssing lilnis nl all
time and the taet that elements nl the
lantastie are heing inenrpnratetl mnre anti mnre intn respeetahle literature t take .l. (i, Ballartl. lunar/t and ()m' Hum/real teary n/ Sultan/e tnr example i. the Si tan is still ctttisitleretl titlti hy the wnrlti at large. Seienee l’ietinn lit'st enenuragetl ( ihyta \anh and me. In name hut twn amnng thnusantls. tn start reading literature nl any kintl. sueeeetling where w ell—meaning teachers had had little elleet. lans
ALBACON |||
JHHi
llst\knth
t n\intel)ntheM\,JHlthnghni(nnders
(ilasgtiyy (ii—)3 _’ l l) lel MN I ("it"): llltll)
are naturally tlraw n tngether. insitle antlnutsitle the enny entinnspheie. ‘lt‘s gnntl ehanee tn get away lrnni real lile.~ explains \eil ( Ii aig. ‘tn meet penple w hn share ynin‘ interests. Basieally . it's a sneial thing. l'hat‘stiuiteahinatl tleliiiitittit: it eaters lnt penple \y hn are intn hnnks. films. w hateyer. hut w e all hay e the same interest in wnrltls nl the irnaginatinn. shall we say. lngeneral.Sl’lanshayetiuitea gtititi iinaginatinn alitl like ltl Use it. :\part lrnin that ynu ean take ll right ilL'l‘tiss the hnartl. all walks nl lile. in general. thnugh. penple llllLlL'l Flt. 'l'hat‘s ahnut the nnly thing l ean see inennininn. llynu‘ye gnt ltl lrientls. ynu may hay e nne w hns a Sl‘ lan. \Vithnut ennyentinnsthesepenple ean leel that they ‘y e gnt quite an unusual interest.~ ()therennyentinnshayeheen eritieisetl iii the past ltti enneentratingtnnniuehnntheaetiy e l'ians. the nnes w hn run Ian/ines antl teittl tit he seen as elitltlisli h‘. the innreeasualenthusiast whnpnppetl in tneheek nttt [flu/H's .\i'i en lll\ ia ni w hatey er. and y iee yersa. But the enneenstts is that .-\lhaenn usually getsit iust right (ihyta \nrth: ‘l wnn't he in the l’an Rnnin yery niueh at all. Hi he in the Bnnk lx’nnni spentling lnts nl innney . l'll lie .\l( ‘—ing the laney tliess ane 1 usually L'llLl tip spentling innst nl my time in the har talking tn penple. l knnw that snuntls silly w hen theressnniueh gning nn. htit at ,\lhaenn its the people that are [he attractinn.
BACKUST UNCONVENHONAL
Seienee lietinn ennyenes ONE-DIMENSIONAL ;\lasdair(iray‘s ct)\ei‘sttti‘y - INDISPENSABLE
(iuitle tn the hairsets LlllLl hznrdresseas
DRESS POTENTIAL (ihmauiw Schinatil,\yi INFLUENTIAL
l5reneh euisine gnes tn Sntlthsitle. ( ireens l<estatu1nitreyieyyetl FRENCH CREDENTIAL l‘tl//y l‘reneh antlenrtlnn hlurin l’aris.
The List 21 Mar— 3 Apr 41