Tolkien Scholar in Turku

Professor Arne Zettersten from Sweden is visiting Finland and will be giving an informal presentation of his new book Min vän Ronald och hans världar (“My friend Ronald and his worlds”) at Åbo Akademi on Monday May 19. He will discuss Tolkien and his research about the author (Zettersten knew Tolkien when he was writing his dissertation in Oxford).

The event is organized by FUI, and will take place in Arken (Tehtaankatu 2), auditorium Helikon, at six. For more information, contact Johan Olin (040 517 7718).

Iron Sky

Upcoming new film from the makers of Star Wreck: the Iron Sky trailer looks amazing.

Åcon is Gone, Long Live Åcon

Back from a magnificent convention in Mariehamn, Åland. Åcon 2 was a success! The Guest of Honor (Ian McDonald) was interesting and entertaining. There was a suitable amount of quality programming (some said there was too much, but on the other hand last year others complained about there being too few items, so I guess the amount is in general pretty much perfect). The bar staid open late (and had much better stock of beverages than last year, although—despite our strong suggestions—they still run out of much of the good stuff during the weekend). Room parties were loud and fun. 70 members attended, met friends, made new ones, and engaged in drinking sfnal discussion. And some drinking, of course.

Proper reporting will have to wait for a couple of days (or more precisely, a couple of nights slept), but for now I’ll just note that there will be Åcon 3 next year (May 21–24, 2009). Membership fee is 20 € until June 15, and 25 € afterwards. I’m sure more details on how to pay will appear soon on the web site.

I’m not on the committee next year, so I’m really looking forward to just going to Mariehamn an enjoying being a member of Åcon.

Pub Meeting Moved to Next Week

The Turku pub meeting in May has been moved ahead one week, since the first Thursday is May Day, when some of the regulars are at Åcon, and many of the rest probably have other activities too. So, see you at Bremer on th 8th!

Swearing Hedgehog Wins Comics Finlandia

The inaugural Comics Finlandia award was given today to Milla Paloniemi for her album Kiroileva siili (“Swearing Hedgehog”). It’s a collection of comic strips about a hedgehog who—well—swears a lot.

The Hedgehog has taken Finland by storm, and the first album rose to the top of the book sales charts when it came out. Some in the comics circles were pretty upset that such commercial (and popular) strips as Kiroileva siili and Viivi ja Wagner (a srip about a woman and an anthropomorphic pig living together) were allowed to compete for the title of the best comic album of the year. I expect a lot of hand wringing and arty frustration now that one of them has won the award.

Usva Goes HTML

The Usva ezine has started publishing some of its stories and articles in HTML format in addition to the PDF zine itself. This is very welcome for all of us who like to use offline readers (PDAs, ebook readers, etc.) to read the stories without having to print the issues on paper.

Sf Table Hockey Finnish Championship Games

The Helsinki University sf club will organize the “Nth annual science fiction table hockey championship games” in Helsinki on Friday April 25. The place is the HYSFK club house at Hietaniemenkatu 14 B, and the games start at 6 pm. You can sign up in advance by e-mail to Pasi Vihinen (pvihinen at gmail.com).