Black Box

The curious things you see...

We've got this picture of Hopetoun Falls hanging on the wall (copyright Ken Duncan). I like it; it's a neat photo, but...

...have a closer look midway along the far river bank...

There's a cube!

Hmm.... wonder what that is...

On one side an Honorable Mention, on the other...

News in from Ellen Datlow, wonder editor extraordinaire...

My story The Wildflowers (Fantastic Wonder Stories, 2007) has been given an Honourable Mention in the up-coming international Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.

Cool bananas.

I told Ellen that next year, I plan on having a story in the collection...

And on the other side of the coin, an old edition of my article Muncaster's Ghosts was published instead of a new and improved version... bit of a bummer but at least the article still reads okay... This greatly annoyed me, but alas, what can you do?

To cheer me up, I poured myself a scotch and stared at a photo of the castle itself, remembering the weird sounds and strange things that happened in the haunted castle the night I stayed there.....

Actually, that was a great two weeks; I toured England and Scotland without once staying in any cities or towns. Instead, I stayed in B and B's and inns, and spent the days visiting old castles, stone circles, cairns, and of course, Loch Ness.... it was a brilliant time. I certainly saw an interesting side to the country.

Have you seen...

More Malaysian encounters...

So they trundled me off to the airport again, sat me on a plane and told me to be ready for another adventure...

This time to Kuala Lumpur, where I was to spend a week working in the Ulu Langat core warehouse, just on the outskirts of KL itself. Another dodgy taxi ride each day to and from work, up over the mountains. That was actually pretty cool; I was expecting--and hoping--to see monkeys scampering amongst the trees and swinging on vines, with the city as an interesting backdrop, but no, that didn't happen. I did see an awful lot of rain though. Sheer, unrelenting rain.

Put your head in the kitchen sink and turn the tap on full. That's what it was like. Make sure the water is warm, too. How these mad taxi drivers manage to see where they're going, I've got no idea. All the motorcyclists congregate under bridges or wherever they can find shelter during these downpours and hope for the rain to stop (good luck to them). Meanwhile, my taxi zipped by, the driver chattering away and me, confused and trying not to look out the window, forcing myself not to clench the seat or fret over the fact that the seat belt didn't work....

And humidity... urgh. I'm hoping I can set up a project to do research in Antarctica next time. I've had enough of the tropics.

I came home a few inches shorter, which is a problem because I really can't afford to spare any inches. But it was so, so humid that every time I stepped outside I just started melting. Me dribbled off me in torrents. I just didn't have enough undies to cope.

And the hotel? Oh boy, what a luxury resort that was..... Next time (if there has to be a next time) I think I'll take my tent and pitch it in the jungle. I'd certainly prefer that over a 3-star hotel that is just pretending and is really only a half star - perhaps a black hole is more accurate, judging by the number of room service meals that went missing.

(to tell the truth, I enjoyed the jungles of PNG much more than the human wilds of KL)

One good thing on this adventure was the discovery of a second hand bookshop directly across the road from my hotel. Joy! And the best thing? There was a huge sci-fi/horror/fantasy section!!!! Happy-happy-joy-joy. Books for 5 ringits, roughly $1.70 Australian.

Yes, I did fill up my suitcase at the expense of clothes. Who needs clothes anyway? Tarzan seemed to get by pretty well without them. Okay, sure, I'm a bit more rounded than he is, and a little whiter, but that's just more reason why I should strip down and go live in a tent in the tropical jungles.

I could take my suitcase full of books...