New acquisitions! Hurricane Katrina has not detered the prolific Albert E. Cowdrey, as he’s been spinning tales even as the floodwaters wash away his city. This month, we have a new story from him, along with: a dark fantasy from John Morressy; a new A.I. story from our very own A.I.–Alex Irvine; a new suburban alien-invasion story from Carolyn Ives Gilman (after a five-year absence from our pages);and a slush survivor: Heather Lindsley, with an advertising-themed SF story–an impressive debut.

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It’s come to my attention that it’s somewhat of a travesty that I haven’t seen the original Godzilla. I admit, it does seem like something I should see. However, Netflix shamefully doesn’t have it. They have many other Godzilla movies, but not the original.

So, join me, friends, in petitioning Netflix to get it. All you have to do is go to their Request a Title page (which seems to be hidden in their FAQ) and send them an email saying that they should carry it.

It’s directed by Ishiro Honda, and is called Gojira (or Godzilla). Here’s the IMDB entry for the film.

UPDATE: Don’t bother emailing Netflix, as I’ve learned that the uncut Japanese edition is not available on DVD here in the States, and that the US version (marred by Raymond Burr) is not worth watching compared to the original.

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Yep, you read that right. It’s National Badger Dave Kirtley Into Going to World Fantasy Week! Come on folks, let’s use the power of the internet to convince my boy Dave to leave the land of dead babies in dumpsters for the frigid cold of Madison in November. Go to his LiveJournal and post annoying comments until he relents and buys himself a membership.

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I’ve been meaning to post on a number of topics recently and have been continually forgetting to do so, so…

(1) Deanna Hoak posted some interesting thoughts about her copyediting process.

(2) David Barr Kirtley has some of his short fiction up at Fictionwise now, which I recommend you all go purchase right away. In particular, I recommend “The Black Bird” and “Seeds-for-Brains.” And if you’re a SFWA member, you can read what I think is his best story, “Veil of Ignorance” here.

(3) Speaking of short stories, go read Tobias S. Buckell’s new short in Nature.

(4) I’ve been doing some transcribing for Ellen Datlow for SCI FICTION’s classics. I recently transcribed “Under the Hollywood Sign” by Tom Reamy, “The Water Sculptor” by George Zebrowski, and “Painwise” by James Tiptree, Jr. Go read. Not that it matters that I did the transcribing, but it makes me feel special to point this out.

(5) Tim Pratt had a scary encounter with a road-rager with a gun on the highway. Read the harrowing account here.

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