Author Archives: Cora

Robot Hallucinations

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Cora

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will be aware that the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, is embroiled in a massive scandal. Turns out the programming team used ChatGPT to vet people who’d applied to be on programming … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Con Reports | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Easter 2025

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Cora

This year, the long Easter holiday weekend began with my birthday on Good Friday. The fact that there are so many birthdays and wedding anniversaries in March and April in my family is also why Easter was never that big … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Obligatory Birthday Post 2025

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Cora

April 18 was my birthday and also Good Friday. So my initial plan to go out and have lunch at a nice restaurant somewhere was scuppered, because Good Friday is the one day in Germany, where almost everything is closed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, Recipes and Food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Some Thoughts on the 2025 Hugo Finalists – with Bonus Road Trip Photos

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Cora

The 2025 Hugo finalists were announced last night – in a somewhat low-key way via Hugo administrator Nicholas Whyte (I recognised his voice) and someone else whose voice I didn’t recognise reading out the finalists in a YouTube video. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Comics, Fanzine Spotlight, Film, Non-Fiction Spotlight, Semiprozine Spotlight, TV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Easter Branches 2025

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Cora

So what are Easter branches? Easter branches are a North and Central European tradition, where you cut (or buy) bare branches in the run-up to Easter, put them in a vase and decorate with painted eggs or other festive decorations. … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Personal | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An Open Letter to the 2025 Hugo Finalists, Whoever They May Be

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Cora

This is an updated version of this post from 2021, this post from 2022, this post from 2023 and this post from last year, which a lot of people found helpful. There also a Chinese translation of the 2023 post … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some Comments on the 2024 Nebula Finalists

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Cora

The finalists for the 2024 Nebula Awards were announced today. The video of the live announcement may be found here. Once again, I didn’t get to read nearly as much as I wanted to last year for personal reasons, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, TV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Journey to the Edge of the Ruhrgebiet: Cora’s Adventures at the Marché Noir Retro Fair in Dorsten, Part 3: The Road Home and Greven

Posted on February 25, 2025 by Cora

Two weekends ago, I attended the the Marché Noir retro toy/comic/games/cool stuff con in Dorsten on the northern edge of the Ruhrgebiet. For the trip to get there, see part 1 and for my impressions of the con itself and … Continue reading →

Posted in Con Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Journey to the Edge of the Ruhrgebiet: Cora’s Adventures at the Marché Noir Retro Fair in Dorsten, Part 2: The Con and the Mine

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Cora

Here is part 2 of my adventures at the Marché Noir Retro Fair in Dorsten. Part 1 about the trip to get there may be found here. Coalmine Fürst Leopold As mentioned before, the 2025 Marché Noir retro toy/comic/cool stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in Con Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Journey to the Edge of the Ruhrgebiet: Cora’s Adventures at the Marché Noir Retro Fair in Dorsten, Part 1: It’s Roadtrip Time Again

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Cora

I first heard about Marché Noir, a retro toy/comic/games/cool stuff fair in the Ruhrgebiet region, sometime last year. It sounded like exactly my sort of thing. However, Marché Noir is traditionally in February and last year I couldn’t go for … Continue reading →

Posted in Con Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments