Tomorrow morning, at about 7.30am Perth local time, it starts. The bloodbath in Brisbane is the opening round of the 2006/2007 Ashes, and it’s going to be something. There’s a lot of talk about how the series will progress, who will win how many Tests and so on. I might be wrong, but I think it’s going to be short and brutal for the POMS. I’m not sure five zip is possible, but I’d expect 4-nil as a possible outcome. I do wonder if any of the games will go to four days. I think by 5pm on Thursday we’ll have a pretty good idea of how the summer might unfold.

There’s a meme going around. Respond to the SF Book Club’s Top 50. I might. I might not. The only one I’ve not read is the Willmar Shiras, and yet my life feel’s complete. Best response to the meme, though, is from the irrespressible David Moles. Read his response instead.

NB: Edited to remove by stupid error, as wisely advised by Mike Walsh. The book I’ve not read is Wilmar Shiras’s novel Children of the Atom.

Gavin and Kelly over at Small Beer have posted all sorts of pre-ordery goodness. You can pre-order Elizabeth Hand’s new novel Generation Loss, John Crowley’s next Aegypt novel Endless Things, a Delia Sherman/Theodora Goss edited anthology of interstitial writing, and an new Laurie Marks novel. If there isn’t something there you need right away, you’re not trying hard enough!