September 1998
Welcome Aboard
Hello and thank-you to all the new people who signed up since Info Alert
#8. We want to welcome Neal Olsen, Matin Abdullah, and Doug Herrington
from Houston and from the outskirts, Lisa Stapp from Spring, and Patti
Prevett from Friendswood. Still from Texas, we are glad to have Rosalyn
Mansfield from Huntsville. Further afield, we are pleased to welcome Terry
Adams from Los Angeles, Tom Burkhalter from Charlotte, North Carolina,
Jill Willis from Saluda, South Carolina, Kandy Crowe from Monticello,
Florida, and James Martin from Sterling Heights Michigan. We mentioned
ex-Houstonian, Paula Seals (now from Ohio) last time, but we are glad to
make it official. Ex-Houstonian, ex-computer geek, ex-Cephid, ex-fanzine
publisher, ex-leader of African Expeditions, and always his own category,
John Moffit from Prague where he is picking up Czech by osmosis. Although
I think I messed up the signup process and will have to try it again,
Elder GhodFather of Houston Fandom, Joe Pumilia, is now officially aboard.
Finally we welcome R. Teragran from somewhere out there in WebTV land.
Fannish _MAJOR_ Disasters
Houston Fan, Geary Rachel died August 26, 1998 after a valiant struggle
with a failing body. When one successful career became impossible due to
failing eyesight, he created a new one becoming a computer programmer and
database Guru. Coming across an early Steven Gould story, he contacted
the author and fell in with bad company, the Houston branch of the
ex-Cephids. (The Cephid Variables are the A&M university Science Fiction
organization). From there he became a frequent member of the Saturday
Morning Breakfast group where his keen mind and eclectic interests fitted
well with the collection of science fiction fans and writers, NASA
engineers, Mensa members, and the odd space enthusiast. He was a
professional trumpet player, a racquetball master, and loved dogs and
single malt scotch. He was an internationally acclaimed FoxPro expert and
held strong opinions on the Year 2000 problem. The year 2000 will start
without him, due to a combination of diabetes and kidney failure. He will
be missed by his many friends.
Steven Gould is creating a tribute/memorial website for Geary and is
soliciting photos, stories, personal tributes and remembrances.
Special thanks to Steven Gould, Al Jackson, John Moffit, and especially
Bob Stahl for providing us with information about Geary.
Email Steve Gould at sctg@digitalnoir.com . Steven's (and Laura's) website
is at http://www.digitalnoir.com . The future location of the Geary Rachel
site is http//www.digitalnoir.com/geary/ but it is not yet in place.
But There is Good News as Well
At ArmadilloCon, I (Clif) received a big hug from Ann McKannan. She is
looking good, albeit with a somewhat different hairstyle due to the cancer
treatment. She says the email and cards (knowing people were pulling for
her (See July Info Alert) really helped. She has benefited from a "minor
miracle" moving from a 25% chance of complete remission to a 50% chance.
You can send her email and your own wishes for a complete recovery to
annbit@hal-pc.org .
Speaking of ArmadilloCon
We (Margaret and Clif) both had a _wonderful_ time at ArmadilloCon. A
Science Fiction convention is not really about guests and programming or
even parties. You need these things of course, but what really makes an
exceptional convention is a certain critical magical mix of people. Some
conventions never achieve that no matter what they do. This year's
ArmadilloCon had it, in spades. Mind you, the guests were excellent, the
multi-track panels interesting (the things I (Clif) wanted to see
invariably scheduled opposite each other), the art show a competently run
solid exhibit of talent, the dealers room full of books and fannish
paraphernalia, the official rude person as lovable as ever, and if the
parties were a bit sparse, the lobby and halls more than made up for it.
Co-chairs A.T. Campbell and Lori Wolf and the crew that put on
ArmadilloCon 20 can be rightfully proud of this year's convention.
I can't claim that Lori made it look easy. She appeared increasingly worn
down as the convention proceeded, presumably from dealing with the host of
speedbumps and problems that, with luck, the attendees never see. What
kind of problems? We don't know, we were attendees. I did gain the
impression that there was some kind of problem dealing with the hotel and
(possibly unrelated) that the hotel soaked them a healthy fee for every
single table the convention used (which was reflected in the price they
had to charge artists for the expensive tables which in turn had an effect
on the artists, notably Sherlock who usually makes serious use of table
space).
Of great potential concern was the fact that they entered the convention
with no chair selected for next year, which raised the question of whether
they would be able to find one, which by implication raised the question
of whether there would be a convention next year. By the time the
convention was over, however, they had a triumvirate of three co-chairs in
place for ArmadilloCon 21, with an enviable mixture of experience and
enthusiasm and there was a person canvassing the dealers for next year.
To follow the progress of ArmadilloCon 21, keep an eye on the links from
our convention listings at http://clever.net/cam/concalendar.html .
Random ArmadilloCon highlights
- Bruce Sterling reading an article written for Wired on the development
of prison technology (some with alarming implications for mass use on the
general population) in just the right tone of barely suppressed sardonic
glee.
- Warren Spector's self-introduction as a Renaissance Geek. Also, his
story of the world simulation so good that it managed to surprise its
creators when a playtester was unexpectedly able to use a mouse to
retrieve a key on the far side of a locked gate. (This is a story he has
told before, but he tells it so well).
- After the Ursa Major Brown Bag Book Auction, ancient HSFS (Houston
Science Fiction Society) members swapping war stories with the UMSFLA
(Ursa Major Science Fiction Literary Association) members concerning the
making of club videos.
- A serious consideration of the manner in which Print-on-Demand will
affect Science Fiction literature.
- Back-to-back readings on Sunday by Elizabeth Moon, James P. Hogan, and
Steven Gould. Each a favorite author of mine (Margaret) but for different
reasons. It was interesting to see how many of the audience stayed for
the next author with me and how many left or came in.
- A favorite panel of mine (Margaret) was the "It Ain't Over 'til the Fat
Lady Goes FTL: The Space Opera Panel", not only because the name was so
neat but because I enjoyed the panel so much.
- "Reviving Roadkill: The Sorry State of Texas SF Conventions" was also a
"lively" panel. The advent of the Internet and, years ago, of the
videocassette recorder, has fundamentally changed what people come to
science fiction conventions to see and do. The younger generation, for the
most part, are gamers, not so much readers. Tax laws have forced hotels to
drastically increase prices. It was an interesting hour!
Stay Tuned for Info Alert Part 2. Next Message
September Info-Alert - Part 2
Space, the Final Frontier
This has been a busy month for NASA. The Mars Global Surveyor was to
enter its second phase of aerobraking after its backup telecommunications
path (through the low-gain antenna) worked satisfactorily. Then a roughly
15 second burn was to repeatedly dip the craft far enough into the Martian
atmosphere to gradually transform its 12 hour orbit to the 2 hour circular
mapping orbit. At the last minute, however, a bug in the software
commands sent to the Surveyor to turn its solar panels to the correct
angle for the aerobraking caused instead a sudden discharge of the
spacecraft's batteries and sent it into contingency mode where it shuts
everything down that can be safely shut down and waits until it gets new
instructions. They are currently recharging the battery and will try
again Wednesday of next week. Since the high gain antenna is one of the
things automatically shut down, it's a good job that the low gain antenna
was working properly. (Whew!)
Meanwhile, analysis of temperature data and close-up images of Phobos, the
Martian inner moon, strongly indicates that its surface has been pounded
into roughly three feet deep of finely ground powder by ages of meteoroid
impacts. Some of these impacts have started landslides that left dark
trails marking the steep slopes of giant craters. This is particularly
noticeable in the 6 mile wide Stickney crater half the size of Phobos
itself, where light and dark streaks trailing down the slopes of the bowl
show that even with a gravity 1/1000th that of Earth, debris still tumbles
downhill. Measurements of the day and night sides of Phobos, the
powder-puff world, show such extreme temperature variations that the
sunlit side of the moon rivals a pleasant winter day in Chicago, (makes me
glad I live in Houston) while only a couple of miles away, on the dark
side of the moon, it is colder than a night in Antarctica. The rapid heat
loss is probably due to the ultra fine dust particles that radiate heat
rapidly once the Sun has set.
Phobos does not appear to be the only Powder Puff world. The Galileo
study of Jupiter's ring system has now shown the outermost gossamer ring
comes from dust kicked off the small Jupiter moons of Amalthea and Thebe
and slowly escaping from their orbit. It seems fairly certain that the
main ring is caused by escaping dust from moons Adrastea and Metis. The
four moons display "bizarre surfaces of undetermined composition that
appear very dark, red and heavily cratered from meteoroid impacts," said
Dr. Joseph Veverka, a Cornell astronomer. The rings contain very fine tiny
particles resembling dark, reddish soot. Another Cornell astronomer
speculates that the more extensive ring system of Saturn, which unlike
Jupiter's rings are known to contain ice, are probably the results of
similar processes.
The new Phobos image (and thermal spectrometer measurements) can be found
at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov , http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov ,
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ , http://www.msss.com/ and
http://emma.la.asu.edu . Information on the Galileo mission and new
images and information on Jupiter's rings are at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo,
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/sept98/jupiter_rings.html ,
and again at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ .
Forthcoming SF&Fantasy Books
New books announced from Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen R. Donaldson, David
Eddings, David Feintuch, Robin Hobb, Nancy Kress, Mercedes Lackey, Larry
Niven, and Frederik Pohl. Plus September releases from Elizabeth Hand,
L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Larry Niven, and Timothy Zahn!
For more listings (updated monthly), see
http://clever.net/cam/forthcomingsf.html .
Forthcoming SF, Fantasy, & Gaming Cons
Babylon 5 fans will be in Dallas Sept. 18-20 for Stellar Occasion 5.
Gamers will be marking their calendars to attend NovaCon XIV Oct. 16-18 at
Texas A&M. We regret to announce that, due to unavoidable financial
difficulties, SoonerCon 14 has been CANCELLED. (Preregistration money is
being refunded.) Check out the details on our What's Happening list at
http://clever.net/cam/concalendar.html .
Houston-area and Texas Science Fiction Organizations
Care to "make it so" with other people who enjoy creating characters in
the Star Trek universe as much as you do? Do you like role playing in
missions and stories? Need a forum to display your creativity? Then book
your adventure into the unknown with the U.S.S. Aurora Vulcanus NCC-1888.
That's right, we're talking Starfleet! Or would you prefer to roll up
your sleeves and work hard for the "real" space program? The Space
Station Future Fighters, a space advocacy group, whose motto is "We're
Fighting for our Future in Space", could always use a few more hands! To
find out more about these two organizations added in the past month to our
pages, see our listing at
http://clever.net/cam/clubslist.html .
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
Last time we requested information on San Antonio's fan activities. What
we learned is at the end of http://clever.net/cam/clubslist.html under the
heading _San Antonio-area_. Like us, you may initially be a bit taken
aback by the weekly meetings. They have an interesting system though.
They have one business meeting a month (to keep the business meetings from
taking over). Then they have one meeting for making snide remarks at bad
movies ala MST 3000. Some "meetings" are purely parties and some are
devoted to special projects. All in all, it seems a workable system.
We don't have an all inclusive list for San-Antonio SF related fan groups
yet (or for Austin or, most likely, even for Houston - witness the recent
additions for Starfleet's Aurora Vulcanus and the Space Station Future
Fighters) but we seem to be off to an excellent start. Stay tuned!
Texas Worldcon (and a cameo appearance by your editors)
Missed the only Worldcon ever held in Texas? Or would just like to see
the LoneStarCon 2 Masquerade again? Well, wait no more! Videos are
available now for the 1997 Worldcon Hugo Awards Ceremony ($19.95),
LoneStarCon 2 Masquerade (2 tape set - $34.95), and LoneStarCon 2
Overview ($19.95), all with PAL versions available upon request. (Add
shipping&handling: $2.00 for 1 tape, $3.00 for 2 tapes, $4.50 for all 4
tapes.) They will be placing an order form on the Web soon, but we don't
have a web address yet. For simple orders. just go ahead and send payment
and orders to:
10915 Silkwood Drive
Houston, Texas 77031-1706
For more complicated orders or for more information, email Bill Parker at
bparker@flash.net .
Part 3 of the Info Alert Coming Real Soon Now!
September Info Alert Part 3
Fall Festival
Yearning to return to those days of yore? Longing for Adventure,
Merriment, Romance, and Magic? Specifically, the days of Good King
Henry VIII? Then the Texas Renaissance Festival, held Oct. 3-Nov. 15 in
Plantersville (just northwest of Houston, TX), is for you! See live SCA
demonstrations! Eat huge turkey drumsticks! Attend live comedy &
juggling shows complete with swordfighting! Visit the 250 arts & crafts
shoppes! Cheer for your favorites at the chariot races & jousting matches!
For more information, see the Texas Renaissance Festival homepage at
http://www.texrenfest.com/ .
Science Fiction on TV
Houston's newest UHF channel, Channel 55 The Tube, debuted on the air in
July 1998 and on TCI Cable Channel 69 sometime after that (for the less
than 50% of TCI customers with upgraded systems). Most TCI customers will
be seeing Ch.55 after scheduled upgrades are completed, sometime in the
next two months. Warner Cable customers, will start receiving KTBU-TV on
Warner Channel 55 as soon as October 15 (check your cable bill for the
date in your area). OpTel Cable has The Tube on Channel 5. For broadcast
customers who have had difficulty getting good reception, keep in mind
that KTBU-TV "uses a 5,000-watt signal off a 2,000 foot tower near
Cleveland [TX]" (according to the Houston Chronicle, 9/4/98).
Fall TV season premieres coming up in the next few weeks: Stargate
(9/18), Highlander: The Raven (9/26), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (9/30),
Hercules (10/1), Xena (10/1), Millenium (10/2), Mercy Point (10/6), Earth
the Final Conflict (10/10), and Star Trek: Voyager (10/14). For more
information about Science Fiction on TV, see our listing at
http://clever.net/cam/sftv.html .
Michael Crichton/Nancy Kress wannabes wanted!
HMS Beagle, an online webzine for the biological research community, is
currently planning to add a new Science Fiction section, which will
feature one new fiction story each month relating to biology or
medicine. The stories need not be set in the distant future or in
imaginary locations, if the author wishes to write about current topics.
Many current biological topics, such as new discoveries in the field of
genetics, computers and biology, or earth science and evolution, are most
certainly acceptable. They only ask that submissions be no longer than
1,500 words. They will pay $350 for stories that include links to relevant
websites, or $300 for those without endlinks. For more information, see
the HMS Beagle website at http://hmsbeagle.com and/or send email to Lois
Wingerson, Editor-in-Chief, HMS Beagle at lois@hmsbeagle.com .
(If you aren't an SF writer but know one, pass it on!)
Other Web sites writers may wish to consider are:
Aboriginal Science Fiction http://www.aboriginalsf.com/
Absolute Magnitude http://www.marketlist.com/gls/absolute.htp
Altair http://www.ozemail.com.au/~robsteph/altair.htm
Analog http://www.sfsite.com/analog/
Artemis Magazine http://www.lrcpubs.com/artemag/artemis-mag.html
Asimov's http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/
Event Horizon http://www.e-horizon.com/eventhorizon/
Fantasy and Science Fiction http://www.marketlist.com/gls/magfsf.htp
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine http://www.mzbfm.com/
Odyssey http://www.jeapes.ndirect.co.uk/odyssey/
Science Fiction Age http://www.marketlist.com/gls/sfage.htp
Where No Meal Has Gone Before
According to Sci-Fi Wire, Chris Doohan, son of Star Trek's James Doohan,
plans to launch a science fiction-themed restaurant called
Sci-Fi Cafe in Seattle, Wash., in March 1999. The opening will mark the
start of a Sci-Fi Cafe chain. The cafes will cost between $5 million and
$7 million each, and Doohan says they are fully funded. A variety of
celebrities have either invested in the project or endorsed it, including
James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig and Majel
Barrett Roddenberry from Star Trek, as well as actors from both Stars Wars
and Battlestar Galactica. Unlike other major themed restaurant chains,
Doohan said all of the Sci-Fi Cafes will be different from one another.
The cafes will be designed like "an intergalactic space station with an
alien zoo inside," populated by animatronic extraterrestrials and other
oddities. Visitors will beam up to their seats courtesy of special
effects, and of course there will be opportunity to buy SF merchandise.
Of course... Sci-Fi Wire is at http://wire.scifi.com/scifiwire/
With More You Get Less
Due to our success at obtaining members for the Info-Alert mailing
list, we now get less space per message. On the other hand we can
can send as many messages as we wish, and the Price is Right. We
do apologize for the multi-part messages and someday we will be moving
to our own ad-free list service.
Send any email comments or suggestions regarding fannish
activities/events in the greater Houston area (or within Texas) or
regarding this Info Alert to fof@clever.net . If you received this Info
Alert as a sample and would be interested in receiving future editions
directly, email clifton@cs.uh.edu or join the list by entering your email
address on any of our Web pages as listed above (where it says LISTBOT).
Be seeing you!
Margaret A. Fincannon, Friends of Fandom &
Clifton B. Davis, Friends of Fandom Vice Pres. of Publications
http://clever.net/cam/fof.html fof@clever.net
And for those who love to read the fine print ...
****************************************************************
The Friends of Fandom Information Alert is an official publication of
Friends of Fandom, distributed in electronic and print form in
furtherance of its tax exempt purpose. The information contained
therein reflects that believed to be true and accurate by its editors.
However, we make no guarantees. All opinions expressed are those of the
individual contributors and may not necessarily reflect either the
official position of Friends of Fandom or the opinions of the editors,
nor the officers or board of directors of Friends of Fandom. Friends of
Fandom is a nonprofit, literary, scientific, and educational 501(c)(3)
corporation committed to encouraging and facilitating interest and
activities pertaining to science fiction, fantasy, and science fact in its
various forms.
*****************************************************************