A PUBLICATION OF THE WASHINGTON SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION INC, WASHINGTON, DC
November/December 1993
ISSN 0894-5411
Features
Reviews
George Lucas recently announced that he will resume filmmaking in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes. This follows months of intense psionic pressure by Mike Zipser, 12th Dan Secret Master of Fandom, intended to force the movie giant "to do the right thing."
Lucas' first project(s) will be Star Wars Chapters I-III, which will tell the story of Obi-wan Kenobi, the Clone Wars, the corruption of Anakin Skywalker and his resurrection as Darth Vader. Chapter III is tentatively scheduled to conclude with a brief glimpse of Luke and Leia Skywalker as children. Other established characters reappearing in the prequels to Star Wars: A New Hope include R2D2 and C3PO. Continuation of the series beyond Star Wars: Chapter VI: The Return of the Jedi is still uncertain at this time. Industry sources predict that the unassuming Zipser's persuasive talents will force Lucas to complete the entire planned series of nine movies.
Stories for the projected new Indiana Jones movies have not been set at this time, but are expected to follow the successful Raiders of the Lost Ark/Last Crusade formula of romance and adventure tied to the recovery of fabulous archeological treasures.
Mike Zipser was characteristically modest about his accomplishment. "What lies are you telling now?" he asked when contacted by The WSFA Journal.
The regular Third Friday in October Washington Science Faction Association business meeting convened at Stately Ginter Manor at 16 units after 9 units, on the Ides of October [15 October] 1993. "Why [have a meeting]?" asked one citizen. "Because I say so!" responded President Steve Smith. "He has to justify his existence somehow," noted Covert Beach.
Steve asked Secretary Lee if he had the minutes of the previous meeting. "Yes," piped up Lee in a squeaky voice. There was motion to waive the minutes physically. This was declared a wave function. But, will it collapse if you look at it?
Treasurer Robert "Guy" MacIntosh reported exactly the same amount of money in the Treasury ($3266.25) as last time. Dr. Perrianne Lurie asked if there was any interest? Several people were interested. There was a lethargic call for a party but it died for lack of interest.
Disclave Past is past. Covert declared, "No news is good news."
Disclave Present was present. Chairfan John Peacock announced there would be a long and involved meeting at "our" house. If you really have to be there, I'll give you a map. Only come if you want to conduct serious business.
Flyers are courtesy of Covert. The club applauded. There were also a small number of Registration forms. Perrianne reported a meeting at the hotel: the committee walked thru the hotel with the friendly and charming hotel staff. They looked at the nice hotel function space. She suggested we build a wall in the garage for the Thru The Wall people.
The loading dock is a secret, or, at least, it's an insurance problem. During the con, it's our insurance problem. The hotel is relieved we're not associated with Fantek. (So are we!)
Lee Uba, Vice Chairfan of the Entertainment Committee, babbled, "How can I say this?" <In English?> "Alexis and I will have the wedding reception before the ceremony, at Chuck Divine's." Jim Uba will carve the wedding pumpkin. {The Great Pumpkin will be pleased.} Grubby details later.
Steve asked if the Trustees had "Any words of wisdom?" Robyn Rissell replied, "No." The club applauded the honesty. An election for the 1995 Disclave Chair is scheduled for the Third Friday in November.
New Business
Old Business
The Fifth Friday in October party will be at Chuck Divine's Maryland Home for the Prematurely Tall. A map was published in a previous issue of The WSFA Journal.
New Business
There was none. "I like that," opined our energetic chief.
The New Tradition
"He remembered!" exclaimed Lee Uba. The club applauded Steve's feat of memory. "Now that I have been cheered as is my due...." began Steve.
Anyway, no one was here for his or her first or second time. Steve asked for third timers. Lee Uba said "Say 'Hello James'." James said, "Hello James." {The kid's learning.} Lee announced, "He's just now an adult... sort of." {That statement applies to most of us, Lee.} The club giggled.
Announcements
The Secretary did the usual announcement straight this time.
Lee Uba announced that Jim Uba is not giving her away. He's charging $1.75. {I don't want to hear the details.}
Erica Van Dommelen announced if you want to buy Tupperware without dealing with the Tupperware Lady, see Erica. The Tupperware Lady is getting used to us. Ut-oh.
Steve suggested people look up "to tup" in an old dictionary.
John Peacock announced that the rumor that Bravo Network will feature Max Headroom is just a rumor.
Kit Mason has a lady's 12 speed, low mileage bicycle.
Kent Bloom had a brief encounter with Steve in the mall.... This produced a round of giggling and comments that we won't print in THIS newsletter. Kent is also looking for people who want to work on Winnipeg. How do you get there? Just drive north until you hit Hudson's Bay and turn left.
Rachel Russell announced that Eric has his 1st story published in Amazing. They have xeroxes. [Eric's day job is in a copy center.] Her first story came out in Unreality. They received a postcard that Fantasy & Science Fiction will publish another story. Steve pronounced the couple to be "sliding along to pro-dom." Rachel asked, "Why do you think we write this?!"
Perrianne announced that Sci Fi Buzz is called "Sci Fi" rather than "Science Fiction". Apparently a craving for words of one syllable.
Perrianne also pointed out a couple of errors in an unnamed Washington area newsletter. Kitty Jensen was interviewed, and not an escort. Perrianne herself was offering a ride, not needing one. But things worked out. If you want to help with the Disclave Program Book, see Perrianne.
* After the meeting, Perrianne said that she knew the mistakes were accidents "because they weren't funny."
Lance Oszko, noted pirate, announced the Baltimore Worldcon bid is selling sexy black T-shirts as well as the classic Kelly Freas T-shirts. Amber sales have been split off.
Eric Jablow announced that New York area fan Mike Reuben is in bad shape, and asked people to pray for Mike.
Guy moved to adjourn and the club unanimously adjourned at 40 units after 9 units.
_______________________________________________________
The WSFA Journal is the official newsletter of the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA), Inc. All material is © 1993 WSFA, Inc., except as noted. "I Lost My Mind at Confrancisco" is © 1993 Perrianne Lurie.
Publisher ......... Steve Smith
Editor-in-Chief .... Lee Strong
Star Writer .... Perrianne Lurie
The regular First Friday in November business meeting of the Washington Science Friction Association convened at 9:22 on 5 Consensus. The consensus was that the month was November 1993. Before the meeting a town crier called the citizens to order. It was "as close to voluntary as this crowd ever gets."
President Steve Smith asked if Secretary Lee Strong had any minutes. Lee didn't have anything in writing. Joe Mayhew said, "'Publish or perish', I say."
Treasurer Robert "Guy" MacIntosh reported $3160.32 on hand. There was a timid call for a party. Rowdie Yates sneered, "Enthusiastic wimps!" Steve declared, "The party fails for lack of grammar."
Peggy Rae Pavlat offered forms for Disclave Present (1994). John Sapienza, Registrar, offered to take money.
Alexis Gilliland, Chairfan of the Entertainment Committee, reported being entertained watching the spectacle of Ross Perot being challenged to a debate. In addition, the entire Entertainment Committee got married to each other. Steve noted that this counts as their entertainment, not ours.
Trustee Robyn Rissell introduced the other Trustee present, Dan Hoey. Trustee Dan Burgess was not here. Dan Hoey announced, "I'm the Dan if you do and he's the Dan if you don't." The club went Ohhh!
Candidates for the 1995 Disclave Chairfanship are Dan Hoey and Lee Uba Gilliland. There was applause for both candidates. This is not the New York City Mayor's Race. In order to vote, you must be a paid up member for 1993 or 1994. Rachel Russell asked if she could give a proxy vote? "NO!" thundered the answer.
Steve asked, "Are there any committees that I'm forgetting about?" "Publications?" asked one. "Fine Arts?" asked another. Steve forgot to call on them.
Old Business
In the absence.... Steve was interrupted. The former Lee Uba announced that she is now Lee Gilliland. The Entertainment Committee found some old toys in the attic and will not need the $20 appropriated by the club. Thank you anyway.
New Business
Winton asked if the Xmas Tradition would be followed. Yes, the meeting places for the month of December will be switched. Steve rehearsed the switch. Lee Gilliland said that there would be no party and no bheer at Chez Gilliland on the First Friday. Joe Mayhew declared, "You hope!", noting that there will be an unsupervised teenager present. Someone asked if we should rent a bus for said teenager.
The Fifth Friday in December is New Year's Eve. Any suggestions? "Evecon," suggested Lee Gilliland. The club went Ohhh! The idea was taken under advisement.
Announcements
{As usual...!}
The New Tradition
The WSFA Glee Club chorused "Tradition" for no special reason. Rich, Graham, Eileen, and Larry were each here for their first time. The went "Hi!" to each of them. This produced a Mouseketeer imitation. La, la, la,... [I just write this stuff down, folks.]
Steve asked if any were her for their second time. Someone was. "Do you remember your name?" asked our leader. Sam, it turned out, attended a June meeting. "Hello, Sam," chorused the club. "Shame on you," joshed Joe Mayhew. "Fool me once, shame on me; ...."
No one was here for his or her third time.
Announcements
The Secretary announced that anyone who wished his announcement to appear as he wished rather than as the Secretary might remember it is out of luck.
Lee Gilliland announced that "Lee Gilliland sounds weird." <No news there.> There is experimental chili upstairs. How hot is it? How experimental is it? It is Jurassic Pork, being composed of pork and turkey in chili stock.
The unemployed Terilee Edwards-Hewitt has bronchitis again. Her church, St. Andrews, is having a bazaar. See Terilee for details. Jim E-H and she are having a murder Live Action Role Playing (LARP) game on 5 December 1993. The cost is $25 dead or alive.
Lance Oszko tried to speak but Lee Gilliland told him to go away.
Undaunted, the Polish Pirate announced more Baltimore Worldcon
parties and piracy merchandising.
Dan Hoey-Without-A-Moustache asked, "Think carefully now. Do you have enough kittens?' This produced massive laughter and clapping. Dan continued, saying that Christmas is coming and 2 alley kittens are looking for homes. One is large and one is small. There was a reference to Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons. However, it was pointed out that the kittons were actually mutant minks, not cats.
Joe thanked the taxpayers for generous support for the rest of his life. He has retired from the Library of Congress. He volunteered to continue recommending science fiction for the Library.
Joe was on a panel at World Fantasy Con with Gene Wolfe and John Crowder. Harlan Ellison was in the audience. Next year in N'arleans.
Beth Zipser announced a new Discworld novel, Men-at-Arms.
Rebecca the Disembodied Hand has a 1948 comic book. She is looking for a home for old (1960s+) ADP publications. If you know of a home for such pubs or want to know the value of old comic books, call Rebecca at (703) 534-2274.
Rachel Russell babbled until someone shouted, "Spit it out!" She brought copies of her publications. The club applauded. Mike Walsh noted that Rachel is now eligible for the Campbell Award.
Nancy Loomis is moving to Killeen, Texas. She has a contract at Fort Hood.
Evan Phillips went camping in 20 national parks. He sold his house. Life is good. He's looking for a job as a computer programmer.
Kitty Jensen the Disembodied Hand announced a new science fiction/comic book store in Springfield Mall.
Peggy Rae Pavlat announced that Chris Valada passed her bar exam and has been sworn in as a lawyer. <Just what we need: another lawyer.>
Doctor Perrianne Lurie is looking for Disclave Program Book volunteers and Balticon Green Room volunteers. The GOH will be Mercedes Lackey.
Dick Roepke announced that Nancy Atherton is signing books.
Mike Walsh announced Fantasycon at Halloween 1994. The theme is "Obsession". In 1995, the con will meet at Baltimore Inner Harborplace. In 1996, Chicago. In 1997, in London on the Isle of Dogs. Save lots of money and bring it. Mike has a brochure.
Mike also had books. "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" chorused the glee club. H. Beam Piper's first book, Murder in the Gun Room is being printed in Dexter, MI. He has a gamin book for $20. Mike giggled sillily. He has been offered a 1933 manuscript by Stanley Weinbaum, The Mad Brain. Chris Callahan offered to type it for him.
Larry Rader is running a SF project: a CD ROM and on line service on SF, fantasy and horror. He is looking for volunteer inputters. He would like to pay the inputters but can't promise that. He hopes to go on line by Winnipeg Worldcon. Meet Larry over chili.
Ms. Kit Mason thanked Mr. Steve Smith for allowing her the floor. Connie Willis' original Doomsday Book is out from Fantasy Unlimited.
Terilee offered a working Vic 20 and printer for $25.
Jack Chalker had no commercial project at this time, but offered some statistics on his latest Well World project. It was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 1 week and beat Star Trek on B. Dalton's list.
Lee Gilliland needs reference books for a 15 year old kid. Get him lots of science fiction.
Karl Ginter announced that tonight was Erica's birthday. People hollered "Happy birthday, Erica!"
Rich announced a virgin copy of Empires of the Middle Ages. It is entertaining and reasonable.
Alexis moved we adjourn. Steve said, "All in favor, say something vaguely positive." The club unanimously said something vaguely positive at 10:01.
_______________________________________________________
Vice President Albert Gore recently wrote top civil servants asking them to help reinvent the Federal Government. "Reinvent" was misspelled "reinvest".
A task force headed by VP Gore recently issued a report on ways to "reinvent" the Federal Government. The report cost three times the usual amount because the Gore team insisted on thick, high gloss paper and a rush printing job.
The Pentagon celebration of Women's Equality Day, 1993, included a display decorated with traditional male symbols.
The regular Third Friday in November 1993 business meeting convened at 20 minutes past 9, day #19, month #11 in Stately Ginter Manor. Before the meeting, Mike Zipser usurped the throne. Actually, it's his throne that he loans to Steve. John Sapienza was stroking a basket of cat.
"Yo! Let's have a meeting!" bellowed President Steve Smith. Several whiners asked, "Why?" and "Do we have to?" John moved that we adjourn but this motion died for lack of a second.
Secretary Lee Strong sadly announced that there would be no WSFA Journal in the month of November due to the press of other business. There was a sharp intake of breath at the thought of an anal-retentive missing a deadline. Lee Gilliland proposed we waive the waiving of the minutes. This was weird even by our standards, but it was adopted.
Lee Strong announced that the December issue would be a double issue consolidating November and December 1993 material. Someone asked if it would count as one or two issues on our subscriptions.
Treasurer Robert "Guy" MacIntosh reported $2979.38 in the Treasury. There was a call for a party. Alexis Gilliland called for a "Party party party." John Sapienza suggested, "Let's collect some dues." The motions failed for lack of seconds.
Alexis, Chairfan of the Entertainment Committee, was Fan GOH at Psycon. He had a good time, but his car dropped dead on the way back. It lost the fuel pump and starter.
What about Disclave Present? Peggy Rae Pavlat has membership forms. She is going back on the road shortly.
What about Disclave Future? "We have a future," declared Dr. Perrianne Lurie.
Steve invited Trustee Dan Burgess to speak. Dan woofed a couple of times and Erica Van Dommelen gave him a dog biscuit. He then announced that we were having an election for Disclave 1995 Chairfan. The Trustees looked for candidates both brave and foolish. Since Demosthenes & Diogenes weren't available, they chose Lee Gilliland and Dan Hoey.
Steve asked if there were any Committees That I'm Forgetting About? Sounds like a mental block to me. The Fine Arts Committee is on hold. Kelly Freas asked, "Where the heck are my slides?"
Old Business
Next month gets swapped: the First Friday will be at Stately Ginter Manor while the Third Friday will be at Chez Gilliland. The traditional nondenominational Tree Trimming will be held at the Third Friday in December.
The Fifth Friday in December will be New Year's Eve. Do we want to make a decision now or wait until the last minute like usual? Try it again next time.
New Business
Incredible, isn't it?
Announcements, Part I
Ut-oh.
The New Tradition
Is there anyone here for his or her first time? Three people admitted it was their first time, to cries of "Fresh meat! Yay!!" The club greeted Eric, Dave, and Mike -- none of whom have family names. Dave said, "Hello, WSFA."
Is there anyone here for his second time? "I'm Rich," proclaimed one. Most people said "Hi, Rich!" Rowdie Yates asked if we could borrow some money?
Is there anyone here for his third time? Applause greeted Sam. "He's now one of us," enthused one. "Not until he suffers brain damage," corrected another. Dan Hoey explained the rules. Sam worked on Disclave 1993.
Announcements, Part II
Steve called on Dr. Lurie first, but she graciously deferred to the Secretary. Joe Mayhew then did the Secretary's traditional announcement. Lee Gilliland paraphrased it as, "If you want your announcement written right, write it right right here and it'll be written righter than if it wasn't written right right at the beginning."
Dr. Lurie then resumed. She was the most fannish filksong at Philcon. She is still looking for volunteers for the Balticon Green Room and the Disclave Program Book.
Joe has some trophies from Philcon. Gardner Dozois bought a cartoon and Charles Ryan bought one of his stories.
Lee Strong had 3 announcements. 2. President Clinton has been
complaining about the biased liberal media. Welcome to the
Conservative Movement, Mr. President. 3.a. The Maryland Enquirer-Gazette
had a nice article on Twilight of the Dogs, a low budget film
in production with extensive WSFAn involvement. The article was
generally positive. 3.b. The Washington Post will have an
article on the movie in the near future. The Post's SF editor,
Martin Wooster, is one of the extras in the film. 3.c. Lee Strong has
been promoted to Executive Producer of the film. The club applauded
Lee's self-aggrandizement pro status.
Committee Reports, Part II
John Peacock, Chairfan of Disclave 1994, and Paula Lewis spent Armadillocon smoffing like mad.
Announcements, Part III
Erica had sort of an announcement: on 17 Feb 1994, there will be an interactive video teleconference on the projected space station.
Erica also reviewed the house rules. Smoking outside only; there is a virtual ash tray out there. Plague the cats carefully: if they accept it, O.K. If they object, stop plaguing. Please prop the bathroom door open when you are thru as the cats need to use the bathroom, too. It's there or on your coat. There are 4 indoor cats and 1½ outdoor cats... Someone interrupted to ask how you could have ½ a cat? Shut the door too quickly, was one idea. Anyway, leave the cats where you find them. Do not eat directly from the refrigerator with your hands. Stately Ginter Manor now has a Lost & Found Department. Please see Erica if you lost something other than your mind.
Chris Callahan announced a new Staples branch open on Greenbelt Road.
Peggy Rae announced that something nice happened. She received a call from Norwescon: she will be the GOH. The club applauded Norwescon's good taste.
The local Sherlockian society, The Six Napoleons, met on the weekend of 20 November.
Lance Oszko, the Polish Pirate, announced a beta test of a new party at Darkover. The test will feature barbecued chicken.
Susan Cohen announced a Live Action Role Playing (LARP) game over the 1994 President's Day holiday. It will be multigenera set in the Victorian Era.
Joe has become a trustee of the Second Renaissance Foundation. What does it mean? The Foundation is the sponsoring body for Aboriginal Science Fiction. The publishers are investigating a new multigenera stories magazine.
Dan Hoey had 3 announcements. 1. He got a ticket dismissed in the District of Columbia via mail adjudication. The club professed disbelief. 2. He has a Guru of News parody of The Wizard of Oz. 3. Lee Gilliland and he agreed to have no political speeches during the election, so Dan passed around a political flyer. It provoked 3 squeaks on the Van Dommelen scale.
Dan Burgess attempted to adjourn. Foiled again.
Covert Beach saw Addams Family Values. This one is Wednesday's movie. The last one was a warm up.
Chuck Divine is looking for the Renaissance Festival. Perrianne
Dr. Lurie noted they are in the phone book.
Peggy Rae asked if the Trustees had an alternate counter to manage the election since one Trustee was a candidate? Steve explained the election meeting and the need for an alternate counter.
The club business meeting unanimously adjourned at 9:52. There followed a pause of X minutes.
Election Meeting:
The WSFA Election Meeting for Disclave 1995 Chairfan convened on 19 November 1993. Trustees Dan Burgess and Robyn Rissell, and alternate Counter Gary Romain presided. "Yo! Let's have some quiet, please."
The candidates for office were Ms. Lee Gilliland and Mr. Dan Hoey. They pledged their souls and bodies to the greater glory of Disclave. Joe Mayhew moved that nominations be closed and they were closed unanimously.
Covert Beach asked about the candidates' qualifications. "Do they have a pulse? Robert "Guy" MacIntosh asked, "Do they have a job offer from out of town?"
Dan Burgess passed the hat and generally tried to have an election. Loud noise filled the small room.
Robyn Rissell announced that Dan Hoey had won the election. Lee Gilliland led a round of applause for the winner. Other people set up the traditional chorus of "Sucker!" The election meeting unanimously adjourned at 10:15.
If science fiction is horse opera transposed into space, this funny film is a sitcom transposed into horror. Or, at least, comic horror.
The plot is surprisingly mundane. The ghoulish Addamses are mostly overjoyed by the arrival of a new child, Pubert Addams. His new nanny proves to be an evil golddigger who seduces innocent (?) Fester Addams into marriage while railroading Wednesday and Pugsley Addams to the horrors of summer camp!
What makes this work interesting is the comic horror and vigor infusing the entire plot. All of the Addamses and most of their supporting cast are lovable loons and grinning ghouls. This will certainly not be to the taste of everyone. Yet a basic offbeat humor and maniac energy keeps things at the right pitch for entertainment rather than disgust.
The creative team has done an excellent job of continuing the same characters without succumbing to sequelitis. Fester and Wednesday Addams are particularly bright as new sides to their personalities are revealed. Even baby Pubert emerges as a definite character no easy task in a universe where everyone is strange and wonderful. The actors are especially to be complimented on their portrayals. They succeed wonderfully in presenting difficult characters with assurance and, most of all, with charm. No mean feat... even for Addamses.
I rate Addams Family Values as Superior entertainment. --LS
ConFrancisco, the 51st World Science Fiction Convention, was held September 2-6, 1993, at the Moscone Convention Center, ANA, Parc 55, and Nikko Hotels in San Francisco. Having spend most of my time during the con working (either in Program Ops or as a member of the Diplomatic Corps. they couldn't call us ushers because that's a union job!) or being a Program Participant, I didn't see as much of the programming as I usually do. I also missed a lot of parties and filking as a result of the vast distance between the Moscone/ANA (filking) and the Parc 55 (parties and con suite). I'm told it's a little more than half a mile, but it seemed a lot longer late at night when you have to dodge the homeless people living on Market Street because the mayor had the police chase them out of the parks and train stations! The elevators at the Parc 55 died on Friday night (the motherboard controlling them gave up the ghost and it took a while for the on-call Otis technicians to replace it), forcing me to walk down 27 flights of stairs from the GEnie party, and discouraging my return to the Parc until the Monday dead dog parties.
I arrived in San Francisco on Monday night after spending the previous 9 days sight-seeing in southern and central California, and I spent Tuesday at Alcatraz and the Exploratorium (which I found disappointing). Wednesday I took the "Science Fiction in San Francisco" bus tour sponsored by the con and run by Grey Line. It was the basic Grey Line SF tour with an additional guide from the con com pointing out SF sights (like the clearing in Golden Gate Park where Kirk landed the Klingon Bird of Prey in Star Trek 4 and the bank where Amy worked in Time After Time), but it was fun and cost less than expected. I was able to pick up my badge and Quick Reference Guide (pocket program, maps, and restaurant guide) on Wednesday evening only because I happened by when they were testing out the registration system. This turned out to be a very good thing because registration opened late on Thursday morning, and the lines were very long and slow when they finally opened at around 10. The Souvenir Books (program books) were not available at registration; you were given a ticket to turn in downstairs where you got the SB and the publisher freebies (necessitating another long wait on line). There were still other lines (or people to track down) to pick up the program participant packets, staff ribbons, gizmos, etc. And forms to fill out (for staff and volunteers), too!
The Quick Reference Guide was a 7" X 4-1/2" spiral-bound booklet which contained all the schedule information except the Participant Index (which wasn't ready 4 weeks before the con when the book went to press) and included artist and dealer listings, panel descriptions, and the program grid. Unfortunately, some of the function rooms were omitted from the grid. It also listed hours of operation for the static functions and maps of the function space. The City Guide section was mainly a list of restaurants and other essential services. (I didn't find the restaurant guide terribly useful, but I had already scoured several different California and San Francisco guidebooks for places to eat.) If you have really big pockets, you could fit the booklet into them (better than most other "pocket programs" I've seen). All in all, this was a highly successful publication. I only wish updated schedules had been printed (the "quickie sheets" we've come to rely upon since Nolacon) in addition to the changes listed in the daily zine.
The Souvenir Book, with full-color front and back cover by Artist GOH Alicia Austin, was attractively laid out and included some additional information about programming and events, a brief history of San Francisco, info about fan funds, lists of Hugo nominees, past Hugo winners, and previous Worldcons, and the obligatory WSFS Constitution, as well as a slew of ads from Worldcon bids, other cons, publishers, and others.
The daily zine, The Norton Reader, published 9-1/2 issues containing con news, schedule changes, party lists, etc. (The extra half issue contained the list of the winners of the masquerade and other stuff.) The staff did an excellent job of keeping attendees informed about con events and announcements (at least, where they were informed _ we never did get to see a list of the Hogu winners). The hoax zine, The Norton Futilities, distributed by the usual suspects, managed to scoop the daily zine and published the Hugo winners list first.
I did not attend the Opening Ceremonies (which I was told started late and ran too long), but they featured the first of many, many showings of the Delta Clipper launch video. I only saw it twice myself! The Masquerade started late and had to turn away about 100 fans (more in some accounts, less in others) when the hall was filled. The seating capacity of the Esplanade Ballroom (as configured at ConFrancisco) was around 3000, but the con had around 7000 attending members. The presentations were broken up by a union-mandated intermission mid-way into the contest, and marred by lighting difficulties. It seems the computer controlling the lights in the Esplanade Ballroom couldn't handle the concept of turning off the house lights while leaving the backstage area lit! Following the presentations, there was the usual intermission while awaiting the judges' decisions. This featured another showing of the Delta Clipper launch video and a videophone link with Arthur C. Clarke in Sri Lanka. I hope Arthur is less blurry in person. If this is the best AT&T can do, it'll be a long time before everyone rushes out to buy videophones!
The costumes were of very high quality and the program handed out listed them all fairly accurately. There were a total of 50 entries, with the majority in the Journeyman class. Many of the "big-name costumers" I'm used to seeing at Worldcon masquerades were absent (or working on the con), but it was an excellent show nevertheless. Some of the winners were:
Best in Class (Novice): "Chess: The Elegant Game of War" by
Bridget Landry, Bruce Briant, Kevin Hay, Ingrid Lo, Kay Ledger, Keith
Thompson, Helen Davis, Liz Crawl and George Popa -- a large, complex
recreation of a chess battle
The Sick Pups Costumer's Guild "Spazzy" Award was presented to "The Four Seasons" by David and Ellen Weingart, who also took home the "Best Concept" award in the Journeyman class. The Sick Pups also awarded a special Spazzy to the con com for the Opening Ceremonies.
The Chesley Awards were presented at a separate ceremony on Sunday afternoon. I didn't attend, but the winners were:
Art Director: Jamie Warren Youll (Baen [sic -- Bantam] Books)
The Hugo awards were presented on Sunday night, and started late. It took a long time to get everyone seated, probably due to the elaborate and detailed seating charts drawn up by the event coordinator (and not completed by the time the doors were supposed to open), and even after everyone was seated, the ceremony did not start. While waiting for the ceremony to begin, the Delta Clipper launch video was shown yet again. The nominees were kept waiting backstage (where they had no place to sit) for 45 minutes until they were marched out to their places and allowed to rejoin their significant others. A program booklet was handed out to all those in attendance. It included a schedule for the awards, bios of all the nominees (crediting Dean Wesley Smith with Damon Knight's career) and advertisements.
Once the ceremony started, things went very smoothly: all the awards were given to the real winners and there were a few big surprises. Andy Porter's Science Fiction Chronicle beat out Charlie Brown's Locus for Best Semiprozine (for the first time ever) by a single vote and there was a tie for Best Novel between Connie Willis' Doomsday Book and Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep. The other winners were:
Best Novella: "Barnacle Bill the Spacer" by Lucius Shepard
(Asimov's, July, 1992)
Prior to the awarding of the Hugos, the members of First Fandom inducted Ray Beam into the Hall of Fame and gave the "Big Heart" award to Marjii Ellers. Mr. Shibano presented the Seiun (Japanese Nebula) awards to Poul Anderson's Tau Zero (novel), R.A. Lafferty's "The Groaning Hinges of the World," (short story) and Daniel Keys' The Minds of Billy Milligan (nonfiction).
I missed most of the Closing Ceremonies (which started late as well), but caught the ending which featured the presentation of a gigantic convention badge to Kevin Standlee (Committee Secretary, Business Meeting Parliamentarian, Hugo Administrator, and several other miscellaneous titles), complete with gizmos and a very long ribbon! The ConAdian presentation featured the manager of the Winnipeg Convention Center and the head of the tourism bureau. ConAdian also handed out little stamps for your official "passport." (If anyone still knows where their stamp is by the time ConAdian rolls around, this will be a major accomplishment!) The general sentiment seems to have been that it all lasted way too long.
The main programming featured the typical assortment of panels, readings, workshops and demonstrations, as well as a "Kinesthetic" track of aerobics, running, and Tai Chi. As usual at a Worldcon, there were far too many things going on at once. I didn't attend much of it (except for the three panels I was on), but from what I did see, it was an interesting and diverse program which seemed well-received by the audience. The readings were unfortunately located in a large room, subdivided by curtains, which also had art demos, workshops, and a few fan panels in it, making it extremely difficult for anyone to hear what was going on in any part of the room.
The film program, rescued from oblivion at the last moment through the valiant efforts of John Sapienza, was over at the Hotel Nikko. I never got over there, but it sounded like a pretty good program (I'm sorry I missed the Dracula Film Festival). The person who was supposed to be running the film program (and providing all the films and licenses) had a family crisis of some sort and back out (along with the films and licenses) a few weeks before the con. Only through John's heroic efforts was there any film program at all. Of course it bore no resemblance to the film schedule printed in the QRG, but new schedules were printed and distributed to those interested.
There was a lot of filk programming, nearly all of which I missed for one reason or another. I managed to catch Linda Melnick and Jean Stevenson (without Lucinda Brown, who couldn't make it) in concert, and one night of poker chip bardic open filking (a new and rather strange experience for me), but that was about all. Mary Kay Kare did an excellent job arranging all those concerts, and even had a filker's con suite in the ANA (if you knew where to look for it). The Board Room was even set aside for Leslie Fish and her smoking filk room. The Art Show seemed rather small to me. I'm told that they allocated the total number of panels based on a percentage of the anticipated attendance -- something I've never heard of anyone doing before. There was plenty of room for more art, and many more artists who wanted space. Some of the Chesley nominees didn't have any space in the art show. I doubt that sales would have been hurt significantly by a larger show. One really nice idea was the Tactile Art Show, which featured "gropeable" art for the visually impaired (complete with Braille bid sheets and descriptions).
The winners of the art show awards were:
Best of Show: Bob Eggleton, Oreaurora
Judge's awards:
The dealer's room was large and had a range of merchandise. There were a lot of book dealers as well as vendors of filk and folk tapes and songbooks, fanzines, jewelry, soft sculpture, blown glass, and other collectibles. It shared Hall D with the art show, fan tables, and exhibits (including a mini-Exploratorium). I was probably the only person at the con who made it out of there without spending any money!
I didn't make it to many of the parties due to the distance between the hotels, the limited shuttle bus service, the elevator problems, and my busy schedule. The Baltimore in '98 "Pirates of Fenzance" had the greatest number of parties (5!) and the chili was almost as popular as the Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. All the other known Worldcon bidders had at least one party except for Robert Sacks' bid for "somewhere between Boston and Philadelphia, or maybe Baltimore" (which hasn't picked out a city yet). Magicon had a thank you party for their guests, staff, volunteers, and attendees. And Winnipeg (ConAdian) and Glasgow (Intersection) had parties as well. The GEnie party was well attended and the @! party was over crowded (as were many of the pro parties in the ANA).
The con suite was in the fourth floor ballroom of the Parc 55 (the party hotel). It was a large, mostly empty space, with scattered tables and a bar setup for sodas and munchies. It didn't seem like a lot of people did much hanging out there. (At least there were escalators to the fourth floor so you didn't have to brave the elevators!)
Site selection voting was uneventful, and Los Angeles (Anaheim, actually) won in an uncontested race. The 1996 Worldcon, LACon II [sic - III], will be held over Labor Day weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center. Guests of Honor will include James White (writer) and the Shibanos (fan). They announced others, but I lost the progress report. Conversion is complicated by their presupporter "sticker book" (20 stickers gets you an attending membership if you voted in site selection). Sticker books may be mailed in, or redeemed at any of a number of cons in the next year.
The WSFS Business Meeting was entertaining despite the Anti-Sacks League's ridiculous constitutional amendments and posturing. Not much was accomplished (why should this year be any different from the past dozen or so that I've attended) despite John Lovitz's best efforts. It did seem more "neo-friendly" than in prior years, and for that the podium staff should be congratulated. The 2001 "Open the Site, Hal" amendment carried forward from Magicon was defeated and the other amendments passed on were ratified (Northwest Territories Division Amendment, Clarifying Best Fan Writer Definition, Reduce NASFiC Lead Time). A bunch of changes to the Standing Rules were adopted (after seemingly endless debate). Two amendments were adopted and will be passed on to ConAdian. Modification of the Campbell Award (this is just a minor wording change), and Removing the power of the Business Meeting to select a NASFiC (making it easier for "None of the Above" to win and thus cancelling the NASFiC). The Anti-Sacks League were absent from the final session of the Business Meeting thanks to Elst Weinstein, who was busy awarding them some Hogus, so that session ran a lot more smoothly. An amendment to eliminate the zone rotation system (and increase the exclusionary area around the selecting Worldcon) was defeated, but may rear its ugly head again at a later date.
Overall, I had a good time in San Francisco and at the con despite a few overofficious committee members with a tendency toward micromanagement (and a disinclination to listen to advice). The con com tried very hard and worked themselves to death. (This was partially their own fault for mishandling volunteers pre-con, but that's how it goes sometimes.) I would rate it above Nolacon and Conspiracy, but below Noreascon 3, Magicon, and Confederation. I'll be back next year for ConAdian.
![[ Cartoon: Mickey Mouse Comes to DC ]](mmouse.gif)