A PUBLICATION OF THE WASHINGTON SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION INC, WASHINGTON, DC
The WSFA Journal, Actual September/October 1994
ISSN 0894-5411
The regular First Friday in August business meeting convened at 9:17, 5 August. The traditional Switcheroo was On so we met at Stately Ginter Manor rather than Chez Gilliland. President Covert Beach announced, "It's timmmmmmmmmmmme for a meeting!"
Secretary Lee Strong gave a brief summary of the last meeting's business, stating that the 1997 Disclave Chairfan would be elected later this year. Joe Mayhew challenged Lee to achieve a high degree of accuracy in reporting club business. Further reading of the minutes was waived.
Treasurer Bob MacIntosh reported $2617.83 in the Treasury. There was a call for a party, but this failed due to a lack of a second.
The Trustees had no report.
Lee Gilliland, wife Vice Chairfan of the Entertainment
Committee, reported that half of the Entertainment Committee was
at Mythcon because Mythcon is not paying for wives.
John Peacock, Chairfan of Disclave 1994, said "Hi," rather apathetically. "We sent golden tickets for those who worked as a thank you. For those who didn't, we sent little lumps of coal." Please keep the golden tickets if possible for entry next year. We will close the darn thing out soon.
Dan Hoey, Chairfan of Disclave 1995, said "Hi!" more vigorously. He had nothing much to say. He is doing Mythcon this weekend. He is looking at the Hotel Techworld in D.C. near Chinatown. This hotel is much hungrier than it used to be. {That's the trouble with Chinese cooking....}
Joe proposed the club give Covert a round of applause for his work on Disclave, and the club did.
Covert asked after "Any committees that are slipping my mind?" Apparently, none were.
Old Business
Mike Walsh showed up tonight. John Peacock pronounced this, "Not Old Business, but Strange But True."
Brian Lewis noted that a Worldcon was coming up. Will we suspend the usual meeting schedule? There was a show of hands by Winnipeg attendees. Fans were then asked to put their hands down if they already had a con job at Winnipeg.
Robyn Rissell moved that the First Friday in September meeting be at Winnipeg Worldcon in the Baltimore in '98 suite at the Sheraton Winnipeg. This motion passed unanimously.
The Ancient & Creaky Tradition
Were there two rugrats present? No, they are Judy Kindell's nieces.
No newcomers were here for their first, second or third times. T.R. Smith was here for her first time in quite a while.
Announcements
The Secretary announced that anyone having an announcement or other club business should submit their business in writing to him after the meeting.
Joe announced that the US Library of Congress will hold a symposium on science fiction 14-15 March 1996. This will allow more lead time compared to the tentative date announced previously. The theme will be "The Futures of Science Fiction." The symposium will include appearances by SF writers, editors and non-tedious academics.
The projected symposium plans on putting a book out. The tentative editor is Michael Swanwick. The title is The Passing of Wizards. Many people who drove science fiction in the direction that it's going are dying. The goal is to put out an anthology on their place in science fiction.
The symposium will also do a con on Saturday and Sunday. The tentative name is "Continuation." This elicited groans from the audience. There will be no art show, no hucksters, no costume party. In short, a readercon.
Brian announced that the Poker Committee will be meeting on the dining room table.
Perrianne Lurie announced that 1996 will hear another East Coast filk convention in the Baltimore area. Its name will be "Conterpoint Too."
She will probably be moving to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area to take a job with the state Department of Health. The paperwork is on the Governor's desk.
Bruce Boxleitner will soon become the new commander of Babylon Five. What about Mrs. King? There is a rumor that she will become the new commander of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Subsequently, Star Trek: Voyager announced a vacancy for a female captain.
Hostess Erica Van Dommelen asked people to check out Lost & Found.
Some things have been there over a year. Don't forget to let the cats
into their bathroom. Don't block the doorways and other physical
bottlenecks in the house manor.
Chris Callahan announced that Peggy Rae Pavlat spoke to the Library of Congress on preserving fannish history. The club applauded the Library's appreciation of important cultural history.
Dan Hoey got a chain letter from "TCM Friends." They are apparently trying to run a centralized pyramid scheme.
Linda Melnick has a box of books around the corner. They might be cheaper than other people's books.
John Ellis has finished the rough cut of his movie, Twilight of the Dogs, which stars WSFAns Dan Burgess, Susan Cohen, Terilee Edwards-Hewitt, Charles Gilliland, Candy Greshem, David Grim, Walter Miles, Ray Ridenour, Lee Strong, and Martin Wooster. He hopes to have it finished soon. He offered a free showing for WSFA. The club approved of free entertainment.
Susan wants to unload a Winnipeg membership.
Eric Jablow's baby [i.e. computer] did something or other.
Chuck Divine paid off his car completely, and will celebrate his annual summer party. Test your weirdness quotient! He has directions.
Paula Lewis had a rather exciting week. She had a kidney stone out yesterday: it was a natural pass. She got a promotion to a science fiction fan's dream job: she gets to spend other people's money on books and get paid for it.
Barry Newton was offering a small motley collection of books, and 3 Winnipeg memberships.
Candy Greshem announced, "This is my last WSFA meeting for at least a year so you will have to do your best to make me want to come back." <Don't worry. After a year in Kunsan, Korea, she'll pay us to come back.>
Brian has been certified ... as a network administrator.
Sylvia noted that the Weekly World News reported that Jupiter radioed for help in the wake of the Shoemaker-Levy comet crashes. No one answered.
T.R. Smith is looking for Winnipeg-goers to take some material to Winnipeg.
Mike Walsh announced the Guests Of Honor (GOHs) for World Fantasy Con. Toastmaster will be Ed Bryant. Art GOH will be Rick Berry. Publisher Guest will be Lloyd Escher Esbach. The theme will be "Short Fiction." The Writer GOHS will be Lucius Sheppard, Terry Bison, and Howard Waldrop.
Mike is also offering books for sale, including Ex Libris Miskatonica and Scream for Jeeves. The first describes the special book collection at the Miskatonic University Library. The second is a collection of Lovecraftian horror stories done as comedies of manners. He is publishing another boo.
Lance Oszko is looking for rumrunners to Canada.
Perrianne announced that Science Fiction Chronicle listed Baltimore Worldcon as the favorite in the 1998 Worldcon race.
The club unanimously adjourned at 10 o'clock even.
On October 1, 1994
Perrianne Lurie is moving to:
[censored]
Middletown, PA 17057
Phone: (717) 948-4143
The regular Third Friday in August business meeting convened at 9:21, 19 August 1994. The traditional August Switcheroo was still On so we meet in Chez Gilliland rather than the House of the Drunken Badger's tents at Pennsic. President Covert Beach said, "Everyone, I guess it's time to have a meeting."
"This must be Maryland," opined Mike Nelson. Well, virtual Maryland.
Secretary Lee Strong offered to read the minutes but reading was waived. Instead, he gave a brief summary of the last meeting's actions. There was a question about where the flyer for a Boston (Mountains) in 2000 worldcon bid came from? Out of the fax machine.
Mike Walsh asked Treasurer Bob MacIntosh, "Are we broke yet?" "Close," replied Bob. We have $2524.51 in the kitty. There was a call for a small party and someone began singing a dirge.
Dan Hoey asked the Trustees "Are we going to have an election soon?" Trustee Paula Lewis replied, "I have no idea. Probably at the Maryland/October meeting."
Alexis Gilliland, Chairfan of the Entertainment Committee, was hoping that "Lee" would read the minutes. The Secretary handed Alexis' favorite Lee -- Lee Gilliland -- the minutes, and said, "Lee, read the minutes." Lee Gilliland used sign language to answer >>Drop dead, Lee. I don't do minutes.<< The Secretary chortled that his word processor had a special feature for just such occasions. The club went "Ohh!" at the thought of Lee Strong's peripherals. Lee Gilliland shifted dialect and restated herself >>||Read between the lines, Lee: I don't do minutes.||<< {True! She's good for hours and hours!}
John Peacock, Chairfan of Disclave '94, had no comment. Things are winding down. There are not many bills left. Joe Mayhew queried, "I presume that there is some money coming into the Treasury?" Yes, Disclave '94 sent some to Disclave '95.
Dan Hoey, Chairfan of Disclave '94, had a hotel walk thru the Renaissance Techworld in D.C. They asked for a $99 per night room rate. The hotel rep will try to work a better rate. "95 [dollars] in [19]95" was prophetic.
Alexis suggested Dan look at Crystal City hotels such as the Stauffers. Dan said it was late. Alexis said, "We haven't been going into Washington due to the high room rates." Joe reminded the club that there was a real cheap one in New Carrollton. Covert stated, "Most Crystal City hotels don't want us." Joe asked, "Has the Sheraton National forgiven us?" Winton Matthews asked if we could get a better deal if we moved the date. Dan thought "...our last hotel is putting out bad press on us."
Peggy Rae Pavlat said, "When we see someone freaking out the mundanes, we all need to stop them." Joe suggested, "We need to talk to the leather people and not shun them." Winton overheard some mundanes stating that these [fans] are awful people. Joe went on, "This is getting to be an endemic problem, not just at Disclave." Walter Miles asked "Can we do something before Evecon? Could we create a secondary con suite?" Several people said No.
Joe stated, "Hotels do not want to act on or to call in police. They want us to take action. We need to do something without invoking pseudo-police powers." John said, "We can badge check on the floor." Joe replied, "Bid parties are not the problem. The problem is outre private parties that often serve alcohol to minors. All legitimate con groups will support us."
Covert then closed the discussion (which may be brought up again). Dan stated that he will sign the contract, altho he doesn't like the rates.
Old Business
0
New Business
Covert said "I thought I'd like to give other people a chance." The demographics of the club are changing. WSFA is getting older. Covert proposed to form a committee to promote WSFA and Disclave. The University of Maryland is a stone's throw from Third Friday. The committee would also develop alternate strategies for Disclave and proposals to implement.
Brian Lewis noted that university orientations are coming up, and suggested we insert an ad in a campus newspaper. Paula Lewis suggested we find out if the University of Maryland is teaching a science fiction course. This could produce a constant stream of volunteers. Joe suggested we consult our hosts before inviting huge numbers of people to their houses.
Lance Oszko suggested military enlisted men's barracks. Lots of military read science fiction.
Lance also noted a persistent rumor that First Daughter Chelsea Clinton reads science fiction. How about inviting her to join WSFA? The Secret Service alone would fill up both Chez Gilliland and Stately Ginter Manor. Someone else noted that this could solve our Disclave security problem. Electing Chelsea Clinton Disclave Chair for '96 or '97 was referred to the Trustees.
Covert then appointed an outreach committee. See their report later in this issue of The WSFA Journal.
Joe noted that we formerly hosted a winter relaxacon. Perhaps reviving this idea would lead to a better membership. He did not offer a formal motion but suggested we think about it.
Covert stated that he had whipped up a possible WSFA introductory brochure. He had a first draft available for review. Wasn't there an Alexis Gilliland cartoon flyer a while back? Yes, said the Secretary. You probably didn't see it because I didn't send it to the existing membership. Lots of cross discussion followed, but the issue of a WSFA brochure was tabled.
The Old & Creaky Tradition
Colleen Stumbaugh was here for her first time. The club greeted, "Hi, Colleen!" She is a member of the Library of Congress Science Fiction Policy Committee.
No one was here for her second time. "No fools here," claimed Lee Gilliland. And no one was here for her third time. "There goes our worry about overcrowding," opined Tom Schaad.
Announcements
The Secretary announced the usual announcement.
Rachel Raccoon is now the official spokesanimal for the Arlington Animal League. She is going to the New England Regional Chili Cookoffs. Codfish chili! Yummm! Rachel will be taking her manager Lee Gilliland.
Lance has been shanghaied into the 1995 World Fantasy Convention. {A fitting fate for a pirate!} He will do a Topper theme suite.
Governor Casey of Pennsylvania approved of Perrianne Lurie. She will be moving to the Harrisburg area on or about 1 October 1994. Joe noted that loud cheering at this point might be ambiguous. She requested volunteers to help her move "a few books" to Middletown -- just upriver from Three Mile Island.
Brian Lewis announced the poker committee will meet barring complications. There is a new mystery book out, coauthored by "M.N."
Joe is trying to update his mailing list.
The Library of Congress science fiction event is definitely set for 14-15 March 1996. Talk to Joe off-line. Lots of things are still up in the air.
Tom Schaad announced that Fast Forward is now broadcast in Minneapolis, New York City and Eden Prairie, MN -- the home of Mystery Science Theater 3000. They are talking with FX. Future guests include local author Bud Sparhawk, Josepha Sherman, Lois McMaster Bujold, Tad Williams, and Hal Clements.
Mike Walsh is running the World Fantasy Convention next year at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. He has books and flyers for The Marvelous Land of Snergs. He sold all his copies of Scream for Jeeves but is getting more.
Covert asked if there were any other fans on his flight to Winnipeg. Perrianne asked about her Air Canada flight.
Brian Lewis moved that we adjourn, and we unanimously adjourned at 10:09.
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* [Inserted] The regular First Friday in September 1994 business meeting was held at Winnipeg Worldcon in the Baltimore Worldcon suite. A good time was had by all.
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The WSFA Journal is the official newsletter of the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA), Inc. All material is © 1994 WSFA, Inc., except as noted. "ConAdian, Eh?" and "I'm Not Leaving On a Jet Plane" are both © 1994 Perrianne Lurie, and are printed here by permission.
Publisher ......... WSFA, Inc.,
Covert Beach, President
Editor-in-Chief .... Lee Strong
Our 51st State .......... Haiti
OBSERVATIONS and NOTES: from the meeting of September 9th
The regular Third Friday in September business meeting of the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) was called to order at 9:18, 9-16-94, at Erica's and Karl's place. President Covert Beach presided.
Secretary Lee Strong was late so Joe Mayhew recorded the minutes. Treasurer Bob Mayhew reported that the Treasury stands at $2568.99. The Trustees reported that the Disclave Chair for 1996 will be elected at the 2nd meeting in October. The Chair for 1997 will be elected at the 1st November meeting. Nominees from the floor will be accepted.
John Peacock, Disclave '94 Chair, read a thank you note from Lois McM. Bujold.
Dan Hoey, Disclave '95 Chair, announced that Guest Of Honor (GOH) Charles Sheffield and Art GOH Bob Eagleton both won Hugos this year. We have a contract with the Renaissance Tech World with a room rate of $99 flat (+12% tax).
Entertainment: (1) Erica announced that a praying mantis was laying eggs on the back door screen. (2) She is expecting a little girl in the spring. Therefore, her house will not be available for WSFA meetings in February, March and April. There will be no 5th Friday.
Outreach: In the future, a sign-in sheet will be passed around to record who was at the meetings. Trustees and others are encouraged to introduce new guests at meetings.
There was no Old or New Business transacted.
Announcements
John Pomeranz and Kathi Overton are back. They showed slides of their trip across the National Parks.
Allen Stewart, the 1994 DUFF winner, attended his first WSFA meeting. Other attendees (not mentioned elsewhere in these minutes) included Lance Oszko, Rachel Russell and Eric Baker, Paula Lewis and John Peacock, Colleen Stumbaugh, Bill Jensen, Chris Callahan and Dick Roepke, Kit [Mason], Beth and Mike Zipser, John Sapienza, George Shaner, Michael Watkins, Sylvia Rudsen, Robyn Rissell, Steve Smith, Peggy Rae Pavlat, Judy Kindell, Sam Lubell, Brian Lewis, Erica V.D. Ginter, Eric Robert Jablow, Evan G. Phillips, Michael J. Taylor, Michael Walsh, Ron Taylor, Barry & Judy & Meridel Newton, Werther A. Smiley-Horse, R_____, Perrianne Lurie, Nicki and Dick Lynch, Mark Loney, and Barry & Judy & Meridel Newton. One name was indecipherable. On the other hand, Newtons are multiplying rapidly.
Fast Forward has expanded to Fairfax.
The meeting unanimously adjourned at 9:57.
* [Editor's Note] Joe's notes were edited and typed by Lee Strong.
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Political Notes
Virginia Democrats' Plan in Case Oliver North Wins...
... Move North to Maryland
Virginia Republicans' Plan in Case Chuck Robb Wins...
... Charge "We Were Robbed!"
ConAdian was held at the Winnipeg Convention Centre (The Canadians try never to let you forget that they're still part of the Commonwealth, so they use the "British" spellings of various English words.) and surrounding hotels in the Canadian province of Manitoba from 1-5 September, 1994. It was smaller than most recent Worldcons, with attendance of around 3500, but this was expected due to the relative isolation and small size of Winnipeg. We were the largest convention in Winnipeg all year, and received a lot of (generally favorable) coverage in the local press and attention from local merchants as a result. There are other advantages to a small Worldcon, not the least of which is that you really do get to run into most (if not all) of the people you want to see. (Of course, this also means you're likely to run into the people you'd prefer to avoid, but there's a down-side to everything.) A smaller Worldcon should also require a smaller staff, although this is not always the case. In fact, ConAdian had the highest staff to membership ratio in recent times, and, despite some griping from the various Division Heads, the staffing levels seemed adequate overall.
The program was diverse and had a higher proportion of Canadian participants than U.S. Worldcons have had. This is to be expected from a Canadian Worldcon, and served to introduce some Canadian authors and fans to the U.S. attendees. In fact, one of the complaints heard around the convention (mostly from the Canadians) was that there was too little "Canadian content" in the program. There were fewer program changes than in past years (although we processed over 100 changes in Program Ops over the course of the five days), and very few items were cancelled. This can probably be attributed to the pre-con work of Programming Chief Bruce Farr, who didn't finalize the schedule for the "Pocket Program" until two weeks before the event. The pros knew ahead of time what they were scheduled for, and since we were fairly liberal about adding panelists, they seemed much more content than they did at ConFrancisco (where a lot of pros were not added to the program at all).
I was on four panels: "Designing Diseases," "Babylon 5," "Convention Burnout," and "Getting the Medicine/Biology Right" (which was nearly all the programming I was able to attend besides the WSFS Business Meetings and some bidding and NASFiC items). The moderator of the Babylon 5 panel seemed intent on pushing her own political perspective on the show, but was outnumbered by the other panelists (not to mention the audience!), The burnout panel was on Sunday afternoon, and we were all pretty burned out by then {I got stuck moderating when Ben Yalow cancelled), giving the audience an eye-witness view of what it was all about. My last panel was at 1 pm on Monday, opposite the Closing Ceremonies, and had a dozen people in the audience (about 11 more than I expected), but otherwise these sessions were well attended (my legions of fans must be growing!).
I missed the Closing Ceremonies due to the schedule conflict and was busy in Program Ops for the Opening Ceremonies, but the reviews of the latter in the daily 'zine were generally positive. (I did get to see a rerun of the video from the Opening Ceremonies during the Masquerade intermission, and was not impressed; it looked like an ad for ConAdian rather than a retrospective of the history of Worldcons, and the audio didn't match the video much of the time.) Other main events included a "Gather" on Friday night (which featured "Pernese" meat and fruit pies and other refreshments) presumably instead of the usual "Meet the Pros" party, a Regency Dance on Friday evening and a Rock Dance on Saturday night (both of which I missed).
The Hugo Award Ceremony and Masquerade were held in one of the two large halls in the Convention Centre (the other was used for the Dealer's Room, Art Show and exhibits) with raised seating set up to allow excellent lines of sight for everyone except those in the "good" seats on the floor and those on the far sides of the hall. Overflow seating with live video to multiple television monitors (and a cash bar!) was also available in another room of the Convention Centre. The Hugo Ceremony started on time, there were not too many complaints about the seating arrangements (I was an usher again), and ran smoothly and efficiently. There were a few surprise winners, but nothing earth-shattering. It was a very good night for Washington fandom, with locals Dick and Nicki Lynch "three-peating" for Best Fanzine, and Disclave '95 Guests of Honor Charles Sheffield and Bob Eggleton each winning a Hugo of their own (the first time for both of them). And the Hugos went to:
The Hugo Ceremony also include the usual First Fandom (and Big Heart), Sei-un, and Campbell Awards (which went to a very surprised Amy Thompson), but since they weren't listed in the daily 'zine, I don't remember who the winners were. The Aurora awards (the Canadian version of the Hugos) were presented at a separate ceremony several blocks away from the con, but the winners of the "Best Long-Form Work" in English and French were presented at the Hugo Ceremony (but, again, not included in the daily 'zine). The winners of the other Auroras were in the daily 'zine, and they are:
The Hogu and Blackhole Awards were presented at a ranquet at a local McDonald's (a return to the traditional venue!) by Toastmistress Martha Soukup to:
Blackhole Awards:
The Masquerade was one of the best in a long time, with 45 entries and very few poorly done costumes (although there were still too many novices whose idea of a presentation is to walk across the stage and maybe turn around a few times). There were a lot of Klingons, and a scattering of other media-inspired entrants (Star Wars and Aliens). The Boston in '98 bid committee had a four-part entry which told the story of a neo named Charlie (what else?) who came to ConAdian and was captured by a UFO. He returned each year for the Worldcon, taking ever more responsible positions on the con com, culminating with a plug for Boston in '98 (all to an original filksong to "Charlie on the MTA" a.k.a. "The Man Who Never Returned"); they were awarded "An Award in Four Acts" in the Journeyman Division for this. The "Pirates of Fenzance" (Baltimore in 1998 Worldcon Bid Committee) also had an entry, accompanied by Gilbert and Sullivan. (Quinn Jones won a Novice class workmanship award for "fit and finish" for this entry.) My personal favorite was "The 19th Century League of Futurists" (Kathy & Drew Sanders, Gavin Claypool, Robbie Cantor, Laurraine Tutuhasi, Len Wein, Twilight), a supposed theatrical presentation including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, complete with a giant squid, which won a "Nostalgia Award with Tentacle Clusters." A favorite with the women in the audience (and the MC as well) was Walter Thompson's "Series W.T.3," a half-naked male dancer, who won "Best Use of Human Flesh." Some of the winners were:
The MC, Kat Connery, kept the show moving along briskly, except for the inexplicable "intermission" half-way through the presentations (where they re-ran the video from the Opening Ceremonies). The judges took too long (as usual) and the re-run of the trailers from the Hugo Ceremony for the Dramatic Presentation nominees couldn't begin to fill the time needed to wait for the judges. (Most of us are used to this by now and head for the parties, content to wait until the next day to find out the results.)
The Dealers' Room and Art Show were both rather small (Apparently many were scared off by Canadian Customs and tax regulations.) and shared the other main hall with the now-standard exhibits. There were no filk dealers, but the usual assortment of books, buttons, games, jewelry, etc. was otherwise represented. Many U.S. artists were absent, and those who came tended to bring fewer pieces. The auction was held fairly early (to accommodate people who had to leave early for Rosh Hashanah or to catch a flight), and some artists were unable to pick up their unsold pieces before they closed the hall, but I believe everyone eventually was reunited with their art.
The WSFS Business meeting ran for the usual three sessions (although there were fears that a fourth session might be needed) and ratified the "Retro-Hugos" and "Modify NASFiC Provisions" amendments passed on from ConFrancisco. The "Modification of Campbell Award" amendment was ratified, with the words "Science Fiction" stricken from the amendment (the only effect is to delete the word "Memorial" from the award title). New amendments (to be ratified at Intersection) were passed to require release of the Hugo nomination totals, to clarify bid eligibility, to reduce movement among Hugo categories (in response to the movement of novellas into the novelette category and novelettes into the short story category on this year's Hugo ballot), to prevent the counting of ineligible candidates on site selection ballots, and to prevent a site within 60 miles of a NASFiC held in the same year as the site selection voting from bidding for a Worldcon (which would have no effect on any of the current 1998 bidders as it would not take effect until the end of the Glasgow Worldcon). Proposals to eliminate the zone rotation scheme, to create a lifetime achievement Hugo (actually to limit the number of sequential Hugos a person could win to five with the fifth being called a "lifetime achievement" Hugo), to require 10 nominations to appear on the Hugo ballot, to eliminate the NASFiC, and to limit the number of Hugos awarded in a given year were defeated. The creation of a Music Hugo (or Hugos) was discussed, and it was recommended that it be tried out (once the wording of the amendment is perfected) before it is considered for addition to the WSFS constitution (Intersection agreed to try it out as their "special" award.), and a WSFS electronic archive was created.
The winner of the 1997 Site Selection was San Antonio, which is calling the con, LoneStar Con 2 (#1 was the Austin NASFiC). Their "Honored Guests" are Algis Budrys and Michael Moorcock, with "Honored Fan Guest" Roy Tackett, and "Master of Toasts" Neal Barrett, Jr. LoneStar Con 2 will be held 28 August to 1 September at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, Marriott Rivercenter and Marriott Riverwalk (better sign up for "Marriott Miles" if you haven't already) in "the City of San Antonio, Republic of Texas" (USA). The Chairman is Karen Meschke with Fred Duarte, Jr. and Casey Hamilton as Vice Chairs. There is a complicated chart to determine how much you owe for a membership (depending upon how much you paid to vote, what type of presupporter you were, etc.) in their Progress Report 0. For more information write to them at P.O.Box 27277, Austin, Texas 78755-2277.
The 1998 bidders had a meeting with the site selection administrators for Intersection and agreed to accept credit cards for the voting fee, which was set at $25. Atlanta (a new group calling itself "ACME" and consisting of many of the Dragoncon people) and Niagara Falls filed bids which were accepted by the administrators. Baltimore, Boston and New York City are expected to file before next year's deadline.
Once again, I missed all the gaming (held at one of the hotels) and film program (which was held in the Convention Centre's cinema during the day and in a function room at night). I also missed all the filking (which I'm told was very good but there were not enough British filkers there), but did manage to stop by the filk lounge a few times (it was just off the skywalk from the Holiday Inn to the Convention Centre) and it seemed well stocked with food and drink and good conversation. The Staff Lounge and Gopher Hole (The gophers were called "Weyrlings," but it was still the gopher hole.) were at another hotel, too far for most of us to get to. (If it's not in the Convention Centre, it's too far!)
There were plenty of parties put on by the various bidders, seated Worldcons (and the NASFiC), the immediate past Worldcon, regional cons and fan groups, and, of course, publishers. The "in" party of the con was the Hugo losers' party called the "Hugo-naughts" party by the hosts, Intersection. The single malt Scotch and chocolate fondue were both hits with the guests (who were not limited to Hugo nominees this year). "The" party of the con (according to the daily 'zine) was the "Dead Dragon Inn" (hosted by the folks who run the smoking con suite at the local SF con) which functioned as the smoking con suite (and which I therefore avoided). The con suite itself was in a large room on the ground floor of the Place Louis Riel and featured the occasional "real food" (pierogies, chili, etc.), but was only open from 4 pm to 4 am most days.
The program book (now called the "Souvenir Book") featured a full-color George Barr cover of a dragon (or is it a fire lizard?) resting its "hand" on a person's shoulder, with appropriately Celtic motifs in the background and on the artifacts in the foreground. The WSFS constitution was the only part of it I read at the con, but it also included the standard lists of pre-registered members and staff, bios of the guests of honor, Worldcon and Hugo histories (but not a list of this year's Hugo nominees), and ads from bidders, publishers, etc. There were also nine short stories by various authors. (I haven't read them yet, but they look good.)
The pocket schedule (called "Passport to the Universe The Sequel" -- the original "Passport to the Universe" was a passport-like booklet with spaces for stickers and stamps from bid parties and major program items) was an 8-½ by 11 inch booklet and included maps of the Convention Centre, downtown Winnipeg, and the dealers' room, a list of "participating artists" (I'm not sure if this was the artists who were in the Art Show or on the program or both), participant bios (which have been neglected in recent years), descriptions of all main and video program items, the program grids, and a few quick notes about the local laws and sights. There was also a list of important phone numbers (police, ambulance, etc.) and a list of banks, bookstores, computer stores, pharmacies, etc. in the local area. The schedule grids, as well as the descriptions of the program items for the day and copies of the maps were printed on colored inserts in the middle of the book, so one could remove the day's schedule and carry only this around (instead of the entire book). This is a good idea, but I didn't want to tear pages out of my book, and the grid didn't always match the "official" schedule for that day. The participant bios included a list of the program items the person was participating in, but it was by secret code number and needed to be cross-referenced to determine what the item was and when. They had code numbers like "2H227," which was the B5 panel on September 2 (hence the "2") at 3pm (the "H" had something to do with the time, but I could never quite figure out exactly what; the "227" was apparently just a number that Bruce Farr assigned to the panel when he was putting together the program).
The daily 'zine, Voyageur, intended to publish issues twice a day (except for Monday), and they did, but the issues were very late getting out and the final issue (which wasn't available until late Monday afternoon, well after the con was officially over) was combined with the hoax 'zine. They included all the schedule changes from Program Ops and the entire film schedule every day, as well as the nightly party lists, reports on WSFS business and some (but not all) of the major program items. The listing of Hugo winners was unfortunately not included. The party reviews were amusing, and there were helpful hints about registration (in the first issue), the voodoo message board (in the second issue), noise etiquette, a summary of the high points of the bids for the 1997, etc. to help those attending their first Worldcon get the most out of it. The reviews of Winnipeg restaurants were also greatly appreciated (especially since the people who put together the "official" restaurant guide seemed to have rather low standards -- they considered Red Lobster "worth the drive!"). I did miss the "quickie sheets" with the daily schedule reprinted with all the changes, though. My favorite article was from the V-Ger (the combination hoax zine and final issue) by Kurt Siegel entitled "Sticky Subjects in Air Travel," which relayed his experiences trying to bring duct tape through O'Hare Airport where the security guards seemed to think it was a weapon because "it could be used to tie somebody up!"
Speaking of air travel, there were problems with one of the con's official airlines: Northwest (despite repeated warnings from the con com) overbooked flights both to and from Winnipeg, leaving a lot of fans (and a few pros) stranded in Minneapolis (a few pros even missed panels because of this). I'm told that one fan was bumped four times and came away with frequent flier miles for all of those flights, a first class upgrade, round-trip taxi to the Mall of America (and a stack of discount coupon books), and $600 worth of flight certificates! (There were no similar problems on the other official airline, Air Canada, although some people had some really tight connections in Toronto).
Most of the complaints at the Gripe Session (and elsewhere) seemed (to me) to be relatively minor. There were the usual problems with pre-con overseas mail, complaints about the name badges (which had very large badge names but didn't include the person's place of residence), complaints about the elevators in the "hospitality" hotels, and some complaints about the (relative) lack of "Canadian content" in the program. Some of the Canadian fans were very upset that the flyers asking for support for the Merrill Library were not included in the registration packets as they had been promised (they were even threatening to sue the con com to recoup the costs of reproducing the flyers!), but this was of little interest to most of the attendees. (The Merrill Library in Toronto is Canada's premier collection of SF, and is in serious financial difficulty. They were hoping to use ConAdian to recruit members for the "Friends of the Merrill Collection," etc.) Otherwise, most of the people there seemed to come away with a good feeling about this convention. If Intersection keeps plying their members with single malt Scotch (never touch the stuff, myself) they may do as well.
The Baltimore Worldcon committee was founded by members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and the Washington Science Fiction Association. Together, we have decades of experience running Balticons with 3,000+ attendees, Disclaves, and three Worldcons.
We have a solid commitment from the Baltimore Convention Center, a modern world-class facility with over 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space, meeting rooms, and ballrooms.
The Convention Center is located on the Inner Harbor, the rejuvenated cultural and leisure center of Baltimore. A six block brick promenade and pedestrian bridges place hundreds of historical sites, restaurants, entertainment attractions, shopping opportunities, and over 3,300 hotel rooms within walking distance.
We invite you to attend one of our pirate parties to learn more about our bid to make Baltimore the site for the 56th annual World Science Fiction Convention.
Pre-Supporting memberships $5 US * Pre-Opposing memberships $19.98 US Her Majesty's Privateer $40 US * Letters of Marque $100 US
Baltimore Worldcon 1998, Inc., Post Office Box 1376, Baltimore, Maryland 21203
Internet: baltimore98@access.digex.net
(1) All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.
I'm waiting in MPLS.
Trying to get to Winnipeg for the con.
But Northwest's flights are overbooked.
It looks like my goose is cooked.
The last flight of the day has come and gone.
Chorus:
So book me on a new flight.
Tell me that it will wait for me.
Send my baggage on to Canada.
I'm not leaving on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll get to the con.
Waiting for a jet plane.
Please ghu, I want to fly.
(2) I've been to the Mall and back.
Used all my cash in MPLS.
Nothing's left for Winnipeg or Worldcon.
The dealer's room was pretty small.
But that's okay, I'd spent it all.
While waiting for a flight to Canada.
(3) Now the con is over and
I'm on my way back home again.
Leaving Winnipeg after Worldcon.
But Northwest's flights are overbooked.
It looks like my goose is cooked.
The last flight of the day has come and gone.
Final Chorus:
So book me on a new flight.
Tell me that it will wait for me.
Send my baggage back from Canada.
I'm not leaving on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll get home again.
Waiting for a jet plane.
Please ghu, I want to fly.
Old Earth Books is pleased to announce the re-issue of E. A. Wyke-Smith's classic 1927 precursor to The Hobbit.
This facsimile edition will be available in two formats:
Douglas A. Anderson, author of the annotations for The Annotated Hobbit and co-author of J. R. R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography, has written an introduction to this lost classic.
"An utterly enchanting book that hearkens back to the classic fantasies of E. B. Nesbit and George MacDonald. Not everybody's cup of tea, to be certain, but for those discerning readers who haven't lost either their delight in whimsy or that sense of innocent wonder that can only be found in the best of children's fantasy, the reprinting of Wyke-Smith's forgotten novel will be welcome news indeed." --Charles de Lint
Publication date is 15 November 1994. Order by 31 August 1994 and pay no postage!
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_____copy/copies of paper edition, $15.00 each Total
_____copy/copies of hardback, $35.00 each Total
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