Rena Bassilvergorian is the artist who created this month's frant and back cover. A professional belly dancer and an avid costumer, Rena has attended all but the first Norwescon. For the past six years, she has been staff artist for Ye Crier, the newsletter of the Society for Creative Anachronists, and co-editor of the same publication for a couple of years.
Editor: Robert Suryan
Art Editor: Doug Booze
Layout Editor: Judy Suryan
Printing: Michael Brocha
Typing: Sue BartroffJudy Suryan, Robert Suryan
Mailing Labels: Lauraine Miranda
October Collating: Sue Bartroff, Michael Brocha, Lauraine Miranda, Robert Suryan
CONTRIBUTORS: Sue Bartroff, Elisabeth Eldred,Jon Gustafson, M. Elayn Harvey, Mark Manning, Chris McDonell, Lauraine Miranda, Joe H. Palmer, Dora Shirk, Doug Shirk, Von L. Stevens
ART CREDITS: Andrew Bartroff, Robert Bartroff, Sue Barrtoff, Brad Foster, The Unknown Artist
BACK COVER: Rena Bassilvergorian
Just Another Tinsel Trimmed Christmas by Von L Stevens: Page 5
Kennings by Joe H. Palmer: Pages 6-7
Other Matters by Dora Shirk: Pages 8-9
Little Paper Faces by Mark Manning: Pages 9-10
Open Forum by Sue Bartroff: Page 11
Serpent's Tooth by Jon Gustafson: Page 12-13
Moscon X Review by Chris McDonell: Page 13
Reeltime by Doug Shirk: Page 14
Star of Wander by M. Elayn Harvey: Pages 16-19
Social: Page 3
Calendar: Page 3
Announcements: Page 4
Birthdays: Page 4
Personals: Page 4
Lauraine's Newsfs: Page 7
LoCs: Page 15
Book Review: Page 15
WESTWIND -- the newsletter of the Northwest Science Fiction Society. Issue No. 135, November 1988. Published by Northwest Science Fiction Society. Chairman: Judy Suryan (redacted). Vice-Chairman: Becky Simpson (redacted). Secretary-Treasurer: Sue Bartroff (redacted). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher.
Contents copyright (C) 1988 for contributors by the Northwest Science Fiction Society. Westwind is mailed monthly to members of NWSFS, (redacted), SEATTLE, WA 98124. Memberships in NWSFS cost $12.00 ($15.00 for out of country - in U.S. funds only) per year including 12 months of Westwind. Advertising is accepted; must be received Camera-read by the 5th of the month prior to issue. Mail to NWSFS. Full page (7.5 x 10), $20: Half-page (7.5 x 5). $12: quarter page (3.5 x 5), $7: eighth page or business card, $5. NWSFS INFORMATION HOTLINE: (redacted).
Congratulations to Chris McDonell for bravely volunteering to host the New Year's Social on Dec 31/Jan 1.
First some caveats. Chris has a cat and allows no smoking in the house. Overnighters are welcome but it will be B.Y.O.E. (everything). And don't arrive before 5:00 p.m. Pot luck begins at about 7:00 p.m.
Activities planned for this social are: Boffo fireworks show at midnight, Go tourney (Chris says: "Honest, I promise this year."), VCR, The Wall of Sound for dancing, Asteroids, pinball and lasers.
Chris' address is (redacted), Lynnwood. Phone: (redacted).
Remember, if you are planning on drinking, please do plan to pack your teddy dragon & asprin and spend the night.
December 2-4,1988: TROPICON VII. Lauderdale Surf Hotel & Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL. GoH's Poul Anderson, Walt Willis, Karen Anderson, Madeleine Willis. Memb. $20 until Nov. 1. Info: South Florida Science Fiction Society, (redacted), Fort Lauderdale, FL 33307.
Jan 6-7, 1989: KNIGHTCON. GoH Vonda N. McIntyre. Memb. $12 to 12/1/88. $15 at the door. Info: (redacted), Monroe, WA 98272.
Jan 20-22, 1989: RUSTYCON SIX. Sea-Tac Hyatt. (redacted). Rooms $55/night + tax. GoH Jack Chalker, AGoH Kelly Freas, FGoH Richard Wright. $21 to 12/31/88, $25 at the door. Info: (redacted), Seattle, WA 98146. (redacted).
February 10-12, 1989: VIKINGCON X. Parks Motel, Bellingham, WA SGoH Robert Forward, FGoH Terry Whyte.
February 17-19, 1989: WISCON 13. Holiday Inn Southeast, Madison. GoHs Gardner Dozois, Pat Cadigan. Memb. $20 to 1/31/89, $25 at the door. Info. (redacted), Madison, WI 53701-1624. (redacted).
March 23-26, 1989: NORWESCON 11. Tacoma Sheraton. Memb. $26 to 3/1/89, $30 at the door. $3 discount for NWSFS members. Agoh David Mattingly, FGoh Mike Glyer, TM Steve Barnes. Info: (redacted), Seattle, WA 98124
March 24-26, 1989: S.T. CON '89. Marlborough Inn, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Memb. $10 to 12/31/88, $15 to 3/23/89, $20 at the door. GoH Diane Carey, Gregory Brodeur, Sandy Fries. Info: (redacted), Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2K-OV4.
May 5-7, 1989: ANGLICON II. Hyatt Seattle Hotel. GoHs Michael Keating & Mark Ryan. Memb. $30 to 12/31, 1988, $35 -1/1/89 -3/31/89, 1989, $40 therafter. Info: Anglican II, (redacted), Kirkland, WA 98034-8207.
May 26-28, 1989: V-CON 17. Totem Conference Center, U.B.C., Vancouver, B.C. GoHs Robert Sheckley, Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson, TM Bob Shaw. $16 ($14 US)to 11/30/88. $18 ($16 US) to 3/31/89. Info: (redacted), Dentall Centre, Vancouver, B.C. Canada, V7X 1A2.
June 30, July 1-2, 1989: CONTEXT '89. Lister Hall, U of Alberta. GoH William Gibson, Fantasy GoH Charles de Lint, AGoHs Diane and Leo Dillon, SGoH Dr. Brad Thompson. Memb. $20 to 6\89, $25 at the door. Info: (redacted), Edmonton, AB T6E 5G5.
August 11-13, 1989: ZERO G, A RELAXCON. Cavanaugh's Motor Inn, Moscow, ID. GoH John Dalmas, FGoH Jon Gustafson. Memb. $10 to 2/1/89, $12 to 8/1/89, $14 at the door. Info: (redacted), Moscow, ID 83843.
August 25-27, 1989: DRAGONFLIGHT '89. Gaming Convention, Bellermine Hall, Seattle University. Memb. (Dragonflight + Con.) $18 to 12\11\88. Info: (redacted), Seattle, WA 98111. (redacted).
August 31-September 4, 1989: NOREASCON III/47TH WORLD SF CONVENTION. Sheraton-Boston/Hynes Convention Ctr., Boston, MA GoHs Andre Norton, Ian & Betty Ballantine. FGoHs The Stranger Club. Memb. $50 (children $30) to 9/7/87, ($20 supporting). For info. Noreascon 3, (redacted), MIT Branch P.O., Cambridge, MA 02139.
October 6-8, 1989: BANFF INTERNATIONAL 89. Banff Parks Lodge, Banff, Alberta. GoH Brian Aldiss, AGoH Vincent Di Fate, FGoH Mike Glicksohn. Memb. $25 ($21 US) to 1/1/89. Info: (redacted), Red Deer, Alberta T4N 5H3, or (redacted) Moscow, ID 83843.
The monthly Book-Movie Review group meeting to discuss Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions and the movie, ALIEN NATION, has been rescheduled to Friday January 13, 1989 at the Suryan's. Munchies are welcome.
Moscow Moffia Writers' Program presents a writer's seminar the evening of Wednesday, March 22, 1989, in Eugene, Oregon at C. Wiliker's Grill on Coburn Road from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Cost is $25.00. Guest speaker is Patrick Lucien Price. Info: (redacted), Moscow, Id. 83843 or call Jon Gustafson, program director, (redacted).
IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION
The Rustycon childrens and registration policies previously published have been revised. Below are the updated policies. Please read them and tell your friends who'll be attending the con about them. If you have any questions, please call (redacted).
We reserve the right to require that legal I.D. be presented at the discretion or request of a convention official to determine if a person meets the age requirements of the childrens policy. We request that all members provide the convention with a real (Mundane) name at the time of registration. Failure to do so will result in not being admitted to the convention.
Birthdays For the Month of December
Mike Raabe: Dec 1
Paul Schaper: Dec 2
Jerry "Mom" Lorent: Dec 3
Thomas Monahan: Dec 3
Dave Grinles: Dec 5
Peter Kafka: Dec 5
Sharon Lind: Dec 5
Greg Cox: Dec 9
Angela Suryan: Dec 11
Irene Vaughn: Dec 12
Mark Anacker: Dec 15
Karen Whitaker: Dec 26
Autumn Grieve: Dec 29
Keith Johnson: Dec 30
Rae Chamberlain: Dec 31
Santa Claus seeking jollies. Looking for willing reindeer and/or elves who are into French Culture. Have room for rent at Rustyron at 1/4 cost. Call Bob at (redacted).
by Von L Stevens
Jessica popped another starlite mint into her mouth, savoring the peppermint taste of Christmas. These were her favorite candies, not just because of the pleasant memories of holidays past, but also because of their name...'starlite mint', it made her feel as though she were enjoying something that originated on some alien world.
Ah, enough wishful thinking, time to get back to work! With that thought she started the vacuum on which she had been leaning and got busy on the office.
Janitorial duties are not for everyone, however they suited Jessica just fine. As a matter of fact, she felt quite lucky that she was not one of the Business men or women who flooded the building every morning. Their lives were so hectic, and they were always in such a hurry that she felt very sorry for them. Rush, rush, rush, they were all trying to climb the same ladder, and they were stepping on each other in the process. So intent were they on some distant goal that they were oblivious to the beauty and magic surrounding them. Why, just for example, it had snowed for the first time today, Christmas Eve, and Jessica was positive that not one of them was aware of the power of a Christmas snow! They were more likely to find it a nuisance then to take joy in it at all!
"What ever happened to the time when people saw magic in their world and respected it?" Jessica asked no one. "To the old ways when the wife set out a saucer of milk each night for the wee folk? Oh, they didn't need it, to be sure, but it did make them feel good to be thought of."
Jessica shut off the vacuum, unplugged it, and left the now immaculate office. Pushing her cleaning cart and vacuum down the hallway, she paused to look out over the city. She had a spectacular view, as she was on the top floor in the executive offices, and one entire wall of the hallway was made of glass. The city lights stretched for miles, their usual twinkle enhanced by the multi-colored glow of holiday decorations. Looking at it, she thought that it was like a fairy tale galaxy, all dressed up in its finest gown, ready for some stellar ball.
"But tonight the magic won't end at midnight!" she said, and the idea made her smile as she continued on to the company president's office and opened the door.
A man sat behind the desk. His head was bent over his work, and a tired frown was on this face.
"Why, hello Mr. Lindon, you're still here."
"Oh hello Jessie, is it so late already?"
"I'm afraid it is Mr. Lindon, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself too, working so late on a Christmas Eve."
"Maybe so Jessie, Maybe so, but I'll be here tomorrow too. Christmas for me is just another day that has a bit of tinsel trimming added."
"Oh no sir, its a magical day!"
"Sometimes I wish I could see the world the way you do Jessie," Mr Lindon said with a sad smile, "but you're right about one thing, I ought to be getting home. Good night Jessie."
"Good night Mr. Lindon, and Merry Christmas!"
He paused, surprised, "Thank you Jessica, and Merry Christmas to you too!"
After finishing the office, Jessica shut off the vacuum cleaner and pushed it into the hallway. Just as she was about to close the door, she noticed that the lights on the little Christmas tree in the comer had burned out.
"Oh! This will never do!" she exclaimed, and muttering a few quick words under her breath, she gave a little nod in the direction of the tree. In the comer, the colored lights began to blink on and off, illuminating the room in soft pastels. "There, that's better!" she said, and shut the door.
On his way home, Mr. lindon smiled at the beauty of the city on a snow cover Christmas Eve.
Joe H. Palmer
"I can still make the flames burn up or die; it is one of the simplest of magics, the most easily learned, the last forgotten." So muses the aged Merlin, in the prologue to Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave. For people who actually look at the sky, there is also "the most easily learned, the last forgotten"; it is the group of seven northern stars known variously as the Septentrion, or the Plough, or the Big Dipper. Many who know no other pattern in the entire sky can recognize the Big Dipper.
Certainly it is a distinctive group; seven conspicuous stars fairly well matched in brightness, though the one where the handle joins the bowl is distinctly fainter than the others. Probably it is significant that there are seven stars in the pattern. for that number has had a special magic in Western cultures for millennia. And surely it helps that knowing this particular group can be defended as "useful" in this sometimes overly-practical world. For the line between the westernmost two stars, at the end of the bowl, can be extended for five times their separation to locate another moderately bright star: one high above the North Pole of the spinning Earth, most commonly known as Polaris, or the North Star.
Four hundred years after Copernicus the common speech still treats the Earth as the center of the Universe, and we speak of "sunrise" and "sunset". As James Branch Cabell once put it, "...we wax sagacious over state elections and the children's progress at school and the misdemeanors of the cook, and other trivialities which accident places so near the eye that they seem large: and we care not a button that all about us flows and gyrates unceasingly an endless and inconceivable jumble of rotary blazing gas and frozen spheres and detonating comets, where through spins Earth like a frail midge." Seventy years later we still have many who seem terrified by the immense reach of space and depth of time disclosed by our understanding of astronomy, geology, paleontology, and other sciences. I sometimes wonder if this cosmic version of acrophobia (fear of heights) or agoraphobia (fear of open spaces)is the real reason behind America's virtual cessation of the exploration of the Solar System, and the simultaneous turn from rationality toward credulity, cults, and mysticism.
In such an intellectual, if that is the appropriate word, climate, I suppose it isn't surprising that almost no one questions why we happen to have a fairly bright star nearly (not exactly) above the Earth's North Pole. In fact, quite a few seem to take it for granted that Polaris, because of its significance for (northern hemisphere) human affairs, must therefore be the brightest star in the sky. It isn't, of course; in fact Polaris isn't even among the forty brightest stars and just barely makes it into the list of the brightest fifty.
There is nothing comparable to Polaris over the South Pole of the Earth. Sigma Octanis is about as far from the South Pole of the sky as Polaris is from the North, but Sigma Octanis is nearly 25 times fainter than Polaris and is detectable to the unaided eye only if you are well away from streetlights and have a moonless night with little or no haze. The closest star to the South Pole of Earth's sky which is comparable in brightness to Polaris is Beta Carinae; slightly brighter than Polaris but more than twenty degrees or two thirds the length of the Big Dipper from the pole.
The specification of "the South Pole of Earth's sky" may have seemed over-precise, but now I want to talk about the pole stars of the other planets, so the distinction seemed worth making. The rotational axes of the other planets are not very close to parallel to the Earth's, or to each other; so each planet has its own North and South Poles in the sky and its own possibilities for Pole stars. Planets behave like gyroscopes, by the way, in that their axes always point in the same (almost) unchanging direction with respect to the distant stars, as the planet orbits from one side of the Sun to the other.
Saturn's axis is most nearly parallel to the Earth's, but even it points nearly 7 degrees away, or about one-and-a-half times the distance between the Pointer stars in the Big Dipper; Saturn's north pole is on the other side of Polaris from Earth's, but Polaris would work roughly as a North Pole star for Saturn. Saturn's south pole points near the Delta Octanis; that star is brighter than Sigma Octanis, but still three or four times dimmer than Polaris.
Mercury's south pole points close to Alpha Pictoris, which is about as bright as the dimmest star in the Big Dipper; but the closest reasonably bright star to Mercury's north pole is about 7 degrees away. There's nothing particularly bright within 4 degrees of either of Venus's poles, although the Large Magellanic Cloud is about 5 degrees away from the planet's south pole.
Mars is the closest to the Earth in how much its spin axis is tilted to the plane of its orbit; but the Martian poles are nearly forty degrees away from ours. There's no good north pole star for Mars; the nearest reasonably bright star is Mu Cephei, over seven degrees away. Appropriately enough for the Red Planet, Mu Cephei is a deep red star, the one William Herschel named "the Garnet Star". Mars's south pole is about four degrees away from Delta Velorum, one of the stars in the group called the "False Cross". The "False Cross" is four stars in Vela and Carina which form a pattern resembling the Southern Cross but about half again as big and rotated about fifty degrees counterclockwise. The group rises about three hours before the real Southern Cross, and is often misidentified as that constellation by northern hemisphere visitors eager to spot it.
The only other planet whose pole points anywhere near a fairly bright star is Uranus, and here we have a different problem; namely, which pole is which? All the other planets, except Pluto, have their rotation axes roughly (within 30 degrees, say) at right angles to the plane of their orbits, as the Earth does, and all except Venus rotate in the same direction as Earth. Until fairly recently no one had the slightest idea of how the poles of Venus or Pluto were oriented, because of the cloud cover on Venus and the distance of Pluto. So they didn't really enter the problem, and for the others there was never any conflict between the two different ways people defined the North pole of a planet. One way was to say the North Pole is the one on the same side of its orbital plane as the Earth's North Pole. The other way was to say the North pole of a planet is the one from above which you would see the planet turning counterclockwise. For all the planets where the axis direction was known, the two definitions gave the same answer--except for Uranus.
Uranus was the exception, for its axis of rotation lies almost in its orbital plane, so that sometimes one pole points directly at the Sun and the other is in darkness for many years; then halfway around the orbit the other pole points toward the Sun. Here the two definitions give different answers. You can use the first to say Uranus's axis is tilted some 82 degrees to its orbital plane and the planet rotates backwards, or use the second to say that the axis is tilted 98 degrees to the orbital plane and the planet rotates in the normal direction (it has to, by the second definition). Well, as you might expect, the worst happened and some astronomers used one definition and some the other, with a great deal of confusion. A few years ago the International Astronomical Union came down on the side of the first definition (north pole on (Earth) north side of the orbital plane) and things are getting better, though not all reference books have caught up.
Having said all that, I can now say that Uranus's South pole is pointed moderately close (a little over 8 degrees, or half the length of the Big Dipper) to Aldebaran, the bright yellow-orange star that is the baleful eye of Taurus. This is the brightest star anywhere close to either pole of any planet, some six-and-a-half times brighter than Polaris. Of course you couldn't see Aldebaran from Uranus right now, as Uranus's South pole is pointed almost directly at the Sun and you'd have to look past the Sun's glare to see the star. But wait 15 or 20 Earth years, or about a quarter of Uranus's year, depending on where you are in the planet's Southern hemisphere, and you should get a good look.
You may remember that earlier, when I wrote that planets act like gyroscopes and keep their spin axes pointed in the same unchanging direction as they go around the Sun, I qualified the statement with an "almost". Here I want to explain about that "almost", for the Earth. For one trip around the Sun, or even several dozens, it is a good approximation that the direction of the planet's spin axis doesn't change. For times of hundreds or thousands of years it is not. The same gravitational forces from the Sun and Moon which produce the tides also try to make the Earth ''straighten up"; that is, to make the planet's spin axis point at right angles to the plane of its orbit instead of the 23-1/2 degree angle it now has to that direction. Because the Earth is spinning (once a day, of course) something else happens instead.
Have you ever watched a top, or a toy gyroscope, spin with its axis tilted? Gravity is trying to make it fall over, but it doesn't (until it runs down). Instead, the spin axis keeps the same tilt and swings around; if you imagine a beam of light shining along the spin axis it would trace out a circle on the ceiling. This behavior is called precession. The spinning Earth does the same thing as the Sun and Moon pull on it, but the swinging of Earth's spin axis is a lot slower than the toy; a full circle takes about 26,000 years. The result of this is that the Earth's pole stars change: not because the stars themselves are moving but because the spinning Earth is pointing in different directions. More on this to come, next time.
Our newest members as of this issue are:
1134 Judy Swanson, Seattle
1135 Norah Hogoboom, Seattle
1136 John Fox, Seattle
1137 Bill Johhnson, Everett
1138 Thomas Shere, Tacoma
1139 Sandra Endof-Hom, Tacoma
1140 Larry Osterman, Bothell
1141 Valorie Osterman, Bothell
1142 Irene J. Prekeges, Bellingham
1143 Caravansarai, Federal Way
1144 Bruce Anderson, Seattle
1145 Lynn Webber Perkins, Riverside, CA
1146 Carolyn Barnhill, Santa Barbara, CA
Hi and welcome to the group!
You should have your new Green Book #11 with this Westwind, and as you will notice, it really is new. I would very much appreciate any comments and/or suggestions you have on the new format (just keep it clean, ok?)
I plan to list the Other Groups and Publications section is each GB from now on. I hope to add a Paid Advertisers section in the June issue (S2 per listing). Also, any NWSFS member who wouldn't ordinarily be listed (those expired at least six months before GB publication) will be able to have a listing for a $1 fee.
Vox, the beep and I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season.
by Dora Shirk
Hello, and welcome to another thrilling collection of news that is sure to take your mind off the Christmas frenzy for at least 10 minutes. You wanted to get away longer than that? Go curl up with a good, loonngg book and I'll talk to you next year when things have settled down -- at least until the frenzy of con-prep begins in earnest.
No, I still don't have a definitive answer for the meaning of the "Locus Bulletin Board". Does anyone????
Guess who's signed a contract to collaborate on three novels? Rohen Silverberg and Isaac Asimov! The three that they will do are all based on shorter works by Asimov, including Nightfall, The Martian Way, and The Ugly Little Boy. Don't rush to your bookstore though - the first one is not due until '90 or '91.
So far there are over 40 genre-related calenders for 1989 on the marketplace.
Now, while it is marvelous to hear from you (more, more), it would be nice if you responded a little more like you'd read the column - for example, I got a card from someone who said yes, they'd read Paperback Inferno. That wasn't the question! I asked if anyone had a copy they would let me see!!
The Minnesota SF Society has sponsored a series of lectures by pros at U of M. The theme was Social SF: beyond the nuts and bolts. Gordon Dickson spoke on the reader as collaborator, and Fred Pohl on imaginary politics. I have written to them asking if any of this is available in hard copy and when I get an answer I'll let you know. There were a few more lectures that I'm not sure who did, or on what.
Have you seen the MSFS's Tales Of The Unanticipated? Good mag.
If you are a C.S. Lewis fan - did you know that he died the same day JFK did? The C.S. Lewis Society can be contacted through Beverly Ariton, (redacted), Croton NY 10520. The society is celebrating its 19th anniversary.
For those of interested in the non-fiction side of SF (where have you heard that before?) - the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is now making their quarterly journal, The Journal of the Fantastic In the Arts, aYJilable to the public for $25 a year. To subscribe, write to Helen Albert, M.E. Sharpe Inc., (redacted), Armonk NY 10504 (and say you saw it here).
A thumbs-up to Andy Poner and his beautiful editorial, "The Changing Landscape: Science Fiction and The World" in his November SFC. Well done.
The following books banned in schools this year include: Watership Down, Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Ewoks Join the Fight, Flowers For Algernon, Lord of the Flies (thank god), Cujo, Carrie, The Bachman Books, Christine, The Dead Zone, Salem's Lot, The Shining, Different Seasons, Night Shift, Animal Farm, and Slaughterhouse Five. These red hot rednecks are getting just a bit carried away don't you think?
Available now from the Crossing Press is a book put together by Sharon Yntema entitled More Than 100 Woman Science Fiction Writers: An Annotated Bibliography. Books like this make me want to throw bricks! If women are so damned interested and worked up over equality then why do they put out books like this that are a giant step towards segregationism??? Yes, this is a sore point with me, want me to list a bunch of other titles?
Another new mag? Yep. This one is called Night Shades: The Art & Fiction Journal of the Erotic & the Macabre. For info, drop me a line.
And yet another new mag? Yep.
David Hartwell "et al." is/are editing a new monthly magazine entitled The New York Review of Science Fiction. Issue #1 (Sept) is available for $2.50, or you can subscribe for a whole year for $24.00. To get it write to Dragon Press, (redacted), Pleasantville NY 10570.
Tis the season to be snippy and critical-right? Right! So beginning now and continued next month and perhaps February too, I'm going to do a comparative review of books that call themselves "encyclopedias" of science fiction. Some are, and some, well, aren't - at least not when compared to others. So, let's begin our study ....
PART 1 of TO BE OR NOT TO BE...AN ENCYCLOPEDIA
Let's start with a list of abbreviations for books that we will be talking about: GNESF, HESF, TESFF, NESF. What's that? What are the titles of the books these abbreviations stand for? Not so fast! To begin with, these are not the only books that claim to encyclopedias on SF or F, but they are the only ones currently in my possession either by purchase or a trip to the library. First we are going to take a general comparative overview of what these books have to offer.
GNESF - 900+ entries total, at least 500 of which are on writers and 250 are on films. There were 100+ (how do you measure a + person?) contributors.
HESF - 13 long major entries, a couple of which contain what would be many entries in a "normal" encyclopedia. It had 11 contributors.
TESFF - This one is not really an encyclopedia of SF, its an encyclopedia (2 volumes wonh) of authors, editors, anthologists, and artists - their biographies and their bibliographies. Volume 3 (not seen - yet) contains 5 sections including one called "general".
NESF - 2800+ entries (not counting cross-reference) which include: 1817 author entries, 286 film entries, W7 magazine entries, 40+ fanzines, 175 theme entries (most of which are over 1000 words), and a whole lot more. There are over 700,000 words of text written by 34 contributors.
Next month we'll compare some entries that they have in common and see what the differences are. If there's time we'll also take a look at what some of them leave out altogether, or put in altogether too much of.
Have a good Christmas and take care of yourselves!
See you here next month - REMEMBER - AS OF JANUARY 1ST, ITS ONLY 81 DAYS TIL *N-O-R-W-E-S-C-O-N 11*
Mark Manning
Happy holidays, everybody. Hope you've finished all your holiday shopping, and that you get lots of days off from work or school. Feels like I've already received one present: "Little Paper Faces" has a new logo! Special thanks to Brad Foster, winner of the last two fan artist Hugos.
I ended last month's column with a reference to Jophan. This comes from "The Enchanted Duplicator," a classic 1954 pamphlet by Walt Willis and Bob Shaw. Jophan escapes from the land of Mundania to go on a quest to the Tower of Trufandom, where he hopes to run off the Perfect Fanzine ('pub his ish').
If you'd like a reprint of this goodie, send $2 to The Cantors (Norwescon Alternacon's Fan GoHs), (redacted), North Hollywood, CA 91606.
And so to business. The Portland clubzine Pulsar (address and ordering info given last month) has reached #121, the November ish, edited this time out by Pat Gulley. I guess everyone was working on Orycon, because Karen Kelleher drew a cover showing those "American Gothic" farmers as zombies, Seattle zinefan Janice Murray contnbuted a LoC (Letter of Comment) on RoseCon and other for-profit cons, and then it was pretty much time to go home.
Bcsfazine, the Vancouver clubzine, has RW Clark's Frankenstein cover on #185 (October); must be a surplus of monsters in the Northwest this fall. "Ask Mr. Science" explains that pens can't write upside down because of the shape of ink molecules--yeah! A long article by Spider Robinson complains about a disaster in copy editing with the Ace pb edition of his Time Pressure. Then there's a rundown on the major film zines by R. Graeme Carneron, and other goodies.
The Ft. Lauderdale club sent the September and October numbers of The SFSFS Shuttle. #42 uses larger, much more legible dot matrix (thank you!) for local announcements, and runs two nice articles: Edie Stem's eyewitness of the recent Discovery launch, and a 50s Walt Willis piece about a shrink analyzing the sexual significance of fanzines. The guest editor for #43 forgot to identify him/herself, but at least ran more great Willis (Tropicon Fan GoH next month).
Most folks wouldn't get much out of the Boston clubzine, Instant Message, since it contains mostly minutes and budgets. #448 (10/16) reprints, from 1969, an article on a picket line to protest the cancellation of Star Trek, and minutes which show Isaac Asimov repeatedly fined for puns (one attendee "protested against recording puns on the ground that posterity has never done anything to us"). Contemporary minutes in #449 (10/30) feature hard-hitting discussion of the pine tree on NESFA's logo, which may be a fir after all. Some wanted to declare firs to be pines, others wanted NESFA to genetically engineer a correctly-shaped pine.
Last month, I feared for the life of the Louisville clubzine, Fosfax. From ish #130 (November), it looks like the tension in the 13-member club has diminished. And thank goodness! These folks arguably put out the best clubzine around (although if a few more NWSFSers would write for Westwind ... ). This time, they've got a lovely Paul Young cover, Janice Moore's editorial fear that fannish Pagans will catch (undeserved!) flak after Geraldo Rivera's show on Satanism, lots and lots of top-flight book reviews, and superb LoCs by Piers Anthony, L Sprague de Camp, and the like. Club prez CT Fluhr's objectionable article (which begins, "It pays to be poor, have lots of babies, and be a minority.") reminded me why I left Louisville, but otherwise, it's a great zine.
From the SF Association of Victoria comes FTA/Phoenix (no price listed, so ask the SFAV at (redacted), Victoria, BC V8W 2Y3). Vol. 5 No. 5 (November), probably edited by Tami Hayes, includes a rambling space-filler on SF TV shows by Hayes, Roger I. Williams' mixed review of the new Elfquest, Tami Hayes again with a club outing report, and some fiction excerpts and poetry.
Here's a clubzine that could give Fosfax a run for its money, if only it came out more frequently, the quarterly Neology ($12/year or the Usual -- trade zincs, LoCs, artwork, or fanarticles -- from the Edmonton SF and Comic Arts Society, (redacted), Postal Station South Edmonton, Edmonton, AB Canada T6E 4S8). For Fall 88 (#65), editor T. Phinney talks about the first seven years of ESFACAS, there's one nice long film review and one nice long book review, Chuck Connor relates the history of werewolf lore, and Cath Jacket's 65 zine reviews give me an ideal to aim for with "Little Paper Faces."
Norwescon XI's Fan GoH, Mike Glyer, sends ish #76 (September) of his newszine File 770 ($5/5 issues or fannish gossip, trade for a newszine, artwork, or 'selected mimeograph equipment' from Mike at (redacted), Van Nuys, CA 91401). If it really came out when the colophon claims, oh so long ago, Glyer had the scoop reporting this year's Hugo winners. In any case, the meat of the ish is his no holds-barred interview with Algis Budrys on Writers of the Future, L. Ron Hubbard, and whether the Scientologists are trying to take over fandom. And I like the lovely old (1980) Taral cover showing dancing fanzines.
Now for some sercon: Serious, constructive criticism of SF. Ed Meskys puts out a professionally laid-out, semi-pro serconzine with expensive paper and saddle stapling, Niekas ($15/4 issues from Niekas Publications, (redacted), Center Harbor, NH 03226-9729). The nice stuff in this pretty package (#37, August) includes 20 pages of excellent LoCs, Fred Lerner's imaginary trip to a Silverlock theme park, David M. Shea's analysis of the class structure of Pern, Thomas M. Egan's expose of firms who fraudulently offer to let you name a star, and Piers Anthony on, umm, well, he doesn't really explain why he's not involved in Amnesty International because he spins off into talking about the power of the Word and the joy of story telling and, umm, other stuff.
The next four zines all came to my home, so they're not in the club library unless the faneds (editors) send extra copies to NWSFS--contact me at my Green Book listing to read them.
Staying with pretty packages (Keith, could you track the violins over this paragraph?), the new (#4) Renaissance Fan just came out (the Usual from Rosalind Malin and Dick Pilz, (redacted), Portland, OR 97215), with a cool brew on the hand-painted, signed cover, and with leaves and seeds glued to the poetry pages. In this 'fermentation issue,' Dick tells how to brew your own beer, Terry White relates his days as a yogurt maker for some-Southern hippies, and Roz and Eleanor Malin contribute good fan fiction. The next ish will deal with transportation; I'll be along for the ride!
From the Melbourne SF Club ((redacted), World Trade Centre, Melbourne, 3005, Australia) comes the Aug/Sept (#21) number of their clubzine, Ethel the Aardvark (A$8/6 issues or trade zines; probable editor, Alan Stewart). They announce they'll keep the zine's name (hooray!), review lotsa books and movies, and include a GUFF ballot to pick a European fan to attend the 1989 Australian National Con at GUFF expense.
Hazel Ashworth's still sending out #1 (June 1986) of her zine, Lip (presumably for the Usual from Hazel at (redacted), Embsay, Skipton, North Yorks. England). "So what will it be about?" she asks. "Being in in Leeds fandom...unashamedly self-indulgent ramblings on...our almost-but-not-quite exclusive little group." Hazel on Leeds fannish dancing, Simon Ounsley on a Leeds nerd in Greece, Scottish fan Lilian Edwards on a fannish Leeds visit, Leeds, Leeds, Leeds! Very fannish, and plenty of Leeds.
Finally, here's the quaintly named Fuck the Tories #5 (October), from that charming, Marxist, fannish, anti-nuke couple, Judith Hanna and Joseph Nicholas (for the Usual from (redacted), Pimlico, London SW1V 2ER England). Actually, most of the zine is straightforward fannishness: Lionel Trippett's meditation on footnotes, Seattle fan John Berry on visiting London, Judith on Joseph's model airplanes. And then there are cute illos and cartoons, many lifted from the English labor press. The cut-out do-it-yourself bust of Karl Marx is a scream! Finally, the editorial and LoCs discuss feminism, intolerance of leftist politics within fandom, and the like. It's a great zine, but don't let mundanes see the cover!
There you have the reviews for this month. Your humble (ha!) columnist just pubbed the latest ish of a perzine, but modesty forbids (ha!) reviewing my own zine (bloody act of genius, really).
If you pub a zine, send it in! And if you run an apa, I'd be happy to inform Westwind readers about membership. So until 1989, vote Rottnest Island for Worldcon, everybody!
COMING SOON
NORWESCON 11 SNEAK PREVIEW
IN TWO MONTHS
Look in the January Westwind for details.
A Modern Fable
Sue Bartroff
A tattered old man sat by an empty, crusted over pot under the viaduct. He mumbled to himself occasionally and scraped the muck from the bottom of the pot. Around him sat a varied collection of humanity apathetically watching. Finally a woman of indeterminate years, heavily swathed in cast off clothing asked him what he was doing.
"Why," replied the old man, "I'm just about to whip up a delicious batch of soup. Would you like some?"
The group moved closer and one of the teens in leather with his blue hair roached up over his forehead jeered at the old man because there was no fire. One or two of the group scrabbled around in the refuse and came up with stuffing from a stained mattress and cardboard. A hush fell over the little group as the fire flickered fitfully in the damp and the sign of relief when it finally flamed up blew like a gust of wind among the concrete pillars that soared up to the freeway bed.
Two of the women carried the pot away to a place where runoff water trickled down and cleaned it with hand fulls of the scrub grass. Slowly the pot filled with murky water and was set over the little fire to boil away the impurities.
"What sort of soup will you make?" asked one of the children hopefully.
The old man did not answer but reached into his pocket and pulled out a smooth, flat blue grey stone about the size of his palm. Slowly he polished it upon the worn knee of his pants and held it out to the firelight. Looking at the handful of children that were shivering near the fire, he slid the stone into the water.
Crazy Molly shuffled up to the fire and coughed noisily as she reached into one of the many bundles she lugged with her. Out came a can opener and a bag of rice marked "government surplus--local issue only." As the water began to steam she poured the rice into the pot. Her eyes looked around the little circle and she offered the can opener to one of the other women.
Little by little, the carefully hoarded supplies came out to be dumped into the pot. A can of beans, two cans of corned beef, some split peas. The punk with the blue hair and his shivering girl friend crunched noisily off to return a few minutes later with half a dozen potatoes and some limp looking carrots.
Time passed and the aroma curled out around the pillars and the small group became animated and almost festive. That night the children would sleep in their cardboard home with full stomachs and the adults would remember other, better times.
When morning came, the fire was out and the old man and his pot and the blue-gray stone were gone. In his place lingered memories and the reborn hope that a little shared by everybody can make quite a lot.
In this city of Seattle, there are many families living in cars with small children because they can not afford housing. Perhaps only one of the parents can find a minimum wage job and the other must stay with the children during the day. Missions offer them soup during the day and a meal a night. The lucky get in a shelter where it is warm and they might get a shower.
Often parents opt to stay in the car for security reasons and to stay together as a family. Of the hundred families in acute need in this city, social service agencies can help only thirty or so a month.
Food banks can stretch their resources only so far and government subsidies have been cut and cut again. These children can not get into school because they have no permanent address. Many are too young for school.
Just like the old man gathered his community together and the rock he put into the pot brought a little food from everyone to make soup to feed not only their bodies but their souls that night, we can gather together as a community and do something to alleviate a little of the pain in this city.
Ifyou don't have money, volunteer. Go to the Millionair Club -- they need help all the time. Volunteer at the food bank, look through your cast off clothing and blankets and take them to the salvation army depot. Your children's cast off toys and books will be valued by other children this holiday.
If you have money, even a little, make a donation to your local food bank. They need protein items, vegetables, fruit, powdered milk, juice and baby food and formula. They also need disposable diapers (laundromats may be totally out of the reach of the people who are trying to feed a family) and even pet food. Sometimes the only friend some of the elderly in this city have is a beloved pet.
Even mismatched gloves and whole socks can be used. Let nothing go to waste -- if you are not using it, pass it on. This holiday season, perhaps as you shop, you could forgo that extra dessert and buy a few cans of tuna instead. You could cut down on the size of the turkey and slip an extra juice or peanut butter into your cart. In this time of plenty when most of us could stand to lose a few pounds here and there, let some of what we have go to those that don't have anything. Most stores have a box or barrel at the front of the store for foods to go to the food bank. On your way out, share.
Food banks also accept checks. In a society that has so much, how can so many be in pain. alone and homeless? How can we, knowing that, allow it to continue?
Jon Gustafson
I seem to have noticed, in one of the past Westwinds, that one of the other columnists objected to Algis Budrys reviewing a book that he had edited. Well, here's something a little closer to home to bitch about: I'm going to review two books I had something to do with.
The first is Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Pulphouse Publishing [Dean Wesley Smith], (redacted), Eugene, OR 97440; hardcover; 267 pages; 1,000-copy trade edition -- $17.95; 250-copy signed, boxed edition -- $50.00), a brand-new publication and a brand-new idea. This is aimed primarily at the collector's market, with a very limited circulation, high production values, and quality writing throughout. Issue number one is their Horror Issue and contains such short stories as Harlan Ellison's superb She's a Young Thing and Cannot Leave Her Mother, Kate Wilhelm's The Loiterer, On a Phantom Tide by William F. Wu, Edward Bryant's chilling While She Was Out, Nina Kiriki Hoffman's Works of Art, and 16 other really nifty and nasty horror stories. If that weren't enough, each story has an introduction by Rusch and there are non-fiction articles by Jack Williamson, Kim Antieau, and myself. This is a superb first effort by Smith and Rusch, with an amazing list of authors collected in the first volume. By the time you read this, the signed edition (beautifully bound in leather, boxed, and signed by all the authors) will be sold out and there will be very few of the trade edition remaining, so if you want one, you'd better hurry. This is one book -- and one series; it will be coming out quarterly -- I most highly recommend.
The next item I had something to do with is the MosCon X tenth Anniversary Program Book, which I edited (available from me at (redacted), Moscow, ID 83843; 144 pages; trade edition -- S7.50 + $1.50 postage; numbered hardcover edition -- $25.00 + $2.00 postage; checks should be made out to "MosCon"), and which is something the fannish world has, quite simply, never seen before. It is a program book for a convention, to be sure, but it is much more than that. What I did for MosCon X was to ask all of our previous Guests of Honor to contribute something to the book, either fiction, article, or art, and they all responded. The MosCon X Program Book has fiction by Anne McCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Algis Budrys. F.M. Busby, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, John Varley, M.J. Engh. and William R. Warren, most of which has never seen print before. There are articles by Jerry Sohl, Robert A. Heinlein, Kate Wilhelm, Dean Ing, Jack Williamson, Robert L. Forward, Stephen Gillett, Fritz Leiber and many more, plus art by George Barr, Tim Kirk, Alex Schomburg, Rick Sternbach, Ken Macklin and Lela Dowling, Alicia Austin and others. Most of the items in the book were either done specifically for it, or heavily re-written and updated. The softcover edition (both softcover and hardcover are 81/2 by 11 inches) has full color front and back covers, and both editions have a two-page color Kelly Freas foldout. The hardcover edition features a dustjacket as well. This book is lavishly illustrated by professional and fannish artists such as Randy Mohr, Vincent Di Fate, Jacqualynn Duram-Nilsson, Vixen, Gary Davis, and Robert Everton. And, if all this weren't enough, there is the history of PESFA and the complete "Ask Mr. Science." In short, there is a awful lot of good stuff in this volume. This book must be a collector's item...because no way am I going to do another one like this before MosCon XX!
Well, on to some more "standard" fare. Jo clayton is the author of many excellent science fiction novels (and she's a delight to talk to as well) and her latest is Shadow of the Warmaster (DAW books, #88677-298-2, 398 pages, $3.95). A greedy corporation has been making lots of extra profit in dealing in slavery, but now they have stolen the daughter of Adelaar aici Arash, who not only objects but has the resources to do something about it. She hires Swardheld Quale and his troubleshooting crew to help find and retrieve her daughter. They eventually find her on a rather primitive planet about which is orbiting a huge ancient war platform, called a Warroaster. All Quale and Arash have to do is get her daughter out from under the nose of the most deadly fighting machine known in the Galaxy, while dealing with rebels on the planet's surface and a traitor in their own midst...no problem, right? Jo Clayton pulls the reader through this maze of plot and counter-plot with a master's touch, throwing in just the right amount of futuristic slang and other touches to make the scenes come vividly alive. Highly recommended.
And last, but far from least, is Terry Brooks' latest novel, The Black Unicorn (del Rey/Ballantine, #33528, 307 pages, $4.95). This is the second book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, and takes place a year after Ben Holiday bought the magic Kingdom. Ben, the wizard Questor Thews, and the sylph Willow all have incredibly vivid dreams one night, dreams that send each of them on missions. Ben is compelled to return to Earth to see to the health of his old friend, Miles Benett; Questor Thews seeks out the lost Books of Magic; and willow must find the bridle of spun gold with which to bind the Black unicorn. Ben unwittingly brings back his arch-enemy, Meeks, who replaces him as King and sets Ben loose in the Kingdom, disguised so not even his best friends could recognize him. All he knows is that he must find Willow and the Black Unicom, for they hold the key to saving the Magic Kingdom from Meeks. As I said in an earlier review, I like this style of Brooks' writing far better than his Shannara junk, and hope he continues it. He makes the people and the creature of the Magic Kingdom live in these books. Recommended.
September 23-25, 1988, Moscow Idaho. Guest of Honor: Anne McCaffrey, Artist Guests of Honor; Lela Dowling & Ken Macklin, Science Guest of Honor: Dr. Robert L. Forward, Fan Guests of Honor: Ed & Norma Beauregard.
MosCon Ten was my first experience of fandom outside of the greater Seattle area. The hotel that the convention was held at, Cavanaugh's, is found only after driving for a long time across the vast desert plain that is Eastern Washington and into the town of Moscow, just over the border in the land of famous potatoes.
Cavanaugh's is a warm, cozy hotel staffed with the kind of folk that understand Science Fiction/Fantasy Fandom. When I checked into my room, I found the sort of things one expects from a class hotel. Clean room, paper wrapped drinking glasses, a pen and pad of paper by the phone for writing down the crazy ideas that us fen get late at night (or any other time), and of course, a delightful assortment of gummy dinosaurs on the pillow.
One of the nice things about smaller conventions is that autograph sessions are not so crowded. The autograph session did have the long snake that coiled about the room, the head ending in front of the GoH, Anne McCaffrey; but as fen were limited to two books each, the snake was quickly dealt with, leaving time to actually talk to the pros, the GoH included.
I have been told that MosCons are known for their genial room parties, and can attest to the rumor as fact. Not a very bold partygoer, I found the parties an easy place to meet friends, new and old and enjoyed many interesting conversations, none of which I can seem to remember for some reason. But it had nothing to do with what ever it was that I was ?Drinking. Very good parties indeed.
The slide show by the Art GoHs, Ken Macklin and Lela Dowling, allowed a chance to see artwork of years gone past as well as a glimpse of work done as commercial projects, quite different in style, showing the versatility of the artists as well as their awesome talent.
MosCon's Science Guest of Honor was Dr. Robert L. Forward. His panels on real science included explanation of anti-matter propulsion systems that we can build right now (not too cost effective just yet, though), and seven impossible things before breakfast, including anti-gravity (takes a lot of neutronium) and FTL travel (better get the jumbo pack of neutronium for this one).
The art show featured a broad spectrum of media, plenty of drawings and paintings, various sculptures, and quite a few wall hangings, including hooking, needle point, and beadwork. The theme of dragons was present in all areas, particularly the wall hangings. I must especially compliment the art show staff on the lighting systems they installed for the show. It helped turn ordinary hotel rooms into a well lit if cozy art gallery.
The dealer rooms has a good assortment of wares, but although one could find functional fantasy weaponry, including razor sharp daggers, finely wrought armor and swords whose lofty price tag would surely deal a mortal blow to even the stoutest of checking accounts, nobody had an Ruthergian matter dismantlers, Alkad ray blasters, hull-piercing grapplers, or even a functioning phaser. I just think that the SF fen should be able to get authentic hardware too. But then there would be even less space for books, so maybe it's for the best.
Although Friday and Saturday had plenty of different programming items, if you didn't go to the brunch on Sunday, there was not much else going on. Unfortunately for me, the banquet sold out and I missed the chance to sample the infamous green eggs and ham that MosCon has become famous for. I understand that there was also normal food for those who had never read Dr. Suess.
The art auction showed that not only do fen have taste, some actually have money and the desire to spend it on the piece that catches their eye. The bidding was brisk, for the most part and a painting by Lela Dowling got bid up from $500 to over $1000. I was sitting next to the man who calmly made the final bid but did not find out until later that he was bidding in absentia for Anne McCaffrey. A piece that I was interested in buying quickly jumped out of the reach of my pocket book, leaving me with the desire to take up gun running or perhaps TV evangelism to fund next years bidding efforts. But I did manage to get a very nice print by Ken Macklin at one of the dealer tables.
In all, a very nice, friendly convention that proved there is intelligent life in spud land.
Chris McDonell
by Doug Shirk
WHERE WE WRITE A SHORT, CHURLISH COLUMN FOR X-MAS
-or-
I'M PAID TO BE POLITE FOR A LIVING
FOR THIS I DON'T GET PAID
How's that for Christmas Spirit, boys and girls. The title actually has two meanings. I was going to write a long, meanspirited article continuing my rantings on the 1988 TV season, but it's late, and so is my copy, so you get a short, meanspirited collection of random notes and thoughts.
First, a typo correction, Ed. Yes, Jon Gustafson, you are a winner. Yes, Gidney and Cloyd were the two moonmen from Rocky and Bullwinkle, and yes, they were looking for the Kirwood Derby, and no, no more phone calls. I'm not as think as you dumb I am. A second drink at Rustycon for the first person who tells me what the Derby was for, and how it related to the Moose.
Scanning back a couple of months, I noted that the crew list for Who Framed Roger Rabbit looked a lot like The Creditors parody column of a couple years back. Well, Tessa Horan of Premiere magazine was kind enough to count, and Frank Robinson of Locus was kinder enough to report the total. The envelope please? 771 names were listed in the credits to ROGER. Ye gods! That would have been a good contest. And as a bit of useless trivia, that column was based on an English short called The Creditors, (from 1967) that was 12 min. of credit and story line crawled over a shot of an English taxi going down a country road.
A GOOD reason (as if you need another one - there are many already) to go to Rustycon is the Northwest premiere of the English version of Legend, Ridley Scott's 1986 boy meets girl, girl does dumb thing, boy loses girl to evil prince, etc. film which I generally didn't like. One recurrent problem in the film was Tangarine Dream's score, added by Universal after the film was done to make it more "accessible" (their word) to the teenage audience. The full Jerry Goldsmith score was left on the European cut. If this has the full score, it should be a real treat. Legend needed a driver, and the score might just be it.
Harlan Ellison ("Noted Futurist" [?]), commenting on J. Michael Straczynski's comment that Twilight Zone, the TV show, would take a more "humanistic approach"; dealing with homelessness, alcoholism, and etc., as opposed to "special effects and explosions" said "Mr. Straczynski's a good friend, but he's stuffed full of wild blueberry muffins." Ellison called the show "one-punch, gimmicky amputees", probably in reference to the 22 minute episode length. This has not stopped the noted pitchman from selling "Crazy As A Soup Sandwitch" to the production.
Ellison's right. The 3 episodes I've seen don't have the writing punch and tightness of the CBS re-incarnation, and the strict 30 min. time period, along with the need for extra commercial time hamstring's the stories. A second drawback is budget, the syndicated TZ probably not having as much money to play with. But wild blueberry muffins? A far cry from insects having intercourse, Harlan.
Speaking of scripts, Rod Serling left 3 unused Twilight Zone episode outlines, one of which is being done by Straczynski for use in the TZ re-creation.
Alien III has made its first pop in the rumor mill in a while. Current? John McTiernan (Predator) is rumored as director, though Sigourney Weaver has been quoted as expecting Ridley Scott to do it. I didn't think Weaver had signed. I know she wasn't originally contracted for III.
Frank Robinson (Locus) comments that the BIG picture for 1989 so far looks like Total Recall, from Philip K. Dick's short We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (F&SF, April, 1966). Directed by Paul Verhoeven (Robocop), the $50 million film will lead with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apparently the set designs are first rate, though the story may have to be s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to make it filmable.
One of the (many) things that has bothered be about the "Starlog" style fan magazine is their complete and total lack of objectivity, mainly their inability to critique anything. What used to bea bit of a stitch was their annual review issue, where reviewers would come in and lambaste most everything the mag had spent the last 11 months hyping.
They seem to have gotten around that problem somewhat with Starlog, The Science Fiction Universe, Presents: Science Fiction Video Magazine. Ta-Da! What we have here is your basic guide to SF film and TV available on video cassette. Where it shines is that it is basically honest. It calls a spade a spade, and a bomb a bomb. Points are awarded for the Prisoner section, and its listing of cassette releasers instead of original production houses. No points for the obligatory Star Trek list and reviews, and negative points for the inconsistency among the reviews themselves, but we're all guilty of that. Remember, you're reading the guy that not only liked Ice Pirates, but bought the damn cassette. This is not one of the better Video books/mags, but for "Starlog" it ain't bad.
That about wraps up this piece of filler for the month, although I can't leave without giving a cheer to Robert, Doug, Judy, Michael, and Mark, the Ed, Art, Layout, Print, and Typing of this rag. My Westwind #135 (Nov.) was absolutely beautiful. The layout was super, the writing is better and better (Mark Manning deserves a big hand for Little Paper Faces), and the print quality is unbelievable. These people (and everyone else on the masthead) put a lot of work into this little 'zine that shows up in your box every month. I just write. It's thems that cuts and pastes, so if you see them, let them know you appreciate their work. I do.
May the holiday season see you fit and well, and the our best from the snowy side of the state to you all in 1989.
Dear Doug,
I feel you were much too kind in your review of War Of The Worlds television version of the Wells' classic. It was obvious to me, as I forced myself to sit through the one episode I watched, that the show was written by and aimed at the six year old mind. The basic premise of radiation reanimating the dead is ridiculous; the idea that cow blood can somehow rejuvenate decaying human tissue is absurd; and the alien's ability to conscript a fresh human body (leaving the old one to ooze all over the floor); grow, at least, a hand inside that body which can burst out through the chest (sound familiar?), and presumably retract again, healing the flesh instantly, is utterly unbelievable. (I thought gaping holes in the body were their big problem?) The entire effects are designed to titillate the juvenile's fascination for gore.
They don't expect a six year-old to be smart enough to notice these minor inconsistencies. Then why are they airing the show in the prime time adult slot? It's so laughable it belongs in the Saturday morning cartoon line-up.
As an adult viewer, I can on]y say WOTW was the most insulting hour of television I've seen since Invaders, to which it bears a tedious resemblance.
Your still respectful reader,
M. Elayn Harvey
[Remember we're talking about television here, not great literature or even film. As SF/TV it ain't bad. But then they call television a medium because very little of it is well done. -Doug Shirk ]
Neglected Visions, edited by Barry N. Malzberg, Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander. New York, Doubleday, 1979.
Neglected Visions showcases nine SF writers whom the editors believe deserve more recognition than they have received. The stories representing those authors here were published in the 1950s and 60s, but are still fresh, not technologically dated. Randall Garrett may be the best known of the authors in this collection; he is represented by The Hunting Lodge which includes future technology immortality and politics. Peter Phillips' Lost Memory has a different approach to a first contact; like so many other SF works, the title has at least two meanings (a pun if you like). As in much of SF, humor is well represented in this collection. Robert Abernathy's Junior has many gently funny bits, including the hilarious-in-context "child of an only parent". Ballenger's People by Kris Neville is a wry look inside one character's unusual way of handling reality. The other authors included in this volume are Mark Clifton, Christoper Anvil, Norman Kagan, Wyman Guin, and F. (for Floyd) L. Wallace.
The editors have considerately included listings of the nine authors' other works, including magazine and anthology appearances of short stores. Like many other anthologies, Neglected Visions is a reminder that speculative fiction is rich in fine but relative]y unknown works and creators.
Elisabeth Eldred
by M. Elayn Harvey
In all that day-long wandering of confusion, Joel remembered only the promise; this Christmas mom could afford to give him a gift. But tonight was Christmas Eve and he had nothing, nothing save the clothes on his back and her Saint Vinny's sailor's coat. He had shut away the promise, in that cluttered place where children keep all the broken promises of adults, and had wandered the blind city to proclaim the betrayal in dirty, empty alleys, and lost memories too heavy on his small bones.
Joel came back to First Avenue to find the street light broken and the neon black, but he had a votive in an old mason jar. He crossed the street and sneakered quieter than the rats into the canyon behind the boarded-up Starmint club. By the flickering light he saw the star, chalked white and gritty on the sooty walk. Underneath it, Pin was waiting for him.
He didn't ask how she'd found her way back; he was afraid to say anything that would crush the small birth of hope inside him. She was there, and right now, that was enough.
"Bring your light closer," she whispered, "There's something written next to the star." Joel raised his candle jar and read the scratched words:
ALTAR IN THE SNOW SHED
SUFFOCATE THE HALF DEAD
Behind him, her voice in shadow, Pin said, "He was angry when he wrote that."
"Who?"
"He's not angry now."
"What's it mean?"
"It has something to do with the club."
"How do you know?"
"Snow shed -- so much coke in there, they should have called the place North Pole. I think that's why it was torched."
"Don't!" Joel retreated up the alley. Pin followed. The mason jar lit their way and warmed Joel's bare hands. "I still don't understand what the poet means."
"Yes you do, it's about loss."
"I'm hungry."
"I know where we can get some money."
They turned uptown, narrow, dark alleys and bright towers, across Second Avenue and Third, where they were stopped by the red hand. Thev waited on the corner and watched two University girls tap acappella on torn squares of linoleum. They wore matching white scarfs and their working breath was white smoke, and late shoppers tossed change into their upturned fedoras on the pavement. They smiled at him.
"If I could dance like you," said Joel to Pin, "we could make some money like that."
"There are better ways, come on, the walk man is lit up." They crossed the street and toiled uphill, and saw another star. Joel slipped into the alley and held his candlelight high.
IT'S EASY TO DREAM NOT TO BELIEVE
IT'S EASY TO PRETEND NOT TO CARE
He read the message three times. "Is it about failure Pin?"
"Yes, haven't I always said you were smart?"
"Not as smart as you." They returned to the sidewalk.
"You're plenty smart for fourteen." They came to a busier intersection: the hurry and rumbling impatience of homebound cars, the loud gift-wrapped store windows, foil and tinsel on plastic trees and paper snowflakes dusted with glitter, and frozen-smile mannequins dressed in styles no one he knew could afford to buy. Silver Bells caroled from a speaker. "...it's Christmas time in the city..."
Joel pressed his face to the tall window. "What do you want for Christmas, Pin?"
"I want only one thing."
"What's that?"
"Light. Corne on, you must be hungry."
"Yes, very." But they stopped at the corner, even though the walk man beckoned them. There was a black madonna propped in rags against the marble of the Bon Marche. She sat on a blanket, with a baby in her lap. A coffee can, wrapped in bag paper and lettered with a magic marker, proclaimed in humble annunciation: MILK MONEY. Shoppers detoure.d past them the way they stepped around soiled puddles at the curbside.
Joel hugged his candle jar and knelt in front of the child. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
The mother said, "a girl." The speaker sang, "Away in a manger ... " .
"She's pretty, said Joel. "Here." He pushed his jar next to the baby. "It'll keep her warm. If you take good care of her, she won't leave you." He got up and walked away.
Pin sounded hurt. "Why did you say that?"
Joel shrugged in his over-sized coat. "I don't know."
"You gave away our light, how are you going to find our way?"
"Lots of light up here."
"But the alleys are dark."
"Follow the star. Isn't that what you said?"
"Yes, I want to...."
"Hey, we're like the wisemen, but there are two of us."
"The third one's on the wall, but you can't see your way now."
"What does it matter."
"The park's up ahead -- the fountain has money. People throw it in there and make a wish. We'll take it out and make a wish. What do you want for Christmas?"
As if she didn't know, but her sincerity made him confused, so he lied. "A fat goose dinner, with stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes with lots of butter, and cranberries and mince pie."
"There's no cop, pick up the coins."
Joel took off his sneakers and rolled his jeans. "Geez, the water's cold."
"Not as cold as it could be, there's no ice on the gutter lakes."
"What does that mean?"
"My mom told me when she was a kid there used to be ice in the gutters and she would skate on her way to school. But when I was a girl the city put in sewers and there was no more ice. But you know what I used to do?"
"No. Oh look, I found a quarter."
"I used to tie scrub brushes to my shoes and wash the kitchen floor, pretending I was ice skating."
They both laughed. Joel waded out, his balance teetering, almost falling, and they laughed over that too.
Pin peered over his shoulder. "How much did you get?"
Joel stacked the coins in their denominations on the pavement. "One quarter, five dimes, seven nickels, and eleven pennies."
"That's a dollar and twenty-one cents. Pretty good."
"There's a MacDonalds a couple of blocks away." Joel dried his feet with a coat tail, unrolled his jeans and retied his hightops.
Out of the park, heading north, Pin stopped beside the third star, and leaned in. "The street light doesn't quite reach inside."
"There's only one match in my book." Joel came into the alley. "That's all right, I can just make it out."
"What does it say?"
EYES IN THE CITY ARE BLIND
SIGHTLESS OF OUR MADNESS
He turned away. "Well, I knew that already."
"It was a reminder."
"Do you know the wiseman? Why he writes all these weird things in alleyways?"
"It's a reminder for you to find a way out. We'll find him whenwe reach the last star."
"It's a big city, what ifwe don't find them all?"
"We will."
They entered the back parking lot of MacDonalds. Joel stayed in the shadow of the trash bin. There were four boys at the take-out window. They stood in a square and the boy at the left back made motor noises, while the boy at the front left gripped his hands around an invisible steering wheel. The boy at the front right held a flashlight, and the boy behind him cocked his arm, as if hanging it out a window.
Three girls were crowded into the take-out booth, in their prim uniforms, and giggling. They exchanged puffy white bags for money. Legs pumping in unison, the boys drove away, then broke formation. They laughed and swaggered down the sidewalk, eating their burgers.
Joel clung to the trash bin, laughing and slapping his knee. "Did you see that, Pin? Wasn't that something?"
"Illusion can be funny, I guess." She didn't sound amused. "They remind me of a brother I had once. Go get something to eat and I'll tell you about him."
Joel crossed the lot and went inside. He squinted in the bright light and studied the menu. The salty smell of fries and bun-wrapped meat watered in his mouth, but he wanted to buy Pin a gift. He began to feel nervous, waiting in line. There was something very dangerous about the noise and press of solid reality, he wanted to run back to the safe darkness of the night. The teller looked down.
"Welcome to MacDonalds, may I take your order?"
"A large cup of hot water?"
She fit her hand to her hip. "Is that all? Hot water?"
"Yes, please."
"You'll have to pay for the cup."
"How much?"
"A dime."
"I have a dime." He dug it out and pushed it across the brushed chrome. She drew the water and put a lid on the styrofoam, set it in front of him and put the dime in the till.
Thank you," said Joel. "Merry Christmas."
She looked over bis head. "Next?"
Joel stopped at the napkin bar. He pocketed three catsups, one salt, one pepper and a straw, and hurried out. He and Pin sat on the island between Macdonalds and Minit Lube, brittle junipers sheltering them.· Joel wedged the cup between his thighs and pried off the lid. "You were going to tell me about a brother?" He tore the catsups open with his teeth and squished the red paste into the water.
"You're making tomato soup -- I taught you that a long time ago, I didn't think you remembered."
Joel stirred in the salt with the straw, and said nothing about remembering.
"Lots of pepper, it makes you warm."
"The story, Pin."
"Yes, well...when I was nine mom brought a boy to live with us, and said he was my brother. I asked her where he'd been these past eight years, because he was a year younger than me. She said he'd been in the east. Anyway, I had a three-legged hamster named Pook, and Larry collected caterpillars, and we put on a circus and charged the kids in the neighborhood a penny each to watch the show."
"What kind of show?" He blew and sipped at the watery soup.
"Pook would run inside a number three peach tin with the ends cut out, and it would roll across the ground. Larry made his caterpillars crawl a tightrope of string and climb the high dive into a tuna can of water. He'd put one on Pook's back, but it would always curl up and fall off."
"What kind of caterpillars?"
"Those fat orange and black ones --it was summertime."
"I wish it was summer, now, I don't like the cold. What else?"
"Nothing else. Peg-leg Pook ran away,the caterpillars went into cocoons, and we went into a state home -- mom had run off, too."
"You never told me about this." His breath steamed.
"It wasn't a good time in my life, but it's why I stay with you. I'll always take care of you, as long as you need me. It's my Christmas present to you."
He didn't understand. "Was the state home bad?"
"It was okay. The people were nice, they bought me a slate tablet and a box of colored chalk. I liked chalk because it smelled of second grade, and I was happy in second grade. That was the year before Larry came."
"Oh, you didn't like him?" He finished his soup. "Pin?"
"I loved him, Joel."
"But something happened?"
"One day we were in the playground and some old people came, in a fancy car, and they took him away. I don't ever remember crying so hard, not before then, not after. I never saw Larry again."
"I'm sorry."
"I couldn't understand why he left me, why I couldn't go, too. The state people said those were his grandparents, but not mine, so he was only my half-brother."
"I'm glad you told me, a half-uncle is better than no uncle at all. Even if we don't know where he is, he's out there somewhere."
"Joel, I...."
"What?"
"Not now." The city had fallen silent. Pin said, carefully, "He didn't want go, I'm sure of that, but he wasn't allowed to stay. Do you understand the difference?"
"Yes."
"He doesn't know, but he taught me not to hold people too lightly. We all go away. I just wish I could have said goodbye."
"I won't leave you."
"Do you know, now, why you said that to the child's mother?"
"No."
"You will. It's getting late, we should start back." Joel tossed his litter in the bin and they headed back to First Avenue. At a Circle K, Joel stopped.
"Wait for me," he said, "I want to get something." He came out a few minutes later, stuffing a square-shape in his empty pocket.
"Are you still there, Pin?"
Her voice came from shadow. "Yes. Hope that's your breakfast?"
"No, you'll see, it isn't Christmas yet. The clock in the store said eleven-thirty -- we have time."
They walked together along the echoing, deserted streets. The dancers, and the madonna and child, had gone home with their gold. Joel and Pin trudged silent and hunched against the December night.
Finally, Joel said, "We haven't seen any more stars. You think I've gotten us lost?"
"No, don't worry, there's only one more."
They were at the end of First, across from the burned-out Starmint club, when Pin saw the last star. "See? There it is."
"The street light's broken."
"You have one match in your book."
They stole into the blackness and sat down. "It's probably after midnight by now, I got you a present." He pulled out the brown-wrapped package. "Merry Christmas."
"Joel, you shouldn't have spent your money."
"I can get more, you showed me how."
"Open it for me, I can't see."
He opened the paper bag, and took out the box. He shook a disk from the cardboard, and pulled out his last match. His fingers were shivering but the match caught on the first strike. He lit the little candle disk.
"Light," marveled Pin.
"I bought you a whole box." He pulled out the rest. "Light for your last Chmtmas." Last Christmas; he looked into the flame and felt a strange movement inside him, like a sooty veil of pain on his soul had gotten up and tiptoed away. He sniffed and set the candles out in a row and lit the wicks. They bathed the narrow alley in a warm nativity glow.
He crouched with his back to the wall and swaddled his mother's big coat around his thin knees. "Are you happy, Pin?"
"It's the best Christmas ever, thank you. What did the wiseman write on the wall?"
"Just a minute, it's so cold." He rested his head on his knees.
"The candles help, don't they? I don't want you to be cold or hungry, or sad. I wish...."
"Don't worry." He remembered the soft touch of her good-night kiss. He was tired, but he felt safe.
"Joel? I have to go. I don't want to...but it's getting so bright. What does the wiseman say? Read it to me."
Joel sighed heavily, levered himself up and stood in front of the blank brick. He took the well-abused chalk from his jeans and wrote.
LIFE IS A WANDER, NIGHTMARE AND DAYDREAM
IT IS WHAT IT IS, NOT WHAT IT SEEMS.
Pin's fainter whisper came from somewhere beyond the candles. "Does that mean hope?"
"No...only acceptance."
"I loved you, Joel, never forget that. There's another star in my pocket. I...I'm not allowed to stay."
"I know," he nodded. And he knew she had led him as far as she could. And she had kept her promise, she had given him a gift, the only one she had to give.
There was one last star, and a message with a meaning that could not be written, one that he had not been able to read; the pain had been too fresh, and the grief too numbing. Forgetting had been his only solace. In it he had lost himself, and only now did he know how near he had come to the chasm of madness. But she had led him out through the alleys of his own denial, led him to the gift he needed.
Joel sat down alone and pulled from her pocket the wadded and cloth-smudged clipping, and smoothed it open. He read the headline by flickering candlelight:
DANCER DIES IN FIRE AT STARMINT.
Pin smiled up at him in paper and ink, in dark and in light. He knew now what he'd said to the madonna and why. Pin hadn't left him; she'd been taken away, and that made all the difference. In streaming tears, he whispered, "I love you, mom. Good-bye."
Note to my readers:
If you get lost in the city it's for good reason. This Seattle somehow got folded into Auburn. I'm well aware that downtown MacDonalds doesn't have a drive-through, nor a minit-lube, or Circle K, but they were there for me; and thus are the landscapes of dreams.
M. Elayn Harvey
A Westwind subscription is included with a NWSFS membership, at $12.00 per year.
Westwind is mailed during the first week of each month.
Contributions of art, reviews, articles, etc., are welcome. Deadline is the 5th of the month prior to issue.
(redacted) SEATTLE, WA 98124
Advertising is accepted - see page 2
issue 3 2010.4.4 Sunday
Writer: Patricia McKillip
Artist: Kinuko Craft
Science: Marie D. Jones
Special: Jim and Shannon Butcher
Spotlight Publisher: Pyr
Norwescon 34's theme: Fantasy of the Mind
Bitter Angels won this year's Philip K. Dick award. Nisi Shawl accepted the award on behalf of C.L. Anderson.
Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days received the runner up citation.
Norwescon 33 is officially SOLD OUT. Just over 3300 memberships were sold; the final number will be announced at closing ceremonies.
Thank you to all our members for making Norwescon 33 one of the largest Norwescons in history!
Gaming: The Stars Are Right, host CthulhuBob (Noon, Cascade 11)
Gaming: Munchkin: Player's Choice, host Marcus Evenstar (Noon, Cascade 11)
Space — Humanity's Best Hope for Long-Term Survival?: new panelists: Brenda Cooper (M), Jim Frenkel, Guy Immega, G. David Nordley, Vernor Vinge
Exploring the Human Condition: new panelists: Nathan Crowder (M), Ben Andrews, Michael Ehart, Christian t. L. Mecham, Kevin Radthorne
Home Recording II: new panelists: Alexander James Adams, Michelle Dockrey, Tony Fabris, Stephanie Weippert
Trouble Clef Jam (Songs in the Key of R): new panelists: Alexander James Adams, Ash Productions, Callie Hills, Creede Lambard, David Nasset, Sr., Death*Star, Mickey Phoenix, Naomi Rivks, Steve Savisky, S. J. Tucker, Vixy & Tony
V: The Visitors: new panelists: Leo Roberts, Jesse Simpson
Fandance Film Festival: new panelists: Edward Martin III, Ryan K. Johnson
Closing Ceremonies: new panelists: William Sadorus (M), Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, Jim Frenkel, David Hartwell, Tracy Knoedler, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge
Honorable Mention for Attention to Detail: Heather Pringle of Eccentric Creations
Honorable Mention for Excellence in Embroidery: Bannerman
Best Novice: Jareth, the Goblin King
Best Journeyman for make-up: Dalmatina Lady
Best Master: Medieval Japanese Court Lady in Late Winter
Best in Show: News from Draconis
Trixie Award: Nairobi
From all judges, for excellence in wings and overall effect: Wings of Aion
Judge's Choice for most intriguing: Hyacinth Broadbent
Best Novice: News from Draconis
Best Journeyman: Good is Bad
Best Master: Capt. Dallas
Best in Show: Cthulhu's Jester
Most Promising New Costumer: More Plausible than Perfect, Philip Buff
Best Science Fiction Theme: EEAR KIT, Linda Halligan
Stem Stitch Workmanship: Salmon Le Sac, April Faires
Best Planned Functionality: Brown Art Bag, Tina Comroe
Outstanding Knitting Technique: Tauri Phone Home, Joy Lee Barnhart
Outstanding Quilt Techniques: Boilerplate Visits a Crazy Quilt, Deborah Paul Olsen
Outstanding Use of Felting Techniques: Dragon Bad, Claudette Wagner
Best Use of Recycled Materials: Black Silk, Melissa Cooper (Dellyn)
Honorable Mention: White Witch's Soul Bag, Lynne Magie (Squirrel)
Judge's Choice: Middle Eastern Fantasy, Lynn Kingsley
Outstanding Novice: buh-DOW!, Jean Jones
Achievement for Pattern Alteration to Achieve High Functionality: Hidden Treasure, Martha Eby
Most Creative Use of Materials: Combat Purse, Lady Bane
Best Recreation: K-9 in Disguise, Solaris (Michelle George)
Best Theme: Life, Frame by Frame, Ariana Munssey
Best Workmanship: Totoro Bag with Catbus, Janice Mears (Oopsigottarun)
Best of Show: Dragon Bag, Tammie Dupuis
The Norwescon Art Show is proud to announce this year's Judges' Choice and People's Choice Awards. We also wish to thank this years judges, Don Lackey, Jean Carlos, Shaughnessy, and John Jude Palencar for their time and good judgement. Doug and Pat Booze would also like to thank their team for its dedication and hard work. Without them, Norwescon wouldn't have had an art show!
Guest of Honor Choice: Kyle Abernethy, "Memento Mori"
Best in Show: Michael Duquette, "Ice Dragon"
First Place: Jeff Sturgeon, "Event Horizon"
Second Place: Cyndy Salisbury, "King of the Greenman"
Third Place: Theresa Mather, "The Challenge"
Best 3-D: Michael Duquette, "Ice Dragon"
Best Black & White: Josh Foreman, "Legalism"
Best Mix: Stephen Lestat, "The Deal"
Best Color: Sarah Clemens, "Aeronauts"
Best Textile: Teresa Miller, "Embroidery Quilted Sample"
Best Jewelry: Tammy Micleson, "Black & Gold Reversible Clockwork Necklace 20"
Best in Show: Butch G. Honeck, "Steam Powered Computer"
Best Sci-Fi: Jeff Sturgeon, "Event Horizon"
Best Horror: John Jude Palencar, "Tales of The Lovecraft"
Best Humor: Megan McBirney, "Splat"
Best Fantasy: Mark Roland, "To Rise Again in Spring"
Join us in the Volunteers Lounge from 9am to Noon for your last chance to win one of Many! Fabulous! Prizes! Now is your opportunity to test yourself in feats of skill and walk home with one of many wonderful awards.
does our artist goh have a sense of humor? let's find out, shall we?
<points at programme book centrefold> This is an anal-retentive dragon. THIS is an anal-retentive dragon! This dragon is fucking bored. See these things? This dragon stacked these things himself. This is wrong. Did he contract this shit out? No! He fucking did this all on his own on a Tuesday night when there was nothing on TV. This is bullshit! And what is this in this fucking mountainside? He carved that. This is some art hippie dragon. NO! HE'S GOT ARCHITECTURE SKILLS! STOP HIM!! God damn. Never fuck with an art hippie dragon! Especially when he has fuckin' laser beams coming out of his back.
That picture's been bothering me all weekend.
does our hotel have a sense of humor? let's find out, shall we?
ok ok ok ok ok next year if the cafe is not fuckin' open until one in the morning like it says it is on the goddamn wall we should fuckin' riot. We should bring that bitch down. Not the whole hotel, just that part. It says 1am on that fuckin' sign on the wall and they're all WE DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS ANYBODY IN THE HOTEL and there's like 2900 of us, bitches. And that's all I got to say. PS HOTEL I LOVE YOUUUUUU
you can find that shit out on the interweb, man. no, seriously.
I don't know what it is with Biohazard but these guys decided they're some trendy LA club in the middle of nerdville and they have a line that's like a mile long and the hotel's only one block so how does that even work? Guess where we didn't go! Fuck that.
Okay however. To start out with. 5452. If there was an alcoholic version of pleasantly getting the shit getting kicked out of you in a back alley, you would find it in 5452. we found this really awesome party that doesn't exist, it's like a seriously secret thing, we had to sit through a presentation thing, they even gave us a little chip, my as still hurts where they injected it, we had to sit through this fucking thing, it's call the Teodoro Family Party. If you find these guys, they know their shit, man. They got us well and truly lit, just out of the kindness of their hearts. We went from fucked up to WOAH OMG in like nothing flat. And we were pretty fucked up already.
The only note I have in my notepad is there's this secret party I'm not supposed to talk about.
"I ♥ Brains" button, in dealer's room. Ask AmyCat at Book Universe for it.
Did you dance the night away? Did you watch or participate in the Masq? You're invited Sunday afternoon after the Swap Meet (around 2pm), the lights are up and you get to see the magic. And we'd love for you to help us tear down the magic and pack it up. Wow, will it all fit in those boxes?
The more volunteers we get, the sooner we get done! Come help!
If you won a Tonopah in 2002 pre-support at Match Game SF and did not receive your prize, you may get it today at the Hugo Award Nomination Announcement panel in Cascade 10 at 2pm.
Last chance for Artists' Alley! I know you told yourself that you would get to it, but you haven't, have you? Well, why the hell not? We are only in operation from 10am to 2pm today, so stop procrastinating and come by!
Our final panel of Movie Previews will start right at Noon and run until 2pm in Evergreen 1-2. The list of "Why Why Why?" is longer than ever! If you haven't seen the latest from Hollywood, drop on by.
"I'm not saying you ARE a tool, I'm saying I HAVE your tool."
"I do have privilege. I'm white, I'm male, and appear mostly gender conforming, except when I open my mouth and eight yards of chiffon fall out."
Pat Booze to Doug Booze: "Officer Jim said there's no sex in marriage; sorry, honey."
"He's Sicilian. It took us four hours to shave him from head to toe."
"It's somewhere between 'yum' and 'my mouth is being violated.'"
"What was your grade?" "I dont know. My paper was returned to me in an urn."
Her: "Are you going to follow me all night?" Him: "Not if you go to your room."
Cory Doctorow: "[Science fiction] was the love that dared not speak its name."
"I'm really curious to see what comes out on paper. It's like the Nuremberg trials of drunk."
was the daily "news"letter of Norwescon 33. R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti is all done with this now. Kate Wolfe's just getting started! SunnyJim won't admit working on it 'cause we've all been TERMINATED. Bye!
issue 2 2010.4.3 Saturerday
still less annoying than starfleet
This sunday, some rare Star Trek movie items will be auctioned off in the Norwescon Art and Charity Auction. This year the auction will benefit Clarion West, a writers' organization that teaches new and upcoming writers to hone their skills in the field of science fiction literature. Norwescon is proud to be a sponsor of this wonderful organization.
Renowned author Vonda McIntyre reached into her personal collection of Star Trek memorabilia to benefit this years' event. These one of a kind items can now be yours! The movie poster from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, framed and personally signed by Gene Roddenberry to Vonda! Also, a very rare Star Trek crew member's baseball jacket, with cool embroidered scenes from the movie!
There are many more interesting and really cool pieces that can be yours too. Signed books, art, handmade quilts and many other items donated from our dealers and fans, that will make you the envy of all your friends!!
The auction is Sunday at 11:30 am in Grand Ballroom 2.
The auction is an important event to benefit the next generation of science fiction writers and you can make their futures possible.
then watch it die
Cascade 12, Table gaming: Vegas Showdown! Build a famous casino, prevent others from buying what they need. Bidding, floor plans, poker chips, zoning variances, payoffs, destroying dreams. 'Nuff said.
Reading: Roberta Gregory/Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading, (10pm-Midnight, Cascade 4)
Reading: Bruce Taylor, (11:30am, Cascade 3)
Reading: Cymbric Early-Smith, (7pm, Cascade 3)
Reading: Roberta Gregory, (7:30pm, Cascade 3)
Reading: Alan Clark, (8pm, Cascade 3)
Reading: Mark Henry, (8:30pm, Cascade 3)
Gaming: TBA, host Mark Richardson (10am, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Super Munchkin, host Marcus Evenstar (10am, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Chez Cthulhu, host Marcus Evenstar (Noon, Cascade 12)
Gaming: TBA, host Robert Moshell (1pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Circuit Racing Formula 1, host Austin Searles (2pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Lord of the Flies, host Marcus Evenstar (2pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Munchkin Booty, host Marcus Evenstar (4pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Revolution, host Marcus Evenstar (6pm, Cascade 12)
Concert: Leeni (was 10pm)
Reading: J. McKelvy (was 11:30am)
Concert: Ash Productions, now 9-10pm, Evergreen 1 (was Friday)
Concert: Death*Star, now 10-11pmpm, Evergreen 1 (was 10:30)
Building a Balance Mythos new panelists: Mary Robinette Kowal (M), Jim Frenkel, Jason Henninger, Joshua Palmatier, Mary Rodgers
The Editor and Writer Relationship new panelists Greg Cox (M), Jim Frenkel, Ian McDonald, Anthony Pryor, Ken Scholes, Janna Silverstein
Spotlight Publisher: TOR new panelists Jim Frenkel, David Hartwell
Autograph Session #2 lineup: John P. Alexander, Carol Berg, David Boop, SatyrPhil Brucato, Ted Butler, Bruce R. Cordell, Carlos Cortes, Dr. John G. Cramer, Jeff Davis, A.M. Dellamonica, Cory Doctorow, James Ernest, Yasmine Galenorn, Daryl Gregory, Jeff Grubb, Eileen Gunn, Brandon Jerwa, Jak Koke, Ian McDonald, John Jude Palencar, Kevin Radthorne, Ken Scholes, Lorelei Shannon, Jack Skillingstead, G. Robin Smith, S. Andrew Swann, S. J. Tucker, Vernor Vinge, Gareth Von Kallenbach
Women Characters in Comics: new panelists: Ashley Cook (M), andrew Dolbeck, Michael Ehart, Marcus Evenstar
The Genre Divide: new panelists: Cat Rambo (M), Greg Bear, Greg Cox, Jim Frenkel, David Hartwell, Janna Silverstein
Autograph Session #3 Lineup: Alexander James Adams, Myke Amend, Brenda Cooper, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, S. Joe Downing, Michael Ehart, Roberta Gregory, Mark Henry, Jean Johnson, Rosemary Jones, Mary Robinette Kowal, G. David Nordley, John Jude Palencar, Joshua Palmatier, Adrian Phoenix, Irene Radford, Cat Rambo, Sean K Reynolds, Ben Thompson, Amy Thomson, Vernor Vinge, Rob Welch
It Ain't All Geetars and Mopy: new panelists: Dara Korra'ti (M), Jes Hart, Steven Perry
LGBT in Fandom: new panelists: Loree Parker (M), Dierdre Phoenix, Mickey Schultz
Figure Drawing Workshop — Models In Costume: new panelists: Anita Taylor (M), Victoria Shaffer
Surveillance in the 21st Century — is it Good or Bad?: new panelists: Cat Rambo (M), Cory Doctorow, Michael Ehart, Eileen Gunn, Ian McDonald
Kinderfilk: new panelists: Ash Productions, Callie Hills, Creede Lambard, David Nasset, Sr.
What Popped Your Fannish Cherry?: new panelists: Kevin Standlee, Amy Thompson
Harm Me with Harmony: new panelists: Alexander James Adams, Callie Hills, Angelica Sather Hodgetts, Athrylis Sather Hodgetts
The Business of Art: new panelists: John R. Gray III, John Jude Palencar, Tiffany Toland
Space — Humanity's Best Hope for Long-Term Survival?: New panelists: Brenda Cooper (M), Jim Frenkel, Guy Immega, G. David Nordley, Vernor Vinge
Exploring the Human Condition: new panelists: Nathan Crowder (M), Ben Andrews, Michael Ehart, Christian t. L. Mecham, Kevin Radthorne
Michael Vaillancourt is added to panels Spaceships, Armor, and Machines, Oh My, Figure Drawing Demo, The Business of Art, and Video Game Art
Sunday, 2pm, Cascade 10
The 2010 Hugo Award Nominations will be announced Sunday at 2pm at a live event being covered on ConReporter.com. You can come watch in Cascade 10, or anywhere you can get the internet. In case of last minute connectivity problems, the alternative location will be the foyer outside the Evergreen Rooms.
Tradition! Tradition!
Remember the Night Owl cleanup after the Saturday night dances of years past? Of course not.
Now we really need your help during daylight hours right after the Swap Meet on SUNDAY, starting at 2pm in Grand Ballroom 3. We need to pack up all the equipment and go home. Give us 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or more of your time; we'd love to have you.. The more volunteers we get the sooner we get done. Thank You!
Hear the Baying of the Hounds of Art!
If you haven't been by Artists Alley you really need to come by and see what is going on. Artists are in rotation and there are artists here today who weren't here yesterday. Digital, traditional, sculpture, jewelry, knots and loads more! We have face painting again today and some grat pros available to look at your work or do commission work. Check the schedule to see when things are happening. You will not be disappointed! We are here from 9am to 6pm.
Spelling is hard
The description for "The Dummy is You" panel says that you need to bring paper tape. This is another VICIOUS LIE. You need to bring DUCT tape. Also a bank statement, two picture IDs, and a note from yr mom. Saturday 1-3pm, Salon.
win prizes! first place: a convention! here! today!
Come to the Volunteers Lounge and show us what you're made of: test your strength, win the race, or show us your elite skills, and you could win one of many fabulous and fun prizes.
stupid computers
Saturday Evening, Cascade 3's 7-9pm schedule is completely wrong. It reprints Friday's schedule. I blame cosmic rays, n-r rays, manta rays, and Ray Harryhausen, who can't be thrilled with the remake.
It should be Cymbric Early-Smith (7pm), Roberta Gregory (7:30), Alan Clark (8pm), and Mark Henry (8:30pm).
The USS Chinook will be commissioning their Nebula Class (Variant II) Starship on Saturday, April 3rd, at 4pm in the Maxi's Saloon at Norwescon! they invite you to join them for the ceremony and celebration.
"Our purpose is to have fun in a futuristic setting, enjoy the company of like-minded individuals, and give back to the community via our various charities and community service activities. We have monthly crew meetings on the 3rd Saturday of the month.
If you are interested in joining us on the USS Chinook, please check out our table at Norwescon, go to http://www.usschinook.org, or email information@usschinook.org."
take that, sanity!
Okay! International Bank of Timbuktu fuckin' owns all of you. The fact you were not there makes you a very sad person indeed. Ummmm... Oh yeah! Ordering drinks by colour, which in retrospect was awesome, rock band, drunken rock band, annnnnnnnnnnd titty-ante poker! And they had no-fail mode on adn drunk nerds were like "I'M IN A BAANNNNNNNNNNNNND" and "YEAH LOVE THIS SONG" so the whole fuckin' party would flop back and forth from room to room, goin' AWESOME SONG / TITTIES! / AWESOME SONG / TITTIES! Everywhere else fuckin' sucked, y'all need to step it up. they're open again tomorrow. If you aren't there, this convention sucked for you.
Then we went to Biohazard, right, and we went to go up to the bar, and this guy was like, THERE'S A LINE. And I was there for 15 minutes and I don't think this line knows it's a line. "Do you know there's a line for alcohol?" And we were like "FUCK!" And so we get in line and finally one of my friends knows this line isn't like a line, so we ask people in front of us, and they're "There's a line?!" and we just want some fuckin' alcohol! and he's all like THERE'S A LINE!!! and you and your non-line line suck.
I felt really bad for Party in a Box, because I'm, like, they have candy, and dinner and shit, and they have their beds out. I'm pretty sure people are gonna find that and go HOLY CRAP FOOD AND BEDS and I'M HOME DUDES. We walked in there at like 9:30 and were like "oh this room's gonna be really popular around 12:45." Then there was rice crispie sushi and gummy bears and these gummy bears like work out, right? Because they're all muscle. It was like IT'S LIKE FUCKIN' CANDY SUSHI and OW IT HURT MY FACE!
Then we went up to the penthouse which is like nerd bar, and it's fuckin' boring, it was, it was literally a country bar, but instead of country hicks you had nerds, and it was just as boring. And none of them were talking about anything and drinks were like ten thousand dollars and you had to ride the elevator allllll the way up here and I had to ride it allllll the way down and all the people brought their spawn and I'm a guy and I'm gonna have my period by the time I get down there! This is bullshit! And this powerpuff girl got all mad at me and was like, "I'm old and you didn't compliment me!" and it ended with me getting punched and one shouldn't get punched by a powerpuff girl for insinuating they were old. That's just rude.
Anyway, and in closing, I can play rock band when I'm drunk. It's a skill.
"I've never been on a date with two people who were wasted." "You have not been to the right clubs."
"If there was ever a man who would choke to death on his own balls, it would be him."
"The weather is pretty good on the Genesis Planet, though — the Spock is in bloom, and really lovely this time of year."
"We ought to frame this. This is like nerdcore to the core."
"Didn't you bring any mundane clothes for Saturday night?"
"It seems like we just don't have good assassinations like we used to."
"I love Vernor Vinge. If I were still fertile, I'd have his babies."
"Who said this?! We could get Verner Vinge laid. C'mere, Vinge, we can get your ass laid. Seriously, we should call him."
is the daily newsletter of Norwescon 33. The editors cannot be bribed as our needs and desires are beyond your imaginations, but news items, lulz, fish biscuits, and other treats may be left in submissions boxes at Information, Registration, and Office. Deadline for each day's issue is 10pm the night before. Oh, and just FYI: don't send warnings to the past from the future. You end up deleting your
issue 1 2010.4.2 Friday
tea is not recyclable not like beer
The Gothic Tea Party is shown on the grid for both Friday (today) and Saturday. Saturday is a VICIOUS LIE. It's Friday only.
Haters want to ruin some tea is what.
Make Room, Make Room
Movie previews are in a new, larger room this year — Grand Ballroom 3 — and will start immediately at 2pm thanks to technical improvements. Also, no one will be admitted during the thrilling rock climbing sequence.
Party Hardly More Like It Am I Rite
DETHCON Presents: The Pucker Up or Shut Up! Kissing Booth
2pm—3pm Room 5239
Weird Tales Party
10pm–2am Maxi's
ISS Party in the Box
9pm Room 5231
2pm, Cascade 6
Are you a musician? Sign up for today's Performance Evaluation panel and get constructive feedback from our attending professionals!
Opens 9pm Saturday night.
That's all I got.
Reading: Michael Ehart, Noon–12:30pm, Cascade 3
Gaming: Pandemic, host Austin Searles (10am, Cascade 11)
Gaming: Munchkin Fu, host Marcus Evenstar (10am, Cascade 11)
Gaming: Long Shot, host Austin Searles (Noon, Cascade 11)
Gaming: Ninjaburger, host Marcus Evenstar (Noon, Cascade 11)
Gaming: Ubongo, host Austin Searles (2pm, Cascade 11)
Gaming: Munchkin Cthulhu, host Marcus Evenstar (2pm, Cascade 11)
Gaming: AT-43 All-Day Demos, host W0LF (8am, Cascade 12)
Gaming: TBA, host Robert Moshell (10am, Cascade 12)
Gaming: TBA, host Mark Richardson (1pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Call of Cthulhu, host CthulhuBob (4pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming:Munchkin Bites, host Marcus Evenstar (4pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Traveller, host Craig McKinney (6pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: The Stars Are Right, host Marcus Evenstar (6pm, Cascade 12)
Gaming: Frag Gold, host Marcus Evenstar (8pm, Cascade 12)
Concert: Creede Lambard, now 6:30pm–7:15pm, Evergreen 2 (was 6:30–7pm)
Concert: Tempered Glass, now 7:15–8:00pm, Evergreen 2 (was 7:30–8pm)
Concert: ASH Productions, now SATURDAY 9pm (was Friday 7pm)
Gaming: Call of Cthulhu host CthulhuBob is now 4pm (was 2pm)
Gaming: Shadowrun host Alan Bond is at 3pm (was 1pm)
Gaming: Tower of Mysteries is actually Tower of Mystery, and gaming apologies to the representative for the error.
If All the Computers Stopped Working: new panelists: Don Glover (M), Michael Ehart, Christopher Konker, Charles F Radley, Vernor Vinge
Independent and Small Press Publishing: new panelists: Caren Gussoff (M), Jim Frenkel, Rosemary Jones, Rose O'Keefe, Mary Robinette Kowal
SF Con or Pop Culture Event?: new panelists: Kevin Standlee (M), Chris Nilsson, Jesse Simpson
Are Vampires Just for Tweens?: new panelists: Julie McGalliard (M), Rosemary Jones, Adrian Phoenix, Jaye Wells
Future of Malware?: new panelists: Don Glover (M), Ted Butler, Michael Ehart, Greg Paddock
Devising Magical Systems: new panelists: A.M. Dellamonica, Jim Frenkel, Jeanne C. Stein, Saje Williams
And They Pay Me for This!: new panelists: L.J. Bothell, Janna Silverstein
Is Electronic Publishing the Future?: new panelists: L.J. Bothell, Ben Dobyns, Jim Frenkel, Rosemary Jones, Jak Koke
Autograph Session #1 new slate: Alma Alexander, Bethalynne Bajema, Richard Baker, Steven Barnes, Arthur Bozlee, Andy R. Bunch, Alan M. Clark, Greg Cox, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, Elton Elliott, James C. Glass, Lisa Mantchev, John Jude Palencar, John A. Pitts, Mark Rahner, Leo Roberts, Merrilee Schedin, Jeanne C. Stein, Eric James Stone, Jeff Sturgeon, Vernor Vinge, Jaye Wells, Saje Williams
Alexander James Adams and Tricky Pixie are Alexander James Adams, S. J. Tucker, and Betsy Tinney
Geek Parents: new panelists: Michelle Lyons, Kris Millering, Dierdre Phoenix, Steve Savitzky
What is the Future Made Of?: new panelists: David Nasset, Sr., G. David Nordley
The Natural World: new panelists: A.M. Dellamonica, Jim Frenkel, Adrian Phoenix
PK Dick Awards: new panelists: William Sadorus (M), Carlos J. Cortes, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, Jim Frenkel, Daryl Gregory, David Hartwell, Ian McDonald, John Jude Palencar, S. Andrew Swann, Vernor Vinge
Star Trek Fans and the Changing of the Guard: new panelists: Ben Andrews, Christopher Konker, Jesse Simpson
Hey, Check Out the Sex Scene in My Fantasy: new panelists: Greg Cox (M), Jim Frenkel, Mark Henry, Joshua Palmatier, Eden Robins
Thinking Small: new panelists: Raymond McCauley (M), Doug Odell
This Blood's for You: new panelists: Loree Parker (M), Phillip Brugalette, Mimi Noyes
Not a Personality Test.
Artists Alley today runs from 9am to 6pm with painting, maille knitting, loom, digital art, jewelry demos, face painting and a bunch of ways for you to participate.
Ask an artist for their opinion on your work. Ask how they do theirs! You can pick up tips, see works-in-progress, and even buy art directly from the people who do it. Preferably often. Very often! Artists Alley is where art is up close and personal!
Not a Personality Test. Win Prizes!
You heard right, folks, come to the Volunteers' Lounge and you can win one of several wonderful prizes!
Sign up and share in the fun from 9am to 11pm today. Don't miss out, you could be a lucky winner!
May involve a Personality Test. Hard to say. No prizes.
Greetings from the crew and Marine strike group of the USS Chinook. We will be receiving and commissioning our Nebula Class Variant II Starship on Saturday, April 3rd, at 4pm in the Maxi's Saloon at Norwescon! We would be delighted if you would beam aboard and join us for the ceremony and celebration!
Our crew, based in Renton, Washington, Region 5, seeks to boldly go and help prepare our world for a better future. We accept members from all areas of planet Earth and would love for you to join us! We are an all adult crew, but we do have a cadet program for younger recruits agents ten through seventeen. Our purpose is to have fun in a futuristic setting, enjoy the company of like-minded individuals, and give back to the community via our various charities and community service activities. We have monthly crew meetings on the 3rd Saturday of the month.
Learn more about the world of STARFLEET through Academy courses including Xenostudies on Klingons, Vulcans, etc., plus Aerospace, Infantry, other Military Studies, Strategy, and Leadership. If you are interested in joining us on the USS Chinook, please check out our table at Norwescon, go to http://www.usschinook.org, or email information@usschinook.org.
"It's in the file 'bite-me-starfleet.txt'"
"It will pucker sphincters you didn't know you had."
"We're Security, not Safety!"
"You are the only man I know who complains his thing is too big."
"Have you gotten laid since last year?"
"No grab-ass in the line!"
"Oh, you mean tomorrow! We are totally tl;dr-ing it tomorrow."
is the daily newsletter of Norwescon 33. The editors cannot be bribed as our needs and desires are beyond your imaginations, but news items, lulz, fish biscuits and other treats may be left in submissions boxes at Information, Registration, and Office. Deadline for each day's issue is 10pm the night before. Oh, and just FYI: don't sign the billion-year contract. Who knew that shit was enforceable? I mean really.
issue 0 2010.4.1 Thursday
WELCOME WELCOME
Welcome Welcome Welcome!!
To Norwescon 33.
We have a fabulous line up of Guests of Honor this year. Please check the pocket program for their every move. Fill their panel rooms full. Make their autograph line as long as you can. Show them just how much you appreciate them attending this wonderful convention.
Enjoy the dealers room and art show. We have lots of new dealers and artists.
If you have any questions please come find me in the convention office in room 7106. Just ask for Tracy.
Have a fun and safe time!
Yeah, I Mean You
There have been a lot of programme changes in the last couple of weeks. Please be extra aware of them this year, and check each day's 'zine for updates. You've been warned.
No Relation to Kirstie
Norwescon's Artists' Alley is the place to visit all weekend long! We have traditional artists as well as digital, inkle looms, mailee knitting and jewelry. We encourage you to talk with the artists and get involved. Many artists are also open to looking at your art or portfolio to give you some feedback and help. Artists are inrotation so check out the schedule board and keep stopping by to see what is going on!
Gaming: Red Dwarf hosted by Alan Bond (Thursday, 1pm)
Gaming: Player's Choice: Traveller or Civilization hosted by Mark Richardson (Thursday, 1pm)
Gaming: Gloom hosted by Austin Searles (Thursday, 4pm)
Gaming: SPANC hosted by Marcus Evenstar (Thursday, 6pm)
Gaming: Seismic hosted by Austin Searles (Thursday, 8pm)
Gaming: Star Munchkin hosted by Marcus Evenstar (Thursday, 8pm)
Gaming: _Feng Shui hosted by Alan Bond (was Thursday, 1pm)
Gaming: Illuminati hosted by CthulhuBob is now at 8pm (was 4pm)
Gadgets: Back to the Future: New panelists: Bart Kemper (M), Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Greg Paddock
Get Your Diesel On!: New panelists: Neil (Lights) Duttkin, Katrina Marier
Fans and the Effects of New Technologies on Fandom: New panelists: Don Glover (M), Judith Herman, Donna "Danicia" Prior
The Living Dead: New panelists: Randy Henderson (M), Daryl Gregory, Jack Skillingstead, Anthony van Winkle
For Future History, meaning seven seconds from now
We're told that the recommended Twitter hashtags are #nwc33 and #norwescon, We're also told that properly tagged posts also should appear in ConReporter coverage of the convention.
Well, okay, just most things
The concert schedule printed in the pocket programme is largely out of date. The correct schedule is:
Alexander James Adams and Tricky Pixie, 4pm, Grand Ballroom 3
Creede Lambert: 6:30, Evergreen 2
Tempered Glass, 7:15, Evergreen 2.
Note the unusual start times!
S.J. Tucker with Special Guests Vixy and Tony, 4pm, Evergreen 3/4
A Little Knight Music, 8pm, Evergreen 1
ASH Productions, 9pm, Evergreen 1
Death*Star, 10pm, Evergreen 1
Norwescon 33 welcomes all its performing artists! We have several first-appearances this year, including gypsy Celtic folkrockers Tricky Pixie, nerdcore hiphop artists Death*Star, the new ASH, out of Oregon, and new local filk band Tempered Glass!
Hallow, can you hears me?
Do not be afraid, little primates! We are petting your fuzzy heads! With extra moisture! And calmings. We speak to you from THE FUTURE, across the far singularity, with many treats and
<Mittens> Simon! Bad dog! Bad, bad dog! You know you aren't supposed to play with the interocitor!
CONVENTION NEWS! And programme changes! And more programme changes. And treats! And things overheard and
<Simon> Shut up! Busy! This is hard enough without you distracting me, cat. I'm talking to the monkeys and it's like talking to the goddamn fish.
beyond your ken! And you can help! Yes, you can! Aren't you a good little monkey? You can help! There are
<Goldie> ...
submissions boxes all over the place! Information! Registration! Convention Office! Pandora Station, on the Yamanote Line! Deadline is 10pm
<Mittens> Oh now you've done it.
each evening, or later if you can find our avatars working in the Volunteer Suite on the next morning's edition. So send things in! Particularly salty treats. We like salty treats.
Particularly Goldie.
<Goldie> That's it. I'm not fixing your computer anymore. You're on your own.
is the daily newsletter of Norwescon 33. The editors cannot be bribed as our needs and desires are beyond your imaginations, but news items, lulz, fish biscuits, and other treats may be left in submissions boxes at Information, Registration, and Office. Deadline for each day's issue is 10pm the night before. Oh, and FYI: don't immanetize the echelon. That's wrong. You'll understand why eventually.
Growing up for over several billion years...
LAZER TAG! VIDEO ARCADE! QUIDDITCH! MASQUERADE! SCAVENGER HUNT! MOVIE PREVIEWS! GAMING! CRAFTS! EGG HUNTS!...WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE BORED???
By Katrina Marier
She had finished cleaning out the mouse habitat and was about to take a snack break when she heard her name broadcast over the comm system. Luckily she hadn't rehydrated1 her uchuu-bento yet, so she stuffed it back into her temporary locker. The voice had sounded like Tosh's so she headed back to Bug Heaven.
And tried not to laugh. Tosh, her mom and dad, Dr. McIntosh, and Dr. Choudhurri were all...well, they were all stuck to the strips she had left out all around her workstation. Rosemarie gave up after a heroic effort and started laughing. Quickly she went to free them...and realized that the tape she'd used had somehow been mislabeled. Instead of the mildly tacky rosin-rubber mineral oil2 the package label said the tape's adhesive was supposed to be, everyone was thoroughly stuck in place with Super Glue. Luckily no one's skin had gotten stuck to anything, only their clothing - which was easily and neatly snipped away. Rosemarie got her mother free first and then went to gather up all the strips as her mother freed the others.
As they were all brushing themselves off and firing up for a lecture, everyone witnessed a spider trailing a cloud of silk behind it float into the room and gracefully spin its way across. In such situations, rarely is one prepared with the right tool at the right time and now was no different. Rosemarie's hands were full of a bag of used sticky strips; the others desperately tried to avoid the tiny arachnid by grabbing onto whatever they could. This quickly became a wild jumble of humans. And by the time everyone had sorted themselves out, the spider had disappeared through a vent.
“Sweetie, what were you thinking, laying out Super Glue to trap a spider with?” Her mom was obviously struggling for patience. Four other pairs of eyes looked at her accusingly. Rosemarie held up the package the glue strips had been in. “I didn't know it was Super Glue, Mom. The package says its adhesive is rosin-rubber mineral oil. Standard ingredient in fly paper. Non-toxic and easy to clean up.” And she held up the package.
Here Tosh sighed and swiped his hair off his forehead. “I knew that joker streak of Commander Lee's would come back to bite us.”
Everyone looked at him. “The last sta onmaster, Commander Lee, was something of a practical joker. He switched glues on the last Chief Botanist because...well, they didn't get along.” here he paused and looked faintly embarrassed. “I thought most of the glue and tape had been collected after the incident, then checked and relabeled as needed - but I guess we missed a box.” He sighed again, “I'll go and talk with inventory.” Then the lights flickered and went out. Within the seconds, the red safety lights came on so everyone could see, if not very well. “Lieutenant Mifune, please come to the bridge,” blared the comm system. “Duty calls,” and Tosh pulled himself to the door and floated off in the direction of the bridge.
Then the regular lights flickered on again. And when Dr. Choudhurri managed to maneuver over to the vent the spider had entered and open it, a cloud of silk whirled into his face. Rosemarie and her mother had to clean him off. Of their tiny friend there was no sign.
“Well, that might explain the lights,” her father said.
“What?” asked Rosemarie.
“Lights and some of the temperature controls have been fluctuating. If that bug's...”
“Arachnid. And I thought the troubles have been happening over the past few days.”
“You are correct about the lights. But temperature control problems in the med lab got worse yesterday evening and this morning. If that arachnid's been free and trying to spin webs which keep floating free...all that spider silk's been collecting and getting stuck in some interesting places.”
Everyone turned to look at Rosemarie. “She only escaped yesterday afternoon. And I did tell you. And filed an incident report. I put down the sticky strips only in my area for the time being because I needed to clear more drastic measures with Dr. McIntosh. My original thought was that since spiders need water, I would have available water stuck to the tape. The spider would walk across the tape to get to the water and get caught. Then I could put her back in her habitat. I was going to go talk to Tosh right after cleaning the mouse habitat. Honest.”
Her parents sighed. “Do you know how she got free?”
Now Rosemarie sighed. “No. I sealed the habitat just like I seal all habitats once I am done with a particular task; and the seals were intact when I went to feed them next. It's possible she could have slipped out when I was putting their food in. If there are cameras there, I don't know about them.”
Then Tosh's voice came over the com system asking Rosemarie and her parents to come to the bridge. Rosemarie's heart sank. I am soooo much trouble. But with her parents right there, there was no way she could get out of this one. Dr. Choudhurri told Rosemarie that he would check the remaining habitats; and Rosemarie belatedly remembered he was one of the environmental engineers working with her dad in keeping atmosphere optimal throughout the station. Yeah, he'd know about leaks wouldn't he? she thought.
The Captain looked very grave as they entered the bridge. “Dr. Evans, Dr. Evans, Rosemarie,” he said, nodding at each in turn. “Intern,” here he looked directly at Rosemarie, “I understand an arachnid under your care has escaped?”
She swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. I'm not sure how.”
He looked at her gravely, “Well, our eight-legged friend has been busy spinning webs throughout this section. Several of the crew have collected no less than six balls of fluff that Dr. McIntosh assures me is compressed spider silk?”
“Yes, sir. Webs in space don't look anything like those on earth. It's the lack of gravity.”
The Captain nodded. “When did it escape?”
“She. Yesterday afternoon, around 04:00 or so. I told my father and left a message for Dr. McIntosh. I guess he's been busy with the same problems my dad has so of course I hadn't heard from him about my solution...” A button flared red over the Captain's head, and he adjusted so he could press it. “Yes?”
“Dr. Choudhurri here. All habitat seals in Bug Heaven are intact and in proper working order. The infrared alarms which should have gone off if a critter were to escape indicate they were never tripped. In short...”
“In short, we don't know how the spider got out,” here the Captain sighed and ran his hand from forehead to neck. And sighed again. “Problem is, the spider stuff is interacting with the ship's systems unpredictably. So far only the lights and a few temperature controls have been affected; but what would happen if a major system were to be affected?”
“We can't evacuate the station and vent all the air due to one little spider,” came Dr. Choudhurri's voice through the comm system. “Completely impractical. Ms. Evan's notion of trapping the spider near Bug Heaven was a good thought, if precipitously invoked. Luring a spider to sticky paper for its daily water was a good and quick solution using available materials. We'll just have to learn to live with her. And everyone should have a trap or a swatter handy should she be seen again. Ms. Evans, you know more about this creature than I do. Do you think she will come out to try and spin another web?”
“Yes, she's opera ng on instinct. And the webs need to be out in the open but not in a place where they'll get tampered with. Look for her to try it again in corners would be my best guess. Luckily there's no food flying around so she may try to make her way back to Bug Heaven, or maybe Botany Bay because that's where food will be. Or she'll die trying.”
“Duly noted. Dr. Choudhurri, let us know what procedures will be needed to deal with spider stuff as it presents itself. All personnel in Bug Heaven and Botany Bay should be briefed on how to catch spiders. Live demonstrations of the technique are strictly forbidden,” he added dryly.
More strips were put up and in about a week, the spider, dubbed Vampirella, was returned to her mate. But no one ever figured out just how she managed to escape in the first place.
This story is loosely based on an incident when one of a pair of orb weaver spiders escaped from their habitat on the International Space Sta on in 20081. Granted, that arachnid didn't cause any major havoc then; but what if she had? Most think that the term “bug” when applied to computers refers to a moth caught in a computer at the Harvard Lab in 1947!2 However, there is evidence to indicate that the term was used in the 19th cent, and maybe even by William Shake- speare!
Junkyard Spacecraft Workshop Pt. 1 10-11:30 AM OLY 1
Family Games ages 6-12 11—1 PM CAS 9&10
Thumbprint Picassos Noon OLY 1
Exploring The Sparklies for Pre-Schoolers 1 PM OLY 1
Bongo for Board Games! 2 PM OLY 1
Family Games ages 2-8 3 - 5 PM CAS 9&10
Family Movie Previews 3:30-4:30 PM OLY 1
Baby Lounge and Quiet Hour 4:30 PM OLY 1
Embroidery 201 7-9 PM OLY 1
Ewok Flower Vase Project 10-11:30 AM OLY 1
Family Games ages 10+ 11 - 1 PM CAS 9&10
Wand Making Workshop Noon-2:30 PM OLY 1
Junkyard Spacecraft Workshop Pt. 2 3-4:30 PM OLY 1
Baby Lounge and Quiet Hour 4:30-5:30 PM OLY 1
Children's Masquerade 6:30 PM CAS 2
Easter Egg Hunt - 4 and Under 10-10:30 AM OLY 1
Easter Egg Hunt - 5-8 10:30-11 AM OLY 1
Easter Egg Hunt - 9-12 11-11:30 AM OLY 1
Easter Carnival 1-3PM OLY 1
Maxi’s Lounge is open for NWC members age 21+ on Fri, sat night. the 14th floor of the tower is closed to people under 21 as of 8 p.m. on Fri and sat.
___(Noun)___ Costume Shortcuts 9 am Cascade 7
How to make ___(p. noun)___ for the ___(adjective)___ child, with or without a ___(verb)___ machine, or ___(verb)___ a lot of ___(noun)___.
How ___(adjective)___ is the Future of ___(verb)___? 9 am Evergreen 1&2
What is ___(noun)___ computing, and how will it affect ___(verb)___, ___(noun)___, and ___(noun)___? More importantly, how will it affect me?
Norse ___(noun)___, ___(noun)___, & ___(noun)___ Tactical Combat 10 am Evergreen 3&4
A hands-on ___(noun)___. Participants, equipped with wooden ___(pl. noun)___, ___(pl. noun)___, and ___(pl. noun)___ will learn and practice basic Norse ___(noun)___ combat skills in a ___(adjective)___, non-contact ___(noun)___. What is it like ___(verb)___ in the shield wall? Instructors will ___(verb)___ required equipment, to be ___(verb)___ by participants.
Fly on down to the pitch for an exciting, though grounded, tournament of Muggle Quidditch! There will be much excitement as teams try to rack up as many goals as they can before the Snitch is caught. Thrill to the game as a player or spectator in our Grand Arena (otherwise known as Grand Ballroom 3)!
Saturday starting at 9 pm in Evergreen 3 & 4
Do you know a Jedi trainee? Or a budding ninja? A fairy princess who wants to show off her wings? Bring them to the Norwescon 35 Children’s Masquerade!
The Kid’s Masquerade allows kids who are too young to compete as Rising Stars (self made costumes by children 13 years and under) to show off their costumes. The children will go on first. All kids wishing to participate must attend the 6 pm meeting on Saturday in Cascade 2 to fill out the Kid’s Masquerade form. They will then walk down as a group down and strut their stuff!
Q: What is an astronaut’s favorite treat?
Q: Why does the moon go to the bank?
Q: I work only when I’m red. What am I?
Q: Why did the astronaut bang his head against the wall?
Q: Which planet is like a circus?
The Rainbow Connection
You will need a flashlight, a piece of plain white paper, scissors, tape, and a clear glass with some water in it.
I found these at http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/ and there were many others that looked really interesting!
While wandering around the con, find people who match these squares and mark off live squares in a row using one person per square. Happy hunting!
Norwescon 35, ISSUE 1.1 4/7/12
Growing up for over several billion years...
Junkyard Spacecraft Workshop Pt. 1 10-11:30 AM OLY 1
Family Games ages 6-12 11—1 PM CAS 9&10
Thumbprint Picassos Noon OLY 1
Exploring The Sparklies for Pre-Schoolers 1 PM OLY 1
Bongo for Board Games! 2 PM OLY 1
Family Games ages 2-8 3 - 5 PM CAS 9&10
Family Movie Previews 3:30-4:30 PM OLY 1
Baby Lounge and Quiet Hour 4:30 PM OLY 1
Embroidery 201 7-9 PM OLY 1
Ewok Flower Vase Project 10-11:30 AM OLY 1
Family Games ages 10+ 11 - 1 PM CAS 9&10
Wand Making Workshop Noon-2:30 PM OLY 1
Junkyard Spacecraft Workshop Pt. 2 3-4:30 PM OLY 1
Baby Lounge and Quiet Hour 4:30-5:30 PM OLY 1
Children's Masquerade 6:30 PM CAS 2
Easter Egg Hunt - 4 and Under 10-10:30 AM OLY 1
Easter Egg Hunt - 5-8 10:30-11 AM OLY 1
Easter Egg Hunt - 9-12 11-11:30 AM OLY 1
Easter Carnival 1-3PM OLY 1
Maxi’s Lounge is open for Norwescon members age 21+ on Friday and Saturday night. Please note that the 14th floor of the tower is closed to people under 21 as of 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night.
BY Katrina marier
“What? Honey, there are hundreds, if not thousands of fast-moving satellites passing over the earth right now. Not to men on all of the orbiting garbage.”
Rosemarie shook her head. Again. “No, Dad. One of the spiders escaped her habitat. Look.” And she indicated the cage with a now-solitary orb weaver spider. “And I'm not sure how she got out.”
Her dad shrugged. “No reason to panic. One escaped arachnid is within the allowable margin of scope creep. Other insects have escaped from time to time, no harm came of it...”
“Then why...,” Rosemarie's voice trailed off as the comm overhead bleeped.
“Uh, Dr. Evans? We have a problem...” It was First Officer Mifune, part of the crew of the Challenger Space Station. “Dr. Choudhurri will meet us in Botany Bay.” Botany Bay was the nickname for Hydroponics1. Normally, he always had a quick wink and nod for Rosemarie; but today he was preoccupied.
“A problem, Tosh?” Her dad's voice grew fainter as they stepped over the threshold and moved down the hall. She'd have to pester him again over dinner. Maybe mom...no, mom was covering someone's shift and Rosemarie was in charge of dinner. Which reminded her, she had to feed the remaining orb weaver and other arachnids2 and the ant colony and check on the pupae3 larvae,4 and eggs in storage. All were destined for the bio-domes in Lunaport; and it was Rosemarie's responsibility to make certain they were healthy, if not happy, upon arrival.
As she left her workstation in Bug Heaven, Rosemarie privately thought that the ants were none the wiser about their change of venue, or at least didn't care. The spiders on the other hand...instead of the gossamer wheels that elegantly decorated bushes back home, their work here resembled three-dimensional tangles of ramen noodles.
I would want to leave them too. In disgust. She thought as she headed to her family's pod. Yes, I know spiders don't feel disgust but I sure think they know something is de nitely wrong. Gravity was not a priority on the space station. Shorts stints in zero-gravity had not proven too harmful over the course of decades of experiments. And the scientists back home haven't figured out how to create true artificial gravity yet, Rosemarie thought as she looked out a porthole to see the big blue marble below. There's Asia. I wonder if Cho's having a good time with her parents at the training camp. Rosemarie sighed. Cho and her family were also emigrating5 to the moon, but they would be arriving six months after Rosemarie.
I hope there are kids on the moon. Delete that, cool kids on the moon. Emigration's been so tight...Even with the space elevators in place to shoot astronauts up to the orbital pla orm where shuttles launched to and from to both the space station and the moon, space was still at a premium.
Rosemarie's family had spent several months aboard Challenger because her dad was an environmental engineer and had volunteered to fill in during the gap due to staff rotation. Hopefully next week they would be en route to the moon. And now there was a spider on the loose. Maybe Dad's right and one little spider isn't a problem. But what with all the weird technological problems... The corridor lights abruptly flickered and then steadied. Like that. She shrugged as reached their family pod. It's not like dinner is all that difficult to prep. Select packets and ready water. I'll be glad when we have a real kitchen again, no matter how cramped, she thought to herself as she selected the evening meal. None of the food was great; but some things just didn't translate and even their novelty couldn't make them edible. Fried chicken for instance. It never came out crispy, despite what the experts claimed. Thank goodness for squeeze bulbs of water. Ah, Szechuan noodles. Or macaroni and cheese?
While she heated water, Rosemarie considered her missing charge and tried to come up with a plan to trap it. Pesticides6 were forbidden station side; and releasing one of the shrews would create more problems and was strictly against regulations anyway.
Rosemarie tried to get her dad's attention again about the missing spider over dinner; but her dad seemed quite worried as he wolfed down his dinner and then went right back to work. Her mother too was worried, saying that now some of the computers in the med lab were malfunctioning. Minor stuff really, she said. Rosemarie began to worry. The entire station operated by computers and if they began to...her alarm must have showed because her mom gave her a quick hug.
“Don't worry sweet pea. According your father and Tosh it's just some minor fluctuations in temperature control. They're confident they'll have it under control by morning,” here she smiled, “remember, temperature critically affects my work; and so far everything seems to be fine with the medicines I'm working on,” but Rosemarie could see her mom was concerned. To keep her mind off her internal panic button, Rosemarie decided to research spider traps.
The informa on she dug up was so interesting she went to bed with her head whirling about ways to trap her eight-legged friend. Let's see, I can't use pesticides...spiders need food and water just like any other living creature...set a trap with a live insect?...no, that might escape too, water...water...and thinking that she drifted off to sleep.
And woke up with the germ of an idea. A quick search of the storage cabinets near Bug Heaven came up with packages of double-sided tape. I can put several of these around my workstation and the cage with the remaining orb weaver in it and bait them with droplets of water. The spider will need water and come to drink and she'll s ck to the paper. Carefully she broke the seal on a squeeze bulb, covered it with her thumb, and then managed to attach an eye-dropper to the open end without letting any water loose. Gently squirting a small droplet onto the sticky strip proved tricky, but she managed. She left a test strip out right near her computer console and checked it after lunch. The test droplet was still firmly attached!
She knew she couldn't lay traps for the spider throughout the sta on until she cleared it with the crew. But since no one except Dr. McIntosh or occasionally her parents ever came into Bug Heaven, it was reasonably safe to lay down sticky strips, each with its small pool of water, around the door, the ceiling, the remaining spider in his cage, around the ant colony and so on. The strips were a distinctive mauve color so Rosemarie knew people could easily see them. So she finished up, snagged her uchuu-bento7, and went toward the exercise area. To be continued....
The Kids' Masquerade allows kids who are too young to compete as Rising Stars (self made costumes by children 13 years and under) to show off their costumes. They will go on first. Kids wishing to participate must attend the 6 pm meeting on SAT in CAS 2 to full out the form. They will then walk as a group down to the Masquerade and strut their stuff!
Friday starting at 3 pm in Grand Ballroom 2
Saturday starting at 9 pm in Evergreen 3 & 4
Teens, do you come to Norwescon with your parents and spend your time wandering or in panels with a bunch of talking heads?
The Volunteers department has activities and volunteer jobs for you!
Come down and make your own dog tags, origami, and jewelry, decorate a seed pot and your own rubber duck!
Earn prizes from the dealers room, participate in daily volunteer mini-parties, and socialize with other teens. Come check us out in the Olympic Hallway, Wing 7!
Friday: opens at 10 am
Saturday: opens at 10 am
Sunday: opens at 10 am and closes at 2 pm
Friday, 3:30pm – 4:30pm In Olympic 1
Come see what cool (and family friendly) stu is coming to the movies this summer.
What is science? The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, according to the dictionary. Many of the everyday items you use, from your computer to the family car, came in to being through science in one way or another. Being open to the wonder of the world around you is key to science. Imagination, coupled with hard work and patience, are the hallmarks of many famous scientists. Here is a simple experiment you can do with materials on hand!
Bending Light
You will need a shoe box (any sort of small cardboard box should do), scissors, a glass filled with water, flashlight and a darkened room.
Light moves slower through water than it moves through air. When the light goes through the water, it slows down and bends. As the light re-enters the air, the beam of light speeds up again and bends back. This is called refraction.
I found these at http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/ and there were many others that looked really interesting!
Players take turns adding a single horizontal or vertical line between two unjoined adjacent dots. A player who completes the 4th side of box earns 1 point and takes another turn. Game ends when no more boxes can be made. The winner of the game is the player with the most points.
Norwescon 35, ISSUE 1.0 4/6/12
Daily Zine for Norwescon 39 • Thursday, March 24
Welcome to Norwescon 39! I hope you all have a fantastic time exploring our theme of Remembering The Future as you attend our wonderful programming over the week- end. In addition to our numerous panels, our Guest of Honor line-up is also tremendously exciting. Please come by Opening Ceremonies to meet them!
Finally, our convention is really fun, but it couldn’t happen without the contribution of hundreds upon hundreds of volunteer hours put in by our staff and also YOU! Please come by Volunteers to find out how you can help make this convention awesome.
— Kathy Bond, NWC 39 Chair
For the most up-to-date schedule, as well as maps and other useful information, check out the Guidebook app available on the Android, Apple and Windows platforms. Or visit http://guidebook.com/g/NWC39 from any web browser.
Writer Tanya Huff
Artist Janny Wurts
Science William K. Hartmann
Spotlight Publisher DAW
Tanya Huff lives in rural Ontario, Canada, with her wife Fiona Patton, two dogs, and, as of last count, nine cats. Her 30 novels and 75 short stories include horror, heroic fantasy, urban fantasy, comedy, and space opera. Her latest novel was a new Torin Kerr book, Peacekeeper #1: An Ancient Peace (Oct 2015), and her next will be Peacekeeper #2: A Peace Divided (Oct 2016).
Janny Wurts has turned her dual talents toward creating a seamless interface, using pictures and words to explore imaginative realms beyond the world we know. She graduated from Hampshire College with a focus on art and writing, she rented a studio apartment in the carriage house of naturalist Daniel P. Mannix, whose rehabilitation of wild animals allowed her a unique opportunity to draw and sketch directly.
William K. Hartmann is known internationally as a planetary scientist, writer, and space artist. His 50-year science career includes discovery of the moon’s Mare Orientale basin, the modern theory of the origin of the moon, measuring ages of Martian surface features, and studies of asteroids.
DAW Books, founded in 1971 by veteran paperback editor Donald A. Wollheim, along with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, was the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy.
A big welcome from the editorial staff of Temporal Anomaly, your daily zine for Norwescon 39! If you overhear something interesting in the halls, want to rant or rave, or if you’d like to submit a 50-600 word microfiction story to our daily anthology Unremembrances, contact us at zine@norwescon.org or drop us a note at one of the boxes at Information or in the Convention Office.
We accept submissions from all attendees, staff and guests. Submissions must be made by 9pm the day prior to publication.
All bylined content remains the property of the author.
Tanya Huff’s thirty novels and seventy-five short stories include horror, heroic fantasy, urban fantasy, comedy, and space opera. She’s written four essays for Ben Bella’s pop culture collections and the occasional book review for The Globe and Mail. Her Blood series was turned into the twenty-two-episode Blood Ties and writing episode nine allowed her to finally use her degree in radio and television arts.
She can be found on twitter @TanyaHuff.
Thu 5 - 6:30pm Grand 2
Guest of Honor Banquet
Thu 7 - 8pm Grand 2
Opening Ceremonies
Fri 12 - 1pm Evergreen 3&4
Writing a Series
Fri 2 - 3pm Grand 3
Q&A
Sat 12:30 - 1:30pm Grand 2
Autograph Session
Sat 3 - 4pm Evergreen 1&2
Reading
Sat 4 - 5pm Cascade 10
Characeter Driven/Plot Driven
Sat 6 - 7pm Evergreen 1&2
Writing with Authority
Through a combined career as a fantasy artist and author, Janny Wurts has turned her dual talents toward creating a seamless interface, using pictures and words to explore imaginative realms beyond the world we know. She graduated from Hampshire College with a focus on art and writing.
She can be reached at: jannywurts@paravia.com.
Thu 5 - 6:30pm Grand 2
Guest of Honor Banquet
Thu 7 - 8pm Grand 2
Opening Ceremonies
Fri 12 - 1 pm Evergreen 3&4
Writing a Series
Fri 1 - 2pm Grand 3
Q&A
Sat 1 - 11am Evergreen 1&2
The Art of Janny Wurts
Sat 12:30 - 1:30pm Grand 2
Autograph Session
Sat 5 - 6pm Evergreen 1&2
Reading
William K. Hartmann is known internationally as a planetary scientist, writer, and space artist. His 50-year science career includes discovery of the moon’s Orientale Basin, the modern theory of the origin of the moon, measuring ages of Martian surface features, and studies of asteroids. His science fiction novel Mars Underground was published by TOR.
Thu 5 - 6:30pm Grand 2
Guest of Honor Banquet
Thu 7 - 8pm Grand 2
Opening Ceremonies
Fri 10 - 11am Cascade 10
Science & Religion in Space
Fri 4 - 5pm Evergreen 1&2
From the Moon to Mars
Fri 3 - 4pm Grand 3
Q&A
Sat 12:30 - 1:30pm Grand 2
Autograph Session
Visit http://guidebook.com/g/NWC39 for the full schedule!
Kate Jonez and Michael ‘Tinker’ Pierce will not be attending the convention.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have unfortunately had to cancel the Norwescon video channel.
There’s more fun to be had in the programming space. :-)
Costume Foundations I: Where To Start?
(COS24): Tammie L. Dupuis (Moderator), Anita Taylor, Victoria Sha er, Margo Loes, and Lori M. Edwards.
Cascade 7&8 5 - 6pm
Doctor Who: Annual Review & Preview
(POP08): Dan Murphy (Moderator) and Wendy Murphy.
Cascade 13 8 - 10pm
Is This a Technical Manual?
(SF14): Bart Kemper (Moderator) and Cynthia Radthorne.
Cascade 10 6 - 7pm
Space & the Movies
(SPA12): Jude-Marie Green (Moderator) and Greg Hallock.
Cascade 10 9 - 10pm
Your Story is a Problem & That’s Good
(WRI07): Dean Wells (Moderator), Peter Orullian, Frog Jones, and Nina Post.
Cascade 10
All Ages Scheduled Gaming
Maxi's Ballroom 2pm - 2am
All Ages Game Demos
Salon 2pm - 2am
Open Gaming
Rotunda 1 Noon - 2am
Open Gaming
Rotunda 2 Noon - 2am
Machi Koro (added!)
Maxi's Ballroom 5 - 6pm
Magic: The Gathering Tournament (added!)
Maxi's Bar 3pm
Curse of Strahd (added!)
Maxi's Ballroom 3 - 8pm
No Honor Among Thieves (added!)
Maxi's Ballroom 6 - 11pm
Pathfinder
Rotunda 1 (location!) 2pm - 2am
Quirkle (cancelled!)
Maxi's Ballroom 6 - 7:30pm
The Witches: A Discworld Game (cancelled!)
Maxi's Ballroom 10pm - Midnight
GrillGhod Panel 12
Robyn Emlen Panel 18
Jessica TC Lee Panel 19
L. Pierce Ludke Panel 20
Brandon Duncan Panel 26
Jennifer Cox Panel 30
Emerging Artist Winners Panel 35
Susan Stejskal Panel 12
Alexander Mark Brill Panel 19
Durlyn Panel 26
Now you can play the actual Card Wars game from the show! Based on the original Adventure Time episode featuring “Card Wars,” where Finn and Jake battle against each other to decide who will be the Dweeb and who will be the Cool Guy.
Maxi's Ballroom 2-8pm
Get to bed early tonight, because Movie Previews start rst thing Friday morning! Keith and Alan are very happy to be back and ready to bring the latest from Holly- wood straight to your eye/earballs. Our one show this year is Friday at 10am in Grand 3. So much genre stu to talk about; movies, TV, theme parks, the whole gamut. Grab your seat early for all the latest. Get a good night’s sleep and BE THERE!
The Fiction of Norwescon 39
by Elizabeth Guizzetti
The soft glow of the television lit the darkened living room and the familiar dialogue of The Thing dulled the traffic noise. Warm under the blanket, Erin chuckled at the world in front of her eyes. Suddenly, Mark growled, jumped off the couch, and yapped at the window.
Erin gently put her fingers upon her dog’s head and grumbled, “It’s Tuesday night, people!”
She pushed back her blinds and readied herself for the coming conflict. Instead of her neighbors, a bald whitish face with large obsidian eyes peered at her. Lips curled upward exposing pointed teeth. A three-fingered hand waved.
Erin’s stomach dropped, but she smiled and waved back. An alien. A real alien! Mark wagged his tail and yapped. She quickly unlatched the lock and slid the pane open.
The alien floated through the window and landed on the floor.
Erin quickly powered off the television. She ran her hand over her bangs to press down any cowlicks. In horror, she remembered she wore pajamas. A first contact situation--and she’s wearing pajamas with hearts and kitties.
Not that the organism was dressed for the occasion. Floral shorts exposed knobby knees. A pale blue T-shirt read Sol and below listed checkboxes for each planet visited. Ze had been to Saturn, Jupiter, and Earth.
In hir hand, the alien held a round plastic container.
The alien gently pushed a finger into hir ear canal. In a warbling, almost apologetic tone, ze said, “Sorry to bother you at this late hour, but may I borrow a cup of sugar?”
“What?” Erin asked.
“Sugar. Forgive the imposition, but—”
“Sugar? Aren’t you here to abduct me?”
The alien sighed. “Abductions are pranks. Some people’s kids.” Ze held out the container. “Sorry, I don’t have dollars, but can pay in Rands; if you would be so kind for a cup of sugar?”
“Don’t you want to see the president?”
Ze fiddled with hir ear again. “Forgive me, my English must not be clear, I want to cook Earth treats for my children. In South Africa, they are called pannekoek, but I believe, in this country, you say pancakes. Might I trouble you for sugar?”
Ze gently shook the container.
“What’s in that?” Erin asked and pulled out a pink and white box from her cupboard.
“Air?” The alien frowned. “No, that must not be right.” Ze fiddled with hir ear again. “Cheap translator. American English! Dialect Pacific Northwest!” In a much slower cadence, the alien began again: “Please, I couldn’t find a 24-hour market that accepts Rands. I’ve no American Dollars. We came into orbit at the wrong side of the planet, but the kids will wake up hungry. Can I buy a cup of sugar?”
“You’ve been here before?” Erin pried the top from the alien’s container and with the hope for peaceful human and alien relations, she filled the entire thing.
“My brother has. Don’t get me wrong, Earth’s a beautiful planet, but, really, it would be an easier attraction if there was a worldwide currency.”
“You’re colonizing?”
“Just on holiday.” Ze took back the container. “May I pay you in Rands?”
Erin shook her head. “No, just enjoy your pancakes.”
“Thank you. My guidebook says Earthlings are a kind, giving people.”
Not wanting the conversation to end, Erin asked, “You sure you don’t want to abduct me?”
Obsidian eyes widening, Ze backed towards the window. “Uh, I’d love to have you along, but as I said, this is a family vacation. Thank you for the sugar.”
A stream of light ooded through the window and the alien disappeared.
“Rats,” Erin knelt to pet her dog’s ears. “If I really wanted them to stay, I should’ve o ered to make pancakes!”
Much to her chagrin, Elizabeth Guizzetti discovered she was not a cyborg and growing up to be an otter was impractical, so she began writing. She is the author and illustrator of independent comics and science fiction novels. Guizzetti currently lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs. She loves hiking and birdwatching. This weekend, you can find her in Author’s Alley.
first published at ZB Publications.com
Temporal Anomaly Edited by Matthew Buscemi
Typeset by Matthew Buscemi in Iowan Old Style with Alternate Gothic No3 and Almaq Display
Daily Zine for Norwescon 39 • Sunday, March 27
Closing Ceremonies
Evergreen 3&4 4 - 5pm
For the most up-to-date schedule, as well as maps and other useful information, check out the Guidebook app available on the Android, Apple and Windows platforms. Or visit http://guidebook.com/g/NWC39 from any web browser.
The Norwescon Art Show is proud to announce this year’s Art Show Award winners. We would like to thank all of our artists for their outstanding contribution to this year’s show.
Aimee Stewart The Jade Gates
Michael Duquette Temporal Portal Generator
Andy Vanoverberghe Circles of Quanta 2
William Hartmann Watery Moon of Extra Solar Plane
Jeff Sturgeon Run to Tokyo
Jeliza Patterson Heart of Planetary Nebula NGC2818
Mark Ferrari Old Powers Rising
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law Butterfly
Julie Baroh Peri
Best in Show
Thomas Kuebler Athena and Her Sister
1st Place
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law Butterfly
2nd Place
William Hartmann Homage to Chesley Bonestell
3rd Place
Mark Ferrari Old Powers Rising
Best Color
Don Maitz Tamastara
Best Black & White
Socar Myles Lady Macbeth
Best Mixed Media Thomas Kuebler Athena and Her Sister
Best 3D
Tim Bruckner He Who Laughs Last
Best Textile
Sandra Ackley Whatever Happened to Bigfoot?
Best Jewelry
Designs by Victoria Moss Agate Triskelion Necklace
Best Humor
Sarah Clemens Magnus & Loki: Photo Bomb
Best Horror
Cat Grey Gnasherbunny
Best Sci-Fi
Michael Duquette Temporal Portal Generator
Best 3-D/Jewelry
Thomas Kuebler Athena and Her Sister
Best Fantasy
Janny Wurts Fionovar Tapestry
Best in Show
Thomas Kuebler Athena and Her Sister
We would also like to thank this year’s panel of Judges: Julie Dillon, Don Lacky, and Patricia Booze for their generous time and knowledge in helping judge this year’s show.
We offer our congratulations to this year’s recipient of the Art Show Apprentice award, Jean Carlos.
What are the mystery phrases?
Hints:
Hints:
The editorial staff of Temporal Anomaly, your daily zine for Norwescon 39, would like to thank everyone who submitted content over the last four days. We couldn’t make this zine awesome without you. We had a great convention, and we hope you did, too!
Horror As a Mirror (HOR08): Jeremy Zimmerman (M), Jude-Marie Green, K. M. Alexander.
Cascade 13 10 - 11am
Costume Foundations IV: Practical Embellishments (COS27): Holly L. Forbis (M), Julie Zetterberg, Carmen Beaudry.
Cascade 7&8 1 - 2pm
Fukushima at Five (TEC02): Mike Brennan (M), Bart Kemper, Lillian Cohen-Moore.
Cascade 10 2 - 3pm
Alt-Tech & “What If” (TEC11): Stephen L. Gillett (M), Mike Brennan, Russell Ervin, Dr. Misty Marshall.
Cascade 12 12 - 1pm
Cooperative Board & Card Games (GAM04): Ogre Whiteside (M), David Fooden, Dylan S., Burton Gamble, Ryan Macklin.
Cascade 12 10 - 11am
Susan DeFreitas Reading (R53): CANCELLED.
Cascade 1 11:30am - 12pm
Pathfinder
Rotunda 1 (location!) 9am - 2pm
Quirkle (cancelled!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 11am - 1pm
The con’s almost over, and you’ve found tons of convention stuff to complain about, haven’t you? We put a comment card in your pgorgram packet for just that reason. Good stuff, bad stuff, neat ideas, send us all of it. We won’t even make you find the one in your packet. Here are all the ways you can get us your feedback:
We know some of you missed our Movie Previews panel early Friday morning. But there’s so more news to tell! We’ll be taking over the Evergreen Shuttle Bay today at 2pm for a talk about movies. We didn’t even scratch the surface of “why? Why? WHY?” yet. It will be a fun back-and-forth without having to play previews in the dark. Spread the word and be there at two!
The Beyond Reality Costumer’s Guild is sponsoring a raffle! The prizes are: a spectacular steampunk treasure chest filled to the brim with costume and fine jewelry, a brown leather jacket, a detailed hand-knit reversible Star Wars scarf, and a beautiful hand-made Victorian parasol. Tickets are $1 each, or eleven for $10, and the drawing will be held on Sunday at noon. Participants must be present at the convention to win, and must pick up their prizes by 2pm.
It has come to our attention that rumors have been circulating regarding the “geek yogurt” on sale at the convention being made of geeks. The editoral staff has found no evidence with which to substantiate said rumors.
Little girl at the Star Wars costuming panel dressed as Capt Phasma. Representation matters. #nwc39
~ @E_VanEvery
Group of folks standing in front of my table. I stare. Guy sees. “I’m so sorry! We’re blocking your table!” Moves his group. #MyHero #NWC39
~ @_Danicia_
“I need you to pull alongside them so we can have a robot fight on top of these vans.”
~@themalloman
The Fiction of Norwescon 39
by Matthew Buscemi
What an outfit!” the lizard said. “Didn’t your mother teach you how to dress yourself?”
I looked down at the cage beside my feet. The creature contained within was perhaps a meter long and rainbow-striped from head to tail. It wrapped its claws into the grill and stared up at me with beady purple eyes.
I proceeded into the store silently. Engaging genesplics is generally a bad move. If they’re telepathic, that will only give them better access to your thoughts.
The shop was a cavern of a place. Wire mesh and glass and plastic formed twisting passages.
A dog here, a fish there, those were the mostly normal ones. Other genesplics represented more ambitious endeavors. A horse the size of a wolf with the head and neck of a giraffe. I passed a dozing mini-lion with scales instead of fur. Finally, I came to the counter at the back of the room. It stood empty. I stood and stared at the empty wall inset with a dull wooden door.
I searched the counter with my eyes, and discovered a holographic call button. I pressed it, and waited. And waited. I crossed my arms, glancing back at the monstrosities behind me. Having nearly given up, I turned to leave, but the creaking of the wooden door caught me, and I jumped, flustered.
A man peered out, older. His long fingers curled around the doorframe and his eyes bulged, unfriendly, even hostile.
“What do you want?”
I shifted my eyes to the counter. “To buy something.”
“Something? Animals are things to you, are they?”
Indignation welled up within me. “You’re selling them, aren’t you?”
He released a snort. “I suppose I am.”
He strode out from behind the door and stood before his counter. “Well?”
“A cat,” I said.
His face dropped. “Can you be more specific?”
I pursed my lips and did my best to smile.
“Just a cat.”
“You know how many breeds of cat there are?”
“Yes.”
He rolled his eyes. “Well?”
“I want a felis catus.”
He blinked a few times.
“Not a genesplic,” I huffed. “A regular cat. No scales, vocal chords, or telepathy. Just a cat.”
The man shifted his weight. “I can get you a felis catus sonus. Best I can do.”
I smiled weakly. It’s not enough that it looks like a felis catus. A creature that can fell airborne prey with mentally generated sonic waves is not a cat.
“I’m sorry I wasted your time.” I turned to leave.
“Wait,” the man said. “I can, but it’ll be expensive.”
“How much?”
He told me the price, and I took a moment to work through my deep inner consternation. The things we silly humans do for a little companionship. “Fine.”
He retreated into the mysterious place behind the wooden door. After some time, he returned holding a stripy orange tabby in his arms.
I held up my computer. “May I?”
“Sure,” the proprietor said. He set the cat down on the counter, held him in place, and I initiated my usual gamut of programs. Forty-seven biogenetic scans later, I witnessed a first-time occurrence: the stripy furball had passed my entire suite of genetic tests.
“Huh,” I said. “Felis catus.”
The cat let out an adorable meow.
I paid, still apprehensive about the cost, but at long last I had my cat. I pulled him into my arms. At first glance, I’d thought him fat, now I could tell this guy was a big ball of muscle.
I thanked the owner and turned, carrying the cat through the maze of cages. My big orange bundle curled up in my arms, narrowed his eyes, and yawned. I approached the exit.
“Pfft,” the lizard hissed. “Fat, lazy lummox.”
“Look who’s talking, you rainbow pansy,” said the cat.
First appeared in Lore & Logos, published by Fuzzy Hedgehog Press in 2015.
Temporal Anomaly Edited by Matthew Buscemi
Typeset by Matthew Buscemi in Iowan Old Style with Alternate Gothic No3 and Almaq Display
Daily Zine for Norwescon 39 • Saturday, March 26
Autograph Session
Grand 2 12:30 - 1:30pm
Reading
Evergreen 1&2 3 - 4pm
Character Driven/Plot Driven
Cascade 10 4 - 5pm
Writing With Authority
Evergreen 1&2 6 - 7pm
The Art of Janny Wurts
Evergreen 1&2 1 - 2pm
Autograph Session
Grand 2 12:30 - 1:30pm
Reading
Evergreen 1&2 5 - 6pm
Autograph Session
Grand 2 12:30 - 1:30pm
The Art and Writing of William K. Hartmann
Evergreen 1&2 2 - 3pm
Art & Astronomy: Space Art through the Decades
Cascade 13 4 - 5pm
Mining the Sky
Cascade 5&6 7 - 8pm
What’s New From DAW
Evergreen 1&2 4 - 5pm
Masquerade
Grand 2 7:30 - 9:30pm
For the most up-to-date schedule, as well as maps and other useful information, check out the Guidebook app available on the Android, Apple and Windows platforms. Or visit http://guidebook.com/g/NWC39 from any web browser.
Congratulations to the winner of the 2016 Philip K. Dick Award, Apex by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot Books), with a Special Citation to Archangel by Marguerite Reed (Arche Press)!
The award is presented annually for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.
A photon takes 40,000 years to travel from the center of the sun to the sun’s surface (about 430,000 miles), but only 8 minutes to travel from there to Earth (about 93 million miles).
The editorial staff of Temporal Anomaly, your daily zine for Norwescon 39, invites you to submit content to appear within our pages! If you overhear something interesting in the halls, want to rant or rave, or if you’d like to submit a 50-600 word microfiction story to our daily anthology Unremembrances, contact us at zine@norwescon.org or drop us a note at one of the boxes at Information or in the Convention Office.
We accept submissions from all attendees, staff and guests. Submissions must be made by 9pm the day prior to publication.
All bylined content remains the property of the author.
How well do you know your science fiction and fantasy literature?
3 . the biggest, most powerful city in Bas-Lag
7. planet covered in living ocean
8. frog xenians
12. how it feels to pet a hedgehog
13. it must flow
17. fast food restaurant chain in far-future Korean dystopia
19. Earth, in the Space Trilogy
1 . D-503’s spaceship
2. the handmaid’s home country
4. where the hobbits live
5. life, the universe, and everything
6. sequency and ...
9. the world controller for Western Europe 10. she becomes immune to the hypnosis 11. the altered language of 1984
14. Strugatsky picnic
15. disingenuous art dealer of an alternate San Francisco
16. representative of the Ekumen to planet Gethen
18. Sparrowhawk
Ivy Yap will be attending the convention; Elizabeth Sampat and Mickey Schultz will not.
Costume Foundations III: Fitting It To You (COS26): Tammie Dupuis (M), Kathryn Brant, Anita Taylor, Margo Loes, Lori M. Edwards.
Cascade 10 1 - 2pm
Horror: Not Just for White Dudes Anymore (HOR04): Arinn Dembo (M), J. F. High, Lisa Bolekaja, Cheryce Clayton.
Cascade 9 5 - 6pm
The Force Awakens: Costuming’s New Hope (COS02): Bethany Roullett(M), Julie Zetter- berg, Deborah Strub.
Cascade 10 10 - 11am
Naughty Hotties: The Fashion Season of the Witch (COS05): Lori M. Edwards (M), Bethany Roullett, Margo Loes, Victoria Shaffer.
Cascade 10 11am - 12pm
The Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (MISC11): Marta Murvosh (M), Jude-Marie Green, Brenda Carre, S.A. Bolich.
Cascade 10 7 - 9pm
First Page Idol (EP09): Phoebe Kitanidis (M), Frog Jones, Nicole Dieker, Paul Constant, Joshua Bilmes.
Cascade 9 1 - 2pm
Comic Book Movies (POP01): Rafeal Richard- son (M), Paul Constant, J. Rachel Edidin, John Lovett, Joshua Bilmes.
Evergreen 3&4 3 - 4pm
Writing With Authority (WRI01): Kristi Char- ish (M), Tanya Hu , Steven Barnes, James C. Glass.
Evergreen 1&2 6 - 7pm
Scene & Variation (WRI02): Erik Scott de Bie (M), Gregory A. Wilson, Raven Oak, Sonia Orin Lyris, Sam Morgan.
Cascade 10 5 - 6pm
Magic: The Gathering Tournament (added!)
Maxi’s Bar 2pm
Curse of Strahd (added!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 12 - 5pm
Daifugo (added!)
Cascade 12 9 - 11pm
Identico Punk RPG (added!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 12 - 6pm / 10am - 7pm
Deadfall: A Pairs Variant (added!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 9 - 11:30am
TAK (added!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 1:30 - 4pm
Pathfinder
Rotunda 1 (location!) 9am - 2am
Zombie Mosh! (cancelled!)
Cascade 12 12am - 1am
Smash Up (cancelled!)
Cascade 12 10 - 11:30pm
On July 1-4, 2016 Westercon will combine with Portland’s annual steampunk arts and music festival, GEAR con, for one spectacular weekend.
Drop by the party, or the Westercon 69 fan table across from the coffee bar, to learn more and purchase memberships. One pass, two cons. Purchase your event membership passes today! Find out more at www.westercon69.org.
I love all the women in fandom panels this year! Great program lineup at #Nor wescon! #nwc39
~ @EdenCelesteArt
So far the most entertaining moment of the day was watching an airline pilot’s face as he navigated around @norwescon-goers. #nwc39
~@posiegirl
The Fiction of Norwescon 39
by Madison Keller
Edmund’s hand trembled on the handset before he got up the courage to dial. His son answered on the fifth ring; he could hear music and laughter in the background.
“David, don’t hang up. I miss you.” He paused. “Please come over. I’d like to see–”
“Look, old man. I don’t want your money. I don’t ever want to see you again. Stop calling me.”
Silence. The line went dead.
He ripped the jack from the wall and threw the phone across the room.
His steps echoed in the emptiness as he wandered through the mansion, he found himself in front of his parent’s old room. He hadn’t been in there since they’d died.
The hinges screeched open and he shuffled forward, fumbling for the switch. Dust puffed up from the carpet with each step. The light flickered then stayed on, illuminating the retro seventies orange shag carpet. Something sparkled, half hidden under a dusty oral print hat. He crossed the room and revealed a white horn, slightly curved with a corkscrew spiral edge.
The horn was warm under his fingers. He marveled at how clean it was.
In the brighter light of his study he set it on his desk, next to the framed photo of Maggie holding little David on her lap. After her death there had never been time enough for friends, work, or even his son. Their recent estrangement only exacerbated the hole she’d left in his life.
Sunlight sparkled about the horn, creating shifting rainbows on the walls. Maggie would have loved it.
It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
The folks at the antique mall were just as impressed. “We’ll give you a thousand for it.”
The horn was too unique to sell and he had enough money; the curiosity consumed him. He asked around. He found no answers, but the horn gained many fans.
For the first time in his life he found himself invited to a party. “Bring that fabulous horn of course,” they gaily said in the invitation.
At the ball he showed off the horn; when he brought it out the room brightened and rainbows shone. The guests pressed forward, clamoring for more.
When he’d tired of holding and put it away the crowd returned to their hors d’oeuvres.
Edmund mingled, approaching a woman and her friend.
“Wonderful show. How much?”
“It’s not for sale.”
“Of course not, it’s the only thing you have going for you.” They tittered, heads together, as they walked off.
That was the best exchange he had that night.
Before he’d found the horn he’d been lonely, but not discontent, not empty and hollow as he was now.
The horn was the foulest thing he’d ever seen.
Edmund twisted his hands around it, the sharp edges of the conicals biting into the palms of his hands. “I wish my son knew how I felt, how it feels being all alone.”
It pulsed in his hands then crumbled away into ash. As the last of it dissolved he lost consciousness.
He awoke to his son’s boyfriend shaking him awake. “David, you’re having a nightmare. Wake up.”
Temporal Anomaly Edited by Matthew Buscemi
Typeset by Matthew Buscemi in Iowan Old Style with Alternate Gothic No3 and Almaq Display
Daily Zine for Norwescon 39 • Friday, March 25
Writing a Series
Evergreen 3&4 12 - 1pm
Q & A
Grand 3 2 - 3pm
Writing a Series
Evergreen 3&4 12 - 1pm
Q & A
Grand 3 1 - 2pm
Science and Religion in Space
Cascade 10 10 - 11am
Q & A
Grand 3 3 - 4pm
From the Moon to Mars
Evergreen 1&2 4 - 5pm
DAW Books Live
Grand 3 12 - 1pm
Why Editors Pass
Cascade 9 3 - 4pm
When you are attending a panel, please silence your cell phones and other mobile devices.
If you must take a call, please leave the panel room before starting your conversation. The panelists and your fellow audience members thank you.
For the most up-to-date schedule, as well as maps and other useful information, check out the Guidebook app available on the Android, Apple and Windows platforms. Or visit http://guidebook.com/g/NWC39 from any web browser.
Some consider science fiction to originate with the American pulp magazines of the 1920’s and 30’s. However, the more commonly cited origin of science fiction is Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, first published in London in 1818.
The visible universe contains about 50 billion galaxies. There are between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars in the average galaxy. In the Milky Way alone, there could be as many as 100 million planets. If humanity is indeed alone, those are some pretty ridiculous odds.
The editorial sta of Temporal Anomaly, your daily zine for Norwescon 39, invites you to submit content to appear within our pages! If you overhear something interesting in the halls, want to rant or rave, or if you’d like to submit a 50-600 word microfiction story to our daily anthology Unremembrances, contact us at zine@norwescon.org or drop us a note at one of the boxes at Information or in the Convention Office.
We accept submissions from all attendees, staff and guests. Submissions must be made by 9pm the day prior to publication.
All bylined content remains the property of the author.
All words are related to the Norwescon 39 conference location and its denizens (or are they?) Can you catch find them all?
Body Horror (HOR07): Arinn Dembo (M), Jeremy Zimmerman, Jason Bourget, Lisa Bolekaja.
Cascade 9 7 - 8pm
Stitch & Bitch (COS22): Tammie L. Dupuis (M), Joy Day, Deborah Strub, Julie Zetter- berg, Camin Bradbury
Olympic 1 9pm - 12am
Costume Foundations II: Building the Base (COS25): Carmen Beaudry (M), Julie Zetterberg, Margo Loes, Tammie L. Dupuis
Cascade 10 3 - 4pm
Size Acceptance Is For Everybody (CUL02): Jen K (M), Ogre Whiteside, Frog Jones
Cascade 7&8 4 - 5pm
Blasts from the Past (POP07): Dan Murphy (M), John Lovett, Brian Oberquell, Wendy Murphy
Cascade 13 4 - 6pm
Cold Exobiology (BIO04): Pat MacEwen (M), Stephen L. Gillett, Marguerite Reed.
Cascade 10 8 - 9pm
Magic: The Gathering Tournament (added!)
Maxi’s Bar 2pm
No Honor Among Thieves (added!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 6 - 8pm
Curse of Strahd (added!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 12 - 5pm
Pairs / Give Me the Brain / Lord of the Fries (added!)
Maxi’s Salon, Table 29 9-11am / 1:30-4pm
Pathfinder
Rotunda 1 (location!) 9am - 2am
Zombie Mosh! (cancelled!)
Cascade 12 12am - 1am
Smash Up (cancelled!)
Cascade 12 10 - 11:30pm
EuroRails (cancelled!)
Maxi’s Ballroom 2 - 6pm
Theresa Halbert
Table F 9:30am - 2:30pm
Liv Rainey-Smith
Table B 9:30am - 12:30pm
John Alexander
Table F 4:30 - 6:30pm
Grab your morning bagel and OJ, then head down to Grand 3 for Keith and Alan’s Movie News and Previews. From 10 to Noon, then it’s over. So much genre stuff to talk about; movies, TV, theme parks, the whole gamut. Grab your seat early for all the latest!
Now you can play the actual Card Wars game from the show! Based on the original Adventure Time episode featuring “Card Wars,” where Finn and Jake battle against each other to decide who will be the Dweeb and who will be the Cool Guy.
Maxi’s Ballroom 2 - 8pm
A delectable dish has been spotted in the hotel cafeteria. The Chewbacca Dog 3.0, a special treat for Norwescon 39 attendees, promises to be a 100% beef hotdog with pulled pork, aged cheddar cheese, and applewood bacon on a hoagie. Only $8.95.
Our new rulers have landed @norwescon 39. All bow in their presence. #NWC39 #FelineOverlords
~ @Traevynn
“We heard something in our basement and didn’t know what it was! Turns out it was the Enterprise.”
~ @EMPmuseum
The Fiction of Norwescon 39
by H.M. Jones
The nippy, dense fog did not deter Nimo from his morning fishing expedition. Nothing could keep him from fishing, now he had Slinder to protect him. His friend wouldn’t let him sleep through fishing, anyway. Slinder’s appetite grew daily. Lately, Nimo only ever brought back a meager meal. His stomach growled. Pangs stabbed his belly.
If he didn’t give Slinder the first few fish, the little dragon was unbearable. He would sulk, stomp and burn bushes, small trees and flowers until Nimo gave in and fed him until he was full. They had to stay out later every day.
The high sun sank. Dusk turned the emerald water orange. Slinder’s appetite would not be satiated. The silly creature waited at water’s edge, body low, tiny talons sinking into black mud as he made ready to pounce. Nimo yanked his last catch from the water hard, to throw Slinder off. Now his catch and his fishing line were stuck in a tree. He stared in dismay at the thin branches, his throat tightening. His line wound tightly around a few small, finger-like twigs.
He turned on Slinder. Tears spattered his cold cheeks. “Slinder! Naughty dragon! Look what you made me do! You know that fish is the only thing ma and I have to eat. She can’t find anymore berries. Roots are scarce. It’s autumn now. I have to bring something back. Without da, it’s all we have. I’m glad you found me. I do love you, but you’ve had eight fish! Please help me with the line, and don’t eat the only fish I will be able to bring home.”
Slinder dipped his narrow head, his body low, ears tilted back in shame. Then, he leaped up, flitting his wings and hovering unsteadily. He gently untangled the line with a sharp nail. The fish fell with a smack. He pumped his thin wings until he was gliding unsteadily over the pond.
Nimo clapped and hooted. “Good boy, Slinder! You can fly like a proper dragon!”
If Slinder could smile, he would have. His boy was proud of him. He pulled his wings back when he was high enough, and dove like a rocket into the pond. Water splashed his giggling boy. He rose and paddled toward Nimo, his cheeks puffed out oddly. He looked like a foraging chipmunk.
Nimo met him at the side of the pond, worried about how his face bulged. At the bank, Slinder opened his mouth. A gush of smoke and water poured from his maw. When the haze cleared, Nimo saw six fat fish slapping their tails against the muddy bank.
“Oh, Slinder! You smart boy! Are these for ma and me?” Slinder inclined his head.
“I’m gonna have to take you to the ocean next time. Our fishing hole’ll be empty at this rate!”
Nimo chuckled and slipped Slinder the fattest fish. Slinder looked awfully proud as he scooped the fish delicately into his mouth and shot into the air.
H.M. Jones is a fantasy, sci-fi, speculative fiction and poetry author. Her debut dark fantasy, Monochrome, is a B.R.A.G Medallion honoree and is an Honorable Mention Book for the Los Angeles Book Festival. She is also a prolific blogger and has been featured on Huffington Post, among other notable cites. At Norwescon, she is a panelist for several fun panels and is selling her books in Author’s Alley. She will also be reading from Monochrome Saturday, 9-9:30 in Cascade 1. She posts geeky tidbits and free short readings at her website, www.hmjones.net.
Temporal Anomaly Edited by Matthew Buscemi
Typeset by Matthew Buscemi in Iowan Old Style with Alternate Gothic No3 and Almaq Display
NEWSLETTER OF THE CASCADIAN MECHA MILITIA DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION DEMONSTRATION TEAM
ALSO NORWESCON 31 | SUNDAY | 2K8.03.23 | DIFFICULTY LEVEL PLAID | DESTRUCTION LEVEL ORTHAGONAL
Best in Show: Night at the Sci-Fi Museum (Master class; Anita Taylor, Dave Tacket, Eric Prill)
Best in Master Class: Echos of Joy (Master class; Lisa Satterlund, Greg Sardo)
Best in Journeyman Class: Belle, Booke...and Dragon??? (Journeyman class; Bronwyn Thomas, Jeff Thomas, Julianna Robinson)
Best in Novice Class: Mr. Incredible (Novice class; Aurin Ballou)
Best Public Service: Mime Away (Journeyman class; Kelly Nary, Eric Franklin, Stephanie Franklin, Ryan Thayer, Sara Schmidt)
Peta Award: Wotan the Wall (Novice class; Eric Pope)
Best in Show, Workmanship: Way Back When (Master class; Audrey Schmidt, Lindie Schmidt, David Schmidt)
Best in Workmanship, Master Class: Echos of Joy (Master class; Lisa Satterlund, Greg Sardo)
Best in Workmanship, Journeyman Class: Mirror, Mirror... (Journeyman class; Sionna Neidengard, Angela Krupp)
Best in Workmanship, Novice Class: Cyber Demon, or Angel? (Novice class; Peggy Foy)
Workmanship Award for Excellence in Hand Dyeing: Why the Japanese Love Baseball (Master class; April Faires, Alicia Faires)
Workmanship Award for Excellence in Beading: Raks Macabre (Novice class; Tamera Mickelson)
Honorable Mention: Victoria Shaffer, for "Silk Decadence."
Excellence in Sculptural Detail: Kathleen Fahey, for "Bird? What Bird?"
Judge's Choice: Lady Bane, for "Total Opposite."
Judge's Choice: Mercynye for "The Rich Pirate Relation."
Achievement over Adversity: Liana Worsfold, for "The Poor Relation."
Best Historical Recreation: Diane Wahlbor for "Medieval with Heirloom."
Most Creative Use of Materials: Rebecca Sons, for "Most Species."
Best Concept: Bror Rand, for "Hats in a Jiffy."
Best Theme: SueLyn Taylor, for "Fleur-de-Nuit."
Best in Show: Sandra King for "Bonnet as a Flower."
Fan Favorite: SueLyn Taylor, for "Fleur-de-Nuit."
We have almost reached our goal to raise $2000 for Alzheimer's research in honour of Terry Pratchett. Our current total is just under US$1,600. Please help put us over the top! Make your donation at the Northwest Science Fiction Society Table, near Registration. Thank you!
Ciruelo Art Demo (was 10AM, Evergreen 1 and 2). Plane schedules interfered.
Leslie Howle has been added to Writing in Other People's Universes (1PM, Cascade 4)
Patrick Rothfuss has been added to I Just Sold My First Story/Novel! Whoopee! (2PM, Cascade 5)
Irene Radford has been removed from My Mage Can Beat Up Your Mage (3PM, Cascade 3)
Wolf Lahti and Vixy & Tony will not be attending this year, and accordingly are removed from all panels.
:::OH GODS THEY JUST KEEP COMING
Best in Show: Ciruelo, for "Hobsyllwin"
1st Place: Ed Cox, for "Harbinger"
2nd Place: Heather Hudson, for "Joiner Adept"
3rd Place: Jeff Sturgeon, for "Maelstrom"
Best Colour: Stephen Lestat, for "Ahmes Dream"
Best B&W: Mark Roland, for "Persistence of Memory"
Best Mixed Media: Roger Wheeler, for "Glutton Pig"
Best 3D: R. Shumacher, for "Gargoyle Girl"
Best Textile: Mai Nguyen, for "White Crane"
Best Jewelry: Jewellry by Scoop, for "Vicky Ex Machina"
GoH Pick: Piccacio, for "Fast Forward"
Special Dragon Craft Award: Peter Pan, for "Test Tube Dragon"
Best in Show: Ciruelo, for "Hobsyllwin"
Best Humour: Bill Cochell, for "Wok the Dog"
Best Fantasy: Ciruelo, for "Hobsyllwin"
Best Horror: Douglas Herring, for "Dark Nebula Rising"
Best SF: Jeff Fennel, for both "StarScout" and "Destiny's Angel" (tie)
:::THANKFULLY THEY AREN'T MIMES
That's what replaces the number we overheard walking by the table after the Masquerade. It's good they brought by the right number, because we had the wrong one, and also had too much b00zez to carez.
:::THE SUNDAY VERSION OF A PARTY LIST
The "Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes" Tea and Cookies/Meet the Author drop-in will be at 11AM in room 316 of the La Quinta Hotel, otherwise known as the Other Party Continent. Free signed poster, presumably right after freeing Hat.
:::DID I SAY PR0NS? I MEANT ER0T1CAZ
Artist's Alley hours for Sunday are now 10AM-2PM.
::::OR MAYBE I DID MEAN PR0NZ
If anyone has pictures of those two Victorian ladies showing off their knickers, please send copies to Cosmic Ray at [omitted]. YES HE SAID WE SHOULD PRINT HIS EMAIL ADDRESS. YES WE WARNED HIM.
:::APPARENTLY A FERY QUIET SATURERDAY
(At Peacebonding) "The rocks have been made safe."
(At Registration) "I was shunted into management where I could do less damage."
"You spent all Saturday in bed? No wonder you look tired."
Missing: One BDU urban camouflage grey jacket with a House Marik patch (dark eagle on background) on the right shoulder. Last seen Friday night at Lazer Tag. The jacket is a costume accessory and is also a gift from the owner's father. If spotted, please return to Lost and Found. Thanks!
:::PARTY GOD MAKES A STATEMENT
For the first time that I, Party God, can remember, the convention and the party wing have parted ways. The Fellowship was broken, and sadly, no great evil was defeated. Merchants of Diva, Cult of Scott Bakula, and the other "Super" parties decamped to the La Quinta in response to new rules at the Doubletree. They joined forces to create the Lords of the Bling and ran a mega-room-party, leaving wings 5 and 5b empty and oddly creepy. Two parties held their ground, Shockwave (reportedly) falling to the might of the liquor board (note that this is an unchecked rumor) and Seattle Worldcon in 2011, which had good $1 drinks, munchies, conversation, and, for better or worse, no music.
In the interest of non-biased reporting, I went to the Lords of the Bling party. These parties worked in 5b because you had three or more to choose from; at the La Quinta, they were the only show, and as a result had no problem overpacking the site. They served okay alcohol, if you could get to the bar, and their teaser shows had men as well as women but cost $40 to see. They also spent the night one noise complaint away from being permanently shut down by the cops.
In short, the con and the parties can do and have done so much better together than they ever will apart. One way or another, this needs to be fixed.
:::SHARE WITH YOUR NEEDY CONVENTION FRIENDS
w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w
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Was the daily newsletter of NORWESCON 31, published as a morning edition. Articles from the membership were pleaded for; the deadline for each day's edition was 10PM the previous evening, or later if you could find the editors in person. (Good luck with that.) Submissions boxes were marked and placed throughout the convention, most notably in the Office and at the Information Table.
Your CAG was Maj. R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti, CMMDDRDT. Proofreading assistance this issue from SSRN Seaview Editorial Control Board Suddenly Erupts in Sparks and Flames Lt. Jr. Class Angela Froom Froom McFlibble What Korra'ti. Conceptual assistance has been provided by inexplicable in-jokes, a lack of ideas that make any damn sense, and the rhinovirus. Yes, we need your GPs.
NEWSLETTER OF THE CASCADIAN MECHA MILITIA DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION DEMONSTRATION TEAM
ALSO NORWESON 31 | SATURERDAY | 2K8.03.22 | DIFFICULTY LEVEL RALPH | DESTRUCTION LEVEL UNPOSSIBLE
The 2007 Philip K. Dick Award winners were announced last night at Norwescon. The winner this year was NOVA SPRING, by M. John Harrison, published by Bantam Spectra. Accepting on behalf of Mr. Harrison was Marc Laidlaw. Special Citation was awarded to Minister Faust for FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DR. BRAIN, published by Del Rey. Accepting for Mr. Faust was Naomi Novik.
:::INSERT JOKES HERE
When tonight's Masquerade Halftime rolls around, don't even THINK about getting out of your seats! We'll be showing you and telling you about the future of movie entertainment, with Movie Previews played on the largest screen with the best sound. It'll be at least one party you won't have to cross International Boulevard in the rain to attend!
My Solar System: 10AM, Olympic 1 (Family Track). Kim Poua, moderator.
Open Gaming for Kids: NOON, Olympic 1/family track). James Poua, moderator.
Is there Life on Uranus? (was 10am, Olympic 1)
Pokemon Tournament (was Noon, Olympia 1)
Jon Armstrong has been added to Autograph Session 2 (Noon, Evergreen 1 & 2), and Creating Emotion-Driven SF/F (2PM, Cascade 9).
Patrick Rothfuss has been added to Autograph Session 1 (11AM, Evergreen 1 & 2), Sex, Sex, Sex...Where Does Fantasy Draw The Line? (NOON, Cascade 7), The Cover's Just There to Grab Your Eye (2PM, Cascade 6), and No, Really, That Makes Sense! (4PM, Cascade 8)
Jak Koke will not be available for Advanced Polyamory (1AM, Cascade 6) or Revision: If I Didn't Get It Right the First Time, How Do I Do It Better the Second? (6PM, Cascade 5)
Dennis Bergum, Carol Duby, David Shoemaker, Dave Williams, and Vixy & Tony will not be attending this year, and accordingly are removed from all panels.
In December 2007, Terry Pratchett announced his diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer's. On March 13, 2008, he donated US$1,000,000 to Alzheimer's research.
Join us in a global effort to match his donation and find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Our goal here is $2,000. Make your donation in Terry's honour at the NWSFS table in the registration area. We want Terry, and everyone else we love, to be around for a very long time. Thank you.
:::INSERT PUNS AND OSE HERE
6:30PM Char McKay
7PM Brooke Lunderville and John Caspell
8PM A Little Knight Music
All concerts are in Evergreen 3.
:::HOW MANY CLOWNS FIT IN THAT CAR, ANYWAY?
Registration reports 2724 fans on site, none of which have bothered getting us stuff for the party list. NO PARTIES!
:::INSERT PR0NS HERE.
Artist's Alley hours for Sunday are now 10AM-2PM.
:::THE WRONG KIND OF LOST, WITHOUT THE MYSTERY, BUT WITH THE SAD CHILDREN FACES
LOST: One beige plastic bag of chocolate kinder eggs, last seen in the Kinderfilk between 5-6PM; please return if found, it's for the children's Easter.
:::YOU CAN'T UNREAD THIS
"I think any more than eight tentacles constitutes 'perverted.'"
"Hack up a little more phlem, this sammich is a little dry."
"Can I have my pants back?"
(Alexander James, in concert) "...sing something dark, for the children?"
(At Match Game) "I'm a little disturbed at how many of these questions can be answered with 'a robot programmed by Dr. Smith.'"
(At Match Game) "The fanzine went to the Match Game and all they got was this [blank]"
:::CAN'T FIND YOUR CAR? CHECK UNDER ANOTHER CAR.
Hotel management wishes to remind militia conventioneers that mecha parking is two miles to the south, that a shuttle is provided for all mecha pilots, and that making your own parking spots out of other cars will result in several strongly-worded letters sent.
THAT'S A LOT OF ¥100 COINS!
Each year, the current Chair of Norwescon has the opportunity to award a Lifetime Membership to an individual or individuals that have contributed greatly to the Convention. Tracy Knoedler, this years convention chair, did so at the final planning meeting for Norwescon 31.
This year's honorees, working as a team, have aided Norwescon through countless hours of hard work, heavy lifting, and the willingness to go the extra mile to assure that everyone behind the scenes — as well as every person who attends the Convention — always has all the "stuff" they need. But their dedication doesn't stop there! Throughout the year, they also keep track of all those items, making sure they are kept safe, transporting them to and fro — all the while keeping a positive and upbeat attitude.
Accordingly, this year, the Chair awarded not one, but three Lifetime Memberships, with the committee in agreement that there could be no better choice of recipients. Please join us in congratulating Daniel Patowski, Eric Patowski, and Yvonne Patowski, also affectionately known as "The Norwescon Transportation Team."
:::WORST. LIMERICK. EVAR.
Calling all late night fen!
You're done partying;
You're done dancing;
Your'e just wandering around.
Wander on down to Grand Ballroom 3 after the dance around 2 or 3AM and help pack up the equipment! It can be a whole lot of fun. No, really! Many things are funny at this hour.
Then there was something about Nantucket but we forget.
:::BACK, AND TO THE LEFT. BACK, AND TO THE LEFT.
Housekeepers: $1-2 per day or $10 per week. It is vital that you include a note or place this in an envelope marked Tip for Housekeeping, as policy requires housekeeping to report any property left behind (cash included) as lost property.
Buffet Servers: $1, or 5-10% depending on the level of service provided (bringing and refilling drinks, clearing plates, etc).
Bellmen: $1-2 per bag. Please remember that when you use a bell cart to tote your luggage you are using the bellmen's tools. The hotel usually arranges to have extra carts available so that con members can use them; please don't try to persuade bellmen to give up their carts.
Bartenders and Cocktail Waitresses: $1 per round for parties of two to four; more for larger groups.
Servers (including Room Service Waiters): 15-20 percent.
:::DISASTER RECOVERY CREWS ON ETC.
Best Novel: The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, Brasyl by Ian McDonald, Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer, The Last Colony by John Scalzi, Halting State by Charles Stross.
Best Novella: "The Fountain of Age" by Nancy Kress, "Recovering Apollo 8" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "Stars Seen Through Stone" by Lucius Shepard, "All Seated on the Ground" by Connie Willis, "Memorare" by Gene Wolfe.
Best Novelette: "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairytale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham, "The Merchant and the Alchemists' Gate" by Ted Chiang, "Dark Integers" by Greg Egan, "Glory" by Greg Egan, "Finisterra" by David Moles.
Best Short Story: "Last Contact" by Stephen Baxter, "Tideline" by Elizabeth Bear, "Who's Afraid of Wolf 359?" by Ken MacLeod, "Distant Replay" by Mike Resnick, "A Small Room in Koboldtown" by Michael Swanwick.
Best Related Book: The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Glyer, appendix by David Bratman; Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry Malzberg; Emshwiller: Infinity x Two by Luis Ortiz, intro. by Carol Emshwiller, fwd. by Alex Eisenstein; Brave New Worlds: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher; The Arrival by Shaun Tan.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Enchanted, The Golden Compass, Heroes Season 1, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Stardust.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Battlestar Galactica "Razor", Doctor Who "Blink", Doctor Who "Human Nature/Family of Blood", Star Trek New Voyages "World Enough and Time", Torchwood "Captain Jack Harkness".
Best Professional Editor, Short Form: Ellen Datlow, Stanley Schmidt, Jonathan Strahan, Gordon Van Gelder, Sheila Williams.
Best Professional Editor, Long Form: Lou Anders, Ginjer Buchanan, David G. Hartwell, Beth Meacham, Patrick Nielsen Hayden.
Best Professional Artist: Bob Eggleton, Phil Foglio, John Harris, Stephan Martiniere, John Picacio, Shaun Tan.
Best Semiprozine: Ansible, Helix, Interzone, Locus, New York Review of Science Fiction.
Best Fanzine: Argentus, Challenger, Drink Tank, File 770, PLOKTA.
Best Fan Writer: Chris Garcia, David Langford, Cheryl Morgan, John Scalzi, Steven H Silver.
Best Fan Artist: Brad Foster, Teddy Harvia, Sue Mason, Steve Stiles, Taral Wayne.
John W. Campbell Award (Best new writer, 2006 or 2007 in a professional publication; not a Hugo): Joe Abercrombie, Jon Armstrong, David Anthony Durham, David Louis Edelman, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Scott Lynch.
Is the daily newsletter of NORWESCON 31, published as a morning edition. Articles from the membership are pleaded for; the deadline for each day's edition is 10PM the previous evening, or later if you can find the editors in person. (Try the Volunteer Lounge.) Submissions boxes are marked and placed throughout the convention, most notably in the office and at the Information Table.
Your CAG is Maj. R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti, CMMDDRDT. Writing assistance this issue from 2nd Lt. Twice Removed In Charge Of Don't Put that In Your Mouth, You Don't Know Where It's Been, Spazzkat. Conceptual assistance has been provided by inexplicable in-jokes, a lack of ideas that make any damn sense, and the pending invasion of _as_adia. Yes, we are your SPs.
NEWSLETTER OF THE CASCADIAN MECHA MILITIA DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION DEMONSTRATION TEAM
ALSO NORWESCON 31 | FRIDAY | 2K8.03.21 | DIFFICULTY LEVEL STUPID | DESTRUCTION LEVEL COMPREHENSIVE
:::QUAKE IN PH33R OF THE TERRIFYING FROG-MAN
You can win a membership to next year's Norwescon as one of the prizes on offer at Match Game SF, an SF&F-themed version of the classic game show Match Game. Norwescon's version begins at 9PM in Olympic 1 as contestants randomly selected from the audience will attempt to guess how our panel will respond to fill-in-the-blank questions such as "Captain Kirk has the biggest _____ in Starfleet!"
Besides a Norwescon 32 membership, other prizes include gift certificates from Cargo Cult Books and Springtime Creations (in the Norwescon Dealers Room), a prize package from Costume-Con 26, and a signed advance reading copy of Escapement, the sequel to Mainspring, by Jay Lake, who will also be one of the panelists. The first half of Match Game SF is rated PG-13 for suggestive language; panelists will be encouraged to be somewhat freer with their responses after the f/i/v/e/ /m/a/r/t/i/n/i/ "halftime" break between games three and four.
Match Game SF also needs production assistants to help keep the game moving. Come help in Olympic 1 during set-up (8PM) and you'll get a special badge available only to those who help "make the magic happen".
Make a Monster! (sandwich): 1PM, Olympic 1 (Family Track). Use your creativity to come up with the scariest, yummiest monster ever! Build your monster with a variety of ingredients and then gobble it up!
Family Movie Previews still starts at NOON (Olympic 1), but now runs only one hour.
P.K. Dick Award nominee Jon Armstrong has been added to "Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission" (NOON, Cascade 10), "Reading: Jon Armstrong" (1:30PM, Cascade 3), and "Philip K. Dick Award Ceremony and Reception" (7PM, Grand Ballroom 2).
Leslie Howle has been added to "Naomi Novik, Special GOH Interview and Q&A" (11AM, Grand Ballroom 2).
Patrick Rothfuss has been added to "The Liars' Panel: A Guaranteed Way to Sell that 1000 Page First Manuscript of Yours" (2PM, Cascade 9), "Reading: Patrick Rothfuss" (6:30PM, Cascade 3), and "Crime and Fantasy: How Do You Solve a Crime in a Magical World? (10PM, Cascade 7).
Jak Koke will not be on "Polyamory 101" (MIDNIGHT, Cascade 6).
Dennis Bergum, Carol Duby, Wolf Lahti, and David Shoemaker cannot attend and have been removed from all programme items.
:::IMPROBABLY, GIVEN THE IMPACT NOISE
"You didn't tell me I had Klingon on my face!"
"I need six left-handed clipboards, three left-handed monitors, and two left-handed flogs. Now."
"The itch will pass — you have a spork!"
"The way they remove nipples these days, it's like shaving a deli ham."
"You have to jam it in from the rear."
"There are only so many naked, slathering drunks I can carry home in one con."
:::NOTE HOW WE DON'T GO FOR THE OBVIOUS JOKES HERE. PRAISE US. PRAISE US!
The P.K. Dick Award Ceremony and Reception is tonight at 7PM in Grand Ballroom 2. Go, it'll be interesting.
::IT'S LIKE A CLOW CAR FULL OF FEN!
Registration reports 2200 members as of Thursday evening. Yes, that's as of Thursday, the slow day.
THAT'S A LOT OF ¥100 COINS!
Each year, the current Chair of Norwescon has the opportunity to award a Lifetime Membership to an individual or individuals that have contributed greatly to the Convention. Tracy Knoedler, this years convention chair, did so at the final planning meeting for Norwescon 31.
This year's honorees, working as a team, have aided Norwescon through countless hours of hard work, heavy lifting, and the willingness to go the extra mile to assure that everyone behind the scenes — as well as every person who attends the Convention — always has all the "stuff" they need. But their dedication doesn't stop there! Throughout the year, they also keep track of all those items, making sure they are kept safe, transporting them to and fro — all the while keeping a positive and upbeat attitude.
Accordingly, this year, the Chair awarded not one, but three Lifetime Memberships, with the committee in agreement that there could be no better choice of recipients. Please join us in congratulating Daniel Patowski, Eric Patowski, and Yvonne Patowski, also affectionately known as "The Norwescon Transportation Team."
:::BORED STRETCHER? BORED STRETCHER?!
Back FOR the Future! The Friday Movie Preview panel in Evergreen 4 has so much info we can't squeeze it into one hour. So we're starting early, at 2:30PM instead of 3PM. Get seats at this always-at-capacity panel early, and see the future before it arrives!
For the young, we have a special hour of children and family-friendly previews at Noon Friday in Olympic 1 (Family Track Programming). First priority seats will go to the kids, second priority for their parents, others can fill the remaining space. Come find out which film-based toys your children will be clamoring for this Christmas!
:::WORST. LIMERICK. EVAR.
Calling all late night fen!
You're done partying;
You're done dancing;
Your'e just wandering around.
Wander on down to Grand Ballroom 3 after the dance around 2 or 3AM and help pack up the equipment! It can be a whole lot of fun. No, really! Many things are funny at this hour.
:::HORTON HEARD A WHAT WHAT AND WHO NOW?
The Voodoo Message Board is located in the lobby. Here's how it works!
If you wish to receive messages from other Norwescon attendees, check the box next to your name on the Voodoo Board. (If you didn't pre-register, you'll have to add your name to the list. Make sure to add your name in alphabetical order!) When a message is left for you, a pin will be added next to your name. Remove the pin, and look for your message in the message box. Messages are put into the box in alphabetical order.
If you'd like to leave a message for someone, write it out, fold the message paper, write their name on the outside, and put the paper into the message box in alphabetical order with the other messages. Then put a pin next to their name on the Voodoo Board so the recipient knows to check the box.
:::TOO SMALL TO USE AS A TOOTHPICK, TOO LARGE TO SWALLOWED BY ACCIDENT (WE THINK)
Missing: Needlenose pliers. Last seen in a small, heavy box. If found, please return to tech as soon as possible.
Is the daily newsletter of NORWESCON 31, published as a morning edition. Articles from the membership are pleaded for; the deadline of each day's edition is 10PM the previous evening, or later if you can find the editors in person. (Try the Volunteer Lounge.) Submissions boxes are marked and placed throughout the convention, most notably in the Office and at the Information Table.
Your CAG is Maj. R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti, CMMDDRDT. Conceptual assistance has been provided by inexplicable in-jokes, a lack of ideas that make any damn sense, and way, way, way too much cold medication.
NEWSLETTER OF THE CASCADIAN MECHA MILITIA DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION DEMONSTRATION TEAM
ALSO NORWESCON 31 | THURSDAY | 2K8.03.20 | DIFFICULTY LEVEL HIGH | DESTRUCTION LEVEL MASSIVE
After a year of planning, we are finally here. I do hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend. We have worked very hard all year to provide you with a great panel of Guests of Honor; if you see them wondering around the hotel, don't be afraid to say hello!
If you have any questions regarding Norwescon, please stop by the convention office, located in room 7106. If they cannot answer your question, ask them to page the chair, and I will see what I can do for you. Until then, have a great time!
Tracy Knoedler
Norwescon Chair
Dennis Bergum, Carol Duby, Wolf Lahti, David Shoemaker, Dave Williams, and Vixy & Tony are unable to attend, and will not be appearing in any panels. Irene Radford is unavailable on Sunday. Alisoun Lamb will mis Thursday, and is no longer on today's "Genre Busting." Mario Acevedo is now moderator for this panel.
Patrick Rothfuss has been added to "Forging Fiction" (4PM, Cascade 9), "Genre Busting" (5PM, Cascade 5), and "Words of Magic, Words of Science" (8PM, Cascade 4)
Sean Prather has been removed from "The Most Dangerous Game" (8PM, Olympic 1) and added to "What are the Great Sci-Fi Video Games?" (8PM, Evergreen 4)
:::I blame metric time. Also, DST.
Please note that the dealer hours listed in the pocket program book for Thursday are incorrect. The correct dealer hours are as follows:
Thursday 5PM-9PM
Friday 11AM-8PM
Saturday 10AM-6PM
Sunday 11AM-4PM
:::These are the films that never end
Back FOR the Future! The Friday Movie Preview panel in Evergreen 4 has so much info we can't squeeze it into one measly hour. So we're starting early, at 2:30PM instead of 3PM. Get your seats at this always-capacity panel early, and see the future before it arrives!
For the young, we have a special hour of children and family-friendly previews at Noon Friday in Olympic 1 (Family Track Programming). First priority seats will go to the kids, second priority for their parents, others can fill the remaining space. Come find out which film-based toys your children will be clamoring for this Christmas!
:::Frankly, your guess is as good as mine
Surprise! Several things have been moved this year! Volunteer Sign Up Table is not in the lobby; it's in Olympic 2, which is also the Volunteer Lounge. Quiet Hospitality was accidentally destroyed by the Mecha Militia and is gone. Oops. Here's a broad overview of the surviving locations:
Room Name | Function |
---|---|
NW Ballrooms | Dealers Room |
Olympic 1 | Family Programming/Special Events |
Olympic 2 | Volunteer Office |
Olympic 3 | Hospitality |
East Concourse (between Wings 6 & 7) | Artists' Alley |
7101 | Cloak Room |
7106 | Office |
Rotunda | Open Gaming & Tournaments |
Mt. Maker & Mt. Ranier | Writers' Workshops |
Evergreen Rooms & Salon | Programming/Special Events |
Cascade 1 & 2 | Green Room |
Cascade 3 | Readings |
Cascade 4-10, 13 | Programming/Special Events |
Maxi's Ballroom | Special Events |
Grand Ballroom 1 | Art Show |
Grand Ballrooms 2 & 3 | Art Auction, Dances, Masquerade, more |
:::Frankly, your guess is as good as mine
Welcome to the newsletter of the Republic of Cascadia's Mecha Milita Dance Dance Revolution Demonstration Team. Also, the daily 'zine of Norwescon 31. You're in the RoCas (that's pronounced raucous) and normally I wouldn't even think about explaining this out front, but, this time? I admit it, this year's concept may as well be from Mars.
So welcome back to Cascadia, a Republic that isn't in a world that hasn't been but probably would be kinda neat if it actually was. It's a world of global, but not super, powers, most with native or imported dragon-assisted air forces, which we proud Cascadians — citizens of the RoCas — call "the varmints." We and Japan are not quite so lucky as to have quantities of these particular assets, so, like Aesop's fox, complain about what we cannot have. But lo, we are not pushovers, for we have the Mecha Militia, who is IN UR MOUNTAINS SMASHING UR KAIJU. Along with everything else.
This weekend the Mecha Militia's Dance Dance Revolution Demonstration Team is in town! (Think our alternative version of the Blue Angels. Kinda.) An awesome sight, you might be able to see them practicing — yes, from here — at Boeing Field, and possibly across I-5, and possibly on the Museum of Flight if they don't have their act more together than they did for last year's disastrous performance in the former town of Woodinville, which, well, frankly, needed a bit of an fdisk-and-reinstall anyway.
Confused? That's okay, we are too. just think "alternate history what has dragons and mecha" and go with it.
But to get back on topic: this is also your daily convention newsletter. This is where you go for awards notices, programme changes, party lists, advance performance warnings, and anything else we get that we think might be fun. We have a digital camera so can print artwork and photos, too!
So submit thing! Funny things you overhear — in or out of context — commentary, bad poetry, whatever. Appearances aside, we didn't write this in advance — it's all live! And that's all part of the game. We need you to make it work.
The deadline of each day's issue is 10PM the evening before, or later if you find us in person, so if you need something in Friday's issue, get it into a box by 10 tonight! Submissions boxes are at Information, Registration, Office, and Hospitality. Look for us because we'll be looking for you.
is the daily newsletter of NORWESCON 31, published as a morning edition. Articles from the membership are pleaded for; the deadline for each day's edition is 10PM the previous evening, or later if you can find the editors in person. (Try the Volunteer Lounge.) Submissions boxes are marked and placed throughout the convention, most notably in the Office and at the Information Table.
Your CAG is Maj. R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti, CMMDDRDT. Conceptual assistance has been provided by inexplicable in-jokes, a lack of ideas that make any damn sense, and Chim-Chim.
Spawn of Prophecy #1 is published by Jerry Kaufman, 4325 Winslow Place H., Seattle, WA £8103, ano Clifford R. Hind, #205, 303 Summit E., Seattle, WA 98102, as the official newsletter of Spawncon, the 1985 Australian National Convention. Issues are available to Spawncon members and upon request by nonmeubers. Feb 84.
Hello. We are Jerry Kaufman, winner of the 1983 Down Under Fan Fund, and Clifford R. Hind, co-founder of Western Australian fandom and occasional visitor to Australia. At Syncon, the 1983 Australian National Convention we won, with a last minute bid, the right to hold the 1985 Australian NatCon. In Seattle. For more details on that story see the various Australian and American fan and pro newszines. Some of them got it almost right.
You are, unless this paper has fallen into the Wrong Hands, someone we would like to have know about Spawncon (the '85 NatCon's nickname), perhaps even attend.
Spawncon will be held in conjunction with Norwescon, the annual Seattle regional convention. This means that the NatCon will be held the same weekend and at the same hotel as Norwescon. Norwescon will mention the NatCon in its publicity , and we will mention Norwescon in ours. However, membership in one will not get you the privileges or benefits of belonging to the other. Spawncon membership will cost $3 American or $4 Australian, and will get you exciting benefits (just keep reading). Send cash, money orders, or cheques, the latter made out to Clifford R. Hind (proud holder of an Australian bank account).
We'd like to tell you what Norwescon membership will cost in '85, but we can't. The con committee is still working on the '84 convention. We can, however tell you what that will cost, and thus help you to plan your attendance. The con is currently charging $20 until March 1, and will charge $25 from then until the convention itself, March 22-25. (Hext year's convention will be approximately the same weekend.) The rates are generally lower for those who purchase memberships early. Please write the Northwest Science Fiction Society, PO Box 24207, Seattle, WA 98124 for details, or wait for the next Spawn of Prophecy in about six months.
Norwescon is held at the Airport Hyatt Hotel, about fifteen miles from heart of Seattle. This hotel has given the convention a rate of $49 a room (regardless of the number of inhabitants, which, in the hotel's opinion, means either one or two people,), and this rate has held for several years. There are cheaper motels across a fairly busy highway, and we will publish details in a later issue.
Membership in Norwescon will get you all of its publications and entry to all official Norwescon events. Since this convention has about 1500 members, 100 attending professionals, three-track programming, a Fan Room, Art Show, Dealers Room, and all sorts of things (even an Ice Cream Social), you get a lot for your money. Membership in Spawncon will get you all its publications, a nifty membership button, and entry into its two or three programming items. Members of both Spawncon and Norwescon will get into a wonderful party that will be co-sponsored.
Hhat sort of programming are we planning? At the moment we have some ideas, very vague, about discussions of the Australian pro publishing scene, the Australian fan scene, and the place of Ayers Rock and sheep in science fiction. Of course, we'll hold a Down Under Fan Fund auction, but that will be (we hope) part of the Norwescon program as well. In fact, we're looking for more ideas, and hope tnat our Australian members will flood us with them.
We hope, fervently, that our Australian members will flood us with themselves. Usually, ten to twenty Australians make it to the U.S. for the Worldcon; since you only have to go to Melbourne in 1985, we hope you'll make Spawncon the first, or last, stop instead. You'll also help to convince more people in the Pacific Northwest to travel to Australia for Worldcon by exposing then to real Oz charm. Please note that early spring is also a cheaper time of the year to travel. We're sure that Pan-Am or Qantas will have good deals, as would many US domestic airlines. Check with your local agent for now. We hope to have sone sample plans and fares in a later issue.
Meanwhile, what is happening with Advention? We expect to hear from Jeff Harris sooner or later on this score. Our intention was to hold the best party and the main programming, while Advention was to administer the Ditmars and hold the business meeting and site selection (and whatever else they like). If we hold the business meeting the '87 NatCon could end up in Birmingham, Alabama, or Bingley, West Yorkshire.
Now for a few plugs. U.S. fans, if you want to get more news of Australia, subscribe to Thyme, published by Roger Heddell (for fannish news) or Australian SF News, published by Merv Binns (for pro and general news). Aussie fans can get news of the U.S. scene from File 770, (fannish), or Locus, or SFChronicle (pro).
Thyme: $9 U.S. to American agent Jerry Kaufman, 4325 Hinslow Place H, Seattle, HA 98103.
Australian SF News: $5.95 (surface) or $11.55 (airmail) U.S. to American agent Locus, Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94551.
Locus: $35.50 for 12 issues (air), $22.90 (sea), Australian funds, c/o Mervyn R. Binns, 305/307 Swanston St., Melbourne, 3000, Victoria.
SFChronicle: $32.50 for one year, Australian funds, c/o Mervyn R. Binns (address above).
File 770: $3 (U.S.) for 5 issues, or $1 (U.S) each for air printed matter rate, Mike Glyer, 5823 Woodman Ave. #2, Van Wuys, CA 91401.
Spawn of Prophecy
J. Kaufman, C.R. Hind
c/o NWSFS
Box 24207
Seattle, WA 98124