Westwind #25 February 1979
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Westwind 25
February 1979
[Art by Bill Warren of an astronaut floating above the Earth with a space shuttle and orbital construction facility in the distance.]
INSIDE THIS SECOND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE:
NORWESCON II PROGRESS REPORT
WESTWIND - the newszine of the Northwest Science Fiction Society. Number 25, February 1979 Editor: Gregory Bennett, 13001 - 79th Place NE, Kirkland, WA 98033 [PHONE REDACTED] Assistant Editor: Kipy Poyser, 503 S. Sawyer, Olympia, WA 98501 [PHONE REDACTED] Layout: Kipy and Vicki Poyser Printing: Michael Brocha Mailing: Cliff Wind Computer Support: Tony Pepin Production: Olympia Chapter, NWSFS
Art Credits: Cover - Bill Warren Interior - Bill Warren and Bill Grader Contributors to this issue: Steve Bard, Jon Gustafson, Greg Bennett, Bob Doyle, Jane Hawkins, Dennis Pernaa, and Shelley Dutton
Contents copyright (c) 1979 by Gregory R. Bennett, for the contributors. WESTWIND is mailed monthly to all members of the Northwest Science Fiction Society. Annual dues in the Society are $7.00. Send to NWSFS, PO Box 24207, Seattle, WA 98124. Presupporting memberships in our bid for the 1981 World Science Fiction Convention are only $1. Send checks to address above, payable to Northwest Convention Fandom.
ADVERTISING: Must be received, camera-ready, 21 days before month of issue. Send to address above. Page $15 (7 1/2x10), 1/2-pg $8 (7 1/2x5) 1/4-pg $5 (3 1/4x5) 1/8-pg $3 (3 1/2x2 1/2). Rates for Norwescon II Program Book–$20, $12, $8, and $5, respectively.
Meetings
February 15–17 Science Fiction Fare Seattle Community College. J.T. Stewart 587–4060
February 17–18 RAIN - A Science Fiction Weekend. Rembrandt Hotel, Vancouver, BC Write: Box 48478 Bentall Stn., Vancouver,BC Canada V7X 1A2
February 17 NWSFS Olympia Chapter MeetingCall Mike Ross for details - 943–3375
February 24 NWSFS Social Meeting Homeof Bill and Elizabeth Warren, 153 South 160th (246–3969) - Crackerbox Estates West - see map. Bus.-3:30; party-7:30.
February 26 Total Eclipse of the Sun See articles in this issue.
March 23–25 Norwescon II Airport Hyatt House, Seattle.
March 31 NWSFS Social Meeting Linda Hoffer's
[Hand drawn map with locations of the Seattle Hyatt House, Red Lion Inn, SeaTac Airport, and NWSFS meeting space.]
ECLIPSE NEWS
by Dennis W. Pernaa
On February 26, 1979, the Northwest Science Fiction Society and your Seattle in '81 World- con Committee will present a total eclipse of the sun. Due to bickering and dissension (you know how committees are), the eclipse will not be total from Seattle, because certain factions wanted the centerline to pass through the Stonehenge replica at Maryhill.
The best place for viewing the eclipse will be between Yakima and Richland, offering a 26% chance of cloudless skies, a 45% chance of seeing the eclipse, and a 36% chance of seeing the corona. The temperature will be about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Eclipse time 8:15 a.m.
Don't miss all this action. Due to political problems, we can’t pull this off again until 2017 and 2033.
- NEWS ITEM -
Congratulations to Bill Warren – he's been promoted to Vice President of International Business magazine.
[Ad designed to look like a comic book cover with art of a woman piloting a spacecraft: Olympia’s Four-Color Fantasies, 203A E. 4th, 10–6 Tues.-Sat., 943–3375. Four-Color Fantasies presents its eclipse sale for N.W.S.F.S. members only on all 60¢ used science fiction paperbacks. Buy two, get third free! Or take two for every three traded in. Good thru February, no limits! Olympia’s specialty shop for comics — new, used and rare, science fiction and fantasy magazines and used paperbacks. Theater lobby posters. Prints, portfolios and original art. Also, see our boxes of pulps.]
Norwescon Two
NORWESCON TWO - Programming and General Observations - by Steve Bard. (Art show section by Jane Hawkins. Huckster room section by Bob Doyle.)
Once again, real live science fiction authors will be a major emphasis of Norwescon. Besides our guestof honor Philip Jose Farmer, and toastmaster Elizabeth A. Lynn, we are pleased to have as special guests: Poul Anderson, John Varley, Vonda N. McIntyre, Mildred Downey Broxon, H. Warner Munn, Marta Randall, F.M. Busby, Orson Scott Card, J.F. Bone, and Oscar Rossiter (plus others as yet unconfirmed). Artist Alex Schomburg will also attend. Plus Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm.
I'm sure that the question foremost in everyone's mind at this moment is: In order to maximize my extraterrestrial gratification, as it were, when should I arrive at the convention and how long should I plan to stay? Well, let me say this about that…
The concom will host a very exclusive (white ties and tails, please!) meeting/ work session/practice party in our hospitality suite at the Hyatt House on Thursday evening prior to the con (all slave labor welcome).
On Friday, there will undoubtedly be a modicum of unscheduled, formless fannish activity both in the hospitality suite and all around the hotel throughout the day, prior to the onset of formal programming at 5:30 pm. The official convention opening ceremonies and an interview with guest of honor Philip Jose Farmer will occur Friday evening at 7:30.
Just two short days later (it will only seem like six), scheduled programming will con.clude at nine o'clock Sunday night, followed by the obligatory Dead-Sasquatch Party (and formal closing ceremonies) on into the wee hours.
Sometime the next day, the so-called ''morning-after effect" will manifest itself as a few diehard trufans ooze mellowly out of the rubble and into the hotel coffeeshop for the inevitable “survivors' brunch,” that one last tearful taste of fannish camaraderie before being dispersed to the four winds by the mandates of mundane society.
Even the most lightly seasoned conventiongoer might well conclude it would behoove him to take vacation at least on Friday and perhaps on Monday as well, if he is to properly savor both the convention's first eager blush as well as its final passionate throes.
Now, in between those hazy convention beginnings and endings you will find the middle (which is the tastiest part!). At any one moment you may have all the following entertainment options (which might cause you a sprained carcass, or at least acute frustration as you attempt to be in three places simultaneously), but at least you can't complain there is nothing to do. Here is a sampling of alternatives:
(1) Pester the friendly folks at the registration desk with stupid questions (open at 8 a.m. for your convenience).
(2) Attend a myriad of utterly fascinating and immensely informative panels, lectures, presentations, and what-have-you with authors, scientists, fans, gnorfs (gnorfs?), artists, etc., in two (count 'em!) continuous programming rooms (9 a.m. thru whenever).
(3) Haggle with the greedy book dealers in our large huckster room (9 a.m. thru 6 p.m.).
(4) Meet some new friends in the three-room convention hospitality suite (with sunken Roman bathtub). (Open allatime)
(5) Make a complete fool of yourself drooling over the artwork of Vicki Poyser and Bill Warren, not to mention a score of others, in “Jane's” 1,000 sq. ft. art show (10 a.m. thru 6 p.m.).
(6) Invite one of your newfound friends up to your hotel room to see your skiffy etchings.
(7) See some of your favorite old films, as well as Phantom of the Paradise, in the film room (9 a.m. thru some ungodly hour inna morning).
(8) Plug yourself into one of the many cybernetic mini-marvels in our computer room (9 a.m. thru late).
(9) Relax in the gifted hands of Ingrid and/or Sylvia in the hotel sauna/massage parlor (you will believe a man can fly!).
(10) Watch commercialess videotapes ofyour favorite SF films and TV fodder in our video room (9 a.m. thru very late).
(11) Sneak out to the hotel pool for a quiet evening of skinny dipping, only to discover later that the entire patronage of "Hugo's Bistro" was watching from their dinner tables.
(12) Peer over the shoulder of some of your favorite authors as they add their own inimitable twists to a chain story collaboration (10 a.m. thru 6 p.m.).
(13) Schedule and participate in “serious” discussion groups on a subject of your own choosing.
(14) Unleash your long-repressed urge to graffitize by participating in the “spontaneous art contest.” on placards affixed to walls at strategic locations.
(15) Sleep and/or eat if you have time and remember to do so.
The traditional major programming items will occur as follows:
Disco
Friday night, 9:30 p.m. thru ?
Masquerade
This year's masquerade will be a costume party in lieu of the usual costume parade. The festivities will commence at 7:30 Saturday night, with a meet-the-authors autograph session which will gradually metamorphose into a full-tilt costume party (with no-host bar) about an hour later. There will be a covert costume contest (with prizewinners loudly announced) for those who wish to be judged, and anonymity for those who just like to “dress up.”
Huckster Room
Our huckster room will be one-third larger than last year's, with wider aisles and more space for each dealer. We'll have more room for variety in the new space, but all your old favorite hucksters will be back, after a year of scouting out those rare collectables your need to feed your habit. A few tables are still available for $25, which includes one full membership to Norwescon. Huckster tables are reserved when we receive full payment. Send table reservations to: Bob Doyle, 13001 - 79th Place NE, Kirkland, WA 98033.
Banquet
Our luncheon awards banquet, with spiritedspeechifying by toastmaster Elizabeth Lynn and guests of honor Philip Jose Farmer and Loren MacGregor, will start with food at one p.m. Sunday. What with inflation and all, we couldn't afford even the Hyatt's rubber chicken; however, the catering staff has nevertheless promised us something out-of-this- world … something like Gnorf-a-la-king with creamed Venusian veggies, no doubt. Look at it this way: you're usually better off if it is unrecognizable, right? At any rate, be sure to get your banquet tickets ASAP! (at only $6.50 … such a deal, eh?). Not only does this help our planning, but space in the banquet room definitely will be finite!
Art Show and Auctions
Last year's show was so much fun we're doing it again! Eighteen artists entered over 150 pieces of art–a lot more art than had been expected. There were some tense moments, but thanks to some very hard-working people, everything went off fine. We hope to see an even better show this year. We have more space, more experience, and we expect an even larger turnout of art (knock on wood). If your have any suggestions, or wish to help, contact the art show director:
Jane E. Hawkins
[PHONE REDACTED]
4121 Interlake N. Seattle, WA 98103
And if you are an artist, or know someone who is, come to Norwescon bearing goodies for us to admire!
FEES: Artist entry fee–free to Norwescon members; $2 for non-members.
Five percent commission on all sales.
Sketch table: 10¢ per item; 25¢ per set of prints. Sales by flat price.
Regular art show: Minimum fee 50¢ Sales by written bid or auction.
Hanging art: 1/4 panel (2 1/2' x 2 1/2') = $1.50
1/2 panel (2 1/2' x 5') = $3.00
1 panel (5' x 5') = $6.00
Standing art: 50¢ per sq. ft. of table space
DEADLINES: March 23, 5 pm - Art show registration opens.
March 24, 9 am - Registration closes. Art accepted later by prior arrangement.
March 25, 4 pm - Unsold art removed.
AUCTIONS: The first will be just prior to the banquet at 12 noon on Sunday, and the last will be at 4 p.m., immediately after the banquet (watch those bidders squirm!).
So, what should you do right now?, you ask. Well, for starters you should reserve your own piece-of-the-feast at the banquet by purchasing your ticket now.
You would be well advised to also make your room reservations at the Hyatt immediately. You can write the Hyatt at:
Seattle Hyatt House
17001 Pacific Highway South
Seattle, WA 98188
or phone them at [REDACTED].
Be sure to specify that you are with Norwescon to get the reduced (?!) convention rates of $34 single and $39 double. You might also ask to be located in the 400 or 600 wing just as a reminder to the hotel that we are all to be blocked there together. One final note on the hotel–they've promised us late checkout on Sunday through 6 pm.
So … now that you have decided to spend at least five days with us at the hotel, perhaps you’re wondering where it is? (If not, just humor me, OK?)
Sparing no expense or indignity, the Norwescon committee has cleverly arranged for the airport Hyatt House to be located on Highway 99 (Pacific Highway South), right in front of Seattle International Airport! It is therefore so ridiculously easyto find that we are loathe to elaborate further.
However, for those of you who need directions to find your way out of a closet, we provide how-to-get-there instructions in the form of the Bill Warren map below.
Those of you arriving in Seattle via great metal bird will either take the free 2-minute Hyatt shuttlebus from the airport to the hotel, or spend hours discovering there is no pedestrian thoroughfare connecting the airport with any of the hotels surrounding it.
Northerners will be driving south on I-5 (unless you travelling via tramp steamer) and should take the exit on your right marked “Burien-Southcenter Boulevard,” and follow the lefthand fork (Burien) onto Highway 518 and on up the hill till you see the Highway 99 exit. Travel southbound on 99 until you arrive at the hotel, on your right just after you cross 170th.
For those migrating from the land of the rising sun on I-405, just follow it straight on through as it turns into Highway 518 at the Southcenter Shopping Mall– and the same as the northern folks from there.
[Hand drawn map of the Seattle area, showing Airport Hyatt House, SeaTac Airport, Red Lion Hotel, and South Center Shopping Mall.]
[Ad: Lost World Enterprises. Spectacular science fiction and fantasy devices: General catalog $1.50. Costuming - swords - armor - sidearms. Made to your order. Taking orders now for March deliveries. 4327 South 291st Avenue, Auburn, Washington, 98002.]
For those approaching on I-5 from the south, we recommend the lovely and scenic exit onto 188th Street, which you follow until it hits Highway 99. Hanging a right onto 99 past the Red Lion (1981 Worldcon site), you proceed past all the other airport hotels until you get to the Hyatt at the end of the strip.
For you Metro fans, a multitude of buses pass down 99, of course.
For those of you still clutching your St. Christopher in anxiety, it may help to know that the Hyatt is located right across the street and 1/2 block north of the Holiday Inn where Norwescon I was held!
IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS
Below is a list of concom members you may wish to contact for specific information about Norwescon. Volunteers are still needed to work at the convention. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the person in charge of the area you would like to work in, or write Norwescon, Volunteers, P.O. Box 24207, Seattle, WA 98124.
Programming and Author Liaison: Steve Bard [REDACTED]
Art Show: Jane Hawkins [REDACTED]
Film Program: Gordon Erickson [REDACTED] (Marysville)
Registration: Lauraine Miranda [REDACTED]
Publications, Program Book: Shelley Dutton [REDACTED]
Art Department, Publications: William R. Warren [REDACTED]
Public Relations: Melva Lund [REDACTED]
Hucksters: Bob Doyle [REDACTED]
Stage Manager, Futurelove Productions: Shelley Dutton [REDACTED]
Hospitality: Elizabeth Warren [REDACTED]
Operations: Jack McGillis
Security: Linda Hoffer [REDACTED]
Gofers: Judy Lorent [REDACTED]
Computer Games: Tony Pepin [REDACTED] (Tacoma) and Richard Wright [REDACTED] (Seattle)
Video Programming: Dennis Pemaa [REDACTED]
Airport Hyatt House: [REDACTED]
The City
Seattle is a clean, friendly, unpolluted, modern city where spicy Douglas Firs and startlingly blue lakes are interspersed among mirrored skyscrapers. No fewer than six major magazine surveys have accused Seattle of being the most livable city in America, to which we must plead guilty, and 1200 association executives rate it as one of the top convention cities in America.
Within the city, you can tour historic Pioneer Square, taking time out from browsing through turn-of- the-century shoppes, art galleries, the Pioneer Square Wax Museum, and the incredible 19th Century Seattle Underground to enjoy a cup of espresso and a plate of steaming butter clams at a sidewalk cafe. Two blocks away, on the waterfront, you can choose from a variety of seafood restaurants and import shops, drinking sweet salt air while you toss morsels of food for the seagulls to quibble over.
And be sure to visit the Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World's Fair, and explore the 74 acres of parks, fountains, and amusements. (The free open-air summer concerts here are a must….everything from Rock to Rachmaninov!) Here, too, you will find the Pacific Science Center, but plan to spend at least one full afternoon there if you want to see a significant percentage of the exhibits, displays, and "hands-on" science toys.
And, naturally, there is dining atop Seattle's monument to science fiction … the 600-foot Space Needle. The view is as good as the food.
[Drawing of the Seattle monorail passing underneath the Pacific Science Center arches.]
[Ad: Sample Bookshop. New hardcover science fiction, fantasy books, and small press publications. Special orders welcome. 506 E. Pine, 323–1146, 11–7 Mon–Sat. In associatio with Dave Turner Books.]
NORWESCON II PROGRAM BOOK - ADVERTISING RATES
Full page7 1/2" x10"$20Half page7 1/2" x5"12Quarter page3 1/2" x5"8Eighth page3 1/2" x2 1/2"5| Size | Width | Height | Price |
|---|
NOTE: Dimensions allow for margins. Ads must be laid out vertically, so copy can be read without rotating the page.
DEADLINE: February 28, to Shelley Dutton, NWSFS, P0 Box 24207, Seattle, WA 98124. Checks payable to Norwescon.
Serpent's Tooth
Jon Gustafson
Being an artist myself, and having a deep appreciation for those fortunate individuals who can wield brush and color with such skill in the sf and fantasy field, I was almost in ecstasy this holiday season as I turned the pages of two very remarkable books. One was The Flight of Icarus by Donald Lehmkuhl, edited by Roger Dean and Martyn Dean, and the other one was Space Art by Ron Miller.
The Flight of Icarus ($12.50 paper, Tiger/ A&W Visual Library) is easily one of the most visually appealing books to hit the market since Roger Dean's Views…and the fact Roger had a hand in this book is at least part of the reason why. It is a collection of paintings from over 30 British and American artists (though most of them are British), including Roger Dean, Josh Kirby, Berni Wrightson, Barry Windsor-Smith, Patrick Woodroffe, Angus McKie, Chris Foss, Mike Kaluta, Jim Burns, Bruce Pennington, Ian Miller, Jeff Jones, Tim White, and many more. Interspersed among this book's 159 gorgeous pages is a sort of prose-poem by Donald Lehmkuhl, each section of which sets the mood of the next series of paintings. While I'm not too sold on the importance of his writing, he does come up with a few gems of imagery. One of my favorites is "The forelimbs of Tyrannosaurus rex withered because he was not yet ready to write."
I could easily crank out several thousand words describing just my favorite paintings in this magnificent book, thus sending Greg Bennett into cardiac arrest, but I won't. I will, however, mention a few works and artists I felt were exceptional even for this book. Patrick Woodroffe's ''Mountain Dragons of British Columbia" and (especially) “The Oriental Dragon-fly” show his incredible precision in execution and his vivid imagination as well as any works of his I've yet seen. Peter Elson’s “The Einstein Intersection” almost leaps off the page, and the Barber-like works by Melvyn Grant are very pleasing to the eye. Mike Kaluta's “She's Leaving Home” (on a flying carpet) and JimBurns’s grotesquely erotic “Image of the Beast” also stand out, as do the stark works by Ian Miller (who did some of the background scenes in Wizards). For the techno- philes among us, there are particularly fine works by Angus McKie, Chris Foss, and several absolutely incredible paintings by Tim White. I recommend this book about as highly as I possibly can. Buy it!
[Art by Bill Grader of a fighter jet in flight.]
Just as dazzling, though different and not quite as slickly printed, is Ron Miller's Space Art ($7.95 from Starlog magazine). Miller, an astronomical artist in his own right (and an excellent one at that), has gone into the many aspects of the field of space art, including the history of the field, biographies and paintings of some of the very best painters (including Bonestell, Rudaux and Pesek), a tour of the solar system and other star systems, a section on the “hardware” artists, and a very good section on the NASA art program. Also included are some very helpful sections on where to see astronomical art, where to buy it, how a work is actually created and a selected bibliography. This is an excellent book at an outstanding price, and no serious student of either sf or astronomy should be without it.
Inverted Flight
by Greg Bennett
“…omphaloskepsis from a more appropriate perspective”
“Who wilt help me bake the bread?” asked the Little Red Hen.
The more obvious it becomes that our Seattle committee will host the World Science Fiction Convention in 1981, the more we find various barnyard animals volunteering to help eat the bread, but an increasing number of these volunteers seem to have little interest in helping with the baking.
I've promised Joanne McBride, chairfan of the Vancouver in 1984 bidding committee, that I would write about the vast amount of data I've gathered during the last two years of bidding and preparation for the 1981 Worldcon. Those data can be divided essentially into major topics: specific data on how to run a Worldcon, and observations on organizational behavior.
One of the most interesting phenomena of organizational behavior to come up in recent times is this Little Red Hen syndrome: people volunteering to take over major positions in the Worldcon committee (before we've even won the bid, no less) who are unwilling to help with the necessary and sometimes tedious groundwork of winning the bid and gaining the experience they will need to properly serve the Science Fiction community as hosts of the 39th Worldcon.
Our current Norwescon committee is divided into six major departments, with all positions filled by people who have attended and worked on at least one Worldcon. Nearly all of the next level of the committee also have worked on a Worldcon. But, we also realize that we have to learn to function together as a convention committee and to gain as much experience in our respective departments as we can, mainly by hosting the Northwest Regional Science Fiction Convention, before we will be ready to handle a convention nearly ten times the size of Norwescon. In addition to thistalent, we have commitments from Worldcon- experienced fen from around the globe to help with the Big Event, should we win the bid.
So, what do we do with new volunteers? Welcome them, of course! But, don't expect to run a bakery before you've served an apprenticeship carting barrels of flour around. The regional convention and bidding committee experience is more important than just providing a trial for new staff to strut their stuff and to prove they can handle the job. It also provides the opportunity to learn to work with the rest of the committee and to become familiar with the procedures we use to keep our conventions running smoothly and to keep our financial head above water.
The new committee member also must learn important lessons about taking responsibility and executing the job without constant nagging from the rest of us, and most important of all. you must learn to have fun doing it. More important to the ego than a fancy title is the satisfaction and praise you will receive from doing your part to get our committee ready for the task which begins in September (we hope). And, if we all are willing to do our part, Seattle will have one helluva Worldcon here in 1981!
CINEMAA
by Dennis Pernaa
Phantom of the Paradise: Satire on the rock music business using the fantasy themes of Faust, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and of course, The Phantom of the Opera. In the humble opinion of your film program chairman, it is even more effective than Rocky Horror.
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter: Often talked about but rarely seen. Hammer Films' most literate and entertaining vampire film to date. A definite ''must-see."
THE CELEBRATION OF DARKNESS
by Steve Bard
You will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness a total solar eclipse on February 26. You will come to regret it one day if you do not plan accordingly. You will not see a total solar eclipse if you remain anywhere north of Olympia because it will only be 99% total here (a very significant percentile, that–the difference between night and day!). And don't hold your breath for the next eclipse; there won't be another total eclipse anywhere in the United States until the year 2017.
This is THE PLAN:
Dawn of Sunday, February 25 is the crux of the decision. Should the weather outlook present a favorable aspect, the pilgrimage will then begin. Our ragtag and lightly laden caravan decamps Seattle at midmorning, heading south. We tarry in Portland for a luncheon respite and whatever tomfoolery presents itself, and then pressing on, we return to the banks of the mighty Columbia and here strike boldly eastward. With luck the demeanor of the weather will brighten as we traverse these arid lands, arriving at dusk at our erstwhile mecca, the hallowed grounds of Stonehenge!
Our encampment established, the nightlong saturnalia will begin with the usual pre-eclipse Druid orgy (formal floorlength burnoose with hood, please!), culminating with a human sacrifice to Priapus (to insure clear weather). Only qualified virgins need apply.
The eclipse will commence on Monday morning, February 26, with ''first contact" at about 7:15 a.m., "totality" for two minutes twenty seconds at 8:15 a.m., and "last contact" about 9:15 a.m. The path of totality passes through Portland, Goldendale, Richland, Walla Walla, etc.
Anyone interested in forming a vehicle caravan (particularly if you have access to a camper, RV, or tent) can contact me at [REDACTED].
[Ad: Escape Velocity. Specializing in science fiction & fantasy. 706 Commerce, Tacoma (across from Old City Hall). Telephone: [REDACTED]. Look for our games display in the Norwescon Huckster Room. Games: Starship Troopers, Travelers, Space Patrol, October War, War of the Ring, Dungeons & Dragons.]
[Ad: Time Travelers. Science fiction, new and rare. Pulps, paperbacks, hardbacks, & etc. Comics, vintage toys, import records, posters. 1511 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. Tel. [REDACTED]. Monday – Saturday 10 to 6.]