Daily Webzine

I-5 in ’05 is planning to put on the longest convention ever. Kind of matches the long hike to the party. The convention would last a whole year and span several states! Talk about commitment! Good conversation trying to work out the logistics of a moving convention. Go to bed in one county, wake up in another.

Loscon XXVI had a "Radioactive – when Hell freezes over" theme. They were serving snow cones. The Strontium Strawberry snow cone was delicious. M M … M M … Good …for Hell!

Portland Westercon 54 served great smoked cheese and dried horse radish peas. Many fans were smoozing in the room and they had a good supply of free coasters.

Toronto in 2003 was still in 431. Nice Shrimp taco dip with crackers. The beaver is their mascot. Leave it to the Beav!

Arizona in 2002 was the place for flavored cordials. Such hospitality bodes well for winning their bid.

Baycon 2000 had awesome decorations of palm trees, white Christmas lights, hanging lanterns, and inflatable fish and aliens. Their theme was the "Contact Moment" from the movie Contact. This party was well attended and wins best presentation!

‘Zanne

Declassifieds.

Unconfirmed rumor regarding Staff Lounge: Last night, "they" played with two until "they" burst.

Prozine Subs. If convention members want to take advantage of the special subscription rates for Asimov’s and Analog, come to the publisher’s table in the dealers’ room. The "NASFiC" rate, offered only once a year, is the lowest subscription rate to these magazines. Mel. White

Tv update.

For those interested in such things, this Tuesday’s episode of Third Rock from the Sun features William Shatner as the Big Giant Head. Watch Shatner and Lithgow in a half-hour long over-acting contest.

Lew Wolkoff

Saturday Night Party Reviews, Take Two.

Toronto in 2003 – Nice conversation, great beer, but what was that strange salsa dip with the bell peppers in it? We decided it was the Canadian take on Southwestern salsa, with a French twist.

Portland in 2001 – Not sure about this one, even though I was there – think I met friends here, and was so involved in conversation that I don’t remember much about the party.

San Jose in 2002 – lots of fun, with many Jedi and a Sith or two hanging around the beer keg – must be the unofficial drink of Jedi Knights. As with everything else they do, the Jedi party with the Force.

Arizona in 2002 – don’t know about this one, for even though we were hospitably invited in, we didn’t get much past the door, as it was too damn hot!

Baycon 2000 – had a lot of fun in this party also, with fine food, good conversation, and great decorations. Somehow acquired a little alien dude who came home with us. Not yet sure how that happened. Decorations were great too! Didn’t try any drinks here though, as it was time to start to sober up (probably why I don’t know how the alien critter attached itself to our party. But it’s blue and you can blow it up).

Loscon XXVI – probably a lull in the guest list, as not too many attendees were there, but they had moved the beds around, obviously to accommodate many people, and the snow cones were great! Personally, I preferred the Radioactive Sludge – sort of gives one a nice glow, or is that from the frozen teeth grimace…. This was the party where one party participant duly informed me that we are now too old to eat ice. Haa! He must speak for himself!

S.underwood

or, One Giant Leap Backward

Yesterday, humankind returned to its lifegiving sphere when the Mir Station turned off the lights, emptied the refrigerator and stopped the mail. For the first time in 13 years, our species is confined to its earthly origins.

Monalisa Ward

Stunt Double Wanted.

Wanted: One reasonably decent actor possessing no interest in continued life. Must be 6' tall, 280-320 pounds, balding curly brown hair, unkempt goatee. Four-eyed & geeky a plus. Need make only 1 appearance at convention gripe session. Needs high pain threshold and martyr complex. Must be good at saying "I’m sorry" & "we’ll look into it" while being tortured to death by enraged membership. Apply cbbm@gallifreyone.com.

Go, Roswell!

"Upon hearing of the Roswell 2002 plan, Bubonicon, Albuquerque, NM’s annual con, throws its support behind these fearless fans. If they can find the hotel space and enough volunteers, we say ‘Go for it.’"

Craig Chrissinger, co-chair Bubonicon 31

"Roswell in late August is certainly cooler than Roswell in July."

Victor Milan, New Mexico author

…

JMS Panel.

Of course, the panel with J. Michael Straczynski is nothing if not an education into the dismal sense of style that standard TV execs think they possess. And, of couse, the best fun is the descriptions JMS has of what bean counters think a SciFi TV show should be. Grit your teeth and wait, the worst and best is yet to come.

The opening bit was a wonderful video short that zipped through some of the best scenes from the 5 years of Babylon 5. After the crowd settled down, JMS spent the rest of the time fielding questions from the audience. Some of his answers included:

- At present it doesn’t seem like there will be any more Crusade episodes produced. After TNT pulled the plug JMS got involved in other projects. There may be some novels from the Crusade world, but not too soon.

- It is most likely that Babylon 5 will be out on DVD next year. The video/DVD future of Crusade is still up in the air.

- Crusade got cancelled because JMS wouldn’t include plot material from bean counters who thought that "horny aliens fighting on the bridge" would be a good plot idea.

- JMS is currently working on a new comic book called "Rising Stars," is now being published by Top Cow, a division of Image Comics.

- The 5 year arc outline and notes for Babylon 5 spent the entire series production in plain sight in JMS’ office. The cast, crew, and visiting fans all missed their opportunity to examine that plain black binder.

- JMS also showed a video that was produced by a fan. While this video had a starfury blowing the TNT logo up, and a spoof on the opening crawl for Star Wars, I’m sure it’s the wonderful selection of scenes that summarised the 5-year arc that inspires JMS to share this with the rest of the fans.

- JMS is still busy working on new scripts for TV shows. He is also still in negotiations for a new series with an unknown collaborator. If everything goes well, he’ll be able to give more details at LosCon.

- Once again, JMS thanked the fans for their support and enthusiasm, without which B5 and Crusade would never have survived and prospered so well.

Charles Herbig

Meet Jerry Again.

NASFiC GoH Jerry Pournelle is a very active member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. Here is another one of Jerry’s funniest quips and gaffes taken from the LASFS minutes.

Mike Glyer

Doug Crepeau’s Y2K Cassandra Committee Report was that most Mac applications are immune as long as you don’t open files with dates in them. Next year such files will interpret dates ending in 89 as being the year 2089. Doug alluded to some Y2K problems he’s already reported about ATM’s and sewers. Glyer agreed — he’d never go to an ATM in a sewer again.

Crepeau also had a news item on a podiatrist who was doing surgery on UFO abductees to remove implants from them. Dr. Pournelle was thrilled to learn that’s where he could get that procedure done. Pournelle sarcastically added that he also has a Y2K program that changes the days of the week — to Mondak, Tuesdak, Wednesdak.... Matthew Tepper said, "Thank you, Jerrk Pournelle!" The meeting was temporarily paralyzed. [Meeting 3209, February 11, 1999]

I don’t just have a "full plate" — I’ve got a whole buffet table back there.