Monthly Archives: August 2022
NEXT CLUB E-MEETING IS TOMORROW AFTERNOON!
Do join us tomorrow for an afternoon of sci-fi fun! We’ve got a couple of cool, entertaining, and challenging games lined up, plus more…!
Just visit this Web site at noon tomorrow to receive the posted information you’ll need to join our ZOOM video-chat, scheduled to begin at 1:00PM!
We hope to see you tomorrow afternoon!
Aurora Awards ceremony on line tomorrow
Canvention 42 and the Aurora Awards
On Saturday, August 13, starting at 5pm MDT, we invite everyone to join us for the Aurora Awards ceremony. Our Master of Ceremonies, author Mark Leslie Lefebvre, will be live streaming the ceremony on both his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPw6Cu3P1c) and our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO7p4geRW6k). The event will also be streamed live on Facebook, with the URL becoming available here about one week prior to the event. This event is open to everyone and is free to watch.
About the Auroras and the Hall of Fame, from the When Words Collide website:
Each year a Canadian convention or festival hosts the floating convention known as Canvention. This year Canvention is being organized by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA), a national non-profit society along with a host convention. CSFFA’s mandate is to give out the Aurora awards and induct people into CSFFA’s Hall of the Fame.
There are twelve different Aurora awards. They are given out for both professional and volunteer (unpaid) work in the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Works are nominated by members of CSFFA which all Canadians are welcome to join. The top nominated works are shortlisted for the Aurora ballot and voted on by CSFFA members. Through the generosity of the nominees and their publishers, CSFFA members also get to download electronic versions of almost all of the published nominated works.
The Hall of Fame inductees are determined by a jury of four experts and one coordinator from CSFFA.
For full details about CSFFA go to their site at: prixaurorawards.ca
Prehistoric podiatry – How dinos carried their enormous weight
From CTV :
In all its ‘90s CGI glory, the first “Jurassic Park” movie depicted a field of roaming sauropods – those giraffe-looking dinosaurs – with the film’s iconic theme song ascending.
The cinematic moment captured the imagination of viewers, but new evidence suggests that Steven Spielberg’s dino-flick got one detail wrong – namely, the sauropods’ feet.
In a digital reconstruction study, led by scientists from University of Queensland and Monash University, 3D modelling was used to test the function of foot bones of different sauropods. Their research was fuelled by a simple question: How would the dinosaurs’ feet be capable of supporting their weight?
The findings suggest that the hind feet of the sauropod had a soft tissue pad beneath the heel, cushioning the foot to absorb their immense weight. This, researchers say, differs from conceptions that sauropods had feet similar to modern-day elephants.
From Monash University website:
Sauropods were the largest terrestrial animals that roamed the Earth for more than 100 million years.
They were first thought to have been semi-aquatic with water buoyancy supporting their massive weight, a theory disproved by the discovery of sauropod tracks in terrestrial deposits in the mid-twentieth century.
Monash University’s Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou said it had also been thought sauropods had feet similar to a modern-day elephant.
“Popular culture – think Jurassic Park or Walking with Dinosaurs – often depicts these behemoths with almost-cylindrical, thick, elephant-like feet,” Dr Panagiotopoulou said.
“But when it comes to their skeletal structure, elephants are actually ‘tip-toed’ on all four feet, whereas sauropods have different foot configurations in their front and back feet.
“Sauropod’s front feet are more columnar-like, while they present more ‘wedge high heels’ at the back supported by a large soft tissue pad.”
WARP 112 now available on line!
Download WARP 112 from our website: http://www.monsffa.ca/?page_id=20361
Many thanks to Danny Sichel, editor, and Valerie Royall, design and layout, for another beautiful ish!
NEXT CLUB E-MEETING IS THIS SATURDAY!
Do join us for an afternoon of sci-fi fun! We’ve got a couple of cool, entertaining, and challenging games lined up, plus more…!
Just visit this Web site Saturday at noon to receive the posted information you’ll need to join our ZOOM video-chat, scheduled to begin at 1:00PM!
We hope to see you Saturday afternoon!
More zines to share!
From the N3F:
Ionisphere AUGUST 2022 and Tightbeam335
From Bill Burns:
New at https://efanzines.com today:
Octothorpe #63, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
Garth Spencer’s The Obdurate Eye #18
David Grigg’s Through the Biblioscope #27 and The Megaloscope #2
Opuntia #531, edited by Dale Speirs
John Thiel’s Event Horizon #10
—
Bill
Zine to share!
Garth Spencer’s Obdurate Eye is available for your reading pleasure!
Imaginales à Épinal : “Le festival tel qu’il a existé pendant vingt ans est mort”
Imaginales à Épinal : “Le festival tel qu’il a existé pendant vingt ans est mort”
Dans une interview au site ActuaLitté, le 8 juillet dernier, Stéphane Wieser met en avant la nécessité d’ouvrir le festival à d’autres médias que le livre (jeux vidéo, films…) et à des littératures plus diversifiées. Il parle aussi de « professionnalisation » du festival.
Fondé en 2002, le festival Imaginales est l’un des premiers salons internationaux de littérature de l’imaginaire. https://www.imaginales.fr/
https://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?p=29085
Grâce à des amis de la France (principalement Alitte de Bodard et Lionel Davoust), j’ai appris que le nouveau maire, Patrick Nardin, a licencié Stéphanie Nicot, le directeur créatif du festival, et de nombreux autres membres du personnel partent en signe de protestation.
To read more in English, view Cheryl Morgan’s Musings here.
Sounds oh so familiar. I actually remember a spokesperson for Montreal’s Comic-Con bragging about turning a fan run event into a real professional one with a HUGE attendance. Success for some people is measured by profits.
Zines to share
New today at https://efanzines.com:
Transcript and subtitle files for Octothorpe #62
Guy & Rosy Lillian’s trip report The Patriotic Route
Andy Hooper’s CAPTAIN FLASHBACK #43
John Purcellr’s Askance #53
Perry Middlemiss’s Perryscope #25
Journey Planet #63, edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia et al
—
Bill