APRIL 2023 E-MEETING, POST 5 OF 7: Your SF/F Top-Ten Lists!

8) YOUR SF/F TOP-TEN LISTS

We’ve asked club members to prepare a SF/F top-ten list on any science fiction, fantasy, horror, or fannish topic—for example, top ten classic Star Trek episodes, or top ten Hugo-winning novels, or top ten sci-fi film sequels, or the top ten scariest horror movies, movie monsters, top ten spaceships, comic book superheroes, games; it’s your choice as to the specific focus.

We’ve posted a couple of lists received below, but this portion of the meeting will take place largely on ZOOM, where each participant will have opportunity to present their list. We ask our list-makers to include, perhaps, a few illustrative images which can be shared with the group as they impart their top ten. And, be prepared to field questions and/or, perhaps, defend your choices!

Those unable to join our video chat today may still submit in writing their own SF/F top-ten list via this post’s “Leave a Comment” option. Include a quick description or outline of each of your entries and explain why you’ve included each, and why your fellow genre fans might also enjoy the selections you’ve listed.

In honour of Easter, her are my…

Top Ten Science Fiction and Fantasy Rabbits

By Keith Braithwaite

10) THE WHITE RABBIT: a character appearing in the many adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, including Disney’s and Tim Burton’s, shown.

9) THE RABBITS OF WATERSHIP DOWN: not a Disney movie, by any stretch!

8) THE GIANT RABBITS OF NIGHT OF THE LEPUS: ridiculous monsters in a ridiculous film; so bad it’s good!

7) FRANK: a darker Harvey (see next item), if you will, haunting the protagonist of 2001’s Donnie Darko.

6) HARVEY: a “pooka,” in celtic folklore, and the invisible McGuffin of this charming 1950 Jimmy Stewart film.

5) THE MONSTER RABBIT-IN-THE-HAT, TWILIGHT ZONE—THE MOVIE: a terrifying sequence!

4) THE RABBIT OF CAERBANNOG: a killer rabbit appearing in 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail; hilarious!

3) ROGER RABBIT: star of the ground-breaking 1988 live-action/cartoon hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

2) HUTCH, HIS FELLOW RABBITS, AND THE WERE-RABBIT: as seen in the wonderful Wallace and Gromit adventure Curse of the Were-Rabbit, all are deserving of mention, here!

1) BUGS BUNNY: his cartoon adventures traverse many genres, including SF, fantasy, and horror!

 

Top Ten Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors’ Pen Names

By Sue Denham 

10) STAN LEE: the legendary Marvel Comics writer’s real name was Stanley Martin Leiber.

9) PAUL FRENCH: pen name used by Isaac Asimov when writing his Lucky Starr juveniles.

8) DOUGLAS SPALDING: pseudonym used by Ray Bradbury.

7) A. N. ROQUELAURE: Anne Rice wrote her racy Sleeping Beauty trilogy this name.

6) MAGNUS FLYTE: pseudonym employed by writing duo Christina Lynch and Meg Howrey, authors of City of Dark Magic and City of Lost Dreams.

5) VICTOR APPLETON: the publishing house pseudonym used by writers of the Tom Swift books.

4) RICHARD BACHMAN: pseudonym used by horror writer Stephen King; Bachman is derived from the name of the Canadian rock band Bachman, Turner Overdrive, a favourite of King’s.

3) JAMES TIPTREE, JR.: probably the most famous example of a female writer employing a male pseudonym to favour book sales; it wasn’t until 1977 that Alice Sheldon’s cover was blown. She also wrote on occasion as Raccoona Sheldon!

2) EANDO BINDER: pseudonym for brothers Earl and Otto Binder—“E” and “O” Binder!

1) CORDWAINER BIRD: when he felt that his work had been unforgivably fiddled with against his wishes, Harlan Ellison used this pseudonym!

APRIL 2023 E-MEETING, POST 4 OF 7: Time for a break!

Get your Bheer & Chips!
It’s time for the break!

NEWS

WARP: Danny and Val have WARP113 just about ready to hit the presses! The next issue, 114, will need your input! Write a review, a short story, draw a cartoon or create a puzzle! Don’t wait for the deadline.

DISPLAY TABLE
Josée’s latest creation

Click to see more of Josée’s dragon eggs http://www.monsffa.ca/?page_id=22010

Cathy’s most recent jigsaw puzzle: Gandalf, cut from cherry. Pattern by Judy Peterson.

 

RAFFLE PRIZES

Click the thumbnails to view full size image.

Sturmovik Neko Girl, Japanese Capsule Toy, donated by Brian Knapp.

A SF classic: Rogue planet that threatens Earth is found to be habitable. Rockets prepare to launch-who gets to be saved?

60 cards portraying visual scenes from Burroughs’ creations like Tarzan, Mars etc. Card backs show more Burroughs artwork & Jusko’s commentary

3-D version: Radar Men from the Moon is a 1952  12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_Men_from_the_Moon

Black unicorn standing jigsaw puzzle. Would normally sell for 30$, but the finish is not up to my standards. Would still look nice on your bookshelf! Design by Judy Peterson.

From Sylvain’s collection: 8 movie lobby cards (8″ x 10″) – two from each movie: The Incredible Shrinking Woman with Lily Tomlin – 1980 Battlestar Galactica – 1978 Futureworld – 1976 The Thing – 1982

Alan Dean Foster and Eric Frank Russell: Design for Great-Day Good condition

Small crystal ball which held in sunlight projects prisms of colour. Belonged to SSP.

Collaborative novel by George RR Martin & John J Miller., a murder mystery set in the Wild Cards Universe.

​​

APRIL 2023 E-MEETING, POST 3 OF 7: Presentation—Mathematical Fiction

This is Post 3 of 7.

6) MATHEMATICAL FICTION: IS MAGIC JUST ANOTHER SOURCE OF MATH?

We continue on ZOOM with an exploration of “Mathematical Fiction,” described as a genre of creative fiction in which mathematics and mathematicians play an important role. Edwin A. Abbott’s Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is, perhaps, the most familiar example.

“Mathematical Fiction might not be popular but has been around since 1884,” says Kofi Oduro, this segment’s presenter. “We will discuss how this can be relevant in many sci-fi/fantasy-based worlds and check some work on databases that keep track of it. How do we conceive such a world and what differences can we use to alter it from our world?”

Those not equipped to join our ZOOM discussion may contribute, nonetheless, by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to ask questions and type in commentary.

APRIL 2023 E-MEETING, POST 2 OF 7: Under Lock and Key!

This is post 2 of 7.

5) UNDER LOCK AND KEY!

On ZOOM at this time we’re discussing those places, often secret, in science fiction and fantasy where are stored strange alien objects, or relics mythological, or books and instruments of magic, and other such items. Libraries, laboratories, warehouses, museums—what locales do you know of from SF/F literature, film and television, or comics in which things mysterious, powerful, dangerous, alien, or just plain weird are kept under lock and key?

Secret government warehouse, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

For those not participating in our ZOOM chat, today, you may still contribute by submitting your examples via this post’s “Leave a Comment” option. We welcome your input.

APRIL 2023 E-MEETING, POST 1 OF 7: Introduction, Agenda, and Quiz

1) INTRODUCTION

As we put behind us for another year the delicious indulgences of festive chocolate, we gather what rich, remnants of sculpted brown rabbits, chickens, and eggs remain in our refrigerators, place them on a snack plate next to our mouse pads, and hop to another of the club’s monthly online gatherings.

Welcome, one and all, to MonSFFA’s April 2023 e-Meeting!

We trust those of faith enjoyed a Happy Easter, or Passover, or Ramadan, all three religious holidays coinciding this year, an occurrence of only thrice per century, or roughly once every three decades.

Ice-coated tree branches snapped and fell all across the island of Montreal, blocking sidewalks, streets, damaging parked cars, and bringing down power lines.

Meanwhile, in a final, ruthless broadside, winter slammed the Montreal area in particular with a freezing blast reminiscent of 1998’s devastating ice storm, plunging well over a million Quebec households and businesses into darkness. Ice-coated, fallen tree limbs and branches littered neighbourhood streets and yards, and for many, power was out for two or three days, and for some, as many as six!

The West Island of Montreal was particularly hard hit.
Hydro Quebec crews worked around the clock for days repairing damaged power infrastructure.

But the weather has been warm and sunny in the wake of all that, and so do we shun the glorious spring and huddle around our monitors once again, eager to enjoy this afternoon’s agenda of sci-fi fun!

Let’s begin.

2) JOIN THIS AFTERNOON’S VIDEO-CHAT ON ZOOM!

To join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the next few hours, simply click here and follow the prompts: This Afternoon’s MonSFFA e-Meeting on ZOOM

If you’re not fully equipped to ZOOM, you can also take part by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. From out of town? No problem; find your ZOOM call-in number here: Call-In Numbers

Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to enter it:

Meeting ID: 897 1464 2092
Passcode: 576970

3) MEETING AGENDA

Here is the agenda for this afternoon’s get-together:

As always, all scheduled programming is subject to change.

4)

How well do you know the SF/F screen’s aliens and creatures, and more specifically, their eggs? In honour of Easter, just passed, we offer this quiz.

With only a frame of film showing the egg, or eggs of an extraterrestrial being, or a monster, correctly identify said being and/or the film or television series episode in which it appears?

We have prepared for you a dozen eggs!

Good luck! The answers will be revealed in this e-meeting’s final post of the afternoon, which we’ll put up at 5:00PM.

Obituary for Jennifer Bulman

Jennifer Bullman

MonSFFA’s Executive was saddened to hear of the sudden and unexpected death of Jennifer Bulman on 19 March 2023. Jennifer was a long-time fan who hailed originally from Montreal. Some of our members might recall that Jennifer, and her husband Henry Troup, joined us in February for the monthly MonSFFA meeting, during which we discussed book collections and how we accumulate — and dispose of — same. Their input was insightful, interesting and of value to the discussion. The Executive joins all MonSFFA members in offering condolences to Henry, and to extended family, at this time. Information on the memorial service, which will be live-streamed on 22 April 2023, is in the obituaries that have been published (links below).

https://www.barkerfh.com/obituary/JenniferMaryJennifer-Bulman

https://ottawacitizen.remembering.ca/obituary/jennifer-mary-jennifer-bulman-1087349344

CLUB’S APRIL 2023 E-MEETING IS NEXT SATURDAY!

Join us next Saturday, April 15, at 1:00PM, right here at www.MonSFFA.ca for our April 2023 e-Meeting!

Take part by contributing your top ten list of sci-fi books, authors, heroes or villains, cool spaceships, epic movies, TV shows, actors or actresses, comic books, artists… whatever you choose to highlight, just as long as it has to do with sci-fi or fantasy!

Simply list your favourites in ascending order, tenth to first, maybe share a few illustrative images, and in a few sentences for each entry, tell us about of your choices!

You are welcome to e-mail your top ten lists and images (JPEGS, please, as e-mail attachments) to us in advance for inclusion on the site, or present them live on ZOOM during the e-meeting next Saturday!

Send your lists, in advance of the e-meeting, to: veep@monsffa.ca

Dinosaurs in the news

Dinosaurs in the news

  • Patagotitan on show in London, UK
  • Did dinosaurs have lips? Canadian scientists say they have cracked the mystery
  • What fossil eggs found in Alberta reveal about how dinosaurs became birds
Patagotitan on show in London, UK
A colossus has landed in London: A cast of what was one of the biggest animals ever to walk the Earth is now on show at the Natural History Museum.

Watch: A timelapse movie of Patagotitan’s assembly at the Natural History Museum

Patagotitan was a dinosaur that lived 100 million years ago in South America.

Measuring some 37m (121ft) from nose to tail, the beast could have weighed up to 60 or 70 tonnes in life.

The museum has brought over not just a representative skeleton but some of the real fossil bones first discovered in Argentina in 2014.

The largest is a 2.4m-long femur, or thigh bone. It’s been erected upright to give visitors an extraordinary selfie opportunity.

READ MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65094602

Did dinosaurs have lips? Canadian scientists say they have cracked the mystery

As with many details about dinosaur physiology, an absence of living specimens has left a lot to the artistic imagination. Perhaps because humans are smaller than many dinosaur species, and also edible, popular representations of the ancient creatures are often strongly focused on their teeth.

Scientists and artists have developed two principal models of predatory dinosaur facial appearance: crocodylian-like lipless jaws, or a lizard-like lipped mouth. New data suggests that the latter model, lizard-like lips, applies to most or all predatory dinosaur species. This finding challenges many popular depictions of carnivorous species like Tyrannosaurus rex.Mark Witton

 

This tradition is evident in the Hollywood version of dinosaurs as depicted the 1993 film Jurassic Park. Many of the movie’s most memorable scenes feature a tyrannosaur with jaws agape. But even when the giant reptile’s mouth is shut its teeth remain plainly visible, like a row of murderous icicles.

READ MORE: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-dinosaur-lips-canada-scientists/

What fossil eggs found in Alberta reveal about how dinosaurs became birds

Fanzines to share!

A bumper crop of zines to share!

From Bill Burns:

Added today at https://efanzines.com:

Nic Farey’s The Incompleat Register 2023 Results. Full details of the FAAn Awards presented at Corflu Craic, 2 April 2023.

Opuntia #546, edited by Dale Speirs

Octothorpe #80, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line

Christopher J. Garcia’s The Drink Tank #446

Garth Spencer’s The Obdurate Eye #26

David Grigg’s The Megaloscope #6


Bill

From the N3F,

With this mailing, you are being sent the March 2023 issues of Ionisphere and of The N3F Review of Books Incorporating Prose Bono.

And note our new feature in the N3F Review of Books. On the second page, these authors have agreed to send you one of their ebooks, for free, in exchange for your promising to write a review of the book and posting it on Amazon, Goodreads, or social media sites, and sending The N3F Review a copy.

From Garth Spencer in Vancouver, BC, the Obdurate Eye.
From Nic Farey who send us news of the FAAn Awards:

Other news from the awards given at Corflu Craic in Belfast, NI earlier today:

fwa (fanzine writers’ association) Past President election:
2022 Past Presidents: Nigel Rowe, John D. Berry
1959 Past President: Keith Freeman

Corflu Lifetime Achievement Award: Rob Hansen

Corfu 41 awarded to Las Vegas, NV and will take place at the Gold Coast hotel and Casion, February 29 – March 3 2024.

FAAn winners summary:
FANZINE CATEGORIES
Best Genzine: Portable Storage (ed. William Breiding)
Best Perzine: This Here… (ed. Nic Farey)
Best Special Publication: 1957: The First British Worldcon (ed. Rob Hansen)

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES
Best Letterhack (Harry Warner Jr. Memorial Award): Jerry Kaufman
Best Fanartist: Ulrika O’Brien
Best Fanwriter: (TIE) Justin E.A. Busch, Nic Farey
Best Fanzine Cover: BEAM 17 (Alan White)

For a breakdown of voting, click  Incompleat2023results