8) DISCUSSION: ARE WE TOO ATTACHED TO BELOVED OLD BOOKS TO PART WITH THEM?
Books have been in the news of late. A week ago came word that, while renovations of Redpath Hall and the McGill Library are undertaken, the long-running McGill Book Fair has been shelved, perhaps permanently. Meanwhile, MonSFFA’s own used book sale has been on hold since the onset of the pandemic. We’ve also heard that Archambault’s iconic Berri-Street store is scheduled to close this summer; this music store also stocks a good number of books. And, venerable Mile End bookshop S.W. Welch, after years of enduring crippling rent increases, now anticipates closing shop!
A Washington Post newspaper article (http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=26373), reprinted in The Gazette a few weeks ago, highlighted the difficulty some folk have parting with old, beloved books.
Too many books, not enough time! Faced with diminishing shelf space, many booklovers are finding that their collections, some amassed over a lifetime, are in need of a dramatic downsizing. Easier said than done, however, as they have formed strong attachments to their many tomes. Unfailingly, the value they place on their books, both monetary and emotional, is at considerable variance with the worth assessed by family, friends, and others, who are usually completely uninterested in acquiring any books. Even used book shops, themselves faced with limited shelf space, are apt to pass on such as large, coffee-table books, non-fiction, or any volume dealing with too narrow a subject as to appeal much to customers.
On ZOOM at this time, we’re opening the floor to discussion, focusing on how attached we become to our favourite books, and how difficult it can be to purge our collections. Are we booklovers simply unable to part with a book, or worse, toss one into the recycling bin? Your thoughts on the topic are welcome.
We’ll take a few moments, as well, to explore how increasingly arduous a task it’s becoming to sell off used books, or even donate them, and touch on how churches respectfully—or not!—dispose of holy books.
Those not equipped to join our ZOOM discussion may contribute, nonetheless, by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in commentary.
On ZOOM at this moment, we’re asking “What are You Reading, or Watching?” Give us your quick book report, or your brief review of a film or TV show you’ve recently been enjoying!
For those not participating in our ZOOM chat, today, you may still contribute by submitting your concise book reports or movie and television-series reviews via this post’s “Leave a Comment” option. We welcome your input.
On ZOOM at this time we are offering tips on framing your SF/F artwork or costuming photographs.
Selecting the right style of frame for your painting, illustration, or print will greatly enhance the work. To paraphrase the old realtor’s adage: presentation, presentation, presentation!
While there are general rules of aesthetics to follow, few are carved in stone. It really comes down to one’s personal taste, so the framing of any single work of art may be approached in more ways than one.
We’ll also be looking at creative, eye-catching methods of displaying your models, crafts, and collectibles to best effect.
This is the first of eight posts this afternoon; welcome to MonSFFA’s February 2023 e-Meeting!
Before we get underway, we would like to take a moment to offer sincere condolences to our own Lynda Pelley and her family with regard to the recent passing of Lynda’s cherished mother. We were all saddened at this news. The day a beloved family member departs this life is always one of our most difficult days, and we can only commiserate with our dear friend on her loss.
Diagnosed with what was thought to be pneumonia, Lynda tells us that further blood work then pointed to acute leukemia. “Sadly, she passed away,” Lynda writes, her mother succumbing to the disease during the evening of January 22 at age 85. “This happened very quickly, in a matter of about three weeks,” Lynda additionally noted, and we are comforted to hear that she was able to be with her mother during those final days, her presence, we are certain, a comfort to her mother.
This afternoon, we’ll offer tips on framing your prized SF/F artwork or costuming photographs, and displaying your coolest sci-fi models, crafts, and collectibles to best effect.
We’ll also be talking books, focusing on how attached we become to our favourites, and how difficult it can be to part with our collections. We’ll touch, too, on how increasingly arduous a task it’s becoming to sell off used books, or even donate them, and on how churches respectfully—or not!—dispose of holy books.
This will be a group discussion, so your opinions are most welcome!
And, we’ll introduce our Special SF/F LP Record Offer.
Among the items our late friend and fellow MonSFFAn Sylvain St-Pierre collected were sci-fi film soundtracks, and related material. As part of our commitment to liquidating his vast genre collection, we have organized his numerous records into sets, or lots, and will make these available to any club members who may be interested in acquiring one or more of them..
Later this afternoon, we’ll peruse together the list of what we have available, detail the procedures we’ve set up for acquiring these records, and field any questions club members may have regarding this offer. But for an advanced peek, you can download the list as a PDF document right here and now (Sylvain’s Sci-Fi LPs, Complete List).
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: 840 2199 8871
Passcode: 600149
3) MEETING AGENDA
Here is the agenda for this afternoon’s get-together:
As always, all scheduled programming is subject to change.
4) RELEASE (PHOTOS OF) THE KRAKEN!
Before we plunge ahead with today’s principal programme, we proffer the following images, captured earlier this month by scuba diver Yosuke Tanaka off the coast of Japan. This is a giant squid, one of the ocean’s strangest and most mysterious denizens. Likely at the root of ancient tales of krakens and similar sea monsters, these squids can reach lengths of some 40 feet!
For about 30 minutes, Tanaka swam alongside this specimen, estimated to be a little over eight feet in length and approximately two or three years old. Deep-ocean creatures, giant squids are rarely sighted near the surface. Scientists viewing Tanaka’s video footage noted that the squid appeared to be in poor health, and perhaps near the end of its life—giant squids tend to rise from the depths when ill or near death.
Sightings of giant squids date back to Aristotle’s Greece. Over the centuries, numerous carcasses have been discovered washed ashore worldwide, but sightings of the living animal have been decidedly infrequent. The first images of a captured, living adult were recorded in 2002, the first of a live specimen in the wild in 2004.
Disney’s film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), adapting Jules Verne’s novel, famously includes an encounter with a giant squid, and sci-fi writers and illustrators have often imagined grotesque, multi-tentacled alien entities inspired by these and other cephalopods.
During the club’s January 14 e-Meeting earlier today, MonSFFA’s sitting Executive ran unopposed for another term in office, and have thus been acclaimed as the association’s 2023 Executive Committee. The recording of votes was, therefore, unnecessary.
Congratulations are proffered to Cathy Palmer-Lister, president; Keith Braithwaite, vice-president; and Joe Aspler and L. E. Moir co-treasurers.
MonSFFA elects annually a president, vice-president, and treasurer—who together form the Executive Committee—and charges them with the responsibility of running the club on behalf of the membership. These executives recruit advisors and appoint officers to assist them in carrying out this responsibility.
Also, the term BoA (Board of Advisors) was retired, replaced with the more fitting GBM, or General Board Meeting.
This post officially closes today’s MonSFFA e-meeting.
12) THANK YOU!
Our thanks to Joe Aspler, Josée Bellemare, Keith Braithwaite, and Cathy Palmer-Lister for their contributions to today’s programme. Your efforts are very much appreciated! We thank, as well, all of our supporting contributors this afternoon.
And of course, to those who visited with us today, and took in our online get-together, thank you for your interest and attention, and don’t forget to comment!
13) NEXT MonSFFA e-MEETING
We sincerely hope you have enjoyed your time with us these past few hours and encourage you to visit www.MonSFFA.ca regularly for additional content.
As club members are no doubt aware, our hoped-for return to in-person club meetings has unfortunately been stymied by pandemic-related circumstances; we will keep you updated as to any progress regarding our continuing search for a new meeting room!
We invite you to join us again next month, right here at www.MonSFFA.ca, for another MonSFFA e-Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, February 11, beginning at 1:00PM.
14) SIGN-OFF
Until next month, then, we bid you farewell, and include our wishes for your good health and safe travels.
This is our seventh of eight posts this afternoon.
11) WHAT ARE YOU READING/WATCHING?
On ZOOM at this moment, we’re asking “What are You Reading, or Watching?” Give us your quick book report, or your brief review of a film or TV show you’ve recently been enjoying!
For those not participating in our ZOOM chat, today, you may still contribute by submitting your concise book reports or movie and television-series reviews via this post’s “Leave a Comment” option. We welcome your input.
This is Post 6 of 8 and will, effectively, serve as the club’s 2023 AGM (Annual General Meeting).
10) AGM/ELECTIONS
Of particular interest to MonSFFA’s membership, we have a couple of official club reports to table, which we will now proceed with on ZOOM. That will be followed by our annual election of the club’s Executive Committee for the coming year.
For the benefit of MonSFFen and in accordance with our practice, we outline here information concerning, and procedures for the election of the club’s Executive Committee:
PRIMER: ELECTION OF CLUB’S EXECUTIVE COMMITEE
MonSFFA begins each year with the election of its Executive Committee for that upcoming 12 months. These elections always take place at our first meeting of the year, in January, and are confirmed and officially announced before or at the following meeting, in February. All MonSFFA members in good standing are encouraged to attend the January meeting and participate.
All MonSFFA members in good standing, having paid in full their annual membership fees, are eligible to cast a ballot. Members are asked to be present at the designated place and time in order to exercise their right to vote. Proxy voting is not permitted, except under special circumstance and by approval of the chief returning officer (CRO). Out-of-town members unable to attend the vote in person, for example, may have their ballots cast by the CRO in their absence. Potential candidates are encouraged to advise the CRO of their intention to run for one of the three specified offices as soon as possible in advance of the election.
This year we again find ourselves in unusual circumstances requiring that we adapt our procedures. As we are, for the moment, carrying out club meetings exclusively online, this year’s will be a cyber-election. Our 2023 Executive will be selected during today’s ZOOM session by those club members present online. The vote will be conducted by a show of hands, excepting those participating via a non-visual connection, who will be able to either verbalize or indicate in the text/comments field their choices.
For the benefit of any members taking in today’s meeting at a later time, the names of the candidates and the positions for which each is running will be posted on the club’s Web site at 6:00PM today. Check the site for this post, make your choices, and e-mail your votes to us at webmaster@monsffa.ca before the end of this month, January. Your votes will be added to the tally recorded during the Zoom session.
In the event of a candidate, or candidates running unopposed, the names of the acclaimed candidate, or candidates, will be posted. Post-Election Day voting will not, then, be necessary with regard to that candidate, or those candidates.
All votes received will be tabulated, confirmed, and the election of MonSFFA’s 2023 Executive Committee officially announced either before or, at the latest, during February’s virtual meeting.
MonSFFA elects annually a president, vice-president, and treasurer—who together form the Executive Committee—and charges them with the responsibility of running the club on behalf of the membership. These executives recruit advisors and appoint officers to assist them in carrying out this responsibility.
Our sitting Executive is as follows: Cathy Palmer-Lister, president; Keith Braithwaite, vice-president; Joe Aspler, treasurer. In addition, L. E. Moir sits as the club’s financial auditor and a member of the Executive.
Any MonSFFA member in good standing who is responsibly and reliably able to carry out the duties of office may run for any one of the Executive posts. Candidates may nominate themselves, or accept nomination from another member in good standing. Nominations are received by the CRO, usually just before the commencement of voting on Election Day.
For those participating on ZOOM, today, we open the floor to any club members who have “fancraft” projects to showcase—sci-fi scale models, SF/F woodworking or needlecraft, whatever genre-themed, hands-on project it may be that you are working on at present, or have recently completed.
Those not able to join our ZOOM chat for the show-and-tell may contribute by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in a quick description of any such project on which they are currently working.
Or, they may find the following interesting:
7) WHAT THE FUTURISTS OF 1923 PREDICTED FOR 2023!
Surrounding any new year, ruminations on the previous 12 months, and predictions regarding the next 12 are a staple of media features in newspapers, on radio and TV, and on the Internet. Articles about what is to come always fascinate, and we are both awed and amused by reviews of how prescient, or not, were past prognostications.
We came across the following snippets on what those living in 1923 imagined life would be like in 2023. Paul Fairie, an educator and researcher at the University of Calgary, is interested in and collects such material, and we thought to share a few of his examples with club members.
Here, then, is a sampling of what prognosticators in 1923 were suggesting life would be like one hundred years hence, in the astounding year 2023!
Envisioned for 2023 was a world in which “many varieties of aircraft are flying thru the heavens.” This was not an unreasonable extrapolation in the early years of heavier-than-air flight, only twenty years after the Wright Flyer first flew at Kitty Hawk.
Aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss thought that “gasoline as a motive power will have been replaced by radio, and…the skies will be filled with myriad craft sailing over well-defined routes.” Radio replacing gasoline? Not quite sure how that was supposed to work!
a few Popular Science magazines published in 1923.
Watch-sized radio telephones were anticipated by 2023, allowing global communication. Pretty much bang on!
Newspapers were foreseen to have disappeared by now, with people instead listening to the news rather than reading the morning paper at the breakfast table. Not quite yet, but we do seem to be moving in that direction.
People in 2023 were expected to live longer than those of 1923—a safe bet—but the estimates of just how long would be the average human lifespan were a tad ambitious: 100 years, with particularly hardy individuals reaching as much as 150 and 200 years old! One scientist of the day speculated that the average lifespan would be 300 years! Not quite.
Cancer, tuberculosis, polio, leprosy, and other afflictions were expected to have been eliminated by now, necessitating fewer doctors. Yes and no. We have found cures and effective treatments for many diseases in the past 100 years, and we do currently have fewer doctors and other medical professionals, but the latter is the result of poor choices made by politicians and administrators, not because diseases have been eliminated.
To protect their kidneys, people in 2023 would wear “kidney cosies” in cold weather. Nope.
Beauty contests would be obsolete by 2023 because pretty much everyone will be physically beautiful! Beauty contests still exist, though are seen as less acceptable, but for entirely different reasons than cited here. And, men and women today are no better or worse looking on average than people were in 1923.
Curled hair was predicted to be the stylish choice for the men of 2023, shaved heads and blackened teeth all the rage for women! Not particularly and definitely not!
Automation would have resulted in a four-day work week by 2023, it was thought. Long days of drudgery and toil would no longer be the norm, with some estimating work days of just four hours thanks to the wonders of electricity. Yes, to some degree, but also no, not yet.
Electricity would ensure that every town was spotless. Not at all!
a couple of Science and Invention magazines published in 1923.
British scientist/inventor/author Archibald Low, once president of the British Interplanetary Society and a writer of “scientific romances” (early SF) invented a nascent version of television, the first drone, and prophesized that “the war of 2023 will naturally be a wireless war.” Electricity promised endless possibilities, he stated, putting forth an invention of his own that he believed would render artillery obsolete: jets of water highly charged with electricity. “Wireless telephony, sight, heat, power and writing may all play important parts,” said Low of wireless technology. He also predicted department stores, the internet, and speculated that by 2023, civilization may well have advanced enough that mental telepathy might develop as a means of communication. Swing and a miss on that last one!
Technological and industrial advances would open more of North America to habitation by 2023. The population of the United States was forecast to grow to 300 million, with Canada’s pegged at 100 million. A good guess, the number under the mark by just a little regarding the U.S., and a little more with regard to Canada.
Welcome to MonSFFA’s first gathering of the New Year; this is our January 2023 e-Meeting!
Mid-winter. -Sigh-
With shovelling snow and scraping ice in the near-future for many of us, post-pandemic anxieties plaguing society, the lingering COVID-19 virus still in the air, and a looming recession… Well, we need a break from all that, if only for a few hours!
So sit yourself down in your most comfortable chair, shake out some potato chips, beer nuts, chocolates, cookies or other such snacks into a bowl, pour yourself a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, tune in the fireplace channel on your TV, and join us for an afternoon of SF/F fun and conversation!
Today, we’ll be examining the means by which humans have recorded and kept information over the centuries. We’ll also have a look at more of those cool cameos in science fiction and fantasy film and TV. And, we’ll hold our annual election—by necessity, online again!—to select MonSFFA’s Executive Committee for 2023, plus a lot more!
Today’s agenda is a busy one, so let’s fire the starter’s pistol!
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: 860 4368 3500
Passcode: 626294
3) MEETING AGENDA
Here is the agenda for this afternoon’s get-together:
As always, all scheduled programming is subject to change.
4)
MonSFFAdamus Reveals His Amazing Prognostications for 2023!
1) Dubbed Kraken, 2022’s latest and, to date, most virulent COVID-19 variant will dominate in the early months of 2023, only to be supplanted mid-year by Dragon, an even more contagious form, one so infectious that a person may well catch it during one of their past lives! By the end of 2023, Medusa will rise and quickly become the prevailing strain, turning everyone who contracts it to stone!
2) The federal government will inaugurate a cross-country road race to turbo-charge public interest in EVs. The electric vehicles participating will dash, east to west, along the Trans-Canada Highway, symbolically speeding right past gas stations all along the route! Long stretches of the highway in Saskatchewan and Alberta will be lined with angry protesters. Some provincial governments will seize upon the opportunity to reduce overcrowding in hospitals by moving patients out to the middle of the highway!
3) The world’s population reached 8 billion in 2022, and astoundingly, will balloon by another billion or so in 2023, bringing the global population to a near-untenable, “Mark of Gideon”-level of some 9 billion by the end of the year! And Quebec premiere Francois Legault will refuse entry into Quebec to any who don’t speak French!
4) As global climate change intensifies, Montreal will, in late September, experience an alarming EF5 tornado! Not built to survive winds of such force, city landmarks like Place Ville Marie and St. Joseph’s Oratory will be devastated. Office and hotel towers will sustain severe damage, and the cross atop Mount Royal will collapse into twisted wreckage. Thousands will be injured or lose their lives after seeking shelter in the Olympic Stadium when howling winds rip away the retractable roof. In the aftermath, Mayor Valerie Plante will announce that clean-up operations are to begin immediately, starting with the city’s bike paths.
5) On the international front, mounting losses of personnel, equipment, and military prestige in Ukraine will at last prompt Russian army leaders to rebel against leader Vladimir Putin and overthrow him in a successful coup. But Putin will evade capture and retreat into a fortified underground bunker just outside of Moscow. The military will blast through the thick walls of the bunker, only to find a slightly smaller bunker nestled within. Blasting through that bunker as well will reveal a still smaller bunker tucked inside. By year’s end, Putin will not yet have been apprehended.
6) Having called a federal election in 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will invoke emergency measures when a zombie apocalypse suddenly manifests just as the campaign is getting underway. The prime minister will find himself facing not only new Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, but the risen corpse of his own father, who garners enough support to run! Meanwhile, the Freedom Convoy will roll again in opposition to the emergency measures, but this time face two Trudeaus!
7) South of the border, meanwhile, while visiting grade schools, both President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will, tragically, suffer permanent incapacitation in two separate shooting incidents. Next in line to accede to the Oval Office is newly-elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy! What could possibly go wrong?
President Kevin McCarthy and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert dodge reporters after a news conference during which McCarthy announced Boebert as his pick for vice-president.
8) Here in Quebec, in an effort to assuage concerns over Bill 96—now law—the CAQ government will enact legislation specificallyguaranteeing the language rights of English-speaking Quebecers, but will define “English-speaking” as limited to mother-tongue-English citizens who are fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. English Quebecers are to be issued identity cards clipped to a lanyard and imprinted with a large scarlet-coloured letter “A,” for “anglais”—the “maudit” is implied!—so that government workers, shop owners, and others may recognize them as someone with whom it is legal to communicate in English, though only if absolutely necessary. Detractors will dub this legislation the “Scarlet Letter Act,” and the Anglophone population will take to the streets in droves to protest, understandably angry and exasperated. The Leafs! Really?
9) Inflation, fueled by rising interest rates and continuing supply-chain issues will trigger a recession in 2023, pushing the cost of groceries to unprecedented heights for many citizens! A jar of strawberries will cost $150!
10) After a frustratingly futile search in 2022, MonSFFA will finally secure a surprisingly inexpensive function space in which to hold its monthly meetings! Club members will be instructed to gather at the appointed time in front of the Villa-Maria Metro/Bus station in NDG, then, as a group, board the Number 24 Bus and secure seats in the back half of the vehicle. The meeting will unfold as the 24 travels east on its route, arriving some 60-90 minutes later at the Montgomery/Sherbrooke bus station in the city’s center-east Sainte-Marie neighbourhood. Our group will disembark for the mid-meeting break, then catch a west-bound 24 for the ride back to Villa-Maria, during which time the second half of the meeting will take place. Post-meeting dinner at a restaurant in the Monkland Village, or along Decarie Boulevard, and voilà!
11) Montreal’s new REM elevated commuter train, after a delayed launch in 2022, will finally begin operation in 2023. During a heavy snowfall mixed with freezing rain, however, the REM trains will stall when too much ice accumulates on the tracks. Engineers will explain that this breakdown was the result of a chance occurrence, a once-in-365-day weather event! The REM, they are confident, should be able to operate normally in the winter, provided Montreal does not again receive a copious measure of snow and freezing rain!
12) As war rages, prejudices flourish, the climate crisis worsens, the middle-class withers, and democracy falters, and MonSFFA searches desperately for a viable meeting hall, scientists in 2023 will confirm that there is, in the end, no intelligent life to be found anywhere in the universe, this planet included!
This is Post 5 of 8 this afternoon.
On ZOOM at this time, we’re opening the floor to discussion, focusing on how attached we become to our favourite books, and how difficult it can be to purge our collections. Are we booklovers simply unable to part with a book, or worse, toss one into the recycling bin? Your thoughts on the topic are welcome.
.
