This is Post 3 of 7.

5) SHOW-AND-TELL

For those participating on ZOOM, today, we open the floor to any club members who have “fancraft” undertakings to showcase—sci-fi scale models, sculpture, 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. Tell us all about your endeavour, and share any photos you may have snapped of your work-in-progress, or of the finished piece. 

Those not able to join our ZOOM chat for the show-and-tell may contribute nonetheless by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in a quick description of any such project of theirs.

Also, we welcome your comments on, in particular, any really cool SF/F-related museums, special exhibits, events, or locales you may have visited of late while on summer vacation, along with, perhaps, a few accompanying images.

Welcome to Post 2 of 7 this afternoon!

4) SUMMER MEGA-QUIZ 2022!

The summer sun is shining, the days stretch seemingly to infinity, and again do we enjoy backyard barbecues, farmer’s markets, an afternoon poolside, or boating on the lake. We relish the vibrant street festivals, outdoor concerts, a cold one quaffed with friends on a downtown terrace, or a weekend away in the country. We catch the summer’s blockbuster sci-fi movies, in some rural communities, perhaps at an old-fashioned drive-in theatre on a warm evening! We delight in a day at the beach, and dive eagerly into a good beach read! Yes, summertime…and the livin’ is easy…

With that vibe in mind, we offer on this fine afternoon a little light fun in the form of a trivia challenge, our Summer Mega-Quiz 2022! Can you answer all 50 of the following SF/F-related questions? Good luck, and, of course, play fair; no resorting to Google or another search engine for the answers! You can ask a friend for help, however, as long as your friend’s name isn’t Siri or Alexa!

1) Fill in the blank! These SF/F titles are missing a single word: Infinity ______; Dinosaur ______; Blood ______; and Steel ______. What is that missing word?

2) Star Wars (1977) famously opens with this text: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Identify the post-apocalyptic film that opens with these words appearing on screen:

What you are about to see may never happen…

But to this anxious age in which we live, it presents a fearsome warning…

Our story begins with… The End!

3) A landing party from the U.S.S. Enterprise is about to beam down to this very spot! Upon which planet will they be setting foot?

4) In what city was the first Worldcon held?

5) Who painted this iconic War of the Worlds scene for the cover of Amazing Stories’ August 1929 issue?

6) Rocketship X-M (1950), Zombies of Mora Tau (1957), Invaders from Mars (1953), and How to Make a Monster (1958)—with regards to casting, what do these SF/F films share in common?

7) In which U. S. state is set the giant-crocodile horror/comedy film Lake Placid?

8) Cressie, Ponik, Old Ned, Ol’ Slavey, and Mussie are the names of what?

9) What was the first novel written by “King of Horror” Stephen King?

10) Kirk and Spock are about to materialize on this very spot! Upon which planet will they be setting foot?

11) Pertaining to science fiction, what do rock stars Mick Fleetwood, Iggy Pop, and Tom Morello have in common?

12) Appearing in “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” and providing the voice of both the Gorn captain in “Arena,” and the puppet presented as the menacing face of cherubic commander Balok in “The Corbomite Maneuver,” name this original-series Star Trek guest star.

13) In Star Trek, what is the name of the planet Ardana’s city-in-the-clouds?

14) In The Andromeda Strain, both novel (1969) and film (1971), what is the code-name given to the special, secret underground laboratory set up to contain and study dangerous microorganisms?

15) In season three of Netflix’s time-bending superhero series, The Umbrella Academy, principal protagonists Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, and Vanya (soon to become Viktor) find themselves in an altered timeline, one in which, rather than The Umbrella Academy, another superhero team came to be created by their adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves. What is the name of this team?

16) Who were “Ace” Morgan, “Red” Ryan, “Rocky” Davis, and “Prof” Haley?

17) Who was the 1943 Worldcon’s Guest of Honour?

18) Name the seasoned character actor who played Lieutenant-General Edward Considine in The Giant Claw (1957).

19) A Captain Kirk-led landing party from the Enterprise is about to beam down to this very spot! Upon which planet will they be setting foot?

20) Identify the actress in the black dress, here playing a bit-part in a classic Star Trek episode.

21) Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, dressed in local attire so as not to attract undue attention, are about to beam down to this very spot! Upon which planet will they be setting foot?

22) Earth’s president, Kier Gray, seeks to exterminate a race of much-hated superbeings in which classic science fiction novel originally serialized in Astounding Science-Fiction, September through October, 1940?

23) Red or blue, which colour pill does Neo choose to take in The Matrix (1999)?

24) Name the seasoned character actor who played Dr. Albert Stern in Kronos (1957).

25) In what town does Dr. Miles Bennell practice medicine?

26) The colonization vessel Leonora Christine, crewed by 25 men and 25 women, her destination the nearby star Beta Virginis, is featured in which hard science fiction novel?

27) First presented in 1973 to Jerry Pournelle, The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is no longer called the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer! 2019 Campbell Award-winner Jeannette Ng described Campbell as “a fascist” during her acceptance speech at the 77th WorldCon, adding “pulling down memorials to dead racists is not the erasing of history, it is how we make history.” Her words prompted discussion and debate within the science fiction community, and in response, the award was shortly thereafter renamed. What is it now called?

28) In what city was the 6th Worldcon held?

29) Name the co-creators of the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

30) An Enterprise landing party is about to materialize on this very spot, within an area having an Earth-like environment on an otherwise inhospitable world! Upon which planet will they be setting foot?

31) Name the seasoned character actor who played Dr. Thurgood Elson in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).

32) In what city was the 31st Worldcon held?

33) Identify the fantasy/adventure film that opens with this epigram:

And the prophet said:

“And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing.

And from that day, it was as one dead.”—Old Arabian Proverb

34) Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, on an emergency medical mission, are about to materialize on this very spot! Upon which planet will they be setting foot?

35) Charlie Jane Anders’ debut novel, All the Birds in the Sky (2016), is described as a love story and mélange of science fiction and fantasy. Who are the tale’s protagonists, one a witch, the other an engineering whiz and gadgeteer?

36) Name the four Federation starships that engage the M-5 computer-equipped Enterprise in simulated war games that quickly become all too real in the classic Star Trek episode “The Ultimate Computer.”

37) This Star Trek guest star is, perhaps, best known among cult-film aficionados, at least, for which genre role?

38) Identify the film that opens with the following axiom:

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”—Old Klingon Proverb

39) In what city was the 67th Worldcon held?

40) When the lunar dust-cruiser Selene becomes trapped beneath the fine powder of the moon’s Sea of Thirst, a rescue mission is mounted to save her passengers and crew. This story is told in which Hugo-nominated hard science fiction novel?

41) Which was the first science fiction novel selected to become a Reader’s Digest Condensed Novel?

42) Human-angel hybrid Aaron Corbett, Starfleet’s Captain James T. Kirk, vampire Stephan Salvatore, and werewolf Lucas “Luke” Cates—what do these genre characters have in common?

43) In which city is based author Laurel K. Hamilton’s vampire hunter, Anita Blake?

44) Name the seasoned character actor who played Brigadier General John Hanley in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).

45) Tarnsman of Gor (1966), Avengers of Gor (2021), Quarry of Gor (2019), Marauders of Gor (1975)—as regards point of view, which of these titles does not belong?

46) What coastal town is haunted by the murderous ghosts of the clipper ship Elizabeth Dane’s crew 100 years after the vessel was deliberately and deviously lured onto the rocks by the town’s founders, and wrecked with all hands lost?

47) Released as Monster in Europe and Japan, this 1980 American sci-fi/horror movie starring Doug McClure is about slimy sea-creatures that hunt the women of a seaside town for the purposes of mating! The film is better known domestically by its North American title. What is that title?

48) How many novels currently comprise author John Norman’s Chronicles of Counter-Earth?

49) She Who Became the Sun; Light From Uncommon Stars; The Galaxy, and the Ground Within; Project Hail Mary; A Master of Djinn; and A Desolation Called Peace—what do these novels have in common?

50) “Achronos,” Old, “Tideline,” and The Sand—what do these SF/F titles have in common?

This is the first of seven posts, collectively encompassing this afternoon’s club e-meeting.

1) INTRODUCTION

Welcome to MonSFFA’s August 2022 e-Meeting!

Sit down in your most comfortable chair, a bowl of your favourite tasty snacks at hand, pour yourself a cool, refreshing drink, and join us for an afternoon of sci-fi fun and conversation. Our theme today is “games,” and thus have we lined up two for you, the first a trivia challenge, the second our sci-fi version of the parlour game Balderdash!

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We would be remise, however, were we not to first note the recent passing of Star Trek actress Nichelle “Lieutenant Uhura” Nichols. A beloved member of the vast Star Trek family, she died at age 89 of natural causes on Saturday, July 30, in Silver City, New Mexico.

In her final years, Nichols suffered from advanced dementia and her son, with whom she had been living, wrote of his dear departed mother, “Her light…like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”

Nichols was eulogized, too, by former cast mates, Hollywood friends, and many others as an actress who, in playing the part of the Enterprise’s highly skilled communications officer, broke down stereotypes and opened doors for women of colour in the entertainment industry. No more would actresses of colour be relegated to marginal roles as maids and the like.

She counted among her many fans during the early days of Star Trek no less than American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. When she considered leaving the show after its first season, it was King who urged her to remain with the series, highlighting the importance of demonstrating to America that a black woman belonged on the bridge of the Enterprise as much as anyone else. Her presence there, one of and respected among a crew of accomplished officers offered a positive vision of our future, and served as inspiration for African-Americans throughout not just the television industry, but the nation.

She and co-star William Shatner helped further demolish racial barriers with their then-controversial interracial kiss on national television in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.”

Post-Star Trek, Nichols was tapped by NASA to help recruit some of the first women and members of minority communities to become astronauts, one of which was Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space. In 1992, as a crewmember on STS-47, Jemison initiated communications aboard the space shuttle Endeavour with “Hailing frequencies open,” quoting Uhura’s oft-spoken line from Star Trek.

We are saddened at the news of Nichelle Nichols’ passing, and we celebrate her legacy.

 

We also mourn one of our own, recently passed.

MonSFFA was informed of a planned online (ZOOM) memorial service for Marc, and club members will have received by e-mail details concerning this service, scheduled for next Sunday, August 21, at 11:00AM.

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Note that with the seventh wave now upon us and COVID numbers climbing locally and elsewhere, we opted, last month, to postpone our in-person club Barbecue-in-the-Park until Sunday, August 28. We are told by authorities that by then, the seventh wave should have dissipated. But if we’ve learned anything during this pandemic, it’s that the virus does not often behave as expected. Nevertheless, fingers crossed! The 28th is but two weeks off, and we’ll take a moment this afternoon to briefly square away any last-minute details with respect to this event.

And, we’ll touch base with all of you as regards your summer, so far—genre projects on which you may be working; cool, SF/F-related vacation destinations you may have visited; good books you’ve been reading; and screen entertainment you’ve been watching of late.

So, join us on ZOOM for all the fun, and let’s get started!

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 join in by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. If you’re from out of town, 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: 878 6326 8110
Passcode: 326574

3) MEETING AGENDA

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

As always, all scheduled programming is subject to change.

To join our ZOOM video-chat, which begins at 1:00PM and will run throughout the e-meeting, 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 join in by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. If you’re from out of town, 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: 878 6326 8110
Passcode: 326574

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!

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!

We have yet to receive word that our anticipated physical meeting venue has begun taking bookings, and so, the club’s next meeting will be an online get-together!

The club recently enjoyed a field trip…

June 18 Field Trip to Exporail

Shortly after noon on Saturday, June 18, some dozen MonSFFen gathered, physically, face-to-face in the lobby of the Exporail Museum, located in the town of St-Constant, across the river, just south of Montreal. This outing marked our long-awaited but tentative return to in-person gatherings.

MonSFFen will recall that the last time we gathered together in the same room for a club event was on the occasion of our March 7, 2020 club meeting at the downtown Hôtel Espresso. Shortly after that meeting, the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared, lockdowns initiated, and all club events suspended until further notice! We soon opted to move our monthly get-togethers online for the duration of the pandemic, which, take note, is not yet entirely over, though considerably moderated. We continue to gather online every month, even as we prepare for an anticipated return to in-person monthly meetings very soon.

Exporail houses the nation’s largest collection of locomotives, rail coaches and cars, and railroad equipment and paraphernalia, representing Canada’s railway heritage, dating back to the early days of steam and streetcars. Steampunk fans will surely delight in this museum, strolling among the elegantly appointed passenger cars, and the massive nuts-and-bolts steam locomotives, their cabs replete with a plethora of pipes and valves and levers.

The museum also featured several exhibits devoted to the history of toy trains, and a sizable, operating HO-scale model-railroad layout, of particular interest to the collectors and scale-modellers in our group. Furthermore, we braved the day’s rain to walk about outside, where were parked on sidings additional engines and cars awaiting restoration. We both explored the museum on our own and benefitted from a guided tour of some of the notable trains in the collection, including a first-generation Montreal Metro car!

For the benefit of those who were unable to join us on this field trip, we present, here, a photo gallery of our visit to the Exporail museum. (All photos by Keith Braithwaite unless otherwise indicated.)

The main “Angus” pavilion was our starting point. From the lobby and leading into the cavernous primary exhibit area, a short passageway served to display an assortment of track-laying tools, uniform caps, signage, promotional models, toy trains, plaques, historical photographs, and other railroad accoutrements. Interpretive videos screened on television monitors, as well.

Within the exhibit area itself, numerous locomotives, coaches, and railroad cars were grouped together on sidings amongst which we were able to meander, effectively taking a stroll through Canadian railway history.

Street Cars, Montreal Metro

In one corner and belonging to the Montreal City Passenger Railway was an early stagecoach-like vehicle, which had been pulled through city streets by a team of horses, presaging rail transportation.

An open-air, sightseeing type was among several street cars on exhibit, including the “Rocket,” which we were able to board. Period advertising signage was reproduced as a detail of this car’s restoration.

Regrettably out of service on this day is an operating street car that carries patrons on a brief tour around the museum grounds outdoors. It was undergoing work in a maintenance garage adjacent the Angus building.

Familiar to Montrealers was a first-generation Metro car, its sky-blue colour and white trim easily recognized. A vintage map of the Metro system, circa mid-1960s, was among the details featured aboard this car—the Metro then was but a fraction of the circuit it is today.

Passenger Coaches

Exporail’s collection includes a number of passenger coaches, from vintage to more modern, and we were able to view the interiors of some of these trains by way of an elevated platform.

Moreover, we were able to board a couple of the coaches for a closer look at the ornate decorative flourishes of a bygone era, and such features as fold-out upper and lower sleeping berths, a rather compact washroom, and a coal-fired stove positioned at one end of the coach, providing heat for the entire car. Passengers seated closest to the stove were charged more for their tickets!

We also boarded a mail car and learned about the pick-up/delivery system employed to move mail across the vast expanses of this country, in a time when carrying the mail was an important function of Canada’s railways.

The Age of Steam

A highlight of our visit was the opportunity to view the many mighty steam locomotives in the collection, from smaller—relatively speaking—workhorse engines to formidable, giant powerhouses and streamlined behemoths, some of which we were able to board for a close-up look at the crew compartments. Given the enormous size of these locomotives, their cabs were a surprisingly cramped space to work for engineer and crew!

We were able, as well, to descend into a pit and have a gander at the undercarriage of one huge locomotive, and view, in a secondary pavilion, a couple of European-made engines, the showcase example of which was the beautiful, aerodynamic, A4-class “Dominion of Canada.”

Built in 1937 for British Railways’ London-Edinburgh line and originally dubbed “Woodcock,” this locomotive was cutting-edge railroad technology in its day. Renamed “Dominion of Canada,” it was rescued from the scrap heap in 1965 after having been put out of service, restored by British Railways, and shipped to Canada just in time for this country’s Centennial Celebrations in 1967.

 

Also on view in this secondary pavilion was the exquisitely reconditioned “John Molson.”

Diesel-Electric Locomotives, Boxcars, Snow Removal Equipment

The age of steam gave way to diesel-electric power, and Exporail’s inventory includes a number of fine examples of these more contemporary locomotives.

 

There were on site a couple of boxcars, too, and this being Canada, special snow-removal equipment.

Model Railroading and Toy Trains

The Angus pavilion also featured several anterooms dedicated to model railroading and toy trains. A large, finely detailed model of Canadian National’s number 5606, locomotive and tender, marked the entrance to these rooms, and within was spotlighted a toaster-sized model of an engine imported from England for service on Canada’s first railroad, the Champlain and St. Lawrence, running between La Prairie and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu beginning in 1836.

 

A few wonderfully intricate model railroad layouts were on exhibit, including a pintsized set-up enclosed within a suitcase! Glass display cases showcased a variety of miniature locomotives and railcars, the most popular and common scale among model railroaders being HO, or 1:87.

A big, impressive HO layout occupied most of one large room, with operating trains snaking through miniature forest and mountain, tiny, lifelike town and city.

Toy trains and accessories were featured as well, from simple wooden models to metal and plastic replicas of varying sizes and levels of detail. Several of the famous and very collectible Lionel electric trains were included, here.

Railyard

As the rain let up a little, we made our way outside to explore the many trains parked in the railyard—locomotives, passenger coaches, boxcars, flatcars, maintenance vehicles, all awaiting refurbishment.

Recreated were a couple of passenger train stations and platforms, one of which harkened back to an era when passengers were segregated by gender as they awaited their train, the women in one waiting room, which was heated by a coal-burning stove, the men in the other, without any source of heat! The station’s ticket office was positioned between the two, with service wickets on either side. Luggage carts, and the office’s furniture and antiquated equipment completed the recreation.

As the time came to put a caboose on our field trip, we made one last stop before departing: the gift shop! We left having enjoyed a most pleasant afternoon exploring a most interesting museum.

Welcome to MonSFFA’s 2022 e-Picnic!

Make your favourite sandwich or prepare a tasty snack, pour yourself a cool, refreshing drink, and join us for an hour or two, or for the whole afternoon as we get together online to chat via ZOOM and enjoy each other’s company!

With the seventh wave now upon us and COVID numbers climbing locally, we’ve postponed our in-person club BBQ-in-the-Park until Sunday, August 28, by which time, we are told by authorities, the seventh wave should have dissipated.

So, in the meantime, we’ll be getting together for a casual video-chat this afternoon! No presentations, just light, informal programming, and the chance to catch up, discuss the latest in sci-fi entertainment, or share with the group thoughts on recent books read or screen sci-fi enjoyed. If you’re working on any nifty SF/F-related crafting or other projects, or perhaps recently visited a fun and interesting vacation destination, tell us all about it, and share any photos you snapped with the group!

Do join us for an afternoon of conversation and camaraderie right here, right now!

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 join in by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. If you’re from out of town, 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: 881 9398 4413
Passcode: 150245