This is post 1 of 7 related posts which together make up our January 9, 2020, DIY, Virtual MonSFFA Meeting, our first of the New Year!

Attention all personnel… Maintain “Red Alert!”

1) WELCOME TO 2021!

As it happens, we begin the New Year, and our 2021 meeting schedule, on the very day that Quebec enters a month-long enhanced lockdown, with additional restrictions now added to those already in place. Most severe of these is a nightly curfew, confining Quebécers to their homes from 8:00PM to 5:00AM in an attempt to categorically stem the pervasive spread of the virus, in large part a result of continuing social contact amongst too many citizens who obstinately resist compliance with public health directives. Described by Premiere Legault as akin to “electroshock therapy,” the hope is that this latest measure will see the province’s spiralling rate of infection fall appreciably over the coming weeks, bringing much-needed relief to our overburdened health system.

With vaccine distribution having tentatively begun, the federal government remains confident that all Canadians will have opportunity to receive a shot by September. As for the immediate future, it will likely be a difficult winter for many. But we know better days are to come, sooner we hope, rather than later. This pandemic’s second wave has been utterly devastating for our city and province, as well as for the rest of the country, and indeed, much of the world. Case numbers and hospitalizations rose to unprecedented levels during the recent Holiday period and things may well get worse before they start getting better.

Notwithstanding the irresponsible behaviour of some, including a number of sun-vacationing politicians, we recognize the vital importance of steadfastly carrying on with all recommended safety protocols—you know the drill!—as this virus is not yet subdued.

Enough said on that topic.

2) MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

As you all know, the pandemic has disrupted the normal operation of the club. We have not been able to safely meet, face-to-face in a conference room or similar facility, since March of last year, when the coronavirus crisis began to take hold. At that time, restrictions to deter routine social contact and group gatherings, such as our monthly club meetings, were introduced and the first lockdowns imposed by authorities. Based on the information disseminated by the government in those initial weeks, we anticipated that these controls would interrupt things for three or four months, perhaps a little longer. We fully expected to return to our customary meetings sometime in late-summer, early-fall 2020.

In order to maintain as best we could a connection with our membership in the interim, we began presenting virtual seminars on the club’s Web site, scheduled on the dates which would have marked our usual in-person meetings and events. Our April 4, 2020 “DIY, Virtual MonSFFA Meeting” was the first of these, offering magazine article- and PowerPoint-like presentations, and other content put up over the course of the afternoon through which folk could scroll and offer online comment. June’s e-meeting introduced a brief Zoom get-together which allowed a live video chat and most recently, we’ve expanded that chat to several hours, Zooming alongside while the meeting content is posted on the Web site.

Because we at first thought the pandemic would amount to a relatively short interruption of a few months, the club’s Executive decided to put on hold the payment of annual membership fees for the duration. “When we had to suspend meetings, we also suspended the fees,” explains club president Cathy Palmer-Lister. But the pandemic stretched well past summer into fall, winter, and the New Year. We now find ourselves looking at a return to normal in fall 2021 at the earliest!

For much of last year, then, the club collected no revenue whatsoever. Not a single dime! We had to cancel our usually lucrative November sci-fi book sale, of course, and we’ve been unable to benefit even from the modest income normally generated by fund-raising raffles and our snack table, staples of the club’s monthly meetings. While we are not shelling out for the major expense of renting meeting space, we are still incurring costs, for the Web site, fanzine printings, postal mailings, and now for a Zoom subscription that permits us to hold our extended video chats as part of each month’s virtual meeting.

Long story short: to date, the club has weathered well the financial hit wrought by the pandemic, but our treasure chest is not bottomless. It’s no random coincidence that the photographs accompanying this segment are of a collection of vintage space-themed coin banks! That’s to subtlety remind you that it takes bucks to maintain all of this Buck Rogers stuff!

As our last physical meeting was in March 2020, beginning in April 2021, “we will be asking members to start renewing their memberships as if last year never happened,” Cathy continues. (Would that it were true, such an alternate history scenario in which last year never happened!) So, if your annual membership fees were due in April 2020, that’s been bumped ahead a year and they are now due in April 2021. If May 2020 was your renewal month, consider it changed to May 2021, June 2020 to June 2021, and so on. All club members will receive that fees-free year of membership; 2020 renewal dates simply now become 2021 renewal dates.

And, we welcome any prospective members who may have discovered the club via these virtual meetings and invite them to officially join our ranks.

Note that there is no change to our fee structure. A standard one-year membership is still only $25; the premium Platinum Level membership, $35; a family membership (up to four people, single postal mailing address), $40; and the Platinum Family Level, $50. Make your cheques or money orders out to “MonSFFA” and mail to:

MonSFFA

c/o 4456 Boul. Ste-Rose

Laval, Québec, Canada

H7R 1Y6

3) TODAY’S MEETING: INTRODUCTION

We trust that all MonSFFen, their families, and the club’s friends enjoyed as merry a Holiday season as was possible under prevailing circumstances.

As we gather online for this month’s virtual club meeting, we take a moment to reiterate that our club members please take all possible precautions in order to keep themselves as protected from the virus as can be. It is especially important that we not let up on those safety protocols so that we may all make it through the winter.

This is our tenth virtual MonSFFA meeting. This afternoon’s get-together will unfold right here on the club’s Web site over the course of the next few hours, beginning with this first post, and followed by subsequent posts at 1:30PM, 1:45PM, 2:45PM, 3:15PM, and 4:15PM, with a concluding post at 4:30PM. All content will also be available concurrently on MonSFFA’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MonSFFA), however, note that the interface best suited for taking in this meeting is this very Web site.

After the success of our trial Zoom session last month, we’re happy to repeat that extended format this month and will open today’s session at 1:30PM, Zooming in parallel as the Web site-based content is put up right through until the meeting concludes. We’ll again offer some of our meeting content during the Zoom session. This augmented Zoom will afford folk opportunity to catch-up, post-Holidays, chat, and discuss with or ask questions of presenters directly.

As we cannot yet safely assemble in person, this January virtual meeting has been prepared especially for you, MonSFFA’s membership. Sit back, check out each of the afternoon’s posts, scroll down leisurely through the proffered content, and enjoy!

And don’t forget to comment on what we’ve presented. Let us know what you think of specific topics or the meeting overall. Your input helps us to tailor these virtual meetings for maximum interest and enjoyment.

You may also wish to Zoom with us during the course of the meeting. To join our expanded Zoom session, beginning at 1:30PM, click here: This Afternoon’s MonSFFA Zoom

If you’re not fully equipped to Zoom by computer, 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: International Call-In Numbers

Have this information on hand as you may be asked to enter it:

Meeting ID: 827 7421 7545

Passcode: 086560

4) MEETING AGENDA

In This Afternoon’s Virtual Meeting:

1:00PM, Post 1 of 7 (Opening)

1) Welcome to 2021!

2) Membership Renewals

3) Introduction

4) Meeting Agenda

5) First Coronavirus Parody Song of New Year

6) New Year’s Anagram Challenge!

7) Primer: Club Elections

8) A Second Coronavirus Parody Song

1:30PM, Post 2 of 7 (Zoom!)

9) Expanded Zoom Session Begins (Runs until End of Meeting)

1:45PM, Post 3 of 7 (FanFic!)

10) Presentation: Other People’s Toys—FanFic and Beyond

2:45PM, Post 4 of 7 (Break)

11) Mid-Meeting Break (Club Elections, Display Table, Raffle, Continuing Zoom)

3:15PM, Post 5 of 7 (For the Love of Books!)

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4:15PM, Post 6 of 7 (Prehistoric Presentation!)

13) A Stone Age Gallery

4:30PM, Post 7 of 7 (Wrap-Up)

14) Anagrams Unscrambled!

15) A Third Coronavirus Parody Song

16) Thank-You!

17) A Final Parody Song

5) FIRST CORONAVIRUS PARODY SONG OF THE NEW YEAR

Many talented and witty songwriters/performers have been providing, throughout this COVID-19 crisis, gentle comic relief to us all, filking well-known rock and pop hits. Whenever given, we’ve credited by name these creators.

Vocalist Sean Petersen and the boys at Magnoli Clothiers Ltd. in New Zealand seem a rather creative bunch. We found this take on Europe’s hit Final Countdown on the company’s YouTube channel. Inspired by “film, theatre, books, and history,” Magnoli Clothiers produces custom clothing and prop reproductions, as well as, apparently, coronavirus parody songs!

6) NEW YEAR’S ANAGRAM CHALLENGE

MonSFFA’s Games Division extends our wishes for a Happy New Year to all club members and friends! It seems like only yesteryear that we celebrated 1984, then 1999, as well as 2001, and now we herald the astounding, futuristic year 2021! According to the film Moon Zero Two, by now we were supposed to have established lunar mining operations, and settlements like Moon City and Farside 5, along with regular passenger service to Mars and Venus!

Moon Zero Two was released in 1969 and as is so often the case, the science fiction got a little ahead of the science fact. So unpack your lunar hiking boots, Martian sunscreen, and Venusian bug spray; your flight has been delayed a few decades!

This is a year already better than the last, and in honour of 2021’s advent, here are 21 names that sound like Star Wars characters, but are actually anagrams of notable science fiction and fantasy luminaries, be they characters, writers, or filmmakers! Can you correctly unscramble each to identify the sci-fi star in question? We’ll publish the answers in the afternoon’s concluding Post 7 of 7, at 4:30PM.

1) GARFO SHLOND sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this early sci-fi hero:

2) NAWRED MONWO sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this favourite comic book Gal:

3) VOSSI ACAMAI sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this prolific science fiction writer:

4) SARL DENOHI sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this prognosticator:

5) Captain JEMIR TARISUSI BEKK sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this leader from a competing franchise:

6) VENRU JEELS sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this world-famous science fiction writer:

7) BREK MARTOS sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this genre-defining author:

8) PLEEN EYRILL sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this survivor of a close encounter:

9) TEC THOROD sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this long-lived traveller:

10) NOOB WRINSILL sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this young space pioneer:

11) JEMURI THRILD sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this foremost American/Canadian editor, writer, and political activist:

12) AN JOLWOT sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this award-winning, Montreal-based writer and poet:

13) WREEN BACYU sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this traumatized individual:

14) FINY CRUK sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this director:

15) POGGEE RAL sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this classic sci-fi filmmaker:

16) TORR JENACH sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this early hero of sci-fi literature:

17) SANUZAR GOLL sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this well-bred protagonist:

18) MUX FRELOD sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this true believer:

19) SHAAR RENNOC sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this mother:

20) JORN PHENTECAR sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this director, who has a Thing for horror and sci-fi:

21) REY SHYAANUHARR sounds like a Star Wars character, but is actually an anagram for this influential filmmaker:

7) PRIMER: ELECTION OF CLUB’S EXECUTIVE COMMITEE

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:

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 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 find ourselves in unique circumstances requiring that we adapt our procedures. As we are, for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, carrying out club activities exclusively online, this year’s will be a cyber-election. Our 2021 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.

All votes received will be tabulated, confirmed, and the election of MonSFFA’s 2021 Executive Committee officially announced 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; Sylvain St-Pierre, treasurer.

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.

8) A SECOND CORONAVIRUS PARODY SONG

We’ve featured tracks by the Holderness Family before and here they are again with a medley of TV series-inspired COVID parodies (Instagram@TheHoldernessFamily):