Before we begin, sad news; club member John Mansfield has passed away.

MonSFFen were stunned by news of John having passed on April 19, just a few months before he was scheduled to attend Pemmi-Con as Fan Guest of Honour. John had been keenly involved with Winnipeg’s successful bid to host Pemmi-Con, the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention, or NASFiC, a conclave which takes place whenever the Worldcon is held outside of North America, as it will be this year. Pemmi-Con will mark the first time a NASFiC unfolds in other than a U.S. city, and John would surely be proud to have played a part in seeing that honour bestowed upon Winnipeg!

As of this writing, details of his passing are scant; we understand he was under hospice care when he died. Not that long ago, he had been regularly participating in MonSFFA’s monthly e-meetings, which he made a point of praising as a splendid means of bringing fans together from across the land during the pandemic, and after. He strongly encouraged the club to continue hosting these online get-togethers.

A veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, John served his country for 26 years and was involved in SF/F fandom for decades, dating back to the mid-1960s, when he attended his first SF con. He was active in OSFS, the Ottawa Science Fiction Society, in the early days of that organization, and was, in subsequent decades, involved with clubs and conventions in New Brunswick, Alberta, and of course, Manitoba. He travelled to many an SF, Star Trek, and gaming convention, as well as to numerous Worldcons.

He was probably happiest as a con-runner, and chaired, first, Winnipeg’s winning bid to host the 1994 Worldcon, for which he was awarded an Aurora, then the Winnipeg Worldcon itself, ConAdian. He was also in the mix for the next two Canadian Worldcons, Toronto’s Torcon III in 2003, and Montreal’s own Anticipation in 2009. John was a tireless booster of Canadian fandom and encouraged many to join in the fun and get involved in organizing conventions, large and small.

For many years, too, he ran his specialty shop, Pendragon Games and Hobbies, in Winnipeg, and in the wake of his passing, was acknowledged by many of the local gamers as pivotal to the creation and development of a robust gaming community in the city.

John Mansfield certainly made his mark.

He will be missed by, in particular, his wife, Linda, and family, to whom we extend our sincerest condolences.

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We have also lost gentle, genial, ConCept Green Room hostess Jaime Yip, who had recently entered palliative care.

MonSFFA extends sincere condolences to Jaime’s family and close friends. She was one of Montreal fandom’s most welcoming, friendliest faces.

1) INTRODUCTION

For the coming few hours, we invite you to enjoy this, MonSFFA’s May 2023 e-Meeting!

These e-meetings were instigated by MonSFFA as a response to the lockdowns and isolation measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the record, the World Health Organization (WHO) has now officially declared the COVID crisis over. Not that the coronavirus, in all of its variant forms, has been eradicated—it may still yet pose a periodic threat to those most vulnerable—but the presence of the virus is no longer regarded as a global medical emergency.

One of the images from the Cottingley Fairies series of photographs (1917, 1920) is featured in the splash cards introducing each of our posts, today, and we’ve included a brief history of these famous photographs in our final post, which will come up at 5:00PM.

This afternoon’s agenda is a busy one, so let’s get right to it!

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: 835 0035 6712
Passcode: 412323

3) MEETING AGENDA

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

As always, all scheduled programming is subject to change.

4) NAME THAT SF&F MOVIE!—A VISUAL QUIZ

At this moment, exclusively on ZOOM, we are running a visual quiz, challenging players competing against each other, and the clock, to identify science fiction and fantasy films based only on a single image taken from each.

If you are unable to join us on ZOOM for our quiz, you may, instead, enjoy this:

5) A BEAVRA SHORT STORY

Once upon a time, in a land far north, there lived a giant beaver named Beavra. He was a massive creature, towering over the tallest trees and buildings with ease. Beavra lived in the forests of Canada, and for years he had roamed the land, felling trees and gnawing on branches.

One day, Beavra caught sight of the CN Tower in Toronto, the tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere. For some reason, the tower caught his attention, and he decided he wanted to chop it down.

Beavra began to make his way towards Toronto, trampling through the forests and crushing everything in his path. When he arrived at the city, people were in a panic. They had never seen anything like Beavra before, and they didn’t know what to do.

Beavra was undeterred. He set his sights on the CN Tower and began to gnaw on the base of the tower with his powerful teeth. The tower shook and swayed, but Beavra was relentless. He kept gnawing and gnawing, and slowly but surely, the tower began to tilt.

People were running and screaming in the streets, but Beavra paid them no attention. He was determined to bring down the tower. Finally, with a tremendous creaking sound, the tower began to fall.

As the tower crashed to the ground, people watched in shock and awe. Beavra stood tall among the rubble, triumphant. He had accomplished what he set out to do, and he had made a name for himself as the greatest beaver in all of Canada.

From that day on, Beavra became a legend, a symbol of power and might. He roamed the land, felling trees and causing destruction wherever he went, always looking for his next challenge. And while many feared him, there were others who admired him, and who saw him as a symbol of the wild, untamed spirit of Canada.

The preceding short story was generated by ChatGPT from the following prompt:

Imagine a giant beaver named “Beavra.” He is essentially the Canadian version of Godzilla. Write a short story about Beavra chopping down the CN Tower in Toronto.

We found the plot simple, uninspired, predicable, and the prose comes across as grade-school level writing, in our humble opinion, akin to something a young student might hand in for a creative writing exercise. We did enjoy, however, the melodramatic description of Beavra as “the greatest beaver in all of Canada,” as well as his being perceived as “a symbol of the wild, untamed spirit” of the country.

And so, the staff over at MonSFFilms, the club’s fan-film division and producers of the club’s popular 2003 short, Beavra, are not too concerned about losing their jobs to an AI. Yet. 

As a final note, we asked ChatGPT to continue the story, and it developed a few novel touches: 

However, Beavra’s destruction did not go unnoticed by the authorities. The Canadian military was quickly mobilized to deal with the threat, and they arrived in Toronto armed with everything from tanks to helicopters.

At first, Beavra seemed unfazed by the military’s attacks. He swatted away missiles and shrugged off gunfire, his thick fur and powerful body protecting him from harm. But the military was not deterred. They continued to launch wave after wave of attacks, hoping to wear him down.

Beavra soon realized that he might have bitten off more than he could chew. He was tired and wounded, and he knew that he couldn’t keep fighting forever. As the military closed in, Beavra looked up at the sky, letting out a mournful cry.

But then, something miraculous happened. From the clouds, a giant eagle appeared, swooping down to land beside Beavra. The eagle was a majestic creature, with shimmering feathers and a piercing gaze.

“Beavra, you must stop this madness,” the eagle said, its voice like thunder. “You are causing too much destruction. It’s time for you to leave this place.”

Beavra looked at the eagle in surprise. He had never seen anything like it before. But something about the eagle’s words touched him, and he realized that he had been acting recklessly.

With a heavy heart, Beavra turned and lumbered away from the city, disappearing into the forests once more. The people of Toronto breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that the destruction was over.

As for Beavra, he roamed the forests in solitude, pondering the eagle’s words. He realized that he had been consumed by his own power, and that he needed to find a new purpose in life. And so, he began a journey of self-discovery, seeking out new challenges and experiences, and trying to find his place in the world.

Years later, people would tell stories about Beavra, the giant beaver who chopped down the CN Tower. But they would also remember him as a creature of great power and wisdom, who learned from his mistakes and sought to make amends for his past actions.