Category Archives: Upcoming meeting

Upcoming meeting

MonSFFA meeting programming

Upcoming Club Meetings 2024

SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1:00PM-5:00PM

1:00PM – THE ECLIPSE EXPERIENCE:Club members recount their experiences observing the total solar eclipse of April 8 and share any photos they snapped of the event.

1:30PM – THE SPARK THAT LIT THE FIRE: Moderated discussion of our earliest exposure to science fiction and/or fantasy; MonSFFen recall the novel, short story, comic book, movie, or television show that introduced them to the genre, and sparked their life-long interest in SF/F.  Assigned moderator: Cathy Palmer-Lister

2:30PM – WILLIAM CASTLE: HOLLYWOOD’S MAESTRO OF THE MOVIE-MARKETING GIMMICK! Presentation on the career of prolific producer/writer/director/actor William Castle.
Touting such “amazing” cinematic “technologies” as “Emergo,” “Percepto,” and “Illusion-O,” Castle is remembered for the hyperbolic marketing gimmicks he employed to promote his oeuvre of horror/thriller and sci-fi B-movies, which included The House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler (both 1959), 13 Ghosts (1960), Strait-Jacket (1964), and Bug (1975).  Presenter: Keith Braithwaite

3:30PM – BREAK! Raffle, announcements, brief discussion of club business, including selection of club’s field trip destination.

4:00PM – GAME: Specifics to be determined.
Gamemaster: Danny Sichel

4:45PM – WRAP-UP: End of meeting; we pack up and clean up, out and doors locked by 5:00PM.

SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1:00PM-5:00PM

1:00PM – LOST WORLDS:  We explore the “Lost Worlds” of both SF/F literature and screen! From Jules Vernes of the past to the imagined futures of the Star Trek Universe! Presented by Joe Aspler.

2:00PM – THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE: The same genre story as told in different media—novel, comic book, film, television series; we examine and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each medium when telling a story.  Assigned moderator: Danny Sichel

3:00PM – BREAK! Raffle, announcements, brief discussion of club business, including outline of plans for club’s 2024 field trip.

3:45PM – HE IS LEGEND:  His award-winning work left a lasting impression on readers and earned praise from the likes of Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison, influenced such writers as Stephen King and Anne Rice, as well as filmmakers Spielberg, Roger Corman, and George A. Romero, to name a few. And yet, his name is not as well-known as that of these and other genre stars who count themselves in the company of his fans and admirers.
But among those in the know, he is legend; he is…Richard Matheson! We offer an overview of his career, and MonSFFen might be surprised to find that he’s the man behind some of their favourite fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories. Presented: by Keith Braithwaite

4:45PM WRAP-UP: End of meeting; we pack up and clean up, out and doors locked by 5:00PM.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8 or SUNDAY, JUNE 9       MONSFFA FIELD TRIP 2024

Destination to be determined

SUNDAY, JULY 14, 10:30AM-4:00PM
MONSFFA BARBECUE-IN-THE-PARK 2024

Parc Maisonneuve, Montreal (next to Botanical Gardens, across street from Olympic Stadium); rain date: Sunday, July 21

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1:00PM-5:00PM

1:00PM – THE MULTIVERSE: We examine the concept of “the Multiverse” in science fiction, including those famously depicted in both Marvel’s and DC’s comic book superhero stories. Presenter: Danny Sichel

2:00PM – TOM SWIFT AND HIS SCIENCE FICTION BOOK SERIES
An examination of the Tom Swift sci-fi/adventure books, ranging from the 1910s to the present day. The adventures of the original Tom Swift and later, his descendants, introduced many a young lad to science fiction, and in its nascent years, helped to popularize the genre. Presenter: Mark Burakoff

3:00PM – BREAK!: Raffle, announcements, brief discussion of club business, including plans for club’s Christmas Dinner and Party 2024.

3:45PM – GAME: BUG-EYE BET!: We resurrect a game created by the late Sylvain St-Pierre in which still photographs and video clips from SF/F movies or TV shows are shown to players, who must then answer a series of questions focused on the minute, inconsequential, trivial details of that which they have just seen! Bets are placed on how accurate will be their recall of said details. Gamemaster: Keith Braithwaite

4:45PM – WRAP-UP: End of meeting; we pack up and clean up, out and doors locked by 5:00PM.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1:00PM-5:00PM

1:00PM – REPORT ON WORLDCON 2024: Club members who plan to attend the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland will, upon their return, offer a report on the convention and share anecdotes and photos with the club. Presenters: Joe Aspler and Cathy Palmer-Lister

2:00PM – MONTREAL’S BID FOR WORLDCON 2027: Given the recent launch of a Montreal bid for the 2027 Worldcon, we invite a representative of said bid to provide details and all the latest information. Guest Speaker: Montreal in 2027 Bid Committee Representative

2:30PM – WHAT MAKES THIS STORY SO GOOD? We ask the question of those who should know, perhaps, more than anyone—authors and editors! And of course, we also probe what exactly it is that makes another story so bad! Guest Speaker:  TBD , discussion moderated by Cathy Palmer-Lister

3:30PM – BREAK! Raffle, announcements, brief discussion of club business.

3:30PM – GAME: NOW PLAYING: Game in which SF/F movie posters with the film’s title, recognizable tag line, and cast/credits blanked-out or blurred are shown, leaving players to state the proper title of the movie, aided by a list of actual movie titles, only one of which, of course, is the correct one! Gamemaster: Keith Braithwaite

4:45PM – WRAP-UP: End of meeting; we pack up and clean up, out and doors locked by 5:00PM.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 19, SCI-FI BOOK SALE:  OPEN TO PUBLIC

THE RETURN OF MONSFFA’S SCI-FI BOOK SALE! After a five year hiatus, MonSFFA’s annual fund-raising SF/F used book sale is back! Hundreds of books at cut-rate prices! Bulk-purchase bargains! Great deals on specialty coffee-table books!
We’ll set up between 11:00AM and 12:30PM, opening doors to the public from 12:30PM until 4:00PM. Pack-up and clean up scheduled from 4:00Pm to 5:00PM.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1:00PM-5:00PM

1:00PM – REPORT ON CLUB’S SF/F BOOK SALE 2024: The club’s co-treasurers will report on October 19’s SF/F used book sale.
Presenters: Joe Aspler and L. E. Moir

1:30PM – PLANNING SESSION FOR 2025 MEETING PROGRAMMING: We will take discussion-topic suggestions and presentation ideas from the membership and begin slotting in meeting programming for the coming year, assigning presenters and moderators, as well.
We’ll be looking for a variety of topics related to science fiction or fantasy literature, comics, film and television, fandom, gaming, science fiction and fantasy art, sub-genres such as horror, weird fiction, supernatural romance, or pulp adventures, as well as areas of interest like arts and crafts, technology, the space program, astronomy, paleontology, and other sciences. We’ll also be looking for hands-on workshop suggestions and fun game ideas. Proposed subject matter should be connected to SF/F, even if only tangentially.
Assigned moderator: Keith Braithwaite

3:00PM – BREAK! Raffle, announcements, brief discussion of club business, including finalized plans for club’s Christmas Dinner and Party 2024.

3:45PM – GET A WONDERFUL LIFE: SPECULATIVE FICTION STORIES CENTERED ON CHRISTMAS AND/OR THE HOLIDAYS
With the festive season quickly approaching, we look at some of the more interesting SF/F tales of Christmas, and/or the Holidays, both in print and on screen: Moderators: L. E. Moir and Brian Knapp

4:45PM – WRAP-UP: End of meeting; we pack up and clean up, out and doors locked by 5:00PM.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 6:00PM-12:00AM (OR LATER!) MONSFFA’S CHRISTMAS DINNER AND PARTY 2024

Dinner at a downtown restaurant (to be determined) and our annual fund-raising Christmas raffle, followed by drinks and partying either at the same locale, or at a nearby bar (also to be determined)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2:00PM-4:30PM
MONSFFA’S HOLIDAY ZOOM-PARTY 2024

For out-of-town club members and friends, and those MonSFFen unable to attend the previous night’s celebration, we hold an informal get- together on ZOOM to allow an exchange of season’s greetings, and casual chat and good cheer.

Upcoming meeting

Meeting on the 26th of November

Exceptionally, our next meeting will be later than usual, and on a Sunday, November 26th.

There will be 3 presenters: Lil and Carly, Joe, and Danny.

Joe has sent us this outline:

Air Shows and Aviation Museums

by Joe Aspler, with contribution by L.E. Moir

Many SF fans are modelers and fans of old airplanes. This is a presentation on airshows and aviation museums. These include the RAF Museums (London and Cosford), the National Air and Space Museum (Washington), the USAF Museum (Dayton), the Imperial War Museum (Duxford), the RCAF Museum (Trenton), and the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (Ottawa).

During my life as a business traveller, I spent the equivalent of more than three years on the road: airplanes, airports, hotels, meetings, taxis, rental cars….. That’s one reason why I missed so many monthly MonSFFA meetings, and several ConCepts as well. One benefit at least was that I could arrange side visits. Some destinations had air museums. Other destinations even had an air show.

This is a presentation on some of those places. Note that you’re seeing only a small selection of a vast number of aircraft. All are rare, and some are irreplaceable last examples.

Upcoming meeting

The Solar System Ain’t What it Used To Be

Join us for our October 14 meeting! The first of two presentations is by Joe Aspler:

The Solar System Ain’t What it Used To Be

  From the earliest days of science fiction, space travellers travelled to the Moon, to Mars, to Venus, and to other planets as they were discovered. Early science fiction – before the late 199th century – treated the planets as just different earths. Science fictional tropes from the late 19th century right to the Space Age declared Mercury to be an oven on the side facing the sun and a freezer on the other. Venus was a planet of swamps, jungles, and dinosaurs. Mars was a cool desert planet, with all the water in the canals.

Then, science had its little say. Starting in the early 1960s, the first interplanetary probes knocked down the tropes of science fiction. Or as T.H. Huxley (1825 – 1895) put it: “The great tragedy of Science is the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.”

But have no fear, there were plenty of other ways to look at the planets … and more planets to look at.

Upcoming meeting

Hallowe’en to loom over MonSFFA meeting!

MonSFFA meets on the 14th of October, close enough to Hallowe’en for a celebration of monsters, Jack-o’-Lanterns, and their ilk.

Come costumed, bring your crafty ornaments and decorations! There  might be prizes!

All fans invited to join us at the Royal Canadian Legion branch in Lachine: 3015 Rue Henri Dunant, Lachine, H8S 1R5

Royal Canadian Legion branch in Lachine 3015 Rue Henri Dunant, Lachine, H8S 1R5
Upcoming meeting

Feb 11: Lots to talk about!

AGENDA: FEBRUARY 2023 MonSFFA Meeting

Note: Our meetings take place both on our webpage and on Zoom. To request a link to Zoom, contact <president@monsffa.ca> .

1:00PM, Post 1 of 8 (Meeting Opens!)

Release (Photos of) the Kraken! (This is a quick feature showcasing recent pictures taken of the rarely photographed giant squid, inspiration for many a sci-fi monster.)

1/72 Me263 with wooden base, Hydrocal plaster ground, static grass & Preiser figures.

1:30PM, Post 2 of 8 (We’ve Been Framed!)
Presentation—Framing Your SF/F Artwork. Keith, with membership participation presents tips on how to show off your projects to best advantage.

2:30PM, Post 3 of 8 Page and Screen: “What Are You Reading/Watching?”  (ZOOM)

wiring a model

3:00PM, Post 4 of 8 (Break): Snack Time, Virtual Display Table, Today’s Raffle Prizes (ZOOM Chat Continues)

3:15PM, Post 5 of 8 (The Purge!)
Discussion: Moderated by Cathypl–Why readers find it so hard to give up books we have loved (It’s not hoarding if it’s BOOKS!) (ZOOM) Inspired by http://www.monsffa.ca/?p=26373

4:15PM, Post 6 of 8 (Show Us Yours!)
Show-and-Tell (ZOOM Chat)

Gallery: Celebrating Famous Sci-Fi Couples (In honour of Valentine’s Day!) On line

4:45PM, Post 7 of 8 (For the Record!)
Special SF/F LP Record Offer! (Courtesy of the Legacy of Sylvain St-Pierre)

5:00PM, Post 8 of 8 (Wrap-Up!)
Thank You!

Date of Next Club e-Meeting: March 11, 13:00h. Guest speaker, Lloyd Penney

Sign-Off

Upcoming meeting

Agenda for our meeting on the 14th

MonSFFA meets on the 14th, 13h. Visitors are welcome. The meeting is on Zoom, and the link will be posted on our website at the start of the meeting. The link may also be requested by contacting <president@monsffa.ca>.

AGENDA: JANUARY 14, 2023

1:00PM (Post 1 of 8)—Introduction, ZOOM details, agenda, and predictions for 2023.

1:30PM (Post 2 of 8)—Joe Aspler’s presentation: Where We Store Our Ideas.

2:30PM (Post 3 of 8)—Show-and-Tell (Zoom) and predictions about 22023 from 1923 (Website)

3:00PM—(Post 4 of 8)—Break

3:15PM (Post 5 of 8)—Josée’s presentation (Cameos in SF/F Film and TV).

4:15PM (Post 6 of 8)—Financial and other reports, annual election of club’s executive.

4:30PM (Post 7 of 8)—What Are You Reading/Watching?

5:00PM (Post 8 of 8)—Thank you, next meeting date, wrap-up.

Upcoming meeting

January 14 meeting feature  presentation, by Joe Aspler

January 14 meeting feature  presentation, by Joe Aspler

This is a brief history of information storage. In some cases, this mean very hard copy. Humans have this need to record our thoughts. This became institutionalized through religion, bureaucracy, graffiti, Shakespeare, and science fiction. We’ve painted on cave walls, carved on stone, used animal skins, plants, and chopped up trees. Now we’re on the least archival of all: computer storage.

Where will our thoughts be a century from now? A millennium from now? Beyond that? Will our digital media fall apart faster than a pulp science fiction magazine in the hot sun?

 

Upcoming meeting

REMINDER: WE MEET SATURDAY, JUNE 4TH

WE ARE MEETING THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 4TH.

 On the Menu:

  • Improv poetry, by Kofi
  • Part 2 of Keith’s Terrors of Topanga Canyon (Part 1 is here)

Also:

  • Panning for the field trip to Rail Museum & August meeting
  • Show and tell, What are you reading/watching, Raffle

Untold Scenery, Decoded Imagery

by Kofi

Worlds intertwine

As the words do in these lines

Combine at will

Even if time were to be still

What may occur, who really knows?

Can these words and aura be the hidden device

That brings the surprise to a world never told

Where the colors are smell by the nose

Where the occurrence of the unknown

Is part of the times

Consider it commonplace

Part of being regular,

Actions aren’t seen in singular

Join us in the journey, to see what comes across our face

In this phase

Would it be familiar?

Or a whole different pace

 

Upcoming meeting

Improv Poetry at our June meeting!

Don’t forget: Our June meeting is scheduled for the 4th, a week earlier than usual,  in order to avoid conflicting with Scintillation. Our newest MonSFFAn will regale us with a session of improve poetry! Asked to send us a blurb to describe his presentation, Kofi sent us a poem!  This meeting is going to be so much fun! –cpl

Untold Scenery, Decoded Imagery


Worlds intertwine

As the words do in these lines

Combine at will

Even if time were to be still

What may occur, who really knows?

Can these words and aura be the hidden device

That brings the surprise to a world never told

Where the colors are smell by the nose

Where the occurrence of the unknown

Is part of the times

Consider it commonplace

Part of being regular,

Actions aren’t seen in singular

Join us in the journey, to see what comes across our face

In this phase

Would it be familiar?

Or a whole different pace

–Kofi