All posts by Keith Braithwaite

Club Meets Next This Saturday, March 14!

MonSFFA’s next meeting is scheduled to take place in just a few days, on Saturday, March 14, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM! Note that we are returning to our downtown function space at the Nouvel Hotel beginning with this March meeting! As usual, out-of-town club members may take part online via ZOOM; you may gather online a half-hour early, at 12:30PM, just to give you an opportunity to settle in before the meeting officially begins at 1:00PM.

March Meeting Theme:

As a tie-in to our lead presentation, we’re asking folk to bring in, for our display table, any Alien merchandise they may possess—books, posters, action figures, scale models, games, etc.

On the Agenda:

They Mostly Come at Night…

Mostly. We explore the popular Alien franchise, launched in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi/horror film. In space, no one can hear humanity’s collective scream when faced with one of the genre’s most terrifying interstellar monsters!

Architectural Exemplars and Curiosities on the SF Screen

We showcase a few noteworthy buildings and avant-garde architectural marvels featured as representations of the future on the SF screen!

Telepathy

A staple of paranormal belief, telepathy is examined from the perspective of true believers. Meanwhile, across many stories over many years, SF/F has adopted this sixth sense as a story device, exploring the power of clairvoyance, and considering the ramifications of telepaths existing within a non-telepathic society.

We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible, in person or online, at our March 2026 meeting! Tell a friend; invite them to join us! And we’ll see you all this Saturday, March 14, 1:00PM-5:00PM!

Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!

March 2026 Issue of Impulse Now Available!

Attention MonSFFA Club Members!

The latest issue of our club news bulletin, Impulse (March 2026) is now available for viewing or download! Visit the “Impulse Page” of this Website, or just click here:
ImpulseMarch2026(OnlineVersion)PDF
This March 2026 and past issues of Impulse can also be viewed or downloaded via this Website; visit the “Impulse Page.”
This month’s issue publicizes our next club meeting (set for this Saturday, March 14!) and covers our recent January and February e-meetings. We’ve also included a few brief newsflashes from the greater sci-fi universe, certain to be of interest to our readers!
Enjoy this issue of Impulse!

Next Club Meeting Set For This Saturday, March 14, Downtown!

MonSFFA’s next meeting is scheduled to take place this Saturday, March 14, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM! Note that we are returning to our downtown function space at the Nouvel Hotel beginning with this March meeting! As usual, out-of-town club members may take part online via ZOOM; you may gather online a half-hour early, at 12:30PM, just to give you an opportunity to settle in before the meeting officially begins at 1:00PM.

March Meeting Theme:

As a tie-in to our lead presentation, we’re asking folk to bring in, for our display table, any Alien merchandise they may possess—books, posters, action figures, scale models, games, etc.

On the Agenda:

They Mostly Come at Night…

Mostly. We explore the popular Alien franchise, launched in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi/horror film. In space, no one can hear humanity’s collective scream when faced with one of the genre’s most terrifying interstellar monsters!

Architectural Exemplars and Curiosities on the SF Screen

We showcase a few noteworthy buildings and avant-garde architectural marvels featured as representations of the future on the SF screen!

Telepathy

A staple of paranormal belief, telepathy is examined from the perspective of true believers. Meanwhile, across many stories over many years, SF/F has adopted this sixth sense as a story device, exploring the power of clairvoyance, and considering the ramifications of telepaths existing within a non-telepathic society.

We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible, in person or online, at our March 2026 meeting! Tell a friend; invite them to join us! See you all this Saturday, March 14, 1:00PM-5:00PM!

Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!

FEBRUARY 21, 2026 CLUB e-MEETING; Post 2 of 2, 5:00PM – Thank You, Wrap-Up

5) THANK YOU

We thank Joe Aspler, Cathy Palmer-Lister, and Danny Sichel for today’s meeting programming. Thank you, as well, to all of our contributing participants, along with everyone who helped to plan and run today’s get-together. We also thank, of course, all of you who joined us here on ZOOM; don’t forget to comment on today’s get-together (MonSFFA.ca).

6) NEXT MONTH’S EVENT:

Next month, we return to our familiar meeting hall at the Nouvel Hotel, downtown. Our meeting is set for Saturday, March 14, 1:00PM-5:00PM. We’ll gather in the “Faubourg” room of the Nouvel Hotel, 1740 René-Lévesque Ouest (corner St-Mathieu). Out-of-towners, as always, may join our ZOOM-chat and take part in the meeting from home! Check in periodically here at MonSFFA.ca for updates and further content.

7) SIGN-OFF

Thank you all for taking part today. We appreciate the enthusiastic involvement of our members, and we hope to see you all again next month, when we return to our downtown meeting hall! Until then, have a good evening, a restful night, and an early Spring, thanks be to the groundhogs!

FEBRUARY 21, 2026 CLUB e-MEETING; Post 1 of 2, 12:30PM – Introduction and Agenda

1) INTRODUCTION

Welcome to MonSFFA’s February 2026 e-meeting! We are gathering, today, online via ZOOM to share our passion for sci-fi! Join our ZOOM-chat and take part from the comfort of home! Proceedings will be getting underway shortly.

To join our ZOOM-chat, see the instructions, immediately below (Item 2).

Our programming agenda begins at 1:00PM; the meeting will conclude at 5:00PM. This opening post has gone up 30 minutes before the meeting’s start time to allow folk to gather online at their leisure. A closing post will go up at 5:00PM to officially thank today’s presenters, and to preview next month’s MonSFFA event!

2) JOIN THIS AFTERNOON’S VIDEO-CHAT ON ZOOM!

To take part in this afternoon’s meeting online, join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the next few hours. Simply click here and follow the prompts: This Afternoon’s MonSFFA 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 provide it:

Meeting ID: 823 9309 2765
Passcode: 025837

Click on this link for ZOOM’s complete instructions on how to join the meeting, provided, here, as supplementary information:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/82393092765/invitations?signature=7Bkj99fZmzLbfvoT6eaQb_fWBZ7lrbS8HGz359T-AJQ

3) FEBRUARY’S MEETING THEME:

We ask folks to come prepared with two or three examples of SF/F books or films that you discovered quite by happenstance, and thoroughly enjoyed, contrary to your expectations! We’ll talk about these during today’s “Hidden Gems” discussion.

4) AGENDA:

1:00PM – Don’t Judge a Book by its Movie!

Books often translate poorly to the movie screen. We proffer examples of good SF/F books made into bad SF/F movies, and vice versa! 

2:00PM – Hidden Gems

We ask MonSFFen to offer examples of SF/F books or films serendipitously happened upon and thoroughly enjoyed; happy, accidental discoveries, real gems previously hidden and now revealed, unexpected surprises, much to the pleasure of the reader or viewer!

3:00PMBreak

Brief discussion of club business, other announcements, and raffle.

3:15PM – Sci-Fi Balderdash! (Game)

Fakes, fooling folk, and fun! Given only the title of an actual SF/F story, can you come up with a brief, two-sentence fake story synopsis for that title, one convincing enough to fool your fellow players? And, can you pick out the real synopsis from among the fakes?

4:30PMFinal Thoughts and Wrap-Up

We close the afternoon with final thoughts, questions, and commentary on today’s topics, or on other sci-fi or club-related subjects members may wish to briefly share with the group. Your feedback is always welcome, folks!

5:00PMEnd of Meeting 

Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!

The meeting officially begins at 1:00PM! Thanks for joining us today, and enjoy the afternoon!

Club e-Meeting This Afternoon, Saturday, February 21!


MonSFFA meets online via ZOOM this afternoon, Saturday, February 21, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM! We begin gathering online at 12:30PM, just to give people an opportunity to settle in before the meeting officially begins at 1:00PM. (See details on how to ZOOM with us, end of this post.)

This will be the last of our winter e-meetings in 2026; next month, we return to our usual downtown meeting hall at the Nouvel Hotel on René-Lévesque Ouest.

February’s Meeting Theme:

We ask folks to come prepared with two or three examples of SF/F books or films that you discovered quite by happenstance, and thoroughly enjoyed, contrary to your expectations! We’ll talk about these during today’s “Hidden Gems” discussion.

On the Agenda:

Don’t Judge a Book by its Movie!

Books often translate poorly to the movie screen. We proffer examples of good SF/F books made into bad SF/F movies, and vice versa!

Hidden Gems

We ask MonSFFen to offer examples of SF/F books or films serendipitously happened upon and thoroughly enjoyed; happy, accidental discoveries, real gems previously hidden and now revealed, unexpected surprises, much to the pleasure of the reader or viewer!

Sci-Fi Balderdash! (Game)

Fakes, fooling folk, and fun! Given only the title of an actual SF/F story, can you come up with a brief, two-sentence fake story synopsis for that title, one convincing enough to fool your fellow players? And, can you pick out the real synopsis from among the fakes? 

We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on ZOOM for this February 2026 e-meeting! Tell a friend; invite them to join in! We’ll see you all this afternoon, Saturday, February 21, 1:00PM-5:00PM! 

Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!

How to ZOOM With Us This Afternoon:

To take part in this afternoon’s e-meeting, join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the course of the meeting. Here is the URL you will need; enter it into your browser, and follow the prompts:

Topic: MonSFFA’s ZOOM e-Meeting
Time: February 21, 2026, 13:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82393092765?pwd=iMj81jvgrODV2C1tMBmf51EivFbjdk.1

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.

Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to provide it:

Meeting ID: 823 9309 2765
Passcode: 025837

Provided as additional, supplementary information, here are ZOOM’s complete instructions on how to join the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/82393092765/invitations?signature=7Bkj99fZmzLbfvoT6eaQb_fWBZ7lrbS8HGz359T-AJQ

 

Next Club e-Meeting Set For Tomorrow, Saturday, February 21!


MonSFFA’s next e-meeting is scheduled to take place on ZOOM tomorrow, Saturday, February 21, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM! We begin gathering online at 12:30PM, just to give people an opportunity to settle in before the meeting officially begins at 1:00PM. (See details on how to ZOOM with us, end of this post.)

This will be the last of our winter e-meetings in 2026; next month, we return to our usual downtown meeting hall at the Nouvel Hotel on René-Lévesque Ouest.

February’s Meeting Theme:

We ask folks to come prepared with two or three examples of SF/F books or films that you discovered quite by happenstance, and thoroughly enjoyed, contrary to your expectations! We’ll talk about these during today’s “Hidden Gems” discussion.

On the Agenda:

Don’t Judge a Book by its Movie!

Books often translate poorly to the movie screen. We proffer examples of good SF/F books made into bad SF/F movies, and vice versa!

Hidden Gems

We ask MonSFFen to offer examples of SF/F books or films serendipitously happened upon and thoroughly enjoyed; happy, accidental discoveries, real gems previously hidden and now revealed, unexpected surprises, much to the pleasure of the reader or viewer!

Sci-Fi Balderdash! (Game)

Fakes, fooling folk, and fun! Given only the title of an actual SF/F story, can you come up with a brief, two-sentence fake story synopsis for that title, one convincing enough to fool your fellow players? And, can you pick out the real synopsis from among the fakes? 

We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on ZOOM for this February 2026 e-meeting! Tell a friend; invite them to join in! We’ll see you all tomorrow, Saturday, February 21, 1:00PM-5:00PM! 

Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!

How to ZOOM With Us Tomorrow:

To take part in tomorrow’s e-meeting, join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the course of the meeting. Here is the URL you will need; enter it into your browser, and follow the prompts:

Topic: MonSFFA’s ZOOM e-Meeting
Time: February 21, 2026, 13:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82393092765?pwd=iMj81jvgrODV2C1tMBmf51EivFbjdk.1

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.

Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to provide it:

Meeting ID: 823 9309 2765
Passcode: 025837

Provided as additional, supplementary information, here are ZOOM’s complete instructions on how to join the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/82393092765/invitations?signature=7Bkj99fZmzLbfvoT6eaQb_fWBZ7lrbS8HGz359T-AJQ

 

Next Club e-Meeting Set For This Saturday, February 21!

Attention People of Earth! Attention People of Earth!

MonSFFA’s next e-meeting is scheduled to take place on ZOOM this Saturday, February 21, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM! We begin gathering online at 12:30PM, just to give people an opportunity to settle in before the meeting officially begins at 1:00PM. (See details on how to ZOOM with us, end of this post.)

This will be the last of our winter e-meetings in 2026; next month, we return to our usual downtown meeting hall at the Nouvel Hotel on René-Lévesque Ouest.

February’s Meeting Theme:

We ask folks to come prepared with two or three examples of SF/F books or films that you discovered quite by happenstance, and thoroughly enjoyed, contrary to your expectations! We’ll talk about these during today’s “Hidden Gems” discussion.

On the Agenda:

Don’t Judge a Book by its Movie!

Books often translate poorly to the movie screen. We proffer examples of good SF/F books made into bad SF/F movies, and vice versa!

Hidden Gems

We ask MonSFFen to offer examples of SF/F books or films serendipitously happened upon and thoroughly enjoyed; happy, accidental discoveries, real gems previously hidden and now revealed, unexpected surprises, much to the pleasure of the reader or viewer!

Sci-Fi Balderdash! (Game)

Fakes, fooling folk, and fun! Given only the title of an actual SF/F story, can you come up with a brief, two-sentence fake story synopsis for that title, one convincing enough to fool your fellow players? And, can you pick out the real synopsis from among the fakes? 

We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on ZOOM for this February 2026 e-meeting! Tell a friend; invite them to join in! We’ll see you all this Saturday, February 21, 1:00PM-5:00PM! 

Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!

How to ZOOM With Us This Saturday:

To take part in this Saturday’s e-meeting, join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the course of the meeting. Here is the URL you will need; enter it into your browser, and follow the prompts:

Topic: MonSFFA’s ZOOM e-Meeting
Time: February 21, 2026, 13:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82393092765?pwd=iMj81jvgrODV2C1tMBmf51EivFbjdk.1

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.

Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to provide it:

Meeting ID: 823 9309 2765
Passcode: 025837

Provided as additional, supplementary information, here are ZOOM’s complete instructions on how to join the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/82393092765/invitations?signature=7Bkj99fZmzLbfvoT6eaQb_fWBZ7lrbS8HGz359T-AJQ

 

FEBRUARY 2026 ISSUE OF IMPULSE NOW AVAILABLE!

The February issue of MonSFFA’s news bulletin, Impulse, is now available, right here on this Website! Visit our “Impulse” page for this latest, as well as back issues of the news bulletin. Or, just click below:

ImpulseFebruary2026(OnlineVersion)PDF

We have a club e-Meeting scheduled for this Saturday, February 21; watch this space for further posts all about that within the next 48 hours! Meanwhile, enjoy reading this latest issue of Impulse!

JANUARY 2026 CLUB e-MEETING; Post 2 of 2, 5:00PM – Thank You, Wrap-Up

5) THANK YOU

We thank Danny Sichel, Keith Braithwaite, Joe Aspler, Cathy Palmer-Lister, and Josée Bellemare for their specific contributions today. Thank you, as well, to all of our contributing participants, along with everyone who helped to plan and run today’s e-meeting. We also thank, of course, all of you who joined us here on ZOOM; don’t forget to comment on today’s get-together (www.MonSFFA.ca).

6) NEXT MONTH’S EVENT:

MonSFFen will gather online again via ZOOM on Saturday, February 21, for our next e-meeting, set to unfold from 1:00PM to 5:00PM! Mark your calendars accordingly, and we hope to see you all then!

7) SIGN-OFF

Thank you all for taking part today. We appreciate the enthusiastic involvement of our members, and we hope to see you all again next month! Until then, be careful navigating our slippery streets and sidewalks, and keep warm!