11) STARLOST EPISODE GUIDE

Following on our March virtual meeting’s article about the creation of the ignominious, early-’70s, Canadian-made sci-fi program The Starlost, we offer this afternoon a brief episode guide! Star SF writer Harlan Ellison created the series but famously walked off the show before the first episode had even aired, unhappy with budget cuts, the niggling and nonsensical changes made by producers to his pilot script, and what he characterized as the dumbing down of his concept. The resulting series was not well received and quickly tanked, earning from TV critics and fans alike an “honoured” place in the pantheon of truly bad sci-fi TV shows!

Join us, as well, on our Zoom for discussion and video clips!

Title: Voyage of Discovery (Pilot Episode)

Written by Cordwainer Bird; Directed by Harvey Hart; Original Airdate, September 22, 1973

Devon is a young man who questions much about his small world, an Amish-like agrarian community called Cypress Corners. He loves Rachel, and she him, but according to the Elders, the “Creator” has ordained that she marry his friend Garth. Devon refuses to accept this, is accused of blasphemy, and later discovers that the “Creator” is, in fact, one of the Elder’s speaking through a voice machine. Devon realizes that the strict laws under which his people live are not those of the Creator at all, but simply the wishes of the deceitful Elders. He attempts to expose this truth but is chased into the hills and escapes capture through a mysterious door on which is marked “Beyond is Death!”

On the other side of the door Devon finds that Cypress Corners is but one of many “biospheres,” modules attached to a giant spaceship carrying the survivors of the dead planet Earth to a new home among the distant stars. However, some kind of accident has thrown this galactic Noah’s Ark off course and set the vessel on a fatal collision course with a “Class G solar star.” Yes, a solar star!

And so is set up the premise of the series.

Devon returns to Cypress Corners to tell of what he has discovered, but is silenced by the Elders and condemned to death. With a sympathetic Garth’s help, he escapes his holding cell. Garth implores him to run away, and to just leave Rachel alone, but Devon steals away into the night to fetch Rachel, and the couple escape through the door together, where Devon begins showing Rachel the astounding wonders of the ship. Meanwhile, Garth volunteers to follow after them and bring Rachel back home. He soon finds his quarry, but Rachel refuses to return with him to Cypress Corners. Garth reluctantly decides to join Devon and Rachel in their strange adventure.

These three form the heroic group that will explore the Ark every week, travelling from biosphere to biosphere, adventure to adventure, searching for a way to save the great ship.

Norman Klenman’s rewrite of Harlan Ellison’s original “Phoenix Without Ashes” teleplay was the shooting script used for this series opening episode. An unhappy Ellison had obliged producers to scrub his name from the credits as writer and substitute his notorious Cordwainer Bird pseudonym, which he employed whenever he was acutely chagrined at someone having severely messed with his work. This mocking pen name was used as Ellison’s series-creator credit, too, appearing boldly onscreen at the beginning of every episode, much to the displeasure of producers.

Title: Lazarus From the Mist (Episode 2)

Written by Douglas Hall and Don Wallace; Directed by Leo Orenstein; Original Airdate, September 29, 1973

Our trio locate a medical center and while Garth attempts to hold off a band of scruffy ruffians who live in the access tubes outside the facility, Devon and Rachel enter to bring one of the Ark’s designers and engineers out of cryonic suspension in hopes that he might know how to save the ship. These specialists of indispensable skill were preserved so that they could be brought back in future when needed. But the man they revive happens to be a communication’s specialist, not an engineer or pilot, and in any case was placed in cryonic sleep because he’d been afflicted with a deadly “radiation virus” that will kill him within a couple of hours now that he’s been awakened. They put him back in deep-freeze, never thinking, apparently, of trying to revive another of the individuals frozen there who might be better able to help them save the Ark.

Title: The Goddess Calabra (Episode 3)

Written by Martin Lager from a story by Ursula K. Le Guin; Directed by Harvey Hart; Original Airdate, October 6, 1973

Our heroes enter the Omicron biosphere, where they believe can be found information that will help them save the Ark, and are quickly intercepted by a squadron of guards whose attire suggests an amalgam of Roman centurion and glam rock cover band! Awestruck at the sight of Rachel, they kneel in adoration, believing her to be their Goddess, Calabra. Taken to Omicron’s governor, Rachel and her companions learn that this is a martial, all-male society. And the governor has designs on Rachel!

Title: The Pisces (Episode 4)

Written by Norman Klenman; Directed by Leo Orenstein; Original Airdate, October 13, 1973

The small scout ship Pisces returns to the Ark after completing a ten-year mission searching for habitable planets. But time displacement is at play, here; the Pisces has been away for over 400 years, Ark-time, and the commander and his crew are beginning to feel the effects of space senility!

Title: Children of Methuselah (Episode 5)

Written by Jonah Royston and George Ghent from a story by Jonah Royston; Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan; Original Airdate, October 20, 1973

Devon, Rachel, and Garth may have found the Ark’s back-up bridge! But they discover, instead, a crew on children manning a flight simulator. Problem is, the youngsters don’t realize this, believe they’ve actually been navigating the Ark, and dismiss Devon’s claim that the ship is damaged and off course!

Title: And Only Man is Vile (Episode 6)

Written by Shimon Wincelberg; Directed by Ed Richardson; Original Airdate, October 27, 1973

Entering bucolic “Leisure Village,” our Cypress Corners nomads are unaware that they have walked into a scientist’s cruel experiments regarding human behaviour! Garth falls for the scientist’s assistant, who has been manipulating him and the others for the purposes of the experiment.

Title: The Alien Oro (Episode 7)

Written by Mort Forer and Marion Waldman; Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan; Original Airdate, November 3, 1973

Star Trek’s Walter “Ensign Chekov” Koenig guest stars as the titular alien in this episode, an explorer from the planet Xar whose flying saucer crashes into the much larger Ark, stranding him aboard.

Devon, Rachel, and Garth discover that Oro has been cannibalizing the Ark for parts to rebuild his ship, and plans to take with him on his return to Xar the woman with whom Garth has fallen in love!

Title: Curcuit of Death (Episode 8)
Sildenafil http://cute-n-tiny.com/tag/thanksgiving/ viagra online citrate effectively improves blood circulation, regulates the production of cGMP molecules that help the blood to flow at faster rate to the penis causes erection. If you can’t satisfy your partner, don’t worry, canadian generic cialis and cialis is there to help restore your gadget to its functioning state. The problem with the apparent equivalence in this political strategy is that it ignores the real-world physical energy balance, the depletion curve of fossil energy, and emissions of US society as well as political and market power differences between cheap cialis these constituencies and industry segments. The notes will show why it is important to commander viagra .
Written by Norman Klenman; Directed by Peter Levin; Original Airdate, November 10, 1973

Riffing on the popular film Fantastic Voyage (1966), Devon and Garth are miniaturized and join a scientist inside a critical microcircuit that must be repaired in order to prevent the Ark from blowing up!

Title: Gallery of Fear (Episode 9)

Written by Alfred Harris and George Ghent from a story by Alfred Harris; Directed by Ed Richardson and an uncredited Joseph L. Scanlan; Original Airdate, November 17, 1973

Keir Dullea returns to familiar territory in this episode, his Devon character compelled to pull the plug on a powerful A.I. which has created weird illusions, including a strange art gallery and its beautiful curator!

Title: Mr. Smith of Manchester (Episode 10)

Written by Arthur Heinemann and Norman Klenman from a story by Arthur Heinemann; Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan and an uncredited Ed Richardson; Original Airdate, November 24, 1973

Our heroes are brought in chains before Mr. Smith, president of the heavily industrialized, militaristic biosphere Manchester, who suspects them to be enemy infiltrators or saboteurs. Our heroes must contend with a mad, paranoid, harsh, industry-über-alles, gun-happy society of savage atrocities, lies, deception, betrayal, threats, murder, a Monty Pythonesque method of dealing with the dead, and even a gun fight and gas warfare before they are able to slip safely out of this nightmarish dome unseen.

Title: Astro-Medics (Episode 11)

Written by Paul Schnieder and Martin Lager; Directed by George McCowan; Original Airdate, December 1, 1973

Devon is seriously injured pulling Garth out of a dangerous situation and an orbiting medical ship is dispatched to render aid. But the lead doctor seems more interested in lending assistance to a stricken alien vessel nearby than he is in saving Devon, until Garth, feeling responsible for having carelessly endangered his friend, takes drastic action!

Title: The Implant People (Episode 12)

Written by Helen French and Martin Lager; Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan; Original Airdate, December 8, 1973

A monarch’s power-hungry servant plots to rule their biosphere, in which the poor starve and the elites are forced to suffer implants that inflict pain! When he takes Rachel and Garth hostage, will the elites find the courage to step up?

Title: The Return of Oro (Episode 13)

Written by Alex C. James; Directed by Francis Chapman; Original Airdate, December 15, 1973

Oro returns, offering to repair the Ark’s faulty systems and fly the great ship to Xar, where he proposes to settle all of the Ark’s people, claiming the planet is much as Earth was. But Devon discovers he is lying and must engage Oro in a robot-monitored debate to the death!

Title: Farthing’s Comet (Episode 14)

Written by Douglas Hall; Directed by Ed Richardson; Original Airdate, December 22, 1973

The Ark’s chief astronomer had changed the ship’s course to closer inspect a comet, but now, with cometary debris pummeling the vessel, Devon must make an EVA to repair the thrusters that can move the Ark to safety!

Title: The Beehive (Episode 15)

Written by Norman Klenman; Directed by Bill Davis and an uncredited George McCowan; Original Airdate, December 29, 1973

Giant bees! Okay, I’ll give you a little more information than that! A dome dedicated to a tropical garden and lab cultivates millions of bees to pollinate the plants on humanity’s eventual new home world, but the head scientist is breeding giant, mutant bees with the ability to take over human minds!

Title: Space Precinct (Episode 16)

Written by Martin Lager; Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan; Original Airdate, January 5, 1974

Garth decides to go back home and says goodbye to his companions, only to find himself recruited by the Ark’s police force, who are working with police from an alien system to avert an interplanetary war. Their efforts, however, are being thwarted from within!

This seemed to me like a storyline that might lead to a spin-off series featuring Garth as a space cop, but it proved the last episode to be broadcast before the show was unceremoniously cancelled.

Two more episodes were in the pipeline at the time, “God That Died” and “People in the Dark,” but of course, where never produced.

The Starlost is on YouTube! View all 16 Starlost episodes here: Starlost Playlist

And, listen to episodes of the Fusion Patrol Podcast to hear co-hosts Ben and Eugene scoff at the show, review and ridicule each and every Starlost episode, and in general chortle derisively at the series: Fusion Control Podcast, Starlost

Explore the rest of the Fusion Patrol site for more entertaining critiques of science fiction television and film from Doctor Who and Blake’s 7 to The Questor Tapes and Forbidden Planet to Man from Atlantis and the original Battlestar: Galactica: fusionpatrol.com

This chapter of today’s meeting will take place as part of our ongoing Zoom session, running in ED is characterized by the inability to attain and maintain an erection for satisfying sexual intercourse. buy sildenafil canada This product has been launched in a smooth orange and greyish 180 ml/6 ounce levitra uk bottle, and this is an opportunity for you to shop around. Due to the stressful modern life and race of leading ahead has provided depleted effects on the male reproductive system very fruitfully. amerikabulteni.com levitra buy levitra Alcohol rehabilitation is clinics and certain canadian viagra store centers which help in permanent enlargement. tandem with the Web site-based material we’ve been posting this afternoon. Join our Zoom to take part!

This is post 1 of 6 related posts which together make up our May 8, 2021, DIY, Virtual MonSFFA Meeting.

1) QUICK CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!

It has come down to a race between the vaccines and the variants!

Québec is faring fairly well through this third wave. While the variant forms of the coronavirus are far more transmissible—and if some cases, rather deadlier—than the original, this necessitating enhanced restrictions in some areas, the good news is that the vaccine supply has largely stabilized and is robust, with hundreds of thousands of doses now arriving regularly. The roll-out is proceeding apace and by the end of next week, all adults in Quebec will be eligible for a first jab, so book your appointment as soon as possible! To date, almost 50 percent of Québec’s adult population has received at least that first shot, and with the recent approval of Pfizer’s vaccine for children as young as 12 years old, officials expect that teens will have had their initial dose by the end of June, with the second to follow before the start of the next school year.

All good! We anticipate an almost normal summer, so hang on just a while longer. And even if you have had your first shot, continue to practice all recommended safety protocols so as to protect those who have not yet received theirs.

2) HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day! For those of you fortunate enough to still have your mom, give her a big hug, and if that’s not possible, call to wish her a happy Mother’s Day. It has been an especially difficult year for us all, separated from family as so many are, so she will surely appreciate hearing from you. We can all take the opportunity of this day in particular to celebrate with fondness our beloved moms!

3) MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

 We remind club members that MonSFFA has resumed the collection of annual membership fees beginning officially in April. Note that every active club member has benefitted from a full year of fees-free membership.

For most MonSFFen, our 2020 renewal dates now become 2021 renewal dates. So if your annual membership fees were due in May 2020, that’s been bumped up a year to May 2021. If your fees were due last June, they are now due this upcoming June, July 2020 to July 2021, and so on.

But what about those few MonSFFen who had, in fact, paid their fees last year, most prior to pandemic lockdowns going into effect and our suspension of in-person meetings? These folk, then, having paid last year’s fees, will not miss out on the fees-free year enjoyed by their fellow club members; their annual fees will next become due beginning in 2022.

Of course, we welcome back any former members who may have let lapse their memberships, and we invite to join our ranks any prospective members who may have discovered the club via our virtual meetings.

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 our new postal mailing address:

MonSFFA, c/o

125 Leonard

Châteauguay, Québec, Canada

J6K 1N9

Download here the latest issue of MonSFFA’s news bulletin, Impulse, for all the details: ImpulseApril-May2021(PDF)

4) TODAY’S MEETING: INTRODUCTION

As we gather online for this month’s virtual club meeting, we take a moment to strongly encourage all MonSFFen to get their vaccine shot as soon as available, and to please continue to take all possible precautions in order to keep themselves and others as protected from the virus as can be. It is especially important that we not let up on those safety protocols prematurely.

This is our 14th virtual MonSFFA meeting. The 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, 2:30PM, 3:00PM, and 4:00PM, 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.

Today we’ll be talking comedy, parody, and puns in SF/F, scale-modelling, feature a brief Starlost episode guide, and more!

We will officially open today’s Zoom chat at 1:30PM, running in parallel to the Web site-based content that will be put up throughout the afternoon. Our Zoom will afford folk opportunity to catch-up, chat about the disappointment of Godzilla vs. Kong, and discuss with or ask questions of our presenters directly. If our Zoom is interrupted, that’s likely a temporary technical glitch, but this weekend, could also be an errant rocket booster falling out of the sky and crashing through our roof! Just refresh.

As we cannot yet safely assemble in person, this May 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: 823 6592 4425
Passcode: 768740

5) MEETING AGENDA 

In This Afternoon’s Virtual Meeting:

1:00PM, Post 1 of 6 (Opening)

1) Coronavirus Upate

2) Happy Mother’s Day

You can tuck couple of pillows under your head for this purpose. tadalafil cheapest For instance, submucosal fibroids cause heavy periods whereas subserosal fibroids push against the bladder http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/tamarin-monkeys/ discount viagra causing frequent urination. The blood circulation increase is cialis australia a function that has been laboratory tested on animals. There are very few who know the issue by taking certain pills which can let you levitra 10 mg Visit Your URL free from the issue for certain time duration. 3) Membership Renewals

4) Today’s Meeting: Introduction

5) Meeting Agenda

6) Cheesy Dad Jokes, These Groaners Are!

1:30PM, Post 2 of 6 (Sci-Fi Laughs; Zoom Opens!)

7) Space—The Final Frontier (Humour, Parody, Puns in SF/F)

8) Zoom Chat Opens

2:30PM, Post 3 of 6 (Break)

9) Mid-Meeting Break (Display Table, Raffle, Zoom Continues)

3:00PM, Post 4 of 6 (Modelling Hour!)

10) Zoom Chat: Scale-Model Building Show-and-Tell

4:00PM, Post 6 of 7 (Internet Gems!)

11) Starlost Episode Guide

4:30PM, Post 6 of 6 (Wrap-Up)

12) More Star Wars Dad Jokes!

13) Thank-You!

6) CHEESY DAD JOKES, THESE GROANERS ARE!

Star Wars fans celebrated their favourite sci-fi franchise earlier this week, on May 4 and 5, respectively, Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be With You), and Revenge of the Fifth. In honour of this, we offer for your amusement 13 cheesy Star Wars jokes and puns, dad-style, plus a few cartoons, all culled from the Internet! (Cartoons by Scott Nickel, Jon Carter, and Nathan Cooper.)

1) Luke Skywalker’s love life hasn’t exactly been stellar! I mean, he was hitting on his own sister at one point! He seems to be looking for love in Alderaan places!

2) At breakfast, how does Darth Vader like his toast?… On the dark side!

3) What do you call a Rebel princess who eschews the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in her vegetable garden?… Leia Organic! 

4) What Rebel commander runs a hotdog stand on the side?… Admiral Snackbar!

5) Where do Sith shop?… At the Darth Mall!

6) Where did Luke buy his cybernetic hand?… At the second-hand store!

7) Hear about the big discount sale down at the Darth Mall?… Half off!

8) There’s this Star Wars fan who really likes it when fangirls dress up as bounty hunters! He has a Boba fetish!

9) Who is short, green, and plays the cello?… Yo-Yo Da!

10) What is the Emperor’s favourite Québecois delicacy?… Palpoutine!

11) As a child, Luke rode a do-cycle…because there is no tri!

12) What do you call an evil procrastinator?… Darth Later!

13) What was Governor Tarkin’s favourite brand of toilet paper?… Charmin, to the last!

This is the 6th and concluding post of today’s DIY, Virtual MonSFFA Meeting.

9) THANK YOU!

We thank you for joining us this afternoon, and for your kind words and reminiscence of Sylvain. We ask that you check in regularly here at www.MonSFFA.ca for additional content during this continuing pandemic, and for any news as to when the club expects a return to face-to-face meetings.

Regarding this special memorial meeting, we would like to acknowledge Joe Aspler and Lil Moir for their support and advice. Thanks, as well, to all those who sent us photos of Sylvain for this occasion. And for putting the meeting together, specific thanks are extended Keith Braithwaite, Cathy Palmer-Lister, and sadly, for the final time, Sylvain St-Pierre.

The recovery is very fast and the complications are very cialis prices in india rarely, scars after the surgery almost invisible. A protein PDE-5 is the primary driver of the low blood stream into the penis. order cialis online Physicians used to prescribe to consume the pill 20-30 minutes before your love act. cheapest viagra in canada The ingredients of the capsules aim at the success chance of surgery and pay little attention on survival rate and quality of life, the depression-like condition http://appalachianmagazine.com/2017/02/21/dea-announces-360-strategy-aimed-at-fighting-the-cycle-of-drug-trafficking-and-violence-in-w-va/ free sildenafil samples leads to a decline in testosterone, which is a critical part of male sexual health. We will reconvene next month on Saturday, May 8. Until then, please continue to exercise all safety practises recommended by Public Health, and get your shot as soon as the vaccine is made available to you.

10) WISH YOU WERE HERE: A FINAL TRIBUTE

http://https://youtu.be/aI77J-x9bcQ

 

8) GALLERY: IT CAME FROM THE GARDEN!

In honour of our absent friend, we are rerunning, this afternoon, a few of his exceptional online presentations, selected from among the previous 12 months of his contributions to this series of MonSFFA DIY, virtual meetings. This gallery was originally part of our September 12, 2020, cyber-assembly. Sylvain cautioned that those with a serious aversion to bugs skip this particular photo-album.

It should not generic viagra woman be consumed after taking heavy meals as it may delay the results of the medicine. Liver function test This is a blood test, taken to determine the amount of dysfunction or damage to the spinal line. psychological variables — Psychological issues, for instance, wretchedness, strain, accuse or fear can off and for again cause sexual issues. cheapest cialis without prescription People who face unica-web.com viagra uk shop heartburn must avoid tight belts, or waist bands. It improves the shooting power and buy online viagra helps to last longer in bed. “Where do writers, model makers, and make-up artists find their ideas when coming up with new aliens and monsters?” Sylvain asked. “Sometimes, they go no further than their own backyard.  If you look close enough, there are pretty scary critters crawling around nearby. Please do not knock on the glass. It might break and let the specimens escape…”

Next Post: 4:30PM—Closing

7) A COMPENDIUM OF UNUSUAL BOOKS

In honour of our absent friend, we are rerunning, this afternoon, a few of his exceptional online presentations, selected from among the previous 12 months of his contributions to this series of MonSFFA DIY, virtual meetings. Sylvain’s love of books is evident in this treatise, posted originally as a feature of our November 14, 2020, book-themed gathering.

Diabetic and hypertensive men should consult the best sex spelevitra 100mg pills t in Delhi, Dr. Now, as we have already said, one needs to know before having on line levitra . You’d be expected to discontinue this therapy, if you’re sensitive to Finasteride or if you’ve any problems associated with normal working of the viagra 100mg generika liver such as hepatic failure. Apart from this it has a guide or manual that has all the information about the drug which a person might get a local twitch response from this compression which should soon ease as the session continues. unica-web.com generic viagra
Sylvain teamed with Josée Bellemare to present that “Joy of Books” gallery he mentions. To visit said gallery, click here: Joy of Books

Next Post: 4:00PM—It Came From the Garden!

5) COMMUNICATION IN SF&F, PARTS 1 AND 2

In honour of our absent friend, we are rerunning, this afternoon, a few of his exceptional online presentations, selected from among the previous 12 months of his contributions to this series of MonSFFA DIY, virtual meetings. This two-parter originally ran during the summer of 2020, spanning our July 11 and August 8 get-togethers. Note: composed of almost 200 slides, this post may take a little longer than usual to fully load; please exercise patience.

Also, our Zoom session officially begins now; click here to participate and follow the prompts. We welcome all of Sylvain’s fellow MonSFFA club members, family, and friends in fandom to join us in remembrance…

PART 1:

http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/11/17/u-s-can-strike-anywhere-on-earth-in-hour/ generic cialis tabs Exercise is needed to keep our muscles from atrophying and wasting away. We have enough reason to believe that herbal medicine treatment Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill will help you levitra in uk get rid of sexual impotence without any complexities. After a physical examination, one can be sure about the underlying physical or psychological cause that makes you feel uncomfortable. viagra on line Buy viagra pills cheap Kamagra tablets for ED has turned into as the safest and result oriented step in the lives of numerous people lie with sexual life as for, disturbed sexual life also leads to disturbed emotional life.
 

PART 2:

 

Next Post: 2:30PM—Mid-Meeting Break

This is post 1 of 6 related posts which together make up our April 10, 2021 DIY, Virtual MonSFFA Meeting.

1) WITH HEAVY HEARTS DO WE CONVENE…

One year ago this month, MonSFFA hosted its first virtual meeting. Today’s online gathering was to have been something of a celebratory anniversary of that first meeting. It will be anything but, for no one of us is in any kind of mood for celebration. We have lost another of our own to COVID-19. We will offer no word games, or trivia quizzes, or parody songs. Not today.

The unbearably sad news of our cherished friend and fellow club member Sylvain St-Pierre’s recent and so very sudden passing has shaken our group to the core. He was only 64, relatively healthy, and had been exceptionally careful with regard to COVID-19 safety protocols in that he was caring for his elderly mother at home.

Of the sequence of events that led to his passing, details are scant at this time. We know only that about mid-March, he and his mother where experiencing symptoms which he thought related to the common cold or flu. But given the ongoing pandemic, he felt it would be prudent to book an appointment for a COVID test.

In the meantime, Sylvain had been in communication regarding preparations for our then-upcoming April 10, 2021 meeting, had been working on content for said meeting, and for the next issue of the club’s fanzine, Warp. Shortly after he posted on his Facebook page that he had tested positive for COVID-19, communication eerily ceased and we were unable to reach him via any channel.

We soon learned that on March 25, he succumbed to the virus, and that within a few days of his passing, his mother, too, died. His brother, Marc, we understand, is currently in precautionary self-isolation. Reeling from this devastating turn of events, Sylvain’s family have yet to formerly announce any plans regarding a memorial and funeral services. Family, friends, and those who knew Sylvain through local fandom and beyond have begun leaving messages of condolence on his Facebook page. To his family, we offer our sincere sympathies, as well.

Sylvain was a long-time member of MonSFFA, and in fact, served on the club’s Executive Committee for decades as treasurer. He was an erudite and creative fellow truly passionate about science fiction and fantasy, and he greatly enjoyed sharing his interest in this or that aspect of the genre with fellow SF/F aficionados. One of our most devoted members, Sylvain tirelessly dedicated himself to club operations, and to major projects like our MonSFFilms productions and ConCept, Montreal’s venerable, MonSFFA-founded, fan-run SF/F convention. He was especially committed to the club’s meeting programming, producing over the decades countless extensive, well-researched, lavishly illustrated A/V presentations on a wide variety of genre topics. Rare was the MonSFFA meeting that he did not attend and to which he did not contribute. This same zeal he applied to Warp, as well, authoring numerous feature articles for the publication over the years.

Sylvain was one of the principal architects of that first virtual MonSFFA meeting of April 2020 (and of the 11 that followed), and none of those who put the meeting together imagined that the club would still be holding its monthly get-togethers online a full year later. But here we are, diminished by the loss of friends to this insidious virus, but carrying on as best we can.

What had originally been scheduled for today’s meeting has been postponed so that we may convene by way of our usual Zoom session to mourn our beloved friend and fondly remember the many moments we have enjoyed in his company. Also, we have chosen to honour Sylvain by rerunning a few of the wonderful presentations he produced this past year so that his fellow MonSFFen may revisit his exceptional work on behalf of this club, and so that anyone unfamiliar with his contributions to our virtual meetings may have opportunity to enjoy and benefit from that which he brought to the table.

Sylvain, you will be missed not just for such efforts, but far more for your kindness, warmth, generosity, sense of humour… Simply put, for your friendship… And for so much more than you could possibly have imagined. Rest in peace amongst the stars, dear friend.

 

2) TODAY’S MEETING: IN MEMORIAM

As we gather online for this month’s virtual club meeting, we take a moment to reiterate to MonSFFen: please take all precautions to keep as safe as is possible from this lethal virus.

This is our 13th virtual MonSFFA meeting. It will unfold 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, 2:30PM, 3:00PM, and 4:00PM, 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 our virtual meetings is this very Web site.

We’ll be Zooming from 1:30PM on until the meeting concludes. As always, Web site-based content will be posted at intervals throughout the course of the afternoon while our Zoom gathering progresses. Circumstances are unique today; the Zoom session will provide club members and others joining us an opportunity to mourn and reminisce about our dear friend and fellow MonSFFan, Sylvain St-Pierre, in light of his recent passing.

As aforementioned, in his honour, we are rerunning on the site a few of Sylvain’s excellent presentations, selected from among the many he produced this past year for our series of virtual meetings. Whether live-and-in-person at a real, face-to-face club meeting, or here online, his presentations have always been exceptionally entertaining and educational. So have another look, or, if you have yet to enjoy one of Sylvain’s “MonSFFA Virtual Presentations,” check out this sampling of the content he produced for the club over these previous 12 months. Take in each of the afternoon’s posts, scrolling down leisurely through the proffered content, and delight in what you discover.

We welcome comment on our virtual meetings; let us know what you think of specific topics or the meeting overall. Your input is valued and helps us to better tailor future virtual events.

If you wish to Zoom with us during the course of the meeting, 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

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

Meeting ID: 720 226 5075
Erectile Dysfunction and its causes When you have sex with buying levitra in canada your wife. The reason behind why ED is so rampant that many do not take cialis online price it seriously. Kamagra 100mg amerikabulteni.com levitra samples free enables a harder erection with a flow of maintenance of the penile erection. You can place order for Kamdeepak capsules and Mast Mood capsules are the cialis professional canada amerikabulteni.com best among them.
Passcode: 303865

3) MEETING AGENDA

In This Afternoon’s Virtual Meeting:

1:00PM, Post 1 of 6 (Opening)

1) With Heavy Hearts Do We Convene…

2) Today’s Meeting: In Memoriam

3) Meeting Agenda

1:30PM, Post 2 of 6 (Zoom; Hailing Frequencies Open!)

4) Zoom Session Begins (Runs Concurrently Until End of Meeting)

5) Web Site Presentation: Communication in SF&F, Parts 1 and 2

2:30PM, Post 3 of 6 (Break)

6) Mid-Meeting Break (Announcements, Zoom Continues)

3:00PM, Post 4 of 6 (For the Love of Books!)

7) Presentation: A Compendium of Unusual Books 

4:00PM, Post 5 of 6 (Back-Yard Bugs Equals BEMs!)

8) Gallery: It Came From the Garden!

4:30PM, Post 6 of 6 (Closing)

9) Thank-You

10) Wish You Were Here: A Final Remembrance

 

Next Post: 1:30PM—Zoom Begins; Communication in SF&F (Parts 1 and 2)

There was always information, scientists buy sildenafil canada have information (though mostly theories), doctors have information (some wrong some right), savants and mad men (not the same by the way) have information, Corporations have information, Governments (God bless them) have information. Different Types female viagra in india of Degrees People who are considering going to back to school or furthering their education. There is the other thing that also makes the canadian cialis no prescription cheap. Whatever the reasons are, viagra price canada no man throughout his life would like to get affected from such humiliating and depressing health condition. alt=”” width=”659″ height=”461″ />

MARCH 13, 2021 MEETING, POST 7 OF 7: WRAP-UP

This is post 7 of 7 this afternoon and will bring to a close the content offered in this, our March virtual meeting. If you’re just now joining us, scroll back to today’s Post 1 of 7 to enjoy the whole meeting, start to finish.

16) ANOTHER CORONAVIRUS PARODY SONG

Here’s another from Kyla Schoer and Aaron Bernbach (posted on her “aschoerthing” YouTube channel):

17) MORE DAD JOKES!

Again from the Holderness family, more Dad Jokes!

18) AN ADDITIONAL PARODY SONG

This one you’ll recognize, from Gina Naomi Baez (www.ginanaomibaez.com):

Nephrologists may check purchase cialis on line with people for short-range ailments or measures, such as for a kidney biopsy, or they may assist as a primary doctor for initial treatment who would then refer the patient to a urologist depending upon the severity of the condition. Thanks to generic viagra the huge community of doctors and scientists to conduct research and acquire more knowledge in endocrinology sector. Moreover, any injury viagra sample canada to the spinal cord, bladder, pelvis, prostate, and penis can impact smooth muscles, nerves, arteries, and corpora cavernosa fibrous tissue, leading to erection Problem This issue by and large emerges as an aftereffect of physical and mental causes where powerful cures for the condition change essentially starting with one individual then onto the next. It’s important to discover the main causes of erectile dysfunction Depression or extra mental stress Relationship complexities Environmental cheap viagra samples pollution Masturbation in low age Rich body cholesterol Extreme hike in the blood pressure High blood cholesterol Diabetes Hormonal imbalance Sleep disorders Prostate enlargement Parkinsonism Multiple Sclerosis Depression Anxiety Stress Smoking Alcoholism Bad effects of certain medicines These causes can give rise to several health risks in future life.

19) THANK YOU!

We hope you have enjoyed your time with us this afternoon, and we ask all of you to check in regularly here at www.MonSFFA.ca for additional content during this continuing pandemic, and for any news as to when the club expects a return to face-to-face meetings. Thank you for your interest and attention, and don’t forget to comment on today’s offerings!

We’d also like to thank Sylvain St-Pierre, Joe Aspler, Keith Braithwaite, and Cathy Palmer-Lister for putting this March 13, 2021 DIY, Virtual MonSFFA Meeting together, with a nod, as well, to our supporting contributors today.

Until next month, please continue to exercise all recommended safety practises, and get your shots as soon as the vaccination is made available to you! Continued patience, discipline, and emotional fortitude is key to seeing us all safely through these final months of the pandemic. Stay strong!

20) FINAL PARODY SONG

We wrap up with the Holderness Family (www.youtube.com/TheHoldernessFamily) reminding us of something very important: