Looking forward to our May 10th meeting!

 The Cartoons of Tom Gauld: SF, fantasy, literature, and commentary. And books.  

Tom Gauld (born 1976) is an astonishingly prolific Scottish cartoonist. His cartoons cover a wide range: science, science fiction, fantasy, role playing games, classic literature, politics, and more. Gauld happily combines different genres in a single cartoon. Vampire tropes – and modern politics. Classic literature – and science fiction. Fantasy – and the reality of television. Not only does Gauld love books – he also loves booklovers.

He publishes in major newspapers and magazines including The New Scientist, The Guardian, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and more. His work has been collected in more than 20 books.

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.

Joe sends us these pictures of our probable new meeting place. We have a trial run scheduled for August 12, two presentations. Fingers crossed that the Zoom works for us here!

Royal Canadian Legion

3015, rue Henri-Dunant,
Lachine, Qc,
H8S 1R5

It’s 37 minutes travel time (including a short walk) from the Lionel Groulx Metro: 191 bus.

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.)

1:30PM, 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)

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

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.

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?

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