1) INTRODUCTION
Welcome to MonSFFA’s September 2025 meeting! We are gathering, today, in the “Faubourg” room of our downtown meeting locale, Le Nouvel Hotel, 1740 René-Lévesque Ouest (corner St-Mathieu).
But out-of-towners, as always, may join our ZOOM-chat and take part in the meeting from home!
Proceedings will be getting underway shortly.
To join our ZOOM-chat and take part online this afternoon, see the instructions, 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 publish the date of the next 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: 820 2454 1479
Passcode: 764250
ZOOM has introduced a new feature. Those who wish to ingratiate themselves before our eventual robot overlords sooner rather than later may avail themselves of ZOOM’s “AI Companion.” But before clicking, here, we remind you that the future is not set, and that there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.
ZOOM’s AI Companion
3) MEETING THEME FOR SEPTEMBER 2025
Meeting Theme: We welcome a guest speaker on this occasion, on the topic of exoplanets, and encourage MonSFFen to have ready for our guest their questions about these celestial wanderers!
4) THIS AFTERNOON’S AGENDA
Today’s programming is scheduled to unfold thusly:
1:00PM – Guest Speaker on Exoplanets!
Is there another “Earth” out there ripe for exploration, and exploitation? We welcome guest speaker Riley Rosener on the topic of exoplanets. Riley, a long-time fan of science fiction, is currently researching the detection and characterization of exoplanets at Université de Montréal.
2:00 – The Life, Times, and Music of Tom Lehrer!
An overview of the man who famously set the Periodic Table of Elements to music. Expect a sing-a-long!
Musician, satirist, and mathematician Tom Lehrer, who passed away this summer at age 97, was a young prodigy in the era of white bread, crewcuts, and Father Knows Best. He sang to middle-class America of STDs, World War III, and one-time SS officer Dr. Werner von Braun, among other varied subjects. Lehrer counted Princess Margaret among his fans, which boosted his profile in Britain, although most of his songs could not be played on the BBC—his records became best-sellers as a result!
Lehrer’s musical influences included Gilbert and Sullivan, and Broadway show tunes, and he, in turn, influenced Dr. Demento and Weird Al Yankovic. With no family to follow him, he released all of his works into the public domain; his songs are available, now, for everyone to enjoy, including we MonSFFen, this afternoon!
3:00PM – Break
Brief discussion of our upcoming book sale (volunteers needed!), other announcements, and raffle.
3:30PM – Precognition, Prophesy, and Possibility!
We look at different ways of knowing the future, and what that does to us!
4:30PM – Final 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!
5:00PM – End 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!
Attention MonSFFA club members, as well as the greater community of SF&F fans: MonSFFA’s annual Super Sci-Fi Book Sale will take place just 24 days from now (that’s in the future!), on Saturday, October 25!
