NEXT CLUB MEETING: SATURDAY, AUGUST 17!

1:00PM-5:00PM

Le Nouvel Hotel, 1740 Boul. René-Lévesque (corner St-Mathieu), “Salle Maisonneuve” (South Tower)

…and concurrently on ZOOM! – www.MonSFFA.ca

MonSFFA’s regular meeting schedule resumes on August 17! We’ll be meeting in our usual hall, “Salle Maisonneuve,” at Le Nouvel Hotel! Le Nouvel is located on a major bus line, and is just a short walk from either Metro Guy/Concordia or Lucien-L’Allier.

Note that our new locale is only one block west of our pre-pandemic meeting place, the Hôtel Espresso (corner Guy and René-Lévesque)! We have returned to our old, familiar neighbourhood, folks! And, as always, we hope to welcome home both current and former club members, and new members, too! Come check us out!

Meeting Theme: MonSFFen are asked to offer their top picks of the genre’s coolest gizmos and gadgets, as seen on TV or in the movies, or within the pages of SF/F literature! For the purposes of this list, we’ll define a gizmo or gadget as a technological or magical device small enough to hold in one’s hands, or carry on one’s person—a Star Trek phaser or tricorder, for example, Thor’s hammer (assuming, of course, you are sufficiently worthy to wield it!), a magic wand, Excalibur, a lightsaber, Batman’s utility belt, or a Bat-a-Rang—you get the idea.

So, as cool a technological marvel as may be the starship Enterprise, the Batmobile, Iron Man’s suit, the Seaview, the Millennium Falcon, Clarke’s Orbital Tower (space elevator) or Niven’s Ringworld, they are too big to qualify for this list!

Which gizmos or gadgets do you think are among sci-fi’s coolest, and why? We ask club members to come prepared to contribute an item or two to our list!

AUGUST’S AGENDA:

 1:00PM – Game: Bug-Eye Bet!

We resurrect a game created by our late friend and fellow club member, 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.

1:45PM – Tom Swift and his Science Fiction Book Series

A primer on the numerous 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.

2:45PM – Break!

Raffle, announcements, brief discussion of club business, including preliminary plans for club’s Christmas Dinner and Party 2024.

3:00PM – 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.

4:00PM – Sci-Fi’s Coolest Gizmos and Gadgets!

MonSFFen are asked to offer their top picks of the genre’s coolest gizmos and gadgets, as seen on TV or in the movies, or within the pages of SF/F literature! We define a gizmo or gadget as a technological or magical device small enough to hold in one’s hands, or carry on one’s person—a Star Trek phaser or tricorder, for example. Which gizmos or gadgets do you think are among the coolest, and why? We ask club members to come prepared to contribute an item or two to our list!

Following Meeting: Saturday, September 14

then…Coming in the Fall…

 Saturday, October 19: RETURN OF THE SUPER SCI-FI BOOK SALE!

With the pandemic behind us, MonSFFA is pleased to re-launch our popular, fund-raising SF&F used book sale!

Amazing prices on thousands of amazing stories by science fiction and fantasy authors from Asimov to Zelazny!

We’ve got plenty of inventory left over from past sales, plus lots of fresh stock, including from the legacy of our late friend, collector, and club member Sylvain St-Pierre! And we’re clearing it all at our astonishingly low prices!

Piles of Paperbacks! Boxes of Books! An Astounding Assortment Available, Including…

Trade Paperbacks and Hardcovers! Anthologies and Specialty Books! MAGAZINES and COMICS! Plus DVDs! UNIMAGINABLE, UNBELIEVEABLE, UNBEATABLE BARGAINS!

Publications en Français Aussi!

The Lowest Prices In the Galaxy! The More you Buy, the More you Save! (Cash-only sales, please.)

EVERYTHING! MUST! GO! Open to the Public!

4) THANK YOU!

We thank Keith Braithwaite, Joe Aspler, Josée Bellemare, Daniel P. Kenney, Kevin Holden, Trudie Mason, Cathy Palmer-Lister, and all who contributed to programming today, and we offer a nod of appreciation, as well, to all who attended.

MonSFFA hopes 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.

We look forward to again gathering, face to face, at August’s get-together, on the 17th. We’ll be meeting in our usual Nouvel Hotel function room on that occasion, and concurrently online via ZOOM, as well!

And don’t forget our big Super Sci-Fi Book Sale, coming October 19, also at the Nouvel Hotel, downtown!

Thank you for your interest and attention today, and don’t forget to comment on this afternoon’s e-Picnic!

11) SIGN-OFF

Until we meet again, keep safe, healthy, and exercise your creativity! And continue to enjoy your summer!

This is the first of two “e-Picnic” posts that will appear this afternoon; our closing post will go up at 5:00PM

1) INTRODUCTION

Missed MonSFFA’s Summer BBQ earlier this month? Then join us this afternoon for this online “e-Picnic!” Have your favourite summer snacks and libations on hand!

Proceedings are set to begin at 1:00PM; we’re allowing some 30 minutes in advance of our event for folk to gather, here, online and join our ZOOM-Chat.

Some light programming is planned, but there’ll be lots of time to simply chat, catch up, and touch base again. Have you seen any good movies this summer, or are you enjoying a good sci-fi beach read? Today’s will be an afternoon of casual conversation with friends on any and all topics SF/F and fannish!

We do have ready a quick slide show of our field trip to the Montreal Biodôme back in June, plus a couple of vacation stories and photos of cool sci-fi events, exhibits, and museums recently visited? The floor will be open to anyone who may have sci-fi, or SF&F-adjacent summer vacation adventures to share!

And, given this opportunity, we are launching our Special Interest Group (SIG) for Art this afternoon with a talk/workshop on “How to Create Sci-Fi Art Without Knowing How to Draw!”

So let’s get started…

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

To join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the next few hours, simply click here and follow the prompts: This Afternoon’s MonSFFA e-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 enter it:

Meeting ID: 833 9011 0192
Passcode: 809749

3) TODAY’S AGENDA

Except for the Art SIG at 3:00PM, right after the break, we expect we’ll be pretty loosey-goosey with the schedule today (summertime, and the livin’ is easy!), but here’s approximately what we’re figuring on:

1:00PM—Introduction, ZOOM-Chat Begins

1:30PM—Biodome Slide Show; ZOOM-Chat Continues

2:00PM—Summer Vacation Adventures! ZOOM-Chat Continues…

2:45PM—Mid-Meeting Break!

3:00PM—Art SIG

5:00PM—Wrap-Up

TOMORROW, SUNDAY, JULY 28, 1:00PM: e-Picnic 2024 and Special Interest Group (SIG) for Art

(Click on Images to view Full-Size)

In particular for our out-of-town members and friends, and any who couldn’t make it to the Summer BBQ, MonSFFA will host an “e-Picnic” via ZOOM (www.MonSFFA.ca) tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, July 28) beginning at 1:00PM—have your favourite summer snacks and libations on hand!

(NOTE: Club members have been sent, via e-mail, the necessary information required to join us on ZOOM tomorrow afternoon. Or, visit this Website tomorrow at 12:30PM for details as to how to join our ZOOM-chat.)

In addition to talking with friends online about any and all topics SF/F and fannish, we’ll have opportunity to view an album of photographs snapped by those MonSFFen who took part in our field trip to the Montreal Biodome last month.

Plus, we’ll invite folk to “show-and-tell” the group about any cool sci-fi destinations or events they’ve enjoyed on vacation during this first half of summer—conventions, museums, theme parks, shows! Share your experiences, and any photos, with the group!

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (ART)

And, we’ll take the opportunity to hold our very first meeting of the club’s Special Interest Group (SIG) for Art. If you’re interested in sci-fi art, be sure to take part!

Host Keith Braithwaite will give a talk/workshop on “How to Create Sci-Fi Art Without Knowing How to Draw!”

See You On ZOOM Tomorrow Afternoon!