This is the third of seven posts today.

6) SHOW-AND-TELL

For those participating on ZOOM, today, we open the floor to any club members who have “fancraft” projects to showcase—sci-fi scale models, SF/F woodworking or needlecraft, whatever genre-themed, hands-on project it may be that you are working on at present, or have recently completed.

Those not able to join our ZOOM-chat for the show-and-tell may contribute by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in a quick description of any such project on which they are currently working.

7) GALLERY: ATOMIC-AGE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS AND DECORATIONS

Alternately, with Christmas advertising suddenly upon us and holiday merchandise popping up on store shelves, with seasonal music playing on the radio, and some of our neighbours having already festooned their homes in decorative lights, we offer, in that spirit, a gallery of groovy Christmas ornaments and decorations.

All sci-fi fans have, no doubt, seen an episode or two of the original Star Trek, or the Saturday-morning cartoon series The Jetsons, and so have glimpsed an aesthetic known as Mid-Century Modern. A style of design and visual art, the distinctive MCM look arose out of the optimistic, avant-garde post-WWII years, pervaded throughout the 1950s and ’60s, persisting even into the ’70s, and has regained popularity in recent years.

MCM architecture and furniture, for example, emphasizing functionality over ornamental adornment, is typified by a spare, minimalist look, and the use of rich woods, glass, metal, plastics, and vinyl warmed by a vibrant palette of oranges, ochres, and umbers. Typical accent colours include a variety of hues like taupe, teal, avocado, and mauve.

Pictorially, MCM’s wild angles, smooth curves, and flat colours are characteristic of the style, with such iconic motifs as the globe, boomerang, and starburst associated with the look. MCM, one might say, is to design and illustration that which jazz is to music: colourful, playful, and the penultimate in cool! And, there’s a retro-futuristic feel to the style, which probably accounts for its popularity among many sci-fi fans.

So all of that to set up these examples of Mid-Century Modern, or “Atomic-Age,” Christmas ornaments and decorations, some commercially produced, others handcrafted. Merry Christmas, baby!

This is post 2 of 7.

5) MONARCHIES IN SF&F

Flash Gordon featured Emperor Ming, merciless ruler of Mongo, and his alluring daughter, Princess Aura.

The Padishah Emperor, hereditary sovereign of House Corrino, along with the royals of House Harkonnen and House Atreides, spiced up the pages of the influential Dune books.

Meanwhile, the Star Wars franchise pitted evil Emperor Palpatine against the rebellious, forceful Princess Leia Organa, of Alderaan’s ruling family, and her Jedi cohorts.

And the nobility of Westeros played the game of thrones with varying degrees of success.

The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, the Discworld series, Marvel’s Wakanda movies, and countless other science fiction and fantasy books, comics, films, and television shows feature various monarchies, whether despotic dictatorship, benevolent regime, or some weird permutation of real-world royalist systems of government.

Over the next hour of our ZOOM-chat, we’ll examine and discuss some of these.

Those not able to join the chat may contribute nonetheless by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in commentary or ask a question of our presenter.

Next Post: 2:30PM

This is the first of seven posts making up this, MonSFFA’s November 2022 e-Meeting. Welcome!

1) INTRODUCTION

Yesterday was Remembrance Day and commemorative ceremonies took place across the land. We are pleased to humbly pay our respects, this afternoon, to those Canadians who have served, or are currently serving in the military, and in particular, to the families of those who have fallen. Canada remains a free and democratic country today because of their sacrifice, and in concert with our allies, this nation’s soldiers, sailors, and airmen have helped to bolster peace and freedom around the world, something of which all Canadians can all be proud.

Are you seated in your most comfortable chair, tasty snacks at hand? Good. Pour yourself a favourite drink, too, and join us for an afternoon of SF/F fun and conversation. Today, we’ll be looking at monarchies in science fiction and fantasy, reviewing stupid SF/F shark movies, and a lot more!

Note that this will be our final programmed e-meeting of the year; next month, we’ll be getting together for a Christmas Lunch/Party—more about that at 4:30PM. Programmed meetings resume in the New Year.

Today’s agenda is a busy one, 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: 894 0738 5483
Passcode: 193253

3) MEETING AGENDA

Here is the agenda for this afternoon’s get-together:

As always, all scheduled programming is subject to change.

4) JOHN McCRAE’S “IN FLANDERS FIELDS”

In the spring of 1915, during the First World War, physician and amateur poet John McCrae, of Guelph, Ontario, was serving as a surgeon with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Assigned to an artillery brigade, he treated the wounded during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium, which infamously saw the German army first deploy mass quantities of poisonous chlorine gas on the Western Front.

After presiding over the burial of a friend killed in action, McCrae, sitting in the back of a field ambulance amid leas of wild poppies, was inspired to write “In Flanders Fields,” which he is said to have quickly discarded, unsatisfied with his prose. But a fellow officer who retrieved the verse encouraged the young doctor to keep at it.

“In Flanders Fields” was first published in the British magazine Punch later that year, and soon became one of the most popular and quoted poems of the war, earning McCrae a measure of celebrity. Today, “In Flanders Fields,” and the iconic poppy, are staples of the annual commemorative ceremonies held across the commonwealth and beyond, paying tribute to military veterans, and memorializing those who did not return from the battlefield.

In 1918, while commanding No. 3 Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, McCrae joined the ranks of the dead he had so movingly venerated, succumbing to pneumonia. He was buried with full military honours.

Before the war, McCrae had lived and worked in Montreal, engaged as a pathologist at both The Montreal General and Royal Victoria hospitals. He also taught at McGill University.

Next post: 1:30PM

To take part, visit this very Web Site on Saturday afternoon, November 12, beginning at 1:00PM. At that time, instructions will be posted for those wishing to join the meeting on ZOOM!

We hope to see you Saturday!