New posts on e-fanzines, Purrmews, and This Here
Catching up after a week away for Corflu, here are today’s updates at https://efanzines.com
New page for Philippa and Helen Ryder’s Through Space and Time
Perry Middlemiss’s Perryscope #27
Ray Palm’s The Ray X X-rayer #168
Bill Plott’s Sporadic #71 & 72
Nic Farey’s This Here…#58
Opuntia #536, edited by Dale Speirs
Octothorpe #69, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
—
Bill
Watch this space in the coming two weeks for more information.
And on Friday, November 11, take a minute to honour the service of our veterans, and to remember the fallen.
NOV 2022
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221025-why-did-t-rex-have-such-puny-arms
T. rex is almost as famous for its withered little arms as for its enormous teeth – they’re so totally out of proportion, they almost look like they’ve been plucked from another species and simply stuck on, in a throwback to the hilarious blunders of bone assembly from the 19th Century (such as the time Stegosaurus‘ signature diamond-shaped back plates were added to its tail instead).
“You can look at his arms and say, well, these are ridiculous. They’re so different than anything around today, what is the point,” says L J Krumenacker, a palaeontologist at Idaho State University.
With arms that might measure just 3ft (0.9m) long on a 45-ft (13.7m) individual, this formidable carnivore’s hilariously small appendages have been a source of intense speculation ever since they were discovered – despite decades of studying them, to this day no one has any idea what they’re for.
An event happening on the South Shore which will interest Discworld fans! Weird Sisters, the play.
[eFanzines] Pre-Corflu update at eFanzines
Added today at https://efanzines.com are:
BEAM #17 edited by Nic Farey and Ulrika O’Brien
Ethel the Aardvark #217 and archive issues 15, 183
Octothorpe #68, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
Guy H. Lillian III’s Spartacus #60
Garth Spencer’s The Obdurate Eye #20
Henry Grynnsten’s Wild Ideas #28
From Joseph Major, Alexiad
From the N3F, 3 zines and sad news.
Alas, I must start with sad news about Justin E. A. Busch:
Hi George,
This is Erin, Justin’s partner. Sadly, he has been in a state of decline since his cancer came back, and he is not currenty capable of writing. In all likelihood, there won’t be any other Fanfaronades.
There’s some more here: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/justin.busch
Please feel free to forward the news. I am checking his email periodically and people can also contact me directly if need be
Sorry to be the bearer of sad news,
Erin
Click to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HlKhLG3ZxE
This is our closing post of the afternoon.
Before we wrap things up, here are the answers to the Halloween Quiz posted at the outset of this afternoon’s conclave:
1) Halloween is the day before which holiday?
ANSWER: All Saints (Hallows) Day
2) The tradition of making Jack-o-Lanterns to ward off evil spirits is thousands of years old. Which vegetable were they originally made out of?
ANSWER: Turnips
3) According to superstition, if you stare into a mirror at midnight on Halloween, what will you see?
ANSWER: Your future husband or wife.
4) Which region in the world do pumpkins originate from?
ANSWER: Central America
5) Who wrote the novel Frankenstein?
ANSWER: Mary Shelley
6) Transylvania is a region in which country?
ANSWER: Romania
7) Halloween has its origins in which ancient Celtic festival?
ANSWER: Samhain
8) Which actor played Dr. Frank-n-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show?
ANSWER: Tim Curry
9) Is a pumpkin a fruit or vegetable?
ANSWER: Fruit
10) What is the significance of seeing a spider on Halloween?
ANSWER: It is thought to be the spirit of a loved one watching over the person who finds the spider.
11) Which country celebrates the Day of the Dead starting at midnight on October 31?
ANSWER: Mexico
12) According to superstition, a person born on Halloween has what particular ability?
ANSWER: The ability to see and talk to spirits.
13) Who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas?
ANSWER: Henry Selick
14) Which vampire said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m going to give you the choice I never had.”
ANSWER: Lestat (Interview with the Vampire)
15) How many people were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials?
ANSWER: 19
16) Every Halloween, Charlie Brown helps his friend Linus wait for what character to appear?
ANSWER: The Great Pumpkin
17) What do people “bob” for on Halloween?
ANSWER: Apples
18) Who is said to haunt the White House Rose Garden?
ANSWER: First Lady Dolly Madison
19) Pumpkins can be orange, white, green, or what other colour?
ANSWER: Blue
20) In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, how many people are killed with a chainsaw?
ANSWER: One
21) What’s the body-count for the film Halloween?
ANSWER: Five people, and a dog.
22) Which year was the movie Freaks made?
ANSWER: 1932
23) In the original Alien film, how many alien eggs were made for the egg chamber inside the downed spacecraft?
ANSWER: 130
24) How many Oscars was Psycho nominated for?
ANSWER: Four
We thank for their chief contributions to this afternoon’s e-meeting Keith Braithwaite, Linda Ross-Mansfield, Lindsay Brown, and Cathy Palmer-Lister. We offer a nod of appreciation, as well, to all of our supporting players.
MonSFFA hopes you have enjoyed your time with us this afternoon, we thank you for dropping in, and we ask all of you to check in regularly here at www.MonSFFA.ca for additional content during this stubbornly persistent pandemic, and for any updates as to when the club will be returning to long-overdue regular, face-to-face meetings!
Thank you for your interest and attention, and don’t forget to comment on today’s e-meeting!
Alas, no booking of our intended downtown meeting room has yet been confirmed; function space rentals remain on pause still at this time, and we continue to await word of facilities reopening.
If you are able, take a walk or ride soon out to a local park, or to the off-island countryside, and delight in peak leaf season on a crisp autumn day. Have fun with the upcoming Halloween holiday, too!
We bid a fond farewell to all until we meet again on Saturday, November 12, at 1:00PM, likely again online right here at www.MonSFFA.ca. But if our intended meeting hall reopens its function space anytime soon, we’ll be looking forward to a real, live, in-person meeting and, of course, let you know of any such change of plans regarding November’s get-together.
Keep well, everyone, save some of those Halloween treats for the kids, and thrill to all the horror movies airing and streaming this month!
This is Post 5 of 6 this afternoon.
For those participating on ZOOM, today, we open the floor to any club members who have “fancraft” undertakings to showcase—sci-fi scale models, sculpture, SF/F woodworking or needlecraft, Halloween masks or costumes, whatever genre-themed, hands-on project it may be that you are working on at present, or have recently completed. Tell us all about your endeavour, and share any photos you may have snapped of your work-in-progress, or of the finished piece.
Those not able to join our ZOOM chat for the show-and-tell may contribute nonetheless by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in a quick description of any such project of theirs.
Alternately, we offer an art gallery of colourful, arresting, astounding science fiction/horror B-movie posters designed and rendered for American International Pictures, or AIP (initially ARC, American Releasing Corporation) by artists largely unknown outside of Hollywood’s film industry. Two of the most talented were stand-out freelancer Reynold Brown and the advertising-savvy Albert Kallis.
Kallis supervised all advertising campaigns at AIP from start to finish, often handling the design and illustration himself, producing many of the studio’s most striking film posters. He served as AIP’s art director from 1955 through 1973.
AIP was the first film studio to rely on focus groups to evaluate what would likely excite their audience of largely teenagers. Movies about hot-rod racing and motorcycle gangs, along with Westerns and war pictures, and of course, sci-fi and horror films were, thus, the company’s lifeblood.
AIP’s approach was to pre-sell a film with a thrilling title and eye-catching poster, secure funding from exhibitors, and only then commission a script and shoot the movie, often in a matter of days or weeks! And an effective ad campaign was key to getting people into movie theatres and out to drive-ins for what were, after all, low-budget B-movies. A well-designed film poster promised excitement and thrills, and often, the sci-fi/horror monster featured looked better on the poster than in the film!
In addition to Kallis, who, interestingly, was later a co-founder of the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant chain, prominent AIP personnel included consummate sales manager James H. Nicholson and entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff, the company’s founders, producer/director Roger Corman, as well as screenwriters Charles B. Griffith and Lou Rusoff. Other notable producers and/or directors included Alex Gordon, Edward L. Cahn, Bert I. Gordon, and Herman Cohen.
AIP enjoyed increasing success in the late-1950s, added more films to the production slate, and began releasing films in agreements with other production companies to boost content. Kallis’ workload consequently ballooned, prompting him to engage other artists to help with the work, including Brown, a draughtsman of impeccable facility, who was able to turn Kallis’ layout concepts into marvellous finished paintings.
Next post: 4:45PM
This is Post 4 of 6 today.
We take this opportunity to present a convention report that was scheduled for last month’s meeting, but unfortunately, had to be postponed. We offer, now, that ZOOM report on the recent Chicon 8, which was this year’s Worldcon, and on next year’s NASFiC, which will be hosted by Winnipeg.
This will mark the first time the NASFiC has been held outside of the U.S. A NASFiC is held whenever the Worldcon takes place in a locale other than North America; next year’s Worldcon is to be hosted by Chengdu, China.
Join our ZOOM chat to hear the latest! 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 join in by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. Outside of the city? Find your local number here: Phone to ZOOM!
Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to enter it:
Meeting ID: 881 2635 6895
Passcode: 120606
Next post: 4:15PM