NEXT CLUB MEETING IN JUST TWO WEEKS!

NEXT CLUB MEETING: SATURDAY, APRIL 13

1:00PM-5:00PM                                                                               Le Nouvel Hotel

1740 Boul. René-Lévesque (corner St-Mathieu)  “Salle Maisonneuve” (Conference Floor, South Tower)

…and simultaneously on ZOOM!    www.MonSFFA.ca

APRIL’S AGENDA INCLUDES:

The Eclipse ExperienceClub members recount their experiences observing the total solar eclipse of April 8 and share any photos they snapped of the event. Not for some 80 years will another such eclipse take place in the skies over Southern Québec!

The Spark That Lit the Fire: What Got You Into SF&F?Moderated discussion of our earliest exposure to science fiction and/or fantasy; MonSFFen recall the novel, short story, comic book, movie, or television show that introduced them to the genre, and sparked their life-long interest in SF/F.

William Castle: Hollywood’s Maestro of the Movie-Marketing Gimmick!A presentation on the career of prolific producer/writer/ director/actor William Castle. Touting such “amazing” cinematic “technologies” as “Emergo,” “Percepto,” and “Illusion-O,” Castle is remembered for the hyperbolic marketing gimmicks he employed to promote his oeuvre of horror/thriller and sci-fi B-movies, which included House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler (both 1959), 13 Ghosts (1960), Strait-Jacket (1964), and Bug (1975).

and more…

April’s Meeting Theme: Spring is here! The weather is warming, the days are longer, gardens are budding, the birds are returning, the club is meeting downtown again, and we’ve just witnessed a rare total solar eclipse right here in our own backyard! Life is good! We invite members to share their eclipse experience with the group, and to simply enjoy the season!

Please note that MonSFFA has moved to a new meeting hall, back downtown! We are now meeting in the Nouvel Hotel on René-Lévesque Ouest (corner St-Mathieu), just one block west of our former, pre-pandemic downtown locale (Hôtel Espresso)! Yes, we’re back in our old, familiar neighbourhood, folks, and we hope to welcome home both current and dormant club members; see you all on April 13th!

We have concluded our brief relationship with the Lachine Legion, with all appropriate thanks to that institution for having hosted us in 2023 and early 2024, and are now meeting in the Nouvel Hotel’s “Salle Maisonneuve!” Le Nouvel is located on a major downtown bus line, and is a short walk from either Metro Guy/Concordia or Lucien-L’Allier.

Our Following Meeting: Saturday, May 11, with guest speaker Rich Larson (Annex, Ymir, Tomorrow Factory), acclaimed by Gardner Dozois as “One of the best new writers to enter science fiction in more than a decade.”

Zines to share!

From Bill Burns, an update to e-fanzines

Another productive week for fanzines, with seven new issues at https://efanzines.com

  • J.L. Farey’s JenZine #9
  • Alan White’s Pixel Dreams #3 [Banned by Facebook!]
  • Bruce Gillespie’s SF Commentary #115
  • WOOF #36 (2011), Randy Byers, Official Collator
  • Henry Grynnsten’s Wild Ideas #45
  • Opuntia #568, edited by Dale Speirs
  • Taral Wayne’s Dark Toys #77
  • Littlebrook #13, edited by Jerry Kaufman & Suzanne Tompkins

From the N3F: FanAct202403

The Three-Body Problem on Netflix

The Three-Body Problem: The ‘unfilmable’ Chinese sci-fi novel set to be Netflix’s new hit 3 Body Problem

By James Balmont,Features correspondent BBC

From the Game of Thrones showrunners, Netflix’s new series 3 Body Problem is adapted from a bestselling Chinese sci-fi novel that became a huge hit, despite China’s historic censorship of the genre.

One day in Beijing, in 1967, astrophysics student Ye Wenjie witnesses her father being beaten to death by paramilitary forces. Later, she joins a military program in Mongolia as part of an agreement to avoid her own punishment, on the condition that she can never leave the base. At this chilly outpost, beneath a giant parabolic antenna, she loses all faith in mankind. She commits her life to her research, making a scientific breakthrough that leads to the broadcasting of a high-powered radio signal into deep space. This action will have grave consequences, and it all stems from that fateful day in Beijing.

This is merely an overview of the universe-spanning plot of The Three-Body Problem – a science fiction epic that also takes in secret science programs; an alien species in a solar system beyond the stars; and a strange video game depicting the rise and fall of great civilisations over thousands of years. Beijing-born Liu Cixin’s bestselling novel, the first in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, was once thought unadaptable for its brain-rattling time jumps, philosophical dilemmas and dense explorations of scientific theory (a Chinese film adaptation was shelved in 2017). But it now reaches global screens via a Netflix series – the belated comeback project of Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss. Early reviews are split over whether they’ve quite pulled off the gambit.

READ MORE

Lots of zines to share!

Lots of zines arrived in the past few days. Enjoy!

From R-Laurraine Tutihasi: PurrMew90

From Joe Major, Alexiad: Alex133

From Garth Spencer: SHOOTING MY CUFFS 12

From the N3F, some of their own zines, and some pass-alongs:

Tightbeam354, De Profundis #594 – February 2024, MT VOID 2304,  ObdurateEye341, Space Cowboy’s Accretion #5 Jan 2024, NAPA269

Updates from Bill Burns. Click here to read ! https://efanzines.com

  • Pete Young’s Every Place I Read Your Goddamn Fanzine #2
  • Nic Farey’s The Incompleat Register 2024 Results – details of the 2023 FAAn Awards
  • Opuntia #567, edited by Dale SpeirsOctothorpe #104, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
  • Kat Templeton’s Rhyme & Paradox #5 and Notes on a Saturday Morning
  • Journey Planet #79, edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia et al.
  • Heath Row’s The Stf Amateur, March 2024 (apazine bundle)
  • Garth Spencer’s The Obdurate Eye #37
  • Guy H. Lillian III’s Spartacus #71
  • Ethel the Aardvark #224 and archive issues 22, 176
  • WOOF #35 (2010), Alan Stewart, Official Collator
  • Perry Middlemiss’s Small Steps Down a Local Street #2
  • Leigh Edmonds’ Ornithopter Mk.IIa
  • Octothorpe #105 a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
  • Leybl Botwinik’s CyberCozen – Mar 2024
  • Dan Harper’s ABwoF #12
  • Pete Young’s Every Place I Read Your Goddamn Fanzine #3 and Every Place I Read Your Goddamn Book #1

 

Elon Musk’s Starship goes ‘farther than ever’

 SpaceX launches Starship for the third time.

By Jonathan Amos,Science correspondent, BBC
US company SpaceX’s Starship rocket made major progress in its third test flight on Thursday, completing many of its objectives.

The two-stage vehicle produced a clean getaway from its Texas launch site, to send its upper portion around the globe to a re-entry over the Indian Ocean.

Radio contact was lost towards the end but the firm said it was “incredible to see how far we got this time around”.

SpaceX boss Elon Musk was delighted with the outcome of the flight, too.

He posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “Starship will take humanity to Mars”.

 Huge crowds had gathered on nearby beaches to watch the launch

When the 120m-tall (395ft) vehicle launched in April and November last year, it blew apart not long into the missions.

Mr Musk was looking for significant improvement from his SpaceX team this time – and he got it.

The rocket left its launch mount with a huge rumble from its 33 engines, and the vehicle then proceeded to step perfectly through all of the anticipated phases in the climb to space.

Separation of the bottom half, the booster, from the top half, the Ship, occurred right on cue, two minutes and 44 seconds into the flight.

The ship then powered on, crossing the Atlantic and southern Africa.

Video cameras sent back spectacular views of Earth from more than 100 miles up.

SpaceX Ship above the Earth
SpaceX The Ship was aiming for a splashdown in the Indian Ocean

Then came the task of re-entry, when the ship needed to descend to a splashdown in the ocean.

Video imagery once again captured incredible scenes as hot gases enveloped the vehicle, just before radio contact was interrupted.

Controllers reported shortly after that the Ship had been “lost”, presumably because it had broken up.

SPACEX Plasma
SPACEX The hot gases (plasma) of re-entry surrounded the ship as it came down

Not every milestone was ticked off. It was hoped the booster after separation might have been able to power its way back to a controlled drop into the sea just off the Texas coast. It got close but it looked as though the vehicle came in way too fast and was lost before hitting the water.

The Ship, too, was expected to re-ignite an engine to initiate the re-entry, but this was skipped for a reason not immediately apparent.

READ MORE  Video, photos

 

A SPIRAL COMET

Space Weather News for March 12, 2024
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

A SPIRAL COMET: Astronomers are monitoring Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks as it approaches the sun for a close encounter in April. Several amateurs have noticed something strange about the comet’s core: It’s a spiral. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar flare alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts to receive instant text messages when strong solar flares are underway
[] 
Above: The spiral core of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks photographed by Jan Erik Vallestad of Sunnfjord, Norway

MARCH 2024 CLUB MEETING, Post 3 OF 3 – Wrap-Up

THANK YOU

We thank for their contributions to this afternoon’s programming Keith Braithwaite, Joe Aspler, and Cathy Palmer-Lister, as well as all of our contributing participants. And, of course, we thank all of you who joined us on ZOOM; don’t forget to comment on today’s get-together.

NEXT MONTH’S CLUB MEETING

MonSFFA meets again on Saturday, April 13, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. Details will be forthcoming; check in with us at www.MonSFFA.ca for updates, the next issue of our club news bulleting, Impulse, and for additional content.

SIGN-OFF

Have a good evening, all, and we’ll see you next time!

Post 2 of 3: Science Fiction Before it was Science Fiction or – What’s in a Name?

SCIENCE FICTION BEFORE IT WAS CALLED SCIENCE FICTIONWe look at works of proto-SF. Tales of travel to other worlds, of alien beings and robots, and of interplanetary war date back decades and centuries prior to the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, often cited as the first true science fiction story. Well before the term “science fiction” was coined, works such as Johanne Kepler’s Somnium and Lucian of Samosata’s satire True History included elements of what, today, we define as SF! We’ll examine these and other works of science fiction before it was called science fiction.
Following are the slides that will be shown during this presentation, just as a back-up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARCH 2024 CLUB MEETING, Post 1 of 3 (12:30PM) – Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to MonSFFA’s March 2024 meeting! This afternoon’s proceedings are soon to get underway. We are meeting live and person at our new meeting hall in the Nouvel Hotel, downtown! For those joining us online, today, see the instructions, below (at the end of this post), to join in and participate. Technical issues may arise; please bear with us as we adjust to a new facility!
Our programming agenda begins at 1:00PM; the meeting will conclude shortly before 5:00PM. This opening post has gone up about 30 minutes in advance of the meeting’s start time to allow folk to gather online at their leisure. A second post at 2:30PM will offer the presentation slides we’ll be showing in the meeting hall during our look at proto-SF, just as a back-up. Our third and concluding post will go up at 4:45PM to officially thank today’s presenters and discussion moderators, and to publish the date of our next meeting.

THIS AFTERNOON’S AGENDA

Today’s programming agenda is as follows:
1:00PM – NOW SHOWING Join us for a fun and challenging game. We’ll show you a movie poster advertising an SF/F motion picture, but with the film’s title, recognizable tag line, and credits masked off or blurred out. Will you be able to provide the title of the film? Beware! It won’t be as easy as this example!
1:30PM – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FAN KIND! We share our experiences meeting SF/F celebrities! Come prepared with your stories of having met famous SF/F stars—writers, actors, artists, etc.—especially if said encounter was a tad unusual! And, show off any autographs and unique mementos you consequently obtained, or photos of your meeting!
2:30PM – SCIENCE FICTION BEFORE IT WAS CALLED SCIENCE FICTION We look at works of proto-SF. Tales of travel to other worlds, of alien beings and robots, and of interplanetary war date back decades and centuries prior to the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, often cited as the first true science fiction story. Well before the term “science fiction” was coined, works such as Johanne Kepler’s Somnium and Lucian of Samosata’s satire True History included elements of what, today, we define as SF! We’ll examine these and other works of science fiction before it was called science fiction.
3:30PM – BREAK! Club news, raffle 
4:00PM – Open Discussion/Q&A You may have questions about our new meeting hall, or other club business, or just cool stuff you’d like to tell your fellow club members about; the floor is open!
4:45PM – Wrap-Up and Clean-Up!
Please note that, 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. Please also note that all programming is subject to change!

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 NumbersAlso, have this information on hand as you may be asked to enter it:
Meeting ID: 884 5820 9960Passcode: 598901

Sci-fi fun begins at 1:00PM! Thanks for joining us today, and enjoy the meeting!

Next Club Meeting is this Saturday, March 9, in our New Downtown Meeting Hall, and on ZOOM!

THE NEXT MonSFFA MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 9, FROM 1:00PM-5:00PM! AND WERE MOVING BACK DOWNTOWN TO A NEW MEETING HALL!

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

…plus, our meeting will also be accessible simultaneously  on ZOOM!

via: www.MonSFFA.ca

ATTENTION EARTHLINGS!

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

MonSFFA is moving back downtown to a new meeting hall!

We’ll be meeting in “Salle Maisonneuve” of 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 this new locale is only one block west of our pre-pandemic meeting place, the Hôtel Espresso (corner Guy and René-Lévesque)! We’re returning to our old, familiar neighbourhood, folks! And we hope to welcome home both current and dormant club members; see you all on the 9th!

Meeting Theme: Our March 2024 meeting precedes St. Patrick’s Day by about a week. The city’s Irish heritage has long been a part of Montreal’s cultural mosaic. MonSFFen are encouraged to wear something green to the meeting, perhaps a shamrock!

MARCH AGENDA INCLUDES:

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FAN KIND!We share our experiences meeting SF/F celebrities! Come prepared with your stories of having met famous SF/F stars—writers, actors, artists, etc.—especially if said encounter was a tad unusual! And, show off any autographs and unique mementos you consequently obtained, or photos of your meeting!
SCIENCE FICTION BEFORE IT WAS CALLED SCIENCE FICTIONWe look at works of proto-SF. Tales of travel to other worlds, of alien beings and robots, and of interplanetary war date back decades and centuries prior to the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, often cited as the first true science fiction story. Well before the term “science fiction” was coined, works such as Johanne Kepler’s Somnium and Lucian of Samosata’s satire True History included elements of what, today, we define as SF! We’ll examine these and other works of science fiction before it was called science fiction.
NOW SHOWING—Join us for a fun and challenging game. We’ll show you a movie poster advertising an SF/F motion picture, but with the film’s title, recognizable tag line, and credits masked off or blurred out. Will you be able to provide the title of the film? Beware! It won’t be as easy as this example!

Subsequent Meetings: Saturday, April 13 and Saturday, May 11!