Year 2002: A Look Back

By Samuel Lubell

 

The year 2002 began with WSFA members showing up in tuxedos and fancy dresses to John and Kathi's New Year's Party.  When asked why, the WSFAns said that they wanted to be prepared just in case John decided to do another wedding.

WSFA's impending bankruptcy was solved by hiring a former Enron executive as our chief money manager.  By the end of the year the WSFA treasury was over a million dollars.  Of course, he does make us keep it in offshore banks.  Additional money was made by hiring out WSFA members to serve as consultants to Hollywood.  Apparently, they really do need someone to tell them they make more money by adapting good books like The Lord of the Rings rather than by adapting turkeys like Battlefield Earth.  Of course, we had to select the consultants carefully as some WSFAns actually like bad movies.

The scheduling mixups that led to confusion over the date of the December BWSMOFs was solved with the requirement that all members carry a beeper that doubles as a Global Positioning Satellite broadcast unit like the ones the DC buses will use.  We also have to keep our schedules updated on the Internet site with our whereabouts 24/7.  But it does make scheduling new meetings a snap.

Capclave Pictures from Sally Hand

Balticon abandoned its computers gone haywire theme used last year due to the refusal of  computers to assist in making signs and advertisements, desktop publishing its program book, and word processing if Balticon continued with what one computer called "negative feedback."  The Balticon committee rejected the computers' suggested themes of the inferiority of carbon-based life forms, humans-the new peripheral, and how to make your computer overlords happy. 

The WorldCon degenerated into a pitched battle.  After fantasy works swept the Hugos (the win for the movie Lord of the Rings was expected, Best Novel going to Bujold's fantasy novel wasn't) diehard science fiction fans complained that there already was a world fantasy convention, the world science fiction convention should focus on science fiction.  A mob of rabid science fiction diehards then disrupted every panel that mentioned fantasy, commandeering the microphones for debates over whether Larry Niven really was a hard sf writer.  In response, fantasy fans yelled, "There can be only one" and voted with their pocketbooks, stripping the dealer's room of all fantasy-related books and materials.  (It was later found that this counter-move was suggested by Larry Smith.)  An emergency group of SMOFs brokered a peace agreement and the remainder of the convention was patrolled by a force of filkers and costumers as neutral parties. 

After the excitement of the Worldcon, Capclave was able to serve as a true relaxacon.  Hotels were so desperate for business that Elspeth came through with a deal in which the hotel paid our members for the privilege of hosting them.  Of course, this meant putting the convention on the weekend after Worldcon.  WSFA figured that if Dragoncon can be held on the same weekend we certainly could take the following one.  With airport disruptions and delays, many con-goers planning to fly to California for Worldcon found themselves arriving in DC for Capclave instead.  WSFA's well known hospitality soon soothed their spirits (except for a few who kept muttering "where's the beach?")  Our special guide to DC "What's Still Open to the Public" was much appreciated by the non-fan spouses and families of writers and other guests.  The program featured DC-tinged reworkings of familiar sf troupes including discussions of lost masterpieces like Conan and the Red Tape Bureaucrats, Where's Cheney?, and Foundation and Lobbying Firm.  Media fen speculated as to whether Strom Thurmond was a Highlander style immortal and whether the deterioration of the Star Trek franchise was due to a plot by NASA to make space exploration less interesting.

 

Santa Claws at WSFA?

 

The 12/7 First Friday meeting opened with Dick Cheney is Missing jokes.  "Eek" said Judy, no doubt glad she has a more visible veep, and banged the gavel.  "Meeting" yelled Lee Gilliland.  "It's 9:19" said Judy.  Secretary Sam reported that at the last meeting a couple of idiots were elected Capclave chairs.  "Who?" asked someone.  "Yours truly (Sam Lubell) and Lee Gilliland." 

The treasurer reported, "$245.02" causing more eeks.  "Let's have a book sale" said Eric.  "We'd have to sell more than one book." Mike pointed out.  Rich said, "At least we're in the black."

The Entertainment Committee herd that Bin Ladin is very upset.  Rumor is that he will have a funeral pyre with the last is his $20 million.

Capclave past (Bob) is closing up, figuring out who worked enough for comp memberships so he can give it to Mike.  He estimates that the convention made something in the neighborhood of $1,300 of which $500 will go to Mike.

Lee Gilliland asked, "Does this mean we will have free beer."  Bob answered, "Not on the block until World Fantasy Convention."  Questions emerged as to which con was Capclave Present and Future.  Mike had nothing to say for Capclave Present.  Sam for Capclave Future is waiting to see what happens for 2002 hotel so we can make a deal for the same spot.  Capclave Far Future (Lee) said, "eh"

Activities committee reported arrangements for the 7 pm showing of LotR at Union Station.  There was a problem last time with some people buying their own tickets or not showing up after tickets were purchased.  The club decided to collect money ahead of time for the December 20^th showing of Lord of the Rings.  "How much?" was heard.  Lee wasn't sure.  "is it okay if I say $10?  I hate bookkeeping".  Keith said, "I want to put it on our website but they can't pay in advance."  Club decided that anyone who wants Lee to buy them a ticket should see Lance, who was named auxiliary Activities coordinator, otherwise get your own.  Austerity committee had nothing to say.  Tom did sing language so not to disturb Madam Chairman.

Fifth Friday will be the Pomeranz New Year taking place Monday night.  Mike said, "I can't wait to see what you do at midnight this year."  Kathi promised, "No baby, no divorce."  Lee introduced the new cat, "careful with her claws"  Eric asked "Santa Claws?" Kathi said that Fast Forward is progressing and by 2002 will be able to make archival copies of shows.  Colleen said that Greg Bear is speaking at the library on Jan 25.  Eric said he also will be at the Bailey's Crossroads Borders.  Rebecca is hosting a party and has copies of her newsletter.  Meeting unanimously adjourned at 9:35. 

Attendance:  Pres. Judy Kindell, Sec. and 2003 Chair Samuel Lubell, Treas. Bob MacIntosh, Trust. and 2004 Chair Lee Gilliland, Trust. Eric Jablow, Trust Nicki Lynch, 2002 Chair Mike Nelson, Sheri Bell, Colleen Cahill, Adrienne Ertman, Alexis Gilliland, Cathy Green, Sally Hand, Scott Hofmann, Keith Lynch, Richard Lynch,  Walter Miles, Lance Oszko, Kathi Overton, Rebecca Prather, Judy Scheiner, Sam Scheiner, George Shaner, Steven Smith, Michael Taylor, Cecil Washington, Ivy Yap, Madeleine Yeh, Tom Schaad, Christopher Damrosch, Elizabeth Twitchill. 

 

Review of ENTERPRISE

By Nicki Lynch

ENTERPRISE is the latest in the STAR TREK franchise and a prequel to the classic  STAR TREK series. Before Kirk, there was Archer, Jonathan Archer (Scott Backula), captain of the Enterprise.  He and his crew are off roaming the galaxy, going where ...well, you know the rest.  And that's the major problem.  We knew the stories almost before the show hit the air.

The crew is a mix of Earth types with a Vulcan science officer (Jolene Blalock, as the babe factor) and an alien doctor (played by John Billingsley).  The doctor is so far the most interesting character because he has a true sense of wonder about roaming the galaxy.  If only someone else in the crew felt the same way!  Everyone else aboard seems to find it boring, including Archer who just about blackmailed a superior office to get Enterprise out there.  You can almost see them rolling their eyes everything the doctor enthuses about some alien culture. 

I'm still a bit vague on how many other aliens Earth has had contact with as they're apparently been secluded by the Vulcans for 50 years.  The people of Earth have apparently gotten out to the stars and even have a freighter culture where families live in space for their livelihood.    In one episode, Archer and company do a piece for an elementary school class, which was a NASA-like project.  While it was nice filler for each of the characters to talk a bit, it was just filler. 

Starfleet is also not the organization it will be in the future with an academy churning out crewmen and contractors churning out starships.  No, this bunch is pretty much on their own out there, in a ship that needed another round of debugging before anyone sent it out into space.  The careful NASA of old with its redundant systems seems to have fallen by the wayside as this Enterprise is more like a "concept car" than a carefully constructed starship.   Archer was even allowed to bring his dog with him, which lead fans to wonder more about the sanitary conditions on the ship than the episode plot lines.

            As the reviewer in USATODAY noted, they're a likeable but naïve bunch that have very little sense when it comes to roaming space.  I have to agree.  The stories are vaguely interesting and every now and then an alien pops up with some piece of technology which the crew marvels over, but we know as standard STAR TREK - such as the holodeck.   If you find this charming, you probably really like ENTERPRISE; I just find myself grinding my teeth and wondering when will it get good.

 

Review of Mutant X

By Nicki Lynch

 

New on the syndicated scene this year is MUTANT X, on Channel 50, Saturdays usually at 6 PM (times vary with the sports schedule) for a new episode and Sundays usually at 6PM is the repeat from the previous Saturday.

Adam, played by John Shea, heads a mostly unknown cast of young actors who are "new" mutants.   The only familiar face is Victoria Pratt who was in CLEOPATRA 2525 last year.   If you saw the movie, you pretty much have the premise.  Adam is the charismatic/scientist leader of the "good" mutants who live in Sanctuary, a high-tech virtual mountain where he's always on the look out for new mutants to bring in "out of the cold".  Naturally, there is another mutant looking for new mutants to join his company Genomax, a secret front for the General Services Admin..ah, the Genetic Security Agency (known as GSA).

 Mason Eckhart, who is a dead ringer for Andy Warhol, is played with detachment by Tom McCamus.  His becoming a new mutant was not as successful as others and he wears a latex mask, according to the first episode. 

In a departure from the movie,  the new mutants are the result of experimentation by GSA.  Adam worked for GSA during the development, which is how he became a new mutant, although he must have a very subtle power as it is rarely shown.  Once a new mutant is found, the race is on.  They can either go with Adam to Sanctuary (where they must be doing something other than finding others as they are never seen again) or join Genomax and look for more mutants.  GSA has a further alternative for those mutants who are simply too dangerous (i.e., full of themselves) - they are "frozen" for later use by GSA.

Besides the new "new" mutant of the week, Eckhart has a new henchman (or woman) each week, providing another mutant to defeat for the gang.   Unfortunately, none of these actors has much to work with so it's hard to tell how good they are in the roles.  The stories so far are long on contrived schemes to find/convince mutants to join them punctuated with brief action sequences, mostly of  Shalimar (Pratt) in her cat-like persona flipping around, Solid/Mist Boy being, well, solid to deflect bullets or mist to let them through, Lightening Lad building up a ball of lightening to wreck havoc and Thought Girl sort of thinking at them.  The Hong Kong style of fighting was effectively used in XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, but that's about the only interesting thing in the series. 

So far the episodes are bland, but not outright laughable the way SHEENA or THE IMMORTAL are. The cast is so sincere and earnest about being mutants that what is supposed to be light moments, such as the horseplay by the two young men, seems leaden and contrived.  One of the few bright spots is an electronic news personality, a la Max Headroom, which seems to be the only source of news for the world - even the bad guys watch "her". 

MUTANT X has little to recommend it, other than an interesting guest star now and then.

 

Thoughts on the USDA Farm Policy

By Alexis Gilliland

 

So, I hear the skeptics among you saying, what does HE know about farm policy?  The subject is, in fact, close to my heart, and I have paid attention to it all my life.  My grandfather owned a wheat farm--he called it a ranch--out in Lincoln County, Washington, and in in 1935, when I visited it for the first time, I was very impressed by the teams of mules hauling the farm machinery around.  Eventually I inherited a part of it, three quarters of a section, 497 acres, annoyingly short of a nice, even 500, which bothered me a little until I saw that it came out a nice, even 200 hectares--the metric system has its uses, after all.  We note that in today's market my farmland is worth somewhat less than my house which sits on 1/7th of an urban acre, reflecting the fact that the house would bring in more rental income.  My brother, Paul, is the major holder so I rent my land to him and he takes care of farming the whole place.  Now the nature of the ranch is that it lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, so that it gets 10-15 inches of rain a year, which is not enough to grow a decent crop of wheat.  The normal practice is to let the land lie fallow every other year, so that the rain has a chance to soak into the ground, which means that Paul, or his hired hands, plant winter wheat that has that year's water to get started, and next year's rainfall to grow on, so you get a crop every other year.

            Now under the Democrats, the policy of the US Department of Agriculture was to give price supports in return for limiting production, which in practice meant limiting acreage--typically the least productive land got taken out--while under the Republican "Freedom to Farm" act, farmers were permitted to farm fence post to fence post, in return for subsidies which were going to go away in a few years, assuming (a) that prices stayed high and (b) that we could export all of our abundant surplus.  In fact, these things did not happen, and in the last few years I have received more income from the USDA than I have from my brother.  So why am I getting a farm subsidy when I am a retired bureaucrat?  The direct answer is that I own the land, which leads to the second question:  What the hay-ull is the US Gummint doing?  In the Washington Post there have been frequent editorials pointing out the folly of the USDA's farm policy, and they are well informed, carefully reasoned and pretty much beside the point as they look at what the USDA says it is trying to do instead of what is actually being done.  The rule is that a policy cannot do only one thing, and for all the talk about farms and farmers, what the USDA has done most consistently is to seek to assure the food supply to the US consumer.  Our food should be plentiful, cheap, and of excellent quality, and generally this is the case.  If you think about the USDA's policy as a food policy instead of a farm policy, it has been brilliant­ly successful.  Maybe TOO successful; the Surgeon General has announced that obesity has become a major health problem, though that may have to do with too few sidewalks and too many computer games as well.

            The second problem is that other nations also have farm policies, and the ability of any nation to feed itself is directly tied to national independence.  Recall Jimmy Carter's response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; he cancelled the Soviet purchase of US wheat.  Clearly, any nation that depends on us for their food is no longer its own state.  Our exports of wheat and rice to Bangladesh was destroying the local small farmers until the practice was discontinued.  Japan fought like a tiger to protect its subsidized rice farmers, and is still fighting against the admission of apples from Washington state.  France is not about to permit cheap American food to subvert la cuisine Francaise, and the heavily subsidized French farmers are vigilant against such subversion, taking to the street against governmental lapses.  In each case, the individual states have arranged their culture to ensure that their people can be fed, and since you cannot do only one thing, these arrangements are embedded in their respective cultures, reinforcing cultural differences and resisting the simple-minded American offer of cheap eats.  Globalization seems unlikely beyond a certain point, since the world is not going to be force fed American surplus food for the benefit of American farmers and American taxpayers.  So, the USDA will continue to supplement my rental income, and my brother (who just turned 69) will continue to farm.  And as for the national obesity problem, I resolve to lose a few pounds in the coming year.

 

WSFA Film Party Report

By Lee Strong

 

The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring is a truly wonderful film and the WSFA theater party enjoyed it immensely.  Gorgeous scenery and production values, great characters with dialog faithful to the book, great casting, and music.  The Balrog makes Darth Vader look  like a jaywalker, and the audience gave Aragorn a round of applause after one sword battle.  The nonhumans are particularly well done with subtle hints of their alienness from the human norm.  Great stuff, and probably this year's best.

 

Upcoming Movies for Future WSFA Film Parties

By Lee Gilliland

 

o    The Adventures of Pluto Nash

o    Avalon

o    Axis

o    Below

o    Black Mask 2: City of Masks

o    Clockstoppers

o    The Core

o    Cube 2: Hypercube

o    Daredevil

o    Duke Nukem

o    ET. the Extra-Terrestrial: 20th Anniversary Edition

o    Eight Leaned Freaks

o    Equilibrium

o    For the Cause

o    Gen Y Cops

o    Godzilla. Mothra and King Ghidorah

o    Godzilla Vs Megaquiras

o    Impostor

o    It's All About Love

o    Jason X

o    Lila & Stitch

o    Men in Black 2

o    Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis

·        Minority Report

·        The Mothman Prophecies

·        Mutant Aliens

·        Pokêmon 4

·        The Powerpuff Girls

·        Reign of Fire

·        Rollerball

·        Spider-Man

·        Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

o    Star Trek: Nemesis

o    Star Wars Episode II:Attack of the Clones

o    The Time Machine

o    Treasure Planet

o    28 Days Later

 

Return to Neverland

Premise:        Set many years after the original story, in London during the World War II air raids, this is the story of how Wendy's niece, Jane, is kidnapped by Captain Hook. Guess who comes to the rescue... Peter Pan!

 

The Time Machine

Premise:        A man (Pearce) in the 1890's builds a time machine that sends him progressively farther in the future. He eventually ends up in a strange time 800, 000 years from now when mankind has evolved/devolved into two races: the Eloi and the Morlocks, The Eloi are funloving layabouts who live in a tranquil world.: the Morlocks are hideous monsters that live underground, coming at night to snatch the Eloi, What dark secrets lie beneath it all...?

 

Clockstoppers

Premise:        A scientist invents a mechanism that speeds up any target that it hits to 25 times their normal speed, effectively making it seem to that person like time is standing still. The race is on to find a way to reverse the effects.  Hilarity ensues.

 

Ice Age

Premise:        Set during the Ice Age, this is the story of a human infant who is found by a group of animals that includes a woolly mammoth, a saber-toothed tiger, and a giant sloth. Together, they try to reunite the baby with his parents.

 

ET. the Extra- ­Terrestrial (rerelease)

New Cast: Harrison Ford (shot scene as Elliot's principal that was edited out of the original; may be added to this version) (10/29/0 1) In a rundown of the additions in Entertainment Weekly, Ford's scene was not mentioned.

 

Blade 2

Premise:        A new blood virus that. turns humans and vampires alike into monsters called Reapers (led by Nomak, played by Goss) leads vampire hunter Blade (Snipes) to form an unlikely alliance with a group of vampires called the Bloodpack (led by Perlman). Reapers suck blood, but not through their mouths... instead, they have suckers on the palms of their hands (which means if they can get their hands on a victim, they're toast). Rescuing his old friend, Whistler, from vampirism, along with a new machinist sidekick named Scud, Blade is ready to kill mutant vampire scum...

 

Resident Evil

Premise:        Here's the official premise from Constantin Films:

"The story focuses on a military unit that fights against a powerful super computer that is out of control. In order to save the world, the military unit must combat hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating undead due to a laboratory accident."

 

The Scorpion King

Premise:        Set in very early ancient Egypt, this is the story of how a peasant (Johnson) who wreaks revenge on a marauding army who pillaged his village.., and how he eventually becomes the First Pharaoh of Egypt, known as the Scorpion King... (Hu plays Cassandra, a woman being held hostage by the evil Warlord)

 

Spider-Man

Premise: Spider-Man started off as shy high school student Peter Parker (Maguire), until he was bitten by a genetically- altered spider, giving him amazing abilities. Overtime, he learns that with great power, comes great responsibility. First, there is his foray into entertainment, taking on wrestler Bone Saw McGraw (Savage). A horrible incident involving his Uncle Ben (Robertson) soon changes his perception of his powers, and he becomes a superhero. His abilities are soon challenged, when scientist Norman Osborn (Dafoe) is altered himself in an experiment gone wrong, becoming the... Green Goblin, pumpkin bombs, glider, and all.

 

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones  (5/16)

Premise Notes: (5/30/99) Details of this film that takes place 10 years after Episode I are not known (and I don't want to know "spoilers", so please don't share! :), but some events that have either been reported or rumored include Anakin's return to Tatooine to rescue his mother, a possible love triangle between Anakin, Amidala and someone else (possibly Organa, possibly even Obi-Wan), a subplot involving the Mandaborians (the armor of which Boba Fett wears in later films), and of course, the continued maneuvering of the Dark Side to defeat the Jedi Knights and take control of the Republic. This is Star Wars as it nears its darkest hours... (8/6/01) Plus, obviously, there is an Attack of the Clones.

 

The Tuxedo

"A pitiful New York City taxicab driver (Chan) is hired to be a chauffeur for a mysterious man named Clark Devlin. When Devlin is hospitalized, [the driver] takes over Devlin's covert mission for the U.S. government: to uncover the secret scheme of bottled water broker Diedrich Banning. [The driver] also inherits Clark's computerized tuxedo, which gives its wearer supernatural powers of combat, camouflage and seduction. "(note: the name of Chan's character evidently changed from "Charlie McCoy" to "Jimmy Tong" to match Chan's ethnicity/casting).

 

Lila & Stitch

Premise:       Lila (Chase) is a little girl in Hawaii who adopts a dog who is actually... an alien, a quite evil alien to be precise. You see, Stitch is a criminal who was being transported to an intergalactic prison whose ship crashed on Earth, and he is posing as a dog (complete with hiding two of his six legs so he will look like a dog) to. escape detection from the alien police who are now looking for him...

 

Minority Report

Premise:        In the future city Washington D.C. circa 2080 A.D., when technology has advanced to the point where crimes can be detected before they're committed, a police officer (Cruise) in the Pre-Crimes division finds himself hunted (by Farrell) for a murder he hasn't even committed yet... (Stormare and Lagerfeldt play a Swedish doctor and nurse.)

 

Scooby-Doo

Series Premise: The show itself was about a band of 4 teenagers who traveled around in a van, running a private investigation business called Mystery, Inc. They specialized in ghosts, monsters, etc., though the menaces usually turned out to be one of the supporting characters in a mask.

 

 

New Year's Resolution: Eat More Chocolate

From the Internet via Lee Strong

 

Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable. To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So candy bars are a health food.

          Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

          If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

          The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

          Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

          If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

          Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.

          Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

          A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

          If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can you?

          REMEMBER: "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts."

 

Fanzine Review: Contact!

By Ted White

 

CONTACT!/SPIRITS OF THINGS PAST #4 (Dick Smith & Leah Zeldes Smith, 410 W. Willow Rd., Prospect Heights, IL 60070-1250; e-mail to either Dick at rhes@enteract.com or to Leah at lazs@enteract.com; published for members of Ditto 14 combined with FanHistoriCon 11, October 2001; copies are available for $10, postage included, the proceeds to benefit Ditto, FanHistoriCon and DUFF)

Up to this point I've reviewed the regular issues of various fanzines here.  This time is different: Contact! is an extraordinary (final) issue of an unusual fanzine.  The first three issues of Spirits Of Things Past were essentially elaborate progress reports for the then-upcoming convention that combined Ditto and FanHistoriCon.  Because Ditto (named after the once-popular method of spirit-duplicating fanzines) is a "fanzine-oriented" convention, this approach - turning progress reports into full-fledged issues of a fanzine, complete with letter columns - made good sense.  And the Smiths, editors of the well-established genzine, Stet, were ideal for the task.

For the convention itself they produced Contact! which although billed as the 4th issue of Spirits Of Things Past, is in fact a stand-alone volume, a "fanthology" of material by 72 fans oriented around a common theme:  how they first encountered fandom.  Some of these contributions are only a paragraph or two long, occupying perhaps a quarter or a third of a page.  Others are full articles or essays, some of which run for several pages.

The volume opens - once past a glittery cover - with a prefatory page which quotes a passage from The Enchanted Duplicator (Walt Willis & Bob Shaw's timeless allegory of fandom), in which Jophan is touched by the Spirit of Fandom's  "Wand of Contact."  This perfect introduction is followed by Leah Zeldes Smith's "Our Fandom and Welcome to It," in which she explains the nature and genesis of the volume and draws some comparisons between it and the 1961 Earl Kemp publication, Why Is A Fan?  In this piece Leah observes the changes which have occurred in fandom over the last half-century, and wonders if the parts of fandom which she most values (as do I) are still attractive to the latest generation of incipient fans.

Then come 85 pages of reminiscences by 72 fans, arranged chronologically and beginning with Forry Ackerman's 1929 entrance into fandom as it was beginning to form ("I guess I didn't discover fandom, it just kind of grew up around me.") and ending with Lisa C. Freitag's first encounter with fandom in 1984.  This is followed by a five-page index and a back cover quote from the conclusion of The Enchanted Duplicator.

Most of the contributors to this volume will not be known to anyone not already involved actively in fandom (the real exception is Mike Resnick - whose piece runs more than five pages), and many of their stories will be most meaningful for those who already know them best.  But for anyone curious about fandom, this volume of initial experiences may open a few doors and reveal a commonality shared by all of us who have become active fans.

 

Final Meeting of 2001

Notes taken by Cathy Green (Thanks Cathy!)

 

The meeting started at 9:18.  Sam was running the meeting due to a lack of officers (pres, VP and Treasurer).  Secretary reported no old business.  The Treasurer had emailed the Secretary saying $245.02.  Dues are due first Friday in January.  Happy Holidays.

Committees:  Activities:  Lee said that yester 17 went to Lord of the Rings.  One showed up at 7 and couldn't get in and waited three hours for them to come out (movie started at 7 so he should have shown up earlier.)  Erica said, "So this is for people who've never been to a movie before."  Lee passed out a movie list.  Queen of the Damned comes out on her birthday, no comments, please.  We could go out for ET. 

Entertainment:  Alexis reported that after three days of not bombing anything. US bombed a convoy they thought was Taliban and may have been tribal leaders on the way to Kabul.  The two views are not inconsistent.

Austerity asked people to bring food and bring money.  Erica said that she is getting enough money to buy stuff. 

Capclave 2001 reported via email that we are fitting the convention for its headstone, we should have it buried in Feb.  For Capclave 2002 Elspeth said the Sheraton Columbia looks good.  Talk to the Greenbelt Marriott.  Post 9/11 it may be back into our range.  Holiday Inn College Park may be a possibility.  We want to be in MD to get Baltimore folks but in Montgomery County laws ban smoking in public so don't want to go there.  Keith said Columbia will lose everyone except motorists.  She's looking  at the 8^th - 20^th of October (a later date would cause problems with World Fantasy Con.)  Capclave 2002 is waiting for Capclave 2001 to get a hotel.

There was some new business discussion about whether we should raise dues if we're this poor?  Club decided to wait and discuss this in January when there are some officers present. 

Announcements: Elspeth said her cat had surgery and is recovery.  She'll bring boxes of books to WSFA from Ben Yalow's cleaning up his collection.  She also wanted someone to pummel her back.  Lee Gilliland hurt her leg when she slipped in the rain.  She cracked her leg in the one spot where they cannot put a walking cast on (top of fibula).  Sam said, "Don't wear bad leather in bad weather"  Erica has a Style Invitational Losers' Pen.  She was 1^st runner-up for recaptioning a photo from Sunday Paper.  Candy had surgery in November; she demonstrated her ability "to go down."  Sunday, a WSFA group will go to the Rio in Gaithersberg to see LOTR.  Judy Kindell arrived late but refused the gavel.  Sally Hand needs housing.  Meeting unanimously adjourned at 9:48.

Attendance:  Pres. Judy Kindell, Sec. and 2003 Chair Samuel Lubell, Trust. and 2004 Chair Lee Gilliland, Trust. Eric Jablow, Trust Nicki Lynch, Bernard Bell, Sheri Bell, Thierry Barston, Adrienne Ertman, Carolyn Frank, Alexis Gilliland, Erica and Karl Ginter, Cathy Green, Sally Hand, Scott Hofmann, Ron Kean, Jim Kling, Elspeth Kovar, Keith Lynch, Richard Lynch, Candy Madigan, Walter Miles, Barry Newton, Evan Phillips, George Shaner, Steven Smith, William Squire, Rob Thornton, Ivy Yap, Madeleine Yeh, Meridel Newton, Mike Bartman. 

 

Treasurer's Report for November

By Bob MacIntosh

We spent

$25        First Friday

$26.42    WSFA Journal

We gained:

$100 contribution

$40     dues (Boots Coleman, Suzanne Hetinger, Thierry Braston & Andre

Williams).

Good golly, that a net increase - up to $291.60.