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DECEMBER 3, 1982 (OLIVER HOUSE)
After the ritual time argument, Rosa decided that whatever time might be proven to be the most accurate, 9:20 would do as the official time of record for starting the meeting.
As the minutes were available in the JOURNAL, and the mood was upon us, they were both waved and waived.
The Treasurer reported at $ 5,114.46 still was mouldering in our Club
Boodle. He also provided a more full report to be printed in the JOURNAL.
COMMITTEES
Membership: Mike Herrick, Frances Holland and Alison Munn have
joined WSFA.
PUBLICATIONS: The December JOURNAL was printed on blue paper
provided via CHICON IV and printed with the kind and courteous
assistance of the AMERICAN PULPWOOD ASSN.
VARIOUS CLAVES
Dis: The Chairs of 83 and 84 had nothing to report.
D'udder: Jul had the Hotel Cards and distributed them for
the February 25-27 event to be held at the Seminary Road Ramada.
ENTERTAINMENT: Doll invited everyone to bring an ornament for
her tree, and told us the rules for her covered dish dinner (Only
those who have arranged with her to bring something will be welcome).
WSFA provided a turkey or two. There was to be a LAST UNICORN movie
party at the Springfield Mall Theatre with WSFA picking up half the
tab, on Sunday, October 5th.
BUSINESS: zip
ANNOUNCEMENTS
¶On Saturday, December 4th, Alexis Gilliland, Charles Sheffield,
Jack Chalker and Somtow Sucharitkul would be signing autographs at
the Springfield Mall Dalton Books. WSFA was deeply moved. ¶ Alan
Huff announced that he would bring maps for the New Year's Eve WSFA
party to the next meeting. ¶ The last Round-to-Robin letter was
in the typewriter: Jane and Woody will be home near Christmas. ¶
Lee Smoire announced yet another bout of employment: this time she
will be working in a hotel, but none of this will be enough to prevent
the WSFA poker game. ¶ Bob Lovell will be moosing around in Ann
Arbor ( He met her at a midwest Con) His new address is in the JOURNAL.
¶ Somtow made a pilgrimage to the temple of "E.T." and
brought back a relic for us to adore, an "E.T. Comb Home."
He exposed it for veneration (Odd how those aliens stick together).
¶ Ron Leonard has some items for sale (listed elsewhere) ¶
Bill Berg, out of the hospital and recuperating from some ghastly
infection he got from stepping on a thumbtack, will mark his 30th
anniversary as a member of WSFA. Karen Anderson, who signed his card
as Secretary, had dropped in for the meeting. ¶ ConStellation
has over 3,600 members: the rates go up to $40 January 1, 1983
The ordeal ended at 9:35.
DECEMBER 17, 1982 (HOUSE GILLILAND)
Rosa snuck the meeting to order at 9:21 before anyone could object, and the minutes were absent due to the bad, bad Mr. Mayhew, and thus could not be waved, only waived.
The Treasury had sundered to $ 4,928.96. Bob read the names of the
club delinquents to a chorus of hoots and hisses.
COMMITTEES
Publications: Joe Mayhew is doing the January JOURNAL
VARIOUS CLAVES
Dis: 83- zip, 84 Jane Wagner announced that the Hotel had
signed the contract.
D'udder: Jul announced that they needed Front Money. It would
be provided.
ENTERTAINMENT: On February 12 STAR WARS will be shown on the
Air and Space Museum's Giant Screen at a cost of $ 1 per person. NIGHT
BEAST by Charlie Ellis was promised for a screening at the Gilliland's
Solstice covered dish dinner. 9 people took advantage of the WSFA
theatre party for THE LAST UNICORN.
BUSINESS: Old: Zip
New: The following motion was passed: That WSFA reimburse the $ 1.00
to any who attend the STAR WARS. The treasurer indicated that it would
be in the form of dues credit. ¶ The Student Council of Md. U.
proposed that we underwrite the cost of bringing Douglas Adams to
speak at the University of Md. It was moved that we decline the offer.
The motion passed. WSFA was moved.
ANNOUNCEMENTS. Alan Huff distributed the maps for the New
Year's Eve party. ¶ Joe Mayhew distributed his annual Crassness
Carol to the club. ¶ Jane & Woody will be home of the
23rd. ¶ ConStellation Progress Report N ° 3 is now scheduled
to be mailed out soon, a stuffing party will be held at the BSFS
clubhouse on Jan 2 and 9 at 1:00PM. ¶ HAIL, COLUMBIA will be
shown super 70MM at Air&Space for a few weekends, it is a flick on
the 1st flight of the COLUMBIA (Space Ship!) ¶ Lee/Mike/Jul/Mark
will host a party on Christmas eve, all are welcome. ¶ Kent Bloom
and Mary Morman are getting married December 30th.
The meeting exploded at 9:51.
On January 8, 1983, Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin will be the speakers at the BSFS meeting. Kaye produces books on Magic, Mystery, Fantasy & Horror. Godwin's most recent novel, FIRELORD won the World Fantasy Award. Together they have written THE MASTERS OF SOLITUDE and its sequel WINTERMIND. Kaye's works include THE INCREDIBLE UMBRELLA and THE AMOROUS UMBRELLA, THE POSSESSION OF IMMANUEL WOLF AND OTHER IMPROBABLE TALES. Kaye and Godwin will speak at 9:00 PM, will sign autographs, and copies of their books will be on sale. BSFS meets at 2233 St. Paul St. in Baltimore. For more Information call (301)889-3290 or 366-0296
FIRST QUARTER REPORT: June 1 - August 31, 1982
JUNE 1982: Balance Brought Forward.......$ 5,054.92
Receipts: Dues...............................265.00
Interest............................56.88
(Total Receipts)...................(321.88)
Expenditures: Food & Beverages.............1,098.78
Supplies.......................189.26
Printing.......................131.20
(Total Expenditures).............(1,419.24)
Difference................................-1,097.36
Balance on hand............................3,957.56
SECOND QUARTER REPORT: September 1 - 30 Nov, 1982
SEPT 1982: Balance Brought Forward.......$ 3,957.56
Receipts:Disclave 1982.....................2,000.00
Meeting Refund......................100.00
Dues.................................37.00
Interest.............................55.90
(Total Receipts)..................(2,192.90)
Expenditures: Food & Beverages...............607.23
Rug Cleaning...................154.95
Printing.......................112.35
Movie Party.....................30.00
(Total Expenditures............(904.53)
Balance on hand..........................$ 5,245.93
SEMI-ANNUAL SUMMARY
Treasury as of June 1, 1982:.............$ 5,042.92
Treasury as of November 30, 1982...........5,245.93
Net Gain.....................................203.01
RECEIPTS: DISCLAVE.........................2,000.00
DUES.........................................302.00
REFUND.......................................100.00
EXPENDITURES: FOOD AND BEVERAGE............1,706.01
PRINTING.....................................243.55
SUPPLIES.....................................189.26
RUG CLEANING.................................154.95
MOVIE PARTY...................................30.00
Michael Kozlowski
[censored]
Bowie, Md. 20715
(301) 262-9466
Ron Leonard
[censored]
Temple Hills, Md. 20748
(301) 894-8048
Robert Lovell
[censored]
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
(303) 663-3637
FOR SALE BY RON LEONARD (301)894-8048)
Besler Enlarger....Make Offer
AtariVCS..........$ 100.00
Bowling Ball with
hard case............10.00
Motorcycle Helmet....10.00
SO FAR, WHO IS DOING WHAT AT DISCLAVE 1983
CHAIRMAN: ALAN HUFF
PROGRAM: FRAN BURMAN
ART SHOW: WALTER MILES, Bob MacIntosh
REGISTRATION: ROSA OLIVER
I.C.C. DOLL GILLILAND
HUXTERS: MARK OWINGS
VIDEO: PHIL COX
MOVIES: KIM WESTON
COSTUME EVENT: NANCY HANDWORK/GINNY McNITT
COMPUTER: DALE CLARK
PUBLICATIONS: JOE MAYHEW
"Demanding, excellent...a triumph of characterization... it works so well at so many levels!" -The Chicago Sun-Times
Joe Mayhew's 1982 Cashmas Carol
(tune: "The Ocean Waves may Roll")
BACKRUBS CRABS AND BEER
The time seemed just right for Baltimore to bid
with its Con Centre bogglingly grand
and Downtown renewed with its spiffy Harbor Place
near the Bodacious Hyatt Hotel planned.
(chorus)
Backrubs, crabs and beer:
muckle smofing got us here.
Now we're Con-Com, ConStellation's on our hands
and the Aussies are laughing down below.
-
Up spoke the Chair of our gallant Con
(what a layed-back gentle SMOF was he),
"So First they shut down Lord Baltimore Hotel
and then the bookstore fired me."
- -
Ted spoke up next as Vice-Chairfan of the Con,
Third Second Officer was he.
"I got us the hall for a promise and a song;
now you're blaming the A.R.A. on me."
- - -
Scott poked his head up through a pile of mail
and said in a plaintive voice, "You see,
I cared so much more for Smofing for the bid
than I do for the work which fell on me."
- - - -
Shirley explained as she read the riot act
to the Heads who were thinking mutiny:
"Your deadlines are passed, now the funds are all assign
- sink or swim, but do not pester me."
- - - - -
And now the Crew of our gallant Con
in press-gangs, one, two, three,
are Shanghai-ing hands and other volunteers
with a promise of "Nixon" amnesty.
CINCINNATI-Jerry Galvin's radio show was the first to break the news that Congress was quietly considering a law requiring every American to write two book reports a year--typewritten and double-spaced.
He also gave his listeners an exclusive on the Federal Pet Tax Act, which empowers federal pet police to break into homes unannounced and confiscate untaxed pets. His listeners, in turn, once helped Mr. Galvin through a severe personal crisis when he realized he was no longer hip because he cried at a children's horse movie.
Mr. Galvin, you see, is a master of the scam. He serves up a new one every Sunday night on "Talkback," his comedy show on station WAIF-FM. Then he banters for two hours with callers, many of whom phone in for the very purpose of advancing the scam.
Other callers don't seem to get the joke, producing moments of hilarity for the cognoscenti and sometimes producing problems for others: When Mr. Galvin announced that Congress had acted to bolster the housing industry by requiring all 18 year-olds to leave home, some Cincinnati high schools got questions the next morning from frantic parents and youths. "We had to put some fires out on that one," Mr. Galvin recalls.
Beyond the Signal
"Talkback's" many twists and turns have earned Mr. Galvin a cadre of loyal fans in Cincinnati, where a local magazine last year named it the city's best radio talk show. The show has followers elsewhere too, even though WAIF's broadcast signal doesn't reach beyond greater Cincinnati. William Schnirring, a New York City publishing executive, gets tapes of the show and plays them for his car pool on the way to work. "I've converted the people who ride with me into Galvin fans," he says. One thing that makes Mr. Galvin's show so unusual is that people actually set aside time to listen to it. The ritual of gathering in front of a radio to do nothing but listen flies in the face of current radio-listening habits. Most radio shows, whether music, news or talk, are designed as background, to be heard while the listener is driving or working.
Among the few shows that are different are Mr. Galvin's show and National Public Radio's "Prairie Home Companion," in which host Garrison Keillor creates the imaginary world of Lake Wobegone, Minn. Such shows hark back to the golden age of radio, when Fred Allen would parry with the odd characters he met in his imaginary alley, and listeners would follow Jack Benny into his underground money vaults.
Another oddity of "Talkback" is that Mr. Galvin isn't a professional radio announcer but does the show as a hobby. He makes his living as president of Press Galvin Advertising, a Cincinnati ad agency that posts annual revenue of about $2 million. As a businessman, Mr. Galvin is somewhat out of place at WAIF, which, true to its call letters, is something of a broadcasting orphan.
WAIF was founded in 1975 by "ex-hippies who wanted an underground newspaper of the airwaves," Mr. Galvin explains. The station, which doesn't sell commercials because it lives off donations and is owned by a not-for-profit corporation, aims to provide a forum for any group that commercial stations ignore. It broadcasts a smorgasbord ranging from German oom-pah-pah music (Cincinnati has a largely German heritage) to hard-core punk rock. Mr. Galvin's show is sandwiched between a science-fiction talk show and a news program for homosexuals.
At 88.3, the station is about "as far left on the dial as you can go. In more ways than one," says the 42 year-old Mr. Galvin, who delights in being WAIF's black sheep. During WAIF's annual fund-raising drive, other station volunteers raise money by pleading on the air or even checking pay-phone coin boxes, but Mr. Galvin staged a $100 a-plate dinner a few years back. He pulled in about $800.
Mr. Galvin came to WAIF seven years ago because he wanted to try his hand at doing an offbeat comedy show. Station staff members were suspicious because he was driving a big Oldsmobile, but they let him have a talk show anyway. Mr. Galvin's idea was to amuse listeners with rambling stories, and on the first night he started talking about his days in parochial school.
But it wasn't working. "I was dying," Mr. Galvin said. "Then the phone lit up, and I dove for it."
On the phone was his seventh-grade teacher, Sister Mary Adele, or so the caller said. Since she had last seen Mr. Galvin 25 years ago she had joined a new paramilitary order, The Little Sisters of the Flaming Sabers. The order's habit included combat boots, aviator glasses and a bowie knife.
It was all a put-on by Mr. Galvin's brother, Gene, a public-school teacher. Mr. Galvin played along, even though he hadn't expected the call. That call, more than anything else, set the tone of the show," Mr. Galvin says.
Since then "Talkback," which airs from 9 to 11 p.m., has accumulated a cast of regular callers. One is "Doc Fisher" whose patients supposedly die on the operating table as he plays Pac-Man on his oscilloscope. Another is "Lola," a woman who says little but giggles a lot. Gene Galvin, alias Sister Adele, remains a regular, often speaking out for back-to-basics education. To wit: "The student who comes to school under live machine-gun fire is less likely to throw a spitball in third period."
Mr. Galvin does the show perched on a metal stool in the dirty and hot subterranean studios of WAIF. With an elbow supported on a knee, he holds the phone and announces the night's scam. On a recent show he passed on a "rumor" that all radio stations would be required to air nothing but religious programs starting the next morning. "I don't know what's going on. Help me out," he said.
A listener quickly called to say he had heard that it was part of the Federal Omnibus Religious Restoration Act of 1982. Another found an imaginative loophole--gospel punk rock. Mr. Galvin's face lit up when he finally got a caller who seemed to take it all seriously. "This isn't supposed to happen in a free country. How can they change laws like this?" the caller asked. "I thought they had to go through the president and the Supreme Being and and all that."
But some scams don't inspire the audience. One about a law requiring people to learn a foreign language flopped for that reason, says Bill Brinkmoeller, a 28-year-old Cincinnatian who has taped more than 100 hours of the show. "It has to do with the collective creative juices flowing between Jerry and us," he says.
Sometimes the show seems to border on bad taste, partly because of Mr. Galvin's refusal to take anyone seriously, including himself. But he does keep the show from degenerating much beyond cynical humor. When a caller suggested during the religious programming scam that a television network could have Mother Teresa of Calcutta jump out of a cake, Mr. Galvin quickly changed the subject.
One drawback of the show's format is that regular listeners don't believe Mr. Galvin even when he is telling the truth. He has so blurred fact and fiction that many think he is conning them when he says he married one of his favorite callers. But he really did.
NovaCon: October 14-16
For those of us who have enjoyed Hexacon, the prospect of another little convention up in the same area seems attractive. NovaCon 83 is being billed as "Science Fiction-Fantasy-Horror" and it is going to be held at the Treadway Hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Pat Spath is the Chairfan and David Gerrold & Harold Weinstein will he guests. Weinstein is just a tad associated with Star Treckery. Teana Lee Byerts will be the Art Guest of Honor.
Dealer's tables are $25.00, including 1 membership. The Treadway's rates are $40.00 for a single, $47.00 for a double. The Convention address is:
NOVACON 83
P.O.Box 41
Marietta, PA 17547
UNICON: July 15-17
Unicon will return to the same hotel which they were at last year. Clinton Winchester will be chair again, but Jim Williams will be his Exec, Joan Vinge & Jim Frenkel are GOHs, and someone named Mike Walsh will he Fan GOH. The Art Show will feature Teana Lee Byerts.
The Registration fee is $9.00 until June 30, 1983 and then it will go up to $15.00, with a reduced rate for one day attendees.
There will be a masquerade, but a very strict weapons policy will prevail.
The ART SHOW will require all participants to be members of the convention. A few gratis memberships will be available to those who work for the show. Joe Mayhew is running the Art show.
Hucksters tables will be $35.00 each, including a membership. Address requests for Huxter Tables to:
Unicon
Attn: Craig Cook
Box 263
College Park, Md 20740
General information inquiries should be addressed to the same box, but not to Craig Miller.
STARCALL: August 4,5,7, 1983 (?)
Dick Preston has been planning to hold a Con since 1974 that I know of. This one was previously scheduled for Jan 14-18 at another locus, but had to be moved to the Rosslyn Westpark Hotel. They list some "Invited Guests" but it is not clear whether they are confirmed. These include Dr. Buckminster Fuller, Gordon Dickson, and the usual good folk. The con seems aimed at some sort of educational experience for younger fans, I.E. School Children, Teachers, etc.
For Further Information, send SASE to:
International Star Foundation
[censored]
Vienna, Virginia 22180
(703) 281-2711
CREATION: February 19 and 20, 1983 from 11:00 to evening.
The full title seems to be "THE CREATION BALTIMORE SCIENCE
FICTION/COMIC ART MULTIMEDIA CONVENTION" and it's being held
at the Hunt Valley Inn. Adam Malin and Gary Berman are fronting it.
Their address is:
Creation Conventions, Inc.
Box 7155
Garden City, NY 11530
(516) 747-2033
BALTICON XVII: April 1-3
Probably most of WSFA is working on this one and there isn't much news EXCEPT: the membership is limited to 1,500 and there will be NO MEMBERSHIPS SOLD AT THE DOOR.
Balticon 17
P.O. Box 686
Baltimore, Md, 21203
The Hyatt Regency's rates are:
Singles & Doubles: $50.00
Triples & Quads: 60.00
Balticon will serve no booze. You are perfectly welcome to drink your own, have small (10 or less) parties in your room, but if you get carried away, the Hyatt may come down on you with a corkage fee. The Weapons Policy is simple: "If it is or gives the appearance of being a weapon - in the opinion of the committee - you can't carry it. Weapons will be permitted with costumes only during the Masquerade. Pets are also forbidden by the hotel (Only seeing-eyes are allowed).
Membership is $12.00 for adults, $6.00 for 7-12 year olds, and ages 0-6 get in free, After March 15, They don't sell any more memberships, so don't dawdle.
Pat Kelly is the Chairman, The DeCamps are GOHs, Jack and Eva are Fan GOHs and Ann Trimbley is Art GOH. A special hook up will bring Andre Norton via telephone.
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The Official Calliope of the Washington Science Fiction Association, Inc. Editor-in-Chief: Jane Wagner Asst. Editor: Joe Mayhew