PARSEC Meeting Schedule October 2004 Date: October 9th 2004 - 2 PM Topic: Henry Tjernlund - "Asteroids, Comets and Mete- orites, Oh My!" and first nominations for 2005 offi- cers SIGMA The Newsletter of PARSEC * October 2004 * Issue 223 Location: East Liberty Branch of Carnegie Library November 2004 Date: November 13th 2004 - 2 PM Topic: Book Sale and final nominations for 2005 officers In This Issue: Location: East Liberty Branch of Carnegie Library Ann Cecil on Noreascon December 2004 Date: December 11th 2004 - 2 PM Topic: Holiday Party Location: Ann Cecil's house in Dormont PARSEC The Pittsburgh Area's Premiere Science-Fiction Organization P.O. Box 3681, Pittsburgh, PA 15230-3681 President - Kevin Geiselman Vice President - Kevin Hayes Treasurer - Greg Armstrong Secretary - Bill Covert Commentator - Ann Cecil Website: http://www.parsec-sff.org Meetings - Second Saturday of every month. Dues: $10 full member, $2 Supporting member Sigma is edited by David Brody Send article submissions to: sigma@spellcaster.org View From the Top Losses & Gains The President's Column - Kevin Geiselman PARSEC lost two long-time members this month: Sondra Melick and Irene The Future Begins Tomorrow Tjernlund. In 1947, nuclear physicist "Doc" Cargraves and a Sandi Melick, wife of Bob and mother of three sons whose names all start trio of high school kids built the rocket Galileo and with K, died on September 10, 2004, after a long illness that put her in a nursing went to the moon, ushering in a new age of privately home. Many of us remember Sandi, a vibrant and charming lady, who came to funded space travel. PARSEC meetings and Confluence as long as she was able. First it was on crutch- Well, not really. Rocket Ship Galileo, Robert es, then in a wheelchair, and over the last couple years, only in spirit. She attend- Heinlein's novel about a Nazi base on the Moon, pre- ed serveral of Barb Carlson's Halloween parties dressed in the red wig and sport- sented an impatience with the speed at which the gov- ing fangs, in homage to her favorite character from the Karen Taylor vampire ernment was getting humanity into space and, with typical American aplomb, books. We will continue to miss her charm and her engaging sense of humor. bypassed it with private enterprise. Wait a minute? 1947? The Second World War Irene Tjernlund, who was still attending PARSEC meetings and even a few was barely over and already we were impatient to get into space? Those were the after-meetings at the Sharp Edge up until this summer, died on September 23, days when anything was possible and the future was right around the corner. 2004 in the hospital. She was still enthusiastic about science-fiction and PAR- Humanity was to become a spacefaring race. SEC, even after a stroke in December 1994 (which caused her to miss the In June of 2004, Bob Rutan's Spaceship One became the first privately fund- Christmas party that year) kept her from being able to participate as fully as she ed passenger craft to fly into space, 100 kilometers altitude. By the time you read would have liked. She used to always bake something cake, cookies for the this we will know whether he and his team have won the coveted X-Prize by fly- meetings, but that stopped, and current members mostly remember her as the lady ing into space twice in a two week period, ushering in a new age of private space on oxygen who was hard to hear. She had a massive collection of science-fiction travel. and was always eager to hear more about what was happening, even at 81. She Well, not really. History has shown us that, since the end of the great US- will be missed by her son Henry and by all those who knew her. Soviet Space Race, revolutions don't happen any more They are too risky in both And on a happier note, we have a gain: Mary Soon Lee gave birth to a money and lives. These things take many years to happen and then, once the prize daughter! is claimed, it takes many more years for those innovations to find their way into More Stuff something more practical. From Diane Turnshek - Sasha, Gen and I are contributing items for a craft show Space travel is evolutionary, not revolutionary. The space shuttle began on Saturday, the 6th of November (at West Hempfield Elementary School in design in the 50's and 60's, was built in the 70's, flew in the 80's and now in the Irwin, PA). Last year, Tracey, Nancy and Joan contributed items (but, unfortu- 21st Century is past it's life span and should be replaced. Are we to wait another nately, we had a huge snow storm the day of the craft show). John Mizik fre- 30 years for the next generation of spacecraft? Even with pioneers like Bob quently sells his fantasy clay creations there. If anyone wants to come and sit at Rutan, it will likely take many decades for spaceflight to become available to the table with me or bring items, please let me know. Eight foot tables are anyone but government astronauts and the very rich looking for a thrill. $15.00. "No baked goods, Tupperware, Home Interiors, Avon, Mary Kay, etc." We need some sort of motivation, a new space race to bring out the risk tak- Contact me at724 863-1345 ordiane@sff.net. ers. With the Soviet Union gone, I see only two things that will actually get us back out into space where we belong: Alien invasion or imminent planetary destruction. Since the probability of an interplanetary invasion fleet descending get there. The Hugos were mainly exciting because Phil got to be a star; this upon the Earth is probably quite low, that leaves only the end of the world. year I didn't have any particular favorites I was rooting for. I missed the That threat comes from impactors such as comets and asteroids. The news Masquerade, or at least only saw part of it ­ we were in the Mended Drum, has told us of some close calls recently and ancient history (such as the extinction quaffing a few beers, and they had a BIG TV set up to show it. Many many of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago) tells us that it can and probably will hap- folk were in front of us. Susan Diguardiola sp. approx. was hostess, and she pen again but the key word in this is "imminent". The firm probability that the did an excellent job. They had a paid entertainer following the Masquerade, Earth will be hit by something big in the next few thousand years isn't enough. which started incredibly late; the paid entertainer was not as much fun or inter- People want a number before they act. esting as the costumers, so we left. And next year ­ Scotland! continued on page 8 Page 2 Page 11 My only responsibility this year was the William Tenn exhibit. Twice a Reviews day, I trouped through and made sure none of the photos and memorabilia had fallen down after the second day they pretty much all knew their places. Phil Books was pretty much lionized throughout the con; I couldn't get in to any of his first Hannibal's Children couple of panels ­ they'd passed standing room only and were into serious hall by John Maddox Roberts overflow. And they didn't put them in little rooms either, since he was co-GOH by Matt Urick with Pratchett. Phil looked very grand in his tux, giving out the Big Hugo (the John Maddox Roberts has been writing a mys- novel). I didn't see the retros, though I hear he looked equally elegant there. tery series set in ancient Rome. It must have And his remarks were witty and well-placed as usual; I heard people in the seemed natural to use his familiarity with this set- halls talking about how much they enjoyed hearing him, how surprised they ting in a science fiction novel. were at how sharp he is, and how many truly funny anecdotes he knows. Subtitled "A Novel of Alternate History" Diane Turnshek is now Eastern Regional Director for SFWA, which means Roberts sets Hannibal's Children in a world where Carthage did not fall to Rome. she was running the SFWA Suite. Last year she did her part for me (I made all Hannibal is able to force a decisive confrontation with Rome aided by reinforce- the Parsecians at Torcon come and do two hours volunteering in the Green ments from Philip V of Macedon, aid he never received in our universe. The Room, which I was running), so I did two hours as volunteer hostess in the Romans are given a choice of exile from Italy or the destruction of Rome. The SFWA Suite. It was fun, and not a lot of work. And Jane Jewell, obviously Romans choose exile - for while Rome exists there is hope. under the impression that I was SOMEBODY, took my picture. Over a century later the Romans have carved out an empire in Northern This year I got to go to programming, which was very interesting. I didn't Europe ruled from New Rome. But it is still not the Rome of their ancestors, the hear any panels as inspiring as last year's China Mieville and Kim Stanley home of their gods. A decision is made to send an expedition south to gather Robinson talk about differences in workstyles, but I did enjoy several panels. intelligence for the reclamation of Rome. One of the funniest moments: a nice young male author, after listening to Wen Nearly the first third of this novel is setting up the background for the rest. Spencer describe her effort in Tinker to explore the fear that every girl feels in Only after the expedition reaches the court of the Shofet of Carthage do the dating, said "But no girl in my High School ever felt afraid." And every wheels within wheels start turning. Carthage is vying with Egypt to be the most woman in the audience roared with laughter. powerful and both are wary of the Seleucids in the East. The Romans seem a Another panel that may yet change my life: James Patrick Kelly anchored a heaven sent army to be used by Carthage to realize its dreams and then discard. `Save Clarion East' panel, because it turns out that Michigan State University, Politics is something the well-bred patrician Roman has had to practice since which has basically bankrolled Clarion East all these years, is now kicking youth. Marcus Cornelius Scipio believes he can use the present situation to his them out. Kelly is on the Clarion East BOD, and is leading an effort to find advantage to restore Rome to its glory and more. If only he can keep in check them both a new home and a better, sounder method of operating. Clarion the ambitions of his second in command, Titus Lucerius Norbanus, while he West, which is very successful, is partially funded and supported by the local plays one mighty leader against another. fan community in Seattle; it would be logical for Clarion East to follow that Some readers might find the lack of deep characterization a detriment. The model. As of half-an-hour later, Deirdre Moen and Diane Turnshek and I have book also suffers from the usual problems of alternate history ­ many areas of set up a "Bring Clarion Back to PA where it belongs" group, and are working culture stay lockstep with ours while some, the engineering of Archimedes in this on contacting those interested to try and convince Seton Hill and Clarion East case, vary widely. Overall the novel is entertaining enough if the reader is will- that this is a natural and potentially profitable fit. ing to stay at it long enough. I never made it to the Art Show. I'm sure it was great, especially since our At the end the main characters are starting to regroup their positions indicat- own Chris Hutson had stuff in it, but it was on an upper floor, and somehow, by ing several more novels may be planned. They'll have to go on most likely with- the time I found it, it was closed. On my way back from the closed Art Show out me as a reader. this was on Sunday I started running into people; I finally got to talk with John Grimes: Reserve Commodore Cormac Russell, who was as unmistakable as promised. I also saw David by A. Bertram Chandler Brody, and Max. There were other PARSEC members there that I just didn't reviewed by Matt Urick run into (mostly Randy, whom I saw at his concert on the first day and then The fourth volume in the Science Fiction Book Club reprinting of the John never saw again). Grimes adventures at least answers one question. With the inclusion of various I'm sure I left out a lot: I know there was video and gaming, but I didn't shorter stories in this volume, it will take six not five volumes to include every- Page 10 Page 3 thing. It also provides a start answering whether the earlier novels contain some Noreascon IV Report exciting spark that seems to be missing from much of the later novels. The very last novels have been mere devices for Chandler to revisit favorite characters Worldcons are a special form of insanity; they last at least five days, with from earlier novels and set the scene for a smooth transition to the earlier novels the equivalent of five convention's worth of programming, an art show, a deal- that take place after the later novels. er's room, video and anime, a con suite, etc., etc. If you go a day early and The first novel, The Last Amazon, takes Grimes back to Sparta, the setting of help set-up, you have the benefit of already knowing your way around before Spartan Planet, one of the few of early novels collected so far. This was the the convention starts, but then it lasts six days, and starts to be grow from a con world with no women that now is adjusting to a new culture. Grimes is sent to into a lifestyle. investigate undercurrents of subversiveness. It isn't very difficult for the reader Every Worldcon has its truly marvelous features and its not so great fea- to guess that the new wife of the Archon wants to turn this into a world ruled by tures. Noreascon 4 (Boston is very proud of having held the worldcon more Amazons. Only her underestimating the abilities of Grimes and his few opera- than once and wants everyone to KNOW it) was no exception. Probably the tives prevents this from happening. highlight of the con was the Concourse. This was a very large room (easily as The next novel, The Wild Ones, was the last Grimes novel written. Grimes large as the Dealer's area), which was broken up into exhibits, fanactivity areas, is sent to New Salem to investigate the exploitation of a possibly sentient species and a food place named, in Terry Pratchett's honor, "The Mended Drum". [in similar to Piper's "Little Fuzzy." The incident Grimes creates to allow the Space the Discworld books, this is a popular tavern]. The Mended Drum on the Survey to intervene typically gets out of hand as he and his agents are almost Concourse provided a good place to buy food and drink; the food was well burnt at the stake as witches. above the usual convention hall standard, and the prices were not outrageous. There is a definite break between these last novels and the "Rim World" nov- The drink included alcohol, and in the evenings, Pete Grubbs yes, OUR Pete els as signaled by the future-traveling dream sequence in the last chapter. The provided lively and appropriate entertainment to enjoy along with the booze. story of how Grimes went from Reserve Commodore in the Space Survey to You could go out into the attached shopping mall to eat, if you wanted to Get Admiral in the Rim World seems destined not to be revealed. Away, but many fen simply grabbed a bite at The Mended Drum and then went The five latest shorter stories are presented next. These adventures precede back to con activities. Rim World. I had read a couple when they were published in magazines but had Yes there was an official Con Suite; it was a pleasant place dominated by forgotten them. They are the usual ribald romps. the KoffeeKlatsch tables, which were tables and chairs in a roped-off portion of The last short story "Chance Encounter " is one of the earliest Grimes story. the Con Suite. The food there was strictly munchies, veggies and cheese, It is the tale of an event that happens while Grimes captains a survey of unex- crackers and candy, which is pretty much par for Con Suites anymore. Ah, but plored Rim World territory. Boston is the home of many fine restaurants especially Legal Seafood, and no Grimes is an admiral in the last novel, Catch the Star Winds. His adventur- one had trouble finding good food and drink, since we were in the heart of ing days are done although he would not mind leading the maiden voyage of the downtown. new ship with the experimental drive instead of sending others. One of the crew The dealer's room was large, much as you'd expect at a Worldcon. It was- makes an "improvement" to the new drive during the test flight. The crew finds n't the largest I've ever seen, but it was sufficiently mind-boggling. I saw some they must overcome their jealousies and annoyances before they can make it really neat leather masks, which alas turned out to be very expensive. I planned home again. not to buy anything at Worldcon, and held out for several days, even though I The stories are all quick easy reads, entertaining at times but not different had to walk through the Dealer's room to get from the main hall where pro- enough to be very memorable long after they are done. gramming was held back to the Sheraton where I was staying. (the Boston Movies Sheraton is a long and ugly story I will omit from this account). Then I found a New Worlds to Conjure: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow hard copy of Pratchett's Guards, Guards which has long been out of print, and reviewed by William blake Hall they wouldn't let me use plastic unless I bought over $30 worth, and they had a With less than a month to go until the election, Kerry is finally generating rare edition of John Clute's essays priced very reasonably, and... You get the some excitement - not John Kerry, but Kerry Conran, writer-director of Sky idea. Fortunately I stopped myself before I got too far; fortunately for Max, Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Sky Captain is a tribute to that Jules who bought herself a new computer at the end of con sale, and then fast-talked Verne cosmos in which lone geniuses in garage laboratories cobble together tech- me into bringing it back to Pittsburgh for her (I only had me and Greg and our nological miracles to instantaneous gargantuan effect, and Conran's real story is stuff in the Beetle). Page 4 Page 9 Bigfoot was looking back in. They found a footprint with three toes - common much like that, taking years just to piece together six minutes of film on his own, to PA (the Washington state Bigfeet have 5 toes). then getting a hundred million dollars to lead the whole project. Conran may be His final encounter was in fall of 92, in the Canonsburg area. The group was a flash in the pan, but it's a monumental flash, a composite valentine to pretty investigating a theft report: somebody stole all their grapes. The people had seri- much everything he's ever loved about movies. In the past few reviews I've had ous grape vines, but they had been cleared of grapes. They staked out the area, to give begrudging praise to noble borderline misfires, but Sky Captain, like saw some green eyes, but nothing much. In the morning they saw that a nearby Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner, Dark City and The Matrix before it, pret- apple tree had been stripped of all apples. Two of the boys that lived there were ty well holds together in its worldbuilding. sf fans, planning to create a movie like Night of the Living Dead, so PASU was Let's sweep some nits aside first. The much-noted look of the film, while suspicious. They staked out the place the next night, and Devon was down on an cool, was often quite murky, and I found this surprisingly true of the sound qual- old railroad track; there were other members up atop the ridge, and a third group ity as well; hopefully, you'll get to see and hear a brighter, clearer print. The watching in an orchard in the middle. Devon's group got hit by catapulted rocks, gauzy glows suggested movies at the dawn of the sound era, yet I was reminded which narrowly missed hitting them. After moving around, he and one boy saw a most of all not of actual movies but of movie poster art from that time. I sus- creature, but no one else was looking. pect that because the whole thing was acted out on a big blue stage, the actors He talked about the smell, which has given the Bigfoot the local nickname missed out on that subtle underpinning of actual peril, and as I listened to them of "Skunk Ape". He noted that it is not a skunk smell, more boiled cabbage, rot- they seemed almost to be sleepwalking through the most appalling hazards. ted meat, combined with a sweetness like an old potpourri. King Kong had Kong, and Willis O'Brien behind him, but it also had the recent- He talked about being an eyewitness, trying to get a description and drawing ly departed Fay Wray, one of the great gratuitous screamers of all time. Here, done as soon as possible. As soon as any sighting was found, that was it; noth- however, the leads have much less to actually do. Jude Law, prophetically chris- ing more every happened in that area. tened for the patron saint of the impossible, dutifully looks and acts the part of Theory #1 : Undiscovered primate. Sky Captain Joe Sullivan. When giant robots come flying from nowhere to Theory #2: Alien pet being let out. stomp through New York City round about 1939, the call goes out from a radio Theory #3: Some future visitor. tower reminsicent of the beginning of many an RKO Radio Picture, not to the Air Theory #4: Supernatural form. Force, but simply to "Sky Captain." As surely as if summoned by Gotham Theory #5: Hoax, total fabrication. City's Bat Signal, Law coolly saves the day. He gets saddled, though, with His pro reasons for believing: 1 reliable, believable people report seeing the Gwyneth Paltrow as newspaperwoman Polly Perkins. Paltrow has her strengths creature 2) today's crypto-zoology turns into tomorrow's real zoology. - her silent portraits of reproachfulness are wonderful - but her character is His cons: 1) lack of evidence - why no pictures? Why no bones? 2) a lot of made really more lucky than clever, and the running joke about her love of her hoaxes have been exposed in the last 5 or 6 years. camera runs very thin very fast, until you wish someone would step on it and PASU was a mix; not just scientists, but hunters, people who are curious, crush it just to put her, it, and us out of our collective misery. Unlike more sassy policemen, etc. It shut down because the guy running it (Stan Gordon) 1) got mar- feisty spitfires she could have been drawn from, like the Wilma Deering of the ried and 2) had some legal hassles and 3) he is promoting the Kecksberg incident. original Buck Rogers, Polly mainly gets to tag along and bicker. I heard that Ross is convinced that Kecksberg was a crashed spy satellite. someone was thinking of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, but heck, I There was a lively question and answer session, which veered off into some would have settled for Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. very funny lines which we can't print in SIGMA. One act of invention I especially appreciated was Conran strongly suggest- ing Nazism while neatly sidestepping it. Not to take one iota away from the hor- Stuff ror of the Third Reich, but it is high time that movies bothered to recognize the From Greg Armstrong: The Robotics Institute is celebrating its 25th anniversary many other mutations of Evil, and there is not one swastika to be found here. A with various events scheduled for October 11 to 14. Some demos and talks are zeppelin called the Hindenburg III docks at the Empire State Building, and even free. Almost all is open to the public. See www.ri25.org for details. Berlin has its factories and generators stolen by these mysterious robots. The vil- lain is named Totenkopf, and appropriately enough his handiwork bears the mark Geiss - continued from page 2 of a winged skull, but he is working on his own somewhere in the viciinity of Unfortunately, the number will come weeks or days before doomsday. Too Shangri-La - yes, that Shangri-La, no doubt recently visited by Ronald late. Colman. Yet Totenkopf looks like Laurence Olivier, itself an interesting dilem- Maybe if there really were Nazis on the moon. Page 8 Page 5 ma, since he played both a lieutenant of Dr. Josef Mengele in Marathon Man and September Minutes a hunter of Mengele in an operatic piece of anti-cloning horror called The Boys From Brazil. The mysterious Totenkopf threat is right out of Verne, a brilliant PARSEC met on Saturday September 11, 2004 at lone madman building an empire from nothing - or, is he??? the East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library. The This is akin to Raiders in its gleeful spirit of "Can you top this?" The pre-meeting assembly was enlivened by Worldcon dis- movie keeps getting wilder and wilder. By the time we meet weird monstrous cussions; rough count was that 18 PARSEC members creatures, they seem to have nothing to do with Totenkopf's ultimate scheme - attended, plus a number of PARSEC friends (like past but who cares, so long as they're really neat? Totenkopf's plan dwarfs even the member Cormac Russell, who did indeed have fluores- megalomania of the James Bond supervillain Hugo Drax in Moonraker; had cent yellow braids and a short but very friendly girl- this movie galloped along a quarter hour longer we would probably have gotten friend). Pittsburghers made such a good impression in invaded by Martians. Also, aside from two somewhat risque moments, both Boston that two New Yorkers actually decided to join us: welcome Mike and involving a large hairy contributor named Omid Djalili, it manages to stay quite Elektra Hammond! clean. Laurie Mann brought her computer with a collection of worldcon photos, What is also remarkable is that Angelina Jolie is finally involved in a good which she let play as background while we all shared experiences and driving movie. It's been a while since Girl, Interrupted, which she basically stole from times. Wynona Ryder (which may explain Ryder's behavior ever since as a form of A slight distraction was the nearby church service, which seems to have compensation) or The Bone Collector (stupid as a mystery, but still cool as a increased its numbers, and sang hymns (off-key) with a great deal of enthusiasm movie). What is this spell she holds over some of us, obliging us to sit through while we met. two Tomb Raider disappointments and Taking Lives? Sky Captain marks her The raffle was won by Kevin Hayes again! but he let Ryan do the choos- second collaboration with Giovanni Ribisi after Gone in 60 Seconds, here in the ing. gum-chawing role of Dex Dearborn, ultimate engineer, and her role as a sort of Laurie Mann gave a quick summary of Worldcon statistics. Geis talked about fetishistically leatherclad Honor Harrington is small but satisfying. the release of the dvd for Return of the King, which is going to be 4 hours and 11 I can easily see this movie again, and I don't say that often. My only quib- minutes long 50 minutes of extra footage. ble is that it doesn't really have that optimistic an outlook. It turns out that Greg gave a treasurer's report, summarizing the last two months; $58.04 to "World of Tomorrow" refers to Totenkopf's inhuman vision, and as such reminds the good. me of the slogan of the X-Files movie, "Fight the future." A movie that offers a Ann Cecil talked about the 501c3 schedule: presentation to the membership hopeful 21st Century - now, that would be an achievement. in October, with a vote in November. All paid members will be sent a copy of the new by-laws before then, by mail. The main presentation was given by Devon Ross on Bigfoot. He talked about PASU, the PA Assocation for Study of the Unexplained (sort of a PA X- files group). Originally from Kansas, as a teenager he experienced first-hand a UFO sighting, which he described. Professionally, Devon is a nuclear engineer, so when he moved to PA, he felt that he might be able to help PASU. PA has a lot of UFOs, ghosts, bigfeet: "either a lot of imaginative people or a very weird place." In 1990, reports of an orange glowing object drew him to a ridge in California PA; he and two others (one a police officer) ran into something with large green glowing eyes, which moved very fast. The next morning they found Editor's Note: large triangles in a field; the end result was that the police officer quit the group: Two or three of you may have missed my monthly rant in the last couple of "too strange for me!" issues. I assure both of you that it's absence has been the result of space limita- Next time was Laurel Highlands, a trailer built into the side of the hill, where tions, not shyness. I'll be back in the next issue with more suitable incendiary the person in the trailer looked out of a window about 8-9 ft off the ground, and comments. Prepare to be offended. Page 6 Page 7