Science Fiction/San Francisco The twice-monthly news zine for the San Francisco Bay Area. Issue 11 November 2, 2005 Editors: Jean Martin, Chris Garcia, Jack Avery email: [email protected] Copy Editor David Moyce

TOC eLOCs ...... Jean Martin...... 2-6 Editorial...... Chris Garcia ...... 7 National Novel Writing Month...... Chris Garcia ...... 7-8 Le Bal de Vampires preview...... Chris Garcia ...... 8-9 Anime Destiny preview ...... Jack Avery...... 9 Once More With Feeling Cancelled ...... Jack Avery...... 9 Alan Lee Signs...... Diane Rooney...... Photography Diane Rooney...... 10-12 Elevator to the Stars ...... Jean Martin...... Photography Malibu Burns ...... 13-15 Dava Sobel ...... Diane Rooney...... Photography Diane Rooney...... 16-17 Klingon Blood Hunt ...... Mike Wilson ...... Photography Mike Wilson and Dakron Slaxx...... 18-21 Battle of Trafalgar...... Jean Martin...... Photography Jean Martin ...... 22-24 Yaoi Con ...... Andy Trembley ...... Photography Pikmin Link ...... 25-27 Gaskells Dance...... Eva Kent...... Photography Jean Martin ...... 28-30 Clive Barker Signs ...... Dr. Noe ...... Photography Dr. Noe ...... 31 Barely Legal Celebrates 10 Years ...... Dr. Noe ...... Photography Barely Legal ...... 32-34 Robert Jordan Signs...... Diane Rooney...... Photography Diane Rooney...... 35-36 BASFA Minutes ...... 37-38 Fan Resources...... Jack Avery...... 39-47 Calendar ...... Jack Avery...... 48-72 Science Fiction San Francisco is released on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. All issues can be found at www.efanzines.com All articles and photos are copyright 2005 by the original creators. Used with permission. Science Fiction/San Francisco is a Backnumbers Press zine.

1 eLOCs Jean Martin responds: Isara writes: Glad to know that you’re enjoying our Y’know, I was totally unaware of this Gary Mattingly writes: zine. We hope you keep reading our issues ‘zine until the other day. Oh My Goodness, and do tell your friends about us. We aim to what a fantastic resource!! Just thought I would say that I cover more and more areas of fandom in the skimmed through issues #9 & #10. Very future. If you, or anyone you know, would Jean Martin responds: nice pictures. Entertaining commentary. I like to report on events that you attend, please think it is a good thing that you are posting contact us. We like to get everyone involved Thanks for the compliment. And we do dates, times, places for meetings of various and feel like they’re a part of our family. believe that we offer a lot of information, groups. Why I even saw wine-tastings that We will definitely try to cover Pantheacon entertaining articles and colorful photos in a happened where I live, Dublin. in San Jose next year. As for Potlatch and very timely manner. It would be great if more I find it entertaining that the fans I Corflu, these are in Seattle and Toronto. We and more people benefited and enjoyed our know, except for a few like Dave Clark & generally concentrate on Bay Area events but zine on a regular basis. So spread the word! Tom Whitmore, that live in the Bay Area, we sometimes cover conventions in other areas aren’t mentioned. The groups certainly are if anyone from the Bay Area is willing to write David Gallaher writes: disparate. Most of the ones I know don’t go about it. to SiliCon. A few go hang out in the bar Nice article on the upcoming San Jose at BayCon for short periods of time. I go Jim Gorman writes: Westercon, but one minor correction. The to Pantheacon. Hm, I should go back in last San Jose Westercon was in 1983 at the your issues and see if you mention Potlatch That e-zine you do is one of the best Red Lion Inn. The 1985 Westercon was or Corflu. Ah, just checked first issue came I have seen. I love the writing, I love the at the Red Lion Inn in Sacramento. The out after both of those. Most of the people photos, and I love the things you cover. last Bay Area Westercon was Westercon I know did go to those. Keep up the great work! XXXX at the Oakland Hyatt Regency and I did attend the first BASFA meeting Convention Center in 1987. but none after that. My fannish activities Jean Martin responds: are pretty minimal other than attempting Jean Martin responds: to communicate with some people I’ve We do try our best! It’s positive feedback known for over 20 or 30 years. like this that makes all the hard work and Thanks for giving us the right information I’ll keep checking out the issues at time and energy we spend on this endeavor regarding the year of the last Westercon. It’s efanzines. worth it! great to have such knowledgeable readers!

2 Carole Parker writes: Jean Martin responds: Jean Martin responds:

I feel like I need to correct Chris on a couple Thanks for the corrections and for giving The Fabulandia and Cosplayers photos of points: 1) It is SiliCon with the initial us more information on SiliCon. We do try did turn out nice. The photos were very cap C, please. The initial cap C is part of to make sure our information is accurate. We colorful. And we do love introducing people to the trade- or service-marked name, and is will try to keep doing better in the future. But areas outside their usual interests. That’s pretty an indication of it being a convention. It is we always welcome feedback from our readers much the aim of our zine: to cover us much as a play on the chemical, but we are not the who often know more about their activities possible. It helps that Jack, Chris and I have chemical. We are the convention. 2) Dann and events than we do. different areas of interests. So all together, the Lopez is *not* the “head of the Con.” He is three of us cover a wide range of fandom. on the board of directors of Siliconventions, Rich Berman writes: Thanks for suggesting a book buyer’s Ltd., which is the organization that is survival guide. We’ll see if Jack is willing to do responsible for SiliCon. For 2005, the Great issue #10! I especially enjoyed the something like that. Great idea. convention chairman was Craig Nicolai. pieces on Fabulandia and the cosplayers. Although Serenity didn’t do too well at the For 2006, it is a pair of co-chairs, Chris Showing various events outside of the usual box office, the word among the Browncoats is Knight and Grant West. Please be sure to fan festivities is always interesting to me. I that if the movie makes a certain amount do some fact checking in the future. think that this diversity in reporting is one of money, including DVD and merchandise Also, SiliCon was a literary convention, and of your zine’s best strengths. sales, then Universal will mostly likely, we are in the process of becoming a media- Having participated in a few of them, I probably, hopefully, entertain doing a sequel. oriented convention. Note: this does not always look forward to reading Jack’s book Let’s keep our fingers crossed! Hope you get to mean that we are a *media* convention. buying expeditions. Is there any chance of see the movie soon. I’ve seen it twice already Being a media-oriented convention means a book buyer’s survival guide, Jack? and it’s quite an exciting roller coaster ride. that we pay more attention to films, anime, I’m a big fan of the Serenity/Firefly Thanks for the compliment and hope you costuming, and music than BayCon does - universe, but I haven’t seen the movie yet. enjoy this issue and all our future issues. which is a more book oriented convention. No theaters around these parts. So, here’s This does not make either convention a question for discussion: Do you think “good” or “bad.” It makes them that the mediocre box office for Serenity will discourage future projects, or was it different, so they can serve different Have something to say about good enough to ensure the survival of the members of the science fiction and Science Fiction/San Francisco? Or franchise? science fantasy community. Which is, about fandom in general? Keep up the good work and I look as many of us believe, as it should be. Send your letter of comment to: forward to the next issue! [email protected] 3 Peter Sullivan writes: ghoodminton), that’s a pretty easy stricture to believe... to fulfill. Dear Jean, (Well, I’ve written to Jack On conventions, there seems to be a Jean Martin responds: and Chris, so I might as well complete the gap in the middle between the Worldcon set...). Good to hear that you’re getting monster (which, like Godzilla, will be Yes, I hope more people write to us. some egoboo/feedback on Science Fiction/ munching its way through both Los Angeles Feedback is always great whether positive or San Fransisco as you go around the various and Japan over the next two years) and the constructive. With all the hard work Jack, events. Let’s see if we can convert some of smaller cons, which either specialise in small Chris and I put in, we want to make sure that them into writing you letters of comment - geographical areas and/or a specific area of we are on the right track as far as what we are it’s getting mighty lonely in this lettercol for fandom. Conventions like NASFiC and offering to people. It’s also great to know that me with just an occasional Lloyd Penney for Silicon run the risk of falling down a chasm we have a core readership. We appreciate your company! (Not that Lloyd isn’t a fine letter in the middle, unless, as Chris says, they regular LOCs. You not only give us glowing writer and, unlike me, an adornment to find something distinctive to do. I guess comments, you also add your own experiences every lettercol he pops up in. But if misery there comes a point where a convention and opinions on fandom. Which I think loves company, so do letterhacks like him is too big to have everyone in one room, enhances our zine. So keep writing to us! and me.) but not big enough for the dozen or more It is interesting to note, though, that our Jean, I think that you’re right to say simulateneous programme tracks of a most devoted LOC writer is not only not that the most important part of fandom is typical Worldcon. I was involved in running from the Bay Area but is not even in the same not the “infrastructure” (my own generic a board games convention for almost 10 country! I guess that’s what makes the Internet term for the events, conventions and years - our peak attendance was about 330, so wonderful. That people from the U.K. and fanzeens) but the people. It took me not and that was ruddy hard work all round! elsewhere can connect with other people all much more than a year in postal games Trying to do something on the scale of a over the world who have the same interests. fandom to come to the same conclusion, NASFiC sounds several orders of magnitude I agree, people in fandom are very at the nubile age of 17, and I think harder. And yet all that people seem to say proactive and generally like to get involved. my level of involvement and interest is “It’s not as big as a Worldcon, is it?” “Do Somethin’” is a really good call to action deepened as a result of this ‘epiphany.’ (And yes, I *do* include myself in that for people to help us out at Science Fiction/San I like Chris’ simple summary agenda condemnation.) Francisco. I think we’re still in the beginning for SF/SF - “Do Somethin’!” I guess I The listings section is awesome, and stages, and we’re slowly but surely reaching a might have expressed it as “Do Fanac!” kudos to Jack for all his work on this. I wider audience through word of mouth, and Of course, given that *anything* that note that the Bay Area Skeptics were having our own promotional efforts. Hopefully we’ll fans do can count as fanac (from running a lecture on “Why skepticism will not be reach critical mass soon… then we’ll be more a full-size convention to a quick game of popular in 2005.” Hmm, I find *that* hard well known. I sincerely believe that our zine is 4 something special and that we have something smaller cons. many do not. Would the majority of lit great to offer. The calendar section, as you fans accept the furries? Probably not. I pointed out, is the most popular and useful Lloyd Penney writes: know some who are both lit and furry, and section of our zine. take care to keep their two interests very First of all, thanks to all of you for Good observations on conventions. I separate. I know, why can’t we all just get bringing back SF/SF. It certainly is a labour have yet to attend Worldcon. I hope to go to along? I guess we just take pride in what we of love, and I hope you’re in the Barea’s the L.A. one. But I seem to prefer mid-sized do, and it’s human nature to try to place face with this revival. Also, Chris, I’ve been conventions such as BayCon. I did enjoy your interest above all others. very busy with trade shows and evening Comic-Con (I went for the first time this year), Neil Gaiman was in Toronto recently; hours, and I’ve had an enforced holiday but if I wasn’t in the masquerade competition, must have been part of a tour he was on. from loccing, and I am waaaaaaay behind I would have just felt so lost in the chaos. And It was a pay-at-the-door event, sponsored with everyone, especially the e-stack of there were just way too many panels and by a local educational firm, so some people Garciazines waiting for me. So, here’s activities all at the same time that I missed a didn’t go. I didn’t, mostly because I’ve comments on issues 9 and 10 of SF/SF. lot that I wanted to attend. Oh, and the lines never read anything by Neil, although I It may be short and dirty, but it will be a for the more popular events were so long I had am certainly familiar with his titles. It is response. If it’s a loc, it’ll be a fluke. to wait an hour for them. So that made me pleasing to see that Neil likes the tours 9…95 pages? Wow! I have noticed that miss even more! SiliCon was fun but it was so he can speak directly to his readers. I when some SF/SFs are heavy with photos, I poorly attended. There were only two people believe that’s one reason why some writers have to sic Adobe Reader 6 on in, as 4 just at a panel I was speaking at, and one of them enjoy conventions. They meet their readers, won’t do the job. My loc…well, I certainly was a friend I dragged with me. So, yes, I can they find out what they like and hate, and didn’t think it would ever see the light of see how a more generalized scifi convention perhaps learn something about themselves day, but there it is. I’m glad there’s a zine that isn’t one of the bigger ones will have a and their writing talents. for it to appear in. I am starting to lean harder time attracting people. On the other Chris, you’ve already described yourself towards a Toronto newszine, given that hand, I think some people, like myself, favor as a hobbit (and in the two photos of you while it would cover a much smaller area, small- and mid-sized conventions, and like I’ve seen, YES!), so you must have been at that small area would receive much better to stay local, if possible. It does get expensive the Hobbit Picnic. I’ve been on a website coverage than the whole country. Old skool traveling all over to go to conventions! In where you enter your name, and it gives fandom…now I really do feel old. addition to having to use up vacation time you a hobbit name. Wonder what Chris I like Peter Sullivan’s spoke theory of the at work. So perhaps in addition to being Garcia comes out as? Google up the website, various fandoms, but it would require many more distinctive, these conventions can find www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/ , enter in fans of those various interests to accept the a way to attract people like me. I find that I his name, and out comes Mungo Dogwood other fandoms and interests as valid, and can socialize and get involved more with the of Shadydowns. (Mine is Dimple Tolkien, 5 by the way.) to do some time, go and visit The Fandom whatever we need to do. I’ve got lots more Every year, Toronto Trek has its own of Good Cheer, and party with them. I’ve Garciazines to deal with, so I’ll spam you independent film contest, and every year, been receiving their zines since around some more with some comments. See you a group of fans from Montreal win the the time Arnie and Joyce moved to Vegas, then! contest. Films like Beavra!, Mooseman and and started assembling the first bunch of A Simpleton’s Life wow the fans every year. Vegrants. Jean Martin responds: They’ve got to get their films further afield, When the Ontario Renaissance Faire and reap some more prizes. closed down after nine years, we wondered Thanks for being such a regular LOC Just yesterday, as I write, there was a if there would be any interest in reviving contributor to our zine. We’re happy to add special event staged by the Friends of the such an event. Some of the vendors at the your thoughts on whatever takes your fancy. Merril Collection, and it was called Bring ORF got organized, and staged a one-day Interesting to hear your swap meet story but Out Your Dead! It was a swap meet, much event at Case Loma, the castle-like building too bad about the Ontario Renaissance Faire. like a big garage sale/dealers’ room, and in Toronto, to recall the atmosphere of the But who knows, these things tend to keep while it didn’t bring out a lot of people Fair, and to advertise a new RenFaire, the coming back with enough interest. Good luck (first-time events rarely do), there were a Royal Abingdon Faire in the Hamilton area, with starting your own local zine! Oh, and lot of great books and a few zines to faunch at the western tip of Lake Ontario. I didn’t maybe you can come visit the Bay Area and for and consider buying. The only item I go to it, but Yvonne did, and found that it enjoy our fandom as well. I haven’t checked purchased was a hardcover anthology, The was a good time, even with all the problems out the Vegas scene either, and I might be Best Science Fiction Stories and Novel, with a first time fair. Great traveling acts, biased, but the Bay Area scene rocks! Ninth Series, edited by T. E. Dikty. It was such as Zoltan the Adequate and the Men published in 1958, and also contains a list in Tights were there, spreading their usual of all science fiction novels published in the mirth, and giving all a good time. I am Special thanks to Pikmin Link of years 1956 and 1957, compiled by one Earl hopeful the faire will return, with a few Consplayers.com for coming through Kemp. There were so many good books at improvements, and I can actually get to for us with Yaoicon photos. that swap, but there’s only so much shelf it! Meanwhile, good friends of mine are Check out their website at space and money available to me. trying their best to get a new RenFaire www.consplayers.com In the article on Bay Area Fanzines, started in the vicinity of Vancouver, British written by Chris Garcia, he typoed his own Columbia. Have something to say about last name as Garica. Second column, sixth ‘Tis the night before Halloween…and Science Fiction/San Francisco? Or line. It must have been late, Chris… besides the swap meet yesterday, I think about fandom in general? 10…101 pages! Even better! Chris’ visit local fandom is giving it a bye. Ah, well, Send your letter of comment to: to Vegas fandom is something I would like we need a day to catch up, or goof off, or [email protected] 6 Once upon a time, when the Internet so true. Editorial was just a twinkle in a grad student’s eye, But the boy was afraid. He was afraid a fanzine was left on a table at a con. Let’s that people would criticize him or think he By Chris Garcia call it ConScription, shall we? OK, so this was slow. He hid it under his bed, waiting boy comes across the zine and he brings for the day when he would have enough Reading the last two issues of Science it home. It’s full of wonderful things, like confidence to send it to the fanzine’s Fiction/San Francisco, I realized just what stories of some Big Name Fans going to editor. we’re doing. We’re putting out a zine visit other Big Name Fans in some far He waited. that’s bigger than most of the well-known away realm and also has a look at books by And waited. phonebook zines every other week! It’s authors that the boy has never heard of, and And waited. amazing that Jack hasn’t imploded from has a full section where people who send Then one day, he got out of bed, but the just trying to lay the thing out! I’m so letters, written on paper and sent at a post night before, when he was looking at other pleased with us and the work we’ve been office mind you, had them displayed for all things that he hid under his bed, he had doing. to see. Well, the boy saw all the names and knocked the letter so that it lay on the bare So much has gone on these last few days. decided that he wanted to be included, so hardwood floor and when he stepped on There was Halloween, a big ole bash to be he got out the pen and ink and wrote a few the floor, he stepped on the letter, slipped certain, and the start of National Novel thoughts. He kept writing and writing until and hit his head on the nightstand, killing Writing Month. There were more than a he had crafted the most beautiful letter of himself instantly. dozen major events and a few minor ones comment ever. It was layered and funny The moral of the story is, if you don’t along the way. There were a couple of cons and thoughtful and brilliant and it was oh send us a letter, you’ll die! around the country that I know BArea fans attended, and one in the area itself. There were fanzines put up on eFanzines.com and all manner of stuff posted on local blogs. News and Notes It was a pair of weeks slightly more active than any other in recent BArea memory, National Novel Writing Month Writing Month, and I’m not immune to and this issue presents a lot of that. hype, as is obvious, so even I have signed Now, I know the editorial is supposed to What strange creatures people are. up. be where we say ‘If you’re gonna read, you’d For some reason, if you name something, The concept is so nice and easy: you better write us somethin’’ but I’m not going people will go along and play the game have one month to write 50k words or to do that. I’m going to tell you a little story that suits the name. For the last several more. That’s all. You come into the month about a boy who sent an LoC to a fanzine. years, November has been National Novel with nothing but maybe an outline and by

7 the 30th, you’ve got a novel (well, a long Rich. waltz bias, PEERS will include everything Novella, but what are you gonna do?). It’s A couple of the locals whose novels from elegant 18th century country and just that simple, though the sound of it sound most interesting to BArea SF set dances to Viennese waltzes, polkas and makes it seem like it’s the most terrifying and Fantasy fans are Haas’ Portrait of the mazurkas, to cool blues fox trot and tango, thing in the world. Librarian as a Young Vampire and Maryanne to early Swing and classic Rock. All set National Novel Writing Month was Snell’s Murder at the Mystery House. Mine is dances will be taught or called at the ball. founded in 1999 and has grown every year a crime/computer/obsessed stamp collector This is probably the most eclectic PEERS since. The Bay Area is one of the hotbeds of story called Rutager’s Laptop. ball theme- and dance-wise. activity, with meet-ups and gatherings both So, for the month of November, more Suggested costume is evening dress or before and during the month to spread than 50 thousand people will be trying dress uniform from the century and country community and supply encouragement. to write 50 thousand words. Maybe 10 of your “rebirth,” or modern evening dress. That encouragement is sometimes not thousand will make it through to the end. While there is no dress code for the ball, enough, as less than 1/8th manage to make Maybe I’ll be one of the lucky ones. when I went to this last year, most guests it to the end. Everyone who completes — Chris Garcia were elaborately attired in everything from the 50k words requirement is considered glamorous Victorian goth to outrageous a winner. In 1999, there were 6 winners. 1960s hippie. There were more than one thousand times PEERS Le Bal des Vampires Preview The ball’s half-time show will be that in 2004. another cutting edge performance by Le Several Bay Area folks have been among For the 12th year in a row, the Period Theatre des Vampires, the most feared the winners in the last few years. Milpitas’ Events & Entertainments Re-Creation theater company on the West Coast. I really Ealasaid A. Haas has been a winner the last Society (PEERS) is holding its very popular enjoyed last year’s performance, which was four years, including doing a wonderful Le Bal des Vampires on Saturday, November a cross between The Scarlet Pimpernel and job with Neil Gaiman’s outline for Johnny 5, 2005, at the Pleasanton Senior Center. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Very funny, clever, Theremin. She was featured on KFJC Please note that this is the same location colorful and entertaining. earlier this year and was the way that I as last year and not in Oakland as stated in PEERS is dedicated to the idea of heard of the event. San Francisco is the city previous flyers. entertainment as something for people with the most representatives, including The evening will feature haunting 18th, to do rather than watch. I have enjoyed four-time winner Cathryn Hrudicka. San 19th and 20th century ballroom dance numerous PEERS balls over the years and Jose’s Nicole A. Wright has won three music by Brazen Hussey, who are equally at each one is more enjoyable than the last. times. Some have even gone on to get their home playing classical music, vintage dance I’ve never taken formal dance classes myself books published by one of the big houses, music, Celtic fusion, Swing, blues and hard and I do quite alright at PEERS events. including Jon F. Merz and Lani Diane rock. While the program has a strong There is definitely a lot to see and do, and 8 people to befriend and chat with. I love the music video contest and karaoke will also FOX objected to the unauthorized costuming and social aspect of PEERS balls be featured. production. The group issued a letter in addition to the dancing. J-Rock band The Beautiful Losers will of apology and according to the group, The Pleasanton Senior Center is at return for a concert. This year local J-Rock received the support of Buffy creator Josh 5353 Sunol Blvd, Pleasanton, CA. Doors and J-Pop cover band akai SKY will open. Whedon. open at 6:30 pm and dancing goes on Last year the convention drew 400 A letter formally requesting permission until midnight. Tickets are $20 at the attendees, about double the expected to stage the show was sent to FOX, but the door. For more information, go to: http: number. The convention is expanding in company declined. //www.peers.org/. its second year, with the con taking place In a statement posted to the at the 10,000 square foot Martin Luther CounterPULSE website, The San — Jean Martin King Student Union Building. Answering Francisco Halloween Show has pledged to a common complaint, this year all of the obtain permission in advance before using dealers will be in one larger room, instead any copyrighted teleplays in the future. Anime Destiny Returns for Second Year of spread across several classroom-sized The group has issued appologies to FOX, Cal Animage Alpha, the university rooms. CounterPULSE and to those who wanted anime group behind this Saturday’s to see the show. AnimeDestiny convention on the UC — Jack Avery CounterPULSE is hosting a free forum Berkeley campus, has announced that part on Thursday, December 1 at 7 p.m. on of the proceeds from the convention will copyright issues, the public domain and be donated to the American Red Cross’ Copyright Dispute Forces Cancellation the relationship of creativity to a shared but Hurricane Disaster Fund. of “Buffy” Musical privately owned cultural environment. The one day con will run from 10 a.m. Sold out performances of Once More to 10 p.m. Registration for the convention With Feeling, a live stage presentation of the — Jack Avery is $15 at the door. musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer In addition to hall cosplay and a were cancelled last week after organizers costume contest at 4 p.m., the popular received a cease and desist letter from FOX Iron Cosplay contest will also return. In studios. this competition, two person teams are The non-profit theater group staging the Have something to say about provided with supplies and must create a event, The San Francisco Halloween Show, Science Fiction/San Francisco? Or costume within a time limit. had rented the CounterPULSE theater for about fandom in general? Gaming, panels, a swap meet, dealers the event, which quickly sold out. Send your letter of comment to: room, 12 hours of video programming, a However, before the first performance, [email protected] 9 Alan Lee Book Signing at Book Passage

By Diane Rooney Edition of The Return of the King and very specific information on the geography Staff Writer the fellowship entering Moria for The of locations to complete their work with Fellowship of the Ring. At the suggestion accuracy and consistency. Minas Tirith So you thought you knew it all about of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, he did and its surrounding plains are a complex The Lord of the Rings, after all the books, the sketches seen during the credits of The environment. Lee created a sweeping documentaries, websites, line parties, and Return of the King, aiming to capture the panorama stretching from Osgiliath across conventions, right? Well, did you know actors when they were most themselves. the Anduin and the Pelennor to Minas that Peter Jackson had planned flashback Lee explained his working relationship Tirith, complete with the curves in the river scenes of the five Istari arriving in Middle with fellow artist and designer John Howe, where the Corsair ships would eventually be Earth, or that he thought about having saying Howe was responsible for the evil sighted. In a light touch, one Minas Tirith Tom Bombadil officiate at Sam and Rosie’s creatures (the Balrog, the Fell Beast, wedding? Seen the sketch of Denethor and the wraiths) and evil locations walking his dog? How about that map of (Barad-Dur, Minas Morgul, and the Middle Earth where Numenor is modeled Black Gates, though he also created on New Zealand’s North Island? Bag End) while Lee created more I thought so. You’d have to have heard of the good locations (Rivendell, those and other tales from Alan Lee, Minas Tirith, Rohan, and Moria, visiting the Bay Area to promote his new though he also created Orthanc). book, The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook. Lee He opened the program gave a spectacular PowerPoint presentation with material on Minas Tirith, filled with sketches, photographs, and explaining in detail how his art was composites and regaled his audience of used in the film production. His about 75 fans with stories of his six-year pencil sketches and montages (often involvement with the film trilogy. combinations of his photographs, The scope of his work on The Lord of many taken from helicopters, and the Rings is mind-boggling: In his six years working models) were used by the he made over 2,500 pencil drawings. He model makers and the computer also worked on packaging for the DVDs, artists. including the icons on the Extended The computer artists needed Alan Lee speaking Photo by Diane Rooney 10 drawing shows Denethor walking his little and fully formed.” The sequence and visual filmed just inches from its surface. dog atop the Citadel and looking out over angles are incredibly close to what was used Lee has two cameos in the films. In the the city. in The Return of the King. In addition to the Prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring, he In one of the most interesting sequences, layout and overall architecture of the city, is one of the nine men (who eventually Lee showed his series of pencil sketches of Lee drew thousands of details including become Ringwraiths) receiving rings. Gandalf and Pippin’s ride through Minas columns, wall hangings, furniture, and the In The Two Towers, he and Supervising Tirith to the Citadel. He explained that as many statues that line the Hall of Kings. Art Director Dan Hanna are seen in the he worked through the series, “the details As we know, the eventual Minas Tirith Armoury at Helm’s Deep, when Gimli says of the architecture became clearer” to him, miniature was so finely detailed it could be “some have seen too many winters….” and “the structures started to become real used not just in wide shots but in close-ups His Elven map of Middle Earth appears as the endpapers in the new Sketchbook. He imagined it as something Bilbo would have brought back from Rivendell, and revealed that Numenor on the map is modeled after the North Island of New Zealand: “It’s star- shaped with a volcano in the middle.” Lee said that there is still “a huge amount of art that hasn’t been seen,” suggesting that what’s needed is “a big thick book that really shows off the props and the armor,” for example. (Hmmmm…..maybe something like the massive new Dressing A Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars?) After the slide presentation, he stayed for well over an hour answering questions, chatting with fans, and signing books and the special t-shirts whose unique design he had created in July for the SF Trilogy Thursday which raised funds for Cure Autism Now. Alan Lee signing Photo by Diane Rooney 11 Oh yeah, about that Istari and Tom Likewise, the filmmakers passed up a great CAN t-shirts desgined by Alan Lee Photo by Diane Rooney Bombadil stuff… props and costumes were opportunity to FINALLY get Tom into tried out on some extras, but the scenes the pictures, but that scene also was never with the five Istari were not completed. filmed. 12 Elevator to the Stars: The Space Elevator Challenge

By Jean Martin Editor

The first-ever space elevator competition was held October 21–23 at NASA’s Ames Research Center and at the Spaceward Foundation’s offices, both in Mountain View, California. The Spaceward Foundation organized the event in line with its Elevator 2010 initiative. Elevator 2010 aims to develop and demonstrate the technologies necessary to construct a Space Elevator by 2010, and to build it within 10 years after that. The Space Elevator was a concept first described by Russian engineer Yuri Artsutanov in the 1960s. Science fiction legend Arthur C. Clarke made the term popular in the 1970s in his book, The Fountains of Paradise. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s that a new class of materials, Carbon Nanotubes, were discovered that would be strong enough but light enough to construct a Space Elevator. The Space

Centarus Team getting ready Photo: Malibu Burns 13 Elevator now being envisioned would move “ribbon pull” competition and a climber list, but the setup was visible from the cargo and people from the surface of the or “power beaming” competition. The road. Earth to orbit and beyond in a simple and prize was $50,000 for each. Competitors I got to attend the first day of the climber reliable manner. The main components came from all over the world, and it competition and the VIP/Press reception would include a 62,000-mile long ribbon was interesting to note that commercial on Saturday afternoon. The qualifying runs and a wireless electric vehicle, or climber, enterprises were competing with university were held the day before, and the finals and that would ascend the ribbon using solar students and hobbyists. The event was not awards ceremony were slated for the day power. technically open to the public, one needed after. The climber competition was held at Thus, the games consisted of a tether or to be a competitor or on the VIP or press NASA Ames. The remote control climber robots were supposed to climb a more University of Saskatchewan’s Climber attempts liftoff Photo: Malibu Burns modest 50-meter ribbon suspended by a crane. Six teams were slated to compete. Right: Fencing Lessons The contest got off to a slow start, and Below: Stone and Wood Crafts booths some teams never even got to try, and some Photo: Jean Martin who tried never got off the ground. There seemed to be a problem with the industrial searchlight used as the power source. I stayed to watch team after team attempt the climb. Unfortunately, before I got there, the team from the University of British Columbia achieved the first beam-powered climb of approximately 20 feet. And after I left, the University of Saskatchewan went the farthest during the games, climbing approximately 40 feet. It was like stepping out to get a beer and hot dog at a baseball game, and coming back to find out you missed the only home run of the game. Curious coincidence how the Canadians dominated the weekend. However, 40 feet was still not enough to win the top prize. I didn’t get to attend the tether 14 competition, which was held at the Spaceward Foundation that Saturday evening. The winner of the tether competition not only needed to beat all the other entrants but the Spaceward Foundation’s tether as well. Out of the four entrants, the Centaurus team had the strongest tether but failed to win against the “house” tether by a small margin. So although there were no winners, it was a first step in this exciting new technology in the space sciences. Next year, the competition will be repeated and the prizes will be increased to $100,000 each. Funding for the prizes comes from NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program. For more information, visit: www.spaceward.org, www.elevator2010.org, and http://centennialchallenges. nasa.gov. Below: Space Miners Climber, Right: Climber Competition Tower Photo: Malibu Burns

15 Dava Sobel, Author of The Planets At the Mechanics Institute

By Diane B. Rooney example, Venus and Staff Writer Poetry, or Mercury and Mythology. Did you know that Mars is the planet The Mars chapter is of science fiction? Dava Sobel explains a stunning first person that it’s written about more than any other account told by the planet in the science fiction universe. She meteorite Allan Hills believes people “have a fascination with 84001, the famous Mars as a place for a human colony. It’s meteorite found in the only planet that would have us,” she Antarctica that some says. Indeed, “we look at Mars through life- believe contains colored glasses.” microscopic life from A graduate of the Bronx High School the Red Planet. “Of the of Science at a time when the admission of 28 Martian meteorites women was severely restricted and subject definitively identified to quotas, Sobel has always been interested to date, I am by far in planets. “I liked planets as a kid. Planets the most ancient.” The had that kind of appeal,” noting she built a meteorite describes its solar system diorama for a science fair. long life on Mars, its At her lunchtime booksigning attended voyage through space to by about 60 people, Ms. Sobel began Earth, and its discovery by explaining that The Planets, unlike by seven scientists on Galileo’s Daughter and Longitude, was snowmobiles, “hunting difficult to write, since there was no hero dark rocks on the blue and no obvious story line. She found her white ice.” organizing principle in lining up each Not a big science planet with a topic in popular culture, for fiction fan, Sobel read 16 War of the Worlds, Dune, and The Martian programmed to crash into Jupiter to avoid (Pluto is now seen as a Kuiper Belt Object, Chronicles, among others, as background damaging Europa’s environment. She said or KBO. Astronomers who must be genre for the Mars chapter. the chart reflected the difficult events in the fans have named a new KBO Xena and its The Jupiter chapter is about astrology. spacecraft’s life, including jammed antennas moon Gabrielle.) Sobel, a former science writer for The New and stuck tape recorders. How so? “Jupiter Sobel shared two interesting stories York Times, consulted an astrologer while was square with Mercury, the planet of about Longitude. She had pitched a working on the book, and had a chart communication in the craft’s chart,” she magazine article to numerous publications, created and interpreted for her. Indeed, she notes. “I just put that out there.” even the Harvard Magazine, where she was is now a bit worried because the astrologer Sobel said the two questions she’s asked contributing editor. No one was interested said that her long period of creativity was most on this book tour are, “Did you listen in covering the November 1993 Longitude now coming to an end! to Holst’s The Planets?” and “What about Symposium, which editors assumed would She also commissioned a chart for Pluto?” She didn’t listen to Holst, and as for be “weird, boring, and esoteric.” When 500 the Galileo space craft, which observed Pluto, she noted that the issue revolves (no people arrived at Harvard for the conference, salty seas on Jupiter’s moon Europa and pun intended) about the lack of specificity the Harvard editor had her drop everything was eventually destroyed by its creators, in the word “planet,” which simply means to cover it. Immediately after the article “ w a n d e r e r . ” appeared, Walker Publishing Company Pluto, however, called to talk about turning it into a book. has been exiled She also explained that Longitude’s from the solar dedication to her mother includes system display at reference to the Carnarsie neighborhood of the Rose Center Brooklyn. This caused some confusion for Planetarium in those not familiar with the borough’s finer New York. Sobel details. A French astronomer contacted her says its situation to ask if Carnarsie was in fact a star, and the is not dissimilar Polish translator asked for an explanation, to that of the concerned that Poles would not understand asteroids in the the reference. 19th century, when Sobel’s next project extends her the first asteroid longstanding interest in the history of was seen as a science but takes her into a new literary missing planet but form. It will be a play about Copernicus, later reclassified. based on Owen Gingerich’s book, The Book 17 Klingon Blood Hunt at the Sonoma Haunt

So there I was with the sun shining on it helps me remember the details as I want, assisting the Haunt was the StarFire Region the back of my head….wait a moment, I mean as I saw them. Drinks Bloodwine. of the Ring of Fire Fleet – mostly the ships where is my Bloodwine? I cannot begin a The Haunt is presented by the Dragon’s IKV Bloodlust, IKV Midnight Dagger story without a full cup of Bloodwine for Head Inn of Sonoma. Assaulting or was it and the IKV Black Dagger. We were also joined by members of the 501st, an Imperial Regiment of Stormtroopers from Northern California. We had assembled at coordinates codenamed Sonoma; actually it was in a dirt parking lot behind one of the three haunts that the Dragon’s Head runs. It was a gathering of two Empires, the Klingon’s Ring of Fire Fleet and those Imperial Stormtroopers, which meant that no Human was going to be safe that evening. There were hundreds of Warriors and Soldiers gathering for the fight. Drinks Bloodwine. Okay, there were only 7 Klingons, 4 Stormtroopers and 2 Tie Pilots, but still it seemed like thousands. The Stormtroopers and Pilots stormed off to the front gate while the Klingons prepared for a Cloaked Assault by moving in groups of 1 and 2. Drinks Bloodwine. The resistance was fleeting, Humans went running in all directions, casualties where A mini Darth Vader and members of the 501st Legion high but we didn’t care because they were Photo by Mike Wilson only Human. I am KataH, leader of the 18 Klingons, and I brought along some ‘Green’ counted for me. Drinks Bloodwine. The rest like to stand in line all the time? It seems that to drink as I didn’t want to risk bringing of the Humans that were standing in line, every time I go to some Human function Bloodwine to a blood feud. Did I forget well – wait just a second – why do Humans there is always a large group of Humans to mention the blood feud? The Klingons had challenged the City of Sonoma to a blood feud or better yet, who could donate the most blood for the evening. There was a slight language problem here as the Klingons thought that by killing a Human they could donate their blood, nothing was mentioned about giving up our own blood — not for any cause. Yet we pushed on, battling the little Humans, children and small adults, to get to the blood mobile. Drinks Bloodwine. There were 13 deaths as I bladed my way through the large gathering of Humans and that was when we learned that those 75 deaths would not be part of the Klingon donation. What a waste of talent, some of my finest attacks where used to kill at least 187 of them and now they don’t count. Back at the front gate the 501st were forcing the Humans to give up something they called ‘money’ to get into the Haunts. I approached one such Stormtrooper and asked him what value was this ‘money’ and why did they care. His only response was: “These aren’t the children we are looking for.” “We don’t need to see their money.” And then he ordered me, yes me, to “Move along.” One dead Stormtrooper and it Mixed Empires Photos by Mike Wilson 19 standing in line for one thing or another. through the crowd, and the 1,387 bodies out of nowhere flash bombs went off and Is it genetic? Are they trained from birth to of dead Humans, only to find that their people were falling dead in their tracks. do this? How very weak-minded they are. Lord and Commander Darth Vader was Drinks Bloodwine. The photographers were Drinks Bloodwine. Anyways the rest that there. Standing an unimpressive 4 feet having a field day with a young child who were standing in line quickly handed over tall, he looked much taller in the movies, had shown up for the Haunt wearing a their ‘money’ to the ‘money changer,’ some was “Mini Darth.” It was very quiet, then Darth Vader mask. female Ferengi that had been forced to wear her clothes for this event. Past this entrance one could walk over to one of three haunts. They were arranged as Easy (not very scary), Long (and somewhat scary), and one as VERY scary – mostly for adults. Most Humans came in but hesitated at to which Haunt to do first. Hesitation, it is like a disease with these Humans – but eventually most of them headed for the Easy Haunt – yep, go figure. Drinks Bloodwine. They did have to make it past the 392 bodies of the Humans we killed at the start of all this. There where times when the smoke of the burning buildings made it difficult for these Humans to see where they were going and some of them ended up on the pile of the 572 that we had already killed. Drinks Bloodwine. There was a loud noise coming from the front gate, someone had come in who set the Stormtroopers into formation. I looked over and there was a crowd forming near where the Stormtroopers were now KataH and his new friends standing — at full attention mind you. I, Photo by Mike Wilson and several other Klingons, made our way 20 The Haunts were fun, the people monumental task ahead of us. The clean up Kaptain of the IKV Bloodlust were scared – both of the Haunts and of the 4,295 Humans that were killed. We The LOUDEST ship in ANY fleet the combination of Klingons and decided that was the duty of the lower life Negh’Var Class, First in the Fleet Stormtroopers. The attendance was close forms and we let the staff take care of this. Regent of StarFire, XO of the Ring of Fire to 400 Humans – well at least that was Fleet the number that survived. As the evening Reported from the front (Mike Wilson) drew to a close, we discovered that we had a KataH epetai-Heck’Lher, bIng ‘aj www.ikvbloodlust.net

Above: some of the characters who attended the Dragon’s Head Inn Haunt. Photos by Dakron Slaxx

21 Battle of Trafalgar Anniversary Celebration

By Jean Martin Society (BAERS) celebrated Britain’s Community Church in Kensington, in the Editor greatest naval victory with a dinner and hills above El Cerrito. ball. The Admiral Lord Nelson Memorial Unfortunately, as the location was On October 21, 2005, the exact Dinner began at 5:30PM, and the Battle too far for me to get to on an early Friday date of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar Victory ball began at 8: evening, I missed the dinner. The dinner of Trafalgar, the Bay Area English Regency 30PM. Both were held at the Arlington was a traditional beef buffet with an alternative of fish for guests who do not eat red meat. I arrived at the ball as caller extraordinaire (and fearless BAERS leader) Alan Winston was briefly teaching the next dance, and Regency Country one. Most of the guests were on the dance floor, and everyone was wearing colorful costumes from the period. There were, surprisingly, as many men as women. Usually, the male/female ratio is unbalanced, with more women in attendance. Regency events usually attract more women but I guess men were drawn by the Battle of Trafalgar theme. My friend who I came with is from England, and he said he grew up idolizing Lord Horatio Nelson. So anyway, I’ve never seen so many dashing men wearing British naval uniforms in my life! Quite a treat. I

Captain Jack Aubrey and crew Photo by Jean Martin

22 even got to dance with Captain Aubrey from Master and Commander. Well, someone who was playing the role for the evening, complete with long bushy sideburns, and an amazingly authentic coat courtesy of Quartermaster eBay. He was quite the dancer as well and I matched my graceful Regency steps with his lively Scottish jigs. The women were just as lovely with their tiaras, turbans and bejeweled coiffures, sparkly jewelry, and flowing gowns. Some more demure in pale muslins, and some more risqué with low necklines and bright silks. Most were in the alluring, high-waisted, Empire style of the era. The live dance music, provided by the Divertimento Dance Orchestra, was heavenly. They played pastoral and lively songs (think Mozart and Beethoven) to accompany the Regency Country dances. Regency Country dances are partner dances usually in a line, and in sets of two or three couples. These dances look elegant and flowing but are actually quite energetic and aerobic. What I like about them as well is that they’re social, and all the dancers, especially myself, usually have smiles on our faces as we make eye contact with everyone else. These dances can be playful as well as seductive. Romantic waltzes (which began during that time) were also played with couples twirling around the ballroom counterclockwise. Some dances were a mixture of waltz and country dance, such as the exquisite Duke of Kent’s Waltz. Well, the Battle of Trafalgar is technically not Regency. The heart of the Regency period is from 1811–1820 when the Prince Regent ruled in place of his ailing and mad Lady Leandra and Sir Robert on the dance floor Photo by Jean Martin

23 father, King George III. Yes, the same one who lost the colonies to that ragged band of Revolutionaries. But the Regency aesthetic (think Jane Austen and Lord Byron) began even before that, and can encompass the late 18th century into the reign of the King George IV, the former Prince Regent. In addition to music and dancing at the ball, hors d’oeuvres and punch were served. There was even a huge cake with little pastries on top that represented the British (with little Union Jack flags on them) and French (under Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte) ships. These were ingeniously arranged on the cake the same way as the opening positions of the Battle of Trafalgar. Card playing, a popular Regency pastime, was conducted in a side room. A likeness of Lord Nelson was in a place of prominence surrounded by flowers, a model ship and other naval paraphernalia. The night’s festivities were made possible by BAERS members under the direction of Jolie Velazquez. For more information on BAERS and their future events (which include Above: Lady Yvette and Lord Mark costumed balls, non-costumed dance parties, science fairs, literary salons, picnics, Right: A naval officer attends the ball. etc.) visit: www.baers.org. Photos by Jean Martin

24 YaoiCon

By Andrew Trembley by women portraying romantic or sexual mangaka (comic artists). Several manga Staff Writer relationships between their favorite male publishing houses have imprints that characters. The term comes from early Star- are exclusively dedicated to BL titles. Let us start with definitions, lest y’all be Trek fanfic and “Kirk/Spock” stories so it’s With the incredible growth in the totally lost. named after a bit of punctuation. Go fig. popularity of anime in the west, it’s not YAOI is the Japanese equivalent to So, as I was saying, YAOI is the Japanese surprising that yaoi has also become “Slash” fiction. But let me step back a bit. equivalent to “Slash” fiction. very popular, enough so to support an “Slash” fiction is homoerotic fanfic written Except... annual convention in its fifth year that Where slash generally involves brings popular BL mangaka to our shores. characters from live-action shows, yaoi For the second year in a row, Yaoi- features characters from anime and manga Con was held at the Westin SFO in (comic books). Where slash is written Burlingame with additional events at the mostly by women over 30, yaoi is (in Clarion Hotel across the parking lot. It Japan) written mostly by high-school was a touch irritating showing up at the and college girls. Where slash takes the Westin (the host hotel) on Friday night form of prose, Yaoi takes the form of self- and finding out that all of Friday’s events published comic books (doujinshi). Where slash writers look for cues All Photos by Pikmin Link of www.consplayers.com and clues in source material to match up characters, yaoi writers match characters up because they would look good in bed together. There’s one really big difference, though, that eclipses the others. As popular as yaoi doujinshi are “Boys Love” (or “BL”) manga: commercially published series by professional 25 girls. It follows the panels where publishers announce new Japanese pattern (but is titles and answer questions about current adults-only). Some of titles, and (because porn and erotica are them haul their boyfriends the basis of the whole genre) usually a along, there are a few gay few “real sex” type panels. This year there men shopping for cartoon were more industry panels (featuring the porn, and there are a few aforementioned publishing imprints, some straight guys who figure new in the last year) and fewer “real sex” the concentration of girls panels, but all in all it was a good mix. improves their odds, The art show was rather small, but that’s but well under a fifth of the paradox of the genre. Yaoi fandom is a the convention is guys. very participatory fandom; most members Saturday is rich with panel discussions, and, (and registration) were at the Clarion. of course, the staple of Fortunately the Clarion’s construction any anime convention, the dealers’ room. project was complete; the old wings had A Yaoi-Con dealers’ room is always an been destroyed and replaced by parking lot, interesting mix of vendors, from J-pop making for a direct shot between the hotels. music dealers, manga importers (with Alas, work schedules and transit didn’t boxes and boxes of commercial manga allow me to arrive at this year’s Yaoi- and of doujinshi, all in Japanese), toy and Con until after Opening Ceremonies gadget importers (with strange objects), and Guest of Honor Kazuma Kodaka’s western manga and anime distributors introduction. Nor did we sit down for (like BeBeautiful, TokyoPop/Blu Bishounen Bingo (definition time again: and Media Blasters) and many dealers “bishounen” is Japanese for “beautiful you might see at any SF convention. boy” and is very literal about “boy” Because of the emphasis in Yaoi on referring to barely pubescent boy; western fanworks, there’s also a large “Fan Market” fandom has shifted the age range up corridor where amateur artists can get to something that fits community a table and show and sell their wares. standards here), where pretty young men The panels? They’re wide and varied. hawk prizes and bingo cards to fangirls. There are plenty of panels on drawing and Yep, most of the convention is college writing technique, the standard industry 26 of the convention are involved in producing meant we missed the elaborate hoax at the art, fan writing or costume. Because of this, end in which a group of guys on staff “bid and because it’s so easy for a fan artist to $125,000” for one of the female auctioneers. get a dealers table or a fan market table, Sunday wound up with a bit more there aren’t many pieces in the art show. shopping, a bit more gossip, more panels Putting art in the show is just something and the run home. Closing ceremonies that doesn’t occur to many Yaoi fan artists. weren’t scheduled until 4:00 p.m., and the The Saturday night events (again, Yaoi-Con Raffle (infamous for giving away at the Clarion) remarkably all ran both the ridiculous and the sublime) after on schedule. This is impressive that. It was too long a weekend, and it was because in the past they haven’t, and because the schedule is actually very tight. time to be going. The Anime Music Video contest, All Photos by Pikmin Link of www.consplayers.com scheduled from 5-7 p.m., ran on time. Individuals and groups edit together and set clips from their favorite anime to whatever music they choose, trying to set their desired mood, often to excellent effect. The cosplay contest, scheduled in the same room for 7-9 p.m., seated just after 7 p.m. and started at a quarter past. It’s a rather low-tech affair, unfortunately with a riser-stage that should have been 2- 3’ higher to allow the whole audience to see better, but the quality of entries continues to rise over time. The “Bishounen Auction” (in which convention attendees bid for a few hours of time with selected pretty boys), scheduled for 9-11 p.m. (again, in the same room, which was starting to get really toasty by that point) started pretty much on time; I couldn’t bear the heat or the bad bishounen rock band that was auctioned first so we bailed quickly. That 27 Dancing on Swamp Gas

By Eva Kent

Ye Gaskells Occasional Dance Society, an offshoot of the Charles Dickens Fair, presents Victorian costume balls every other month at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Temple overlooking Lake Merritt. Lovers of vintage dance and costumes dance the night away with waltzes, mazurkas, polkas and energetic set dances to the esteemed Brassworks Band. Every October Gaskells holds a Fancy Dress Ball originally inspired by portraits taken by the photographer Lafayette at the famed Devonshire House Ball that took place on July 2, 1897. At this lavish 1897 house party, guests wore historical and fictional costumes such as Cleopatra, Britannia, and Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet. In the spirit of the Devonshire House Ball, dancers at this year’s Fancy Dress Ball, held last October 29th, took care with their costumes. The deities Jupiter and Venus, and a male Tinkerbell and female Peter Pan, were among the most admired costumes. Many regulars to the ball converted their hoopskirt dresses, topcoats and knee breaches into pirate costumes by adding a silver sword to their belts. When asked what made this particular Gaskells different from the regular Gaskells, Stannie Holt who was dressed as deposed Euro trash said, “The ball is bigger, the costumes more

Masked revelers Photo by Jean Martin 28 creative and amusing.” She also said that she In this dance participants take hands and enjoyed the themed music of Brassworks. form a circle around the room. Where The Grand Death March played by the there would usually be two circles set inside Brassworks at the start of the ball set the each other, four circles of dancers had to be mood of the night. The march is a chance formed at the Fancy Dress Ball in order to for everyone to parade around the large accommodate all of the guests. ballroom eyeing each other’s costumes Dressed as Glinda the Good Witch and to get their blood flowing in preparation for the dancing to come. The start of the march was slow and the music haunting. Partners took hands and followed the couples in front of them to start a large game of follow the leader. Leaders of the march shouted commands over the music giving the feeling of being in a cavernous cave and on the verge of going into a spooky battle. In each stage of the eerie march couples linked onto more couples, and by the end of the march, rows of sixteen PEERS Artistic Director Cathleen Myers people had formed. Photo by Jean Martin The large turnout at the ball was attested to during Sellenger’s Witches Round dance. Anime Heroine Photo by Jean Martin 29 in a puffy pink gown, Sasha Nealand that gains in speed. By the end of the dance thought that this particular Gaskells was everyone is twirling around, clapping in popular because it is “a Halloween thing to time and hooting over the music. Gaskells do,” she said. Last year Nealand discovered Fancy Dress Ball is a perfect night for new the world of Gaskells by doing a search on dancers to be introduced to Gaskells’ lively craigslist when looking for something to do atmosphere and it is also a perfect night for to celebrate Halloween. all Gaskells lovers to reunite and spend the The ball was capped off by the popular night dancing on swamp gas. Sir Roger de Coverley’s Ghost, a set dance

Left: Venetian Lady with Captain Mal.

Right: Eva Kent

Photos by Jean Martin

30 Clive Barker Tours Heaven & Hell

By Dr. Noe was ok for her daughter to have the book, who was made famous in Hellraiser. Barker Staff Writer to which the mother replied that there was promises Pinhead will have a good death. nothing in the book the girl hadn’t seen at Fans of Harry D’Amour from Lord of Clive Barker: writer, movie maker, home. Illusions can expect to see him in the story artist? Illuminated with ten essays on the as well. On the film side of things, Barker is Those familiar with his most recent recurring themes, Visions’ artwork presents working on The Midnight Meat Train from books, the Abarat series, already know that an expressionist fervor of some of our most his Books of Blood collection and Tortured Barker has been painting for years, and primal passions—good, evil, and everything Souls, based on his Todd McFarlane that many of his paintings have inspired in between. From the graphically terrifying figures. the Abarat books; a line of plushies, “Jump to the ecstatically sensual, Visions is a Tribe” manufactured by Art Asylum; and journey through unexplored and forbidden his latest book Visions of Heaven & Hell, a realms. collection of more than 400 images from Barker is now seemingly painting the depths of Barker’s mind. to write, which he says has “liberated a Barker was recently in San Francisco synaptic gap that has never been jumped for Q&A and a signing of his latest foray over before.” He credits his daughter’s into the world that is Barker’s mind. presence as the driving force behind his Haight Street’s Booksmith (1644 ferocity to paint. Haight) drew a crowd of approximately When asked about how he keeps 50 people who crammed into the store’s things fresh and interesting, Barker replied children’s section on October 25th to listen that it’s knowing your clichés when you to Barker spin tales of the new book and write. That way, you don’t repeat the same answer questions. thing again and again. He mentioned he Visions is a veritable Pandora’s Box knows of authors (but named no one) that of images certain to stay in your head, as haven’t found their clichés, and wind up Barker recounted in the opening of his talk. telling the same story each time. He recalled a signing where an 11-year old Other projects Barker has coming girl brought a copy of Visions for Barker down the pike include Scarlett Gospels in to sign. Barker asked the girl’s mother if it which he promises an end to Pinhead, 31 The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Still Time Warping after all these years

By Dr. Noe O-Lanterns and Candy Corn, however; Staff Writer for those in the Bay Area with a midnight fishnet fetish, RHPS can be seen in your Halloween is the time when people’s own backyard each and every Saturday thoughts turn towards ghost, goblins, night. witche – and fishnet stockings? Live Cast Barely Legal performs the 30- For most, The Rocky Horror Picture year-old show each and every weekend at the Show is as traditional to Halloween as Jack- Parkway Cinema in Oakland. The cast also will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary this coming Saturday, November 5th. But for a greater number of people, Rocky Horror is a once a year event, being synonymous with Halloween, the come as you aren’t time of year. Or is it? Several audience members who attended “It’s dirty and goes against everything Barely Legal’s Halloween shows on October my parents ever taught me,” said another th th 28 and 29 feel that Rocky is a place where audience member, who added that the you can be yourself, get a little crazy, and people, and the acceptance, is what brings have fun. And many of them have been, her back week after week. and will continue to attend beyond the Another audience member likes the Halloween time of year. movie and the songs. While there are several “It’s self-expression at its purest,” said people who share this opinion, very few in one audience member. It also appeals my experience will actually admit it. What’s to people being able to be themselves, even harder than finding someone who will whatever that may be, without anyone admit to liking the Rocky Horror Picture looking at them weird or like they’re the Show for the movie itself is finding someone degenerates of society. 32 who will admit to liking its pseudo-sequel; old friend. Their car breaks down causing performing and audience accolades are a Shock Treatment (also known as The Further them to seek shelter from a storm in a nearby definite plus, but to be an intricate part of Adventures of Brad and Janet). castle. From there the story catapults into a such a cult phenomenon is its own reward. For the uninitiated (who are called cacophony in the varied forms of a mad Nate Havoc, one of the directors of Virgins), The Rocky Horror Picture Show is scientist, Frank-N-Furter, who is creating Barely Legal has been a part of RHPS for 10 about a nice, wholesome couple, Brad and a perfect man in the form of Rocky Horror years, starting out as an audience member Janet, from Denton (located somewhere during a party of Transylvanians from the in the early 90s. in Middle America). After attending their planet of Transsexual. “The show itself is fantastic – it is a lot friends’ wedding, they decide to go visit an Besides this riveting plotline, the show of fun in a good environment with a lot of also offers up a live great people,” Havoc says. cast who perform “The main reason I keep doing Rocky all of the main Horror is I remember what it felt like to parts in front of the me when I first started going – I thought movie. The work the show was such a phenomenal event, that goes into being and I want to help keep the show going a cast member is and bring that feeling to people who are incredible, especially now hearing about Rocky Horror today.” with a cast like Barely As far as RHPS being Halloween’s Legal: memorizing movie, so to speak, he said, “Aside from lines, timing, and Halloween being the “birthday” of RHPS, finding screen- Rocky Horror is a place where people can put accurate costuming away their inhibitions and be themselves, is excruciating and or be something completely different than time consuming, they normally are. Halloween is the one day but at the same time of the year that many people feel it is okay rewarding. For those to dress up and pretend, and many people that love to perform love that. Rocky Horror is a place where the (or like to dance feeling and spirit of Halloween exists every around in their Saturday at midnight.” underwear) being a Additionally, there is audience cast member is great participation where audience members fun. The thrill of have lines they call out to the screen. For 33 example, in a scene when Brad is looking old 50’s B-movies and throws together such Legend) as Furter, and Meatloaf as Eddie, for a word in his song, the audience calls things as the aforementioned Frankenstein- an ex-delivery boy and former fling of mad out several words beginning with “S” until esque creation of Rocky, loss of innocence, scientist Furter. Brad actually says the word. Besides this, and the turning of the tables by Riff Raff Originally a play written by O’Brien (The what keeps people coming back to RHPS (O’Brien) on his master (Furter) ala Lobo Rocky Horror Show), Rocky was brought to every weekend, or devoting such a huge in Ed Woods’ Bride of the Monster. the big screen in 1975 and did very poorly. portion of their life to the show by joining Staring in this sexual romp are Susan But soon after, several audience members a cast? Sarandon (Thelma & Louise, Bull Durham) continued showing up every weekend, The brainchild of Richard O’Brien, The as Janet Weiss, Barry Bostwick (Spin City) many dressed as their favorite characters, Rocky Horror Picture Show is a spoof on the as Brad Majors, Tim Curry (Clue, Oscar, and armed with hoards of AP lines. The rest is history. Rocky has been going strong ever since with its weekend midnight madness. Several cities in California and across the country are home to casts. Casts in LA include “Midnight Insanity,” “Sins O the Flesh,” and “Wild & Untamed Things.” In the Midwest you have “The Dayton Affair,” and in Atlanta, GA there’s “Lips Down on Dixie” who perform each year at Dragon*Con. Barely Legal also has its share of road shows, performing each year at BayCon in San Jose. They’ve also had shows at Bondage A Go-Go at the Glas Kat Supperclub in San Francisco and even helped kicked off Six Flags Marine World’s “Fright Fest.” For more information on Barely Legal visit them at http://barelylegal.rhps.org. Parkway Cinema: http:// picturepubpizza.com.

Photos courtesy of Barely Legal 34 Robert Jordan at Cody’s San Francisco

By Diane Rooney questions he’s been asked repeatedly and several months. He enjoys the opportunity Staff Writer provided news on his current and future it gives him to interact with readers and activities, then took questions for about quickly stop false rumors, such as one that About 75 avid Wheel of Time fans fifteen minutes. he had cancer. Actually, he’s very healthy were on hand to greet Robert Jordan on He started a blog in and gave the audience a full report on his October 26 and celebrate the publication of September at Dragonmount (http: blood pressure and his recent stress test! Knife of Dreams. In his personable remarks //www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/) The blog is mirrored at wotmania (http: Jordan addressed upfront many of the after lurking on Wheel of Time websites for //www.wotmania.com/) and other Wheel of Time sites. Jordan is hard at work on the twelfth and final volume of the Wheel of Time. He worked half days the last few months while getting ready for the book tour, and when he returns home to Charleston he’ll be working full time until it’s done. There will be only one more book, “even if it’s 2,000 pages.” There’s enough story, apparently, for one “coherent novel,” even if it’s “fatter than usual.” He advised readers to “get a back brace before you go to the store.” He also revealed that someone has already figured out who kills Asmodean and why, and has posted it on the web. But which, among all the theories? He explained that several characters are modeled on himself: Mat, when he was in his teens and twenties; Perrin, when he was growing up; and Rand, because he’s an outsider. He joked that his wife Harriet

35 thinks he’s a perfect model of Loial Kiseran. and vocabulary, script, and grammar for the fantasy readers expect that,” but also from He also explained that in Knife of Dreams a Old Tongue. The Old Tongue, now with a Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Urdu, and character is named for a woman in Great vocabulary of about a thousand words, is Turkish. Britain who bought “naming rights” as part based on about 850 basic English words A final memorable Jordan quote he of a fundraiser for victims of torture. (with ones like “electricity” removed and calls his First Law: “If the answer is easy, Other projects are already in the ones like “dignity” and “honor” added). consider the possibility that you’re asking planning stages, including more prequels He drew from Gaelic and Celtic “because the wrong question.” to The Wheel of Time. Jordan wrote New Spring, a prequel, at the request of his publisher. It started out as a novella for Legends Anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, but it grew and soon reached 100,000 words. At that point, his publisher asked for him to complete it as a novel. He’s signed contracts for a trilogy called The Infinity of Heaven, which will feature a different universe and different culture than WOT. And Red Eagle Entertainment has finished an outline for a film based on The Eye of the World. Years ago, he reminded the audience, NBC bought the rights for a six-hour miniseries, but after 18 months the project died. After the 12-part series is complete, Jordan and his wife will publish a Wheel of Time encyclopedia, including notes, 36 BASFA Minutes: meeting 796

October 24, 2005. sion party fund jar. & not too bad; worth matinee; there were Trey Haddad, President Announcements: various comments of disbelief & Trey re- Nathan Slerm-r & Chris Garcia, Vice- Kevin S announced that Gridlore’s live jour- viewed ‘Doom’ as the characters were char- President nal is organizing an outing to Ardenwood’s ismatic enough to hold the screen, the spe- Dave Gallaher, Treasurer corn maze this Sunday at 10am [Gridlore cial effects were pretty seamless & the plot Galen Tripp, Sargent at Arms = fellow fan Doug Berry] - so check his LJ was predictable - worth bargain matinee. Barbara Johnson-Haddad, Secretary for further details & Kevin announced that Julie reviewed a book, ‘How to Make Cheryl is due back on Wednesday. Anything’ that sounded real nifty - about Began at 8:04 pm - with talk of 9-volt Dave C announced the Tiger Lilies are fabrication technology and a book that batteries. coming to town tomorrow night at Bim- makes you think - as well worth reading. 18 people attended. bos. Chris reviewed viewing German bur- Secretary’s report: the minutes of meet- Art announced that that November is lesque as weird and bizarre and worth ing 795 were accepted as ‘scampering’. the annual Dev Nul NetHack - so sign up. having a friend bring with them from Ger- No Treasurer [week 2][ but the proxy Mike announced that there’s a Legion of many to see on a Saturday night [there were report was that last week we took in $20.25 Rasselon this Friday at the Carl’s Jr at 1st & comments]. in the regular jar & $18.50 in the FC party Trimble. Kevin R reviewed ‘Wallace & Gromit’ jar. Sue announced that Stephen Hawking as worth full price & he howled out loud VP reports = pre-eminent VP Nathan will speak Nov 7th at the Center for Per- several times while watching it & he re- reported ‘Ummm, nothing fannish to re- forming Arts in SJ. viewed the Masterpiece Theatre ‘Case of port’ & VP Chris reported that he had his Reviews: the Silk Stockings’ with Rupert Everett as first mayoral campaign this last week & it Andy reviewed makingfriends.com [an ani- interesting, but there were some glitches; went well, plus there’ll be a ‘Drink Tank’ mated shorts site] as - you must watch the then Kevin reviewed the Stargate’s first use out on Friday. cartoons & he reviewed the Original Pan- as a portal [and the computer video file of The President managed to avoid report- cake House clam pancakes as surprisingly this was nifty]. ing. good & worth full price [ewwww!]. We auctioned off stuff for = 2 magazines Ed reported that he has a room for the Ed reviewed ‘Ghost’ by John Ringo as = $10.00; then books for $0.25, $0.25; Further Confusion BASFA party & he is just barely sf [barely future Navy Seal life] $0.75; $0.25 & $2.00. FC’s official party maven & the party goods as a fun read with kinky sex - worth full We adjourned at = 9:21 pm. were delivered. price. And the rumor of the week was ‘Clams Then we established a Further Confu- I reviewed ‘Doom’ as surprisingly fun got pancakes!’ 37 BASFA Minutes: meeting 797

Meeting 797. pass around & Saturday night is National & that England beat Australia in cricket October 31, 2005. Drunk Writing night. and the world hasn’t ended yet. Trey Haddad, President Dave C announced there is a BASCon Dave C reviewed the Tiger Lilies as “the Nathan Slerm-r & this weekend [for slash fiction] at the usual”. Chris Garcia, Vice-President Embassy Suites in South SF - go there and Kevin R reviewed Yaoi-con as it had a Dave Gallaher, Treasurer buy books. high “squeeeeee!” factor, that he felt old & Galen Tripp, Sargent at Arms Kevin S announced that he”ll be in out of place & it was full of squealy fan- Barbara Johnson-Haddad, Secretary Portland for Orykon this weekend at the girls & worth pre-reg - with more details in Marriott, downtown & there are Emerald SF/SF. Began at 8:08 pm - for tonight’s Cities in the room [and that any money Chris admitted being a great big geek spooooooky minutes. goes in the kitty]. & reviewed “Most Haunted Live” as a 20 people attended. Chris announced that he is a proud TV series made just for him; brilliantly Secretary’s report: the minutes of meeting Emerald City subscriber & that a number wonderful & reviewed the DVD collection 796 were accepted as “mysteeeeerious”. of BASFAns are mentioned in this months of “Arrested Development” as worth full No Treasurer [week 3][ but the proxy File 770. price & even more wonderful. report was that last week we took in $5.50 Mike announced a Serenity meeting at Doug reviewed the Ardenwood corn in the regular jar & $17.26 in the FC party the Tidehouse at Saturday, noon. maze as it contained trivia, was made for jar. Kevin R suggested that folks might want gamers * he insulted a chicken & it was VP reports = pre-eminent VP Chris to go to the SC Leather Assoc Community utterly amazing; Kevin S follow-on”d that reported there will be NO “Drink Tank” & weekend - check sccleather.org for more it was definitely worth full price. he is participating in national novel writing details & he announced that he & Andy We auctioned off stuff for = t-shirt month; [no Nathan, wk 1]. may be running the cosplay masquerade in $1.00; DVD & magazine for $4.00, figures We said “hi” to Ben Seeberger, visiting Anime LA. for $5.00; books for $2.00 & $2.00 & us, having found us via the website. Reviews: birthday auctioned off me for $14.00 to We established a party fund jar. Jony reviewed “Thus” by Pratchett as grim Trey. Announcements: but whimsical. We adjourned at = 9:12 pm. Cheryl announced that she brought a Cheryl reviewed the UK as cold & wet - And the rumor of the week was “shiver Glasgow worldcon report in Finnish to that there was a Worldcon and nobody died me timbers!”.

38 Bay Area Fan Resources This is not a complete list of resources, as brunch, the group usually explores a near- AnimeDestiny 2005 time goes by and we discover more resourc- by area or event. This organization is very November 5 es, this list will grow. public transit friendly. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~animage/animed/ If you know of a resource not University of California Berkeley listed, please send the information to Fantastic Frontiers (Sacramento County) Berkeley [email protected] for inclusion in future www.freewebs.com/fantasticfrontiers/ $10 in advance, $15 at the door issues. Fantastic Frontiers meets the second Members of Cal-Animage Alpha get in Saturday of every month at 1 p.m. free. General Science Fiction Groups: Email [email protected] or call 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. 530-417-3365 for directions, details, or The second year for this very fun one- Bay Area Science Fiction Association RSVP. All are welcome! day convention sponsored by one of the BASFA meets Monday nights at The Meeting usually consist of social chit- oldest anime clubs in the U.S. Original Hick’ry Pit at 980 E. Campbell chat, videos/DVDs, sci-fi-themed games, Anime track, programming, concert Ave. in Campbell. book exchanges, brief discussions of club by j-rock group Beautiful Losers, cosplay www.basfa.org business, and the like. They are casual contest, dealers, swap meet. and very informally structured. Members Peninsula Science Fiction Association are welcome to bring books they’d like to Anime Overdose 2006 Send an email to [email protected] exchange, collectibles they’d like to display, August 4-6 2006 to be subscribed to their email list. videos or games they’d like to play, etc. www.animeod.com This group holds parties, usually ev- San Francisco ery two weeks on Saturday, at members Conventions $30 to ?, $45 at door homes. Anime convention. 3DB Con The Fannish Imperial Guard Sunday, April 24, 2006 For information or to RSVAP send an www.threedollarbill.com/3DBcon email to either [email protected] Three Dollar Bill Cafe1800 Market Street or [email protected]. San Francisco This recently-created group meets for 10 a.m.-10 p.m. brunch most Sundays, alternating between $10 San Francisco and the East Bay. Following Game Convention. 39 BAScon Consonace 2006 Creation Salutes Star Trek: November 4-6 March 3-5 2006 The 40th Anniversary Celebration www.bascon.org www.consonance.org September 8-10, 2006 Embassy Suites Crowne Plaza Silicon Valley www.creationent.com 250 Gateway Boulevard 777 Bellew Drive Doubletree Hotel South San Francisco Milpitas Sacramento Memberships: $70 to 10/31/05 or until Memberships: $35 to 10/31/05, $40 to 2001 Point West Way sold out 2/18/06, $45 at door Sacremento Information: BASCon, P.O. Box 282197, Filk convention. Guests: Bill & Memberships: Gold Weekend Package: San Francisco, CA 94128-2197 Gretchen Roper, Marty Coady Fabish, $399. Email: [email protected] Puzzlebox, Chris Conway Creation brings William Shatner and The fifth Bay Area Slash Convention. Leonard Nimoy to Sacramento. And no, Open to those 18 years or older. Creation’s Salute to Sci-Fi TV that’s not a typo on the price. Cheaper Dealers’ room, art show, panels, video November 12-13 packages will be announced later. show, con suite. www.creationent.com Wyndham San Jose Dundracon Baycon 1350 N. First Street February 17-20, 2006 May 26-29, 2006 San Jose San Ramon Marriott San Jose Doubletree Inn $35 2600 Bishop Drive San Jose Special packages available for $139-249.00 San Ramon www.baycon.org Guests include actors Gigi Edgely, www.dundracon.com $45 until August 31 Michael Shanks (Sunday only) and Don $? The largest annual general SF conven- Davis (Saturday only). Gaming convention. tion in the Bay area. Dealer’s room, pan- els, costume contest, anime room, much more.

40 Fanime Con Japantown Anime Faire 3 SacAnime 2006 May 26-29, 2006 Saturday and Sunday, December 17-18 Saturday, January 14, 2006 San Jose Convention Center www.jtaf.com www.sacramentocomics.com San Jose Japantown Scottish Rite Center www.fanime.com San Francisco 6151 H Street Price 6 p.m. Sacramento The largest annual anime convention Fun local anime convention with anime 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. in the Bay Area. Dealer’s room, panels, showings, dealer’s room, costume contest, $5.00 costume contest, multiple tracks of anime, panels. Dealer’s room, anime viewing room, Asian films, J-pop concert, much more. contests, Yugioh & Magic tournaments, Kublacon cosplay contest. Further Confusion May 26-29 2006 January 19-23, 2006 www.kublacon.com Sacramento Comic, Toy & Anime Show San Jose Doubletree Burlingame Hyatt Regency Sunday, December 11 www.furtherconfusion.org 1333 Bayshore Highway www.sacramentocomics.com $40 Burlingame Scottish Rite Center Furry convention with an emphasis on Guests: TBA. 6151 H Street art. Dealer’s room, programming, anime. Memberships: TBA. Sacramento Gaming convention. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Game and Music Experience $5.00 December 2-4 PantheaCon Dealer’s room, anime viewing room, www.experiencegame.com February 17-20, 2006 contests, Yugioh & Magic tournaments, Moscone Center www.pantheacon.com cosplay contest at 2 p.m. San Francisco San Jose Doubletree $20 -$35 (discount if registering before Pagan convention. Workshops, lectures, October 31) performances, rituals, vendors, drumming, Play video games, see live bands, and dancing, costume contest. other stuff. See the website for more details.

41 Wintershoppingland World Horror Con 2006 viewing on Saturday at the Albany Library. Saturday, December 10 May 11-14, 2006 www.wintershoppingland.com www.whc2006.org Cal Animage Alpha Hayward Centennial Hall Gateway Holiday Inn www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~animage/ 22292 Foothill Blvd. The world horror con comes to the bay Univeristy of California Hayward area. Berkeley 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. University anime club. Hosts a weekly $2 (Free 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) Anime/Manga anime showing Mondays during the This is an anime event organized by the school year. Also sponsors AnimeDestiny group that puts on Yaoi Con and Tales of Anime Baka convention in the fall. Anime. Costume contest, dealers room, www.thetoytrader.com programming to be announced. 462 Mendocino Ave. Foothill Anime Santa Rosa foothill.anime.net Westercon 60: Gnomeward Bound Anime viewing/club hosted by a local Foothill College July 6-9, 2007 anime store. Held first and third Wednesday Los Altos Hills spfli.org/westercon60/ of each month at 7 p.m. First Monday is a This university anime club meets the DoubleTree Hotel potluck dinner. first Sunday of the month for a free showing San Jose starting at noon. AnimeFX Wondercon userwww.sfsu.edu/~animefx/ Newtype Anime www.comic-con.org/wc/ San Francisco State University www.stanford.edu/group/newtype/ February 10-12 2006 San Francisco Stanford University The Moscone Center University anime club. Hosts free showings Palo Alto San Francisco on Fridays during the school year. University anime club. Hosts free Comic book convention with anime, showings each Tuesday is in session. summer movie previews, panels, dealers, Beefbowl Anime costume contest, more. www.beefbowl.org No Name Anime Albany Library www.nnanime.com 1247 Marin Ave. San Jose Albany Anime club. Hosts a monthly anime Anime club. Hosts a monthly anime viewing on Saturday at local libraries.

42 Tempura Anime 11 West Hillsdale Blvd. tempura-anime.us Consplayers.com San Mateo Anime Club at Santa Clara University www.consplayers.com 650-341-5560 Hosts anime showings on Wednesdays Known for setting up a portable studio Meets montly during the school year. at conventions for better photos. Science Fiction Book Club Tsunami Anime Cosplay.com Borderlands Books studiokyuu.com/tsunami/ www.cosplay.com www.borderlands-books.com San Jose State University forums.cosplay.com 866 Valencia St. WSQ 109 One of the best resources for cosplayers San Francisco San Jose both nationally and even internationally. Meets monthly at Borderlands books at University anime club. Hosts free This site hosts extensive member photo 6 p.m. showings on Thursdays during the school galleries and their forums are a meeting year. place for cosplayers who are planning on Gay Men’sScience Fiction Book Club attending local events. Borderlands Books www.borderlands-books.com Anime Cosplay 866 Valencia St. Usagichan Search and Rescue San Francisco The California Cosplay Times http://www.usagichan.com/ Meets the second Sunday of the month www.californiacosplaytimes.com Home to Bay Area cosplay photographer li- at Borderlands Books. Contact Christopher This website is dedicated to promoting onboogy and his Linus Lam Network News Rodriquez at [email protected] for cosplay at conventions, with an emphasis coverage of conventions coast to coast and more information. on California and particularly Bay Area even internationally. conventions. In additon to hosting cosplay photos Bookstores (specialty) from members, most notably from Brocas Book Groups and hosting Cosplay Magazine, the site also Borderlands Books features a forum with a small but dedicated Futurist Salon Book Group 866 Valencia Street group of participants. Barnes & Noble Booksellers San Francisco Hillsdale Shopping Center www.borderlands-books.com

43 Costuming at Carl’s Junior, 2551 N. First Street at 7:30 Dark Carnival p.m. The group shows episodes of the Dr. www.darkcarnival.com The Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild Who series and has discussions of recent 3086 Claremont Ave. www.gbacg.org movies and a raffle. Berkeley

Elsewhere Books Comic Art Serenity/Firefly 260 Judah Street San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum SF Browncoats Used and collecible science fiction and 655 Mission Street www.sfbrowncoats.com mystery San Francisco, CA 94105 Cafe Murano Phone: 415/CAR-TOON, San Francisco Kayo Books 415/227-8666 Noon www.kayobooks.com Hours: Daily 11:00 - 5:00, Closed Free 814 Post Street Monday Serenity/Firefly fan group. Meets every San Francisco Admission Prices: second Saturday of each month at Café Best bookstore in the bay area for pulp $6.00 - Adults Murano in San Francisco. fiction, including old science fiction pulps. $4.00 - Students & Seniors Join the yahoo group from the link on $2.00 - Children (ages 6 - 12) their website for schedule updates. The Other Change of Hobbit FREE - Children (age 5 & below) www.otherchangeofhobbit.com/ The first Tuesday of every calendar month Silicon Gulch Browncoats 2020 Shattuck Ave. is “Pay What You Wish Day.” www.silicongulchbrowncoats.org Berkeley Serenity/Firefly fan group. Meets on the first Saturday of every month from Noon - Spellbinding Tales Bookstore Media Fan Groups 2:00 p.m. at the Tied House Cafe Brewery, www.spellbindingtales.com 54 Villa Street, Mountain View. 1910A Encinal Ave. @ Chestnut Doctor Who Alameda Sacramento Browncoats 510-523-1105 Legion of Rassilon groups.yahoo.com/group/ Hosts SF-related events and authors. Meets one Friday a month in San Jose SacramentoBrowncoats/

Star Trek 44 IKV Bloodlust USS Northern Lights Period Recreation www.ikvbloodlust.com www.ussnorthernlights.org A very active Klingon ship, part of the Starfleet chapter. Meets monthly at the The Bay Area English Regency Society StarFire Region of the Ring of Fire Fleet. Great Mall Food Court in Milpitas www.baers.org

IKV Midnight Dagger USS Renegade PEERS home.earthlink.net/~mitjos/index.html www.geocities.com.renegade73101 (The Period Events & Entertainments Re- Oakland East Bay Creation Society) www.peers.org IKV Black Dragon USS Tikopai www.ikvblackdragon.com San Jose Society For Creative Anachronism Fairfield www.usstikopai.org Principality of the Mists USS Augusta Ada mists.westkingdom.org San Francisco Star Wars http://trek.starshine.org Cloondara Shire Starfleet chapter. Meets fourth Saturday Sacramento Valley Rogue Force: San Francisco of the month at 1 p.m. at the Round Table www.svrf.swanb.net/ www.cloondara.org/ Pizza at 5160 Geary in San Francisco. Meetings are held on the second and South Bay Star Wars Fan Club fourth Tuesdays of each month at the USS Defiance sbswfc.com/ Round Table on Geary Avenue. www.ussdefiance.org Supposedly meets monthly, but no Sacramento recent meetings have been listed on their Shire of Crosston Starfleet group. Meets monthly at the calendar Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos Round Table Pizza on Howe Ave. (near www.halimal.com/crosston/ Howe and Arden Ave.) 501st Legion Golden Gate Garrison www.goldengategarrison.com Barony of Darkwood USS Eagle Southern Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Fremont 501st Legion Central California Garrison Cruz and Montery Counties For information email to www.thestormtroopers.com/CCG.asp baronyofdarkwood.org [email protected] Province of the Mists 45 Western Contra Costa County Mountain View groups.html provinceofthemists.org A loosely-organized group that meets Hosts fighter practice at the Rockridge every Monday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Sacramento Games Portal Bart Station parking lot every Thursday a game store to play mostly German-style www.freewebs.com/sacgames/ from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. strategy boardgames and cardgames.

College of Sainte Katherine Bay Area Games Day Space/Science/Technology/Skeptics UC Berkeley SCA chapter davekohr.best.vwh.net/gamesday www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sca/ Los Altos Library Bay Area Skeptics Los Altos www.baskeptics.org Role Playing/Board Games Free Regular event featuring German-style East Bay Skeptics Bay Area Role-Playing Society strategy boardgames like Settlers of Catan, www.eb-skeptics.org www.BayRPS.com Avalon Hill-type multiplayer games, lots of Go-Getter’s Pizza cardgames, and historical board wargames. Mars Society Northern California Chapter 1489 Beach Park Boulevard chapters.marssociety.org/northca/ Foster City SF Games 6pm to 10pm vax.hanford.org/dk/games Robotics Society of America Hosts a weekly game night. For club Muddy’s Coffeehouse Meets at San Francisco State University and game night details send email to: 1304 Valencia Street near 24th [email protected]. (Not confirmed, check San Francisco before attending.) SF Games is a collective name for a bunch of people who get together and play Silicon Valley Boardgamers board games and card games every Friday. davekohr.best.vwh.net/svb Also has a cards night on Tuesdays at Café Match Play Macondo, 3159 16th Street between 560 Showers Drive, Suite 4 Guerrero and Valencia.

Stafnord RolePlayers (SRP) http://www.rahul.net/pierre/SRP/SRP_ home.html

San Francisco Bay Area Gaming Groups www.rahul.net/pierre/SRP/SRP_local_46 Chabot Space & Science Center www.chabotspace.org 10000 Skyline Blvd. Wanted: Oakland Contributors to cover the following groups and activities: Genre-influenced Musical Groups

AkaiSKY The Gaylaxians www.akaisky.com Trio that performs covers of J-Rock and South Bay Star Wars Fan Club anime music. PENSFA Ramen and Rice Northern California Mars Society ramenandrice.metaminstrel.net The Society for Creative Anachronism Cello and Violin duo who play anime and game music at conventions Star Trek groups Star Wars groups Legion of Rassilon Warp 11 Star Trek theme rock band. Based in Filk Fandom Sacramento. Furry Fandom www.warp11.com/ Role Playing/LARP Fandom in Sacramento All other Fan Groups and Activities

We want to have regular reports on all Bay Area fan groups and we want to list your events in our calendar. Contact Jean Martin and Chris Garcia at [email protected]

47 The Bay Area Fannish Calendar

While some effort (OK, OK, damn Ongoing Fridays and Saturdays “From the darkest depths of the cartoon little effort) is made to verify event Vampire Walking Tour vaults comes the Cartoon Art Museum’s listings, please check on events before www.sfvampiretour.com latest exhibition, Gross, Gruesome and attending as events are sometimes Meets corner of California and Taylor Gothic. This horrifying display features cancelled or times and locations San Francisco over 50 original cartoons from a wide array changed. 8 p.m. of artists and comics, from spine-tinglers to $20 rib-ticklers and everything in between. New listings are in red. Led by Mina Harker. Tour is cancelled “Exhibition highlights include: if there is heavy rain. “Masters of the Macabre: Edward Gorey, Daily Charles Addams and Basil Wolverton San Francisco Ghost Hunt Ongoing through March 12, 2006 Three of the most influential humorists of Walking Tour Gross, Gruesome and Gothic all time present their unique views of the www.sfghosthunt.com Cartoon Art Museum world around us in a selection of comics Begins: Queen Ann Hotel 655 Mission Street and illustrations dating back to the 1920s. 1590 Sutter at Octavia San Francisco, CA 94105 “Spotlight on Gahan Wilson: This San Francisco Phone: 415/CAR-TOON, creator spotlight focuses on Gahan Wilson, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. 415/227-8666 one of the most celebrated and respected $20 Hours: Daily 11:00 - 5:00, Closed cartoonists of our time. In the past half- Monday century, Wilson’s distinctive cartoons and Ongoing Fridays-Mondays Admission Prices: illustrations have graced the pages of The Haunted Haight Wallking Tour $6.00 - Adults New Yorker, Nickelodeon, Playboy and www.hauntedhaight.com $4.00 - Students & Seniors National Lampoon. In 2005, Wilson Meets at PlanetWeavers Treasure Store $2.00 - Children (ages 6 - 12) received the coveted Milton Caniff Lifetime 1573 Haight Street (at Clayton) FREE - Children (age 5 & below) Achievement Award from the National 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. The first Tuesday of every calendar month Cartoonists Society, one of the highest Reservations required is “Pay What You Wish Day.” honors that a cartoonist can achieve. $20 From their website: “The Vault of Horror: Graham 48 “Ghastly” Ingels From the pages of EC Gene Colan and Dick Giordano, among those dates, and perhaps the other dates as Comics’ seminal comic book The Vault others, bring new life to classic characters well. of Horror comes “Shoe-Button Eyes,” a from Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster They don’t want to make it easy to buy complete seven-page story illustrated by to anti-heroes including The Spectre, tickets either. Graham Ingels. Vampirella and Morbius, The Living The $69 tickets are for the Deluxe “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Vampire. Shock Box seats for two. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman One of the most “Nothin’ But Misery: The Goon by Eric popular and acclaimed comic book series of Powell Powell is the Eisner Award-winning the past 20 years, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman creator of Dark Horse Comic series The Through November 19 tales from DC Comics set new standards in Goon, a horror comedy that pits the title Runs Fridays and Saturdays excellence for fantasy and horror. Featured character and his pal Frankie against killer There Be Monsters! artists include Chris Bachalo, Duncan robots, zombies, Spanish-speaking lizards EXIT Cafe Eagleson, Marc Hempel, Kent Williams and other supernatural menaces.” 156 Eddy Street and series cover artist Dave McKean. San Francisco “Scared Silly! Scary comics don’t always Now through November 13 8:30 p.m. take themselves seriously. Bongo Comics’ Shocktoberfest 2005 $12-$20 annual Treehouse of Horror special features The Thrillpeddlers From their website: The Simpsons as you’ve never seen them The Hypnodrome “A Forgotten Man and a Gremlin before, as illustrated by Sergio Aragonés, www.hypnodrome.com Chorus present a passionate excursion into Peter Kuper, Bill Morrison, Scott Shaw and 575 10th Street unseen realms, descending a dark staircase Jill Thompson; Batton Lash’s Supernatural Between Bryant and Division to a land that falls somewhere between a Law warns us to beware the creatures of San Francisco Pre-School Easter Pageant and a Murderous the night...and their lawyers; and Charles $18-$69 Nightmare! Schulz’s classic comic Peanuts asks the I don’t know what’s wrong with people “Presented somewhat in the manner burning question, “When will the Great who think that having an uninformative of a turn-of-the-century Magic Lantern Pumpkin arrive?” website is the way to promote their event. show of worlds within worlds, There Be “It came from the Seventies! As the Silver Reading between the lines, this show Monsters! with its absurdist multiple- Age of comics came to an end, the Marvel, runs Thursdays through Sundays. Curtain character monologues, slides, puppets DC and Warren publishing companies time is too much to ask for, although we and mechanical creatures (including a unleashed a wave of horror comics that are told there are two shows nightly on monkey astronaut, a sleeping pig, a dead pushed the boundaries of comic book art. October 29, 30 and 31. Jill Tracy and The Elvis waiting on the Highway of Eternity, Alfredo Alcala, Jim Aparo, Frank Brunner, Malcontent Orchestra are probably playing and Jesus, paired with a hallucinatory, 49 evil monkey named Jungle Belle) delves “Morales’ Macbeth offers artists in Free into the logic of dreams and the nature the community a way to collaborate -- Anime viewing/club hosted by a local of childhood perceptions regarding the musicians, painters, choirs, dancers and anime store. Held first and third Wednesday discovery of things unknown. wonderful professional, community and of each month. teen performers put on a show that captures $20 Through November 12, 2005 the community’s imagination and creates a Macbeth major theatrical event. Never before will Wednesday, November 2 Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings at a Shakespeare show seem so much like a Streetwars: Killer 8 p.m. roller coaster -- and include a rock band Last day to sign up. See November 7 for Sundays, October 24 and 30 at 2 p.m. with teen choir, samurai swords decorated details. and November 6 at 7 p.m. like skate boards, bags of candy and masked Town Hall Theatre marauders.” Wednesday, November 2 3535 School Street The Hunger Lafayette Wednesday, November 2 Castro Theater (925) 283-1557 Silicon Valley Boardgamers 429 Castro Street Adults $19-$25 davekohr.best.vwh.net/svb San Francisco Seniors and Youths $18-$23 Match Play 3 p.m., 7 p.m. The performance on Monday, October 560 Showers Drive, Suite 4 “Catherine Deneuve is Miriam, a 31 is a benefit performance and reception Mountain View centuries-old vampire preying on urban and tickets are $50 per person. 7 p.m. club goers with her vampire lover John From their website: Free (David Bowie). When John begins aging “Town Hall Theatre Company presents A loosely-organized group that meets suddenly, they seek the aid of doctor Sarah Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a unique vision every Monday and Wednesday to play (Susan Sarandon) and Miriam casts her by acclaimed director, Kevin T. Morales. mostly German-style strategy boardgames spell upon her. This neo-Gothic exercise The classic tragedy takes a contemporary and cardgames. in style and atmosphere has achieved cult turn in time for Halloween with witches, status for good reason.” ghosts, murder, swordplay and betrayal in Wednesday, November 2 Showing with Repulsion at 1 p.m., 5 Morales’s comic book version. Costumer Anime Showing p.m. and 9 p.m. Melissa Paterson and Acalanes High School Anime Baka Choir Director Bruce Lenacher also bring 462 Mendocino Ave. their unique talents to this one-of-a-kind Santa Rosa production.” 7 p.m. 50 Wednesday, November 2 trying to protect a young woman who may Thursday, November 3 Tamora Pierce house the soul of a martyred revolutionary Tamora Pierce Books Inc. from centuries earlier. He also must fight Copperfield’s Books Petaluma 1375 Burlingame Ave. a hired killer who’s a younger version of 140 Kentucky Street Burlingame himself. To succeed, he has to sift through Petaluma 6:30 p.m. his past to see which allies and memories 7 p.m. Free he can trust. Morgan has become even Free Young adult fantasy author reads more nervy since winning the Philip K. Fantasy author of The Will of the Empress from The Will of the Empress. Dick Award for his confident first novel, will sign. ALTERED CARBON (2003). This book Wednesday, November 2 develops a baroque, appallingly complicated Thursday, November 3 Richard K. Morgan setting, full of opportunities for revelation Octavia Butler Borderlands Books and betrayal. Both violence and sex are City Lights Bookstore 866 Valencia StreetSan Francisco troweled on thickly but appropriately; they 261 Columbus Ave., 7 p.m. have significant consequences for these San Francisco Free people who are trying—in circumstances 7 p.m. Borderlands is excited to welcome even more desperate than our own—to Free Richard Morgan, acclaimed author of discover who they really are and who they Noted author touring in support of MARKET FORCES, BROKEN ANGELS, might have a chance to become.” Morgan’s her latest book Fledgeling. and ALTERED CARBON, a New York career is really taking off -- come meet him Times Notable Book and winner of the before it’s too late to say you “knew him Philip K. Dick Award. Publishers Weekly when”! offers this about Morgan’s latest novel, WOKEN FURIES: “In Morgan’s powerful Thursday, November 3 third cyberpunk noir SF novel to feature Tamora Pierce Takeshi Kovacs, whose consciousness is Book Passage transferred from one ultra–combat-ready 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. body to another in the service of various Corte Madera unscrupulous powers, the interstellar 10 a.m. mercenary returns home to Harlan’s World, Free thoroughly pissed and dangerous. Despite his justified cynicism, he finds himself More Events Next Page 51 Thursday, November 3 will take students to the beach, the park, November 4-6 The Movie Bus shows The Fifth Element and a museum to engage them in scientific, The Vampyre www.DasFrachtgut.com artistic projects. We will serve them a Dreamweavers Theatre The bus picks up at healthy lunch and open their minds to the www.dreamweaverstheatre.org/2005/the- Amnesia Bar world. vampyre.html 853 Valencia Street “ 40 people max. For RSVP please 1637 Imola Avenue San Francisco call 415 424 1058” Napa 7:30 p.m. - 11:50 p.m. (River Park Shopping Center) $10 Suggested Donation Thursday, November 3 – 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday From their website: Saturday, November 5 2 p.m. Sunday “We will take off from the Amnesia The Rocky Horror Show-Starring $18 Bar and take you on a ride through the The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast of Tounge-in-cheek presentation of a beautiful city of San Francisco. Barely Legal’s Own Draven Corvus play based on a famous Shilling Shocker. “During the drive you will enjoy The Missouri Street Theater and Arts some short films by local filmmakers and Academy November 4-6 music videos. 1125 Missouri St BAScon “We will park at a secret location to Fairfield Ca, 94533 Embassy Suites screen and ‘discuss’ the feature film. Ticket Info: 707-422-1598 250 Gateway Boulevard “After the film we will have an $18-$20 South San Francisco outdoor-5-Element tag game to heat up I only have very sketchy information Memberships: $70 to 10/31/05 or until our bodies and get hugged a lot - you’ll on this, so please call to confirm before sold out see. attending. Information: BASCon, P.O. Box 282197, “Dress crazy to go along with this Through November 12, there are shows San Francisco, CA 94128-2197 fantastic movie, but don’t wear high hats Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. Email: [email protected] that block the view of the screen for people which are general audience shows with no The fifth Bay Area Slash Convention. behind you :). AP lines. Open to those 18 years or older. “You can bring some drinks, but we Friday and Saturday at midnight is Dealers’ room, art show, panels, video will also have beer and cocktails on the bus a mature audiences show with AP lines show, con suite. for $2 - $3 encouraged. A survival kit will be sold “Your contributions support the Bus for the midnight shows. Alcohol sold. No and the next big project to provide free midnight show on Thursday. fieldtrips to Inner City Kids. DasFrachtgut More Events Next Page 52 Friday, November 4 Saturday, November 5 November 5 AnimeFX showing Silicon Gulch Browncoats’ Monthly Shindig AnimeDestiny 2005 HSS Building Room 135 Noon - 2:00 p.m. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~animage/animed/ San Francisco State University Tied House Cafe Brewery University of California Berkeley San Francisco 54 Villa Street Berkeley 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mountain View $10 in advance, $15 at the door Free This event repeats on the first Saturday Members of Cal-Animage Alpha get in Meets weekly during the school year. of every month. free. 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. Friday, November 4 Saturday, November 5 The second year for this very fun one- Octavia E. Butler Video Games Live day convention sponsored by one of the Marcus Books www.videogameslive.com oldest anime clubs in the U.S. 3900 MLK Way San Jose Civic AuditoriumS Anime track, programming, concert Oakland an Jose by j-rock group Beautiful Losers, cosplay 6:30 p.m. 8 p.m. contest, dealers, swap meet. Free $20-$55 A live concert by a full orchestra and Saturday, November 5 Friday-Saturday, November 4-5 choir performing music from popular Le Bal Des Vampires The Wizard of Oz video games. With an accompanying show PEERS (The Period Events & Entertainments Aquarius Theatre that includes video, lasers, fog and live Re-Creation Society) Event 430 Emerson Street elements. Prior to the concert, there www.peers.org Palo Alto will be a costume contest and a video game PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF Midnight history exhibit. LOCATION! Running as part of the theater’s With music from games including Pleasanton Senior Center Midnight Madness program. Mario, Zelda, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, 5353 Sunol Blvd. Warcraft, Myst, Castlevania, Medal of Pleasanton Friday-Saturday, November 4-5 Honor, Sonic, Tron, Tomb Raider, Advent Waltz the night away in a romantic Gremlins Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil, ballroom with the San Francisco Bay Landmark’s Act 1 & 2 Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Area’s most glamorous Undead at the 12th 2128 Center Street EverQuest II, Kingdom Hearts, God of War Annual Le Bal des Vampires. Berkeley and a classic arcade game medley featuring The evening will, as usual, feature Midnight games from Pong to Donkey Kong. truly haunting 18th, 19th, and 20th 53 century ballroom dance music by Brazen Saturday, November 5 Sunday, November 6 Hussey, one of the most exciting dance Historias del Desencanto (Stories of Foothill Anime bands around, equally at home playing Disenchantment) foothill.anime.net classical music, vintage dance music, Celtic Castro Theater Building 5015 fusion, Swing, blues and hard rock. While 429 Castro Street Foothill College the program, as usual, has a strong waltz San Francisco Los Altos Hills bias, the program includes everything Showing as part of the Latino Film Noon from elegant 18th century country and Festival. In Spanish with English subtitles. Free set dances to Viennese waltzes, polkas and “In a limbo between centuries, the Meets the first Sunday of the month. mazurkas, to cool blues fox trot and tango world is devastated by the Disenchantment. Schedule: to early Swing and classic Rock at this very In this fantastical context, three characters Honey and Clover 3-4 eclectic Gathering of Kindred. As usual, all meet in the labyrinths of their dreams: My:HIme 21-22 set dances will be taught or called at the Ainda, a bat-winged artist; Diego, a Monster 33-34 ball. filmmaker whose innocence resides in his Tsubasa 708 Suggested costume is evening dress or belly button; and Ximena, an adolescent Anime Music Videos dress uniform from the century and country in full sexual awakening. Together, they Beck 21-22 of your “rebirth,” or modern evening dress. experience a post-modern, gender- bending Ebichu Minds the House 9-10 While there is no dress code for the ball loss of sexual innocence in this mystical (and we certainly don’t expect Spike to dress love story.” Sunday, November 6 up for the occasion!), you will see some of Video Games Live the most gorgeously costumed guests of the Saturday, November 5 www.videogameslive.com social season at this ball. Rocky Horror Picture Show Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium The ball’s half-time show will be another www.picturepubpizza.com San Francisco cutting edge performance by Le Theatre des Parkway Speakeasy Theater 7:30 p.m. Vampires, the most feared theater company 1834 Park Blvd. $20-$55 on the West Coast. Not recommended for Oakland A live concert by a full orchestra and $6 the faint of heart. Midnight choir performing music from popular For those wishing to learn or practice Barely Legal Productions presents the video games. With an accompanying show the dances before the ball, there will be an classic midnight movie every Saturday that includes video, lasers, fog and live optional pre-ball dance workshop (details night. No one under 17 admitted. elements. Prior to the concert, there TBA). This is the group’s 10th anniversary will be a costume contest and a video game show. history exhibit. 54 With music from games including Monday, November 7 Tuesday, November 8 Mario, Zelda, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Streetwars: Killer The Shire of Cloondara Warcraft, Myst, Castlevania, Medal of www.streetwars.net SCA group Honor, Sonic, Tron, Tomb Raider, Advent San Francisco www.cloondara.org Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil, $35-$45 Round Table Pizza Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, An old fashioned game of Killer. Once 5188 Geary Boulevard EverQuest II, Kingdom Hearts, God of War you pay your fee at the website, email live San Francisco and a classic arcade game medley featuring [email protected] with your full name, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. games from Pong to Donkey Kong. full home address, full work address,whether Free you will be playing as part of a team, work Group meets the second and fourth Monday, November 7 schedule, 2 recent photos and contact in- Tuesdays of each month. First meeting of Lemony Snicket appearance formtion. Organizers will contact you. Full the month is a business meeting, second The Booksmith details and entry information on the website. is arts and sciences. Please check with 1644 Haight Street Registration ends November 2. Price goes up contact to make sure meeting will be held San Francisco after October 26 as scheduled before attending. 7 p.m. Kills are to be made with water pistols, Free water balloons, etc. Tuesday, November 8 Participants must live and work in the T.A. Barron Monday, November 7 city of San Francisco. Copperfield’s Books Santa Rosa Cal Animage Alpha Montgomery Village Location TBA Monday, November 7 2316 Montgomery Drive Univeristy of California Bay Area Science Fiction Association Santa Rosa Berkeley The Original Hick’ry Pit Free 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. 980 E. Campbell Ave. 7 p.m. Free Campbell Young adult fantasy author of Shadows Schedule: 8 p.m. on the Stars will appear. Mar Free Weekly: Honey & Clover www.basfa.org.

More Events Next Page 55 Tuesday, November 8 (Late Monday into the role that the perception of space Thursday 7 p.m. Night) plays in producing accurate descriptions Danger: Diabolik: Wednesday 1 p.m., 5 A Feast For Crows release event of the world. Lynn Robertson, author of p.m., 9 p.m., Thursday 9 p.m. Borderlands Books “Space, Objects, Brains and Minds” will A new 35 mm print of Barbarella. 866 Valencia Street discuss her work on spatial functions of the “The year is 40,000. Peacefully floating San Francisco brain and their role in perceptual aware- around in zero-gravity, Barbarella (Jane www.borderlands-books.com ness. Fonda) is suddenly interrupted by a call 12:01 a.m. About the Series: Ask a Scientist is a from the President of Earth. A young Free new and different kind of lecture series. If scientist, Duran-Duran, is threatening Join us late Monday night/early Tuesday you love watching Nova specials and read- universal peace and Barbarella is the chosen morning (midnight) to be among the first ing Scientific American at the doctor’s of- one to save the world. During her mission, to purchase A FEAST FOR CROWS, the fice, then this event is for you. Enjoy food, she never finds herself in a situation where excruciatingly anxiously awaited fourth drinks, socializing, and conversation about it isn’t possible to lose at least part of her book in George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice the universe’s most fascinating mysteries! already minimal dressing. and Fire Series! We will have some give- In a double feature with Danger: aways and other cool stuff for you die-hards Tuesday, November 8 Diabolik, the 1967 movie based on the who stay up late. Newtype Anime European comic. Room 60-61H “In psychedelic swinging 60s style, the Tuesday, November 8 Stanford University dreaded thief (and killer) Diabolik wreaks Ask a Scientist Palo Alto havoc on a generic European country for Bazaar Cafe 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. his own financial gain and amusement. 5927 California Street at 21st Ave. Free With his curvaceous, superficial girlfriend San Francisco Meeting and anime showing. This event (displaying awesome powers of wig- 7 p.m. is held weekly while school is in session. wearing) they deed dirty. See them face Free off against bumbling cops and revenge- Topic: From Spatial Awareness To Wednesday-Thursday, November 9-10 seeking mafiosos to an indelible score by Consciousness Barbarella Ennio Morricone.” It’s hard to imagine how we would exist Danger Diabolik without spatial awareness, yet that is exactly Castro Theater what many patients with stroke and other 429 Castro Street forms of brain damage must do. The study San Francisco of such patients has revealed new insights Barbarella:Wednesday 3 p.m., 7 p.m., More Events Next Page 56 Thursday, November 10 Thursday, November 10 – Saturday, Friday, November 11 Thrillville’s Craxy Beatnik Party November 12 Steven Erikson A Bucket of Blood The Rocky Horror Show-Starring Dark Carnival www.thrillville.net The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast of 3086 Claremont Avenue www.picturepubpizza.com Barely Legal’s Own Draven Corvus Berkeley Parkway Speakeasy Cinema The Missouri Street Theater and Arts 5 p.m. 1834 Park Blvd. Academy Free Oakland 1125 Missouri St 9:15 p.m. Fairfield Ca, 94533 Friday, November 11 $7 Ticket Info: 707-422-1598 Charles Burns appearance It’s, like, THRILLVILLE’S CRAZY $18-$20 The Booksmith BEATNIK PARTY, dad, featuring Roger I only have very sketchy information 1644 Haight Street Corman’s ginchy 1959 beat horror comedy on this, so please call to confirm before San Francisco classic A BUCKET OF BLOOD plus the attending. Time: TBD poetic beat jazz sounds of ARUNDO live Through November 12, there are shows Free on stage! Like, Kookysville, man! Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. which are general audience shows with no Thursday, November 10 AP lines. Charles Burns Friday and Saturday at midnight is Diesel, A Bookstore a mature audiences show with AP lines 5433 College Avenue encouraged. A survival kit will be sold Oakland for the midnight shows. Alcohol sold. No 510-653-9965 midnight show on Thursday. 7:30 p.m. Free Friday, November 11 AnimeFX showing HSS Building Room 135 San Francisco State University San Francisco Send your items for inclusion in our 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. calendar section to: Free [email protected] Meets weekly during the school year. More Events Next Page 57 Friday, November 11 Friday-Saturday, November 11-12 Friday and Saturday, November 11-12 The Keep The NeverEnding Story Mermaid Meat Castro Theater Aquarius Theatre Kanbar Hall 429 Castro Street 430 Emerson Street Jewish Community Center3200 California San Francisco Palo Alto Street 9:15 p.m. Midnight San Francisco Based on the novel by F. Paul Wilson. Running as part of the theater’s Tickets: www.jccsf.org/arts “Set in a Romanian village during Midnight Madness program. $25 WWII, invading German soldiers release Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu present a supernatural force from a centuries-old Friday-Saturday, November 11-12 Mermaid Meat: The Secret to Immortality fortress. As soldiers are fatally consumed, Enter the Dragon and other Japanese ghost stories. a mysterious stranger appears to battle the Landmark’s Act 1 & 2 I can't recommend this highly enough. being. Eerie and dreamlike, this horror 2128 Center Street See my review in issue two of the perfor- fable is filled with Michael Mann’s expert Berkeley mance of Black Hair at the SF Theater Fes- use of sound and image.” Midnight tival. In addition to the title story and Black Double feature with 1977 action movie Hair, they will also be performing The Bell Sorcerer at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 12 of Dojoji, Dancing in California and a new 8th Anniversary Sale work. November 11-13 Borderlands Books Aoki is a wonderful performer, using The Vampyre 866 Valencia Street her voice and acting skills to bring to life Dreamweavers Theatre San Francisco traditional Japanese ghost stories with Izu www.dreamweaverstheatre.org/2005/the- www.borderlands-books.com providing musical accompaniment. vampyre.html Noon - 8 p.m. I suspect that Mermaid Meat is based on 1637 Imola Avenue Free the same traditional story that Rumiko Taka- Napa Borderlands will be celebrating an 8th hashi used as the basis for her Mermaid Forest (River Park Shopping Center) anniversary by having a big one-day sale. manga so anime fans might be particularly 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday Buy any two used books and get a third one interested in this show. 2 p.m. Sunday of equal or lesser value for free! Collectable $18 books are not included in this deal but they Tounge-in-cheek presentation of a will be 10% off all day long, and finally, play based on a famous Shilling Shocker. everything else in the store will be 20% off (artwork excluded). More Events Next Page 58 Saturday, November 12 Saturday, November 12 epic series chronicling the ill-fated Malazan No Name Anime SF Browncoats Empire, GARDENS OF THE MOON www.nnanime.com sfbrowncoats.com also took the internet by storm and had Saratoga Library Cafe Murano fans falling over themselves to praise this 13650 Saratoga Ave. San Francisco brilliant debut.” Erikson will be signing Saratoga Noon copies of the third book in the series, the 12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. or so Free US hardcover of MEMORIES OF ICE. Free Serenity/Firefly fan group. Meets every Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet Showing Final Fantasy XII: Advent second Saturday of each month. the world-maker in person! Children. Join the yahoo group from the link on their website for schedule updates. Saturday, November 12 Saturday, November 12 Rocky Horror Picture Show Paheli Saturday, November 12 www.picturepubpizza.com Castro Theater Steven Erikson Parkway Speakeasy Theater 429 Castro Street Borderlands Books 1834 Park Blvd. Oakland San Francisco 866 Valencia Street $6 8:15 p.m. San Francisco Midnight Showing as part of the 3rd i Film Festival www.borderlands-books.com Barely Legal Productions presents the In Hindi with English subtitles. 3 p.m. classic midnight movie every Saturday “Come Celebrate Bollywood at the Free night. No one under 17 admitted. Castro!! Borderlands’ customers were some “With its star-studded cast, (irresistible of the first fantasy readers in the United Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee), States to go crazy for Steven Erikson’s fantasy sets, endearing musical scores, MALAZAN BOOKS OF THE FALLEN Paheli is a delightful Bollywood folk tale, -- and now you can meet the author. From wherein a ghost falls in love with a bride.” Books at Transworld: “His debut fantasy novel, GARDENS OF THE MOON, was acclaimed for its combination of originality and intelligent, strong and exciting storytelling, singling out its author as a writer destined to rank alongside . . . giants of the genre. The first in a truly More Events Next Page 59 Saturday – Sunday, November 12-13 Saturday and Sunday, November 12-13 Monday, November 14 Robot Fighting League 2005 National Creation’s Salute to Sci-Fi TV Cal Animage Alpha Championship Wyndham San Jose Location TBA www.botleague.com 1350 N. First Street Univeristy of California combots.net/index San Jose Berkeley Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason Center $35 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. San Francisco Special packages available for $139-249.00 Free $20 Guests include actors Gigi Edgely, Schedule: Noon – 11 p.m. Michael Shanks (Sunday only) and Don Zipang From their website: Davis (Saturday only). Weekly: Honey & Clover “Fighting Robots return to San Francisco! Join us for The ComBots Cup Sunday, November 13 Monday, November 14 and Robot Fighting League’s 2005 National Gay Men’s Science Fiction Book Club Bay Area Science Fiction Association Championships! See the metallic stars of Borderlands Books The Original Hick’ry Pit TV gather to fight it out to decide who’s www.borderlands-books.com 980 E. Campbell Ave. the champion - in robot weight classes up 866 Valencia St. Campbell to 340 pounds. Thrill to the spectacle as San Francisco 8 p.m. robots fight only a few feet away from the 6 p.m. Free bleachers! Free www.basfa.org. “The heavyweight combots cup This month’s book is Marooned in Re- competitors will be fighting for a $10,000 altime by Vernor Vinge. Please contact the Tuesday, November 15 prize! The highest prize in the US history of group leader, Christopher Rodriquez at Daniel Wilson fighting robots. [email protected] for more infor- Cody’s “Famous robots from TV competitions mation. 2454 Telegraph Avenue and regional matches across the country - Berkeley including this spring’s ROBOlympics - will 7:30 p.m. fight it out in grand style in the place where Free it all started: Fort Mason. Author of How to Survive a Robot “Robots will bash it out in our specially- Uprising will sign. built bulletproof robot fighting arena - so Send your items for inclusion in our you can watch the carnage up close and calendar section to: personal that will lead to Number One!” [email protected] 60 Tuesday, November 15 Friday, November 18 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday Newtype Anime George R. R. Martin Appearance 2 p.m. Sunday Room 60-61H Kepler’s Books $18 Stanford University 1010 East Camino Real Tounge-in-cheek presentation of a Palo Alto Menlo Park play based on a famous Shilling Shocker. 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. Noon Free Free Friday-Saturday, November 18-19 Meeting and anime showing. This event Venue reopened. Enter the Dragon is held weekly while school is in session. Aquarius Theatre Friday, November 18 430 Emerson Street Wednesday, November 16 USS Defiance Meeting Palo Alto George R. R. Martin Appearance Round Table Pizza Midnight Copperfield’s Books Howe Avenue Running as part of the theater’s 140 Kentucky St. Sacramento Midnight Madness program. Petaluma 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. 7 p.m. Free Friday-Saturday, November 18-19 Free The Neverending Story The author of A Feast for Crows will Friday, November 18 Landmark’s Act 1 & 2 sign. George R. R. Martin Appearance 2128 Center Street Bay Book Co. Berkeley Thursday, November 17 Half Moon Bay Midnight George R. R. Martin Appearance 7:00 p.m. Stacy’s Books Free 581 Market Street San Francisco November 18-19 12:30 p.m. The Vampyre Free Dreamweavers Theatre www.dreamweaverstheatre.org/2005/the- vampyre.html 1637 Imola Avenue Send your items for inclusion in our Napa calendar section to: (River Park Shopping Center) [email protected] 61 Saturday, November 19 Other Stories. Sunday, November 20 Amber Benson and Christopher Golden Science Fiction Book Club author event Sunday, November 20 Borderlands Books The Booksmith Paul Park www.borderlands-books.com 1644 Haight Street Other Change of Hobbit 866 Valencia St. San Francisco 2020 Shattuck Ave. San Francisco 7 p.m. Berkeley 6 p.m. Free 2 p.m. Free The Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress will Free This month’s book is Tamsin by Peter sign copies of Ghosts of Albion: Accursed, a The author will read from and sign Beagle. The author will visit. Please contact book that was co-written with Christopher A Princess of Roumania. Jude at [email protected] Golden. for more information. Sunday, November 20 Saturday, November 19 Mark von Schlegell Monday, November 21 Rocky Horror Picture Show Borderlands Books Cal Animage Alpha www.picturepubpizza.com www.borderlands-books.com Location TBA Parkway Speakeasy Theater 866 Valencia St. Univeristy of California 1834 Park Blvd. San Francisco Berkeley Oakland 3 p.m. 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. $6 Midnight Free Free Barely Legal Productions presents the From the publisher: “An American-born Schedule: classic midnight movie every Saturday recent ex-patriot to Germany. . .Mark von Sosei no Aquarion night. No one under 17 admitted. Schlegell’s fiction deftly scrambles the codes Weekly: Honey & Clover of traditional science-fiction and fantasy with Sunday, November 20 high literature and philosophy, generating a Terry Bisson psychedelic weave of theory and pulp tradi- Other Change of Hobbit tion. His SF and otherworldly ficto-criti- 2020 Shattuck Ave. cism appears regularly in the international Berkeley art underground -- from Brazil to Auckland 2 p.m. to Berlin. VENUSIA, the inaugural volume Free of The System Series, is his first novel.” Author will read from Greetings and More Events Next Page 62 Monday, November 21 Tuesday, November 22 Saturday, November 26 Bay Area Science Fiction Association Newtype Anime Roman Dirge appearance The Original Hick’ry Pit Room 60-61H Hobby Monkey 980 E. Campbell Ave. Stanford University 10000 Fairway Drive #140 Campbell Palo Alto Roseville 8 p.m. 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. Free Free Free Creator of Lenore and Haunted Man- www.basfa.org. Meeting and anime showing. This event tion. is held weekly while school is in session. Tuesday, November 22 Saturday, November 26 The Shire of Cloondara Friday, November 25 Rocky Horror Picture Show SCA group Legion of Rassilon www.picturepubpizza.com www.cloondara.org Doctor Who fan group Parkway Speakeasy Theater Round Table Pizza Carl’s Junior 1834 Park Blvd. 5188 Geary Boulevard 2551 N. First Street Oakland $6 San Francisco San Jose Midnight 7 p.m.-9 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Barely Legal Productions presents the Free Free classic midnight movie every Saturday Group meets the second and fourth Showing episodes of the new Dr. Who night. No one under 17 admitted. Tuesdays of each month. First meeting of series, news, discussion of recent movies the month is a business meeting, second and a raffle. Sunday, November 27 is arts and sciences. Please check with Michael Moorcock contact to make sure meeting will be held Saturday, November 26 Dark Carnival as scheduled before attending. USS Augusta Ada 3086 Claremont Avenue http://trek.starshine.org Berkeley Round Table Pizza 3 p.m. 5160 Geary Blvd. Free San Francisco 1 p.m. Send your items for inclusion in our Free calendar section to: Star Trek group. Meets fourth Saturday [email protected] of the month.

63 Monday, November 28 December 2-4 Saturday, December 3 Star Wars Book Authors Game and Music Experience Jingles Copperfield’s Petaluma www.experiencegame.com SCA Event 140 Kentucky Street Moscone Center Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto Petaluma San Francisco 505 East Charleston Road 7 p.m. $20 -$35 (discount if registering before Palo Alto Free October 31) 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Steven Sansweet, Peter Vilmur and Play video games, see live bands, and $15 Pablo Hidalgo will sign two new Star Wars- other stuff. See the website for more Yule revel. Choir, feast, bell related books, Star Wars Poster Book and details. competition, classes, a play, more. Email Star Wars Chronicles. [email protected] for tickets and Saturday, December 3 information. Monday, November 28 Bay Area Games Day Cal Animage Alpha davekohr.best.vwh.net/gamesday Sunday, December 4 Location TBA Los Altos Library Foothill Anime Univeristy of California Los Altos foothill.anime.net Berkeley Free Building 5015 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Regular event featuring German-style Foothill College Free strategy boardgames like Settlers of Catan, Los Altos Hills Schedule: Avalon Hill-type multiplayer games, lots of Noon Initial D: The 4th Stage cardgames, and historical board wargames. Free Weekly: Honey & Clover Meets the first Sunday of the month. Saturday, December 3 Monday, November 28 Beefbowl Anime showing Monday, December 5 Bay Area Science Fiction Association Albany Library Bay Area Science Fiction Association The Original Hick’ry Pit 1247 Marin Avenue www.basfa.org 980 E. Campbell Ave. Albany The Original Hick’ry Pit Campbell 12:15 p.m. 980 E. Campbell Ave. 8 p.m. Free Campbell Free 8 p.m. www.basfa.org. Free More Events Next Page 64 Thursday, December 8 ever did, the film detaches itself from any Saturday, December 10 Thrillville’s Holiday Tiki Monster Mash connection to reality; the result is Lynch’s No Name Anime Mothra most controversial film.” Double feature www.nnanime.com www.thrillville.net with Mullholland Drive. Saratoga Library www.picturepubpizza.com 13650 Saratoga Ave. Parkway Speakeasy Cinema Saturday December 10 Saratoga 1834 Park Blvd. Beaconsgate Boar Hunt and Feast 12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. or so Oakland Province of the Mists Free 9:15 p.m. SCA Event Showing Godzilla: Final Wars. $7 provinceofthemists.org The new Godzilla movie. It’s awsome. Aloha and season’s greetings! Welcome Contact the autocrat for more informa- You should go to this show. All of you. to THRILLVILLE’S HOLIDAY TIKI tion. Bring your friends. MONSTER MASH featuring the original exotic Japanese monster-piece MOTHRA Saturday, December 10 Saturday, December 10 (1962) in a brand new print plus the Wintershoppingland SF Browncoats soothing, swaying sounds of THE MAIKAI Hayward Centennial Hall sfbrowncoats.com GENTS with THE MYSTERIOUS MISS 22292 Foothill Blvd. Cafe Murano MAUNA LOA live on stage! Hayward San Francisco www.wintershoppingland.com Noon Friday, December 9 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Free Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me $2 (Free 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) Serenity/Firefly fan group. Meets every Castro Theater This is an anime event organized by the second Saturday of each month. 429 Castro Street group that puts on Yaoi Con and Tales of Join the yahoo group from the link on San Francisco Anime. Costume contest, dealers room, their website for schedule updates. 9:40 p.m. programming to be announced. “In this challenging prequel to the TV series, the film begins with the investigation by FBI agents into the murder of waitress Teresa Banks. One year later, the sordid events of Laura Palmer’s double-life are depicted, gradually intensifying into an all-out nightmare. Beyond what the series 65 Sunday, December 11 Sunday, December 11 Railey Album at (707) 766-7056 for more Gay Men’s Science Fiction Book Club Sacramento Comic, Toy & Anime Show information. Borderlands Books www.sacramentocomics.com www.borderlands-books.com Scottish Rite Center Thursday, December 15 866 Valencia St. 6151 H Street The Nightmare Before Christmas San Francisco Sacramento www.picturepubpizza.com 6 p.m. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Parkway Speakeasy Cinema Free $5.00 1834 Park Blvd. This month’s book is To Your Scattered Dealer’s room, anime viewing room, con- Oakland Bodies Go by Phlip Jose Farmer. Please con- tests, Yugioh & Magic tournaments, cosplay 9:15 p.m. tact the group leader, Christopher Rodriquez contest at 2 p.m. $6 at [email protected] for more infor- The REEL CULT FREAKOUT mation. Monday, December 12 presents Tim Burton’s ghoulish holiday Bay Area Science Fiction Association stop-motion classic A NIGHTMARE Sunday, December 11 The Original Hick’ry Pit BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993) - trivia, Dune 980 E. Campbell Ave. prizes and more freaky festive fun! Castro Theater Campbell 429 Castro Street 8 p.m. Friday, December 16 San Francisco Free USS Defiance Meeting 4:20 p.m., 9:20 p.m. www.basfa.org. Round Table Pizza The 1984 David Lynch version, Howe Avenue “The desert planet Arrakis—we enter Wednesday, December 14 Sacramento the year 10191 and the whole universe Petaluma Book Club 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. depends on the spice Melange which exists Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury Free only on this dry and desolate planet. Its Copperfield’s Petaluma natives await the arrival of their Messiah 140 Kentucky Street who will lead them into a holy war against Petaluma the evil Harkonnen Empire. So sets the 6:30 p.m. stage for Lynch’s bizarre, truly otherworldly Free vision of Frank Herbert’s saga.” This general fiction book group will Double feature with The Elephant be reading Dandelion wine this month. Man. Call Mat Brown at (707) 762-0563 or More Events Next Page

66 Saturday and Sunday, December 17-18 Monday, December 19 Saturday, January 7 Japantown Anime Faire 3 Bay Area Science Fiction Association Twelfth Night Coronation Japantown The Original Hick’ry Pit SCA Event San Francisco 980 E. Campbell Ave. www.westkingdom.org/calendar/12th_ www.jtaf.com Campbell night2006.php 6 p.m. 8 p.m. San Jose Doubletree Inn Fun local anime convention with anime Free 2050 Gateway Blvd. showings, dealer’s room, costume contest, www.basfa.org. San Jose panels. $15-$20 December 22, 23, 26 Meet and greet at the hotel bar on Friday December 17- January 29, 2006 Mirrormask night. Merchants, Fine arts, practical science Lestat Red Vic and wooden spoon competitions. Curran Theater 1727 Haight 445 Geary San Francisco Thursday, January 12 San Francisco Thrillville’s Sexy Sword ‘n’ Sorcery Show Tickets on sale October 30. Musical Monday, December 26 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad based on Anne Rice’s Interview with the Bay Area Science Fiction Association www.thrillville.net Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. Music The Original Hick’ry Pit www.picturepubpizza.com by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin. 980 E. Campbell Ave. Parkway Speakeasy Cinema Campbell 1834 Park Blvd. Sunday, December 18 8 p.m. Oakland Science Fiction Book Club Free 9:15 p.m. Borderlands Books www.basfa.org. $7 www.borderlands-books.com The Cyclops, the Swashbuckling 866 Valencia St. Skeleton, the Roc, the Dragon, the Snake San Francisco Woman, the Evil Warlock and the teeny 6 p.m. tiny Genie all come to magical life in Ray Free Harryhausen’s colorful fantasy classic THE This month’s book is Cat's Cradle 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958) plus by Kurt Vonegut. Please contact Jude at Send your items for inclusion in our the sword-swirling sorcery of the Bay Area’s [email protected] for more calendar section to: bodacious belly-dancing troupe CLAN- information. [email protected] DESTINE live on stage! 67 Saturday, January 14, 2006 Thursday, February 9 February 17-20, 2006 SacAnime 2006 Thrillville’s Sexy Sci-Fi Valentine’s Show Dundracon www.sacramentocomics.com Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine San Ramon Marriott Scottish Rite Center www.thrillville.net 2600 Bishop Drive 6151 H Street www.picturepubpizza.com San Ramon Sacramento Parkway Speakeasy Cinema www.dundracon.com 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 1834 Park Blvd. $? $5.00 Oakland Gaming convention. Dealer’s room, anime viewing room, con- 9:15 p.m. tests, Yugioh & Magic tournaments, cosplay $7 February 17-20, 2006 contest. It’s a SEXY SCI-FI SPY VALENTINE’S PantheaCon SHOW featuring Vincent Price, Frankie San Jose Doubletree Sunday, January 15, 2006 Avalon, a crazy car chase thru San Pagan convention. Workshops, lectures, Science Fiction Book Club Francisco and an army of alluring androids performances, rituals, vendors, drumming, Borderlands Books in DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI dancing, costume contest. www.borderlands-books.com MACHINE (1965) - live burlesque act 866 Valencia St. TBA! February 19, 2006 San Francisco Science Fiction Book Club 6 p.m. February 10-12 2006 Borderlands Books Free Wondercon www.borderlands-books.com This month’s book is The Stars My Desti- The Moscone Center 866 Valencia St. nation by Alfred Bester. Please contact Jude San Francisco San Francisco at [email protected] for Comic book convention with anime, 6 p.m. more information. summer movie previews, panels, dealers, Free costume contest, more. This month’s book is Wonderland by January 19-23, 2006 Joyce Carol Oates. Please contact Jude at Further Confusion [email protected] for more San Jose Doubletree information. www.furtherconfusion.org $40 Furry convention with an emphasis on art. Dealer’s room, programming, anime. More Events Next Page 68 March 3-5 2006 from San Francisco, will play an evening of Thursday, March 9 Consonace 2006 opera and ballet tunes arranged for ballroom Thrillville’sHipster Holocaust Blow-Out www.consonance.org/ dancing and brilliant Viennese Waltzes, Panic in the Year Zero Crowne Plaza Silicon Valley polkas, mazurkas, schottisches, reels, and www.thrillville.net 777 Bellew Drive quadrilles. All set dances will be taught or www.picturepubpizza.com Milpitas called and there will a pre-ball dance class to Parkway Speakeasy Cinema Memberships: $35 to 10/31/05, $40 to help you brush up on your mid-Victorian 1834 Park Blvd. 2/18/06, $45 at door dance skills. And, of course, they will play Oakland Filk convention. Guests: Bill & those perennial favorites, “The Congress of 9:15 p.m. Gretchen Roper, Marty Coady Fabish, Vienna Waltz” and “Sir Roger de Coverley” $7 Puzzlebox, Chris Conway (with a distinctly Wagnerian edge). It’s a HIPSTER HOLOCAUST Suggested costume for this gala event is BLOW-OUT featuring Ray Milland and Saturday, March 4, 2006 Victorian evening or ball dress (circa 1860’s- once again, Frankie Avalon in a torrid tale The Phantom of the Opera Ball 80’s), period fancy dress, or modern evening of post-nuked LA survival, PANIC IN PEERS Event dress. Masks are strongly suggested. THE YEAR ZERO (1960)! With explosive Masonic Lodge of San Mateo The fashionable young gentlemen of the cocktail swingers Johnny and Gin of THE Doors Open: 7:00 p.m. Jockey Club will be pleased to know that ATOMIC LOUNGE SHOW live on Dance lesson: 7:15 p.m. evening’s entertainment includes operatic stage! Dancing begins: 8:00 p.m. and ballet excerpts by the company, Tickets: $15.00 in advance (by February including the premiere of the ballet from March 17–April 16, 2006 28) the controversial new opera “Sappho,” Zorro At the door: $20.00 choreographed by the celebrated Mme. Berkeley Repertory Theater Don’t let those wild rumors of an Opera Giry for the Peerless Ballet. written and performed by Culture Clash Ghost keep you from attending the social Refreshments will be served throughout The Roda Theatre event of the season, the Opera Ball of the the evening (Since we lack the catering 2025 Addison Street Paris Opera Populaire. This is destined to be budget of the Paris Opera Populaire, Berkeley the most spectacular of all our masquerade your potluck contributions will be deeply From their website: balls and Management assures you that appreciated). “California was born from a clash of “Everything is under control.” cultures, and now Culture Clash explodes Our special guests - Monsieur Frank the romantic myths surrounding its Beau Davis, that American trumpet creation. Following their 2002 hit, Culture virtuoso and his brilliant Brassworks Band Clash in AmeriCCa, these missionaries of 69 mayhem return to Berkeley Rep with the Saturday, April 1, 2006 danceable cartoon music during the world premiere of Zorro. Employing their The Toon Town Hop intermissions. usual irreverence, the trio takes on this PEERS Event “There will be a light buffet of T.V. legend to explore questions of homeland Masonic Lodge of San Mateo snacks – everything your mother said was security in the Wild West—when Anglo- Doors Open: 7 p.m. bad for you (and she was probably right) Americans struggled with such issues as Dance lesson: 7:15 p.m. and complimentary non-alcholic drinks. Mexican immigration, Indian gambling Dancing begins: 8:00 p.m. Contributions to the buffet are, as always, and a governor born on foreign soil. At Tickets: $15.00 in advance (by March 25) very welcome. Intermission entertainment long last, it’s a Latin look behind the mask At the door: $20.00 includes vintage dance performances by the of this mainstream icon invented by an Irish From their website: Peers Flying CirCUS and a cartoon music American. Zorro rides out of the pages of “As any cartoon aficionado can tell sing-along.” pulp fiction, through the Hollywood image you, some of the best film music actually machine and beyond the barriers of class, appears in cartoons. In celebration of the Thursday, April 13 race and ethnicity to become a hero for classic age of cartoons, we invite you to Thrillville’s Ninth Anniversary Show the oppressed in every land. Both history the Toon Town Hop, a vintage dance ball Forbidden Planet and histrionics play a role when Zorro is inspired by the best cartoon music of the www.thrillville.net unsheathed!” 20th century. www.picturepubpizza.com “Suggested costume is vintage or modern Parkway Speakeasy Cinema March 19, 2006 evening dress (Mouse ears optional!). 1834 Park Blvd. Science Fiction Book Club Guests may also attend as their favorite Oakland Borderlands Books cartoon character (vintage or modern!). 9:15 p.m. www.borderlands-books.com “The dazzlingly versatile Divertimento $7 866 Valencia St. Dance Orchestra will play a multi-period It’s THRILLVILLE’S NINTH San Francisco program of beautiful and energetic dance ANNIVERSARY SHOW featuring the 6 p.m. music from both classic and modern all-time sci-fi favorite FORBIDDEN Free cartoons. Dance classic waltzes and polkas, PLANET (1956) and spaced out theremin This month’s book is Declare by ragtime teens and 20’s dances, 30’s and 40’s lounge band PROJECT PIMENTO live Tim Powers. Please contact Jude at Swing and fox trot, stirring marches, and on stage! [email protected] for more a variety of other ballroom and set dances information. at this wildly varied event. For us diehard dancers, there will be DJ dance music of some truly off-the-wall but extremely More Events Next Page 70 April 16, 2006 May 11-14, 2006 May 21, 2006 Science Fiction Book Club World Horror Con 2006 Science Fiction Book Club Borderlands Books Gateway Holiday Inn Borderlands Books www.borderlands-books.com www.whc2006.org www.borderlands-books.com 866 Valencia St. The world horror con comes to the bay 866 Valencia St. San Francisco area. San Francisco 6 p.m. 6 p.m. Free Thursday, May 11 Free This month’s book is Dark Beyond The Thrillville’s Mad Mexican Monster Mash This month’s book is the graphic novel Stars by local author Frank Robinson. Night of the Bloody Apes Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Author will visit. Please contact Jude at www.thrillville.net Please contact Jude at jfeldman@borderlands- [email protected] for more www.picturepubpizza.com books.com for more information. information. Parkway Speakeasy Cinema 1834 Park Blvd. May 26-29, 2006 Sunday, April 24, 2006 Oakland Fanime Con 3DB Con 9:15 p.m. San Jose Convention Center www.threedollarbill.com/3DBcon $7 San Jose Three Dollar Bill Cafe1800 Market Street It’s a MAD MEXICAN MONSTER www.fanime.com San Francisco MASH featuring the lurid South of The largest annual anime convention 10 a.m.-10 p.m. the Border clas-sick NIGHT OF THE in the Bay Area. Dealer's room, panels, $10 BLOODY APES (1969), with masked costume contest, multiple tracks of anime, Game Convention. female wrestlers vs a rampaging rapist Asian films, J-pop concert, much more. apeman and his evil mad scientist creator! Saturday, May 6, 2006 Live opening act TBA! The Fairy Tale Masquerade Ball Admission: $7 Masonic Lodge of San Mateo Doors Open: 7:00 p.m. Dance lesson: 7:15 p.m. Dancing begins: 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.00 in advance (by April 29, 2006) At the door: $20.00 71 May 26-29, 2006 Dance Lesson: 7:15 p.m. Baycon Dancing begins: 8:00 p.m. San Jose Doubletree Inn Tickets: $15.00 in advance (by August 26, San Jose 2006) www.baycon.org Tickets: $20.00 at the door $45 until August 31 The largest annual general SF convention September 8-10, 2006 in the Bay area. Dealer's room, panels, cos- Creation Salutes Star Trek: tume contest, anime room, much more. The 40th Anniversary Celebration Doubletree Hotel May 26-29 2006 Sacramento Kublacon 2001 Point West Way Burlingame Hyatt Regency Sacremento 1333 Bayshore Highway Memberships: Gold Weekend Package: Burlingame $399. Guests: TBA. Creation brings William Shatner and Memberships: TBA. Leonard Nimoy to Sacramento. And no, Gaming convention. that’s not a typo on the price. Cheaper packages will be announced later. August 4-6 2006 Anime Overdose 2006 November 4, 2006 www.animeod.com Le Bal des Vampires San Francisco PEERS $30 to ?, $45 at door Venue: TBD Anime convention. No information as yet for this just announced vampire-theme ball event. Saturday, September 2, 2006 Captain Morgan’s Privateers (We Ain’t Pirates July 6-9, 2007 No More) Ball Westercon 60: Gnomeward Bound PEERS Event DoubleTree Hotel Masonic Lodge of San Mateo San Jose Doors Open: 7:00 p.m. 72