SFC Update Vol. 1 No. 17

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SoUTheRN FANDOM CONFEDeRATiON UPDATE

VoLUMe 1, NuMBeR 17 JAnUaRY 2011

Editorial Apology: It’s been too long. I’d meant to get back to the monthly publishing schedule once ReConStruction was through. I even made a go at it, getting out an issue (sloppily thrown together, but complete enough), and doing most of the work towards another one. Exhaustion set in, and the half-issue I had fell by the wayside. Then I went through a breakup, and didn’t much feel like working on zines (somewhere in this period, my membership in SFPA lapsed, for real this time – I hope to make a return in time for the 50 th anniversary). Now, it’s a new year, and I’m ready to make a go at it again. This issue is nearly complete, and it’s my traditional day for wrapping it – the first Thursday of the month. I’ve been working with some local fans on starting an annual con here in Raleigh, and we should have something substantial to announce on that shortly. I’m still fairly involved in other folks’ cons, though I’m not going to chair one again for a while. In case anyone was wondering but hadn’t heard, the NASFiC did better than break-even, so once we’ve got all of the bills wrapped up, we’ll do a partial reimbursement for staff, volunteers, and program participants. The cover this issue is once again from Jose Sanchez, who’s provided an absolute wealth of pieces, so I’m running some as interiors, too. We’ve got some interesting reviews from Rich Dengrove and Dr. Jeff, and I’ve decided to run the minutes of the SFC Business meeting from back in June. It’s time those got out. This all comes together for another nice, fat issue for y’all.

Contents: Calendar of Events Warren Buff Rebel Yells Y’all SFC Business Meeting Minutes Mike Rogers Review: Sergeant Kabukiman, NYPD Richard Dengrove

Review: Music from Dark Shadows the Revival Series Jeff Thompson

Colophon: Editor & SFC President: Warren Buff [email protected] (919) 633-4993 2412 F Still Forest Pl. Raleigh, NC 27607 USA All contents copyright their creators. This zine is free, either by direct email or www.efanzines.com . A letter of comment or other contribution will get you on my mailing list, as long as I remember to put you there. If I forget, bother me a second time, or however long it takes to add you. I haven’t been printing this one, which leaves me free to use as many pages as I wish, and do things like color. It also lets me use all the contributions I can muster, so fire away!

Calendar of Events:

January 7-8: ShadowCon XV (Memphis, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Select on Democrat at Airways. This one is a blend of SCA and SF, which can be a grand old time. Guests of Honor: Count Sir Balen, Nick Valentino, Martheus Wade, and Mazelle Attiya. $25/day, or $35 for both. Feast $15 extra.) January 7-9: GAFilk 13 (Atlanta, Georgia – Crowne Plaza Atlanta Airport Hotel. The South’s premier filk convention. Guests of Honor: Seanan McGuire, Matt Leger, Howard Scrimgeour, and Patrick Nielsen Hayden. Memberships $50, banquet $35 extra.) Ichibanacon (Charlotte, North Carolina – Charlotte Marriott Executive Park. I met the guys running this one at Animazement last year, and they seem to have a good idea going. Charlotte didn’t have an anime con, so they started one. Guests of Honor: Vic Mignogna, Lisa Ortiz, Todd Haberkorn, J. Michael Tatum, Maxey Whitehead, Lisa Furukawa, and Kittyhawk. $39 for the weekend, $25 Friday or Saturday, $15 Sunday.)

January 13-16: MagFest 9 (Alexandria, Virginia – Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. This is a fan- run music and video-game festival. Pre-registration $40 for the weekend.) January 14-16: S.C.A.R.A.B (Columbia, South Carolina – Scottish Rite Convention Center, hotel block at the Days Inn & Suites. Gaming convention featuring lots of tournaments and open gaming, and a swap-meet on Sunday. $40 for the weekend.) MarsCon (Williamsburg, Virginia – Holiday Inn Patriot. Not to be confused with the other MarsCon in Bloomington, Minnesota. Guests of Honor: Jim & Shannon Butcher, Ursula Vernon, and Toastmaster Michael Jon Khandelwal. $40 at the door.)

January 21-23: Chattacon 36 (Chattanooga, Tennessee – Chattanooga Choo Choo. One of the oldest cons in the South, and a grand old time, at that. Sadly, I’ll be missing it this year due to a change in my work schedule, but it’s one I’ll definitely return to when I can. If you’ve never been, the consuite is great, and in the grand Tennessee tradition, includes beer. Guests of Honor: K.K. Rusch, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Ruth Thompson, Bill & Brenda Sutton, and Toastmaster Toni Weisskopf. $50 for the weekend.) Siege of Augusta XX (Augusta, Georgia – Doubletree Hotel. Gaming con, including lots of miniatures. Membership is $20, though it might be more at the door.)

January 27-30: WAM 9 (Timonium, Maryland – Holiday Inn. A rather specific con for card- driven wargames. Their boast on the website: “World’s top ranked strategy

players, starlets, game designers, a few groupies, no euroweenies, one geek, and world’s best BBQ.” No pricing info on the website.) January 28-30: Owlcon 30 (Houston, Texas – Rice University at the RMC/Ley Student Center. Gaming convention run by Fast Warp, Rice’s student SF/gaming club. $24 for the weekend, a few bucks more to include special events. Students at a discount, Rice students get half off.) January 29-30: Wizard World (New Orleans, Louisiana – Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Featuring a whole bunch of Buffy cast members and Mike Grell, noted Green Arrow artist. As is too common with comics events, they don’t make a point of who the GOH is, so I’m just going by placement on the front page. $25 for one day, $40 for both. Looks like five bucks more at the door.)

February 4-6: Williamsburg Muster (Williamsburg, VA – Holiday Inn Patriot. Gaming, mostly board and miniatures, with a theme of Churchill’s wars this year. Includes a hospitality suite, which I take to mean a consuite. $20 until January 15 th , then $25.) What-The-Hell?! Con (Greensboro, NC – I know this is happening, thanks to their Facebook event, but they haven’t updated their official website. Guess which one I’m linking you to. This con is held on the campus of Guilford College, and is free. It’s also an awesome example of barely restrained chaos. Guest of Honor this year will be nerdcore rapper M.C. Frontalot.)

February 18-20: TrekTrax (Atlanta, Georgia – Holiday Inn Atlanta Perimeter. Featuring Tim Russ, Barbara March, Gwynyth Walsh, and Fan GOH Emmett Plant. $50 until February 11 th , $60 at the door. Capped at 800 members.) ConNooga (Chattanooga, Tennessee – Chattanooga Choo Choo. Frankly, it’s not my kind of con, but they do manage to get an interesting selection of bands and independent film folks, as well as a few authors and artists. I don’t have a good enough grasp on who’s who to try to give you a short-list, but enough of my friends are asking me about it that I may have to give it a second look when it’s more established. $40 through February 1 st , prices at the door not listed.) RoundCon (Columbia, South Carolina – Columbia Marriott Downtown. Gaming con which has added panels, including several authors and artists and a fan-based anime track. $30 through January 28 th , $40 at the door. Also offered is a $75 membership that includes a t-shirt, keepsake of some sort, and hotel wi-fi.) Farpoint (Timonium, Maryland – Crowne Plaza Hotel – Baltimore North. A media-based con with a family reunion feel. Features Adam Baldwin, Laurie Holden, and Bonita Friedricy. Weekend membership $80, banquet $45 extra.) KatSuCon 17 (Washington, D.C. – Gaylord. It’s an anime con, and there’s something of note here – they’ve already filled up their masquerade. They’ve got the usual slate of voice actors, and oddly enough, list them after the featured

cosplayers. Also of note is Frank Cho. Pre-reg $45 through January 31 st , $60 at the door.) ConDFW (Richardson, Texas – Crowne Plaza Suites. My friends in Dallas tell me good things about this one. Also, they sold me a really cool t-shirt at one of their parties. Guest of Honor: Jack McDevitt, Tim Powers, Brandon Sanderson, Brad W. Foster. Membership $30 through January 31 st , $35 at the door.) February 19-20: Kami-Con (Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Free anime con at the University of Alabama, with a room block in the Ramada Inn off MacFarland Blvd. Featuring Johnny Yong Bosch, and Kyle Hebert.)

February 23-27: PrezCon (Charlottesville, Virginia – Doubletree Charlottesville. Gaming con billing itself as the Winter Nationals. Looks to feature a lot of European-style boardgames like Settlers of Catan. $60 until February 18 th , $70 at the door.) February 25-27: AnachroCon (Atlanta, Georgia – Holiday Inn Select Perimeter. Steampunk and related matter. Features a good mix of artists, authors, historians, and musical acts. The coolest thing I noticed is that they have three folks appearing as historical figures – Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and General James Edward Oglethorpe. $30 Pre-reg.) MystiCon (Roanoke, Virginia – Holiday Inn. One of two cons to emerge out of a schism in SheVaCon. The website is somewhat tricky to use – you have to notice the poorly-contrasted “Menu” tab on the right to get it to appear and make the site navigable. Guests of Honor: Brinke Stevens, David Gerrold, and Randy Asplund. $35.) Vulcan Events (Tampa, Florida – Doubletree Hotel Tampa Westshore Airport. Featuring J.G. Hertzler and Robert O’Reilly. $40 for the weekend.) February 26-27: Wizard World (Miami, Florida – Miami Airport Convention Center. Featuring Julie Benz, Claudia Christian, Mickey Rooney, Phil Jimenez, and Michael Golden. Two days for $40, one for $25. Five bucks more at the door.)

March 4-6: StellarCon 35 (High Point, North Carolina – Best Western High Point. This is my home con, the one I cut my teeth on, the first one I got suckered into a concom job for, and one of the few I’ll attend every year I’m not bodily restrained. It had a down year last year, but the current crew is looking a lot better, and I’m excited about it. Guests of Honor: Todd McCaffrey, Larry Elmore, Jackie Cassada, Nicky Rea, Bill Mann, Larry Correia, and Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit. $30 for the weekend.) SheVaCon (Roanoke, Virginia – Sheraton Roanoke Hotel & Conference Center. The other of the two cons to come out of the recent SheVaCon schism retains the name. I’ve not actually made it up to SheVaCon before, though many friends have gone for many years. The most unfortunate thing about this schism is that

they lost their traditional date and moved onto the same weekend as StellarCon, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever go at this rate. Guests of Honor: Virginia Hey, Matt Busch, Peter Beagle, Spat Oktan. $45 for the weekend.)

March 11-13: CoastCon 34 (Biloxi, Mississippi – Mississippi Coast Coliseum with room block at Super 8 Biloxi. Guests of Honor: Gary Graham, Mike Resnick, Jeff Dee, Jack Herman, Jason Fisher. Pre-reg $35, $45 at the door.) Kawa Kon (St. Louis, Missouri – Crowne Plaza Clayton. It tells me something about anime conventions that this one calls itself small with 1000 attendance. Guests of Honor: Tyrine Carver and Wil Woods of MUSETAP, Three Rivers Okiya, and rave DJs The Con Artists. Pre-reg $40 through March 1 st .) Madicon 20 (Harrisonburg, Virginia -- Festival Conference Center at James Madison University. Primarily a gaming con, but also featuring appeal to costumers and general fandom. Guests of Honor: Rob Balder, C.S. Friedman, Brian Glass, Katherine Kurtz. Pre-reg $15 until January 31 st , $20 at the door.) EpicCon (Virginia Beach, Virginia – The Cavalier Hotel. Paranormal conference in one of the coolest possible venues I could think of for such an event – a 73- year-old, supposedly haunted, and absolutely gorgeous hotel. Registration is $100, the Saturday night dinner an optional $40.) Game Days 6 (Nashville, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Express Downtown. Gaming convention, and it looks like they really want you to stay in the hotel – they’re offering a free membership if you book your room by February 11 th . Considering that the hotel gives you free breakfast, that’s not bad. Pre-reg is $25, or $40 for couples. Door prices are $30/$50.) March 12-13: MomoCon (Atlanta, Georgia – Georgia Tech Hotel, with most events in GT’s Management Building. This is a free event, and seems to have grown into a more general young geek’s con out of its anime roots. I sat a table next to these guys once, and they seemed pretty cool.)

March 16-20: The 32 nd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (Orlando, Florida – Orlando Airport Marriott. This is the premier scholarly conference of SF, put on by the IAFA. Their theme this year is The Fantastic Ridiculous. Guests of Honor: Connie Willis, Terry Bisson, Andrea Hairston, Brian Aldiss. Registration by January 15 th is $110, then $135 until March 1 st , then $165 at the door.) March 17-21: Furry Weekend Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia – Sheraton Atlanta. The name should tell you just about everything you need to know. Features the original fursuit dance competition. Guests of Honor: Lacy & CP of fursuiting.com, Zhivago. $40 through February 26 th , $45 at the door. Minors need parental consent forms signed and notarized.) March 18-20: All-Con (Addison, Texas -- Crowne Plaza North Dallas. Rather varied

programming, much of which is costuming or anime related, though they also have a lot of game show type events. Tickets $40 until March 7 th , extra for the burlesque.)

March 25-27: AggieCon 42 (College Station, Texas – Hilton Hotel College Station. This student-run con out of Texas A&M is on of the South’s oldest. Guest of Honor: Catherynne M. Valente. Registration is $25 until February 20 th .) BabelCon (Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Hampton Inn & Suites. Broad-based con with a difficult website. They’ve got a range of different folks as guests, from authors and artists to bands, scientists, and paranormal investigators. $25 for the weekend.) MegaCon (Orlando, Florida – Orange County Convention Center, Hall D. Guests include William Shatner, Stan Lee, and tons of sci-fi actors and comics creators. $60 for the weekend, $25 one-day, slight discount for pre-reg online.) MidSouthCon 29 (Memphis, Tennessee -- Hilton Memphis. Another of the grand old cons of the South. My friends in western Tennessee keep trying to get me to come out to this. One day, I just might. Guests of Honor: Mary Robinette Kowal, Nene Thomas, Monte Cook, Kurt Busiek, Kelldar, Les Johnson, Jackie Gamber, and The Great Luke Ski. Memberships $40 through February 25 th , $45 thereafter.)

April 1-3: synDCon II (Rockville, Maryland)

April 8-10: RavenCon (Richmond, Virginia)

April 15-17: KampingKon (Cochran, Georgia) JordanCon (Atlanta, Georgia)

April 21-24: Frolicon (Atlanta, Georgia) April 22-24: MTAC Odyssey (Nashville, Tennessee) Conglomeration (Louisville, Kentucky) LouisiAnime (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

April 28-May 1: ReCon (Cocoa Beach, Florida) April 29-May 1: Malice Domestic (Bethesda, Maryland)

May 13-15: Dice Head Siege (Chattanooga, Tennessee) Gaylaxicon (Atlanta, Georgia) May 14-15: NOLA Comic-Con (New Orleans, Louisiana) WonderFest (Louisville, Kentucky)

May 19-22: Nebula Awards Weekend (Washington, D.C.) May 20-22: Dicehead SIEGE (Chattanooga, Tennessee) Mobicon (Mobile, Alabama) ImagiCon (Birmingham, Alabama)

May 26-29: Comicpalooza (Houston, Texas) May 27-29: TimeGate (Atlanta, Georgia) Animazement 14 (Raleigh, North Carolina) Rocket City Furmeet 9 (Huntsville, Alabama) Oasis 24 (Orlando, Florida) TimeGate (Atlanta, Georgia) NashCon (Franklin, Tennessee) May 27-30: Balticon 45 (Baltimore, Maryland)

Looking Ahead:

August 17-21: Renovation, the 69 th Worldcon (Reno, Nevada – Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Atlantis Hotel, Peppermill Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott. Hotel booking will open 8 AM PST, January 17 th . Guests of Honor: Ellen Asher, Charles N. Brown (in memoriam), Tim Powers, Boris Vallejo. If you’ve never been to a Worldcon, you should try one. This one has the added bonus of not conflicting with the major Labor Day events so many of us go to, reducing your excuses. This is five days of science fiction, but more importantly, it’s a chance to meet fans from all over the world. It’s not uncommon for a group of friends at one of these to span three continents (or more – I’ve met fans from five at Worldcons – South America and Antarctica, I’m looking at you). It’s also where fandom presents it’s annual Hugo Awards – members can nominate and vote, though you’d better hurry if you want to nominate. This will be my third Worldcon, and I’m already getting a bit excited about it. I hope to see all y’all there. Membership is $180 through February 28 th , though there is a discounted rate of $100 available for fans 17-21.)

September 2-5: Dragon*Con (Atlanta, Georgia – several hotels in downtown, though most have already sold out. The guest list is huge, and I’ll have to wait until later to figure out who they’ve named Guests of Honor. The attendance at this will be in the tens of thousands. You will be surrounded everywhere you look by folks who share some interest in fandom. It’s a great four-day weekend, and always vibrant. Membership is $80 through February 15 th , rising to $90 after that through May 13 th .)

September 23-25: FenCon VIII/DeepSouthCon 49 (Addison, Texas – Crowne Plaza North Dallas. Guests of Honor: Gail Carriger, Joe Bethancourt, Steven H Silver, Vincent Di Fate, Les Johnson, Bradley Denton, and Lou Anders. DeepSouthCon finally comes to Texas! I’m thrilled to be returning to FenCon, as well, which I found to have the friendly atmosphere appropriate to a good Southern con. I also found that the panels tended to have actively interested audiences, the game room stayed busy, folks attended the filk concerts and circles, the art show had a great mix of stuff (including some Tolkien-inspired quilts!), the video room was actually attended, the consuite well-stocked, and the dealers room balanced. The hotel bar also carried a few local Texas beers, which I appreciated. For DSC, I’ll be in charge of the fanzine lounge, which seems like an entirely appropriate place for the SFC to set up shop. FenCon will be taking advantage of Gail Carriger’s attendance to have some fun with steampunk as well. All in all, I’m looking forward to this year’s DSC, and I hope to see many of you there. Membership is $25 through February 1 st , with a special $40 rate which gets you a t-shirt or tote bag and first crack at the autograph line with the GoHs. A $15 rate is also available for fans 21 and under.)

Rebel Yells: News and Notes from all over

First, we heard twice from Joy V. Smith:

Warren,

Thanks! I enjoyed the issue. Uh, I don't know if you've noticed yet, but you got my name wrong in your introduction, but it's right in the con report credit. Joy

Oops— bad fan-ed, no cookie. I’m sorry about that, Joy. And here’s her more substantial letter:

Warren,

Intriguing cover. I'd like to know more about what's happening with the visitors. Thanks for all the con listings; I'm always happy to see there are plenty of them around. I enjoyed Richard Dengrove's reviews of Voyage to Arcturus--the book by David Lindsay and the movie. I see the movie is even more of a change from the book than usually happens; "he edited the plot with a sledgehammer." But the change from Bohemians to hippies (among other things) works, and I like Bill Holloway's look at the dark side of hippies: the results of "doing your own thing."

I also enjoyed Jeff Thompson's review of Confessions of a Scream Queen. What a great idea--collecting those in-depth interviews with all those genre actresses. I think that would be a fun read!

Appreciatively, Joy V. Smith

Your wish will be satisfied in Jose Sanchez’s letter. Read on! The one thing that depressed me in the con listings making this ish was that there seem to be two weekends with nothing going on, yet weekends around them are packed. I think cons need to get together and try to sort that out, for everyone’s sake.

Next, we heard from the Hugo-nominated Lloyd Penney:

1706-24 Eva Rd. Etobicoke, ON CANADA M9C 2B2

September 13, 2010

Dear Warren:

Hey, you survived the NASFiC! Well done! From what I’ve read, it was small but quite well run and enjoyable. I was afraid you were going to burn out, but you got the job done, and as a reward, you get some comments from me on SFC Update Vol. 1 No. 16. Yeah, big deal…

The cover is a dream for some…if only we could actually figure out who or what the Greys really were. I still think they were specialized helmets for whoever was in the suits. And maybe E.T. will come down and touch everything green, and solve our global warming problems. And while I’m wishing, I’d like a pony, please…

I am sure people would like to see another SFC Bulletin, but the main thing is getting the word out to your members in a timely fashion, and you seem to be

doing that with these Updates. Perhaps the Bulletin can be a special issue with lots of articles and correspondence and artwork, and some NASFiC con reports, something big and meaty, and quite lockable.

Some years ago, I would like to think anyway, CUFF (Canadian Unity Fan Fund), our fund which sends a Western Canadian fans to an Eastern Canadian CanVention, and vice versa, inspired NAFF, the National Australian Fan Fund, which sends an out-of-state Australian fan to the state in which the Australian National Convention is being held. Sending a fan from one side of the country to another seems a good idea…same kind of idea behind the fan fund between the DSC and Westercon? There is some talk of shutting down the Westercon after no. 65, so I hope that’s a no-go, and that this new fund can work.

Dragon*Con…I know some locals from around here were at D*C, like fan Lance Sibley and pro Robert J. Sawyer, but now, big gateshow conventions seem popular. San Diego Comicon is the king, and Dragon*Con is big, too, but the newest entry seems to be Fan eXpo in Toronto. They said they got about 65,000 people last year, and after the lockdown by the fire marshal, the two-hour re- entry line, and public apologies from the convention executive, I think they may have been surprised by an attendance surge up to 85,000. Yvonne and I hadn’t attended in ten years, back when it was called SFX, but we went this year to participate in their own steampunk fashion show. If this was the only fashion show they ever have, it will be ten years and longer before we ever return. What a mess.

Yvonne and I were at the Crown Plaza North Dallas hotel some years ago for an International Space Development Conference, may have told you some time ago. We worked with Bill Ledbetter while we were there. We still find it funny that many space advocates turn up their noses at SF fans, but still rely on their manpower to run the basics behind the various ISDCs. Greetings to Bill, and I’d like nothing better than to see you at a Fencon or other Dallas convention one day.

The locol…my loc here is old enough that I knew that I was an Aurora nominee, but did not yet know that I would be a Hugo nominee. I found out two weeks before Easter, and couldn’t say a word until the British Eastercon. It’s been quite a ride since, and found out that not only was I up against Claire Brialey, Chris Garcia and fellow Canadian James Nicoll, but also none other than Frederik Pohl. Well, if you have to lose a Hugo, you might as well lose it to someone like Fred Pohl. The whole thing has been a thrill, and I have hopes for a return to the ballot in Reno. Hope all of you will be there; we are even now saving our bucks so we can go.

Personal update…Yvonne and I left the Ad Astra committee after being on the committee for 29 years. (Where’s our gold watches?) We’ve also attended Anime

North, Polaris 24 and the huge Fan eXpo. The seasonal job I had at the Law Society of Upper Canada was just that…my contract expired at the end of April, and they have since told me that their schedules have changed, and that they do not need me for this coming year. So, I have been looking since for work, without luck. I still work evenings at the Globe and Mail newspaper, but that’s not enough to live on. Wish me luck, and a lottery win wouldn’t hurt, either…

There will be a two-day steampunk convention in Hamilton next month called the Steamposium, and in April of next year will be the Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition in Toronto. Should be a lot of fun.

I will probably wind up sending this to you via my work e-mail…our desktop computer is in the shop, getting a few repairs, including a new heat exhaust fan, and it’s there a little longer than I’d hoped. Hope I get it back soon, that nervous tic is getting worse… Many thanks for this Update, and keep ‘em coming.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

I’ve rather failed in getting a Bulletin out when I meant to, so it’s time for another round of Real Soon Now. I think the post-NASFiC burnout hit me a little later than I’d expected, and was partially involved in me getting dumped, which of course delayed things further. New year, though, so new efforts. The shutting down likely won’t happen – there are enough folks interested, and there was even talk of Westercons in more remote parts of the West. Now that there are large regionals in the major cities on the West Coast, the original need (and subsequent boom in attendance) for Westercon is gone, but there is still fandom that could use it within its region. I hope they’ll continue. I dropped the ball so far on any fan-fund organizing, but there does seem to be at least some interest. I’ll put that on the list of things that need my resumed attention, along with the Bulletin and new SFC t-shirts. I do hope to see you in Reno – that should be a great time.

Jose Sanchez, our cover artist for last issue (and this one, too!) checked in, and provided some information on the cover that should satisfy some curiosity:

Warren ,

Hello and I'd like to personally thank you for using my illustration on the recent cover of the SFC Update # 16- titled: "Out here, no one will know..." The idea behind it deals with the ongoing rumors about how the U.S. government has had engineers allegedly working alongside alien beings at the supersecret base Area 51.

Sounds crazy, but then again thought it would be fun to depict this as if a witness actually "caught them in the act of collaborating" so to speak.

If you're interested, I have more U.F.O. related work that I can send you in the future.

It is nice to know that there are still decent folks out there such as yourself that appreciate art that doesn't fit into the usual and everyday mundane.

Thanks very much!

Jose Sanchez

The UFO art was a hit with the readers, as you can see from this letter column. I’ll be glad to run some more of your work (especially since it’s always nice to get artwork in my inbox – I have a hard time figuring out who to ask for it and how sometimes).

Richard Dengrove gave us some notes:

Dear Warren,

A NOTE FROM WESTERCON. NASFIC was a great advertisement for why we might need a crosscountry fund to send fans between Westercon and DeepSouthCon. I met a lot of great California fans there. Especially including John Hertz and Chris Garcia. I’m glad John was the winner of DUFF. It is hard to conceive of a more deserving candidate: a nice guy, erudite.

OASIS 23. Joy, if I had brownies, water wouldn’t be satisfactory. I’d need 2% milk.

VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS. I should have done the math. 1970 is not fifty years from now but forty. There is some advantage to doing some paper or computer addition whenever you throw a figure around. Anyway, to make things even out, the fiftieth anniversary will be in 2020; and, following my logic, that would be the time for an update of Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus.

CONFESSIONS OF A SCREAM QUEEN. Even Marilyn Burns, who originally considered herself a Shakespearean actress, didn’t mind being a Scream Queen. I bet it helps that you can make extra money coming to conventions and meet people who treat you as a celebrity. Of course, there could be other reasons. I heard even Patrick Stewart, quite the serious actor before, didn’t mind his role as Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He claimed it was a stepping stone to roles he wanted to play. I can’t figure that one out.

Yours, Rich Dengrove

Thanks for checking in, Rich. I think the general sentiment is that it would be good to get some flow between the South and the West, though I’m not sure how to jump-start a new fan fund. Maybe we’ll get it figured out in time to send someone to Westercon.

Mike Rogers wrote, with a combination of commentary on recent SFC happenings and requests for me to do things:

You may officially watch the heavens for sings of the Apocalypse. I have updated the SFC Web site home page to reflect Pat Molloy as the contact person for SFC memberships and to reflect current information about upcoming DeepSouthCons.

Quick rant: in looking at the FenCon web site for next year's DSC, I could not fail to notice that there is *no* mention of DSC anywhere on the con's home page. Is that all we mean to them? I will not say more publicly, but it seems a damn shame that our con gets such shabby treatment. At least the Moon Ladies are not ashamed to put on a DeepSouthCon!

[I don’t usually abridge letters, but this one was half announcement, half reminders that I needed to do things – some of which I still need to do.]

M. Lee Rogers Hixson, TN

And here’s a press release from Corie Ralston:

Press Release # 31

SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR THE TRANSLATION AWARDS

SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION PO Box 1693 Dubuque, IA 52004-1693 http://www.speculativeliterature.org/

For Immediate Release: Jan 5, 2011

The Speculative Literature Foundation is proud to help support the SF&F Translation Awards. These awards are designed to reward the translation of science fiction, fantasy and related fiction from other languages into English. They exist to promote the fiction of non

English-speaking authors and to highlight the valuable work done by translators.

Two awards will be presented: one for long form literature (40,000 words and above) and the other for short forms. The awards will consist of a trophy and a cash prize. A copy of the trophy and an equal share of the cash prize will be given to both the author and the translator.

The SLF is pledging $250 annually to help fund these awards. For more information on eligibility, nominations, and how to donate, go to: http://www.sfftawards.org/. Donors are automatically entered into a drawing to receive prizes, including signed books from Neil Gaiman, Jeff VanderMeer and Peter Hamilton.

The SF&F Translation Awards are a California non-profit corporation recognized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

------The Speculative Literature Foundation is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the interests of readers, writers, editors and publishers in the speculative literature community.

"Speculative literature" is a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard and soft science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern mythmaking–any literature containing a fabulist or speculative element.

WAHF: J.R. Fisher.

Minutes of the Southern Fandom Confederation Annual Meeting - ConCarolinas 9/Deep South Con 48, June 6, 2010, Hilton Charlotte University Place, Charlotte, NC

Officers Attending Warren M. Buff, President (Raleigh, NC) Michael L. Rogers, Vice President (Hixson, TN)

Officers Absent Thomas Feller, Secretary (Nashville, TN) Janet Hopkins, Treasurer (Clarksville, TN)

Opening President Buff called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.

Attendance The meeting started with around 10 people attending. By the end, the attendance had grown to around 20. Secretary Tom Feller was unable to attend Deep South Con because of issues related to the major flooding that afflicted Nashville in the spring. Mike Rogers agreed to take the minutes of the meeting in Tom’s absence. Sam Smith (Huntsville, AL) reported that Mike Kennedy (Huntsville, AL) fell ill on his way to Deep South Con. He exhibited symptoms of circulatory problems and was taken to a hospital in Gulfport, MS for treatment. The meeting expressed its best wishes for Mike’s speedy recovery.

Old Business SFC T-Shirts Last year’s SFC meeting appointed a committee to secure a new art design for a run of Southern Fandom Confederation T-shirts. The committee consisted of Warren Buff, Gary Robe (Kingsport, TN), and Mike Kennedy. The committee was to select a fourth member. Buff reported that no action had been taken on this project since the last meeting. Last year’s meeting had expressed its desire to start a competition for artists to create the new design. Buff believes this idea is impractical since few artists will give their time for speculative work. Various people suggested that former President Randy Cleary be asked to do the new design given his connections to SFC. The meeting agreed to drop the fourth committee member. By consensus of the meeting, the committee was given full authority to select an artist, secure the design, and arrange for production of the T-shirts.

SFC Handbook Update Mike Rogers, the editor for the 3rd edition of the SFC Handbook, reported on the status of the Handbook update. Rogers apologized to the meeting for the small amount of action on the project. However, he reported progress on the update. Mike Kennedy submitted an article to update the current article on Huntsville fandom. Late last summer, Rogers traveled to Huntsville to a meeting of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association (NASFA) to collect more information about Huntsville fandom. Later, he incorporated the best of that information into Kennedy’s article. Tom Feller just submitted an article to update the current article on Nashville fandom, for which Rogers is very grateful. Rogers will continue to work with various sources to get more current information on Southern fandom for the Handbook since the 2nd edition in 1997. Rogers is ready to visit any city to meet

with its fan base to collect information about fandom in that city. Still dealing with content, Rogers announced that the new edition of the Handbook will be dedicated to a small group of important Southern fans. The first dedication is to the founder of SFC, Meade H. Frierson III (Birmingham, AL). Rogers asks for written appreciations of Meade from those who knew him. Rogers also reported that Sam Smith has agreed to provide space on SFC’s Web server to allow the SFC Handbook to be set up as Web pages. Rogers will post the Nashville and Huntsville articles once arrangements have been finalized.

SFC Web Site Rogers volunteered to update the current SFC Web site which he designed a few years to update the officers’ biographies.

SFC Bulletins Buff only published one paper copy of the Bulletin during the last year. He published a number (probably five or six) of electronic editions of an SFC Update which he sent to all members for whom he had E-mail addresses. Buff asked the meeting if this procedure was acceptable to the membership. No one objected, so the meeting presumed that Buff may continue with electronic updates. Buff said he will continue to publish an occasional paper edition of the Bulletin for those people who do not have E-mail addresses. A few people complained that they had not received the electronic updates. Buff asked for their E-mail addresses. He said he will send it to all members possible. Rich Dengrove asked how many people do not get the electronic zines since Buff does not have their E-mail address. Buff was not sure.

Financial Situation (Part 1) Treasurer Janet Hopkins neither attended the meeting nor submitted a financial report. A few people reported that last year’s dues checks had never been deposited. Naomi Fisher (Huntsville, AL) expressed strong concern over this situation and asked for action to be taken to determine the Confederation’s financial position. Buff believed that the current balance was around $500, but he was not certain. Discussion of this item continues after the election of officers.

New Business Election of Officers President: Buff asked if any member wished to run for President. No one responded. Naomi Fisher moved and Mike Rogers seconded Warren Buff for re- election. The vote was unanimous. Vice-President: Toni Weisskopf (Athens, GA) moved and Naomi Fisher seconded Mike Rogers for re-election. The vote was unanimous. Secretary: Mike Rogers moved and Chris Hensley (Raleigh, NC) seconded Tom Feller for re-election. The vote was unanimous. Treasurer: Buff stated that he presumed that Janet Hopkins would run for re-

election. Naomi Fisher nominated Pat Molloy (Huntsville, AL) for Treasurer. Sam Smith seconded. By show of hands, Molloy was elected Treasurer.

Financial Situation (Part 2) The meeting then discussed how to handle the financial situation. During the discussion, Fisher pointed out that the treasurer did not function properly over the last year or two. Fortunately, very little money was spent by the Confederation over the last year. The primary expense was the paper issue of the SFC Bulletin . All 2010-11 dues payments were given to Pat Molloy. Mike Rogers moved and Warren Buff seconded that Pat Molloy be given full authority to establish a new bank account for the Southern Fandom Confederation, and that the motion be considered a corporate resolution to allow the following officers of the Confederation to have signatory authority on the account: Warren M. Buff, President G. Patrick Molloy, Treasurer

The vote was unanimous. The meeting expressed its desire that Molloy set up the new account at a financial institution with branches in the major cities of the Southeastern United States, especially in Huntsville and Raleigh. Pat Molloy and Naomi Fisher will take action to recover the previously existing monies and financial records from Janet Hopkins. They will keep the Confederation’s officers informed on their progress regarding this situation. Fisher asked Buff to use his ATM card on the existing account to get a current bank balance. This will allow Molloy to determine the starting balance of his administration of the treasury. This balance will not be the exact balance since it is known that some of last year’s dues checks were never deposited.

Adjournment Sam Smith moved to adjourn. Mike Rogers seconded. The meeting adjourned at 9:40 a.m. The next annual meeting of the Southern Fandom Confederation will take place at Deep South Con 49, to be held in conjunction with FenCon VIII in Dallas, TX September 23-25, 2011.

Respectfully submitted, Michael L. Rogers Vice President and Acting Secretary

Reviews

SGT. KABUKIMAN N.Y.P.D. (1991) Reviewed by Richard Dengrove

A friend sent me the DVD of this 1991 movie. He wanted to see what I thought of it. And I’m here to tell him. However, I first want to ask you a question. What do you think of a movie about a super hero with a Kabuki theme set in New York City? A deep philosophical work of art? ...No? A work that reveals the whole soul of its artiste director? ... No? Weird as hell. ...Yes. And the movie goes out of its way to set the mood. At the beginning, Lloyd Kaufman, the co-director, co-producer, and muse of Troma Films, is filmed along a city street. It looks like young people are dancing around him – sort of. The girl is doing the frug; and the boy, I can’t tell quite what he’s doing. Finally, Lloyd says that he wants to thank Troma’s fans for making Troma the institution it is today. Then he adds: “Unfortunately, it’s a mental institution. Other things set the mood of Sergeant Kabukiman NYPD. Let us take the absurd sex, grossness, and violence. The movie’s one sex scene shows classic bad sex: the hero and heroine are wrestling nude in bed. What can top that for being a gyp? However, the lack of sex is made up for by scenes of food porn: people stuffing their mouths with food. One person, in particular, seems to have been hired only to stuff his mouth full of doughnuts. As for what the hero eats and the violence, I have chosen to describe them in sections about specific jokes. Fortunately, the acting didn’t detract from the mood. It was serviceable. Rick Gianni, who played Sergeant Harry Griswold NYPD, AKA as Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, may actually have had a decent acting range. At the other end of the spectrum, the actors who couldn’t act were not given acting roles; instead, they made great props. Except for a few words of dialogue, Brick Bronsky, who played Jughead, made a great hoodlum prop. Those muscles upon muscles did it. So why was Kaufman establishing a mood of total craziness the acting didn’t mess up? For a parody of action adventure. An idea I love, because I hate modern day action adventure films. Such an old fogey view probably reveals my age – as a hundred. In Sgt. Kabukiman, like all action adventure movies now, even the ritziest, we never know the hero’s powers, the villains’ powers, or society’s conventions. Up until now, this has struck me as senseless. Especially for purposes of excitement. One would think that there would be more excitement if we knew the hero’s powers, the villain’s powers and society’s conventions. Then we would actually know when the hero is in deep doo doo. Thinking about it, though, senseless is not what I see as its reason d’être. No, the action sates an inner longing. We live in a world of endless expectations. We are supposed to be and do everything. To be supermen – or -women. Of course, this is impossible. Which is why our fantasy is a world where every obstacle, whether physical, mental or cultural, can be overcome. This leaves a lot of people in seventh heaven. Not me. My curmudgeonly view is we should stop playing this stupid game.

Which is why, as I said, I love Sgt.Kabukiman: it treats it as a stupid game. The ‘senseless’ action is all for gags. While I admit the gags often fall flat, there is at least some attempt to not take our prison of the impossible seriously. Let us start with the sight gags. They only build up Sgt. Kabukiman as ridiculous, and do not comment on impossible dreams. For instance, Sergeant Kabukiman, in line with his oriental powers, has a taste for extreme sushi, some of which is alive: worms, sea urchins, and uncut mackerel au naturel. As a waitress serves this mackerel, she complains vociferously at the creep who would eat such as thing. Not only does Sergeant Kabukiman love to eat extreme sushi and other ersatz oriental food, he is doubly ridiculous in using it in crime fighting. This is another area of pure sight gags. He wraps a hooker and pimp in a sushi roll, and reduces a few thugs to worms. Also, he ties a crook up in oriental noodles. He is a credit to his silly race, except for one instance where he uses junk food in his crime fighting. Everyone calls the muscle head Jughead a weenie. This turns out to be a appropriate: when Sgt.Kabukiman gets through with him, rather than sushi in his shoes, there are wieners. Nonetheless, there is enough of humanity in Junkhead for him to say: “Maybe they’re right, I am a weenie.” While the sights gags set the character, in the gags on movie conventions, Sergeant Kabukiman penetrates our wish dream mask of seriousness. Take one movie convention, where the heroine hates the hero and then loves him. Always happened in the old Elvis films. In this film, the heroine Lotus, played by the beautiful Susan Byun, shows nothing but anger and contempt for the hero Griswold, AKA Kabukiman. So angry does she get she declares she cannot use the oriental technique of reason anymore; she has to use the American technique. Then she slugs him. Also, at other times, she hits his ‘nether regions.’ Of course, she later falls deeply in love with Griswold. In fact, sex with Lotus turns Griswold into Kabukiman. For men who feel the contempt of so many women they crave, in most other movies, this turnaround is manna. Of course, turning hate into love is, if not impossible, highly improbable. And as absurd as Sgt. Kabukiman. In addition, there is a parody of cop movies. In real action adventure films, men don’t stand on ceremony: they go for what they know is right. As cops, in other words, they’re fascists. Sgt. Kabukiman somehow succeeds in playing a fascist who is silly. A contradiction? In one scene, Sgt. Kabukiman uses his power of flight to take the evil Reverend Snipes up in the air. Then he points to the Empire State Building and he says if he doesn’t confess, he will practice proctology on him. The good Reverend confesses and the evidence is considered good enough to send him and the rest of the gang to jail. Ridiculous? I’m not certain that much more ridiculous than serious action adventures. However, scenes where he reverses the superhero genre compete with these. In most superhero movies, the superhero’s identity is secret lest reality seep in. No secret identity here: the superhero accomplishes all his heroic acts in the ‘reality’ of a surreal New York City. In fact, he continues to ply his trade as a policeman. As Sgt. Kabukiman, of course, he shows his badge. Another time, he shows his badge in even more ludicrous circumstances. Once, his powers go awry and he turns into a clown and he flees the villains on a small tricycle and clouds their

windshield with silly string. In the end, despite inflated feet and body, he also ends up showing his badge. In yet another scene, he goes farther and the arrest itself becomes the gag. The enormously wigged Rembrandt, an evil creep, attacks Griswold in his bedroom. Griswold pulls out his gun and shoots him. Then, while Rembrandt remains standing, he reads him at least one right, his right to a lawyer. Next, Rembrandt falls down dead; so the hero says he also has a right to an undertaker. Furthermore, there is a parody on Astrology and Prophecy. The New Age was big in 1991. In the end, the stars no longer portray a dragon going through a hoop per the idiotic prophecy; instead, they arrange themselves to resemble Kabukiman. I could go on and on, but I think it’s time to cut this off. In short, I liked the film for being parody on Action adventure, and on our desire to fulfill bottomless expectations.

Music from DARK SHADOWS: The REVIVAL SERIES A CD review by Jeff Thompson

At a recording session for his music for the 1991 Dark Shadows nighttime series, composer Robert Cobert mused, “Spook music—I’d forgotten how hard it is to do. So subtle—[even when] the movie isn’t!” Cobert had last composed scary music for director Dan Curtis in the late 1970s after Curtis and Cobert had become masters of television horror through their collaborations on The Night Stalker, The Norliss Tapes, Scream of the Wolf, Dracula, Trilogy of Terror, Curse of the Black Widow, and many other spine- tingling programs. Cobert’s association with Dan Curtis had begun with the original 1966-1971 daytime version of Dark Shadows; between 1966 and Curtis’s death in 2006, Robert Cobert wrote the music for three dozen of Curtis’s diverse productions—horror, mystery, crime drama, romance, Western, and war. Cobert spent a large part of the 1980s composing music for Curtis’s epic World War II miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Now, the year 1990 found Cobert returning to the “great spook music” that had made his name synonymous with Dan Curtis Productions. This 2-CD album collects most of Cobert’s original compositions for all 12 episodes of NBC-TV’s Dark Shadows, which aired in January, February, and March of 1991. Conducting a 25-piece orchestra, Cobert remade some of his classic Dark Shadows music cues—such as the Collinwood theme and a leit-motif associated with the original Maggie Evans character—but he mostly composed thrilling new themes which reflected the emotional, horrific, and tragic tone of the 1991 series. (One remade original theme, associated with the 1968 Dream Curse storyline, was not heard in the 1991 series and makes its premiere on this 20 th -anniversary 2-CD album from Film Score Monthly Records & CDs.) Cobert makes effective use of strings, flute, bass clarinet, vibraphones, and other instruments to convey the many moods of the Collins family. While reminiscent of his music for the 1966-1971 series, Cobert’s music for the 1991 Dark Shadows is strikingly different. The 20 years between the two Dark Shadows series saw the rise of synthesizers and of New Age music, both of which are reflected in Cobert’s postmodern compositions for the 1991 series. Like Jerry Goldsmith and Maurice Jarre, Robert Cobert perfected the marriage of traditional orchestral instruments and synthesizers,

with their infinite aural effects. In many of the cues heard on the 2-CD album, Cobert expertly layers his orchestral music with synthesized effects. Despite his embracing the latest synth effects, Cobert never lost sight of the importance of the orchestra. During one of the 1990 recording sessions for this music, Cobert proudly declared, “When’s the last time anybody ever heard a cello solo on television?” as he was recording a theme for Barnabas Collins (Ben Cross of The Unholy ) and Victoria Winters (Joanna Going of Another World ) for episode number three. The many horror and mystery productions of Dan Curtis, while outstanding, would have been missing a vital element if there had been no music by Robert Cobert. This is perhaps no more evident than in the 1991 revival of Dark Shadows, with its eerie hauntings, violent passions, and stunning tragedy. Even divorced from the images for which it was composed, the music on this 2-CD album bursts forth as a completely satisfying listening experience and as a testament to the Emmy Award-nominated composer who gave the world “Quentin’s Theme,” “Ode to Angelique,” the theme song of the Pyramid game show, the love theme from The Winds of War, and so much more than the “great spook music” heard herein.

Jeff Thompson is the author of The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis: Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, and Other Productions, 1966-2006 (McFarland, 2009) and House of Dan Curtis: The Television Mysteries of the Dark Shadows Auteur (Westview, 2010). He teaches English at Tennessee State University and Watkins College of Art, Design, & Film in Nashville.