SoUTheRN FANDOM CONFEDeRATiON UPDATE VoLUMe 1, NuMBeR 17 JAnUaRY 2011 2 3 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! 4 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 5 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 6 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.