Bcsfazine #347
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BCSFAzine #347 Price: $3.00 The monthly newsletter of the British Columbia Science Fiction Association Something to interest everyone! Vol. 30 No. 4 April 2001 IN THIS ISSUE: AURORA AWARD NOMINATION BALLOTS! COUNTRIES THAT ALMOST EXIST! AURORA AWARD ELIGIBLES! HOW TO INVENT LANGUAGES IN 20 SIMPLE STEPS! WHERE ARE THE FRIENDS OF THE MERRIL COLLECTION? BCSFAzine is also available by e-mail as an Adobe BCSFAzine Acrobat .PDF file. (Please e-mail [email protected] if Something to offend interest everyone! you wish to receive the magazine by e-mail.) BCSFAzine © April 2001 Volume #30, #4, Issue #347 BCSFA’s Web page may be viewed at http:// is the club newsletter published by the B.C. Science www3.telus.net/dh2/bcsfa/. Fiction Association, a social organization. Singe copies $3.00 each. For comments, subscriptions sugges- The V-Con Society’s Web page may be viewed at tions, and/or submissions, write to: BCSFAzine c/o http://www3.telus.net/dh2/vconsociety/. Box 15335, VMPO, Vancouver, B.C. CANADA V6B 5B1, or e-mail [email protected]. Webmaster ....David Hale ([email protected] / [email protected]) BCSFA Executive VCon 27’s Web page may be viewed at http://www.v- President ............................. R. Graeme Cameron con.ca. Webmistress: Lorna Appleby Vice President ....................................... ? ([email protected]) Treasurer ..................................... Doug Finnerty Secretary ............................................ Alyx Shaw BCSFA has an e-mail discussion list at Yahoo!Groups. Archivist .............................. R. Graeme Cameron To Subscribe: email BCSFA- Editor ........................................... Garth Spencer [email protected] Members at Large: ..................... Randy Barnhart To Post a message: [email protected] .................................................. Alan Ferguson To contact the List owner: Keeper of FRED, [email protected] V-Con Ambassador for Life ...... Steve Forty (S.40) To Unsubscribe: BCSFA- BCSFAzine Layout, Acrobatics & Image Hyper Text [email protected] Modem Retrieval Specialist ....David Hale The Shortcut URL to this page is: ([email protected] / [email protected]) http://www.yahoo.com/community/BCSFA BCSFA Membership Rates: F.R.E.D., the weekly gathering of BCSFAns and all others interested, happens every Friday at 8:00 p.m. New ...................................... $26.00 at the Burrard Motor Inn, opposite St. Paul’s Hospital Renewal ................................ $25.00 (in downtown Vancouver), 6 blocks south of the New Family (2 Votes)............. $32.00 Burrard Skytrain Station, 3 blocks west of Granville (where many buses run). NOTE: on the Friday before Above prices includes subscription to BCSFAzine. long weekends, FRED will be at the lounge of Make cheques payable to BCSFA (West Coast Science Bosman’s Hotel. This is two blocks east and a part of Fiction Association) c/o 86 Warrick Street, Coquitlam, a block north of the Burrard Motor Inn (actual ad- B.C. CANADA V3K 5L4. dress is 1060 Howe St.). Contents Memberships expired in March 2002: Plain Speaking ........ 1 Barbara Dryer, Billie McLeod, Murray Moore LoCs ........ 2 Our Calendar of Events ........ 4 Expiring in April 2002: Media File ........ 6 Cindy Turner Book Reviews ........ 7 All the News that Fits ........ 9 Expiring in June 2002: Creative Nationalism ...... 11 Chris Bell, W. Harris & H. Berger, J. McGalliard Creative Linguistics (1) ...... 16 & Paul Carpentier, Julian Castle, David Treasurer’s Report (1) ..... 20 Cutbirth, Alan Ferguson, Doug Finnerty, Jason Harris, Penelope Harris, Eugene B. James, Kathleen Moore-Freeman, Andrew & Suzanne Art Credits Murdoch, Gordon Smith This month’s cover artist: ........ Taral Wayne Oh, jeez, I haven’t renewed my membership, have I?! Plain Speaking Guest Editorial: SO MUCH FOR INDEPENDENCE One grey temple of an awful rite Ring within ring of wizard stones Circled about some central place take responsibility for the consequences of our Every circle an initiation actions. Every initiation eternal loss You might argue that this sort of issue has Arthur Edward Waite, The Hill of Dreams little to do with our species, and much to do with our contemporary culture, and its compul- The other day I was contemplating an adver- sions. I think that’s a quibble. The important tisement for David Icke’s lecture in Vancouver – question remains: don’t you think we should be you know, the guy who claims our world is put under care? under the control, not simply of some big con- An interesting idea, which strikes me as spiratorial organization, but of a small clique of foreign and a bit quaint, is that it is better to be disguised reptilian aliens? – and I recalled a host ruled by your own mistakes than by anyone of paranoid American B-movies, arguably culmi- else’s wisdom. That seems to be one of those nating in the cult classic They Live, which also American sayings, the sort of thing I never heard showed up a little while ago, on Space. Natu- of until my late 30s. If truth be told, individualist rally, it occurred to me that films of this sort and ideas like this didn’t really emerge until the last conspiracy theories of this sort make pretty 500 years or so, and they’re still foreign to three- much the same assumptions. quarters of the world. Then I went on, to ask myself … “Who cares So maybe alien conquerors would have a if aliens control our world? Is that any different constituency. Maybe independence is overrated. from regular, standard foreign domination … or Actually, of course, we are already under from the bureaucratic rule-by-a-distant-clique new management! That’s another reason I’m not we take for granted already?” Honestly, I don’t real excited about Evil Sinister Alien Conspiracy see much difference. stories. They’re redundant. Ask yourself this question. Say you found You wouldn’t know this, but the ultimate your life turning into a bad Flash Gordon knock- masters of every conspiracy are now meeting in off, and you ended up faced with an Evil Sinister Vancouver. Weekly. At a coffeehouse. On Main Criminal Mastermind cackling over his world Street. domination plans (while subjecting you to endless These are the masterminds who brought us Howard Cosell videotapes!!); what would you say Starfleet™ fandom – on a bet. It is rumoured, to him? (Or her.) I think I would ask, “Okay, do but not proven, that they started Scientology on you have any promotional literature? Have you another bet. These are the people responsible for applied to start your own political party? Who the modern predominance of anime and gaming makes up your constituency?” fandom. If you sometimes think modern life is a I arrived at this position of indifference for a little absurd, too much like a surreal parody, or variety of reasons. One of them is that I’m not like a science-fiction story, even, these are the convinced our species is really capable of man- evil geniuses responsible. aging its own affairs. (Never mind whether we And now they are starting a membership deserve to.) There is plenty of evidence that drive! we’re not really a viable species, actually. Con- There’s another American saying, “If you sider the way that we persistently colonize, then can’t beat’em, join’em.” If you’re into world destroy habitats. On very bad days I have won- domination plots, or what would make humanity dered whether we are, in fact, an intelligent a viable species, or at least tossing creative ideas species; just consider our predilection for back and forth in a verbal tennis match, why not overgrazing, overforesting, overfishing, pollution, show up at Bean Around the World on Main overpopulating any environment where we plant Street and 20th? The Western Fandom Illuminati a city, and turning over half of any population and Sock Puppet Society gather every Thursday into a permanently poor, disenfranchised, un- at 8:00 p.m. Just look for those Sensitive deremployed class. The bottom line seems to be, Fannish Faces. we don’t foresee, we don’t weigh, and we don’t Hrothgar Weems 2 Letters of Comment And as Harry Warner’s loc says, Yvonne’s is on Lloyd Penney, 1706-24 Eva Rd., Etobicoke, ON, M9C December 19. I’m a hoopy frood at 42, and will be 43 2B2 <[email protected]>, March 20, 2002 in less than a few months.) (Editor responds: My birthday is January 5th. ) The deadline looms, so I have BCSFAzine 346 with me, as well as a computer and a little bit of time. I will Conventions ... I have learned recently that the mix all of the above, stuff it all in a hot place, and try World Mystery Convention will be returning to Toronto to provide you with a half-baked loc. in the autumn of 2004. Bouchercon 23 was held at Many fans I know have several interests in the Royal York Hotel in October of 1992, and set a fandom, and describe themselves by that interest. record of 1200 attendees. The Bouchercons have They might be animé fans, filk fans, Trek fans ... all grown, and the 2004 event is expected to have from these interests are now so deep and involved, it’s 2500 to 3000 attendees. It will be held at the Metro difficult to have an interest in a variety of them, and Toronto Convention Centre, with surrounding hotels, simply call yourself a fan. It’s simpler, and easier on including the Royal York, providing the sleeping the wallet, to specialize. Not what I’d prefer, but that’s space. I don’t think there’s a website just yet, but the way it looks to me. keep watching for news of Bouchercon 35, and I’ll I saw your question about who was in charge of present it as soon as it’s available. the Auroras on the TT2000 committee a couple of Ray Seredin’s “Media File” proves what I’ve said years ago ..