The SHUTTLE December 2006 The Next NASFA Meeting is 16 December 2006 at the Regular Time and Location { { Previously-named Grand Masters include Robert A. Oyez, Oyez Heinlein (1974), Jack Williamson (1975), Clifford D. Simak (1976), L. Sprague de Camp (1978), Fritz Leiber (1981), The next NASFA meeting will be Saturday 16 Decem- AndrŽ Norton (1983), Arthur C. Clarke (1985), Isaac Asimov ber 2006 at the regular time and location. The program will (1986), Alfred Bester (1987), Ray Bradbury (1988), Lester del be a random gift exchange. Bring one or more (inexpensive) Rey (1990), Frederik Pohl (1992), Damon Knight (1994), A. E. gifts if you want to participate. van Vogt (1995), Jack Vance (1996), Poul Anderson (1997), The December After-The-Meeting Meeting (aka Christ- Hal Clement (1998), Brian Aldiss (1999), Philip JosŽ Farmer mas Party) will be at Sue ThornÕs house Ñ 147 Garden Brook (2000), Ursula K. Le Guin (2003), Robert Silverberg (2004), Drive in Madison. Call her at 256-325-8616 if you need Anne McCaffrey (2005), and Harlan Ellison (2006). directions. BAB 5 UNIVERSE EXPANDING There will be a New YearÕs Eve party at Nancy Cucci and Warner Home Video has announced plans for a direct- Ray PietruszkaÕs house. to-DVD Babylon 5 movie. The movie, titled Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, will consist of two stories to be written and directed by series creator J. Michael Stracynski. Bruce Boxleitner (President John Sheridan), Tracy Scoggins (Captain Elizabeth Miscellaneous News Lochley), and Peter Woodward (Galen) are said to be set to appear. SFWA GOES GUNNING Production has apparently already begun, with release The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has projected to come in 2007. announced that James Gunn has been selected as the next JACKSON FORCED OUT? SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master inductee. In a posting on <theonering.net>, director Peter Jackson Selections are made by the SFWA Board of Directors and past has announced he will not be directing The Hobbit or a possible presidents. The award will be presented during the 2007 Nebu- Lord of the Rings prequel. The project is said to be moving la Awards Weekend, to be held in New York, 11Ð13 May 2007. (continued on page 2) Inside this issueÉ TV Land 100 Greatest Catchphrases .............................4 NASFA Calendar............................................................2 Book Review by Nic Brown ...........................................4 Minutes of the November Meeting .................................3 No Need for a Ring Ñ Chapter 10..................................5 NASFA Receivables .......................................................3 Letters of Comment ........................................................6 Deadline for the January 2007 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Friday, 5 January 2007. 1 forward at New Line Cinema without Jackson or partner Fran 03 BD: Jim Kennedy. Walsh Ñ though without a new director attached as yet. The 03 BD: Karen Hopkins. reasons seem to include a dispute between JacksonÕs Wingnut 05Ð06 Shadowcon XI Ñ Memphis TN. Films and New Line Cinema on payments (including DVD 05Ð07 GAFilk Ñ Atlanta GA. revenues) from The Fellowship of the Ring. Rumors have it that 06 BD: Rich Garber. as much as $100 million may be in dispute. 07 BD: Doug Lampert. ENDEAVOUR AWARD GIVEN 15 BD: Martin Luther King (Observed). The Endeavour Award recognizes a distinguished science 16 BD: Bruce Butler. fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author 20* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at or authors and published in the previous year and is presented BookMark. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. annually at OryCon (Portland OR). The adjudicated award 20 BD: Larry Montgomery. includes a grant of $1000. The award is 26Ð28 Chattacon 32 Ñ Chattanooga TN. intended to encourage the growth of 26Ð28 Atlanta Game Fest 10 Ñ Atlanta GA. literature in the field and to recog- nize works of excellence. It is FEBRUARY named for H. M. Bark En- 01 National Freedom Day. deavour, the ship of North- 02 Groundhog Day. west explorer Captain James 08 BD: Lin Cochran. Cook. 09 BD: Jack Lundy. The 2006 Award (for 10 BD: Marcia Illingworth. books published in 2005) 11 BD: Jeanna Woosley. went to Anywhere But Here, 12 BD: Abraham Lincoln. by Jerry Oltion. In addition to 14 ValentineÕs Day. the cash award, Oltion received 16Ð18 Furry Weekend Atlanta 2007 Ñ Atlanta GA. an etched glass plaque produced 17 BD: Nancy A. Cucci. by Kent WA artist Ashley J. 17* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at Harper. Other books selected as fi- BookMark. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. nalists included Counting Heads, by 19 PresidentÕs Day (Observed) David Marusek, Destroyer, by C. J. Cherryh, Fledgling: A 22 BD: George Washington. Novel, by Octavia E. Butler, and Quantico, by Greg Bear. Judges for the 2006 award were James D. Macdonald, Elisa- MARCH beth Moon, and Lawrence Watt-Evans. 02 BD: Ronnie Lajoie. The entry deadline for the 2007 Endeavour Award (for 09 BD: Tracey Kennedy. books published in 2006) is 15 February 2007. 09Ð11 Stellarcon 31 Ñ High Point NC. 10 BD: Kerry Gilley. 11 Daylight Savings Time begins. 13 BD: Anita Eisenberg. NASFA Calendar 14Ð18 International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts 28 Ñ Ft. Lauderdale FL. DECEMBER 15Ð18 NovaCon Ñ Huntsville AL. Note new dates. 01Ð03 SMOFCon 24 Ñ Kansas City MO. 15 BD: Carlo DeShouten. 01Ð03 East Meets South Ñ Oxford AL. 16Ð18 FantaSciCon 2007 Ñ Chattanooga TN. 07 Pearl Harbor Day. 16Ð18 CoastCon 30 Ñ Biloxi MS. 09 BD: Maria West. 17 St. PatrickÕs Day. 12 BD: Toni Weisskopf. 17* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at 15 Bill of Rights Day. BookMark. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. 16 First Day of Hannukah. 17Ð18 MomoCon 2007 Ñ Atlanta GA. 16* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at 20 First Day of Spring (21st UTC). BookMark. Program: Random Gift Exchange. 22 BD: Jayson Woosley. ATMM: Sue ThornÕs house. 23Ð25 MidSouthCon 25 Ñ Memphis TN. 17 BD: Robin Ray. 22Ð25 AggieCon 38 Ñ College Station TX. 19 BD: Yvonne Penney. 30Ð02 Costume-Con 25 Ñ St. Louis MO. 20 BD: Aaron Kennedy. OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO 21 First Day of Winter (22nd UTC). 25 Christmas Day. The North Alabama Science Fiction Association meets on 26 First Day of Kwanzaa. the third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large 26 Boxing Day. nearby convention being held that weekend Ñ in which case 26 BD: Michael R. Stone. we often move the meeting to the second or fourth weekend.) 30Ð01 Galactic Conquest 3 Ñ Buford GA. The regular meeting location is the upstairs meeting room at 31 New YearÕs Eve. Party at Ray Pietruszka and Nancy BookMark on South Memorial Parkway. The Executive CucciÕs house. Committee meeting (if scheduled) is at 5P. The business meeting is at 6P. The program is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to JANUARY 2007 attend any of the meetings. There is usually an after-the- 01 New YearÕs Day. meeting meeting with directions available at the program. 2 President ..................................................Mary Lampert November Minutes Vice President .........................................Mike Kennedy by Steve Sloan, Secretary, and Your Source for Candy Secretary ......................................................Steve Sloan Showers Treasurer..............................................Samuel A. Smith Program Director .........Amanda Freeman, Jeff Freeman The November meeting of the North Alabama Science Publicity Director .............Doug Lampert, Jeff Freeman Fiction Association was called to order on Saturday, Novem- ANNOUNCEMENTS ber 18, 2006 in the BookMark upstairs meeting room at Jack talked about the Bailey Cove Book Club, which 6:21:32P by President Mary Ortwerth and the crickets. meets on the first Thursday of every month, at the little library OLD BUSINESS branch on Bailey Cove. At DecemberÕs meeting they will be None. discussing Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. NEW BUSINESS CONVENTION BUSINESS Sam got two emails from Starship Lexington. They have According to Amanda, we need more creative people a new Trek fan film series that needs assistance to fill the participating in next yearÕs Con Stellation Masquerade. You following positions as soon as possible: producer, associate have a whole year to think of something. If you donÕt have a producer, director, and director of filmography. These are non- costume for your idea, just ask, and one will be provided for paid, nonunion positions, due to Paramount legal constraints, you. Some ideas came out of the last Dead Dog Party. WeÕll but they do offer prerelease, special edition DVDs. They give need a barbershop chair at next yearÕs Masquerade, to make an email address and phone number where they can be con- one of those ideas happen. tacted. They also have additional open positions, including According to Sam Smith, the last Con Stellation lost executive CGI producer, animation special effects team, video/ about a thousand dollars. audio editors, web designers, and programmers. So, if you can Amanda realized this was probably a bad time to borrow afford to move out of state to take on a full-time job (at least!) money to buy a barber chair. Steve hinted at why we would for absolutely no pay, youÕre their guy. want one. In October, Sam got an email from Craig Howarth, a The meeting adjourned at 6:43:47P. freelance artist who wants to know if we need childrenÕs book Doug made a programming announcement. Because Mike illustrations or other art pieces. He left an email address, an Kennedy wasnÕt at the meeting, we wonÕt be watching the Call international phone number, and a web address. of Cthulhu video. So, weÕll just adjourn early, and go on to Anita has been corresponding with Bill Savage, who was Mike KennedyÕs house for the After-the-Meeting Meeting. a NASFA member in the mid-80Õs. HeÕs planning to move back to the Huntsville area soon, and would like to attend our meetings. Anita will see him on Monday.