other, but they did it out of family expectations and obligation to raise the child. Two months after their marriage, mom miscarried. My Dad never forgave her. He didn’t want to marry her to begin with. It appears that at the time he got my mom pregnant, he was dating two other girls, one of which he like better than Mom. ISSUE 1 – September 15, 2008 But Grandpa was a Teamster with a temper and big muscles and Welcome to Issue #1 of “Devoid Specimen” – my new APA zine. I the type you didn’t want to cross. So, Dad married Mom. But that dumped the first name – FanDominion due to the fact it has been doesn’t mean he liked it – or was willing to give up his penchant transmogrified into a general webzine for N3F. for extra-marital girlfriends.

I figure my writing here and there needs to have different identities Three years later, my oldest brother was born. By 1963, they had 4 so as not to confuse folks (mostly me). kids – two boys and two girls. Then the birth control pill was invented and my mom went on that. Please forgive the nature of this issue. It’s not a very auspicious start, but I’m in the midst of the start of my 3rd year of law school After 5 years, the doctor told my mom she needed to take a break so I’m in a semi-FAFIA due to academic demands. from the hormones in The Pill because of health reasons. She stopped taking in April 1967. As I write this, I am stealing away time that would be better suited to reading a Constitutional Law case book. As I am feeling I was conceived on May 4, 1967. My mom knows this because by naughty for doing this, I best get on with this zine and get it over that time she and Dad weren’t intimate very often – and it was one with. (Sorry no LOCs, I’ll double up next ish) of my brother’s birthdays, so she knows the exact date.

Reading over past issues of this APA, I noticed that everyone – except me – gave a biography of who they were, and a rundown of their interests and ties with fandom.

Being that I am a man – I’ll start out with my favorite topic: me.

Biography of David Speakman, a fan

I turned 40 this year. And as I type this, I’m closer to my 41st birthday than my 40th. So, let’s start at the beginning of me.

My parents were forced to get married because my mom got pregnant at age 17 in 1956. Back then pregnant girls were made to drop out of high school. My mom was two months pregnant when I was born exactly 9 months later on February 4, 1968 in Fort my parents married; neither of them really wanted to wed the Wayne, Indiana. This is the town where Stephen King spent some formative years of his childhood – and it inspired the short story, “The Body,” which was turned into the film, “Stand by Me.” Rising Sign is in 02 Degrees Scorpio You tend to be quiet, reserved, secretive and, at times, Back to me. In numerology – which I do not know anything about; quite difficult to understand. Others notice your deep my birthday comes out to 2-4-68. It’s probably a bad omen. emotions and feelings and wonder how to draw you out. Stubborn and tough, you fight for any position you believe in. You are very resourceful and formidable when you For you astrologically inclined, I’m an Aquarius with a Scorpio become angered or upset about something. You enjoy Rising Sign. I do know something about this due to the Internet. living life at the cutting edge -- for you life must be experienced intensely and totally. Quite courageous, you According to one website, this combination and its associated and are willing to take calculated risks. Easily hurt by others, way-too-complex chart mean: you often strike back with bitter sarcasm. Sensitive and curious, you are concerned with the deeper mysteries of human psychology. Once you have become interested in any subject, you pursue it with total fanaticism.

Sun is in 14 Degrees Aquarius. You get bored with the status quo and are generally open to new things and ideas. An individualist and a free spirit, your friends are quite important to you as long as they do not try to tie you down by making too many emotional demands on you. Your thoughts are offbeat and you're a bit eccentric, but not always very changeable. As a matter of fact, you can be quite stubborn at times. Very fair-minded when dealing with large groups or broad issues, you are not always emotionally sensitive to the needs of individuals. Extremely objective, with good powers of observation, you would be qualified to study technical and complicated subjects, like science, computers or maybe even astrology.

So, I guess you could say my fannishness was written in the stars.

Do I believe in astrology? No. But I’m fascinated by it, just like I am by most mythologies.

Anyway, after me, my Mom and Dad had one more kid – my younger sister. That makes three boys and three girls – in the same order and age range as the Brady Bunch (where I would be Bobby Brady). although farmers drained that wetland long ago and most of Some of my earliest memories of that time before I started the swamp critters went extinct – supposedly the Beast of kindergarten were watching daytime reruns of Bewitched and Wild Busco survives to this day. Wild West and later sneaking out of bed and sitting on the stairwell trying to stay up That legend warped me but good as a child. And it sparked my with my mom – imagination and interest in cryptozoology. As a kid, I loved the unbeknownst to her legend of Sasquatch (Big Foot) and Yeti, the Loch Ness monster - to watch Star Trek and any other modern mythological creature. (Although I still reruns and Night believe the Beat of Busco existed – probably a subspecies of Gallery after the Alligator Snapping Turtle, as they can get to be hundreds of evening news, the pounds and as big as a harvest table.) latter show scared her more than me Living in Busco, I was labeled as a nerd fairly quickly. And by the once we got past the time puberty hit among my peers in the early 1980s, I was called creepy paintings. “fag” or “queer” every day until I moved away to go to college in 1986. Usually, Mom new I was there and eventually gave up trying to get me to go to bed. Our nightly ritual was she would make popcorn Not a glutton for social torture, in high and we’d watch the late night sci-fi shows together. school, I gave up on making friends and just buried myself in books by writers Dad, a fireman, was never home at night. He said it was “work.” who wrote stories about outcast young people who went on to do great things – Mom filed for divorce from my dad two years after my little sister Heinlein, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Brian was born. She got the kids and the house. When I was 6, she sold Aldus, David Eddings and Phillip Jose the house and moved all six of us to a little town called Farmer. Churubusco which is about 12 miles northwest of Fort Wayne. (It was at this time I ran across an Two things are notable about Churubusco (which is called “Busco” advertisement for N3F in an issue of one by the locals): of my science fiction magazines. I joined and stayed in until the early 1990s when 1. From K-12 you went to different parts of the same school my career and lack of money forced me into a 10-year FAFIA.) building. The town had fewer than 2,000 people and everyone knew everyone else. Once you were categorized, Even though I was called homosexual slurs in high school, I didn’t you were stuck in that niche for the rest of your life. think I was gay at all. I had never met any gay people – but I had 2. The town has a local legend, the “Beast of Busco” a giant seen what were called gay people on TV – on shows like “Soap” shelled reptile that supposedly lives in the bottom of one of and “Barney Miller” – where they dressed in women’s clothes or the many swampy muck-bottom lakes in the area. wanted sex change operations. Geographically, Churubusco lies on the western edge of what was once called the Great Black Swamp. And Being that I had no desire to wear dresses or get a sex change, I A very proud Hoosier, I had no intention to leave the Midwest. The knew I couldn’t be gay. I just wrote off my lack of interest in girls thought of moving to California was not a pleasant one for me. to the very small selection in my teeny little town and that I hadn’t And as a non-stereotypical gay guy – to move to the San Francisco found the “right girl” yet. Bay Area was unmentionable.

Then I went to college at Ball State University and met actual But in 1997, I was working as a dead-end job as an Assignment real-life gay people – and gay science fiction nerds. I met folks Editor at the ABC affiliate in Fort Wayne with no real who didn’t want to cross dress and liked the same books and TV advancement opportunities. A sister station at a place called KNTV shows I did. It was then I realized that gay people weren’t as in San Jose, California had an opening in the exact job I was doing scary or weird as is portrayed on TV. The light bulb went off and in Fort Wayne for better pay. I knew San Jose was in Silicon I finally felt at home socially. There was no drama or angst, just Valley – but had no idea it was also in the San Francisco Bay Area. a sense of relief. I was a gay sci-fi geek – a good weird. I got the job and moved to Silly Valley and love it here. Still, During summers, I didn’t go back to Churubusco. I got a job and getting me to go to the city of San Francisco takes a crowbar. I an apartment and had Star Trek: The Next Generation viewing hate that city – it smells bad and the people are rude. parties at my apartment. I even Anyway, Silicon Valley is chock full of gay science fiction nerds. I had a couple of live- met one – named Rich Bean – now an N3F member. We met in boyfriends during during the dot-com bust in 2002 and have been together, making those years and it our home in Mountain View, ever since. was no big deal. It still isn’t. He’s big into SCA (Society for Creative The cruel way I was Anachronism) – I’m treated by my peers more of a Science growing up shaped my worldview and led to the decisions to move Fiction convention away from Churubusco, go to college and never look back. person – not much into SCA-type LARP After college, I worked as a journalist for the better part of two (live action role decades, getting paid for skills started as a kid in N3F fandom, playing). honed in college and but into practice in the real world. When I met Rich, he About two years ago I quit and decided to go back to school and was raising a teenager get a law degree. I’ve always been fascinated by law and figured – his orphaned that if it doesn’t work out, I could always go back to writing. cousin. I eventually moved in and we As it turns out, Law School is like a boot camp for disciplined raised a rebellious writing. No wonder so many successful writers have a J.D. teenager together. That teen is now 22 and living in the college When I printed out my paper, I noticed it changed my name from town of Austin, Texas with his girlfriend – and it’s no big deal. “David Speakman” to “Devoid Specimen.” There you go. Just like it was when I was his age. And now for the obligatory review stolen from my work at And as you can tell by the last entry in the last ish – Rich and I got Fandominion.com: married in June. It’s kinda funny when folks ask if married life changed anything. It did. Our families consider us a “real couple” now. Apparently they didn’t when we were raising a kid together. Review:

And of course, I am in law school. Make that NIGHT law school. By David Speakman • September 14, 2008 It’s the same as day law school – except that you attend with a ¾ load of classes – which comes out to four years instead of three The newest high-profile science fiction TV series debuted this past years of classes. It makes sense since almost all of us in night week. Created by J.J. Abrams (), it follows the live of a classes also have a full time day job, whereas day law students are government agent who stumbles upon one the biggest secrets in the world - and she finds out there is no going back. Following is a usually full-time students – and that’s all. review of the episode of this new series, Fringe.

I’ll graduate in June 2010 at age 42, sit for the bar exam a month Airs: Tuesdays, 9 p.m. later – get my results in December and if I pass the bar, start rd (ET/PT) practicing law in 2011 – mere days before my 43 birthday. Network: FOX Rating: TV-14 (Graphic If not, I’ll use those research, outlining, and writing skills from law Violence, Language, Adult school to write. Heck, even if I do pass, I bet I’ll still be writing. Situations)

First of all, let's settle one dispute: Fringe is not a true A Zine by Any Other Name… "science fiction" series. The physics used in the show do So, the name of this zine is “Devoid Specimen.” I got the idea for not add up. The "science" the name from the Trufen e-mail list. But the origin’s mine – sorta. behind the wonders depicted in this series is just When I was in college in the late 1980s, a few computers had the too unbelievable to be taken first rudimentary spell checker programs. Needless to say, I’m a seriously. So don't. If you writer who needs a good spell checker. (If you’ve read this far, can get past that, you will you’ve no doubt stumbled over some doozy typos in this zine.) probably enjoy this series.

Well, once I used one of those spell checking programs on a paper If you must label the show with a specific subset of genre fiction, I was writing on a primitive word processor on Ball State’s VAX Fringe would fall under "science fantasy" - which is just like any computers. It auto changed everything – fixing typos and more. other fantasy story, except the traditional trappings such as magic potions, spells, and crystal balls are replaced by the trappings of wrong. (So far, this looks and feels like the first episode of LOST - science. Potions become drugs; spells become computer code and which is odd since that's the show that J.J. Abrams is famous for mathematical algorithms, and crystal balls become the Internet. creating). The list goes on, but you get the point. The something wrong here appeared to be some sort of ultra-fast According to interviews in the mainstream press, J.J. Abrams flesh-eating virus that literally causes the flesh to melt off the wanted to recreate the allegorical qualities of classic science bones of the plane's passengers and crew during mid-flight. fiction, fantasy and horror TV such as that written by Rod Serling. His goal is to comment on today's society while using a fantastic It turns out the plane landed safely because of auto pilot landing world of fiction to depict harsh realities without turning off available at 's airport. That's when the Feds arrive: CIA. network censors or the viewing public who just wants to be FBI, the CDC and Homeland Security. It turns out that the hero of entertained. the story, Dunham is some sort of inter-agency liaison set up after 9/11. That's a tall order - but judging from the pilot episode, it just may work.

Fringe is a smart, thrilling, funny and scary series. It holds the potential to be as good as X-Files or Supernatural. That is - if FOX doesn't cancel the show before audiences find it - as the network has done countless other times.

CAST

 Olivia Dunham, played by Bishop, played by Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek)  Dr. Walter Bishop, played by John Noble (Lord of the Rings)  Phillip Broyles, played by ()  Charlie Francis, played by (Oz)  Nina Sharp, played by Blair Brown The Cast of Fringe (left to right): Lance Reddick, John Noble, Blair Brown, Kirk Acevedo, Anna Torv, Mark Valley, Joshua Jackson, and Jasika Nicole. ABOUT THE STORY (SPOILER WARNING) As agents from the different agencies gather, a man named Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) from Homeland Security takes charge - Fringe follows the lives of a mid-level government security agent giving assignments to everyone except Dunham. As it happens, named Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and the people around her. sometime in the past, she was an investigator that uncovered that some of Broyles friends were crooked - which led to their arrest. But before we get to her, the pilot episode starts out on an airplane Broyels doesn't like Dunham and mocks her and her job - but during an international flight - when something horrible goes eventually relents and allows her to take part in the investigation - from the general population. In this case, those "governments" also doing grunt work. include a huge corporation called Massive Dynamic, which is kind of like a cross between Microsoft and GE. The owner of the As it turns out, Dunham is having an affair with a co-worker - a company is Dr. Bishop's former lab partner. We don't met the big fellow agent - which is forbidden by their employer. That man also boss of Massive Dynamic, but we to meet Nina Sharp (Blair is on the same case. Brown), his left-hand woman (her right hand is bionic).

While checking out a warehouse, Dunham and her boyfriend are caught in an explosion. She had minor injuries - he got - "infected" by some mysterious fatal condition or disease ... or something ... that made his flesh turn translucent. But the fatality was slowed by inducing an artificial coma and putting him on ice - literally.

That's the set up for this story. Dunham fights against time and a boss that hates her to save the life of her boyfriend. In doing so, she tracks down a man - Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) - who was working on similar technology for the U.S. government in the 1970s. Of course he went nuts and now lives in a loony bin - with no visitors except for immediate family. Her boss will not let her use federal authority to get the guy out of the asylum. By the end of the pilot, Dunham has assembled a Scooby gang of Now we have a woman fighting against time, a boss that hates her sorts which includes the Bishops and her assistant Astrid and her only hope to save her boyfriend is a man trapped in a loony Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole). Oh, and she also saves the life of her bin. Getting interesting - if not plausible. boyfriend, is betrayed and ultimately gains the acceptance and respect of her boss. It turns out that all of Dr. Bishop's immediate family is dead - except for a son - (Joshua Jackson) who is running He likes her so much, he offers her a new job fighting "the pattern" from the mob and trying to scam Iraqi government contractors into and unlimited resources to get it done... Hence a series begins. getting a job in Baghdad. Naturally, Peter Bishop has an IQ of 190 and is a genius like his father. He's also running from the mob because of gambling debts incurred while trying to get rich off I Get my Geek on at N3F’s FanDominion casinos. http://www.FanDominion.com and so can you! Dunham uses some arm twisting and bluffing (the guy is obviously bad at gambling) to get Peter out of Iraq and on a plane to Boston WANTED: Writers of reviews, essays, to visit the elder Dr. Bishop - who Peter hates, naturally. archival material, art, fiction, poetry, fan-blogs and anything else of interest to fandom. As it turns out, in saving her boyfriend's life, Dunham uncovers a "pattern" and some secrets that the world governments are keeping