Nashville Science Fiction Newsletter March

Special ConCave issue of Kronos March 1998

"Time is the wisest of all things , for it finds out everything"
Greek saying

The newsletter of the Science Fiction Club With No Name

still undergoing the birthing process
( I wonder how long it took dinosaurs to lay eggs??)
in Nashville, Tennessee.

This newsletter is bought to you by Pookha Bem Scribe ( Crazy Fool)
who can be found at dah2@hotmail.com and various other places.

The next meeting of the Club With No Name
( so far. .see below for update on the name game)
will be March 11
at the Green Hills Public Library
social time 6pm, Business meeting 6:30pm..
This month so far we don’t have a program
So the business discussion will probably become the program.

Considering this club is the result of an union between chaos and order;
I like to consider us semi organized spawn.

For instance we have a time line for getting things done:

The timeline

March - Give the Club a name.
April - Accept nominations for officers.
Set up basic bylaws for elections. Discuss bylaws for the group.
Have a party at Parthecon.
May - Have elections. Vote on Bylaws. Start culling the existing mailing list.
Have a regional publicity campaign.

See the minutes below for details on the culling of the list.

The Chili Bash will be March 7th ( next Saturday)
at the house of Patricia Clements and Parthecon Chair Charles Dickens.
It will start about 5 pm.
While we have a couple of people committed to bring chili and other foods
The chili bash is free if you bring some food to share or $ 5 if you don’t.

Mid South Con Postponed

The following was sent to me by Tim Gatewood...
SFC Secretary and MEMPHEN Editor
"Alas, it is true. Here is the official announcement.
Direct further questions to:
Sylvia Cox Mid South Con Chair"

From INTERNET:sjcox@netten.net
MidSouthCon 17 postponed
"This has been a rough week for the board of directors of MSFCI,
which sponsors MidSouthCon. Per the text below the convention has been
postponed until 1999. There have been too many new, increasingly difficult problems
with the hotel. We WILL have a convention in 1999, and it will be in Memphis.

Thanks for your support and for your dissemination of this bulletin.
A mailing to all in our database will be forthcoming."Sylvia Cox

"It is with DEEP regret that the board of directors of MidSouth Science
and Fiction Conventions, Inc. have made the following decision:
MidSouthCon 17 has been POSTPONED until March, 1999
The main reason is due to problems with the hotel.
Some of you may have purchased airline tickets for travel --
we regret any out-of-pocket expense that you may incur due to cancellation
or change of tickets. This was a DIFFICULT decision to make,
but it is in the best interest of the convention and the non-profit corporation
which sponsors MidSouthCon.
All pre-registrations will be refunded in due course -- this includes banquet,
con suite giveaway, and dealer table monies.

If you would like to have your 1998 registration transferred to 1999,
please let us know and we will do so. We most definitely plan to sponsor
our annual convention in March of 1999,and we are working VERY HARD to find a hotel
in Memphis, as Tunica has not turned out to be a viable venue.

You will receive a mailing later in 1998 regarding our plans for 1999.
We appreciate the support of each and every one of you, and we hope to see you in 1999,
as we will plan to bring the best convention possible to you
and to all Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Gaming enthusiasts. MidSouthCon"

P.O. Box 11446
Memphis, TN 38111
phone: 901-358-9325 or 901-274-7355

The item below is from their web page .(dated 2,23/98)
.I am including it for an obvious reason:
"If you have made reservations at the Grand Veranda Hotel,
please remember to cancel them.
If you forget and the hotel makes a charge against your credit card as a result,
MidSouthCon can offer you nothing but our sympathy."

The Pre registration deadline for Parthecon is March 20th.
Till then memberships are $ 25 and $ 30 at the door.

Parthecon XXVI c/o Patricia Clements 710 Emily Drive Goodlettsville, TN 37072 or contact conchair at cdickens@posiedon.tnstate.edu For more information call (615) 851-2059 or email patsijean@msn.com (Please put Parthecon in the message subject.) Parthecon opens at the same hotel as the past two Kublas,
the Days Inn just off Briley Parkway near the airport.
They are trying to reserve the rooms in Building 3 where dealers,
art, and gaming were at Kubla 25. If you are planning to host a party,
be sure to reserve your room early and let the hotel know that you want to
be in Building Three and across the hall from the function space for the dealer room.

ROOM RATES ARE $58.00 PLUS TAX PER NIGHT FOR 1-4 OCCUPANTS.
RATE IS GUARANTEED through MARCH 20, 1998
BE SURE TO MENTION THAT YOU ARE A MEMBER OF PARTHECON.

They are still looking for a few good fen to take shifts
in the hospitality suite and a at registration.

The deadline for Hugo nomination ballots to be received in Oregon is March 10
If you are not planning on attending Bucconeer its going to cost
$ 30 bucks for a supporting membership. This also gives you a chance
to vote for the 2001 world con and to receive a reduced rate on
the winning bid.

Now if you were not planning to attend the 2001 world con 30 bucks is
a lot of money to vote on an award.

The minutes of the February meeting.
Attending were..
Special long distance guest was Irv Koch who came with much news and gossip
from Chattanooga and Atlanta.
Patricia Clements on a recruiting mission for Parthecon.

So far we have seen a steady increase in attendance since the move.
Nine last month, thirteen this month.
This is without having a big publicity drive.
Which will take place after Parthecon.
I was only hoping we would have fifteen regular attendees by next
December. Who knows how many we will have by then.

Some stuff was settled.

Money, money, money....
Dues per meeting will remain at the fantastic bargain of $2 per meeting.
Our expenses have decreased significantly due to our leaving the museum
( rent $ 175 per year) and going to the library ( rent $ 60 per year).

I have also been able to send more and more of the newsletter via e mail.
So our postal costs have gone down.

The subscription price of the newsletter delivered by snail mail
will increase to $ 8 a year . This is for those who cannot make to meetings..
The price was raised from $ 5 for a couple of reasons. Postage has increased.
Presently, we don’t have a large printing expenses but this could change.
We need to buy paper.
I really want to encourage people to receive the flyer by e mail.
E mail is free. Email is convenient. I just paste the newsletter from word to notepad.
Play with it a little, paste it onto the composition page of my e mail program.
Open the quick list , check off names and away it goes. Wheee.

Pookha bem scribe loves e mail and doesn’t like fooling with snail mail.
The fans who receive the email version respond back.
Those who receive it by snail mail don’t.

If a being attends meeting on at least a semi regular basis
( say at least three or more times per year; the newsletter will be sent to them without
paying the subscription price.

The newsletter editor does have a certain amount of discretion in this.

All of this leads up to culling the mailing list in the future.
Starting in May we will go through the mailing list and start
culling people who either are not coming to meetings, have not paid for
a subscription or wish to receive the newsletter by email.

As I said the newsletter editor does have a certain amount of discretion in this.
But we want to cull from the list the people who really don’t care
about what is happening with the club.
I realize it is easy for your interests in life to change.
Better a newsletter that is read, instead of one sent to someone who
pitches it aside unread.

I also understand that a lot of people can not make it to meetings.
But they could at least call and let us know they are still interested.
Don’t want to talk to the scribe.
Call either Anita Feller 361 - 6319 or Dan Caldwell 876 - 4146.

More on dues....
It was decided that we would offer an annual membership.
Patricia Clements and several others made the argument that MTSFA
always had a nest egg due to having annual memberships.
It was decided that the memberships would run annually from January to December.
If someone joined in April the membership would be prorated for the remaining
part of the year. .(Don’t ask me how explain all of the discussion. .the pookha brain
went of and visited the state of confusion during part of it))
Our acting treasurer Ray Jones is working on a rate schedule and will present
it at the next meeting.

On our home...
In the newsletter I published that a comment was made by an unknown person
about the Green Hills Library favoring west Nashville to much.
I also know of a couple of people who commented earlier about the start time
of the meetings ( something we have to live with at almost every library)
But I didn’t receive any additional comments after the flyer came out until the meeting.
At the meeting it was bought to a vote and the vote was unanimous in
favor of staying at the Green Hills Library.

Even those who live closer to the Donelson Library were very much in favor
at staying at Green Hills. Several commented that it was very easy to find.
They are beginning to find alternative routes which avoid some of the traffic.
It is closer from work. They like having Davis Kidd nearby.
A comment was also made that the restaurant next to the Donelson Library
Mama Taori’s is take out only.
The idea of rotating the business meeting every month was also meet with
a lot of opposition. Everyone agreed it needs to be at the same place every month
while the club is being born.
( Good, I’ am not the only one afraid of being confused around here.)
The door was kept open for discussing this again in the future .
Possibly sometime in the summer after more people have joined.
As noted the informal meeting is designed to rotate.
The only problem will be finding open weekends to have it.

On the name game..
Name nominations have closed ( thank the maker)
The nominees are below...

Middle Tennessee Science Fiction Society.
Psi Phi or variations such as Cumberland Psi Phi, Nashville Psi Phi.
Psi Phi Spawn ( my favorite subtitle)
TnSf
Cumberland Valley Science Fiction Club,
NUFF ( Nashville United Fandom)
CABAL the initials mean something. But you need to ask Tom Norris.
The Nashville Cemetery Appreciation Society: Nashville Chapter founded in the hereafter.
The Volgarian Poetry Appreciation Society.
Psi Phi Chapter of the Gallactic Encyclopedia Explorers.
If you cant make it to the meeting but wish to vote.
I will accept votes by none or email till Monday March 9th.
Dah2@hotmail.com or 615 292 -1306.(speak to the nice machine)

It was decided to adopt Kronos as the name for the newsletter.
An the hourglass with the sand flowing upward as the symbol.
The graphic was provided by John Hollis.

The program was slides from Chattacon..
on seeing a scantily clad female one member commented
"I saw a hooker dressed like that once in a Waffle House".
There were the usual slides of panels. We tried to guess who they were
and remember what was the subject being discussed( Sometimes we just made something up)
Comments were made that most of Chattacon was smoke free due to a new Chattanooga ordinance.
But it was noted there was still smoke in the hallways due to fans smoking in them.
The attendance was down a little but still very large.
The Babylon 5 party won the best party award. According to my sources the
room was decorated with neon signs and lots of lights. B5 stuff was every were.
The party was hosted by the Centari ( Chattanooga area B5 fans and several from Atlanta)
The featured drink were Jovian Sun Spots.
Also the spies said that the B5 costumes were some of the best of the con
( even though several were purchased from a company in Britain)
That the Centari hair was impressive was mentioned more than once.
(Amazing what a little flour past will do)

There were more hall costumes than there were entered in the masquerade
. Maybe fans are getting tired of committing an entire Saturday evening to
prejudging ,masquerade run throughs, masquerade , more judging
and then standing around and posing for what seems like forever for photographers.

Mid South Con is postponed for this year . Chattacon may be postponed in 1999.
It appears there is a problem with their current hotel’s function space.

" The engine of our dreams can still haul freight."

Former Nashville Fan/Pro News....
Imagination Fully Dilated is a new book edited by Alan M. Clark and Elizabeth Engstrom
A limited edition hardboard is a illustrated anthology of stories inspired by Alan’s art.
Introduction by Tim Powers. Some of the contributors include:
Poppy Z. Brite, Ramsey Campbell ,Alan M. Clark ,Randy Fox
Nina Kiriki Hoffman , Nancy Holder ,Jack Ketchum ,Elizabeth Massie
Stephen C. Merritt , Peteso , Lee Seymour ,Steven Spruill
Lucy Taylor ,Melanie Tem ,Steve Tem ,Ray Vukcevich ,F. Paul Wilson

The book contains 28 stories and 29 pieces of art (24 color,5 monochrome)
From Cemetery Dance Publications
P.O. Box 943
Abingdon MD 21009
by phone:
(410) 569-5683 noon 'til 10:00 PM
by fax:(410)569-2449 twenty-four hours a day.
Web page - http://www.horrornet.com/cdpub.htm

"When I was a kid, I had two friends, and they were imaginary and they
would only play with each other." --Rita Rudner

This is interesting..
America On Line raised it rates...
Now it wants to use its members as recruiters.
They are going to pay for referrals from its members.
The new members have to hang around for 90 days.

Heard from several fans this month.
Phronsie Humphrey who is the keeper of the LibertyCon Gazette
send along her and Franks’ new e mail address beekeepr@bellsouth.net

From Gael Stahl who eons ago did a program about Sherlock Holmes for I believe MTSFA.
.passed along the info that the Sherlock Holmes group
The next meeting of the Three Pipe Problem should be March 21st at
the Sherlock Holmes Pub on Elliston Place.

Support Electrical Eggs:check out their web page at http://www.electricaleggs.org.

From Sherman Dorn’s page.
Sherman Dorn has been in Nashville infrequently doing research.
He notes on his web page that 5 year old Kathryn is learning to play chess
and she loves to play it so much they had to institute a "no chess on school night rule".

Allen Steele who used to live in St. Louis moved to Massachusetts last summer
with his wife Linda.
All of Allen’s books are in print except for Clarke County, Space (Ace, 1990)
and Lunar Descent (Ace, 1991) The paperback of "A King of Infinite Space"
will be coming to a book store ( or friendly book dealer sometime in July.
In early March the Seeing Ear Theater ( a part of the Sci Fi Channel’s web site )
will feature a dramatic adaptation of Allen’s
"The Death ofCaptain Future"
The script is co written by Allen and producer-director Brian Smith.
I obtained most of the news above from Allen’s web site.
Since I can’t remember the address and I am to tired and lazy to find the disc with it,
just go to the SF in Nashville site (http://www.oocities.org/dimension/4242/ and head over to the home system page.) By the way on Allen’s home page you will find a complete short story for your reading pleasure
called "Green Acres".
The beginning is set in Nashville at I believe the alternative world
twin of Acme Farm Supply.

Sigh , I’m finally at the end.
.Once again we have no book reports.
The last Hyperion book is sitting there waiting to be read.
Maybe this weekend at ConCave.
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