SciFi Saturday, etc.

[jmward14]

SciFi Saturday, August 2, at the York Emporium in York, PA, delivered everything it advertised and a lot more.

There were a lot more books. You can’t tell it from the little storefront in the picture, but the books go on forever. And then there’s the stuff--everything from flags and uniforms to a working soda machine.

 

The day’s events kicked into high gear with Jitendra Joshi, Ph.D., chief technology advisor for the Advanced Capabilities Division of NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. He explained the agency’s current strategies for future manned missions to the moon--and the details of some of the problems, like lunar dust. Pure SF muse crack--and the projected human transport systems look an awful lot like the Tachikomas in Ghost in the Shell.

 

York stereoscope enthusiast David Turner (the gentleman standing in the center of this shot) offered a unique 3-D perspective on the iconic photos of America’s first race to the moon. Proper attire--3-D glasses--was required. And provided.

 

Readers got the comfy chairs. Writers, editors and publishers were confined to “The Pit”, a ring of blue counters near the center of the store. I caught this shot of Bill Horner, publisher and editor-in-chief of Fantasist Enterprises, and his wife Michelle setting up their display. By the end of the day, The Pit imprisoned--er, contained nearly a dozen publishers, editors and writers, including yours truly. The camera only qualified me for an occasional work-release.

 

Stephen Segal, editorial and creative director of Weird Tales magazine, discussed the magazine’s fabled 85-year history and gave readers a peek at upcoming features. These include Blasphemous Horrors, Ego Likeness composer/instrumentalist Steven Archer’s series of 365 painted collages, and short short stories for YouTube, scheduled to premiere Halloween 2008. They even have a Live Journal feed, weirdtales_mag.

 

When he wasn’t herding wayward cats--er, writers back to The Pit, Emporium owner Jim Levin (center, with microphone) acted as master of ceremonies for the day’s programming. Here he introduces Brian Koscienski (left) and Chris Pisano of Fortress Publishing, Inc. Brian and Chris capped the day with a launch party for Scary Tales of Scariness, the latest in the Fortress line of comic illustrated novels.

The whole weekend qualified as “a lot more”, which is ironic considering I thought I cleared my calendar for SciFi Saturday. But three days before I left for Pennsylvania, Greg and I learned some of our favorite relatives would be visiting from Florida, and pds_litand realthogwould be in the area on business. To top it off, on Friday, Greg learned his best friend’s daughter was moving in down the street…as it was happening. 

I never got to see the relatives. :-(  But I was able to join real pds_lit and realthog for brunch earlier today. :-)  And the great thing about new neighbors is they obviously plan to stick around for a while. The question is would an offering of homemade baked goods inspire them to stay or flee? Remember, I am the daughter of the worst American cook of the 20th century.

Thank heavens for bakeries!

Finally, teh cute. The Duz takes his duties as a writer’s cat seriously. Here’s the basis for my latest LJ icon. As you can see, he’s filled out considerably from his December 2006 portrait.  Greg thinks he's growing up to be a fine panda.  Of course, Greg is the one who sneaks him the cream.  I, on the other hand, reserve it for special occasions, like mouse presentations.
Duzie has us so well-trained.

Cheers and smiles,

Jean Marie

 

Comments

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

Good seeing you too {{{{pds_lit}}}}! Just wish I'd known to congratulate you about the blog. (I was a little behind on reading my LJ.) Big hugs and cheers, Jean Marie