Volume #26 Issue #03

July 1999

inSIDE

editor's NOTES - A "very special" editor's NOTES this month.
meeting REPORT - A synopsis of last months meeting, and the time and location of that which is yet to be.
cake PYROS - STAR members with birthdays this month.
coming ACTIVITIES - What STAR will be doing in the coming months, and why you should be there.
genre NEWS - Brief SF-oriented items you may be interested in.
sf RESOURCES - Where on the Internet to find other SF-oriented items you may be interested in.
book RELEASES - A listing of recent and upcoming releases from the major SF&F publishers.
the HOMEFRONT - Debbie Gill's "truth is stranger than fiction" variety of household tips and tricks.
convention CALENDAR - A short listing of popular conventions.  For more listings, see the STAR website "Links" page.
the FINEPRINT - Most everything you'd ever want to know about STAR San Diego; in an inconsiderately small typeface.

editor's NOTES

First off, let me say that this issue is both a bit later and lighter than I would like.  Certain activities outside fandom have drained much of my "free time" (is time every truly free?) away from me, as you will probably understand after reading the rest of this column.

We have received several letters to Interphase recently from people and groups in the fan community, requesting we publish links to their websites.  I think it would benefit local fandom to do so, so I am expanding the listing of links on the main STAR site (http://come.to/StarSD, select "Links").  If you are a local fan or fan group and would like a link to your home page, please e-mail me.

And now for something completely different.  For about the past 15 years, I have enjoyed the hobby of programming computers for my own personal amusement [editor's editor's note: geek confession is now public record].  Recently, the company I work for has offered to start paying me to do this!  The only drawback is that all the programmer positions are in their headquarters near Arlington, Texas.

My wife Debbie and I are moving to Arlington in mid August (we are actually departing the day after Comic-Con).  We will sorely miss all the friends and acquaintances we met here through STAR and fandom in general.  Since we both have many family members in the San Diego area, we will be visiting several times each year.  Perhaps we can time some of those visits around STAR activities.

Since both Debbie and I are committee members of STAR, and there is some time left before the next elections in October,  the club will need to make some arrangements to fill these vacancies.  The old, rescinded STAR constitution listed an order of secession to fill the voids.  With only one other committee member remaining, I think a special election would be in order.

If it pleases the club, I will happily continue as the editor of Interphase and STAR Webmaster until the October elections.  Fandom appears to be going fairly strongly in the Dallas-Ft. Worth "Metroplex" area of which Arlington is a part.  I believe I could offer new ideas and perspectives on fandom while reporting from there.

We'll miss you all (Or is that "Y'all"?)

June's meeting was held on the 19th at the Round Table Pizza in La Mesa.   The July meeting will not be at Round Table.  We will be meeting instead at the Farrell's Restaurant in Mira Mesa on the 17th.  See the "coming ACTIVITIES" column for more information.

July Birthdays

6th Jan Tobias
8th Mary Denise
13th John Ruff
13th Harrison Ford
13th Patrick Stewart
24th Jim Keais
29th Will Wheaton
 

Ice Cream Social

Remember,  the July 17 STAR meeting will not be held at Round Table Pizza.  Instead, we will be holding the STAR Ice Cream Social at that date and time.  The Social will take place at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant in Mira Mesa at 7:30.  The meeting will return to Round Table in August.

To get to Farrell's, take I-15 to Miramar Road, and exit going West. About 1-1/2 miles down is Camino Ruiz.  Turn right on Camino Ruiz and proceed about another 1-1/2 miles.  The restaurant is just past Edwards Cinemas, and facing Target.  The address is 10606 Camino Ruiz.

1999 STAR Masquerade

The annual STAR San Diego Masquerade and Costume Competition will held on October 23, 1999, at the Joyce Beers Community Center in the Uptown/Hillcrest district.

The theme of this year's Masquerade is "the X-Files", and the costume theme will be "alien, supernatural, paranormal, or government."

'Academy' Show Rumors Called 'Unfounded'

Quoting an unnamed Paramount Pictures spokesperson, the New York Post reported that a much-rumored new Star Trek show about Starfleet Academy has "never even been discussed".  Much speculation had been circulating about a "Flight Academy" show that would feature young and unknown actors.

Paramount did confirm that a new series concept is in the early stages, and it could come about in 2002.  No details were released.

1999 Hugo Award Nominees

The World  Science Fiction Society has announced this years nominees for the Hugo awards, which are given for accomplishments in SF literature, media, and art.  Some of the major categories are listed below:

Best Novel

Best Dramatic Presentation Best Professional Artist The winners will be announced at this year's World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon).

Actors Placed In 'Dungeon'

Silver Pictures has announced the casting of their upcoming film based on the popular TSR "Dungeons and Dragons" role-playing game.  The movie, to be directed by Courtney Solomon, will feature Jeremy Irons, Justin Whalin, Zoe McLellan, Marlon Wayans, Lee Arenberg, Thora Birch, Kristen Wilson, Robert Miano, and Bruce Payne.

Bradbury Reportedly Hot Over 'Fahrenheit 451' Film

According to the report of a Sci-Fi wire reader, Ray Bradbury is upset about the handling of the upcoming feature film based on his classic novel "Fahrenheit 451".  The source says that Bradbury has been left out of the project since he supplied his script for the film.  The screenplay has reportedly been rewritten many times, and now contains "crass language" that Bradbury does not approve of.

Crusade2

A fan group known as the "Crusade for Crusade" is raising money to try to save the Crusade series which spun off from Babylon 5.  They have raised $6,000 so far and are placing advertisements in Daily Variety and Sci-Fi Entertainment to raise consciousness about the program, which has been declared a 13 episode "limited" series by the TNT network.  The group has a website at http://www.astro.umd.edu/~fleming/.

Canned

This month's TV obituaries:

The Internet is littered with sites dedicated to the genres of science fiction and fantasy.  This ongoing column presents short reviews of selected sites each month.  Hopefully you will find useful information out there, that you may not have known existed.  This month, the column will focus on general interest SF sites.

For a two-way forum to communicate with other local fans about everyone's favorite genre, sign up with the "SD-SF-Fans" mailing list.  For those unfamiliar with mailing lists, these are facilities on the Internet that will forward an e-mail to a group of  people (willing subscribers), allowing you to broadcast your news and views. This list was founded by STAR's own Pearl Stickler, is hosted by ONElist, and you may subscribe to it by visiting http://www.onelist.com/.

Science Fiction Weekly is - in my opinion - the most comprehensive site for timely information about the genre on the Web.  With news, reviews of books, movies, and websites, as well as SF artwork,  there is a plethora of information for the fan at SF Weekly.  One can also sign up for their mailing list, and have updates delivered to his or her e-mailbox.  Visit http://www.scifi.com/sfw/.
 
Look for more site reviews next month.

Available in July in bookstores:
 
Title and Author Summary and Imprint
THE FACE OF APOLLO 
Greg Bear 		 Summary not available at press time.  TOR.
RETURN TO MARS 
Ben Bova		 The sequel to 1992's Mars.  Jamie Waterman returns to the Red Planet as the mission director of a crew of scientists and astronauts jockeying for political  power, romantic liaisons and scientific renown.  Avon.
SWORD AND SORCERESS XVI 
edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley		 25 all-original stories of strong, heroic female warriors and wizards who face down peril and come to the aid of those in need.  DAW.
A KNIGHT OF THE WORD 
Terry Brooks		 Sequel to Running with the Demon.  Nest must use her talents to fight the Demons of the Void.  Del Rey.
WITH THE LIGHTNINGS
David Drake		 Diplomacy is going to fail Kostroma. Daniel, Adele, and the scratch crew they gather aren't much to stand in the way of a powerful invasion, but just possibly they're enough.  Baen.
THE KING OF ELFLAND'S DAUGHTER 
Lord Dunsany		 A fantasy about an elvin princess and her mortal love, and what happens after 
the "happily ever after."  Del Rey.
DESTINY'S SHIELD
Eric Flint & David Drake		 Count Belisarius, the greatest general of 6th century Byzantium and perhaps the greatest of all time, must defeat the Malwa and the enemies of humankind which direct the evil empire.  Baen.
PERSEUS SPUR 
Julian May		 Asahel Frost - banished to a wild yet beautiful planet on the Perseus Spur -  whiles away his days as a part-time adventurer and a full-time beach bum, until someone tries to kill him.  Del Rey.
CORPORATE MENTALITY
Steven Piziks		 The galaxy depended on microscopic "nanobots" to keep the wheels of civilization turning, but sometimes nanobots went rogue, with disastrous consequences. Baen.
THE CHILDREN OF WRATH 
Mickey Zucker Reichert		 Kevral and her companions face nearly  insurmountable obstacles in their quest to recover the Pica shards; while Colbey and Odin are starting a new war of the gods.  DAW.
VULCAN'S HEART 
Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz		 A new Star Trek novel.  Ambassador Spock and Commander Saavik get married.  'Nuff said.  Pocket Books.
MY SON, THE WIZARD 
Christopher Stasheff		 Another adventure of Matt Mantrell in magical Merovence.  Matt decides it's time his folks from New Jersey met his wife, the Queen.  Del Rey.
 

The July edition of the HOMEFRONT was not received in time for publication.

August 12-15 - 1999 Comic-Con International
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego CA
GoH: Mark Evanier, Neil Gaiman, Larry Gonick, Patrick McDonnell, Mike Mignola
Info: Comic-Con International, P.O. Box 128458, San Diego CA
92112-8458
Fax (619) 544-0743
http://www.comic-con.org/
[email protected]

August 26-29 - 1999 Conucopia (1999 NASFIC)
GoH: Jerry Pournelle, Nicki & Richard Lynch, Ellen Datlow
Anaheim Marriott, 7000 W. Convention Way Anaheim CA 92802
Info: c/o SCIFI P.O. Box 8442, Van Nuys CA 91409
http://www.99.nasfic.org/
[email protected]

STAR is San Diego's largest Science Fiction Society.  Founded in 1972 as the Star Trek Association for Revival: dedicated to bringing Star Trek back from the television graveyard.  The group's interests have expanded to include conventions, science fiction, fantasy, costuming, comic books, film, role-playing games, animation, writing, dancing, fanzines, trivia contests, computers, literary discussion, and much more.
Meetings are FREE and held the third Saturday of every month (except around any conflicting holidays / events) at the Round Table Pizza restaurant at 5999 Severin Drive in La Mesa.  Membership is also free, although to become a card-carrying, voting member there is a one-time one dollar fee.

STAR Steering Committee:
Randy Gill, CEO / Interphase Editor
Jan Tobias, Chief Financial Officer
Debbie Gill, Chief Communications Officer
 
Interphase is the official newsletter of STAR.  Published monthly, its purpose is to provide information and promote science fiction and fandom.  The newsletter is distributed on the Internet at no charge, although a printed edition is available for a nominal fee. The publication welcomes any submissions and story ideas.

For more information about STAR or Interphase:
E-mail Randy Gill: [email protected]
Or visit our website: http://come.to/StarSD