Date: Fri, 29 Jan 93 17:53:54 -0500 To: swil @ cc.swarthmore.edu From: jthorpe1 @ cc.swarthmore.edu Subject: The SWILnews may be long, but so is this subject line Due to a College Bowl tourney and a good deal of bad planning, the SWILnews you see before you is a solo effort this week, although future installments will, of course, be Brockett/tho?rpe originals. But that's as may be. As far as I'm concerned, the big news of this past week was the Inauguration of last Friday, at which Aaron and I announced our title (The Once and Future Presidents) and sang heartily along with the rest of you peons to the multitude of filks which happened to be lying about in George. The filksing was capped off by B(r)ad Gabe's impression of The Piano Man, which lasted several hours. ("Sing us a song, Brad, sing us a song tonight..." we cried.) The Once and Future Cabinet will be: TREASURER: Jim MacLeod MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA: Lisa Stefanowich (and what lovely signs she made!) LOREMISTRESS: Kendra Eshleman CO-CURATORS OF BIRDWAINER: Stephen And Roo Sample and Nao Parkhurst THE BRUTE SQUAD: (as yet unfilled! Pwagner has left the building!) Any question as to which of these are cabinet positions and which are not may be resolved by each of you in the privacy of your own brains. (But wait! The co-president is panting in my ear! [hi y'all -F] Of course, he has to leave in a moment, but this is still a good sign... :)= ) Some interest was expressed by the non-members in bringing "real" SF movies to campus, just like SWIL used to do, particularly if we can do it in conjunction with the Physics department (at least one member of which thinks more SF on campus would be a good idea). The Loremistress has mentioned that she will bring a list of the once-brought films, so we can get an idea of what has gone before. In related news, Lynn Westling of Physics is attempting to put together a "Science in Science Fiction" course, and has asked us for help. (This is the woman who may be employing me this summer, so let's be nice to her, OK?) She has requested ideas for hard (i.e. Heavy Science) SF short stories and novels, and would like to come to a SWILmeeting at some point to chat with us. Sound cool? I thought so. So turn the ignition in your infernal combustion brains and start thinking about what would be good to mention. (This goes for you dinosaurs out there, too.) Submissions to BEM are due in mid-February, so everybody should think about writing/drawing something to include. Or, in other words, SUBMIT TO FRAN!!! Or something. Thank you. Similarly, submissions of T-shirt designs are due the second Saturday in February. If you have a slogan, talk to an artist! If you have a picture, talk to a writer! If you have black lung disease, talk to a good doctor! If you're Dr. Doolittle, talk to the animals! Et cetera. Ideas about which books to buy and why were bandied about at the meeting, as was a discussion of which magazine to subscribe to. (Ha! I can end sentences with prepositions! I'm not co-president with an English major anymore!) Jed Hartman claims that Asimov's and F&SF are probably the best of the lot (magazines, not English majors), with Aboriginal being the best of the non-big-business, but he recommends checking things out more thoroughly before making any decisions. (This is HEAVILY paraphrased--he sent a long message which I could forward to those interested.) We will also buy some of the speaker's books, and, with the money left over, buy some (Hugo and Nebula?) award-winners, and then go from there. Hopefully we'll be able to start filling in some of the woefully large gaps in our collection. (Future's list of the Top 50 SF Books of All Time might be a good thing to look at...) Greg Frost (_Frost_, not Bear, _Frost_) will be coming (hopefully) Tuesday the 13th of April at 7:30 PM, and copies of his most recent book should be available before then. Ask Andrea for details... Kendra has effectively volunteered to try to bring Robert Zelazny for next year's speaker, so keep your fingers crossed... THE SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACREE will be held on March 3rd (Ha! Joke!), and Andrea has begun circulating a sign-up list. She says one or two more folks would be welcome... (Currently the female diners outweigh the male diners, and not just because we're scrawny, either.) I will hopefully be starting weekly showings of something (perhaps Dr. Who if nothing else is available) in my spacious ML single in a week or so. Those of you expressing interest will be squeezed in by means of a shoehorn. If Who, then commencing with Tom Baker's "Revenge of the Cybermen." (If anybody out there has any other more-or-less complete series on tape let me know--I would love to show The Prisoner or Mystery Science Theatre 3000 if I could get them...) Anyone not on this e-mail list should get in touch with me immediately. I, being the only recipient of TV Guide in SWIL (as far as I know) will begin Real Soon Now sending out schedules for science fiction/fantasy movies and shows that people might want to see and/or tape. (Disney's "Tron" and "The Sword in the Stone" have both been on recently.) Keep your eyes peeled for said messages--there are occasionally some pretty good things on the telly. (No, not penguins...) Finally, those of you who have never heard the original BBC Radio Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy should listen to "Pigs, Whither Goest" on WSRN Saturdays 10-noon for the three weeks after the station starts up, 'cos I'll be playing all six hours of it, two hours at a time. I do hope you all know where your towels are... I _think_ that's all the news. Sort of a beginning-of-the-semester rush, you see. *whew* Look to Charles for SWILfiles to be available soon. And now... _David Randall_ for 1:23:93 Attendance "Playing with your mind" Liszt; Josh "stewed fruit loops, dashed with paprika" Burdick; Robert "Hammer - Chipmonk + 36x10^38" Richardson; Jen "Badminton-ballet synthesis" Setlow [Bad Minton. Bad, bad Minton! --O]; Deb "?" Sam; Kathy "Now I've been to Bond" Davis; Melissa "wearing the bottoms of my trousers rolled" Shaner; Justin "I have too" Giacoletti [Responding to Kathy or Melissa, one wonders... --O]; Charles "Jumpa boing 722" Danforth [Any relation to the Boing 747? --O]; Andrea "No longer Mini-Prop" Hall; Sam "Cackling" Weiler; Evan "Gee--last night was nifty, no?" Dorn [Why, yes, Evany-poo. --O]; Don "No, last night was inauguration" Lehr [Oh, right. Who _was_ that? --O]; Jim "Has anybody seen my lucky ball & chain?" Macleod; Deborah "invisible" Holtzman; Peter " ;Dan "The Death Triplets live up to their name" Wells; Geoff "" Noer; Kendra "Marvellette" Eshleman; Annie "Peter, what did you do with that tooth?" Fox ---Praesidentia Quondam Praesidentiaque Futuri