News and Blog Updates: April 29, 2008

News Worth Reposting:
Are We Alone - You Animal! New Episode


Headlines From SF News Sites:
Lot's of new postings from the SF news sites since Sunday. io9 has a list of the 20 science books every fan should read, though you may have your own choices. Locus has excerpts from an interview wiht Sarah Monette, and a listing of new books for April (hmm, May is just a day away). I can't belive this, but RevolutionSF has an article on a "Land of the Lost" movie. Sciecne Fiction Awards Watch has three interesting articles, and there are quite a few posts from SFScope including the sad news that "Forbidden Planet" composer Bebe Barron has passed.

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io9: Start Bracing Yourself Now For Joss Whedon's Final X-Men Twist, Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi Are Doing It for the Kids, & 20 Science Books Every Scifi Fan (and Writer) Should Read

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Locus Online: Locus Magazine: Sarah Monette: Tangents and Curlicues, & Monitor: New in Paperback: April

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RevolutionSF: Land of the Lost Movie: Sleestak Revealed (News)

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Science Fiction Awards Watch: Art Space, Wales ? The Doctor, & FAAN Awards

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SFScope: Analog and Asimov's readers' award winners, This week's free Tor stuff, James L. White's Hunter's Moon to be motion picture, Audible.com launches sf/f imprint: Frontiers,
Composer Tristram Cary Dies, Del Rey offering Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal as free e-book, Screenwriter and activist Robert Warnes Leach dies, The Time Traveler Show's Arthur C. Clarke tribute now available, Screenwriter Kate Phillips Dies, Richard Finney options Ray Garton's "Graven Image" for film, Composer Bebe Barron Dies, &
Sidewise Award nominees announced

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SF Signal: REVIEW: The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2 edited by George Mann, & SF Tidbits for 4/29/08

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The Website at the End of the Universe: Is a love for sci-fi nature or nurture?, & Lesbian fans pick their favourite women of sci-fi


Selected Blog Updates:
As usual for a Tuesdaythere are a lot of new blog postings. Alma Alexander posts about her friend Tate, Hallaway, Dark Horse Comics announces the winner for their recent contest, Holly Cupala has news about the SCBWI WWA conference in Seattle, it looks like Lois McMaster Bujold has been very busy, Tor Books lists their latest releases and some news about the Locus Awards, and and speaking of awards Yasmine Galenorn writes that the cover for Changeling is up for an award!

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Anghara (Alma Alexander) - "Friend and Colleague Tate Hallaway has a new book out... "

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Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest - "Supporting the evil empire? "

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Are We Alone? - "You Animal! New Episode "

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Cynthia Leitich Smith -"Author Interview: Mary E. Pearson on The Adoration of Jenna Fox ", "55th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards ", & "Editor Interview: Audrey Maynard on Tilbury House "

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Dark Horse Comics - "And the Winner Is . . . "

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David Louis Edelman - "'Solaris Book of New SF' Reviewed on SF Signal "

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Di Francis - "Tate Hallaway: an interview "

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Erica Spindler - "Come see me! "

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Fantagraphics Books - "Now available: new Love and Rockets Library and Mome bargain bundles! ", "Now in stock: new volumes of Mome and the Love and Rockets Library! "

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HARPER PERENNIAL - "New Book from Jennifer McMahon! "

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Holly Cupala .- "Fusion Stories ", & "SCBWI WWA Seattle Conference! "

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Horror Library Blog-O-Rama - "Preaching to the Choir - by Dan Naden "

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Jeff Carlson - "While I'm Bragging... "

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Jenna Black - "Hungers of the Heart out today! "

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Jeremy C. Shipp - "Don't know much about Bizarro fiction? "

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Lisa Mantchev - "Wandering through Vera Violetta’s Forest "

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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - "Unshelved's comic interpretation of Little Brother ", "How to Start A Flash Mob ", & "1 Day to Go...25 Things You'll Find in Little Brother continues with number 1 "

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Lois McMaster Bujold - "Passage first at Fictionwise ", "TSK map ", "more foreign covers ", "technofrustrated ", "Bujold audio clip -- 2 short readings ", "My First Sale post on Dear Author ", & "Star Tribune profile "

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Louise Bohmer - Lachesis Publishing - "It is Official "

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Maria V. Snyder - "Hungers of the Heart - yummy! "

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NexGen Pulp Magazine - "NexGen Pulp is Throwing a Sale!!! "

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Planet Pride - "Surface Oceans Around Distant Stars ", & "Japan to Scan Venus "

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Rue Morgue Magazine - "Rue Morgue 78 Sneak Peek: INSIDE "

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Scott Nicholson - "The Skull Ring "

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Sherrilyn Kenyon - "Last K-Con reminder ", "K-Con Registration Info ", & "MTAC, Boo and KCon registration "

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Terry Goodkind - "John Shiban taped to head up writing team! "

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Tor Books - "4/29 Releases from Tor Books ", & "Tor finalists for Locus Awards "

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TRIAD Publishing Group - "Morpheus Tales - Magazine of Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy - Writing Opportunities "

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Word Weavers - "Wanted: Your questions and comments... "

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Yasmine Galenorn - "Cover Contest—Changeling is up for an award! "

News Nibbles: April 29, 2008

While I pretty much stopped scanning the bulletins, I did happened to catch a bulletins from Steampunk Magazine. The format of the bulletin was a little to big to post here, but I am going ahead and listing some of the links that in the bulletin and that may be of interest of Steampunk enthusiasts here:

• The Steampunk Workshop: http://steampunkworkshop.com/
• "Defending the Electronic Frontier" is the title of a print that is now being offered to benefit the EFF: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11255865
• Steampunk (Paperback) by Ann VanderMeer (Editor), Jeff VanderMeer (Editor): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1892391759
• The steampunk jewelry of Molly “Porkshanks” Friedrich: http://porkshanks.deviantart.com/gallery/

The BBC has placed online "THE HITCHHIKER ADVENTURE GAME by Douglas Adams - 20th Anniversary Edition" It is an updated version of the Infocom interactive game. I personally haven't checked it out, but it looks like fun.

I received this notice from the crew of the USS Thermopylae: "Join the USS Thermopylae and Friends for our Second Anniversary Dinner on Saturday the 10th of May. RSVP by the 1st so the food can be set - JoFuller2 at Comcast dot net

The Cost is $10 a person to cover the immense amount of food being set up. There may even be a Private Showing of a full length recent Star Trek Fan Film that you may have heard about.who knows what lay in store for the curious. ~ 1st Lt Mitch Dunn, CMO, Region Five, SFI, CAG, USS Thermopylae, 503rd MSG, 4th BN, 5th BG" (Myspace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/ncc74703, Web page: http://www.ussthermopylae.org/ )

News and Blog Updates: April 27, 2008

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IKV T'Mar Meeting - May 10, 2008

Meeting of the IKV T'Mar, will be at the China Star Restaurant on May 10, starting at 3:00 PM.

Anyone interested is invited. We'll be discussing upcoming events including Klingon and Pirate events, volunteer and just for fun.

The address for China Star is:
24437 Russell Road
Suite 120
Kent, WA 98032
in the Plaza by the Green Complex by the Riverbend Golf Course. The
phone # there is 253-850-7070.

Mapquest map: http://tinyurl.com/6d4os5

I5 to Hwy 516
Hwy 516 East
Left onto Meeker Street
Left onto Russell Road
Very short distance down Russell Road

News Nibbles: April 27, 2008

News Nibbles is a new section I'm starting that will be primarily for special notices that have been sent in from authors & artists to either the MySpace profile, or to the nwsfsnews at gmail dot com address. I'll also post news regarding the ongoing changes to the NWSFS MySpace blog, and any other special news regarding the NWSFS blogs.

To start things off, here are a two items that were recently sent in:

Former Portland, OR. resident Ann B. Keller sent in this news release for her new book - "BRIGGEN is the first book out in this exciting science fiction/fantasy trilogy published by TRIAD Publishing Group. Already, Briggen has garnered quite a following and is currently being converted into a screenplay for a feature motion picture. Order your copy today!"

C. L. Freire recently posted two entries to her MySpace blog about her latest book that is also from Triad Publishing Group. Since she's mirrored both blogs to her Blogspot blog I'll list those links instead. In "THE ILLUSTRATOR, THE AUTHOR, AND THE INFINITE OMGs" Cindy posts about the illustrator for her new book, and it appears she is quite happy about the news and in an earlier blog entitled "I’VE GOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT! NO REALLY! IT’S BIG! HUGE! GINORMOUS!" Cindy announces the opening date of pre-orders for her new book

Take a moment and have a look at Cindy's two blogs, and visit both her and Ann's profiles on MySpace. Thanks Cindy and Ann for sending in the news.

OK, so what is going on with the changes to the NWSFS MySpace blog. For starters I am refocusing the blog so that content is relevant to the readers and fans in the Pacific Northwest and Cascadia regions (WA, OR, ID, BC) I decided to do this for two reasons. First off, most of the feedback I have received has been from readers from the local area, and they have stated they would like to see more local or regional news. Secondly, as the membership to the NWSFS Friends Space on MySpace has increased, it has become more and more difficult to sort out all the news from the flood of bulletins that are being posted. This sorting takes a lot of time away from working on the blog, and time is not something I have a lot of.

Now this does not mean I am going to abandon those writers and artists who I have posted for in the past. What it does mean for those writers and artists is that I will need their help in getting the news out for them, and that help will be in the form of sending in news to either the profile or GMail address. Please remember though, the news must be relevant to NW/Cascadia fandom and readers.

Well, that's it for now. Please feel free to comment. Cheers! ~ Jim Cox

Upcoming Local Events - Late April and May, 2008

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EMP|SFM - Robots: Opens May 16 at EMP|SFM: An exhibition celebrating humankind’s fascination with robots.

Exposed: Inside Film at EMP|SFM

• Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - Star Trek New Voyages "World Enough and Time" episode with co-writer, director and executive producer Marc Scott Zicree and executive producer Elaine Zicree
• Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - "Terra" with director and animator Aristomenis Tsirbas

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Museum of Flight - Upcoming Events Calendar:
Here are a few highlights from the calendar of upcoming events at the Museum of Flight: http://www.museumofflight.org/Display.asp?Page=VisCal

• Saturday, May 3, William M. Allen Theater - A Presentation by Model Rocket Enthusiast Bill Stine
• Sunday, May 25, William M. Allen Theater - Phoenix Lands on Mars!

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University Book Store - Selected Highlights from the University Book Store Events Calendar for Late April, May, and June
Here is a select listing of upcoming events presented by the UW Book Store. Complete details for these and other events can be found at the links above.

• Monday, April 28, 7:00 PM, Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle - Fantastic Fiction Workshop Series presents Elizabeth Hand, Reading & Book Signing
• Wednesday, April 30, 7:00 PM, U District store - Ursula K. Le Guin, "Lavinia", Reading & Book Signing
• Tuesday, May 13, 7:00 PM, U District store (café and fireside) - Matthew Sharpe, "Jamestown", Reading & Book Signing
• Thursday, May 15, 7:30 PM, Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs - George Johnson, "The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments", Reading & Book Signing,
• Monday, May 19, 7:00 PM, Richard Hugo House Cabaret - Fantastic Fiction Salon with Nancy Kress
• Friday, May 30, 7:00 PM, U District store - Troy Denning, "Legacy of the Force: Invincible", Reading & Book Signing
• Tuesday, June 3, 7:00 PM, U District store - William Gibson, Spook Country, Reading & Book Signing

You can find store locations here.

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Wayward Coffeehouse - Movie Nights & Geek Trivia
Friday, May 02, 2008, 9:00 PM - "Weird Science"
Friday, May 16, 2008 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Geek Trivia Quiz Night
Get your coffee and geek on at: http://www.waywardcoffee.com/

Convention Listing for May - July, 2008

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A Festival For May: May 3-4, 2008, Carnation, WA
Website: http://www.camlann.org/may_fest.htm

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RenFair: May 3-4, 2008, Moscow, ID
Website: http://www.moscowrenfair.org/

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Zompire The Undead Film Festival: May 9-10, 2008, Hollywood Theater Portland, OR
Website: http://www.zompire.com/

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Emerald City ComiCon: May 10-11, 2008, Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Seattle, WA.
Website: http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/

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ION 2208 Game Conference: May 13 - 15, 2008, Seattle, WA.
Website: http://www.ionconference.com/

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Otafest 2008: May 16 - 18, 2008. Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Website: http://www.otafest.com/

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Vancouver International Game Summit: May 21 - 22, 2008, Vancouver, BC. Canada.
Website: http://www.vancouvergamesummit.com/

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Vidfest: May 21 - 24, 2008, Vancouver, BC. Canada.
Website: http://2008.vidfest.com/

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MisCon 22: May 23 - 26, 2008, Missoula, MT.
Website: http://www.miscon.org/

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Crypticon Horror Convention: May 23 - 25, 2008, Doubletree Inn & Conference Center, Seattle, WA.
Website: http://www.crypticonseattle.com/

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The Pirate Gathering: May 23 - 26, 2008 Hillsboro, OR
Website: http://thepirategathering.org/

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CONduit XVIII: May 23 - 25, 2008, Salt Lake City, UT.
Website: http://conduit.sfcon.org/

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Enfilade: May 25 - 27, 2008, Olympia, WA.
Website: http://www.nhmgs.org/conventions.html

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Vancouver Comicon: May 25, 2008 Vancouver, BC, Canada
Website: http://mypage.uniserve.ca/%7Elswong/Comicon.html

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Victoria Toy Show: May 25, 2008, Victoria, BC, Canada
Website: http://members.shaw.ca/dshelton99/

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Shelby's Collectible Toy Show: May 31, 2008, Portland, OR
Website: http://rosecitycollectorsmarket.com/toyshow.html

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Go Play Northwest 2008: May 31-June 1 2008, Seattle WA.
Website: http://goplaynw.wetpaint.com/?t=anon

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Spokane Comicon: June 7, 2008, Spokane, WA
MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/spokanecomicon07

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Olympia Comics Festival: June 7, 2008
Website: http://www.olympiacomicsfestival.org

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ConComCon 15: June 13-15, 2008 - Summit Inn on Snoqualmie Pass, WA.
Website: http://www.swoc.org/ccubed/

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Peninsula Model Show: June 21, 2008 - Port Townsend, WA.
Website: http://www.nopms.net/

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Ye Merrie Greenwood Faire: June 26-28, 2008 - Richland, WA
Website: http://home.comcast.net/%7Egreenwood_players/index.htm

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Victoria Pirate Festival: June 27-29, 2008 - Victoria, BC Canada
Website: http://www.victoriapiratefestival2008.org/

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Summer Village Festival: July 19-August 24 2008 - Duvall, Washington
Website: http://www.camlann.org/summer_festivals.htm

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PDX Lan: July 18-21, 2008 - Portland, Oregon
Website: http://www.pdxlan.net/portland/

Cascadia News Bytes: April 27th, 2008

A picture gallery of the Victoria Ultimate Hobby & Toy Expo in April.

One last note about Sakura-Con last month. The official videographer of the convention has posted huge collection of videos of all main events here.

The entertainment website Cinemablend.com runs a roughly weekly column devoted towards fandom. This weeks column is about Star Wars.

There's word that an official Harry Potter Exhibition will be making 5 stops in North America in 2009. No word yet on if the Pacific Northwest will be one of the venues for this exhibit.

There's news about turning the old Nuclear Reactor Building on the campus of the University of Washington into a museum. The building is scheduled to be demolished this summer.

Cascadia News Bytes: April 26th, 2008

Jet City Retro is this weekend. Reports are already coming in.

Comics for the People in Portland for Stumptown - Portland Mercury

Geek Girls Gone Wild in Calgary For Comic Expo- Calgary Herald

A wrap up of a Stargate Convention held earlier this month in Vancouver BC.

Another wrap up but this one is from the All Fur Fun convention in Spokane, Washington.

Film festival rises from underground in Calgary - Calgary Herald

"Is J.K. Rowling the Next George Lucas, but not in a good way?" - Film.com

A roundup of various news reports on this past weekends New York Comic Con.

Here's a profile/interview done last year of Something Weird Video, which is based in Lynnwood, WA. (May not be safe for work.)

News and Blog Updates: April 24, 2008

News Headlines:
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Emerald City ComiCon - JOSH MEDORS BENEFIT AUCTION AT UPCOMING EMERALD CITY COMICON
Check out the Emerald City ComiCon website for all the information: http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/

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Are We Alone - "Sex: From Beginning to End"
You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/


Headlines From SF News Sites:
We have some interesting headlines here folks: Spaghetti Space Opera's, Hasselhoff in eyeliner, Space Westerns, several awards posts, Blake's 7 news, and Nimoy in Vegas.

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io9: Spaghetti Space Opera's Greatest Moment, Best Novels Of 2007 Include Alternate Present And Near Future Stories (Locus Awards news), & Blake's 7 Poised To Launch A New Rebellion

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RevolutionSF: RevolutionSF Newsblast: Marvel Apes, Ender's Game, Watchmen (News), & Hobbit Movie: Director Escapes To New Zealand (News)

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Science Fiction Awards Watch: Locus Awards Finalists, & Constellation Awards Nominees

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Science Fiction Buzz: Leonard Nimoy Beams Into The Official Star Trek Con in Vegas

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SFScope: Pyr's forthcoming books, SpaceWesterns goes Galactic, Laura Anne Gilman sells new fantasy trilogy to Pocket, & Philadelpahia Fantastic Reading Series finds a new home

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The Website at the End of the Universe: Astrophysicist Hawking says alien life is likely, & Sky to reboot cult favourite Blake's 7


Selected Blog Updates:
There's some really cool stuff going on with the blogs here on MS. First off, Apex has a $1.00 promotion going on, Seth Shostak from "Are We Alone" posts about the "Phoenix Lights" event of last Monday, Cynthia Leitich Smith has four great blogs full of news and interviews, there a bunch of new stuff from Dark Horse, Kevin J. Anderson has a post on the LA Times Festival of Books, there's a ton of great blogs from Cory Doctorow, Lois McMaster Bujold posts a link for a review, Nicola Griffith also posts a link to her Gemaecca blog about how the work her "Hild" is going, Planet Pride is going strong with lots of space news, Sherrilyn Kenyon writers about her experiences at the New York Comic Con, and Tor Books has even more news about Cory Dotorow. Enjoy!

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Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest - "Apex Digest for a buck", & "Conglomeration - Post Analysis "

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Are We Alone? - "Phoenix Lights "

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Cynthia Leitich Smith - "Author-Illustrator Interview: Thomas Aquinas Maguire on A Growling Place ", "Author Interview: Jennifer Ziegler on How Not To Be Popular ", "Author Interview: Margaret Peterson Haddix on Found (The Missing: Book 1) ", & "Celebrated Children’s Authors & Artists Share Their Dreams in New Campaign "

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Dark Horse Comics - "New Titles & Products shipping this week from Dark Horse 4/23", & "Dark Horse Searches for New Talent at Stumptown Comics Fest "

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David Louis Edelman - "Nick Sagan Gives Advance Praise for “MultiReal” "

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Jenna Black - "Interview with Tate Hallaway "

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Karina L. Fabian - "Catholic Writers Conference Online Registration Ends Friday "

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Kevin J Anderson - "LA TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS "

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Lisa Mantchev - "Pixel-Stained Technopeanantry! "

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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - Six new blogs from Cory Doctorow including: "How to block/kill RFID chips ", "5 Days to Go...25 Things You’ll Find in Little Brother continues with number 5 ", &
"How boost your electrics tools "

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Lois McMaster Bujold - "informative Passage review"

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Louise Bohmer - Lachesis Publishing - "A Nation of Expendables for sale at Fictionwise "

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Nicola Griffith - "charty process porn "

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Paul Halpern - "Clockstopping: Bart, Borges and Bloch "

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Phoebe Matthews - "New book cover "

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Planet Pride - "Pulling Away ", "Dione: North Polar View ", "Dawn Journal: One AU from Earth ", "Mysterious ’bright young things’ found in solar system ", "Billions and Billions of Earthlike Planets? ", "Roche Division ", & "Soaring Over Rhea "

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Robert J Sawyer's Blog - Calculating God and others at Audible.com, & RJS e-Mail Newsletter,

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Rosemary Jones - "What can you do with a bookplate? "

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Sherrilyn Kenyon - "The disaster that is me :) "

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Tor Books - "Tor Podcasting MySpace Page ", "The Incredible Shrinking Man remake in negotiations ", & "Learn how to make the projects featured in Cory Doctorow’s, Little Brother "

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Tor Teen - "Learn how to make the projects featured in Cory Doctorow’s, Little Brother ", & "Tor can now be found on YouTube "

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Tor.com - "Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder: Preview "

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Willie Meikle - "Another Pro Sale to Wrong World "

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Writer's Digest - "The WD Interview: Sara Gruen "

NWSFS Nomination Social - Saturday 05/17/08

Please join NWSFS for our May Social at the home of Yvonne and Eric Pawtowski on Saturday, May 17, 2008, in Lynnwood. The social will begin around 5 PM and continue until around 10 PM, or whenever we get tired. Nominations will be opened at this social for the Officers of NWSFS / SFN: Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer.

The address: 7100 187th Place SW, Lynnwood, WA 98037

As usual, this is a potluck, so bring your contribution of a main dish (occasionally have enough), side dish (rarely have enough), munchies (usually have enough), or desert (often have enough, if there is such a thing as enough desert). Bring your own beverages if you want something particular, although some basic beverages will be available. NWSFS members are encouraged to attend, and non-members in the SF/Fannish community are welcome, as always. We hope to see you there.

There will be a grill running. The Pawtowskis will be cooking some extra sausages and dogs to share. Anyone who wants to bring stuff to grill is quite welcome.

There is a small hot tub, covered, which may be operational, weather permitting.

The main television has a VGA input and will likely be used to display photos of interest. If you have electronic photos to share, from Fannish events, the previous Norwescon, or whatever, please bring them.

Logistics:
There is parking on the street near the house. Parking in the driveway is okay, you don't need to worry about blocking anyone in. Usually it's not hard to find parking. The neighborhood has a lot of hills, so be careful. There are three stairs leading to both entrances. The back door doesn't have stairs, but the path is too narrow for a wheelchair, and possibly more trouble than it's worth. There are no domesticated animals living there. Smoking is outside only, please.

Buses:
Unfortunately, the nearest bus stop is near the intersection of 196th St. and 68th Ave, near Edmonds Community College. The Community Transit local routes are 112, 114 and 115 west-bound and 114 and 118 east-bound.

No commuter lines stop there.
Closest transit center/park and ride is Edmonds Community College. (not much farther than the closest stop) Community Transit local routes 112, 118 and 131.

No commuter lines on weekends.
There are closer bus stops, but those buses don't run on weekends.

Directions:
From Northbound I-5:
Take exit 181-A
Turn left at the stoplight at the end of the exit - 44th Ave.
Turn left at the second stoplight - 200th St.
Turn right when the road ends at Edmonds Community College -68th Ave.
Go straight at the stoplight with 196th St.
*** see below

From Southbound I-5:
Take exit 181, go west on 196th St.
Go straight for a while, the seventh light will be Hwy 99. Cross
Hwy99. Turn right at the second stoplight after 99, this is 68th Ave.

***
There will be a 4-way stop in front of a fire station.
Go straight; the road's name will change to Blue Ridge Drive.
Turn left at 185th Pl. (the first road on your left)
The road will make a sharp left turn, and its name changes to 70th Avenue.
Turn right at the stop sign onto 187th Pl. SW
The street takes a sharp right turn at the bottom of the hill and becomes 71st Avenue.
Our house is on the left side of this corner.
Gray with white trim and a blue door.

Robots: Opens May 16 at EMP|SFM

Robots: A Designer's Collection of Miniature Mechanical Marvels opens May 16 at EMP|SFM

Exhibition celebrates humankind’s fascination with robots

SEATTLE— Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) is proud to announce a new exhibition, Robots: A Designer's Collection of Miniature Mechanical Marvels. The exhibition celebrates society’s long fascination with humankind's technological version of itself. The exhibition is drawn from a one-of-a-kind assemblage of toy robots, which noted graphic designer Tom Geismar has been collecting for decades. Robots: A Designer's Collection of Miniature Mechanical Marvels opens on Friday, May 16, 2008 and closes on Sunday, October 26, 2008.

The collection is inspired by Geismar’s interest in antique tin and wooden toys and mid-20th century Japanese film and anime characters. These intricately detailed and beautifully designed miniatures are set against EMP|SFM's backdrop of life-sized robots, androids and cyborgs from the world of science-fiction film and television.

Geismar began collecting robots while designing the U.S. Pavilion at the 1970 World’s Fair in Japan. Since that time, he has amassed dozens of robots through visiting specialty shops around the world. The exhibition covers early toy robot figures from the Forbidden Planet-era up through various Voltron and Transformers-type robots. Robots: A Designer's Collection of Miniature Mechanical Marvels was designed by Pentagram Design.

“I’m proud to be able to show my collection, which exhibits the magic of toy robots,” said Tom Geismar. The imaginative creativity of these small sculptural wonders first appealed to me as a designer and eventually helped me to make cross-cultural connections.”

Robots: A Designer's Collection of Miniature Mechanical Marvels will feature more than 125 robots from his collection, including two wooden robots specially made for Geismar by toymaker and children’s book author, David Kirk. Kirk is best known today for the Miss Spider series and Nova the Robot: Nova’s Ark.

“While putting this show together, we had an epiphany about the relationship between robots and children,” said Margie Maynard, director of education at EMP|SFM. “The naiveté and candidness of robots (in science fiction) make them the perfect companions or guardians for children and likewise children are the logical choice to be the robots' pilots or operators.”

Tom Geismar Biography: Tom Geismar is a founding principal of Chermayeff & Geismar, and widely considered a pioneer of American graphic design. During the past four decades he has designed more than a hundred corporate identity programs. His logo designs and graphics programs for Mobil, Chase Bank, PBS, Univision, Rockefeller Center, Best Products, Screen Gems, Gemini Consulting have received worldwide acclaim. Tom has also been responsible for many of the firm’s exhibition designs and world’s fair pavilions. Burlington Industries’ “The Mill” was a major NYC tourist attraction for 10 years as today are the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, the Statue of Liberty Museum, the Truman Presidential Library, and a series of special exhibits at the Library of Congress. He has received all the major awards in the field, including one of the first Presidential Design Awards for helping to establish a national system of standardized transportation symbols.

He is the co-author of “Spiritually Moving,” a major work on American Folk sculpture, “TM: trademarks designed by Chermayeff & Geismar” and “designing:” a book that describes his firm’s approach to design. Geismar concurrently attended the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown, he received a master’s degree in graphic design from Yale University, School of Art and Architecture.

Museum Hours: EMP|SFM is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from September 4, 2007 through May 22, 2008. EMP|SFM will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May 23, 2008 through September 1, 2008.

Museum Admission:
General adult admission to both Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) is $15. Admission for seniors, youth, military and students (w/ID) is $12, and admission for children under 5 is free. One ticket gives access to both museums.

Web site: empsfm.org
Address: 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109
Box office: 206-770-2702, 1-877-EMP-SFM1

NWSFS MFR - May 7, 2008,

Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at 7:30 P.M. My Favorite Restaurant

Join us at one of Carla's favorite restaurants, Hawks Prairie Casino, 8318 Quinault Dr. NE in Lacey; 360.528.8888. Entrees run from $9 to $19. Barbeque, steaks, pizza, sandwiches, salads and... oh yeah, Barbeque! NOTE: You must be 21 or older.

Hawks Prairie Casino is a small casino immediately off of I-5 in Lacey. It's highlight is the very tasty barbequed chicken, ribs, brisket and pulled pork offered in the lounge. But for those interested, it also offers a small and very standard selection of casino table games.

From the North:
• Leave I-5 southbound at exit #111. Take a left from the off-ramp and cross over the freeway.
• At the second light, make a left.
• At the second possible left, turn into the parking area.
• The casino will be ahead and to the right. Note: You are NOT going to the Hawk's Prairie Restaurant, which is ahead and to the left as you enter the parking area.

From the South
• Northbound Take Exit 111 (new ramp "Y"s, take the right "Y", round the roundabout to Quinault.
• At the light (in between Chevron and Texaco) go straight.
• At the second possible left, turn into the parking area.
• The casino will be ahead and to the right. Note: You are NOT going to the Hawk's Prairie Restaurant, which is ahead and to the left as you enter the parking area.

RSVPs should be made to ( club-info AT nwsfs.org ) or to the NWSFS info hotline 360.438.0871 by the evening of Tuesday, May 6.

News and Blog Updates: April 21, 2008

News Headlines:
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Signing & Panel Discussion with Yasmine Galenorn, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Stella Cameron
May 10, 2008, Noon - 2:00 PM,
Barnes & Noble,
300 Andover Park W #200
Tukwila WA 98188

More details forthcoming.

*****
Are We Alone - Sex: From Beginning to End
We all know how sex begins: a dimly-lit room, a come-hither smile, and a surfeit of parasol-shaded cocktails. But long before before all that, the gentle currents of the ancient sea floor set the mood. It was there, 570 million years ago, that two ropy sea creatures found each other and changed the course of evolution.
Hear how sex began and where it's headed: if you think your love life is mechanical now, just wait until you're cozying up to titanium skin and the latest emotion software.
Plus, everything you always wanted to know about modern sex research, but were afraid to ask.
Guests:

• Mary Roach - Author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
• David Levy - Artificial intelligence researcher and the author of Love and Sex with Robots
• Mary Droser - Professor of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/


Headlines From SF News Sites:
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io9: Sci Fi Channel Brings You Superheroes In The Suburbs, Biggest garbage dump: Oceans or Space?, & Gigantic Computers, Huge Reels of Tape - Remember the 80s?

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Locus Online: Howard Waldrop and Lawrence Person review "The Forbidden Kingdom"

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RevolutionSF: RevolutionSF Newsblast : Star Wars, Galactica, Farscape, Family Guy, Brendan Fraser (News)

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Science Fiction Awards Watch: Scalzi is Romantic, & BAFTA Awards

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SFScope: Director Alex Grasshoff Dies, Actor Stephen Oliver Dies, & Jim Henson Co. and Boom! Studios linking up to revive Farscape

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SF Signal: Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection Giveaway, & REVIEW: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin

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The Website at the End of the Universe: Book Review Browser collects reviews of the latest books


Selected Blog Updates:
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Are We Alone? - "Sex: From Beginning to End "

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Cathy Clamp - "Yay! Another book in the can... :) "

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Cynthia Leitich Smith - "Editor Interview: Judye Groner on Kar-Ben Publishing "

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David Louis Edelman - " The Agony Column on 'MultiReal'", & "Broken Technology"

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Di Francis - "copy editing "

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Eos Books - "Fiona McIntosh giveaway!", & "Tiptree Winner--DAUGHTERS OF THE NORTH "

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Horror Library Blog-O-Rama - "Burning the Straw Man - by Dan Naden "

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Jenna Black - "RT Pictures "

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Karina L. Fabian - "Designing the Imperfect Dragon's Lair, Part II "

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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - "25 Things You'll Find in Little Brother continues with number 8 "

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Lois McMaster Bujold - "Passage book tour reminder -- this week! "

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Louise Bohmer - Lachesis Publishing - "From Our Friend, Steve Vernon -- Wicked Woods Book Tour and Release "

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Spokane Comicon - "2 valuable prizes to be won...got a dollar? "

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Tor Books - "Tor can now be found on YouTube "

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Tor Teen - "Video interview with David Lubar about True Talents "

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Yasmine Galenorn - "My Four Footed Wonder Gurlz", & "Focus In Your Writing "