MOSCON XXI PR 1 !!!!!
Nels E Satterlund
MosCon XXI PROGRESS REPORT #1 (& ONLY),
JULY, 1999
CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE
Now that WesterCon is over & we
have all had a chance to wind down,
I'd like to tell you all about a lil'
ole' convention in Moscow, ID! This
year, we are graced with two truly
fine Author Guests of Honor, James P.
Hogan & Tara K. Harper.
Mr. Hogan has many books to his
credit, including the GENTLE GIANTS
OF GANYMEDE series, THE PROTEUS OPERATION,
& my personal favorite, CODE OF THE
LIFEMAKER. He has been involved in the
computer industry from its early years
& so is a perfect guest for a computer
geek like me.
Ms. Harper continues to work in the
high-tech trade but her literary
achievements speak to the Montana country
boy that I still am at heart. She is an
avid outdoors person & musician. We have
chatted at some length about good food
& good wine (one of my other hobbies)
& her book WOLF WALKER is one my
daughter's favorites.
Despite a certain amount of confusion
& unfortunate delay over such incidentals
as football schedules, good things have been
happening for MosCon. The hotel has added
more convention space, so we have been able
to spread out a bit more. Gaming will double
in size, & I have it from the current Gaming
Czar (my former title) that it will be full of
fun stuff to keep the gamers happy till all
hours. We will have use of the Broiler for
Saturday panels & the new Silver Room for
brunch.
The panels will focus on hands-on work-
shops & panels where you can really talk
to the guests about things that matter. We
will of course have our famous Art Show &
Dealers' Room. Charlie Bales & Diana Statt,
fresh from their stint as hospitality
directors at WesterCon, have made some
changes to the Hospitality suite that
should keep you coming back for more &
more & more.....
The Hotel has been very cooperative &
we hope to stay here for years to come.
The Convention Center at the Hotel has
added more space. Our great challenge is
to grow into it. To that end, I encourage
all of you to come, tell your friends to
come, & tell your relatives to come. We
will have a great & growing con! Hope
to see you all at the Moscow Best Western,
September 10-12!
Mark Rounds, Grand Pooh Bah
MosCon XXI
GUESTS OF HONOR, GOHs
TARA K. HARPER, AUTHOR GOH
Tara K. Harper writes adventure tales
full of hard tech & mind tech. Her
explorations of telepathy & how it might
be conferred to & used by a specially-
trained élite sometime, somewhere, are
also intelligently visceral & sensual.
Real critics might be tempted to see her
writings as the natural results of her
remarkably full life: high-tech training
& work, martial arts, music, painting,
sculpting, sailing, kayaking, community
service activities, cooking & the domestic
arts -- but then again, if the same
critics thought she'd been an invalid
since birth, they'd probably speculate
that her writings were some form of
psychological "compensation". Dancers
whose altered metabolisms enable & compel
them to dance joyfully in fires; worlds
where slavery & high-tech co-exist;
artists so absorbed in their work that
they come to resemble Nazi snuff-meisters
-- Tara packs tremendous amounts of action
& adventure into her works. At least in
literature, she fancies both felines &
canines: WOLFWALKER, WOLF'S BANE, SHADOW
LEADER, STORM RUNNER, CAT SCRATCH FEVER,
CATARACT, & LIGHTNING. We are fortunate
to have her as a guest at MosCon XXI.
JAMES P. HOGAN, AUTHOR GOH
Back in 1977, when the old-timers among
us first got to read James Hogan's INHERIT
THE STARS, we were instantly hooked by his
finely-worded blend of hard-science & specu-
lative kinks. We were also surprised to learn
that this masterpiece was his first novel, &
chagrined that we'd all have to wait, in real
time, for him to produce more. Fortunately,
the wait turned out not to be not so very
long, as he graciously opted to write full-
time starting in 1979, & has averaged one
great book a year ever since. Besides the
GIANTS trilogy, some of his best-known works
are THE GENESIS MACHINE, THRICE UPON A TIME,
CODE OF THE LIFEMAKER, & THE TWO FACES OF
TOMORROW. Like a great teacher, he leads
his readers through concepts of time-travel,
robot consciousness, the perils of imperialism,
the clash of rationalism & the belief in the
supernatural, divergent paths of evolution, &
the mundane realities of commerce within a
human framework that turns such explorations
into emotional necessities rather than
intellectual exercises.
Along with a background in engineering &
computers, & two years as a life-insurance
salesman ("to have a break from the world of
machines & to learn something more about
people"), Hogan brings to his writing a
finely-honed sense of irony & the habits
of intelligent international observation.
Born in London, he lives (with his family)
in Ireland but maintains a residence in
Florida, where he spends part of most years.
This enables him to keep in touch with the
American part of the SF universe & attend
some conventions. We are honored & delighted
that he will be attending MosCon XXI.
WILLIAM R. WARREN, Jr., ARTIST GOH
Bill Warren has been at MosCon many times,
as attending professional artist, Toastmaster,
& Fan GOH -- he's also a filker who's been very
heavily involved in various facets of fandom in
the Puget Sound area. Bill is well known for his
illustrations in the pulps, covers for SF novels
& anthologies, con program books & bids. Like
most SF artists, he has gone digital, both in
his private works & at his job at Boeing where
he does computer animation & illustrations. For
the past two-plus years he has concentrated his
"free time" (ha-ha) efforts as consulting writer/
director of animation & special effects/computer
animator for an independent SF film a building
in Tacoma.
Bill, his wife Joy, & son Robert live in a
haunted house in Tacoma, with numerous pets &
eccentricities, some of which will doubtless
serve to enliven yet another lucky MosCon.
ROBERT E. ACKERMAN, SCIENTIST GOH
Dr. Ackerman is a professor of anthropology
at WSU, where has taught since the 1960s. He
began his career in archaeology as an undergrad
at the University of Michigan in 1950. After a
brief USAF stint during the Korean conflict,
serving in North Africa & Turkey, he returned
to the University of Michigan as a graduate
student. He fell in love with Arctic archaeology
early on under the tutelage of Louis Giddings &
has excavated in Alaska & studied the far north
ever since. In addition to discovering, mapping
& digging sites all over southeastern & south-
western Alaska, he has visited sites in Far-
Eastern Siberia, Korea, China & Japan.
At MosCon XXI Dr. Ackerman plans to talk
about Pseudo Science & Archaeology. In the
beginning, archeology was both helped and
hindered by excessive reliance on Biblical
and classical mythologies; now, more recent
alternative interpretations of the past have
hopped from the realm of acknowledged science
fiction to earnest belief in our popular
culture: ETs & our ancestors, the lost
civilizations of Atlantis & Lemuria, etc.
All of this has not made the scientific
approach to archeology easier to communicate
to the public, but it has resulted in much
that can be, at least at a distance,
provocatively clever and often amusing.
We eagerly look forward to his presentation
at MosCon XXI.
DAN & TERESA FEARS. FAN GOHs
Dan & Theresa Fears have been involved
with Spokane (& Northwest) fandom for almost
a decade now. They've been active with InCon
for many years & have thoroughly deserve their
reputations as people who are willing to help
out whenever & wherever needed, often going
above & beyond the call of duty. Dan has
worked on other conventions as well, putting
in a year on a recent MosCon, for example.
Dan & Teresa have both just finished working
on Spokane's first-ever WesterCon (EmpireCon/
WesterCon 52), Dan as Treasurer & Teresa
coordinating Costuming Panels. They were also
instrumental in making the WesterCon bid a
success in the first place. MosCon XXI is very
pleased to honor them as our Fan Guests of
Honor this year, & when you meet & talk to
them, you will see why.
ART SHOW
What a show we had last year! It was our 20th
anniversary & I (Holly) had asked for some
special pieces to help celebrate, but I never
expected the turnout that we received. We had
an astounding auction & I am proud to say that
the Art Show supported itself & then some.
I wish to give special thanks to the
people & groups without whom there would not
have been an Art Show, let alone such a
special one. You all know who you are -- BIG
HUGS all around!
I have high hopes again for this year's Art
Show (which will be my third). We are doing an
enhanced mailing to artists in the hopes of
connecting with some people who haven't been
to MosCon in a while in hopes of luring them
back to the Palouse. We will be in the same
room as prior years -- sharing space with the
vendors will allow for massive simultaneous
window(less) shopping.
We are looking forward to your attendance
& the participation of many of our wonderful
artists in this year's show.
DEALERS' ROOM
Our dealers' room will also be captained
by Holly Bauer. You may contact her at
<bau...@moscow.com or MosCon PO Box 9622,
Moscow ID 83843. If you call her at 208-882-8
280, please give your e-mail or snail mail
address, as her budget does not allow for
long-distance calls.
We expect some old friends & some new
faces this year.
HOSPITALITY
Hospitality will once again be hosted
by Charlie Bales & Diana Statt, with as many
helpers as can be shanghaied. Charlie & Diana
have practiced extensively at WesterCon, on
some 1,500 guests, so MosCon shouldn't over-
whelm them. Their theme will undoubtedly be
something appropriately & suitably warped!
WRITERS' WORKSHOP
ATTENTION WRITERS! Our Writers' Workshop
is very different from a classroom: we offer
interactive learning of the kind you couldn't
afford on your own.
Professional writers give your manuscript
a thoughtful, constructive critique, listen
to your replies & answer your questions; plus
you can exercise your "writer's eye" by
critiquing other manuscripts.
Format: Double-spaced; clearly legible;
all margins one inch; your name, address,
phone number & word count on the first page
(7,500 word maximum); all other pages
numbered & identified with your surname &
title keyword.
We'll need seven (7) copies postmarked
no later than Friday, August 13th 1999. If
you have any questions, write to: MosCon 21
Writers' Workshop, PO Box 9622, Moscow ID
83843, or e-mail vmit...@uidaho.edu.
HOTEL INFORMATION
We are again at the University Inn Best
Western in Moscow Idaho. Room rates will be
$69.50 for a single (1-2 people) & $75.50
for a double (2-4 people) tax not included.
Our room block is scheduled to expire on
August 9th, so hustle & make your reservations
now! If you don't, you'll have to take your
chances on getting in. The phone numbers are:
(208) 882-0550 or 800-325-8765, ext. 311.
Best Western's home page address is
www.frozenwave.com/bestwestern/uinn
MEALS
Friday Night Dinner - $11
(family-style)
Roast Sirloin of Beef
New Red Potatoes
Fresh veggie
Rolls Coffee & Chocolate cake
A la Carte wine list on the tables.
Saturday lunch buffet in the courtyard
$16 Taco & Fajita Bar (all you can eat!)
seasoned beef & chicken with hard & soft
tortillas, refried beans, mexi-rice,
peppers, guacamole, chips, salsa, cheddar
cheese, salad & sour cream.
Standard University Inn Sunday Brunch
$16 (buffet-style, all-you-can-eat)
The price for all three is $43.
BOARD BIT
The bylaws will soon be posted on the web-
page: www.geocities.com/ area51/chamber/9963.
PROGRAMMING
At present, the programming tracks are being
designed around the concept of getting back to
basics. Since the stated focus of the Convention
Chairman is to make a strong effort to draw new
attendance, especially from the student populations
of the two local universities, we felt that
programming should provide a broad cross-section
of all that is available at a science fiction
convention. This concept will incorporate to a
large degree hands-on art & literary workshops,
readings, discussions, & entertainment.
Some examples are:
- Workshops for those interested in creative
writing will address specifics of milieu &
character creation & development; how to design
an alien or foreign language; the use of verse
in fantasy & science fiction; & others.
- Art workshops will introduce the attendee to
various art mediums & the techniques involved
with numerous opportunities for personal experience.
- A costuming workshop which will allow attendees
to actually create a costume which may subsequently
be worn in the Masquerade if desired.
- Discussion panels will address subjects related
to the foundations of contemporary fantasy & science
fiction literature. For example:
* "A History Of Elves - Folklore Traditions &
Literary references"
* "Future Technologies As Plot Devices"
* "Just What IS A Convention?"
- Perhaps the most important panel of all is one
requested by the convention chair & is scheduled
for Sunday prior to the annual MosCon business
meeting. That panel is entitled, "W(h)ither
MosCon?" & will seek to address where, or even
whether, MosCon goes from here.
If anyone has any ideas or comments they may
reach me at the following:
William Cooper
925 N Elm #3
Pasco WA 99301-4261
(509) 547-2018
wlco...@televar.com
COMPUTERS
We will again have computers from Cactus.
There will be at least two, more if we can arrange
it & not infringe on other gaming space.
We are expecting to run the following games:
QUAKE II CTF, RA; TRIBES; HALFLIFE; UNRFEAL STARCRAFT:
BROOD WAR; QUAKE III. We are attempting to set up some
anime-themed console gaming through the WSU Anime Club.
We may have other goodies as well. Stick your nose in &
check us out!
Questions? Please contact Cara Plata at
<badg...@turbonet.com or you can leave her an
online message at <ICQ454938.
SECURITY
Our Security Chief this year is Rob Trousdale.
You may remember him from last year with the
KnightHawks. If you have any questions, or wish to
volunteer, you may contact him at <esc...@turbonet.com
or his cell phone (206) 979-8384.
Our Security Policy will be much the same as in
previous years. Details in the program book.
MEMBERSHIP
HEY EVERYBODY! NOW the time to buy your MosCon 21
membership! From now until August 31st the price is
$20 (US) for the entire weekend. Starting September 1
& at the door the price is $25 (US) for the weekend.
One-day memberships are $10 (US) for Friday or Sunday,
$15 (US) for Saturday.
JAPANIME' & SF VIDEOS
The WSU Japanime' club shows American premieres, &
will therefore be showing some things at MosCon XXI that,
barring a recent visit to the Orient, you'll not have had
a chance to see before.
Nostalgia buffs can revel in the video room -- old
faves, & perhaps some you haven't seen yet.
CONCOM NOTES
As you can see, we need people! Anyone interested
in volunteering please contact
Mark Rounds at <mro...@eecs.wsu.edu or leave a message
on his voice mail at 509-335-4149 ASAP!! If nobody
volunteers to run things, they won't happen. No kidding.
--------------------------------------------------------------
MosCon XXI REGISTRATION FORM
Name_______________________________
Address____________________________
City_______________________________
State/Province_____________________
Zip Code___________________________
Phone______________________________
E-mail_____________________________
I would like to purchase:
MEMBERSHIPS
_____ adult memberships ($20 until
September 1, $25 thereafter)
_____ junior memberships (age 6-12)
($10 until September 1, then $12.50)
(Children under 6 admitted free with
a paid adult.)
One day membership are:
$10 for Friday & Sunday
$15 for Saturday
MEALS
______ Friday dinners @ $12
______ Saturday lunches @ $16
______ Sunday Brunches @ $16
______ all three @43
______ Sub Total Memberships
______ Sub Total Dinners
______ Grand Total
-----------------------------------
MosCon XXI
UNIVERSITY INN, BEST WESTERN
Moscow, Idaho
SEPTEMBER 10-12
GOHs
TARA K. HARPER AND JAMES P. HOGAN
AUTHOR GUESTS OF HONOR
WILLIAM R. WARREN, Jr.
ARTIST GUEST OF HONOR
ROBERT E. ACKERMAN
SCIENTIST GOH
DAN & TERESA FEARS
FAN GUESTS OF HONOR
--
Nels E Satterlund I don't speak for the company
Ne...@Earthling.net <-- Use this address please,
My Lurkers motto: I read much better than I type.