NWSFS News: Local News

Notice: All local news is now posted on the Main Page

2010-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

The Local News Page is now in stasis until further notice. It is unfortunate that this needs to be done, but is necessary due to a lack of time and contributors.

Any future local and regional news that would have been posted in this blog will be now be posted in the NWSFS News: Main Page which in turn will be renamed in the near future to reflect the change in format. This blog's sidebar links and RSS feeds will be kept intact for now.

If you would like to contribute to this blog, then please drop us a line at NWSFSNews at GMail dot com. Membership in NWSFS is not a requirement, though living in the Pacfic NW or Cascadia region is. There are just a few simple guidelines to follow.

Hopefully some time in the future there will be more interest in this blog, and it will be taken out of stasis.

Margaret Atwood at Town Hall Wed., Oct. 7

2009-10-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

Margaret Atwood, author of more than 40 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays, reads from her new post-apocalyptic novel, The Year of the Flood (2009), 7:30 p.m., Wed., Oct. 7 at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Avenue, Seattle. $5

In The Year of the Flood, a small band of survivors, including some members of a religious group called God's Gardeners, attempt to regroup after an environmental disaster. The novel is set in the same world as Atwood's 2003 dystopia, Oryx and Crake (Who can forget those ChickieNobs from Chapter 8?).

The Year of the Flood has an accompanying CD, God's Gardeners' Hymns, with music by Orville Stoeber. And there's a YouTube challenge. Musicians arrange and perform your own versions of the hymns. Submit entries by Dec. 15.

Thanks to the Web site Reading Local Seattle for the tip. Follow @readseattle on Twitter.

Making Steampunk Preparations

2009-09-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Once you've: bought your membership to Steamcon, Seattle's inaugural steampunk symposium; secured tickets to the Saturday Tea and Couture event and Saturday evening Airship Invasion concert featuring Unwoman, Vernian Process and Abney Park; read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers; and learned about the history of Victorian era robots courtesy of artist Paul Guinan — however will you pass the time until the event Oct. 23-25 and get into the punk Victorian spirit?

Might we suggest some further distractions:

• Review the latest from SteamPunk Magazine.
• Visit Emilie P. Bush's new Web site CoalCitySteam.com, devoted to all things steampunk, and peruse the first chapter of her forthcoming novel, Chenda and the Airship Brofman.
• Hear Scott Westerfeld read from his new novel Leviathan, a foray into steampunk, 7 p.m., Mon., Oct. 12 at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park.
• Play The Spoils, steampunkery in a card game.
• Read Steampunk (2008, Tachyon Publications), an anthology edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Get an introduction to the genre in "The 19th-Century Roots of Steampunk," by Jess Nevins with a great explanation of what puts the punk in steampunk. Then, enter the coal-drenched environs and brassy invention of stories including Ian R. McLeod's The Giving Mouth.
• Read Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon's "steampunk homage," as recommended by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer in the preface to Steampunk.
• Adventure off to find some new steampunk music at Sepiachord.
• Eye some pretties from steampunk vendors and watch this new video by steampunk jewelry designer Daniel Proulx. Comment on the video by Oct. 12 to enter a giveaway to win a $100 shopping spree from CatherinetteRings.Etsy.com, steampunk jewelry inspired by Victorian science fiction.
• Generate some fiction using the Electro-Plasmic Hydrocephalic Genre-Fiction Generator 2000. It comes up with lovely bits such as this:

"The Cyber Wars"
In a coal-powered one-way spaceflight, a young author self-insert stumbles across an arcane prophecy which spurs him into conflict with his own insecurity vis-à-vis girls, with the help of a cherubic girl with pigtails and spunk and her closet full of assault rifles, culminating in convoluted nonsense that squanders the readers’ goodwill.

— and so much easier than writing your own stuff. With thanks to CoilHouse.net for the tip.
• Contrariwise, generate some fiction the old-fashioned way. Take quill in hand.
• Recommend to us your own favorite diversions. What have we missed?

Or, you could always help organize the event.

See Burke Museum's grotesque penguins: Wondrous Cold exhibit opens

2009-09-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Need inspiration for a Lovecraftian tale or a Cthulhu game? Check out Wondrous Cold: An Antarctic Journey, an exhibit of photography by Joan Myers "which offers a glimpse into the life of researchers working on the world's most hostile continent" at Seattle's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. The exhibit opens 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Sat., Oct. 3.

Opening day events include lectures by a Dr. Christian Sidor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Mueum, who collected 245-million-year-old fossils in Antarctica and by composer Cheryl Leonard who captured audio recordings of the wind, ice, birds, and animals there — sounds creepy. Give a listen on her blog Music From the Ice. Compare modern researchers' perspectives with the "austral world of desolation and brooding madness" and "myriads of grotesque penguins" imagined by H.P. Lovecraft in At the Mountains of Madness. Do you suppose they thought the penguins were cute?

The exhibit shows through Nov. 29.

Revenant Film Festival: Sat., Sept. 26

2009-09-21T09:23:00.001-07:00

The Revenant Film Festival, sponsored by Revenant Magazine (your premier zombie magazine), will be 4 p.m. to midnight Sat., Sept 26 at the Museum of History and Industry, 2700 24th Ave East, Seattle.

The films are: Yesterday, Plague, The Hell Patrol, ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction, and Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated.

The festival features: Mark Rahner, creator of the ROTTEN comic series; Mark Henry, author of Roadtrip of the Living Dead; the event's MCs Mail Order Zombie, and Comic Evolution selling comics and collectibles.

Arrive in zombie costume for a chance to win prizes. Tickets are $21 at the door. Artist R.M. Hanson designed the festival's poster. Check out his blog, Skeleface.

PSC: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

2009-09-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest from the Pacific Science Center:

The Boeing IMAX Theater will be closed Sept. 14-17 next week. When we reopen Friday, Sept. 18 we'll feature an exciting and very funny new film. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: An IMAX 3D Experience will be the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese. Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain. Tickets are →now on sale! Then starting Sept. 26 we'll add a great double feature to our line-up – Van Gogh: Brush With Genius along with The Old Man And The Sea. A single ticket gets you both films. →Learn More.

Spooked in Seattle's newest ghost tour: Pioneer Square

2009-09-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

About twenty people joined Spooked in Seattle on Sat., Sept. 5 for one of its first Haunted Pioneer Square tours. The tours are led by members of Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle-Tacoma and include some of the more violent and gloomy tales of Seattle's history along with information about some of AGHOST's paranormal investigations. AGHOST has looked into a number of sightings in the area and picked up some EVPs (electronic voice phenomena). Listen to samples at aghost.org.

There were no ghosts seen, heard or felt on the tour, but it was a supernaturally beautiful stroll around Pioneer Square augmented by some spooky Seattle stories. Given Pioneer Square's history, with its colorful cast of gold miners, flophouse tenants, opium dealers/quack healers, seamstress-prostitutes and many other citizens living and dying on, in, and under the sunken streets, tales of disturbed spirits lurking in the area seem credible.

If you're into imagining weird tales, Spooked in Seattle, along with the Underground Tour, provide creative energy and some inspiring historical details. Should H.L. Yesler, who brought the first steam-powered sawmill to Seattle in October 30, 1852, be remembered at the inaugural Seattle Steamcon, Oct. 23-25?

Haunted Pioneer Square, a two-hour walking tour, costs about $15 (prices subject to change). Email spookedinseattle@aol.com or call 253.203.4383 for reservations. Tours are also offered on Capitol Hill and at the Seattle Pier.

Those interested in learning about ghost hunting can attend bi-monthly AGHOST meetings.

Upcoming: Join AGHOST to see and hear evidence collected from past investigations and talk about paranormal theories and ideas, 3 p.m., Sun., Sept. 20 at Marlene's Market in Federal Way, 2565 S. Gateway Center PL, Federal Way. Open to the public. Free.

Or read about how to conduct paranormal investigations in Ghostology 101: Becoming a Ghost Hunter and learn more about Seattle ghosts in the forthcoming book, Spooked in Seattle, both by AGHOST leaders Ross Allison and Joe Teeples.

Get Spaced Out on Museum Day, Sept. 26

2009-09-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

See the SpacedOut exhibit at EMP| SFM for free on Sat., Sept. 26 — Smithsonian Museum Day. Just bring a voucher from the Smithsonian's Web site with you.

Spaced Out: The Final Frontier of Album Covers, featuring 117 space-age themed record album covers released 1940-1969, shows through Jan. 3, 2010.

EMP|SFM will also screen the Smithsonian Networks’ Soul of a People: Writing Americas Stories at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the JBL Theater on Museum Day. Free and open to the public. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle.

More than 30 museums and art galleries in Washington state are free on Museum Day: Bellevue's Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, Goldendale's Maryhill Museum of Art, Tacoma's Museum of Glass, and the World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame in Long Beach. In Seattle, the list includes the Seattle Art Museum, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Frye Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery and The Museum of Flight.

Space Elevator Conference catch-up

2009-08-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

If you missed the 2009 Space Elevator Conference in Redmond, you can read Marc Boucher's recap on The Space Elevator Reference. Boucher will post a three-part series on the conference, beginning with, A Lesson from Galileo on the Space Elevator Concept.

In the next post, he'll talk more about innovation and provide an overview of the conference and then wrap up with a post on collaboration and the future.

Charles Radley has also posted a number of videos from the conference on YouTube.

Stocker Farms Field of Screams Last FREE haunt acting workshop

2009-08-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

StockerFarms Field of Screams invited you to:

When:
Saturday, August 29, 2009
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM PDT

Where:
Old Carnegie Library/Art Gallery
105 Cedar Ave
Snohomish, wa 98291

New stories: Cat Rambo's solo collection out, Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight

2009-08-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Redmond author Cat Rambo's collection of fantasy stories, Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight (Paper Golem, 2009), is out. Stories range from high fantasy to urban to surrealist. The title story is based on Armageddon MUD, an online text-based fantasy game, of which Rambo is a co-creator.

Rambo is the editor of Fantasy Magazine. Her stories have appeared in Asimov's, Weird Tales, and Strange Horizons. She's also a Clarion West Writer's Workshop alum.

Her previous story collection, The Surgeon's Tale and Other Stories (2007), co-authored with Jeff VanderMeer, contains charming and elegant dark fantasy and humorous fairy tales. The title story, co-authored by Rambo and VanderMeer, creates a unique world in an oceanic setting as the backdrop for a Frankenstein's obsession (the mad scientist not the monster). In Rambo's "The Dead Girl's Wedding March," a zombie girl's defiance of her father in the City of the Dead leads to dire romance — with a rat. "The Strange Case of the Lovecraft Cafe," by M.F. Korn, D.F. Lewis, and Jeff VanderMeer is a full-course of must read for foodies and minions of Cthulhu from the Flaming Whole Giant Penguin to the Dripping Eidolon (dessert!).

Space Elevator 101: Sat., Aug. 15 in Redmond

2009-08-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Scientists, engineers, students, and space enthusiasts are gathering Aug. 13-16 at the 2009 Space Elevator Conference, presented by The Space Engineering and Science Institute, at the Microsoft Conference Center, Redmond. Attendees will parse many aspects and implications of developing an elevator into space using a carbon nanotube ribbon that stretches from the surface of the earth to a counterweight in space.

Some Northwest Science Fiction Society insiders are already participating in the development of the technology (and The 2009 Space Elevator Games) and are up for the full-on R&D discussion, however, the conference will also include a less technical family and friendly event for newbies.

Space Elevator 101, for those who want to learn more about the concepts, challenges, and technologies involved in this "radical new way to access space less expensively," will be Sat., Aug. 15. The Pacific Science Center will also be on hand, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with an exhibit on nanotechnology. The registration fee for Space Elevator 101 (which includes up to four family and friends) is $40 for either the morning, 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m., or afternoon, 1:30-6 p.m., session. This could be a great double-feature with EMP|SFM's family day and the opening of Spaced Out, also on Saturday.

There was also a free, public presentation, "The Space Elevator and the Future" by Dr. Bryan Laubscher, on Aug. 12. Give a shout if you made it to this and share the scoop.

KUOW's, Aug, 12, Conversation included an interview with Michael Laine, president of LiftPort Group based in Monroe, talking about the "enormous" strength ("30x times stronger than steel") of the carbon nanotube ribbon that could stretch into space as early as 2031 as well as the robots (Winnebago-sized lifters) that would climb them transporting items (as much as 100 tons per week). He mentions just some of the possibilities afforded by this new mode of space travel. A space elevator "changes the entire way of getting back and forth out there," he says. The clip with Laine starts about 8 minutes in.

Read Ted Semon's Space Elevator Blog for updates from the Space Elevator Conference and follow @spaceelevator.

Theremin demonstrations at Spaced Out

2009-08-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

On Sat., Aug. 15, EMP|SFM opens a new exhibit, Spaced Out: The Final Frontier of Album Covers, featuring 117 space-age themed record album covers released 1940-1969. It's family day at the museum as well as the opening of this exhibit and a send off for the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit (open through Aug. 16) so there are lots of events planned.

Of special note: there will be theremin (that eerie electronic box that produces a staple sci-fi sound) demonstrations in the Spaced Out exhibit at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. According to Wikipedia anyway, theremin music has been featured in: the movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951); the television series, The Outer Limits; the score for the video game, Destroy All Humans (2005); and mentioned in Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953). If you have more insider theremin information, please dish (no matter how trivial)! Or, if you hear the theremin at Spaced Out, let us know how it was and who performed.

Other events (free with admission) at the museum on Aug. 15 include:
A tour of the exhibit led by curator Brooks Peck at 11 a.m.
The MoonSpinners, a 60s influenced lounge-pop band, perform at noon and 1 p.m. in the Sky Church.
Muppet Fairytales films show, at 2 p.m. in the JBL Theater. See Kermit as The Frog Prince (1971), directed by Jim Henson, and other muppetized versions of fairytale classics.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle. Tickets are $15-12 (free for EMP|SFM members or children 4 and under). For more information, call 206-770-2702 or 1-877-EMP-SFM1. Spaced Out shows through Jan. 3, 2010.

August steam: Abney Park's brazen oompahs

2009-08-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

Steampunk band Abney Park took to a gloriously red-curtained stage on a Sunday night in August at The Columbia City Theater.

Captain Robert calls this venue "'da bomb". The historic vaudeville stage ranks high in theatricality and the sound at this show resonated to the back of the room. It was an especially beautiful setting for Kristina's composition, "Victoria," with the spotlight shining on Nathaniel's singing violin and Kristina at the grand piano.

The show opened strong with favorites including "Sleep Isabella," (Lost Horizons, 2008) "Breathe," (From Dreams or Angels, 2001) and "Stigmata Martyr," and "The Wrong Side," (The Death of Tragedy, 2005). If the crowd didn't seem as boisterous as at May's steampunk soiree, it was likely (as Finn noted) because there wasn't much room to jump around in the narrow space.

Still, the band coaxed some piratical heartiness out of its sardines with sing-a-longs, "Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum," and the chorus to "Airship Pirate," enhanced by the aerialist performance above the stage.

Abney Park does make performance look like fun. And Captain Robert turned this into an object lesson for the kids in the crowd advising them show tolerance ("It's not lame.") when their parents push them into music lessons ("or dance lessons," added Finn who performs en pointe to "Herr Drosselmyers Doll," (Lost Horizons, 2008)). This was an all ages show, and this particular event went far under the usual just under 21 set, exposing quite a few schoolchildren to steampunk in their formative years.

Dane Ballard (Sinner Saint Burlesque singer/emcee and SexLife LIVE host) emceed. Fire-eating performances added to the atmosphere, notably Delaney's dragon and volcano moves to a mix of "Transylvanian Concubine" by Rasputina.

A fashion show during a break for the band created an off-key interlude. Seeing as the fans streamed into the theater arrayed in a visual feast of burgundy, silver, and black corsets as well as top hats (in sizes wee to gargantuan) and tails — a fashion show seemed redundant.

With fans so well-attired, a designer is at pains to impress. And it was hard to imagine this was the right crowd to appreciate some of the more restrained creations — denim? shorts? sundresses? Bring back the band!

Lastwear recovered this portion of the show by bringing out some appropriately festooned ladies and debonair gents — and it didn't hurt that they were brandishing pistols. Designers of clothing for outlanders, steampunks, reality hackers, and temporal misfits, Lastwear opened a retail store Aug. 8 at 5459 Leary Ave N.W. in Ballard.

The show was a nice boost to what feels like a summer lull in local events. What have we been missing? Seen any good movies lately? Did anyone catch, Moon, in the theater? Reading any good books? Jack Vance stories anyone?

Up next: Check out the Caba-Rock Revue, featuring Scarlet Room and Adrian H & the Wounds, 10 p.m., Aug. 22 at the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater, 2322 2nd Ave., Seattle. $6, for the 21 and over crowd. Presented by Sepiachord.

This fall, look for Abney Park's new release Aether Shanties, and see them at SteamCon, Oct. 23-25, at the Seattle Airport Marriott. SteamCon also features Tim Powers, author of The Anubis Gates, winner of the 1983 Philip K. Dick Award; artist Paul Guinan, check out his history of Victorian era robots.

Get geared up for SteamCon. Vendors at the Abney Park show included:

Tormented Artifacts — masks, jewelry, and curiosities
Steambaby.net — Mac McGowan's brass-rimmed leather googles and SteamPink, Kristina Hoagland's cards and paper arts
Exoskeleton Cabaret — artwear and photography by Libby Bulloff
Deviant Design — graphic design, fashion, and photography by Bergen R. McMurray
PH Factor (Hans Meier) of Tacoma — goggles and accoutrements

The quest for mathematical truth in Seattle: Logicomix creator part of fall lecture line-up

2009-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Berkeley Computer Science professor Christos Papadimitriou, co-creator of the graphic novel Logicomix (due out Sept. 28, 2009 in the United States), is part of the early fall line-up of Seattle Science Lectures. Papadimitriou speaks 7:30 p.m., Fri. Oct. 9 at the Great Hall, 1119 Eighth Avenue (at Seneca Street), Seattle.

Logicomix tells the story of the epic quest for the Foundation of Mathematics. Philosopher Bertrand Russell, turned superhero for the tale, recounts how the intellectual adventure led astray many great thinkers including Frege, Hilbert, Poincaré, Wittgenstein and Gödel.

Seattle Science Lectures is co-sponsored by the Pacific Science Center and University Book Store. Tickets are $5. Priority seating for Town Hall Seattle members.

Need more science sooner? Try one of the upcoming Science on Tap events:

"Toxic Chemicals and Hormone Disruption: Reproductive Health Effects in Fish, Frogs, and People," with Fran Solomon, adjunct professor at University of British Columbia, 7 p.m., Mon., Aug. 31, at Ravenna Third Place Pub, 6504 20th Ave. NE, Seattle.

"Sound Garden: A Radar Odyssey Through the Northern Lights," with John Sahr, electrical engineering professor at the University of Washington, 7 p.m., Mon., Sept. 28 at Ravenna Third Place Pub, 6504 20th Ave. NE, Seattle.

Steampunkery at The Columbia City Theater

2009-07-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Local musical steampunk purveyors, Abney Park, will play an all ages show Aug. 9 at The Columbia City Theater, 4916 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle. Tickets (on sale soon) will be $15 for the 21 and over crowd (full bar in effect), $7 for teenagers, and free for pre-teens. The show will include aerialists, fire breathers, a fashion show, and Steampunk artists and vendors. Abney Park will shoot a concert length DVD at the show.

Captain Robert says the venue has everything "we always dream about having for a show," including Victoriana: chandeliers, curtains, and a grand piano. Ladies and gents, the last Abney Park show in town at the Seattle Steampunk Soiree was, indeed, a smashing affair.

Steamcon, need we say, will be Oct. 23-25, at the Seattle Airport Marriott. Special guests include Tim Powers, author of The Anubis Gates, winner of the 1983 Philip K. Dick Award and artist Paul Guinan, check out his history of Victorian era robots, and musicians Abney Park.

Pacfic Science Center: Harry Potter, cocktails, and Transformers

2009-07-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Posted on behalf of the Pacfic Science Center:

Harry In IMAX Worth The Wait: The latest film in the Harry Potter series is now open at regular theaters. Due to studio agreements, it doesn't open in IMAX until July 29. So why wait? Well, how about twelve minutes of the movie's explosive opening sequence in spectacular live-action IMAX 3D! Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince: The IMAX Experience is sure to be one of the most popular films we've ever shown at Pacific Science Center's Boeing IMAX Theater. Be sure to see it on the biggest screen in town! Get your →tickets now!

Science With A Twist...And Harry Potter: Tickets for our next 21+ event are selling fast and the reason is simple: this Science With A Twist involves the world's most popular young wizard. Make your plans now to join us for science, cocktails, and Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince: The IMAX Experience! That's July 30, with cocktails and science demonstrations at 6 p.m. and the film showing at 7:20 p.m. →Get your tickets now!

Time Running Out For Transformers:
If you haven't yet seen the incredible Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen: The IMAX Experience please note that time is running out. Your humble correspondent thinks this is one of THE best sci-fi/action films in years. Gigantic, battling robots on our six-story screen! You must see it on the biggest screen in town before it closes July 28. →Buy Tickets

Spaced Out! A New Exhibition from EMP|SFM Opens Aug. 15

2009-07-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

SEATTLE—Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) will welcome its newest exhibition Aug. 15, 2009.

Spaced Out! The Final Frontier in Album Covers, presents 117 space-themed record album covers that were released between 1940 and 1969—the dawn of the space age. In these post-war years, humanity seemed to be on the verge of taking a giant leap into space, and popular culture reflected this through futuristic album themes.

Even if the music had nothing to do with space—which it often didn’t—artists insisted on a spaced-out theme for their cover art. Some album covers even display Seattle’s Space Needle as the focal point of the design for the Needle’s unique, space-oriented feel. The exhibition takes visitors back to when space was a mystery, and space exploration was adventurous and groovy.

“This is the first exhibition at EMP|SFM that truly encompasses both music and science fiction equally,” said Brooks Peck, curator of the exhibition. “Music buffs will enjoy this nostalgic look at a fun era of album cover design, and science fiction lovers will learn about the strong influence that science fiction had on popular culture in the mid-20th century.”

Graphic design buffs as well as vinyl record collectors and nostalgic baby boomers will appreciate the exhibition for its history and unique graphic elements. The exhibit will explore a variety of aspects of the fad, including musical themes and motifs found on the records and how excitement toward the space age was expressed in popular culture.

Organized by EMP|SFM, Spaced Out! The Final Frontier in Album Covers features albums from the collection of Cheryl Pawelski, the Vice President of A&R at Rhino Entertainment.

"I began collecting these albums first because I loved how beautiful some were, while others were just silly,” said Pawelski. “Over time I noticed that album covers with a space theme changed after we landed on the moon in 1969. The imagination that went into all of them captured my imagination."

The album covers reflect what people in the post-war era imagined space would be like. Musicians flocked to the fad and space themes invaded album covers of different genres, including pop, jazz, folk and classical.

The exhibition gives visitors of all ages an opportunity to experience first-hand some of the instruments used on the albums, including the Theremin, which was used to make “space sounds.” A listening station will also be available for visitors to hear 20 tracks from the albums on display. Those interested in creating their own interpretation of a spaced out album cover can star in their own version, complete with funky text, spaceships, planets and otherworldly objects. The visitor album covers will then be posted via slideshow in the exhibition.

The exhibition is scheduled to run through Jan. 3, 2010 on the third level of the EMP galleries. To preview a sampling of album covers, visit the exhibition section of www.empsfm.org.

Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
330 Sixth Avenue North Suite 200 Seattle WA 98109
T: (206) 262-3245 F: (206) 770-2727
empsfm.org

Clarion West: Hopkinson reads three works

2009-07-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

Clarion West's reading series, Six Summer Evenings of Science Fiction & Fantasy, continues to shine. On July 14, author Nalo Hopkinson showcased a range of lyrical, humorous, and dramatic writing talent. She began the reading with two short stories commissioned for very different purposes: "Men Sell Not Such in Any Town," for the scientific journal Nature (Sept. 15, 2005 issue) and "Snow Day," for Canada Reads, which incidentally incorporates the titles of all five of the books for the read that year including Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Hopkinson ended her reading with an excerpt from her forthcoming novel Blackheart Man (it's a year out plus the final editing).

If you missed the reading, you can hear the author narrate two of her stories on the audio book of her short story collection Skin Folk. You can also follow along as she works on her novel in progress, Taint, @nalohopkinson and on her blog.

Up next week: Seattle writer Eileen Gunn interviews David Hartwell, senior editor for Tor Books and founder of The New York Review for Science Fiction, about the state of the publishing industry, 7 p.m., Tues., July 21 at University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, Seattle.

Then, Clarion West's series wraps up for the summer with a reading by author Rudy Rucker, 7 p.m., Tues., July 28 also at University Book Store.

The readings are free and open to all. Huzzah!

Potlatch 19: March 5-7, 2010 in Seattle

2009-07-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Potlatch 19, a non-profit literary convention for readers and writers of speculative fiction, returns to Seattle in 2010, March 5-7 at Hotel Deca, 4507 Brooklyn Avenue NE.

Memberships are $50 through July 22.

Register online or see for more information at potlatch-sf.org.

Potlatch 18 was in San Jose. The books of honor were Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home (1985) and John M. Ford's Growing Up Weightless.

Fresh fiction: Karen Joy Fowler's new story

2009-06-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Author Karen Joy Fowler read a work in progress, her short story "Booth's Ghost," at the Clarion West reading June 30 at University Book Store. Fowler's short story credits include the Nebula award-winning "Always," 2007, and "What I Didn't See," 2003, as well as her collection Black Glass (1997) which earned the World Fantasy Award.

Her newest story, "Booth's Ghost," is a well-researched and historically accurate (except for the ghost!) portrayal of Edwin Booth, an American actor known both for his performance of Hamlet and for the infamy of his older brother — who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

It's always fun when an established author risks reading a fresh work and "Booth's Ghost" was well-received. More than 50 people attended the reading including 18 Clarion West Writers Workshop participants (taken under Fowler's wing this week).

No complaints, but there was some chagrin that the "work-in-progress" was so well done. Granted the tale was a draft seasoned and vetted by the likes of Timmi Duchamp, founder of Aqueduct Press, and author John Kessel, a Clarion instructor who read earlier in June. But who knows? Fowler may well work some additional magic on the tale before the next reading. They don't give out those Nebulas for nothing. Learn more about Fowler's writing process in an interview by Charles A. Tan, co-editor of the Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler.

Clarion West's Six Summer Evenings of Science Fiction & Fantasy, continues 7 p.m., Tuesdays at University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, Seattle. Free!

Upcoming:
Elizabeth Bear, author of 50 stories including the multiple award-winner, "Tidewater" — July 7
Nalo Hopkinson, author of The Salt Roads and The New Moon's Arms — July 14
David G. Hartwell, senior editor of Tor Books — July 21
Rudy Rucker, author of 30 books including Postsingular and Mathematicians in Love, July 28

More July readings, 7 p.m., at the University Book Store, U District Store:
Wed., July 8 — Forgotten Realms authors Erik Scott de Bie and Rosemary Jones
Thurs., July 9 — David J. Williams, Clarion workshop alum and author of Burning Skies
Wed., July 15 — Caitlin Kittredge, Street Magic, and Kevin Radthorne, The Pool of Shikama
Thurs., July 16 — Local author Lisa Mantchev reads from her first novel, Eyes Like Stars
Fri., July 24 — Jay Lake reads from his sixth novel, Green, out from Tor

Speaking of the Nebulas, check out the Nebula Awards 2009 Showcase, edited by Ellen Datlow (named best editor at the 2009 Locus Awards) and filled with stories by Michael Chabon, Karen Joy Fowler, Ted Chiang (author of the 2009 Locus Award-winning story, "Exhalation"), Nancy Kress and Michael Moorcock.

"Start reading Nebula Awards 2009 Showcase on your Kindle in under a minute!" What an irresistible suggestion!

July 3: Zombiepocalypse in Fremont

2009-06-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Red, White, and Dead really does look like the zombie event of the season. Be there starting at 5 p.m., July 3 at 3501 Phinney Ave North, Seattle.

The event includes a world-record breaking zombie walk (it will be if you show up bloody! Register 5-7 p.m. Walk at 8 p.m. Thriller dance at 9 p.m.), a book signing by S.G. Browne author of Breathers, an appearance by Seattle Zombies of Mass Destruction filmmakers, and a double feature (the movie starts at 9:45 p.m.): Shaun of the Dead and a zombie surprise.

There will also be contests (zombie haiku, anyone? the latest in zombie fashion?) and prizes.

Who's to blame for the zombiepocalypse? Shambolic threats include: Fremont Outdoor Movies, showing infectiously good films, and Night Zero, photographing the post-apocalypse in Seattle for your novel entertainment, Cleo Zombie — and you.

Shamble, shamble, shamble Seattle into the world-record for zombie walks and Thriller dance mobs.

Ballard, Le Guin, Delaney inspired exhibit shows at Henry Art Gallery

2009-06-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

"Ann Lislegaard: 2062," an exhibit of science fiction inspired digital animation, shows through August 23 at Henry Art Gallery, the University of Washington, Seattle. Artist Ann Lislegaard creates in Copenhagen and New York. "2062" is her first solo show in an American museum. The exhibit includes installations based on JG Ballard’s The Crystal World (1966), Ursula K. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and Samuel R. Delany's Dalghren (1975). In constructs of sound and light, the art explores time, space and place perception.

What does this look like? See photos of the exhibit. What does this mean? Read reviews and interviews on lislegaard.com. What's your experience? Go to the gallery.

Hours are: 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thurs. and Fri. and 11 a.m.-4 p.m., weekends. Call 206.543.2280.

Forgotten Realms at University Book Store

2009-06-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Seattle fantasy authors Rosemary Jones and Erik Scott de Bie present, "How I lost a contest and ended up in Waterdeep," 7 p.m., Wed., July 8, at University Book Store, Seattle, reading from their new novels for Wizards of the Coast.

Both books written for the Forgotten Realms series were handpicked by Ed Greenwood, the D&D campaign setting creator and celebrated author. The stories take place in Realms' greatest city, Waterdeep. Jones will read from her new novel, City of the Dead. She has also written Crypt of the Moaning Diamond in Forgotten Realms. De Bie reads from his latest novel, Downshadow. His other Realms' books are Ghostwalker and Depths of Madness.

Upcoming at University Book Store, in the U District, Seattle:
Jacqueline Carey, author of the Kushiel's Legacy series, reads from her very new novel (due out June 24), Naamah's Kiss, 7 p.m., Mon., June 29.
Karen Joy Fowler, author of Wit's End and The Jane Austen Book Club, reads as part of the Clarion West free summer series, 7 p.m., Tues., June 30.

Stocker Farms Field of Screams FREE Haunt Acting Workshop #2

2009-06-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

StockerFarms Field of Screams invited you to:

Stocker Farms Field of Screams FREE Haunt Acting Workshop #2

When: Saturday, July 11, 2009 - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM PDT

Where: Carnegie Library; Art Gallery, 105 Cedar Ave., Snohomish, WA. 98290

Who: anyone interested in haunt acting, being around fellow haunters, anyone interested to perform their best at our Haunt Auditions in September.

Why: Because we want to share our love of screaming!

Contact: fostalent@stockerfarms.com
http://www.myspace.com/stockerfieldofscreams

Art double-feature: sf/steampunk exhibits

2009-06-14T22:22:00.000-07:00

Lowell Art Works exhibits sci-fi and steampunk inspired art June 20-July 12 at 5205 S. 2nd Ave., Everett. "It Came From Outer-Lowell!", curated by artists Jules Anslow and Mike Capp, will feature monsters, robots, aliens, mutant eels, cyborg supermodels, six-armed ant boys of ancient legend, and root-cellar-chemistry-set-experiments-gone-awry.

To bring together “Steampunk: The Art and Science of Future-Victorian Tech," Anslow, directed artists to, "Think: Jules Verne meets Rube Goldberg. Wild Wild West. Mad Max. Even a little Blade Runner. Steamboy, an animated film, captures the concept. Imagine if your microwave had carved wood trim, brass fittings, jeweled buttons that lit up, curved brass feet, and a four-pane window with red-velvet curtains on the front."

A reception for both exhibits, a.k.a. the opening invasion, will be 4-9 p.m., Sat., June 20.

Lowell Art Works gallery hours are: 1-5 p.m., Saturdays, 1-4 p.m., Sundays and 4-9 p.m. on third Saturdays for the Everett Art Walk. Call 425-923-3635.

Clarion West reading series starts June 23

2009-06-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Clarion West's Six Summer Evenings of Science Fiction & Fantasy starts June 23 with John Kessel. All readings take place 7 p.m. at University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, Seattle. Free!

Kessel is the author of four novels and three short story collections most recently The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories (2008). He edited Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology (2006) and Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology (2007), and The Secret History of Science Fiction (forthcoming from Tachyon) with James Patrick Kelly. He teaches American literature, science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University.

Upcoming readings will be by:
Karen Joy Fowler June 30
Elizabeth Bear July 7
Nalo Hopkinson July 14
David G. Hartwell July 21
Rudy Rucker July 28

Review: Crowds cheer The City & The City

2009-06-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

In a fantasy city, the author would have stepped into a gleaming amphitheatre to the announcement, "And all the way from London, two time British Fantasy Society Award-Winning author...China Miéville..." The cheering throng would have hoisted their books high and demanded encores of readings from Perdido Street Station (2000), Iron Council (2004) and Un Lun Dun (2007) before allowing the author to leave the stage.

Instead, Miéville arrived at the Third Place Books Commons in Lake Forest Park, amidst the food court clanging of people finishing their dinners out on a Friday night, without even the pomp of a Kim Rickett's style Words & Wine event. He read a short section from the opening of his latest book The City & The City before a crowd of about 200 people.

Fanfare not required though. This was a good time. It was fun to hear Inspector Borlu's interrogation of the druggie kids in Miéville's voice. The City & The City is a different kind of fantasy, a police procedural. A "complete fidelity to the noir protocol," it opens with a dead body and the protagonist is gruff and flawed. Why did Miéville turn to a crime novel? Well, for his mother. Written while she was ill, the book is dedicated, "In loving memory of my mother, Claudia Lightfoot".

He's also enjoying writing in some new voices. Expect to see some examples in the next few years, as Miéville "begs an indulgence" from fans. Try something new? Miéville has something more sci-fi in the works as well as another fantasy. He also has ideas for non-fiction exploring topics from politics to Lovecraftian novels (Miéville wrote the introduction to the 2005 Modern Library edition of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness). The City & The City, "secretly subtitled 'The Last Inspector Borlu Mystery'" leaves openings for prequels and sequels too.

Miéville's also happy about a role-playing game in development based on one of his worlds. He's given the go ahead to Tales of New Crobuzon.

Following his reading, Miéville was engaging, gracious, and hilarious in the Q&A before he was whisked off for the real work of the evening — signing books. He has a delightful vocabularly and talks easily across genres too. He speaks fluent geek punctuated by London slang and politics. Here are a few tidbits he shared:

Miéville's dreams: include beautiful views walking through the cities he's created, but aren't heavily plotted, "I'm somewhere and for some reason I have to go over there... it's like being in Second Life, very pretty, but nothing happens."

Miéville's writing process: Starts with setting. He builds a world and creates maps, but with white spaces to fill in later or just leave blank, "sometimes it's fun not to know." If this sounds a lot like world-building for a role-playing game, well, yes, he is quite familiar with polyhedral dice.

Miéville on fantasy: Writing fantasy provides a way to talk about and envision what is inherently impossible to talk about and envision — concepts such as radical socio-political change (what we could easily envision wouldn't really be radical). It also "shows the grander thing behind the everyday" following in the religious visionary tradition of ecstatic writing.

Miéville leaves the impression you could sit down with him and have a highly entertaining conversation on anything from the "heuristic failure of first-person shooters" to "the murderous arbitrariness of geopolitical borders". Barring that, you can read one of his books.

So, what are your favorites? One audience member asked about the short story "The Tampered Mail" with Miéville's eponymous protagonist, China Miéville. Another had a copy of Miéville's non-fiction Between Equal Rights: A Marxist Theory of International Law (2006). What book would you start someone on who had never read Miéville?

Eyes Like Stars - Reading and Signing!

2009-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Come help Lisa Mantchev celebrate the publication of EYES LIKE STARS with cupcakes, glitter, and assorted silliness.

Location: University Bookstore, Seattle
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm

China Miéville reads at Third Place Books

2009-06-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Weird fiction author China Miéville reads from his recently released novel The City & The City (2009), described as a sci-fi, noir, murder mystery, 6:30 p.m., Fri., June 5 at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park.

Writing out of London, Miéville is the author of the award-winning New Crobuzon series including Perdido Street Station (2000), The Scar (2001) and Iron Council (2004). His first novel, King Rat, was published in 1998.

Smashing soiree preps crowd for SteamCon

2009-06-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

Will memories of the Seattle Steampunk Soiree May 22 at Heaven carry us through to SteamCon in October? A delightfully goggled, top-hatted and corseted crew arrived and made this a truly brass, beribboned and velvet event.

On stage Abney Park of Gig Harbor delivered all the sultry resonant promise of their albums plus the spectacle of abneypark.com. The crowd turned into besotted airship pirates as the band hit favorites off of albums including Lost Horizons (2008), The Death of Tragedy (2005) and From Dreams or Angels (2001). "Building Steam" may be our new favorite song, a strapping Captain Robert advised. Aye, aye! With a wind down like Herr Drosselmyer's Doll, Abney's set sated the soiree.

Deadly Nightshade Botanical Society (fabulous name, isn't it?) of Tacoma played their first show after working to release their album Clockwork Dreams. They got the soiree started with raging steampunking guitars (Abney Park alum Robert Hazelton later re-upped with the airship pirates to help end the show).

Seattle's Legion Within played a romantic darkwave and classic industrial interlude. Songwriter and vocalist William Wilson rock starred the stage (presence galore) along with the polished band. Wilson and percussionist Aaron Nicholes are also part of a Bauhaus tribute band, The Sky's Gone Out. Wilson has the voice. Hear for yourself: Legion Within opens for Peter Murphy Tues., June 2 at El Corazon.

Of course, the crowd at the steampunk soiree did wear more than just top hats, goggles and corsets (it wasn't quite that decadent). But after a trip through the vendors' room, you'll be forgiven if you think that's all the accoutrement required. Beauteous wares on display included top hats for ladies and gents, custom goggles and corsets, jewelry and spectacles made of antique watch parts, and Cthulu necklaces in Lego or silver.

For those who missed it, a few links from the soiree plus a few for good measure:

Abney Park fashion - goggles, stripey t-shirts and leather corsets
Gothic Beagle - dog collars and leashes, and yes, meant for quadruped pets — stylish ones!
Lastwear - clothing for outlanders, steampunks, reality hackers, and temporal misfits
London Particulars - steampunk jewelry, fashion — on Twitter @SteampunkShoppe
Mac McGowan - handcrafted leather gear, props, and accessories
Velvet Mechanism - steampunk accessories
Gypsy Lady Hats - velvet, stripes, and laces!
Tatterdemalion Designs - clothing for elegant ruffians
(these last links courtesy of Gothic Charm School)

Can't wait for SteamCon? Check out SepiaChord for music and more steamy summer events, or try one of these:

• Crypticon, June 5-7, Seattle Center
• Edward Gorey Garden Party at The Historic Overlook House, Sun., June 14, Portland
• Legion Within, CD release party with God Module, Blicky, DJ Seraphim, 8 p.m., Sat., June 20, El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E, Seattle
• Gothic Charm School book release party, 7:30 p.m., Tues., June 23, University Village Barnes & Noble, 2675 NE University Village St, Seattle
• Portland Hallowe'en Bazaar, Sat., Oct 3, Portland

And don't forget, SteamCon, Oct. 23-25, Seattle.

Reel Fear: Shades of blood on a budget

2009-05-20T23:38:00.000-07:00

Fans and a handful of aspiring filmmakers turned out to get insider information from local horror filmmakers John Sinno, producer of ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (not to be confused with the comic book), and Dan Gildark, producer/director of Cthulhu, at Reel Fear the latest installment of EMP|SFM's Exposed: Inside Film series.

Wanna tell stories on film? If you're on a budget (tens of thousands not millions to spend), consider making horror. Big name actors and their accoutrements aren't required to draw audiences to a horror, said Sinno.

Still, horror filmmaking is no easy shakes. Sinno and Gildark discussed location scouting, production design, soundtrack composition, and creating mechanical and 2-D special effects. Then comes post-production, layering in 3-D effects and fine-tuning the film.

The ZMD team spent two months on color correction to get the blood just right. There's a big difference between comedic blood, the shade they were going for in ZMD, and the dark red, color of the truly scary kind. And there's lots of blood in ZMD. Director Kevin Hamedani likes gore, Sinno said.

A short clip of Cthulhu showed off artful sound design with dripping, echoing, and splashing water layered over roaring ocean and fading into tortured, amplified screaming.

To keep a film within budget, and still realize the director's vision, a producer needs to be creative. Sinno trashed a city street with items rented from Goodwill and asked a passing cop to lend flashing reds to a chaotic zombie scene. Gildark called in a few favors from a friend with a helicopter and used some footage from the WTO riots in Seattle to convey a worldwide scene of madness and mayhem.

Once a film is done, it's time to hit the film festival circuit, get an agent, and get the legal department involved before striking a deal with a distributor. What about having a good idea, writing a script and casting? That goes without saying.

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction shows at the Seattle International Film Festival: 9:15 p.m., June 2 at the SIFF Cinema and 10 p.m., June 4 at the Kirkland Performance Center. Cthulhu is out on DVD. New filmmakers, be sure to check out the commentary, Gildark said he shares tips. Both films employed lots of local talent. If this includes you, let us know. Where do we look for your work? How fun was it to work on ZMD or Cthulhu? ZMD was filmed in Port Gamble and Northwesterners will recognize Astoria, Ore. in Cthulhu.

Both producers said their films were inspired by the political times. If zombies and Cthulhu were our turn of the millennium metaphors, which monsters will stalk us in the next decade?

Upcoming at EMP|SFM in the Exposed: Inside Film series:
The Dark Crystal screening hosted by EMP|SFM's Brooks Peck, 7 p.m., Tues., June 16.
Labyrinth screening with puppeteer and animator, Karen Prell, 7 p.m., Tues., July 21.
The series takes place in the JBL Theater, 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle. Free to EMP|SFM members or $5 for the public. Call 206.770.2702 or 1.877.EMP.SFM1.

More news for filmmakers: Early submissions for the Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival 2010 are due June 30. The final submission deadline is August 15. The festival takes place January 30.

UW Jacobsen Observatory: May 20 UW Astronomy "Searching for Earths" Lecture

2009-05-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

This notice presented on behalf of the University of Washington Department of Astronomy:

"Searching for Earths"
Dr. Debra Fischer, San Francisco State University
Wednesday, May 20
Architecture 147 - http://www.washington.edu/home/maps/northcentral.html?63,66,533,559
7-8pm *No tickets required, first-come, first-served seating*

Science fiction writers often depict the billions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy as homes for other Earths; so-called M-class planets where life abounds. The science is now catching up to the fiction as more than 300 planets have been discovered orbiting other stars in the past decade. The most surprising attribute of detected planets is their diversity, and we have yet to find anything that reminds us of home. However, humanity is taking the first steps into the solar system and beyond with the goal of detecting thousands of New Worlds. This talk will focus on the types of planets that have been found so far, with an eye toward understanding how our solar system compares. We will also discuss the conditions that are important for life as we know it and our future plans to one day obtain a picture of a pale blue dot orbiting a nearby star.

Join us this Wednesday, May 20 in Architecture 147 at 7pm for a lecture by Dr. Debra Fischer entitled "Searching for Earths". Dr. Fischer is a professor at San Francisco State University and is a leader in the field of searching for extra-solar planets. She is the principal investigator for research projects such as The Lick Planet Search program, and several Keck Observatory programs to detect Hot Jupiters and short-period Neptunes.

A poster is attached for distribution.

To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206.543.6450 (voice), 206.543.6452 (TTY), 206.685.7264 (FAX), or dso@u.washington.edu

Thanks,
Sarah Garner
http://www.astro.washington.edu/

University of Washington
Department of Astronomy
Physics/Astronomy C-319 Phone: 206-543-2888
Box 351580
Seattle, WA 98195

Review: readings at Wayward Coffeehouse

2009-05-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Good news, there will be more sci-fi/fantasy readings at Wayward Coffeehouse, 570 Greenwood Ave. N, Seattle.

On May 16, local authors Kij Johnson, Tim McDaniel and Lancer Kind got this new reading series off to a fantastic start. In two hours and six stories, invoking horror, humor, and longing, they managed to pack in robots, mad scientists, mind control, and time machines (McDaniel hit all this in one story forthcoming in Asimov's) as well as unicorns, alien sex, pegasi, spacemen, a post-apocalyptic underwater version of The Dukes of Hazard (Kind warmed the audience up for this rebel yell of a story by playing the show's theme song), and "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" (Johnson's story published in Asimov's, July 2008, and a finalist for this year's Nebula and Hugo awards). Nothing was lacking, and there were door prizes.

The reading set a fierce pace. Look for the series to continue on the third Saturday of the month throughout the summer and to feature favorites, forthcoming stories and new works. It's always fun to hear authors read their own works and get a glimpse into the writing process. Johnson shared a work in progress, "Pretty Ponies," her first horror story in some years. The tale of childhood cruelty was in solid gasp-cringe-shudder territory, but Johnson says she may make the knife cut even deeper by the time she's done. Ouch!

The next Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author Reading at Wayward Coffeehouse will feature Louise Marley. Future events may include Cat Rambo and Brenda Cooper.

Wayward Coffeehouse, "Home of the Seattle Browncoats and Haven for sci-fi geeks of any fandom," is a spacious, comfy venue with lots of geek cred on display. Wayward hosts First Friday Sci-fi Film Nights and live music. Check out the upcoming calendar. It's the place to get a tasty Inara Ploughman sandwich (thick bread, tomato, and avocado spread) and a cup of Mudder's Milk (wasabi mocha).

Speaking of Firefly, the next Can't Stop the Serenity event will be 5 p.m., Sat., July 18 at the Museum of History and Industry in McCurdy Park, 2700 24th Ave. E, Seattle. A party follows a showing of Serenity to benefit Equality Now, which works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. Get tickets at www.cstsseattle.org.

Last weekend for Star Trek at IMAX Theater

2009-05-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

Sounds like this one's worth a go on the big, big screen. J.J. Abrams' Star Trek shows at Pacific Science Center's Boeing IMAX Theater through Thurs., May 21. Both early birds and night owls are covered. This weekend, the first show is at 10:15 a.m. and the last movie starts one minute before midnight. Or see it at: 1 p.m., 3:45 p.m, 6:30 p.m., or 9 p.m.

Weekday May 18-21 shows are at: 2:15 p.m., 5 p.m., 7:45 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Tickets are $12 for adults.

There's an educational discussion about the fact that "special engagement" films like Star Trek that get shown at IMAX Theaters are not actually filmed on IMAX film and what that all means to the viewing experience going on at BoingBoing. Fascinating. To summarize, it's not the same picture quality as a trademarked IMAX film, but still plenty big and definitely loud in the IMAX Theater.

OK, who thinks they've seen this latest Star Trek incarnation the most times and where did you see it?

Creative fires: Music, comics, musi-comics

2009-05-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Whatever the morning news says, it is not the apocalypse as Northwest people continue to create stuff of interest to science affictionadoes.

Look for Aether Shanties, a fourth album with 12 songs, out from steampunk band Abney Park this summer. This follows Lost Horizons: The Continuing Adventures of Abney Park released last year. Captain Robert says we can preview many of the new songs as performed at live shows on YouTube. Here's "My Life" and "Until the Day I Die." Abney Park performs Fri., May 22 at Heaven in Seattle (tickets here) and returns to the Northwest for Conflux-NW Dark Arts Festival Sept. 25 in Portland and Seattle Steamcon Oct. 23-25.

Writers Eric Singletary and Nate Murphy and artist Ryan Hobson released the first issue of their comic The Two Percent Solution and had the presence of mind to hand it over to Tony DiGerolamo at WonderCon in San Francisco. Tony gave it a mention in issue #150 of Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. In The Two Percent Solution, two heroes set out from beneath the flaming Space Needle in a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest in search of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (maybe we should all geocache this location — our real life doomsday solution). The comic may have a Y: The Last Man vibe (among the creators' favorites). It's for sale print-on-demand at IndyPlanet. Follow on Twitter @two_percent.

Donna Barr, Timothy Wagner and Aaron Paul Low turned Barr's the Desert Peach comic into The Desert Peach Musical and now they are at it again. Trippin' The Light Fantastic tells the story of two couples (one straight and one gay) and their psychic friend. A magical crystal interferes wrecking havoc with body-switching hi-jinks so that, "Everyone gets a chance to explore what it means to be straight, gay, male, female, or psychic. And in the end, lives will have been changed forever." What does this all sound like? Listen to the musical. Like the making of a good comic?

Zombie hordes in the Northwest

2009-05-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

A friend, who recently moved from Jersey to the Seattle area, expressed an interest in/weakness for zombie literature.

"World War Z is a must-read!" he said, and then got treated to a barrage of zombie-related Northwest intel. News of:

--zombie burlesque, wet slime (is there any other kind?) T-shirt contests, and zombie walks.

--Plants vs. Zombies, the game out for Mac and PC today from Seattle's PopCap Games with its infectious music video (also in Japanese! Learn to say, "Zombie" in Nihon).

--ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction, the movie, and the upcoming screening and discussion with Seattle filmmakers John Sinno and Kevin Hamedani at the next Exposed: Inside Film feature 7 p.m., Tues., May 19 at the Science Fiction Museum. See the earlier post: Bloody scary: zombies and Cthulu.

--Crypticon, the horror convention promising monster mayhem, June 5-7 at Seattle Center. Surely, there will be zombies.

--The Fremont Outdoor Cinema Best of Zombie Movies night with Shaun of the Dead (and possibly White Zombie), 6 p.m., July 3, 3400 Phinney Avenue North. Twitterati follow @outdoormovies. There will definitely be zombies!

--NightZero, a Seattle-based zombie-themed, post-viral outbreak apocalypse, Web comic. Read the production team's blog, Journal Zero. And just to tie all this together: Night Zero will be at Crypticon June 7 and shooting a zombie short at zombie movie night July 3 (the short will be aired at Twisted Flick Night, Army of Darkness, Sat., July 18).

"Wow!" my new to the Northwest friend said, "I feel like I've arrived in zombie-mecca-heaven-ultra-fantastic-land!"

Or maybe he just gave me a dazed, weirded-out, whatever look. Either way, the Northwest's got lots of zombies! Probably because we've got lots of brains and them's good eatin'.

Also worth discussing, Seth Grahame-Smith's infestation of Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and the eternal question: Zombie sharks, redundant or extra scary?

Sci-fi reading at Wayward Coffeehouse

2009-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Seattle Browncoat hangout Wayward Coffeehouse, 8570 Greenwood Ave. N, hosts a sci-fi/fantasy reading 8-10 p.m., Sat., May 16 featuring authors Kij Johnson, Lancer Kind and Tim McDaniel.

Johnson is the author of "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss," (Asimov's, July 2008), a short story nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards this year, and the novels Fudoki (Tor, 2003) and The Fox Woman (Tor, 2000).

Kind's work appears in anthologies including Ruins Terra (Hadley Rille, 2007) and Speculative Realms. He's also reading with writer Camille Alexa, 6:30 p.m., Fri., May 1 at Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park and noon, Sat., May 2 at Flying Saucer Pizza in Redmond.

McDaniel's stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Chimeraworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, A Thousand Faces, Afterburn SF, and Dark Recesses.

Wayward Coffeehouse, a self-proclaimed "Haven for sci-fi geeks of any fandom," also has First Friday Sci-fi Film Nights and filks. Check out the calendar here.

Upcoming events include:
Time Bandits, 9 p.m., Fri., May 1
Jazz in the Corner, 8-10 p.m., Sat., May 2
The Canote Brothers, vintage folk and jazz, 8-10 p.m., Fri., May 8 (presented by the Pacific Northwest Folklore Society)
Pint & Dale, Celtic folk and sea shanteys, 8-10 p.m., Sat., May 9
David Guilbault, folk music, 8-10 p.m., Fri., May 15

Bloody scary: zombies and Cthulhu

2009-04-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Go brainlessly insane (with joy!) watching clips from ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction and Cthulhu and then find out what dark madness inspired Seattle filmmakers John Sinno and Kevin Hamedani (ZMD) and Dan Gildark (Cthulhu).

Explore why the future of horror lurks in local films at Reel Fear: An Evening with Local Horror Filmmakers, 7 p.m., Tues., May 19 at the Science Fiction Museum's JBL Theater, the next Exposed: Inside Film feature.

Northwest Film Forum program director Adam Sekuler hosts. Reel Fear is free for EMP|SFM and Northwest Film Forum members and just $5 otherwise.

Inviting us to the show EMP|SMF asks, "Do you have a taste for the bloody and scary?" Why yes. Yes, we do.

Once the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit opens Sat., May 23, look for the Exposed: Inside Film series to feature Labyrinth with guest Karen Prell, a puppeteer (Labyrinth) and animator (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Labyrinth shows 7 p.m., Tues., July 21 at the JBL Theater. The Jim Henson exhibit will be on display through Aug. 16.

To ponder: Who would win in a fight between a zombie horde and Cthulhu? Cthulhu, right? No argument? How about a zombie horde vs. Cthulhu cultists? David Bowie vs. cultists?

Hmm, back in '07 when Zombies of Mass Destruction was being filmed in Port Gamble this call went out for extras. Should we look for you in the ooze and the letterman's jacket?

Go Hawai'ian shirts, Locus Awards June 27

2009-04-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

Make a weekend out of the Locus Awards starting with the Clarion West party, 7:30 p.m., Fri., June 26 at the Lake Union Courtyard Marriott, 925 Westlake Ave., Seattle. Join author John Kessel and other special guests (to be announced).

On Sat., June 27 panels featuring science fiction authors begin at 11 a.m. with the Locus Awards Banquet and Ceremony at 1 p.m. followed by an autograph session (with books available for purchase from University Book Store) all at the Marriott.

A word of warning, M.C. Connie Willis hosts and she's serious about the dress code: Hawai'ian shirts. Wear it loud and proud. Even devotees of all black attire may be assimilated for the ceremony. Last year, this included William Gibson. As on the islands, the shirts are de rigeur with the thrift store variety strongly encouraged.

Later, if you want to get swanky, at 8 p.m. head over to the Science Fiction Museum for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The 2009 inductees are author Connie Willis, artists Michael Whelan and Frank R. Paul, and editor and publisher Edward L. Ferman.

Tickets for the Locus Awards are $35. They include the Clarion West party, all the Locus Awards events, and a day-pass for the Science Fiction Museum.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be available for purchase separately from the Science Fiction Museum. They're not on sale yet.

For your steamy, nerdy listening pleasure

2009-04-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Check out Sepiachord for steamy music calendars and reviews. Sepiachord enticingly describes itself as the musical version of steampunk and related melodies "made from the genetic material sown by Tom Waits" and "assembled like a clockwork orchestra." The Seattle Steam calendar lists upcoming music events including Seattle Steampunk Party II with Abney Park, 8 p.m., Fri., May 22 at Heaven, 172 S. Washington St. and the Clang Bang Cabaret, 10 p.m., Sat., May 23 at the Rendevouz Jewel Box Theatre, 2322 2nd Ave., featuring Fog People, Bakelite 78, and Toy-Box Trio.

Thanks go to aural seers Seattle Geekly for the tip, as well as for providing an intro to the Seattle nerdcore scene in Episode 7. The Geekly podcast includes an interview with comic book rockers Kirby Krackle seen recently at Emerald City ComiCon. Footage at Seattle Geekly.

Late Bloomer casts Lovecraft in sex ed class

2009-03-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

The H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival's Best of Fest Seattle brought forth a variety of animated, silent, black and white, and even subtitled madness. Macabre humor, mostly, filled the night.

Eel Girl, the tale of a scientist lured by a woman's charms (but, wait, don't forget she's a mons...ah!), and Between the Stars, an everyman man lured by the mystery of the cosmos (it's so beautiful, fascinating, I must touch...oh!), both did a particularly good job of storytelling in a short timeframe. Casting also set these apart, and Eel Girl gets a nod for special effects (Those teeth! That ooze!).

Late Bloomer, written by Clay McLeod Chapman and directed by Craig Macneill, was a stand out among the films, setting the Lovecraft mythos in a seventh grade sex education classroom — somehow a perfect fit. Excellent casting also distinguished this film with the very H.P. looking boy (Sam Borenzweig) mesmerized by charming and creepy classmates and menaced by a wide-eyed Mrs. Lovecraft (Lauren Bond) and a shady-eyed principal (Godfrey Pflager). The voiceover, also by McLeod Chapman, exquisitely captured the waver of madness. This film nailed elements of the mythos (rituals, cults, fear of the alien, fear of insanity), and managed some real surprise and horror — not the jump out of your seat kind, but the wrenching, "Oh, dear god, yes I can imagine that (but I'm so glad it's not me in that chair)!" kind. Hilarious and disturbing.

The film was the winner of the Lovecraft fest in 2005 and some other film folks liked it too. It's yours for a $1.50 here. See the trailer too.

Even midweek the Lovecraft films drew a fun crowd. There were a couple of Cthultu inspired headdresses, a few people reading Lovecraft while waiting for the doors to open, and discussions all around about the Hugo award nominees (Will Charles Stross' Saturn's Children win best novel?), Norwescon, LARP-ing, Sakura-Con, and Neil Gaiman (read “Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar” in the anthology Smoke and Mirrors or "I, Cthulu" online).

All in all, good times draped in the red velvet at The Grand Illusion Cinema.

Lovecraft films set to scare Seattle

2009-03-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

The H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, celebrating the literary gothic horror of H.P. Lovecraft through cinematic adaptation, brings its Best of Fest to Seattle March 20-26 at The Grand Illusion Cinema, 1403 NE 50th St., Seattle in the U District.

Best of Fest Seattle presents a collection of shorts from the past 13 years of the festival with showings at 7 and 9 p.m. daily and, also, 3 and 5 p.m., Sun., March 22.

An opening night gala will be Sat., March 21 (doors open at 6 p.m., films at 7 p.m.) with film festival founder, director Andrew Migliore, and David Prior, the director of AM1200, on hand to answer questions.

The films, promising murder, madness, monsters, and dark supernatural evil, will be:

7 p.m. - Casting Call of Cthulhu, Late Bloomer, The Book Dealers, Eel Girl, Legend of the Seven Bloody Torturers, The Canal, Maxwell's Mind, Experiment 18, Between the Stars and Call of Cthulhu

9 p.m. - The Outsider, Cool Air and AM1200

The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Cthulhu Con will be October 2-4 at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Ore.

Root for local authors at the Nebula Awards

2009-03-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

The finalists for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's 2008 Nebula Awards have been announced. Local authors in the running include Kelley Eskridge, in the novella category for her collection of short stories, Dangerous Space (2007, Seattle's Aqueduct Press), and Kij Johnson's short story, "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss," (Asimov's, July 2008). Eskridge's collection includes the stories "Alien Jane," "Strings," and "The Eye of the Storm" with an introduction by WisCon 33 Guest of Honor, Geoff Ryman. The blog AskNicola points to a good review of Dangerous Space at The Word Horder. Read Johnson's story, which also made Locus Magazine's 2008 recommended reading list, on her site. The Nebulas will be awarded April 24-26 in Los Angeles. More local authors who are finalists for the award include...? Let us know. Which stories are you rooting for?

Also at the event: Harry Harrison, author of 62 novels including Make Room! Make Room! (1963), the one that inspired the movie Soylent Green (1973), will be honored as the next Damon Knight Grand Master; M.J. Engh, author of Arslan (1976) and Wheel of the Winds (1988) will be honored as Author Emerita; and Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse as well as "Fray" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" season eight for Dark Horse Comics) will receive the Ray Bradbury Award.

Woot! Woot! for Penny Arcade along with the Washington State Senate

2009-03-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

Slashdot points to a March 5 Senate Resolution (8640) in the Washington State Legislature recognizing the accomplishments of Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins, comic writer, and Mike Krahulik, cartoonist and artist. In honoring the creators of the online comic about video games, the Senate Resolution noted: Penny Arcade's 10 year anniversary (it started fall 1998); the 2004 establishment of the annual Penny Arcade Expo gaming festival in Bellevue, Wash. (coming up Sept. 4-6, 2009); and the founding of Child's Play Charity in 2003, to collect donations of toys, games, books, and cash for children's hospitals. With the generosity of 100,000 gamers, the charity has raised more than 4.5 million dollars for 60 different hospitals including Seattle Children's Hospital and Sacred Heart Children's Hospitals in Spokane.

Only you can prevent Muppet-napping

2009-03-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

The next exhibit at EMP|SFM will be Jim Henson's Fantastic World May 23-August 16, featuring the imagination of artist puppeteer, film director and producer, Jim Henson (1936-1990), creator of Kermit and Big Bird.

The science fiction museum could use a bit of help with the Muppets. Why not add Muppet Volunteer to the resume? It could do wonders. Volunteers will work in a Jim Henson inspired puppet theater/TV studio where children and adults have the opportunity to perform with four commissioned Muppets inspired by famous Northwest musicians. Help make sure everybody has a good time and the Muppets don't get manhandled or Muppet-napped (!). Training for Muppet volunteers starts mid-May.

In the meantime, the Robots exhibit shows through May 3. See designer Tom Geismar's collection of toy robots along with EMP|SFM's life-sized robots, androids and cyborgs from the world of science-fiction film and television.

Or, if you are now stuck on Muppets, head over to The Muppet Newsflash, a Jim Henson News Blog, where you'll find news about Tokyopop's "Return to Labyrinth: Volume 3," a graphic novel written by Jake Forbes with art by Chris Lie set to release May 1, and Power of the Dark Crystal, the movie sequel moving out of pre-production and slated for release in 2011.

Science or fiction: What's a fan to do?

2009-03-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

Since when did Monday nights become so popular?

On March 16, you can either go find out about extraterrestrials, when astronomer Alan Boss presents The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle, or go get your Godzilla, Frankenstein, Mummy fix, early. At 7 p.m., James Morrow, author of Shambling Towards Hiroshima (2009, Tachyon), hosts “From Hollywood to Hiroshima." He provides commentary on Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) and The Mummy’s Curse (1944) starring Lon Chaney Jr. at NW Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle. NW Media Arts, Tachyon Publications, and the University Book Store co-sponsor.

What's a fan to do? Are you headed for science or fiction or staying in?

Review: Gloss via spitkitten, Brain Harvest - a new online mag to launch March 1

2009-02-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

Seattle writer Caren Gussoff, author of Homecoming (2000) and The Wave and Other Stories (2002) and a 2008 alumna of the illustrious Clarion West Writers Workshop (visit Gussoff at www.spitkitten.com for the full scoop on her work), drops in with a report on this week's Fantastic Fiction reading:

Oregon-based author Molly Gloss *pnwd* the intimate audience that attended her reading on February 23 at the Fantastic Fiction Salon (co-sponsored by Richard Hugo House and NW Media Arts). Gloss read her multiple award-winning short story, “Lambing Season,” the elegant tale of an isolated sheepherder who makes first contact (the story is available in Gardner Dozois’s The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction). The next workshop and reading features celebrated SFF author, Nancy Kress, on March 29 and 30 (get the details here or see the earlier post).

Thanks for the bringing the news! On March 1, Gussoff is also launching an online speculative fiction mag, Brain Harvest: An Almanac of Bad-Ass Speculative Fiction, with co-editors Shane Hoversten and Eden Robins.

In the meantime, fun with following: BrainHarvest and spitkitten on Twitter, norwescon (the events schedule for April 9-12 is up) and seattlegeekly, too. Power to the Tweeple.

The search for new Earths is on in Seattle

2009-02-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

Astronomer Alan P. Boss has a few fantastic jobs.

He maintains NASA's official list of planets, as chair of the International Astronomical Union's (yes, this is the group that gave Pluto the boot*) working group on extrasolar planets.
He oversees all NASA missions leading to the detection of habitable Earths, as a member of the NASA External Independent Readiness Board for the Navigator Program.
He helps NASA plan its search for extrasolar planets.

What does it take to get such great gigs?
Just a doctorate in physics, some postdoctoral work for NASA, a post on staff at the Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, and more than 25 years of research into the formation of stars and planetary systems.

On March 5, the Kepler Mission, NASA's first mission capable of finding earth-size and smaller planets, launches to hunt for worlds that could potentially host life. "Kepler is scheduled to blast into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5 at 10:48 p.m. EST," says a Feb. 19 NASA press release.

Eleven days later Boss talks extraterrestrials, 7:30 p.m., Mon., March 16 at Town Hall Seattle. And, as someone who has spent a lifetime closely watching the stars, Boss thinks we will find alien life. He'll explain why in his presentation, or, check out his book of the same title, The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets (2009). From the book blurb:

Life is not only possible elsewhere in the universe, Boss argues-it is common... America must stay in this new space race, Boss contends, or risk being left out of one of the most profoundly important discoveries of all time: the first confirmed finding of extraterrestrial life.

The intelligent life on earth sponsoring Boss' lecture includes: Seattle Science Lectures, Pacific Science Center, and University Book Store.

Tickets are $5 at www.brownpapertickets.com, call 1.800.838.3006, or at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m.

** Hey, did I have you at Pluto? If you're free Monday night, you don't have to wait until March for your astronomy lecture. Check out astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson's talk The Pluto Files, 7:30 p.m., Mon. Feb. 23 also at Town Hall Seattle. Same deal as above with the tickets.

Fantastic Fiction: Nancy Kress in March

2009-02-15T22:53:00.000-08:00

After Molly Gloss' Sunday workshop Feb. 22 and reading Feb. 23, the Fantastic Fiction series brings Nancy Kress, the Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Beggars in Spain (1993), to Seattle in March. Kress teaches a workshop, "Planning Your Novel," 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sun., March 29 at Richard Hugo House and then reads and discusses her work, 7 p.m., Mon., March 30 at the house.

Kress is the award-winning author of 26 books (19 novels and more than 100 short stories). For 16 years she wrote for the “On Fiction” column in Writer’s Digest. Most recently, Kress received a Nebula for her novella, Fountains of Age, (Asimov's Jul 2007). Her short story collection Nano Comes to Clifford Falls made io9's top 11 books of 2008. Kress was also included in io9's article on Science Fiction Writers' Cruddiest (And Craziest) Day Jobs. Before becoming a full-time writer and writing teacher, Kress wrote training manuals for Xerox.

This spring, the Fantastic Fiction series continues at Hugo House with Sunday workshops and Monday evening readings April 19 and 20 with Gregory Frost, author of the fantasy Shadowbridge (2008) and its sequel Lord Tophet (2008), and May 17 and 18 with Paul Park, whose most recent title is The Hidden World (2008), the fourth book in a fantasy series from Tor that began with A Princess of Roumania (2005).

Richard Hugo House and NW MediaArts co-sponsor Fantastic Fiction.

Review: science taps suspended animation

2009-02-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Emanating from the mud pots of Yellowstone, Lechuguilla Cave near Carlsbad Cavern, and your local hot springs, hydrogen sulfide, infamous for its rotten egg stench, may one day save your life.

At the latest Science on Tap, Dana L. Miller, Ph.D, shared what she and other researchers under the direction of Mark Roth are up to over at Roth Labs and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

They've been blowing hydrogen sulfide at fruit flies, water bears (the Northwest's cute moss-loving rotifers), and mice, and here's what they've found: suspended animation.

Hydrogen sulfide puts the critters into a hibernation-like state (metabolism slows, body temperature drops to room temperature). Even after hours in suspended animation, when the sulfide is replaced with a waft of oxygen, the creatures revive (without any heroic efforts on the part of the researchers) and go on about their business.

Lest you envision astronauts in stinky hydrotanks traveling to distant planets in suspended animation only to be devoured by aliens upon arrival, researchers don't know how long a creature can remain inert. They've topped the mice out at six hours, so far. And space travel isn't really what the scientists at Fred Hutch have in mind.

They do imagine that inducing suspended animation like states could be used to reduce the trauma of surgery and heart attacks (myocardial infarction for fans of House), and in triage on the battlefield (point of fact: the Department of Defense is funding this research).

The advantage to "metabolic flexibility" (in this case: the ability to slow down so we can use less oxygen when less oxygen is available) is that hibernating animals don't get sick. And they don't react to trauma. Sometimes our bodies' natural response to injury (say an elective surgery) only makes things worse.

Hydrogen sulfide could slow this response or "stave off the dying and allow medical intervention," as Miller says. It could even be administered before a surgery and shorten the recovery time. Maybe.

Don't forget though, hydrogen sulfide, like oxygen, is toxic. There's still a lot we don't know about these gases effects on and use in our bodies, Miller says.

But it's this not knowing, the discovery, that makes Science on Tap fun — oh, and the brew. Labs don't always yield expected results, questions don't always have pat answers, wacky sounding ideas might lead to real world applications — and beer, foamy.

Serious about hydrogen sulfide? Head to the actual research. Don't dally at this fannish review with its Guinness drenched knowledge. Read how worms on the gas had an unexpected response: They lived longer.

The next Science on Tap, Making the Internet Green: How to Build Sustainable Data Centers, will be 7 p.m., Feb. 23 in Ravenna at Third Place Pub. KCTS9 and Pacific Science Center co-sponsored the talk on suspended animation.

Abigail represents for Northwest at film fest

2009-02-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Emily Yoshida with her film, Abigail, represents for the Northwest at the Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival Saturday at the Cinerama. Of the 20 filmmakers from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands selected to show their work at the festival only Yoshida can claim some cred from Northwest origins. She was born in Japan and raised in the Tacoma area. So says her bio.

She's also a recent graduate of UCLA's School of Theatre, Film & Television where she worked on Abigail as part of her thesis. The film tells the story of a teenage girl who disappears in a club into a virtually infused reality where her best friend, Sam, tries to track her down. Look for a shot of L.A.'s Second Street Tunnel in the film, Yoshida's tribute to Blade Runner. See the trailer for Abigail here.

Yoshida, 23, is also the only woman filmmaker in the festival. Sadly, in The Tacoma News Tribune article, From ‘Star Trek’ fan to sci-fi filmmaker, she concludes, “It seems like the sci-fi world is not big on girls."

Say it isn't so. Not in a world that includes: Broad Universe, Feminist Science Fiction, Ambling Along the Aqueduct, The League of Extraordinary Paranormal Women, WisCon, Feminist SF-The Blog!, and even Sci-Fi Chick. More?

What about sci-fi world friendly groups for women filmmakers? They must be out there.

Abigail shows in the second session of 10 films, 7-9 p.m. at the festival. An awards ceremony follows. The first 10 films run 4-6 p.m. Tickets: $9 for one session, $15 for both at www.siff.net. Questions? Call 206.464.5830.

Writer of Outlander, Underworld 3, Amazon, Conan at science fiction museum

2009-02-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

Screenwriter Howard McCain knows some of the secrets of our past, present and future film-watching, and he'll be in town 7 p.m., Tues., Feb. 17 at Seattle's Science Fiction Museum for the next in the Exposed: Inside Film series. $5 or free to EMP|SFM members. Call 1.877.EMP.SFM1.

In 2010, if all goes well on the big screen, a gladiatrix (played by Scarlett Johannsen?) will exact vengeance on the army that destroyed her homeland in Amazon and Conan (the famous Cimmerian/Barbarian) continues his adventures (begun in 1932 thanks to Robert E. Howard and Weird Tales) across the continent of Hyboria. McCain, and Dirk Blackman, wrote the screenplay for Amazon and were hired by Lion's Gate to write Conan.

In theaters now, McCain and Blackman also wrote the screenplay to Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, the origin story for the trilogy (vampires vs former slaves).

McCain also wrote and directed 2008's Outlander, and that's the film that will be shown and discussed at the next Exposed: Inside Film. Warren Etheredge of The Warren Report and co-founding faculty of TheFilmSchool in Seattle hosts.

Outlander takes place far, far in our past, 509 AD. An alien guy, Kainan, joins forces with Vikings to battle a creature known as The Moorwen after he and it crash land in Fjords in ancient Norway. Alien stud plus Vikings equals dead monster, right?

This weekend: the Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival starts 4 p.m., Sat., Feb. 7 at the Cinerama.

End of January hot spots: Four reviews

2009-01-26T22:41:00.000-08:00

Jan. 26, Eileen Gunn at Richard Hugo House — Gunn lived up to Michael Upchurch's "zany" declaration in this blurb in The Seattle Times prior to her reading and did in fact read the piece about Spock and Captain Kirk having a baby (written to fulfill a friend's 40th birthday request), but the second work Gunn read was about physical and emotional pain and loss, inspired by her late father's life. He lost his leg serving in World War II and experienced fading memories as he died. Up next in the Fantastic Fiction series, Molly Gloss 7 p.m., Mon., Feb. 23 at Hugo House, another author whose works show fantastic versatility.

Jan. 24, The Can Can Castaways show Aerobotron — think aerobics, robots, and even Tron — this experimental dance show/underground cabaret managed to fit in the frenzied, the mechanized, and the strange. Reminiscent of Liquid Sky, the feel was far more modern and edgy than burlesque, but sexy? Oh, yes! The Castaways — head choreographer Rainbow, Jonny Boy, Faggedy Randy, and Fiona Minx — go all in showing artistry, energy, and expression. Plus, the venue at Pike Place has a great Steampunk-esque atmosphere with a view of the streets through the Seattle underground amethyst-tinted glass cubes.

Jan. 24-26, Nicola Griffith at asknicola.blogspot.com — Griffith's blog is smokin' on the science news with recent posts about research into a cure for racism, a new genetic theory of inheritance, and invisible RFID dust, ID-dust — and she also won an award. The Alice B. Reader's Appreciation Medal recognizes a writer's outstanding contribution to lesbian fiction. Don't read about it here. Go to AskNicola.

Jan. 23, Jonathan Coulton at The Moore — Coulton, Paul and Storm, and Molly were awesome in Seattle. The audience was freakin' awesome too. Great companionable geekdom. These are the good to have around, might actually help each other out in the apocalypse, people never mentioned in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It's good to know there are still songs we all know the words to and can — Arrrgh! Brains! — sing together round the campfire. Along with science and fictional favorites like "Nugget Man" (Paul and Storm), "Skullcrusher Mountain" and "It's Gonna Be the Future Soon," and some amazing covers of Destiny's Child and Britney Spears (Molly cleaned up on "Toxic") , there were some songs minions requested on Twitter. At least at the beginning of the show, Coulton said he loved us so much he'd be back soon. Next stop for the show was The Aladdin Theater in Portland. How was that?

Potlatch 18: The Books of Honor, Part II

2009-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Growing up Weightless by John M. Ford and Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin are the books of honor at this year's Potlatch, the non-profit literary convention, for readers and writers of speculative fiction, Feb. 27-March 1, in Silicon Valley. This is the first time the Potlatch organizers have selected two books of honor for the event.

Here's the Publisher's Weekly line on Growing up Weightless, simply: "A young man's coming-of-age story set on the Moon at the end of the 21st century." American author John M. Ford (1957-2006) was an active member of the science fiction and fantasy community. The novel is his fifth of six published novels between 1980 and 2000. It was nominated for a Phillip K. Dick award in 1993. Ford also published several short stories.

"Mike (John M.) Ford is/was a brilliant science fiction writer whose work is not as well known and well read as we feel it should be," says Potlatch organizer Lenny Bailes. Read the rest of Bailes' introduction to the book and Liz Henry's "Middle of the Night Reaction to Growing Up Weightless" on the Potlatch Books of Honor page.

Escape the ravages of oxygen Feb. 3

2009-01-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

Oxygen is killing us, but Dana L. Miller and others at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center think they may have the antidote: hydrogen sulfide. It made animal cells live longer and now they're testing it on humans. Age less, live longer with hydrogen sulfide?

Get the scoop at the first Science on Tap in February when Miller presents "Buying Time with Suspended Animation," 7:30 p.m., Tues. Feb 3 at T.S. McHughs, 21 Mercer Street, Seattle. Free. Go early because Seattleites like their science.

Nicola Griffith reads from Ammonite online

2009-01-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

An English novelist living in Seattle, Nicola Griffith reads from her Tiptree and Lambda award-winning novel Ammonite (1993) on her blog Ask Nicola. It's part of her Friday audio series, which sometimes includes songs(she used to front a band). She takes requests!

Ammonite tells the story of anthropologist Marghe Angelica Taishan sent by her employer, the Company, to the planet Jeep where a virus has killed all men and sickened most women. She seeks to test a vaccine and discover how the native women reproduce without men. Marghe arrives as an observer reacting to the alien environment of Jeep, but by the end of her journey across the planet has "gone native" and plays a pivotal role in the population's destiny.

It's a lovely reading. Listening to authors read their own works, there's really nothing nicer.

Three new books by local authors

2009-01-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

Keeping us in the center of the known universe of science fiction and fantasy three local authors came out with books early in 2009. Sci-fi, fantasy dominate new offerings, ran the head over Michael Upchurch's new books listing in The Seattle Times.

Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh, writing out of Spokane, is the sequel to Cyteen, the 1989 Hugo Award winner. The former links are to information at www.fantasticfiction.co.uk. Cherryh, author of more than 40 novels, keeps her own Web site here. It's rather out of date though. Find the most recent content at The Progress Report. Scroll all the way down!

Airs of Night and Sea, by Toby Bishop (who also writes as Louise Marley), out of Redmond, finishes a fantasy trilogy begun with Airs Beneath the Moon. These novel create The Horsemistress Universe, filled with women flying on winged horses. Find some of character Larkyn Hamley's recipes online. Bishop sometimes brings Crooks to her book signings.

The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog, a novella by Kat Richardson, of Seattle, published in a collection, Mean Streets, continues the story of Seattle detective Harper Blaine's investigation of the supernatural. Greywalker (2006) is Richardson's first novel. Richardson's blog My Own Personal Grey includes links to some other writers and writing resources.

If you hear of any upcoming local readings for any of these books, let us know!

Lois McMaster Bujold: Horizon book tour

2009-01-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

Lois McMaster Bujold's book tour with Horizon (2009), the fourth novel in The Sharing Knife Series brings her to the Northwest for two appearances.

She reads:
• 7 p.m., Jan. 28 at the University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE
Seattle. Call 206.634.3400.
• 6 p.m., (note a time change) Feb. 1 at Powell's, 3415 Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, Oregon. Call 1.800.878.7323.

McMaster Bujold is the author of a slew of oft reviewed novels including The Vorkosigan Series. Her Nebula award-winning books are Falling Free and Paladin of Souls. Paladin of Souls, The Vor Game, Barrayar, and Mirror Dance won Hugos. And her novella, The Mountains of Mourning, garnered both awards.

Read reviews of The Sharing Knife, Vol. 1: Beguilement (2006), The Sharing Knife, Vol. 2: Legacy (2007), The Sharing Knife, Vol. 3: Passage (2008) in Strange Horizons.

If you read Horizon or if attend one of these readings stop by and say how it was.

Molly Gloss readings and workshops

2009-01-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

Oregon writer Molly Gloss reads from her most recent novel The Hearts of Horses, 6:30-7:45 p.m., Tues., Jan. 13 at the University Branch of the Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way N.E. Call 206.684.4063. The novel, a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, tells the story of a young woman breaking horses for ranchers in Oregon in winter 1917.

Science fictional? Well, see Gloss' reading included on io9's Guide to Everything Science Fictional in January — so there you have it. Nisi Shawl had this to say in her 2007 review of The Hearts of Horses, A strong woman in a fragile Oregon frontier in The Seattle Times, "...Gloss ignores boundaries instead of defying them. The mythic and the mundane are one."

Other works by Gloss include: the short story “Lambing Season,” (Asimov's Science Fiction, July, 2002), a finalist for the Hugo and the Nebula awards and chosen for The Best of the Best: Twenty Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction; the novel Jump-Off Creek (1989) winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Oregon Book Award; and her novel Wild Life (2001) winner of the James Tiptree Jr. Award for feminist science fiction.

See more of Gloss in February. She's teaching a writing workshop focusing on setting, The Ground Beneath Their Feet, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sun., Feb. 22 as part of the Fantastic Fiction writers workshop at Richard Hugo House and giving a reading there 7 p.m., Mon., Feb. 23.

In March, look for a Fantastic fiction workshop and reading with Nancy Kress.

Save the date: Science Fiction Hall of Fame

2009-01-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

Latest check of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame Web site now includes a date for the 2009 induction ceremony: Sat., June 27. Shouldn't this be Seattle's hottest ticket? The 2008 event honoring Betty and Ian Ballantine, William Gibson, Richard M. Powers, and Rod Serling was a blast plus the fun of wandering around the museum with some of the people responsible for the works behind the glass cases. In retrospect, when stuck for a topic of conversation with a new hall of famer, try, "Congratulations!".

Potlatch 18: The Books of Honor, Part I

2009-01-03T21:56:00.000-08:00

Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin and Growing up Weightless by John M. Ford are the books of honor at this year's Potlatch, the non-profit literary convention, for readers and writers of speculative fiction, Feb. 27-March 1, in Silicon Valley.

To get ready, here's a little nitty-gritty on Always Coming Home and links to some discussion. Some 17 novels into her career, — after the Earthsea trilogy, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Lathe of Heaven (1971), and The Dispossessed (1974) — Northwest writer Le Guin wrote Always Coming Home (1985). Le Guin's most recent novel is Lavina (2008).

Always Coming Home, a creative anthropology, chronicles the culture of the Kesh people drawing from elements of Native American cultures (for details be sure to see Liz Henry's post, Thoughts on Always Coming Home, on Feminist SF: The Blog!, which sparked some great discussion). A recording of Kesh poetry and music accompanied some editions (really curious to hear this-—have you?). The novel was shortlisted for a National Book Award.

For more Always Coming Home prep, check out Paradoxa No. 21: Ursula K. Le Guin, the latest issue of the journal of scholarly articles on genre literature published on Vashon Island. Richard D. Erlich discusses the book in his essay, "Always Coming Home: Ethnography, unBible and Utopian Satire" and online in the Science Fiction Research Association Digital Book: Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin.

Next up, a bit on Growing Up Weightless. Please point the way if you already have good intel.

Fantagraphics prints cryptozoology sequel

2008-12-31T17:23:00.000-08:00

Cryptozoology! Fantagraphics Books, Seattle publisher of graphic novels, has come out with Beasts! Book Two the follow up to Beasts! Book One (2006, now out in softcover), an art volume of mythical creatures. Apparently there was a 2nd anniversary party earlier in December for the bookstore and gallery. Anyone make it? How was? If you need details on the book, check out Michael Upchurch's article in The Seattle Times, Seattle's Fantagraphics introduces hopping vampires and other beasts.

But if they had you at cryptozoology, on the hunt for mythological creatures, (and seriously, yeah) just bop over to Fantagraphics to check out the book and see the art exhibit, 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays (yea, open late so even us working stiffs can get there on a "school night"), 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays, through Jan. 24, at the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, 1201 S. Vale St., Seattle. Free. Call 206.658.0110.

Before we head out though, let's drop some names and give kudos: local graphic artists featured in the book include Peter Bagge, Kazimir Strzepek and Jim Woodring.

Need more cryptozoology? Check out Jorge Luis Borges' The Book of Imaginary Beings and join the Newsvine cryptozoology group. So much bigfoot!

Exposed: Pi, 7 p.m., Jan. 20 at SFM

2008-12-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

"Extraordinary how mathematics help you to know yourself."
— Molloy, Samuel Beckett
*Or is it?

The Exposed: Inside Film series, which took a detour from its mission to provide insight into cult films to offer the inexplicable holiday strangeness, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, returns with Pi, 7 p.m., Tues., Jan. 20 at the JBL Theater ($5 general, free for members. Call 1.877.EMP.SFM1).

Pi (1998), directed by Darren Aronofsky, tells the story of a lonely mathematician who believes that nature can be represented and understood through numbers. After the film, a rabbi, a mathematician, and an expert in the game of Go (anyone have the punch line?) enumerate the facts and fiction in Pi.

For a jumpstart on this discussion, check out the Science News article, Brain reorganizes to make room for math, which explains how learning math messes with kids' minds.

The Exposed: Inside Film series is another Seattle International Film Festival and EMP/SFM team up (They're also bringing us our film festival Feb. 7). The theme of the series this winter is Do-It-Yourself (DIY), more play for low-budget sci-fi films.

Speaking of DIY, everybody caught the article on San Francisco's biohackers, right? Doing genetic engineering at home for fun and, well, mostly just fun, but who knows, maybe innovation or mayhem too. Good for science? People are debating. Good for science fiction? Aw, yeah. The apocalypse can start in anyone's apartment for less than $100.

More evidence for the science fiction/reality merger: per io9, per William Gibson.

** "One day I counted them. Three hundred and fifteen farts in nineteen hours, or an average of over sixteen farts an hour. After all it's not excessive. Four farts every fifteen minutes. It's nothing. Not even one fart every four minutes. It's unbelievable. Damn it, I hardly fart at all, I should never have mentioned it. Extraordinary how mathematics help you to know yourself." — Molloy, Beckett

Eileen Gunn: 7 p.m., Mon., Jan 26 at Hugo

2008-12-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

Gotta love the Northwest. The weather keeps writers right where we want them, stuck at home with nowhere to go but into their imaginations. Snowbound Seattle writers tweeted about the snow and posted snow pics on blogs. Perfect!

Every now and again though, it's good to let 'em out. The next chance to get out of the house with Eileen Gunn is at her workshop "Wit and Tragedy: Writing the Savagely Funny Story," 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sun., Jan. 25 at Richard Hugo House ($130, or $117 members) or the following day when she reads and talks about her work 7 p.m., Mon., Jan. 26 at the house ($5). This is part of the Fantastic Fiction Writing Workshop Series and Salons (upcoming events with Molly Gloss in February and Nancy Kress in March).

Gunn wrote the short story collection Stable Strategies and Others (2004), won the Nebula for "Coming to Terms," and serves on the Clarion West Writers Workshop board of directors.

She's also responsible for The Difference Dictionary, a supplement to William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's mother of steampunk novel, The Difference Engine. Get your absinthe, Charles Babbage, and hallucigenia definitions here. (Huckle-my-buff: "a hot drink made with beer, egg, and brandy." Needed that one directly. Thank you much! Steampunk people: Have you braved this beverage? Tasty?! Potent?!?)

Also, check out Gunn's online zine: Infinite Matrix. It looks like the site was last updated for Cory Doctorow's birthday but, whatever, mine it for content including Doctorow's story, "Nimby and the Dimension Hoppers," Gibson's essay, "Time Machine Cuba," and Gunn's editorials.

And now back to rain but, no worries, it's even better than snow at keeping writers en chair.

New links added: 12-21-08

2008-12-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

Shel Graves who is the newest contributor to the NWSFS New Blog suggested that some new links be added to the the Local links list on the left, so I have gone ahead and added the following:

I too was planning to add a link for Science on Tap based on this article I came across on Slashdot about Denver couple who built a robot. Give the Slashdot article a read and then check out the links below related to Science on Tap, and the Denver Robot.

Bully to bots and beers! ~ Jim

Happy 20th Birthday Space Telescope

2008-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 20th birthday and the Transformation of Modern Astronomy at the next Science on Tap event (science plus beer!) with speaker Bruce Balick, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington.

The event is 7:30 p.m., Tues., Jan. 6 at T.S. McHugh's Irish Pub, Lower Queen Anne, 21 Mercer St., Seattle. Call 206.282.1910.

2009 marks the 20th year of the Hubble Space Telescope and the 400th anniversary of Galileo the "father of modern observational astronomy" Galilei's demonstration of his first telescope. Hubble has entertained 4,000 astronomers worldwide and snapped about 500,000 images of more than 25,000 celestial objects. These include Balick and friends' pics of planetary nebulae.

Because of Hubble we have intel on the age of the universe (13.7 billion years old), how planets are born, and dark energy. Balick will also give an update on the Hubble Servicing Mission 4 planned for this winter to improve Hubble's space armor and make it more powerful than ever.

Need more Hubble? Check out National Geographic's book Hubble: Imaging Space and Time, reviewed by the LA Times here.

20 Science Fiction + Fantasy Shorts: Feb. 7

2008-12-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

The 35th Seattle International Film Festival starts May 21. But the science fiction version is sooner. The Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival promises 20 new, creative additions to science fiction and fantasy cinema arts. The festival will be 4-6 p.m. (10 films, Session 1) and 7-9 p.m. (10 films, session two, an awards ceremony follows), Sat., Feb. 7, at the Cinerama.

Tickets are $9 for a single session, $15 for both sessions on sale now at siff.net. Questions? Call 206.464.5830. This is the Science Fiction + Fantasy Festivals' fourth year. How was last year? Are you going again?

Critically acclaimed weird tales: Rikki Ducornet reads Dec. 16

2008-12-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

Author Rikki Ducornet, of Port Townsend, WA, reads from her new short story collection, The One Marvelous Thing, 7:30 p.m., Tues., Dec. 16 at Elliot Bay Books. Ducornet writes fantastic, delicious, and creepy stories. She's been compared to Angela Carter (Check out Carter's modern updates of fairytales in The Bloody Chamber) and H.P. Lovecraft. Ducornet's works win many awards too. The Seattle Times says this is a book of "surreal, phantasmagorical tales" with illustrations by cartoonist T. Motley (creator of Aline the Alien) that some may find "disturbing." Sounds great!

Ducornet is the author of seven novels including Gazelle (2003), The Fan Maker's Inquisition: A Novel of the Marquis de Sade (1999), and The Jade Cabinet (1993), and two previous short story collections The Complete Butcher's Tales (1994) and The Word 'Desire' (1997). She is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Potlatch 18: Feb. 27-March 1, Silicon Valley

2008-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

Potlatch, the all volunteer, non-profit literary convention, for readers and writers of speculative fiction, descends on Silicon Valley this year, at The Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale, Calif. Proceeds benefit Clarion West. Last year's Potlatch in Seattle kicked off Clarion West's 25th Anniversary celebration.

Paradoxa No. 21: Ursula K. Le Guin

2008-12-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

The current issue of Paradoxa, a journal of articles on genre literature published on Vashon Island, features "New Writing on the Works of Ursula K. Le Guin." The collection of 17 essays is edited by Sylvia Kelso of James Cook University, Australia and includes works by a few Le Guin scholars (yes, people who read and write about Le Guin for a living and, presumably, teach too). They are teaching Le Guin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," for example. Ms. Le Guin herself, still around (Are you reading Lavinia (2008)?) and not so far away in Portland, Ore., weighs in, as well, talking about the influence of her childhood home, a Maybeck house in the Bay Area, California, on her writing. The collection ranges from Darko Suvin's scholarly examination of The Dispossessed, (which fabulously concludes "Truth shall make ye free (if you organize).") to scholar April Kendra's fannish reaction to first meeting Le Guin. Richard D. Erlich's essay, "Always Coming Home: Ethnography, unBible and Utopian Satire" could be a good warm-up for Potlatch 18, but more on that later. Look forward to a similarly thorough treatment for Darko Suvin from Paradoxa, No. 22, in 2009.

Local heroes: Robotics flashback, Lifesuit

2008-12-12T17:13:00.000-08:00

Speaking of robotics, in 2005 the Seattle PI ran an inspiring story about a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger who was told he might never walk again after breaking his back in a nighttime parachute jump. After reading Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Monty Reed got the idea to build a device to allow quadriplegics to walk, climb stairs and someday dance. He enrolled in a robotics program at North Seattle Community College and built the Lifesuit, a robotic exoskeleton, with some help from the Seattle Robotics Society. Later, he went on to the University of Washington, regained movement in his arms and legs, but continued work on his prototype and received a Mary Gates Scholarship. Where's the Lifesuit today? Well, there's fundraiser for Reed's non-profit TheyShallWalk, 6 p.m., Sat. Dec. 13 at the New York Fashion Academy in Ballard. Back to the earlier neurobotics post, wonder if anyone at the Pacific Northwest Center for Neural Engineering was inspired by Starship Troopers? Or any science fiction?

Local heroes: Neurobotics expert Matsuoka

2008-12-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a great science mashup: robotics plus neuroscience gives us neurobotics. Expert Dr. Yoky Matsuoka, an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, aims to make Seattle a hub of Neural Engineering. Matsuoka, a MacArthur Genius Fellow, is up to the task. Over at the Neurobotics Laboratory, they're using robotic models to simulate the biomechanics of human limbs and robotics systems to augment, replace and rehabilitate damaged motor functions. Matsuoka is working to build a fully functional replica of a human hand that can be controlled directly by the brain. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Computational Neuroscience at MIT where she was also a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department. Sounds fun! Matsuoka gave a recent talk on neurobotics at a Society of Women Engineers meeting. Anyone catch it? If you hear of an upcoming talk on neurobotics, let us know!

Greenwood Space Supply Company - AKA: 826 Seattle

2008-11-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Times recently posted an article about the Greenwood Space Supply Company which is also know as "826 Seattle". 826 Seattle is one of Dave Eggers' writing-focused centers that are located around the US. Other centers are located in San Franciso, Brooklyn, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston. Each center has it's own theme with the Seattle center being focused on space.

According to the article "826 offers free writing classes on the weekends for kids between the ages of 8 and 18; and fee-based workshops for adults about once a month." This is a really great idea to get kids interested writing and in the case of the Seattle of the Seattle center, get kids intersted in space and science as well. Dave Eggers and those that are working with him have a great idea and they seem to be getting their local community support as well. Here is the URL for their site http://www.826seattle.org/ and their YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/826seattle which features student-made videos.

I am rushing to get this posted, and I really didn't get a chance to read everything about the center so if you have something to add then feel free to comment ~ Jim

Local events for November 2008

2008-11-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

I will be adding to this list as I find time, so check back often ~ Jim

*****
SPECULATIONS - ELLIOTT BAY SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY BOOK GROUP
Spook Country by William Gibson, Tuesday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m.

*****
University Book Store - Selected Highlights from the University Book Store Events Calendar
Below is a select listing of upcoming events presented by the UW Book Store.

Wednesday, November 5, 7pm - Brandon Sanderson and David Farland
"Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn" and "Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords" - Reading & Book Signing @ U District store
It's a fantasy invasion! Brandon Sanderson stops by to talk about the third in his Mistborn series, the final book of the trilogy where Allomancers (the Mistborn) ingest small particles of metal to enhance their physical and mental abilities. And David Farland will discuss the plight of Fallion Orden, downtrodden after his failure to unite the shadow worlds into "one true world."

Wednesday, November 5, 7:30pm - Robert Park "Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science"
Pacific Science Center, Eames Theater, 200 Second Avenue North, Seattle
From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, has superstition become pervasive in contemporary culture? Professor Robert Park argues that it has. In Superstition, Park asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded. He examines recent controversies and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world. This lecture is a part of the Seattle Science Lecture Series. Note: $5 General Admission; Free to Pacific Science Center members and students with ID.

Monday, November 17, 7pm - Fantastic Fiction Salon with Connie Willis
Richard Hugo House Cabaret, 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle
Connie Willis has won more awards (19) than any other SF author for her insightful, witty novels and numerous works of short fiction. Celebrated as a humorist with spot-on comic timing, she also uses her fiction to examine larger questions: the nature of God, the persistence of suffering and loss, and the role of love and redemption. Her much-anticipated new novel All Clear will be released in 2009. Sponsored by NW MediaArts, Richard Hugo House, and University Book Store. $5 donation at the door.

Tuesday, November 18, 7pm - Jesse Reklaw and Special Guests: Theo Ellsworth & Kazimir Strzepek
"The Night of Your Life: A Slow Wave Production" - Q&A, Reading & Book Signing @ U District store
What do our dreams look like? Portland's Jesse Reklaw takes the dreams of others and illustrates them to give us a peek into the subconscious playground of those around us. Joining Reklaw will be fellow Portlandian Theo Ellsworth (Capacity), self-taught artist and zinester (see his work at artcapacity.com), and Seattle cartoonist Kazimir Strzepek, The Morning Star.

You can find University Book Store locations here.

Clarion West News

2008-11-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Check out these latest news items from the Clarion West site:

Now Accepting Applications for 2009 Workshop: "Clarion West is an intensive six-week workshop for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy, held annually in Seattle, Washington, USA."

Challenge Grant from Amazon: "In celebration of our 25th consecutive workshop, Amazon is donating one dollar to Clarion West for every dollar we receive from individuals, corporations, government offices, charitable foundations, and special events—up to $25,000. We have until October 31, 2009 to raise $25,000; Amazon’s grant can double that to $50,000.

If you'd like to make a donation to Clarion West for Amazon to match, visit our Donate page. Read more »"

Night of the Living Dead at Seattle Children's Theatre

2008-10-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

No, I am not kidding. Here is the URL for the Seattle Children's Theatre presentation of "Night of the Living Dead"

http://www.sct.org/browse/Production.aspx?prod=4497

It does appear to have sold out, but maybe they will add an additional performance or present it again next year.

Upcoming EMP|SFM Reading Events

2008-10-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

*****
Thursday, October 23 – Reading with author Jonathan Carroll - Presented with University Book Store

Enjoy an evening of literary exploration with acclaimed author Jonathan Carroll. His new novel, The Ghost in Love, tells the tale of what happens when we discover that we are the masters of our own fate.
Author Stephen King said, “Jonathan Carroll is as scary as Hitchcock, when he isn’t being as funny as Jim Carrey.” Carroll has authored such acclaimed novels as White Apples, The Land of Laughs, The Marriage of Sticks and Bones of the Moon.

Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: EMP|SFM, 325 5th Avenue North
Tickets: Free and open to the public; reservations are encouraged. Reserved seats unclaimed 10 minutes prior to the event are subject to be released to the wait list.
Information: Call 206-770-2702 or 1-877-EMP-SFM1
URL: http://www.sfhomeworld.org/

*****
Friday, November 7 – Reading with author Leslie S. Klinger

Enjoy an evening with award-winning author and editor Leslie S. Klinger.
Considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, Klinger is the editor of the three-volume collection of short stories and novels, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes.

His new work, The New Annotated Dracula, promises a similarly in-depth examination of Bram Stoker’s haunting classic and its historical context.

Time: 7p.m.
Venue: EMP|SFM, 325 5th Avenue North
Tickets: Free and open to the public; reservations are encouraged. Reserved seats unclaimed 10 minutes prior to the event are subject to be released to the wait list.
Information: Call 206-770-2702 or 1-877-EMP-SFM1
URL: http://www.sfhomeworld.org/

PS: I still am looking for some local fans to help me gather the news for this section of the blog. Drop me a line if you are interested ~ Jim

Another Seattle Tun this Sunday!

2008-09-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Tun is an open pub meet for Seattle Area science fiction fans who like to socialize, talk, argue, gossip, and drink beer with like-minded fen. The Tun meets on the Second Sunday of every month. Currently we're at the Third Place Pub, though we're always open to brilliant suggestions for new venues with good beer, lots of flexible seating, and noise levels low enough to allow conversation.

If you expect to be in Seattle on Second Sunday, and would enjoy a bit of beer-lubricated conversation on a wide range of topics, possibly including Science Fiction, please feel free to drop by and join in.

Where: The Pub @ Third Place, Ravenna
6504 20th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98115
Pub: (206) 523-0217
When: Sunday, September 14
4:30 pm - 6:30 pm or later

The Pub is open 3-10pm on Sundays; NB that the bookstore upstairs closes at 7:00 pm so if you need to service your Jones for books, or want to exit by the bookstore door, you need to do it before 7:00. Otherwise it's just a quick nip 'round the block from the pub door to the bookstore parking lot.

Local Notices and Blog Updates: Aug. 14, 2008

2008-08-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Local Blog Updates

BIFF: Burrard Inlet Fan Fellowship - BIFFnews: HORRIBLE SING-ALONG BIFF

Upcoming Local Events
Complete details for these events and other events are posted here

Saturday, Aug 16, Seattle Robotics Society - RFID Tags presentation, followed by a Swap Meet.
Tuesday, August 19, 6:30 PM, The Elliott Bay Book Company - SPECULATIONS - ELLIOTT BAYSCIENCE FICTION & FANTASYBOOK GROUP: "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 7:00 PM, U District store - Terry Brooks, "The Gypsy Morph (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 3)", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 7:00 PM, U District store - S.M. Stirling, "The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change", Reading & Book Signing
Wednesday, Sep, 03, 7:00 PM, U District store - Steven Erickson, "Toll the Hounds: Book Eight of The Malazan Book of the Fallen", Reading & Book Signing
Monday, Sep, 15, 7:00 PM, University Temple United Methodist Church Chapel, 1415 NE 43rd St, Seattle - Neal Stephenson, "Anathem", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, Sep, 16, 7:00 PM, U District store - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, "Paul of Dune", Reading & Book Signing
Saturday, September 20, Seattle Robotics Society - Relationships with Personified Robots presentatin by Rachel Severson, and another Swap Meet.
Wednesday, Oct 01, Museum of Flight: William M. Allen Theater - Happy 50th Birthday, NASA!
Saturday, Oct 11, 10AM – 5PM, Museum of Flight: The Great Gallery - Northwest Historical Miniatures Gaming Exhibition
Friday, Oct. 24, 7:00 PM, U District store - Greg Melville, Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, a Car Powered by Vegetable Oil, and a Cross-Country Trip in Search of a Greener World, Reading & Book Signing ( 10 years ago, this might have been considered science fiction ~ Jim )
EMP|SFM - Robots: An exhibition celebrating humankind’s fascination with robots. The exhibition runs May 16 to October 26, 2008.
Pacific Science Center - For the latest news check the PSC blog or the highlights posted on the Science News page.
Vancouver Art Gallery - KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art, May 17th - September 7th, 2008, Vancouver, BC Canada.

Be sure to let us know if you have or know of a local event that should be listed here.

Local Blog Updates: Aug. 12, 2008

2008-08-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Except for the local events already posted here this KCLS update is latest local news I have.

King County Library System - MySpace Blog: Is Breaking Dawn a dud?

If you know of any local news you believe should be listed here, just drop me a line at:

nwsfsnews (at) gmail (dot) com

I am also looking for some reporters / bloggers / data-miners to post on this page, so if you are interested, send me an email

Cheers!

-Jim

Seattle Tun - Pub Meet: Sunday, 08-10-08

2008-08-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

Where: The Pub @ Third Place, Ravenna, 6504 20th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98115
Pub: (206) 523-0217
When: Sunday, August 10, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm or later

The Pub is open 3-10pm on Sundays; NB that the bookstore upstairs closes at 7:00 pm so if you need to service your Jones for books, or want to exit by the bookstore door, you need to do it before 7:00. Otherwise it's just a quick nip 'round the block from the pub door to the bookstore parking lot.

Upcoming Local Events: Aug. 03, 2008

2008-08-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

*****
EMP|SFM - Events and exihibitions currently taking place at the EMP|SFM

Exposed: Inside Film at EMP|SFM - Altered by Elvis with directors Jayce and Tiffany Bartok
Robots: An exhibition celebrating humankind’s fascination with robots. The exhibition runs May 16 to October 26, 2008, Pulsar Lounge Gallery.

*****
The Elliott Bay Book Company - SPECULATIONS - ELLIOTT BAYSCIENCE FICTION & FANTASYBOOK GROUP:
"World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks, Tuesday, August 19 at 6:30 PM

*****
Museum of Flight - Upcoming Events Calendar:
Here are a few highlights from the calendar of upcoming events at the Museum of Flight. You can view the complete calendar of events here.

Wednesday, Oct 01, William M. Allen Theater - Happy 50th Birthday, NASA!
Saturday, Oct 11, 10AM – 5PM, The Great Gallery - Northwest Historical Miniatures Gaming Exhibition

*****
Pacific Science Center - Things are really busy at the Pacific Science Center. Check the PSC blog for the latest news.

*****
Seattle Robotics Society - Below are just some of the events listed on the SRS home page:
Saturday, August 16:

RFID Tags - "Evan Welbourne from UW will do a presentation on RFID Tags and Tracking, Localization, and the Future."
Swap Meet - "Clean out your garage/basement/whatever and bring your stuff to trade/sell/give away. After the meetings we'll move outside to the parking lot so just leave your stuff in your vehicle, but bring in a teaser or two for show-n-tell if you want. Remember, whatever you don't get rid of needs to go with you"

Saturday, September 20:

Relationships with Personified Robots - Rachel Severson, UW psychologist, will present her group's research on children's and adolescents' social and moral relationships with personified robots.
Swap Meet - Clean out your garage/basement/whatever and bring your stuff to trade/sell/give away. After the meetings we'll move outside to the parking lot so just leave your stuff in your vehicle, but bring in a teaser or two for show-n-tell if you want. Remember, whatever you don't get rid of needs to go with you.

*****
University Book Store - Selected Highlights from the University Book Store Events Calendar
Below is a select listing of upcoming events presented by the UW Book Store.

Tuesday, Aug 05, 7:00 PM, U District store, - Kat Richardson, "Underground", Reading & Book Signing
Thursday, Aug 07, 7:00 PM, U District store - Eldon Thompson, "The Divine Talisman: Book Three of the Legend of Asahiel", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, Aug.12, 7–8:30 PM, U District store - Greg Bear, "City at the End of Time", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 7:00 PM, U District store - Terry Brooks, "The Gypsy Morph (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 3)", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 7:00 PM, U District store - S.M. Stirling, "The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change", Reading & Book Signing
Wednesday, Sep, 03, 7:00 PM, U District store - Steven Erickson, "Toll the Hounds: Book Eight of The Malazan Book of the Fallen", Reading & Book Signing
Monday, Sep, 15, 7:00 PM, University Temple United Methodist Church Chapel, 1415 NE 43rd St, Seattle - Neal Stephenson, "Anathem", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, Sep, 16, 7:00 PM, U District store - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, "Paul of Dune", Reading & Book Signing
Friday, Oct. 24, 7:00 PM, U District store - Greg Melville, Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, a Car Powered by Vegetable Oil, and a Cross-Country Trip in Search of a Greener World, Reading & Book Signing ( 10 years ago, this might have been considered science fiction ~ Jim )

You can find store locations here.

*****
Vancouver Art Gallery - KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art, May 17th - September 7th, 2008, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC Canada.

Be sure to let us know if you have or know of an event that should be listed here (nwsfsnews at gmail dot com)

Vampire series based in Washington State

2008-07-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

According to the Seattle Times, the Twilight series of teen vampire books is set in the town of Forks, Washington. Tours are now popping up with fans traveling to the town to see locations written about in the book.

Upcoming Local Events July 27 - Aug 02

2008-07-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is just a short list. The complete listing for the upcoming months will be posted by the end of the week.

Monday, July 28, 7:00 PM, U District store - Naomi Novik, "Victory of Eagles: A Novel of Temeraire", Reading & Book Signing
Tuesday, July 29, 7:00 PM, UW Kane Hall, Room 130 - Clarion West presents Chuck Palahniuk, Snuff, Reading & Book Signing
Thursday, July 31, 7:00 PM, U District store - Dave Williams, "The Mirrored Heavens", Reading & Book Signing
Friday, Aug 01, 9:00 PM, Wayward Coffeehouse - Movie Night: "The Goonies"
Tuesday, Aug 05, 7:00 PM, U District store, - Kat Richardson, "Underground", Reading & Book Signing
Thursday, Aug 07, 7:00 PM, U District store - Eldon Thompson, "The Divine Talisman: Book Three of the Legend of Asahiel", Reading & Book Signing
EMP|SFM - Robots: An exhibition celebrating humankind’s fascination with robots. The exhibition runs May 16 to October 26, 2008,
Vancouver Art Gallery - KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art, May 17th - September 7th, 2008, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC Canada.
Pacific Science Center - Things are really busy at the Pacific Science Center. Check the PSC blog for the latest news.

The Portland Alien Museum Expands

2008-07-27T16:27:00.001-07:00

The Portland Alien Museum Expands

Thanks to tremendous public interest, the support of our friends in the UFO community, and international media coverage The Portland Alien Museum is now, after four short months, one of the two most famous museums in the world dedicated to the UFO/Alien experience. Our combination of serious research at The Center For Alien Studies, special events and amazing family attractions like the Hollywood Vortex and the Ancient Hybrid has enabled The Portland Alien Museum to present the most interesting and authoritative information about contact with extraterrestrials to the American public. This success, however, has stretched us beyond the capacity of our two- bedroom house in Portland’s Hollywood District. We are currently raising the funds necessary to reopen in a larger space in downtown Portland, and are planning to expand to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. We are also closely examining the opportunities name recognition has created, from t-shirts to a chain of Alien- themed cafes and Hotel/Casino.

As we take this cybermoment for fundraising and strategic planning, I would like to personally thank all of you--- our great supporters, members and visitors. Without your enthusiasm and encouragement UFO and ET studies would still be in the hands of the agencies. Your feedback has shaped the role of The Portland Alien Museum---to bring the facts of ET contact to as many people as possible---and I have every confidence we are close to the truth. If you believe in the mission of The Portland Alien Museum, if you think organizational independence and intellectual integrity is essential to Alien Studies, if you believe the American people have the right to know the full and accurate record of ET contact by the military, if you suspect other UFO groups are infiltrated or compromised, then you’ll understand the historical importance of our appeal. At this crucial moment we are asking all friends of The Portland Alien Museum to join us in our search for sufficient space and proper funding so we can carry our mission deep into the future. If you can help, or know someone who can, please contact us at: info@portlandalienmuseum.com

I invite you to check back often as we build out our site. We’ll feature major new position papers in the Center For Alien Studies, UFO news updates, our Museum Forum, and the best selection of UFO merchandise on the internet.

Please write us if you have sightings or experiences, Alien/UFO collections you’d like to loan/ donate to the Museum, or website suggestions.
---Dr. Lawrence Johns, Director

Portland Alien Museum
http://www.portlandalienmuseum.com