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2010 MonSFFA MEETING SCHEDULE
Our meetings are held Sunday afternoons at 1:00 PM in the St-François room of the Days Hotel, 1005 Guy Street unless otherwise indicated.
All meetings will also include a brief 15 minute presentation by select members entitled: Hidden Gems/Second Chances – Members discuss those books or films that never really got the recognition they really deserved.
NOTE: All programming is tentative and subject to change at the last minute.
January 17, 2010
MonSFFA Executive Elections
Bulwer-Lytton Writing Competition
Hosted by Joe Aspler
Finalization of MonSFFA panels for 2010
February 21, 2010
Radio Fen from the Moon (Part 1): in-meeting group project, the first part of which is the collective writing of an old-fashioned radio play, SF/F theme. Members are asked to bring in their best ideas, including any rough drafts they may wish to pen prior to the meeting. Script should not exceed an approximately 5-minute running time, or about 6-8 type written pages.
Brainstorming Session, Outside-of-Meeting Fundraisers
March 28, 2010
Brainstorming Session Outside-of-Meeting Fundraisers: We’ll take an hour to consider means of raising funds for the club outside of our meetings.
Radio Fen from the Moon (Part 2): in-meeting group project, the second part of which is the performance and recording of the old-fashioned radio play arrived at the previous meeting. Parts will be cast and actors will rehearse and perform the piece, which will be recorded and later augmented with sound effects and music. A CD of the final radio play will be produced.
April 18, 2010
1:00PM
Science Fiction and Fantasy Blogs: A look at some of the more interesting examples currently online.
2:00PM
Open Discussion: Before the mid-meeting break, we experiment with the idea of open, free-form debate; members may bring up and expound upon any SF/F-related matter in a 30-minute unstructured discussion that we expect will meander over many topics.
3:00PM
Radio Fen from the Moon, Recording Session: We take a half-hour to further unfinished work on our old-fashioned radio play project.
3:30PM
Sci-Fi Social Networking: Enjoying the Genre and communicating with fellow SF/F fans using Facebook, Twitter, and other online tools.
May 16, 2010
Paper or Plastic?
The latest in model making trends from paper to plastic model kits. In addition, members are encouraged to bring in their own model kits whereupon they can have the MonSFFA pros help them with any and all questions they may have.
Our model masters are: Mark Burakoff, Wayne Glover and Dominique Durocher
Sci-Fi Fair:
A fund-raiser with an emphasis on fun in which members try their hand at a variety of challenging SF/F-themed carnival midway-like games; premium prizes will be awarded the highest point-getters. A bake sale will perhaps accompany the fair.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Garage Sale Fund-Raiser
The club is going to try a novel suggestion, proposed via our suggestion box, for an outside-of-meeting fund-raiser, that of holding a neighbourhood garage sale. MonSFFAn Theresa Penalba has kindly offered her South-Shore suburban home - 909 Nelan Street (Greenfield Park) as the locale for this sale.
Club members Keith Braithwaite, Cathy Palmer-Lister, and Alice Novo will join Theresa at her home on the morning of Saturday, June 12, to staff the effort. Our team will open for business at 9:00AM and operate for much of the day, wrapping up no later than 4:00PM. Yard and street-corner signs will be produced to advertise the event and the team will provide from among them a number of tables and chairs with which to set up on Theresa’s driveway. The club will supply a cash box with a change float of some $30.
It was agreed that all proceeds from this garage sale are to be directed to MonSFFA’s general operating fund. Should this undertaking prove profitable, the club anticipates holding other such garage sales later in the summer. Any merchandise unsold this time out will be stored for later use in one of these or another fund-raising enterprise.
Note: should the forecast call for rain, the sale will be cancelled. We’d then look at rescheduling for another day.
We thank our many donors for their contributions to the cause.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
MonSFFA Bowling Event -
In lieu of a June MonSFFA meeting, the club has opted to go bowling. On Sunday, June 13, we’ll meet promptly at 11:45AM just outside the AMC movie theatre complex on the main floor of the AMC Pepsi Forum (the old Forum), Atwater Avenue, across the street from Alexis Nihon Plaza (Atwater Metro). We’ll then proceed upstairs to the AMC Forum Sports Bar/Bowling Alley for an enjoyable afternoon of tenpins and casual conversation between frames. We have booked a couple lanes and expect to bowl a couple games, at least.
Cost is $7 per person per game; each individual is responsible for his or her own expenses.
A prize will be awarded whoever records the afternoon’s highest score!
All club members and their friends are welcome, including any folk who might prefer to sit out the games and simply enjoy good company. Food and drink can be purchased from the restaurant.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Annual MonSFFA BBQ - Angrignon Park
MonSFFen, their families and friends are invited to the club’s annual summer barbecue, scheduled this year for Sunday, July 25. Should the weatherman call for rain on that day, the event will be postponed one week, until the following Sunday, August 1.We expect to occupy our usual spot at Parc Angrignon in Lasalle. Look for us on the picnic grounds just behind the Angrignon Metro station, a couple hundred feet or more from the parking lot next to the park’s petting zoo (farm). We plan to secure a few picnic tables and set up around 10:30AM. Bring along a Frisbee, soccer ball, or any games that you may wish to enjoy, plus your own food and drink—the club will supply a cooking grill. Also, Warp 74 will be available for pick-up. Do join us for a pleasant day in the park. And don’t forget your sunscreen.
August 15, 2010
Fancraft Workshops: members try their hand at a variety of sci-fi-themed crafts in a series of workshops running concurrently throughout the afternoon. The manufacturing of SF/F jewelry from nuts, bolts, and other hardware items is one such workshop.
1) Scale Modelling in Paper or Plastic, a continuation of the modelling workshop we held at the club’s May meeting. Bring in your modelling projects and tools, continue work on your models, and benefit from the tips to be offered by the club’s most skilled practitioners of the craft. A time-honoured craft that recreates the worlds of sci-fi in miniature!
Panel to be hosted by Mark Burakoff and Dominique Durocher
2) Nuts and Bolts Crafting, a workshop/demo on fashioning your own unique jewelry using simple hardware-store materials like nuts, bolts, screws, fasteners, etc. Bring with you a bag of such odds and ends so that you may try your hand at this creative craft. Let loose your imagination!
Panel to be hosted by Lindsay Brown
3) Photo Retouching and Digital Art, a demo on using Photoshop and other such graphics software to retouch your digital photos or create striking digital art. Come prepared to take notes, ask questions, and learn!
Panel to be hosted by Bernard Reischl
As well, we will be photographing examples of the finest fancraft produced by our members at the club’s August 15 meeting, devoted, as it happens, to fancraft. MonSFFen will recall that we plan to produce a MonSFFA calendar next year highlighting the best creative work of our group.
In order to arrive at the best results, we will set up a proper photo area at the meeting and snap MonSFFen wearing their most striking, skillfully fashioned SF/F costumes, for example, or several angles of a club member’s precisely detailed spacecraft model.
But I already have great shots of my costumes and models, you say! If so, bring them in to the August meeting. Please note that these images should be clean, good quality photos or digital reproductions of your fancraft. As we are selecting images to be featured in the calendar, we are looking for well composed shots, properly in focus and expertly lit, against a neutral backdrop. We want the attention to be on your work, unobstructed by any distractions in the background.
We’ll also be gathering drawings and paintings of sci-fi subjects rendered by those artists in our group, as well as 3D artwork such as wood carvings, sculptures, and props. Again, good quality prints or digital photos of these are welcome. We hope to spotlight in our calendar a wide variety of fancraft in different mediums.
September 19, 2010
Introduction to Computer Gaming
A 1-hour primer on popular computer gaming
Our Game Master is: François Ménard
Guest Speaker Olivier Xavier: Local special effects artist Olivier Xavier speaks on his professional career, the modern visual effects industry, and the FX techniques employed by low-budget independent filmmakers.
Presenter: Olivier Xavier
October 17, 2010
The History of Future
Future’s History: the evolution of the Captain Future character over a variety of media.
Presenter: Marquise Boies
Weird Sci-Fi Technologies: a review of some of the more bizarre technologies to be found in the annals of science fiction.
Presenter: Sylvain St-Pierre
Science Fiction Themes and Visuals in Commercial Advertising: a look at advertising’s use of SF to sell products and services.
Presenters: Alice Novo, Bernard Reischl
November 21, 2010
Signs and Symbols, Legends and Mythologies: an examination of these, their origins and connections. Presenters: Lindsay Brown, Marc Durocher
Star Trek Remastered: an appreciation of the remastered versions of the original Star Trek episodes, in which the visual effects have been updated. (Presenter: Wayne Glover)
Fan Film Theatre: screenings of some of the most interesting and recent examples of SF/F fan films available on the Web.
Presenter/Projectionist: Bernard Reischl
December 4, 2010
MonSFFA's Annual Christmas Dinner & Party.
Details to be announced.
As is our tradition, we will be collecting toys and items of non-perishable food for donation to Sun Youth’s Christmas Basket Drive. In the spirit of the season, please give to benefit those less fortunate in our community.
NOTE: All programming is tentative and subject to change at the last minute.