BASFA meeting happyakukyuujuuni (Japanese for 892) was called at 9:12 p.m. by acting president Kevin Standlee in the annexed Yokohama Bay Area location. Acting secretary was Carole Parker.
A group photograph of the present BASFA members was taken by previous WorldCon chairman, Vincent Doherty. The question was asked which location would have the most BASFAns in attendance - Yokohama or Silicon Valley? Allowing for a conversion rate, it was agreed that 30 yen would be the pun tax amount. No previous minutes were available to be approved, and no officers were present, so no officer reports were given. The sports committee reported that the San Francisco Giants have won five to six games in a row. A follow-on reported that a Japanese woman placed third in the World Track and Field marathon in Osaka. Ambassadorial Reports - BASFA's reputation remains unchanged according to Pat McMurray. Another committee report, this one to take over Melbourne pointed out that Melbourne still qualifies for WesterCon. We currently have more agents in the eastern hemisphere than at any time in the last century. If all goes according to plan, we could take over Melbourne, but you will note that Dave Clark was not here. We had some neeping about taking things out of context. Another ambassador report from Dr. Andrew Adams who will be living in Ikuta for a few more days, and then returns to Redding. After eight months in Ikuta, we pulled off a WorldCon in Yokohama. The question came up that if you mishear a statement that someone makes, does it count as a pun? This issue will be discussed next week. Announcements Daniel Spector's wife joined/was inducted into the local science fiction motorcycle club. They drive 50CC Honda Dreams which are reproductions of Honda racing motorcycles that can go 90 mph. Glenn Glazer announced that two BASFAns entered wedded bliss two nights ago at a very special Japanese style wedding. Kimonos were worn by both, with the groom wearking hakama as well. Glenn and Alison Hershey were the happy couple wearing traditional Japanese wedding garments, but I note that the wedding kimono came off after the ceremony was done because the room was so hot. Lots of bodies. Ambassador John Hertz joined the meeting to make it 13 attendees. Reviews Bill Laubenheimer - We spent four days in Kyoto before coming to Yokohama. Kyoto has way too many things to do, you can spend as much money as you care to. We spent more than 25,000 yen on Japanese fabrics. We did nearly as much damage at two restaurants, one which had a 15 foot tall animatronic crab above the doorway. The food was excellent, and it had a taster menu of crab dishes. Dave Clark had two restaurants to review. "On the Herb" is at the World Porter mall. It's a nice Italian place with reasonable prices. The other place is NY Grand Kitchen which has a decent grill, good selection of beer, comprehensible to a foreigner, and worth the value. Daniel Spector has been staying at the Yokohama Hostel Village. It is a mere 2 train stops away. It is clelan, quiet, comfortable, and for two, it is $37 per night. The room is small: 5'9" x 7'. Service is wonderful, but only has one bathroom for one 90 rooms with a single shower stall on the roof. No curfew. They were smart enough to group all other groups together. Glenn reviewed the Manyo Club. It's 94,500 for seven (7) nights. When staying at the Manyo Club, you have full run of the place which has a spa, shared bath, saunas, foot bath on the oberservation deck near the roof, full Japanese breatfast. It was noted that Glenn, and our secretary Carole Parker, noted that they could get used to this. Despite not having much English skills, the Manyo Club staff is helpful and patient when speaking with non-natives. Carole also noted that the onsen (baths) are closed from 8 - 10 a.m. for cleaning. Convention Reviews Daniel noted that for the art auction, the Japanese had to be introduced to bidding against one another. At first, it started out with a Japanese whispering into the ear of a Western agent, and then the Western [EMAIL PROTECTED] the [EMAIL PROTECTED], after four items, they got into it. The Japanese artist GOH, Bob Eggleton, and Michael Whelan did a piece together. At first, Americans were bidding on it, and it got up to $700. Then, a Japanese biddger got into the act, and the bidding went 1,000, 1,100, 2,000, 2,100, all the way up to 10,100 with the final stall at $16,000. Because of the artwork that the three artists contributed to WorldCon, a combined total of $23,500 was raised for charity (the convention). Bob Eggleton was supposed to do some artwork in someone's sketch book (Daniel Spector?), but Bob got freaked out about being part of a piece that got into five digits. Andrew noted that Inoue-san was extremely happy about the amount of money that the artworks brought in. Daniel noted that seven different people got art pieces instead of one or two people getting artworks. This was believed to be the highest art auction price in WorldCon history (price neeping happened). Plus, Daniel noted that collecting a Hugo is really neat. Tall Kevin noted that this was the first time that he saw the Hugos from the audience viewpoint (position) instead of running around in the background. Bill Laubenheimer noted that in many cases, it seemed like the Japan concom tried to observe Western WorldCon traditions without paying attention to the function. He noted that filking got put out into outer Slovobia. Attending WorldCon in Japan is worth an attending membership. Tall Kevin noted that Jay Lake only came in for a 30 hour turnaround. A small debate broke out on whether or not Jay Lake is mad or very savvy. Carole noted that the masquerade seemed to be rather received when audience members were asked afterwards. Except for the one blot on the show, working with the Japanese was very enjoyable. Others followed on that it started 47 minutes late. Glenn felt that everyone he met was wonderful and helpful. The Japanese were really nice, and Glenn and Allison got a tour of Kamakura at the expense of the Japanese hostess who would not allow them to pay for anything. Daniel's wife described going into a Japanese room party with a Hugo as intense. Daniel noted that the Japanese respect awards, and they felt that it was a great honor to them. He will vote to future Japanese WorldCon bids. Tall Kevin originally had some misgivings about a Japan WorldCon, and he is glad that he was wrong. Nothing more than the usual WorldCon noise. It was worth everything that he paid for it. While he would not be ready to come back to Japan next year, he thinks that once a decade would be appropriate. Auction 700 yen note that was good enough for a ride on the Cosmo Ferris Wheel or another ride at the local amusement park. It is worth one Master level ride, and Daniel Spector paid 71 yen for it. Total monies raised from pun taxes and voting was 4,387 yen. Kevin promised to convert the money to American dollars before handing the treasurer the funds. Rumor of the Week Although David Brin promised to put his anti Seiun award in a different room (at the Closing Ceremonies) from his two Seiun awards, he will forget due to fatigue, and they will annihilate each other. Meeting adjourned at 22:23. _______________________________________________ Basfa mailing list [email protected] http://lists.basfa.org/listinfo.cgi/basfa-basfa.org
