Courtesy of Linda, our Emergency Holographic Secretary.
Meeting 893
September 10, 2007
Trey Haddad, President
Chris Garcia, Vice President
Dave Gallaher, Treasurer
Galen Tripp, Sergeant at Arms
Barbara Johnson - Haddad, Secretary
Began at ~8:02
Eric assumed acting chair responsibility as neither the President nor VP was
present.
Linda W was tricked into being the secretary... heaven help us all for the
minutes that follow...
23 people in attendance.
No party jar established... motion defeated by a stealthy killing vote from the
acting chair.
Secretary's report: the minutes from Meeting 892 were accepted (with minor
corrections) as 'HugoSized'
Treasurer's report- Dave G reported that last week we took in $33.50. He also
reports that he was able to pick up a handy little device at the computer store
for about $32 +tax that he was able to attach to his hard drive and that he
believes he will be able to successfully retrieve the BASFA financial info and
he believes that the balance is now in the $9000-9200 range.
The party jar took in $10, and after Ed is reimbursed for some outstanding
party expenses that the party fund will be in the $2-300 range.
Kudos to Dave from the group for being able to avoid the exorbitant data
retrieval fees charged by disk saver services.
Vice President Report - even though VP was not in attendance, several members
alleged the ability to channel Chris and betwixt the combined clairvoyant
talents of Adrienne, Julie and Jo, the VP reports that there is a new Drink
Tank out and it's the best Ev-AR. Also a new SFinSF will be out, is out now
and/or there will be another one out soon.
The wildly successful Cocktail Issue will be followed up by a secret,
previously undisclosed issue being worked on right now. Follow-on speculation
is that this will be the 'Hangover Issue'.
President report - by not being present, the assumption is that the President
has nothing fannish to report at this time.
Committee reports
No sports committee report
Site Selection - Dave G confirmed that our next meeting on 9/17 will be at the
CoCo's in Sunnyvale. There was a review of the places we have been to over the
past several weeks. The impression Dave has been getting from people is that
CoCo's does currently appear to be the front runner. Took a 'feel of the room'
non binding vote amongst the members present to see which venues were worth
continuing to pursue. CoCo's got 'a lot', IHOP by Great America 4 votes,
Giovannis none. More discussion on the pros and cons of these venues. Dave then
asked it there were other places people were interested in trying - other
options and their +/-'s discussed:
Adrienne suggested Bombay Gardens and Sweet Tomatoes
John suggested Boscoe's in Sunol
Dave G put forth Sonoma Chicken Coop in Campbell
Dave said he would look into these new options and report back to the group and
he would try and find a location for the 9/24 meeting prior to the 9/17 meeting
and post it to the group.
Announcements
Jo says there is a new periodical out called Daily Fiction. It’s been out 5-6
days, all online. They take submissions via email. And email you a story every
day. He can't review the actual stories, as they have been piling up in his
mailbox and he hasn't had time to read them yet. But offers up that it's a
great idea, and people should check it out. Also that PantheaCon online
registration for attendees has gone live. Program submissions should be live in
the next couple of days.
Dave Clark announced that there is a new gallery show opening in Berkeley
called 'Pop OM Art' at the SR2 Gallery, 1728 University Avenue - curated by
Mark Bode, and featuring the works of, among others, Jack Kirby, BK Kliban,
Vaughn and Mark Bode, Hal Robins, Jeff Jones, Peter Max, Margaret Keane and
many, many more.. More info at http://www.sacredrosetattoo.com/sr2/
Show opens 9/15 and runs thru Nov. 8.
Spring announced there are only 4 more days to get your Vintacon registration
in. That would be Saturday Sept 15. No scavenger hunt this year.
John O announced that Stage 1 has opened the Sound of Music. Runs thru Sept 22.
Chris and John O have flyers if anyone is interested or more info at
http://www.stage1theatre.org/
Lisa announced that the deadline for the Costume Con 26 Future Fashion Folio is
Sept 15.
Reviews:
Julie reviewed mall shopping. Wondered if the Vallco mall still existed - was
looking for a Penney’s, none at Valley Fair, so went to the Vallco Fashion
Mall. Still no downstairs, but still has an arcade and a new neon lit bowling
alley. Also a multiplex AMC theatre with auto ticketing machines so you don't
have to talk to the kids in the ticket booths. There is a sign above the
skating rink that says an International Food Court is coming, but it hasn't
yet. Go there if you really need to find a Penney’s. Follow-on questions
regarding other stores that may or may not still be at Vallco and if the name
might have changed.
Tracy reviewed Apple Store Customer Service. Her power cord tried to set itself
on fire, so she decided it was time to get a new one. Venturing in to the Apple
Store on University Ave in Palo Alto, she had to flag someone down to help her,
they didn't have the power cord in stock, nor did the other Apple store they
called. At this point, her laptop is now effectively a doorstop... Power cord
located at another, non apple site (Stanford campus store?). Also noted that on
a recent trip to Fry's she had far superior customer service than she received
at the Apple Store. Follow-on from Julie - also needed a spare cable (for an
iPod) - none at the Apple Store, Fry's had a stack of them, they were cheaper,
and the service was better too. Fry’s wins the customer service award ... for
the moment.
Also reviewed the Bourne Ultimatum which counts as sci-fi due to the technology
being depicted. No way the NSA has real time instantaneous wiretapping with
data mining to find the exact voice they are looking for, since our NSA can't
do that right now. Also, Matt Damon was too pretty at the end to be believed.
He should have been messed up more to be believable. Follow-on from Jo that the
technology does exist, but he could neither confirm nor deny the NSA knew how
to use it themselves.
Jo reviewed that he traded his girlfriend for a new motorcycle and that that
was a good deal.
Dave Clark reviewed the Warner Bros (cartoon) exhibit at the SF Int'l Airport.
Cells, maquettes, behind the scenes info covers Warner Bros cartoons in the
50's-60's. It's free, on the 'right' side of the security lines and worth full
price.
Also reviewed WorldCon. Said when Frank accepted his Hugo he was never
lovelier. Descriptions of the after parties followed. It was as if Ultraman had
come down from the mountain top with the Hugo and Frank blessed the room. Jay
Lake had commented that when Frank's award walked in the room that is was like
back in the sixties the way people screamed for the Beatles.
Dave then mentioned a Japanese phrase that Spring immediately translated. Dave
wished it to be recorded that he did not desire the said translation. Dave
moved on to review the Tokyo Disneyland Resort - which was bigger than Anaheim.
More seafood, only one hot dog vendor. Also a side note that the Hilton had the
best hotel rooms of his entire stay. Adrienne asked about pins, and Dave
reported that there are none at Japan Disneyland. He also went to the Disney
Sea Resort. Disney characters all walking around, but they were much more
animated than our 'domestic' characters. (Pun fee paid). Also, the fireworks
shows are the same for both parks... only you see the backside of the
Disneyland Resort show when you are at Disney Sea. Only about 10 minute show.
Tokyo was reviewed as hot and humid. The day after the typhoon it was cooler.
He is recovering nicely from carrying lots of heavy bags with straps and is
happy that he no longer needs to point at food to order.
Ed reviewed a new device in the latest Orion Supply catalog as SciFi realized.
The Celestron Sky Scout Personal Planetarium - $400, the size of a video camera
- you point it at the sky and it has the smarts to tell you what you are
looking at.
There were some fill-in reviews waiting for Jenny to return to the room...
(Dave c?) asked for a review of the bay bridge closure. (It opened early). Some
discussion of CC Meyers changes of being he next mayor of SF (pretty good).
Dave G reviewed Torchwood - now legally available in the US -which debuted on
BBC America last Saturday. Sound cut out briefly during the broadcast, but it
was nice to be able to watch it on a big screen instead of a computer monitor.
Dave C followed on that it is nice to watch it on TV and is shocked that Dave G
would imply that BASFA members would steal shows.
More discussion about Graham Norton show which featured David Tennant and lots
of silly Dr.Who themed pranks.
Jenny reviewed being happy to finally get the gumdrop iMac off her desk and
replaced with a better working, better priced machine (non-Apple) and that it's
good to finally get on the internet again.
Auction Mis-start as Dave began to auction the 2004 Hugo that Frank had left
carelessly lying around unattended on the table. Bidding reached $4.80 before
Frank returned to the room and 'withdrew' all the Hugos from play.
$2.00 for Advance Reader Copy of Spaceman Rules
Birthday Auction:
$10 for Chris O to Frank
$10 for John O (from Frank) for Dave C.
Add on announcements/reviews:
Frank Wu reviewed Balls of Fury as hilarious that a white guy played a Chinese
guy. Christopher Walken was brilliant.
Julie announced the alleged title of the new Indiana Jones movie as Indiana
Jones and the Crystal Skull. Follow-on about who is/isn't cast for this
venture. (Harrison Ford, Karen Allen in, Connery out)
We adjourned at 9:27pm
And the rumor of the week was that.... 'Frank Wu is a GOD to Japanese Fans'
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