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THREE PART PROGRAM:
Lonny Buinis
Mr Buinis' astroonomical art website is: http://lwayne.home.surfree.com/.
Richard Factor
The S.E.T.I. League website is: http://www.setileague.org/.
Linda Zimmermann
Ms Zimmermann's website is: http://ghostinvestigator.com/.
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: July 8, 1995
Meeting Site: Barnes & Noble, Nanuet, New York.
Official Attendance: 36.
Meeting Program: Talks on Space FX, S.E.T.I, and Science.
Notes:
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 1995 Philip J De Parto:
The monthly meetings of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County and the Final Frontier were held on Saturday, July 8, 1995 at Barnes & Noble, 140 Rockland Plaza, Route 59 West, Nanuet, New York.
The summer doldrums and overly pessimistic travel estimates (a number of people expressed surprise at how quick and easy it was to get to the store) kept turnout a bit lighter than usual, but those who did make it had an enjoyable time.
The early birds were Lonny Buinis, Paul Dellechiaie, Philip De Parto, Richard Factor, Carol Smith, and Heather Wood. They walked to Steak & Ale for dinner and pleasant conversation.
Anthony Tellado led the Final Frontier discussion of the STAR TREK timeline, mentioning significant dates and events in Federation history. Much of the discussion was couched in the form of a trivia quiz ("Does anyone remember the name of the first Captain of the 'Enterprise'"?). The hot news at the meeting was that Michael Dorn had signed on to become a regular on DEEP SPACE 9 as Worf. The second issue of the Frontier's newsletter was handed out to warm reviews.
The theme of the S F A B C meeting was astronomy. Linda Zimmermann was the first of three speakers to make presentations at the Association's gathering. She gave a talk and slide show based on her book, BAD ASTRONOMY (A BRIEF HISTORY OF BIZARRE MISCONCEPTIONS, TOTALLY WRONG CONCLUSIONS, AND INCREDIBLY STUPID THEORIES).
Next was Richard Factor of the S E T I League. Mr Factor founded the League, a non profit corporation, in response to government cutbacks on the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence program. The League enables him to combine his two favorite hobbies, ham radio and science fiction. The goal of the League is to encourage and assist individuals to scan the heavens with microwave and other detection equipment to see if anyone out there is beaming us signals.
Mr Factor talked about the characteristics of the types of signals they are looking for. Amateurs have the advantages of time and numbers when searching the skies with weak equipment. Scientists have much better equipment, but severe time and numbers constraints. He stated that if other civilizations were deliberately broadcasting messages that amateurs have a reasonable chance of picking up these transmissions, but if they are not sending out signals specifically for this purpose, the odds are that only the pros will be able to detect them.
Lonny Buinis made the final presentation. Although he did show some computer generated astronomical effects, most of the talk centered about the process of creating the effects, rather than the effects themselves. He took us through the step-by-step creation of an asteroid passing by the Earth. It was very like the times an artist has shown us a painting-in-progress, as he demonstrated first the trajectory, then rough line drawings, next the texturings, then the colors, and finally the finishing touches.
A generous refreshments cart was brought out by Barbara Todd of Barnes & Noble. This was supplemented by a cooler of soda furnished by Charles Garofalo.
Notable moments included Patricia Nash winning the door prize, a galley of MUCHO MOJO by Joe Lansdale, a cameo appearance by an exhausted Cynthia Soroka returning from a signing in Poughkeepsie, Pamela Webber spying and hugging David Goldfeder, and Taras Wolansky pointing out all the bargain priced sf hardcovers.
Paul Dellechiaie, George Hiller, Barbara Leader and Linda Zimmermann were among those who went to the star watch organized by the Rockland Astronomy Club (though not before a short stay Linda enjoyed a dessert promised by Rich Factor). A good portion of the group swarmed over to a nearby diner.