Category: Weekly Meeting Minutes

Published minutes of our weekly meetings.

  • 1879

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 4/7 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1877 were accepted as: Hanging around indefinitely.

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $168.09 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    Had nothing fannish to report, except that we are on another new email list system. [see minutes of 1877]

    President

    Not present, therefore nothing fannish to report, but asked if there was a website yearly fee that needed to be dealt with.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Ken

    This Friday is the 4th Friday of the month, so there will be a meeting of the Legion of Rassilon – ‘your Doctor Who fan club’ – live in person at the Denny’s in Milpitas on Abbott Rd, near the 880 freeway, at 7:30pm. This month will be the fifth Doctor story ‘Warriors of the Deep’ – in the new HD version with new effects and a slightly tighter edit!

    Gerrit Graham – Beef in ‘Phantom of the Paradise’ (as well as other things…) passed away this past week.

    Duncan

    He will have a review for ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story‘ on Netflix for next week’s meeting

    Reviews

    Ken

    Strange New Worlds: Once La’an a Time (Paramount+) Fairy tale like setting & multiple doppelgangers of various characters, with a twist. He enjoyed the episode, although ‘it was not ‘Citizen Kane’.

    Rumor of the Week

    No Yochanan means short meetings

    Adjourned at: 20:17

    There was no auction…

  • 1878

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 5/5 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1877 were accepted as: Shanah Tovah!

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $168.09 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    The email list has, once again, been migrated to a new service. The previous one had a monthly fee, and this one doesn’t. To subscribe, or update your settings, the URL is freelists.org/list/basfa-list It is also linked on our website basfa.org

    President

    Not present, therefore nothing fannish to report.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Valerie

    Kayla

    [via Email] A special 40th-anniversary screening of James Cameron’s ALIENS: Special Edition is taking place Sunday, November 8, 2026, at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento. Carrie Henn (“Newt”) and Christopher Henn (“Timmy Jorden”) are expected to appear in person. The fan meet runs 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.; the 12:30 p.m. screening will be followed by a live Q&A.

    Ken

    Legendary costume designer, Bob Mackie, has passed away at the age of 87. Did work for Cher, Dolly Parton and Carol Burnett – where he designed over 17,000 costumes for her show (including the “I just saw it int the window…” outfit for Went with the Wind!)

    Lynn

    Diana Koivunen is back in the hospital (El Camino in Mountain View) Rm 4211

    Reviews

    Lisa

    Strange New Worlds: Orders of Magnitude (Paramount+) It was a normal Star Trek episode. A Bad-miral episode, where the Captain is off ship, and the Admiral takes command – with Kirk saving the day! Interesting to get the Admiral’s background, and the Kirk family. Def Enjoy.

    • Yochanan: Also enjoyed. Wasn’t a gimmick episode. Though a bit Crimson Tide. Joe Morton was the admiral (Eureka & Terminator) The B-plot has kick-ass Uhura! Kirk did Kirk shenanigans. Over all an enjoyable episode.
    • Ken: Very good. Sets up balance of terror (including using the same neutral zone map).
    • Rick: A little bit done before. Plot a little bit didn’t make sense. Can respect what they were trying to do. Not quite as successful as the soap opera on.

    Yochanan

    Good Fortune (streaming, R, 79%RT) Inept guardian angel of cellphone-using drivers (Keanu Reeves). Switches a rich and poor guy. Comedy, and part morality tale. Reeves barely acts. A bit depressing (not good for a comedy). Falls flat. Matinee (at best).

    The Moon Maid (1926 Edgar Rice Burrows) Set in 2026. Great world building. A ship is trying to go to Mars, but goes to the moon, and finds a civilization inside the moon. Not as engaging as the John Carter stories. Enjoy his writing. First of a trilogy, but may not seek out the others.

    Coming back from WorldCon, stopped at Pismo Beach for the first time. Fun little town. Great pier, cute shops. Butterfly grove (empty right now). First stopped at Grover Beach (next door) which is good for finding shells and stuff…

    Rick

    Lanterns (HBO) is half-way through (4 of 8). Police procedural/Super Hero story set in Nebraska. Good stories & acting. He’s very well invested in it. Not gimmicky in any way. High recommendation.

    Valerie

    Rose City Comic Con (Portland) and its spinoff Romancing Portland were this past weekend. Busy comic con (sadly with fewer comic creators and panels), cute romance con with a packed room of authors but not tons of attendees.

    I met Spock! And Pike! And La’an! And five sg-1/sg atlantis people (Richard Dean Anderson is quite funny). And one suuuuuuper fan who follows them to like every con.

    Lynn

    Attended Festival of the Livingrooms. Good, varying quality of concerts.

    Got a new iPad Pro 13” It’s lighter than the previous ones. So far very pleased. More powerful than her M4 Mac (this is an M5).

    Ken

    On Star Trek Day (September 8) Jerry and I went to the Alamo Drafthouse to see the “Genesis Trilogy” – Star Trek 2, 3 & 4. No intermissions (and the paired episodes were not part of this). Wrath of Khaaaaaaan! was the director’s cut, with scenes I had never seen – some of which delivered a greater emotional punch.

    • Yochanan Saw The Wrath of Khan w/ Space Seed at AMC Eastridge. It is his favorite movie (full stop) and he was the only one in the theatre. Was aware of the extra scenes. Believes it’s available on the Director’s cut DVD. Vonda McIntyre’s novelization has them.Great experience. Being alone, could do a quate-a-long!
    • Rick: Favorite movie of all time? In-khan-cievable!

    Rick

    Lanterns (HBO) continues to go on. A little more than halfway through. Cannot predict where they are going to go. A very engaging puzzle-box plot. Definitely proving its worth.

    The Ark (SyFy) unlike Lanterns, it’s predictable – but that’s OK. Shows very well for its budget. More impressed with S2, than S1. Hoping for more seasons.

    • Yochanan: Huge fan of The Ark. Not a fantastic series, but more like a space soap opera. Recommend, but don’t expect Shakespeare.

    Celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Reviewing the new year as Shofar so good.

    Rumor of the Week

    Spock Lives!

    Adjourned at: 20:55

    There was no auction…

  • 1877

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 9/4 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1876 were accepted as: Classified for BASFA Only.

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $168.09 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    Nothing fannish to report.

    President

    Not present, therefore nothing fannish to report.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Adrienne

    Bay Area Ghost Hunters is have more meetups. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, with a big splashy event at the Claremont, November 6, with food, speakers, and a medium doing a reading. Limit 60 people.

    Yochanan

    One more day to see Star Trek on the big screen.

    • Ken: The “Genesis trilogy” will be at Alamo Drafthouse, with associated episodes.

    The Doctor EMH voice on his Waze is now gone… He misses the Doctor guiding him…

    Anthony & Cleopatra, Free Shakes in the Park. One last weekend in San Francisco next weekend, then moves elsewhere.

    The Ren Faire is 9/19-10/25 at Casa de Fruita

    Reviews

    Lisa

    Caught up on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The last one was “interesting…” Gimmicks galore this year, getting weirder and weirder. At least they are interesting, and playing with the story telling.

    • Yochanan: Kind of with Lisa. They pulled out a gimmick he didn’t see coming. The episodes aren’t bad, but one after another (if there’d bee a 26 episode season). Mount had a chance to really act at the end of the episode. Cute, well done, cookies at the end of the credits.
    • Rick: The soap opera pastiche was a triumph. Acting, production techniques, and the guest stars were spot-on. Deliciously funny, right to the end. Ethan Peck doing his “different Vulcan” very uncanny.
    • Mo: Stuart Fails to Save the Universe also has a lot of post credit Easter eggs (she also recommends the series). (Adrienne says there’s only one more episode of this season, and the episodes can be very short!)

    Coyote vs. Acme (film) Laughed our heads off. Really good job of blending real with animated. Wylie does not talk, just holds up signs. The story is funny. Hate the sleazeball ACME lawyer. Lots of characters pop up. Used the history to make a really good story. Full Price!

    • Mo: She liked the Coyote’s past talking explaining why he wants to eat the roadrunner.
    • Adrienne: Saw an early preview. Found it amusing, but didn’t LOL. Lots of people were at her early Sunday preview. MO: Marvin is specifically tied to Space Jam, so understandable he’s not in ACME… Film was OK (didn’t hate it).
    • Bruce: Has not seen yet – he is still rooting for the Klingon (see Ken’s review below).

    Yochanan

    Clarkesworld Magazine (periodical) Shaped like an old pulp. Celebrating it’s 20th anniversary. Neil Clarke won a Hugo this year for editing. Short sotries, letters and reviews. No ads. There’s an online version, as well as the print version. He’s tempted to subscribe to the online version, as they are really good.

    • Lisa: Cheryl Morgan is involved with it. It is primarily an online publication.
    • Mo: She thinks she did some art early on for Clarke’s World.

    Damnit Jim! The Podcast. Listened to Strange New Worlds reviews. Spoiler rich reviews. Rambles, puns and cursing. Annoying, yet likeable (matinee). Not really recommended. Also, Strange new Pod is really good (full-price).

    SF Shakes: Anthony & Cleopatra. 90-min, no intermission. Shortened (with a synopsis). Set in the roaring 20s. Beautiful costumes. So well acted. Loved it. Highly recommend. Worth full price (free) Better than the one he saw at the Sydney Opera House.

    Rick

    Lanterns (HBO) is half-way through (4 of 8). Police procedural/Super Hero story set in Nebraska. Good stories & acting. He’s very well invested in it. Not gimmicky in any way. High recommendation.

    Adrienne

    The End of Oak Street (movie) Really liked it. If you like dinosaurs and monster movie, this will be your thing. It was fun. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

    Went to WorldCon, stayed at the Hilton. Asked for an accessible room, but got a Audio-Visual Accessible room. Got changed rooms to an appropriate accessible room, and (about 2 a.m.) Mo spots a bedbug! Security came up promptly, and they got moved to (yet) another (accessible) room. During all this, she lost her iPhone and iPad chargers! Hilton gets high praise. Uber, on the other hand, is horrible regarding wheelchair accessibility.

    • Mo: Moved from 14->10->4th floors. Met some nice new friends with all the horrendous experiences – but doesn’t recommend all the non-hotel stuff (that wasn’t minuted…)
    • Lisa: Her roommate got in first, noisy AC, changed to another room (which was OK). Weird problems. Costs extra (about $50) for a Disney view.

    KEN

    Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive VCR Board Game – A Klingon Challenge. A board game with a finite time limit, gated by a video of a Klingon warrior (Kavok) appearing and barking orders, and creating problems as 3-6 players play a board game. Very fun, will be playing again – now that we know what’s happening.

    • Bruce is voting for the Klingon!

    Oreo has three special flavors out: Deep Fried, Banana Pudding, Chicken & Waffle. A group of us on Friday seemed to prefer the Chicken & Waffle one.

    • Adrienne: Loved the Blueberry Pie from a previous release.

    Mo

    She lives out in creepy-ville Texas. For the most part she doesn’t see people. She has got involved in a YouTube Warewolf-like stories. Some are very funny, some very scary, and the ideas are fun. A world where everyone is half-human/half-beast. All AI from South Korea. She got interested in experimenting with AI because of it. She’s not a proponent of what the data-centers are doing, but recommend learn how to use it.

    Rumor of the Week

    Everyone needs a shaky box, available where you get your things.

    Adjourned at: 21:44

    There was no auction…

  • 1876

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 4/6 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1875 were accepted as ‘the bar is in the room’

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $166.84 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    Reporting from WorldCon in Anaheim that he saw the treasurer, who is now zooming home & in transit. He pressed on though, even with lost signals & had nothing otherwise fannish to report & things will be back to normal for next week’s BASFA meeting

    President

    Nothing fannish to report.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Lisa

    Brisbane will be the site of WorldCon 2028

    Yochanan

    there is an Egyptian exhibit at the DeYoung museum in SF now, through January 2027.

    Ric

    there will be a full solar eclipse in Australia 1 week before the 2028 Brisbane Worldcon, so make travel plans accordingly

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    ‘The Magic Far Away Tree‘, a fantasy movie based on the series by Enid Blyton. He found the humor very British and silly at times. He found it enjoyable, but not great, worth matinee

    de Young Museum ‘Treasure of the Pharohs‘ as a very nice display – not splashy – & it had a nice audio track. He really enjoyed his visit and recommends it

    GalaxyCon 2026 in SanJose, this last weekend that he attended for about 2 hours. He found it sparsely attended and that there was not much to do or see there. He found it disappointing, but hears that next GalaxyCon will not be scheduled opposite another major scifi con.

    Lisa

    WorldCon had over 1700 panels, most of which she missed. She enjoyed all the ones she attended & that – if you were a member – many of the pales were recorded for online viewing. She found the Masquerade to be fantastic & the Hugo Awards presentation was long – at 3 hours. The animal facts given during it were fun. She wishes she could attend next year’s WorldCon in Montreal. Lisa found the parties to be fun and she had a good time.

    • Valerie commented that she also attended and agrees with everything Lisa reported. She was on 7 panels, which limited her chance to attend a lot of panels. Sales were okay at her Dealer’s table & she plans to watch panels that she missed online. She attended a party that was Peeps themed with The “Minneapolis in 2076” Worldcon bid (a long-running hoax bid) & was offered SO many Peeps & had fun.
    •  Yochanan also attended and he says he had ‘SO MUCH FUN!’ & he’s so glad he went.  He found it amazing and enjoyed meeting authors in person & thought the Art Show was magnificent.  He agrees that all the parties were awesome & definitely needs to go to another WorldCon.  He found the belly-dancing Klingons to be amazing!
    • Ken thought the ‘Party Deck’ was really well set up & excellent for its ability to socialize while not feeling over-crowded & really nice. He found the numbers at-con to be lower than usual which was ascribed to current political tensions, but he noticed that there were a lot of 1-day attendees. He also enjoyed the panels he attended – many of which has BASFA members on them. He enjoyed the chance to see a lot of familiar faces who have since moved away.
    • Ric was too tired to give a review other than that he was too tired.
    •  It was commented that panels & events all started ON TIME.  Shock!  Amaze amaze amaze!

    Ken

    This week’s ‘Star Trek, Strange New Worlds‘ episode as ’24 meets the Poseidon Adventure’, maybe a little less gimmicky, but still a pastiche. He recommends the show, but opined that this episode might not be for the squeamish.

    • There were follow-ons that discussed the episode, generally, but without spoilers – and with very positive reactions.

    Rumor of the Week

    BASFA folk are always zooming around.

    Adjourned at: 20:43

    There was no auction…

  • 1875

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 5/6 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1874 were accepted as: ‘documenting the War of the Words’

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $166.84 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    [proxy report]he is in transit & next week he will try to set up a Zoom session from WorldCon in Anaheim. As most of us who show up in person will be down there, I have notified the staff here (at Parktown) that we will not be here on the 31st.’

    President

    Nothing fannish to report.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Yochanan

    GalaxyCon 2026 & WorldCon 2026 are both this up-coming weekend & Kennita announced that Burning Man will also start this weekend

    Kennita

    Burning Man will also start this weekend

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    The End of Oak Street is a scifi survival time travel movie as an enjoyable popcorn movie that is set in 1982 for reasons he could not determine. The feathery dinosaurs were disconcerting & frequently took him out of immersion in the film. He found it a ‘meh’ movie, worth matinee

    The Last House a scifi film badly rated [22%] on Rotten Tomatoes with a poor ending & worth ‘maybe matinee’. ‘It was a movie’ he commented.

    The Santa Clara County Fair, just ended, as only 5-days long. He found it very different from other fairs, with not many animals & little ‘fair food’ but he had a very good time. He found it very poorly advertised, worth full price & recommends going there next year. Rick recommends checking out all county fairs & finds them to be wonderful. Gayle finds county fairs to be educational – in this case the displays on table settings were fascinating.

    Lisa

    Catching up on ‘Star Trek, Strange New Worlds‘ episodes & did not like the ending of the ‘puppet’ episode just aired. She found it a ‘dumb, stupid, light episode’.

    • Yochanan found the episode to be funny & the puppets were very ‘Muppet-like’. He commented that he finds the last 5 episodes to be ‘gimmick’ episodes & not impressive.
    • Rick stated that ‘the writers are bored’.
    • Lisa opined that the last few episodes will not be considered among her favorites.

    Rick

    ‘The Ark‘ as ‘if one set one’s expectations lower, one can be pleasantly surprised’ & while watching the 3 seasons of the show he was reminded of an earlier Syfy series called ‘The Outpost‘. He found what he watched to be pretty unoriginal, worth matinee & not really worth a second viewing.

    • Yochanan really loves the series & recommends it as it keeps him entertained.

    Rumor of the Week

    Am I a Man, or am I a Muppet?

    Adjourned at: 20:33

    There was no auction…

  • 1874

    Called to order at 20:02

    Total of 5/6 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1873 were accepted as: Having ICE in all the appropriate places, like Antarctica instead of Minnesota

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $166.84 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    Next week, and the following week, he will not be here. Next week I may not even be able to attend by Zoom. The following week, I will set up a Zoom session from WorldCon in Anaheim. As most of us who show up in person will be down there, I have notified the staff here (at Parktown) that we will not be here on the 31st.

    President

    Nothing fannish to report.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Yochanan

    The actress Hayden Panettiere had died

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    2 seasons of ‘Sense8‘, seen on Netflix as he enjoyed it. The characters represent a new form of humanity & how they cope with sharing senses. The series was filmed in many different locations around the world & was about compassion & understanding. He highly recommends it as worth full price. Lisa followed that, as reported on a Babylon5 group, Joe Straczynski said he was pleased with being able to get onto film what he wanted to get across. Rick also gives the series top marks and was giddy with his enjoyment of the series.

    ‘One Night Only‘ as ‘the Purge, but for sex’ and was treated as a light-hearted Rom-Com. He found it to be rather tame but still enjoyed it & rates it as worth matinee

    The AMC Plus series ‘Interview with the Vampire‘, season 2 as it takes many liberties with the source material. He considers it worth full price.

    ‘Our Time‘ as seen on Netflix as a time travel movie that he enjoyed a lot & it has a bit of a telenovela ending. He rates it as worth matinee.

    Ken

    ‘Star Trek Strange New Worlds‘ – ‘A Case of Chiaroscuro’ as a film noir episode set on a frontier world where everything is shown in monochrome. He enjoyed that there were lots of ‘Casablanca’ tropes. Yochanan followed, saying he liked the episode. Rick also commented that the ensemble effort was carried off very well & was a lot of fun. Lisa has also been following the series & has been having a good time & looks forward to new episodes.

    1982 ‘Slapstick‘ as a movie he saw so you don’t have to. He found the film to be in the ‘D’ list or lower category but it has ‘A’ list actors in it & the cast was great. He rates it as a mild curiosity. Duncan has read the book it’s based on and very much recommends reading the book, remembering that Vonnegut was writing it with an audience of college students in mind. (watch)

    Rick

    ‘Lanterns‘ from the DC universe as an 8 episode mini-series handled as a small-town Western that he very much enjoyed and says it completely defies expectations

    The season closer for ‘House of the Dragon‘ as several plot threads were followed, lots of bloody fight scenes & the episode ended up as a bit of a mess. He thinks it was done well, not really worth re-watching, but is worth seeing once.

    Rumor of the Week

    Play it again Sam … Kirk

    Adjourned at: 20:55

    There was an auction…

  • 1873

    Called to order at 20:03

    Total of 7/5 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1872 were accepted as: the same in all parallel universes

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $166.84 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    The last two Mondays of August I will not be in town. There is a chance that on the 24th I will not be in a position to join remotely (that’s our travel day) but should be able to Zoom in on the 31st from WorldCon. We’ll need someone to present the Zoom for the in-person portion of the meeting on those two dates.

    Also, if you haven’t received the email, Michael Wallis changed our email list over to a new service called Gaggle (the old Mailman service was discontinued by our hosting service). If you didn’t get the email, and want to be on the list, pop over to basfa.org and click “Join List” or, click here

    Also, also, while I had Michael Wallis’ attention, I asked him to spin up a WordPress installation. There is a parallel site running at basfa.org/basfa. Comments appreciated, functionality requests will be entertained. The hope is to make that our primary site.

    Also, also, also – there is a strong chance that the BASFA meeting on August 31 will be conducted from LA

    President

    Nothing fannish to report except that his lifting restrictions have been… lifted.

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Yochanan

    he thinks it is Sept 4 thru the 8 that AMC will be issuing a Star Trek popcorn bucket, check Fathom events.

    Aug 21, 7-9:20 is SciFi night at the Chabot Space Center

    Sept 12 will be the SJ Book Festival at the Eastridge Mall

    Rick

    The TV series ‘Silo‘ & ‘House of the Dragon‘ have had their season finales

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    ‘Spiderman, Brand New Day‘ as amazing entertainment & worth full price. He loved it & thinks it is one of the best Spiderman movies he has ever seen

    ‘That This Nation Might Live: Butterflies of Gettysburg Book 1‘ by Sandra Saidak & Thomas Saidak as a time travel novel set in the 1860s that he enjoyed & rates as worth full price. Gerry followed saying that the author is in his writer’s group and he commends their historical research

    The Rosicrucian Historical Museum in SJ – as much larger than he recalled and that it took almost 3 hours to explore the place & he found the Thoth animatronic AI robot there a little creepy.  He loves the crypt in the basement & considers it a world-class museum.  He had a great time & highly recommend it.  There was some discussion to the topic

    Trey

    Reviewed his hernia surgery as his procedure went very well, healing has been good and that the only problem was that Kaiser did not do a follow-up reminder until he reminded them, so he grades it as a ‘B’.

    Ken

    ‘Star Trek Strange New Worlds‘ as the subtitle could have been ‘Dude, where’s my shuttlecraft?’ and quite light-hearted. He enjoyed it. Yochanan followed, saying he enjoyed it but that some people might not. There was some discussion of the Klingon language.

    Rumor of the Week

    If you don’t like this reality, make one of your own

    Adjourned at: 20:49

    There was no auction…

  • 1872

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 7/4 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1871 were accepted as: Highly likely that they are there waiting for me to read.

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $165.59 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    The last two Mondays of August I will not be in town. There is a chance that on the 24th I will not be in a position to join remotely (that’s our travel day) but should be able to Zoom in on the 31st from WorldCon. We’ll need someone to present the Zoom for the in-person portion of the meeting on those two dates.

    Also, if you haven’t received the email, Michael Wallis changed our email list over to a new service called Gaggle (the old Mailman service was discontinued by our hosting service). If you didn’t get the email, and want to be on the list, pop over to basfa.org and click “Join List” or, click here

    Also, also, while I had Michael Wallis’ attention, I asked him to spin up a WordPress installation. There is a parallel site running at basfa.org/basfa. Comments appreciated, functionality requests will be entertained. The hope is to make that our primary site.

    President

    Not present

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Rick

    This Saturday there will be a party at his place. Homemade pizza will be had. Look out for an the email with the details.

    Lisa

    Will not be at Ricks event, as she will be attending the BAERS Jane Austin dance at her Odd Fellow’s hall. It’s from 6:30-10:30 p.m. and costuming is encouraged. Tickets are sold out online, but may be available at the door.

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    Pinnochio Unstrung (Rated R, in theatres) A horror reimagining of the classic tale told as a slasher movie. Practical effects are a plus, but definitely not for the kiddos. Loved the shadow puppet opening, with some behind the scenes clips in the end credits. Worth matinee – maybe full-price for horror aficionados.

    Ready or Not (2019) and Ready or Not 2: Hear I Come(2026) (both Rated R, on streaming) The first one was better and more original. The second features more well-known actors. Both worth matinee.

    13 going on 30 (Netflix, 2004) Jennifer Garner is a 13 year old who wish to be “thirty and flirty and thriving” come true. Cute and charming. Features a very young Mark Ruffalo. Worth matinee.

    Gerald

    The Odyssey (Rated R, in theatres) He and Gayle had mixed reactions. It”s a spectacle, and surprisingly true to the original text. Moved right along, and didn’t feel like a three-hour run time. However, when there was a choice between what to show or tell, he felt that they didn’t chose what he would have done. Some of the fight sequences went on too long. Worth seeing – especially the gates opening to Agamemnon. Definitely matinee. Samantha Morton (Circe) deserves an Oscar nod.

    • Yochanan: Reviewed it last week, and liked it a lot (full price). Thought it was brilliant that they sometimes didn’t show some things.
    • Gayle: Was looking forward to when they put wax in their ears as they sailed past the sirens.
    • Rick: Another example of going to extraordinary lengths to get Matt Damon home.

    Rick

    The final installment of The Laundry Files, The Regicide Report by Charles Stross, stuck the landing. Sad that it’s over. Well done!

    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Griffin Incident. A horror bottle episode. He was a little underwhelmed. Predictable ghost story. Very well acted and directed.

    • Yochanan: Liked it more than Rick did. The atmospheric music was really cool. There were some unexpected bits for him. Some things were and weren’t explained. They tried something different for the series. Liked some parts, and some where too “magic wandy.”
    • Lisa: Found this one a little weak. Seemed to throw out all the usual horror tropes just to do so. Kind of weird and annoying.
    • Rick: The previous episode was also very predictable.

    Star City (appleTV) Season one is a triumph, and worthy of a Hugo. A lot of verisimilitude about what was going on at the time in the USSR. Shot in Lithuania which lived through this period. The atmosphere, architecture, and lighting were of the time. Very well written, and thoroughly unpredictable, with a perfect resonance. A little over the top – especially in the last episode. Hoping for a second season.

    • Yochanan: Thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Echo that it’s amazing. Vastly different from its parent series (though he wished there would be some crossover information). Prays for a season two. More of an espionage show than a space show.
    • Gerald: It would have been unlike the real Soviet Union if they had a woman as a big KGB bureaucrat.

    Kennita

    Spider-Man: Brand New Day (PG-13) Really liked it, and the stars. Fight choreographers really need recognition! The plot was more complex than you normally think of for a superhero film – and it was a good thing. Saw in 3D – which she thinks MCU films really lean into. Had a good time. Worth full price.

    Rumor of the Week

    Horror in space: The Frightful Frontier.

    Adjourned at: 21:00

    There was an auction!

  • 1871

    Called to order at 20:03

    Total of 6/5 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1870 were accepted as ‘listing but still floating’

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $165.59 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    The last two Mondays of August I will not be in town. There is a chance that on the 24th I will not be in a position to join remotely (that’s our travel day) but should be able to Zoom in on the 31st from WorldCon. We’ll need someone to present the Zoom for the in-person portion of the meeting on those two dates.

    Also, if you haven’t received the email, Michael Wallis changed our email list over to a new service called Gaggle (the old Mailman service was discontinued by our hosting service). If you didn’t get the email, and want to be on the list, pop over to basfa.org and click “Join List” or, click here

    Also, also, while I had Michael Wallis’ attention, I asked him to spin up a WordPress installation. There is a parallel site running at basfa.org/basfa. Comments appreciated, functionality requests will be entertained. The hope is to make that our primary site.

    President

    Not present

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Ken

    RIP British actor Tom Chadbon (Duggan in the Doctor Who story City of Death) & RIP British legend Bill Oddie (one-third of of the Goonies) & RIP British puppeteer Ronnie le Drew (Zippy of the children’s show Rainbow, plus a couple of Muppet films)

    not dead yet, but… The UK’s iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory, home to the country’s largest telescope for nearly 70 years, is in danger of closing by 1 April, 2028 unless alternative funding can be found.

    Yochanan

    The Doctor’s voice [from Star Trek Voyager & Star Trek Academy] is going away from WAZE.

    ‘Dark Matter’ will have a 2nd season & the trailer has dropped
    click here for more

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    ‘The Odyssey‘ as extremely cinematic with incredibly thunderous audio & used a great deal of practical effects. He found it engrossing and really well done & worth full price. He really liked it.

    • Rick: commented that quite a lot of money has been spent through the years getting Matt Damon home

    ‘Click‘, a movie from 2006, as a dark comedy and somewhat of a cautionary tale with some actual emotional moments & is worth watching because of the later half of the movie

    ‘Uncertain Trajectories: Speculative Fiction from Silicon Valley (Uncertain Stars Book 1)‘, edited by Valerie Frankel & containing a fair number of stories written by BASFA members. He found the stories to be really well-written & thought it worth full price

    Rick

    Another episode of House of the Dragon and very well done with some shocking developments & worth watching

    Rick also reviewed the most recent episode of ‘Silo‘ and themes of being trapped and paranoia continues to be developed

    Ken

    The new season of Star Trek ‘Strange New Worlds’ as slow to release on Paramount Plus – but the first episode was really exciting & full of spoilers & is a time travel episode.

    • Yochanan: There is something wrong with Paramount’s streaming but considered this a fun episode once he was finally able to view the episode & liked it

    Rumor of the Week

    ‘So how much does a Hemingway?’

    Adjourned at: 20:47

    There was no auction

  • 1870

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 7/1 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1869 were accepted as Viva España

    Treasurer

    Regular: $15,805.32
    Party: $230.58
    Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal – sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
    Though we did accrue $165.59 since the resumption of live meetings.

    Vice President

    The last two Mondays of August I will not be in town. There is a chance that on the 24th I will not be in a position to join remotely (that’s our travel day) but should be able to Zoom in on the 31st from WorldCon. We’ll need someone to present the Zoom for the in-person portion of the meeting on those two dates.

    President

    Not present

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Lisa

    Today is the wedding anniversary of Dave and Spring (Our treasurer and a fellow BASFAn)

    GallifreyOne’s first guest has been announced: Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman of Doctor Who).

    Yochanan

    The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, or KIPAC, will present a lecture on Wedensday, 22 July at 7 p.m. called Exploring Strange New Worlds: Rocky Exoplanet Atmospheres with JWST by Prof. Laura Schaefer, at Stanford Universoty(Sapp Center for Science Teaching and Learning, Room 111) and on YouTube.

    And, on that theme, the penultimate season of Star Trek Strange New Worlds premieres this Thursday at Midnight.

    Ken

    This Friday is the fourth Friday (not the last) of the month and time, once again, for the monthly meeting of the Legion of Rassilon – your Doctor Who fan club. This month we will be watching the Second Doctor story The Dominators. Meeting starts at 7:30, at the Denny’s on Abbot Ave in Milpitas – just off Calaveras Boulevard near 880.

    • Lisa: Won’t be there as she will be at MythCon (in Ooooooklahoma).

    Rick

    Antoinette Bower, Sylvia from the Star Trek episode Catspaw, passed away at 93. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoinette_Bower

    Reviews

    Yochanan

    Minions & Monsters (PG in theatres) Third (and earliest) minions prequel, set in 1920s Hollywood. Love letter to Hollywood, Keaton & Chaplin homages, the advent of sound. Funnier than it has any right to be. The best of the three prequels. Full price.

    The Golden Grove by Nancy Kress. Not a fan of fantasy, but a big fan of Kress – she is his second-favorite author (after Connie Willis). 1984. Characters spring to life. Bit dense at first, but picks up steam. Worth full price, and glad he read it.

    Defiance (Prime) older sci-fi from 2013-15. 3x 13 seasons. Set in 2046, in the town of Defiance, where humans and aliens coexist. Has a wild-west feel. Great performances, especially Tony Curran as an alien crime boss. Amazing world building, but there was a lack of explanations. The conclusion was acceptable. Worth matinee.

    Moana (live, in theatres, PG) Follows the original story closely. OK. Way too much CGI (so much, that it’s barely live action!) and full of seams (as opposed to seamless)! Dwayne Johnson just acted and looked like The Rock in a wig! Some pretty scenes. Matinee at best.

    Rick

    Silo & House of the Dragon (appleTV, HBO). Both were moving pieces into place for future episodes, and were only mildly interesting. Rhys Ifans made a tour de force appearance in House…

    Gayle

    Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress (part of a trilogy) Parents gen-mod their kids so they don’t need to sleep, and the non-mods are considered inferior.

    • Yochanan: Highly recommends.

    Rumor of the Week

    The Rumor of the Week has been cancelled.

    Adjourned at: 20:36

    There was no auction