Category: Weekly Meeting Minutes

Published minutes of our weekly meetings.

  • 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

  • 1869

    Called to order at 20:00

    Total of 7/5 in attendance

    Officer Reports:

    Secretary

    The minutes of meeting 1868 were accepted as May the good guys win in the World Cup – whoever they may be…

    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

    Nothing fannish.

    President

    Not present

    Committees:

    None.

    New Business:

    None.

    Announcements:

    Lisa

    Sam Neill has passed away. Jurassic Park and others… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Neill

    • Rick : That was my item…

    Yochanan

    GalaxyCon San Jose August 28-30
    WorldCon (LACon) August 27-31

    Upset that they are on the same weekend. [so is Lisa]

    Gerald

    1868 marked the election of Ulysses S. Grant to the President, vastly under-appreciated.

    • Rick: Gore Vidal says his memoirs are the best personal histories written, and recommends them.

    Rick

    Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 4 starts on July 23.

    Reviews

    Rick

    Star City (appleTV) had an extraordinary run. The last three episodes were the blow outs! Utterly brilliant, but might not be overly rewatchable. Dark, with surprises. Effective use of atmosphere. Not happy shining like the sister series. Waiting to see if it is renewed…

    • Yochanan: The Okuda’s are involved, as they were in For All Mankind
    • Gerald: Lithuania (discussed as part of Ricks review) is the birthplace of the father of author Algis Budrys (Falling Torch)

    House of the Dragon (HBO) Best episode yet! (third episode of current season?) Things don’t go well for the episodes title character. Very best of the series to date. Very impressed.

    Silo (appleTV) has been bubbling along well, with two story tracks. Quite compelling, with occasional things that take you out of the plit, but they are rare.

    Yochanan

    Toy Story 5 (in theatres) First PG version! Very cute, some nostalgia. Went off in unexpected directions. Liked it, but it’s not memorable. Little more than matinee (full price for Toy Story fans).

    Alameda County Fair (just ended) So much fun. Even better than the SCCF. All the silly and serious stuff you expect, plus drone show!

    • Gayle: Was the highlight of the year when she grew up over there.

    Avatar The Last Airbender (Netflix) two seasons (15 total) coproduction with Nickelodeon. Live action adaptation. Coming of age, found family, redemption… Nephew loved it. Third season is coming. Don’t confuse it with the live-action film. This series is outstanding. The CGI in this did not bother him.

    • Valerie: Enjoyed the whole cartoon series (and wrote the books). Enjoyed the first season of this one, and felt like a worthy version.

    Lisa

    Obon Festival (Japantown SJ) fun as always. Enjoyable day out, and will go again next year. A lot of fun free things!

    Jerry

    Went to the online qep’a’ wejmaH wejDIch (Klingon Language Institute conference). Couldn’t see a reason to go to Indianapolis again. Online you don’t get as much as in person. Online is just $10… There’ll be some Klingon language at WorldCon.

    Gerald

    Quetzalcoatlus prehistoric animal. Big and flew. Contemporary of t-rex. Maybe dragons aren’t as unusual.

    • Yochanan: Discovered in Texas, in Big Bend National Park. Seen remains of a younger one, and UT Austin. Like a small airplane.

    Rumor of the Week

    So long Doctor Alan Grant, we’ll miss you.

    Adjourned at: 21:04

    There was no auction