Sun Talk Descriptions (in numeric order) (count 144)

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Why is science fiction so white? The characters seem almost all to be Caucasian or Alien. Is this simply because so many of the writers are white? (And why is that?) Or are there marketing concerns at work? Should we care whether Kimball Kinnison or Teela Brown is Black, White or Hispanic?

Sunday's installment of the WSFS Business Meeting will only occur if all business isn't completed by the end of Saturday morning's meeting.

A discussion of science fiction of the period. How was it different from what's out there today? From what came before it? Was it better? What are some of the best examples?

Peter Merlin and Tony Moore talk about their adventures searching for historic aerospace relics in the deserts of the western United States, where they have located over 100 crash sites, mainly of experimental aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base and Area 51. They have recovered parts of supersonic rocket planes, stealthy spy craft and vehicles that have reached the edge of space. Each hunt combines C.S.I. skills with X-Files persistence, and a dash of Indiana Jones adventure.

James Gurney gives a presentation on his best-selling Hugo nominated works and talks about what goes into making realistic fantasy pictures, National Geographic illustrations, and fantasy art.

A discussion of computer art and graphics. How it's done, where it's used, and who's doing it.

Come share your memories -- happy and sad, funny and heartwarming -- about Frankie Thomas. L.A.con's Special Guest, the one and only Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, was an actor of note, an author of Sherlockian mysteries, a bridge teacher, and more. Come hear about his life and career and share your own memories of him as a friend or just what watching him perform meant to you.

The average major studio film these days costs $40 million. But there are still plenty of films being made between $100,000 and $5 million. Independent filmmakers discuss their trials and triumphs.

What's ahead from this top publisher of science fiction and fantasy.

Why do the descendants of rebels love reading about kings and wizards?

Do editors publish what the readers want to buy or does the field reflect the editors' tastes?

There's something about Buffy and the Buffyverse that drew people in. What was so special about this show? The Big Bad? The characters? The dialogue? What made it so special to so many people, where other shows haven't connected?

An awful lot of 'hard SF' is set in a military milieu. Is that to be our destiny in space? Or are Gordon Dickson, Robert Heinlein, and Jerry Pournelle just giving us some rip-roaring adventures? Besides, what's wrong with militarism?

It's a system we all know is broken but what really needs to be done? What can be done? Our panelists share their thoughts with audience participation encouraged.

How a harp works to make music.

No, he didn't write any but he influenced a lot. Writers talk about how Shakespeare's work influence them and their writing.

How'd That Happen? Costuming mistakes, both large and small. The panel will discuss their flubs. Please feel free to bring yours.

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What is the lifespan of the average fan club? How do you define a successful club and what are the pitfalls associated with orchestrated group activities?

A discussion of the tradition of Mars exploration stories in SF, exploring the evolution of the sub-genre from its planetary romance roots to the current hard SF mission-to-Mars stories.

A panel of fanzine reviewers discuss fanzine writing that works and why. Brief examples of brilliant technique will be shared.

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"All of the books on display in the Book Exhibit will be raffled off (in lots worth app. $100+ each) with proceeds going to pro-literacy charities. Come see if you've won.

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A look at the series with Executive Producer Ron D. Moore and others.

Can you really tell if a book is good by randomly opening it and reading a page or two? Our panelists will read selected works aloud and let the audience decide if it was any good. Then they'll reveal what it was they were reading from. Oops.

A lot has to happen before a film is ready for showing. What is the actual filmmaking process that transforms a vague idea into a finished 70mm dolby stereo blockbuster?

What new technology is out there, knocking on our doors, just waiting for us to make use of? Some of it's useful, some of it's good (some not), and some of it's just silly.

What it's like to work on a space mission. Horror stories, favorite moments, how life imitates science fiction, SF influences, and more.

Charles N. Brown, editor in chief of Locus, conducts an indepth interview with Guest of Honor Connie Willis about her work, but more about her life, the reasons she writes, and where her humor comes from.

How did ancient peoples living on the banks of the Nile know that crocodile dung had medicinal properties? A discussion of the innovations of the ancient world before the scientific empirical method and double blind studies were de rigeur.

Rob Caves and members of the cast and crew of these new, internet tales of the Federation talk about these adventures of Star Fleet's other ships.

What makes a book great? Where does the editor's input begin? Where does it end? When does the author have to assert his/her creative authority? Are the relationships between editor and author today like they were years ago?

Thirty years since the first energy crisis and what have we accomplished? The cost of gasoline has gone through the roof and is going higher while the supply dwindles away. Hydrogen power is in the distance but does it even make sense (other than to the oil companies)? What about windmills and solar panels? Ethanol and bio-diesel? Nuclear fission (or even fusion) are another kettle of fish, plagued with problems and bad PR. What's to be done?

The trick to "getting it right" is doing research. Experienced researchers and writers will tell you the secrets to good research.

Firefly was a show that connected with some people yet left others cold. Why didn't it find an audience. Could audiences just not see past the dirt roads and western trappings?

Science fiction has had a moniker of being junk food for the mind; escapist fare only. Is that true? Not all of it is literature but surely some of it must be? Mustn't it? What literary trends can be found? What will withstand the test of time? And does it matter?

A discourse on the Cenofilkish Era, 1980-1990 dominated by Cassette Tape technology; and the Modern Filkish Era, which began with the introduction of the Filk CD.

Looking at any SF convention these days, it's easy to see that many people in attendance are weird even by Fandom's standards -- S&M practitioners, vampires, modern primitives, gender benders. Is this part of the continuum of oddness that fandom has always embraced? What is the cross-over between fandom and society's covert culture?

Sing along with the from the Rise Up Singing folk collection.

Veterans of the convention wars tell their favorite stories.

Live the Dream is an education and support group for those who, originally inspired by the writings of Robert Heinlein, Robert Rimmer, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, are now ready to LIVE such alternative lifestyles as cooperative living, open relationships and group marriage. Come find out more.

A presentation on obtaining and maintaining tax exempt status for your club or convention.

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Ray Bradbury, one of the mainstays of science fiction and fantasy literature, talks about himself, the field, and the world.

You can't just wave your wand and do whatever you want. Fiction that features magic as an intrinsic part of the world requires rule-setting and interweaving culture, religion, "science," and law. What are the challenges and opportunities in building a functional magical world?

Three of the writers for the new Dr. Who TV series (each nominated for a Hugo award this year) talk about the new series.

What should we expect from our many religions as we enter the new century? If we ever leave Earth will we take our religions with us? Should we?

SF once was primarily a written medium which inspired countless young people to seek careers as engineers, scientists, and astronauts at NASA and in the aerospace industry. Today, SF covers a broad range of media, and many of its most well-known incarnations -- e.g. Star Wars -- present the visual window-dressing of science fiction without attempting to ground it in anything resembling science fact. Does contemporary science fiction still inspire young people to have science and engineering careers?

Were Pohl & Kornbluth right in The Space Merchants? Will the future see mega-corporations instead of countries? Where is business going? What will it be like 50 or 100 years from now

C.L. Moore wrote well with her husband Henry Kuttner; she wrote well alone. This masterly novelette explores beauty and attraction with almost inhuman resonance. It probably could not have been written by a man or in any other genre.

Military SF is a common term for novels featuring lots of combat, but you rarely hear the term military fantasy even though works like the Lord Of The Rings feature a huge amount of fighting between individuals and armies. Why does SF dealing with war get consigned to a sub-genre while fantasies that include war are regarded as just part of mainstream fantasy writing?

How to change the world.

Spintronics -- technology that harnesses electron spin as well as its charge -- has already dramatically changed the world we live and work in today. IBM Almaden Research Center scientist Kevin Roche will introduce you to this emerging technology: what spin is, what it does and how we are beginning to harness it, as well as a virtual tour of his laboratory and the giant robots they use to study these nano-engineered materials. He also promises to do it in terms that won't make your head spin.

Just what is it an editor does all day? Read manuscripts? Take Stephen King out to lunch? Plot nefarious plots?

There seems to be no end of movies based on comics, ranging from Superheroes to the more esoteric V for Vendetta. Some of them work creatively, some financially, some do both. But some don't. What works? What doesn't? And where do filmmakers go wrong?

It's an accepted truism in critical circles that If your motivation in writing is to promote a political, social, or cultural agenda, you're not going to produce great art. Is that really true? What about the works of Joanna Russ, Octavia Butler, Allen Ginsberg, Phil Ochs, or Neil Young? Is the truism actually false or is there something more to it?

A discussion of Star Trek's various incarnations, what worked, what didn't work in each.

There was a deluge of science fiction movies made in the 1950s. Many people who grew up in that decade have made those movies part of their lives but even people born much later have embraced them, and not just on a "so bad they're good" basis. Why does this continue to happen? What is the appeal of these movies? Are they unique?

James Gurney, L.A.con's Artist Guest of Honor, gives a demonstration of figure painting.

Highlights of the British fannish press. Examples will be shown, addresses shared.

A Star Trek Parody in 1 Act.

We think everyone would pretty much agree that fanac has changed over the decades, but we might not be so sure as to what it now consists of. Just what is "fanac" and what's just doin' stuff?

An Activity Group in collaboration with Children's Programming. Young fans! Come meet the furry characters, and learn how they're drawn too -- you can even take home your own hand-drawn cartoon!

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Does where you write matter? How about whether or not you face a window? Authors will talk about how they set up their writing spaces -- a separate office, the living room couch, the dining room table? -- what's in the room, what they listen to, and what they wear (if they wear anything at all).

Spooks and ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Has there ever been so much fantasy on television? And such successful shows, too. Buffy and Angel were fantasy shows and while they had definite followings, they weren't the hits that Medium and Ghost Whisperer are. Why are they so successful?

What books would interest kids (or adults) who enjoyed Harry Potter? For many, Harry was the first fantasy they read. Why has it drawn so many and where can they go now?

Some people feel that "seeing all the rivets" is what makes science fiction good. But does it make Hard SF too stiff? Are there interesting characters in Hard SF books? Can they have the action of an old-fashioned sword-and-starship swashbuckler and still be good?

A fond look back at 40 years of Star Trek along with a hopeful look forward at what J.J. Abrams may or may not do with the franchise in the coming years.

Was it good for you? If you have ideas for running a better Worldcon or just have questions about how it happened this year, you're invited!

Sure, super strength, invulnerability, being able to fly, being invisible are all really cool powers. But not everyone can be blessed with good, useful powers. Someone's got to be Allergy Boy or Mr. Droopy Socks. What are your ideas for the world's most useless super powers?

The Arctic Ocean could be an open sea within our children's lifetime. Melting ice sheets from Greenland and Antarctica are raising sea levels. Can we build dikes around Florida and the Gulf states? How will America handle the rising tide? How will the rest of the world cope, and how will the West deal with populations displaced by shoreline change?

Discussion and appreciation of the lesser-known works of Philip K. Dick. What did you think of "Now Wait for Last Year"?

See what's coming up from Baen Books.

Batman has become the "Dark Knight". The X-Files is filled with conspiracies and people wearing dark clothes walking around in dark rooms. Before that, the great New Wave of SF, which called itself literary, was deeply pessimistic. Is this mature, childish, or the swing of a pendulum?

Right now robots are pretty much remotely-controlled devices to conduct certain tasks like bomb disposal or mindless repetitive-motion machines for chores like vacuuming rugs. But what will "real" robots be like? Will be Asimov's dutiful three-laws obeying pals or our sneaky lords and masters a la the Magnus comics? The singularity suggests, perhaps, the latter. Or will it be somewhere in between?

You've come up with the idea, worked out the story. Maybe you've written the entire novel. Just one thing left to do. Sell it. There's little harder than writing that synopsis. How long should it be? How hard should you sell? Just what will it take to get that agent, that editor, to want to read your work or to offer you a contract to write it?

Art Directors have to take today and make it look like tomorrow. How do they do it? What's their track record been like?

It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. And if they didn't, we wouldn't be here. But why do they do it? It can't be the money. There isn't any. Come see con runners from around the country fumble for an answer.

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Add variety and distinctiveness with supports, structures, and frameworks. Alter and manipulate your silhouette with corsets, bustles, bustiers, and more.

Joe Siclari has Project FANAC. There's the Timebinders, Trufen, and other fannish e-mail lists. And LASFS and NESFA and other groups have their libraries and archives. Come discuss the hows, whys, and wherefores of keeping our fannish history from ending up in the dust bin.

Discussion group on a popular topic: Furry characters who are mean, selfish, cruel, and oh-so-watchable! From General Woundwort to Dr. Zaius to Scar and beyond.

It's not just Cthulu anymore.

A story theater performance by the Patchwork Players Story Theatre.

Area 51, The Ranch, Dreamland. The names conjure images of mysterious black airplanes and UFOS. For half a century this remote desert outpost has served as a breeding ground for cutting edge technology. It is a place with a history of dark rumors and speculation and a name that has become an object of folklore. Based on declassified government documents, personal interviews and extensive fieldwork, aerospace historian Peter W. Merlin reveals the secrets of Area 51.

The official conclusion of this year's Worldcon. Come bid farewell and see what last surprises are in store.