Science Fiction Fandom TV show

What is LARP, and why would I want to do it?

17 Jun 2008 14:22:08 GMT

Panel discussion at ARISIA 08. A look into LARP for new folks, what it is, how it is done by some folks, and where to find (Boston area) LARPs of various kinds. Panel members: Anna Bradley, Chad Bergeron, Mark Waks, John Bacon & Michael Ventrella.

Mind if we pick your brraains? The Zombie Panel

4 Jun 2008 17:42:59 GMT

Panel discussion at Boskone 45. Description from the program directory: "Suddenly the undead are all around us. Last year a top-selling comic featured a zombie Spider-Man. Brad Pitt and J. Michael Straczynski are said to be bringing to life a movie of Max Brooks's zombie apocalypse novel World War Z. The spring Zombie Walk to Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA gets bigger every year. If you know anything about this, please help us answer a few questions. Where did this zombie idea come from? Why such staggering popularity? What do zombies really want? Hey, why are you looking at us like that? Panel members: Seanan Mcguire, Sonya Taaffe, John Langan, Michael Swanwick & Bob Eggleton. Also available as a mp3 file

The Living Dead

25 May 2008 18:02:34 GMT

Panel discussion at ARISIA 08.

Description from the program schedule: Forty years after George Romero gave us NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, his zombies still walk among us in remakes, new films from Romero himself, and astonishing recent movies from other ranging from SHAWN OF THE DEAD to 28 WEEKS LATER. Why is this SF/Horror subgenre so enduring? What are it's classics and which are merely the walking dead?

Panel members: Michael A. Horne, Garen Daly, Tim Lieder, & Adam Lipkin.

Also available as mp3 file.

Non-Genre Films that Fans Love

30 Apr 2008 13:14:33 GMT

Panel discussion at ARISIA 2008. Description from the program schedule: "There's nothing fantastic about MEMENTO, but it somehow feels like science fiction. What other realist movies are especially attractive to fans of SF and fantasy? What are the qualities that make them feel like genre? Panel members: Julie Tenney, Sonya Taaffe, Eric M. Van & Adam Lipkin. Link to mp3 and list of films discussed at http://bostonfandom.org

The Rise of Modern Science

3 Apr 2008 17:20:42 GMT

Panel discussion at Boskone 45.

Description from the program schedule: "What happened in the Middle Ages which lead to the rise of modern science? Why did it happen first in Europe and not elsewhere? How did science grow if the Middle Ages were really an "age of faith" without reason?"

Panel members: Michael F. Flynn, Brother Guy Consolmagno, and John Farrell

also available as an mp3 audio file

Will 2008 Be The Year When eBooks Make It?

1 Mar 2008 13:19:56 GMT

Panel discussion at Boskone 45. eBooks are Electronic Books. They have been around for years but are getting increasingly popular. A number of dedicated eBook readers are now being sold. What issues remain to prevent wide adoption? If 2008 isn't the year, just what is still needed for eBooks to be a success? Panel members: Don D'Ammassa, Charles Stross, Darlene Marshall, and Ellen Asher.

Debate: Star Wars vs Star Trek: Looking Deeper

29 Jan 2008 20:02:45 GMT

Debate panel at the 2008 Arisia con. Description from the Pocket Program: "This panel is one of the new debate panels at Arisia. It is built around the question of which series had a more profound mpact on society at large and fannish society in particular. As with all such debates, the question is unanswerable, but it gives us a wonderful way to deeply explore a very interesting question." Panel members: Star Wars side: Ian Randal Strock, Hugh Casey, MaryAnn Johanson (moderator), Star Trek side: Jeff Warner & Jim Zavaglia.

Brother Guy On Ice

23 Dec 2007 20:53:54 GMT

Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, PhD, presents a slide show at BOSKONE 44 of his 1996 trip to Antartica to search for meteorites. Brother Guy is an astronomer assigned to the Vatican Observatory,and the Curator of the Vatican Meteorite Collection.

Doctor Who .. Old and New

9 Dec 2007 15:59:09 GMT

Panel discussion at United Fan Con discussing Dr. Who. In particular comparing aspects of the old show verses the current show.

All Things Joss Whedon

7 Nov 2007 13:12:32 GMT

Panel discussion (11/3/07) at United Fan Con about the latest news about Joss Whedon, creator of the TV shows Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

David Gerrold, GOH Speech, Boskone 44

20 Sep 2007 16:04:00 GMT

David Gerrold talks (and walks), and talks (and walks), and talks (good stuff) ;-)

My Favorite Monsters

5 Sep 2007 14:31:32 GMT

We often talk about our favorite characters in SF, fantasy, and myth, but what about our favorite monsters? The yeti, the golem, the ghost, the dragon, the lamia--what's your most cherished monster of myth or legend? What makes some creatures memorable and others forgettable?

Panel members S. C. Butler, Allen M. Steele, & Bob Eggleton.

Ethical Issues in Star Trek thru the years

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

TO BOLDY GO: Panel discussion at Boskone 44

David Gerrold, Suford Lewis, and Lou Anders discuss behind the scenes at the various Star Trek series shows over the years, and the problems in making shows about social commentary.

Suford was mainly the moderator, and Lou certainly had things to say, but the bulk of the hour was taken up by the Con's Guest Of Honor .. David Gerrold.

Class-Based Societies in Science Fiction and Fantasy

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion at BOSKONE 44

One of the political ramifications of fantasy and some SF: Why would a writer create a world with unpleasant class politics, with a caste structure where position is based on genetics only and social mobility is restricted?

Why would someone living in a democratic republic write so glowingly of kings? Is it appropriate to do so in far-future SF (something Damon Knight criticized A.E. van Vogt for)?

Panel members are Jane Yolen, James D. MacDonald, Paul Park (M), and George R.R. Martin.

Making the Science Real (or at least making it seem real)

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion at BOSKONE 44.

Real science can be an essential part of science fiction. How can a writer keep the science real? And how and where can you stretch a bit such that it seems real (at least in the context of the story) but isn't? FTL drives are obvious, but there are others.

Panel members Allen M. Steele, Steven Popkes, Shariann Lewitt, and Glenn Grant

The works of David Gerrold

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion at BOSKONE 44.

Panel members Lawrence Schoen, Michael A. Berstein, Tony Lewis and Allen Steele discuss the works of the con's Guest of Honor, David Gerrold

NOTE::David's book THE MARTIAN CHILD is discussed. It has been made into a feature movie to be released in the fall of 2007.

Arisia 2007 Masquerade

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

The actual costume contest at the 2007 Arisia Convention.

Some of the participants were not competing, but only were on stage to display their costumes. The winners of the Junior Division are shown, but there was not time in my show to list the winners in the other catagories.

Masquerade for first timers

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion held at ARISIA 07.

Costuming veterans Toni Lay, Jan Howard Finder (The Wombat), Suford Lewis and the Masquerade Director for this years Arisia .. Jill Eastlake discuss what a person considering entering a costume contest for the first time needs to know.

Two events at Arisia 07

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

A demonstration of Lightsaber fighting techniques by two members of the Higgins Armory Museum, Worcester, MA and a discussion of the recent change of the planet Pluto from full planet to "dwarf planet"

Arisia '07 was a con held in Cambridge, MA in January 2007

Still Flying -- Firefly / Serenity

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion held at United Fan Con.

Members of the New England Browncoats show why Firefly and Serenity is not dead .. at least in the hearts of it's fans .. by showing an incredible amount of "stuff" that fans can purchase.

Podcasting 101

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion held at United Fan Con, Springfield, MA on 11/11/06

Kevin Bachelder associated with two Firefly/Serenity podcasts, and one Farscape podcast, join Matt "Mattman" Herring and Brian LeTendre co-hosts of the Secret Identiy podcast to discuss how to find and listen to a podcast, and how to start your own.

(NOTE: the Noreascon4 Masquerade will continue in a future show)

Noreascon 4 Masquerade Part 1 Junior Division

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

The JUNIOR DIVISION Masquerade competition at Noreascon 4

One of the many interests in Fandom is creating costumes. Some fans will spend hours and hours designing, then sewing (and sometimes using other skills) to create a costume of a favorite book, movie or tv show character or theme.

Since Terry Pratchett was one of the con's major Guests of Honor quite a few of the costumes have taken inspiration from Terry's many books.

Noreascon 4 Hugo Awards Part 2

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

The best of SF in 2003 Part 2 of 2.

Noreascon 4 Hugo Awards Part 1

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

The BEST of SF in 2003 Part 1 of 2

Noreascon 4 Prelimiary Hugo Awards ceremony

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Neil Gaiman is the master of ceremonies for this event.

There are a few pre-awards and discussion on the history of the Hugo Awards by Neil and by someone who has attended every Hugo ceremony to date ... Robert Silverberg.

Noreascon 4 Time Machine / Retro Hugos Part 2

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

The finish of the Retro Hugo awards and a glance at the different rooms and activites at the convention.

NOTE: The tables get turned on Fan Guest of Honor Peter Weston as HE gets interviewd by Terry Pratchett

Noreascon 4 Time Machine / Retro Hugos

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

The world science fiction convention of 2004 was held in Boson, MA, USA. The HUGO's are like the OSCAR's of the Science Fiction World. World Cons are allowed to award Hugo's to certain years works IF there were no Hugo's awarded for that year. The folks at Noreascon4, in addition to awarding Hugo's for the work done in 2003, decided to award Retro Hugos's for the Science Fiction work that was done in 1953. This is that ceremony.

NOTE: also you will see interviews with some of the major convention guests.

Why SERENTIY was more fun that STAR WARS

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel discussion at Boskone 43 comparing the film SERENITY (based on the cancelled TV show FIREFLY) against Star Wars (any of the Star Wars films, but specifically REVENGE OF THE SITH)

But Wait, There's More

13 Aug 2007 18:02:13 GMT

Panel at Boskone 43 .. Finding out about other Science Fiction conventions.