fajrdrako | Entries tagged with osfs

Speaking of routines: I have been the secretary of the Ottawa Science Fiction Society for a while now, and I've noticed a pattern in the way I write the minutes.

1. I go to the monthly executive meeting. Take careful and copious notes in an illegible scribble. Go home resolving to type them up immediately.

2. Get home. Decide I'm too tried. Put my steno pad in my purse for dealing with immediately the next morning.

3. Morning comes. I decide I don't need to to it right away. Tonight will be okay.

4. Too busy to do it tonight, so I postpone till tomorrow. Repeat. Then repeat again.

5. A week later, I've forgotten I haven't written up the minutes. I've forgotten there was even a meeting.

6. A few days before the next meeting, someone reminds me that there is a meeting coming up, and I realize I haven't written up the minutes of the last meeting yet. Time to do it before anyone knows how long I procrastinated. But then I can't find my steno pad. It was right there in my purse... wasn't it?

7. Search for my steno pad in increasing panic. Fail to find it.

8. Resolve to confess all to the other members of the OSFS executive, hoping I will be forgiven, despite my shame and ignominy.

9. I find my steno pad. Hastily write the minutes. Proofread and e-mail them to the other members of the executive as if I always meant to send them on the day of the meeting. Really. After all, if I send them early, they'll only forget them, right?

10. Arrive at the meeting with steno pad in hand, trying to appear blithely competent.

Ottawa Science Fiction Society meeting day. The topic of the month was "Utopia". Hildegarde did an interesting presentation on historical Utopias up until 1915 - Plato, Sir Thomas More, Tomas a Campanella, and so on. Tasia taled about The Disposessed by Ursula K. LeGuin, which I read a very long time ago and enjoyed immensely. Joel talked about books by Larry Niven and Jack Williamson.

I did a presentation on media Utopias, showing the Doctor Who episode of that name. It was fun to watch it again; and I showed a clip from "The Last of the Time Lords" showing the fate of the Toclafane, since it pertained to the Utopia theme. I was happy to be able to do another presentation with Captain Jack, and most of the audience was unfamiliar with Doctor Who, or, at least, with the new Doctor Who. Apparently I'd said something to Tasia about how I was unhappy with the Doctor at the end of "The Last of the Time Lords"; she asked what the problem had been and I replied (among other things) that I thought it wrong of him to dismantle Captain Jack's vortex manipulator. She agreed.

Consensus on the topic of the day was that you can't have a perfect Utopia as long as you have human beings. I am not personally convinced of that; I think it's a failure of our collective imaginations. Not necessarily a bad thing - I am learning to believe in progress nonetheless. But that isn't the mood of the world I live in.

We went to dinner at the Ben Ben restaurant on Somerset; I adore their BBQ Duck Congee and haven't had it in ages. It was wonderful, especially since I'd been suffering a headache that faded when I ate. We talked about books, including Ayn Rand's, and new TV shows. Once again, Sheila was not with us - she's in Rome, New York, this weekend - and the waitress asked where the 'laughing lady' was.

Later, at dinner, I quoted

maaseru that the closest thing she could think of to a Utopia in our world was Canada. Sandi disagreed because of current injustices Pat is undergoing in government employment; an interesting conversation.

Why do weekends go so fast? How can it be almost Monday already?

Yesterday was the OSFS meeting where we gave presentations on current or coming TV shows we find remarkable - a fannish pimping session.

I did Doctor Who, with mention of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. They've heard me go on about Captain Jack Harkness before. My presentation this time was more focussed on Martha as the 'new companion'.

Lyn did Heroes. I helped her; love that show.

Tasia did Life on Mars. I very much enjoyed the scenes she chose, but as usual, I find myself a little disappointed by the show in ways I can't put my finger on. I find it underwhelming.

Sandi did The Dresden Files, which looked good, rather to my surprise, because I didn't like the first of the books when I read it. And I don't much like the actor in the lead, but that's okay, since the writing of the TV show seems better than the writing of the book adn the story had a certain charm.

Sandi also did Eureka. She said she hated Heroes, but couldn't explain why. That's pretty much my reaction to Eureka, in which I find all the characters vaguely distasteful but I can't put my finger on the problem. Even when I think their lines are funny, I find them all annoying.

maaboroshi suggested it was because in Eureka we have the Marshall's point of view, and he's an outsider, looking at all the geeky people in the town. In Heroes, the geeks are the viewpoint, Hiro the ultimate fanboy and absolutely brilliant, and it's a show that plays on the strengths of the intelligent outsider. Or maybe the unintelligent outsider, if I'm thinking of Ted and Matt.

Pat did a presentation on the Green Arrow storyline in Smallville.

Originally there had been talk about Joel doing a presentation on Battlestar Galactica, which he hated. He borrowed the first season from a friend, I don't think he got through more than a few episodes. Sandi thought his comments would be interesting, but we didn't have time for it, and I was relieved. I could see myself defending this show I adore against those who dislike it - and I think I may be the only person in OSFS who loves BSG, though I could be wrong. Some of them liked the old series, which I don't like at all.

Sometimes I feel a little out of step with my peers.

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