Minutes: 9/21/03 From: Chris Doucette Date: Sun Sep 21 2003 - 19:04:24 PDT --------------------------------------------------- Bill: "Toss the bunny." Warren: "The bunny does not fly. It remembers the fate of its ancestor." Bill: "Which ancestor?" Warren: "The one with nasty pointy teeth." Charles: "It's 'big nasty pointy teeth.'" Chris: (makes the Big Nasty Pointy Teeth Gesture) Warren: "Yes." ************* ************* GENERAL BUSINESS ************* ************* ************* FRESHMAN-CATCHING ************* Gotta catch 'em all! We had our introductory meeting last Thursday, at which we attempted to describe HRSFA in under an hour. Of course, describing HRSFA is a futile endeavor no matter what the time frame, but 45 minutes is double extra insane. Insane, of course, equals much fun for everyone. We got a decent number of freshmen (or otherwise new) members, and two of them came to today's meeting! ************* THE IGNOBELS ************* The IgNobel Awards Show is the night of Thursday October 2nd this year. HRSFA, as a sponsoring organization, gets 5 free tickets in return for putting up posters and such, and further tickets will be discounted if you are a HRSFA member. Let Tony Vila (avila@fas) know ASAP if you want to be part of the HRSFA delegation. This year's theme is Nanotechnology, so expect to see lots of silly costumes playing off said theme. ************* UNDERWORLD ************* HRSFAn like spending money on things that will cause them pain, so it's no wonder at least a few of them want to go see Underworld (also known as Romeo and Juliet Somehow Made Even *More* Goddamn Angsty) this weekend. Warren will announce specifics in the near future. On the subject of movies, American Splendor is at Kendall and Charles thinks it merits a HRSFA trip. Look for more details from him. Also on the horizon, the Brattle Theatre, which often shows really awesome stuff that doesn't get played in theatres much, will be having the first annual Boston Fantastic Film Festival for six days in mid-October. Horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and dark comedy films will be on the menu. The schedule/pricing is still unclear but I will post details as they become available. ************* KING RICHARD'S FAIRE ************* Out in Western Massachusetts, a large number of people have built a small city, within which they have jousting competitions, sell swords and medieval-looking clothing, and generally misrepresent life in the middle ages. HRSFA will be sending a group there for the day of Saturday October 4th. Tickets are approximately $15; tell Warren (tusk@fas) *now now now* if you want to go, so that he can get tickets. People with cars are also urgently needed. Costumes are encouraged but not required, although Warren asserts his right to costume you if you don't have one. ************* THE HOUR ************* HRSFA: "All Hail Chronos, you *nimrods!*" People outside watching Shrek: "wtf?" The Coming of the Hour, in which we are granted an extra hour of sleep, will be celebrated by not sleeping during that Hour. The ceremony is on the night of October 26th, starting at 2 AM and ending at 2 AM, lasting approximately one hour. If you would like to make an appropriate speech (or song) about Chronos, time, etc. let the Mystical Poobah of All Tomorrows (kbheller@fas) know. ************* WYLD HUNT ************* On Halloween, HRSFAn will paint themselves blue, run around outside, and chase down and kill a freshman stag, to be brought back and devoured at the post-Hunt feast. Cody has (been) volunteered to be the stag. HuntMasta Warren will be coordinating the event from headquarters (location TBA) but does not actually go on the Hunt, and so requires a Deputy HuntMasta who "basically gets to use holy sickles," if I heard him right. Again, email him (tusk@fas) if you want to help. ************* FALL PARTY ************* Each fall and spring we have a Fall Party and Spring Party (respectively). This year's Fall Party is on Saturday October 11th. Beginning with a very unique Scavenger Hunt (you automatically win if you can collect Steven Jay Gould or Domna), the Party then becomes a Mecca of gaming, munchies, and all-around good-time having. Most likely will take place in the HRSFA Lounge (Lowell P22/Q21). ************* VERICON ************* Tony: "Say it! Say it!" Rebecca: (sigh) "Hey everyone we're having a con." The first general planning meeting for the 4th annual VeriCon, HRSFA's own sci-fi con, will be this coming Sunday September 28th, at 7 in Sever 110. Come find out what Vericon is and how you can contribute. Con-Chair Charles (cwood@fas) shall preside. ************* METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LARP ************* Jason and Chris are putting on a LARP (Live Action Role-Playing game) based on the hit video game Metal Gear Solid - a part-sci-fi, part-spy-thriller, part-awesome-action-movie kind of game. Players will take the role of candidates for a new special forces unit of the U.S. military, and will be challenged to outwit, outspy, and outkickbutt their colleagues, forming alliances when convenient and always manipulating the flow of precious information. Our goal is to recruit at least eleven players, but we can easily accomodate more if need be. No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is necessary - if you know how to play games, you're golden. That said, we will provide background information on the world of MGS to players, and we encourage those with a few spare hours to play through the video game to see what it's all about. Contact Chris (doucett@fas) if you're interested even the slightest bit. Do not email Jason, as his email inbox is essentially a black hole. The game is set for the evening of Saturday November 8th. Former HRSFA co-chair Dennis Clark '03 intends to fly back from Michigan to be among the players, so don't miss out! ************* ************* SIGs ************* ************* WRITERS' SIG: Had its first meeting this afternoon. Read Heather's poetry, and played the paper game. Kartik: "Think Telephone on crack." Charles: "Or paper." Kaitlin: (takes a long draw on an imaginary joint) Meetings will continue to be on Sundays from 1:30 - 3, location to be announced by Elisabeth. ************* CARTOON SIG: Every Sunday night from 11 to midnight, we watch a few very cool/funny shows on Cartoon Network's late nigt block, "Adult Swim," such as Big O, the Brak Show, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Meeting tonight in the Quad (without Chris). ************* Keanu: "Whoa." COOL MOVIE ZIG/pSIG/*ig/DOJO/WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT: Watched "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" after the intro meeting on Thursday. It was excellent. "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" will appear sometime this semester. This Tuesday, however, we are watching "Stay Tuned," starring John Ritter (who sadly passed away last week) as a couch potato dad who, along with his wife, gets sucked into a devilish world of satellite TV shows called "Hellivision" and must obey their rules to escape. Also featuring Jeffrey Jones (principal from Ferris Bueller) and Eugene Levy (Best in Show, many more). That's Tuesday at 9, location TBA. ************* GAMING SIG: Both Diplomacy and Talisman were played yesterday, resulting in some very tired HRSFAn today. Warren has acquired Munchkin 3: Clerical Error, which apparently includes Bunbun from the webcomic Sluggy Freelance. On the RPG (role playing game) side, Dev (purkayas@fas) has collected a master list of most of the proposed campaigns/one-shots for the semester, so that these can be coordinated and not accidentally destroy anyone's life. (Purposeful destruction of someone's life is still valid: see CTHULHU) ************* READERS' SIG: Bill has executively decided to have SIG meetings on Wednesday evenings at 6 in a dining hall to be announced. This week's story is "Procreation" from the anthology "The Ascent of Wonder;" the library has a copy, and Bill (zaientz@fas) has photocopies of the story if you want. ************* Warren: "An incredibly small delegation of HRSFAn went to the prerelease yesterday." Kaitlin: "How small was it?" Warren: "It was me." MAGIC subSIG: Warren went to the prerelease. Magic will be played in the near future; if you are a player letting him know (tusk@fas) is in your interest. ************* CIG: (watching stuff with Charles SIG, if you weren't paying attention) Smallville and Angel, the shows that CIG *officially* watches, don't start till the first of October, so next Wednesday Charles will be watching the West Wing season premiere instead. Next Sunday at 9, he and Kartik will watch the Alias premiere; if more people are interested watching Alias could become a regular routine. On days when there is no new Smallville or Angel Charles intends to show other things, like MI5 (modern British spy drama) or Sandbaggers (Cold War British spy drama). There's a new Sandman comic out as well, Charles has a copy which you should feel free to get your grubby fingers on no matter what he might say. ************* ************* "This meeting has clearly died a slow and painful death." We munched on munchies. - Chris Doucette, Infernal Secretary doucett@fas _______________________________________________ hrsfa-announce mailing list hrsfa-announce@lists.hcs.harvard.edu http://lists.hcs.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/hrsfa-announce