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October 4, 2012
Don't forget that tonight is the Lawrence Zombie Walk! Downtown will be filled with the undead, so of course everyone should gather down there. Which reminds me, I'm currently reading Mira Grant's Feed, which is a wonderfully double-entendre title, and enjoying it immensely. If you like zombies, this is a good one.
Info on the Facebook page.
September 17, 2012
If you haven't had a chance to meet
local SF author Kij Johnson, tomorrow's your chance! She'll be reading from her new collection of award-winning short work,
At the Mouth of the River of Bees, at The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence
on September 18.
Kij has sold dozens of short stories to markets including Amazing
Stories, Analog, Asimov's, Duelist Magazine, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and
Realms of Fantasy. She won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short story of 1994 for her novelette in Asimov's, "Fox Magic." In 2001, she won the International Association for the Fantastic in the Art's Crawford Award for best new fantasy novelist of the year. Her short story "The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change" was on the final ballot for the 2007 Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Award, and it was a nominee for the Sturgeon and Hugo awards. In 2009, she won the World Fantasy for "26 Monkeys, Also The Abyss," which was also a finalist for the Hugo and Nebula. She won the 2010 Nebula for "Spar," the 2011 Nebula for "Ponies" (also a finalist for the Hugo and World Fantasy). In 2012, she won both the Nebula and Hugo for "The Man Who Bridged The Mist."
This also might be a great time to meet some of the other Lawrence SF Club members!
And now some vintage news: If you like old SF and horror flicks, you'll love Lawrence in October.
On Friday nights, the Lawrence Public Library is hosing a free classic science-fiction film series at 7:00pm in the Auditorium.
Here's last year's rundown:
Forbidden Planet, then The Time Machine (1960), then 2001: A Space Odyssey, and finally The Andromeda Strain on the 23rd.
Also don't forget that the Friends of the Public Library Book Sale happens
twice a year.
Click the images to read about these movies.
Just a couple blocks away, Java Break
(my favorite dive coffee-shop) is hosting a classic horror film every Saturday night at midnight. Also free! Just buy a beverage.
First movie (this Saturday) is Nosferatu, then The Little Shop of Horrors, then Lawrence's own
Carnival of Souls,
then the Vincent Price version of The House on Haunted Hill, and finally the original Night of the Living Dead on the 31st.
Recent gatherings include Professor Philip Baringer's talk:
Title: "The Future Isn't What it Used to Be"
Room #2074 Malott Hall
(Coffee & Cookies before at 3:30 pm in Room# 1089 Malott Hall)
Speaker: Dr. Phil Baringer (University of Kansas)
Abstract: We take a look at science-fictional views of the future and how they have changed over the past century or so.
We'll look at classic themes of space colonization, robots and cloning, take a glance at the cyberpunk movement of the 80's,
and explore current ideas involving a near-future technological singularity and the obsolescence of humanity.
Warnings will also be issued to would-be predictors of the future.
Future meetings should happen about every week or two - contact us for more info if
you're interested: kusfclub@gmail.com
or visit our active
Facebook page.
Until now, one thing missing in Lawrence has been a regular get-together
for fans of SF/F.
The Kansas
City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, KaCSFFS, is a great organization,
but it usually meets in Kansas City. For more frequent get-togethers, and to
extend KaCSFFS westward, some locals and the Center have decided to organize a local group.
Join us! We are still processing a regular day when
all can meet, and we're always looking for more
suggested activities. Things people suggested that we do as a crew:
- Reading-discussion group.
There's so much good SF out there right now!- Some members have a preference for
short stories - especially online stories.
- Others wish to read and discuss books. Some of these are available
online, as well.
- Sharing books and book recommendations.
- Movies at the theater... and/or movies (especially classics and B-movies) at home theaters.
- Social gatherings to chat about SF/F and everything else over coffee with like-minded folks.
- Dinners out with like-minded folks.
- Trips to the Kansas
Cosmosphere, museums, and so forth.
- Attending local lectures, readings, and so forth.
- Attending Kansas City's
ConQuesT convention.
- Attending the
Campbell Conference.
- And more!
Other SFnal Activities in and Around Lawrence
Here are some local goings-on of interest to SF/F people in town for our
educational programs:
Dino Lab at Kansas City's Union Station Science City
Union Station and the University of Kansas have formed a partnership to develop this unique laboratory,
the largest of its kind in America. For the first time anywhere, the whole scientific process involved in prepping
dinosaur specimens will be on full public display.
You can see it all, from the delicate work of extracting the ancient bones encased in rock, to pouring plastic replicas.
For more information,
see
their website.
KU SUA Film Series
Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union.
Sponsored by Student Union Activities.
Click here for the SUA website. Call 864-SHOW.
KU Campus Lectures
These are part of the regular lecture series on campus with tons of stuff
SFnal types find interesting.
Check out the KU Events Calendar
to see what's happening on campus. During the regular semester, you'll find
world-class lectures on everything from astrophysics to zoology, cheap movie
listings, art shows, and much more. And non-movie events are almost always free.
KU Museums and Observatories
Natural History Museum
1345 Jayhawk Blvd. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Call 864-4450.
Art and Design Gallery
302 Art and Design Building. 1-4:30 p.m. Sun.,
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Wed., 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs. and 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Fri. Closed Saturdays, holidays and Spring Break. Call 864-4401.
Clyde W. Tombaugh Observatory
Operated by the KU
Astronomy department. Although the former observatory is being relocated,
it
is currently on the roof of the KU Stadium in the
Campus
Observing Station. You can use the observatory the
last Friday of the month 7:30pm-9pm, depending on when it gets dark. If it is
cloudy that Friday night, it will be open Sunday night instead. During daylight
savings time, it is open 9pm-10:30pm. The observatory is closed in the summer
except through special arrangement. KU also has other observation sites;
check this
link for current schedules.NEKAAL Observatory
Come to a Public Open House at
Farpoint
Observatory. NEKAAL members will be there to answer your questions as you
feast your eyes on amazing sights and have a great time. To learn more, check
out their Star
Party page. Driving instructions to Farpoint are located on the observatory
page. Check this
link for current schedules.
Spencer Museum of Art
1301 Mississippi
St. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Wed., 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thu., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat.,
noon-5 p.m. Sun. Closed every Monday.
Recent shows:
"Daguerreotype to Digital: Photographs from the Collection." North balcony gallery. Ends July 22.
"Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Art of the Early 20th Century." Asian Gallery. Ends May 22.
"Tokyo: The Imperial Capital Woodblock Prints by Koizumi Kishio, 1928-1940." Kress Gallery. Feb. 5-March 20.
Spencer Research Library
1450 Poplar Lane. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Noon-4 p.m. Sat. Closed Sundays. Call
864-4334.
The Spencer Research Library's North
Gallery also offers a view of some of KU's great rare book collections and a
view of the Memorial Campanile, looking north from the crest of Mount Oread.
Watson and Anschutz libraries
Watson: 1425 Jayhawk Blvd. Anschutz: 1301 Hoch Auditoria Drive, south of Budig
Hall. 8 a.m.-midnight Mon.-Thu., 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat., 10
a.m.-midnight Sun. Closed holidays. (Jan. 18 and 19: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.) For other
library hours, call 864-8900. Wilcox Classical Museum
103 Lippincott Hall. By appointment only. Call 864-3153. Continuing exhibit of
full-size replicas of well-known works of Greek and Roman sculpture and
antiquities such as vases, coins, small sculptures, lamps and architectural
terra cottas.
Here's a full description of KU
Library & Museum Hours
and Exhibits.
Our LiveJournal Discussion Group
http://www.livejournal.com/community/lawrence_sf/
Drop me an email if you live in or near Lawrence and would like to join us:
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