Chicon 2000 Progress Report 4 the 58th Worldcon August 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Inside front cover: San Jose' in 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents San Jose' in 2002 .............................. 2 Table of contents .............................. 3 Aussiecon Three ad ............................. 4 Thoughts of Chairman Tom........................ 5 Photo credit: Terry Patch ...................... 5 Volunteer form ................................. 6 Interview with Jim Baen ........................ 7 Art Show Information ........................... 8 Arisia ad ...................................... 8 From Russia with Love .......................... 13 Photo Credit: Tom Veal ......................... 13 WindyCon ad: the Techno WindyCon ............... 14 Locus ad ....................................... 18 Letter from Chicago: To Bob and Anne Passovoy .. 20 Dancing Fools .................................. 23 Dealers' Update ................................ 23 Filking is Alive and Well ...................... 23 Dramatic Presentations ......................... 23 Toronto in 2003 ad ............................. 24 Facilities Report .............................. 25 How to Get in Touch............................. 25 Hugo Awards .................................... 26 Hugo News ...................................... 26 Ad Rates for PR 5 .............................. 26 Bill Higgins: Radio Skates etc. ................ 27 Masquerade Information.......................... 28 Live Stage Department .......................... 28 Eggleton's Top 10 Films ........................ 29 Your Chance to Vote for your Favorites! ........ 29 Timeline: Future Progress Reports .............. 31 How to get past PR Issues ...................... 31 Rate Hike Alert! ............................... 31 Philcon ad ..................................... 32 How to get around in Chicago ................... 33 Da Mob: The Unfathomables ...................... 36 New Memberships ................................ 38 Lost Souls ..................................... 39 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [illo: sea monster's head and neck coming out of the water] Art Credit: Bob Eggleton: front cover, p.3, 30, 34 Art Credit: Joe Mayhew: p. 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 27, 31, 33, 35. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Design, editing, and production of this PR were done by Terry Patch (aka WordWitch) on a Power Macintosh 9600/200 using Pagemaker 6.5 and MS Word 5.1. Fonts used: Demian and Demian Bold, Charcoal, and Binner Poster MT. Printed at Davon Press, Fargo ND, and mailed from The Mail Center, Fargo ND. Publisher: Diane Miller Blackwood. As everyone should know by now, the editor's religion forbids perfection and is required to maintain an obligatory mistake count. Though heavy, this burden is assisted by byte-gnomes and cyber-elves who delight in all sorts of mischief (but only to help the editor of course, thank you, all!). Thanks is also given for the mail carriers who carry this zine to your home and to the Wizard of Odd for bread and space and much, much more. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chicon 2000 is a project of The 58th World Science Fiction Convention, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation that has been recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations to Chicon 2000 may be tax-deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code. Payments for goods and services furnished by Chicon, including the cost of convention memberships, are not tax-deductible. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chicon E-mail Infobot address: info@chicon.org; e-mail chi2000@chicon.org and website http://www.chicon.org/ "World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", NASFiC", and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 4: Aussiecon Three ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Surfin' Their Lives Away [photo of Tom Veal] Thoughts of Chairman Tom A popular convention panel topic is science fiction's dubious record as prophecy. "Why didn't writers predict personal computers? And how could they ever have predicted personal helicopters?" Such questions are always good for ironic chuckles, coupled with assurances that, pace Jules Verne, the genre's task is not to map the course of future technology. But sometimes our modest desire to shrug off the seer's mantle is too humble. One of the stock examples of the failure of foresight is the Internet, that suddenly ubiquitous presence in our daily lives. Yet science fiction did, in fact, foretell the Internet, or something very like it - only as a vast, intrusive evil rather than a benign bringer of prosperity and uplift. The quasi-Internet that appeared in stories from roughly the 30's through the 60's was omnipresent, delivered information in an instant, made possible pushbutton communication and dominated large areas of commerce. And, often if not invariably, it was seen as an instrument of tyranny, whether human, as in Orwell's 1984, or cybernetic, as in countless tales of supercomputer despots. (Most frightening of all were stories whose authors evidently supposed that humanity would be better off under benevolent despotism.) To a large extent, the negative prognosis was the effect of an error. The writers assumed that any sophisticated communications and information network would have to be maintained by a central authority that would be in a position to "see all, know all and control all." It turned out in reality that a diffuse system with scarcely any center could do the job better. The annoying and threatening aspects of the Internet -- data thefts, spam, viruses -- stem from decentralization and lack of control, the precise opposite of the disease that was anticipated. The old paranoia about being "connected" now seems rather quaint. Far from worrying about "Big Brother," politicians and commentators outdo themselves in enthusing over the Internet's vital, beneficently revolutionary role in education, commerce, relationships and just about every other area of human endeavor. There are shadows in the sunlight, to be sure: "Web addicts" and porn rings and the cracker underground. But those are minor, remediable blemishes, rendering the glorious future all the brighter by contrast. There are moments, though, when one begins to think that yesterday's paranoids had the right idea in general, regardless of their mistaken apprehension of details. The Internet and the World Wide Web are a marvelous convenience. I have almost forgotten what it used to be like to endure newsprint-stained fingers, to search frantically for the name of a half-remembered restaurant, to despair of locating a book that had disappeared from the shelves at Barnes & Noble or to trade a dozen telephone calls in order to exchange some simple piece of information with a colleague. To the extent, though, that the Internet fundamentally alters the way in which people live and learn and work and deal with one another, its impact leaves much to be desired. It may truly be more pernicious than a digital Colossus. Students are among the most oft-proclaimed Internet beneficiaries, and the government is currently spending billions to make every classroom in the country "Internet-capable." Let's imagine that it reaches that goal and surges beyond, to the point where the World Wide Web is an integral part of teaching. What will that mean for education? The Web will, according to its boosters, serve as a gigantic repository of facts. Compared to paper libraries, it will have two purported virtues: a larger quantity of data and superior indexing. Unfortunately, the former quality is wholly, and the latter largely, an illusion. The information on the Internet is, without doubt, more up-to-date in many areas than that in the average high school library. It is not, however, more extensive. Billions of words appear on Web sites, but those represent a minuscule fraction of the content of the world's books. Moreover, what is digitally accessible is an almost-random selection, heavily weighted toward titles in the public domain and sometimes skewed by peculiar agendas. The student who wishes to learn about, say, the American Civil War has far less to choose from on the Web than in the library. If his subject is more obscure, the gap rapidly widens. Within the Web's truncated universe of knowledge, research is marginally easier than among rows of books - sometimes. The ability to pinpoint particular words is helpful, but so is the intelligence of a human indexer. For the beginning scholar, who scarcely knows what magic words will lead to pertinent text, the latter surely has the edge. The real issue, though, is not the Web's quality as a research tool but its effect on how impressionable pupils think and learn. More than pure information, a child needs knowledge (ordered, accessible, usable information) and the techniques of reasoning, both of which are best fostered by sustained attention to coherent argumentation and narrative. The Web's fast-moving, TV-like properties are, at least in the present and foreseeable state of technology, detrimental to the development of both knowledge and reason. Data race by in snippets, and one can scarcely avoid the temptation to leap from one search engine "hit" to the next, looking for The Answer to whatever question has been posed. After a dozen years of that kind of demi-intellectual pinball, the victim will know only how to look, not how to think, and will probably be too old to embark on the task of scrapping his old mental habits and imbibing new ones. A generation that learns primarily from the Internet will lack the capacity to maintain or improve the Internet, not to mention the other complex and delicate mechanisms of civilization. Happily, the result probably won't be so dire. Grand educational schemes have a way of dwindling to minor pockmarks. In fact, given the natural rebelliousness of youth, Web capability in every classroom may lead to less surfing on electrons and more of the real thing. Perhaps the future does belong to sunscreen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volunteer Form Please complete this form as fully as possible, and return it to Chicon 2000, Attention: Volunteer Coordinator, P.O. Box 642057, Chicago, Illinois 60664. Alternatively, you can e-mail the information to volunteers@chicon.org. Please bear in mind that most positions at the convention will not be filled immediately, so you shouldn't be surprised or offended if you hear nothing more for a while. Name _______________________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________________ City _____________________ State/Country ____________ Zip __________ Phone _________________ E-Mail ____________________@________________ Date of Birth _______________________ (optional unless you were born after August 31, 1982. Note: Anyone who will be under 18 at Chicon must have parental permission to work on the convention.) YOUR AREAS OF INTEREST: Check the areas in which you are most interested, and attach a description of your pertinent fannish and other experience. [_] Accounting [_] Operations [_] Advertising Sales [_] Pocket Program, Editorial [_] Art Show [_] Pocket Program, Production [_] Computer Services [_] Press Relations [_] Con Suite [_] Pro Organization Liaison [_] Daily Newszine [_] Program Book [_] Dances [_] Program Operations [_] Dealers' Room [_] Program Planning [_] Facilities Liaison [_] Progress Reports [_] Fan Organization Liaison [_] Publicity [_] Fanzine Lounge [_] Purchasing/Procurement [_] Films [_] Registration (at-con) [_] Gaming [_] Registration (pre-con) [_] Green Room [_] Restaurant Guide [_] Guest Liaison [_] Security [_] Guest of Honor book(s) [_] Special Exhibits [_] Handicapped Services [_] Staff Lounge [_] Hugo Award Ceremony [_] Technical Support [_] Information Desk [_] Theatrical Events [_] Internet Lounge [_] Volunteer/gopher coordination [_] Logistics [_] Web Site [_] Masquerade [_] Worldcon Site Selection [_] Office (at-con) [_] WSFS Business Meeting [_] Office (pre-con) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Interview with the Editor Guest of Honor -- Jim Baen [photo] by Jeremy Bloom I could give a lengthy biographical introduction to Jim Baen, Chicon's Editor Guest of honor. But it's so much more fun to let him tell the stories himself.... Jeremy Bloom - To begin at the beginning, what got you into SF in the first place? Jim Baen - The very first SF story I read was at the age of nine: Firehunter, by Jim Kjelgaard (although I didn't realize it was SF then). Almost as a tip of the hat, one of the first collaborative things I did was ask David Drake to write a sort of parallel novel and publish them as a double. It was what happened to the tribe that deserted Hawk and his girlfriend. Nothing good, let me tell you. I first read a totally Science Fiction story at the age of 11. It was "Against the Fall of Night" by Arthur Clarke, and it really knocked me over. That got me into reading the stuff, and I was fairly intense about SF from the age of 11 until my late twenties, as a reader. After a misspent youth, if you will, I decided to go into publishing. JB - But your first job wasn't actually SF at all, was it? Baen - No, it was with the Complaint Department at Ace Books. They really needed somebody halfway smart in there. JB - Halfway? Baen - [laughs] Yeah. And I qualified. I took it on condition that if I held that job for a year I would get to move up to editorial assistant. After the year an editorial spot opened, and they really didn't want to give it to me - I had become valuable. They wanted to promote me to #2 in the complaint department. I told them "no," and then I told them "Hell, no." Finally I became the number 2 gothics editor. I forget who was the Number 1, but she knew a lot about gothics while I knew nothing at all. And we both worked under Evelyn Grippo, who was the one who bought the H. Beam Piper literary estate for the price of a funeral. My first acquisition was actually the first pick I made out of the slushpile: "Whispering Island," by Nel McFather. "A dream of tropic delight becomes a maelstrom of terror on Whispering Island." That was my first blurb, although they changed "maelstrom;" it was too intellectual. JB - So you learned the ropes of editing - Baen - What I really lusted for there was the Science Fiction Editor's job, but there was no way Pat LoBrutto was going anywhere. When Judy Del Rey left Galaxy as Managing Editor, under Fred Pohl, I interviewed for that job. As far as I was concerned, that was like interviewing to be senator. I was still blinded by the glamour of publishing in those days... But I got the job. JB - And you ended up as Editor of Galaxy. What brought you back to publishing? Baen - In 1978 I was offered the job of editor at Ace SF, which was a step up. After a couple of years Tom Doherty and I had turned Ace into a power that was beginning to rival Del Rey. But they were "interesting times," since Ace had gone bankrupt and been bought, and the holding company, Grosset and Dunlap, proceeded to get into trouble - over building their own warehouse - and sold off everything. So we left. It was very pleasing to me to hear a few years later that the only profitable element when Berkeley acquired the G&D empire, was Ace SF. And it not only lasted, and still is there, but Berkeley folded its own SF imprint in favor of Ace. I gloat. Hear me gloat. JB - And then came Tor, with Tom Doherty, and now your own Baen Books. You've worked with some superlative authors, including Niven and Pournelle, Timothy Zahn, Lois McMaster Bujold and David Drake. Would you say there is a "Baen writer," in the way that one could say there were "John W. Campbell Writers"? Baen - There are a couple of common denominators. Baen writers are interested in the story. And in the SF aspect of it. We never will be guilty of writing and publishing SF because SF is what we can write that can sell. There may be some connection with marketability, but SF is what they want to be writing, by God. There are some in the SF field who may be guilty of writing something that has as little to do with SF as it can and still pass muster with the genre retailers. I will name no names, but they know who they are. We [laughs again] are the higher and purer kind. Of course, they think we're a bunch of Neanderthals, and that's okay. It's also what makes horse races. I don't have much interest in writing for the sake of putting words together prettily. We aren't big on literary tricks and capers. Words are a tool. I'm not trying to denigrate those who wish to write "art," if you will. That's a worthy, if solitary pastime, and sometimes you can get somebody to appreciate what you've done, but they're a relatively rare breed, and unless you are extremely good you will count your audience in the hundreds, not thousands. When the "New Wave" came along - if I wanted to read literary experimentation, I'd read the real thing, like the Dubliners. [illo: bug-eyed thing with a mug of something] JB - Are you a James Joyce fan? Baen - (laughs) No, I'm not. That one was Judy Lynn Del Rey. She had a Ph.D. in it. JB - Which hat do you enjoy more, writer, editor or publisher? Baen - Publisher. As publisher I have absolute control over acquisitions. That's the heart and soul. Not the diddling with manuscripts. If you have an author you need to diddle with too much - unless it's a new writer you're trying to bring up -- then you have to ask, what are you doing with him? Editors acquire manuscripts. I like to think of myself as someone who acquires authors. And likes to keep them. Which, to a degree, I have. JB - You have been mostly successful at that. Baen - It's a bigger picture, and it allows for both a more profitable and healthier relationship with authors. My relationships with the authors affect every part of my decision-making process on books. I'm not just thinking about the current book I'm working on, but the one five books down the road. I'm always scheming to raise authorial profiles, because I have gathered a group of writers - or they have gathered about me - who like working with Baen, who like the freedom and the personal interaction. This is not to say I'm some kind of wonderful guy. But I'm not a corporation, I'm a person. And even a halfway decent person can be distinguished from a corporation. JB - How so? Baen - Any editor you work with is just as likely to be at another house in two years. So they have a disincentive to keeping faith with the writers, or thinking beyond the next dollar. Whereas in our case, the goal is way down the road with many books in between, each of which is a step on the staircase to heaven. Most people like being treated as people, which is why some of my relationships with authors are decades long, and some have been virtually exclusive for that long. Even if the person treating them as a person isn't particularly socially adept. JB - Are you accusing yourself of social ineptitude? Baen - I'm socially adept when I work at it. JB - And when you don't? Baen - [laughs] Along with Larry Niven, I am not the person people would think of when they name "Mister Tact." And this may be why I have a group of writers I work with - we become friends, and then I don't have to worry about being socially adept. JB - How about your own writing? Has your editorial career interfered with what might have been a full career as a writer? Baen - I don't think the writing avenue was ever really open. I can write comedy copy, but I don't have whatever it is that makes for the freeflowing disgorgement of thousands and hundreds of thousands of words. It's not because I can't put sentences together. But I suffer from some sort of permanent creative block, a "writer's block," if it applies to those who have never written. JB - You have done some - Baen - Sort of. The closest I came to writing hunks of a novel was "The Taking of Satcom Station," but the real author was Barney Cohen and it was his novel to which I gave a very heavy edit, and my name went on it. The tech in it is completely mine, and the momentum-sharing cable-linked space habitats are purely mine. [Twinned or multiple living environments linked by cables and spun for "gravity," like two dancers that link arms and whirl around a common center.] They were devised for a funny purpose. Barney wanted a chase scene up a stairwell in orbit. In my habitat modules you could take a stairflight up the levels and have a gunfight that way. I also think it's a sound way to develop space infrastructure. You can have virtually coriolis-free gravity that way. And I will say here and now that all this fufraw over space-sickness in zero-gravity environments [which NASA is spending billions to research] will be regarded as ludicrous when we start getting serious about stuff. It's plain as the nose on your face that we will use momentum to simulate gravity, because we need gravity. It's not rocket science - there are any number of carnival rides that use the principle. JB - But not the current space station. Baen - It's a political space station. They called it Space Station Freedom, and then they kept cutting off pieces, so that now it's either Space Station Fred, or maybe just F. JB - You've used that line before. Baen - I stole it, too. I think it's Pournelle's. JB - You've been a big booster of space. Do you think that Science Fiction, as a genre, has helped shape the space program? Baen - I think it very definitely shaped the birth of the space program, and is still an influence although not as great. It's now a political football. Not to say anything bad about [NASA Director] Dan Golden, who has done a great job. JB - Within his constraints... Baen - I just think that the space program reminds me of a government agency. JB - But surely it's better than no space program? Baen - Well, it's all right. But what a pity... I can't think of a stage where they didn't make the wrong choice. Way back in the beginning, the X Program was on the verge of going into orbit with the X-series, maybe by X-18. The X-15 was still breaking records up to the day they told it to stop breaking records, because it was showing up Spam in a Can. JB - And for those who don't know that reference... Baen - The Mercury program. The choice was a piloted vehicle that could go up and return, vs. basically a missile that goes up and comes down. The astronauts weren't really pilots, they were payload. By 1970 the X Program would have had experimental planes in orbit capable of return, but it was military [not NASA] and successful, so NASA killed it. We still aren't back to where we would have been in 1970. Then with Apollo we had two ways we could have gone. And for the sake of gaining a year, or two, we gave up an entire space infrastructure we could have had at no extra cost. We could have space station Freedom in 1967 or 1968. Instead we saved a year or two, and got nothing. [illo: robot. And now, I'd like to give you my impression of Star Trek's "Data"... ] JB - You're not a big fan of the Space Shuttle program either. Baen - The flying toilet bowl? When the shuttle became the designated next goal of NASA, the powers that were at the time wanted to make that decision irrevocable and static. So they went around looking for anything that could be either an alternative or an upgrade, and killed it. And they made it as expensive as possible to make changes to any other launching system. One mode of competition that was real obvious was the [the Apollo Program's] Saturn launcher. So after all the money they had spent on that, they drove a stake through its heart. Even ordered all the blueprints destroyed, so that you would have to start from scratch to ever do a heavy lift launcher again. There were other heavy lifters on the drawing board at that time that also disappeared. There's a rumor that one engineer kept a set of plans, rather than shred them as he had been told. He kept them in his garage, against the day they might be needed. This is still just a rumor, but I heard it from someone who had reason to know. JB - Many of your authors write SF with a military edge to it. SF seems to fall into two camps: "There will be war" vs. "There won't be war." How do you answer those who say that any technologically advanced race that contacts us will be so advanced that they will have long past given up such primitive nonsense as warfare? Baen - [laughs] I think it will depend on the race. And the real answer is, nobody knows. I don't think you can argue from general principles to an absolute conclusion, any more than we can argue whether life exists on other planets. No matter how many positive statements of how "there must be aliens races because of the vast number of planets and stars and suns in the universe," the bottom line there is Fermi's paradox: "If they gotta be there, why aren't they here?" Maybe they aren't there. We could be, rather than the poor schlubs on an undistinguished third planet, on the cutting edge of the life force in this reality. It's a heady possibility, that the universe is urging itself from pure energy to matter to living matter toward aware matter. We're not very bright yet. We're an intermediate step. It wasn't but an eyeblink ago that your typical hominid was a chimp-headed clown-footed midget named Lucy. Given where we came from, I think we're doing pretty well. And our children will do better, and I believe our 20th power children will have speciated. The way the tiny little mammals that ran under the feet of the dinosaurs went on to fill the world after the last great extinction event, I believe Homo Sapiens will become the mother of species to the new universe. It's entirely reasonable to assume that as we begin the great trek outward, humans will begin a set of transformations. You can see one version of that in Larry Niven's "Ringworld," or Wells' "Time Machine" with the Eloi and Morlocks. JB - Somehow, I doubt that I would get onto these kind of subjects talking with the average editor outside the genre... Baen - I like to think you could talk to some of the editors IN the genre and not get onto these kind of sub-jects. You can only be interested in so many things in this life, and these are the sorts of things that interest me, as opposed to I suppose whatever it is that interest most editors. JB - What else has interested you lately? Baen - I very much enjoy shocking people with the true provenance of the human species, which must have gone through an aquatic phase. JB - As opposed to the now-discredited idea that humans arose in an savanna environment? Baen - Right. Lucy and Ramidus, two early human forebears, were both adapted to a semi-aquatic environment in my opinion, and the opinion of others. That's why you have body fat adhering to your integument rather than to the torso; it's also why you have a diver's reflex, and why you stand up, along with much else. JB - But scientists can be slow to admit they were wrong - like the anthropologists that belittled the idea that humans had entered North America before the Clovis Culture of 11,000 years ago, and for years refused to acknowledge any dating of sites from earlier than that, but now they have finally given in to the weight of evidence. Baen - I think of them as "the rice bowl crowd," because they have to go begging for grants to fill up their bowls. They can't afford to look stupid if they actually admitted missing something that, once you see it, is obviously true. I will exclude Professor Tobias of S. Africa, who did explode the savanna theory of human provenance. He has admitted there is nothing in the record that would exclude an aquatic phase. Another idea I'm focusing on: How much money do you think we would focus on building a time machine with one purpose: to go back in time to preserve a whole tribe of the first men? I say we should spend that money on the chimps. They are the first men. Everything we need to know about our primitive selves is right there. We can know, for instance, that anything that a chimp can do was within the powers of the first humans, and it turns out to be quite a lot. We don't have to wonder whether some australopithecine was up to something specific, if the chimps are already there. And we can learn a lot about pre-human social interaction. They are a cadet species; humans and chimps belong together in a proper diagramming of the relationship of species. We twain are one: they just took the wrong road about a week ago in evolutionary time. In terms of evolutionary choices, you might say they took the NASA route. They specieated into a small environment, and got stuck. Our ancestors, on the other hand, were just chimps that got handed the keys to the kingdom. But the chimps, and also the bonobos, the so-called pygmy chimps, are in danger of extinction. To keep them going would take, really, just a pittance. While I am personally somewhat conservative and somewhat libertarian in my political leanings, I do think that chimpanzees and bonobos should have the same respect and rights as any primitives. I'm beginning to feel quite strongly about it. It's a very hard-bitten, down-to-earth caring. It's caring for our own. You look at them and you look in your own eyes. JB - In many regards you come off as being very cynical, yet in other regards you seem to have an enormous respect for the possibilities open to the human race, government screwups in the space program aside. Baen - We have become so technologically powerful that it takes more and more work for governments to screw things up. Although somehow they manage.... Life has, despite arguments to the contrary, evidenced a progression from single celled animals to wonderful us, and there's really no reason to suppose that this is some magic moment when a billion-year trend is going to flat-line out. Far more likely is the perspective that Vernor Vinge has, with his idea of social singularity - that we are at the knee of an asymptotic curve that before very long will point almost straight upward. The sky's the limit, really. [illo of computer mouse and a critter with ears: "No, actually, I'm a computer rat: you point, click, and get a virus."] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Chicon Art Show by Todd Cameron Hamilton The Chicon Art Show is going to be a mix of something old and something new. You will of course see the old traditional stand-bys that we have come to know and love from World Con art shows mixed in with some new ideas and technologies that will hopefully streamline the paperwork and make standing in line for hours a thing of the past. We will again be located in Lower Wacker Hall as we were for the previous two Chicons only this time we will also have the auctions there as well, so that we do not need to transport the art any farther than we can fling a badger. The entire art show, from the paperwork to the security and auctions, is being handled this time around by one large group so that we can avoid some of the communication problems that have plagued shows in the past. All of the Senior Art Show staff for Chicon has at least 15 years of experience with art shows including 4 veteran artists and one former ASFA president. A mass mailing will be sent out in October with detailed information on the cost and sizes of panels and tables. You can of course contact us at the Chicon Web Site in order to make sure that you are on the mailing list if your address is different from the one that is listed with our data base or if you are not in any of the myriad other lists we have colated for this purpose...or if you would just like us to send the information to a friend. We are currently planning on having 5 auctions during the duration of the convention and our chief auctioneer is of course Dr. Bob and his band of renouned. If necessary, you may also send me a snail mail at: Todd Cameron Hamilton (Chicon Art Show) 1220 South Westnedge Kalamazoo, MI 49008 We look forward to seeing you there and admiring your art. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - page 8: Arisia '00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From Russia With Love [photo] photo credit: Tom Veal Peter's Story: The adoption of Peter Anthony Ilya Jencevice Editor's note: In the last several issues, we have had the sad duty to honor those among us who have gone to the Great Con in Sky. It is with unmitigated pleasure that we can rejoice with one of ours in a celebration of life! by Mike and Linda Jencevice Our journey began in July of 1997. We were in the park just outside Comiskey Park and we started talking about adoption. Marie and Kirby, some friends of ours, had adopted a little girl from China (they are currently waiting to adopt number three) and this gave us the idea that we could also adopt a child. We started researching many different agencies and finally settled on European Adoption Consultants in North Royalton, Ohio. We signed our first paperwork in March 1998. But right after that Linda was involved in an automobile accident and broke her hand, delaying the process for several months. In August of 1998, we had our home study. A licensed Illinois social worker came into our house and asked us a bunch of questions and walked around the house for about two hours. Needless to say, we had spent a couple of weeks cleaning, organizing, rearranging, and thinning out some of the "fannish" references (We all know about those "weird science fiction fans" don't we??). At first it seemed a deep invasion of our privacy but then we realized that it was completely worth it. We were going to adopt a baby and that was a big responsibility and everyone wanted to be sure we understood all the ramifications. Imagine the worst paperwork nightmare, dealing with not one but three bureaucracies (state, federal, and Russian), and then multiply that nightmare by about a factor of five. We arranged for applications (several), references, fingerprints (twice), tax returns and financial forms (five years back), child supervision plans, employment letters, health reports, pet innoculations, waiting list letters, passport and visa applications, house appraisal, powers of attorney, and probably fifty things I've forgotten to list. We sent the (almost) final paperwork to EAC on December 28, 1998 with the fond hope of receiving a referral for our child sometime in the near future. On New Year's Eve we received a phone call stating that a referral containing a video and a medical history was being sent to us, to arrive on January 2nd. However, the largest blizzard in 30 years in Chicago occurred on New Year's Day. Linda was outside shoveling the sidewalks and street in hopes that Federal Express would be able to make it. However, they couldn't. On January 4, 1999, we received our video of a small happy little boy. He was all bundled in a little outfit and was placed in a large crib with many other babies. Someone had shot the video through the bars of the crib. He was so very precious. We then requested a second video since we could hardly see very much of him. This one showed him undressed. He was the most beautiful baby we had ever seen. We took the videos to Dr. Ira Chasnoff who is a specialist in dealing with children adopted from foreign countries. He is an expert at viewing these orphanage videos and looking at the sparse and often misleading medical information provided by the orphanages there. We had to wait until January 17th to get an appointment with him. He viewed the videos and went over the medical reports with us. The orphanages in Russia must put misleading and often outright false information in these medical records because "healthy" children in Russia cannot be offered for "foreign" adoption and because they receive more government money to care for these "sick" children in their facilities. Dr. Chasnoff's evaluation was that Ilya Baranov (our child's birth name in Russia) seemed to be healthy with the minor exception of a heart murmur (which is no major problem -- Mike had a heart murmur as a child and simply outgrew it); he seemed to be healthy although small for his age and underdeveloped (both as a result of orphanage life). These were not perceived to be major problems and we decided to accept him. He was born on July 10th, and the 11th was the birthday of Michael's father, Anthony Peter Jencevice. Thus it was decided to name him Peter Anthony Ilya Jencevice. We received our court date on January 23, 1999, and the race was under way. We had to get our Russian visas, acquire our round trip tickets to Moscow and baby's one-way ticket from Moscow (thanks to EAC and their "tame" travel agent for getting us a great deal at the last minute), buy all the donation gifts, pack within the limits allowed by Delta Airlines, and make plans for an adjustable trip if things had gotten messed up in Russia. Denise Solvig, a fellow co-worker of Linda, told her that Target was having a 50% off sale on infant and children's clothes. We were able to get all 15 outfits for "donation" to the orphanage for a lot less money than we expected. We also had to provide numerous other items, and Mike managed to do most of the shopping in two days and bring the gifts in "under budget." We had been working on the nursery for quite some time and now we were putting the final touches. Yes, it is a Disney/Space adventureland. His room was designed with Disney and Space themes covering every wall and a lot of the toys as well. We left on January 30th and we slept most of the way there because we were able to get a seat between us. When we landed in Moscow we went immediately to the passport area. It was a little frightening because there were men carrying submachine guns, but customs never searched our luggage. Mike, our EAC representative, was holding a sign that said EAC. We were escorted to a van and driven to the Hotel Ukrania. Driving in Russia is an experience you can never imagine. It was worse than bumper cars! The hotel was beautiful. It was built in the 50's and had maintained a lot of the old world charm. The lobby was huge and wonderfully decorated and the ceiling had a mural of the Russian revolution. We saw wonderful little shops. We also saw men walking through the lobby with submachine guns. Our room was a suite with a bedroom, parlor, bathroom, and entry way, with French style doors joining each room. Overall the suite was very luxurious. However, the usual amenities were missing; for example, there were small slivers of soap and only one set of towels. The hotel misunderstood a wake up call for 9:30 am and awakened us at 9:30 pm. But we went back to sleep quite easily. The four hour van ride to Yaroslavl was uneventful. We drove through some of the most beautiful countryside we have ever seen. If you looked past the aged and worn areas you could see that, in their day, the small houses with little fences were very wonderful and beautiful. We arrived at the Hotel Kotorosl and were escorted to our room. Unlike the other, it was very small and we shared the bathroom with another room. When we arrived at the orphanage, we were told we would have to wait for our facilitator and the Inspector for Health and Education (equivalent to a social worker) before we could go in. Then we were escorted into a music room with a lot of little tiny beautifully decorated chairs lined up around a large area rug and were asked to sit down. We looked at each other and silently agreed we would stand because the chairs would not support Linda's weight, let alone Michael's. Then down the hall we saw a woman carrying a child heading towards us. We knew this was our little boy. Linda started shaking and crying. They handed him to Michael. Michael smiled down to him and he smiled back up at him and Linda knew in her heart that everything was going to be all right. All our fears and apprehensions disappeared. Michael handed him to Linda and she kissed him all over his face. He smiled and laughed and our hearts soared with delight. We spent about an hour with him. As we were sitting there looking at him the Inspector asked if we wanted the baby. Linda was laughing and smiling so much all she could say was "Of course we want him." Then she was told "No, you don't understand, this is a legal question. Do you want this baby?" Linda immediately wrapped her arms around him and said "Yes, we want this baby!!!!!" We were then told we were going to go and get his passport picture. We were asked if we had a diaper with us and to go and get it. We then discovered that he was only wearing underpants under his outfit. We drove over to a small office where a photographer took his picture with a camera that had to have been from the 20's or 30's. We then drove back to the orphanage and were told we would go to court tomorrow morning. We were so excited we could hardly sleep that night. Early the next morning we left for court. Before we went in, Tanya (our EAC coordinator in Yaroslavl) explained to us what would happen and what we should say. We were very nervous and apprehensive, because the judge could still say no or enforce the ten day waiting period. We went into the small court room along with Tanya, our facilitator, the Inspector for Health & Education and a prosecutor. The judge was a very young man. After they read the decree and agreed to waive the ten day waiting period we were very excited. The judge and even the prosecutor wished us congratulations and their very best wishes. We traveled around Yaroslavl getting all required paperwork completed. It certainly is a male dominated society. Linda mostly sat in the cold, cold van. Quite often Mike had to get out with Anya (our EAC escort and translator) and sign some paperwork which he couldn't understand because it was written in Russian. One of the buildings Mike went into had a door a foot thick with steel lined walls and gunports! However, on one of our stops - I believe it was Department of Vital Statistics - we both had to go in. We were escorted to a beautiful room with painted silk screened light boxes on the wall, and signed the register book. We finally finished all the running around and arrived back at the orphanage around 2pm. We spent quite a bit of time visiting with the caregivers. They wanted to know what we would feed him. They seemed a bit concerned when we brought out a two ounce bottle of Enfamil. (We received a lot of samples and had brought them with us just in case he was allergic to one of them.) They gave us a bottle of what they feed the babies. It was keifer, a liquid type of yogurt which tastes terrible. We dressed our little one in a diaper, onsie, green Pooh outfit, socks, shoes, 2 receiving blankets, a wool bunting outfit which belonged to Michael when he was Christened, a blue velour blanket and a bath towel. It was very cold outside: 26 below zero, not even taking into account the wind chill factor. After Linda had finished wrapping him up, the caregivers then completely unwrapped him and rewrapped him. They also put a red knit hat on him. They then gave him lots of kisses and their best wishes for us. [illo: creature with long tongue] When we got back into the van, Peter was sweating so profusely that we immediately loosened everything, but we still kept him well covered. Within a very short time he was sound asleep. We started back to Moscow with the van dying every mile or so. It seems Sergei bought some watered gas on our way to Yaroslavl. We knew it was 26 below zero on the thermometer; we didn't want to know what the wind chill factor was, especially at 80 kph (about 50-60 mph). It was so cold that metal sucked out all our heat, especially from our feet so we put our suitcases on the floor with our feet on top which made quite an improvement. As we were stopping and going so much we feared that we could possibly get stranded and frozen to death and wouldn't be found until Spring. It was a good thing that Michael is so prepared because one time when the van stalled Sergie got out and discovered his flashlight was dead. Michael pulled out his Mini Maglite flashlight and saved the day (night actually). Since water is heavier than gas, Sergie was able to drain the water from the gas tank and (I'm glad I didn't have to crawl under the van a 26 degree below zero weather and drain water from a gasoline tank.) Of course Sergei came back smelling like gasoline and as soon as he was finished he stepped back outside and lit a cigarette! We half expected him to go "poof." We finally continued to Moscow without further incident. Thank you, Lord! We finally made it back to Hotel Ukrainia, Peter slept all the way back. When we arrived in our suite, Peter decided he had slept enough and wanted to be awake. All during that night and all the next day he slept in fifteen minute increments. He was VERY UNHAPPY!! He cried and cried and cried and cried. We called it the "Night of the Devil Baby." We wondered if we had adopted Satan's spawn! We had taken him away from everything he knew. He was with strangers, in a strange hotel room, eating strange formula, wearing strange clothes, attempting to sleep in a strange bassinet we had borrowed from Don in the EAC suite. Peter had several bouts of diarrhea as well. On Thursday, we went out to the US Embassy and waited for Peter's immigration visa. We were told to sit down with about thirty other American families who were all adopting while Mike from EAC went to all the different windows and ran around for all the paperwork. Other couples were not so lucky. We are very thankful for the people at EAC who made this a wonderful memory. The visa wait was fairly quick and we were back at the hotel by midafternoon with lunch in hand. When we saw other rooms at the hotel we were glad we had followed the advice of EAC and spent an extra $40 a night to get the suite. We probably had 4 or 5 times as much space as a normal room. We would've been nuts in that cramped quarters for a week! Peter could go from sound asleep to starving in 1.2 seconds. When he started crying, he set off another child, which in turn set off a third child. You have never seen anything until you see three new mothers all diving for the diaper bags and preparing a bottle at the same time! On Friday, we decided to play tourist. Mike from EAC had agreed to take us sight-seeing. The temperature was in the high thirties, so we knew we could take Peter out without too much concern. We went to Red Square, The Armory, Saint Basil's Cathedral, and the Cathedral of the Assumption. We wished we had an extra couple of weeks to see more because we barely scratched the surface, but we needed to get back home with Peter. Ah, well, maybe we'll win the lottery someday and go back in style! Saturday morning our flight left at 7:20 am. The driver from EAC (another Sergei!) picked us up at 5:30 and drove us out to the airport. He then parked his van right in front, helped us in with our luggage, and breezed us right thru the outbound Russian customs officer who never even looked at our luggage or papers. He departed as Mike tipped him the last of our disposable Russian rubles. Passport control gave us not even a second glance (whew! That was the last hurdle as far as Mike was concerned). As we waited to board our aircraft, we met another couple from Virginia, whom we had seen at the Embassy on Thursday, and their newly adopted child. We all agreed that we wanted to stay a little longer; however, it would be nice to get home to our beds, our cats and most of all to a place where we can read the signs. Peter slept the entire flight to Zurich, Switzerland which lasted about three hours. Then we had a nine hour flight back to Chicago. We had purchased a seat for Peter but put all our stuff there because he refused to sit still on the second flight. Linda stood in the galley and rocked him all the way across the Atlantic. Peter became known as the "Baby from Russia" in spite of the fact there were other babies. We landed in Chicago and since the INS people had been through this many times before it was relatively painless and quick. We were even waved through customs without ever slowing down. As we walked out of the International terminal, we were met by Brian and we could see Randy in the background with the video camera going. We hugged and kissed everyone. Randy had arranged for a white limousine to take us home. so we rode back in the limo, sharing parts of our trip while sipping Coke and relaxing with special friends. When we got to the house there were signs all over the door welcoming us home. We were met by Gloria, Bonnie and Patti (and two cats who were v-e-r-y glad to see us after our week-long absence. There were also a lot of presents, a large sign welcoming Peter to his new home, and a large helium filled Mickey Mouse balloon. They had also decorated Peter's door. We were very happy to be back home. On Sunday, less than 24 hours after our return from halfway around the world, a meeting of Q-Q3 was still scheduled. In our absence they had scheduled a baby shower with Peter as the baby guest of honor and everyone was there from the club. We had wonderful food and enjoyed sharing our stories and opening the many presents that people had brought. We were still exhausted and jetlagged from the journey, but it sure was good to be back among the special people in our lives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ page 14: Windycon XXVI ------------------------------------------------------------------------ page 18-19: Locus ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [various photos] To: Dr. and Mrs. Bob Passovy Fan Guests of Honor c/o Chicon 2000 The World Letter from Chicago 4: Sports in Chicago Dear Bob & Anne, In many cities with major league baseball teams, the fans go to the games with the hope that their teams will win. Chicago doesn't really have those expectations. We go to the games to enjoy the ballpark, the stadium and the crowds. We expect to be entertained. If our team happens to win, we consider it a bonus. Our teams' owners have understood this as well. When P.K. Wrigley couldn't field a competitive team, he urged people to come down for a beautiful day in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. When Bill Veeck owned the White Sox, he relied more on spectacle than on talent to bring people to Old Comiskey Park. That said, the Chicago Cubs remain one of the most popular teams in baseball (and have won more games than any other franchise in baseball history) and the White Sox uniforms are among the most popular. [photo: ballpark at night] The Chicago Cubs are one of the oldest franchises in baseball, dating back to the founding of the National Association in 1871. They were the first team to make it to three consecutive world series, from 1906-1908, winning back-to-back championships in 1907-1908. Unfortunately, they haven't won a world championship since then despite seven additional world series appearances, the last in 1945. Since 1916, the Cubs have played at historic Wrigley Field (1060 W. Addison), the only surviving Federal League (1914-1915) ballpark. Although there are very few bad seats in the park, the place to sit to really get the full Wrigley Field experience is in the bleachers, which are general admission. If the Cubs aren't playing at a convenient time, they do offer tours of Wrigley Field (for a $10 charitable donation) on select Saturdays and Sundays during the season when the Cubs are out of town. This tour includes both locker rooms, the press box, the bleachers and, weather permitting, a trip out onto the field. The Chicago White Sox are one of the original American League teams, taking their name from the Chicago White Stockings, the original name for the Chicago Cubs. The fledgling team went to their first World Series in 1906 when their team, known as "The Hitless Wonders," defeated the Chicago Cubs, whose regular season record still stands as the best won-lost percentage in modern baseball history. In 1919, eight White Sox were banned from baseball under suspicion of throwing the World Series. The White Sox' last World series was in 1959. Old Comiskey Park, in which the White Sox played since 1910, was torn down after the club moved across the street to New Comiskey Park (333 W. 35th Street) in 1991. The Kane County Cougars, a Class A Farm team for the Florida Marlins, have played in the Chicago area since 1991. The Cougars are one of the largest draws in the Midwest League, having surpassed the three-million mark in attendance during the 1998 season. They play at Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium at 34W002 Cherry Lane in Geneva, IL. 630-232-8811. The Schaumburg Flyers of the Independent Northern League are Chicago's newest ball club. Their inaugural season began on May 28, 1999, when they played the St. Paul Saints. During this first season, they invited former Negro League pitcher Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe to pitch, making the 96-year old the oldest professional baseball player in history. Their newly built stadium, the design of which is based on Wrigley Field, is located in Schaumburg at the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway and Springinsguth Road. 847-891-2255. [aerial photo of ballpark] In 1999, the Cook County Cheetahs, founded in 1995, joined the Frontier League and moved into their new stadium, Hawkinson Ford Field (14100 S. Kenton). The Cheetahs play in Crestwood off I-294 and Cicero Avenue. 708-489-2255. Of course, the Chicago Bulls are known for building one of the greatest sports dynasties in history, ranking with the New York Yankees. Although basketball won't be in season when you visit Chicago, you can still see the "House that Jordan Built," as well as the life-size statue of Jordan in flight (designed by Omri Amrany, who also created the statue of Harry Caray outside Wrigley Field) at the United Center at 1901 W. Madison. The United Center replaced the Chicago Stadium (built in 1929) in 1994. Briefly in 1996, the United Center acquired its own area code when the Democratic National Convention was held there. This was the first time a political convention had been held in Chicago since the infamous DNC of 1968. [photo - player in mid-air] The Chicago Bears shared the spotlight with the Bulls in a series of skits on Saturday Night Live in the mid-1980s when the Superfans would talk about "Da Bears, da Bulls and Coach Ditka." Although the SNL crew exaggerated (a little), Bears fans do tend to be very territorial, filling Soldier Field (just south of the Museum Campus on the lakefront) for all Bears home games. Originally a company team, the Decatur Staleys were founded by former New York Yankee outfielder George Halas (1895-1983). The Staleys moved to Chicago in 1921 and renamed the team the Bears (after the Chicago Cubs) in 1922. In the 1940 championship, Halas's Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 73-0. During the 1960s, the Bears played at Wrigley Field before moving to their current digs in Soldier Field, which was built in 1924. Soldier Field is known for more than just the Chicago Bears. In 1927, the infamous Long Count during the Dempsey-Tunney heavyweight fight took place here. Concerts are frequently held here and the stadium is known for its Grateful Dead concerts. In 1999, Women's World Cup soccer was played at Soldier Field, while the 1994 World Cup Opening Ceremonies also took place here. Soccer in Chicago is not limited to the World Cup. Over the years, Chicago has had several professional soccer teams. Currently, the city is represented by the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field. While professional soccer may not have the following in the United States that it has in the rest of the world, Chicago has proven, time and again, that it is a supporter of bringing and keeping soccer alive in the US. The Chicago Black Hawks share the United Center with the Chicago Bulls. Although their glory days were back in the 1960s when they featured Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, the team continues to play in front of sell-out crowds. The Black Hawks have been part of the NHL since 1926, one of the league's original six teams. The team is named for the Black Hawk Indians who lived in the Chicago area in the nineteenth century. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis served in the Black Hawk War (1832-1833). The Chicago Wolves, who play near O'Hare at the Rosemont Horizon (6920 N. Mannheim Road), compete in the Western Conference of the International Hockey League. In 1998, the Wolves won the Turner Cup. I'm sure that many of the fans who come from England, India, Australia and other parts of the Commonwealth will find baseball a curious sport. They may find themselves wishing to watch a more familiar game. To this end, if they choose to forgo the convention proper, they'll have just enough time to take in a cricket match at one of the two places in the area to catch cricket: Wells Field (Central & Ashland, Evanston, 847-491-5240) and James Park (Oakton & Dodge, Evanston, 847-491-5240). The games are free and generally pit local cricketeers against expatriate Commonwealth teams. Despite cricket's reputation as a long game, the games in Evanston (you can get there on the red line of the El, transferring to the purple line) are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from June to September. Several different games, not the same game played over several months. You can catch the sport of kings at the Polo and Equestrian Club of Oak Brook (1000 Oak Brook Rd, Oak Brook) near the headquarters of McDonald's. The action begins at 1:00 pm on Sundays from mid-June to September. When England's Prince Charles is in the states, he can frequently be found playing in Oak Brook. Admission begins at $8.00 for a grandstand seat. Polo isn't the only sport which relies on horses. Chicago has a variety of horse racing for the betting fan. Harness racing can be seen at Maywood Park, Sportsman's Park, Balmoral Park, and Hawthorne Race Course. Thoroughbreds run at Sportsman's Park, Balmoral Park, and Hawthorne Race Course as well. By the time Chicon rolls around, thoroughbred racing should have returned to Arlington National Race Course. All of these race tracks are located in the suburbs. Maywood Park is at 8600 W. North Avenue, Maywood, Sportsman's Park (3301 S. Laramie), and Hawthorne Race Course (3501 S. Laramie) are in Cicero, Balmoral Park is at Hwy IL 1 & Elms Court Lane in Crete and Arlington International Race Course is in Arlington Heights. If you like racing but are allergic to horses, you can catch NASCAR racing at the Sante Fe Speedway in suburban Hinsdale. The track here is clay, not asphalt, so the cars have a tendency to go slower, but strategy tends to play a larger part in determining who wins. Just north of the border you can see sleek greyhounds (dogs, not buses) chase little rabbits (lures, not VWs) at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Of course, we would much rather you spend your money at the con, or, failing that, at Illinois vendors, but Dairyland is only about ninety minutes north of Chicago. On the way, you can stop along I-94 and buy some cheese at the Mars Cheese Factory, a small shop that gives the word "Cheesy" several different meanings. Softball was invented in Chicago as an indoor, winter extension of baseball. Traditional Chicago softball is played with a sixteen-inch ball that is actually soft... no need for a glove with this cantaloupe. On any given weekend during the summer, softball, both sixteen- and twelve-inch ball, are played in parks across the city, from Hyde Park to Lincoln Park to Grant Park. Most games are league games, but you never know when a pickup game will take place. Perhaps the best spot in the city to get into a pickup game is Oz Park, named after Chicagoan L. Frank Baum's magical kingdom. The park also sports a statue of the tin woodsman. If you find yourself staying in the Fairmont Hotel with a lake view, you'll also find yourself overlooking the Illinois Center Golf Course and Driving Range. This nine-hole course was built in 1994 when plans for an office building fell through. Tee times can be booked through the concierge's desk at the Swissotel, one of the official Chicon hotels. The Chicago Park District has six relatively inexpensive golf courses scattered throughout the city. These include Marovitz at Lake Shore Drive and Waveland Avenue with holes modeled after some of the most challenging holes around the country. The only eighteen-hole Park District Course is Jackson, at Lake Shore Drive and 63rd. Several other golf courses are in suburbs around the Chicagoland area. Steven [photo] http://www.cubs.com http://www.chisox.com http://www.kanecountycougars.com http://www.schaumburgflyers.com http://www.cookcocheetahs.com http://www.nba.com/bulls/index.html http://www.nfl.com/bears http://www.chicago-fire.com http://www.chiblackhawks.com http://www.chicagowolves.com [photo of baseball team] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dancing Fools by kT FitzSimmons Yes, we in the Events Division are Dancing Fools -- we know nothing about them except that many of you out there not only enjoy dances but actually look forward to them. Always eager to please (if we weren't, we wouldn't be here in the first place), we plan to have a variety of dances -- Regency, Swing, Sock Hop, Disco, Polka? -- over the course of the convention. The problem is, we need people who love to dance and who love dances to help us organize and run the dances. We also need just plain old ideas: What kind of dances do you like? Should we have pre-dance lessons? What about refreshments? If you are interested in helping out in any way, please contact kT FitzSimmons at the Chicon website or by snail mail. Please be sure to include your name, email address, and home and work phone numbers. Let's all have Happy Feet! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dealers' Room Update At this time, we have more requests for tables than will be available in the Chicon 2000 Dealers' Room and are not accepting any more requests. A committee will be reviewing the applications later this summer and determining who will be assigned tables (and how many) and who will be placed on the waiting list. We'll be contacting everyone who sent in a request with their status and final table rates early this fall. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Filking's Alive and Well by Jan DiMasi Filking at Chicon has a history of being GREAT! Plans are in action to help history repeat itself in 2000. Confirmed attendees are: "Decadent" Dave Clement, Juanita Coulson, Carol Flynt, Carol Roper, Lee and Barry Gold, Steve Simmons, John Hall and Lynn Gold. We also expect to see: Tom Smith, Kathy Mar, Howard Harrison, Mike "Moonwolf" Longcor, Cliff Flynt, Tom Jeffers, Bill and Brenda Sutton and many more. YOU CAN HELP. The Chicon Songbook is themed "WORLDCONS PAST." Locate your worldcon songs (music and lyrics please) and e-mail me with the title and year of the con. E-mail me at filk@chicon.org for these or any other filk related issues. Thank you. Jan of the magic fingers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hold on to your seats: Dramatic Presentations by Alice Medenwald Are you ready for some fantastic Dramatic Presentations at Chicon 2000? I hope so because we have some great stuff, so be prepared to make some difficult decisions about what to do between programming, parties, dances, eating, sleeping (well maybe) and the traditional events that all Worldcons have. First, we are proud to offer you a full length stage production by Moebius Theatre. For those who may not have heard of Moebius (those who have been on another planet or in another dimension), Moebius Theatre has been creating science fiction for live performance for 23 years. Moebius Theatre has appeared at previous Chicons and numerous Windycons. While at Chicon 2000 look around for more from Moebius; there is no telling where you might find them. We are also excited to announce that the "Don't Quit Your Day Job Players" will be with us. This 6 member band is quickly becoming the hottest new cult-favorite rock-folk-blues-country fusion band in America. They have performed at several college campuses and expect to have their second CD out this summer. I personally look forward to hearing them. If you are looking for something a little different, we have Lee Darrow, a hypnotist who will present a "Journey to the Center of Your Mind-Hypnosis 2000." This one-hour show features audience participation in a brand new presentation of hypnosis for entertainment. Lee puts his volunteers into a wonderfully relaxed state and helps them explore and play with their imaginations. Lee has appeared for Sandals Resorts, Discover Card, Amoco Oil, United Insurance of America, Ameritech and numerous colleges and universities across the country. Come see his unique brand of hypnosis - based not on embarassment, but on improvisational theater. Remember to bring your imagination and be ready to sleep for Lee. For those who really like audience participation we are pleased to have an original Murder Mystery Theatre production written by the team of Lilienkamp & Smith. It's called Camelot 5 and it's a mix between Camelot and Babylon 5. It's pure schtick and great fun. So bring your imagination and get ready to immerse yourself in one of many exciting characters just waiting to be brought to life. So whether you like to sit, watch, and listen or be used as a guinea pig (maybe a poor choice of words) or are a closet actor waiting for that big break, we have something for you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ page 24: 2003 in Toronto ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Facilities [photo: Rudi, the Swissotel cow] by Dina S. Krause (Cows on Parade. For more, go www.cowsonparade.net) I know you are anxiously awaiting room rates, but honestly we cannot give them out until the hotels are ready to take reservations. That unfortunately will not be until after the beginning of 2000 - probably around February or March. I can mention that rates will be under $150 for all hotels -- some significantly lower. Here is some basic information about our auxilliary hotels, the Swissotel and the Fairmont. Swissotel: * 632 rooms including 34 suites * 2 line phones in each room * video checkout * marble baths with separate showers * 3 restaurants and an in-house bakery * swimming pool and health club * 31 function rooms including 3 ballrooms * 240 underground parking spaces * 24 hour room service * connected to Illinois Center - a very short underground walk to the Hyatt - our main hotel Fairmont: 692 rooms including 66 suites * 2 line phones with modem links in each room * marble baths with separate showers * 37 stories * 24 hour room service * 4 resturaunts * a very short walk from our main hotel All our hotels are very excited and pleased to have us and we are looking forward to being there. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Getting in Touch! by Chaz Baden There are basically two ways to reach people via @chicon.org. Method one: via the department they're running. This only works for department heads, of course. But you can reach the head of programming by writing to prog@chicon.org, and Registration at reg@chicon.org, and so forth. Method two: via the person's name. Change spaces to periods. This works for everyone for whom I have an e-mail address. It does require you to know how to spell, so Randy.Kaempen@chicon.org will work if you know how to spell Kaempen; if you don't, you can fall back on reg@chicon.org. So that's how the e-mail addresses work. On the web site, you can find a directory of all the e-mail addresses, and also you can find a staff and committee roster. There are a handful of people who are in the e-mail directory who don't have positions, mostly bid people. The e-mail directory is at http://www.chicon.org/staff/ mailtos.htm. The staff and committee roster is what you get when you click on "Contacts" on the main entry screen of www.chicon.org. It lists everyone on the committee and staff. For anyone who has an e-mail address, their name is a clickable link to send them e-mail. On the website, all of the e-mail links (including the ones on the staff list) are clickable links to send e-mail, and they all will bring up a fill-in form. This allows anyone with web access to send us e-mail. Using the form is not required, of course, but it is certainly convenient. (Some people have reported that they can't use "mailto:" links when they're cruising the internet from the office.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 2000 Hugo Awards by Michael Nelson, Hugo Awards Administrator (hugos@chicon.org) I just saw _Star Wars - The Phantom Menace_ at the Uptown, an old-fashioned single screen movie theater in Washington, D.C. The screen was twice as big as most suburban multiplex screens and the sound system shook a few of my fillings loose. Wow, talk about sensing a disturbance in the Force! But will it get my top vote for the 2000 Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo? Maybe I'll make _The Matrix_ or _The 13th Floor_ my first choice -- or even _Muppets From Space._ As a Chicon 2000 supporting or attending member, you have the privilege to make nominations and to vote for the 2000 Science Fiction Achievement Awards. One of the major events at Chicon will be the Hugo Awards Ceremony where our Toastmaster, Harry Turtledove, will host an exciting presentation of awards for the best professional and fannish science fiction related works of 1999. Those new books, artwork, stories, and movies that you are encountering right now will be eligible for nomination next year. Speaking from twenty years of experience, I can tell you that nothing will increase your enjoyment of a Worldcon more than participating in it fully. When the Hugo nomination form arrives with your next Chicon 2000 progress report, take some time to think about the science fiction you've experienced in the past year and nominate your favorite. Vote for your preferred choices when the ballot comes out next Spring. Plan to attend the Chicon Hugo Awards Ceremony to see Bob Eggleton's bodacious hair and the people who create the science fiction you treasure receive the recognition and appreciation of the SF community. Hugo Ceremony News by kT FitzSimmons It happens every year. The fans arrive hours ahead of time, anxious to get the best spot to view their favorite celebrity. The celebrities arrive, men elegantly attired in expensive tuxedos and suits, the women bejeweled and swirling in beautiful silks and chiffons. The nominees try not to look as nervous as they feel. The host constantly checks his lines, wondering if this joke doesn't quite make it or if he can remember how to pronounce that name with 27 consonants and one vowel. The stage crew and technical staff make that final check hoping they haven't missed anything but knowing, somehow, that they have. The ceremony starts. The presenters try to be funny and the audience obliges them by laughing. The winners leap from their seats as their names are announced and bound up the stage, grabbing the gleaming, phallic statuette as they kiss the beautiful (or handsome) presenter. They try to be brief in their thanks but run too long; the audience, though, eats it all up. The losers are gracious, if not terribly disappointed. The show is a technical masterpiece, from the sound to the lighting and the only low point is the tribute to those who could not be there. This is the World Science Fiction Society's annual Hugo Awards ceremony, where the best and the brightest in the SF literary world come to shine in the spotlight for themselves and their fans. We hope that you will join us at Chicon 2000 for an evening of elegance as we honor the best SF has to offer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ad Rates These ad rates are for camera ready copy. Custom artwork, layouts, typesetting or special positioning and other services are available at an additional charge. *The deadline is Nov. 30, 1999* for advertising and other copy for Progress Report #5, which will be issued in January 2000. Mail all ads and payment to the Chicon 2000 post office Box (PO Box 642057, Chicago IL 60664) or call Diane Miller Blackwood at (773) 202-8081, or fax to (773) 202-8082, or e-mail dmiller@megsinet.net or pubs@chicon.org. Per Issue Rates Fan Professional Quarter Page 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" $25 $80 or 4" x 4 5/8" Half Page 40 125 7 1/2" x 5" Full Page Interior 70 200 7 1/2" x 10" Full Page Inside Cover $200 $300 7 1/2" x 10" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Radio Skates, Teletheatres, and Rocket Jockeys by Bill Higgins The preface to Lester del Rey's 1953 novel _Rocket Jockey_ contains one of science fiction's most astonishing predictions. Writing under the pseudonym "Philip St. John," del Rey correctly predicted the name of the first man to walk on the Moon! He also predicted the astronaut's first words: "When Major Armstrong landed on the Moon in 1964 his first words over the radar to Earth were `Who won the Indianapolis Classic?'" Oh, well, even the best prophets can't be accurate 100% of the time. As _Rocket Jockey_ illustrates, science fiction's record at predicting the future is, at best, spotty. SF stories are not about what will happen, they're about what might happen. You and I understand this, but it's not always clear to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, I enjoy the guilty pleasure of comparing the developments in SF stories to those in the so-called real world. Hugo Gernsback -- the guy who gave SF its name -- was as gadget-happy as anyone who has ever written the stuff. In the early days of radio, he published magazines for electrical hobbyists, and sometimes wrote fiction for the amusement of his readers. His best-remembered novel, _Ralph 124C41+,_ is crammed with speculations about technology. [illo: small fairy and person in bubble space helmet] Hugo's most famous hit: The eponymous Ralph uses reflected radio waves to learn the distance and location of the bad guy's spaceship, anticipating the invention that warned British interceptors of Luftwaffe bomber attacks 28 years after the story's publication. The book also describes restaurants which serve food exclusively in liquid form, through hoses running to each patron's seat. Rocket ships have runningboards. And commuters zoom through the metal streets of the Big Apple on motorized roller skates powered by titanic radio transmitters. (Gernsback had more uses for radio than George Washington Carver had for the peanut.) Seems unlikely now. But another success in _Ralph 124C41+_ appears as Ralph shows his girlfriend what we would today call his "home entertainment center." Theatregoers of the past, he explains, "if they did not happen to like the production, had either to sit all through it or else go home. They probably would have rejoiced at the ease of our Tele-Theaters, where we can switch from one play to another in five seconds, until we find the one that suits us best." Hugo could have been describing my living room at the end of the 1990s. Except that electronic wizardry allows me to switch from one play to another in a fifth of a second, sometimes to the dismay of my wife. Fortunately, I know better than to try this when _Xena_ is on. Other stories have used certain inventions as props for so long that we're all expecting them to appear any day now. For example, cities of the future always seem to have swarms of flying cars. Some of those stories were decades old when I read them as a kid. At some point I noticed that we had advanced fairly far into the future, and there was a notable shortage of flying cars. I investigated this. The first Chicagoan to commute by air was Harold McCormick, who used Lake Michigan as a handy runway for his 1913-model seaplane, hopping the 28 miles from his Evanston home to the downtown Chicago Yacht Club in minutes, then strolling to the office. This is way better than radio-powered roller skates. It turns out that the technology to make a flying car has been with us since the first workable types were built in the 1930s. Some models folded their wings, others detached the car and left the wings at the airport, others used rotors to land vertically. Several were quite good. None of the inventors was able to muster the money to go into mass production. Maybe it's the costly maintenance, maybe it's the piloting skill they'd require, maybe it's the compromises the designers must make between a good car and a good aircraft. For whatever reasons, the "roadable aircraft" has never become a commonplace. It may belong to the past, rather than the future. Ignoring these inconvenient facts, SF writers continue blithely to fill their fictional skies with aircars. A tiny group of engineers and pilots meets every year in Oshkosh to discuss their designs for future flying cars, so there may yet be hope. The SF prediction that's chilled me recently is Fritz Leiber's 1954 story "The Creature from Cleveland Depths." The Tickler begins as a gadget for playing back recorded sound-memos at pre-set times, to remind its user of appointments and such. As subsequent models develop, Ticklers acquire more features, and become so useful that sales grow explosively. Everybody needs one. [illo: "generic superhero"] More and more of my friends are buying Palm Pilot "personal digital assistants." They're getting bleeped at just before appointments. They're shooting data on infrared beams. They're modifying their own handwriting to satisfy the device's word-recognition software. They're reading bedtime stories to their kids from its electroluminescent screen. As I watch this, I think of the glassy-eyed inhabitants of Leiber's Cleveland Depths. Their Ticklers whisper upbeat motivational messages and inject mood-altering drugs into users' bloodstreams to improve productivity. They are zombies completely under the control of the machines they love. Hope this is one prediction that doesn't prove accurate. But some folks at MIT are saying that "wearable computing" is the next big trend... hmmm. Stay tuned. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chicon 2000 Masquerade A Call To Compete by Nancy E. Mildebrandt Costumer and Director First and foremost, I need to know if you will be competing and then some basic information about your entry. Since I am at the basic planning stage for what I will call hardware (stage size, type of lighting, green room size, etc.), I need you, the costumer, to tell me how much space you will require. So, if you are interested in competing, let me know that, as well as how large your entry will be (number of people, approximate size [area] of the costume, etc.) by e-mailing or writing to me at the address below. I know it may seem a bit early to send this information, but I want to try to avoid some of the pitfalls that past directors have come up against. Although we plan to conduct a full technical rehearsal for the evening's show at the convention, this will help us make sure that the rehearsal, and show, go as smoothly and quickly as possible. I will be running this event using ICG guidelines for divisions. In some ways, this event will be run like many other masquerades which have come before it, but in other ways, I will be doing some things a bit differently (I have a different way of writing up the tech form). I want to see a very open line of communication between the entrants and myself. Therefore, feel free to contact me at anytime. In addition, in the coming months, I will be producing a newsletter for anyone interested in competing in the Chicon 2000 competition or for anyone interested in helping out backstage with the competition. If you wish to be on the mailing list, please send me a note at my e-mail or snail-mail address below. Again, let me know if you are planning on competing. I realize that plans can change, so even if you are only thinking about attending and competing, let me know. I would rather plan for too many, than have to squeeze you into a limited space. Yours in costuming, Nancy E. Mildebrandt 1316 Sherman Ave. South Milwaukee WI 53172 e-mail: Ltebear@aol.com or masq@chicon.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Live Stage Department by Gretchen H. Roper, Ringmaster Do you sing? Play an instrument? Juggle? Do magic? Want a spot to strut your stuff? Come join us at Cougar & Dark's Traveling Circus and Pandemonium Shadow Show, down in Wacker Hall. I'm looking for talented people to fill the stage when the Art Auction is not in session. Let me know what you can do that will keep a Worldcon audience entertained for a half-hour or so and - if it sounds like fun - I'll put you on the program. You can contact me through the Chicon P.O. Box (send it Attention: Gretchen) or at gretchen@xnet.com or live.stage@chicon.org. Sorry, insurance regulations prohibit sword swallowers and animal acts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My Top Ten List of The Best SF films Ever by Bob Eggleton In compiling this I took into account what makes a "science fiction" film different from a "fantasy" film, and I was walking a thin line most of the time. I didn't include any STAR WARS or STAR TREK films because they are part of a series relating to their specfic mythologies -- they basically all stand together. And while some of the films below have sequels, those sequels are more or less different visions involving some of the same characters. So here they are, and why I liked them, arranged in alphabetical order: ALIEN (1979) This is the first and arguably best of the whole series of movies involving probably the best and most memorable outer space creature in ages,that all the rest had to measure up to. Ridley Scott's direction, along with some great characters, acting and visual effects, conjured up a story that had many clutching their seats. The landing on the planetoid and the EVA on same, was particularly well done, as it truly was an alien planet and not some obvious rock quarry or desert landscape. I can never get tired of seeing this film, it's so well done. BLADE RUNNER (1982) Again, Ridley Scott showed us a vision of a dark, dank future, unlike the previous entry, but itself an alien- and not so alien world gone crazy with technology and moral complications. The acting sets and visuals, like Scott's ALIEN, added up to a film that really connected with what many science fiction fans wanted. Unlike ALIEN, this film didn't do so well at the box office but did survive as a cult hit and eventually a director's cut (1993), which some argue was not such a great idea on Scott's part. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977). Okay I know people who either loved it or hated it. I'm on the "loved it" side. Steven Spielberg's vision of contact between humans and extraterrestrials. What worked was the optimistic view of aliens so advanced, that they were like children and their spacecraft, toys. It had a lot of what are known as "Spielbergisms" in its portrayal of characters. I liked it because it showed Richard Dreyfuss' Roy Neary character as a person, like any of us at times, in search of an answer. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1953) Who's top ten list is this one not on? Perhaps a cornerstone film in the SF genre, appealing not just to fans but also to a wide audience. Michael Rennie's Klaatu remains unchallenged in his portrayal of an alien much resembling humans, but with a stern warning of powers far, far greater than man in the universe. Gort is one of the few truly memorable robots of the genre. The film hit home at a time Cold War paranoia was at fever pitch but worked to tell humans they must broaden their scope in thinking. DR. STRANGELOVE or HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964) Some would argue the "science fictional" content, but it does have a fictitious "doomsday weapon" that does win out in the end. It is one of my favorite funniest films of all time as well. Stanley Kubrick's often hilarious version of a nuclear confrontation, showing the pointlessness of war and the stupidity of those who wage it. My favorite bits are such things as General Jack Ripper's (Sterling Hayden) rants about "natural bodily fluids" and of course, the show stopping scene with Keenan Wynn, Peter Sellers and a Coke machine. [illo: head of dragon or other lizard] DARK CITY (1998) A terrific film that came out of nowhere, it seemed. It had a Film Noir quality not seen in many films and was like a big budget episode of The Twilight Zone with regard to its situation and characters and ultimate conclusion. It was well textured and the idea was original. The production design was some of the eeriest I have seen yet... it was worth multiple viewings and, like the recent THE MATRIX, asked us to ask ourselves if we are really sure what we see and feel is "reality." Or are we all just rats in a maze... FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) Another "cornerstone" film with one character immortalized in Science Fiction: Robby The Robot. The forerunner to STAR TREK in its tale of a space mission to find a lost earth ship, and in the process retelling Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Superb sets, effects, acting and an overall "Gosh Wow" feel that typified the genre. GOJIRA/GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS (1954/56-each version respectively) One of the best anti-nuke films of its time. While some say GOJIRA was a ripoff of the earlier Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, GOJIRA was the one that lasted in memory, perhaps due to the fact the monster has a name. Even the Americanized version (1956) despite being chopped up, still retained enough of the graphic fear and terror generated by a monster which was the very face of Death itself. The film was generated by a nation, Japan, who saw themselves helpless in the escalating stupidity of endless atomic testing, and who themselves are the only country to have had atomic weapons used against them. And so the science-atomic testing-created Gojira/Godzilla-science was brought an end by the oxygen destroyer. But many more Gojiras/Godzillas came afterward... QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1967) Only recently available on video tape and DVD, this incredibly well done Hammer film entry still holds up and I never tire of seeing it. Released state-side as FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH, this was the third in the Nigel Kneale written series of SF films. Sometimes like a horror film (with Lovecraftian elements), the SF aspect gives the film a feel typical of that type of film made in the UK at the time, often called "The Golden Age of British SF films" by many afficionados. As well as a great story, the acting by such UK stars as Julian Glover, Barbara Shelley and Andrew Keir as Prof. Bernard Quatermass was well done. Roy Ward Baker's direction and some nifty visual effects made on a shoestring budget hold up over 30 years later. Though part of a series of films (the previous two made in the 50's) this film stands well on its own. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Another "everyone's favorite." I saw this when I was 9 years and and my life has never been the same since... what else can I say about it??? +---------------------------------------------------------+ | | | And What is Yours? | | | | Since Chicon 2000 will be the last Worldcon in the 20th | | Century, as part of our film program we would like to | | honor your favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy Films | | of the 20th Century. | | | | Rules: This form is reproducible, but you must include | | your membership number to vote, and only one vote | | per member. List films in order of preference as this | | will be how ties are broken. Form must be received by | | October 1, 1999. Results will be published in Progress | | Report #5. Only mailed-in votes will be counted. | | | | | | Name___________________________________________________ | | | | Membership # from PR mailing label ________ | | Please print! | | | | 1._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 2._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 3._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 4._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 5._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 6._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 7._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 8._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 9._____________________________________________________ | | | | | | 10.____________________________________________________ | | | +---------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Time Line for Future Progress Reports * Progress Report 5 to be issued in January 2000, deadline 30, Nov, 1999 * Progress Report 6 to be issued in April 2000, deadline 29, Feb, 2000 * Progress Report 7 to be issued in July 2000, deadline 30, May, 2000 A note about the Progress Reports and the web site: All of the articles printed in the PRs will be incorporated into the web site under the appropriate department headings. We also have the complete original text of each PR available online in a plain ascii text file and/ or a pdf file, but please remember that older PRs may contain out-of-date information. Read About How The Future Was! Copies of Chicon Progress Reports 1, 2 and 3 are available for the asking until supplies run out. Send requests to our Post Office box or e-mail address. Please allow a few weeks for delivery. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Notice! Notive! [illo] Rate Increase Effective October 1, 1999 Attending: $150 ChildCare $150 Supporting $ 40 Children $ 50 Check Website for more information on trading card redemption. Notive! Notice! Notive! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ page 32: Millennium Philcon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ How To Get Around in Chicago, or, you CAN get there from here! by John Donat Ok, now that you have decided to come to Chicago for the Worldcon, and now... how do you get there, and once you are here, how do you navigate in this monster of a city! First, Chicago is blessed with one of the finest transport webs in North America -- two busy airports, 60 Amtrak trains a day, and lots of Interstate highways all come together in Chicago. If you decide to fly, Chicago is one of a small number of cities that have their airports connected to the transit system. Both O'Hare and Midway have subway (or as we call it in Chicago, the El) stations. The O'Hare station is under the parking garage, and is one of the nicer subway stations, especially considering the limitations placed on it by its design goals. The Midway El station is just east of the airport, reachable by an overhead pedway. Getting downtown is a simple matter of getting a transit card from a kiosk, and getting on the train. The fare is $1.50/trip, no transfer required. If you desire, you can put in more $$, and get discounts on trips after $10.00 and $20.00 increments. The fare cards are also used on the CTA buses. It takes about 30-40 minutes from the airport to the downtown stops. The downtown stops are about 4 blocks away from the hotel. The Midway line is a bit less distance than the O'Hare line. The CTA's web site is: http://www.transitchicago.com. Schedules, maps, and other good stuff are there. The bus schedules, and maps, are also on the website. You can get to the Museum of Science and Industry by bus (an express one, if I remember correctly), and to the Museum campus of the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium. Both airports also have websites: O'Hare: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/WorksMart/Aviation/O'Hare/ Midway: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/WorksMart/Aviation/Midway/ [illo: snail - Slime Patrol] Once you get here, how do you get around? Here are a couple of easy navigation rules for Chicago: 1. The lake is East. 2. Chicago is built on a grid system - 8 blocks is a mile, 5 blocks are one kilometer. All addresses are distance from a single point -Madison and State. Everything north of Madison has a North address, everything south of Madison... you get the idea. Everything west of State has a West address, everything east of State.... ditto. So, if you are 1060 West, and 3600 North, you are 10 (almost 11) blocks west of State Street, and 36 blocks north of Madison. You're also at Wrigley Field, but that's another story. 3. Chicagoans do not use interstate numbers, we use names for the expressways. I-94 is both the Edens, and the Dan Ryan -- just depends where you are. I-94 is also the Kennedy, after it combines with I-90, which is also the Northwest Tollway, once you get west of the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). The Tri-State connects with the Edens (I-94 north of Montrose Avenue), the Kennedy (I-90), the Eisenhower (I-290), the East/West Tollway (I-88), the Stevenson (I-55), the Bishop Ford (I-57), and the Borman Expressway (I-80/90 in Indiana). Now that you're thoroughly confused, navigating around the Chicago expressway system is easier than it looks. Really. It is. I promise. If you drive into the City, once you get into the city you will be on I-90/I-94 (Kennedy/ Dan Ryan). My personal preferences to get to the Hyatt are thus: The Scenic Route.... Get off at I-290 East -- it won't be an interstate for long, it turns into Congress Street. Take Congress street until you get to Michigan Avenue. Turn Left onto Michigan Avenue (N) go north about 8 blocks, until you get to Wacker Drive. You will want to start getting into the right lane about Washington Street. Go Right on Wacker drive about 2 blocks. The Hyatt will be on your right. [illo: two lizards or dragons fighting] The faster route (possibly not for the fainthearted): Follow the I-290 East route, but before the FIRST light, take the cloverleaf right, and head for the split marked Wacker Drive - LOWER Wacker Drive. Turn on your lights. You are now on the famous Lower Wacker Drive, forever immortalized by Jake and Elwood Blues in "The Blues Brothers." Stay on Lower Wacker. It will curve from the north to the east and then an S-curve to Michigan Avenue. At this point, start getting in the right lane(s). The Hyatt Parking garage(s) are on the right, off of Stetson Avenue. If you get to Columbus Avenue, you went too far!!!! Wacker Drive is due for a major reconstruction, especially for Lower Wacker. If this happens, I'll give you yet ANOTHER way to get to the Hyatt. If you decide to get out of the con to go to a baseball game (the schedules are not yet published, but hopefully one or both of the teams will be home), getting there is a snap on the El. Both ballparks are on the Red Line (Howard/Dan Ryan). Getting to Wrigley Field by El is highly recommended, as there is virtually no parking available, except for small privately owned lots. Comiskey is at the 35th street stop on the Dan Ryan part of the Red Line. There is considerably more parking at Comiskey, but the El is a fast and safe way to the ballpark. Other interesting places to go, and this is just an early, and short list. Navy Pier - Navy Pier has become an entertainment complex, with clubs, theatres, restaurants, and museums. The Chicago Children's Museum is there, and take it from a member, it's fabulous! Parents, as well as kids love this place. My favorite is the 30 foot water table, with about a bazillion ways to move and re-direct water!! Navy Pier does very good fireworks on the weekends, up to and including Labor Day. Navy Pier will also have a Shakespearean theatre by the summer of 2000. We have Boston and Baltimore to thank for Navy Pier - the Fanueil Hall complex, Harborplace, and Navy Pier were all developed by the same company. Michigan Avenue and State Street shopping areas.... we are very close to the Michigan Avenue shopping area - just go West on Wacker Drive to Michigan, go over the bridge, and you are there!!! The shopping, etc goes on for about 6 blocks, all the way to the John Hancock Building. The State Street shopping area is south and west about 4 blocks from the Hyatt. Marshall Fields and Carsons are two of the main shopping attractions there. Ok, enough for now.... Some interesting web sites for your entertainment... The official City of Chicago tourism webpage: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Tourism/ A downtown map from the Chicago webpage: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Tourism/Downtown/DowntownMap.html This map will make sense of many of my directions. State Street and Madison Street are highlighted in this map. [illo: Nostradamus learns the publication date of "Last Dangerous Visions"] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Da Mob: the Unfathomables Time is running out to get the position you desire, at the salary you deserve. Send in your volunteer application and fannish resume' so you can give your mind and body to fandom. Your soul you keep. Maybe. Office of the Chairman Chairman Tom Veal Associate Chairmen Mike Jencevice, Becky Thomson Chairman's Staff Chris Barkley, Todd Dashoff Committee Secretary Terry Patch Guest of Honor Liaison Kelley Mathews Higgins Staff Dave Ratti Worldcons Liaison Yoel Attiya Administration Division Director Brendan Lonehawk At-Con Office Information Systems Insurance Gary Feldbaum Internal Communications Mail Room Procurement Sponsorships Condiments Division Director John Donat Anime Program Brent Warren Committee/Staff Lounge Con Suite Joan Palfi Filk Coordinator Jan DiMasi Film Program Dave Hoshko Gaming Beryl Turner, Darryl McLaurine Internet Lounge Ben Liberman Special Media Projects Liaison Glen Boettcher Video Program Doug Killings Convention Services Division Director Bill Krucek Assistant Director Madrene Bradford Communications Gopher Chiefs Headquarters/Ops Jim Green Logistics Security Signage Terry Patch Volunteers Events Division Director Kathleen Meyer Assistant Director kT FitzSimmons Closing Ceremonies Dances Regency Dance John Hertz Dramatic Presentations Alice Medenwald Opening Ceremonies Hugo Award Ceremony - Manager Carol Lynn Assistant Manager Grace Geraldine Carafelly Masquerade - Manager Nancy Mildebrandt Assistant Manager Henry Osier Other Award Ceremonies Receptions Exhibits Division Director Bill Roper Assistant Director Bonnie Jones Art Show - Wrangler Todd Cameron Hamilton Administration Carol Siegling, Steve Simmons, Wes Plouff Customer Service Becca Price, Maurita Plouff, P. J. Beese Security George Hunt (Bork), Sharon Ferarro (Spike), Lucy Seaman (Tzarina), Chris Clayton (Wo Fat) Tech Support Mike McCarthy, Pat McCarthy, Mike Fortner Art Auctions Autographing Charity Auctions Peggy Rae Sapienza Concourse/Standing Exhibits Dick Smith, Leah Zeldes Smith Fanzine Lounge History of Worldcon Bidding Joe Siclari, Edie Stern & FANAC Museum History of Worldcons Bruce Pelz and Fan Gallery Science in SF William S. Higgins Stuffed Stuff Gretchen H. Roper Video Exhibits Scott Imes Dealers' Room - Manager Larry Smith Assistant Manager Sally Kobee Chicago Liaison Mike Jencevice Floor Managers Art Henderson, Becky Henderson, Mitch Botwin Mobile Manager Rick Katze Dockmaster Jeff Lockridge Assistant Dockmaster Linda LaTouche Control Desk Supervisor Pat Sims Control Desk Staff Roger Sims, Debbie Oakes General Staff Jim Overmyer, Juana Overmyer, Teresa McKuean Live Stage Department Ringmaster Gretchen H. Roper Doctor of Electricity Jerry Corrigan Software Engineer for Hire Bill Leininger Harmony Slut Steve Macdonald Print Shop Sales to Members Offworld Designs (Ray and Barb VanTilburg) Division Staff Bill Bowers, Beverly Friend, Barry Lyn-Waitsman, Marcy Lyn-Waitsman, Michael Madaj, Pat Sims, Roger Sims, Lanny Waitsman Facilities Division Director Dina S. Krause Assistant Director Kim Williams Fairmont Liaison Hyatt Regency Liaison Jill Eastlake Staff Pat Vandenberg, Bridget Boyle, Sheila Oranch, Bill Powers Swissotel Liaison Rick Waterson Labor Union Liaison Raymond Cyrus Meetings Coordinator Dina S. 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