TE062010

TALON’S EDGE is the chapter newsletter of the (USS) Aquila NCC 42297, a non-profit fan organization based in Florence , Kentucky . All rights and privileges to the terms STAR TREK and all images / references to same are exclusively owned by Paramount Pictures Corp. Likewise, all rights & privileges to the terms and all images & references to STAR WARS (Lucas Film), Dr.Who (BBC), or other programs not specifically named, are exclusively owned by those companies. This newsletter is not intended to infringe on any copyrights or legal holdings of the writers, producers, Production Company, or others with claims to the programs / images, nor to make profit from them.

If you have book reviews, movie/series reviews, or other stuff you want to post but don't want to put it in the newsletter, there is now a blog page where you can post it (yourself).
https://ussaquila.angelfire.com/blog/

Upcoming Events

USS Aquila Meeting 2 PM We hold meetings at the Mary Ann Monaghan Library, Covington KY Basement board room. (Ask librarian for escort below).

U.S.S. Aquila Briefing Room May 2010

Stephanie, Rob, Linda and Diane attended the May 22, 2010 Aquila meeting.

Diane and Stephanie and Linda discussed the book that had been selected for the May book discussion that Rob had not read. Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson was selected as the book to discuss in June. However, because of the book's length and difficulties in people acquiring the book, it's been decided since the meeting to discuss it at a later month. Keith DeCandido's novel Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q and A was thought to be the book that we would likely discuss in July. However, since Galileo's Dream was not finished (or discussed) everything is up in the air. We decided to do a trip to the KY Renaissance Faire in Eminence, KY on June 26th. It is likely that Linda will drive the Rechtin family van. Everyone who is interested is going on the trip needs to make their intentions known by June 20, 2010 as the Aquila meeting is on the 19th. RSVP to Stephanie at 859-261-4380 or at wreckedin@gmail.com to let her know of your interest.

It is likely that the Aquila will go up to the Dayton Celtic Festival on July 31st. Details for that trip will be finalized at the July 24th Aquila meeting which has been confirmed as being in the board room at the Covington library. Robin Hood with Russel Crowe was highly recommended. A Shot in the Dark was a comedic movie that was recommended.

Kaza Kingsley's 4th book Erec Rex: The Four Furies will be coming out on Aug. 10, 2010.

Guillermo Del Toro has quit as the director of The Hobbit. Heroes has been canceled. Voltron Force is going ahead as a TV series in preparation for a Voltron movie. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) is coming out Nov. 18-19, 2010, right at the dates of the Aquila's 20th anniversary as a club and its 18th anniversary as a starship. Seeing that as a group was thought of by many people to be a great way to celebrate the club's anniversary. An additional 20th anniversary party is also a likely scenario that will be discussed in the coming months.

Marcon Reflections
By Rob Langenderfer

Marcon in 2010 was a fun affair. I was the U.S.S. Aquila’s only representative this year, traveling up and back and having lots of lively conversation on the way with Miriam and Art Lauer and Tony Scott. The initial panel I attended was one on live-action role-playing (LARP) groups. Those are role-playing games that operate without dice in what is really more a type of improvisational acting. There is even a group that operates in Cincinnati, and there are groups suitable for teenagers, but there are also groups that are suitable only for adults and as some of the games are mature in themes, the rules are very strictly enforced! I received a business card with some information about some of the groups, all of which have web sites. It is not necessary to be in every situation to be in the game, but the more you are involved, the more easily it is to be at the center of the action. I have not yet investigated everything connected with them yet, but I do intend to follow up to get more information about the groups on the business card.

Following that, I made a quick trip around the dealer’s room, which was not quite as spectacular as in years past, but I still bought an issue of SFX on the greatest SF films of the century and an issue of Dreamwatch that had some interesting material on Babylon 5. Then I ate dinner in the courtyard from Subway with Reggie Parker and Mark and Vicki Meece. I also bought The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Japanese Culture after dinner or at some later point from the dealer’s room.

Lisa Garrison-Ragsdale then moderated a panel that I attended that dealt with children in SF fandom. Her oldest son Alex was on the panel with her. Other mothers and children were also on the panel. It was generally agreed that fan parents tried to be more open-minded and allowing their children to try certain things at earlier ages than parents who were not fans (sometimes seemingly in response to their own parents who weren’t fans refusing them to do things connected with SF fandom), and generally that helped to build bonds between parents and children, but it also made it harder for parents to decide on limits for their children that the parents felt were needed in some circumstances. The parents did not force fandom upon their children but tried to let them know that they were free to be their own people and many of them have embraced science fiction.

Lee Shamblin then led a panel on Babylon 5: The Place Where No Shadows Lie. There were many interesting insights that the panelists and the audience both came up with over the course of the panel. Some of this was similar to what we had discussed at Millennicon, but there were plenty of new thoughts that made things interesting. At that point, Stephanie’s cousin Paul picked me up, so I missed the Dr. Who panel that I wasn’t terribly interested in attending anyway because I did not want to be spoiled too much on the season 5 episodes, of which I have only seen a couple so far.

The next morning Paul dropped me off on his way to work. I had a nice continental breakfast in the con suite of bagels and salmon, co-co puffs, and fruit. I then went to a panel on the use of SF to young kids in the classroom and how it can be useful. It was quite interesting and a good lead-in to the next panel that was led by Maura Heaphy, a senior lecturer at Ohio State University, who spoke on teaching SF. She has done so, and she has also written 2 general SF guides, one of which would have been an especially good pick for Brown Mackie College Library if I hadn’t already chosen the book that I selected (which turned out to be quite a disappointing work). She provided a couple of useful handouts, and we had a nice lunch together a little while later, and she was eager to be added to my SF news mailing list. After her talk, she and I went off to do a couple of things before lunch. I happened to meet Richard Hatch who played Tom Zarek on the new Battlestar Galactica series and Apollo on the old series. He signed my program and was very animated in his defense of Zarek and why he did the things he did on the show. After I had told him a bit about my theater experience, he told me about an acting workshop that he was giving in a few minutes. I said that I would be there as soon as I had lunch. Heaphy and I had a nice lunch from Subway, and then I went on to Hatch’s acting workshop, which was more than halfway over by that point. Interestingly enough Jackie (Werle) Ferguson, with whom I had acted opposite close to 7 years before in a one-act play, was also attending the workshop. After the workshop I talked to Hatch some more, and he elaborated more about some of the stuff that he had talked about during the workshop, noting that the more acting experience one gets, the easier it is to turn on and off the emotion that is so necessary for a good performance and it can happen without tremendous energy drains.

I then watched Babylon Squares, which was fun, but in my opinion, it wasn’t as exciting as the games that Lee Shamblin, Chris Bunye, Toby Knox and co. put together in past years. I then went to the panel that Lisa Garrison-Ragsdale moderated on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Many interesting points about the book were made. After much discussion, one general consensus emerged that parents should not allow their young children to see the upcoming films based on the book alone without careful reflection as to whether they are ready for it or not because the seventh book has more deaths than any of the other films. Then Lisa and I had a long talk in the con suite about many things, but we also took time out to watch the zombie parade that was going on outside. I also got to see Lisa’s younger kids who are almost 5 and 6 and are tremendously active and talkative.

I then went off to a panel on the 50^th anniversary of The Twilight Zone where we had to guess the episode that different narration was from. It was a great deal of fun, and the panelists and the audience also identified many of their favorite episodes from the series and the reasons that the series was so memorable. This panel was one of the very best at the convention, and this was at a convention full of good panels that I attended. The panel that I attended about Battlestar Galactica and Caprica was also very engaging as they discussed the place of religion in the series and discovered some keen insights. The author Catherine Asaro was on the panel, and I talked to her afterwards about her books, and she recommended the book that she was holding as a good introduction to her work. I read the back cover, and she offered it to me for $5, and I bought it from her on the spot, and she autographed it for me. I had bought two videos during the day. One consisted of bloopers in various SF TV series and one was American Heritage: The Civil War.

Paul picked me up at 10, so I missed the Buffy and Smallville panels, but that didn’t bother me too much as I hadn’t seen the most recent episodes of either series. (With Buffy, I am still back early in season 2!) I got on the Internet at Paul’s that night and ordered A History of Twentieth Century Russia by Robert Service as I wanted to have something good related to history to read since I hadn’t really found any can’t miss items in the dealer’s room this year.

Although it didn’t work out to see Paul and Jenni’s new house to which they are moving after their wedding (which will already have taken place before this article is published) since Paul had slept on the very top bunk of the bed in his room and I thought that he had already gotten up earlier when he was actually still asleep (and I might have slept too late myself for that to be a possibility anyway), Paul and I had a good talk on the way down to the con and hopefully he and Jenni will be coming down here for a family event in July, so I will get to see Jenni whom I did not get to see when I was up in Columbus this time. I talked to some people in the con suite, and they were interested in getting on my email mailing list. The last panel that I attended was one dealing with Arthurian myths and other legends, and it was extremely interesting, and the movie Excalibur was recommended very highly to me by one of the panelists. I then made one last trip around the dealer’s room and bought The Lord of the Rings board game.

Then Tony, Miriam, and Art and myself headed home. On the way home I was informed that Marcon will be held over Easter weekend starting in 2012 for like the next five years. We were all very upset at this news, and it seems very unlikely that even a day trip on Holy Saturday would be worth it although to me that seems the only slightly feasible possibility. Miriam and Tony ruled that out. Going up on Good Friday and Easter is just out of the question for me, and I am not the only person who feels that way. People have talked about trying to start a separate, new SF celebration over Memorial Day weekend over the years when Marcon is on Easter. We’ll see what happens.

The U.S.S. Aquila might want to consider fielding a decent contingent to Marcon in 2011 as it will be the last one for a while. The hotel where the Ragsdales stayed across the street is much cheaper than the Hyatt. It may be an option that we might want to consider. In any case, I was definitely glad to attend Marcon this year, and my mom remarked on how much like myself I looked when I arrived home, and I felt like myself too – refreshed, joyous, at peace, and those feelings have largely continued. Marcon this year was a definite turning point in helping my life to get back to normal and to feel as if I can get back to fun again as the old slogan from the 1985 Reds proclaimed!

Fantastic Voyages: Maria V. Snyder's Fantasy "Studies" build Character

Maria V. Snyder. Poison Study (1), Magic Study (2), Fire Study (3).

These "studies" form a trilogy crackling with action. How can they not, when the main character herself says she is a person who hungers for action? Yelena, when we first see her, has her neck in a noose, about to die for a murder she committed. Then, someone points out that the Commander of Ixia needs a new food taster, and according to law, she's next on the list. Of course, she takes the chance. After that, the pace doesn't stop. We learn several things in Poison Study, some of which I can't reveal. That would spoil everything. Suffice to say that the murder is justified, and that Yelana gets into scrapes, often from her own reckless headlong "charge first and ask questions later" attitude. For instance, she meets up with Irys, a Sitian mage, and immediately jumps at the chance to head South. Yelena trains in fighting, and hones her magic abilities, mostly in a land where magic is forbidden. She does have some help from the Commander's master assassin, Valek. He's very likeable.

In Magic Study, she's down South, meeting the family she hadn't known since age six. As the blurb says, "It's pretty bad when your days as a poison taster seem like the good old days." Her older Sitian brother thinks she's a spy for Ixia, and is jealous of her. Once she reaches the Keep, a magic school, she learns of the existence of blood magicians up to no good, and finds out that Cahill, a would-be King, wants to invade Ixia. Though it's a middle book, there's no end to the action, and Snyder does a lovely job of creating two believable cultures that are superficially different, yet are very much alike underneath. The clans, especially the Sandseed clan, provide some interesting contrasts to the Council. There are also some charming conversations between Yelena and Kiki, her horse. Yes, I said horse. It's a fantasy! Not Valdemar, but close.

By book three, Fire Study, Yelana's comfortable with her magic, until she learns she may be a Soulfinder---the last one had a lust for power beyond bounds, and supposedly raised an undead army. We learn the shape of the blood magicians' plan: take over the Council and invade Ixia. The Mage Keep has been corrupted, and it's up to Yelena and Co. to save the day. She has to enter a couple of other worlds to do so: the fire world, and the shadow world. Meanwhile, the Fire Warper, and the Davaiian blood-mages nearly have things well in hand. Snyder makes us think she'll give in, but in the nick, she finds another way, and pulls the mask off a certain mage. To say more would spoil all. In the meantime, we meet Opal, main character of the next series, Sea Glass and Storm Glass. (I read these books before this trilogy, and enjoyed them, too.)

Snyder is inventive, writes clearly and well, sifts in just enough humor to keep things running smooth, and develops a romance throughout the series. With good world-building, likeable characters, and a silver-tongued style, this series is a nearly perfect "study" in fantasy. I have the first book in regular paper; the others are at the library in trade. Find them, and treat yourself to a terrific read. You'll be very satisfied. ---djb

Aquila Officers	2
Unclassifieds	2
Event Calendar	2
Area Meetings	3
Briefing Room and Club News (RL)	3
Marcon Reflections (RL)	4-6
Fantastic Voyages: Snyder "Studies" Fantasy (djb)	7
Mission Page	8

U.S.S Aquila Officers
COMMANDING OFFICER/NEWSLETTER EXCHANGE LIAISON/SHIP’S HISTORIAN Rob Langenderfer 859-371-9798 rlangenderfer@yahoo.com uss.aquila1@juno.com	LIAISON TO STARBASE KARMA/SECURITY CHIEF Gary Pierce 513-497-5069
EXECUTIVE OFFICER / MEDICAL CHIEF/ Linda Widener 859-283-9799 LWIDENER0449@yahoo.com	MEDIA LIAISON Aimee Weber 859-356-5731 mermaid44715@yahoo.com
SECOND OFFICER/RECRUITING OFFICER/RECORDS OFFICER Stephanie Rechtin 859-261-4380 wreckedin@gmail.com	NEWSLETTER EDITOR/ OPERATIONS CHIEF/ Diane Joy Baker 513-521-6039 diane1@zoomtown.com
SCIENCE Officer / TREASURER/ Brett Strittmatter 513-646-7177 brett_strittmatter@yahoo.com	TRANSPORTER CHIEF Nelson Charette 859-630-6889 (cell) snelsonc@isoc.net
Web Wizards Rob Langenderfer and Glenna Juilfs rlangenderfer@yahoo.com karadione@hotmail.com	U.S.S. AQUILA WEB SITE: http://ussaquila.angelfire.com E-MAIL: uss.aquila@juno.com

USS Aquila(Independent): Second Saturday at 2 PM Kenton County Public Library in Covington Contact: Rob Langenderfer Website:	ILV Midnight Warrior(KAG Xenoleague): Fourth Tuesday at 7:30pm (except December) meetings held at members homes and changes monthly. Contact: Joel Nye Website
*USS Melbourne(SFC)* Meets every other month; the off month is a social function Second Sunday at 3:00pm; Place subject to change Contact: Miriam Lauer	USS Camelot(Independent): Third Friday at 7pm (except December) Dayton Museum of Natural History 2600 DeWeese Parkway, near Triangle Park Dayton, OH (exit 57B from I-75 N or S) Website
*Friends of the Time Lord* Third Sunday 2:30PM WCET Contact: Rhonda Scarborough	KAG = Klingon Assault Group SFC = Starfleet Command

Upcoming Events

USS Aquila Meeting 2 PM We hold meetings at the Mary Ann Monaghan Library, Covington KY Basement board room. (Ask librarian for escort below).

U.S.S. Aquila Briefing Room May 2010

Mission Page