MIT Science Fiction Society

84 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02139

MITSFS Meeting Minutes

Friday, June 20, 2003

MITSFS meeting called to order, 1700 SST, Ed Keyes, President and Skinner, presiding; Kat Allen, Onseck, recording.

Minutes read.

Motion that the Onseck get a job as an auctioneer Chickens 3+space-noises-1-4+Spehn

BING!

Committee Reports

Bondagecom

We now have a complete collection of ``On Spec'', thanks to the nice people there. We should send them a thank-you card, or a TZ thank-you.

Pseudo-Jourcomm

Jourcomm didn't meet the funding deadline...

Pseudo-LHE

We didn't spend all our Finboard money, sadly. LSC-slide had some left over; TZ and Still-Not Fans didn't happen, so their money didn't get spent. It has gone ``poof'', and we are sad.

The Vice is a reuse addict. She brought in micro-fiche that Barker was planning to toss. She is going to paper her dorm with it.

Mobcomm

A big box from the SFBC arrived. It's not very interesting, but they are very nice to send us more books when we haven't paid for the previous ones yet.

More: Last week the Boston Japanimation society showed Read or Die, about a rare book collector working against the destroy-the-world plot.

Pseudo-Pianocomm

Cassie came in and covered some books on Sunday. Hooray.

Moocom

This is the week when SF stories like ``The Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' and ``The Day the Earth Stood Still'' show on TV. watch your local listings

Discussion about ``The Houseboat on the River Styx'', and the argument between Shakespeare and Bacon about whether Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

Bluebellcomm

There are still books there. 2 less than we thought, since Cassie covered stuff. There might be more, if those darn Panthercomm or those darn Mobcomm people

Dexmistress

Inventory scheduling has begun. Dexes didn't get printed at the beginning of summer. They may wait until fall.

BING!

Old Business

Paul Dworkin (who made the good-dex, and may have been responsible for the balloons on the calendar) is here. He is impressed that notes are being taken in real time.

More discussion of microfiche. ``Free as in microfiche!'' -BTS
Discussion of whether we should aquire a magnifying glass.
``The fiche was dead'' -MHG

Discussion of selling manuscripts at Sothebys.

Unconnected notes: in the Manga version of ``Oh My Goddess'', we find that the college-age hero has a book called ``Going Steady for Dummies''

More discussions on Idiot's Guide to <foo>, and things that idiots really ought to be able to figure out on their own, or things that they really shouldn't do.

Malcom made a horrible joke, that the Onseck missed.

More discussion about the fiche, and what conspiracy they are involved in and describing.
``It's a microfiche conspiracy'' -MHG

Bookshelves have been emptied, and will be offered to keyholders first. The Gor chain has been replaced.

ALGOL

``We have some very unusual microfiche'' -MHG

BING!

New Business

Unusual motion
Fails 7-8-microfiche+Spehn

``The most important book ever is being published tonight at midnight. Bookstores all over the state are ``I've run a 5th order equation through the length of the previous 4 books, and if she keeps up at this rate of growth, the last book will be 1800 pages'' - Paul Dworkin

Scholastic sued a Canadian woman and a Canadian paper for writing but not publishing a review of the new Harry Potter book, even though no one involved signed a confidentiality agreement.

Discussion about having psychics write reviews, having the Canadians publish at 12:01, having Cassie read the book really, really, fast, and then write a review, and the lack of goat-sacrifice invitations that Rowling has received. Discussion of ``consumer cultism'' and Ars Magica, and how they might relate to the SCC, microfiche, and Harry Potter.

There is a superstition that when Shakespeare wrote M..B..., he included several actual spells, which would explain the ``Week of Three MacBeths'', and some of the varied and sundry superstitious practices of the weird theatre people concerning ``The Scottish Play''

Our pinkdex was delivered to the MIT Libraries, and $500 is being transferred to our MIT account, per the usual agreement. Discussion of whether we could get them to give us the money in a physical form, and whether we would want silver, gold, paper, or Something Else.

Discussion of the weight of silver, and how many silvers to a gold.

Discussion by old people about Back In The Day D&D, and lead pieces, and mechanics.

BING!

Future Business

Motion to retroactively approve last weeks minutes as not banana-colored, but banana-flavored.
11-3+Space noises-2+Spehn

Meeting adjourned, 1735 SST.

Respectfully submitted,

Kat Allen, Onseck