Uncanny Valley—Sf Theater in Helsinki

Uncanny Valley is a production by the Circus Maximus group. It tells a story of an “elderly future rock star and the robot that takes care of him”. The play got reasonably good reviews (its style was compared to Samuel Beckett’s plays), and the group gives three extra performances this February. More info on the play’s web site.

H.R. Giger Exhibition in Tampere

The Tampere Art Museum has a movie retrospective exhibition of the works of H.R. Giger. There are drawings, videos, and sculptures on display. The exhibition is open from January 30 to April 4.

Mailing List for Sf Research

An e-mail list has been set up for discussion between all science fiction and fantasy researchers in Finland. The purpose of the list is to share information about new research, publications, and cultural research conferences. You can subscribe to the list by sending a message containing the text “subscribe scifi-res” to the address <majordomo@helsinki.fi>.

January Mafia

The Turku pub meetings gather (at least for now) in a new place: the brewery restaurant Teerenpeli. There were about 15 persons present last night, and at least I was quite happy with the place: there was enough room for everybody without people having to cram themselves around one too small table, the beer selection is decent (way better than in Hirvi or Bremer anyway), and the acoustics were good enough to have multiple conversations easily (no stone walls like in Bremer, nor a tv with occasional sporting events as in Hirvi).

The clear minus of the place is food: Teerenpeli has some pub-style dishes (toasts, salads that are actually quite good, and I can recommend the warm “tepas plate” for cravings for something with more fat in it). But it’s not a dining restaurant, so people who prefer that may be a bit disappointed (or have to arrange eating somewhere before coming to the pub). Anyway, my feeling was that the majority of people thought the pub is good for our meetings, at least for a few months (we can always reassess the situation later).

Lots of sf movie, tv, and comics talk this time; discussing the pros and cons of Avatar (and 3-D) especially. Moon was liked by all who had seen it. The Hut was recommended as a good place to buy blu-rays (many UK releases even have Finnish subtitles). There were also see-through goldfish.

After many people left rather early, the rest of us decided to pop in Cosmic Comic Café where the Turku comics club was supposed to have their meeting. No comics gathering there, but we stayed for a couple of beers and more conversation anyway.

While we were drinking and chatting, Hanne and Tomi were having quite a different evening: their second child was born yesterday. Congratulations!

In addition to the pub meeting, there will be a couple of other gatherings on January as well. On Saturday next week (Jan 16) there will be a whisky tasting evening in Kerttulin kievari (Kellonsoittajankatu 3–7), starting at 7. And on the 21st we’ll have the traditional sfnal lunch, this time at the Indian restaurant Delhi Darbar on Hämeenkatu, the time is half past noon. Everybody interested is welcome to attend either (or both)!

Sf Writing Course in Tampere

The Tampere adult education center has a course on writing fantasy and science fiction this winter (20 lessons, January to March), taught by Markku Soikkeli. The course tuition is 35 €, more info in the curriculum (scroll down to “110609K FANTASIA- JA SCIFIKURSSI”).

Pub Meeting Today in Teerenpeli

The first Thursday of 2010—happy new year! The Turku pub meetings move closer to the center of the city, to Teerenpeli. The restaurant has its own brewery and also a decent selection of bottled beers, ciders, and whiskies. There is also some food (mainly toasts, salads, etc.) if you’re hungry. As usual, there’s info and also a place for discussion of the new venue at the Turku mafia Facebook group.

The meeting starts at 6 PM, as usual. Welcome!