Findom on TV on Friday

Heard from Vesa Sisättö: either him or Jukkahoo will probably be on tv this Friday talking about fandom.

(MTV3, Ihana aamu, Friday sometime between 8:35 and 9:30, probably after 9)

Espoo Mafia Moves

The Espoo mafia is moving this month. The new place for pub meetings is Harakanpesä in Leppävaara. The new place is less expensive, and should also be more conveniently located for many fen. The next meeting is January 30 at 7 PM.

Usva 4/2005 Is Out

The quarterly sf e-zine Usva has published last year’s fourth number. After the previous issue’s slightly bigger emphasis on articles, this issue returns to fiction. There are five short stories from new Finnish writers: Tiina Raevaara, Tarja Sipiläinen, Saara Henriksson, Aleksi Kuutio and Heikki Nevala. As always, the issue can be downloaded from the zine’s site.

TSFS 30 Years

The Turku Science Fiction Society is 30 years this January. The oldest sf society in Finland celebrates the event on January 28 at the Turun Upseerikerho restaurant with a dinner. Everyone is invited to the occasion.

Here is the information, since I could find no mention of the event on the TSFS web page (nor in their fanzine Spin—an oversight that is certain to cost them several attendees, especially from the older crowd who doesn’t hang around on their e-mail list):

• January 28, at 17.00
• Place: Turun Upseerikerho, Kaivokatu 12
• A formal (or semi-formal) outfit, or some kind of an sf costume suitable for the occasion
• Price is 40 euros, including a three-course dinner, drinks during the meal, a starting drink, plus coffee and cake

You can also skip the dinner and arrive during the coffee for the rest of the evening. The price in that case is 5 euros.

There are three menu options to choose from (inquire from the organizers). The deadline for signing up for the dinner is already January 9, but I heard it’s possible to sign up a bit later also. Pre-registration is required also for only attending the after-dinner part of the festivities.

You can sign up or inquire more about the menu and payment details by sending an e-mail to the TSFS board.

What We Talked About

The first mafia of the year. The turnout was pretty good—there were 16 persons present. As usual, there was food and drink, and conversations on various topics, including:

• various happenings in people’s LiveJournals
• the TSFS 30-year-anniversary at the end of the month (see next post)
• organizing parties in general
  
• how everyone came into fandom
• politics (especially the coming presidential election)
• the nuclear holocaust literature of the 80s
• science fiction “predictions” and the development of personal technology
• retroactive alternate histories

Not a bad start for a year, I think. Have a good 2006, everyone!

2006 Pub Meetings Begin

This Thursday is the traditional pub meeting for Turku area sf fen. Everybody is welcome to come to Bar Bremer (starting at 6) to have a few beers in good company and have sfnal conversations.

Finnish Fan Film Eligible for Hugo

The Hugo Award nominations are open, and this year there is a Finnish movie that is eligible for Best dramatic presentation (long form)—Star Wrek: In the Pirkinning. It’s a feature-length fan-made spoof of Star Trek, Babylon 5 and other things. According to news sources, it has also become the most watched Finnish film of all time, no doubt because of the distribution method: in addition to being available on dvd, you can also download the film yourself (for free, and with English subtitles so you don’t have to learn Finnish to watch it).

I don’t see Star Wreck having a real chance of winning, but it’d be great to have it on the shortlist. If you are interested, go take a look, and if you think the movie has merit and want to support an alternative to the big productions, send in a nomination vote.

Update: On a slightly smaller scale, Radio 957 (local radio station in Tampere, where Star Wreck was made) has a “vuoden tamperelainen” poll (“Tampere ‘citizen’ of the year”) and Star Wreck is one of the nominees. So, if you’d rather see a sf film than a sportsman win the title, you know what to do…