We have a Hotel! And Logos! And Books to Read! And a Game of Thrones Marathon!

The water resort part includes some outdoors and some inside.

Major announcements have been coming in like meteors in a Perseid meteor shower, recently. Here's a rundown of our top "breaking news" stories:
 
We have a Hotel!
ConQuesT, or science fiction convention, is moving to a new hotel for ConQuesT 44, held on Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-26, 2013. It is the Holiday Inn Southeast CoCo Key Resort, 9103 East 39th Street, Kansas City, MO. 

The convention room rate is $85/night (discount cutoff is May 1, 2013). The room fee includes free wi-fi, free parking, and discounted access to CoCo Key Water Resort. For more information, please see the ConQuesT website or the hotel's website.

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We have Official Logos!

Not tired of it yet!

The votes are in, and we have "new" logos for KaCSFFS and ConQuesT. We will be using these on our official communications.

The new ConQuesT logo

"New" is in quote marks, however, because the KaCSFFS logo chosen by the majority of our voters is the original 1977 logo! Designed by Ken Keller and clearly still meaningful to our members, this perennial classic will continue as our "mark."

The new ConQuesT logo really is new, though! Designed last spring to be updated with new numbers as years pass, the round shape of this Keri O'Brien design should complement our KaCSFFS classic well. For creating the new logo, Keri wins a free membership to ConQuesT 44, a Certificate of Recognition, and a box of Annedore's Artisanal Chocolates or suitable alternative of her choice.

Read it by October 22, and join in!

We have Books to Read!
The SF&F Literati group has announced a new list of selections for the next four meetings. Don't wait a moment longer to get your copy of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys for the October 22 meeting! The group meets to discuss the book selection of the month at the Oak Park Barnes & Noble Booksellers, second floor at 7:00 p.m., on the fourth Monday of most months (No meeting in December, and 3rd Monday in May).

The Barnes & Noble Overview says of Anansi Boys:
"When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie 'Fat Charlie.' Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed -- before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.

"Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is to day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun . . . just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.

"Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion; he is able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, baffle the devil, and cheat Death himself.

"Exciting, scary, and deeply funny, ANANSI BOYS is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth, a wild adventure, and a fierce and unstoppable farce, as Neil Gaiman shows us where gods come from, and how to survive your family."

The rest of the lineup looks pretty good, too:
Nov 26, 2012  Redshirts by John Scalzi
(No meeting is planned for December: the 4th Monday is Christmas Eve.)
Jan 28, 2013  Leviathan Wakes by James A. Corey (Hugo Nominee)
Feb 25, 2013  The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss  (ConQuest GOH)

And we have a Game of Thrones Marathon! 

Looks as if they're going to do it after all!  The Laser Rangers have just announced they will host a special showing of Season 2, Episodes 5, 6, and 7.

Proceedings begin at 4:45 p.m., enjoying the amenities of David Sooby's home theater . To follow the food theme, ample help is on hand from the Inn at the Crossroads.

Here's an atmospheric warm-up video you may enjoy, produced by Karilene Reynolds and available via YouTube:

IMAGE CREDITS: The exterior of the Holiday Inn Southeast/CoCo Key Resort is from the hotel's website. We are indebted to Ken Keller and Keri O'Brien for their logo designs. Barnes & Noble Booksellers provided cover art for the SF&F Literati selections, and the movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information is courtesy of Psychology Today Online. Karilene Reynolds is responsible for the video about the Game of Thrones.