And the Winners Are . . . Chili Follow-up

We had a good crowd and a strong collection of contenders at this year's Chili Cookoff. We had a lot of qualified voters, and all of our contestants had supporters.

Here are the winners who emerged. Jan Gephardt gave out the certificates:

Melissa Fischer captured "Best in Show" honors.

Ron Davis--Club's Choice--had a photobomber.

Davis promptly dealt with the photobomber.

Mary C. Chambers received the "Most Creative" award.

IMAGES: All photos are by Ty Gephardt, and used with his permission.

SF & F Literati Meet February 23, 2015

Come with ideas for the next group of four selections!

Date: February 23, 2015-7:00 p.m.

Title: The Rapture of the Nerds

Author: Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates LLC

Available from: Fine booksellers, including Barnes & Noble

Meeting Location: Barnes & Noble #2352, 2^nd Floor
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

Overview from Barnes & Noble:

“Welcome to the fractured future, at the dusk of the twenty-first century.

"Earth has a population of roughly a billion hominids. For the most part, they are happy with their lot. Those who are unhappy have emigrated, joining the swarming densethinker clades that fog the inner solar system with a dust of molecular machinery so thick that it obscures the sun. 

"The splintery metaconsciousness of the solar system has largely sworn off its pre-post-human cousins dirtside, but its minds sometimes wander…and when that happens, it casually spams Earth’s networks with plans for cataclysmically disruptive technologies that emulsify whole industries, cultures, and spiritual systems. A sane species would ignore these get-evolved-quick schemes, but there’s always someone who’ll take a bite from the forbidden apple.

"So until the overminds bore of stirring Earth’s anthill, there’s Tech Jury Service: random humans, selected arbitrarily, charged with assessing dozens of new inventions and ruling on whether to let them loose. Young Huw, a technophobic, misanthropic Welshman, has been selected for the latest jury, a task he does his best to perform despite an itchy technovirus, the apathy of the proletariat, and a couple of truly awful moments on bathroom floors.

"Rapture of the Nerds is a brilliant collaboration by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross, two of the defining personalities of post-cyberpunk science fiction."

IMAGE CREDIT: The cover image for The Rapture of the Nerds is from Amazon. 

Fight the Chill with Chili at the February Meeting 2/21/15

We dodged a Weather Bullet! The Meeting is on!

The February KaCSFFS meeting (#514) will happen! We have a full evening planned.

Chili with cornbread

What:   February 2015 KaCSFFS Meeting

Where: The Writers Place

3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111

When: Saturday, February 21, 2015

5:30 Open Board of Directors meeting.
6:00 Doors open for setup and pre-meeting socializing. 

6:30 Start of Annual Chili Contest

7:00 Program begins.

After the Program “Chili break” to vote and have a brief business meeting. Winners will be announced, and certificates presented, at the end of the meeting.

Annual KaCSFFS Chili Contest (+More)

Chili Mac

Cook up your favorite chili recipe and bring it to share. Our enthusiastic tasters will have a chance to enjoy a tasty winter treat, and vote for their favorites.

We also encourage everyone to bring tasty side items that compliment Chili: your favorite Cornbread. Or Macaroni & Cheese for Chili Mac? Salad or slaw? Fruit? Desserts are always in order, too!

The KaCSFFS treasury is providing Ball Park-brand all beef hot dogs, buns, and shredded cheddar cheese for Chili Dogs.

Chili Dog

KaCSFFS also will provide plastic bowls, plates, plastic-ware, napkins and paper towels from our stash of party supplies.

Enjoy a Dramatic Reading for our Program
Saturday's program: Twice-past SFWFA president Robin Wayne Bailey will give a dramatic reading of his latest science fiction short story, "Tombaugh Station."

Robin Wayne Bailey gives a dramatic reading in 2013

It will be published this fall in Bryan Thomas Schmidt's latest original short stories anthology Mission: Tomorrow, from Baen Books.

Business Meeting 

After Robin's reading, there will be a "chili break," voting, and then the club's monthly business meeting. 

Remember:

February is the first month for Board of Directors self-nominations. The only person who can nominate you is yourself. So step right up!

Other business:

Member announcements

KC area events updates,

Presentation of Chili Certificates!

IMAGES: Many thanks to The Heritage Cook for the image of chili with cornbread, to WikiHow for the chili mac photo, and to SheKnows for the chili dog image. The photo of Robin W. Bailey doing a dramatic reading is from a Facebook album of an event at Prospero's Books in 2013.

KC Horror Book Club February 2015 Meeting

ZOO

By Otsuichi

Details:
Date and Time: February 14, 2013 (Saturday) from noon to 1:30.
Location: The Green Room Burgers and Beer
Address: 4010 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite D, Kansas City, MO.
Event Notes: 

Come and discuss ZOO and grab some food too.

"L to R (Western Style). Ten stories of horror and science fiction from Japan’s hottest young author. In one story, the last man on Earth turns out to be a robot. In another story, a man builds a house from the bodies of his murder victims. And in the book’s eponymous story, a man sees his girlfriend’s corpse decompose… one Polaroid snapshot at a time!"

-Haikasoru & Amazon.com

Check the Facebook Event Page for more information.

Please contact Earline Beebe for more information on the Facebook event page.
Image from: Amazon.com. Published by Haikasoru.

Laser Rangers 2015 February Meeting

Crash Dive

Date: February 14, 2015
Time: 4:50pm
Location: David Sooby’s home theater with 51-inch Samsung HDTV, a 5.1 Surround Sound Dolby Digital sound system, a full set of audiophile-grade speakers, and upgraded seating for about 15 people without crowding.
Captain Laser: CAPTAIN NAME
Food: Submarine sandwiches, seafood, “Brownies”
Costume: Hippy/Military

To learn more, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

Short features will be shown before each feature. Don't miss them!

Yellow Submarine

(1968, 87 minutes) Directed by: George Dunning, Live-action sequences: Dennis Abey

Starring: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Paul Angelis, John Clive, Dick Emery, Geoff Hughes, Lance Percival

The music-loving inhabitants of Pepperland are under siege by the Blue Meanies, a nasty group of music-hating creatures. The Lord Mayor of Pepperland (Dick Emery) dispatches sailor Old Fred (Lance Percival) to Liverpool, England, where he is to recruit the help of the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr). The sympathetic Beatles ride a yellow submarine to the occupied Pepperland, where the Blue Meanies have no chance against the Fab Four's groovy tunes.-IMDB

Watch the trailer here!







~~~~~
After the first feature, please join us for a potluck dinner. Bring something to share. It can follow the theme, or be something you prefer.
~~~~~

Feature Presentation!
U-571

(2000, 116 minutes) Directed by: Jonathan Mostow

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jon Bon Jovi

When a German U-571 submarine with a sophisticated encryption machine onboard is sunk during a World War II battle at sea, the Allies send an American Navy force led by Lieutenant Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) to retrieve it for study. Boarding the German ship, the Americans' cover as a rescue force is quickly blown. Forced to take the crew hostage, the Americans lay their explosives and prepare to destroy the German vessel before the Nazis can send naval backup.-IMDB

Watch the trailer here!







The home of the Laser Rangers is located about four miles north of the Kansas Speedway, NW of the intersection of I-70 and I-435 on the Kansas side of the Greater Kansas City area.

IMAGE CREDITS: The information for all of these shows come from the invaluable IMDB. The movie posters come from Wikipedia or the movie's respected distributors. 

The movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information is courtesy of Psychology Today Online. Many thanks to these websites!