Laser Rangers 2018 December Meeting

Marvel Superheroes IV

December 8, 2018: DATE, 2018
4:50: 4:15pm
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: On Holiday
Food: Potluck
Capes and Cowls: COSTUME

To learn more, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

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

Black Panther

(2018, 134 minutes) Directed by: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis

After the death of his father, T'Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T'Challa's mettle as king -- and as Black Panther -- gets tested when he's drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people.-IMDB

Watch the trailer here!


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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.
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Feature Presentation!
Avengers: Infinity War

(2018, 149 minutes) Directed by: Anthony Russo & Joe Russo

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.-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!

A woman's place is . . . among the stars?

The Kansas City SF&F Literati November Selection
Have you read it yet?
Next meeting: Monday, November 26, 2018; 7 p.m. at the Oak Park Barnes & Noble.

The Calculating Stars
by Mary Robinette Kowal

Book One of the Lady Astronaut series, based on the premises behind her Hugo Award-winning "Lady Astronaut of Mars."

The Calculating Stars has received acclaim since its release:
Goodreads―Most Popular Books Published in July 2018 (#66)
The Verge―12 fantastic science fiction and fantasy novels for July 2018
Unbound Worlds―Best SciFi and Fantasy Books of July 2018
Den of Geek―Best Science Fiction Books of June 2018
Omnivoracious―15 Highly Anticipated SFF Reads for Summer 2018

The Story:
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.

Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

Available from booksellers everywhere, including host location Barnes & Noble Booksellers. And don't forget to check for it at your local library! 

IMAGE: Many thanks to Macmillan Publishers for the cover photo. Thanks also are due to Amazon, for the list of recognitions and the book description, and to Barnes & Noble for saving me the trouble of looking up a source for "Lady Astronaut of Mars."

Come feast with us Saturday 11/17/2018

It's time for "Fans-Giving" 
The annual KaCSFFS Thanksgiving Dinner
KaCSFFS has a long tradition of getting together to eat a great potluck meal together. We have no official activity planned, other than eating and talking. The club will provide plates, cups, flatware, napkins, etc., plus two turkeys: one smoked and one roasted. We need you, the attendees, to provide suitable and/or traditional side dishes. (See "What to bring" below).
Date: Saturday, November 17, 2018
Time: setup starts at 6 p.m.; eat around 7.
Where: The Writers Place, 3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111.

Here's a glimpse of part of the crowd in 2016. Photo by Jan S. Gephardt.

We hope to have guests!
We've invited a few loosely-connected fannish groups from the area to join us. We hope to welcome new faces, and maybe new members. Let’s do our best to make any newcomers feel welcome.

Part of the 2016 Thanksgiving feast crowd plays a card game after dinner. Photo by Jan S. Gephardt.

What to bring
* If you have a short-playing-time tabletop game or card game you think our members might enjoy, please bring it.
* Folding/portable tables or even square card tables. The Writers Place has plenty of chairs, but they don’t have as many tables as they used to, and most of what they have will be used to hold the food. If you want to have a place to eat, bring a table!

Ty Gephardt and Paul Burns attack the meat-and-
drink table in 2016. Photo by Jan S. Gephardt.

Food to bring
We’re not going to assign salads, vegetables, desserts, and so forth by last name -- we’re going for a genuine “pot luck” meal: whatever people bring is what we’ll eat. However, some suggestions to get your culinary inspiration going might include:
Appetizer tray (remember, if you bring fresh veggies for dipping, long experience tells us KaXFEN don't eat broccoli)
Cranberry sauce/jelly/salad
Mashed potatoes (giblet gravy will be provided)
Dressing
Sweet potato something (whole, candied, pureed, etc.)
Vegetable dishes (corn something, creamed peas, glazed carrots, etc.; and what is Thanksgiving without at least one green bean casserole?)
Rolls of various types, with butter
Pies (Pumpkin, apple, and pecan are traditional, but don’t be afraid to bring something adventurous such as butterscotch, pineapple, or coconut crème), Brownies, cakes, and/or cookies.
A bag or two of ice for drinks, and a cooler to keep it in.
Although there will be a small selection of sodas, you should bring your own favorite beverage(s). David and Marisa probably will bring a gallon or two of un-sweet tea to share.

At left, Jim "Dr. Paisley" Murray carves a turkey, at the 2015 feast; at right, the dessert table from 2015. Photos by Ty Gephardt.

IMAGES: Many thanks to photographers Jan S. Gephardt and Tyrell Gephardt, as well as all the folks who allowed us to take their pictures for KaCSFFS publicity purposes. Please feel free to re-post or reblog them if you wish, but kindly include an attribution and a link back to this blog post! Thanks!

See Nnedi Okorafor at KU Nov. 8-9!

Nnedi returns!
Our 2016 ConQuesT Author Guest of Honor, Nnedi Okorafor returns to the Greater KC metro area early this month! She'll be making two appearances in Lawrence, courtesy of the Lawrence Public Library's Ross and Marianna Beach Author Series and KU's Hall Center for the Humanities.

Nnedi Okorafor, courtesy of Cheetah Witch via Wikimedia Commons, via the Lawrence Journal-World.

Nnedi's November 8 appearance at Liberty Hall (644 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS 66044) is open to the public for free admission. No tickets are required. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. event, "An Evening with Nnedi Okorafor." After the program, The Raven Bookstore will offer her books for sale and host a signing.

As noted in Joanna Hlavacek's article in the Lawrence Journal-World, Okorafor is an "Award-winning author and Black Panther” writer. She is "the author of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism novels and comics for kids and adults, according to a news release from the library. Born in America to Nigerian parents, her Black Panther Marvel Comics series were used as a foundational text for the screenplay of 2018’s blockbuster film adaptation of the same name.

"Okorafor’s 2010 novel Who Fears Death, winner of the World Fantasy Award, is currently being adapted as an HBO series with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin serving as producer. Other works include the award-winning Nebula and Hugo Award-winning novella series Binti and the acclaimed Akata Witch series, affectionately dubbed by some as 'the Nigerian Harry Potter.'”

The following day, Nov. 9, Hall Center for the Humanities will host a student program with Okorafor, who has been an Associate Professor of English at The State University of New York at Buffalo.

IMAGE: many thanks to Cheetah Witch via Wikimedia Commons and the Lawrence Journal-World, for the photo Nnedi Okorafor with Insects.