P.O.
Box 2076, Riverview, FL 33568 phone: 813/677-6347
on
the web at: www.miliuex.com and
www.stonehill.org
e-mail to:
RaggedyAnn@compuserve.com
NOTES FROM ANNIE'S ATTIC Last month, I made excuses for not getting a January "Launch Times" written because of the allure of the Internet. As you see, I've managed to pull myself away from it's influence this time around and get the "news" out when I'm supposed to.
I do want to tell you about a few sites I've recently visited. Mark Jones found the "Interactive Magic" site and told me about it. It's very clever. You can participate in illusions that will have you scratching your head and wondering how they do that. The URL is:http://pw2.netcom.com/~sleight/interactivemagic.html
Science Fiction author Greg Bear has a web page that lets you see some of his art work and gives you news about his writing projects. You can get to it at:www.gregbear.com
The South Florida Science Fiction Society has a web page to tell you about their club and one to give information on their yearly convention, TROPICON. The club site is at:http://scifi.squawk.com/sfsfs.html
Stone Hill member Mark Callen has put up a vanity page. If you like looking at picture albums, this is the page for you. It takes a while to load but you can see Mark's family, friends, and Disney World co-workers. He's also got some good links to go to from his page. You can visit MYSTIC MARK'S PLACE at:http://mebers.tripod.com/~eMark/index.html
While I'm hawking the web wares of others, let me not forego the opportunity to mention my own personal page at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/RaggedyAnn
I've added some new links, including the ones written about here and I've made it easy to go straight to the links section. You can skip all the personal stuff that you know already.
APRIL STONE HILL MEETING April is a blood drive month and so the meeting on April 12 will be at the Bennett home. The address is 12215 Spottswood Dr., Riverview. The phone is 813/671-2859.
STONE HILL BIRTHDAYS The following fine people will be celebrating the beginning the next year of their lives this month. Happy Birthday to them all!
Colleen Claire Hillyard—March 3—Selamat Hari Ulang Tahun!
(Indonesian)
Michelle Aylward—March 6—La-breithe mhaith
agat! (Irish-Gaelic)
Mike Geraghty--March 25--Buon Compleanno! (Italian)
Samantha
Smoot—March 30—Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! (Japanese)
John
Robinson—March 31—Slamet Ulang Taunmoe! (Javaans-Indonesian)
HANDS ACROSS THE WATER Several months ago, we of Stone Hill agreed to spend $100 to send some of our used SF and fantasy books to a gentleman in Vladivostok, Russia. I had been contacted by Yuri Miromets asking for our help with SF and fantasy books for the library in the foreign languages department at Far Eastern University. He teaches a class in American and British SF and fantasy and has not nearly enough books for his student's to read. The break up of the Soviet Union brought about two things for that have affected Yuri's academic life. It made it possible to him to teach about literature that had been very hard to get and often banned under the Soviet government and it caused there to be much less money to buy materials for the university library. It created a "Catch 22." (I suspect the book of that title was on the banned books list.) So, Yuri has contacted clubs in the U.S. and Britain to get help.
I think that the OASFiS group in Orlando has also sent books to Vladivostok. I would encourage any other groups who have a treasury that can afford it or could take up a collection from members to help with this worthwhile project to do so. Sharing the literature that we love with others is a step toward creating the "one world" ideal we've read about in some of that same literature.
In early October, I mailed our box of books to Yuri by surface mail. He knew that it would take quite a while for them to get there but the cost of sending them by air mail is just too much. Just the other day, I got a letter from him concerning the books. This is what he had to say about them. "Two days ago, a box of SF books collected by your club reached me safely. What a wonderful gift! It was like a treasure trove for me and I spent these two days sorting out the books. I already transferred part of the books to the Department's Library and informed students about them."
At the close of Yuri's letter, he says, "Well, thanks again for everything you've sent. I wish you and all the members of Stone Hill SF Association Good Health, Good Luck and Clear Ether!"
Over the past few months I have had a lovely correspondence with Yuri in which he has told me about life in Vladivostok and has sent quite a few post cards of Vladivostok. If anyone is interested in reading his letters, I will have them at the Stone Hill meetings in March and April and will be glad to share them. I get to keep them though. That's the "perk" for being the one whose job it is to be a contact person.
When I mailed the box of books, it cost the club only $53 of the $100 we agreed to spend. Since we have $47 left in this fund, I think we should send some more books. If anyone reading this who is coming to the March Stone Hill meeting has books he can donate to the cause, please bring them to the meeting. I will again take charge of packing them and mailing them.