Ravencon

Mike, Al, Nick, Andrew, and I attended Ravencon this past weekend. The writer guest of honor was C. S. Friedman, and the artist guest of honor was Stephen Hickman. I thought Stephen Hickman was particularly interesting -- he has won a Hugo award and done illustrations for works by Robert Heinlein and J. R.R. Tolkien. His presentation was well prepared and informative.
I enjoyed several of the panel discussions, particularly the ones on digital art and The Lord of the Rings. There were several others I would liked to have sat in on, but time did not permit. I feel that the panel discussions are the biggest attraction for me at Ravencon, because there is no other place in the area where one can hear discussions on these types of subjects.

Earth Day

Earth Day started in 1962 according to this article, How the First Earth Day Came About by Senator Gaylord Nelson, on this website http://earthday.envirolink.org/.

Happy Earth Day!

The Color of Plants on Other Worlds

The April issue of Scientific American magazine has a very interesting article, "The Color of Plants on Other Worlds," that discusses photosynthesis with regard to predicting what we should look for in the search for life on extrasolar planets. (This is a very exciting area that has developed a great deal in recent years.) What is really intriguing about the research presented in the article is its interdisciplinary nature: biometeorology, stellar astronomy, astronomy, physics, microbiology, biology, biochemistry, planetary science, etc. are used.

National Dark Sky Week

This is National Dark Sky Week in the USA.
For more information you can go to this website: http://www.ndsw.org/.

Tracy Torme

I heard an interview with Tracy Torme on Coast To Coast With George Noory.
Among other things he discussed working with Gene Roddenberry on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
He also worked on the television show Sliders.

C.S. Friedman

I see that this author, C.S. Friedman, is scheduled to be at Raven Con 2008 in Richmond, according to Raven Con's website http://www.ravencon.com/.
I went to her website, http://www.csfriedman.com/, and to Amazon.com to get some information on her books.
It seems that she writes science fiction and fantasy books.

Years ago, when I was at Imagine Con in Virginia Beach, I saw some people doing LARP.
They were doing Vampire: The Masquerade.
It was interesting and like looking at a play that I did not know anything about.
Perhaps I need to read her sourcebook on this role playing game.

Articles by Roald Hoffmann

Two articles by Nobel Laureate Dr. Roald Hoffmann, who Mike and I heard speak at the University of Richmond on February 8, can be found in recent issues of American Scientist magazine. The article "Legally Sweet" appeared in the July-August issue -- Dr. Hoffmann discusses court cases involving artificial sweeteners Splenda and Nutrasweet. The March-April issue has a article by Dr. Hoffmann entitled "For a Few Atoms More." This articles discusses drug testing, natural and "designer" steroids, and sports. The articles are available on the American Scientist website: www.americanscientist.org.

Nighthawk Sci Fi Club Meeting

Our monthly meeting will be at RavenCon 2008.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I find it interesting when someone, whose carrier path is not a science or science fiction carrier path, can influence people whose career path is a science or science fiction career path.
I believe that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did that.

The first time I met a member of the original crew of Star Trek the Original Series, was at a convention in Richmond, Virginia. It was about the time the fifth Star Trek movie came out.
Nichelle Nichols was the guest star of the convention. She told us about reading for a part on a new television series, Star Trek. She got the part of Lt. Uhura.
She said that after awhile she considered leaving the series. Dr. King, Jr. talked with her and convinced her to stay. She said he told her how significant her portrayal of black people was.
She stayed with Star Trek The Original Series, the Star Trek animated series, and the first six Star Trek movies.
According to an article about Nichelle Nichols on www.startrek.com:
She flew aboard the C-141 Astronomy Observatory on a mission. She was at the JPL on 17 July 1976 to see the Viking probe's Mars landing. She attended the christening of the first space shuttle, Enterprise, at Cape Canaveral. And She spends much time recruiting minorities for NASA.
She wrote Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories, Nichelle Nichols A Collection of Poetry and Prose, Saturn's Child (by Nichelle Nichols and Margaret Wander Bonanno), and Saturna's Quest.

Today in Richmond Leland Melvin, the Virginia-born space shuttle astronaut, is scheduled to speak at The Virginia Historical Society.
His topic is Linking To The Past: Documenting The African American Experience in Virginia.

Grace Lee Whitney

Happy Birthday!

Grace Lee Whitney is perhaps best known for her role as Janice Rand in Star Trek The Originial series.
She also wrote a book, The Longest Trek.