The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA will host its latest “Science on Screen” event on Monday, February 2nd at 7:00pm. The movie is “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray:
Bill Murray stars as Phil Connors, a self-centered television weatherman assigned to the task of covering the groundhog’s annual appearance in Punxsutawney, Pa. It’s his fourth year waiting on word from the rodent to determine the length of the remaining winter, and Phil couldn’t be more open about his disdain for the town, his job and his co-workers. When he awakens on what should be the following day, he is stunned to realize that no time has progressed; Phil is reliving his most hated day of the year, over and over again…until he gets it right. (1993) dir. Harold Ramis, 1h41m
The premise of this unusual comedy raises intriguing ideas about time travel, multiple realities, and a repeating universe. Our guest speaker, Peter Galison, will explore some of the ways that these ideas have wandered in and out of physics and cosmology in recent years. An author, film producer and MacArthur Award-winner, Galison is a leading historian of science and is the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor of physics and the history of science at Harvard University. Galison’s research explores both the philosophical and historical questions that arise when examining the role of experiments in modern physics. His books include “Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps,” and “Image and Logic.”
For details visit http://www.coolidge.org/science.
UPDATE 4/3/09: See http://nescifievents.org/?p=440 for more details.
J. Michael Straczynski, creator of TV shows Babylon 5 and Jeremiah as well as a number of comic books and movie scripts, will be visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA to deliver the second annual Julius Schwartz Lecture, part of the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT. The lecture will be held on May 22nd, 2009 in MIT’s Kresge Auditorium; the exact time has not yet been announced. According to MIT’s website:
The Julius Schwartz Lecture is an annual event held to honor an individual who has made significant contributions to the culture, creativity and community of comics and popular entertainment…
The event is typically structured as a short lecture presented by the honored speaker, followed by a question-and-answer discussion between the speaker and the head of the Comparative Media Studies program, media scholar Henry Jenkins III. This will be followed by an open question-and-answer session between the lecturer and the audience.
The event will be open to the public. Tickets go on sale in March, so keep an eye on http://cms.mit.edu/juliusschwartz/index.html for updates.
In conjunction with this lecture, a screening of Babylon 5 and Jeremiah, hosted by Henry Jenkins, will be held at MIT on January 29 from 7-10pm. This event is free and open to the public. For details see http://artscal.mit.edu/index.php?template=1&fulltext=&start=20090129&end=20090129&id=10005259.
Nexus Faire is a fandom get-together being held at “Ye Olde Commons,” a medievally-themed campground in Charlton, MA. The event will take place April 17-19, 2009. According to a flyer distributed at the recent Arisia convention:
Fandom is an amazingly diverse and cross connected community, including science fiction, gaming, anime, LARPing, music, and much more. Imagine an event which combines all of these things together on 40 acres of geek-owned land. Imagine an event which you can attend for less than fifty dollars for the weekend. This event is Nexus Faire.
For more information, visit http://www.nexusfaire.org/.
DragonCon “the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US,” will be held September 4th-7th, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Atlanta?!?” you may be saying. “That’s nowhere near New England! Why tell us about DragonCon?” Because it really is the biggest convention on the East Coast — 30,000+ people, four official hotels, lots of popular guests, and something going on somewhere at all hours. Quite a few New Englanders travel to it each year; you can connect with some of them at http://community.livejournal.com/dcon_newengland/.
Memberships for the weekend are $70 right now; the price will go up to $80 on February 13th. For more information visit http://www.dragoncon.org/.
The next Boston ComicCon will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 4th and 5th, 2009 at the Back Bay Events Center in Boston, MA. Guests announced so far include Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Dick Ayers, Jim Cheung, and Paul Gulacy. For more information visit http://www.bostoncomiccon.com/.
[Tipped by http://con-news.com/]
Vericon is a science-fiction, fantasy, gaming, and anime convention being held this weekend at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. The guests of honor will also be signing books at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge on Saturday, January 24th. The bookstore signing is free; you do not have to be a paid Vericon attendee in order to come to the bookstore. The schedule of signings is as follows:
1:00 – 1:45: Paul Di Filippo and Elizabeth Bear
1:45 – 2:30: Don D’Ammassa
2:45 – 3:30: Allen Steele and Catherynne Valente
3:30 – 4:15: Kim Stanley Robinson
For more information visit http://www.harvard.com/events/press_release.php?id=2218.
[Tip via the Boston Phoenix]
The Feedburner service that I use to administer RSS feeds and the email subscription feature is merging with Google, and I have to move the account for New England Science Fiction and Fantasy Events to the new service. Google promises that all will go smoothly with this transition. (Yeah…) I figured I’d give everyone notice now before I throw the switch, just in case something happens. You can always come back to http://nescifievents.org/ to get the links again if needed.
Another opportunity for aspiring science fiction writers is opening up: the weeklong Viable Paradise writers’ workshop on Martha’s Vineyard. An alum of the workshop sent in this description:
The Viable Paradise writing workshop is currently accepting applications for its 2009 session. It bills itself as: “a unique one-week residential workshop in writing and selling commercial science fiction and fantasy,” and is currently in its thirteenth year. It takes place October 4-10 on Martha’s Vineyard, and this year’s instructors are Elizabeth Bear, Debra Doyle, Steven Gould, James D. Macdonald, Laura J. Mixon, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, and John Scalzi — several of whom will be at Boskone and will be more than happy to talk to you about it. To learn more about the workshop, including the extensive list of sales by their alum, visit their website at http://www.viableparadise.com.
Submissions close June 30, 2009.
[Tip via http://www.jenniferpelland.com]
The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival is a 24-hour movie marathon that starts at noon on February 15th and ends one day later at noon on February 16th. The marathon will be held at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, MA. Tickets are now on sale, and the film lineup has been announced:
RAY BRADBURY’S CHRYSALIS (2008)
ALIEN RAIDERS (2008)
REPO MAN (1984)
IT CAME FORM OUTER SPACE in 3D (1953)
TRANSFORMERS (2007)
RUNAWAY (1984)
THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951)
I MARRIED A MONSTER FORM OUTER SPACE (1958)
KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988)
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)
LOGAN’S RUN (1976)
STAR TREK WRATH OF KHAN (1982)
There will also be contests and other surprises. To find out more about the marathon and the films, visit http://www.bostonsci-fi.com/.
The Hugo Awards are awarded each year to recognize excellence in science fiction and fantasy. They are given out at the World Science Fiction Convention, which will be held in Montreal in 2009. (See http://nescifievents.org/?p=247 for the initial posting about “Anticipation,” the 2009 WorldCon.)
Nominations for this year’s Hugo Awards are now being accepted. In order to nominate something for one of the Hugo categories, you must be a member of the 2009 WorldCon, or have been a member of the 2008 WorldCon. You do not have to purchase a full membership in order to nominate or vote for the Hugos; you only need a “Supporting Membership,” which lets you vote but does not actually get you into the convention. A supporting membership may be upgraded to full membership if you decide to attend WorldCon after all.
The deadline to purchase your membership in time to participate in the nomination process is January 31st, 2009. You have until the end of February to actually submit your nominations.
For more information about the Hugo Awards, visit http://www.thehugoawards.org/. For more information about the 2009 WorldCon, visit http://www.anticipationsf.ca/.
Film, Lecture, MA | nescifievents | 
January 30, 2009 12:14 am | 
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