SFLIS Minutes - January 8, 2003

- RPGA game day Saturday Jan. 11 at the Iowa City Public Library, starts at
  9am.  Will have 2 Living Greyhawks, among others.
- Over 50 people are preregistered for Gamicon so far.
- We're trying to decide what time it is now.  Looks like it's time to start
  the meeting.
- JRR Tolkein would be 111 this year if he was still alive.
- Students are in the majority at this week's meeting.  When was the last time
  this happened?
- The Two Towers got favorable reviews from those of us who went.  We'll do the
  same for Return of the King.
  Speaking of Return of the King, a news article from bbspot.com was passed
  around:  'Fans Outraged at New Character in the Return of the King.'
- Gamicon is Feb. 14-16.  From Valentines Day through Presidents Day.
  Party time!
- Mindbridge meeting Saturday at Denny Lynch's.  Directions were posted on the
  Mindbridge Yahoo group.
- There's no movie night tonight because the IMU is closed.  We'll probably
  have one in February.  How about a Japanese live-action SF movie, directed
  by Mamoru Oshii, filmed in Poland, in Polish with a choice of English or
  Japanese subtitles?  That's a definite possibility.
- A whatever it is is passed around and we try to figure out what it is.
- The room request for the spring semester SWAMP anime shows has been turned
  in.  Dates requested are Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and 23, March 9 and 30, April 13
  and 27, May 4 and 11.  One of those dates will be the SWAMP 8th anniversary
  show.
- In the list of the top 10 SF characters of all time, determined by a poll of
  readers, Dr. Who is #1.  This is from www.scifi.com.
  We discuss this list a bit.  Dr. Who, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and Gandalf
  we can understand.  But how did Spike and Willow from Buffy get on there,
  when Buffy herself didn't?  How did Angel get on there?
  And speaking of Willow, how about some characters from Willow?  The other
  Willow.  Has everyone here seen it?  That's another possibility for a movie
  night.
- Tracie Michlin is thinking of running an Amber game on Sundays.  Let her
  know if you're interested.
- The meeting is dead.  Long live the meeting.
- The whatever it is is a motor mount for a rotary engine.
- What will computer user interfaces look like in the future?  How will
  spaceships be controlled?  With joysticks, eye movements, a data glove?
  We come up with some good and bad ideas.  Steering wheels.  Or something
  like in the original Star Trek?  Or touch screens like in the Next
  Generation?  Even though touch screens never really caught on in the real
  world.
  Now we're discussing steering wheels.  How would a touch screen or joystick
  work in a car, instead of a steering wheel?
  And we end with some examples of fun things to do when driving in the snow.
  If we ever get any here.