Windycon Science Fiction Convention Programming Schedule
I just received an email from the folks at the Windycon Science Fiction Convention informing me of my programming schedule. I am slated to be on the following panels:
The Year in Science: Saturday 10:00 Grand North: From the discovery that Saturn's F Ring is a spiral to the Demotion of Pluto: the year since last year's Windycon has brought a plethora of scientific change. B. Higgins, D. Lacey, M. Olson, J. Plaxco, S. Shostak.
Defining the Drake Equation: Saturday Noon Grand North: The panelists will explain what the Drake Equation is and then explain how useful it really is and whether it has any actual basis in fact. B. Higgins, J. Plaxco, S. Shostak, W. Thomasson.
Designing a Spaceship: Saturday 1:00 Narita B: How does an artist go about designing a realistic looking spaceship? How do authors make their spacecraft believable?? As they discuss the process, a rocket scientist will comment on their progress and process. J. Lilly, S. Martiniere, J. Plaxco, F. Ruiz, D. Waltz.
I will also be giving the following presentation:
The Universe According to Monty Python: Sunday Noon: Heathrow: An in-depth, systematic analysis of the planetary, astronomical, and cosmological findings of the comedy group as published in the “Galaxy Song.” J. Plaxco. (Note: attempts to put the name of the group (as seen in the title) into the previous sentence or even this sentence caused my hosting provider's security alarm bells to go off. Why? I don't know. Perhaps they have a thing against that group of comedians with the initials M.P.)
I'm especially excited to see that I will be on two panels with Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute. At the closing of last year's Windycon, I was asked by Pat, one of Windycon's organizers, if I could recommend someone prominent in the field of SETI. Seth was at the top of my list. I agreed to make the initial contact with him to see if he would be interested. I had met Seth once before: in 1993 at the International Space Development Conference in Huntsville, AL. I don't recall much about that conference but I do remember Seth and I going out for breakfast at a nice restaurant in the historic district.
As always I look forward to the chance to participate in the programming at Windycon and to catch up with folks who I haven't seen since the last local science fiction convention.
Ad Astra, Jim
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2 Responses to “Windycon Science Fiction Convention Programming Schedule”
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The song might be black listed because of the graphics. There is an iterlude in the song 3/4 of the way through that has what some might consider an offensive graphic.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9JSR_6qfXTg
Or it could be that there is no intelligent life on earth! 🙂
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Hi Dave,
Not sure that's it as it was getting hung up on the word pair Monty Python. It's all so dim in my memory now.I didn't know the video could be found on youtube. During the presentation, I use a version that was created by the space artist David Hardy and which he kindly emailed me. His version is rated G.
Ad Astra, Jim