We know where you've been sleeping (just rumors, right?),
We know when you're awake (boy, we really get around, don't we?),
We figure you've been working hard (appearances can be deceiving, huh?),
So, why not take a break?
Yep! That's right! It's getting to be that time again ...
Time for CHRISTMAS in APRIL???
You read it right! It's ...
FA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA Con

The ultimate PARTY and RELAXACON

With Special Guests

BRAD LINAWEAVER

KIM BAILEY

and

MOJO (tentative)
Foundation Imaging

Artist Guest of Honor

LIZ MORTENSEN

Fan Guest of Honor

MILT STEVENS

Plus   --   Video Room, Galactic Ice Cream Social, Plutonium Chili Cookoff, Holiday Feast, Dealers, and Science Fiction Auction

$14.14 Pre-Attending
$20.20 At The Door

ATTENDANCE LIMITED to 150 / Call for Speaker Confirms

At the LASFS CLUBHOUSE
11513 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601
(818)760-9234
We're right close to the 170 fwy, park on the Boulevard.

CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS

So Once again it's Spring ... uh ... Christmas.

That time of year to come in and Relax before the summer kicks in ...

As Head Elf

    Welcome One and All to the North (Hollywood) gathering of fun, friends and change of seasons.   It's Spring time and the Relaxacon is here.   Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La Con (La-La Con #7).   Hey there are 7 "La"'s in there ... It's the Seventh Relaxacon at the clubhouse ... quite an achievement I think.   And we have you, the wonderful attendees, to thank for such a great time.   And Equally a great staff and crew.

    Sorry, no snowballs available ... they cost extra ... However, if you can make angels in the sidewalk ... more power to ya.

    So why the Holidays??   Time to get together, of course, and relax; and besides that, someone discovered we missed the "Fa" Joke ...

    Anywho, people to see ... and we won't worry too much about the naughty and nice bit.

-- Tadao Tomomatsu
Chair, Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La Con

BRAD LINAWEAVER (Guest of Honor)
By John DeChancie

    I'm pretty sure I first met Brad Linaweaver at a Loscon back in the last century.   I was at a room party, and suddenly found myself unable to hold a drink.   I had no arms.   I realized that the man I was chatting with had talked them both off.   Brad Linaweaver has a lot to say, and he says it well.
    Brad Linaweaver is a writer of the first magnitude, and a versatile one in the bargain.   His award-winning Moon of Ice is arguably one of the best alternate history novels ever written.   His short stories span the fantastic genres from hard SF all the way through to Lovecraftian horror.   He is a New York Times best-selling novelizer of the popular video game Doom.   He wrote the only novelization based on the short-lived but popular TV series Sliders.   He wrote a nonfiction book about the series.   Brad also writes Young Adult fantasies in the vein of C. S. Lewis.   Add to that dozens of articles on film.   Big pile there?   Sure, but it gets bigger.   Throw on his articles for high-circulation national magazines such as National Review.
    Obviously he doesn't only talk.   He performs, he works, he cranks out pay copy.   He writes.   But he also talks.   If you've ever had a conversation with Brad, you might notice that he will utter, on average, forty words to your one.   He'll need every one of those, though, because he has more to say than you do.   He will tell you things you've never known.   He knows more about Adolf Hitler than Hitler's mother.   He will tell you of the ominous parallels between our contemporary culture and that of pre-WWII Nazi Germany.   Think anti-smoking campaigns and health/body fetishes are recent liberal phenomena?   Think again.   Hitler was a vegetarian and hated cigarettes.   Think fascism and free enterprise are correlates?   Think again.   Fascism is inimical to the free market.   Think Green activism is anything new?   Check out the back-to-nature cults the Nazis fostered.   He'll tell you more, if you care to listen.
    No, Brad isn't a doom-crier, for all that he is a Doom writer.   In fact, he will tell you that the diet of doom and gloom that today's kids are fed, that noxious volatile mixture of Nirvana and nihilism, is the real cause of atrocities like the Columbine high school massacre, not some innocuous video game.
    In short, Brad is a provocative fellow.   Yes, he's political, and sometimes his fiction carries a pot of message.   But the message is always tailored to the medium.   For Brad, that medium is the literature of the fantastic.   He once persuaded me to write a short story for the first anthology of science ficiton with a Libertarian political theme.   I did so, and instantly became so covered with tar I looked like I'd spent the day rolling around a beach in Santa Barbara.   I was instantly a Libertarian pariah in the SF world.   Me, probably the least Libertarian writer in the book.   (I think national parks are fine.)   The anthology was a popular success, but the critics said, "Too preachy."   Of course, we all know that the Left never preaches in art or literature.   Read the book (Free Space) and judge for yourself.   Brad is a good editor who knows that a story must entertain before it breaks and runs a political spot.
    Brad is also a friend of mine.   He is a lot of fun.   He likes to talk, but he'll also listen.   His fiction shows that he's been listening to people.   Listening to the times, too, taking the pulse of the Zeitgeist.   He has a keen historical sense which he combines with a visionary view of the future.   He'll listen to you, and then he will tell you that the future will be free.   You won't be able to talk him out of it.

MOJO (Media Guest)

    Due to professional commitments, Mojo will not be with us this year. He hopes to be able to join us next time.
    As Someone Put it, "Doctor Evil has stolen Our Mojo".

KIM BAILEY (Special Media Guest)

    Celebrating his 25th year in the film industry.
    Contributor to films such as "Mission to Mars", "Mission Impossible", "Stargate", "Alien Resurrection", "Deep Impact", "Space: Above and Beyond", and now Revolution Productions newest Science Fiction project currently in production "The One."
    With a rich history that started in miniature effects, Kim's career has ranged through computer graphics, pyrotechnics, visual effects, motion control, illustration, special effects, technology design and technological art direction.
    He will give a presentation of his past work and a special sneak peak at what's going on with "The One."

MILT STEVENS (Fan Guest of Honor)
An Appreciation By Marty Cantor

    Some factual things you should know about Milt Stevens: he used to be in the U.S. Navy, he has been a fan since sometime in the '60's (and a LASFS member almost as long), and he is a retired civilian employee of the Los Angeles Police Department (and is spending much of his retirement continuing to work for them).   It is also rumored that he is human, but that contentious issue has never been fully resolved to the satisfaction of the aware portion of the human race known as fans.
    Milt has involved himself in con-running and was co-chair of L.A. CON II, the 1984 Worldcon.   But one of the most social things he does is to tell droll stories of police department happenings to anybody who is aware enough to engage him in conversation.   He is never boring.
    One thing that is undeniable is that Milt has a wicked sense of humor.   He is also one of fandom's fine fanwriters, but he is underrated in this because his fanwriting has not been spread far and wide in as many fanzines as was done back when Fanwriting Jiants roamed the Earth, spreading fear in neoish faneditors and enlightenment to the literate.   Nowadays, there are just too many distractions for fans, and all too many of them pay too little attention to the wonders which appear in the few remaining current fanzines.
    My space here is short; so, instead of further trying the patience of ye editor let me close by recommending that you try to make some time during the con to talk to Milt - you will be well rewarded for your efforts.

LIZ MORTENSEN (Artist Guest of Honor)
By Karl Lembke

    For many people, the First Introduction to our Artist Guest of Honor is, "This is Liz.   Give her two dollars."   (I include this line at considerable risk to my life, but it's too damn good to waste!)   You see, Liz Mortensen is the Treasurer for the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS), and one of her duties is to collect the club dues from all attending members.   But there's a lot more to Liz than official dues collector and LASFS bean counter.   She's a fan, through and through.
    Many years ago (never mind how many!), Liz made her way to a Windycon in her native Chicago.   She found fandom, fandom found her, and as we say, her fate was sealed.   Equipped with an armload of fliers for upcoming conventions, Liz was on her way to Trufanhood.   She has thrown herself into fandom to such an extent that she's been honored with the Evans-Freehafer Award, given for service to the LASFS.   She has run various conventions, including one Loscon, and has been active in SCIFI, and currently sits on the LASFS board of directors.
    Along with her other activities, she is the Official Charity Director for the LASFS.   Last year, she was the liaison for the local chapter of The Linus Project, and was responsible for getting dozens of handmade blankets and afghans delivered to children who were undergoing cancer therapy.
    Liz would be quite content if life were one long convention, preferably without the fannish politics and infighting.   (It would certainly be more fun than her day job.)
    She has had her fifteen seconds of fame thanks to an appearance in the movie, "The Naked Gun", and she is a devoted fan of "The X Files".   (Rumor has it that she'll be spending a fair amount of time over the convention watching videotapes of the eighth season of the series on a little teeny TV set.)
    So why is she the artist guest of honor?   Well, she's an artist.   She makes jewelry, and does other small three-dimensional works.   She kills time on the train by doing cross-stitch, as well.   She stays away from painting and drawing.   "I can't draw," she says.
    She enjoys costuming, and appeared at one WorldCon in a fairy costume, bearing silver-glitter wings, a magic wand, and a drink.   (Yup, fandom can drive anyone to drink!)   I don't know if she still intends to make clothing from used compact discs, but tell you what.   Why don't you ask her?   And don't forget to take a look at her jewelry.
    Liz Mortensen lives in Sylmar with a dog named Yuri, and the occasional earthquake.   She has also been the mommy for a cat, another dog, and a gaggle of chickens that came with the house she bought.   These chickens have been described as the luckiest chickens on earth.   Liz is a vegetarian, and so all the chickens died of old age.   She sometimes hosts tea parties at her home for her friends.
    When she's not being fannish, she is the office manager at a building project management company.

Saturday, March 31st

Sunday, April 1st