Fantastic Fiction: Early Science Fiction Meets Proto-Steampunk: The Time Machine

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In many ways, the Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow blog is a time machine, taking us back into the history of the genre and showing how that past is connected to the present and future. In 1960, a movie adaptation of H.G. Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine brought the story out of the past and into the present of that decade with aesthetics that looked both back to the Victorian era and forward to the turn of the millennium.

Announcement: Building the Business Meeting’s Future–For Everyone!

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Have you ever wondered about or wanted to participate in how the rules that govern the Worldcon, the Hugo Awards, and other aspects of WSFS get made? We are excited to announce that this year we have developed a new process for the business meeting: a series of pre-convention, virtual meetings!

Fantastic Fiction: Pathfinders (1960-1961): The Path to Doctor Who

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In 1960 we were still three years away from Doctor Who’s premiere—however, producer Sydney Newman was already hard at work creating family-oriented science fiction television at the independent network Associated British Corporation (ABC Television). Between 1960–1961, U.K.’s ABC ran four serials, Target Luna, Pathfinders in Space, Pathfinders to Mars, and Pathfinders to Venus, and the U.K. was enchanted with journeys to Earth’s nearest neighbors.

Local Flavor: Local Product Roundup

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The Pacific Northwest is home to a lot of great food products, some of which you may have seen elsewhere. In addition to the vibrant wine, cider, beer, and spirit makers in the region, we’re home base for some fun foods—Jones Soda, Brown & Haley candy, Oh Boy! Oberto, Almond Roca, a bunch of chocolatiers, and Tim’s Cascade Chips, to name just a tiny fraction. Find many of these in local shops, including the Bartell Drugs store at 5th and Olive, while you’re at the convention.

Fantastic Fiction: SF in Central/Eastern Europe

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The year 1961 brought Anglophonic readers three fascinating works of speculative fiction in translation, two of which were by Jewish authors. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Other Stories, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s The Spinoza of Market Street, and Witold Gombrowicz’s Ferdydurke are concerned with the world lurking beneath what we see as reality. Dark fantasy, the occult, magic, and the grotesque come together to make these texts unsettling forays into an alternate way of seeing the world.

Fantastic Fiction: A Signpost Up Ahead

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On October 2, 1959, television entered the science fiction age with the debut of The Twilight Zone. From Jordan Peele’s revival to SF anthology shows like Black Mirror and Love, Death, and Robots, Rod Serling’s creation still leaves a heavy footprint. What keys to the imagination unlocked the door to the fifth dimension? Read on!