Local Flavor: Nanaimo Bars
First documented in the early 1950s, the Nanaimo Bar (named after Nanaimo, British Columbia, on Vancouver island) is a three-layer, no-bake dessert. Best dessert—or best dessert EVER?
Newsletter November 2024: Gentlefolk, start your sewing machines!
Announcing our custom fabric patterns; our hotel blocks are open and filling fast; we will not be awarding Retro Hugo Awards; fan table, dealers’ room, and art show applications will open soon; the academic track is soliciting proposals; find us at GeekGirlCon and GeekCraft Expo; and we’re looking for more volunteers!
Fantastic Fiction: Star Stellar Starlight
Frederik Pohl’s 1953 Star Science Fiction anthology was not just the first of a string of noteworthy anthologies. His series inspired other editors to assemble similar series. The latest such work was released close to half a century after Pohl’s first anthology was published.
Around Seattle: Seattle Monorail
Ride between some of Seattle’s premier tourism sites in space-age style.
Fantastic Fiction: Fantastic Four Premieres and the Marvel Age Kicks Off
With Seattle Worldcon 2025 coming up and Marvel films still in fashion, let’s look back on the premiere of one of the most important comics ever published. Fantastic Four #1 was released to newsstands just weeks before Seattle’s last Worldcon in 1961. This comic heralded Marvel’s emergence as the most popular line of comics in the world.
Local Flavor: Ivar’s Clam Chowder
Ivar’s Acres of Clams has been a local waterfront institution in downtown Seattle since 1938. The regionally famous clam chowder is also available in local grocery stores. As they say at Ivar’s—Keep Clam.
Fantastic Fiction: Village of the Damned
Visitors to Seattle’s first Worldcon, in 1961, would have been voting in one of six Hugo Award categories for the best dramatic presentation of 1960. With Halloween on the way, why not get in the mood with one of the year’s strong contenders: Village of the Damned, an adaptation of John Wyndham’s chilling novel The Midwich Cuckoos. The movie brings the story to cinematic life through believable performances and clever special effects.
Around Seattle: Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park offers an otherworldly natural oasis not too far from Seattle.
Fantastic Fiction: Stanisław Lem, 1961
Polish author Stanisław Lem, one of the greatest science fiction writers of the 20th and possibly any other century, wrote three important novels in 1961: Solaris, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, and Return from the Stars.
Local Flavor: Seattle Style Teriyaki
Teriyaki is everywhere in Seattle, but it’s not quite like the teriyaki you get elsewhere. Invented and popularized by Toshi Kasahara at Toshi’s Teriyaki, Seattle teriyaki has been a favorite locally since the 1970s. Plenty of recipes are available online, but for a special Seattle twist, add a little pineapple juice to the marinade.