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Ad Astra (convention)
Ad Astra is an annual science fiction, fantasy, and horror convention in Ontario. Major events of the convention include the Masquerade, Guest of Honour presentations, panel discussions, Art Show, and Dealer's Room, as well as a wide variety of privately run room parties. Other events on the convention program include a games room, book launches, and the Saturday evening dance. Programming Ad Astra's programming features a wide variety of discussion panels on various topics of interest to science fiction and fantasy fans. Writing, art, and costuming workshops are also often seen each year at the convention. History Ad Astra first ran in 1980, and has run every year since, excepting 1981, 1999 and 2020. The convention occasionally serves as host for other conventions; for example, Canvention 7 was held as part of Ad Astra 7, in 1987, and the convention hosted the Toronto games convention Orion for the years 2003 and 2004. In previous years, guests have included prominent Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lois McMaster Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold ( ; born November 2, 1949) is an American speculative fiction writer. She is an acclaimed writer, having won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record (not counting his Retro Hugos). Her novella "The Mountains of Mourning" won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. In the fantasy genre, ''The Curse of Chalion'' won the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the 2002 World Fantasy Award for best novel, and both her fourth Hugo Award and second Nebula Award were for ''Paladin of Souls''. In 2011 she was awarded the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award, Skylark Award. She has won two Hugo Award for Best Series, Hugo Awards for Best Series, in 2017 for the Vorkosigan Saga and in 2018 for the World of the Five Gods. The Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 36th SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, Grand Master in 2019. The bulk of Bujold's works comprises three series: the Vorkosigan Saga, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David C
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel. In the Books of Samuel, he is described as a young shepherd and Lyre, harpist who gains fame by slaying Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, in southern Canaan. David becomes a favourite of Saul, the first king of Israel; he also forges David and Jonathan, a notably close friendship with Jonathan (1 Samuel), Jonathan, a son of Saul. However, under the paranoia that David is seeking to usurp the throne, Saul attempts to kill David, forcing the latter to go into hiding and effectively operate as a fugitive for several years. After Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle against the Philistines, a 30-year-old David is anointed king over all of History of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Ing
Dean Charles Ing (June 17, 1931 – July 21, 2020) was an American author, who usually wrote in the science fiction and techno-thriller genres. His novel ''The Ransom of Black Stealth One'' (1989) was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. He wrote more than 30 novels, and co-authored novels with his friends Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, and Leik Myrabo. Following the death of science fiction author Mack Reynolds in 1983, Ing was asked to finish several of Reynolds' uncompleted manuscripts. Ing was a United States Air Force veteran (where he served as a USAF interceptor crew chief), a former aerospace engineer, and a university professor who held a doctorate in communications theory. He was a former member of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. Background Ing was born on June 17, 1931, in Austin, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Fresno State University (1956), a master's degree from San Jose State University (1970), and a Ph.D. from the University o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Fletcher
Kenneth Norman Fletcher (15 June 1940 – 11 February 2006) was an Australian tennis player who won numerous doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. Biography He was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to parents Norm and Ethel Fletcher. He was educated at St Laurence's College and showed early promise as a championship tennis player there. His greatest success as a tennis player came in 1963, when he became the only man to win a calendar year Grand Slam in mixed doubles, partnering fellow Australian Margaret Court. He reached the final of the Australian Open in 1963, losing to Roy Emerson. After this achievement, he went on to record mixed doubles championships in the Australian Open in 1964, French Open in 1964 and 1965, and Wimbledon in 1965, 1966, and 1968. All of his mixed doubles Grand Slam titles were in partnership with Smith Court. He also achieved a Grand Slam title in men's doubles in the 1964 French Open, playing with Emerson. At the Wimbledon men's doubl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Bova
Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'', for which he won a Hugo Award six times, and an editorial director of '' Omni''; he was also president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. Personal life and education Ben Bova was born on November 8, 1932, in Philadelphia. He graduated from South Philadelphia High School in 1949. In 1953, while attending Temple University in Philadelphia, he married Rosa Cucinotta; they had a son and a daughter. The couple divorced in 1974. That year he married Barbara Berson Rose. Barbara Bova died on September 23, 2009. Bova dedicated his 2011 novel ''Power Play'' to Barbara. In March 2013, he announced on his website that he had remarried, to Rashida Loya. Bova was an atheist and was critical of what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he worked in the aerospace industry, but eventually focused on his writing career. In an obituary in ''Gizmodo'', he is described as "a tireless ambassador for the future." Pournelle's hard science fiction writing received multiple awards. In addition to his solo writing, he wrote several novels with collaborators including Larry Niven. Pournelle served a term as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Pournelle's journalism focused primarily on the computer industry, astronomy, and space exploration. From the 1970s until the early 1990s, he contributed to the computer magazine ''Byte'', writing from the viewpoint of an intelligent user, with the oft-cited credo, "We do this stuff so you won't ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Simmons (filker)
Steve Simmons is a Canadian sports journalist with the ''Toronto Sun'', and nationally syndicated throughout Sun Media. He previously worked as a sports columnist for the ''Calgary Herald'', '' Calgary Sun'', ''London Free Press'', ''The Globe and Mail'', and ''The Hockey News''. Biography Simmons was born in Toronto, and attended York Mills Collegiate Institute and the University of Western Ontario, where he was sports editor and sports columnist at the ''Western Gazette'' student paper. He lives in Thornhill, Ontario. Simmons is Jewish. Career Simmons first wrote for the ''Calgary Herald'' (starting as a junior sports editor in 1979) and '' Calgary Sun'' (starting in 1980). He joined the ''Toronto Sun'' in 1987, becoming a sports columnist for them two years later. Through 2013, he had covered 14 Olympic Games, 31 Stanley Cup playoffs, 13 Grey Cups, 12 Super Bowls, 4 World Series, 2 NBA Finals, and over 50 world championship fights. He has co-written or contributed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason Taniguchi
Jason Taniguchi is a writer and actor from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His poems and short fiction appear in the collection ''Jason Taniguchi's Very Sensible Stories and Poems for Grown-ups'' from Kelp Queen Press. He has also both written for and appeared in the History Television series ''History Bites''. Taniguchi is known for his one-man science fiction parody shows at Ad Astra, for which he received the 2003 Prix Aurora Award in the category Fan (Other). Jason is a graduate of the University of Toronto Schools and Trinity College in the University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution .... In 1989 he founded the Serial Diners of Toronto, a dining club that visited the restaurants in Toronto's Yellow Pages telephone directory in alphabetical order. The group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filking
Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and definitions The term "filk" (originally a typographical error) predates 1955. (See also below.) As Interfilk's "What is it?" page demonstrates, there is no consensus on the definition of filk. Filk has been defined as what is sung or performed by the network of people who originally gathered to sing at science fiction or fantasy conventions. Another definition focuses on filking as a community of those who are interested in filk music and who form part of the social network self-identified with filking. As described later in this article, the origins of filk in science fiction conventions and its current organization emphasizes the social-network aspect of filking. The social aspect of filk as contrasted with the "performer vs. audience" d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James P
James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (other), various kings named James * Saint James (other) * James (musician) * James, brother of Jesus Places Canada * James Bay, a large body of water * James, Ontario United Kingdom * James College, York, James College, a college of the University of York United States * James, Georgia, an unincorporated community * James, Iowa, an unincorporated community * James City, North Carolina * James City County, Virginia ** James City (Virginia Company) ** James City Shire * James City, Pennsylvania * St. James City, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * James (2005 film), ''James'' (2005 film), a Bollywood film * James (2008 film), ''James'' (2008 film), an Irish short film * James (2022 film), ''James'' (2022 film), an Indian Kannada ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
