Are you in the greater Boston area, or within driving distance in New England? Do you enjoy science fiction, fantasy and fun TV? Well, this weekend’s the day to hit the Back Bay Hilton, to have fun and make new friends - and support a number of fans who are trying to “make lemonade from lemons”. Best of all, it’s entirely free, though you can donate funds towards the nice people who are putting on this last-minute show.

Many science fiction fans have already been following the tawdry story of an ambitious convention called Jumpcon — the real reason behind this neat and completely FREE get-together by the good folks at United Fan Con. It’s THIS Friday, July 18th, through Sunday at the Back Bay Hilton, 40 Dalton Street, Boston.

Jumpcon garnered special attention after an ugly cancellation of the FedConUSA convention in Dallas last month, which shut down before noon on their second day. Like the Dallas convention, Jumpcon was chaired and planned by leaders with no prior experience running conventions, and was unusually ambitious - planning about an event a week, in cities around the nation.

This weekend WAS to be a major convention for Jumpcon LLC, their premiere event held in Boston. Many fans were excited about the actors booked for this weekend: for example, this con was to be the sole appearance of Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell from Battlestar Galactica - two award-winning lead actors who don’t exactly travel the con circuit on a regular basis. You can imagine how many Battlestar Galactica fans alone have booked to go see them.

Jumpcon Boston was canceled on Tuesday, and in fact, the entire Jumpcon calendar has now been canceled. Yet many fans traveling to the convention have bought non-refundable tickets and are still booked into area hotels.

Today, a small fan run group called the New England Fan Experience, who have successfully run media cons for almost twenty years, announced something for affected fans - a NonJumpCon, if you will.

“This Fan Con will be free to all attendees and include; games,
videos, fan panels, auctions, vendors and more. The event will take
place at the Hilton Back Bay, located at 40 Dalton Street, Boston MA
(directly across the street from the Boston Sheraton). The event will
run from 3pm – 10pm on Friday, 10am – 6pm on Saturday and 12pm – 6pm
on Sunday.”

If you know people in the New England area who might want to volunteer to help out, or to attend (and especially to befriend the folks who are travelling from far distances), please spread the word. It is free to attend for everyone, regardless of whether you have a ticket or not.

You can also join:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jconcons/ to help plan and find out more about the event
and follow the developing Jumpcon story here:
http://community.livejournal.com/jumpconcons/

What’s thought to be the oldest computer generated music is now available for the public to hear, on the BBC news site.

Music played by a Ferranti Mark 1 computer (a version of the original “Baby” machine) was recorded by the BBC in the fall of 1951, while a team from the program Children’s Hour visited the University of Manchester.

The Ferranti Mark 1 was the first commercially available computer, and was programmed to play Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood,” as well as “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “God Save the Queen” (which we in the US more normally recognize as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”.)

The incomparable dancer and actress Cyd Charisse has passed away from a heart attack. Best known for her role as Singing in the Rain’s siren in a green dress, Charisse was key to the success of other great movie musicals, such as Brigadoon and The Band Wagon, where she danced with the hard-to-please Gene Kelly and gentleman hoofer Fred Astaire.

Let’s hope TCM runs some of her harder-to-find films, such as the film noir Tension, one of her rare dramatic turns. In her first star billing, Charisse got to play the girl next door, opposite Richard Basehart and bleached-blonde noir dame Audrey Totter. It’s a lesser known noir, but Charisse is very likable - if very different from the sleek vixens and goddesses most viewers were accustomed to in her dancing films.

The Washington Post has a more detailed biography.

According to the Times Online, the French government has allowed some very special trees, with a connection to WWII soldiers defending France, to be chopped down:

The beech trees of Saint Pierre de Varengeville-Duclair forest bore a poignant testimony to the D-Day landings for more than six decades. Thousands of American soldiers stationed there after the liberation of Normandy spent their spare hours with a knife or bayonet creating a lasting reminder of their presence.

If you’ve been following the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, airing in the US on Sci-Fi, tonight’s premiere is set to be a bit of a shocker - certainly, moreso than M. Night Shamalayan’s The Happening. The episode will be streamed all day on the Sci-Fi site for the benefit of early birds, and those whose bosses will be lenient about watching TV at work!

Having had this very dark story already “spoiled” to me (though, I was personally grateful to learn the details *before* I watch), it’ll be interesting to see how BSG’s 2 million viewers handle the news - especially with the show not slated to return until 2009.

In the meantime, fans will have at least six months to speculate about the “fifth Cylon model”. If you haven’t checked it out yet, the Cellounge website has published a pretty well-thought out theory for one character’s status as the final Cylon. If you’re a fan of the show, curious about who else the final Cylon could be, or want a summary on the Cellounge claim? Click “more” to unpack the rest of the post. More »« Less