ConDorCon - Feburary 26 - 28th 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: ConDor XVII (17) P.O. Box 15771 San Diego CA 92175-5771 http://www.condorcon.org condorcon@gmail.com (619) 928-2664 ConDor XVII (17) Guest of Honor - Author C. J. Cherryh (A prolific writer, having published more than forty books in little more than twenty years) Ghost of Honor: Media - Ross Martin (Actor, humanitarian and true Renaissance Man) February 26 - 28th 2010 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) Handlery Hotel & Resort 950 Hotel Circle North San Diego CA 92108 Hotel Phone # 619-298-0511 Membership and Admission Membership is $45 until February 16 Membership at the door is $50 ConDor programming will reflect the wide variety of interests of our attendees including SF, fantasy, horror, comics, science, technology, literature, movies, television and art. This year's theme is: "Tripping the Past Fantastic: Steampunk, Retro Future and Early Fantastic Fiction." A large segment of programming will cover an array of subjects within this theme. http://www.condorcon.org/events/programming.html The popular continuing eductional series of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry with classes on such subjects as Herbology, Divination, Potions, Astronomy, Ancient Runes, even defense against the Dark Arts. Musical performances include our Friday Night concert, nightly filk singing, Wizard Wrok concert on Saturday and a Masqurade intermission performance of San Diego's Steam-Powered Girrafe. http://www.condorcon.org/events/concert.html Plus almost too much programming: From Children's and Late-Knight classes, nightly filk sings and our Friday night concerts, the Saturday Masquerade, Anime and CosPlay, plus film programming from SciFiHero.net. Don't forget our Art Show and our Dealers Room with unique and interesting purveyors of a wide variety of quality collectibles, art, jewelry, books, and fandom items. Guest of Honor - Author C.J. Cherryh We are pleased to announce that CJ Cherryh as agreed to be ConDor's 2010 Guest of Honor. Carolyn Janice Cherry is a prolific writer, having published more than forty books in little more than twenty years. She has created characters, cultures, and universes so intricate and detailed that the reader is never sure what they will find when they open one of her books. All they know is that they will be fascinated and entertained. http://www.condorcon.org/events/goh.html Ghost of Honor - Media: Ross Martin Ross Martin, ConDor’s Media Ghost of Honor, was a man of many talents. He, of course, is best known as Artemus Gordon, the inventor and gadgeteer on the television version of THE WILD, WILD, WEST, which ran on CBS from 1965 to 1969. In addition to being an accomplished actor, Martin was also a dancer, singer, comedian, makeup artist, superb dialectician, acting teacher (Peter Falk of COLUMBO fame was one of his students) and accomplished violinist. In one of the first season episodes of WILD, WILD WEST, Artemus is shown playing the violin. I remember being so impressed with the tone quality of that violin solo that I didn’t think a studio musician had dubbed in the music. A trip to the Internet Movie Data Base confirmed that Martin could, indeed, play the violin…and play it well. Other confirmed Guests include: Holly Conrad, Bret Culpepper, Sue Dawe, Dawn Devine, Denise Dumars, Jane Fancher, Sheila Finch, Deborah Flores, Lynn Flewelling, Kevin Gerard, Cody Goodfellow, Jean Graham, Chris Marie Green, John Hart, P. J. Haarsma, James Hay, Nancy Hay. Samantha Henderson, Howard V Hendrix, Art Holcomb, Nancy Holder, Calvin Johnson, Kirsten Imani Kasai, Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Debbie P Kolodji, Tom Kovac, Judy Lazar, Todd McCaffrey, Sharon Mock, Kate Morgenstern, Shweta Narayan, Lisanne Norman, Matt Pallamary, Q. L. Pearce, Steven Potts, Jennifer Ouellette, Dave Rankin, David Ross, Deborah J. Ross, Atanielle Rowland, J.C. Runolfson, Eric Shanower, Sherwood Smith, Paul Stuart, Pearl Stickler, Amy Sterling Casil, William H. Stoddard, Jefferson Swycaffer, Tamara Thorne, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, David Trowbridge, Rhondi Vilott Salsitz , Vernor Vinge, Victoria J. Waks. Chris Weber, Gerry Williams Concerts and Dances Musical performances include our Friday Night concert, nightly filk singing, Wizard Wrok concert on Saturday and a Masquerade intermission performance of San Diego's Steam-Powered Girrafe. http://www.condorcon.org/events/concert.html The Hogwarts Educational Retreat will hold a Wizard Rock Concert on Friday night. We have a great line-up for your entertainment. * Oliver Boyd & the Rememberalls * Marked as His Equal * Ministry of Magic * The Remus Lupins We're also offering a second concert on Saturday night after the costume competition. This will be an acoustic Wrock Concert. This is open to all Wrock groups, so drop us a line if you'd like to perform. History of ConDor 1993 ~ “Just when you thought science fiction conventions were extinct in San Diego, one appears out of nowhere. Sci-fi conventions in Southern California were once like the California Condor – an endangered species. However, just like the bird, they’re making a come-back! Con-Dor is San Diego’s newest science-fiction media and literature convention, put together by the California Association for the Advancement of Speculative Media (C.A.A.S.M.), a non-profit organization.” Thus was the beginning of ConDor in 1993. And what a start this fledgling convention had with Octavia Butler as the Literary GOH and J. Michael Staczynski as the Media GOH, good timing as Babylon 5 debuted just 2 weeks earlier. The Town and Country Hotel was the venue and remained so for years to come. Dianna Hildreth did a superb job as chairperson, bringing with her an experienced committee. Con-Dor was so much fun, the crazed committee decided to do it again. All guest appearances are subject to professional commitments. ConDor is sponsored by the California Association for the Advancement of Speculative Media, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Downloadable artwork and Press Pass information here: http://www.condorcon.org/aboutus/mediakit.html