CONDOR ::: SCHEDULE

Friday 3/8
12:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard	How have various types of humor been used in genre literature. What opportunities are there for humor which might not work as well in non genre works? What are the best comedic SF&F? - David Brin, Connie Willis,Bruce McAllister, John Oliver
12:00 PM	Crescent	Out of the Broom Closet: Integrating Magic Users And Fantastic Creatures Into Society.	Jefferson Swycaffer, Richard Dean Starr, Leigh Bardugo, Deborah Flores,
1:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Dark Energy, Dark Matter	Dr. Calvin Johnson explains the current ideas about dark matter and energy, which scientists believe make up the vast majority of our universe.
1:00 PM	Crescent	Steam Pastiche: Reworking Fantastic And Non-Fantastic Victorian Characters.	Allison Lonsdale, John DeChancie, David Parish-Whittaker, Bret Culpepper, Richard Dean Starr
2:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	World Building 1: Planets	If you’re going to create an alien world, first you have to have the foundation. Principals of planetary science, geology and other factors useful in creating a world from scratch. - Jefferson Swycaffer, Vernor Vinge, Patricia MacEwen, Barbara Kesel, Calvin Johnson
2:00 PM	Crescent	The Hero's Journey in SF&F	Created as a concept for analyzing mythologies, the Hero’s Journey can also be applied to literature and sometimes is even consciously used for its creation. - David Brin, Bruce McAllister, Eldon Thompson, Michael Underwood, Scott Norton
2:00 PM	Clarendon	Make and Take Workshop: Felt Owl Sachett	Come and create your own owl sachett. Cost $5. Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern
3:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Changing History	When you’re a time traveler, what you do could change the future of humanity. Sometimes that’s what you want. Sometimes you’d like to return and find your parents still exist. A look at how this has been handled in fantastic literature and the morality of different courses of action. - David Brin, Connie Willis, John DeChancie , Jefferson Swycaffer
3:00 PM	Crescent	School as Dystopia	Vampires and werewolves they can handle. Heck, they’re cool. But what really concerns teenagers are final exams and what table they get to sit at a lunch. A consideration of views of worst of times through a fantasy lens. - Cecil Castellucci, Andrew P. Mayer, Gretchen McNeil, Leigh Bardugo
4:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Tactics for Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse - Firearms	Weapons instructor Scott Farrell shows how to properly use guns for zombie defense. (Aim for the head!)
4:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Future Forensics	What is and isn't SF on CSI, and some of the new approaches being developed. Can you ID a suspect by his body odor? Or by the bacteria living on his hands? Can you convict an accused murderer with nothing but a brain scan? Can you spot a psychopath with a medical exam? - Patricia MacEwen
4:00 PM	Crescent	Retelling Old Stories: The New Fairy Tales	Fairy tales twice told, retold, updated, remade, and yet they are still fairy tales. In today’s modern world, do we need to constantly update the themes that apply to the human condition? Can the Big Bad Wolf be your boss? Does Thumbelina have her own reality show? Do we lose the specialness of these tales by modernizing them? How does re-telling them in an updated form affect these themes? - Cecil Castellucci, Michael Underwood, Lillian Csernica, Juliette Wade, Laura Luchau
4:00 PM	Clarendon	Knitting: Victorian Misers Purse	Learn how to make a Victorian style Miser's Purse. This Workshop has no cost. - Nancy Hay, Nolly Mullican
4:00 PM	Eaton	Zombiefication: How to Hide in Plain Sight	John Hart workshop on using makeup to make yourself look like a zombie to help you survive (and to prepare for tonight's Pride and Prejudice and Zombie Ball!
5:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Steampunk Fox Hunt	Come join the hunt for the Cyberfox! - Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern
5:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	The Inadvertent Time Traveller : What to do when dumped in another era	Lillian Csernica, Juliette Wade, Maudlin, Connie Willis, Scott Norton
5:00 PM	Crescent	Doctor Who and his relationship to his companions:	Janet Tait, Bret Culpepper, Peter Clines, Andrew P. Mayer
5:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	David Brin
8:00 PM	Garden Ballroom	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Ball	Caller: Chris Page
8:00 PM	Crescent	Concert
8:00 PM	Brittany	Hogwarts: Computers for Wizards and Witches	Patricia Shanahan
8:30 PM	Brittany	Hogwarts: Verbalia Word Magic	Chris Weber
9:00 PM	Brittany	Hogwarts: Divination	Jean Graham
9:30 PM	Brittany	Hogwarts: Charms	Joy Reyes
Saturday 3/9
10:00 AM	Garden Salon 1	Victorian Self Defense	Demonstration and instruction - Bankside School of Self Defense
10:00 AM	Garden Salon 2	Dawn: Journey to the Beginning of the Solar System	Robert Gounley
10:00 AM	Crescent	Young Adult Fiction: Writing from the viewpoint of a teen, when you're not.	Karri Thompson, Andrew P. Mayer, Suzanne Lazear, Gretchen McNeil, Cindy Pon
10:00 AM	Brittany	Monster Mashup: How Fiction Has Played With The Nature Of The Traditional Monsters.	In traditional folklore, werewolves looked like wolves and their changing had nothing to do with the moon. Most vampires were not killed by a stake through the heart. And mummies were just dead guys. How have literature and especially media transformed these and other traditions for storytelling? How have they continued to be modified over the years? - Q. L. Pearce, Erin Hoffman, Erik Williams, Lisa Kessler, Stephen Blackmoore
10:00 AM	Clarendon	Reading	Barbara Kesel
10:00 AM	Eaton	How to Make Even the Experts Wonder Where the Real Science Ends and the Rubber Science Begins	Howard Hendrix
10:30 AM	Clarendon	Reading	Kevin Gerard
11:00 AM	Garden Salon 1	What writers should know about traditional armaments.	Come examine swords, maces and other traditional armaments and learn what writers get wrong about their use. - Eytan Kollin
11:00 AM	Garden Salon 2	Language creation	David J. Peterson of the Language Creation Society discusses how he creates new languages for shows like Game of Thrones and the movie Defiance.
11:00 AM	Crescent	Bad Science in the movies	What things the media tend to get wrong about science? What are the worst scientific mistakes in the movies? - John DeChancie, Kevin Grazier, Calvin Johnson, Connie Willis, Gerry Williams
11:00 AM	Brittany	Elements of the Hero's Journey	Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that he argued is found in many narratives from around the world. A discussion of the different parts that form this pattern. - Matt Pallamary, Stephen Potts, Todd McCaffrey, Q. L. Pearce, Ace Antonio Ace Antonio Hall
11:00 AM	Eaton	Characterization and Dialog in gaming	William Stoddard, Janet Tait, Brooks, Allison Lonsdale, Laura Luchau
11:00 AM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Cindy Pon, Stephen Blackmoore
12:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	What writers should know about armor.	A look at the truth and myths about medieval European armor and its use. - Eytan Kollin
12:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	GoH speech	Starbucks, St. Paul's, Primeval, Time Travel, Telepathy, Romantic Comedy, and Playing Stage Mother to a Bulldog: The Peculiar Life of a Writer - Connie Willis
12:00 PM	Crescent	Science Denial: Distrust of Science And Scientists	James Underdown, Jean Graham, Maudlin, Kevin Grazier Calvin Johnson
12:00 PM	Brittany	Classic to Modern to Postmodern: How has the presentation of horror changed with time?	Erik Williams, Allison Lonsdale, Stephen Woodworth, Peter Clines, Kelly Dunn
12:00 PM	Clarendon	Shirbori Overview	Come see effects that can be achieved using this traditional resist technique. Samples will be available for close inspection. Not required, but suggested for those interested in any of the shibori workshops. - Carole Parker
12:00 PM	Eaton	Hogwarts: Care of Magical Creatures	Atanielle Rowland
12:30 PM	Eaton	Muggle Quidditch	Members of the San Diego Snidgets will introduce you to the world of Muggle Quidditch. (Yes, it's a real sport.)
12:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Bruce McAllister, Ace Antonio Hall
1:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Hogwarts: Wizard Dueling	Come learn how to duel with wands - Bret Culpepper
1:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale	Cathy Udovch of TheOneRing.net shows how we almost didn't get to return to Middle-earth.
1:00 PM	Crescent	Worldbuilding 2: Biology and Sentient Races	Biological factors to consider when creating an alien race/biome. - Jefferson Swycaffer, Sheila Finch, Patricia MacEwen, Juliette Wade, Barbara Kesel
1:00 PM	Brittany	Young Adult Fiction: Advantages and Constraints of Young Protagonists	Salsitz, Suzanne Lazear, Vizzini, Karri Thompson, Leigh Bardugo
1:00 PM	Clarendon	SF Poetry Workshop	Denise Dumars, Deborah Kolodji, Samantha Henderson, Deborah Flores
1:00 PM	Eaton	Don’t Get your Knickers in a twist: Foundation garments	Discussing foundation garments, from corsets to wonderbras, from pettipants to spanx, what you wear underneath your costume is important. - Nancy Hay, Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern, Eryn Hildebrand
1:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Lisa Kessler, David J. Peterson
1:00 PM	Galleria 2	Autographs	Stephen Woodworth, Erik Williams, Kelly Dunn
1:00 PM	Courtyard	Morris Dancing
2:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	14th and 15th Century fighting techniques.	Demonstrations with various weapons (daggers, longsword, pollaxe) and armor, as well as unarmored fighting techniques, along with a brief talk on the ideals of chivalry of the period. - Scott Farrell and members of the theTeam Touché Fencing Center and Lionheart Fencing Academy
2:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Hogwarts: Astronomy:	Kevin Weasley-Grazier
2:00 PM	Crescent	The Quest as A Trope in Fantasy Literature	Arthur’s knights sought the Holy Grail (as did Indiana Jones). Frodo Baggins wanted to dispose of a problematic item of jewelry. A look at how the quest concept has been used in fantasy and science fiction. - Sheila Finch, Eldon Thompson, Michael Underwood, Tamara Thorne, Sherwood Smith
2:00 PM	Brittany	Why the Federation Sucks!	Members of local Klingon ships give their unbiased views about the Federation.
2:00 PM	Clarendon	SF Poetry Reading	Denise Dumars, Deborah Kolodji, Samantha Henderson, Deborah Flores
2:00 PM	Eaton	Kypton Radio	Krypton radio is an online station dedicated to SF/Comic based music and shows. Zoe Simsay, Gene Turnbow, Susan L. Fox
2:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Ned Vizzini, Suzanne Lazear
3:00 PM	Galleria 2	Autographs	Juliette Wade, Patricia MacEwen, Lillian Csernica
3:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Kidditch	For younger members, an indoor version of muggle quidditch.
3:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Mars and Titan: Earth's Above	Doctor Bonnie Buratti of NASA gives the latest information on Mars Science Lab ("Curiosity") and the Cassini probe of Titan.
3:00 PM	Crescent	Don't Forget to Pack Your Toothbrush: How would you prepare for Time Travel?	You have a mission to travel back in time. How would you prepare given different time constraints? Languages would take a long time to learn, as would various weapon skills. What sort of cultural and historical knowledge would most help you? What would you carry with you; how would you balance utility with anachronism? - Connie Willis, David J. Peterson, Lillian Csernica, Dani Kollin, Karen Willson
3:00 PM	Brittany	Bad Science in the Media Can Paranormal Claims Be Tested?	The widespread belief in paranormal phenomena like ghosts, telepathy, performance-enhancing bracelets, etc. is often bolstered by pseudoscientific jargon and bad science. To make matters worse, TV shows and websites featuring ghost-hunters and paranormal claimants add to the misunderstanding of what really causes people to have weird experiences. - James Underdown
3:00 PM	Clarendon	Reading	Bruce McAllister reads from his just released novel, The Village sang to the sea: A Memoir of Magic, making its debut at ConDor.
3:00 PM	Eaton	Wonderful world of wigs.	Brightly colored, big and puffy, long and luxurious, wigs are awesome, but can be a challenge. Let’s talk tips and tricks. - Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern, Eryn Hildebrand
3:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Vernor Vinge, Erin Hoffman
3:00 PM	Galleria 2	Autographs	Matt Pallamary, Scott Farrell
4:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Victorian Dance Instruction	Prepare for tonight's Steampunk ball - Russell Hedges
4:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Adapting Tolkien	Book to Screen and Standard Definition to High Frame Rate 3D - Breaking ground with Peter Jackson. - Cathy Udovch
4:00 PM	Crescent	Young Adult Fiction: Supernatural Romance	Cecil Castellucci, Suzanne Lazear, Karri Thompson, Gretchen McNeil
4:00 PM	Brittany	Out of Body Experiences	Many people claim to have left their physical body and seen themselves and the world around them from an “outside” perspective. This often takes place during medical procedures, but some claim to do it intentionally. Is there really any evidence? If not, what might cause the illusion? - James Underdown, Matt Pallamary, Bruce McAllister Judy Lazar, Richard Dean Starr
4:00 PM	Clarendon	Workshop: Basic Shibori Techniques	Two of the techniques covered in the Shibori Overview will be demonstrated and worked on in this session. Requirement: Knowledge of the running stitch. $3 materials fee. - Carole Parker
4:00 PM	Eaton	Getting the Victorian Era Right	Sherwood Smith, Kelly Dunn, William F. Wu, John DeChancie, Samantha Henderson
4:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Connie Willis, Sheila Finch
4:00 PM	Galleria 2	Interest Group: Hunger Games	Come and discuss the books and movie with other fans.
5:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Lovecraft and his Heirs	Even while Lovecraft was creating his Cthulhu mythos, other writers were working in it. Since then innumerable authors have delved into it. What changes did later authors make to the Lovecraft’s creations and even the nature of the mythos? - Laura Brodian Freas Beraha, Stephen Woodworth, Peter Clines, Erik Williams, Denise Dumars
5:00 PM	Crescent	Space Travel: Concepts of FTL travel	If you want something more than a bunch of unconnected worlds, it is generally necessary to get around that pesky speed of light. All look at the many forms that FTL travel has taken in science fiction, such as Warp Drive, Hyperspace and even Infinite Improbability drive. - Kevin Grazier, Calvin Johnson, David Ross, Jefferson Swycaffer, Robert Evans
5:00 PM	Brittany	Writing Short Fiction:	In short fiction you have to establish characters and setting and resolve your stories differently than when you have the luxury of a whole novel. A discussion of the techniques required. - Stephen Blackmoore, Howard Hendrix, Jenna M. Pitman, William F. Wu
5:00 PM	Eaton	Hogwarts: Magical History Nicholas and Pernella Flamel	Atanielle Rowland
5:30 PM	Eaton	Hogwarts: Divination: ChiChi Sticks	Joy Reyes
5:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Sheila Finch,Bret Culpepper
5:00 PM	Galleria 2	Autographs	Gretchen McNeil, Cecil Castellucci, Leigh Bardugo
7:00 PM	Crescent	The Heroine’s Journey
8:00 PM	Garden Ballroom	Victorian/Steampunk Dance	Russell Hedges
8:00 PM	Brittany	Filking Circle
8:00 PM	Crescent	Delphic Circle	Our circle of mystics will answer your questions, building word on word to hilarious results. - Todd McCaffrey, Samantha Henderson, John Oliver, Jefferson Swycaffer,Tone Milazzo, Lillian Csernica, David J. Peterson, John M. Perkins, Judy Lazar,
9:00 PM	Crescent	Travels with my antimatter	Panelists will construct tales of their strange travels, incorporating places and elements suggested by our members. - Art Holcomb, Chris Weber, Eytan Kollin, Dani Kollin, Kimberly Unger
Sunday 3/10
10:00 AM	Garden Salon 1	14th and 15th Century fighting techniques.	Further demonstrations and instruction with various weapons (daggers, longsword, pollaxe) and armor, as well as unarmored fighting techniques, along with a brief talk on the ideals of chivalry of the period. - Scott Farrell and members of the the Team Touché Fencing Center and Lionheart Fencing Academy
10:00 AM	Garden Salon 2	Space Travel: Slower than Light	So say we aren’t going the beat light speed. What are the possibilities and problems with getting to other planets the slow way? What are the physics? How have SF authors envisioned such travel? - Robert Gounley, Calvin Johnson, Gerry Williams, Dani Kollin, John Brodian Hunter
10:00 AM	Crescent	Young Adult Fiction: When I was a kid, we didn't have . . . Rights: Dystopian visions in YA	Cecil Castellucci, Karri Thompson, Andrew P. Mayer, Stephen Potts, Val Ontell
10:00 AM	Clarendon	Writers Workshop
10:00 AM	Eaton	Know Your Zombies: Different types of zombies, identification and survival.	John M. Perkins, John Hart, Ace Antonio Hall, James Hay, Denise Dumars
11:00 AM	Garden Salon 2	Journey through Middleearth	A Pictorial journey through Middle-earth filming locations in New Zealand - Cathy Udovch
11:00 AM	Crescent	Half in Love with Easeful Death	While Death is usually imagined as a frightening or at least callous figure, many poets and writers have written of looking forward to death as a release. Neil Gaiman’s Death is a friendly, pretty young woman, Piers Anthony created a young man learning the ropes and trying to make death a better experience. Death as a person you could be friends with takes some getting used to. A discussion of writing and writers who think maybe we should go gently into that good night. - Jenna M. Pitman, Chris Weber, Erin Hoffman, Laura Brodian Freas Beraha, Tone Milazzo
11:00 AM	Brittany	World Building 3	How might you go about creating an alien culture? How does the already established biology of your aliens affect this? Are you just going to modify one or two factors of human culture or grow a society from scratch? - Eldon Thompson, Art Holcomb, David J. Peterson, Juliette Wade, Lillian Csernica
11:00 AM	Eaton	Hunger Games: How did movie do approximating book?	A roundtable discussion for the audience. - Karen Willson
11:00 AM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Denise Dumars, John M. Perkins
12:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Victorian Self Defense	Demonstration and instruction - Bankside School of Self Defense
12:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Synthetic Biology: Commercial Opportunities, Risk and Ethics	Synthetic Biology is a new approach to biology that uses pieces of DNA to develop tools or redesign existing organisms. It has applications in basic biology studies, metabolic engineering, and material sciences. Life Technologies (LIFE) is a global publicly traded company that innovates and advances scientific technologies to help scientists to perform better research faster. Dr. Kevin Clancy will describe LIFE’s approach to research, development and distribution of technologies and how LIFE’s addresses bioethics and biosecurity issues.
12:00 PM	Crescent	Writing Dialogue	Connie Willis
12:00 PM	Brittany	Coming of Age in a Fantastic Universe	Coming of age stories are a common form of literature. What new wrinkles have the fantastic genres added to this concept? - Andrew P. Mayer, Stephen Potts, Cathy Udovch, Sheila Finch, David Ross
12:00 PM	Clarendon	Reading	Howard Hendrix
12:00 PM	Galleria 2	Autographs	Barbara Kesel
12:30 PM	Clarendon	Reading	Lillian Csernica
12:00 PM	Eaton	Costume For Your Body Type: There Is Something For Everyone.	Eryn Hildebrand, Nancy Hay, Sue Dawe, Carole Parker
12:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
1:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	SCA Combat Demonstration	Tom Oliver, Kevin Kellogg
1:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	GRAIL: A Mission of Gravity	A look at NASA's mission to map the gravity field of the moon. - Robert Gounley
1:00 PM	Crescent	Life Aboard a Spaceship in SF	Calvin Johnson, Gerry Williams, Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Sheila Finch
1:00 PM	Brittany	Learning to Edit Your Own Work	Todd McCaffrey, Eric Shanower, Kevin Gerard, John Oliver, Peter Clines
1:00 PM	Clarendon	'A Beginner’s Guide to Podcasting The Podcast The Workshop'	Attendees will create a short podcast. - John M. Perkins
1:00 PM	Eaton	Media Hopping: Carrying A Storyline From One Medium To Another	Bruce McAllister, Kimberly Unger, Karen Willson, Richard Dean Starr, Barbara Kesel
1:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	William F. Wu, David Ross
2:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Tactics for Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse - Hand-to-Hand	Scott Farrell
2:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Coinage of the Realm: Invented Words in Science Fiction and Fantasy	In SF&F, sometimes modern English isn’t enough. You need words for concepts and items which don’t exist in our world. Or perhaps you want to use different words just to emphasize that this isn’t our world. (Swear words are often useful for this.) How writers have incorporated such language. What is too much? - William Stoddard, Vernor Vinge, David J. Peterson, Eldon Thompson
2:00 PM	Crescent	Names and Symbols in the Hunger Games	Who was Cinna? What do the hawthorn and primrose symbolize? Or President Snow’s roses and Peeta’s bread? As with series like Harry Potter, names have great significance in Suzanne Collins’s books, referencing sixteen characters out of Shakespeare, all from a particular era of Rome. Bringing details from myths, herbal guides, military histories, and the classics, English professor and award–winning pop culture author Valerie Estelle Frankel sheds light on the deeper meanings behind Panem’s heroes and villains in this hottest of YA trilogies. In her series, Collins unites the power of Shakespeare and Rome to retell an ancient epic of betrayal, violence, and glory on the stage of an apocalyptic future
2:00 PM	Brittany	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	What do we think of the latest translation of Tolkien to film? What liberties were taken with the plot and characters? What can we look forward to in future installments? - Stephen Potts, Michael Underwood, Atanielle Rowland, Jefferson Swycaffer, Oakes
2:00 PM	Eaton	Creating Suspense	William F. Wu, Salsitz, Ace Antonio Hall Kevin Gerard, Art Holcomb
2:00 PM	Dealers Room	Autographs	Howard Hendrix, Lisa Kessler, Andrew P. Mayer
3:00 PM	Garden Salon 1	Hunger Games	Come and participate in competitions involving crossbows, guns, and swords
3:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Tolkienian Art	Michael Underwood, Sue Dawe, Richard Dean Starr , Laura Luchau, Atanielle Rowland
3:00 PM	Crescent	Doctor Who Live!	Improvisational comedy group takes a look at our favorite traveller.
3:00 PM	Claredon	Editing Anthologies	Eric Shanower, Jean Graham, Jenna Pitman, Kelly Dunn
3:00 PM	Brittany	A Universal Translator Yeah, Right	The universal translator is a common concept in SF, particularly well-known thanks to Star Trek. But how much sense does the concept really make? How might it work? What errors have been made in its presentation in SF? - Connie Willis, David J. Peterson, Vernor Vinge, William Stoddard, Kimberly Unger
3:00 PM	Eaton	What the Walking Dead got Wrong: How to really survive the Zombie Apocalypse	John Hart, Bret Culpepper, John M. Perkins
4:00 PM	Garden Salon 2	Convention Wrapup Meeting