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Fanfare, v. 1, issue 5, December 1940
Page 10
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10 FANFARE WHEN CHAOS COMES by Howard Gott I am the most important man on the North American continent today! Now allow me to impart to you how in twenty-four month's time, Utopia comes to U.S. Nycon--Chicon--Denvention--1942: Lacon. This is not 4sJargon for La Conga, but, as every well-informed fan knows, the accepted abbreviation for Los Angeles (Science Fantasy) Convention. "Shacon" -- stemming from Shangri- LA -- once proposed, was soon discarded, due to its misleading similarity in pronunciation to the 1940 Chicon. And so, by bus, train, bike, hitch-hike (MY THUMB, MY THUMB!), and 'plane, they came in droves to Shangri-LA, heart of Sunny Southern California, home of the far-famed imagi-natives. The Angelone, in an intensive publicity campaign, conceived and directed by Bob Olsen, had invited the world, so excited the world that at least a convention approximating a World Convention was being called, for no less than four fans had arrived from recently-armisticed Europe! The Great Day dawned, and by noon the newly-built Academy Theatre in Hollywood was jammed close to capacity with nearly 500 fans, authors, editors, and illustrators. Crowds converged 'round local celebrities Burroughs, Moore, Taine, and--Bradbury, literary sensation of late 1941. The modernistic, indirectly illuminated walls of the auditorium were thrillingly decorated with original super-specials by Paul, Finlay, Bok, Dold (who had come back, due to his popularity in the fan poll) and Wanda, the wonder illustrator from Washington, D.C. The "10% Tables," popularized at the Chicon, were located at strategic points, piled high with special issues of SPACEWAYS, THE VOICE, and other "Old Faithfuls", with an inevitable new crop including THE RAY, DER DRAKULA, CITADEL, and the S-F CRITERION. Morojo, Yerke, Pogo, Daugherty -- Wright, Fortier, and Knight, down from up North--were busy buzzing about, making introductions and last-minute arrangements. Weaver Wright was everywhere. After Ackerman's welcoming address, was to be the eagerly-anticipated premiere private showing for the assembled stfans of Earl Flynn and Anne Shariden in "Galactic Lensmen." Suddenly -- like a bolt of blitz --CHAOS came! No. 1 of the Gray Suits - - Hodgkins - - burst into the Convention Auditorium, crying in a cracked voice, "Technocrats, take over! The crash has come!" The audience was at first stunned, but it did not take long for the truth to penetrate the keen minds present. The Price System had smashed on schedule! The Technocrats' graphs, charts, and predictions were true. The wheels of industry were stopped, transportation at a stand-still. And five hundred scientifiction fans, writers, editors, and artists were stranded in Los Angeles! The headline read: CALIFORNIA QUARANTINED! Can't you just see it for yourself: Five hundred Odd Johns and Odd Joans assembled! Half a thousand slans isolated! The unacknowledged supermen and women of the world--the very brilliance of the planet! Before midnight the Millenium was established, and we all lived happily ever after.
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10 FANFARE WHEN CHAOS COMES by Howard Gott I am the most important man on the North American continent today! Now allow me to impart to you how in twenty-four month's time, Utopia comes to U.S. Nycon--Chicon--Denvention--1942: Lacon. This is not 4sJargon for La Conga, but, as every well-informed fan knows, the accepted abbreviation for Los Angeles (Science Fantasy) Convention. "Shacon" -- stemming from Shangri- LA -- once proposed, was soon discarded, due to its misleading similarity in pronunciation to the 1940 Chicon. And so, by bus, train, bike, hitch-hike (MY THUMB, MY THUMB!), and 'plane, they came in droves to Shangri-LA, heart of Sunny Southern California, home of the far-famed imagi-natives. The Angelone, in an intensive publicity campaign, conceived and directed by Bob Olsen, had invited the world, so excited the world that at least a convention approximating a World Convention was being called, for no less than four fans had arrived from recently-armisticed Europe! The Great Day dawned, and by noon the newly-built Academy Theatre in Hollywood was jammed close to capacity with nearly 500 fans, authors, editors, and illustrators. Crowds converged 'round local celebrities Burroughs, Moore, Taine, and--Bradbury, literary sensation of late 1941. The modernistic, indirectly illuminated walls of the auditorium were thrillingly decorated with original super-specials by Paul, Finlay, Bok, Dold (who had come back, due to his popularity in the fan poll) and Wanda, the wonder illustrator from Washington, D.C. The "10% Tables," popularized at the Chicon, were located at strategic points, piled high with special issues of SPACEWAYS, THE VOICE, and other "Old Faithfuls", with an inevitable new crop including THE RAY, DER DRAKULA, CITADEL, and the S-F CRITERION. Morojo, Yerke, Pogo, Daugherty -- Wright, Fortier, and Knight, down from up North--were busy buzzing about, making introductions and last-minute arrangements. Weaver Wright was everywhere. After Ackerman's welcoming address, was to be the eagerly-anticipated premiere private showing for the assembled stfans of Earl Flynn and Anne Shariden in "Galactic Lensmen." Suddenly -- like a bolt of blitz --CHAOS came! No. 1 of the Gray Suits - - Hodgkins - - burst into the Convention Auditorium, crying in a cracked voice, "Technocrats, take over! The crash has come!" The audience was at first stunned, but it did not take long for the truth to penetrate the keen minds present. The Price System had smashed on schedule! The Technocrats' graphs, charts, and predictions were true. The wheels of industry were stopped, transportation at a stand-still. And five hundred scientifiction fans, writers, editors, and artists were stranded in Los Angeles! The headline read: CALIFORNIA QUARANTINED! Can't you just see it for yourself: Five hundred Odd Johns and Odd Joans assembled! Half a thousand slans isolated! The unacknowledged supermen and women of the world--the very brilliance of the planet! Before midnight the Millenium was established, and we all lived happily ever after.
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