Stone Hill Launch Times

AN EXPLANATION...... Some of you may have wondered why you did not get an issue of this paper in April. The reason was that there were things on my mind that kept me from being able to devote the necessary thought and time to the paper. Early April found me feeling sad because a dear friend of mine left his job at MOSI and moved away. Not long after that, there were some changes in the nature of my job at MOSI that made me decide that the time for me to be a MOSI member and visitor rather than an employee. This took a lot of thought before the decision was made. It was the right one. Yesterday,(May 3), I went there for a visit and had a very nice time seeing friends. While I will miss some things about working outside the home, I will now have the time to give proper attention to the home and to such things as STONE HILL LAUNCH TIMES. So, after this combined April and May Issue, S.H.L.T. will be back on its monthly schedule.

NECRONMICON NOTES... By now, everyone knows our guests of honor for NECRONOMICON '96 are J. Michael Straczynski, Brinke Stevens, and Tim Powers. As great as they are, they can't be expected to do the whole program for us, so we have enlisted the aid of some other fine folks to help them. We will be graced by the presence of author guests: Rick Wilber, Johanna M. Bolton, James P. Hogan, Barbara Bova, Ben Bova, Del Stone Jr., Richard Lee Byers, James Bassett, Charles Fontenay, Joseph Green (who does duty as a science guy too), Steve Antczak, and Gary Roen. Artists who have sent us their R.S.V.P.s are Jeanette Spencer and Peverly Parker. Rembert Parker will be with us to talk about gaming and on-line fandom. Craig MacDougal, astronomer from MOSI, and Doc Kendall Morris, department of physiology at U.S.F. , will appear on science panels. Gerry Duran, fencing master of Tampa's Fencing Academy, will provide us with a fencing demonstration.

STONE HILL BIRTHDAY BUDDIES... HAPPY HAPPY, JOY, JOY, and wishes for many more birthdays go to:

Lester Sumner-April 15                              Liz May-May 9
Kendall David Wade Morris-April 26          Shari Warren-May 12
Ian Smoot-May 2                                        Wayne Coffey-May 20
Garrett Dryer-May 2                                   Micky Lynn Morris-May 22
Lydia Lindow-May 7                                   Jack Faber-May 25
Richard Smoot-May 8                                  David Bennett-May 27

COMMUNIQUE FROM MARS by Ann Morris tune: "Lemon Tree" Long ago when I was young, I dreamed of flying high, Of moons and stars and other things That glittered in the sky. I dreamed of someone by my side, A hero brave and true, Who'd show me worlds I'd never seen And give me sweet love too. Saturn's rings very pretty And Jupiter's moons are sweet But our worlds are so far apart It's impossible to meet I saw his face. I heard his voice- Communique from Mars. I longed to hold his hand in mine And travel to the stars. He promised we would meet one day Together we would stand But space is vast and time is short And fate had other plans. Saturn's rings very pretty And Jupiter's moons are sweet But our worlds are so far apart It's impossible to meet Although we've loved, we've never met We heed adventure's call. On different worlds we must remain We cannot have it all. A hero's life is not his own Nor a heroine's it's true. By honor to this life we're bound. We do what we must do. Saturn's rings very pretty And Jupiter's moons are sweet But our worlds are so far apart It's impossible to meet

FIVE HUNDRED PARSECS by Linda Lee (Super Girl) Bennett tune: "Five Hundred Miles" If you miss the ship I'm on, From this earth you'll know I've flown You can see the vapor trails parsecs away. Parsecs away. Parsecs away. Parsecs away. Parsecs away. You can see the vapor trails parsecs away Yes, I'm one. Yes I'm two. Yes, I'm three. Yes, I'm four Yes, I'm five hundred parsecs away from earth. Away from earth. Away from earth. Away from earth. Away from earth. Yes I'm five hundred parsecs away from earth. Not a suit on my back, not a credit to my name. No, I can't go back home this-a-way. This-a-way. This-a-way. This-a-way. This-a-way. No, I can't go back home this-a-way. If you miss the ship I'm on, From this earth you'll know I've flown You can see the vapor trails parsecs away.

LUNA CITY
by Ann Morris
tune:"Durham Town"

Chorus:
I'm going to leave Luna City.
I'm going to leave Luna City.
I'm going to leave Luna City
And I'll never be back this way again.

One:
Manuel and I have seen the change 
The revolution has brought here.
We lost Selene along the way
And Milla paid the price most dear.

Chorus

Two:
The moon is a harsh mistress.
She takes her toll of everyone.
She is worth the loss and woe
For she's given us, given us a home.

Chorus

**Okay folks, I need some more songs. I had to dig into the archives for some of these and we need some new ones. How about something on the X-FILES or BABYON 5? C'mon, I know some of you out there have creative souls, so put them to work and send me some filks for future issues of S.H.L.T.
Now here's a really dangerous queston? Is anyone interested in putting on a filk concert at NECRONOMICON '96? If so, let me know about it and we'll see what we can get going.

A STONE'S THROW AWAY... The June 9 Stone Hill meeting will be at Linda and David Bennett's home at 12215 Spottswood Drive in Riverview. The phone number ther, in case you need directions, is 813-671-2859. This will be a blood drive meeting. Those of you who were at the last blood drive meeting know that the bloodmobile broke down and never made it. Some people elected to donate during the week after the meeting at a Florida Blood Services office. If you did so, you will not be eligible to donate at the June meeting. If you donate right after that meeting at an office, you will be eligible to donate at the August blood drive meeting. The blood bank is a stickler for the eight weeks between donations rule. They want donors, but they want them healthy.
OASIS 9 will be held at the Altamonte Springs Hilton (near Orlando) the weekend of May 31-June 2. The author guest of honor will be Kathleen Ann Goonan and the artist guest of honor will be Bob Eggleton. Membership is $25 for the weekend, at the door. For more information on this convention, you can write to the ORLANDO AREA SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY a P.O. Box 940992, Maitland, FL 32794-0992.

BABYLON 5 MAYDAY CALL... Due to the disbanding of the PTEN network and pressure put on UPN stations to air only UPN SF shows, there is some concern for the future of "Babylon 5". A letter writing campaign is under way to show the stations and the parent company Warner Brothers that we want to keep "Babylon 5" on the air. If you would like to help in this effort, you can write to your local "Babylon 5" station and let the programming director there know you want her or him to keep "Babylon 5" on the air. You can alos write to the following addresses in support of "Babylon 5"

Dick Robertson                                      Robert Daly
President                                               Chairman
Domestic Television Distribution         Warner Bros., Inc.
Warner Bros. Television                      4000 Warner Blvd.
4000 Warner Blvd.                              Burbank, CA 91522
Burbank, CA 91522

If you live in the Tampa Bay Area, your local "B 5" station is WTOG, channel 44. Write to the program director at this address:

WTOG                                           **By the way, I have written
Attention: Bob Affe                       my letters and put them in the
365 105th Terrace N.E.              mail, so I am not suggesting
St.Petersburg, FL 33716            you do something I wouldn't do.

Remember that for every one person who writes, there are a hunderd who don't write but share your opinion. Remember also that petitions are not considered to be as valid a representation of consumers' opinions as letters. Xeroxed form letters are not as good as writing a brief, to the point, message in your own words. This last is true for any kind of letter writing campaign. I heard straight from the mouth of a legislative assistant to a congressman from Texas that all those form letters signed by members of United We Stand don't get the notice that one letter written personally by a constituent gets. One person can and does make a difference.

COOK'S CORNER... Here's one of my family's favorites. It's an easy one too, so it is one of my favorites for that reason.

                                       PORK STROGANOFF

1 & 1/2 to 2 lbs. lean pork                            Water
1 Envelope dry onion soup mix                      1c. non fat sour cream
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced or                  8oz. medium wide egg noodles
about 12 oz. canned mushrooms

  In a crockpot or slow cooker, place pork, onion soup, mushrooms and
enough water to rise about 2 inches above the food. If your cooker has an
autoshift setting that cooks the food on high for a cuple hours and then cooks
it on low for the rest of the cooking time, use this setting. If not, use the high
setting. This will need to cook 5 or 6 hours for the meat to get really tender. If
you are going to leave it to cook longer than that, you can put the meat  in while
it is still forzen. At the end of the cooling time, "shred" the meat with a fork. It
will separate quite easily this way. Drain off all but about half a cup of liquid and
add the sour craem. Stir till well blended. Turn off heat.
  Cook egg noodles according to package directions.
  Serve meat sauce over noodles.
  This makes a nice main dish for 6.