Thankyou, Doug Spaulding! With you and jkt on my side, it seems I have a good chance of meeting the great man.

The schedule for the conference has recently been slightly revised (it's viewable on the website at http://eatonconference.ucr.edu/program.php ). Originally, my panel on the Saturday overlapped with a presentation by Kim Stanley Robinson, but now they have re-jigged so there is no overlap.

(Re-jigged is a good word.)

Phil and I are in the same session. His paper is great. He has not seen mine simply because, at this exact moment, I'm taking a break from finishing it up! Just in time to get on a plane tomorrow night. How's that for cutting it close?

For those in the area, in addition to Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, David Brin, and Greg Bear will all be there, also. I'm hoping to meet Phil and Nard while out there. I have not met Donn Albright and hope he is there. And, of course, would love to see the man himself.

I sure hope you guys meet Ray and enjoy your stay in California. I was asked to accompany Nard to the affair, but I have another committment, so will not attend. I asked Nard to say Hello for me to Mr. Dark and Philnic and I am sorry I will miss the presentations. Make Ray proud!

Wish you were going to be there. Would love to meet you. Finished my paper at 3:30am. Like being in college. What a relief. Everytime I delve into Mr. Bradbury's writings, it is reaffirmed why he so turned me on to ideas.

I am taking the liberty of reproducting, here, what has been posted by/about our two forum members who will be presenting papers on Saturday:

Philip Nichols (School of Design, University of Wolverhampton, UK)
“Re-Presenting Mars: Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles in Media Adaptation.”
Ray Bradbury's Mars, as originally presented in magazine short stories, was an inconsistent planet. Sometimes resembling Barsoom, other times Arizona or Illinois, it was only with the book presentation of The Martian Chronicles (1950) that some sense of unity was given to the place. Yet over the decades, episodes from the Chronicles have continued to be removed from this context and re-presented singly as adaptations in radio, film and television.
This paper explores the ways in which Bradbury's tales have maintained a dual existence: as pointed, isolated, sometimes contradictory single stories, popular in adaptation; and as elements in a rich and complex re-telling of the American experience, never out of print. The paper will examine key adaptations of Bradbury's Martian tales, many of them authored by Bradbury himself, and address the presentation of Mars as both simplistic backdrop and complex arena.

Eric Palfreyman (Collin College)
“Mars is Heaven: Ray Bradbury’s Martian Landscape as a Mythological Setting for his Philosophical and Religious ideas”
“From here on, a lot of science fiction is going to be theological—a combination of theology and science—because a lot of the same problems attract theologians and writers. We’re all up to the same thing.” (Ray Bradbury. From an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, November 25, 1980. Interview included in: Conversations with Ray Bradbury. Edited by Steven Aggelis. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson. 2004. p. 108.)
Citing primarily interviews and his own writing, this paper looks at Bradbury’s efforts to demonstrate, articulate, and define, philosophical and religious ideas within the setting of a Fantasy and Science Fiction world created by his imagination. Nathaniel Hawthorne frequently spoke of his stories as tales, rather than stories. The reason he did this was that he wanted to create a world where the human condition could be explored in an imaginary (as opposed to a realistic) realm. This allowed him to be more creative in expressing his ideas. Bradbury does the same in much of his writing—he creates a sort of mythological world in which his ideas (many of them religious and philosophical) can be demonstrated and explored.
While he has stories which are located in the asteroid belt, on Venus, and on Earth, the setting he uses most frequently for much of his theological myth-making is the surface of the planet Mars. In this setting—created in his imagination—Bradbury explores the nature and meaning of man, the existence or definition of God, the creation of ethics, the power of love and hope, the adaptation of religious symbolism, the question of love, and many other ideas impacting the attempt to define values and meaning in our lives.
This paper will look at both how he accomplishes this, and what some of the primary ideas are that he seems to want to convey in his writing. How does he accomplish this? Why does he do it? What are some of the fundamental issues that regularly rise to the surface in Bradbury’s stories?

Anything Bradburian happening in the L.A. vicinity this Thursday (that's tomorrow!) evening? I'll be at USC that morning for my son's graduation! Leaving the next day, though.

John, thanks for posting those. Hope to see/meet a lot of Bradbury fans there.

My brother got his law degree at USC. Tell your son congratulations from the Bradbury board!

Braling II, you might want to check out Ray's current production of FAHRENHEIT 451, playing Thursdays though Sundays at the Fremont Centre Theater in Pasadena. I saw the production a few weeks ago when I was in the area for the Los Angeles Festival of Books, and thought it was excellent. Her's a link to the theater's website:

http://www.fremontcentretheatre.com/

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
Thanks!

If you do attend the theatre use the code RAY for $5 off admission on that Thursday night.

Braling II~

Would've been nice to meet you in person. Unfortunately, I live on the other side of town and unable to get up into LAX area at this time. Better prepare for hot weather while you are here. Upwards of a 100 degrees forecast for LA area.

Hey...also Thanks! for your faith-based comments/postings on this board. Appreciate them very much!

One of these days...

I'm on my way! I leave tonight at 6:30 and should arrive in LA by 11:30 PM. I'm flying in from another country, and I don't even know if I'll get a seat! This is going to be such a crazy adventure, but it will be so worth if I get to see the man.

"Jump off the cliff. Build your wings on the way down."

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Dylag:
I'm flying in from another country...

What country?

Had a wonderful time. Great meeting Mr. Dark and Philnic. I sorry to say that I missed their lectures. Mia Culpa.

Of course, seeing Doug Spaulding and Nard is always a treat. Not to mention being in the same room with Mr. B, Fredrick Pohl and Dr. Larry Niven.

Many photos were taken...just not by me. I'm sure some will be posted very soon.