If you lost one or more items at Balticon this past weekend, some nice person may well have turned those items in to the Balticon Lost & Found. Send an e-mail to ops@balticon.org with a description of the lost item(s), and we'll let you know if they have been found. In most cases we will not be in a position to ship the items back to you, but if you are local you can come pick the items up at a monthly BSFS meeting, or some arrangement for shipping items of value could be made.

It is with deep regret that I must tell you all that Hal Haag passed away from [apparent] heart attack #6 on the morning of Wednesday, August 12. Hal chaired two Balticons, and wore many other hats over the years including department head / sole propietor / slave for the Hall Costume Contest, Rocket Mail (the daily newsletter) and most recently the Gaming Room Czar. When he wasn't engaging in SMOF activities, Hal could almost always be found playing some kind of game or chatting with friends (usually both). His love of games led him to be well known in local board and card gaming circles, and he introduced untold multitudes to a wide variety of games.

Hal Haag's son Evan (necroluth) has set up the halhaagmemorial community for folks to share their memories and thoughts about Hal. Evan has posted some additional details on the community for those who are interested as well.

Since there has not been a post in this space for quite a while, and a request has come down from the Program Coordinator to post some "teasers" for the Balticon 43 program, I humbly present the following Balticon 43 update:

Guests of Honor

• Author Guest of Honor: Charles Stross, award winning author of Singularity, Accelerando, Glasshouse and many other works of SF.


• Art Guest of Honor: Kurt Miller, artist and illustrator whose works have graced book, magazine and video game covers, board games, video games and my wall at home.


• Music / Filk Guest of Honor: Mary Crowell, singer, songwriter, musician, composer and teacher whose musical forays include filk, jazz, classical piano and composition for brass and wind instruments.


• Special Guest of Honor: Scott Sigler, Future Dark Overlord and ground-breaking podcaster whose novels Infected and Contagious have proven that one can make the leap from digital media to mainstream print media.


• Ghost of Honor: Edgar Allan Poe, American poet and writer of tales of mystery and the macabre, whose 100th birthday we honor at Balticon 43.


• 2008 Compton Crook Winner: Mark L. Van Name, author of One Jump Ahead, its sequel Slanted Jack, and the forthcoming Overthrowing Heaven.

Program Highlights

• Friday Face Time (Friday @ 9 PM): After the opening ceremonies meet and mingle with writers, artists, podcasters, scientists and more at receptions in the Con Suite, Art Show and Science Program room.


• Dancing in the Gears (Friday @ 10 PM): Attention all aeronauts, aethernauts, lady and gentleman adventurers, mad scientists, inventors, and other Steampunks and neo-Victorians! Join us Friday night at for a time-traveling formal evening at the Steampunk Ball! Become part of the living clockwork of Victorian and Victorian-inspired set dances and spin madly with your partner to romantic waltzes and lively polkas. No previous experience is needed; all dances will be taught by dance mistress Susan de Guardiola. Music will be an eclectic mix of modern and nineteenth century. Steampunk, neo-Victorian, or Victorian costume encouraged and admired but not required. Airships and time machines should be parked outside the ballroom. No sabers, ray guns, or clanks permitted on the dance floor.


• Medieval Dance (Saturday @ 4 PM): Steampunk not your style? Prefer the rythyms of a simpler time before the Age of Steam? Have no fear - Patches and her merry band of musicians and dancers return to Balticon 43 so that thou might get thy Medieval boogie on. Upwardly noble or pleasantly peasant, come comfortably dressed (as always, period dress encouraged, but not at all required) and get thee down in excellent company. Take a break from sitting in panels and surrender to two hours of music, dance and merriment!


• Book Launches (Schedule TBA): Every year more and more authors choose Balticon as the "launch pad" for their latest book releases, and Balticon 43 has even more book launch goodness than ever before! Book launches currently in the pipeline for Balticon 43 include (check website for the latest list and schedules):
  • Wicca Girl by R. Allen Leider
  • Buffalito Destiny by Lawrence Schoen
  • The Halflings Court: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
  • So It Begins, an anthology edited by Mike McPhail
  • Nina Kimberly the Merciless by Christiana Ellis

As always, program items and schedules are subject to change, so please check the Balticon 43 web site on a regular basis. We will try to update this journal more regularly as the date of the convention draws near.

Greetings citizen! This is a gentle [albeit a bit late] reminder that the Balticon 43 membership rate goes up to $53 for adults (from $48) and $26 for children (from $24) at 12:00 AM March 1, 2009. That would be midnight tonight!