Programming

SiliCon 2006 will be a SiliCon like you've never seen before!

We've got a bigger costume contest, more special guests, and more fun for everyone.

Below is the program schedule as it stands at present.  WARNING that this is still in a state of change, and any program or event is subject to change without notice. This is mostly going to be way you see it below, but Murphy's Law says that the one event you plan around in advance will CHANGE before you get here, so be sure to re-check the schedule in the morning and not just count on stuff staying the same as it says it is here!!!.

Registrations starts at 12 noon Friday. Art show opens at 4p.m. Friday.

Events will be held during these hours: Friday from 7pm-2am, Saturday10am-2am, Sunday10am-4pm .

Dealers Room will be open:
Friday, 10/6 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, 10/7 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, 10/9 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Events at the convention may change due to circumstances beyond our control. For exact schedules and participants, believe (in ascending order)

The Program Book
The Pocket Program
SiWire (our newsletter)
the Info Desk

Friday, October 6th, 2006

Gaming - Open Gaming
4:00 pm - 12:00 am in San Simeon Room
Open Gaming all night

Reception - Meet The Guests
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Aaron Akagi, Margo Anderson, Hilary Ayer, Kayta Barrows, Peter S Beagle, Douglas Berry, Mark Bode, Robert Burnett, Lillian Csernica, Alexis Fajardo, Christopher Garcia, Elizabeth Gibson, Nicholas Grabowsky, Matthew Joseph Harrington, Gerald Heckenlively, Craige Howlett, Kathleen Hunt, Chris Knight, Brian Kolm, Dann Lopez, Candace Lowe, Patricia MacEwen, Jean Martin, Johanna Mead, Stacy Meyn, Jaye Moretz, Kevin Murphy, Mat Nastos, Kevin Roche, Dany Slone, Andrew Trembley, Kennita Watson, Fred Wiehe, Jennifer Wylie, Phil Yeh, Dan Zuras
The Good and the Excellent and the Fascinating...Silicon's Guests of Honor are presented. Meet Silicon's guests and meet other Silicon members at the formal opening of Silicon 2006.

Presentation - Friday Anime Showing
7:00 pm - 12:00 am in Santa Clara Room
BAAS presents Anime -- a combination of old favories and hot new releases - see schedule in SiWire and at the room Midnight to 6 am is mature theme programming -18 years or with a parent

Filk - Open Filking
8:00 pm - 12:00 am in San Juan Room
The room is there. The singers are there. Happiness is.

Presentation - Independent Film Festival
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm in Siskiyou Ballroom/Donnor Pass Ballroom
Silicon presents short films: fantasy, and sci-fi, horror and humor, experimental and traditional, all for your pleasure. Our Event of the Evening for Friday Night.

Presentation - Mark Bode's Cartoon Train
11:00 pm - 12:00 am in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Mark Bode
Guest of Honor Mark Bode' presents his Cartoon Train. Mature themes

Saturday, October 7th, 2006

Performance - Rocky Horror Picture Show
12:00 am - 2:00 am in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Don't dream it, see it! Mature themes Time approximate after Mark Bode' show

Gaming - Open Gaming
12:00 am - 12:00 am in San Simeon Room
Open Gaming all night

Panel - Lost Birds of a Feather
10:00 am - 11:15 am in Carmel Room
Non-moderated chance to get together in a room and tell your favorite stories, quote your favorite quotes and ask peer questitions of other fans of Lost.

Panel - Smallville Birds of a Feather
10:00 am - 11:15 am in Monterey Room
Do you ever get tired of talking about Smallville? Would you like to get into a whole room full of people to talk more about Smallville, Clark, Lex, Lois, Lana and plot twists? Here's your chance. Non- Moderated, a BOF is what you make of it.

Dance - Belly Dancing for the Larger Body
10:00 am - 11:15 am in Silicon Valley Room
Margo Anderson (M)
Door will be clossd 10 minutes after beginning for participant privacy. Guest Margot Anderson teaches Belly Dancing in a liberating and comfortable environment.

Presentation - Rob Burnett shows Free Enterprise
10:30 am - 12:00 am in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Robert Burnett
GOH Robert Meyer Burnett shows his film "Free Enterprise", a fan must-see, with commentary! We are giving this presentation a special extended time slot to be able to show the full version of the film plus time for commentary. Starts at 10:30 am, and runs till 12:45

Panel - Masquerade 101
11:30 am - 1:00 pm in Monterey Room
Hilary Ayer (M), Mark Corey, Johanna Mead, Jennifer Wylie
Your masquerade director and costumer friends discuss entering and participating in Silicon's masquerade/costume competition. If you are a novice who wants to know the basics of what to expect of entering, or an experienced costumer who wants to know how Silicon does it, please join us.

Panel - Cryonics -- What's really possible?
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in Carmel Room
Kennita Watson (M), Dan Zuras
Cryonics -- the practice of freezing people until they can be revived and cured of what ails them. An update on the possibilities and the need for cryonics.

Panel - A Shiver or a Splatter
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in San Carlos Room
Nicholas Grabowsky, Kevin Murphy (M), Fred Wiehe
How much is too much? Realistic depictions of grue or skillful arousal of the reader's fear? Where should the horror writing draw the line and in which situations?

Panel - Publishing Comics
11:30 am - 1:00 pm in San Juan Room
Brian Kolm, Mat Nastos
Publishers of Nifty Comics, Atomic Bear Comics, Kid Beowulf Comics and GOH Robert Burnett (Ludovico Studios) tell their war stories.

Other - Chillin' in the Fan Lounge
11:30 am - 12:30 pm in Silicon Valley Room
"Down time" may include just a quiet place to talk or visits from a guest or panelist.

Presentation - Saturday Anime Showing
12:00 pm - 12:00 am in Santa Clara Room
24 hour anime programming from BAAS - see schedule in SiWire and on schedule board in room Midnight to 6 am is mature theme programming -18 years or with a parent

Panel - Pacing the story
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in San Juan Room
Lillian Csernica, Alexis Fajardo, Elizabeth Gibson
Storyteller, writer, scenario or comic story -- how does a plot unfold and how do you make the listener/reader care?

Presentation - Global Warming Slide Show
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Pat McEwen shows us a new side of global warming.

Panel - Make it Shiny
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm in Monterey Room
Kayta Barrows, Johanna Mead (M), Kevin Roche, Dany Slone
How to work with the "dress-up" clothing for a fantasy or media universe. Special attention to the Serenity universe.

Panel - Super characters acting like real people, or Lex Luthor wants to see someone's green card.
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in Carmel Room
Douglas Berry, Christopher Garcia, Matthew Joseph Harrington, Craige Howlett (M), Mat Nastos
Larry Niven has observed that Spider-Man could make some nice money selling webshooters and web mix to the cops as nonlethal apprehension devices. Outside of their public appearance mombents, how could supers characters use their superpowers?

Other - Silicon Mini Comic Jam
1:00 pm - 12:00 am in Silicon Valley Room/Pine Ballroom
Silicon Mini Comic Jam - come join other artist for a session of collaborative comic creation. Each artist can effect the outcome of the story as they draw a panel, resulting in a comic that is unpredictable. Pencils and Paper will be provided, or bring your favorite drawing tools. Everyone is invited to join in the fun.

Gaming - Looney Labs & Treehouse
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm in San Martin Room
Eric Zuckerman (M)
Looney Labs Demo featuring Treehouse In addition to Treehouse, the newest Icehouse game, seasoned Mad Lab Rabbit Eric Zuckerman (organizer of BayCon's Fluxx, Zendo, and Icehouse tournaments) will be teaching/playing/facilitating across the spectrum of Looney Labs games: Fluxx, Zendo, Chrononauts, Aquarius, Nanofictionary, etc. Come and check out the offerings from "That Hippie Game Company"! ##### Treehouse is the exciting new Icehouse pyramid game designed by Andrew Looney, the creator of the card game Fluxx. For 2-4 players, each game last only 5-10 minutes - but you'll want to rack them up again and again each time someone wins. Each player rolls the custom die to determine if they will TIP, SWAP, DIG, AIM, or HOP their Tree of three pyramids while they try to make them match the configuration of the shared goal called The House. Roll a WILD and you can change your own Tree or The House!

Auction - Charity Auction
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm in Gateway Foyer
Benefit Auction for our charity, Juvenile Diabetes of Santa Clara County. Wonderful things, odd things, items of collectible interest, all available in one place at one time. Come one, come all.

Panel - Creating a Visual World
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in Carmel Room
Mark Bode, Robert Burnett, Gerald Heckenlively, Brian Kolm, Phil Yeh
The panel of comic book artist discuss what it takes to create a believable world in a visual story. Creating the setting, characters, society, etc

Panel - How to talk to a Fan-Boy...
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in Monterey Room
Christopher Garcia, Craige Howlett
Having once been fan-boys, our heroes will discuss from the heights of their mature wisdom -- how to interact and how to have a productive conversation. 3.5 stars from the Not-Too-Serious association!

Presentation - Kid Beowulf in film and story
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Alexis Fajardo
Kid Beowulf is more than a comic. See the film and hear the background on Kid Beowulf

Panel - Walking Costumed Critters Seminar
2:30 pm - 4:00 pm in San Carlos Room
Tony Spangler
Every successful costumed performer needs someone to look out for him or her, especially characters that do not speak in costume. A knowledgeable and savvy escort can be a godsend, whether answering tricky questions or keeping trouble at bay. This panel will show you just how important handlers are, and how to be ready when you're needed and unobtrusive when you aren't.

Panel - Costumers Hardware Store
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in San Juan Room
Kayta Barrows, Johanna Mead (M), Stacy Meyn, Kevin Roche, Jennifer Wylie
Getting down to the nuts and bolts of the nuts and bolts and widgets that a costumer or prop maker uses, often in unorthodox ways.

Presentation - Trailer Park
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Chris Knight presents trailers and other film material about coming attractions in the sci-fi, fantasy * horror genres. This popular favorite returns!

Panel - The Comics I Kept
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm in Carmel Room
Craige Howlett, David Schultz
This is not a panel about collecting. This panel is about the comics our panelists loved well enough to keep and enjoy over the years.

Presentation - Bigfoot Investigation
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm in Monterey Room
The Proprietor of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum explains the techniques of looking for evidence of Bigfoot.

Panel - Costumes from the East
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm in San Juan Room
Margo Anderson (M), Kayta Barrows, Dany Slone
Belly Dancing and Arabic Cotumes -- the costumes of the east have special requirememts for making and wearing. Where do you buy materials and what do you do with them once you have them?

Presentation - Masquerade Prep
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Mark Corey
Room is closes for the prep work on the Silicon Masquerade.

Panel - Son of Sysadmin Horror Stories
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm in Carmel Room
Ravan Asteris (M), ?? Texx
Last year we had the sysadmin panel at -- 10 in the morning!!! What were we thinking of? This year we are putting it at a more reasonable hour. Come to listen, come to share your user horror stories.

Performance - Storytelling Time
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm in Monterey Room
Elizabeth Gibson
Storyteller Elizabeth Gibson tells her stories. Not just for children. Give yourself some quiet listening time to enjoy one of the oldest arts.

Performance - Belly Dance Performance
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm in Gateway Foyer
Belly Dancers and Musicians for your delight. Come be delighted.

Panel - Real Vampires
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm in San Juan Room
The history of the myth, what the basic underpinnings of the phenomenon could be, touching on the subject of living vampires and what people who believe they suffer from a form of vampirism are going through and why, and discussing real experiences with paranormal phenomenon that could be described as encounters with vampiric entities. Jennifer O'Meara and Steve Wade

Performance - Peter Beagle Concert
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in Carmel Room
Peter S Beagle
Peter Beagle sings his own songs. He's here. This legendary songwriter-storyteller-writer sings for us. Life is good.

Presentation - LARP - Lost Colonies
8:00 pm - 12:00 am in San Juan Room
Wendy Lo, Eric Oberlin
Game title: Lost Colonies Blurb: In the far future, Earth has sent out settlers to colonize various worlds. Some created marvels of technology; others practiced art in idyllic natural wonder; still others pursued their various faiths. And then -- word from earth, and all its long-range ships, stopped dead. Today, the various colonies greet one another after centuries apart, to try to discover the strange paths that the colonies and Earth herself have taken. Players: 16-20 System: Dreams of Deirdre Time: Saturday night, 8pm-2am Sci-fi costuming admired, but not required. Sign up at Info Desk

Presentation - Masquerade
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Hilary Ayer, Mark Corey (M), Craige Howlett, Jennifer Wylie
Our Silicon Masquerade, with Mark Corey and Hi Impact

Other - Magic Tournament
8:00 pm - 12:00 am in San Martin Room
Goodluck Games Presents: A Magic the Gathering Tournament Details at the Goodluck Games Dealer Room table and Info Desk

Sunday, October 8th, 2006

Presentation - The Lobotronic Film Festival
12:00 am - 1:30 am in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Erik Loo
An Ecletic Mixture of film clips, shorts, and other items from the collection and from the mind of Mr. Lobo

Presentation - LARP - Lost Colonies
12:00 am - 2:00 am in San Juan Room
Wendy Lo, Eric Oberlin
Game title: Lost Colonies Blurb: In the far future, Earth has sent out settlers to colonize various worlds. Some created marvels of technology; others practiced art in idyllic natural wonder; still others pursued their various faiths. And then -- word from earth, and all its long-range ships, stopped dead. Today, the various colonies greet one another after centuries apart, to try to discover the strange paths that the colonies and Earth herself have taken. Players: 16-20 System: Dreams of Deirdre Time: Saturday night, 8pm-2am Sci-fi costuming admired, but not required. Sign up at Info Desk

Presentation - Sunday Anime Showing
12:00 am - 3:30 pm in Santa Clara Room
Midnight to 6 am - mature programming 6 am to 3 pm Anime - old favorites and new releases See SiWire for Schedule

Reading - Eye of Argon
12:00 am - 2:00 am in Monterey Room
The worst story in the world? You have to decide as you read it and weep.. or laugh till you fall over.

Gaming - Open Gaming
12:00 am - 3:30 pm in San Simeon Room
Open Gaming all night

Panel - Live Journal BOF
10:00 am - 11:15 am in Monterey Room
Are you on LJ? Would you like to put names with faces and talk about your favorite Blogs? Put on your log-in name badge and com'on down.

Dance - Belly Dancing Teaching
10:00 am - 11:15 am in Silicon Valley Room
You saw belly dancing last night, now come & try it!

Other - Star Trek BOF
10:00 am - 11:15 am in Carmel Room
Unmoderated gathering for Star Trek fans to get together and talk about Star Trek, original, remastered, New Gen, Enterprise, DS 9, Voyager or even the films. Yes, even the ones directed by you-know-who. Or you could even talk about the Shatner roast. It's your time to geek.

Reading - Lillian Csernica Reading
11:00 am - 12:00 pm in San Carlos Room
Lillian Csernica reads her works

Panel - Genre or Pigeonhole
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in Monterey Room
Douglas Berry, Lillian Csernica, Kevin Murphy, Fred Wiehe
The blurring of lines between genres, such as horror, fantasy, sci-fi,and thrillers. Do we really need a label?

Panel - Sci-Fi Militaria Costuming
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in San Juan Room
Johanna Mead, Tracy Newby, Andrew Trembley (M)
You don't have to draft a pattern from scratch to re-create the looks that are currently in vogue in SF media. This panel will introduce costumers to the options available for adapting commercial patterns into a variety of sci-fi militaria uniforms, with a particular emphasis on the new Battlestar Galactica series, and do's and don'ts of designing original SF militaria. Photos and examples of costumes will be on hand.

Other - Chillin' in the Fan Lounge
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in Silicon Valley Room
"Down time" may include just a quiet place to talk or visits from a guest or panelist.

Presentation - The Potential of the Graphic Novel
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in Carmel Room
Phil Yeh, who was one of the inventors of the Graphic Novel, tells us what it will be like in the future.

Panel - Super Powers - Adaptation from the non-super?
11:30 am - 12:45 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Matthew Joseph Harrington, Kathleen Hunt, Jean Martin
Don't put in another ATM, somebody stole the last one. What do we have in our culture that wouldn't last a week if there were people with superhuman abilities? Security devices that aren't secure, yes, but how about activities that would quickly lose all popularity? The folks who park "just five minutes" in a handicapped space without a sticker aren't going to do it again after the car gets mashed into a ball, and neither is anyone else who lives in the same town.

Auction - Nicholas Grabowsky Reading
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in San Carlos Room
Nicholas Grabowsky, modern master of horror, reads his work

Panel - Taking it on the Plane
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in San Juan Room
Stacy Meyn (M), Tracy Newby, Andrew Trembley
Whether it's costume bits, historical weapons, or bondage gear, how do you travel with it in this Age of Insecurity?

Auction - Peter Beagle Reading
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm in San Carlos Room
Peter S Beagle
Peter Beagle reads from his latest works. Mr. Beagle is signing his books in the dealer room.

Other - SerenityTea
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in Silicon Valley Room
Silicon's Tea and Cookies with Serentity discussion and the Browncoats.

Panel - CSI Dark Ages
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in Monterey Room
Kathleen Hunt, Patricia MacEwen, Jaye Moretz (M)
Medieval Forensics for Writers How does a low-science society investigate crime? How does a writer get is right?

Panel - Science Worth Writing About
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in Carmel Room
Candace Lowe, Kevin Roche, Jennifer Wylie
Writers who know science and scientists talk about the relationship between science and science fiction. What in science interests you enough to write about it or to see it "get more press"?

Panel - It's So Cool
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Mark Bode, Robert Burnett, Craige Howlett (M)
Out Guests of Honor tell us the things in art and in life that give them joy

Auction - Art Auction
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm in Gateway Foyer
If you liked it at the art show, and other people liked it too, the art auction is where you resolve the problem by bidding for your favorites. If you missed the art show, here's your chance to bid on something wonderful. The action, the excitement, the auction...

Presentation - See it? Now make it - Costumes, masks,prosthetics...
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in Donnor Pass Ballroom
Edward Martinez, Jennifer Wylie
An experienced costumer and a marvelous special effects man collaborate to show you how it is done. Video of special effects from Ed Martinez

Panel - Horror Literature and Society
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in San Juan Room
How does Society view Horror Literature? How can we make it popular again?

Panel - SF/SF
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm in Monterey Room
Christopher Garcia, Jean Martin
SF/SFs is an online magazine which reviews and gives items of interest to the science fiction and fannish community. The editors tell you about their magazine, about the trials and pleasures of an e-zine. Check it out at http://www.efanzines.com/SFSF/SFSF29.pdf

Other - How did we do?
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm in Carmel Room/Monterey Room
Hilary Ayer, Mark Corey, Chris Knight
Sob. Silicon is over for this year! What did you like? What didn't work for you? Come tell us.