Babylon 5 is better than Star Trek

See Christian, Claudia

Binks, Jar-Jar

The most derided character in SF (especially by David) since, well, ever, actually.

Bulloch, Jeremy (Boba Fett)

Our Honorary President, who we met at Cardiff, and was immediate "let's ask him if we can use his name on club stuff and material" when he hovered for more than three seconds at the TV on our stand and was even spotted reading a club magazine. That was fatal, and before he knew it he was the club's Honorary President.

Cardiff

This was a collectors fair we were invited to have a stand at, in late 1999. In fact, it was the day after the worst snowfall of the year and was also the day they shut Wales.

Dave, Sue and Ross stayed near the place overnight - they had no problems. Sadly, the rest of us, ie Helen, Natalie, Laurence, Nick and me spent the day battling the snow and ice into Wales. By lunchtime, when decision time came as to if we would carry on or turn round, we decided we really had to make it, as it had become personal. This was after we spent an hour behind the same van on a stretch of the M4, travelling at an astounding speed of 1 MPH.

We did arrive, we did get to the fair (for an hour, before packing up started) and we did get home safely.

Christian, Claudia

The reason that B5 is better than Star Trek.

Clangers, The

They are kind of an adopted mascot for the club, especially the one riding the penny farthing, which came about thanks some neat work by Doug Anderson. The committee also gave out awards in January under this name. The video still causes nightmares.

Committed, The

A member of the committee.

Committee, The

The bunch of depraved individuals who bring you the club every month. You can easily identify the current bunch by their glazed expression and the foaming at the mouth. If you look carefully, you can spot ex-committee members by their regular taking of tablets and their care-in-the-community cards which they carry with them at all times.

The all-time committee list for the club, in approximate chronological order is: Robin Williams, Alison Prickett, Mark Sinclair, Martin Wheeler, Alistair Churchill, Paul Russell, Rita Russell, Darren Gale, Nick Gilly, Jeremy Ogden (er, me then) Doug Anderson, David James, Irene Thomas, and the rest of the current bunch who, if you don't know by now, well what's the point, seeing as we've almost reached AGM time again - Ruth Russell, Richard Kerry, Tony Walls and Helen Gay. If I've forgotten anyone, I apologise unreservedly.

Costumed Nutters, The

Self-explanatory really. The hard-core of mad individuals who dress up and menace members of the public at shows, fairs and the odd film. Comments received back about the costumes include "which one are you then, Hartnell?" "Look at that strange man dressed up as the Doctor", "what did you do to earn that funny looking pip on your collar?" and "ha ha ha ha".

Doughnuts

Another Genesis myth lost in the mists of time, so I'm open to correction on my interpretation of this one. At some point in the dim, distant past, probably soon after moving to this venue, someone who shall remain nameless (OK then, Robin) had the idea of buying jam doughnuts to re-sell at Ten-Forward. Unfortunately they didn't sell as well as hoped and so we (actually it was all his idea) off-loaded the left-overs on the winning quiz team, who were, erm, really chuffed with their prize. Actually I think this could be seen as brilliant reverse psychology by Robin - a dis-incentive to win the quiz therefore making the quiz more fun.

Evil, Doctor

A character in Austin Powers International Man of Mystery.

George

This is lost in the mists of time now but was something along the lines of a Universal quiz answer. When all other options and answers, sensible or stupid, have been considered and rejected, it's time to either yell out "George!" or write it on your answer sheet. Or preferably both.

Genesis Menaces, The

A phrase coined by Ian Morgan after seeing the assorted Star Wars Episode I costumes worn by various people at various places during July 1999. The Menaces really came into their own when visiting Basingstoke town centre for their lunch break on Episode I release date, when they were publicising the club at the Warner Cinema in Basingstoke. Scout Troopers and Darth Maul glowering at the public over the isles made Woolworths an interesting place to be that day, I'm told. The real killer was going into MacDonalds for lunch. Then there was the old Jedi Mind Trick that Robin Kenobi must have used when acquiring a discount from Hammicks Bookshop. Two days later they were at it again in Reading, and as a result, several of them made the front page of the Reading Evening Post.

GWT (Genesis Weekend Time)

The principle that Saturday lasts not the standard 24 hours, but in fact 36, ie the part of the week known under the standard (but flawed) time-keeping system adopted by the rest of the civilised World, Sunday morning, is in fact part of Saturday, or more precisely, Sunday starts at Midday. Election to The Committe may depend on willingness to comply with this principle.

Golden Doughnut Awards

I have made this an annual end-of-year event in the magazine, to celebrate all things inept and incompetant in all things S-F. Last year Angel on Channel 4 made a virtual clean sweep of the awards. See also, Doughnuts.

Men In Black

Not only does this refer to the fairly naff 1997 film of the same name, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Linda Fiorentino, it also refers to our former resident gamers, Jason Dirkin and Martin Bryant, who for many months frequented the club, running some brilliant tabletop games based on films such as Men In Black, Godzilla (this particular game was immesureably more interesting than the film. It also lasted longer and didn't have any trailers so the best bits were not given away in advance), the Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back and the podracing from The Phantom Menace. These games were often improvised at very short notice and featured some excellent models. I remember the AT-ATs in the Battle of Hoth game being particularly impressive. Sadly Jason and Martin can no longer get to club meetings, but their efforts certainly merits a mention, so thanks for your hard work, guys.

Music Videos

A long-standing tradition started by Mark Sinclair, which, in case you hadn't figured out by now, entails the stringing together of a sequence of clips from a particular series or film to appropriate music. See also, the Showtape.

Pain balling

A slightly unfortunate but extremely appropriate typo once made by a certain ex-chairman in the magazine, when referring to an early Genesis Paint balling foray.

Quiz, The

The riotous part of each meeting day when teams of meeting-goers, of varying levels of sadness (ie ranging from the moderately sad to the exceedingly sad) pit their wits against each over in trying to shout down the quiz master, who usually retaliates with a combination of another question, a big stick or a sharp put down. The culmination of the quiz is occasionally the ritual presenting of the trophy, or, in times gone by, the doughnuts to the winning team.

Robot Wars

A BBC programme for which Dave and Ross are stilling planning to enter a robot, and probably never will.

Round Robin E group, Yahoo Group or similar

Used for gossip, news, discussion, fist fights etc.

Rule 17c

Applies to the single, male members of the club.

Sad Muppets

As distinguished from the Sad Muppets Society. This applies, strictly to most of the club, but in this case, it applies to the bunch of individuals also known as the Costumed Nutters or perhaps the 'Genesis Menaces'.

Sad Muppet Society, The

A loose affiliation of Gamer type people formed at the start of 2001. Their motto is 'We're Very Sad Indeed' and they keep people informed of what they're up to via their web page, The Homepage, their regular Magazine column, The Column and their own newsletter type thing, The Newsletter. You can read all about the various Muppets in their ranks at The Homepage.

Showtape, The

The tape of music videos, trailers, clips and opening titles we use at shows, surprise surprise, to attract people to our stand - well seeing as we don't sell anything we have to do something! A long standing tradition is the ritual standing around (sometimes in costume) admiring our handiwork.

Sombrero-Wearing Dancing Darth Maul Type Thing

Well, erm, hard to explain, he's about ten inches tall, waves his lightsbare about a bit and witters on about the Dark Side - to music.....

The Stupid Quote At The End Of The Magazine

My doing, I'm afraid. A few years ago I collected the short lived DS9 Poster Magazine, and was amused to notice that at the end of each issue there was a short but snappy quotation from an episode of DS9 in very small print at the end of the credits. Since February 1997 the magazine has had at least the end of magazine quote on the back page. Sometimes funny, occasionally serious, usually (in recent times) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. Other sources (like you really want to know this!) have included the US medical drama ER (for example, "if they give you any trouble, lock them in the closet") and the US legal drama Murder One ("when they make the movie, I want Gene Hackman to play me.")

Welly Wanging

Yes, you did read that correctly! Bit of an obscure one, this, as the only people who would really know about this one are the committee of the day, or discussed this (albeit, briefly) as a possible use for the grassy area at the back of the hall, shortly after we moved to the new venue in 1997. Sadly we had to abandon the idea due to the fact that it was the height of summer and no-one knew where their wellies were at the time. (There is an element of truth in this story, honest guv).

Yankovic 'Weird' Al

I had to give the 'King of the Parody' an honorable mention. Actually I take most of the responsibility for unleashing Al at Genesis - I came across his now legendary 'The Saga Begins' (lyrical adaptation of American Pie, which tells the story of Star Wars: Episode I) while trawling the Net for Star Wars parodies. It's gone on from there, and I now have on CD a bewildering array of the lyrical adaptations he's done over the years, including Yoda (formerly Lola), Smells Like Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit) and Jurassic Park (McArthur Park). There are also some very funny original compositions by Al including The Night Santa Went Crazy and the fantastic, the awesome, the brilliant Christmas At Ground Zero. Need I say more? Well the words appallingly sad come to mind but I think we'll glaze over that part.

Jeremy Ogden