The subject of LASFS outings had been coming up again in the last couple of weeks. What would you like to do, and where would you like to go? There will, of course, be an expedition to take Tom Schlück to Disneyland next week, but it'll probably have to be during the week, due to his schedule; the big "LASFS" Disneyland trip will doubtless be with the IBM trip on the evening of Friday, Nov, 11th. A LASFS outing to the Busch Gardens is tentatively scheduled for one of the first two weekends in Oct.; this needs further planning. The Busch Gardens are said to be a beautiful place, even if you don't like beer. How many would be interested in going on an October weekend? The long-talked-about trip to the Universal-International movie studios tours has yet to be arranged -- are there more than 4 or 5 people who're really interested in going on this one? And it's been suggested that we might have a LASFS picnic and tour of the new Zoo as soon as it's been all fixed up -- since we probably can't get around to it for another couple of months or so, that should give the City plenty of time to get it open for business. What are your comments on all these plans? and what other suggestions do you have to make?

Hopefully, by the time I've returned from the TriCon, the last batch of books I ordered from England should've arrived. Ruth, I haven't billed you for your order yet because not all of the books you wanted were in my catalog; I asked for all of them, but the bill will have to depend on what we get. People might be thinking about what else they want; I already have an order from Len Bailes for Garner's Elidor and Jansson's Finn Family Moomintroll. Are there any fans of "The Avengers" TV program who'd like the Avenger paperback novel written by Patrick Mcnee, the star of the program, himself? Or several new s-f or horror anthologies -- in French? (If anybody has the desire to read Robert Howard or H. P. Lovecraft in French...) Australian comic books? Well, let me know what you want.

"The local Hyatt House", says F. M. Busby in SERCON'S BANE #29, his latest FAPAzine, "has expanded enough to handle another Con at the current rate of growth if we try for '68, so I guess we will -- before our good old manager goes away and leaves us a new one to break in. The thing is, no other area is even trying to set up another poolside WorldCon, and possibly it can't be done anywhere except way up here in the Sticks, so we'd like to have a shot at it while it is still feasible and before the group scatters. (OK, call it a Plug...)" I infer from this laconical comment that Seattle may be giving us competition for our L.A. in '68 WorldCon bid. Fine and good; that'll pep up the race. We will, of course, expect you all to get out and campaign for good old L.A., in this case; and naturally you'll have to plan on attending the '67 WorldCon on the East Coast so you can cast your vote for L.A.

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Written by Fred Patten, and published on the LASFS Rex Rotary, August 26, 1966. Intended for Apa L, Ninty-Ninth Distribution, LASFS Meeting no. 1517, September 8, 1966. Address: 1825 Greenfield Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90025. Phone: GRanite 3-6321.

Something else we might all be thinking of is the special cover for Apa L #105, our 2nd Anniversary Dist'n. So far, I'm planning on a photocover featuring famous local fannish buildings -- pictures of LASFS Meeting places, past & present, and fans' homes that've featured prominently in our fannish social life, such as the Labyrinths, various slan shacks, Margrave Manor, where there've been so many weekend parties, etc. (This is providing Ted Johnstone and Fred Whitledge can duplicate their stupendous effort of last year in getting all of the photos taken, laid out, and printed.) Does anybody have what they consider to be a better idea? If so, let's hear 'em before we get started. (I guess we'll need 60 copies of everything for that Dist'n, too.)

Incidentally, if there are any of you (besides Helen Smith and Don Fitch) who're really interested in the inclusions about postage stamps that I bring you every week (well, almost every week), let me know, because I can get you a lot more of them that will never be going through Apa L because I can't get 50 copies of 'em. Unfortunately, this includes some of the best; the most colorful are usually gone by the time I get around to 'em. I'm already supplying Helen and Don with copies of these, and I can easily get 4 or 5 more if anybody wants 'em.

How much market would there be for a portfolio of Apa L cover art? It'd be possible to print, say, 25 or 30 extra copies of the Apa L cover (without the lettering and numeral) for 15 or 20 weeks, and then compile an art portfolio out of it. This would include a lot of art that'll never get into the next Best from APAL (admittedly, because it's either of poor quality or not original). How many of you would be interested in buying such a portfolio for, say, 75¢?

Once On A Time, by A. A. Milne, illus. by Susan Perl; Avon #ZS103, 242 p., 60¢.

I haven't had much time in the last week to read books, what with getting packed, preparing issues of RR in advance, and all, but I took time off to read Once On A Time when it appeared on the L.A. newsstands on Tuesday (Aug. 23rd). This is A. A. Milne's adult fantasy (as opposed to his Winnie-the-Pooh books, which were written primarily for children), and I've been trying to locate a copy for years. It's been well worth the wait.

By "adult fantasy", Milne didn't mean that he was writing a book that only adults would enjoy, but one that adults would enjoy, too, as opposed to one that only children would enjoy. (Of course, how many adults are there that don't enjoy the Pooh books? However, let's not quibble. You'll enjoy this.) It is most nearly like James Thurber's fantasies, or Andrew Lang's Prince Priglio, or to go back still further, William Makepeace Thackery's The Rose and the Ring. The plot, or plots, involve two kingdoms at war over the ill-advised use of a pair of seven-league boots, a lady in waiting plotting to undermine the authority of the young princess regent, a magic ring, and a rather stuffy prince who has a somewhat unusual spell cast on him. The various problems include how to win the war, how to get rid of the Countess, how to break the spell on the prince (you can also have fun trying to figure out what the prince was turned into; he could never make up his mind, himself), and how Wiggs is to use her magic ring. (We also have a new day to add to the fannish calendar; July 20, Wiggs' Good Day.) All of this is written in a very British style, with various asides to the reader, the author arguing with his source material, and otherwise deducing what was really going on from his study of the events. There are also words of wisdom, such as the King of Barodia's reason for not importing wizards in his war against Euralia -- "They have a habit of forgetting which side they are on." Once On A Time is a book that should be added to any fantasy collector's library, particularly now that it's finally available in such an inexpensive edition.