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Fandango, v. 1, issue 4, Spring 1944

Page 1

FAN - DANGO

Vol. I             Spring 1944             No. 4

SOME FURTHER THOUGHTS ON SLAN CENTER

     When I originally set down some random thoughts on the Slan Center idea (FAN-DANGO #2) I was an isolated fan. The only fen I had met in the flesh were Duane Rimel (who is responsible for getting me into this fouty field in the first place), Dwight Edwards, and Lee Baldwin. Edwards, though an active reader and collector, hardly counted, in that he was and is the typical old time fan--interested in stf and fantasy and to hell with all the falderal of fandom. Baldwin lived some 90 miles from me, and our get-togethers were infrequent. For these reasons, it might be said that Rimel and I were two lone fen in the wilds of eastern Washington.

     Under such conditions, I went completely overboard on the slan center idea--I frankly was semi-starved for congenial associations, and in my rustic naivette honestly thought fen would be fun to live with. Now, however, I dwell in Los Angeles. I am almost constantly at the LASFS clubroom with the other fans and fannies; in addition I met most of the better Pacific coast fen on my trip down here. After having had the rather mixed pleasure of observing Genus Fanno in action over a period of two or three months, I am in the mood to do a complete about-face on my previous statements. A neurotic bunch of apes like we are should hide away individually in private padded cells, instead of harrowing each other's nerves with our utterly crapped up personalities. Harrumph!
     However, if a slan center were to be established, I have several revised ideas which I should like to spread before the privy council.
     First: Slan center, if it is to be in one locality, MUST be in Los Angeles. No one who has ever lived here would willingly live anywhere else. At least, I wouldn't; nor would any of the local fen I've gotten to know fairly well. Not meaning to pull a chamber of commerce on you people--but, aside from being a poor town for labor, LA has everything these other towns just wish they had.
     Second: The only way slan center could possibly succeed would be for it to be a straight commercial venture on the part of one person. For example, our landlord might buy or lease a cheap hotel (one of the upstairs kind with cheap shops underneath it), and rent the rooms to fen. If the fen acted up--kick 'em out the same as any other tenant. If they got behind in their rent--same thing. If there weren't enough fen, fill the remaining rooms with people, preferably grass widows in their late twenties with a penchant for spending their spare time in bed with the more virile fen. Or am I shocking someone? What I'm driving at, though, is simply that fen are totally incapable of managing a practical cooperative enterprise of any kind whatsoever---certainly not well enough to warrant any of us sinking our hard-earned cash in the project--and that our best bet is to move en masse into some existing hostelry or apartment house.
     (flip to page 8, willya?)

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FAN - DANGO Vol. I Spring 1944 No. 4 SOME FURTHER THOUGHTS ON SLAN CENTER When I originally set down some random thoughts on the Slan Center idea (FAN-DANGO #2) I was an isolated fan. The only fen I had met in the flesh were Duane Rimel (who is responsible for getting me into this fouty field in the first place), Dwight Edwards, and Lee Baldwin. Edwards, though an active reader and collector, hardly counted, in that he was and is the typical old time fan--interested in stf and fantasy and to hell with all the falderal of fandom. Baldwin lived some 90 miles from me, and our get-togethers were infrequent. For these reasons, it might be said that Rimel and I were two lone fen in the wilds of eastern Washington. Under such conditions, I went completely overboard on the slan center idea--I frankly was semi-starved for congenial associations, and in my rustic naivette honestly thought fen would be fun to live with. Now, however, I dwell in Los Angeles. I am almost constantly at the LASFS clubroom with the other fans and fannies; in addition I met most of the better Pacific coast fen on my trip down here. After having had the rather mixed pleasure of observing Genus Fanno in action over a period of two or three months, I am in the mood to do a complete about-face on my previous statements. A neurotic bunch of apes like we are should hide away individually in private padded cells, instead of harrowing each other's nerves with our utterly crapped up personalities. Harrumph! However, if a slan center were to be established, I have several revised ideas which I should like to spread before the privy council. First: Slan center, if it is to be in one locality, MUST be in Los Angeles. No one who has ever lived here would willingly live anywhere else. At least, I wouldn't; nor would any of the local fen I've gotten to know fairly well. Not meaning to pull a chamber of commerce on you people--but, aside from being a poor town for labor, LA has everything these other towns just wish they had. Second: The only way slan center could possibly succeed would be for it to be a straight commercial venture on the part of one person. For example, our landlord might buy or lease a cheap hotel (one of the upstairs kind with cheap shops underneath it), and rent the rooms to fen. If the fen acted up--kick 'em out the same as any other tenant. If they got behind in their rent--same thing. If there weren't enough fen, fill the remaining rooms with people, preferably grass widows in their late twenties with a penchant for spending their spare time in bed with the more virile fen. Or am I shocking someone? What I'm driving at, though, is simply that fen are totally incapable of managing a practical cooperative enterprise of any kind whatsoever---certainly not well enough to warrant any of us sinking our hard-earned cash in the project--and that our best bet is to move en masse into some existing hostelry or apartment house. (flip to page 8, willya?) -- 1 --