Note

     If you read Dotty’s Dimensions, Volume 2, Issue 1 online, you will notice an off centered place holder that was supposed to be an illustration of city buildings. This was old clip art used in Microsoft’s Word product of 1997-2003. The only part of the text missing is a section of the first two lines of the opening paragraph, and that pretty much gave a greeting for the new year of 2001, plus I also mentioned it was the first anniversary of publishing Dotty’s Dimensions. Therefore, you haven’t missed much. The rest of the text is readable. 

Philcon 2025

      Friday, November 21, 2025: As luck would have it, I lost my voice a few days ago, just in time for Philcon! Anyway, I did attend, and I set up a table promoting the local space club that I belonged to: Philadelphia Space Interest Group (PSIG) via flyers. I also put on the table older issues of Ad Astra—the magazine for the National Space Society (NSS). Even though our local space club was no longer a chapter for the NSS, I have remained a member of the main NSS organization. Like I’ve said in other Philcon reports, Philcon or the Philadelphia Science Fiction (SF) Conference (con) has been a yearly SF con that included several different tracks of programs: science, media SF, and literary SF, as well as gaming, filk music (putting new lyrics to popular songs), SF fandom, costuming, art, etc. This has been presented by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS). They also included a writing workshop, exhibits and other fixed functions: art show, con suite, dealers’ room, fan tables, and a gaming gallery. Then, this all took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. For 2025, I mostly stayed at our PSIG fan table, except for going to two events that day. First, I visited 1) The Con Suite. As in other years, the con committee offered plenty of snack foods, soft drinks, and chances to converse with other SF fans near windows over looking Route 70. Next, I attended an event, 2) the Opening Ceremonies and the PSFS Meeting. Here I saw on stage the con chairmen, Todd Dashoff, introduce the president of the PSFS, Hector Cruz. In addition, I noticed other people on stage: the Principal Speaker and guest of honor (GOH), author Charles E. Gannon; Art GOH, Sara Felix; Musical GOH, Adam Stemple, and others. Somebody mentioned that it was the 89th anniversary for Philcon and the 90th anniversary for the PSFS, before Todd Dashoff gave awards to others: the Frank R. Paul Awards for the best cover art in a magazine and another award for the best book cover. (Frank R. Paul was the first GOH at the first World Science Fiction Convention [Worldcon] in 1939 in New York City.) Then the winners of the Young Writers Contest received their awards. (The two categories included middle school, grades 5 through 8, and high school, grades 9 through 12.) Finally, Charles E. Gannon read a portion from a book that he wrote called This Broken World. 

     Saturday, November, 22, 2025: On Philcon’s busiest day, I started that day attending the 3) Art Show. As in other years, around 2/3rds of the art displayed fantasy themes, including some abstract art, and the rest presented SF and space art, especially astronomy. About 2/3rds of the art showed paintings & drawings, and the others exhibited different mediums: jewelry, sculptures, and crochet & knit items, as well as quilted items, pottery, and so on. The displayed art also included many tiaras and other artwork, both fine and decorative, that Sara Felix made. After this, I went to the following panel: 4) Analytical AIs’ Value to Science. At this panel, Ed the Engineer (Bishop), Catherine Asaro, Anna Kishina, and Zach Be said that although in the arts of writing & drawing, AI has been soulless, nevertheless, for the different sciences, AI has proven to be useful. If a computer did in minutes what it took humans hours to do, AI could do it faster. Would it take over for humans in science? Most of the panel doubted it. 

     Saturday Night: After I changed for the evening, I went to another panel: 5) Space Colony Design and Development where Catherine Asaro, Dr. Jim Prego, Earl Bennett (the president of PSIG), Ed the Engineer, and John Ashmead made us realize that a lot of thought had to go into a space colony. A colony in space would have more control in its environment compared to a colony on a planet, and they mentioned past space stations in fact & fiction, as well as past space colonies in SF. For the most part, the best way to start would be in Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) and the moon before heading out farther past LEO and Mars. Of course, sending out robots first would be the safest way before sending humans. Afterward, the big event for the night became 6) the Masquerade. All I could say was for the good news, about 50% of the costumers presented SF costumes, and the rest wore fantasy costumes. Meanwhile, the bad news was that there were only six entrees in the masquerade. I still think that if there isn’t at least 10 entrees, instead of having a masquerade contest, then have a casual “roving” masquerade. Why bother setting up all that technical equipment for so few costumes? Turn it into a masquerade party.

     Sunday, November 23, 2025: I made a beeline for the 7) Dealers’ Room. As in other years, about half of the dealers sold reading materials of books, magazines, and comic books. The rest sold other merchandise: artworks, jewelry, and games, as well as toys, bookmarks, etc. A final event for me was going to this panel: 8) Colonizing Mars. There have been many SF stories about setting up colonies on the Red Planet, but how practical would it be? Therefore, Dr. Inge Heyer, Earl Bennett, Dr. Jim Prego, and Frank Wu mentioned the hurdles involved in living there: shielding the ship and the habitats against radiation., microbes that could absorb radiation, what humans have to do for their bodies when they travel on the way to Mars in no gravity, and adjusting to 1/3 gravity on Mars. Mars could be more of a challenge because communications with Earth would take longer compared to the moon and LEO. Somebody mentioned sending robots first to set up the habitats and grow crops for humans. Then on the way to Mars, rotate the ships for humans to have from 1/3 G to one G in gravity. The biggest problem to getting this started was MONEY! Overall, building and living in a colony on Mars would be a lot more complex than people years ago thought it would be.         

       

King of Prussia Mall, PA

     Wednesday July 9, 2025: There has been an “edge city” about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, called “King of Prussia,” PA. It was originally named after the King of Prussia Inn, dating back to the 1700s. It has been currently known for its large shopping mall, the King of Prussia Mall, 160 North Gulph Road, King of Prussia, PA (610-265-5727). This has been the fourth-largest shopping mall in the USA, and it contained around 450 stores on three floors—including six anchor stores. It has also been the biggest money making mall in the Philadelphia area. For years, I noticed that this mall’s retail gave Center City Philly’s retail a run for its money, but nowadays, it could surpass Center City. The first part of the mall, The Plaza, opened in 1963, and the second part, The Court, opened in 1981. In 1995, both malls were owned by the same company, and a pedestrian bridge and walkway were added connecting both sections of the mall. For 2016, a new walkway on the third level, called “The Connector,” enclosed that part of the mall inside. Therefore, customers could now stay inside to walk from one section of the mall to the other. I have been to this mall a few times, and this has been the first time I saw The Connector. Because I have toured most of the mall in past visits, on the date above, I had lunch in the main food court, and later, walked through The Connector. This area included some very high-end stores where if I had to ask the price, I most likely couldn’t afford it, but it was interesting to glance around. The same applied to some of the anchor stores. Except for Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's, all of the other anchor stores I have seen in malls closer to me in New Jersey. I also saw Primark recently at Willow Grove Mall. (Primark is a budget store.) With a few exceptions, many of the regular mall stores have also been in malls closer to home. In King of Prussia Mall, however, there has been more upscale stores than any mall in the Philly area. (Cherry Hill Mall comes in second.) Anyway, this mall does have plenty of mid-priced stores and a few budget stores, but the majority of retail businesses have been upscale. Just the same, I do recommend a visit here, but wear your most comfortable walking shoes because this mall is huge in this place of glass and marble. You will be glad that you did!

   

Willow Grove Park Mall

     Wednesday, June 11, 2025: The last few times I was at the Willow Grove Park Mall, 2500 West Moreland Road, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania (215-657-6000) was in 1997 and ‘98 when I went to see a certain celebrity. During my two times there, I only met the famous person in a store, and then I ate at the food court. This particular mall used to be the sight of Willow Grove (amusement) Park from 1896 to 1975. Afterward, the developers built the current mall and opened it in 1982. In 2015, I saw a fake version of this mall in the Sony Studios atrium, Culver City, California (the former MGM Studios). In the 2000s TV show, The Goldbergs, whenever there was a scene that took place in the Willow Grove Mall, it was filmed at the storefronts and pizza place in the Sony’s atrium lobby. Therefore, I finally decided it was time to go take a tour of the real mall. What I first noticed were several cars parked outside, and inside, there were a number of people in the mall. Then I learned that Willow Grove Park Mall has been the third-most profitable shopping mall in the Philadelphia area after the King of Prussia Mall, King of Prussia, PA, and Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. After I toured this mall, I now know why this mall has been doing so well: different stores selling different kinds of merchandise, not just clothing; different price ranges from budget to moderate to upscale; and there were other things to do besides shopping: eating in the food court and a few different restaurants, as well as a two story arcade that also included several video games, pinball, virtual reality, bowling, golf, laser tag, a few amusement rides, etc. This place alone could keep one interested for a few hours! Meanwhile, the mall also provided, for the price of a ticket, a carousel and a few amusement rides for children. As for the stores, I saw four anchor department stores along with over 130 smaller stores of the usual brands that have been found in most malls, as well as a few stores unique to this mall. In addition to clothing, shoes, and accessories for men, women, and children, I also glanced at stores selling beauty products, housewares, gifts, toys, electronics, etc. Between the stores and entertainment, there is something for almost everyone.  

   

My Publication Links

My website hasn't been working too well recently, 

  so here I'll reinstate those features
  that it had after it ran for twenty years.

HOME  from my old web site

PUBLICATIONS from my old website at tripod

  SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
   - The Preface         1999 (in 5 parts) 
   - Overseas              2001 (in 5 parts)
   - Closer To Home   2008

  DOTTY'S DIMENSIONS PUBLICATIONS (2000-2006)
       2000    Volume 1:  Issue 1- Issue 2- Issue 3- Issue 4
       2001    Volume 2:  Issue 1- Issue 2- Issue 3- Issue 4
       2002    Volume 3:  Issue 1- Issue 2- Issue 3- Issue 4
       2003    Volume 4:  Issue 1- Issue 2- Issue 3- Issue 4
       2004    Volume 5:  Issue 1- Issue 2- Issue 3- Issue 4
       2005,6 Volume 6:  Issue 1- Issue 2- Issue 3- Issue 4

   DOTTY'S DIMENSIONS CONTINUES
   -2006 Issue 1, Issue 2    -2007 Issue 3, Issue 4
   -2008 Issue 5, Issue 6    -2009 Issue 7, Issue 8 
   -2010 Issue 9, Issue 10  -2011 Issue 11, Issue 12

   MY CAPITAL TIME - 2006,  2007,  2008, 

   MOSTLY MATINEE TIME - 2009,  2010, 2010/2011

   THE STATE I'M IN  -2006 Issue 1  -2007 Issue 2  -2008 Issue 3
                                   -2009 Issue 4  -2010 Issue 5  -2011 Issue 6

   THE COLUMN SERIES
   -2012  Issue #01, Issue #02
   -2013  Issue #03, Issue #04
   -2014  Issue #05, Issue #06
   -2015  Issue #07, Issue #08
   -2016  Issue #09, Issue #10
   -2017  Issue #11, Issue #12
   -2018  Issue #13, Issue #14
   -2019  Issue #15, Issue #16

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My Blog

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Trouble with Tripod

As long as Tripod is currently unavailable to me for my website access, you can access my blog, but if you do want to read any of my earlier publications on my regular website, just send me a private message via Facebook, and give me your email address in that message and what issue you want.

Meanwhile, I’ll list what I have available:

1) The Preface—an abridged version of my misbegotten life. 

2) Overseas—my favorite places overseas as of the early 2000s.

3) Closer to Home—my favorite places in New Jersey; Philadelphia; New York City; and Washington, DC as of the early 2000s.

4) Between 2000 through 2005, I published Dotty’s Dimensions, a six volume, quarterly newsletter about the places I visited and the events I attended.

5) Dotty’s Dimensions Continues—a twice yearly newsletter about the places I’ve visited and events attended from 2006 to 2011.

6) My Capital Time—places I visited in Washington, DC in 2006, ‘07, and ‘08.

7) Mostly Matinee Time—I wrote about three films each year that I saw in NYC and a live show from Philly in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

8 ) The State I’m--12 places I visited each year in NJ from 2006 to 2012.

9) the Column Series—places I visited from 2012 through 2019.

10) As of 2020, I strictly wrote for my Dotty’s Dimensions Blog. 

My Publication Photos

    HOME PAGE PHOTOS

    SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS

   - The Preface         1999 (in 5 parts) 
   - Overseas              2001 (in 5 parts)
   - Closer To Home   2008

   MY CAPITAL TIME - 2006, 2007, 2008

    MOSTLY MATINEE TIME -2009,  2010, 2010/11

   THE STATE I'M IN  -2006 Issue #1, 2007 Issue #2, 2008 Issue #3,
                                           2009 Issue #4, 2010 Issue #5, 2011 Issue #6

   THE COLUMN SERIES
   -2012  Issue #01, Issue #02
   -2013  Issue #03, Issue #04
   -2014  Issue #05, Issue #06
   -2015  Issue #07, Issue #08
   -2016  Issue #09, Issue #10
   -2017  Issue #11, Issue #12
   -2018  Issue #13, Issue #14
   -2019  Issue #15, Issue #16

   PHOTO ALBUMS
   1. Original photo album
   2. Personal photo gallery