Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The title character is an alien resembling a Black man (albeit with somewhat irregular feet) who has crash-landed on Earth. He finds himself stranded in New York City and tries to find safe haven in Harlem. The plot is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the USA. It may be even more relevant today than it was when first released, especially when a couple of alien bounty hunters arrive with the intention of capturing him and deporting him back to his home planet. ■ Title — *The Brother from Another Planet* ■ Director — John Sayles ■ Cast — Joe Morton, Rosanna Carter, Ray Ramirez ■ Rating — R■ ©1984 \| 1h 48m \| Comedy\, Sci\-Fi ■ Watch it free with ads on Fawesome: https://fawesome.tv/movies/10640586/the-brother-from-another-planet ■ Watch it free with ads on Flixhouse: https://flixhouse.com/video/3362/the-brother-from-another-planet ■ Watch it free with ads on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/682142/the-brother-from-another-planet ■ Available free without ads to Kanopy subscribers (details below): https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/13820157 ■ Kanopy streaming service is available free to holders of DC library cards. DC libraries will issue cards to residents of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and other nearby areas. Visit any branch to obtain your card. Kanopy is also provided free to Loudoun County library card holders who live, work, or study in Loudoun County. ■ As with most of our online features, you can watch this one whenever you like. Members who watch at the scheduled time may enjoy exchanging comments with other members on this page. If you post a comment before the show, please avoid spoilers. Comments posted after the show may contain any content, but Oddball Cinema encourages members to always avoid spoilers unless there’s some particularly important details you need to mention. ■ Many of the movies on our online events from as far back as March 2020 are still available for viewing. However, titles sometimes move from one streaming service to another. If you find that the links on an old event no longer work, you can search for the current providers of any title here: https://justwatch.com

Every other Tuesday, join us for a quiz night about everything science! No matter what your expertise or flavor of STEM, there are questions for everyone, including engineering and map rounds! The event is free to participate. The winning team every week gets $25 and winner of the engineering round wins $15 to spend at City State Public House. Scores will be tallied from February through May and the highest scoring team of the season will also win a prize. [Check out our Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/science-trivia-showdown-season-1-tickets-1982234144687?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp)

Weekly Draft night in NW. We currently meet up at Franklin Hall near 14th and Florida. U Street Metro is the closest stop. I'll have packs but feel free to bring packs if you have them. Entry is $17 (you can bring Play Booster packs to lower the cost by $3.50). If it is a special set, it will be more.

**This talk has completely sold out in advance and no door tickets will be available.** [Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Course of the Appalachian Trail,”** on the fascinating past and uncertain future of a beloved wilderness trail and national park, with Mills Kelly, emeritus professor of history at George Mason University and author of *A Hiker’s History of the Appalachian Trail.* [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees, available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/appalachian-trail](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/appalachian-trail) .] Spring brings people flocking back to the Appalachian Trail, which for more than 100 years has provided opportunities to spend anywhere from a few hours to six months traversing the Appalachian Mountains. Stretching more than 2,000 miles across 14 states, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, it ranks among the most iconic long-distance hiking trails in the world. It and its associated national park are annually visited by nearly 17 million. Gear up for Earth Day—and perhaps some time on the trail yourself—by spending an evening with Mills Kelly, an expert on all things Appalachian Trail and is the author of two books and numerous articles on the trail’s history. We’ll start our scholarly journey by looking at the trail’s origins. First proposed by Benton MacKaye, a forester, in 1921 as a place for urban workers to get some fresh air and sunshine, the trail took 16 years to scout, map, and carve out of the mountains. The first version was woven together mostly from abandoned mountain roads, Indigenous people's paths, and highways. Drawing on research in archives up and down the length of the trail, Professor Mills will show us archival photographs and video clips spread across the decades of the trail’s history, and he'll let the voices of hikers themselves describe how the experience of hiking has changed over the decades. You’ll earn what hikers ate before the advent of freeze-dried backpacker meals and when and why thru-hiking became a thing. More profoundly, we’ll examine how innovations in gear changed the experiences of women on the trail, and how changing attitudes about race transformed the hiking community. Professor Mills will describe how the trail is maintained entirely by 33 volunteer clubs, including the D.C. area’s Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, founded in 1927 to help build it. Looking ahead, he’ll discuss how the trail’s long-term health as a recreational resources is being affected by declining federal support, overuse in some sections, and climate change. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: A 1928 photo of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club taking a break from its work (National Park Service / Public Domain).

This month's meeting (April) will be on Cat Country, by Lao She. This book deals with the author's thoughts on government and society based on his own life in pre-revolutionary China, and has an almost classic status among Lao's Chinese fans, but is still only starting to get recognition in the west. The book details an unlikely voyage to mars and the shocking discovery of cat-like martians with their own society. I am currently unable to find an official English language audiobook copy, which is unfortunate, but such is all too often my lot in life. Wish me well friends and comrades. Below is a link to one translator's commentary on working with Lao She's peculiar writing style in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3cRAsyGSrw LOCATION NOTE: This meeting is scheduled to take place at Micky's Soju House (8450 Baltimore National Pike unit 125, Ellicott City, MD 21043).

A Pathfinder Society adventure for 1st-2nd level characters, playable in 2-3 hours. During the exploration of an ancient Jistkan ruin in Katapesh, the automaton Star goes missing, leaving their archeologist companions worried for their safety. The head archeologist calls upon the Pathfinder Society for assistance, but warns the agents that arrive that the ruin is filled with dangerous creatures and traps and that they should be careful while exploring. A strange frozen automaton meets the Pathfinders on each floor, slowly pointing the way deeper and deeper into the ruin. Will they find Star? Or does the automaton have more malicious motives? Written by Adam Wright

Playtesting Agent and Battle-scale of the Zone-17 role-playing and miniatures game.

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 3rd- through 4th-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours. As the danger posed by the Wreck of the Returned increases and the enemies arrayed against the Starfinder Society grow bolder, First Seeker Sarmak dispatches a team to the Akitonian city of Maro to find Nima, a former member of a mercenary company called the Rust Wraiths who were among the first to explore the Wreck of the Returned. Nima has gone into hiding, as she’s being hunted by numerous foes allied with the Wreck, including nodocites, converted, and agents of the Functionary. If the PCs can find and protect Nima from their shared enemies, Nima can give the PCs valuable information on the Wreck of the Returned, including insight into the motives of the mysterious being at its heart: Elovai. This is an adventure in the ongoing Invasion's Edge metaplot. Written by Rigby Bendele.

Let's celebrate Brandon's birthday

[Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Doom and Dinosaurs,”** a look at how mass extinctions shaped the dinosaurs and what research on these events tells us about Earth life’s long-term prospects, with Ian Wilenzik, paleontologist and visiting assistant professor of biology at George Washington University. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-doom-and-dinosaurs](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-doom-and-dinosaurs) .] Pity the poor dinosaurs. They lacked both scientific research to help deal with potential environmental catastrophes and places where they could have a beer and discuss it. You, on the other hand, have the opportunity to come to Profs and Pints to hear a fascinating talk on the impact of mass extinctions on dinosaur evolution and what research on dinosaurs tells us about biodiversity and Earth’s current biodiversity crisis. Dr. Ian Wilenzik, who has studied and taught courses on dinosaur evolution, population spread, and extinction, will leave you with a greater appreciation of the resilience of life on earth and how we’re both the product and source of biologically catastrophic events. Many of us are familiar with how a big meteor impact about 66 million years ago wiped out the Earth’s dinosaur population, leaving us only with their feathered descendants, birds. Less well known is how the Earth actually has undergone five periods of mass extinction that wiped out nearly all life, and how dinosaurs arose from one and endured another—both caused by volcanic activity—before meeting their match in the third. To ground his discussion, Dr. Wilenzik will talk about how we study mass extinctions by looking for geologic evidence of volcanic activity, meteoric blasts, and other catastrophic activity and of gaps in the fossil record after them. He’ll also discuss what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, describing their distinct anatomical features. He’ll talk about how they and other forms of life evolved over long periods of time and were affected by extinction events. We’ll look at how the meteor-caused mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous paved the way for the rise of mammals and the emergence of primates, and, eventually, us. Looking ahead to future mass extinctions and what might survive them, we’ll talk about how that plant you forget to water might have the last laugh, as well as why crocodiles might be around a while. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: A *Triceratops* mounted skeleton at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History (Photo by Allie Caulfield / Wikimedia Commons).

Must sign-up on[ ](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neurodivergent-friendly-vision-board-meetup-tickets-198736953979)[Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neurodivergent-friendly-vision-board-meetup-tickets-1987369539792). Tickets are free for [Constellations](https://www.harringtonmatchmaking.com/constellations-membership) members. Led by Lisa from **Day/Shift Creative**, you’ll make a **vision board** — a collage of images and words that represent things you want in your life. We will provide **everything** you need: Magazines to look through Boards to build your collage Scissors, glue, and supplies You can go at your own pace. There is no right or wrong way to do this. You do not need to be “artistic.” The space is semi-private with long shared tables. There will be background noise and people around, so this may not be a good fit if you prefer a quiet, non-crowded environment. Must sign-up on[ ](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neurodivergent-friendly-vision-board-meetup-tickets-198736953979)[Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neurodivergent-friendly-vision-board-meetup-tickets-1987369539792). Tickets are free for [Constellations](https://www.harringtonmatchmaking.com/constellations-membership) members.

Private Group. Closed to the Public Knowing ourselves and understanding our abilities is the first step toward wielding our gifts with control and accuracy. In subsequent classes we will verify and hone our talents with activities and discussion. These are hands-on workshops and participation is expected. The goal of our series will be to develop expertise in areas of particular interest such as mediumship, channeling, divination, healing and, etc.. Our ultimate directions will be determined by class members as we evolve. I look forward to sharing and discovering with you. - Cynthia

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services) Sign up also accessible via [Transform Labs Luma](https://luma.com/55umjqta)

This month we’ll be reading Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Feel free to come even if you don’t finish the book!