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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. If you're interested in going to Gothicfest 2007, tickets go on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, as well as ticketmaster.com, Wednesday, Aug. 1, at 10am.

This is a 21 and over event. For more information, visit www.gothicfest.com or www.myspace.com/gothicfest.

I just got these road trip sanity tips in my email today and since they compliment the cover story of the July 2007 issue of The Genre Traveler, I thought I'd pass the information along. Of course I've added my two bits to their tips, and edited out the blatant commercial they were pitching.

• Keep some snacks on hand to curb those “I’m hungry!” chants. Bring small quantities of a variety of food to minimize multiple rest stop breaks.
  [Editorial note: Avoid sugary snacks or you'll just have a bunch of hyped up kids in the car. Bring healthy snacks that don't need refrigeration, such as fruit (fresh or dried), trail mix, granola bars, etc.]
  
  


• Pack games that can be played on the road. Crossword puzzles, Soduku and other games that can be played with paper and pencil or have electronic versions are good choices.
  [Editorial note: Mad Libs is always a fun game and can involve the whole family.]
  
  


• Keep supplies on hand such as a first aid kit, a tire jack, spare tire, and jumper cables -- you never know when you’ll be in an emergency situation.
  
  


• Bring a frisbee, football, or baseball and mitt for the kids to play around with while you have to make gas or bathroom stops. This will give antsy legs a chance to stretch.

These tips were brought to you by Franklin, and, of course, edited by yours truly.

Harry Potter Wiki recently launched and already has more than 1,000 articles on almost everything imaginable from the Harry Potter books.

Created by Wikia, Inc., the leading provider of community resources for building and organizing free content on every topic, Harry Potter Wiki is a fully editable website created and run by fans of the popular series. Whether you're a wizard, witch or muggle, you are invited to visit, read and contribute to the wiki.

In addition to information about the books and character, the provides little-known details about the places, magical creatures and wizardly objects featured in the books, current Harry Potter news and details about the associated films and video games.

Maison d'Ailleurs, or the House of Elsewhere, is Europe's only public science-fiction museum. Created in 1976, when French sci-fi buff Pierre Versin donated his collection of tens of thousands of SF books to the Swiss spa town of Yverdon-les-Bains, just north of Lausanne, on the condition that it be made available for public viewing, the museum regularly hold two to three temporary exhibits a year. Here are the currently scheduled exhibits:

What: Entropia: The art of Christian Lorenz Scheurer
When: Now through Sept. 23, 2007
Swiss-born sci-fi artist Scheurer creates images of imaginary civilizations. His work "helps us discover new realms," says the museum's curator, Patrick Gyger. The exhibit includes 200 sketches and digital paintings and a quirky "stamp collection" from an imaginary planet, as well as the digital paintings and conceptual otherworlds he has created in pencil, collage and more traditional media for movie classics like The Matrix, The Day After Tomorrow, The Fifth Element and Final Fantasy.

What: A show on horror and fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft
When: October 2007

What: A new permanent wing dedicated to Jules Verne
When: Planned for 2008

For more information, visit www.ailleurs.ch.

As I reported in the July issue of The Genre Traveler, the "Back to the Future - The Ride" at Universal Studios Hollywood is going to be transformed into a Simpsons thrill ride due to open in Spring 2008. Therefore, this ride will be closing soon.

Yesterday, Universal Studios Hollywood announced that "Back to the Future - The Ride" will close when the park closes on Labor Day, Sept. 3, 2007.

Not to say anything bad about the Simpsons -- I guffaw each night to the shows re-runs -- but I'm really going to miss the Back to the Future ride. I've ridden many times, both sober and intoxicated. It is a hoot and a half regardless of your state of inebriation. In fact, this ride was often the reason I would go to the L.A. Dance-a-thon when I lived in the area eight years ago.

"Back to the Future - The Ride" was introduced in 1993 as a continuation of the Oscar-winning blockbuster Back to the Future film trilogy directed by Robert Zemeckis and executive produced by Steven Spielberg for Universal Pictures. Since that time, more than 61 million visitors have experienced this time-travel adventure ride.

To give the ride a proper send off (and, I'm sure, as a ploy to increase summer visitorship), Universal Studios Hollywood is giving people the opportunity to win a 1981 DeLorean. To learn more about winning the DeLorean, visit www.universalstudioshollywood.com or the theme park to register at specially-created Back to the Future kiosks.