Thirty six hours ago we were expecting 45 guests in a smaller room upstairs. After a phone call from Tony who then disappeared using the lame excuse that he had to operate on some poor soul in a critical condition, and a subsequent attack of the panics by me, here we are downstairs and numbering around 60 … a record for us and a sure sign that the Lee Falk Memorial Bengali Explorers Club is a force to be reckoned with … although in which sphere of human endeavour I'm not sure.

It is with pleasure that we welcome Daniel Zachariou and his entourage of superhero luminaries … artists, writers and actors … and we hope you all have an enjoyable and relaxing evening … a nice break from the freneticism of Comicfest. I must warn Veronica Taylor, the voice of Ash, that all the ankle biters here tonight are Pokémon fans and will probably monopolise her. Ditto Stephanie Nadolny, the voice from DragonballZ.

We welcome also those Members who have come from afar … particularly Anthony Gillies and his two sons … who have made the trip from Darwin to enjoy Comicfest this weekend.

I will break with our tradition and formerly introduce our Guest Speaker, notable Australian actor Tony Bonner. We are very fortunate to have Tony here tonight as any other person would have declined after the treatment he received when invited to dinner at my home. As he came down the drive, two police officers were leaving. Worry enough! Then, through a misunderstanding which I'm too embarrassed to explain, we spoke at cross purposes all evening and the whole disaster culminated with a brilliant attempt by my better half, Bronwyn, to burn the house down. Tony left a shattered man … and I thank him for turning up tonight.

We'll be giving away lots of stuff tonight, so listen for your Lucky Door Prize Number. And please remember that we are raising money for the Westmead Children's Hospital. After tonight we should have enough cash on hand to purchase a substantial piece of equipment so buy the Raffle Tickets (thanks to Dietmar for the latest Phantom Generations Print by Franz Kantor).

Enough formality. Please rise and join me in our loyal toast to Lee Falk.

...To Lee Falk.

Thankyou and enjoy!