From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!npois!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:CSVAX:sf-lovers Newsgroups: fa.sf-lovers Title: SF-LOVERS Digest V6 #41 Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8317 Posted: Wed Aug 18 12:22:34 1982 Received: Sat Aug 21 04:38:14 1982 >From SFL@SRI-CSL Wed Aug 18 09:00:08 1982 SF-LOVERS Digest Saturday, 14 Aug 1982 Volume 6 : Issue 41 Today's Topics: SF Books - Here's the Plot...What's the Title & Stanislaw Lem & Starcrossed, SF TV - Starlost, Random Topics - Violence in Movies, Humor - Genderless Video Games ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 12 Aug 1982 12:05:31-PDT From: jef at LBL-UNIX (Jef Poskanzer [rtsg]) Subject: Here's the plot, what's the title and where can I find it? The setting: a lonely navigation beacon on the Moon, a sort of 21st century lighthouse. The lone technician on duty there is out walking when he comes across a recent meteor crater. At the bottom is a bowling-ball sized rock, perfectly round. He brings the rock back into his station. As soon as he turns his back on it, it HATCHES! Soon he is battling a fast-growing, vacuum-breathing, INVISIBLE monster. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Aug 1982 1609-EDT From: Joseph A. Frisbie Subject: Lem again Sorry about that last message. It got sent by mistake (miserable escape key...) I thought I sent a message asking it not to appear, but I guess our fearless moderator didn't get that, c'est la vie. [ The message referred to originally appeared in volume 6, issue 37. -- Jim ] I would recommend reading the Cyberaid, and The Star Diaries. These are in my opinion, the best of Lem. The Cyberaid is the story of two "constructors" that try to out construct each other. It is broken up into a series of episodes. One example that I remember is when Turl (sp?) out builds colleague by constructing an "N" machine, which builds anything that begins with an "N". This works out great except that Nothing begins with "N". One of the most enjoyable features of these books, are the names, puns, and plays on words, both verbal and visual (pretty good for a translated work). Two other stories I read weren't quite as good, they tended to drag in spots, but they both had interesting premises. The first is Chain of Chance which is a detective story of sorts. I can't really say more with out ruining the ending. The other is The Futurological Congress. The protagonist (I can't remember his name) attends the annual futurological congress, where the hotel is attacked by terrorists of one brand or another. Pharmaceutical warfare is used either by the terrorist, or to quell the terrorists. For the rest of the story, you try to figure out what is real, and what is a hallucination. Some interesting ideas are presented, including how to improve the quality of life in a deteriorating world. If you like multiple levels of reality, you'd probably get a kick out of this one. The Investigation, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, and Tales of Pirx the Pilot, I found to be heavy-handed and slow moving. In The Investigation, corpses start moving around, and some official (I can't remember his name, I think he worked for Scotland Yard) is assigned to look into it. If I remember correctly, nothing is resolved in the end. Memoirs Found in a Bathtub has our protagonist wandering around what is left of the pentagon, or something equivalent. Everyone is a spy, even though no one has been outside the building for x years. He is charged with a secret mission, but he doesn't know what it is, and can't find his contact. This book is not worth reading. It is incredibly slow moving, and is reminiscent of Waiting for Godot. Tales of Pirx the pilot is a collection of four stories whose only connection with one another is the protagonist's name. If you liked the Chain of Chance, you might enjoy the last three stories, they all have the same sense of random events leading up to a seemingly sinister result. His latest book, Return from the Stars is all right, but not great. The hero arrives on earth ~150 years after going out a an trans-stellar expedition, to find every "beatrized" (sp?). The result is that everyone gets ill when they even think of a violence. Dangerous things like space exploration is out of the question needless to say. The novel tells the story of his adjustment. In summary, I liked the Cyberaid, and Star Diaries alot, Chain of Chance, The Futurological Congress, and Return from the Stars a little, and The Investigation, Tales of Pirx the Pilot, and Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. At his worst, Lem's books are deadly dull, and heavy-handed, at his best, they witty, satiric, and immensely entertaining. Happy reading, Joe ------------------------------ Date: 12 August 1982 20:36-EDT From: Charles F. Von Rospach Subject: SF TV: Starlost If you haven't read it by now, the book 'Starcrossed' by Ben Bova is about as close as Ben could come to writing his experiences as 'Science' advisor without being sued by various parties (there is a LOT of truth in the book, however, the truth is funny enough you won't believe that). The original Science Advisor and the person who developed the concept originally was Harlan Ellison (who is in Bova's book, BTW). He wrote an article on the whole Starlost Fiasco for Amazing stories magazine called 'Somehow, Toto, I Don't Think We are in Kansas anymore' which I can probably get you a date on if you need it. Starlost was a real great idea that was nicely butchered by a bunch of non-SF BEM men. It ranks with me about the same level as 'Plan Nine From Outer Space', that is, so terrible that it was funny, and funny because they were trying to be serious. chuck ------------------------------ Date: 12-Aug-82 11:10:24 PDT (Thursday) From: Mackey at PARC-MAXC Subject: SF TV: Starlost and Space Ark (?) and... I think I remember that show. It was about a family (father, son, and daughter) who are out camping and fall through a time-warp onto a planet with futuristic technology, and dinosaurs, but no civilization. There were some neat ideas in the story, like the Pylons that were communication/memory devices, and there were some interesting story ideas. But I gave up on it after awhile since I missed some episodes where important things happened, and it seemed to repeat itself after awhile (alot of saturday-morning kiddie stuff like people always yelling and running away from something). Does anyone remember Space Ark? I think that was the name of it. It was about a large spaceship with millions of people scattered through it like nations. The story centers on a group of people who are trying to find the damaged control center so the ship can go back on course and order will be restored. In the process, they meet all kinds of strange societies that have formed on the ship as the result of the disaster which also wrecked the control center. I recall reading that Harlan Ellison wrote several of the episodes (under the name Penguin?). It was done in video, and had several video effects. [ I am not sure what TV series you are referring to in the first paragraph, but the one referred to in the second is definitely the Starlost. -- Jim ] Going way back (over 10 years)...does anyone remember Fireball XL-5, Super Car, Stingray, or Thunderbirds? These were all British SF shows, with the characters being played by marionettes! They had action-packed stories, and good effects (though my memory may be a bit warped since I was much younger at the time). I even had a Fireball XL-5 lunchbox, and a toy Fireball XL-5. If only parents knew how much these would be worth today. These shows played in the S.F. Bay Area, and I'd be interested in hearing if they are still alive somewhere...and are as good as I remember. Too bad we didn't have VCRs back then. Kevin [ We have already had an EXTENSIVE discussion of these TV shows (and many others) in SF-LOVERS. These discussions appear in the following: volume 3, issues 117-120, 125-132, 134-136 USC-ECLB::BUG:SFLVRS.105 volume 3, issues 137-148, 150-155 USC-ECLB::BUG:SFLVRS.106 volume 4, issue 92 USC-ECLB::BUG:SFLVRS.110 volume 5, issue 1 USC-ECLB::BUG:SFLVRS.201 -- Jim ] ------------------------------ Date: 15 Aug 1982 0:12:37 EDT (Sunday) From: Winston Edmond Subject: Movie items The sequel to Ralph Bakshi's movie of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is scheduled for release around Christmas this year. "In nearly all the scenes in which he appears, Steven Spielberg's little extraterrestrial is portrayed by a $1.5-million automaton. However, in certain difficult sequences, such as the trick-or-treat expedition, E.T. was played by a 3-foot-7-inch actress inside a latex costume." -from Robert Massimilian, CineMedia Publications In London, the original six members of Monty Python (Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin) have begun shooting "The Meaning of Life", their first film in four years. -WBE ------------------------------ Date: 13 Aug 1982 1852-PDT From: William "Chops" Westfield Subject: Violence. A while ago, someone defended violence in movies by stating that violence is part of the real world, after all, and people should be exposed to it to make them ready for reality, or some such. No one has argued with this. I am about to. Most people will never be exposed to the type of violence that modern movies use so lavishly. Pain is real, death is real, but in general, most people will never see much in the way of "violence". You disagree ? Consider: in Blade Runner, the reviews object to things like the heros fingers being broken, and someones head being crushed. In Wolfen, which I watched on HBO, there is this great scene where you get to watch some persons head falling to the ground after it has been decapitated by one of the wolfish creatures. I won't even go into the type of violence depicted in "maniac" type horror movies like like Friday The 13th (today!). Is this type of violence really present in the lives of most people ? I think not. I was a gymnast and have seen people break arms, ankles, dislocated elbows, and such things. I've had a fair share of injuries myself. None of this is violence. Maybe someday there will be a war that I might have to fight in, and I will be unlucky enough to watch some of my friends being blown to little bits. This is violence, but it is obscured by a general atmosphere of pain. I am not likely to be treated to close up views of the various pieces as they leave the center of the explosion and live to remember it in horror myself, anyway. No one has objected much to this type of violence in old John Wayne movies or mash, and such. More likely I will be witness to a particularly gory car accident. This is unpleasant, but not really violence. Or maybe ill be mugged, beaten, robbed... This is still a far cry from having my brains slowly mashed by a robot type creature. The type of violence depicted in movies DOES NOT, in general happen in the real world. More people see it in the movies than will ever see it in reality. Maybe it is harmful, maybe not, but I find it objectionable, and "violence is real" is no excuse ! Bill Westfield ------------------------------ Date: 13 Aug 1982 at 0934-PDT From: chesley.tsca at SRI-Unix Subject: PACing it up Q: What do you call a pacman game given as a get well present? A: A sick's pac. ------------------------------ Date: Friday, 13 August 1982 12:22-PDT From: Jonathan Alan Solomon Subject: PacMan jokes What do MR. and MS. PAC use when they want to call someone? A PAC-TELefone --JSol p.s. some of you may not get this one. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Aug 1982 1729-PDT From: Henry W. Miller Subject: PACPuns Forgive me Fadder, for I have punned... -HWM ------------------------------ Date: 14 Aug 1982 1739-PDT From: Paul Asente Subject: Yet another video game joke What is the best remedy for headaches caused by reading too many silly Pac-man jokes??? An ice-PAC... (Enough, already!!!) [ Agreed. -- Jim ] ------------------------------ End of SF-LOVERS Digest ***********************