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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 11/23/90 -- Vol. 9, No. 21
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158. MT meetings are in the cafeteria.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
12/05/90 LZ: EQUAL RITES or THE LIGHT FANTASTIC by Terry Pratchett
(Humorous SF)
01/09/91 LZ: BRAIN WAVE by Poul Anderson (Intelligence)
01/30/91 LZ: RITE OF PASSAGE by Alexei Panshin (Adolescence)
02/20/91 LZ: MARTIANS, GO HOME! by Frederic Brown (Social Satire)
03/13/91 LZ: TOM SWIFT by Victor Appleton II (Juvenile SF)
_D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C.
12/08/90 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: TBA
(phone 201-933-2724 for details) (Saturday)
12/15/90 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: Jim Frenkel
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 hocpa!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3B-301 949-4488 hotsc!tps
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-3346 mtunq!lfl
MT Librarian: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. I guess I'm a little confused over the use of the word
"official." First of all, it is not a word I tend to like.
Generally it is a word people tend to shy away from. (Sorry--"away
from which people tend to shy." That was for Miss Spaulding, my
high school sophomore English teacher. Is that the way you talk,
Miss Spaulding?) I mean you got a guy on the assembly line picking
up his paycheck and there is a little envelope in it and he says,
"Uh-oh, this looks 'official.'" He clearly is not happy and you
can tell by the use of the word "official." On the other hand,
when I get a piece of junk mail sent out bulk rate that says on it
"_O_f_f_i_c_i_a_l notification" I tend to throw it out, but it is clear
THE MT VOID Page 2
somebody thinks the word "official" demands some sort of respect.
Anyway, the usage becomes all the more mysterious in what I just
heard on Evelyn's radio station. A brand of bottled water is now
the "official water of the New York Marathon." Now I like water.
In my recent run around Southeast Asia, I discovered I liked water
a whole lot. After running around Malaysia and just pouring sweat
out of my back and all over my shirt I really liked water. One of
the people I was traveling with commented with awe and admiration,
"You're a _g_o_o_d sweater." I would take a long drag on my bottle of
water and think to myself, "Ah, a skillful blending of hydrogen and
oxygen in just the proportions I like." But that is it. That is
the water I like. Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. That one
gets first place, second place, third place, and honorable mention.
Its only serious competition is deuterium and as far as I am
concerned it isn't even in the running since it is radioactive and
also you wouldn't want to carry it around Southeast Asia because it
is too heavy.
But now H2O has competition. Someone else is claiming to be the
official water of the New York Marathon. I am not even sure what
that means. Do you get thrown out if you drink something else?
Are you disqualified for drinking the wrong water if you prefer
H2O? Water is something basic. Do other marathons have official
water? How long before someone starts selling tanks of SMOGGO, the
official air of the new York Marathon?
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper
A belief is not true because it is useful.
-- Henri Frederic Amiel