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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 4/10/92 -- Vol. 10, No. 41
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
04/22 LZ: WONDERFUL LIFE by Stephen Jay Gould (Science non-fiction as a
source of ideas)
05/13 LZ: ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow (Books we heard are
very good)
_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.
04/11 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: Nicholas
Jainschigg (artist) (phone 201-933-2724 for details)
(Saturday)
04/18 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: Robert John Betancourt
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 hocpb!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1D-505A 908-834-1267 mtuxo!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 mtfme!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. Okay, I've been getting complaints from you guys again. I
guess I may have to cut subscription prices in half again if I
don't start delivering on some of my promises. We got a whole
bunch of people who subscribed to the MT VOID back when we
advertised ourselves as a leading source of ideas on how to stretch
your money further. That did not remain our image for long, of
course, but that was not my fault. Everything I told you was true.
It is true that millions of years of evolution have put an
efficient army of disease fighters in your bloodstream. And, yes,
it is true that the knowledge that you already have these blood
cells "on the payroll" means you can save big money on your food
bills. It is true that Americans waste millions of dollars each
year specifically choosing expensive foods that will not exercise
THE MT VOID Page 2
the body's natural defenses against disease. Every word I said
along those line was absolutely true. And just because one--and
only one-- member had a negative reaction eating something I
suggested hardly invalidates the money-saving power of my idea. I
see now that I promised AT&T and that deputation of doctors only
that I would not repeat that budget stretcher. And since some of
the rest of you are complaining you want more, well, here goes.
May.
That's right. May. The month of May can save you big money. It
can also give you a lot of hassle.
What am I talking about? I'm glad you asked. Most people need to
buy calendars each year. And when do you buy them? November and
December, right? These are the same months that your favorite
stores look like _W_h_e_r_e'_s _W_a_l_d_o? pages. Am I right? And then you
go out to buy calendars, desperate to have them by New Year, right?
And what is your selection? You pay $7, $10, maybe $12 for what is
essentially twelve photographs. Some claim to give you more. Some
are sixteen-month calendars with the additional months being the
September through December that have just passed. However, since
nobody sells you a calendar that ends with August, and since you
are the kind of person who buys calendars, you probably already
have calendars. An additional calendar for the last third of the
year is useless. It is all part of the American dream of selling
the public something it does not need.
If you are like me, you absolutely detest digging through those
piles of calendars of college-age young adults showing off their
glands and body parts. Repulsive, aren't they? Right!
And you end up paying big money for a calendar just so that when
the new year rolls around, you're covered. Then January 2 you go
out and see calendars slashed to half-price. Through the month of
January the price is cut again and again. By the end of the month
the selection is down somewhat, but you can now get what is left
for two or three dollars. If you are willing to not buy a calendar
until the end of January you can make a big savings. But who wants
to go through January without knowing the date? Well, this is
where May comes in. Don't throw out your old calendar; turn it
back to May. Leap year or no leap year, May and January have the
same number of days: 31. Leap year or no leap year, whatever day
January starts on, May started on in the previous year. That gives
you a whole month to look for cheap calendars. If need be you can
use the previous June for February. But the third week of January
is just about the best time to buy a calendar.
One suggestion, though: find a calendar with a good photo for May-
-it will be up longer than any other picture in the calendar.
THE MT VOID Page 3
(Sorry if this came too late to be used this year. All my budget
stretchers now have to be approved by the Board of Health and that
took time.)
2. Isaac Asimov died on April 6, 1992, of heart and kidney
failure. I will not list all of his 375 books here, but will say
that he was one of the first science fiction authors I can
remember reading, even before I realized it was he: I read all
the Lucky Starr books (written under the pseudonym of "Paul
French") back in junior high school. And of course I read the
Foundation trilogy (back when it was a trilogy!). The Old Guard is
passing away: first Campbell, then Heinlein, and now Asimov.
Luckily for all of us, their writings remain behind as a monument
to their influence on the field. [-ecl]
3. _E_n_t_e_r_t_a_i_n_m_e_n_t _W_e_e_k_l_y (number 112, April 3, 1992, page 10)
reports: "BOOKS: Cyberpunk writer William Gibson's next book,
_A_g_r_i_p_p_a (_A _B_o_o_k _o_f _t_h_e _D_e_a_d), will be available only on computer
disk--with a virus that will make it impossible to print on paper,
the author hopes. 'The whole piece is an investigation of the
nature of the ownership of information,' says Gibson, whose 1986
cult novel, _N_e_u_r_o_m_a_n_c_e_r, will also be published on disk--without
viruses--next year...."
Well, strictly speaking, it won't be a virus, but an attempt to
copyguard it. One report says that it will be a sort of "click-
the-mouse" to turn the page thing, and that once a page has been
turned, it is erased. According to Tom Maddox, it is aimed more at
the art market and is poetry. The package consists of a "bronze
booklike object" and include etchings and a diskette with the poem.
(Thanks to Barbara Cormack for sending the story along to me.)
[-ecl]
4. And finally, two corrections. First, a correction to last
week's MT VOID. The last line of Mark Leeper's commentary on the
Oscars should have read, "Given that, it is probably clear that
this was a candidate for Best Picture without being a candidate for
the Best Director nomination." And second, the issue that went out
this morning (labeled 4/3/92, Volume 10, Number 40) was an odd
mish-mash of last week's and this week's issue due to lack of
proof-reading. Please discard it; this is the real this week's
issue. [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper
Heretical views arise when the truth is uncertain, and
it is only when truth is uncertain that censorship is
invoked. ... [I]t is difficult to find anything
really certain outside the realm of pure mathematics
and facts of history and geography.
-- Bertrand Russell
THE REAL WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Peter Costello
Carroll & Graf, 1991, ISBN 0-88184-738-0, $19.95.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Evelyn C. Leeper
This book purports to be about the real-life crimes
investigated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, even though it
basically delivers on its promises, it is disappointing and
dissatisfying.
In order to flesh the book out to an acceptable length,
Costello was apparently forced to include many cases in which Conan
Doyle's participation was minimal, to say the least. (By the way, I
have yet to figure out if the second reference to Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle should be "Conan Doyle" or "Doyle.") Arranging for a medium to
hold a missing person's glove, or commenting in a letter on his
personal opinion of the Sacco and Vanzetti case, does not constitute
a high level of involvement.
Even in cases where Conan Doyle played a more important role,
Costello gives only the superficial details. He doesn't analyze
Conan Doyle's attitudes and thought processes, except to show links
to the Holmes stories. Instead, he spends time giving his own
opinion on the various cases. Given that Costello's credentials
seem to be more literary than forensic, this serves no purpose
except to annoy the reader who had hoped to understand more about
Conan Doyle. In particular, an analysis of Conan Doyle's logical,
down-to-earth detective versus Conan Doyle's own belief in
spiritualism would have been fascinating, but is barely touched on.
Even on the mechanical level this book is a disappointment.
There is no index, which makes it impossible to cross-reference
anything. (There is, however, an extensive bibliography.) And as
far as proof-reading goes, it seems to have gone entirely. Such a
mass of misspellings, mis-capitalizations ("Holmes" as "HOlmes"),
etc.--at least twice "separate" was spelled "seperate."
It sounded promising, but _T_h_e _R_e_a_l _W_o_r_l_d _o_f _S_h_e_r_l_o_c_k _H_o_l_m_e_s
fails to live up to its promise. Give this one a miss.
NEWSIES
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: The story of the 1899 newsboy
strike in New York City is told with about the same
liberty that _M_a_t_e_w_a_n took. At the same time it is
half-heartedly a musical. As a musical it is perhaps
a misfire, but the historical tale is worth seeing.
Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4).
It is New York City, 1899. Life is hard if you are a boy on
your own with no money. But if a boy is poor and needs work, he
could buy newspapers at a cent each and sell them on the street for
two cents a piece. You might earn a dollar a day that way. Or you
might not be able to sell what you have and end up losing money. A
really good newsie might get $50 a week. Joseph Pulitzer (played by
Robert Duvall) decides to raise the price to the newsboys by 10%.
Seeing their livelihood drying up, newsboys Jack Kelly and David
Jacobs (played by Christian Bale of _E_m_p_i_r_e _o_f _t_h_e _S_u_n and David
Moscow) decide to organize the New York City newsboys into a strike
against the local newspapers. Pulitzer, deciding he has a fight on
his hands, decides to play as dirty as he needs to win. _N_e_w_s_i_e_s is
the story of that strike.
Disney Studios tried something a little different with _N_e_w_s_i_e_s.
The historical film is currently at a low ebb since historical
education is also at a low ebb. For once more films being made are
set _a_f_t_e_r the 20th Century than _b_e_f_o_r_e. Still, Disney did make a
historical film about an 1899 newsboy strike. Then they tried to
aim it at both adults and children. Then on top of that they
decided to make it a musical. This is an idea that is either
audacious or nutty, depending on your point of view. So, does it
all work? Well, sort of. My impression of the trailer is that it
all sounded like a good idea except for making it a musical.
Certainly once I saw the film I would say that its biggest problem
is that it is a musical. The idea of a big pro-labor musical has a
nostalgic feel reminiscent of Broadway shows like _P_i_n_s _a_n_d _N_e_e_d_l_e_s.
This certainly is a more engaging theme for a musical than "I'm in
love" or "Let's put on a show" Like the vast majority of musicals.
The problem here is that this is only half-heartedly a musical.
There are only about six songs, so the viewer is generally thinking
straight drama when a character or group of characters starts acting
funny and with a jolt the viewer realizes they are going into a
song. It may well be that making this a musical was an afterthought
after Menken's success with _B_e_a_u_t_y _a_n_d _t_h_e _B_e_a_s_t. I noted without
minding that the film used Bale's and Moscow's real singing voices-
-if you really want to call them singing voices. David Fristrom, in
a review of the film, noted the dances were not very well filmed and
Newsies April 4, 1992 Page 2
he is probably right, thought I might not have picked up on it. I
did like the song "The World Will Know," which had almost some of
the force of _L_e_s _M_i_s_e_r_a_b_l_e_s. Incidentally, please note that the
name of Pulitzer's newspaper is "The New York World." The script
has some fun with that name; if you miss the name, you miss the
point of some of the word-play. When Pulitzer says, "When I created
the World..." it is intended as a subtle statement that Pulitzer is
a megalomaniac. Instead it sounds like he is certifiably insane.
As for the story of the strike, it has a minor Dickensian tone
crossed with obvious Disney touches. Visually the old New York was
created with perhaps too many obvious matte shots, but maybe in a
musical we expect a pat plot and make allowances for some of the
visuals being less than authentic-looking. In spite of the nits
that can be picked, there is enough substance to appreciate here. I
might not recommend _N_e_w_s_i_e_s but I rate it a high +1 on the -4 to +4
scale.
WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Occasionally very funny
dialogue is not enough to rescue a story about the
lives of two basketball hustlers who basically live
for the game. The story off the court is basically
pointless and has holes large enough to stuff a
basketball through. Rating: -1 (-4 to +4). (After
the review is a spoiler section listing plot
absurdities.)
Billy Hoyle (played by Woody Harrelson) is a natural
basketball player. The game is his whole life. And he has a
natural advantage. Billy is white and, as the title suggests,
everybody thinks only blacks can be good at basketball. One day
Billy hustles Sidney Dean (played by Welsey Snipes), who is also a
part-time hustler. Sidney suggests that the two of them join up as
a hustling team. Each needs money. Dean has a wife and son and a
semi-legal part-time job that does not pay enough. Hoyle is on the
run from two thugs because--are you ready for a twist?--he failed to
throw a game after he'd told some gamblers he would. Billy has a
girlfriend also, who spends her day memorizing trivia facts in the
hopes that someday she will be on _J_e_o_p_a_r_d_y. The hustle has Sidney
offering to play two-on-two playground basketball and his opponents
can choose any partner for Sidney they want. Sure enough, they
always pick the white guy with the stupid look on his face.
So what we have here is a black and white male bonding film.
We see in great detail how the two get along, how they occasionally
don't get along, and how basketball conquers all. We see how each
relates to "his woman." When things get dull the wise and wordly
Sidney gives Billy some fatherly advice like "listen to your woman."
And there is genuine pathos as we learn Billy's terrible secret that
being white, he just does not have the talent to slam-dunk the
basketball. (Spoiler: guess what happens in the climactic scene of
the film? And in slow motion, yet.)
_W_h_i_t_e _M_e_n _C_a_n'_t _J_u_m_p was written and directed by Ron Shelton.
Shelton previously did the nice _B_u_l_l _D_u_r_h_a_m and the very good _B_l_a_z_e.
While some of the basketball photography is okay, in terms of
dramatic tension it degenerates into the cliche of slow motion
photography. Only the rapid-fire insult-trashings on the court give
the film interest value. This one is skippable. I would give it a
-1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
=======================SPOILER=======================
White Men Cant Jump April 5, 1992 Page 2
Plot problems:
1. So what if a security guard for _J_e_o_p_a_r_d_y owes a favor? How
does that get a contestant on the show?
2. Why did just the right question categories show up on
_J_e_o_p_a_r_d_y? Another security guard favor? Not likely.
3. On _J_e_o_p_a_r_d_y you have to wait until a question is read before
you can hit the button.
4. No organized crime enforcer is stupid enough to fake having
killed someone to fulfill a contract. It is a really good way
to get yourself killed if anyone sees the victim still alive.
5. The bet is that you are to play against Sidney and one other
person of your choice. This guy over to your left owes you
money. On your right is your best friend since second grade.
Then there's the kid with the missing arm. And that one over
there can't dribble a basketball without tripping. There is a
seven-year-old watching behind the fence. And over there is a
tall, athletic white dude, somewhat nerdy, whom you've never
seen before. Which one _w_o_u_l_d_n'_t you pick? Ever? But if the
hustle doesn't work the whole film makes no sense.