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Holz Science Fiction Society Club Notice - 04/30/93 -- Vol. 11, No. 44 MEETINGS UPCOMING: Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Holmdel 4N-509 Wednesdays at noon. _D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C 05/12 THOMAS THE RHYMER by Ellen Kushner (Fantasy in a Modern Vein) 06/02 RED MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson (Politics in Space Colonization) 06/23 CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG by Maureen McHugh (Non-European Futures) 07/14 SIGHT OF PROTEUS by Charles Sheffield (Human Metamorphosis) 08/04 Hugo Short Story Nominees 08/25 CONSIDER PHLEBAS by Iain Banks (Space Opera with a Knife Twist) 09/15 WORLD AT THE END OF TIME by Frederik Pohl (Modern Stapledonian Fiction) Outside events: 07/31 Deadline for Hugo Ballots to be postmarked The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call 201-933-2724 for details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society meets on the third Saturday of every month in Belleville; call 201-432-5965 for details. HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 holly!jetzt LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 holly!jrrt MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 quartet!lfl MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgpfs1!ecl All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted. 1. Hugo Factoid of the Week: Two hundred people have been nominated for the Hugo in the fiction categories, and sixty-one people have won (not counting this year). Next week: who has been nominated the most times in the fiction categories? [-ecl] THE MT VOID Page 2 2. David Richmont Financial Director St. Louis International Airport April 23, 1993 Dear MR. LEEPER, Our records show that October 3, 1992, you took TWA flight 863 which landed at St. Louis International Airport at 11:53 AM and connected to TWA flight 392 which departed at 2:17 PM that same day. This afforded you more than two hours to avail yourself of the hospitality of the St. Louis International Airport's clean restrooms, delightful snack bars, and courteous staff. We sincerely hope that your two-hour layover at our airport will be one of your happiest memories, MR. LEEPER. But I have to tell you that the running of a major international airport such as ours is an extremely costly undertaking. And let me assure you that behind every servile person you met are dozens of others, all dedicated to making sure your trip and every customer's trip is as pleasant as possible. Now it is time for you to show your gratitude. Your generous contribution will help us to provide top-quality service to you and to other travelers like yourself. Please use the handy coupon below to show your support. And we hope to be meeting your travel needs again in the near future because, MR. LEEPER, it is the support of people like you that makes our work a pleasure. Sincerely, David Richmont Financial Director St. Louis International Airport --------------------------------------------------------- Yes! Of course I have fond memories of St. Louis International Airport. Please accept my contribution for: ___$50 ___$100 ___$150 ___$250 MR. LEEPER AT&T--3D-441 MIDDLETOWN NJ 07748 Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 ...mtgzfs3!leeper BENNY & JOON A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1993 Mark R. Leeper Capsule review: Can one schizophrenic find love with another? _B_e_n_n_y & _J_o_o_n says yes if the world of normal people does not tear them apart. This is a film that will click with you or it won't. I did not click for me. Rating: 0 (-4 to +4). There is a sort of film that works really well for a very narrow audience and will leave almost everybody else wondering, "What was that all about?" It is a film with a narrow band of powerful appeal. One of the films that I thought really spoke to me was _H_a_r_o_l_d _a_n_d _M_a_u_d_e (1972). Other were _J_o_h_n_n_y _G_o_t _H_i_s _G_u_n (1971) and _K_n_i_g_h_t_r_i_d_e_r_s (1981). One that missed me entirely was _B_i_r_d_y (1984). I think I can see what others like about _B_i_r_d_y, but the film does not work very well for me. Another film that just does not do it for me is _B_e_n_n_y & _J_o_o_n. Benny (played by Aidan Quinn) has no time for a life of his own. Benny's life is split between his auto repair business and taking care of his sister Joon (played by Mary Stuart Masterson). Joon is ... well, Joon is somewhat different. Perhaps writer Barry Berman intended Joon to be schizophrenic, though it is never actually said that is the case. Whatever her problem is, she spends her table passionately painting, setting things on fire, placing emergency calls to Benny to pick up peanut butter, directing traffic with ping-pong paddles and snorkel--that sort of thing. Then Joon loses a poker game and for Benny to pay off, he has to take in a second person whose mental processes are different from the norm, Sam, the cousin of a friend. Sam (played by Johnny Depp) is barely literate but has patterned himself on Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. He dresses like Keaton and can even mimic Keaton's inventive style of seeing unconventional uses for everyday objects. The tension of the story comes from Joon's doctor wanting to institutionalize Joon, Benny wanting to keep Joon around, Joon wanting to keep Sam around, and Benny wanting to be rid of Sam. Where the story does not work for me is on the contrivance and in the view of mental illness. With the exception of short bouts of panic, Joon appears to be on a perpetual high. Sam's illness appears to make him a comic genius--though most, and for all I know, all, of his routines are borrowed from silent films. Sam's illness increases his creativity and the film arranges for the right props to be at the right place and time to be used. The film says that mental illness has its positive side and that like in _M_a_n_h_u_n_t_e_r and _T_h_e _S_i_l_e_n_c_e _o_f _t_h_e _L_a_m_b_s, only the mentally ill can understand the mentally ill. The film is an interesting attempt but I rate it only a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale. [Viewed at the Hazlet Multiplex Cinemas, Hazlet, NJ.] THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT ALMOST BLANK