@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
10/10/03 -- Vol. 22, No. 15
Table of Contents
Torcon 3 Convention Report (announcement by Evelyn C. Leeper):
My convention report for Torcon 3, the 2003 World Science Fiction Convention, is available at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/torcon3.htm. [-ecl]
Why Do You Think They Call It Pop? (comments by Mark R. Leeper):
I really like strong drink. But I don't drink alcohol so I get my kicks another way. What I like is ginger beer. About the only brand commonly available in my area is Goya. My local grocery carries Goya ginger beer. I was kind of curious if Goya has any other sodas with some kick to them. I looked on the web and found an ad in Spanish listing some of their brands. Google would translate for me. Sure enough they seem to have another drink that sounds like it has even more kick. If you look at http://tinyurl.com/ksn0 you will see the flavors of their soda including "fragmentation hand grenade soda." Drinking that sounds like an experience. "Dwells" and "drain" do not sound like refreshing flavors, but I am interested in trying the "official held in low esteem" soda. [-mrl]
The Best Radio Drama Web Sites (comments by Mark R. Leeper):
Those of you who have read the MT VOID for a while know that I have a special interest in radio drama. This is born somewhat of convenience. When I work around the house I like to be entertained. Most tasks I do I can do with a portable cassette player (Walkman-style) and if I have drama on cassette it is a much more pleasurable experience. Cleaning and dusting is not nearly so much of a pain if your mind is off following Lamont Cranston on a case. Different people will record programs in different ways. I transfer the programs to audiotape via a jack in my PC.
An article on Old Time Radio I wrote for the MT VOID can be found at http://www.geocities.com/markleeper/voidradio.htm. As sort of a follow-up, I wanted to let people know what are the best Internet sites I have found for finding radio drama.
There are really two types of site. There is PC radio. These just broadcast 24 hours a day from what is usually a non-published schedule. The listener can sample it at random times or can just record an interval of time and then go back and choose what he likes. BBC7 is the exception in that it does publish its schedule a week in advance.
PC RADIO STATIONS PLAYING CONTINUOUS RADIO DRAMA
The first five are much the same as each other. Yesterday USA has more original programming and longer musical interludes. That is not to my taste, but the programs are good.
1. Treasure Trove ACB Radio: ACB is the American Council for the Blind. This site was established as entertainment for the blind, but I can imagine they have a lot of other listeners as well. It has a really good selection of old time radio including some BBC science fiction. You might want to also make a small contribution to the ACB.
http://acbradio.org/treasure-trove.html
2. The Shadow Zone: This site is a lot like Treasure Trove, nonstop old time radio.
3. Brando Classic Radio: A third similar old time radio station.
http://www.brandoclassicotr.com/otr4ever.asp
4. W.I.L.D.: A Vancouver station may have the best selection of the above.
http://members.shaw.ca/wildradio/
5. Yesterday USA: This station associated with a broadcast museum is a good source of old time radio, but it does it own original programming much of which is not all that interesting to me. There are long musical interludes, interviews, hosts talking, musical programs, etc. They do more children's programs than the others above. Some of their own programming is of very limited interest and can go on for hours, but it is worth checking.
http://www.yesterdayusa.com/streams.htm
6. BBC 7: BBC has established this all-entertainment PC radio station with rebroadcasts of their older programs. There is science fiction, mysteries, comedy, etc. every day. Usually it is in the same time slots. I think they always have a detective series and often they do Sherlock Holmes. Goon Shows show up frequently and this 1950s comedy program really has stood the test of time. People will laugh at a Goon Show who won't even smile at a Fibber McGee and Molly. Since BBC drama is so frequently better than much of what was done in the US for radio drama, certainly some of what BBC7 has is a welcome find. Finding BBC7 was a real prize. To play (and if it does not play there are links to Realplayer and Mediaplayer):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/bbc7.shtml
Today's Schedule (All times are in GMT):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listings/index.shtml
Fantasy and science fiction schedule:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/drama/7thdimension.shtml
(More next week.)
[-mrl] There are really two types of site. There is PC radio. These just broadcast 24 hours a day from what is usually a non-published schedule. The listener can sample it at random times or can just record an interval of time and then go back and choose what he likes. BBC7 is the exception in that it does publish its schedule a week in advance. PC RADIO STATIONS PLAYING CONTINUOUS RADIO DRAMA The first five are much the same as each other. Yesterday USA has more original programming and longer musical interludes. That is not to my taste, but the programs are good. 1. Treasure Trove ACB Radio: ACB is the American Council for the Blind. This site was established as entertainment for the blind, but I can imagine they have a lot of other listeners as well. It has a really good selection of old time radio including some BBC science fiction. You might want to also make a small contribution to the ACB. http://acbradio.org/treasure-trove.html 2. The Shadow Zone: This site is a lot like Treasure Trove, nonstop old time radio. http://theshadowzone.net 3. Brando Classic Radio: A third similar old time radio station. http://www.brandoclassicotr.com/otr4ever.asp 4. W.I.L.D.: A Vancouver station may have the best selection of the above. http://members.shaw.ca/wildradio/ 5.Yesterday USA: This station associated with a broadcast museum is a good source of old time radio, but it does it own original programming much of which is not all that interesting to me. There are long musical interludes, interviews, hosts talking, musical programs, etc. They do more children's programs than the others above. Some of their own programming is of very limited interest and can go on for hours, but it is worth checking. http://www.yesterdayusa.com/streams.htm 6. BBC 7: BBC has established this all-entertainment PC radio station with rebroadcasts of their older programs. There is science fiction, mysteries, comedy, etc. every day. Usually it is in the same time slots. I think they always have a detective series and often they do Sherlock Holmes. Goon Shows show up frequently and this 50s comedy program really has stood the test of time. People will laugh at a Goon Show who won't even smile at a Fibber McGee and Molly. Since BBC drama is so frequently better than much of what was done in the US for radio drama, certainly some of what BBC7 has is a welcome find. Finding BBC7 was a real prize. To play (and if it does not play there are links to Realplayer and Mediaplayer): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/bbc7.shtml Today's Schedule (All times are in GMT): http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listings/index.shtml Fantasy and science fiction schedule: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/drama/7thdimension.shtml (More next week.)
LUTHER (film review by Mark R. Leeper):
CAPSULE: This historical drama could be the basis of an excellent movie, but it isn't. It is the story of the small beginnings of a change that influences world history to the present day. Instead, the sweeping events are minimized and turned into a reverent church play. There is some valuable historical detail in the script, but Luther's philosophy is simplified and sanitized. The acting is flat and surprisingly uninvolving. Rating: 4 (0 to 10), 0 (-4 to +4)
Up until the 1990s I would have chosen as the best film I had ever seen Fred Zinnemann's A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. It is a film about philosophical and religious discourse told against the backdrop of great historic events. I looked forward then to seeing LUTHER, which potentially could have been a companion piece in the same mold. It had the discourse and even greater events, but it is not nearly so compelling a film. What it lacks is the writing, the acting, and most of the historical splendor. This is a film that is subdued when it could be rousing. It is drab when it could be exhilarating. The director, Eric Till, seems to feel the film must be compelling because the cause is so noble. It is hard to believe that this is the same Eric Till who twenty years earlier directed the powerful TV play "A Case of Libel."
Joseph Fiennes, the Shakespeare of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, plays Martin Luther. Luther is a very troubled Roman Catholic priest. He argues with his teachers and they are enough impressed they choose him to be taught to become a Doctor of Divinity. Luther's doubt revolves around his belief in a merciful God. But some high members of the Church find it profitable to preach that all are sinners in the hands of a wrathful God, threatening all with eternal burning in Hell. This belief so much helps the sale of indulgences, money given to the Church to bribe God. As is the custom of the day, while in Rome Luther purchases an indulgence to buy his deceased grandfather out of Purgatory and into Heaven. There he is disgusted at the whole concept of the priests selling a place in heaven for money. The Church finds this a moneymaking business and also profits by the sale of "authenticated" relics, another custom Luther abhors. He returns to his town of Wittenberg to mock the mercenary customs of the Church in his sermons. Then an indulgence preacher Johann Tetzel (Alfred Molina) arrives locally and with the avaricious fervor of today's televangelists Tetzel starts selling indulgences to Luther's parishioners. Luther decides it is time to go public with his anger. He takes his beliefs and turns them into the Ninety-five Theses, which he nails to the church door. This minor-seeming incident echoes across Europe and is the spark of the Protestant Reformation.
This really could be very compelling story, combining action and argument. But the direction robs the history of most of its drama. The acting is extremely flat. It reminds one of tableaux with one-sided arguments placed in characters' mouths. As Friedrich [known as Friedrich the Wise], Peter Ustinov gives just about his worst performance that I can remember, yet he has the best acting of the film. He acts and, as important, he reacts even if his expressions are exaggerated. Joseph Fiennes who occasionally reacts with pained looks comes in second and there is no third. All other performances seem wooden. Fiennes seems to have a Renaissance sort of face and looks good in historical films, but he needs direction. Most of the other characters are little more than speeches wearing robes, contrived speeches at that. The debate of ideas is never on a very high level. There is no mention of Luther's more controversial views like his arguments against social egalitarianism or his anti-Jewish stance. On the other hand we do see some of the history. We see, for example, why Luther's translation of the New Testament into German-language would so threaten the Church.
This is a story that could have been told with some historical grandeur, but Robert Fraisse's photography seems subdued in a modest Lutheran sort of way. The film never really attempts to be the feast for the eyes that A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS is. More reverent than engaging, this story of Martin Luther is preaching to the choir. It proselytizes when it should be showing the issues. Somehow it seems to minimize the events rather than pulls us into them. One ends up asking, "is that all there was to the Protestant Reformation?" I rate LUTHER a 4 on the 0 to 10 scale and a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale. [-mrl]
LUTHER (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Some random thoughts on the film LUTHER:
1) The film was done in that declamatory (stage theater) style that was popular in the 1940s, but has mostly gone out of style since then. It's not quite "Royal-Shakespeare-Company-Laurence- Olivier-Sir-John-Gielgud", but it's not method acting or Kenneth Branagh either.
2) It is very reverential--not surprisingly, since one of its backers was the Protestant Church of Germany. As such, it has a closing comment about how Martin Luther started the whole idea of religious freedom. Well, first of all, that's not true, and second of all, he wanted religious freedom within his own set of confines. In particular, he seemed to think that what he saw as the abuses of the Catholic Church was all was keeping the Jews from converting en masse to Christianity. When he discovered the Jews had other issues a bit more central, he turned on them.
3) Another strange aspect is that while we (including the Roman Catholic Church) now look on the claims made for indulgences as bogus, at least in the sense that buying an indulgence for a dead person can get them out of Purgatory faster, the Roman Catholic Church still has the practice of having masses said for dead people, presumably for the same function. (If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.) And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) is still promoting the notion of baptism by proxy for deceased ancestors. (They have, however, come out against the practice for people who are not ancestors, after taking a lot of flak when it was discovered that some over- zealous members were having Jewish victims of the Holocaust baptized by proxy--much to the distress of the actual relatives. Though the Mormons said that such baptism is always contingent on the recipient accepting it, they agreed to stop this particular variant.)
[After I wrote this, I asked a learned Catholic friend of mine about this. To summarize his answer: The Church still has the "Communion of Saints" (i.e., the ability of the faithful to help each other through prayer, irrespective of separation in time or space) as a central doctrine. But for one to benefit from this, one must be "reachable"--not spiritually dead--and the question remains as to whether this is possible after death. Also, before Vatican II, the Church talked about the possibility of a person having died in a "state of venial sin"--the right choice having been made before death, but with leftover "punishments owed", and the "help" had the effect of reducing the amount owed.]
4) And lastly, I would think that there would be ample material for an alternate history based on the idea that the Church accepted Luther's criticisms and reformed itself. Admittedly, some of his proposed changes--such as the abandonment of the sacrament of confession--would have been harder to incorporate, but that shouldn't stop a good author. [-ecl]
DISTANT (film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4)
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan produced, wrote, directed, and even wore the hat of cinematographer on this story of a successful Istanbul photographer Mahmut (played by Muzaffer Ozdemir) and his unemployed and less urbane cousin Yusuf (Emin Toprak, who died in a car accident shortly after finishing this film). Yusuf comes to Istanbul to look for work and stay with his cousin. He soon proves to be more than Mahmut bargained for. He comes to Istanbul expecting to find work on a ship, but has neither experience nor patience. Yusuf seems very little motivated and shows little interest in making himself someone that anyone would want to hire. If he can get work through nepotism, that is fine by him. Mahmut is less than willing to do much to help his unambitious cousin. Yusuf has the problem, but the focus of the film is eventually on Mahmut, his attitudes, and what they do to his relationships. Ceylan films the story in long slow takes, many of which are wordless. The film opens with a long take of a man endlessly walking across a snowy field and climbing a hill. These seem a tribute to Russian films by Tarkovsky, one of whose films the two characters will watch on television. Tarkovsky is not quite to Yusuf's taste and I am inclined to agree. My opinion is that very long takes in the style of Tarkovsky really do little to enhance the communication value of a film and are more a self-indulgence on the part of the director than a sound cinematic technique. DISTANT is a film that takes more than a little patience, but it is eventually rewarding. [-mrl]
GOOD BYE, DRAGON INN (film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Rating: -1 (-4 to +4)
Writer and director Tsai Ming-Liang's GOOD BYE, DRAGON INN is a short film of very long takes. It is a portrait on film of the big movie theater experience. We follow a woman who runs the theater and one customer in particular and show scenes from each of their evenings. The woman who maintains the theater walks around doing various chores. In the nearly empty theater people insist on crowding our hapless film-goer. It even happens in the restroom where people insist on using the urinals on either side of filmgoer. There might even be a little feel of a French "Mr. Hulot" film. One customer claims there are ghosts. This all sounds like it should be fairly entertaining, but Tsai Ming-liang has decided to shoot the film in very long takes, takes of four and five minutes. Our theater manager will walk down a long hallway, slowly limping, and long, long after the point has been made the static camera will continue to follow her. The film must have been shot with a tenth the camera setups of even a standard Chinese film. The result is a film that is agonizingly slow. The people in the theater are watching an epic set in the 15th century. That would have been a much preferable film to see. As far as I am concerned this was a good idea for a film ruined by the style. [-mrl]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
C. R. L. Fletcher & Rudyard Kipling's KIPLING'S POCKET HISTORY OF ENGLAND is an odd duck. The preface by the authors says, "This book is written for all boys and girls who are interested in Great Britain and her Empire," and it is clearly intended for a young audience. The writing is straightforward, the vocabulary relatively limited (compared to most histories), and facts are somewhat cleaned up. All gruesome details are omitted and anything that England or Britain did that might have been considered negative was either toned down or left out entirely. (For example, Edward I's expulsion of the Jews is omitted, and the only mention of Jews is how they were finally given the vote in 1853.)
And the prose is interspersed by poems about the various events, undoubtedly Kipling's contribution. One verse from "The Reeds of Runnymede" goes:
At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
Oh hear the reeds at Runnymede:
"You mustn't sell, delay, deny,
A freedman's right or liberty,
It wakes the stubborn Englishry,
We saw 'em roused at Runnymede!
But if the whole is somewhat sanitized, the last chapter's discussion of the Empire can only be called at best raging jingoism, and at worst outright racism. For example, they say, "In Canada we had really little difficulty in making good friends with our new French subjects, for they hated and feared the pushing Americans.... In Australia, we had nothing but a few miserable blacks, who could hardly use bows and arrows in fight." Referring to Africa, they say, "The natives everywhere welcome the mercy and justice of our rule...." And most egregious is their description of the Caribbean: "The population is mainly black, descended from slaves imported in previous centuries, of mixed black and white race; lazy, vicious and incapable of any serious improvement, or of work except under compulsion. In such a climate a few bananas will sustain the life of a negro quite sufficiently; why should he work to get more that this? He is quite happy and quite useless, and spends any extra wages which he may earn upon finery."
Well, what can I say? Clearly this history isn't suitable for children these days, and not useful as a history for anyone else. But as an example of cultural attitudes of its time (1911), it perhaps has something to say to us. [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Quote of the Week:
It is clear that thought is not free if the
profession of certain opinions makes it
impossible to earn a living.
-- Bertrand Russell
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