@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society 07/03/26 -- Vol. 45, No. 1, Whole Number 2439
Table of Contents
My Reaction to America's 250th Anniversary (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
I feel about America's 250th anniversary the way Margot felt in Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day". [-ecl]
Mini Reviews, Part 19 (film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper):
I had purchased NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT a while ago, and LADIES FIRST just showed up on Netflix. So when the next STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION episode I had to watch was "Angel One". I realized I had to watch them as a set. (LADIES FIRST is based on a French film, JE NE SUIS PAS UN HOMME FACILE, which is turn was based on a short film, "Majorite opprimee".)
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION--"Angel One" (1988): The Enterprise goes to a planet where they are looking for survivors of a previous starship disaster. The planet is one of those "topsy-turvy/message" worlds "Star Trek" loves, in this case where women are in charge and men are basically servants and decoration. But there's a revolution brewing and the survivors are part of what's driving it
And in the end, everything works out, and everyone is enlightened.
LADIES FIRST (2026): This is newly on Netflix, and it's about a misogynistic executive who bangs his head on a pole, and ends up in world where women are in charge and men are basically servants and decoration. The solution for him is apparently to "get to the top" and that will take him back to his world.
This one is less understated, for example, Damien is groped by a stranger on the subway, and the whole "not-letting-[women/men]-talk-in- meetings" thing seems really overdone. (Maybe I've been lucky in my choice of employment.)
I personally think the emphasis on penis enhancements, testicle uplift bras, and everything associated with them is overdone, but that may be because I never paid a lot of attention to the above-the-waist parallels for women.
And in the end, everything works out, and everyone is enlightened.
NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT (2015): STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION--"Angel One" was a straightforward drama about gender-reversal with bits of comedy (Riker in a very feminine outfit). LADIES FIRST was a gender-reversal comedy with a underlying serious message, but the comedy is so overdone it makes the message look silly. NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT is not a gender-reversal comedy, but an alternate history in which virgin births started increasing in 1953, and non-virgin births decreasing.
This is done in the form of a documentary, with a lot of talking heads, and one of the main characters, Andrew, at 37 is the youngest male on Earth. He's employed as a servant, and one of her employers admits one reason he was hired was that as a man he was much cheaper than a woman. We hear a professor of Men's Studies, and a woman explaining how this caused the decline of the Abrahamic religions. (The latter made no sense, in that while the unique Virgin Birth was central to Christianity, it is not clear that Judaism or Islam were that invested in it. And in accordance with how parthenogenesis works, all the offspring of virgin births were female.
(The Abrahamic religions were replaced by a religion centered on Mother Nature.)
Part of this phenomenon was apparently women deciding to reject men and to reject their subservient roles in society. It is not clear why this would happen from the physiological changes.
Throughout the film were parallels to attitudes to homosexuality, or to gender, or to race. For example, in an echo of pre-Stonewall laws, men are not allowed to congregate in groups of more than two.
And in the end, everything works out, and everyone is enlightened. (Well, maybe not everyone.)
[-ecl]
THE EDGE OF KNOWLEDGE: UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF THE COSMOS by Lawrence Krauss (book review by Gregory Frederick):
Lawrence Krauss's THE EDGE OF KNOWLEDGE: UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF THE COSMOS is an ambitious and engaging exploration of some of the most profound questions facing modern science. Krauss focuses on the vast territory of the unknown; the mysteries that continue to challenge scientists and define the frontiers of research. The result is a thought-provoking book that combines scientific explanation, historical perspective, and philosophical reflection.
Krauss, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist, structures the book around major unanswered questions in fields ranging from cosmology and particle physics to biology and neuroscience. He examines mysteries such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the origin of the universe, the possibility of multiple universes, the emergence of life, and the nature of consciousness. Throughout the book, he emphasizes that despite extraordinary scientific advances, many of the most important questions about reality remain unresolved.
One of the book's most compelling themes is the idea that ignorance, when approached scientifically, is productive rather than discouraging. Krauss argues that science advances not by claiming certainty but by continually testing ideas and confronting unanswered questions. He reminds readers that many concepts that seem obvious today for example; the age of the Earth, the existence of galaxies beyond our own, or the structure of DNA, all were once mysteries. By placing today's unsolved problems in historical context, he demonstrates how scientific knowledge evolves through curiosity, skepticism, and evidence.
The chapters dealing with cosmology are particularly strong. Krauss provides a clear overview of how scientists have come to understand the age, composition, and evolution of the universe. He explains why dark matter and dark energy are among the greatest puzzles in modern physics, noting that together they appear to make up the vast majority of the universe, yet their true nature remains unknown. His discussion highlights both the remarkable success of modern cosmology and its significant limitations.
Equally fascinating are the sections that explore the origins of life and consciousness. Krauss examines current theories about how life may have emerged from nonliving matter and discusses the challenges scientists face in understanding consciousness and human awareness. Rather than offering speculative answers, he carefully distinguishes between established knowledge and ongoing research, helping readers appreciate the complexity of these subjects.
Krauss's writing style is generally accessible and conversational, making difficult scientific concepts understandable for non-specialists. He has a talent for explaining complicated ideas without oversimplifying them. However, some sections require careful reading, particularly when discussing advanced topics in theoretical physics.
In conclusion, The Edge of Knowledge is an enlightening and intellectually stimulating work that challenges readers to think beyond established facts and consider the unanswered questions that drive scientific progress. Lawrence Krauss succeeds in showing that the boundaries of human knowledge are not barriers but opportunities for exploration. For readers interested in cosmology, physics, biology, or the philosophy of science, this book provides a fascinating look at where our understanding ends and where future discoveries may begin. [-gf]
The Rest of July on TCM (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
And quite a line-up it is, with a 24-hour horror marathon on July 23-24, and more besides:
THURSDAY, July 23 6:00 AM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) 8:00 AM The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) 10:00 AM Kongo (1932) 11:30 AM Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) 1:00 PM Freaks (1932) 2:15 PM The Leopard Man (1943) 3:30 PM The Seventh Victim (1943) 5:00 PM The Mad Genius (1931) 6:30 PM Mad Love (1935) 8:00 PM The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) 9:30 PM The Mummy (1959) 11:15 PM Curse of the Demon (1958) FRIDAY, July 24 1:00 AM Cat People (1942) 2:15 AM The Curse of the Cat People (1944) 3:30 AM Isle of the Dead (1945) 4:45 AM Bedlam (1946) SUNDAY, July 26 2:30 AM Logan's Run (1975) 4:30 AM World Without End (1956) WEDNESDAY, July 29 7:15 AM Tarzan and His Mate (1934) 9:15 AM King Kong (1933) 11:00 AM I Walked with a Zombie (1943) 12:15 PM Freaks (1932) 5:15 PM House of Wax (1953) 6:45 PM The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) 10:15 PM Somewhere in Time (1980)
[-ecl]
"Have Some Madeira, M'dear" (letter of comment by Paul Dormer):
In response to Anonymous's comments on Noel Coward, zeugma, and "Have Some Madeira, M'dear" in the 06/26/26 issue of the MT VOID, Paul Dormer writes:
"Have Some Madeira, M'dear" is a song by comedy duo Flanders and Swann, whose song "I'm a Gnu" really amused me as a kid. The Hippopotamus song, "Mud, Glorious Mud", also appealed to me. They did a song called "The Slow Train" about the closure of railway branch lines which is strangely moving, and they did a song explaining the Second Law of Thermodynamics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPk0xgHqQ4M
[-pd]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
CALL ME ISHMAELLE by Xiaolu Guo (Grove Press, ISBN 978-0-802-16649-4) ties in with the films reviewed above: it's MOBY-DICK but with a female narrator, Ishmaelle. Ishmaelle disguises herself as a man, and is moderately successful, at least for a while.
MOBY-DICK is one of my favorite novels (see
I credit Guo for recognizing that for a woman to impersonate a man
in a society where privacy is at a minimum requires concealment of
not just urination and defecation, but of menstruation as well.
(Most of the societies which have little privacy also have little
bathing, which means that is less a problem.) Perhaps it is
because Guo is a woman, although it seems to be that the avoidance
of this topic has not been correlated to the authors' genders.
This definitely needed better proof-reading. The author (or
someone) decided to be accurate in the harpooner's race, so
instead of just "Maori", she typed it with a horizontal bar over
the 'a'. The problem is when it went through whatever computerized
type-setting they used, that "a with a bar over it" became "box
with an X in it". I guess they were spending so much time checking
the Chinese characters for the I Ching that they missed this
entirely. [-ecl]
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Quote of the Week:
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes
and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
--George Orwell, 1984