🚀 go-pugleaf

SF-LOVERS PM Digest      Sunday, 24 May 1981      Volume 3 : Issue 130

Today's Topics:
         SF Fandom - Disclave Flyer,  SF Books - Cyber SF,
          SF Movies - Outland,  SF Topics - Children's TV
       (Galaxy Express and Rocky and Bullwinkle) & Anti-Sugar
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 21 May 1981 16:21:23-EDT
From: cjh at CCA-UNIX (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: cartoon

   As long as we're talking about the Tin Woodman and his origins, has
anyone else (besides the people \\known// to go to conventions) seen 
the flyer for this year's Disclave? It includes a cartoon by Alexis 
Gilliland (winner of last year's Fan Artist Hugo award). The Wizard 
(one of his stock figures, all straggly beard and warty nose) is 
counseling the Tin Woodman, "The First Law is for humans, Nick, and 
Fans are Slans." Nick, leaning on his ax, is obviously pleased.

------------------------------

Date: 24 May 1981 1616-PDT
From: OR.TOVEY at SU-SCORE
Subject: animal and magical robots, children's books

        The short story with the mechanical tiger is named 
"Tiger,Tiger".  For some magical animal robot possibilities, see
below.
        In answer to an old question about sentience, it is possible
that the "brain-eating" robots who are controlled from a central
computer in Harrison's The Pastel City fit the bill (lack individual
sentience).
        The magically animated statue/god that Conan meets is from the
story "The Bloodstained God" in Conan of Cimmeria.
        I need a better idea of what is wanted for magical robots.
(the following suggestions, again, are due to my wife):  It seems that
you don't want to allow organic (android-like) magical robots, because
if you do, many elves, dwarves, trolls, and zombies will fit the
classification.  For instance, the trolls in Lord of the Rings, magic
creatures in The Warlock in Spite of Himself, etc.etc. are magically
created beings.  However, this distinction is not an easy one to make.
For a classic example, consider the Pinocchio story (written by
Collodi in 1883).  Part way through the story, Pinocchio is a
magically animated toy.  But eventually, Pinocchio becomes a real live
flesh and blood boy.  So is Pinocchio a magic robot?  In Pygmalion,
Galatea transforms directly from statue to woman, without an
intermediate stage, so there is less of a problem here.
        I think the problem is that the power of magic is not so well
defined or categorized; if you can magically animate a statue, you can
probably change it to flesh and blood, too.
        Here is a small list of other magically animated toys.  For a
good discussion of this topic, see Chapter 9 of Animal Land, by
Margaret Blount (Avon Books, 1977), from which most of the following
derive.
        The Return of the Twelves (toy soldiers).
        Knight's Castle by Edward Eager (toy soldiers, dolls).
        The Little Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Anderson. (first
                story in which a doll talks back, according to Blount)
        The Magic City by E. Nesbit (a Toyland with dragons, lions,
                dachshunds, etc.)
        The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban (toy mice).
        Toytown by S.G. Hulme Beaman (wooden toys become lifelike).

        This message is getting too long, so I will save my remarks 
about Garner and Susan Cooper and LeGuin for another time.
                                        good reading,
                                                        --cat 

------------------------------

Date: 22 May 1981 17:40:40-PDT
From: ihnss!hobs at Berkeley
From: ucbvax!ihnss!hobs@BERKELEY(John Hobson)
Subject: Outland

             "'Outland' a spaced-out western bore"
                        by Gene Siskel
    Chicago Tribune, May 22,1981 Copywrite (c) Chicago Tribune

    The only significance to "Outland" is that it indicates just how 
dead the western movie really is.  That's because "Outland" is a 
western -- in spaceman's clothing.
    The executives at Ladd Productions, who spent a reported $15 
million on "Outland," obviously believe that for today's young 
moviegoing audience, chaps are out and silver nylon jumpsuits are in.
    "Outland" is sort of a cross between "High Noon" and "Alien."  The
time is the near future; the location is Con-Am 27, a huge mining
operation on Io, one of Jupiter's moons.  Sean Connery plays a federal
marshal newly assigned to Con-Am 27, which leads all other mines in
productivity -- and suicides.  Connery quickly realizes that there may
be a connection.
    This displeases Peter Boyle, who plays the gruff, sinister foreman
of the mine.
    "They work hard and they like to play hard," Boyle says of the 
workers he supervises.  "They like to be left alone."  So does Boyle.
    "Outland" is longer on production design than logic.  The film 
wants to look as good as "Alien," which was produced by the Ladd 
management team when they were all working at 20th Century-Fox.  But 
"Outland" looks less weird and authentic than "Alien."  It appears 
that some of the backgrounds are paintings.
    In terms of logic, the film has some crippling flaws.  If all it 
takes is a knockout punch to destroy the film's bad guy, then how bad
can he be?  Also, if "two of the best hit men" in the galaxy are out
to get you, you wouldn't think that they would be stupid enough to
assemble their rifles in front of a videotape camera one minute after
they land on Io.
    Only Sean Connery makes "Outland" worth watching.  He's a classic
movie star who can hold a film together simply through his personal
onscreen magnetism.
    Connery's character is loosely based on the Gary Cooper character
in "High Noon," but with one big difference.  Connery doesn't suffer
from upset stomaches.  Connery's Marshal O'Niel is a flatout hero for
the Reagan era.  Unfortunately, Connery doesn't smile enough to make
his character all that likeable.
    A nice surprise in "Outland" is the supporting character of a 
company nurse, played by Frances Sternhagen.  A variation on the 
hard-bitten Miss Kitty from "Gunsmoke," nurse Lazarus turns out to be
the film's most likeable character and, when push comes to shove, 
Connery's biggest ally.  The Ladd Production team, the producers of 
such woman-oriented films as "An Unmarried Woman," "Julia," and "Norma
Rae," continues to be the one Hollywood creative team that gives women
a fair shake.
    Despite Lazarus, "Outland" is often a bore as a thriller.  Its 
villains are obvious and stupid.  The space setting is pedestrian 
rather than dazzling."

Rating:  2 stars.

------------------------------

Date: 22 May 1981 2031-EDT
From: Nessus at MIT-EECS (Doug Alan)
Subject: Galaxy Express

     The Japanese animated movie "The Galaxy Express" (which was 
mentioned several issues ago) already is in the US.  I saw it several 
monthes ago on either HBO or The Movie Channel (I can't remember 
which).
     The animation and plot are very well done, but the science is 
sort of flakey.  Also I don't like the message it tried to present.  
It is sort of anti-technology, anti-machines.
     The story is about a kid whose mother is killed by the evil Count
Mekka who is hunting humans for pleasure.  The kid decides to get 
revenge and visit Count Mekka's Time Castle.  He gets a ticket for the
Galaxy Express, a space ship which is a facsimile of an antique 
passenger train, and adventures around the universe.  During his 
adventures he meets a lot of "Machine People" (people who have traded 
in their real body for a mechanical one, so that they can be stronger,
prettier, live forever, etc.).  Almost all the Machine People are mean
and nasty like Count Mekka.  The kid comes to the conclusion that 
anyone who gives up his human body loses his humanity.  So the kid 
goes on a quest to destroy all the Machine People, the factories that 
produce Machine bodies, and The Mechanization Center of the Universe.

                                Enjoy or don't,
                                Doug Alan

------------------------------

Date: 23 May 1981 1234-EDT
From: JHENDLER at BBNA
Subject: Rocket and the moose

Well, as long as Lauren brought it up, I can't avoid mention of my 
favorite Rocky and Bullwinkle line:


Official looking gentleman (showing identification):  Military
Intelligence,
       What do you say to that!

Rocket J. Squirrel:  A contradiction in terms.

--- p.s. didn't the kirwood derby make people smarter, not childlike.
As I remember their was a whole set of scenes of the Derby blowing
onto people's heads just as they made famous discoveries.

  Ve must have the Moose hairs for out gun sights!

  -jim 

------------------------------

Date: 23 May 1981 1147-PDT
From: Friedland@SUMEX-AIM
Subject: Rocky etc.

I agree wholeheartedly about the sophisticated wonderfulness of Rocky
and Bullwinkle.  However, Ernie and Floyd as the aliens??!!!!  As I am
sure hundreds of other people are writing at this very moment, it was
Gidney and Cloyd.

Peter 

------------------------------

Date: 22 May 1981 06:11:05-PDT
From: decvax!duke!unc!smb at Berkeley
Subject: Levo/dextro isomers in SF

I can recall three stories in which levo/dextro reversal played a
part.  They are "Technical Error", by Arther Clarke, which appeared in
his collection "Reach for Tomorrow"; Zelazny's "Doorways in the Sand";
and Spider Robinson's story "Mirror/rorriM off the Wall", in his
recent collection "Time Traveler's Strictly Cash".  (Actually, the
"rorriM" is supposed to read correctly from right to left, but I don't
know the escape code for "inverse video" on your terminals....)  The
latter two have foods with strange and wondrous tastes; all three
discuss the problem of nutrition.  In an afterword, Robinson
acknowledges that Zelazny used the taste gimmick first, but since he
claims that the stories are true, he has to conclude by wondering if
Zelazny has ever owned an unusual mirror.  (By the way, the mirror's
behavior depends on some of the properties of thiotimoline....)

                Steve Bellovin
                University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

------------------------------

End of SF-LOVERS Digest
***********************