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blakes7-d Digest Volume 99 : Issue 156
Today's Topics:
[B7L] Banning SF (was Re:Curious things in Star One)
Voice operated computer drawbacks.
Re: [B7L] budgies/parakeets
[B7L] book & dystopia
[B7L] Re:Plan B, O ye Muses of filking..
[B7L] B7 Fanzines at MediaWest*Con
Re: [B7L] Re:Plan B, O ye Muses of filking..
[B7L] Re: Fan Q ballot
Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Re: [B7L] history
[B7L] Re: Man of Iron etc
[B7L] Re: Booze glorious booze
Re: [B7L] Re: Man of Iron etc
Re: [B7L] Radio Times
Re: [B7L] Re: Man of Iron etc
[B7L] Cult TV 98 pix
Re: [B7L] world beyond the hill (was book & dystopia) -- longish
Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Re: [B7L] Re: Fan Q ballot
Re: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One)
Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Re: [B7L] Banning SF (was Re:Curious things in Star One)
Re: [B7L] history
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 15:41:30 -0600
From: Penny Dreadful <egomoo@mail.geocities.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Banning SF (was Re:Curious things in Star One)
Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990504154130.007a9e70@mail.geocities.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
At 06:51 PM 5/4/99 +0100, Julia Jones wrote:
Kathryn Andersen writes
>>ObB7: D'you think the Federation would have banned SF along with
>>religion?
>
>If they've got any sense. According to Asimov's autobiography, SF
>writers were cheerfully criticising McCarthyism at a time when this was
>not a safe thing to do, and getting away with it because the mundanes
>didn't realise what this stuff was an allegory for.
I think if they've got any sense they'll permit that kind of literature,
just like our ruling classes do. The fact is that only a small segment of
any given human population are going to 'get' *any* kind of satire or
allegory. See the perennial phenomenon of people writing ironic letters to
the editor entitled 'A Modest Proposal For [Fill In The Controversial
Blank]', which are then followed by a flurry of 'Dear Sirs I Am Shocked And
Appalled' responses by people who take said 'Proposal' at face value. Or
consider that 'The Simpsons', although incredibly popular, has completely
failed to topple any of its targeted institutions over the past ten years.
It's in the best interests of a government or ruling institution, I think,
to permit satirists to satirize as long as the criticism is veiled enough
that the only people who get the joke are those who are *already* aware
of...well, anything much beyond the practicalities of day-to-day living.
Ie, not the hoi polloi, not the "mundanes". Because that allows these
potential dissidents to 'vent' in a manner harmless to the status quo.
"Free speech" -- within (ahem) reason...bread and soma...
"Euripides' play ['The Trojan Women'] is so effective a statement in
condemning war that it ran for over ten years in New York City during the
war in Vietnam; its message had as little effect then as did the original
production 2,500 years earlier."
--footnote in 'Classical Myth' by Barry B. Powell
--Penny "Ivory Tower Killer" Dreadful
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 23:06:57 +0100
From: "Jonathan" <jonathan@meanwhile.freeserve.co.uk>
To: <blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Voice operated computer drawbacks.
Message-ID: <015801be967a$6df98c40$e550883e@default>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
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Got this in my email today :
From an article in the Telegraph property section, 1 May, quoted in
Risks Digest 20.36:
"The other day, I got a call from a man complaining that the gulls
outside his window were interfering with his voice-activated computer.
Apparently, every time a seagull let out a loud squawk, his computer
would type up the word 'Aldershot' on the screen. After a while,
that kind of thing can drive you mad."
Make's you wonder how safe letting Zen drive the Liberator was.
Jonathan
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 16:19:02 PDT
From: "Joanne MacQueen" <j_macqueen@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] budgies/parakeets
Message-ID: <19990504231902.40360.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed;
>The first one to leave the nest box was Blake
Blake the budgerigar. <grin> Nice, Judith.
>who was found the day before yesterday looking very confused >(mindwiped?)
Well, being outside is an offence, now, isn't it? <smile>
Regards
Joanne
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 10:22:33 +1000
From: Sarah Berry <berrys@connexus.net.au>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] book & dystopia
Message-ID: <372F8F49.4F7CF569@connexus.net.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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> "The World Beyond The Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for
>Transcendence" by Alexi and Cory Panshin,
Kathryn, thanks for the name of the book and the summary. Do you have any more
details like year or publisher? It would be fascinating to see how B7 fit into
this theory. The difference in national pysches might help explain the
differences between what fans of different countries like about B7. So the more
complex the program the more likely it is to get a world-wide audience? Hmm,
doesn't always work like that...'Baywatch' doesn't seem to fit...
And I like Kevin's idea that the US is at a different stage to the UK/Europe,
that US SF is getting darker. I think you could add Buffy and Xena into that
'dark' category with the X Files...even 'The Practice'...So what comes after the
'darkness'?
I haven't answer for Kathryn's question about SF in the Federation, but Kevin
and Kathyrn made me wonder about whether SF ideas are common to all/most/many
cultures past and present? Are the gods of the Egpytians their version of SF?
What is SF anyway? Is it just the setting? Take away the Liberator and
couldn't you set B7 in some war torn area on Earth now?
Sarah Berry.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 09:59:36 +1000
From: Sarah Berry <berrys@connexus.net.au>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Re:Plan B, O ye Muses of filking..
Message-ID: <372F89E8.3FF0C618@connexus.net.au>
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Very funny Joanne. Sang it several times (performed Oliver! in primary school
and have never been able to forget it). I just wonder why you're putting ice
with your sauvignon...ah, you mean blanc not sab cav...and baileys and
claret...yuck, Vila must be desperate. Sarah Berry.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 01:55:25 EDT
From: Bizarro7@aol.com
To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se, space-city@world.std.com
Subject: [B7L] B7 Fanzines at MediaWest*Con
Message-ID: <4bda8541.2461374d@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Ashton Press will have a Dealer's Room table this year at MediaWest*Con in
Lansing, Michigan on Memorial Day Weekend. Annie wanted me to convey to
everyone that the B7 zines that she will be bringing for sale will include
SOUTHERN SEVEN #11, SOUTHERN SEVEN #12 and DOWN AND OUT.
There will be limited copies available of each so if you will be attending,
or if you have a friend who will be attending the convention and purchasing
zines for you, please notify Annie Wortham in advance and she will set aside
a copy of your requested zine(s) for you before the Dealer's Room doors open,
as in previous years.
Thanks!
Leah
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 23:06:42 PDT
From: "Joanne MacQueen" <j_macqueen@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re:Plan B, O ye Muses of filking..
Message-ID: <19990505060642.45314.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed;
Sarah wrote:
>Very funny Joanne. Sang it several times (performed Oliver! in >primary
>school and have never been able to forget it).
Me too. Last time I sang that one was 1982, when I was eleven - funny what
you remember and what you don't.
>I just wonder why you're putting ice with your sauvignon...ah, you >mean
>blanc not sab cav
To put it kindly, it's a somewhat strange filk subject for someone who
doesn't drink (never been able to persuade myself otherwise, I'm afraid).
>...and baileys and claret...yuck, Vila must be desperate.
I have heard of what I'm assured are worse ways to get drunk, but, yes, Vila
must be desperate! <grin>
Regards
Joanne
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 08:08:39 +0100
From: "Neil Faulkner" <N.Faulkner@tesco.net>
To: "lysator" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Re: Fan Q ballot
Message-ID: <000501be96c6$1b08b8c0$cd498cd4@default>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Just in case anyone on this list was planning to vote for Stadler Link in
this year's Fan Q's - please don't, your vote will be wasted. I've asked
for the zine to be pulled from the ballot.
Neil
------------------------------
Date: 05 May 1999 09:51:02 +0200
From: Calle Dybedahl <calle@lysator.liu.se>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Message-ID: <uswvyo0xax.fsf@sara.lysator.liu.se>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Sarah Berry <berrys@connexus.net.au> writes:
> Kathryn, thanks for the name of the book and the summary. Do you
> have any more details like year or publisher?
S:t Martin's Press, 1989, if I recall correctly. Seems to be pretty
thoroughly out of print.
--
Calle Dybedahl, Vasav. 82, S-177 52 Jaerfaella,SWEDEN | calle@lysator.liu.se
Please pay no attention to the panda in the fridge.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 03:58:45 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se (B7 List)
Subject: Re: [B7L] history
Message-ID: <d8fd4b03.24615435@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
In a message dated 99-05-04 02:00:57 EDT, you write:
<< Would the Federation in fact recognize the human
need for down time in order to stay productive? Or
would they simply not care? Or would the lower classes
be on an everyday schedule and only the Alphas have
days off; i.e. days off be used for rewards/status symbols? >>
My guess, the Federation would allow one or two days off a week. They would
blast over television, radio, and in schools that they were fair and
considerate to their people, unlike (fill in the blank) government, which
made all their citizens work nonstop. I'm sure the news would have "exposes"
of these other corrupt governments, and the Federation's plans to stop them.
The Federation probably set up and secretly controlled these other
governments, just to show people how nice they were in comparison.
If The Way Back is to be believed, most of the people were so numbed by all
the supressants in water and food, they would be too zonked out to complain
about not having enough free time.
History would go into two categories. BF, Before Federation, AF, After
Federation. BF would be very limited, most of the lessons tales of horror
about how dumb and violent people were before the Federation took over. I
wonder how they did the holidays, did B7 ever mention holidays? Or were the
holidays "Federation Day" and "Take Your Mutoid With You to Work Day" ?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 09:25:37 +0100
From: Steve Rogerson <steve.rogerson@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Man of Iron etc
Message-ID: <37300080.4A1ED09A@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Peter Borg said: "would it be acceptable for the
ethnic & social minorities in London to lynch the
person responsible for the bombs of whom they were the
target, causing hideous injuries and lifelong pain and
scarring to him?"
Sounds good to me.
--
cheers
Steve Rogerson
http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson
"What is it with you and holes?"
Xena to Gabrielle, Paradise Found
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 09:25:49 +0100
From: Steve Rogerson <steve.rogerson@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Booze glorious booze
Message-ID: <3730008C.1C6BD413@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
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Nice one Joanne, and I'm flattered to be your inspiration. I think you
should dedicate it to Oliver Reid, who died the way he lived his life.
--
cheers
Steve Rogerson
http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson
"What is it with you and holes?"
Xena to Gabrielle, Paradise Found
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 02:47:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Peter Borg <peter_borg@yahoo.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Man of Iron etc
Message-ID: <19990505094747.8366.rocketmail@web606.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
--- Steve Rogerson <steve.rogerson@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
wrote:
> Peter Borg said: "would it be acceptable for the
> ethnic & social minorities in London to lynch the
> person responsible for the bombs of whom they were
> the
> target, causing hideous injuries and lifelong pain
> and
> scarring to him?"
>
> Sounds good to me.
Please, tell me you're joking, or that this was said
in anger.
The fact that we might also take such little respect
for a person's life simply to gratify our feelings in
an act of retailation comes close to justifying his
first act. If we can do that to him, why shouldn't he
have been able to do the same to us?
I'm closer to the reality of the horror than you might
know, and I can't express how I feel regarding this. I
can tell you that I feel deep horror at the reaction
of some and their willingness to retaliate in such a
fashion.
Peter.
===
--
Peter Borg
peter_borg@yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 12:09:00 BST
From: "Tor Avon" <tor_avon@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Radio Times
Message-ID: <19990505110901.99474.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed;
>Has any-one seen p133 of next weeks Radio Times?
>I get the impression that Roland White had no knowledge of the original TV
>series until he found out that he had to review The Syndeton Experiment,
>and
>then he found someone in the office, who saw about two episodes when they
>first went out and asked them to tell him what it was all about. (Perhaps
>it
>was Barry Letts?)
I thought the man was a complete idiot. But it's still Radio Time's Nick
Griffiths who really p's me off.
Tor
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 05:23:44 -0600
From: Penny Dreadful <egomoo@mail.geocities.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Man of Iron etc
Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990505052344.007b0990@mail.geocities.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
At 02:47 AM 5/5/99 -0700, Peter Borg wrote:
>If we can do that to him, why shouldn't he
>have been able to do the same to us?
All's fair in love and war. Ain't life grand?
--Penny "ObB7? Whaddya mean ObB7? This is as ObB7 as it gets!" Dreadful
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 12:29:39 +0100
From: Steve Rogerson <steve.rogerson@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
To: Lysator <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>, Space City <space-city@world.std.com>
Subject: [B7L] Cult TV 98 pix
Message-ID: <37302BA2.DEBD3ADD@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
There are now some pix from Cult TV 98 on my web page.
--
cheers
Steve Rogerson
http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson
"What is it with you and holes?"
Xena to Gabrielle, Paradise Found
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 06:37:44 -0700
From: "Ann Basart" <abasart@dnai.com>
To: "Blake's7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] world beyond the hill (was book & dystopia) -- longish
Message-Id: <199905051337.GAA06668@oberon.dnai.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Dear B7'ers
For anyone who wants "The World Beyond the Hill," here are the current
listings from Bibliofind (www.bibliofind.com):
Panshin, Alexei and Cory: The World Beyond the Hill; Science Fiction and
the Quest for Transcendence ; Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, (1989). 1st
Edition, Very Good, Signed by Authors, uncorrected proof, Wraps, Literature
Signed Books (UR#:BOOKS3019705I) Offered for sale by Book Baron, Anaheim
at US$50.00
Panshin, Alexi and Cory: World Beyond the Hill, The ; Jeremy P. Tarcher
1989, 1st ed., review copy, vg, fair dj, the only book you regret is the
one you didn't buy., Rare Collectible science fiction (UR#:B01698-4)
Offered for sale by Wonder Book and Video at US$45.00
Panshin, Alexei And Cory: The World Beyond The Hill ; JEREMY P. TARCHER,
INC., 1st EDITION - AUTHORS SIGNATURES. hc., General # 5
(UR#:GENERAL004951I) Offered for sale by Seven Mountains Books at US$50.87
Panchin, Alexi & Cory: THE WORLD BEYOND THE HILL. ; 1st edition. Tarcher
1989. Fine proof copy. Offered for sale by Yesterday's Books, MI at
US$10.00
Panshin, Alexi & Cory: The World Beyond the Hill ; Tarcher Uncorrected
proof Offered for sale by Mark V. Ziesing Bookseller at US$10.00
Panshin, Alexei and Cory : THE WORLD BEYOND THE HILL ; #0122 Jeremy P.
Tarcher Inc. First ed. First Printing. 685 pgs. SIGNED by both Authors with
small insc. Dj corner clipped, chipped a bit with one 1/2 in. tear in back.
nice tight clean copy. Offered for sale by What Goes 'Round at US$48.00
Alexei & Cory: The World Beyond the Hill ; NY, Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1989 HB,
fine in VG dg, small tear at base dj, 1st edition, numbered, signed by both
authors 00048 Offered for sale by Parnassus on the Net at US$85.00
Panshin, Alexei & Cory: The World Beyond the Hill ; Jeremy P. Tarcher, Los
Angeles, 1989, First edition. Fine in fine dw. SIGNED by the Panshins.,
Science Fiction/Fantasy Science Fiction/Fantasy (UR#:693) Offered for
sale by The Dawn Treader Book Shop at US$50.00
Panshin, Alexi: The World Beyond the Hill ; Tarcher 1st ed, F in dj
Offered for sale by Mark V. Ziesing Bookseller at US$30.00
PANSHIN: WORLD BEYOND HILL ; Tarcher 874774365 Hard Cover For more
information please contact orders@wordplay.com Offered for sale by
Wordplay at US$9.95
Best, Ann
abasart@dnai.com
If the book you are looking for is not yet in Bibliofind, or if you would
like to be notified when other books with the same word(s) enter
Bibliofind, please post a want below.
Your Personal Want List
Author: Title: Any other word(s): Your Email Address:
Non-subscribers may post up to ten titles on their Personal Want Lists.
Bibliofind subscribers may post unlimited wants.
Click here for more information about wants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1999 exchange.com
----------
> From: Sarah Berry <berrys@connexus.net.au>
> To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
> Subject: [B7L] book & dystopia
> Date: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 5:22 PM
>
> > "The World Beyond The Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for
> >Transcendence" by Alexi and Cory Panshin,
>
> Kathryn, thanks for the name of the book and the summary. Do you have
any more
> details like year or publisher? It would be fascinating to see how B7
fit into
> this theory. The difference in national pysches might help explain the
> differences between what fans of different countries like about B7. So
the more
> complex the program the more likely it is to get a world-wide audience?
Hmm,
> doesn't always work like that...'Baywatch' doesn't seem to fit...
>
> And I like Kevin's idea that the US is at a different stage to the
UK/Europe,
> that US SF is getting darker. I think you could add Buffy and Xena into
that
> 'dark' category with the X Files...even 'The Practice'...So what comes
after the
> 'darkness'?
>
> I haven't answer for Kathryn's question about SF in the Federation, but
Kevin
> and Kathyrn made me wonder about whether SF ideas are common to
all/most/many
> cultures past and present? Are the gods of the Egpytians their version
of SF?
> What is SF anyway? Is it just the setting? Take away the Liberator and
> couldn't you set B7 in some war torn area on Earth now?
>
> Sarah Berry.
>
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 17:46:57 +0100
From: "kevin mahoney" <kevinpatrickmahoney@msn.com>
To: "Lysator List" <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Message-ID: <00aa01be9717$298cfc20$b24e95c1@MSNKevinPatrickMahoney>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>I haven't answer for Kathryn's question about SF in the Federation, but
Kevin
>and Kathyrn made me wonder about whether SF ideas are common to
all/most/many
>cultures past and present? Are the gods of the Egpytians their version of
SF?
>What is SF anyway? Is it just the setting? Take away the Liberator and
>couldn't you set B7 in some war torn area on Earth now?
I've just been reading a book called 'Parliament of Dreams', which is about
Babylon 5, and one of their comments was that B5 was very much like a Greek
epic, with the unreliable and belligerent Gods being the Vorlons and the
Shadows. I suppose B7 could be read as being much like the Greek epics such
as The Iliad in its human, tragical aspects. The Gods don't play much of a
role - B7 is much more of a human universe - more akin perhaps to Oedipus
Rex than the Iliad. My impression is that people of mystical religious
faiths in B7 are seen as deluded, such as the unfortunate inhabitants of
Cygnus Alpha.
Kevin Mahoney
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1082/subculture.html
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 09:42:11 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fan Q ballot
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-0505084211-c72Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
On Wed 05 May, Neil Faulkner wrote:
> Just in case anyone on this list was planning to vote for Stadler Link in
> this year's Fan Q's - please don't, your vote will be wasted. I've asked
> for the zine to be pulled from the ballot.
Why on Earth? It's a darn good zine! It wouldn't have got on the ballot in the
first place if at least three people hadn't asked for it to be included.
I think I was one of those who nominated it.
It's rare enough for non-US zines to get onto the ballot at all.
Knowing you, it has to be some kind of moral/philosopical objection rather than
any doubt about the zine's merit. So what's the problem?
Judith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7
Fanzines for Blake's 7 and many other fandoms, B7 Filk songs, pictures, news,
Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth Thomas, etc.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 12:52:55 -0600
From: Arkaroo <woollard@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re:drugs on Earth(was Star One)
Message-ID: <37309387.4ADF@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Penny Dreadful wrote:
> I remember reading a Monica Hughes novel(la?) (I'm sure Arkaroo will be
> able to give us the name) many many years ago wherein I believe the
> population-drugging procedure worked thusly:
> (a) drugs in a popular brand of breakfast cereal enhanced suggestibility
> (b) subliminal suggestions on popular television shows encouraged the
> populace to (among other things) keep eating said brand of breakfast cereal.
>
The novel was called 'The Tomorrow City'. A sentient computer is in
charge of all utilities and governmental duties, and it decides that the
best way to make a dandy utopia is to keep the populace lightly toasted,
through the methods Penny mentioned. Naturally, a group of plucky
youngsters conspire to overthrow it. I seem to remember a poodle coming
to a tragic end, but I read it a looong time ago. It was probably
written in the early eighties or before.
Just as in 'The Way Back', the city was sealed and self-contained, and
the populace were 'discouraged' from going outside -- I don't think much
mention was made of the world outside their city-state. Ah, Monica
Hughes, definitely one of the top young-adult SF writers out there, with
a societal outlook reminiscent of Chris Boucher. Too bad she never wrote
for B7.
Hmm, I seem to remember another novel by her set in a similar domed
city, I think it was called 'Beckoning Lights'. Very grim little tome.
-Arkaroo
**********************************************************************
The little scamps! It's the oldest trick in the book: capture your
ship,turn it into a planet, then explore a macro universe in a laundry
basket. How could you fall for an old scam like that? - Holly
**********************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 19:38:09 +1000
From: Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Message-ID: <19990505193809.A665@welkin.apana.org.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Wed, May 05, 1999 at 09:51:02AM +0200, Calle Dybedahl wrote:
> Sarah Berry <berrys@connexus.net.au> writes:
>
> > Kathryn, thanks for the name of the book and the summary. Do you
> > have any more details like year or publisher?
>
> S:t Martin's Press, 1989, if I recall correctly. Seems to be pretty
> thoroughly out of print.
Yes, but one can look for it in libraries or second-hand.
The copy I read was leant to me by a friend, and I trawled the
Advanced Book Exchange to try to find a reasonably priced copy.
There's one on hold for me now, I hope they hold it long enough for my
snail mail to get there.
Most of the copies I saw on the Advanced Book Exchange
<http://www.abebooks.com/> were, unfortunately, expensive
first-editions for about $US 50 each! I wasn't *that* desperate.
Kathryn Andersen
--
_--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
/ \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat
\_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h"
v |
------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere
Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 19:58:44 +1000
From: Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] book & dystopia
Message-ID: <19990505195844.B665@welkin.apana.org.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Wed, May 05, 1999 at 10:22:33AM +1000, Sarah Berry wrote:
> > "The World Beyond The Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for
> >Transcendence" by Alexi and Cory Panshin,
> Kathryn, thanks for the name of the book and the summary. Do you have
> any more details like year or publisher?
1989. Can't remember publisher.
> It would be fascinating to
> see how B7 fit into this theory. The difference in national pysches
> might help explain the differences between what fans of different
> countries like about B7.
The difference in national psyches was only a minor part of the book,
though.
> So the more complex the program the more
> likely it is to get a world-wide audience? Hmm, doesn't always work
> like that...'Baywatch' doesn't seem to fit...
Lowest common demominator?
> And I like Kevin's idea that the US is at a different stage to the
> UK/Europe, that US SF is getting darker. I think you could add Buffy
> and Xena into that 'dark' category with the X Files...even 'The
> Practice'...So what comes after the 'darkness'?
I think it's a reflection of the times, basically.
> I haven't answer for Kathryn's question about SF in the Federation,
> but Kevin and Kathyrn made me wonder about whether SF ideas are common
> to all/most/many cultures past and present? Are the gods of the
> Egpytians their version of SF?
Well, the major theme of the book is that SF is modern myth. A
corrollory of that is that the nature of SF has changed as society has
changed. I found it fascinating both as a history of SF and a history
of Western thought. A quick overview, anyway.
> What is SF anyway? Is it just the setting? Take away the Liberator
> and couldn't you set B7 in some war torn area on Earth now?
Well, some people *do* argue that Blake's 7 isn't SF. What is SF?
Ask any three different SF fans and you'll get three different
definitions. Ask a Hollywood producer and you'll get another one, ask
an English professor he'll define it as "crap", and in the same breath
declare that "Brave New World" isn't SF.
Kathryn Andersen
--
_--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
/ \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat
\_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h"
v |
------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere
Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 20:01:21 +0100
From: Julia Jones <julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Cc: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Banning SF (was Re:Curious things in Star One)
Message-ID: <XIwlmMABWJM3EwXa@jajones.demon.co.uk>
In message <3.0.6.32.19990504154130.007a9e70@mail.geocities.com>, Penny
Dreadful <egomoo@mail.geocities.com> writes
>See the perennial phenomenon of people writing ironic letters to
>the editor entitled 'A Modest Proposal For [Fill In The Controversial
>Blank]', which are then followed by a flurry of 'Dear Sirs I Am Shocked And
>Appalled' responses by people who take said 'Proposal' at face value.
And the original Modest Proposal is still getting that sort of
treatment. Apparently it is taken at face value by a lot of earnest
young Irish students who triumphantly proclaim it as an example of the
wickedness of the English.
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 16:14:19 -0700
From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] history
Message-ID: <19980314.161420.10310.0.Rilliara@juno.com>
On Tue, 4 May 1999 07:55:23 +0100 Julia Jones
<julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk> writes:
>In message <372E8CD7.FF9043BC@ptinet.net>, mistral@ptinet.net writes
>>Would the Federation in fact recognize the human
>>need for down time in order to stay productive? Or
>>would they simply not care?
>
>Given that most societies have to date (at least where we know about
>it), I can't really see the Federation ignoring it, although they
>certainly wouldn't call it the Sabbath.
When the Roman historian Tacitus wrote a fairly anti-Semitic history of
the Jews, one of his complaints was the Sabbath. He claimed it showed
inherent laziness to have every 7th day off. While my knowledge of
ancient Rome is a little spotty, what I know about the life of an upper
class Roman makes this sound a tad hypocritical. Perhaps he was upset
that the Sabbath was supposed to apply to everyone, even slaves. But
regular days off don't seem to have been a universal.
Tacitus also thought it was appalling the Jews had outlawed infanticide.
Anyone think the Federation would have liked his stuff?
Ellynne
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End of blakes7-d Digest V99 Issue #156
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