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SF-LOVERS Digest V6 #121 wrap-up issue [message #10403] Wed, 08 August 2012 00:31
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!sf-lovers
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.543
Posted: Fri Dec 31 06:49:37 1982
Received: Sat Jan  1 02:32:14 1983

>From SFL@SRI-CSL  Fri Dec 31 06:40:09 1982
Reply-To: SF-LOVERS at SRI-CSL
To: SF-LOVERS@SRI-CSL


SF-LOVERS Digest         Friday, 31 Dec 1982      Volume 6 : Issue 121

Today's Topics:
    Misc  - filk, puns in SF, Nathan Brazil's death toll, tribbles,
	    best fanzine, bookstores, Lucasfilm device, Gilliand's
	    latest, comics list is born, Childhood's End, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 27 Dec 1982 11:58:34-EST
From: csin!cjh at CCA-UNIX
Subject: "filk"

   Unfortunately, the FANCYCLOPEDIA is severely dated, not to say
having many errors even in its own time (e.g. its explanation of the
development and exploitation of STEAM, which Lee Hoffman (who was
involved) corrects in IN AND OUT OF \QUANDRY/ (edited by yhos)).
"Filk" is not used as an abbreviation for "filksong"; it's either a
transitive verb (meaning very similar to "parody") or an abbreviation
for "filksing" ("The filk last night was getting \very/ -ose, so I
crashed.") (It has also been used as an adjective with malapropish
intent, e.g. "It were very filk out last night.")

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

Date: Mon 27 Dec 82 13:38:58-EST
From: Bob Krovetz 
Subject: puns in SF

I have recently finished the hugo-winning story "Riders of the Purple
Wage" by Philip Jose Farmer.  The story is full of puns, and it got me
wondering about what other SF stories are especially punny.  The
following ones come to mind:

The Flying Sorcerers by Larry Niven and David Gerrold
Callahans Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson
Time Travelers, Stricly Cash by Spider Robinson
The Magic of Xanth series by Piers Anthony
A Loint of Paw by Isaac Asimov (in "Asimov's Mysteries")
The Ferdinand Feghoot series that used to be in F&SF (a collection
of these was published entitled (I think) "The Compleat Feghoot")

In addition, I remember reading a story by Spider Robinson (I think
it was in Analog) which had an absolutely TERRIBLE pun regarding
P.J. Farmer's Riverworld series.  Does anyone know the reference?

I'm interested in works that either have a lot of puns or in which
the point of the story rests on a pun (as in A Loint of Paw).

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

Date: 15 Dec 82 10:17:52-PST (Wed)
From: decvax!sultan!dag at Ucb-C70
Subject: Re: Nathan Brazil's Death Toll

In reply to the comment that Nathan Brazil had topped anyone else in 
death toll:

=~ Nathan Brazil did not "kill" all of the non-wellworld inhabitants.
He altered (eliminated) the equation in which they existed.  This did 
not eliminate their souls, though.  When the well was repaired and the
equations re-established, the souls found themselves in new 
exsistances.  I believe that they even remembered what they had been 
previously.  This was done in order to prevent the universe from being
irrevocably destroyed.  Even with this in mind, he was reluctant to do
it, whereas Tarkin and Vader enjoyed (or seemed to enjoy) what they
were up to.  You don't see Vader running away from those who want him
to destroy the rebel alliance.  ~=

Consider though, one "other" that has not been mentioned...  Gypsy!
He shows all of the important attributes of a Jedi.  Like Obie-Wan he 
is able to make others forget that he is there and make them do things
they would otherwise not do.  I will not say what his connection is
with the universe so as not to spoil it for those who have not yet
read the Chalker "Wellworld" series, but it is much the same as the
force.  And he already knows Obie!

                                        Just entering my 2.8 cents
worth,

                                        Daniel Glasser
                                        ...!decvax!sultan!dag

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

Date: 17 Dec 82 12:31:06-PST (Fri)
From: harpo!ihnp4!ixn5c!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!mcdaniel at Ucb-C70
Subject: Re: tribbles, best fanzine, bookstores, - (nf)

Moonstone's is at Pennsylvania Avenue and 22nd street NW. Smack dab
next to Washington Circle and about 2 blocks from the Foggy
Bottom-George Washington University subway stop. A really excellent
place.

                                  Tim McDaniel
                                  (. . . pur-ee!uiucdcs!mcdaniel)

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

Date: 22 Dec 82 12:43:02-PST (Wed)
From: harpo!eagle!mhuxt!mhuxa!mhuxh!mhuxm!pyuxjj!rlr at Ucb-C70
Subject: re:  Lucasfilms device to impose speech on musical instrument

Sounds a lot like an ordinary vocoder (NOT vocoRder) to me.

A vocoder is a device (invented, by the way, at Bell Labs circa 1935)
which imposes the audio spectrum of one sound onto another sound.
What it does is to 1) analyze the spectrum of a sound (usually human
speech) and 2) use this derived spectrum (really the set of amplitudes
measured at a broad band of frequency ranges) to control the level of
a series of bandpass filters through which a second sound is passed.
(You can think of these bandpass filters as a sophisticated version of
an audio equalizer with a large number of sliders, where the position
of the sliders changes over time based on the audio spectra of a
person's speech.)  Simply put, it imposes the characteristics of one
sound onto another, and can thus make virtually any sound with a broad
enough spectrum and long enough duration sound like someone speaking.
It is an extremely common musical/audio device, used by groups like
Kraftwerk and (in a more SF-related vein) by the people who brought
you Cattlecar Fascistica.  The "voice" of the Cylon warriors ("By your
command") was generated by imposing a human voice onto a sustained
buzzer-like sound that does not waver in pitch or volume.  This 
technique should not be confused with genuine computer speech
synthesis, although it is often used to pass for the real thing (esp.
in movies/TV).  There is nothing unusual about Lucasfilm having such a
device.

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

Date: 12/28/82 1255-EDT
From: THOKAR at LL
Subject: Gilliland's latest

   ``The Pirates  of Rosinante'',  the  third book of  the Rosinante
series by Alexis  Gilliland,  continues in the same  superb style of
the previous two.  The author's only novel length works to date tell
the story of an O'Neil Colony, Mundito(small world) Rosinante, circa
2040  and  its  struggle  for   survival  against  budget  cutbacks,
ecological crisis,   and multi-national-corporate  and international
politics.

   Rosinante  is a  world  populated by  its  constuction crew  plus
several  thousand  deported,  mostly  male,   Texan  collage-student
rioters;  an equal number of Korean female immigrants that Japan was
getting rid of, and several sentient computers,  the most intriguing
members of  the community.    The computers  have achieved  "person"
statis by the legal fiction of incorpating themselves.  Truly unique
characters.

   In book one,  ``The Revolution from Rosinante'',  the mundito and
its two sister colonies are being built by a construction firm owned
by Charles Cantrell  for a multi-corporation venture.   Due to world
recession,   the corporations  plan to  default on  the projects  to
minimize losses.   One mundito, in mid-construction, is destroyed by
rioting,   unpaid construction  workers.   Another  has barely  been
started.  Only  Rosinante is habitable.    Thus,  burdened  with the
outcast  Texans and  Koreans,  Rosinante  decides its  only hope  to
recoup its losses is to go it alone.

   Book two deals  with Rosinante's break from earth.    It adds new
players to the  game and focuses on  the problems of creating  a new
national culture.   The lead computer,   Corporate Skaskash,  in its
personification of Bogart  from ``Casablanca'',  is the  "brains" of
outfit.

   In the latest book Cantrell, governor of the new nation, works to
defend his  coloney from  the Japanese  Space Navy,   who have  been
pirating industrial production.   The  most straight-foreward action
book  of the  three,  it  offers a  host of  technical solutions  to
Rosinante's  political  problems.    A fast-paced  read  and  richly
enjoyable.

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

Date: 28 Dec 1982 1245-PST
From: Henry W. Miller 
Subject: A new list is borne...

        A new list is being formed:

        COMICS-LOVERS@SRI-NIC

        This list will attempt to cover all aspects of
of the comics, a subsection that has been sorely neglected
by SF-LOVERS (No downplay on that list; it is merely that
comics fans represent only a small faction of that list.)

        For the time being, this list will be an immediate
distribution list, although I can soon see it growing into
a digest.

        So, send your ideas to COMICS-LOVERS@SRI-NIC.  If you wish to
subscribe, send then to COMICS-LOVERS-REQUEST@SRI-NIC.  Note: if you
subscribe soon enough, I'll clue you in on what is planned between
Superman and Lois Lane.

Comically yours,

-HWM

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

Date: 28 Dec 1982 15:29:51 EST (Tuesday)
From: Drew M. Powles 
Subject: Childhood's End

To Speaker:

Oops!  You're right.....not centaurs, but satan-like creatures.
However, my original point is still true, the children did not leave
the earth in spaceships......the aliens did.

dmp

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

Date: 29 December 1982   02:53:46-PST (Wednesday)
From: bothner%Shasta at Sumex-Aim
Subject: "Fans" vs. "readers"

My image of the term "fan" differs somewhat from that of 
...!eagle!mhuxt!mhux1!macrev (I wish people would sign their 
contributions -at the end- with human names or even nicknames), at 
least as it applies to science fiction. "Reading" is an essentially 
passive activity, whereas a fan is someone who engages in fan activity
(fanac). Admittedly there are fans who read uncritically, and others 
who hardly read at all, though I contend that most "real" fans steer 
the middle course. (Of course, these days it seems that fandom is
being swamped by the media fans who seem not to read at all. These
fall into a different category. Even "sf-lovers" isn't immume, as
evinced by this month's pointless, longwinded and repetitious "Star
Bores" discussion.)  Fanac is some subset of, say:
- Publishing, reading or contributing to fanzines (e.g. sf-lovers).
- Attending and possibly helping to run conventions.
- Taking part in other social interaction between fans, such as being
a member of a science fiction club or corresponding with other fans.
(fen? or is that an obsolete term?)

The point of all this is that fandom is a place to meet people (not 
necessarily in the flesh) who share interests with you. And not just 
sf, since there will be many correlations among interests - all of you
should be aware of the big overlap between people interested in sf and
those interested in computers! And if not, their interests, even if 
you don't share them, are at least likely to be ... interesting!  This
is because the incidence of boring or shallow people in fandom is a
lot less than that of the general population.

In conclusion, my connotations of the term "fan" are a lot more
postitive than the general (non-sf) use of the term would imply, and
they have nothing to do with the amount or selectivity of one's
reading.

        --Per Bothner

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

Date: 29 Dec 1982 11:39:53-EST
From: csin!cjh at CCA-UNIX
Subject: definitions--reader vs fan:net.sf-lovers

   As one of the most active fans on this list I think it's fair to
say that
 ...!macrev's distinction between SF "readers" and SF "fans" is
totally at odds with current usage. Certainly there are Trekkies, Star
Warts, and even (to foin a craze) Blakies around the fringes of SF
fandom; they constitute a continuing problem (not just because of the
derided lack-of-critical-sense but also because a significant fraction
of them aren't housebroken), but to the extent that they behave as
macrev describes they have very little to do with the 10,000 or so
active fans in this country. We call most of these people
"fringefans"; perhaps (further deriving from the above naming 
convention) non-fans could refer to them as "fannies"? ( -)

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

Date: 30 Dec 1982 0908-EST
From: RG.JMTURN.MIT-OZ at Mit-Mc
Subject: Fans and fen

I've seen the flaming about Harper's turn into an attack on fans, and 
I thought I'd get my two cents in.

Talking about fans as a group is a mistake. There are fringe fans, 
media fans, and trufen. There are people who just go to the 
conventions, people who belong to a fan club, and people who are 
heavily involved in the regional and national fanish networks.

You can no more categorize the preferences and tastes of such a 
diverse group than you could the public in general. I think that the 
people who have been flaming so heavily against fandom are afraid that
any identification with it will "taint them" in the eyes of mundanes.

I'm proud to be a fan! I put long hours into my responsibilities to my
local group, and enjoy it. If someone wants to call what I do pap, 
fine. But take a good look at what you're rejecting. Before you 
dismiss fandom out of hand as a bunch of idiots with blasters, 
consider some of the other things fandom and fanish groups do.

I mean, just in the last month, I've helped enter text for a 
anthology, a songbook, and an SF index. I've participated in planning 
sessions of a con, and other things too numerous to mention. If 
someone thinks going to poetry readings is a better use of my time, 
I'll let them have my seat anyway.

                                        FIAGDH,
                                        James

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

Date: Thursday, 30 December 1982  15:43-EST
From: Vince Fuller 
Subject: [coar.umass: Grossberg and Japan]

Date: 2 Dec 82 00:57-EDT (Thu)
From: the Golux 
To:   HUMAN-NETS at MIT-MC
Re:   Grossberg and Japan

O lord! Can't we dispense with the arms race before we start the brain
race?

I just read through my copy of Brunner's ``The Shockwave Rider'' for
about the tenth time, and it raised some questions in my mind
(collaterally triggered by a question about the impact of micros).

In the book, the hardware foundation for the net is rarely referred
to, and is either a terminal or the pleasantly ill-defined 'Fedcomps'
when it *is* mentioned.

Of people who have read the book, I ask: Does the culture Brunner
portrays seem reasonable (i.e., a viable possible future), or is it
off the wall? How does the burgeoning micro market impact the
development of his society? If you believe his future is possibly
ahead (please stipulate for this question), do you think personal
micros will be `part' of the net, serve as mere terminals, or have no
connection to the net at all?  Will their influence deteriorate as
time passes and mainframes get better and more readily accessible?

(yes, yes - I know I forgot to ask about Naomi!)

For those who have not read the book, I recommend it very highly.  It
forms a *very* interesting juxtaposition with Spinrad's ``A World
Between'', as far as the use of computers as a communication medium
goes. (Spinrad's book also rates quite high in my estimation.)

        ken
        coar.umass@udel-relay

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

Date: 30 Dec 82 9:00:02-PST (Thu)
From: hplabs!intelqa!omsvax!bb at Ucb-C70
Subject: re: sf puns

The story which involves the pun of the Farmers daughter (P.J. Farmer)
and the time traveling salesman is:
      Have you heard the one ... ?
      Spider Robinson
      Analog June 1980 p. 68 The story concerns Tall Tales night at
Callahan's and includes far more than the final pun.

A friend claims that the story has appeared in an anthology, but I
don't have the reference.

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

Date: 31 Dec 1982 0300-PST
Subject: The Ayes of Texas
From: Alan R. Katz 

Suggested reading:

In my opinion, one of the best SF books to come out in the past year
is "The Ayes of Texas" by Daniel da Cruz.  It takes place in the
1990's whenthe main character, a disabled WWII veteran turned
billionair gives a group of disabled vets unlimited funds to make the
retired battleship USS Texas into a modern warship in time for
Independence Day, 2000.  However, it turns out the ship is needed in
1998 to (sort of) single handedly fight the Russians.

There are lots of neat weapons of the future including particle beam 
weapons and the technical details seem to be correct. There is plenty 
of action.

I have never heard of the author before, but the books says he is
currently Professor of Anthropology at Miami University, and served
aboard the USS Texas in World War II.

If you can find it in your sf section, get it.


                        Alan

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

Date: 30 Dec 82 9:26:26-PST (Thu)
From: decvax!genradbo!mitccc!jmturn at Ucb-C70
Subject: Re: puns in SF

The Riverworld pun comes from another story by Spider, a Callahan's 
story to boot. Don't remember the title.

Another good book for puns is Stardance, by Jeane and Spider.

                                        James

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

End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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