From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npois!ucbvax!sf-lovers Newsgroups: fa.sf-lovers Title: SF-LOVERS Digest V5 #61 Article-I.D.: ucbvax.7529 Posted: Fri Jun 4 02:54:53 1982 Received: Sat Jun 5 02:20:48 1982 >From JPM@Mit-Ai Fri Jun 4 02:46:42 1982 SF-LOVERS Digest Friday, 4 Jun 1982 Volume 5 : Issue 61 Today's Topics: Baldwin/Gulf Star Trek - TWoK Review: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Review: Star Trek II Since we're talking about California... Re: SF-LOVERS Digest V5 #59 Genderless Video Games ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 31 May 1982 at 2016-CDT From: hjjh at UTEXAS-11 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ANOTHER SF TEXANA ITEM ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I was re-scanning Justin Leiber's BEYOND REJECTION as a quasi-fempro (the plot involves the Varley-like insertion of a dead person's personality-tape into a blank-mind body, but here it's a re-used body rather than a clone of the personality's prior one). The tricky part, for my female protagonist criteria, is that Leiber's universe does not have the common sex-reversals which Varley's does, and the plot revolves around the problems arising from trying to get a fairly macho personality to accept existence in a female body. There's only one reference to anything recognizably Texan (a very minor character named "Isa Pigg", which patently derives from the old Texas Grande Dame, Ima Hogg). B-U-T, the operation takes place in "the Norbert Wiener Research Hospital"--- in HOUSTON!------------------------------ Date: 31 May 1982 1447-MDT From: William Galway Subject: Baldwin/Gulf Gregory "Kettle Belly" Baldwin is one of the main characters in "Gulf". I'm almost certain that he does not appear in "The Puppet Masters", although both stories describe the activities of super-secret "intelligence" organizations. Baldwin is "... sort of the executive secretary of this branch of an organization of supermen." "Superman" turns out to mean "very intelligent". Baldwin is also rather coy about his age--hinting that he's been around for quite awhile. The "Gulf" of the title refers to the difference between "homo novis" and "homo sapiens"--on their way towards becoming separate species. The background society for "Gulf" does not sound like the one described in "Friday". Although there isn't a lot said about it, one gets the impression of a fairly widespread and stable government. One of the most fascinating things in "Gulf", in my opinion, was the language used by this group of superpeople. "Speedtalk" is apparently sort of like Loglan, and uses a fairly small vocabulary (like Basic English). Given this small vocabulary of roughly 1000 words, Heinlein then supposes that each word can be expressed as a single phoneme. (Naturally, you have to be pretty bright to distinguish between the phonemes while talking and listening.) So, what we would think of as words turn out to be sentences in Speedtalk. You really gain by thinking in Speedtalk--Heinlein supposed that to even be able to learn the language you had to think roughly 3 times faster than an "ordinary man", and that using the language allowed you to manipulate symbols 7 times faster than in English. So, given a lifespan of 75-80 years, you get the equivalent of 1600 years or so by thinking in Speedtalk. ------------------------------ Date: 4 June 1982 00:39-EDT From: James M. Turner Subject: Star Trek - TWoK Go see this movie. I don't care if a wealthy arab is offering gigabucks for your backyard. Get out of your chair, go to the nearest theatre, and see it. If you get the idea this movie left an impression on me, you're right! The gang was second time lucky, and the result was a joy to behold. Lots of action, humor, and (thank God) less pathos than ST-TMP. It's VERY reminiscent of the series, and the direction in which the movies are heading leads me to believe ST-III will be a bigger win. I refuse to give away plot, but I will say that the effects are better, but more subdued than TMP (Hey looks guys! We're going to hit you over the head with another effect now). Contracting out to Industrial Light and Magic seems to have made a bug difference in quality. Go to the movie. Don't expect too much of a message (although the "Kirk deals with mortality" plotline is lightly mixed in with the rest), but expect one hell of a good time. James And I will take bets I know how Spock manages to return in ST-III... ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jun 82 16:21-PDT From: mclure at SRI-UNIX Subject: Review: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan By BOB THOMAS Associated Press Writer ''STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN'' is an improvement over the bloodless ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture.'' This time Kirk, Spock and company are provided with a gripping plot, spectacular special effects and a classic villain. A galaxy removed from Mr. Nice Guy of ''Fantasy Island,'' Ricardo Montalban is superb as the demonic Khan, a role he played in a memorable chapter of the ''Star Trek'' TV series. Khan and his revenge-hungry followers have been marrooned on a dead planet festering with anger against the man they believe put them there - Admiral Kirk. Escaping from exile, Khan aims to kill Kirk, even if the plot entails destroying the universe. Director Nicholas Meyer handles the human factor as deftly as the space hardware. The script provides surprises: Kirk (William Shatner) discovers a long-lost son - and yes, Spock (sob!) dies. The entire crew of the Starship USS Enterprise has returned, with some interesting newcomers: Bibi Besch as a space scientist and Kirstie Alley as a half-Vulcan trainee. Rated PG because of the excitement and one profanity. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Jun 82 14:04-PDT From: mclure at SRI-UNIX Subject: Review: Star Trek II Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan By RICHARD FREEDMAN Newhouse News Service (UNDATED) Long after the bloated ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' came out, devout Trekkies still were having a hard time explaining to the unconverted the nature of their obsession. But now, with ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,'' just about everybody will want to clamber aboard the Starship Enterprise for an intergalactic roller coaster ride. As fast-moving as the original ''Star Trek'' movie was inert, ''Star Trek II'' - the only film title that sounds like a razor blade - wisely focuses on identifiable human types instead of cold, glistening machinery. First, of course, there's Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner), chafing at his desk job and feeling the full pangs of mid-life crisis. David (Merritt Butrick), the son he had with Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), barely knows his eternally voyaging dad and doesn't seem particularly fond of what he does know. The basically old-fashioned Kirk receives for his birthday a pair of Ben Franklin glasses, a hardbound copy of ''A Tale of Two Cities,'' and a bottle of blue booze (we're in the 23rd century, when we can expect bourbon to look like Windex). But what Kirk needs above all is some action. He gets plenty of that when Starship Reliant mistakenly lands on planet Ceti Alpha V, where 15 years ago Kirk had marooned the evil Khan (Ricardo Montalban). Nursing vengeance ever since his wife died on that barren outpost, Khan has got hold of the secret Project Genesis, designed to convert arid planets into veritable Gardens of Eden. In the wrong hands, though, the Genesis Effect could create ecological chaos. Just to show how wrong Khan's hands are, he injects scorpion larvae into the ears of two of Kirk's most reliable men. The scorpions head for the cerebral cortex, where - in a scene reminiscent of ''Alien'' - they cause untold psychic damage. Fancying himself a futuristic Captain Ahab, Khan unfortunately looks more like a cross between Geronimo, a Malibu Beach guru and Leonard Bernstein after a bad rehearsal. Nevertheless, with guns like high-tech electric shavers blasting away, he manages to cause considerable damage to the Enterprise, even splattering blood all over Kirk's spiffy Burger King uniform. But because his ''pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking,'' he is ultimately defeated by Kirk and his doughty crew: pointy-eared First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Engineer Scotty (James Doohan), Physician ''Bones'' McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and Lieutenant Chekov (Walter Koenig). The dialogue in ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' is as excruciating as ever, with people blurting out such clinkers as: - ''They're jamming all the frequencies, Captain!'' - ''We're talking about universal Armageddon!'' - ''It never rains, but it pours.'' But perhaps the very banality of the movie constitutes its chief charm. Directed with tongue-in-cheek amiability by Nicholas Meyer (''Time After Time''), the latest ''Star Trek'' neither takes itself too seriously nor cheaply camps itself up. It's an ideal science fiction romp for the pure of heart and the innocent of mind. X X X FILM CLIP: ''STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.'' Vastly superior to the first ''Star Trek'' movie, this one pits Admiral Kirk and the crew of Starship Enterprise against the vengeance-hungry Khan, who wants to convert Project Genesis into universal Armageddon - and nearly gets away with it. Rated PG. Three stars. ------------------------------ Date: 31 May 1982 1649-EDT From: Larry Seiler Subject: Since we're talking about California... Since California craziness has become an SF-Lovers topic lately, I'd like to point out something that people who haven't lived there probably don't know (and may not believe even after I tell you). Granted there are a lot of crazies in California. There are crazies everywhere. But the average, ordinary people in California are also different. Specifically, in comparison to ordinary people in the Boston/Cambridge area (not students - most of them are from somewhere else), Californians are a lot friendlier and a lot more cheerful. Talking to people from cities like New York, I get the impression that the same is true, or more so. My wife and I have lived in a wide variety of places, so this claim is not mere parochialism. For that matter, Californians are in general a lot less parochial that people in Boston, and (I gather) other parts of the country as well. I have some ideas as to why this is so, but I think I've already strayed far enough from SF. Larry Seiler (Seiler@MIT-XX) PS - If you feel an urge to flame, try to do most of it to me, personally, instead of to the list. And if you haven't ever lived in California, I don't want to hear from you - you don't know what you're talking about. Ditto if you have only lived in California. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jun 1982 2340-PDT From: Dolata at SUMEX-AIM Subject: Re: SF-LOVERS Digest V5 #59 In response to your message sent 1 Jun 1982 1412-PDT SEX-less pronouns? I expect much better from a group dedicated to SF&F! What about ET's and BEM's, hmmmm??? How about Dolphins and Intellegence boosted apes??? We are be-ing 'species-ist'. Some suggestions; she/he ==> it waiter/waitress ==> waitron chairman ==> chaircreature manager ==> itager (not to be confused with reals or strings) And since I am getting married soon, I won't introduce people to my best-man but to my best-thing. And if he has an assistant I will introduce them to the next best-thing too! In jest.... Dolata@sumex-aim ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jun 1982 1138-PDT From: Jwagner at OFFICE Subject: Genderless Video Games Q. What does Ms. PacMan say when PacMan comes home drunk? A. PacUp. (No more, I promise.) ------------------------------ End of SF-LOVERS Digest ***********************