Copyright 1994, Cyberspace Vanguard Magazine ================================================================ |----------------------------------------------------------------| | C Y B E R S P A C E | | V A N G U A R D | | News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Universe | ================================================================ | cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 | | PO Box 25704, Garfield Hts., OH 44125 USA | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | TJ Goldstein, Editor Sarah Alexander, Administrator | | tlg4@po.cwru.edu aa746@po.cwru.edu | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 2 March 31, 1994 Issue 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS --!1!-- Ramblings of a Deranged Editor (and a few deranged readers ...) --!2!-- Travelling the Cyber-Highway with William Gibson --!3!-- Stephanie Beacham: Dr. Westphalen's Cure For SEAQUEST'S Ills --!4!-- Getting Blown Up for Fun and Profit: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular --!5!-- Mind Uploading: Uploading Your Brain to a Machine --!6!-- The Business Side of Conventions: Building a Better Hotel Relationship --!7!-- Reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper/Mini-Reviews --!8!-- The Infamous Reply Cards and What You Said --!9!-- SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future --!10!-- Shoelaces of Truth: The News, The Whole News, and Nothing but the News --!11!-- Spoilers Ahoy! (And season 3 of the TWILIGHT ZONE Episode Guide) --!12!-- Contests and Awards --!13!-- Conventions and Readings --!14!-- Publications, Lists and the like --!15!-- Administrivia --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- REPOSTING information: CYBERSPACE VANGUARD may be reposted IN ITS ENTIRETY anywhere and everywhere without further permission, but we would appreciate knowing where it's going so we can keep track. We would also like you to post the reply card along with the issue. All rights revert to the authors upon publication, however, so we insist on being contacted for permission to repost individual articles. News items may be reposted without further permission, but must include our contact information. CYBERSPACE VANGUARD: News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Universe is registered with the United States Copyright Office. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!1!-- Ramblings of a Deranged Editor (and a few deranged readers ...) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's been some sort of merging of realities lately, but except for a small part of the back of my mind, I haven't really noticed. Oh, intellectually I knew that the net was becoming more and more prevalent in The Real World, but still I took refuge in my little corner of cyber-reality, secure in the knowledge that while they would find us someday, that someday wasn't here yet. It's here. It started with a trickle, a not even noticed increase in subscription requests. A couple every few days. Then, all of a sudden, there was an explosion, a constant stream sometimes as high as 10 in one day. And that's without having a new issue out. Now, I like this little project, but I was beginning to suspect that there was something going on I didn't know about, especially as the number of subscribers edged over 1000. I was right. First I got a request mentioning that the person had seen us listed in ONLINE ACCESS. I was surprised to find out that this was an actual paper magazine and not an electronic listing, which I was used to. Then I was told we were listed in NETGUIDE and was shocked to find, in my local bookstore, that this was a real live BOOK that had us listed. (True, we were under "Cyberpunk" and not "Science Fiction," but hey, I was too surprised to complain.) By the time I got several messages mentioning our listing in THE INTERNET DIRECTORY (which I also didn't know about) I was merely pleasantly surprised. So perhaps it's only fitting that this issue, as we marvel at the merging of physical space with cyberspace, we hear from the man who invented the term, WILLIAM GIBSON, who's Sprawl novels have become, in some sense, a standard for everything else to follow. Gibson is probably one of the few people in history to be the acknowledged father of a movement that isn't believed to exist by the people supposedly in it. We're also going to hear from STEPHANIE BEACHAM, who plays Dr. Westphalen on SEAQUEST. For years people have been talking about the lack of strong women role models in science fiction, and she's got some thoughts on the matter. And speaking of the real world, I've been thinking about a con that goes on near here. This year events will include panels and workshops, art show and auction, masquerade and dance, 90 table dealer's room, filking, and gaming. Most cons have that. But this one will also be host to free laser shoot 'em up games courtesy of Q-ZAR, computer gaming, a psychic fair, virtual reality demo, SETI tour, two 24-hour video rooms, Japanimation, "Channel 12", the in-house 24-hour "B" Movie channel and babysitting. So how did they manage to convince a hotel to let them do all that? Steve Schwartz, chairman of Marcon 29 and its hotel liason for many years, took some time to explain how to develop a good relationship between your convention and the hotel you hold it in. (Marcon, BTW, is being held May 13-15 this year. For more details, see the convention listings section.) We've also got the beginnings of some new sections, with the second of our (hopefully) regular science pieces -- this one on "mind uploading", or transferring your mind, intact, to a computer -- and the addition of "mini- reviews" to allow us to give you more reviews. (As with the rest of the magazine, both of these sections are open to anyone. If you're interested in doing mini-reviews or any other type of article, let us know!) So, having said that, let's get to some reader comments: "Keep up the same good work. No criticism of the present contents tho' of course a lot of the spoilers are irrelevant for me (and other non-US subscribers) cause we don't get the shows here - or are several seasons behind but this is not something you can do anything about as besides I imagine most of your subscribers are from the us. I am quite impressed by the WIDE range of topics that are covered in the issues from ghosts to biosphere and more. This catholic taste is, I think, a strength of the zine. Perhaps one thing that could be added is the occasional prose/poem. I'm sure there's plenty of budding writers out there - one only has to look at the *.creative groups to see that! While the idea of the zine does seem to be "news and views and humour" I would think a bit of "more serious" fiction would enhance things. I have seen such format elsewhere & it does come across quite good. And before you suggest it ..."Damnit I'm a chemist, not an author!" :) Alas to my regret I can't help out there. :)" ---- David Powell [From the editor: Interesting perspective on the spoilers. I know that many of the serious fans here especially enjoy getting despriptions of shows that haven't aired here yet because it gives us a feeling of being clued in depite our not having seen the actual show. As for fiction ... (sighs heavily from lack of sleep) ... it's a topic that's been brought up before. There are just two problems: First, this thing is so large already that it would either have to be VERY short fiction or it would have to wait until the time that we are up to speed with enough help to go monthly again. The second problem is that ye olde editor barely has enough time to put this thing together in the first place. Help in screening submissions would definitely be required before it could even be considered. HOWEVER: If there's enough interest in the idea, I promise to attempt to find the help and make it work. This magazine belongs to the readers, too. So if you'd like to see perhaps a story per issue, let us know. Also let us know if you don't have any interest in the idea. (We've also been tossing around the suggestion of a fiction contest, but again, only if people really want it.) ---- TJ] -------- WORLD WATCH: Since we have nudged over 1000 in direct subscribers, we thought we'd update the list of countries that are receiving CV. We know we've got readers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Greece, Poland, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Italy, Malta, Austrailia, New Zealand, Argentina, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Slovenia just via Internet. If you're reading this from another country, please let us know, either by electronic or regular mail. We know there are more out there. -------- On a personal note: I'd like to take a moment to congratulate Debra and Matt Hisle on the birth of their son Timothy Lincoln on March 11, 1994. Debra has been with us since the very beginning, and we are thrilled to share her joy with all of you. ---- Tj Goldstein, Editor --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!2!-- Travelling the Cyber-Highway with William Gibson --------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Marisa Golini William Gibson was the science fiction success story of the early '80s, first with his stylish short fiction (much of it published in OMNI) and then with his first novel NEUROMANCER, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel of 1983. Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" -- referring to the world within computer communication -- and foresaw Virtual Reality and Information Networks years before they became the hot technologies of today. His vision of the future is a Bladerunner-esque hard-edged world where information is the most valuable currency. However, he'll tell you he doesn't write about the future, he writes about the present with the "volume turned up." Along with Rudy Rucker, Bruce Sterling, Lewis Shiner, and Pat Cadigan, Gibson was dubbed the leader of the "Cyberpunks", a label that stuck despite the fact that almost everyone it was applied to promptly rejected it. Gibson looked on much of this brouhaha with amusement. He followed up NEUROMANCER with COUNT ZERO, a novel set in the same future but not a direct sequel, and with BURNING CHROME, a collection of short stories that put him in the spotlight. MONA LISA OVERDRIVE completed the loosely-connected three-book series often referred to as the "Cyberspace trilogy" or the "Sprawl novels." Gibson also recently rattled the snooty art-lit world with AGRIPPA (A BOOK OF THE DEAD), an expensive limited-edition book on computer-disc, booby-trapped to disintegrate when read. Gibson was born in Wytheville, Virgina. He now lives in Vancouver with his wife Deborah and kids Claire, 10, and Graeme, 15. His latest book is VIRTUAL LIGHT. ******** It's just a typical day in the newsroom of a Rock radio station in Canada's capital. I've just finished doing my morning news run, and my colleague is going through some advance copy hardcovers we periodically receive for possible interviews. Knowing I enjoy S.F., he says, "Got a new Science Fiction book in. Interested in interviewing the author?." "Maybe," I says. "Who is it?" "Some guy named Bill Gibson. Is he important?" I look up a little dumbfounded. My collegue is not into S.F. at all so maybe I heard wrong. "William Gibson?, " I ask. "Yeah, that's right," he says. I shrieked. Taking that as an affirmative to his original question, he phoned up the lit. agent and we booked the interview. A few weeks later, Gibson ambled into the station ... about 45 minutes late due his terribly crunched interview schedule, but I figured I had him now and everyone else could wait ... so we settled in for a little chat. I really didn't know what to expect from Gibson. In truth, I was afraid I'd be faced with some intellectual elitist. How wrong I was. I found Gibson witty, charming, laid-back, easy to talk with, and full of interesting anecdotes -- all recounted with that delightful Virginian drawl. Of course, he probably thought I was not your average interviewer -- what with my black garb, Docs, Bajoran earring and clutching a hard copy of AGRIPPA. All in all, it made for a rather atypical, but certainly enjoyable interview.... *********** MG: So what's up with this Cyberpunk revival? WG: Revival? MG: O.K. Re-emergence. Haven't you noticed? It's been around for at least 10 years, at least since NEUROMANCER ... but as of late, TIME magazine does a cover story, local newspapers publish articles. All of a sudden, it's something completely new ... WG: That's a good point. I think 10 years ago it was a literary term you used in pop culture analysis. So initially you could say "these six guys are writing cyberpunk science fiction" ... and then it sorta became "see that video, that's very cyberpunk" and then it got to the point you'd hear, "man, those trousers ... those are way cyberpunk" ....So it became one of the colourations of 80's pop culture. But I think the reason it's coming out now is becuz the meaning has changed. So now if you did a dictionary definition of cyberpunk, definition #1 would be something like "bohemia with computers" or "the underground with computers". It's the first time the underground has *had* computers. I mean the 60's would've been really different if all us hippies had had desktop publishing! MG: Techno rebels! WB: Yeah. I think we may be headed for something like that, but it's gonna happen in the early 21st century. People will probably look back from the mid-21st century at what we call cyberpunk, and see it sorta like the precursor phenomenon to whatever it is they're going through. MG: So you don't think [cyberpunk's re-emergence] has anything to do with just more people using computers and therefore finding out about that "scene"? WG: Well, there's that too. But I don't think we're gonna see anything too drastic happen culturally around computers until the user-interface evolves to the point where it's easy to use. I mean, the reason it's kinda sexy and far-out when you say "hey, I do a lot of e-mail" or "hey, I hang out on the Internet" -- the reason that has a kinda elite buzz to it is that the learning curve is still too steep. MG: Since this is a rock station, I have to ask you ... What do you think of these groups and artists such as U2, Donny Fagen and Billy Idol who say that *you* have inspired their latest works? Becuz, I know as far as U2 goes ... their Zoo TV tour was like something out of the dark and squishy parts of your brain! WG: Yeah! I was really happy with that! I met them (U2) during both their stops in Vancouver. How I came to their attention was the men who designed the "Steel Wheels" set for the Rolling Stones were working totally from my early fiction, and sold the "Steel Wheels" design to the Stones by giving the Stones my books and saying "read this, this is what we're gonna do." I didn't know that at the time or I would've gone to see the show. Anyhow, the same company did "Zoo TV" and this time told me about it. Actually, one of the plans -- it didn't work out 'cuz I couldn't convince my literary agents to let them go ahead and do it -- but Bono suggested they should run the one of my novels on one of those electric light-bulb ticker tape screens...just run the text through during the course of the concert. MG: That would've been great! WG: Yeah ... anyway I've hung out with them and there has been some exchange of ideas. We've been trying to figure out some way we can work together on something. With Donald Fagen ... after having so heavily larded my first novel with Steely Dan references, I was really delighted to find that he actually read them, and thought it was cool! Early Steely Dan tunes have always been huge favorites of mine. Now, we come down to Billy Idol ... MG: Oh-oh ... and he's getting flamed on the .net ... WG: Oh god I just don't know! I mean before I heard the album, I was dodging the issue by saying "hey, don't worry about that ... the thing you really want to worry about is Pat Benetar's album is called `Gravity's Rainbow.'" That's much, much stranger. Why does Pat Benetar's new album have the title of Thomas Pynchon's great underground classic? That's really weird. GRAVITY'S RAINBOW is arguably a much more famous and important book than "Neuromancer" ... at least Billy Idol didn't call his album "Neuromancer". I mean, what's next? Are we gonna have "Ulysses" by Bel Biv Devoe? (in psuedo-rap) `Yo Joyce! Man, the things he does with language, it tore us up!' (big laughs) I don't know, it's a strange trend. Anyway, now I've heard the album ... and I just don't get what he's on about. I don't see the connection. A London journalist told me when Billy did his "Cyberpunk" press junket over there, he made it a condition of getting an interview with him, that every journalist had to have read "Neuromancer" ... Anyway, they all did but when they met with Billy, the first thing that became really apparent was that Billy *hadn't* read it. So they called him on it, and he said he didn't need to ... he just absorbed it through a kinda osmosis. I don't know. I had lunch with Billy years ago in Hollywood and we were talking about the possiblilty of his acting in a film that someone was trying to make based on some piece of fiction of mine, and I thought he was a very likeable guy. He had a sense of humour about what he was doing that is not apparent in the product he puts out. If I run into him again, we can have a good laugh about what he's doing now! If you wanna hear a group that, to my mind, really does embody what I'm doing ... there's a West German band called Plan B. They sound like early Elvis Costello turned into rap music ... I've got them in heavy rotation! MG: Let's talk VIRTUAL LIGHT ... it's a different vision than your earlier novels ... some people have said it's less bleak, more fun, and more accessible. Would you agree? WG: Wellll, I think it's less bleak if you read it in a certain way. It's a comic novel. The intention is comic. But comic doesn't rule out bleak. In the sense that Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" was a pretty funny movie -- but *very* bleak. I think the take on that is how you interpret the term "happ ending." So if you think, O.K., he gets the girl, the bad guys get the shaft -BUT- what have they bought into to get this to happen? You can read it both ways. MG: Yeah I guess so. I also think it's really cool that one of your protagonists is a bicycle messenger, and I like the whole idea of information -- even in the hi-tech age -- still having to be carried around by hand for security reasons. WG: Well, you can't fax a plane ticket! MG: It seems like it would keep you grounded ... that you still have to rely on the "pony express" so to speak. WG: Yeah. Like the creepy guy from the Medellin cartel who gets his throat cut ... he's another kind of bicycle messenger. He's flying around in a Concorde and staying in luxury hotels, but his job is to physically carry this piece of information. Chevette's there because bicycle messengers, particularly in San Fransisco, are a really hot sub-culture. They've become a source for a lot of creative people. Lotta people, like designers, are watching what bicycle messengers are wearing. And they have their own bands ... here's places where messengers hang [out], and there's messenger fanzines! I got everything I know about being a bike messenger from "Mercury Rising" which is a fanzine put out by the San Francisco Bike Messengers Association. There's this terrific coffeehouse near the Haight called The Horseshoe where messengers hang and young people with lots of tattoos and multiple piercing go there too ... and it's the only coffee house I've ever seen where they've got laptop computers super-glued to the tables. Each computer has it's own e-mail address so you can go in, log on and do your stuff. So these kids come in off the streets with bones through their noses, their bodies covered in heavy Samoan blackwork, and looking like extras out of the back streets of Bladerunner, and they sit down and they do their e-mail! The underground in San Francisco has mutated into a really astonishing thing. And people haven't taken San Francisco seriously as a source for alternative culture for a long time, but I think they're gonna come back with a vengeance ... Just don't wear any flowers in your hair! MG: Obviously setting the novel so near in the future didn't restrict you in any way ... the problem being with predicting things 10 years from now, some of the beginnings of those changes have to be happening right now. WG: Actually one of the things that actually delayed the completion of the novel was that I had to wait for the Soviet Union to formally collapse. I didn't quite realize at the time what I was waiting for ... But really, the world of VIRTUAL LIGHT is just "now" with the volume cranked up. It doesn't really say in the book that it's 2005...I think you can work out exactly when it is cuz you figure out when Rydell was born, etc. But in the proposal that I sent to the publisher's, I mentioned 2005, and they put it in the flap copy which I wasn't entirely happy with, but I've sorta gotten into it now becuz people come in and say "hey that can't possibly happen now ... things can't change that much in 10 years", and I say "yeah, that's what they said in Yugoslavia." (laughs) No really, a lot can happen in 10 years ... particularly as you near the end of the century and the millenium. We're gonna see a lot of pretty wacky religious stuff come down, unfortunately. I mean, we've already seen it. That stuff in Waco weirded me out a little more than it did most people because I'd already written in that Sublett, the Texan from the video cult, was from Waco. The other thing I got really lucky with was Tommy Lee Jones. [In the novel, Sublett tells Rydell that he reminds him of Tommy Lee Jones] MG: That's right. He's really hot right now! WG: Yeah, cuz when I put that in, I did it just cuz I *love* Tommy Lee Jones, but there weren't that many people who knew who he was. MG: Now [becuz of THE FUGITIVE] everybody knows who he is! How the hell do you do that?! (laughs) WG: Oh I dunno ... just prescient I guess.(laughs) MG: But, a lot of the things you write about, at least to me, seem perfectly plausible ... sometimes you really creep me out when I read this stuff! WG: Well, you know it's funny, sometimes when I go to do interviews with the press, an older interviewer will be both horrified and depressed by the book. One woman in Toronto said to me after the interview, "But is there nothing you can tell me to give me hope?" (laughs) That's one response ... but then I saw some people being interviewed while standing in line for my book signing in Montreal and one guy said, "I can't wait to live in the world he's describing! I wanna live in a Willam Gibson novel!" But he was maybe 20, so there's very different responses. MG: Would *you* like to live in a William Gibson novel? WG: Well, not particularly ... but I'd like to go there for a vacation! [At this point, the lit. agent was waving a watch at me thru the glass. I smiled and squeezed in a few more bits and pieces] MG: I guess we're running out of time, and there's so much more I wanted to ask you including WILD PALMS ... and JOHNNY MNEMONIC -- is that still a go? Tell me that's still a go ... WG: Well, it's not *not* a go. That's about as good as it gets. I've seen some beautiful amazing sketches for the set designs. If it happens, the production will be based in Toronto -- probably shoot the interiors there -- and the exteriors may be shot in some kind of industrial ruin in Hamilton. They'll dress up this old steel mill to look like a sort of anarchist community hung under a bridge made of dozens of gutted Greyhound buses. MG: So they could start filming within the year? WG: Yeah, if they're gonna pull it off at all, they'll have to start shooting in late November. It's got a chance to go, but my experiences in Hollywood have been so depressing with things falling apart that I don't like to say it's happening. MG: I understand, and I just want to mention that I read your ALIENS 3 script and I loved it. It was so much better than the dreg we ended up with. WG: Thank you. [My version] would've cost about 170-million dollars to film, so that was part of the problem ... a few thousand full-sized aliens on screen is asking for a bit much I guess! [At this point I handed him my copy of VIRTUAL LIGHT *and* a hard copy of AGRIPPA to sign...we had a good laugh over that.] WG: Hey, where did you find it [AGRIPPA]? MG: It's still on the Internet...just ask and you shall receive! WG: Really? What I've sorta come to realize after the fact, is *that* was the whole point. Like, how else could you guarantee that a 2000-word poem would remain on the Internet forever? I *built* my daddy a monument in cyberspace! I think that's cool! MG: It's very cool. WG: I recently got an edited 70-page version of what happened [what was posted] on the Internet after Agrippa came out. It was very weird ... all these messages started appearing from "W. Gibson"-- but they weren't from me -- they were kinda manifesting with no return address. And everyone was saying I was mad -- but I *wasn't*! Now I kinda know what it feels like to *be* a UFO! (laughs) MG: Well, thanks a lot for chatting with me today. I really enjoyed this. WG: I enjoyed it too. Thanks very much. ******** William Gibson was interviewed at 54 Rock Radio in Ottawa, Ontario Canada on Sept. 16, 1993. [Editor's note: JOHNNY MNEMONIC is currently filming. See Movie News for more details.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!3!-- Stephanie Beacham: Dr. Westphalen's Cure For SEAQUEST'S Ills --------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Tasha Jesse Michaels Stephanie Beacham went a long way around before landing in her current role as Dr. Kristin Westphalen on SEAQUEST. Born and raised in Hertfordshire, England, she has run the gamut from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre (with Sir Ian McKellen) to theater in Los Angeles opposite Charlton Heston to films with Marlon Brando and Michael Crawford to American television. Once she got there she played Sable Colby on DYNASTY and THE COLBYS, then moved on the SISTER KATE, through various othe projects, and finally as Luke Perry's absentee mother on BEVERLY HILLS 90210 before ending up playing the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Science Officer of the largest submarine in the world. So why does she have such a hard time accepting a woman calling her up to interview her for a science fiction magazine? Oh, it's not that she wasn't nice about it -- far from it. She's the epitome of grace, and quite possibly one of the nicest, most "real" people in Hollywood. She just had one question for me as I explained the concept of CYBERSPACE VANGUARD to her: "Now don't you think that's more boys' toys?" Boy's toys? "You know," she continues as I try to explain, "I dragged Ted -- you know, Ted Raimi [who plays Lt. J.G. Tim O'Neill on the show] -- I dragged Ted today, in the lunch hour, to my game, which is dolls' houses. I completely blew his brains out. He couldn't believe why people would do these things. That's what I think of as 'girls.' I don't think of 'girls' as science fiction people. I always meet men who are interested in science fiction, not women." But why would that be? For a moment she becomes introspective, soft. "I am not absolutely certain unless it goes along with an extended version of the knight in shining armor and the brave warrior and those stereotypes." Of course, most people in fandom know that there are plenty of women involved. In fact, for some fandoms, such as QUANTUM LEAP, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and HIGHLANDER, they seem to outnumber the men. "Yes. But that's because it's got more of the female archetypal stuff in it, which has to do with the fair maiden. I mean HIGHLANDER is 'hero' in the sense of WATCHING the knight in shining armor. So it doesn't surprise me." She pauses for a moment before making her point. "You give a little girl a stick and a piece of cloth and it will become a baby wrappped up. You give a little boy a stick and a piece of cloth and it becomes a gun, and a flag ... Do you see what I mean? We forget all our conditioning, our basic, basic instincts. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST doesn't surprise me at all. I don't think of that as science ficton, I think of that as fairy tale." She is definitely more drawn toward the fairy tale-type things. "Hardware just bores the life out of me. People interest me totally. Hardware, software, whatever sort of ware it is, I find it completely ... cold. Without interest." Strange words from an actor in such a technological role. "I don't know if you've noticed it, but the science side I'm fascinated by because it's just so interesting to have a part that opens a whole new door to you. I mean, I've had to learn on my toes. Qualified women interest me too. But actually, she's got quite a lot of humanity about her. Enough that she seems almost like a mother for the rest of the crew? "She is. She's the ship's doctor, and I've often wished for more confidences from the cew. Can you imagine if you're really stuck in this situation, away from home and family, how many times you would think you have a tummy ache and you really did have a tummy ache but what you really had was a sort of missing ... I think that a lot of the humanity has been missing from the show, and I think we're finding it rather late in the season. I hope we will be given the opportunity to explore the people in a greater depth. I do hope we go to a second season and can do that." SEAQUEST was originally considered a guaranteed hit, but initial ratings began to drop off as many fans because disenchanted with it. Rumors circulated that Executive Producer Steven Spielberg, busy with his triumphant SCHINDLER'S LIST, returned to find himself among the disappointed. Staff changes were made, but the reports of mass firings were untrue. "Oh, there've been SO many changes but we still don't have a single girl on board, a single woman on board. I'm not talking about on board the ship. We don't have a single writer-producer who's a woman, and I really say that not even vaguely from a feminist standpoint, just from a female perspective standpoint, which I think also then reflects viewers. I mean, that LOIS AND CLARK business, apart from the fact that it's got Tracy Scoggins on it who's my best friend, is just plain silly as far as I'm concerned. BUT, it's got romance, and the female audience, and we do push the button, likes a bit of romance." Ah, romance. The topic that got the single largest number of reader questions. Ms Beacham had the same question: "Well I'd like to know what Westphalen and Bridger are up to. I wish they'd get on with it a bit." So do many viewers, so are they going to? "Well, we're beginning. But I think it's too little and too late, really as far as this season is concerned, although last week's episode [with William Shatner] had a good step forward. You know, sometimes when you work alongside someone you hardly notice them then you suddenly realize that somebody else fancies them and you look and you say 'Oh, my goodness me. They are a bit, aren't they?' And that's what happens to Roy [Scheider]'s character last week when somebody else wasy paying heavy interest to me. He suddenly thought 'Oh I feel a bit possessive about this one.' And I thought THAT'S the way to go. So I think it's sometimes DOES work like that. "The very last episode of this season will have a bit of that in it. But I think we should have got on with it earlier." But does that have anything to do with the lack of female writers, the difference between "boys' toys" and "girls' toys"? "Yes I think it does, because I think our priorities are different. Women like relationships." But if they succeeded in putting relationships into the show, wouldn't that put off part of the audience? "Without a doubt. You would be okay in that the environment is the biggest sub in the world. But why should I care if the whole lot die or not? I'm only going to care if the whole lot die or not if I care who's in it. If you don't concentrate on your cast, if you don't concentrate on relationships between the cast ... I hate to do the old STAR TREK comparison, but you've always known who they are. You know it? So you can care." But the show has an exceptionally large cast, and "that could be considered a problem." Among that large cast, the character of Dr. Westphalen is being held up as an example of a strong, competant woman -- a rarity in science fiction. "Yes, and I'm delighted. It's the one reasons I wanted the part. I really thought OK, so I've been one of THE most stunning examples of the selfish eighties, with Sable on THE COLBYS and DYNASTY. And I'm particularly delighted to have worn so much coordinated jewelry. Fabulous. But who do I want my daughters to be? I don't want my daughters to be a woman who depends on a man. A woman who works alongside a man, of course! A woman who appreciates all human beings, and I want them to be independant, certainly." But there are three sides to every story. What do her daughters, too young to thing about that sort of thing, think of Wesphalen? "They're so pleased that I'm not a b*tch. I think they see this as being nearer to mommy." On the other hand ... "I think they think I've thrown the baby out with the bathwater as far as looks are concerned, that I don't need to look quite as dull as I do, but they're delighted that I'm playing someone who cares about humanity because they feel that's much closer to who I am. Although I have to say that Westphalen is much cleverer than I am. She can throw out chemical analyses of things that I couldn't begin to. I'm not saying that I was a bright science student at school. I wasn't." Of course, she probably couldn't act as well. The thought amuses her. "Yes, this is probably true. But it's hard to act technical stuff. You get away with it, but you don't act it. You can only REact to emotional situations or caring situations where there's some feeling involved. This is why I do think that humanity is what the show was GOING to be about, but somehow has missed the boat on. I DO hope that we have time and audience to literally warm things up." Much thanks to KGARRISO@UA1VM.UA.EDU, and karmann@cwis.unomaha.edu for submitting questions, and a couple of specific answers: 1) to David.A.Markham@Dartmouth.EDU: She seems to be at least a casual science fiction fan, being familiar with various shows and having some definite feelings about DR. WHO. 2) to cs_e266@kingston.ac.uk: She enjoyed her stint on ST:TNG (Ship in a Bottle) immensely. "It was just SO much fun." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!4!-- Getting Blown Up for Fun and Profit: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular --------------------------------------------------------------------------- His name is Indiana Jones. He travels the world, looking for adventure, for treasure, for archaeological clues to history. What he generally finds, however, is trouble. Being shot at, getting into fist fights, even coming close to being blown up, are business as usual for him. But still, he gets to do it in exotic locales and pretty much always makes it out in one piece, pushing the action from crisis into adventure. And everyone wants adventure, right? Down in Florida there's a place where you can get close to the adventure, feeling the heat of the explosions and hearing the bullets whiz overhead, and if you're really lucky you can even fake the punches. That's right, FAKE the punches. The place is the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, part of Disney/MGM studios in Walt Disney World, and "extras" are chosen from the audience to participate in some of the simpler stunts. Two people who perform the dangerous stunts, such as running from a 400 pound boulder or an exploding fuel truck, are Todd Warren, who plays the Indiana Jones role, and Michelle Waitman, who plays the Marion Ravenwood role. Todd has been performing the role of "Harrison Ford's stunt double" for about a year and a half. He's an athlete, and went through college on a full ride athletic scholarship. Michelle's role involves a bit more in the way of tumbling, which suits her fine. A gymnast since the age of eight, she thought she was auditioning for a simple tumbling role. "I was really surprised to find out I was auditioning for the girl!" She's been performing the role for four years. You will probably notice by this point that neither one of them is a professional stuntperson, though their official occupation is "stunt performer." Both have been extensively trained. Michelle was trained by Glen Randall Jr., who was the stunt coordinator for the Indiana Jones movies. Despite that fact that there is an "Indiana Jones" store right outside -- no whips, for safety reasons, and not an accurate leather jacket in sight -- this show is no cheap ripoff. The stage, which includes several different sets, some sectioned to be moved out of the way, was designed with "a large amount of cooperation" from Lucasfilm, which of course owns the rights to the Indiana Jones character, and looks quite authentic. Included in the show is a recreation of the Nazi plane scene from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, complete with the ... attitude adjustment to the German mechanic. Both the plane and the fuel truck are in fact replicas of those used in the films, and as such cause their own problems. Since the stage includes such accurate sets, film crews, such as those working in Terry "Hulk" Hogan's new show, THUNDER IN PARADISE, often film there, and restrictions are placed on what and where they can shoot. Those aren't the only restrictions placed on other crews. Even if they bring their own stunt coordinators, other productions can't perform a single stunt unless it passes the rigorous requirements in place to protect the actors. The requirements are by no means formalities. Every stunt must pass a triple check. The first check is the Operations and Control Center, or OCC. Next it must be approved by the stage manager, Tim Maimone. Besides making sure that the stunt itself is safe and everything is working properly, there are other things to consider. For instance, today the German mechanic was not hit by the plane. Instead, Michelle and Todd had to adjust their routine, with him falling out of the way and her shooting the German from the cockpit of the plane. Why? Tim decided that there was too much wind, and the smoke would not completely conceal the actor as he dropped through a hole in the stage floor. Because of this responsibility, it takes a minimum of 3 months to train a new stage manager. Finally, if the actor feels uncomfortable with a stunt, he or she can call it off without having to justify him or herself. Even with all the caution, however, accidents happen. Things are carefully planned, but they are still dangerous stunts. Trucks are blown up and flipped over, actors swing on poles 40 feet in the air, fall off buildings ... it's an insurance agent's nightmare. Michelle says that the usual injuries are ankles and knees. Usually the audience doesn't even know what has happened. Michelle has had her nose broken, "and nobody down there even realized it." On the rare occasion that there is a more serious injury, the show has been brought to a halt, and if another cast member could be dressed and ready, the show has been continued when the injured party had been removed. Despite the occasional injury, after more than four years, Michelle says she's not frightened of anything in the show. Todd feels that if anything, "it's an adrenaline rush when it looks like something might be going a little bit wrong or if something doesn't look exactly familiar." During the busy season, the stage hosts as many as 12 performances per day. It would be impossible for Todd and Michelle to do all those performances themselves. In fact, there are three "casts," each with two Indy/Marion teams, who play the "Director of Photography" and "Casting Director" respectively, when they are not performing the stunts. This allows them to limit themselves, never doing the stunts more than four times in one day, and even that is a strain. Altogether, the casts coordinate the actions of 6 different performers. Often children write back after they have seen the show. One boy, Johnny Kenny, was so earnest about his desire to be a stunt person after seeing the show that he was invited back and given a grand tour of the stage and sets. Everyone involved feels that it is "a rewarding experience," and when the show is over, dozens of children inevitably approach the stage for an autograph from "Indy." So is there any pressure in playing such a cultural icon? Todd says "I always stress the fact that I'm playing Harrison Ford's stunt double, rather than the character himself." Nevertheless, many of the younger children fail to grasp the difference. Michelle doesn't have as much of a problem. "They really don't care about the girl." She laughs. "Seriously, though, it's quite an honor for me." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!5!-- Mind Uploading: Uploading Your Brain to a Machine --------------------------------------------------------------------------- by J. Strout Introduction Progress in both neuroscience and computer technology has been advancing rapidly within the last century. Researchers are currently working on building machines which imitate the functions of the human brain. At the same time, computers continue to grow exponentially in storage and processing capacity. These parallel developments suggest that it may someday be possible to reconstruct a complete human brain. Such a reconstruction, if done accurately, would possess all the memories, feeling, and dispositions as the original. The potential process of copying a brain into a functional reconstruction is called "mind uploading" (or just "uploading" when the context is clear), because the subject's mind is perceived to be transferred into a new machine, just as software is transferred to a new machine when uploaded to an archive site. The possibility is exciting because it offers an indefinite lifespan, and great flexibility for adapting to other environments or purposes not foreseen by evolution. However, a number of serious issues must be addressed if uploading is to be taken seriously. Overview of neuroscience The information-processing capabilities of the brain (and the rest of the nervous system) arise from an intricate network of specialized cells called neurons. Neurons have long branches (axons and dendrites) connecting them together. The sites of the connections are called synapses, where the electrical signal of one cell is converted to a chemical signal which reaches the other cell. In general, the operation of a neuron is relatively straightforward. The various input signals from other cells change the neuron's electrical potential, either raising it or lowering it depending on the type of synapse and chemical messenger used. When the neuron's potential reaches a certain limit, it fires an electrical output signal, which propagates down its axon to all the other cells to which it connects. While the operation of a single neuron is fairly mundane, amazing tasks can be accomplished by networks of such cells, as has been amply demonstrated by researchers in artificial neural networks. Of course, this brief description does not do justice to the great complexity and variety of neurons and supporting structures of the brain, but it captures the essence of neural function. What makes one neural network different from another is the pattern of connections. Indeed, much of the current research in artificial neural networks attempts to devise ways of setting the connections though training. Other researchers use fixed connections based on the morphology of networks found in simple animals. Our own brain patterns are a combination of genetics, experience, and possibly chance. Through experience, connections are established, destroyed, or changed in strength. The pattern of connections in the brain is believed to store all of your memories, skills, hopes, and fears, as well as the innate circuitry which (for example) enables you to convert visual input into a three-dimensional representation of your environment. Mind uploading will depend critically on duplicating the connections among neurons in the brain. Another factor to consider is the role of extracellular influences in the brain. In addition to cell-specific signals, some neurons release chemicals diffusely into the extracellular fluid, which affect the operation of neurons in the area. This includes hormones from the body as well, which can have pronounced behavioral effects. Hormones are also thought to be vital to emotions such as fear, anger, or joy. While probably not critical to the operation of the brain, diffuse chemical influences will have to be simulated accurately if the uploading process is to retain the full effect of being human. Finally, some notion of the size and number of neural structures is needed to estimate how much processing capacity will be needed to store or simulate the nervous system. Table 1 presents some very broad estimates; take these numbers as orders of magnitude rather than specifics (which are still unknown for many of these levels). ---------------------------------------------------- Structure Scale Number --------- ----- ------ synapses .001 mm 10^15 neurons .1 mm 10^12 circuits 1 mm 10^9 maps 1 cm 10^3 systems 10 cm 10 CNS 1 m 1 Table 1. Approximate size and number of structures in the nervous system (CNS, Central Nervous System). ---------------------------------------------------- Uploading procedures The most plausible uploading procedure requires, somewhat regrettably, destroying the brain very thoroughly. The technique, reconstruction from serial sections, involves slicing the brain into extremely thin sheets, to be scanned and reassembled as data in a computer. The process has been used on a much smaller scale for years, to determine the morphology of synapses and local circuits. The technology needed for uploading is far more advanced, but essentially the same in theory. I will attempt to illustrate the proposed procedure with a plausible scenario. A hospital patient is pronounced metabolically dead -- that is, his heart and lungs have stopped and do not respond to resuscitation. The patient is kept on artificial life support while the cryonic equipment is prepared. Then, surgeons carefully perfuse the patient's body with fixating agents, remove the head, and freeze it solid. This part of the procedure is similar to that currently in use by cryonics organizations, but the goal here is not long-term storage -- rather, it is merely to forestall decay and keep the brain structures rigid for the scanning process. When the head has been thoroughly frozen, it is placed in an uploading machine. This machine automates what would otherwise be arduous or impossible. Starting at one side of the head, slices (less than .001 mm thick) are shaved off one by one. With each slice, the exposed cellular structures are scanned by high-resolution instruments (e.g., electron microscopes). Relevant neural structures are identified and recorded by the computer (a nontrivial but tractable task). Although most of the volumes of information in each slice can be discarded or simplified, the database from a single patient would still immense by today's standards. When the patient's brain has been entirely scanned, the data is loaded into an artificial brain and body. The peripheral nervous system is assumed to be relatively standard, so that the patient's peripheral circuitry can be replaced with "generic" peripheral circuitry with little inconvenience. As soon as the artificial brain has been configured with the patient's brain patterns, the upload is activated. The patient, after overcoming some initial disorientation, leaves the hospital feeling young again. This scenario is not as outrageous as it may seem at first glance. There are two theoretical hurdles. First, and most serious, it will be necessary to determine the exact type of each synapse so that the effect of one cell on another can be duplicated. This may not be recoverable from morphology alone -- it may be necessary to detect certain classes of chemicals in both the sending and receiving parts of the synapse. Thus microscopy may have to be combined with other techniques (e.g., spectroscopy) to obtain all the relevant information. The second hurdle is simply processing capacity -- the brain is enormous when examined at such a tiny scale, and today's technology is dwarfed by the demands of the task. It is easier to imagine handling the data of, say, a nematode, which has only a hundred or so neurons; indeed, such a small network could be easily simulated by many of today's computers. For an insect, the technology needed would be a bit more advanced, and for a mouse, far greater -- but still much less than that needed for a human. But computing capacity has been growing in an accelerating manner, and what is possible on a small scale will soon be possible on a larger scale as well. (Note that because neurons act only on information that is available locally to them, the difficulty of simulation is only linearly proportional to the number of neurons. This means that uploading will not suffer from the exponential scaling of some other classes of problems.) Moreover, it is assumed that the simulation task will not be done by a general-purpose computer, but with specialized hardware designed for the job. Nature of artificial brains & bodies When considering the prospect of an artificial body, many people picture the clumsy mechanical character C-3P0 from the film STAR WARS. While early bodies may indeed be crude (C-3P0 would be a technological marvel by today's standards), the social and economic pressure for more natural, human bodies would surely be strong enough to inspire rapid innovation. Within a few decades, it seems likely that artificial bodies will be casually indistinguishable from natural ones. This will probably involve technologies currently beyond speculation, but it may still be helpful to highlight some of the current research which may prove useful for uploading in the future. For muscles, currently popular techniques -- hydraulics, pneumatics, and motors -- seem inadequate. Muscles are needed which can contract very quickly and strongly but still with fine precision, and if they can also mimic the structure of human muscle, so much the better. Researchers working with so-called "smart polymers" seem on the right track; these polymers can expand and contract to a variety of stimuli, including the application of an electric current. Bundles of polymer fibers, appropriately connected to artificial neurons, may be attached to an artificial skeleton in the manner of natural muscles. This would give the upload smooth, natural movement and a familiar body structure. Smart polymers even seem suited to such versatile and important muscles as the tongue. Among the senses, vision may be considered the most important, but not the most difficult. The anatomy of the eye and functioning of the retina are fairly well understood, and attempts at duplicating it are already making progress. Hearing is likewise fairly straightforward. Touch, on the other hand, is vitally important and least explored in current research. The artificial skin will need dense receptors for pressure, temperature, and pain. Internal senses (e.g., of limb position) will work in a similar manner. Finally, taste and smell will be highly demanded, though it might be argued that uploading could be a success without them. Taste and smell will probably depend on smart polymers as much as the muscles. The artificial brain may be quite unlike the artificial computers of today; the circuitry will probably need to be three-dimensional to accommodate the rich pattern of interconnections. Progress has recently been made in growing three-dimensional semiconductor "dendritic trees," which the researchers suggest may be useful for constructing neural networks. More exotic possibilities include the optical computer, which enjoys the advantage of connections crossing without interference, and the quantum computer, with elements so small that quantum mechanics plays a role in their operation. Whatever technology is used, the artificial brain will be extremely complex, but probably also compact, durable, and efficient. Conclusion When space travel was merely science fiction, the idea was opposed by some very thoughtful writers, who pointed out that travel in space would never be possible since there is nothing to push against. The concept of uploading faces a similar situation now -- as a strange new idea in its infancy, it is sometimes opposed by well-meaning thinkers who work from a misunderstanding of the brain. At this point, there appear to be no genuine theoretical problems with uploading; the difficulties are merely technological, and as such, will be overcome if the current pace of progress continues. Uploading technology will have profound effects on humanity and society, and the complex issues which will arise should be explored soon -- for within a century or two, uploading may be upon us. Further Reading --------------- THE COMPUTATIONAL BRAIN. P. Churchland and T. Sejnowski. The MIT Press, 1992. NEUROBIOLOGY. G. Shepherd. Oxford University Press, 1988. PARALLEL DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING. D. Rumelhart et al. The MIT Press, 1986. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!6!-- The Business Side of Conventions: Building a Better Hotel Relationship --------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Steve Schwartz Getting (and especially keeping) a hotel that is right for your convention is very important, particularly when you want to ask them to allow you to do something they normally wouldn't let you get away with. There are things you can do to build rapport with your hotel's convention sales, catering, or convention services staff, and most of them aren't difficult. Opening negotiations will set the tone for your entire duration there, so getting off on the right foot is important. Many people go into their first meeting with the idea that they will try to get away with as much as possible to save money. I reccommend that you stay entirely above board with every aspect of your dealings, however, as they will eventually find out the truth, and then you are doomed to failure. Sneaking in extra food and/or beverages or alcohol to avoid corkage fees or high costs is not a way to build trust with your hotel. The usual fear is that the hotel won't understand the foibles and quirks of our attendees, so discussions about people wandering the halls at three in the morning, weird costumes, or impromptu late night filks are avoided. An example of full disclosure avoidance is with our relaxacon called NECROCON. One hotel never fully realized what a "convention" was, and exactly how weird things could get. After the convention, they decided that we must all be in league with the devil, and refused to have us back ever again. If we had explained exactly what to expect, we would most likely have been OK. Always be certain to find out before it is too late what the hotel expects. If they are only used to business conventions, they need to be educated; but if they have had Shriners in before, everything will probably be all right. If they have restrictions about weapons (stage or otherwise), pets, costumes, alcohol, etc., be certain to make your attendees aware of them before they arrive. Ferrets, swords, rayguns, and semi-nude bodies are very fannish; but particularly bad if the hotel doesn't approve. From a noise viewpoint, you want to be certain the hotel blocks your rooms together so as not to bother "mundanes." If your convention has room parties, make certain that all parties involved know on what floor they should be held. I maintain that if the hotel understands what to expect up front, they will agree to most reasonable requests. For example, with our science fiction and fantasy convention, MARCON, the Hyatt Regency places no restrictions on weapons, or costumes, as long as they remain in our convention areas. The trade-off is to ask our attendess to cover up their bodies, and their weapons, in the "public" areas of the hotel such as the lobby, elevators, restaurants, etc. It is important that we abide by their rules, so we instruct our operations/security people to handle any problems, before the hotel even becomes aware of them. I can't stress enough how important these simple words are. Marcon has moved up to the largest hotel in the Columbus, Ohio area, and will be taking over the entire space available there starting with Marcon 30 in May 1995. We would not be where we are now if we had ignored any of these points. To make your life simpler, you will want to set up a "corporate account" with your hotel. They will want some sort of credit information, which shouldn't be too difficult to produce. After you set up your account, it will be much easier to arrange guest rooms, food functions, alcohol purchases, etc. Otherwise, you will need to pay as you go, ar at best pay up by the last day of your event. The corporate account number will also make you seem more professional to your guests, especially at check-in and Guest of Honor meal functions. In most states, hotels cannot restrict what you are allowed to do (within state laws) in the privacy of your rightfully rented hotel room(s). Most hotels will, however, have "in-house" rules regarding "official" function spaces that are difficult to get around. For example, many of them will want to charge you corkage for beverages, or cater your food functions themselves. You must get them to let you bring in some basics (i.e. dry snacks, nuts, soda, etc.). With Marcon, we started out getting approval to bring in some "donated" snacks and beverages. Each year the list expanded and we were able to get more items to bring in, until they eventually lifted all non-alcoholic restrictions. We now have our consuite in what used to be a hotel restaurant/lounge, and all with the Hyatt's blessing. A hotel will most likely never allow you to bring in your own alcohol for your consuite, due to legal restricitons and liabiligy issues. We end up buying our beer and wine directly from the hotel. However, we've been able to get the price lowered to an affordable figure by explaining that we don't have a corporate expense account (i.e. begging and grovelling). Sometimes offering them a food function, such as a banquest at your guest of honor speeches, will justify having them lower your hotel food and beverage bill. There are many other things to consider that will make your convention affordable. One is to have the hotel adjust your convention room rate up a dollar or two, and use that as a credit toward your hotel bull. With enough attendees, this could be a sizable amount. Another important aspect of keeping costs down is selling room nights for your hotel. All hotels have a scale by which you can get free or significantly lowered function space or consuite room nights based on the number of attendees who buy rooms there. Most use the ratio of one free hotel room night for every fifty you sell to your attendees. These are free rooms you can use for guests or small functions. You might also get the hotel to give you free suite nights by offering them two or three of your comlementary room nights in exchange. For additional space your hotel will want to charge you based on the square footage of the function space you need for your events. A part, or even all this function space should be complementary. The percentage of the hotel's function space you get free will likely be based on a ratio of the hotel rooms you sell compared to the hotel's capacity. Be certain to get this scale placed into the contract, so everyone understand the rules. For these reasons, the most important thing for your convention's continuted existance is to sell hotel rooms for your host hotel. Always be certain to ask attendees to be loyal to your hotel, and mention your convention to get the preset "con rate". Stress to the hotel that you are doing everything in you power to help them. In most cases they will even give you stacks of pre-printed envelopes to send to your attendees with your progress report(s). Then "at con", follow up by asking the hotel for a list of all names of in-house guests during your stay. You can check this list against your membership list to be certain of getting full credit on your bill. Methods such as these help your con budget go a little further. In actuality you are spreading part of the cost to each of your con attendees without having it hurt as much as a higher membership rate. Two or three months out from your convention you will want to meet with your representative. Make room layouts for any function spaces so they will know in advance where you want tables, chairs, podiums, water setups, trash containers, etc.. Work out a schedule for picking up trash and filling water setups you can both live with. This is especially important for the more complex events and room change-overs. Staff will want a resonable time to change room layouts, usually 1.5 to 2 hours minimum. Also stress which setups are the most critical, or must be set up before other things happen. That way the hotel can bring in extra staff and schedule them wisely. Consider that the spaces you need most will be for the dealer's room and art show, which take additional setup before being ready to open. The hotel will appreciate all of your efforts when it comes time to setup your function spaces. There will ALWAYS be some problems, but if you prepare properly you will certainly minimize them. Finally, remember to be very nice to the important people you deal with at your hotel. I try to be certain that they get to meet any guests in which they have an interest, and offer other perks like con T-shirs, or "excess" consuite provender. We encourage any hotel personnel to come in and observe what we do. Operations is instructed to allow anyone with their hotel ID badge in. This way they can see we are a legitimate organization. We also schedule a meesting between the key staff member both organizations the night before the con starts. Seeing faces and ironing out last-minute problems is easier then than it is during the hectic hours that start your event. Lastly, we schedule a meeting after the con, so problems that cropped up at the con can be dealt with while facts are still fresh in everyone's minds. Then thank you letters and small gifts to key hotel staff members complete the process. Believe me, it is worth the trouble if you want to keep your hotel happy with you. Rumors of bad dealings and hotels throwing conventions from our special interest group out do not help things. By following these general rules, more hotels will see the benefits of holding a reasonably profitable and mostly trouble-free event. The more wide-spread the belief becomes, the easier it will be on all of us. Above all else, please realize that it doesn't hurt to ask for something from the hotel; you might even get it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!7!-- Reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper/Mini-Reviews --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GREEN MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-37335-8, 1994, 535pp, US$12.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1994 Evelyn C. Leeper This is the second book of Robinson's "Mars" trilogy. The first was last year's Hugo-nominated RED MARS, and the series will be finished with the upcoming BLUE MARS. (I should mention again that while Robinson's novella "Green Mars" appears to take place in the same future history as this series, it is not a part of this novel.) GREEN MARS, it must be said, suffers from the same flaws and difficulties as most middle-of-a-trilogy novels. It does not start at the beginning, nor does it go through to the end. While RED MARS can be read as a stand-alone novel, GREEN MARS cannot. You must know what happened in RED MARS for GREEN MARS to make any sense or have any meaning. (I would really have appreciated a brief glossary of major characters and political groups -- my memory of the details of RED MARS has faded over the intervening year.) There is also (to my tastes) far too much technical discussion of terraforming and areology, particularly in the first half of the book. For example, on page 148 Robinson writes: "The surface of the glacier appeared to be extremely broken, as the literature had suggested -- mixed with regolith during the flooding, and shot through with trapped carbonation bubbles. Rocks and boulders caught on the surface had melted the ice underneath them and then it had refrozen around them, in a daily cycle that had left them all about two-thirds submerged. All the seracs, standing above the surface of the glacier like titanic dolmens, were on close inspection found to be deeply pitted." (By the way, a regolith is a layer of loose rock material resting on bedrock, a serac is a large mass of ice broken off the main body of a glacier and remaining behind in a crevasse after glacial movement or melting, and a dolmen is a prehistoric megalithic [large stone] structure consisting of two or more upright stones with a capstone, typically forming a chamber (which doesn't actually sound like what the seracs would look like, but what the heck). All definitions courtesy of the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY.) I could be wrong, but I also think that the discussions on pages 175 through 187 and elsewhere of the poisonousness effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are confusing it with carbon monoxide. While inhaling large amounts of carbon dioxide can cause death by suffocation, it is not poisonous in the usual sense of the word, and it is not clear to me that in an atmosphere with a certain percentage of oxygen it matters whether the remainder is nitrogen or carbon dioxide, at least as far as human respiration goes. (Though the atmospheric pressure would be important -- consider the possible side-effects of nitrogen to deep-sea divers.) This may all seem terrible technical and nit-picky, but the book lends itself to that so well that is should be somewhat expected. It is only in the second half of GREEN MARS that Robinson returns in force to the political and historical aspects of the series. While one may argue that the key event that triggers the "phase change" of GREEN MARS's final chapter is totally arbitrary, there's no denying that historical triggers often are. Still, I have to reserve final judgement on GREEN MARS until BLUE MARS concludes the series, and then see if GREEN MARS serves its purpose in the overall picture. That is the only way to view this book and much as I want to see Kim Stanley Robinson finally get a Hugo, it makes no sense to look at this as a possibility. (I mention this because this had a British edition in 1993, and hence would be eligible for the Hugo awards for last year, to be given at Conadian this September. I note this just to clarify its eligibility for anyone who does want to nominate it.) Title: Green Mars Author: Kim Stanley Robinson City: New York Date: March 15, 1994 Publisher: Bantam Spectra Pages: 535pp Comments: hardback, US$22.95/trade paperback, US$12.95 Order Info: ISBN 0-553-09640-0/ISBN 0-553-37335-8 Series: Mars Volume: 2 .............................. EMPIRE'S END by Allan Cole & Chris Bunch Del Rey Science Fiction, ISBN 0-345-37696-X EMPIRE'S END is the eighth and final Sten adventure. If you have not read any of the previous adventures, especially the immediately preceding novel (VORTEX), you will probably not appreciate this book -- though I would suggest trying the first novel of the series, STEN. If you have been following the series and enjoying it, this book is definitely consistent with what has come before and you will not be disappointed. We have all the standard stuff -- narrow escapes, space battles, willy guns, and infiltration that you expect packaged up in a moving tale that even has a message -- what more could you ask. But Bunch and Cole should probably write a cookbook soon and get it out of their system. -- David Gibbs THE SUN THE MOON AND THE STARS by Steven Brust Ace Fantasy, ISBN 0-441-79099-2 If you only like to read fantasy (or sf) you should probably avoid THE SUN THE MOON AND THE STARS as, despite the labelling, this book is definitely not fantasy. It tells the story of a group of young "starving" artists who have setup a studio together, focusing especially on the protaganist, Greg Kovacs and his thoughts while attempting the largest canvas he has yet to attempt, interleaved with a traditional Hungarian folk tale that Greg is relating to his friends, and some discussion on the question of "what is art?". This book is well written, and well told, all in all an excellent work of fiction, it just isn't fantasy. -- David Gibbs --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!8!-- The Infamous Reply Cards and What You Said --------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Linda E. Smit With the latest team just beginning their experiment in Biosphere living, the answers we received to our last response card question are interesting. Only eighteen responses were returned, but they all seem to be carefully considered answers. While nine readers said "no," six said "yes." Two people said "no and yes" and one said he just wasn't sure of an answer. The responses really fell into three categories. There were unequivocal yesses, unequivocal nos, and several "depends." I felt like I was playing a game of Scruples(TM) with all the variations on why people would/would not go, according to the situation. The major reason for not participating in a Biosphere-like project was time taken away from family or a relationship. One respondent said he'd go if his wife could go as well. Another said his children are too young for him to leave them for such an extended period of time. Yet, some of the people unwilling to do Biosphere said they WOULD participate in a trip to Mars or live on a space station. Several folks said they could understand the importance of learning how to live in a closed system in order to colonize other planets--they'd just rather wait until there was something more to get out of the experience. And one of the "yes" responses emphasized the difference between Biosphere and a space project: "It would certainly be a challenging and 'interesting' time (whether or not 'interesting' would fulfill the idea of that ancient Chinese curse. :)) Since however, we are talking about a hypothetical biosphere 3 (or greater), I would see the question are referring to two types, another earth-based biosphere project or a 'real' space based biosphere. I think that the scientific value of an earth based biosphere has been well & truely established so the challenge & the scientific value would not be as great. Not that I wouldn't consider the offer, but I wouldn't 'leap' at it (needless to say, I would probably say yes.) On the other hand, if the project would be in space (either in 'deep space' or on a planet/moon/etc then I would literally kill to get in. The challenge and the scientific value would go without saying, and besides, I would do almost anything to get into space. :) So where do I sign up?" And I asked the same question. Where do I sign up? The yes responses recognized the difficulties encountered by people in a closed system, but decided that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. "I would take the opportunity because it would be a great chance to learn about yourself and how to deal with others. Living in such a closed environment would be very challenging and getting along with the inevitable cliques that would ensue would be a learning experience. I doubt such an effort would always be enjoyable but it would be an unique experience." And I feel the same. I think living in a closed environment, whether it be Biosphere, a space station, or a spaceship would be an incredible learning experience. For a writer, it would be an experiment in patience and veracity. It would be an adventure that would not only teach you about other people, but also about yourself--things you might not ever learn otherwise. (If you new Biosphere folks are reading this--good luck to you!) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!9!-- SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .................... Upcoming BOOKS .................... [We'd like to also feature books from some of the smaller publishers. If you have a favorite small publisher you think we should know about, please feel free to send us the address, or even just the name and city. We'll find it.] ------------ March 1994: Ace: THE SURE DEATH OF A MOUSE - Dan Crawford Baen: MIRROR DANCE - Lois McMaster Bujold WILD CARDS: MARKED CARDS - (edited by) George R.R. Martin Bantam: INDIANA JONES AND THE WHITE WITCH - Martin Caidin Spectra THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT SINGS THE BLUES - Harry Harrison UNIVERSE 3 - (edited by) Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber GOLDEN TRILLIUM - Andre Norton THE ROBOTS OF DAWN - Isaac Asimov THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE STARS - Kirby Green GREEN MARS - Kim Stanley Robinson RHINEGOLD - Stephan Grundy DAW: TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER (Part 1) - Tad Williams SERPENT WALTZ - Jo Clayton OUTWORLD CATS - Jack Lovejoy Del Rey: OUT OF THIS WORLD (First book, THREE WORLDS trilogy) - Lawrence Watt-Evans A GUIDE TO THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE, SECOND EDITION, REVISED & EXPANDED - Bill Slavicsek THE TALISMANS OF SHANNARA (Fourth book, THE HERITAGE OF SHANNARA) - Terry Brooks THE PRINCE OF ILL-LUCK - Susan Dexter FIRE IN A FARAWAY PLACE (Sequel, A SMALL COLONIAL WAR) - Robert Frezza Knopf: DIAMOND MASK (Second book, THE GALACTIC MILIEU trilogy) - Julian May Roc: DEADLY QUICKSILVER LIES - Glen Cook Tor: SACRED GROUND - Mercedes Lackey THE MAGIC ENGINEER - L.E. Modesitt, Jr. A COLLEGE OF MAGICKS - Caroline Stevermer ------------ April 1994: Baen: THE WATCHMEN - Ben Bova THE SHIP WHO WON - Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye HONOR HARRINGTON #3: THE SHORT VICTORIOUS WAR - David Weber Bantam: THE COURTSHIP OF PRINCESS LEIA - Dave Wolverton DAW: THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER - Mickey Zucker Reichert Del Rey: THE LIVING GOD - Dave Duncan STRANGER AT THE WEDDING - Barbara Hambly CRASHLANDER - Larry Niven A WHISPER OF TIME - Paula E. Downing DEL REY DISCOVERY: THE HELDAN - Deborah Talmadge-Bickmore MacMillan/Atheneum: WOLF-SPEAKER - Tamora Pierce Viking: THE FOREST HOUSE (sequel, THE MISTS OF AVALON) - Marion Zimmer Bradley Tor: FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER (sequel, THE PHEONIX GUARDS) - Steven Brust THE DUBIOUS HILLS - Pamela Dean ------------ May 1994: Del Rey: THE TANGLE BOX - Terry Brooks THE ZENTRAEDI REBELLION - Jack McKinney (Robotech #18) CAT SCRATCH FEVER - Tara K. Harper THE STRICKEN FIELD (Third Book of A HANDFUL OF MEN) - Dave Duncan CHAINS OF DARKNESS, CHAINS OF LIGHT - Michelle Sagara Harcourt Brace: TOWING JEHOVAH - James Morrow Roc: THE OAK ABOVE THE KINGS - Patricia Kennealy Tor: THE FURIES - Suzy McKee Charnas SUMMER KING, WINTER FOOL - Lisa Goldstein DEMON MOON - Jack Williamson .................... Upcoming MOVIES .................... This is not really the "Upcoming Movies" list that Bryan D. Jones (bdj@engr.uark.edu) puts out over Usenet every week or so. It's actually a pared down version that he was kind enough to let us print. We thank him and remind you that if you have any updates or corrections, please send them on to him. All dates are US wide release dates. -Bryan D. Jones (bdj@engr.uark.edu) Mar 30: Thumbelina, Into the Mouth of Madness May 6: Prison Colony 13 May: Troll in Central Park 27 May: The Flintstones Spring: Blankman, Cartooned, The Muppet Treasure Island, Thumbelina 17 Jun: Clear and Present Danger, The Lion King (Animated) Jun 24: Wolf, Lion King July 1: True Lies Jul 15: Exit to Eden July : Angels in the Outfield 05 Aug: Time Cop August: Tall Tale Summer: Aliens vs. Predator: The Hunt, Clear and Present Danger, The Flintstones, Getting Even With Dad, Autumn: Pagemaster, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Interview with The Vampire Nov 4: Frankenstein Decemb: Godzilla (American), Spiderman, Batman III, Star Trek VII Winter: With Honors 1994 : Ed Wood, The Lawnmowerman 2, The Mask, Tremors II --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!10!-- Shoelaces of Truth: The News, The Whole News, and Nothing but the News --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Dedicated to Mark Twain's principle that "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth puts on its shoes."] .................... BABYLON 5 NEWS .................... by David Strauss The first season of BABYLON 5 has begun, and viewers all over the country have buckled in for what's sure to be an entertaining ride. The first few episodes of the first season were designed as a slow introduction to the projected five year story arc, but as the season moves on, we'll be seeing the overall arc become more prominant in individual episodes. Ratings for B5 have exceeded Warner Brother's anticipations. The show has ranked each week in the top 20 syndicated shows, with higher ratings than TIME TRAX and KUNG FU: TLC. The decision on whether BABYLON 5 gets picked up for a second season will be made in late-April. If you like what you see, be sure to contact your local station that carries B5 and let them know you'd like it to continue. The big news on alt.tv.babylon-5 lately has been discussion over the creation of a Babylon-5 rec group, entitled rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon-5. Voting completed March 18, and the results will probably be known between the time this column was written and the new issue was released. Filming for the first season of B5 completes on March 23. Several episodes still have major post-production work required, especially the ones with long CGI sequences. New episodes will probably be run during April and May, with a summer of mainly reruns, so that the final run of new episodes will be shown during the November sweeps, including the season finale, "Chrysalis." Several veteran actors will appear later in the season, including JUNE LOCKHART and THEODORE BIKEL. (For a list of other actors who will be appearing in the first season, see the issue 2:1 of CV.) Also look for a soundtrack album by CHRISTOPHER FRANKE, possibly as early as this summer. If you'd like to learn more about the BABYLON 5 universe, a recent cover story in the magazine CINEFANTASTIQUE would be required reading, although it does contain some spoilers about the first season. (The guide to first season episodes is also severely outdated. The spoilers included in this issue of CV are far more current.) The best net.source for BABYLONJ5 information is the FTP site at ftp.hyperion.com, or its faster echo at ftp.uml.edu. Included there are various text files with background information, episode guides, synopses, and even early drafts of a fan- produced tech manual. For the more historically minded, there's files on the history of ancient Babylonia, which the show's creator, J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI, has mentioned as giving hints to the direction of the B5 story arc. On a personal note, your author is proud to say he became one of the first members of the B5 fan community to have a character named after him in a BABYLON 5 episode. Just watch "The Parliament of Dreams" and listen for a reference to the (unseen) waiter at the Fresh Air restaurant. That's me. ;) .................... And a note from BABYLON 5 creator Joe Straczynski: If I can put a word out onto the electronic web ... usually, in the network shows, a series runs its course, and at the end of the season, the network decides whether or not to renew. Because of the schedule of PTEN, the decision to renew or not comes in April/May. While the ratings are good -- mention of the B5 ratings got a headline in today's "Hollywood Reporter" along with ST -- there's a new wrinkle in the situation. The new Paramount Network. They're making deals with stations as fast as they can, snatching up the independent stations and trying to secure the few remaining available timeslots (which with the glut of programs now are continually growing smaller in number). So for a station, it's a choice between two or more shows that might rate equally fine, but there's outside pressure. Point being this (and anyone who wants to upload this entire message to other nets, feel free): if -- IF -- you genuinely enjoy the show, and would like to see it renewed, this would be a very good time to drop your local TV station a letter indicating this. The stations have a direct input as to whether or not shows are renewed. It certainly couldn't hurt. jms .................... HIGHLANDER NEWS .................... by Debbie Douglass I am happy to report that main unit filming for "HIGHLANDER III: THE MAGICIAN" was completed in Montreal in February. Location work is now proceeding in Japan, Australia, and Scotland. Sorry, no release date information is available at this time. One minor correction to the cast listed in the last issue: The female lead will be DEBORAH UNGER. Well, it looks like CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT will finally realize his dream of breaking-in to Hollywood studio films. Despite his international box office draw (HIGHLANDER II, KNIGHT MOVES and FORTRESS collectively earned $150 million overseas in contrast to the disappointing performance of a total of $30 million in the U.S.) he will temporarily abandon his normally high fee to work for Universal Studios in the film KIRINA (aka CORINA or KORINA) in April. LAMBERT will be working for scale plus 10%. JOHN LAWTON, who wrote "Pretty Woman," will be directing this tale of an American in Japan pursued by assassins. Lambert fans shouldn't worry though. H has already committed to doing FORTRESS II for 20th Century Fox for fee befitting a superstar. FORTRESS II is expected to start production late this year in Australia. Even though I have enjoyed all of his previous films, I hope that maybe one of these days we'll see our favorite actor in a film using his lovely native accent again. Attention Diet Pepsi fans: MEILANI PAUL, one of the Uh-Huh girls (and wife of Highlander star ADRIAN PAUL) will have a guest role in "Counterfeit Part I", the first of the two part season finale for Highlander: The Series. HIGHLANDER: THE ANIMATED SERIES was announced at the New York Toy Fair last month scheduled to premiere in September '94. Previously released information describes the scenario for the series set far in the future, following a Holocaust, where much of civilization has crumbled. None of the current characters from film or TV will be featured. Accompanying the announcement was a display of an animated hero with ponytail, leather boots, blue tights, padded shoulders, spiked shield, broadsword, and puffed sleeves posed in front of Gothic-style ruins. Shall we get in line for our action figures now? ;-) Please help us ensure that Highlander is picked up for a third season. Write Keith Samples, C/O Rysher TPE, 3400 Riverside, Burbank CA 91505 with comments about what *you* like about Highlander. Also write your local station to encourage them to keep Highlander on their schedule. [For more information about all things Highlander read the Highlander FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions and answers (including the Episode Guide)). It is posted to the USENET newsgroups rec.arts.sf.tv, rec.arts.sf.movies, and alt.cult-movies once a month. If you don't have access to USENET, then send an e-mail message to Debbie_Douglass@DL5000.bc.edu. Include 'Send HL FAQ' in the Subject line and your request will be handled automatically.] .................... STAR TREK NEWS .................... by TJ Goldstein As ST:TNG draws to a close, old favories are returning. "Genesis" will see the return of Barclay (DWIGHT SCHULTZ), the second to last episode will include Ensign Ro (MICHELLE FORBES) despite past denials -- and Patrick Stewart will direct that episode -- and "Journey's End" will see the return of Wesley Crusher (WIL WHEATON), The Traveler (ERIC MENYUK), and several of the more minor characters, such as Jack Crusher and Admiral Necheyev. "Journey's End" will feature the forced relocation of an American Indian group from the planet they have settled. This is significant because one of the characters mentioned for ST:VOYAGER is a member of this group. As for movie plans, according to convention reports, the TNG movie, STAR TREK: GENERATIONS will see appearances from only three of the original cast members, WILLIAM SHATNER, JAMES DOOHAN, and WALTER KOENIG. They will appear in only about 20 minutes of the fim. LEONARD NIMOY has refused to appear in the film because he doesn't like the script, but there is no word on whether the ohter TOS cast members are absent from the film by their choice or the studio's. The film will go into production at the start of April, immediately after STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION finishes filming. And in related news, Disney's "Action Friday" series of cartoons will reportedly include GARGOYLES, featuring the voices of JONATHAN FRAKES and MARINA SIRTIS, according to TV GUIDE. .................... OTHER TV NEWS .................... FROM THE EDITOR: It's letter writing season in the science fiction universe, as shows battle to keep themselves on the air. General hints for conducting a letter writing campaign were carried in Volume 1, Issue 2 of CV, but we thought we'd add two more: First, write to and call your local stations, especially if the show is in syndication. A syndicated show's fate is determined by how many stations buy the right to air it. Second, write to your newspapers. That right, newspapers. A television columnist for a major newspaper was mentioning to ye olde editor that she had to turn down an interview with one of the stars of an sf show for the simple reason that they weren't getting any letters about it. So look for the television columnist in your local or national newspaper, think of a question relating to whatever show it is you're trying to save, and send it in. You'll give the columnist an excuse to give it some press. Contrary to rumors, SEAQUEST has not been cancelled, nor has the decision as to whether to carry the show next year been made, at least as of March 24, 1994. Cast and crew are still hoping and expecting to be renewed for next year, according to spokesman Vic Heutschy. ROBOCOP has hit the small screen in syndication -- and not cheaply, either. Skyvision Entertainment bought the rights from Orion and decided to take him back to his roots, spending $36.5 million (yes, thirty six and a half MILLION dollars) on the production. Robocop creators EDWARD NEUMEIER and MICHAEL MINER wrote the premiere and set the tone for the show. Instead of the ultra-violent Robocop that has lately been seen on the big screen, this is a Robocop struggling to regain his humanity. Added to the universe is Gadget, a twelve year old orphan adopted by the Sargeant, Diana, who is "the ghost in the machine" -- a woman who was murdered so her brain could run the huge computer network that controls the city, and Commander Cash, and animated mascot for Omni Consumer Products (OCP) who will appear in each episode to extol the virtues of consumerism and advertise the wonderful things OCP brings the citizens of Detroit. The show stars RICHARD EDEN ad Robocop, YVETTE NIPAR as Officer Lisa Madigan, BLU MANKUMA as Sgt. Stan Parks, SARAH CAMPBELL as Gadget, ANDREA ROTH as Diana Powers, and DAVID GARDNER as the Chairman of OCP. According to USA today, DEAN CAIN will be starring in an action thriller his father, CHRISTOPHER CAIN (YOUNG GUNS) is directing. USA TODAY also carries an interview with L&C producer DEBORAH JOY LEVINE on which she reportedly say that the "vibes for renewal are good." There had been a letter to the editor of a comics magazine claiming that the show had already been cancelled, but this is absolutely not true. (Letter writing wouldn't hurt, though, of course.) PHYLLIS COATES and JAMES EARL JONES will be appearing in the two-part season finale of LOIS AND CLARK. Coates, who played Lois in the original SUPERMAN television series, will be playing Lois's mother. Frustrated by the abrupt end of ALIEN NATION? Relief is in sight. Fox is making ALIEN NATION: DARK HORIZON, a two hour television movie that will re-tell the story of the last episode, solve it, and take up a plot where those who enslaved the Newcomers in the first place return to re-take their slaves -- and the human race. The original television cast will return. It will air later this year. Another round of QUANTUM LEAP videos are due out, but the fate of future releases depends on pre-orders. That's right, whether or not other videos will be released reportedly depends on how many people ask for this batch before they actually arrive in the stores. In fact, in order to count, they need to be pre-ordered before April 6. The episodes that will be arriving April 20 are "The Leap Home (parts one and two)", "Jimmy", "Shock Theater", and "Dreams". DEBORAH PRATT reportedly told guests at Quantum- Con that "Dreams" will have never-before-seen footage. In other QL news, stymied in efforts to get radio stations to play SCOTT BAKULA'S version of "Somewhere in the Night," Crescendo Records is taking advide and repackaging the single with less QL oriented artwork. Apparently adult contemporary stations, which normally would play it, were put off by the heavy QL emphasis. Fox has bought 65 episodes of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for Saturday morning cartoons and 20 more episodes of X-MEN. Genesis Entertainment is making an hour-long cartoon which for the first year will feature Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, which will supposedly be closer to the original comics. STEVEN SPIELBERG is attempting to obtain the rights to DR. WHO in order to produce an American version of the show. Nothing is definite and a new Doctor has not been chosen, even though some rather large names have been bandied about. .................... MOVIE NEWS .................... WILLIAM GIBSON's JOHNNY MNEUMONIC will finally be making it to the big screen. Based on the short story of the same name, KEANU REEVES will play Johnny, a man with stolen Yakuza information stored in his brain trying not to get killed by DOLPH LUNDGREN. Probably because of her place in the sprawl novels, the character of Molly Millions could not be used, and has been replaced by Jane, played by DINA MEYER. She's basically the same character, however, as "we've stuck very close to the original story, and Mr. Gibson is VERY involved with the project. He's written the screenplay himself," says unit publicist Wendi Laski. She couldn't quote a budget figure but says that "the sets look spectacular." The film is being directed by ROBERT LONGO, and ICE-T will play Dog. Tri-Star will distribute it in the U.S., and MDP in the rest of the world. In other news from the brain-implant front, the low budget film CYBERTEENS IN LOVE is the first recipient of Canada's "Next Wave" competition. The film, which stars JUSTINE PRIESTLY and MARTIN CUMMINS, is the first project to use Sony's new Digital Betacam format, which allows it to be output in either 35 mm film format or in a 4x3 aspect for television. It's directed by BRETT DOWLER for Shadowface Productions in accosciation with British Columbia Film and The National Film Board - Pacific Centre. If you've got a copy of the laserdisk of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, hold onto it. Disney animators reportedly had a little fun, figuring that nobody would catch on if they played with a frame or two. Rumored to be available to those with a laserdisk and freeze-frame: a full frontal nude shot of Jessica Rabbit, an explicit sexual encounter, and, of all things, Disney chief MICHAEL EISNER'S home phone number. Known to be present are three frames where Jessica's dress is flying and her underwear is missing. According to newspaper reports, 100,000 copies of the disk were originally pressed, and Disney, which says that since the film was technically put out by subsidiary Touchstone it was not subject to Disney's rigorous standards, will probably not re-press the film without the offending frames. LOU BUNIN, best known for his 1951 classic ALICE IN WONDERLAND, which pioneered film puppeteering techniques, died February 17 of a stroke. KURT RUSSELL and JAYE DAVIDSON will be starring in STARGATE. Filmed in Yuma, it's a high budget film about Marines "warped" into a futuristic desert planet. From Carolco. Faced with a proposed law requiring ratings for video games, the industry promised to institute a voluntary rating system that would label the sex and violence content of games going to marked after November 1 and "submitted by publishers in a timely fashion," Jack Heistand, chairman of the industry group charged with coming up with the new ratings system said in newspaper reports. Congress is not prepared to drop the bill, however, until the system is firmly in place. JOHN CANDY (SPACEBALLS, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, 1941) died March 4 of a heart attack. He was nearing the end of filming WAGONS EAST with RICHARD LEWIS in Mexico. He was 43 years old. JON PETERS, producer of BATMAN and creator of Polygram Pictures, is heading back to Warner Bros. after a stint as co-chairman and producer at Sony Pictures. Loch Ness researchers, far from being happy with the famous 1934 photo of a sea serpent poking its head out of the water, were actually relieved this month to find out that the whole thing was in fact a fake cooked up by a self-styled big game hunter hired to find the monster after the first sighting in 1933. According to newspaper reports, one of the last living co-conspirators confided in researchers from his deathbed that it was actually a model serpent's head on a toy submarine. Apparently the photo contradicted other research into Nessie, so researchers are glad to find out it's a fake. In early March the Inverness Tourist Board announced that early April would see the beginning of tourist trips beneath the surface of Loch Ness for those who wanted to look for the monster. According Reuters, they will ride six at a time for $105(US) in a specially adapted research sub. There is talk of a fourth RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK film, but there's just one problem. Although HARRISON FORD has said in interviews that he would be willing for the right script, director STEVEN SPIELBERG has been riding the wave of seriousness generated by his magnum opus, SCHINDLER'S LIST, and has said that he couldn't go back to easy films right now. In fact, he only got to do the film at all by promising to make JURASSIC PARK first in case just such a thing happened. Spielberg told Reuter that "I can't make a musical or a western or a sequence to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I just could not do this now." He plans to "take a year off and think about my life and my career." TriStar is reportedly making a film out of the original FOUNDATION TRILOGY by ISAAC ASIMOV. Directed by JEAN-JAQUES ANNAUD (QUEST FOR FIRE), it is due out either in late 1995 or summer of 1996. If it does well they plan to make fims out of the other books. Some upcoming horror films: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART III, CANDYMAN II, HELLRAISER IV, and another NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, reportedly dealing with time periods between other films. According to the Helper's Network Hotline, Spelling Entertainment is looking into the possibility of a movie based on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Fans are urged to send their support of such a venture to Spelling Entertainment, attention: Marcia Basichis, Senior Vice President of Development, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. The phone number for the Helper's Network Hotline is 513-961-3317. Those who have bemoaned the absense of a Robin to the cinematic version of BATMAN may or may not be happy with BATMAN III. There's going to be a Robin, all right, and open casting calls are being held around the country looking for him. But BURT WARD he won't be. Director JOEL SCHUMACHER is reportedly looking for someone a bit tougher. Avenues they are exploring besides the usual include reccommendatons from gang liasons and parole officers. .................... WRITTEN SF NEWS FROM ANSIBLE .................... by Dave Langford The following news is from Dave Langford's newsletter ANSIBLE and is reprinted with permission. ANSIBLE is now available electronically from ansible@cix.compulink.co.uk. For more info on the paper version, write to Dave Langford, 94 London Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5AU. Fax 0734 669914. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. Does your small-press magazine review horror books or movies? Just watch it. PAUL BARNETT explains: "In mid-February John Gullidge, editor of SAMHAIN, was stitched up in the WESTERN MORNING NEWS and EXETER EXPRESS & ECHO in the wake of the seizure elsewhere in the country of whole stacks of video nasties; according to these papers, SAMHAIN was little more than a trading ground for such stuff and the police were about to swoop. The E&E also made a jolly link-by-proximity (as a tag-on piece) between John's activities and the Jamie Bulger memorial service, with a good plug about how the judge had said it was all caused by CHILD'S PLAY 3 -- but nothing, of course, about the police refutation of that claim. In fact SAMHAIN rarely even mentions video nasties (as opposed to legit horror movies) except in passing, and enjoys excellent relations with the trading standards people, who feel that John's conduct of the magazine is -- so far as their interests are concerned -- exemplary. The E&E knew this but didn't bother to mention it; the WMN did not know it because they'd omitted to do any in-depth research such as ringing John up (a failing which they pathetically described as "no one was available for comment"). With the true instinct for integrity in journalism, neither paper deigned to print a letter from him correcting these and other errors of fact; and John doesn't feel he can either sue or go to the Press Complaints Commission because some of his other activities rely on reasonable relations with these formerly sycophantic slime-buckets. The net result is that as far as the local population is concerned, there is a Monster in our Midst. John is getting ill treatment in the streets to the extent that he goes out as little as possible; several parents have withdrawn their kids from the Woodcraft Folk group of which he is playleader, and he's been summoned to an extraordinary meeting to be confronted by them; etc. The whole thing makes me see red. Grrr!" The above was faxed to both papers for comment. None as yet. CECELIA HOLLAND has finally read William James's SUNFALL trilogy, noted here last year as bearing a Curious Resemblance to her 1969 historical novel UNTIL THE SUN FALLS. Ms Holland seems to agree, in an incandescent letter which we may publish after she's taken legal advice. Latest rumour: devotees of her mediaeval novels THE EARL (in UK, A HAMMER FOR PRINCES) and GREAT MARIA may also find happy memories in the pages of SUNFALL. JOHN HOLM, Harry Harrison's collaborator on THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS, is (unsecretly) Tom Shippey. His minor billing may not reflect his share of the novel: one pundit reckons it's "90% Shippey." Yet the US Tor edition omits "Holm" entirely.... JACK KIRBY died on 6 Feb. ROB HANSEN writes: "Born Jacob Kurtzberg, Kirby was one of the true giants of the US comics industry. Starting in 1935 with newspaper strips, he developed a repertoire of techniques that by the time of his Marvel Comics work in the 1960s had given his artwork unparalleled power and dynamics. For better or worse, Kirby established the visual grammar of superhero storytelling; his influence was immense. He created CAPTAIN AMERICA with JOE SIMON in 1941, but will be most widely remembered for his ground-breaking 1960s work on FANTASTIC FOUR, THOR, INCREDIBLE HULK, X-MEN, etc." TERRY PRATCHETT, in an astonishing reversal of expectations, won the BCA Fantasy & SF Author of the Year Award (latest addition to the commercially oriented British Book Awards). CARL SAGAN disliked Apple's use of "Carl Sagan" as internal nickname for a planned computer. Insider sources now add that he chiefly objected to the company of sister projects named Tesla, Piltdown Man and Cold Fusion. Thus the machine briefly became the BHA, for "Butt-Head Astronomer" ... only to be renamed, in short order, the LAW: "Lawyers Are Wimps". HELEN SHARMAN, Astro-OBE, will present the Arthur C.Clarke Award on 20 April: Kennedy Room, Irish Centre, Murray St, Camden. 6pm for 7:30. MC: Geoff Ryman. More data: David V.Barrett. BRUCE STERLING heard from a Brit who got a job in telecomms after reciting large chunks of THE HACKER CRACKDOWN at his interview: "Suggested promotional line for the sf audience of the 90s: 'Read Bruce Sterling and actually get a job'." THE DEAD PAST: Almost remembered US fan Tom Perry has a squib on HEINLEIN in Damon Knight's MONAD #3 which may outrage the easily outraged. Tracking down the 30's political activity which RAH kept so dark, Tom finds it was (by US standards) left-wing: erstwhile socialist Upton Sinclair's "End Poverty In California" platform. The "moderate Democrat" story told to and published by Jerry Pournelle seems untrue in numerous details. Tom wonders if RAH suppressed this innocuous-seeming data in fear of Nixon and McCarthy (whose investigations he ironically "saw little wrong with"), since EPIC links could be taken as evidence of "un-American activities". Was this why Heinlein was touchy until death about his 1941 Worldcon speech, threatening legal action in 1973 when the text -- arguably in the public domain -- was reprinted through the well-meaning efforts of FORREST J ACKERMAN? Its second paragraph approvingly mentions Sinclair-as-politician, you see.... TOO GOOD TO CHECK. "A fan of HITCH-HIKER was in a bar with a friend who worked in a nut house. The fan happened to use one of the HHG tag-lines ("Here, put this fish in your ear" or something) and the shrink jumped up saying, "WHAT?!" Seems they had a guy locked up who would only respond to questions with HHG bits; since a lot of psychos have languages all their own, and no-one who'd dealt with this guy knew HHG, they were going nuts themselves trying to decipher him." [NR] Just needed a fish in the ear, really. AMAZING STORIES suspended publication after appearing since 1926; current owners TSR may have it redesigned. [_SFC_] .................... OTHER WRITTEN SF .................... The new generation of STAR WARS fans (ie, anybody who's not old enough to have seen it in the theaters originally) will finally get to read the original spin-off novel, SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE, by ALAN DEAN FOSTER, when it's released this month by Del Rey. KEVIN ANDERSON'S book STAR WARS: JEDI SEARCH debuted in the top ten, and the week of March 9th it was number two on the PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY list. Anderson, who keeps up with the Fidonet SW echo, took some time to thank net.fans for their support. Del Rey has also contracted with bestselling author R.A. Salvatore, best known for the Forgotten Realms Dark Elf novels THE STARLESS NIGHT and THE LEGACY, for three fantasy novels, beginning the the summer of 1996. ORSON SCOTT CARD has finally finished the Homecoming Saga. THE SHIPS OF EARTH, the third book, is out this month, EARTHFALL, the fourth, is due out in January 1995, and the fifth will be out the following May. Having done that and turned it in to Tor, according to Tor editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden he will now work on the fourth Alvin novel. ROBERT ANTON WILSON, author of more than 20 books including the SCHRODINGER'S CAT trilogy and THE ILLUMINATUS! trilogy (with ROBERT SHEA), died February 21 of an apparent heart attack. He was 63. DIANE DUANE will be writing a SPIDER-MAN novel for Byron Preiss Visual Communications. Due out in spring of 1995, it will NOT be a novelization of the upcoming Spidey film. NESFA 1993 Hugo Recommendations For a second year, the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) is maintaining a list of Good Stuff to read. Any NESFA member who reads something that they would like to recommend to others to be considered for a Hugo nomination can add it to the list. We will publish it from time to time in Instant Message and on the nets. (Feel free to reproduce it provided you reproduce it intact!) It's neither definitive nor complete, but it contains the stories, novels and non-fiction works that a bunch of well-read fans feel may be worthy of a Hugo nomination. ------------------------------------------------------------------ **Novel** Ring of Swords / Eleanor Arnason / Tor / gf Forward the Foundation / Isaac Asimov / Doubleday / arl, rk Against a Dark background / Iain M. Banks / Orbit, Bantam Spectra / ca Moving Mars / Greg Bear / Tor / mlo, gf Glory Season / David Brin / Bantam Spectra / arl Agyar / Steven Brust / Tor / ec, ks The Door into Sunset (UK, '92) / Diane Duane / Tor / ec, ks Growing Up Weightless / John M. Ford / Bantam Spectra / cjh, gf, ks The Thread That Binds the Bones / Nina Kiriki Hoffman / AvoNova / po, gf, ks Nimbus / Alexander Jablokov / AvoNova / ec Beggars in Spain / Nancy Kress / AvoNova / gf, ca Red Dust / Paul J. McAuley / Gollancz / ca Green Mars / Kim Stanley Robinson / Harper Collins UK / daa, ca, mlo, gf Lord of the Two Lands / Judith Tarr / Tor / ec, mlo, pal Virtual Girl / Amy Thomson / Ace / sls, gf, ks The Destiny Makers / George Turner / Morrow/AvoNova / ec The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump / Harry Turtledove / Baen / by The Well-Favored Man / Elizabeth Willey / Tor / mlo, po The Harvest / Robert Charles Wilson / Bantam / ca, gf, daa Nightside the Long Sun / Gene Wolfe / Tor / gf, ec, mlo ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Novella** The Beauty Addict / Ray Aldridge / Full Spectrum 4 / gf The Night We Buried Road Dog / Jack Cady / F&SF, Jan / ca, gf Mephisto in Onyx / Harlan Ellison / Omni, Oct / sls, gf Dancing on Air / Nancy Kress / Asimov's, Jul / arl, gf Einstein's Dreams / Alan Lightman / Pantheon / el Into the Miranda Rift / G. David Nordley / ASF, Jul / arl, tp, ca, gf, pal, daa, mlo Deus X / Norman Spinrad / Bantam / el Down in the Bottomlands / Harry Turtledove / ASF, Jan / arl Wall, Stone, Craft / Walter Jon Williams / F&SF Oct-Nov / arl, ks, gf --------------------------------------------------------------------- **Novelette** The Shadow Knows / Terry Bisson / Asimov's Sept / arl, gf Tourist Attraction / Juleen Brantingham / Amazing, Aug / arl Men of Good Will / J. R. Dunn / Amazing, Mar / ca, mlo A History of the Antipodes / Phillip C. Jennings / Amazing, Mar / ca The Franchise / John Kessel / Asimov's, Aug / gf Sunshine, Genius and Rust / Jeffery D. Kooistra / ASF, May / arl Beneath the Stars of Winter / Geoffrey Landis / Asimov's, Jan / gf, ca Because Thou Lovest the Burning Ground / Michael Kube-McDowell / Alternate Warriors - Resnick / Tor / arl Papa / Ian R. MacLeod / Asimov's, Oct / ca The Dakna / Jamil Nasir / Asimov's, Sept / arl, ca Sister Alice / Robert Reed / Asimov's, Nov / ca The Arrival of Truth / Kristine Kathryn Rusch / Alternate Warriors - Resnick / Tor / arl, gf Georgia on My Mind / Charles Sheffield / ASF, Jan / gf, ca Suicidal Tendencies / Dave Smeds / Full Spectrum 4 / gf Deep Eddy / Bruce Sterling / Asimov's, Aug 93 / gf The Ape That Ate the Universe / Ian Stewart / ASF, Jul / tp, gf In Dreams / Andrew Weiner / Asimov's mid-Dec 93 / arl Death on the Nile / Connie Willis / Asimov's, Mar 93 / gf ------------------------------------------------------------------ **Short story** Everything that Rises Must Converge / Michael Armstrong / Asimov's, Feb / gf, ca Afterschool Special / Paul DiFilippo / Amazing, Jun / ca Campbell's World / Paul DiFilippo / Amazing, Sept / ca, arl, mlo, gf Promised Lives / Julia Ecklar / F&SF, Sept / el Steam / John Griesemer / Asimov's May / ca Touching Fire / Nicola Griffith / Interzone 70, April / arl The Battle of Long Island / Nancy Kress / Omni, Feb/Mar / ca, gf, mlo Hugh Merrow / Jonathan Lethem / F&SF Oct-Nov / arl The Passage of the Light / Barry N. Malzberg / SF Age, Nov / arl The Color of Sunfire / Larry Niven / Bridging the Galaxies / kevs Procrustes / Larry Niven / Bridging the Galaxies / kevs Blind / Robert Reed / Asimov's, May / arl, gf Mwalimu in the Squared Circle / Mike Resnick / Asimov's Mar 93 / Alt. Warriors / arl, gf The Light at the End of the Day / Carrie Richerson / F&SF Oct-Nov / arl The Story So Far / Martha Soukup / Full Spectrum 4 / gf, ca Sacred Cow / Bruce Sterling / Omni, Jan / gf The Murderer / Lawrence Watt-Evans / Asimov's, Apr / el ---------------------------------------------------------------- **Non Fiction** Once Around the Bloch / Robert Bloch / Tor / ca, ks The John W. Campbell Letters, Vol II: Asimov & Van Vogt / Perry A. Chapdelaine, Sr. / AC Projects / mlo PITFCS: Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies / Theodore Cogswell / Advent / ca, mlo Adventures in Unhistory / Avram Davidson / Owlswick / gf, mlo Encyclopedia of SF / Clute & Nicholls / St. Martin's / mlo, gf, pal Morgoth's Ring / Christopher Tolkien / Houghton Mifflin / mlo The Art of Michael Whelan / Michael Whelan / Bantam / gf Time Machines / P. J. Nahin / American Inst. of Physics Press / mlo ---------------------------------------------------------------- **Dramatic Presentation** 5-Minute Retrospective of SF / Connie Willis / Nebula banquet / el Groundhog Day / / / gf Jurassic Park / / / ca, jam, sls, pf Oedipus Rex / / PBS / el Saltimbanco / Cirque de Soleil / / ca, daa Timescape / / ST:TNG 6/19/93 / ca Vampyr: A Soap Opera / / A&E / el Nightmare Before Christmas / Tim Burton / Disney / sls, kp, cmcd, pf, ca, daa ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Original Artwork** Agyar / Jim Burns / Cover of Steven Brust's novel (Tor) / ca The Consort / Jim Burns / Cover of Asimov's, Apr 93 / ca Lord of the Two Lands / David Cherry / Cover of Judith Tarr's novel (Tor) / ca, mlo Orcaurora / Bob Eggleton / / sls, ged, sls Space Fantasy Stamps / Stephen Hickman / / el, kevs Chimera / Peter Peebles / Mary Rosenblum's novel (Del Rey) / ca --------------------------------------------------------------------- **Campbell award ** Maggie Flinn Holly Lisle Carrie Richerson Amy Thompson Elisabeth Willey / mlo Key to nominators: ca: Claire Anderson, daa: Dave Anderson, ec: Elisabeth Carey, ged: Gay Ellen Dennett, gf: George Flynn, pf: Pam Fremon, mh: Mark Hertel, rk: Rick Katze, el: Evelyn Leeper, pal: Paula Leiberman, arl: Tony Lewis, jam: Jim Mann, lm: Laurie Mann, cmcd: Craig McDonough, mlo: Mark Olson, po: Priscilla Olson, kp: Kelly Persons, sls: Sharon Sbarsky, ks: Kurt Siegel; kevs: Kevin Standlee, by: Ben Yalow .................... SF IN FRENCH AND FRENCH SF NEWS .................... by Jean-Louis Trudel The Winter SF season saw a batch of new and interesting books come on the market. In Canada, the new Sextant imprint of Quebec/Amerique was launched with the publication of Elisabeth Vonarburg's alternate history novel LES VOYAGEURS MALGRE EUX (The Reluctant Travellers) and of Joel Champetier's horror novel LA MEMOIRE DU LAC (The Memory of the Lake). Both novels have Quebec settings, and Champetier's novel is reportedly doing well in the stores. Novels by Jean-Pierre April and Francine Pelletier are expected to appear under the same imprint, perhaps by the end of the year. Canada's francophone SF authors continue to find an outlet in young adult fiction. Last Fall, in addition to Stanley Pean, there was Michel Belil who ventured into the field with a fiction collection called LA GROTTE DE TOUBOUCTOM (The Cave of Toubouctom). This Spring, Jean-Louis Trudelis turning out his first young adult novel, ALLER SIMPLE POUR SAGUENAL(One Way Ticket to Saguenal), for the Editions Paulines of Montreal, which is also releasing a fantasy novel at the same time, by young veteran JoelChampetier: LE SECRET DES SYLVANEAUX (The Secret of the Sylvans). On the magazine scene in Canada, SOLARIS 108 offered up interviews ofQuebec author Jean Dion and of French illustrator and artist Jean- YvesKervevan, whose beautifully gruesome art graced the issue's cover. Therewere three stories: "La derniere orbite" (The Last Orbit) by new authorPierre Dion, "Contamination" by Jean-Louis Trudel, and "Les yeuxtroubles" (Misty Eyes) by Claude Bolduc. Dion's short story, about anincident involving a space station, the Space Shuttle, and the Russians, would not have been out of place in an American SF magazine like ANALOG. My own story focused on aliens defeated by humans and dealing with human tampering with their reproductive system. Bolduc's story was his best so far, a suspenseful tale of terror about a man's possession by another. The latest issue of IMAGINE..., numbered 66, included stories by Frenchand Canadian authors. The best was by Harold Cote, who crafts in "M8v"(not a stellar classification, but a planetary designation) a quiteclassical SF story, with a mystery that has to be solved rationally. On the other hand, Claude Bolduc's "Rouge" (Red) is a rather banal vampire story and Thierry Di Rollo's "Le Grand-Mainate" (The Great Mynah) seems somewhat pointless, as the tale of two ill-fated explorers meanders to itsend. Quite cleverer is Jean-Pierre Guillet's "Dodo!" (Sleep!), a gadgetstory with a soft horror twist ending. In the same issue, DanielleTremblay's serial "Pas de paradis sans... l'enfer" (No Paradise without... Hell) continues with a second episode devoted to a young man's initiationinto a New Age version of Starfleet Academy... In France, the most prestigious imprints which still include novels byFrench authors are put out by Denoel. Last October, it re-issued anotherclassic SF book, ODYSSEE SOUS CONTROLE (Odyssey Under Control) byStefan Wul. In November, it published Serge Brussolo's new MANGE- MONDE(World-Eater) and TERRITOIRES DE L'INQUIETUDE 7 (Lands of Anxiety7), an anthology of fantastic/fantasy edited by Alain Doremieux and gathering stories by American and French authors. The French contributorswere Jean- Pierre Andrevon, Richard Canal, Jean-Claude Dunyach, andRaymond Milesi, all well-known names in French SF. Finally, in January, Denoel put out one French SF novel, LES PERSPECTIVES DU MENSONGE (The Perspectives of Mendacity) by newcomer Yves Ramonet, and one French fantasy novel, LA MORT PEUT DANSER (Death Can Dance) by veteran Jean-Marc Ligny. The difference in experience shows. Ramonet's novel wanted to set a hectic, helter-skelter pace through variousrealities, but winds up being chaotic and boring. Ligny's novel, inspired by the alternative musical group DEAD CAN DANCE, is modern fantasy, shifting between the story of Forgaill in twelfth-century Ireland in the time of the Norman invasion and the story of a group called DEATH CAN DANCE in twentieth-century Ireland. It's entrancing, it's the best novel I've read from Ligny, and it's one of the best French fantasy novels I've read. It has the warmth and the personability of the works by Charles de Lint and Emma Bull, but it also has the maturity of the greats like Robert Holdstock and John Crowley. The other major French SF line is the Fleuve Noir Anticipation. One recent novel there is ARAGO, by Laurent Genefort. Despite some inventive flashes, it's essentially a vacuous and gratuitously violent quest story, set on a colony planet of Earth. French SF novels from J'ai Lu are rarer, but L'HISTRION (The Buffoon) by Ayerdhal ranks as their principal effort of the last months of 1993. Finally, in Switzerland, the House of Elsewhere, a museum of sciencefiction and fantasy, is presenting its "Alien & Heidi" exhibit of SwissSF art until April 24. On May 1st, it will launch its "Parapsychologie"exhibit on ESP in SF, which is scheduled to last until October 23.The House of Elsewhere, better known as the Maison d'Ailleurs, is located in the Swiss town of Yverdon-les-Bains, North of Lausanne. ............ Japan Report ............ by David Milner GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA recently completed its run in Japanese theaters. The film was very successful, but it did not do quite as well as last year's GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA. The twenty-first Godzilla film is scheduled to be released in Japan in December. It tentatively is going to pit Godzilla against both an updated version of Mogera, the giant robot that appears in THE MYSTERIANS, and "space Godzilla," a monster somehow created from the remains of the one brought to life by the combining of cells from Godzilla, a woman and a rose in GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE. The baby Godzilla introduced in GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA also will be in the film. Toho's special effects crew recently completed work on MONSTER PLANET - GODZILLA, a 3D ride featuring Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan that is scheduled to open at the Sanrio Puroland amusement park located just outside of Tokyo in the middle of March. A concert featuring music written by Akira Ifukube for a number of the Godzilla films was held near Osaka on November 23rd. The orchestra was conducted not by Ifukube, but instead by Masaru Sato, who scored GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, SON OF GODZILLA and several other monster films. A CD will be released in Japan sometime during the summer. Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, the two people who wrote the script for Walt Disney's ALADDIN, have completed the script for TriStar's upcoming Godzilla film. The film reportedly will be directed by Alex Cox, whose credits include REPO MAN, SID & NANCY, STRAIGHT TO HELL and WALKER. Shooting is scheduled to get underway in May. Toho has announced that it will release LEGEND OF JAPAN, a film loosely based on the 1959 epic JAPAN BIRTH, in Japan in July. Previews for the film featuring a few shots of the Yamata no orochi (hydra of Yamata) have already begun running in Japanese theaters. It has also been announced that GIANT MONSTER DECISIVE AIR BATTLE GAMERA will be released in Japan in March or April of 1995. It is going to pit Gamera against Gaos, the giant vampire bat seen in both GAMERA VS. GAOS and GAMERA VS. GUIRON. Due out within the next few months are new Godzilla games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Turbo Duo and Gameboy. All three feature Godzilla battling a number of other monsters. Also in the works for the SNES is a game called MILO VS. GODZILLA. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!11!-- Spoilers Ahoy! (And season 3 of the TWILIGHT ZONE Episode Guide) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BABYLON 5: (Listed in production order, as of 931218.) Week Of Prod # Title ----------------------------------------------- 3/21/94 103R Midnight on the Firing Line 3/28/94 102R The Soul Hunter 4/04/94 104R Born To The Purple 4/11/94 101R Infection 4/18/94 113 Deathwalker 4/25/94 105 Believers 5/02/94 111 Survivors 113. Deathwalker - Written by LARRY DITILLIO. Directed by BRUCE SETH GREEN. A woman is using human guinea pigs to create a formula for achieving immortality. Focuses strongly on the politics of B5 and back-room deals between not only the Big Five governments but also the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Guest starring SARAH DOUGLAS and ROBIN CURTIS. 105. Believers - Written by DAVID GERROLD. Directed by RICHARD COMPTON. Dr. Franklin asks Sinclair to intermediate with an alien family who, because of their religious beliefs, refuses to allow surgery that would save their dying child. Introduction of a new recurring character, Dr. Maya Hernandez (SILVANA GALLARDO). Guest starring JONATHON KAPLAN, TRICIA O'NEIL, and STEPHEN LEE. 111. Survivors - Written by MARC SCOTT ZICREE. Directed by JIM JOHNSTON. Garibaldi's past catches up to him, with some fairly disastrous consequences that will linger long after the episode is finished. He's blamed by some for an accident aboard B5, which leads to hitting the bottle again after a prolonged abstinence. Originally titled "A Knife in the Shadows." 109. Grail - Written by CHRISTY MARX. Directed by RICHARD COMPTON. A traveller played by DAVID WARNER comes to B5, seeking the Holy Grail. This episode will feature a substantive on-camera role for a CGI alien and includes a CGI sequence that shows how ships get from the interior of the main docking bay down to the customs and loading bays. Also guest starring WILLIAM SANDERSON and TOM BOOKER. 112. Chrysalis - Written by JMS. Directed by JANET GREEK. First Season finale, shot twelth due to the extensive post- production work required. This episode will feature a major turn that will have lasting effects on all the characters, and possibly change the entire direction of the series. 114. By Any Means Necessary - Written by KATHRYN DRENNAN. Directed by JIM JOHNSTON. About the inner workings of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place operational, and what happens when that falls apart. Londo interferes in an important Narn religious observation which leads to another confrontation between him and G'Kar. Guest starring JOHN SNYDER and KATY BOYER. Originally titled "Backlash." 115. Legacies - Written by D.C. FONTANA. Directed by BRUCE SETH GREEN. A girl entering puberty begins to exhibit telepathic abilities, and the crew must decide whether to turn her over to the Psi Corps. The only first season script so far that was developed outside the B5 offices. Guest starring JOHN VICKERY. 116. Signs and Portents - Written by JMS. Directed by JANET GREEK. B5 has to confront the threat of pirates on the frontier. A combat-heavy show, with large amounts of CGI, including a sequence with three squadrons of ships engaged in a fast-paced battle that goes on for most of an act and a half. Guest starring GERRIT GRAHAM. Originally titled "Raiding Party." 118. Babylon Squared - Written by JMS. Directed by JIM JOHNSTON. We learn what happened to Babylon 4, but in the process there are more questions asked then answered. We also get to see the Minbari Great Hall and the chambers of the Grey Council. 119. TKO - Written by LARRY DITILLIO. Directed by JOHN FLYNN. A Rabbi (THEODORE BIKEL) helps Ivanova come to terms with her father's death. Also guest starring GREG MCKINNEY. All information is from Joe Straczynski, on the GEnie Science Fiction RoundTable, or the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.babylon-5. ROBOCOP: THE SERIES 3/14/94 Robocop: The Future of Law Enforcement (two hour opener) 3/21/94 Prime Suspect 3/28/94 Trouble in Delta City 4/04/94 Officer Missing 4/11/94 What Money Can't Buy SEAQUEST DSV 3/13/94 Treasures of the Mind 3/20/94 The Last Lap at Luxury 3/27/94 Brothers and Sisters 4/17/94 Photon Bullet "Treasure of the Mind" -- Tony and Oscar nominee Topol (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF) guest stars as Dr. Hassan, a scientist helping Bridger and Dr. Westphalen study an extraordinary find by the seaQuest: the sunken library of Alexandria, which teams from greedy nations hope to plunder for its priceless, ancient artifacts. Meanwhile, the UEO places a group of mind readers on board to search out a highly placed leak aboard the seaQuest. "The Last Lap at Luxury" -- When UEO Secretary General Andre Dre calls the firs United Earth/Oceans Organization summit in two years, the room where guest speaker Lucas and confederation leaders convene mysteriously breaks away from an underwater resort. Admiral Noyce and Captain Bridger search for clues to the strange disappearance and unravel a plot to change the way the UEO does business. "Brothers and Sisters" -- Bridger and Lucas work to coax a group of abandoned children to safety aboard the seaQuest when the crumbling munitions facility they live in is threatened by an underwater typhoon. Skeptical of the seaQuest's efforts, the children's leader, Zach, takes Ford hostage and refuses to leave the munitions outpost. "Photon Bullet" -- Lucas is in his element when Martin Clemens summons him to the Pacific Ocean's Node Three, a high-tech information and communications hub operated by a group of teen-aged whiz kids. But when the hackers want him to crack the World Bank's computer codes so that they can re-direct funds to humanitarian causes, Lucas wrestles with the temptation to accept the ultimate hacker's challenge. TIME TRAX 3/14/94 31 The Cure 3/21/94 22R Mysterious Man 3/28/94 21R Framed 4/04/94 18R Beautiful Songbird 4/11/94 19R Photo Finish 4/18/94 30 Perfect Pair 4/25/94 36 Catch Me If You Can To Be Scheduled: 32 Almost Human 31. "The Cure" -- Darien races to stop Dr. Sahmbi, who's doing a booming business "curing" wealthy cancer victims with lethal doses of TXP, which offers temporary relief before poisoning the unsuspecting patients. 30. "Perfect Pair" -- Darien is reunited with his reckless former partner Mace Warfield, an unpredictable cop sent back to track down a corrupt former police commander who has escaped to the past. 36. "Catch Me If You Can" -- Darien joins forces with a small town woman sheriff (guest star Nacy Everhard) to track down an old adversary from the future who is using a weapon he stole from Darien to mount a bank-robbing spree. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION 3/19/94 271 Genesis 3/26/94 272 Journey's End 4/02/94 261R Force of Nature 4/09/94 262R Inheritance 4/16/94 263R Parallels 4/23/94 273 First Born 4/30/94 274 Bloodlines ... 5/21/94 277/278 All Good Things (Two-hour finale) "Genesis" -- Data and Picard return to the Enterprise to find that the entire crew is de-evoloving into prehistoric creatures. "Journey's End" -- The Traveler returns, as does Wesley Crusher, who considers open rebellion when the Enterprise is forced to relocate a group of American Indians from the planet they have settled. STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE 3/19/94 438 Profit and Loss 3/26/94 439 Blood Oath 4/2/94 426R Melora 4/9/94 427R Rules of Aquisition 4/16/94 428 Necessary Evil 4/23/94 440 The Maquis Part I 4/30/94 441 The Maquis Part II "Profit and Loss" -- Quark will risk anything to win back an old flame. There's just one problem: she's a Cardassian on the run. "Blood Oath" -- Dax, bound by a blood oath with three Klingons, risks her future -- and her life. HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES 3/7/94 93217 Warmonger 3/14/94 93206(R) The Zone 3/21/94 93207(R) Return of Amanda 3/28/94 93210(R) Epitaph For Tommy 4/4/94 93212(R) Under Color of Authority 4/11/94 93211(R) The Fighter 4/18/94 93213(R) Bless The Child 4/25/94 93218 Pharaoh's Daughter 5/2/94 93219 Legacy 5/9/94 93220 Prodigal Son 5/16/94 93221 Counterfeit Part 1 5/23/94 93222 Counterfeit Part 2 "Pharoh's Daughter" -- Nefertiri was Cleopatra's handmaid, buried 2000 years ago with her mistress. Now revived, she pursues a vendetta against the Immortal Marcus Constantine, who was her lover and her enemy. "Legacy" -- Amanda's mentor Rebecca is killed, and Amanda is determined to avenge the death, even though it means going up against formidable Immortal Luther, and very possibly losing her head. "Counterfeit" -- In the second of the two part season finale, Alexandra Vandernoot (who played Tessa) makes a very special appeareance. PRISONERS OF GRAVITY 3/9/94 Fairy Tales 3/16/94 Vampires 3/30/94 Aliens 4/6/94 Sexism and Feminism 4/13/94 Comic Book Layout 4/20/94 The Brain and Artificial Intelligence X-FILES 3/18/94 118R Miracle Man 2/15/94 112R Fire 4/1/94 119R Shapes 4/8/94 113R Beyond The Sea 4/15/94 120 Darkness Falls "Miracle Man" -- When several inform and crippled people mysteriously die after being tended to by a young faith healer, Mulder and Scully fly to Tennessee to investigate his ministry. Have the young man's miraculous healing abilities turned from good to evil? Or is he a charlatan with a murderous bent? "Fire" -- When several of Britain's top politicians die suddenly in mysterious fires, high level scurity is called for to protect the prime minister who is thought to be the next target. Mulder's old Oxford flame, now a Scotland Yard detective, enlists his and Scully's help to look after the minister and his family while they are on vacation in the U.S. Mulder must confront his own fear of fire when they uncover that fact that the assassin posessed startling pyrotechnic abilities. "Shapes" -- Mulder and Scully travel to a small Montana town to investigate the shooting death of a young Native Indian man. the rangers who killed the Indian insist they were shooting at a wild animal which Mulder believes to be a Manitou -- an evil spirit that can change a man's body into that of an animal. "Beyond the Sea" -- After two North Carolina students are kidnapped by a serial killer, Scully and Mulder seek the aid of a convicted killer awaiting execution who claims his psychic powers can help them rescue the teenagers before they are killed. When the convict's clues establish several key facts about the identity and whereabouts of the killer, Scully must weigh her own skepticism of psychic abilities against the startling accuracy of the information. SCI-FI CHANNEL MARCH MOVIE SCHEULE We don't have anywhere near enough room to print the entire Sci-fi channel schedule, but here's a list of the first day each movie will be shown in the month of March. 3/05/94 DESTINATION INNER SPACE, TRANSFORMATIONS (NEW), BEYOND THE RISING MOON, PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR 3/06/94 THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN, SPIDERMAN: THE DEADLY DUST, THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS, TRIAL OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK, DEATH OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK 3/12/94 STOWAWAY TO THE MOON, THE BAMBOO SAUCER, THE NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA, DEEP RED, THE NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA 3/13/94 KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE 3/19/94 THE LAND UNKNOWN, THIS ISLAND EARTH. KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, THE BLACK CAT (1990) 3/20/94 OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK, WORLD OF DRACULA 3/21/94 DR. CYCLOPS 3/22/94 DR. RENAULT'S SECRET 3/23/94 DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS 3/24/94 DR. COOK'S GARDEN 3/25/94 THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK 3/26/94 TENNIS COURT (NEW), MYSTERY ON MONSTER ISLAND, PIN, THE BLUE MONKEY, MYSTERY ON MONSTER ISLAND 3/27/94 KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, KING KONG ESCAPES [Editor's note: The TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE GUIDE is reprinted with permission from the author. It has not been edited except to serialise it and condense it space-wise. All text is intact. The original is available by FTP from gandalf.rutgers.edu.] [This file is from the Sf-Lovers Archives at Rutgers University. It is provided as part of a free service in connection with distribution of Sf-Lovers Digest. This file is currently maintained by the moderator of the Digest. It may be freely copied or redistributed in whole or in part as long as this notice remains intact. If you would like to know more about Sf-Lovers Digest, send mail to SF-LOVERS-REQUEST@RUTGERS.EDU.] =========================== TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE GUIDE =========================== Revision of 9/82 =========================== Saul Jaffe Lauren Weinstein (vortex!lauren@LBL-UNIX) Lauren's rating system * ugh. pretty bad. ** has merit. *** good, solid show. **** particularly good. ***** superlative. [Season One was carried in Issue 1:6. Season Two was in 2:1.] THIRD SEASON 1961-1962 TWO *** Writer/Director: Montgomery Pittman Cast: Elizabeth Montgomery, Charles Bronson, Sharon Lucas In this contemporary Adam and Eve story, the two lone, frightened survivors of a nuclear holocaust must start the world afresh. LW: Golly, we got the other half of "Bewitched", Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha) herself. Strange how so many people from TZ episodes went on to work together in the late 60's. Or maybe not so strange when you consider the relationships built up with MGM and other studios over this period. THE ARRIVAL *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Boris Segal Cast: Harold J. Stone, Bing Russell, Robert Karnes, Noah Keen, Jim Boles, Robert Brubaker, Fredd Wayne The aviation administration is completely baffled by the appearance of a mysterious empty airliner - until an examiner poses the unlikely but apparently sound theory that the craft is imaginary. THE SHELTER **** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Lamount Johnson Cast: Larry Gates, Peggy Stewart, Michael Burne, Jack Albertson, Jo Helton, Joseph Bernard, Moria Turner, Sandy Kenyon, Mary Gregory, John McLiam When a possible nuclear attack is announced, several suburban friends and neighbors are reduced to selfish, vicious animals in a struggle over one family's bomb shelter. LW: A strong cast (including Jack Albertson) lend power to this dramatic story of emotions and fears running wild during a yellow alert. THE PASSERBY ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Eliot Silverstein Cast: Joanne Linville, James Gregory, Rex Holman, David Garcia, Warren Kammering, Austin Green A company of Civil War soldiers who believe they are marching home from battle soon come to realize that they are actually dead. A GAME OF POOL **** Writer: George Clayton Johnson Director: A. E. Houghton Cast: Jonathan Winters, Jack Klugman A young pool player finds himself playing against a long-dead master pool shark. The stakes: his life. LW: A good one. Klugman and Winters are the only actors onstage at any time during this powerful and well acted episode. THE MIRROR ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Don Medford Cast: Peter Falk, Tony Carbone, Richard Karlan, Arthur Batanides, Rodolfo Hoyos, Will Kuluva, Vladimir Sokoloff, Val Ruffino In the state offices of an overthrown government, a revolutionary leader uses a mirror reported to possess strange powers - it can show the viewer the face of the person who will kill him. LW: An interesting role for Faulk. The segment is really not terribly good. The country is obviously a thinly obscured representation of Castro's Cuba. THE GRAVE *** Writer/Director: Montgomery Pittman Cast: Lee Marvin, James Best, Strother Martin, Ellen Willrad, Lee VanCleef, William Challee, Stafford Repp, Larry Johns, Richard Geary When a gunman scornfully defiles an outlaw's grave, he sees the man's dying threats come true. LW: Not a bad cast for a TZ! Not a terribly good story, but well done nevertheless. ITS A GOOD LIFE *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Jim Sheldon Cast: Billy Mumy, John Larch, Cloris Leachman, Tom Hatcher, Alice Frost, Don Keefer, Jeanne Bates, Lenore Kingston, Casey Adams A rural community is held terrorized by the unearthly powers of a young boy. Based on a short story by Jerome Bixby. LW: Billy Mumy and (a relatively young) Cloris Leachman playing on TZ. Will wonders never cease? This is an interesting episode, particularly since Serling had to spend the first five minutes setting up the basic premise of the story by using a U.S. map and individually introducing us to the main characters! If you have ever read the classic story of the same name by Bixby, you will know why this was necessary. DEATHS-HEAD REVISITED ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Don Medford Cast: Joseph Schildkraut, Oscar Beregi, Chuck Fox, Karen Verne, Robert Boone, Ben Wright A visit to a concentration camp at Dachau forces a former Nazi to confront the horrifying ghosts of his ghastly wartime crimes. LW: A well-meaning episode, but rather poor in overall quality. THE MIDNIGHT SUN **** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Anton Leader Cast: Lois Nettleton, Betty Garde, Jason Wingreen, Juney Ellis, Ned Glass, Robert J. Stevenson, John McLiam, Tom Reese, William Keene The Earth is being slowly drawn into the sun, causing drought, devastating heat waves - and panic. This episode features an outstanding musical score by Van Cleave. LW: A fine episode. STILL VALLEY *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Jim Sheldon Cast: Gary Merrill, Ben Cooper, Vaughn Taylor, Addison Myers, Mark Tapscott, Jack Mann A strange book presents the Confederate Army with a difficult choice: they can win the Civil War - but they must make a pact with the Devil. Based on a short story by Manley Wade Wellman. THE JUNGLE ** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: William Claxton Cast: John Dehner, Emily McLaughlin, Walter Brooks, Hugh Sanders, Howard Wright, Donald Foster, Jay Overholts, Jay Adler A contractor who has violated certain African lands must deal with the fury of the African tribal wizard, even back home in the United States. ONCE UPON A TIME **** Writer: Richard Matheson Director: Norman Z. McLeod Cast: Buster Keaton, Stanley Adams, Gil Lamb, James Flavin, Michael Ross, Milton Parsons, George E. Stone, Warren Parker A janitor in the late 1800s finds himself in the next century when he innocently fiddles with his inventor-employer's contraption. LW: Boy, is THIS a strange one! Note the presence of Buster Keaton as the main character in the cast. The whole beginning and ending segments of the show (whenever we are in 1880) are done as a SILENT FILM! We get the usual slightly sped up effect, piano music, and dialog cards. When we go into the future (or rather, OUR present), we suddenly go from silent mode to regular sound, regular speed photography! This is one of the class of Twilight Zone comedies, and is a very good one indeed. FIVE CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT **** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: William Windom, Murray Matheson, Susan Harrison, Kelton Garwood, Clark Allen, Mona Houghton, Carol Hill Five people trying to escape from some sort of large cylindrical container have no memory of who they are or how they came to be there. One is a soldier, one a clown, one a dancer, and one a bagpiper. At least I think there was a bagpiper. Hmm. There was also one other character (total must equal five for the title to work!) Based on a short story by Marvin Petal. LW: A good cast, and what has to be about the simplest set ever used in a TZ, or almost any other television show for that matter. A QUALITY OF MERCY ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Buzz Kulik Cast: Dean Stockwell, Albert Salmi, Rayford Barnes, Ralph Votrian, Leonard Nimoy, Dale Ishimoto, Jerry Fujikawa, Michael Pataki A soldier gets a fresh, frightening perspective on his militaristic ways when he suddenly experiences a war situation from the enemy's point of view. LW: The only notable element of this episode is Leonard Nimoy in a relatively minor role. NOTHING IN THE DARK *** Writer: George Clayton Johnson Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: Gladys Cooper, Robert Redford, R. G. Armstrong A frightened old woman who has sealed herself off from the world to avoid confronting death, admits a wounded policeman and soon learns that she may have made a big mistake. ONE MORE PALLBEARER *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: Joseph Wiseman, Trevor Bardette, Gage Clark, Katherine Squire, Josip Elic, Robert Snyder, Ray Galvin A rich man schemes to wreak revenge on three people who humiliated him at various points in his life. How? By staging a fake nuclear war, just for their benefit. DEAD MAN'S SHOES ** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Montgomery Pittman Cast: Warren Stevens, Harry Swoger, Ben Wright, Joan Marshall, Eugene Borden, Richard Devon, Florence Marly, Ron Haggerthy, Joe Mell When a derelict dons the shoes of a dead gangster, he finds himself following the course of the dead man's life. LW: Not very good really, but it has a couple of fair moments. SHOWDOWN WITH RANCE McGREW *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: C. Nyby Cast: Larry Blyden, William McLean, Troy Melton, Jay Overholts, Robert J. Stevenson, Robert Cornwaithe, Arch Johnson, Robert Kline, Hal K. Dawson An obnoxious cowboy star gets his comeuppance whan he suddenly finds himself confronting one of the outlaws who has been poorly presented in his television show. LW: Tongue-in-cheek. Fairly humorous. THE HUNT *** Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr. Director: Harold Schuster Cast: Arthur Hunnicutt, Jeanette Nolan, Titus Moede, Orville Sherman, Charles Seel, Robert Foulk, Dexter DuPont When a hunter and his dog are killed while stalking their prey, they go to the Gates of Heaven, where they must deal with St. Peter. Or IS it really St. Peter? KICK THE CAN * Writer: George Clayton Johnson Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: Ernest Treux, Russell Collins, Hank Patterson, Earle Hodgins, Burt Mustin, Gregory McCabe, Marjorie Bennett, Lenore Shanewise, Anne O'Neal, John Marley, Barry Treux, Eve McVeagh, Marc Stevens A children's game somehow offers rejuvenative powers to an old man. LW: Blech. Sopping sentimentality again. A number of these crept into the series. A PIANO IN THE HOUSE ** Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr. Director: David Greene Cast: Barry Morse, Joan Jackett, Don Durant, Phil Coolidge, Cyril Delevanti, Muriel Landers The right tune played on a mysterious player piano will reveal the listener's true nature. LW: Note the presence of Barry Morse (later of "Space: 1999" among other shows). TO SERVE MAN ***** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Richard Bare Cast: Richard Kiel, Hardie Albright, Robert Tafur, Lomax Study, Theodore Marcuse, Susan Cummings, Nelson Olmstead, Lloyd Bochner When aliens come to Earth bearing promises of a utopian existence, the military's suspicions and skepticism eventually prove justified. But too late. The alien "Canamits" were executed by make-up artist William Tuttle. Based on a short story by Damon Knight. LW: This is a "super-classic". Probably the most popular TZ episode of all time, and one of my personal top favorites as well. EXCELLENT. THE LAST RITES OF JEFF MYRTLEBANK ** Writer/Director: Montgomery Pittman Cast: James Best, Ralph Moody, Ezelle Pouley, Vickie Barnes, Sherry Jackson, Helen Wallace, Lance Fuller, Bill Fawcett, Edgar Buchanan, Mabel Forrest, Dub Taylor, Jon Lormer, Pat Hector Because a young man has seemingly awakened from the dead, the superstitious townspeople assume he is possessed by the Devil. THE FUGITIVE ** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Richard L. Bare Cast: J. Pat O'Malley, Susan Gordon, Nancy Kulp, Wesley Lau, Paul Tripp, Stephen Talbot, Johnny Eiman, Russ Bender A magical old gentleman uses his powers to help a sick little girl, thus risking being returned to his home planet if agents of his planet locate him. LITTLE GIRL LOST ***** Writer: Richard Matheson Director: Paul Stewart Cast: Sarah Marshall, Robert Sampson, Charles Aidman, Tracy Stratford A couple can hear their daughter's desperate cries, yet she is nowhere to be found - she's fallen through an invisible "hole" in her wall, and is lost in the fourth dimension. LW: Another classic. Another excellent episode. PERSON OR PERSONS UNKNOWN *** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: John Brahm Cast: Richard Long, Frank Silvera, Shirley Ballard, Julie Van Zandt, Betty Harford, Ed Glover, Michael Kelp, Joe Higgins, John Newton A man's day gets off to a bizarre start when he awakens to discover that no one knows who he is. LW: Richard Long also starred in several other TZ's over the years. THE GIFT ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Allen Parker Cast: Geoffrey Horne, Nico Minardos, Cliff Osmond, Edmund Vargas, Carmen D'Antonio, Paul Mazursky, Vladimir Sokoloff, Vito Scotti, Henry Corden A group of Mexican villagers are convinced that a downed flyer is, in fact, an extraterrestrial. THE LITTLE PEOPLE *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Bill Claxton Cast: Joe Maross, Claude Akins, Michael Ford Everything is relative, as a space traveler soon learns when he proceeds to lord his size over the tiny folk who inhabit a planetoid. FOUR O'CLOCK ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: Theodore Bikel, Phyllis Love, Linden Chiles, Moyna MacGill Based on a short story by Price Day. Theodore Bikel is cast as demented Oliver Crangle, a man dedicated to the expulsion of evil... at all costs. His plan: reduce all the evil people in the world to 2 feet tall, at 4 o'clock. THE TRADE-INS *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Elliot Silverstein Cast: Joseph Schildkraut, Noah Keen, Alma Platt, Ted Marcuse, Edson Stroll, Terrene De Marney, Billy Vincent, Mary McMahon, David Armstrong Youth isn't all it's cracked up to be, as an old man learns when a mind and personality transplant gives him a lonely new life in a young new body. LW: Actually, he doesn't get the body until near the end of the show. The primary focus of the episode is that he and his wife only have enough money for ONE of them to be transplanted. A good show. HOCUS POCUS AND FRISBY **** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: Andy Devine, Milton Selzer, Howard McNear, Dabbs Greer, Clem Bevans, Larry Breitman, Peter Brocco The town windbag so impresses a visiting group of aliens (who are masquerading as humans) with his tall tale stories that they attempt to take him back to their planet for study as a prime Earth specimen. Based on a short story by Frederic Louis Fox. LW: Crusty-voiced Andy is perfect in his role. Very humorous. THE DUMMY *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Abner Bibberman Cast: Cliff Robertson, Frank Sutton, George Murdock, John Harmon, Sandra Warner, Ralph Manza, Rudy Dolan, Bethelynn Grey A cut-rate ventriloquist starts believing that his dummy actually has a mind - and a will - of its own. Based on a story by Leon Polk. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD * Writer: Rod Serling Director: Robert Ellis Miller Cast: Donald Pleasance, Liam Sullivan, Phillippa Bevans, Kevin O'Neal, Jimmy Baird, Kevin Jones, Tom Lowell, Russ Horton, Buddy Hart, Darryl Richard, James Browning, Bob Biheller, Dennis Kerlee, Pat Close A popular teacher faces the prospect of a life without purpose when he is asked to retire from his post. LW: Very little socially redeeming value to this one. YOUNG MAN'S FANCY ** Writer: Richard Matheson Director: John Brahm Cast: Phyllis Thaxter, Alex Nicol, Wallace Rooney, Ricky Kelman, Helen Brown A young man yearns so desperately for the days of his youth that the past does, in fact, reappear. LW: In fact, he becomes a little boy again, and goes back to his mother (deserting his fiance). There is a scene in the episode where the fiance sees the elements of the man's youth, right up to his mother, start to appear around them. I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC * Writer: Ray Bradbury Director: James Sheldon Cast: Josephine Hutchinson, David White, June Vincent, Vaughn Taylor, Charles Herbert, Dana Dillaway, Paul Nesbitt, Susan Crane, Veronica Cartwright, Judy Morton A girl comes to understand that a grandmother can be a tender, thoughtful, caring, loving woman. Even if she is a robot. LW: To all the Bradbury fans out there, I'm sorry, but this episode is TERRIBLE. Probably one of the five worst TZ's ever made. Is dripping in sentimentality, has rather poor acting, and is generally a lose. CAVENDER IS COMING *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Chris Nyby Cast: Carol Burnett, Jesse White, Howard Smith, William O'Connell, Pitt Herbert, John Fielder, Stanley Jones, Frank Behrens, Albert Carrier, Roy Sickner, Norma Shattuc, Rory O'Brien, Sandra Gould, Adrienne Marden, Jack Younger, Danny Kulick, Donna Douglas, Maurice Dallimore, Barbara Morrison In this pilot for a never-launched series, a klutzy guardian angel's attempts to make a bumbling woman happy don't work out quite as expected. LW: If it weren't for the presence of Carol Burnett and Jesse White, I would only give this TWO stars. Another guardian angel plot. Obviously, it was a comedy. Carol tries hard despite a horrid script. Jesse White has played many character roles, but perhaps is best known as the lonely Maytag repairman! The basic plot is VERY similar to the "Mr. Bemis" episode above. By the way, this episode had one very unusual aspect, it was the only TZ with a LAUGHTRACK! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!12!-- Contests and Awards --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genre television nominees for Feb. 27th's American Society of Cinematographers Awards, given out February 27, 1994 One episode of a regular series: David Tattersall, THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, "Istanbul" Movie of the Week or Pilot: Kenneth Zunder, seaQuest DSV, Pilot, Thomas Del Ruth, ASC, X-FILES, Pilot One Episode of a mini-series: Phedon Papamicheal, "Wild Palms, The Floating World" (part 2) STEVEN SPIELBERG won the Director's Guild of America award for his work on SCHINDLER'S LIST. The DGA award winner almost always wins the Oscar, but there are a few exceptions, and in 1985 Spielberg was one of them, but that year his film, THE COLOR PURPLE, hadn't even been nominated for the Oscar. Genre and related winnerS of the People's Choice awards, given out March 8, 1994: Motion Picture: JURASSIC PARK Actress In A Comedy Motion Picture: Whoopi Goldberg Genre and related winners of the 44th annual American Cinema Editors Awards, given out March 13, 1994. Motion Picture: Michael Kahn, SCHINDLER'S LIST Amblin/Universal Studios Episode from a television series (half hour): Stephen Lovejoy, TALES FROM THE CRYPT: People Who Live In Brass Hearses, Tales from the Crpyt Productions/Home Box Office Winner of the Writer's Guild of America award for Best Adapted Screenplay: SCHINDLER'S LIST, Steven Zaillian. ALADDIN was the winner of four Grammy awards March 1, 1994: Song of the Year, Best Musical Album for Children, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or Television, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. And finally ... genre and related nominees for the 66th annual Academy Awards, given out March 21. Winners annotated with. Best Picture: SCHINDLER'S LIST, THE FUGITIVE Best Actor: Liam Neeson, SCINDLER'S LIST Best Supporting Actor: Ralph Fiennes, SCHINDLER'S LIST; Tommy Lee Jones, THE FUGITIVE Best Director: Steven Spielberg, SCHINDLER'S LIST Best Adapted Screenplay: SCHINDLER'S LIST, Steven Zaillian Best Foreign-language Film: BELLE EPOQUE (Spain), FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (Hong Kong), HEDD WYN (United Kingdom), THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA (Vietnam), THE WEDDING BANQUET (Taiwan) Best Original Score: THE FUGITIVE, James Newton Howard; SCHINDLER'S LIST, John Williams Best Film Editing: THE FUGITIVE, Dennis Virkler, David Finfer, Dean Goodhill, Don Brochu, Richard Nord and Dov Hoenig; SCHINDLER'S LIST, Michael Kahn Best Art Direction: ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, Ken Adam and Marvin March; SCHINDLER'S LIST, Allan Starski and Ewa Braun. Best Cinematography: THE FUGITIVE, Michael Chapman; SCHINDLER'S LIST, Janusz Kaminski Best Costume Design: SCHINDLER'S LIST, Anna Biedrzycka-Sheppard Best Makeup: SCHINDLER'S LIST, Christina Smith, Matthew Mungle and Judith A. Cory Best Animated short film: BLINDSCAPE, THE MIGHTY RIVER, SMALL TALK, THE VILLIAGE, THE WRONG TROUSERS Best Sound: THE FUGITIVE, Donald O. Mitchell, Michael Herbick, Frank A. Montano and Scott D. Smith; JURASSIC PARK, Gary Summers, Gary Rydstrom, Shawn Murphy and Ron Judkins; SCHINDLER'S LIST, Andy Nelson, Steve Pederson, Scott Millan and Ron Judkins Sound effects editing: THE FUGITIVE, John Leveque and Bruce Stambler; JURASSIC PARK, Gary Rydstrom and Richard Hymns Visual effects: JURASSIC PARK, Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri; THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, Pete Kozachik, Eric Leighton, Ariel Velasco Shaw and Gordon Baker --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!13!-- Conventions and Readings --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submit convention listings to xx133@cleveland.freenet.edu in the format: CON NAME: Month, day, year; Hotel or Convention Center; City, State, Country; GUESTS; Cost until deadline, Cost after deadline (please specify currency); Full address for information; Telephone (if applicable); e-mail address (if any) Convention listings are provided as a public service. Cyberspace Vanguard is not affiliated with any of these conventions and takes no responsibility for anything to do with it. ................ LUNACON '94: March 18-20, 1994; Rye Brook, NY, USA; Rye Town Hilton (914/939-6300); VONDA McINTYRE, JAMES WARHOLA, WALTER R. COLE, DEAN FRIEDMAN, WALTER & LOUISE SIMONSON, PETER GRUBBS; $40 at the door, children discounts; LUNACON '94, P.O. Box 3566, New York, NY 10008-3566, USA; ; Lee Thalblum: @CompuServe 76477,3613, @GEnie L.Thalblum, @America OnLine LeeT15, or Robert Rosenberg: @CompuServ 73766,267, @GEnie HAL9001. NORWESCON 17: March 31 - April 3, 1994; Seattle, WA, USA; Red Lion Hotel; KATHERINE KURTZ, SCOTT McMILLAN, PEGGY RAE PAVLAT, JANNA SILVERSTEIN; ; ; 206/248-2010; bartroff@u.washington.edu. 1994 BRITISH EASTERCON, SOU'WESTER IN LIVERPOOL: April 1, 1994; Liverpool, England; Adelphi Hotel; DIANE DUANE, NEIL GAIMAN, BARBARA HAMBLY, PETER MORWOOD, THOG THE MIGHTY; #27 (Postal memberships must be received by March 14, 1994); Chris Bell, 3 West Shrubbery, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6SZ; ansible@cix.compulink.co.uk. SOU'WESTER (EASTERCON): April 1-4, 1994; ; Liverpool, UK; #27, No postal membershps after 14 March 1994; ; 3 West Shrubbery, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6SZ, UK. CRACKERCON 3: April 8-10, 1994; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Florida Community College at Jacksonville - Kent Campus; TED STETSON, CHERYL MANDUS, CHARLES FOUNTENAY, GARY ROEN, JACK HALDERMAN, VINCE COURTNEY, RON WALOTSKY, REMBERT PARKER, KEN & BETH MICHERONEY, plus more; $20; CrackerCon3, P.O. Box 835, Jacksonville, Florida 32239-8356 USA; recommened hotel - Holiday Inn Orange Park (904/264-9513); kmeyers@nyx10.cs.du.edu. I-CON XIII: April 15-17, 1994; Long Island, New York, USA; State University of New York at Stony Brook's campus; HARLAN ELLISON, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, PETER DAVID, E. GARY GYGAX, GREGORY BENFORD, GEORGE TAKEI, MICHAEL O'HARE, J. MICHAEL STRAZINSKI, RON MOORE, LOLITA FAJO, PETER DAVID, BOB ROZAKIS, DON HECK, DAN SLOTT, RAY LAGO, GLENN GREENBURG, JORDAN RASKIN, ARNE STARR, MIKE LING, RICK BRYANT, FRANK TERAN, BRIAN CIRULNICK, MIKEY DAIR, ROB MILES, NEIL NADELMAN, STEPHEN PEARL, MICHAEL PINTO, RICHARD UYEYAMA, and more; 3- day passes until 3/31: Adult - $25, Student (w/ID) - $13, Child - $8, at the door: Adult - $28, Student (w/ID) - $15, Child - $10, cheaper one-day passes available as well as Family passes; ; 516/632-6045. TECHNICON 11: April 15-17, 1994; Blacksburg, VA, USA; ELLEN GUON, TOM MONAGHAN; Technicon 11, c/o VTSFFC, P.O. Box 256, Blacksburg, VA 24063-0256 USA; (703) 951-3282; Technicon@VTCC1.cc.vt.edu MARCON 29, The Midwest's Permiere Science-fiction and Fantasy Convention: May 13-15, 1994; Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Greater Columbus Convention Center; Columbus, OH, USA; BORIS VALLEJO, PHILIP JOSE-FARMER, BARBARA HAMBLY, BARRY B. LONGYEAR, FORREST J ACKERMAN, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, WHITE WOLF GAMES; babysitting available; PO Box 211101, Columbus, OH 43221 USA; (614) 451-3154; 70004.1457@compuserve.com MEXICON 6; May 20-22, 1994; Hertford Park Hotel; Stevenage; #9.50; 121 Cape Hill, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, B66 4SH. EUROCON: May 26-29, 1994; Timisoara, Romania; IAIN BANKS, JOHN BRUNNER, HERBERT FRANCKE, JOE HALDEMAN, STANISLAW LEM, FREDRICK POHL, FRANZ ROTTENSTEINER, NORMAN SPINRAD; $20(US) until 12/31/93, $35(US) until 2/15/93, $45 until 3/31/83, supporting/attending for East Europeans $5(US); Sigma Club, Post Office 3, Box 49, 5600 Piatra Neamt, Romania; 40-96-136 731, 40-96-144 416, fax: 40-96-119 434 THE ALTERNATE PRESS EXPO (APE) 1994: June 4, 1994; San Jose, CA, USA; Parkside Hall; DAVE SIM (Cerebus), JEFF SMITH (Bone), JEE LeVINE (No Hope), SCOTT SAAVEDRA (Dr. Radium), TERI S. WOOD (Wandering Star), ADRIAN TOMINE (Optic Nerve), NINA PALEY, KEITH KNIGHT, ALDIN BAROZA (Tales from the Heart); $4; ; Slave Labor Graphics, 1-800-866-8929. SCIENCE FICTION DAYS-NEW 1994: July 2-3, 1994; ; Duesseldorf, Germany; DM 30 (until December 31, 1993), afterwards, DM 35; KATHERINE KURTZ (DERYNI-CYCLE), GEORGE ALEC EFFINGER; Accomodation in hotel and youth hostel; Stefanie Pulla, pulla@engelscs.uni-duesseldorf.de, or pulla@mx.cs.uni-duesseldorf.de; (Theme: Ecology in Science Fiction & Fantasy). Science Fiction Research Association Annual Meeting; July 7-10, 1994; Woodfield Hilton and Towers; Arlington Heights, IL; SHERRI S. TEPPER; OCTAVIA BUTLER, ALEX & PHYLLIS EISENSTEIN, PHILIP JOSE FARMER, JIM GUNN, FRED POHL, JOAN SLONCZEWSKI, JOAN VINGE, JACK WILLIAMSON, GENE WOLFE; $115(US); Elizabeth Anne Hull, William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, IL 60067 or Beverly Friend, Oakton Community College Des Plaines, IL 60016; 708-635-1987; friend@oakton.edu; [CALL FOR PROPSAL OF PAPERS AND SESSIONS (Deadline March 1) to Hull - send 2 copies. Conference Wn paper proposal possibilities: with special emphasis on papers dealing with the attending authors] SHORE LEAVE 16 (Fan Run Star Trek Convention): July 8-10, 1994; Hunt Vally, MD, USA; Hunt Valley Mariott Inn; TERRY FARRELL, TONY TODD, PETER DAVID, HOWARD WEINSTEIN, BOB GREENBERGER, ARNE STARR, BOB PINAHA, more Trek guests TBA; $40 for adults, youth and children discounts, plus extra charges for numerous workshops; Shore Leave 16, P.O. Box 6809, Towson, MD 21285-6809; 410/825-3017 or 301/735-3957; heyer@stsci.edu. CAPTION 94; July 9, 1994; Oxford, England; Oxford Union Society; HUNT EMERSON, PETE LOVEDAY; advance: #10 (unwaged discount #6), #12 at the door; Caption94, 25 Hart Street, Oxford, OX2 6BN. Note: there will be a charity auction benefitting the London Cartoon Centre at this con. Contributions of artwork would be appreciated. If interested, contact 0865 512293. WISHCON III: July 29-31, 94; King Alfred's Coll, Winchester; #23; 12 Crowsbury Close, Emsworth, Hants, PO10 7TS, 0243 376596. ARMADILLOCON 16: October 7-9, 1994; Austin, TX, USA; Red Lion Hotel (512/323-5466); ELIZABETH MOON, DAVID CHERRY, GORDON VAN GELDER, GREGORY BENFORD, BRADLEY DENTON, GUY GAVRIEL KAY; $20 until 3/31/94, $25 until 9/26/94, and more at the door; ArmadilloCon 16, P.O. Box 9612, Austin, Texas 78766-9612, USA; 512/339-0673 before 10 p.m. CST, or leave a message at 512/453-7446 anytime; cracker@indial1.io.com. WHO'S 7 (DR/BLAKE EVENT): October 29-10, 1994; Wueens Hotel; Crystal Palace, London, UK; VARIOUS GUESTS; #30 (pounds sterling) until the end of '93; 131 Norman Rd, Leytonstone, London, E11 4RJ BIG "E" CON (Fan Run Star Trek Charity Convention): October 28-30, 1994; Norfolk, VA, USA; Omni Waterside Hotel at Norfolk (804/622-6664); MAJEL BARRETT-RODDENBERRY, BILL CAMPBELL, ROBERT O'REILLY, SONIA HILLIOS, DAN MADSEN, CAPT. RICHARD NAUGHTON, US NAVY ATLANTIC FLEET BAND, GRUMMAN AEROSPACE FLIGHT SIMULATOR, more Trek guests TBA; $40 for adults, youth and children discounts, plus extra charges for numerous workshops; Trek Rec Deck Inc., P.O. Box 10658, Towson, MD 21285-0658; 410/825-3017 or 301/735- 3957; heyer@stsci.edu. NECROCON 9; January 6-8, 1995; Harley Hotel; Columbus, OH, USA; Dead Guest of Honor is H.P. LOVECRAFT; PO Box 211101, Columbus, OH 43221 USA; (614) 451-3154, 70004.1457@compuserve.com .................................. Fantasy, SF, and Horror CALENDAR 3/17/94 (Reprinted with permission) Please send listing information to me, the compiler: eliz@ai.mit.edu. Include Who, What, When, Where, and Telephone Number. Repost this anywhere, but include this header. Thanks to all contributors! -- Elizabeth Willey 30 March 1994/ / /ROBERT DEVEREAUX and SEAN MOORE read at The Little Bookshop of Horrors, 10380 Ralston Road, Arvada, Colorado. 19:30. 303-425-1975. 30 March 1994/ / /KIM STANLEY ROBINSON reads at The Other Change of Hobbit, 2020 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California. 19:00. 510-848-0413. 8 April 1994/ / /KIM STANLEY ROBINSON signs at Dangerous Visions, 13563 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California. 18:00-20:00. 818-986-6963. 9 April 1994/ / /KIM STANLEY ROBINSON signs at Book Carnival, 348 South Tustin Avenue, Orange, California. 11:00-12:30. No phone given. 9 April 1994/ / /JOSEPHA SHERMAN and SUSAN SHWARZ sign at Doubleday Bookstore, Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, New York City. Call for time. 212-397-0550. 10 April 1994/ / /OCTAVIA BUTLER reads at The Other Change of Hobbit, 2020 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California. 14:00. 510-848-0413. 14 April 1994/ / /ELLEN DATLOW signs at Dangerous Visions, 13563 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California. 18:00-20:00. 818-986-6963. 15 April 1994/ / /JOSEPHA SHERMAN reads and signs at Borders Bookstore, 5151 Sunrise Highway, Bohemia, New York. 19:00-20:00. 516-244-7496 20 April 1994/ / /LUCY TAYLOR reads at The Little Bookshop of Horrors, 10380 Ralston Road, Arvada, Colorado. 19:30. 303-425-1975. 18 May 1994/ / /EDWARD BRYANT reads at The Little Bookshop of Horrors, 10380 Ralston Road, Arvada, Colorado. 19:30. 303-425-1975. 15 June 1994/ / /NANCY HOLDER reads at The Little Bookshop of Horrors, 10380 Ralston Road, Arvada, Colorado. 19:30. 303-425-1975. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!14!-- Publications, Lists and the Like --------------------------------------------------------------------------- InterText is a network-only bi-monthly fiction magazine. It publishes all kinds of material, ranging from mainstream stories to fantasy to horror to science fiction to humor. InterText has been publishing since early 1991, and reaches thousands of readers, including readers on all six populated continents. InterText publishes in both ASCII (plain text) and PostScript (laser printer) formats. For more information on subscribing on submitting stories, mail jsnell@ocf.berkeley.edu. Illuminated Manuscripts Press is proud to announce two new fanzines currently looking for submissions: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE GALAZY RANGERS is seeking art, fiction and non-fiction about this popular syndicated animated series from 1986. A writers guide can be obtained by either sending a 6x9 SASE to: Tara O'Shea, SRC 244 UNM, Albuquerque, NM 87131 or emailing me at tara@hydra.unm.edu. Submission guidelines and other information can also be obtained via snail mail or email. The zine so far contains a rpg suppliment, several short stories, Mark I of the Galaxy Rangers Drinking Game, and a complete copy of the Guide, including pictures of each of the rangers. Submission deadline is set for May 1. Price of the finished zine has yet to be determined. FOREVER, a zine about immortality, is seeking FOREVER KNIGHT, HIGHLANDER, and original immortal fiction. For submission guidelines and/or more info, please send a SASE to Tara O'Shea, SRC 244 UNM, Albuquerque, NM 87131 or send an email request to johanna@hydra.unm.edu. Contents so far included a FOREVER KNIGHT/HIGHLANDER crossover, "Til Time and Times Are Done," a Highlander story, "We'll Always Have Paris," and several Forever Knight tales from Valerie Meachum, Tanya Beaty, and Tara O'Shea. We're sorry, but FOREVER is not accepting poetry at this time. Submission deadline is tentatively May 1. Price of the finished zine has yet to be determined. There is a new mailing list dealing with fantasy costuming. To join send mail to majordomo@lunch.asd.sgi.com with subscribe f-costume-digest or subscribe f-costume for the direct mail version. For contact with a human being send mail to f-costume-owner@lunch.asd.sgi.com. To join a listserve dedicated to the discussion of LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, send mail to listserv@trearn.bitnet with the message SUB LOISCLA in it. TRAX CENTRAL, a communications base and club for TIME TRAX fans. The newletter, TEMPORT, to feature studio updates/photos and fan letters of comment. SASE for publication date and rates to: TRAX CENTRAL, 13924 Jefferson Circle, Omaha, NE 68137." OMPHALOS is forthcoming quarterly speculative fiction review zine. We will be publishing reviews of both books and magazines and are always interested in contributions. Guildelines are available. The first issue should be out in the third week of April with the other issues coming out during the third weeks of July, October, and January. It will be available in four formats: ASCII, PostScript, HTML (via www), and paper. The first three are free; the fourth is tentatively $12/year. Contact: jrrl@cs.cmu.edu or John Leavitt, 5715 Ellsworth Ave. D-2, Pittsburgh, PA 15232. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --!15!-- Administrivia --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crew Manifest: PAT BERRY (Copy editor) is a 34-year-old freelance technical writer and self-described "computer geek" living in Cary, North Carolina. He has two children, saw STAR WARS over 30 times during its theatrical run, and annoys his friends by quoting lengthy passages of Dave Barry's writings from memory. DEBBIE DOUGLASS (HIGHLANDER news) is the list owner of HIGHLA-L, an electronic mailing list discussing HIGHLANDER." TJ GOLDSTEIN is the editor of this monstrosity and is probably responsible for any typos that made it into this version. TJ is beginning to think that professional help might not be such a bad idea after all, and not just for the magazine. ESTHER JENKINS (Convention listings) is a bored, single, 27-year-old femme. She's over-qualified for most every job she applies for with her two BS degrees (one in Applied Math from Georgia Tech and one in Industiral Engineering Technology from Southern Tech). Originally from Germany, she moved to the States in 1973 and has been living in Georgia ever since. Esther got introduced to science fiction and cons by an ex-boyfriend many years ago, and is an avid reader (and collector) of books of all kinds and comics. Right now she is working as a temp while looking for a manufacturing job and has lots of free time on her hands to compile this little column for Cyberspace Vanguard. EVELYN LEEPER (Book Reviews) is best known for her lengthy convention reports, but also writes book reviews and general commentary on science fiction, and publishes the clubzine for the science fiction club at AT&T that she and her husband Mark founded fifteen years ago. Her work appears in fanzines such as LAN'S LANTERN, PHLOGISTON, and SF-LOVERS DIGEST and on Usenet. Her 1992 output included four dozen book reviews, two convention reports, and two travelogues, and totaled 110,000 words. Evelyn and Mark live in New Jersey, with 18,000 books, several hundred videotapes, and no extra space. They are currently recovering from a three-week trip to India. DAVID MILNER (Japan news) is a big Japanese monster movie fan who has written for a number of different publications, such as CULT MOVIES AND VIDEO, MARKALITE and THE KAIJU REVIEW. LINDA E. SMIT (Reply cards) lives in Athens, GA, surrounded by Bulldog fans, Braves fans, and a healthy enclave of scifi and fantasy fandom. Her real job is in library acquisitions, and she works her tail off in community theatre. Guess which one she prefers to do. DAVID STRAUSS (BABYLON 5 news) is a second year law student at the University of Virginia Law School. He's also a displaced New Yorker, diehard New York Islander fan, and administrator of the Islanders Internet Mailing List. By this time next year he hopes to be finished begging for a job. JOSEPH J. STROUT will be receiving his degree in Psychology from Miami University in May of 1994, when he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at another university. His current research focuses on computational models of the human visual system. Other research interests include neural models of attention, working memory, and visual imagery. In his spare time, Strout serves as a programmer/analyst at a manufacturing company and does occasional consulting. JEAN-LOUIS TRUDEL (French news) is a Canadian SF writer. He is the author of one novel, serialized in the magazine IMAGINE... (1985-1987), and of several short stories in French, one of which was translated and published in the English-Canadian anthology TESSERACTS3. In English, he is the author of two short stories, which appeared in the English-Canadian anthologies ARK OF ICE and TESSERACTS4, both in 1992. He has written literary criticism for THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION. CAROL LEON-YUN WANG (Correspondent/reporter) is a recently defended Masters student in Computer Graphics Animation who has replaced thesis deadlines with conference submission deadlines. She is on a slow westward migration that started in Regina, SK and is currently stalled out in Calgary, AB. She is a voracious reader of genre books and comics, and completely nocturnal. She still likes Capt. Kirk better than Picard, even though William Shatner was a lousy actor and a truly atrocious director. -- CYBERSPACE VANGUARD MAGAZINE News and Views from the Science Fiction Universe TJ Goldstein, Editor | Send submissions, questions, comments to tlg4@po.cwru.edu | cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu