| Vol. 19, Issue 9 - September 1, 1999 | Copyright 1999 |
The Electronic Edition
Robin R. Brunner, Publisher
David Henninger, Editor
The Circular of Janus is a publication of the Circle of Janus Science Fiction Club of Central Indiana. Subscription is included with membership, $15.00/year. For information write to Circle of Janus, P.O. Box 68514, Indianapolis, IN 46268-0514. Web Page: http://www.inconjunction.org/coj. E-mail: webmaster@inconjunction.org.
In This Edition:
- Meeting Info
- Random Access by David Henninger
- James White Dies
- Eccentric Orbit by Don Dailey
- A Very Strange Trip reviewed by Don Dailey
- Movie Clips by David Henninger
- Emmy Awards
- Free Food!!!!! by Andy Andrews
Meeting Info
NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO REGULAR MEETING IN SEPTEMBER!
Instead we're having a party. See Free Food!!!!! below.
The next meeting of The Circle of Janus will be Saturday, October 2, 1999 at the Children's Museum. The meeting will begin at the usual time.
Most of you have heard about James White's resent death. I found an obituary posted on the internet by Patrick Nielsen Heyden. It offers no explanation of a cause of death but is a deserved tribute to a great writer.
Don Dailey returns with his Eccentric Orbit. I have to confess he sent these two articles to me months ago and somehow they were mislaid. I and planned to use them as soon as I had time to type them in. Don always sends hard copies. The Admiral offers a book review, his comment on the strangeness of southern Indiana, and the recent death of DeForrest Kelly.
WorldCon is coming up! Is anyone going? Would you like to write a review, personal experience or gripe? Send it to em via email and we'll include it in the next edition.
Irish SF author and longtime fan James White, born 1928, died today.
He was the author of many SF novels noted for their intelligence, such as SECOND ENDING and the quite brilliant THE WATCH BELOW. He's probably best remembered, though, for the "Sector General" series of stories and novels set aboard an immense multi-species space hospital. Witty, clever, full of supporting characters you grew to care about, and alive to the nuances of professional cooperation between sentient species, the Sector General novels were ensemble-cast series SF at its best.
His fannish accomplishments included co-editing, with Walt Willis, SLANT, widely acclaimed as one of the best fanzines of all time. His fanwriting was intermittent but wonderful; perhaps the most widely-reprinted instance was 1975's "The Exorcists of IF," a supernatural story about 1950s Belfast fandom seen through the latter-day haze of the Troubles.
We began publishing James with the Sector General novel THE GALACTIC GOURMET, timed to coincide with his appearance as Guest of Honor at the 1996 Worldcon. This was followed by three more: FINAL DIAGNOSIS, MIND CHANGER, and the forthcoming DOUBLE CONTACT. Teresa Nielsen Hayden was James's editor on all of them, and enjoyed every minute of working with him. He was funny, kind, and humane. We'll miss him very much.
For example, we've all been taught the great whales were once land creatures. This is evidenced by a vestigial pelvic bone and foot-like bone structures in their flippers. Now recent research on elephant embryos taken from a culled herd indicates elephants were once marine creatures. Let's see if I have this straight. The largest mammal in the sea was once a land creature and the largest mammal on land used to live in the sea. Who says Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor?
Mars has been in the news a lot lately. The mars lander due to touch down this coming New Year's Eve will have a microphone on board. If the microphone works as anticipated and anything interesting is heard, there are plans to issue a CD with the "sounds of Mars" on it. Just the thing to liven up your next party, lonely winds blowing across the surface of a dead planet! (I don't think bacteria or viruses are known for being audible.) And another Mars landing spacecraft, due to set down in January of 2002, is going to have a sundial on board. A sundial? Maybe it's cheaper than sending up new 9-volt batteries for the LED clock/radio or whatever they are using to tell time.
While on the subject of Mars, two researchers at the University of Arkansas claim to have grown Earth microbes in a simulated Mars environment. The researchers, named Kral and Bekkum (are these real Earth names?) , have created some simulated Martian dirt, placed it in a carbon dioxide atmosphere, and grown some viable Earth microbes in it. I can do that one better. I have succeeded in growing Martian slime in Earth conditions. Just look at the walls of my shower stall. There is no way that stuff could have come from this planet! That color does not occur in nature anywhere I have been. And you don't want to know what is under my daughter Cathy's bed. Even the dogs won't under there anymore. Giant, intelligent Martian dust bunnies maybe?
And there is a company in South America that is planning to send human DNA into deep space. For the measly price of about $60, you can have your DNA included. The plan is to take hair samples (including the root) from many people and place them in a capsule that will be launched into deep space. The basic idea is that some other intelligent species will be able to recreate humans from these samples. Who knows? Fifty years from now we may be invaded by a loud army of alien-cloned Rush Limbaughs ...aagh!! They would want a hair sample. I'm in trouble already!!
Stopped in at a "psychic fair" here the other day just for fun. I picked up one of those "new age" magazines out of curiosity. The advertisements were quite interesting. One proclaimed that to be healthy you had to treat not only your physical and mental systems, but your "electrical" system also. Your whole nervous and all brain functions are based on electrical activity. After a while all the "electricity builds up a personal EMF (electro-magnetic field). You need their specially developed device to help break your EMF and release this electrical energy. I guess it makes some kind of quasi-scientific sense. Ten pages further on in the same magazine is another ad making the same basic claims. Only now you need their specially developed device to strengthen you EMF to keep all that good electrical energy in!
And I must end this column on a sad note. As I was working on this I received word that DeForrest Kelly had passed away at the age of 79. The obituaries did not list a cause of death just a statement about a long illness. However, those close to Dee have said it was a combination of lung cancer and emphysema brought on by 50 years of heavy smoking. and I also discovered that on 14 March, Kirk Alyn (the original Superman of the serials), had passed away. He was 88 years old and had a long battle with Alzheimer's before he died.
So much for this installment of strange doings. Keep watching the papers, there is much strangeness still out there waiting to be discovered.
This novel is a rarity, a science fiction story loaded with humor. Our hero is a poor Army private who is mistaken for an "expert driver". Soon he finds himself making a cross country journey to deliver a top secret. Russian designed time travel machine. You guessed it, the machine is accidentally activated and it's off to the races. Private Dumphee somehow ends up with Mohawk squaws from the French and Indian Wars as his "wives", dines on mastodon steaks (or is that mammoth steaks?), tangles with an ancient Mayan priest-king, stares into the eyes of a T-rex, and .... you get the idea.
The survival of our "time traveler" is determined by his common sense, the help of his squaws, some advanced weaponry, and a lot of blind luck. When he is not trying to keep his skin in one piece, Dumphee has time to wonder just what effect his actions are going to have on history as we know it.
This novel was well researched and the historical situations are very realistic. It is easy for the reader to envision hi/herself in poor Dumphee's shoes. I found myself literally laughing out loud while reading. The only down side .... the story has to end. But the ending leaves things wide open for a sequel.
I highly recommend this novel for a fun filled, enjoyable read. I give it a whole bunch of stars!
": I saw Ray Bradbury today (Aug 25) at a public lecture/book signing in Logan, UT. While he was signing my book, I asked him, 'So, have you read any new drafts of the screenplay for Fahrenheit 451?'
He stopped mid-autograph and looked at me and said something like this:
'Someone recently sent me a copy of the screenplay that they found in a bookstore. And I read some things that...well, I can't tell you what I read. I had to close it. I couldn't finish reading it. A bookstore! Of all the places...A bookstore! Mel Gibson is a wonderful man, but I can't believe that he would do that. They have gone through 9 drafts. Like I said in my lecture, all of my books are screenplays. Just rip the pages out and stuff them in the camera.'
He then went on about a recent direct to video movie he "just finished" called The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. My quotes are not verbatim, but you get the basic idea. He is not happy with the numerous rewrites of the screenplay, and how he has been out of the loop, so to speak. I would love to read any screenplay especially the one he read to see how bad it really is."
[Scooped by 'Conundrum'.] (All Coronas "scoops" come from anonymous sources with code names like this. DAH)
Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier/'Professor X'); Ian McKellen (Max Lensherr/'Magneto'); Dougray Scott (Logan/'Wolverine'); Famke Janssen (Jean Grey); Tyler Mane (Victor Creed/'Sabertooth'); Anna Paquin ('Rogue'); Halle Berry (Ororo Munroe/'Storm'); Rebecca Romijn-Stamos ('Mystique'); Bruce Davison (Senator Scott Kelly); Ray Park (Mortimer Toynbee/'Toad'); David Hayter.
The last role to be cast is that of Cyclops.
The Thirteenth Warrior has reportedly gone through a number of incarnations prior to it's release. Some versions have been previewed as early as April of last year. Those who have seen the earlier versions considered them to be excellent films, if roughly cut, on a level with Braveheart with fantasy elements. However there are a lot of reports and rumors in the Corona web site of a struggle between author Michael Crichton, who wrote the original material, Eaters of the Dead, and director John McTiernan over what the final film should look like. An assistant to Antonio Banderas reported that the film was once in danger of not being released by Disney at all. The final cut, now in release, is apparently a pale shadow of the film that was around a year ago. Those who have seen both primary versions (there were more than two) report jarring cuts and large plot holes. Still, what remains is supposed to be an enjoyable action picture. It has more in common with the Seven Samurai than Beowulf on which the original novel was based.
Since I was writing about the film and had the opportunity, I saw it Tuesday evening. With no earlier version to compare it to I thought it was a very decent adventure film. The Antonio Banderas character is a Muslim traveling to Scandinavia as an ambassador. He will become the poet who writes the Beowulf saga. Beowulf himself (spelled and pronounced only a little differently) is the local Viking king. He has been asked to come to the aid of another king whose people are about to be decimated by cannibals. Grendel and Grendel's mother are replaced by these savages in a manner that makes remarkable sense.
This is a guy film. Lots of swordplay, hack and slash, and cool macho humor. It has a truly awesome Jerry Goldsmith score that I intend to buy. The "R" rating is for gore. What little hint of sex there is could get past TV censors easily. I left the theater thinking this is how the Beowulf story might have begun before, after generations of retellings, it was finally written down. I can recommend the movie but I still wonder what it might have been.
Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales: Leaving London - Wife of Bath's Tale - HBO - S4C/HBO/BBC Wales co-production in association with a.k.a. Pizazz, Beryl Productions, Christmas Films, Picasso Pictures, and Right Angle in association with Home Box Office
Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales: Leaving London - Wife of Bath's Tale - HBO - S4C/HBO/BBC Wales co-production in association with a.k.a. Pizazz, Beryl Productions, Christmas Films, Picasso Pictures, and Right Angle in association with Home Box Office
Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales: Leaving London - Wife of Bath's Tale - HBO - S4C/HBO/BBC Wales co-production in association with a.k.a. Pizazz, Beryl Productions, Christmas Films, Picasso Pictures, and Right Angle in association with Home Box Office
Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales: Leaving London - Wife of Bath's Tale - HBO - S4C/HBO/BBC Wales co-production in association with a.k.a. Pizazz, Beryl Productions, Christmas Films, Picasso Pictures, and Right Angle in association with Home Box Office
We're planning this as pretty much an outdoor activity since our house is NOT kid proof.
We've got a yard and some woods for people to sit, eat, talk, launch rockets, frisbee, etc in. After dark there will be a campfire, but the conditions around here are not that good for star gazing. There are too many trees and the light pollution of Indpls. If you want to aim a telescope straight up you can do okay.
Now to the food part. Remember folks this is a pitch-in. TANSTAAFL! As is traditional, the club is supplying the main course (burgers, hot dogs, buns). If you want anything more than a bare burger, YOU need to supply it - with maybe a little bit more to share with your friends. It would be real helpful if we knew 2 things: 1) Who was coming, and 2) What they are bringing. (A head count on attendees is really important, or we may be eating hamburgers at the party in December.) E-mail me andya@indy.net.
Cheryl and I have enough styrofoam plates for everyone. There is still a little pop left over from the convention, but quantity and variety is somewhat limited. It might be a good idea to bring a little of your favorite beverage just in case.
E-Mail Andy andya@indy.net for directions.
Random Access
by David Henninger
Life over here has been so incredibly busy it seems this is the first real "news" letter we've been able to do for a while. Still, those of you who receive a print copy may get it late. For that we apologize. To explain the delay I offer only two words: Trauma Season.
James White Dies
From a message posted, Aug. 23rd, from Tor editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden:
Eccentric Orbit #99
by Don Dailey
I'm sure you have all heard the children's song "It's a Small World After All". I think we should have another version called "It's a Strange World After All". Why? After scanning three newspapers a day since the beginning of this year, I've come to the conclusion that this is a very strange world.
A Very Strange Trip
reviewed by Don Dailey
I have been fortunate to receive an advance copy of A Very Strange Trip. This novel is based on a story and screenplay by the late, great L. Ron Hubbard and novelized by Dave Worverton. Wolverton began his professional career through the "L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future " series. The novel is due in bookstores on 28 June 1999.
Movie Clips
by Dave Henninger (mostly)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is supposed to become a new movie by Mel Gibson. Two years ago Robin and I heard Bradbury speak at an Economics Club luncheon. He mentioned '451 and seemed very positive about the venture and expressed confidence in Gibson. Since then reports on the project have been increasingly discouraging. I just found this on the "Coming Attractions by Corona" web site:
"August 26, 1999... Time for a fresh, first-hand account from someone who spoke to Mr. Bradbury yesterday about just what the heck is happening with this stuck-in-development-hell project:
Casting has begun for The X-Men being produced by Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie, Lethal Weapon)
Emmy Awards
Sherry Hitch did not win an Emmy this time around. Here are a few of those who did.
Star Trek: Voyager - Dark Frontier - UPN - Paramount Pictures
Dan Curry, Visual Effects Producer/Supervisor; Ronald B. Moore, Mitch Suskin, Visual Effects Supervisors; Elizabeth Castro, Arthur J. Codron, Visual Effects Coordinators; Paul Hill, Don Greenberg, Visual Effects Compositors; Greg Rainoff, Visual Effects Artist; Rob Bonchune, CGI Supervisor; MOJO, CGI Supervisor; John Teska, CGI Animator
Todd McFarlane's Spawn - HBO - Todd McFarlane Entertainment in Association with HBO Original Programming
Todd McFarlane, Executive Producer; John Leekley, Co-Executive Producer/Writer; Randall J. White, Producer; Brad Rader, Jennifer Yuh, Tom Nelson, Chuck Patton, Mike Vosburg, Directors; Rebekah Bradford, Writer; Frank Paur, Supervising Director
Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales: Leaving London - Nun's Priest's Tale - HBO - S4C/HBO/BBC Wales co-production in association with a.k.a. Pizazz, Beryl Productions, Christmas Films, Picasso Pictures, and Right Angle in association with Home Box Office
Ashley Potter, Background Artist
Les Mills, Color Direction
Joanna Quinn, Production Design and Animator
Horatio Hornblower - The Duel - A&E - United Productions for Meridian Broadcasting in association with A&E Networks
Keith Palmer, Editor
Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales: Leaving London - Nun's Priest's Tale - HBO - S4C/HBO/BBC Wales co-production in association with a.k.a. Pizazz, Beryl Productions, Christmas Films, Picasso Pictures, and Right Angle in association with Home Box Office
Ashley Potter, Background Artist
Les Mills, Color Direction
Joanna Quinn, Production Design and Animator
Todd McFarlane's Spawn- HBO - Todd McFarlane Entertainment in Association with HBO Original Programming
Todd McFarlane, Executive Producer; John Leekley, Co-Executive Producer/Writer; Randall J. White, Producer; Brad Rader, Jennifer Yuh, Tom Nelson, Chuck Patton, Mike Vosburg, Directors; Rebekah Bradford, Writer; Frank Paur, Supervising Director
Alice In Wonderland - NBC - Hallmark Entertainment in association with Babelsberg International Film Produktion
David Booth, Visual Effects Supervisor; Richard Conway, Bob Hollow, Special Effects Supervisors; Andy Lomas, Alex Parkinson, Martin Parsons, CGI Lead Animators; Jamie Courtier, Model Maker; Avtar Baines, William Bartlett, Nick Bennet, Oliver Bersey, Murray Butler, George Roper, Pedro Sabrosa, Angus Wilson, Visual Effects Artists; Ben Cronin, Digital Paint Artist
Free Food!!!!!
by Andy Andrews
Made you look! The after the con bash is being held in the wilds of Hendricks County this year. It will begin about 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 11th, and last until we run the last of you off. Holding to tradition it will be a pitch-in type cookout. We have a small gas grill, but feel free to bring your own grilling apparati if interested.