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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 05/25/01 -- Vol. 19, No. 47
Chair/Librarian: Mark Leeper, 732-817-5619, mleeper@avaya.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper, 732-332-6218, eleeper@lucent.com
Distinguished Heinlein Apologist: Rob Mitchell, robmitchell@avaya.com
HO Chair Emeritus: John Jetzt, jetzt@avaya.com
HO Librarian Emeritus: Nick Sauer, njs@lucent.com
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the
second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call
201-447-3652 for details. The Denver Area Science Fiction
Association meets 7:30 PM on the third Saturday of every month at
Southwest State Bank, 1380 S. Federal Blvd.
===================================================================
1. The last of this year's short fiction Hugo nominees has been put
on-line; here is the complete list of URLs:
- the nominated short fiction that appeared in ANALOG is available
at http://www.analogsf.com/0107/issue_0107.html
- the nominated short fiction that appeared in ASIMOV'S is
available at http://www.asimovs.com
- David Langford's "Different Kinds of Darkness" is available at
http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/fiction/dl01.htm
- Stanley Schmidt's "Generation Gap" is available at
http://www.lrcpubs.com/artemismagazine/issue01/gengap1.html
- Ted Chiang's "Seventy-Two Letters" is available at
http://www.tor.com/72ltrs.html
[-ecl]
===================================================================
2. I was talking about my visit to Valley Forge where George
Washington wintered his troops there the winter and spring of 1777
and 1778.
The real hero of the Valley Forge encampment was arguably not
Washington but someone else who was an impostor who fooled
Washington to get his job, but who was successful in it
nonetheless. Baron von Steuben (pronounced STOY-bin) passed
himself off as a Lieutenant General from the Prussian Army. In
fact he was only a captain and may not have even been a baron. He
nevertheless fooled Washington who, impressed with his credentials,
had him appointed acting Inspector General and drillmaster for the
Continental Army. All consider he did an excellent job of
disciplining the troops and is generally credited with turning the
sloppy soldiers into a disciplined and effective army. His
frequent temper tantrums would come out as a strange mix of his
native German. Nevertheless he was respected by the troops and
Washington made von Steuben his Inspector General. The Prussian
captain later wrote THE REGULATIONS FOR THE ORDER AND DISCIPLINE OF
THE TROOPS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the official manual of
military regulations. But then Washington would have been happy to
have just about anybody replace his previous Inspector General.
And thereby hangs a tale. It all had to do with the rarely
acknowledged affair known as the "Conway Cabal." Washington
apparently spent much of his time involved in the intrigues of the
Conway Cabal.
Washington had a great deal of personal appeal to the people in the
New Nation, but John Adams and his cousin Samuel Adams thought he
was becoming a bit of a demagogue. They were strongly considering
the advisability of replacing Washington as commander in chief and
having General Horatio Gates replace him. Since the previous
autumn Washington had been embroiled in an affair known as the
Conway Cabal. Washington had been on the defensive at Brandywine
and retreated when some in Congress thought he could have attacked.
They also thought he squandered real opportunities at Germantown.
So far the Northern Army had had greater successes against the
British and it was claimed that Washington's timidity in the face
of the enemy was to blame.
Gates had had a major victory against Burgoyne at Saratoga.
Washington was a little short on major victories at this point.
Thomas Conway, one of the heroes of Brandywine, who had seen at
that battle the operations of Washington close up, had a very low
opinion of Washington. He also may have been a very ambitious man.
Conway told anyone who would listen about the miserable quality of
Washington's leadership. Conway went official and asked Congress
to make him a Major General. Washington, aware of the man's
opinion, wrote to Congress disparaging Conway and threatening to
resign if he had to work with the man.
Conway wrote a letter to General Gates telling him just what he
thought were the deficiencies of George Washington. "Heaven has
been determined to save our country; or a weak General and bad
Councellors would have ruined it," Conway complained. He, however,
left out one deficiency Washington had he may not have been aware
of. It seems under proper conditions George Washington was not
above reading other people's mail. A drunken aide to Gates, a man
named Wilkinson, told of the contents of the letter and they got
back to Washington. Gates found out that Conway's private letter
to him had been copied and given to Washington. So he protested.
John Adams found out about all the fighting and bickering and said
he was "wearied to death with the wrangles between military
commands high and low." "They quarrel like cats and dogs." (Of
course, one is never sure how literally to take a complaint from
John Adams. Adams was himself a Mozart of contentiousness and
caustic overstatement.)
Washington had asked that an office be created, Inspector General,
to work with him write a training manual and to teach recruits.
Congress decided they had just the man for the position. Thomas
Conway had been bucking for promotion. Let him and George
Washington work together. On December 29 Conway arrived at Valley
Forge. The two worked for a while together in icy disdain. They
traded oral insults for a while. But in January Conway wrote an
insulting letter to Washington and Washington wrote a cover letter
and sent it to Congress. Gates wrote to Congress asking for an
investigation on how his letter Conway had been "Stealingly copied"
and given Washington. When he found out his aide Wilkinson had
been the leak he challenged him to a duel. Luckily the aide
declined. Gates and Conway next took their cause to Congress.
General Lafayette waded in saying that the French considered
Washington and the American Revolution inseparable and any removal
of Washington from power would be cause for them to reconsider
their support. Congress listened to Lafayette, could not afford to
do without French support, and refused to listen to Gates and
Conway. General Gates returned to his troops. Conway was given a
demotion and transfer to the Hudson area where he soon resigned.
Conway's office as Inspector General was replaced by von Steuben.
[-mrl]
===================================================================
3. SHREK (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule: An ogre with his donkey sidekick goes
off on a quest to rescue a princess from a
dragon. SHREK is a gem of writing and
animation. Like an out-of-control fire hose,
it blasts everyone and everything in reach,
from Disney to professional wrestling, but is
rarely mean-spirited. This is a film that will
delight adults as well as children. Rating: 8
(0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)
SHREK is not so much a fairy tale as a meta-fairy-tale, an ambrosia
of fairy tale conventions and scenes poking fun at (among other
things) the conventions of fairy tales. It is a lot like THE
PRINCESS BRIDE or Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS. Just about
anything can get a good-natured jab from SHREK. Based on William
Steig's book, the main character is an ogre likable to just about
anyone but himself. Called upon to fight a dragon, he finds that
his real enemy is more his low self-esteem. That is harder to
dispense with than the fearsome beast. This sounds like it could
be a dull object lesson but Shrek rings true as a character and
believable visually on the screen. That is because both are
essentially built in the same way. The animation build him up
starting with an animated skeleton then fleshing out the character
putting digital flesh on the bones. The character of Shrek was
built the same, starting on the inside with basic strengths and
vulnerabilities and building outward. The result is a character
who is three-dimensional in multiple senses.
Those who believe that films are getting worse as time goes by
would do well to concentrate on what is happening to the animated
film. Sure not every animated film is great, but see how often we
are now getting animated films that seem better than their
predecessors are. We are getting films for which not only is the
animation superior to that of any animated film more than a decade
old, also frequently the story values are also superior to any of a
decade before. Gone are the days of happy twittering bluebirds
creating a new dress for the falsetto-voiced heroine while
approving bunnies look on. SHREK, in fact, takes a well-aimed kick
at the cliche of Walt Disney's bluebirds.
Shrek (voiced by Michael Myers) is an ogre living in a swamp,
savoring his solitude, and frightening away all who trespass.
Nearby Prince Farquaad (John Lithgow) is rounding up all of the
magical creatures in the kingdom. A talking donkey (Eddie Murphy)
escapes the prince and hides in the swamp begging the hospitality
of Shrek. But he need not have bothered escaping. All the magical
animals are dumped in the same swamp. This much company is too
much for the ogre. With the unwelcome companionship of his new
donkey friend he goes to confront the prince, only to end up being
sent on a mission to rescue one Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from
the clutches of an angry dragon.
It has been a while since I have seen a current film in which a
male has to go and rescue a female. I suppose that is a convention
of the fairy tale. The script, however, does later make sure that
audience knows she can take care of herself. This is another film
that throws martial arts into a context where it does not seem to
belong. I suppose that will not bother some viewers in a fantasy
film, particularly because there are so many intentional
anachronisms. The plot falters only when it takes a digression
from the fairy tale plotline with a piece on a misunderstood
conversation. That is not really the sort of plot complication
that one usually finds in fairy tales and it does not quite seem to
fit.
Problems remaining are few, but there are a few. The film makes a
real effort to say that ogres should be tolerated even if they are
not attractive, and so they should. That is a nice touch
particularly after Disney so often makes the villain ugly or
obnoxiously manly. But then the film turns around and repeatedly
makes fun of Farquaad's short stature. This is at best a mixed
signal and verges on hypocrisy. In addition, a pet peeve of mine
is the use of big stars in animated films for box-office appeal.
Any number of good unknowns could have taken the voice roles just
as well as stars. Michael Myers is almost unrecognizable in a
thick Scottish brogue in title role. Recognizing voices seems just
a distraction in animated films.
Animation has reached a point where filmmakers do not have to be
satisfied with whatever they can to the screen and that tells the
story. Today styles of animation can be fit to the character.
Some characters intentionally look like mechanical toys and others
look very alive and fluid with very articulate facial expression.
Like so many other animated films in the last few years, this one
sets an animation standard high for films that will follow. The
field of animation right now is in its phase of flowering. Right
now we are having a Golden Age of animated film techniques. Films
with better scripts and better animation than ever before seem not
to be uncommon. SHREK is a step forward. SHREK is a family film
that parents will probably appreciate more than their children do.
I rate it an 8 on the 0 to 10 scale and a high +2 on the -4 to +4
scale. [-mrl]
Mark Leeper
HO 1K-644 732-817-5619
mleeper@avaya.com
The problem with turning 50 is that dying is about the only thing left that people can be surprised
that you did so young.
-- Mark Leeper
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