THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
01/21/05 -- Vol. 23, No. 30 (Whole Number 1266)
El Presidente: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
The Power Behind El Pres: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
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Topics:
For Whom the Gong Tolls (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Numb3rs (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Obsessive-Compulsiveness (letter of comment by David Kemp)
DARWIN'S CHILDREN by Greg Bear (book review
by Joe Karpierz)
DRACULA by Bram Stoker (audiobook review by Joe Karpierz)
KEANE (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
MALE FANTASY (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (THE ORIENTAL CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK
HOLMES, OUTWITTING HISTORY, and CHRISTOPHER LEE
FILMOGRAPHY) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: For Whom the Gong Tolls (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Most people know the famous line from John Donne that says, "Never
send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." His
point is that we are all connected. We are all in this life
together. It is very egalitarian. Most people never notice what
a space cadet this guy Donne must have really been. Isn't he
assuming that you HAVE someone to send out to waste his time
appeasing your curiosity? Here is this shmoe who is so out of it
he assumes everyone who matters has servants to send at his beck
and call on petty errands. And he is the one telling you, "But,
you know, we are all one humanity." What a twit. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Numb3rs (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Last week I admitted to being an obsessive-compulsive. Self-
diagnosed, but it still was a little embarrassing. What hall I
admit to this week? Well, since I was in junior high school I
have been a mathematics geek. I think if you have been reading my
columns for a while you knew that. Every once in a while I will
write an editorial about how great mathematics is. I will tell
how it is about the only thing you can study that will be true and
useful all over the known universe. The problem is that I am not
a geek because of a failing in me. I am a geek because most of
the world seems to have very little interest in mathematics. It
is the world, or at least the American public that considers
mathematics fans as geeks. Pretty much by common consent
Americans have decided that mathematics is a geek subject and
people who like it are geeks. Kids who excel in sports are
athletes, kids who are good in mathematics are geeks. I remember
the year my high school was the champion of the Western
Massachusetts Mathematics League and I was the top scoring
mathematician, the principle announced the next morning on the
intercom message that the high school soccer team had beat the
junior high team on their own field. If we had beaten so many
other schools in some sport like soccer EVERYBODY in the school
would know about it and most would feel some pride. But if you
celebrate sports you are celebrating young athletes. If you
celebrating mathematics, people think you are cheering some
pimply-faced misfits.
In the 1986 film PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, the title character
(played by Kathleen Turner) gets to go back in time and relive her
senior year in high school. Given a mathematics exam she turns in
a blank paper. When asked about it she says, "Mr. Snelgrove, I
happen to know that in the future, I will never have the slightest
use for algebra. And I speak from experience." It is the best-
remembered line from the film. It is as remembered as the Barbie
talking doll that said, "Math class is hard." (To which I
respond, "Go for the burn, Barbie. Go for the burn.") Of course
Peggy Sue never told her Phys Ed teacher that she would never need
to know how to climb a rope or do a pushup again. She didn't
question having to do that in Phys Ed class. Peggy Sue apparently
was a woman who used her body a lot more than she used her mind.
Spurred on in part by the media Americans freely express their
distaste for the subject of mathematics. And it shows. In a
survey last year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, the United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in
mathematics for students of age 15. The results are at
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.html. Look for us down
there with tied with Spain and Latvia. We do much better at the
Olympics. The American people would not stand for us doing
equivalently poorly at the Olympics. Sports always seems to be a
higher priority than mathematics in this country. I am sick of
seeing mathematics run second to sports in people's minds.
This is why I am pleased to say there is finally going to be a TV
program that will treat mathematics positively and will have a
mathematician as a hero. Apparently Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl
Heuton, a husband and wife team, wanted to make a television
series with a hero like a Richard Feynman. You may remember
Feynman getting up in front of the Challenger committee and
demonstrating that when O-rings get too cold they get too stiff to
be used and that this was the likely cause of the Challenger
shuttle accident. Feynman made a heroic figure. The writers
wanted a hero who used his mind to understand the world rather
than his fists to fight bad-guys. Well, Heuton and Falacci could
not sell a hero like Feynman to the networks. But they could sell
heroes like they have on CSI. CBS likes crime shows. Their CSI:
CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION features scientific sorts of people
solving crimes. CSI was so successful that it has tuned into
three television series. The suggested idea offered as a hero a
mathematician. Maybe they could create a sort of a mathematical
knockoff of CSI.
To be fair I recently have seen two episodes of a series that
shows the reasoning of a medical investigator trying to solve
medical problems rather than doing something flashy like trying to
catch criminals. The expository lumps are all fairly interesting
and all about medicine. The program is called HOUSE, M.D. on the
Fox Network and it does seem to champion analytical intelligence.
It seems to be like CSI but the hero is a doctor and his opponent
is disease rather than bad guys. But the network tries to hide
that. Note the tagline: "Every week a new mystery...every week a
new baffling case that only one team can solve." Wow!
But getting back to CBS, they were willing to buy this new cop
show, NUMB3RS, in which there was an expert detective who was a
mathematician who used mathematics to solve crimes. The idea is
that there are two brothers, one an FBI agent and one a
mathematician. They work together and use mathematics to solve
their crimes. In the ad for the show they show a map of where
some criminal has been operating and the mathematician is
suggesting that he could work backwards to figure out where the
criminal must live. The argument is probably specious, but it
sounds good and it does use mathematics. Incidentally, a common
panel at science fiction conventions these days is to have
forensic experts tell you that CSI's science is pretty far off the
mark also. Apparently CSI's detection is no more convincing to a
forensic expert than James Bond's intelligence work is to a CIA
operative.
NUMB3RS will premiere on Sunday, January 23 (10:00-11:00 PM) on
CBS. Uh, for a show about the precise and exacting discipline of
mathematics, the time that the program starts has to be only
approximate. It seems NUMB3RS will be broadcast immediately
following the AFC Football Championship. Dammit, there is sports
stepping all over mathematics again. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Obsessive-Compulsiveness (letter of comment by David Kemp)
I really enjoyed your article on obsessive-compulsiveness in the
VOID today. I just wanted to give you a tip: if you run the hot
water tap in the bath tub to fill the watering can to water the
plants first thing in the morning, then it heats up the water in
the sink faster (so you don't have to wait) as well as removing
the wait required for getting the water in your pipes warm for
your shower. Then you can either let water the plants
immediately or let the water stand so the chlorine migrates out
of it and water them at your leisure later. Three birds with one
stone--wonderful!!! (I really just wanted you to know that
you're not alone.) [-dk]
===================================================================
TOPIC: DARWIN'S CHILDREN by Greg Bear (copyright 2003, Del Rey
Ballantine Books, 387pp, SFBC Edition, ISBN 0-345-44835-9) (book
review by Joe Karpierz)
DARWIN'S CHILDREN is the sequel to, or better yet, continuation
of the story that began in DARWIN'S RADIO a few years back. At
the time, I wrote that I really liked the novel, and thought it
was the best of the Hugo nominees that year, up until that point.
I'd also mentioned that there were a few things left unresolved.
I'd also mentioned that it was the only stand-alone novel in that
year's nominee list.
Well, if things are unresolved, a stand-alone novel won't be
stand-alone very long.
And so we have DARWIN'S CHILDREN, which is every bit as good as
DARWIN'S RADIO was--so much so that I'm now disappointed that it
wasn't a Hugo nominee for 2003.
The setting is twelve years after the SHEVA virus was discovered
and SHEVA children started being born. Stella, the child of Kaye
Lang and Mitch Rafelson, is one of those "virus children",
although I like the term Shevites that came up late in the novel.
The children are feared and hated by "old-style" humans, who put
them away in schools that are little better than prisons--and in
fact some of the schools are using facilities that were old
prisons. Children who are not in one of the schools are hunted
down by EMAC, the emergency action committee, which is headed up
at the start of the novel by Mark Augustine, who thought that the
SHEVA virus was going to wipe out the next generation of
children. Stella is one of those children who are not in one of
the schools when the novel begins. Stella runs away from home,
wanting to be with others of her kind--and this act of running
away starts a chain of events that kept me wanting to read long
after I should have been in bed (which is why I ended up sleeping
on the train to work instead of reading).
The story is one of how two different groups of humans, who both
distrust each other, through discovery and love come to realize
that they should be working together instead of fighting each
other and being separate. All of our old friends from the first
novel are back. In addition to Lang, Rafelson, and Augustine,
back for a second go around are Christopher Dicken and Rachel
Browning, although Rachel doesn't have a really huge part to
play.
Bear also manages to successfully weave all the scientific
research he did on viruses into wonderful plot lines of the
story, not the least of which is how we need viruses even to be
born. That discovery, along with an archaelogical dig wherein
two prior incarnations of Homo sapiens (sapiens and erectus) were
discovered to be working together, and a mysterious visit from
God to Kaye Lang make this novel intriguing. Now, I'll admit
that the symbolism of Homo sapiens and Homo erectus working
together is a bit heavy handed, but it's still a nice touch.
There are a few things left hanging again, and I wouldn't be
surprised if there was one more Darwin novel. The story of the
next generation of humans, the Shevites, and how they co-exist
with old style humans may have some surprises in it. But the
biggie is Lang's visit from God--that plot line is deliberately
left hanging, and I suspect that will be the main topic of the
next Darwin novel--if there is one.
DARWIN'S CHILDREN is highly recommended. [-jak]
===================================================================
TOPIC: DRACULA by Bram Stoker (Barnes and Noble Audio Classics,
copyright 1980 by Recorded Books LLC, 15 CDs/18 hours, ISBN
0-7607-3477-1) (audiobook review by Joe Karpierz)
The last of my audiobook reviews (I now have a different job with
a five-minute commute to the train station before an hour long
ride to downtown Chicago, so I can catch up on printed books now)
is of the Bram Stoker classic DRACULA.
Quite honestly, there's not horribly much to say about the story
itself. Most people know it, or know of it. I had actually never
read or listened to it before this--my only experience with the
novel was with the Bela Lugosi film back in 1931, and the more
recent film with Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. The thing that
struck me most was just how little Dracula himself is in the novel
after the initial part of the story when Jonathan Harker travels
to Castle Dracula in Transylvania to finish handling the purchase
of an old house at Carfax for the Count. Most of the rest of
story deals with how our heroes--Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker,
Abraham Van Helsing (not the goofy Van Helsing of the recent Hugh
Jackman vintage--and *Gabriel* Van Helsing--what was THAT all
about?), Dr. Seward, Quincy Morris, and others - work their way
around to figuring out how to do in the evil Count as he tries to
move into London and eventually tries to get back to Transylvania.
The other thing that strikes me is just how atmospheric and
psychological it was. It's amazing how a very haunting story can
be mutated into some of the graphic gore that purport to be
vampire stories today. The evil of the Count is more in the
threat he poses--we rarely see him in the act of draining blood--
not unlike the movie "The Blair Witch Project", where all the
scary stuff is happening off screen.
The other thing that struck me is how slow this novel moves at
various points, mostly in the middle dealing with Dracula arriving
in London, his attack on Lucy, Van Helsing confirming his
suspicions that Dracula is indeed a vampire, and how our heroes go
about getting on to the climax of the novel. The early entries in
Mina's diaries and the letters from Lucy are awfully slow,
although important. The most riveting portions of the story are
the aforementioned beginning when Harker goes to Transylvania and
is eventually caught in Dracula's snare, and the end, as our
heroes force Dracula out of London and back to Transylvania, where
they eventually slay the Count.
The real treat is in listening to the two readers, Alexander
Spencer and Susan Adams. Spencer shows a wide range of vocal
talent, ranging from standard British to Dutch to American while
reading from the various journals and letters. I particularly
enjoyed his interpretation of Van Helsing. Adams does an
admirable job with the female parts, but by virtue of those parts
being written is a less interesting fashion her opportunities are
limited. However, her interpretation of Van Helsing as she is
reading from her journal and quoting the doctor is absolutely
outstanding.
This version of DRACULA is well worth a listen. Go to your local
Barnes and Noble and pick it up today. [-jak]
===================================================================
TOPIC: KEANE (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: A manic-depressive searches for his kidnapped daughter
in and around New York's Port Authority. The film is much more
realistic than entertaining. Rating: 0 (-4 to +4) or 4/10
The subject is mental illness in this film written and directed by
Lodge Kerrigan. The film is set mostly in and around New York
City's Port Authority building. William Keane (played by Damian
Lewis of BAND OF BROTHERS) may or may not have been normal a few
months ago when he lost his daughter, but he certainly is not now.
His daughter was kidnapped several months earlier from the Port
Authority building. Now he is fixated on finding her again. He
searches the area over and over accosting strangers and asking if
they have seen his daughter. In very long takes we see him
stopping strangers, talking to himself, walking in traffic and in
tunnels, and playing detective in his mind looking for his lost
seven-year-old daughter. He seems to have become a familiar
hazard to navigation in the area.
When he is not searching he is making a pest of himself haunting
bars causing trouble. In one scene he goes to a prostitute and in
just a matter of a few minutes himself persona non grata with her.
He is the prisoner of his mania. Finally he starts to break out
of this routine when he meets a young woman from the same cheap
hotel where he stays. She has a daughter just about the age of
the daughter he has lost. The anguish he feels for his daughter
becomes a mania to help them.
Through much of the film not much happens and plot complications
are slow in coming. Instead we are given long takes showing Keane
behaving as a schizophrenic. His voice-overs put us in the mind
of a manic-depressive and show us how he would be thinking. This
is someone we have seen and most of us never look inside. But the
film shows us his thought patterns in ways we have not seen
before. The portrait is strong and very downbeat. It is a story
rather than just a portrait of the illness, but it is too slow to
be much of a story. I rate it a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale or 4/10.
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: MALE FANTASY (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Low-budget Canadian comedy has some funny moments, but
is not up to the quality one would expect from a feature film.
Rating: low 0 (-4 to +4) or 4/10
MALE FANTASY is yet another comedy about some luckless schnook
hoping to get girls. To increase his chances he repeats over and
over the affirmation "I am a god. I create this reality." Still
the facts seem to bear the interpretation that he is no god. In
the course of the film he tries several strategies to get women
with varying success rates. Looking forlorn and asking strangers
on the street, for example, gets him rejected every time.
MALE FANTASY was written and directed by Blaine Thurier who
previously directed LOW SELF-ESTEEM GIRL. Some of the scenes are
reminiscent of Dudley Moore in BEDAZZLED. The humor is at least
at times good but the film overall is not very polished. If it
was not a Canadian film it would probably not have played at the
Toronto International Film Festival. Except for being a little
racy, it really is very much standard fare. I rate it a low 0 on
the -4 to +4 scale or 4/10. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Of the Sherlockian Canon, all are told by Watson except for three
stories. "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" and "The
Adventure of the Lion's Mane" are told with Holmes as the first-
person narrator, and "His Last Bow" is told by an anonymous
third-person narrator. All three seem awkward because of this;
the reader desperately wishes for the "comfort" of the Watsonian
narration. Theodore Riccardi's THE ORIENTAL CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK
HOLMES (ISBN 1-4000-6065-6) is a collection of stories set during
the Great Hiatus (the three-year period when Holmes was presumed
dead, but was actually traveling in the East). So Watson was not
present during any of these cases. But Riccardi mostly avoids
the problem of Holmes recounting the story as a first-person
narrative by having Watson write most of the stories after Holmes
tells it to him. It sounds clumsy when one describes it that
way, but it is not in execution. The book is weakest when he
falls back on first-person Holmesian narrative. There are also
more coincidences than I'm entirely comfortable with, and given
how many people seem to know that Holmes is still alive, it's
amazing that word did not get back to Watson.
Aaron Lansky's OUTWITTING HISTORY (ISBN 1-56512-429-4) is the
story of the National Yiddish Book Center from its origins in
1977 when he was just trying to collect Yiddish books for his
classes in Montreal, through 1997, when the current National
Yiddish Book Center opened. As Lansky has repeatedly said, when
he started collecting Yiddish books to save them from being
thrown out by people who didn't care about them, experts believed
that there were no more than 70,000 Yiddish books in the world.
So far, Lansky has collected, digitized, and re-distributed a
million and a half. (Yiddish is the first language to have been
completely digitized. All the NYBC's books are available as
print-on-demand books, and will soon be available, free, on the
Web.)
Lansky tells about some amazing stories about last-minute
rescues, when people called in the middle of the night to say
they had just discovered thousands of Yiddish books in a dumpster
due to be hauled away the next day unless someone picked them up
immediately.. But he tells other stories, such as being called by
an old man in Atlantic City to come pick up some books. He
arranged a few other stops in the area, then drove from
Massachusetts to the high-rise where the man lived. He couldn't
just pick up the books, though; the man insisted on serving him
tea and telling him the history of each book. After a few hours,
they finished and Lansky got ready to leave, but then the man
tells him that he can't leave yet, because he told everyone in
the twelve-story building about him--and they all have books for
him. I'm sure some will see this as a very self-congratulatory
book, but since Lansky has received (among other recognitions) a
McArthur "Genius Grant", he's entitled. My main complaint is
that there is no index.
(Disclaimer: We've been supporters of the National Yiddish Book
Center for about fifteen years now, and even served as delivery
agents, carrying a parcel of books to Vilnius University in
Lithuania in 1994 because the NYBC could not trust the postal
service there at that time.)
At $55, Tom Johnson and Mark A. Miller's CHRISTOPHER LEE
FILMOGRAPHY (ISBN 0-786-41277-1) is probably too expensive for
the casual reader or film-goer. (We got ours used at a
convention.) But it is a valuable resource, not just for people
interested in Christopher Lee, but also for people interested in
the filmmakers that Lee has worked with, and in the business in
general. For example, Lee recounts a couple of times when he was
given a script with a part which he agreed to play, and then later
discovered that his innocuous speeches were inter-cut with scenes
of a Satanic orgy or some such, making it appear he had actually
been in that scene. (Or the time that a still from a movie of him
as a detective leaving a pornography store was printed in the
newspaper purporting to be of him as himself in real life leaving
a pornography store!) For each film there is a list of credits,
a synopsis, commentary on the film, and comments by Lee himself.
(There are a few films for which Lee doesn't comment, usually
minor films in which he had very small roles.) Recommended, but
expensive. (If McFarland brings out a trade paperback edition,
that will be more reasonably priced.) [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Gilbert's Law: Happy people are those who do
not pass up an opportunity to laugh at themselves
or to make love with someone else. Unhappy
people are those who get this backwards.