THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
04/17/09 -- Vol. 27, No. 42, Whole Number 1541
El Honcho Grande: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
La Honcha Bonita: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction Discussion Groups
Are You Now or Have You Ever Been... (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
Opportunity Not To Be Missed (fiction by Mark R. Leeper)
REPO!: THE GENETIC OPERA (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
Kinship Terms (letter of comment by Fred Lerner)
Large-Print Books (letter of comment by Mike Lukacs)
Steganography (letter of comment by Mike Lukacs)
This Week's Reading (TIDE OF DEATH, REMARKABLE CREATURES,
and SWIFTLY) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction Discussion Groups
April 23--LITTLE BROTHER by Cory Doctorow, Old Bridge (NJ) Public
Library, 7:00PM
"Marcus, a.k.a 'w1n5t0n', is only seventeen years old, but he
figures he already knows how the system works--and how to work the
system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world,
he has no trouble outwitting his high school's intrusive but clumsy
surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his
friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major
terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong
time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of
Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they're
mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases
them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police st ate
where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows
that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one
option: to take down the DHS himself." [amazon.com]
May 14: FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, Middletown (NJ) Public
Library, original film at 5:30PM, discussion of film and
story after film
==================================================================
TOPIC: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been... (comments by Mark
R. Leeper)
Honest. Subject line on a piece of spam I got was "Please revert
back to me". [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Opportunity Not To Be Missed (fiction by Mark R. Leeper)
An uncle of mine lived in a small town tilling the ground and
making what poor living he could. It was a hard life and he often
envied the boys he saw who when they reached their majority had
left town and made their fortunes in the city. He wanted to go
himself but was afraid that he would not be able to find work and
would come back to the town a failure. The general opinion in the
town was that my uncle would never amount to much. Evening after
evening he would visit the town's saloon and talk to the other men,
even though there were none there that my uncle cared for as a
friend. They were only people to talk to as he drank his drink.
One day he received a letter addressed to him. This was October
and though it was not unheard of for him to receive a letter by
mail, the last had been in April and that was somebody looking for
another of my uncles who owed him money. Once he read the letter
it sat on his kitchen table unnoticed until June and by then the
sender had found my other uncle. But this letter was not like
that. This came from a wealthy man whom my uncle had once met.
The man had driven his fancy car to town to visit the banker, but
ran out of gasoline just a mile or so from town. The wealthy man
had knocked at my uncle's door and asked if my uncle could sell him
some gasoline. My uncle had none to spare but drove the wealthy
man into town where he could purchase some gasoline in a can. The
wealthy man had thanked my uncle for the ride and took note of his
name and address saying that some day perhaps he could do something
to pay back my uncle.
And this was the man who had sent a letter to my uncle. My uncle
opened the letter, rushing a bit and accidentally tearing the
envelope across his address. No matter, it was what was inside
that was important. Inside he found a letter from the wealthy man
addressed to him. The mail said, "you have done me a good turn,
sir, and I would like to repay you. Come to the Hotel Majestic and
we will have a business meeting. Let me assure you, good sir, that
this is for you an opportunity not to be missed!" The letter was
signed by the wealthy man and he gave his address in a city that my
uncle had often heard about but had never visited. He weighed the
option of going or not in his mind. On the bad road that he would
have to travel the trip to the city would take at least two days.
And it would be another two days to drive back. But that is only
if he did drive back. Who knew if the opportunity might not be so
good that he would never want to come back? On the other hand, the
letter proclaimed that this was an opportunity not to be missed,
and how many of those does a man get in his lifetime? My uncle
decided he would have to at least see what the opportunity was. He
would drive to the city and speak to the wealthy man. Times being
what they were he would not waste his opportunity that was "not to
be missed."
Two days later my uncle was dusty, as he stood at a counter just a
little dustier at the Hotel Majestic. The hotel manager stood
behind the counter is a sleeveless undershirt peering at my uncle.
The lobby smelled of something that had been fried just the week
before. My uncle wondered why the wealthy man could not find a
place to stay more majestic than the Hotel Majestic. He asked for
the room number of the wealthy man. The wealthy man did not have a
room number any more. He had had a room, four, five days earlier.
And the truth be known he had not checked out. But the woman who
cleaned the room had said that the wealthy man, his luggage, and
the linens from the bed had all disappeared the same disastrous
night. The hotel manager looked at my uncle more like as if he had
six legs and not two and asked would my uncle be willing to settle
the wealthy man's bill?
Three days later my uncle was home again and still more dusty. He
wondered whether he would ever be given an opportunity not to be
missed. That evening he went for a drink and told the saloonkeeper
that he had been to the city. The saloonkeeper just answered with
just a "Right." A moment later the saloonkeeper asked him, "Have
you really been gone?" "Sure," my uncle said. "Sorry, pal, I
guess I just didn't notice. Larry, has this guy not been around
the last few nights?" Larry was the closest thing my uncle had to
a friend, but he was not much of one. "I dunno. You tell me.
Better yet, why not ask him?" It turned out that nobody in the
saloon had noticed that my uncle had not been around. So the
wealthy man had been truthful when he said it was an opportunity
not to be missed. My uncle took the opportunity and had not been
missed. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: REPO!: THE GENETIC OPERA (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This is a Grand Guignol science fiction rock opera
starring Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino, and Anthony Head. Rotti Largo,
the man who supplies the world with synthetic transplant organs,
became the most powerful man in the world during a strange
epidemic. As he nears death there is a struggle for who will
inherit his empire after he dies. The plot is minimal and for a
rock opera, there is too little real melody. Visually the film is
a little nauseating but otherwise very inventive. Darren Lynn
Bousman, director of three sequels to SAW, helms this film with
what I would guess is the same sensitivity. Rating: low +1 (-4 to
+4) or 5/10
The time is somewhere around the middle years of the 21st Century.
The world has been ravaged by a strange plague that attacks by
destroying internal organs. There are not enough natural organs to
go around for all the transplants that are needed. But a company
named GeneCo has fulfilled the demand. They have perfected
artificial organs that function like the real thing. That is the
good news. The bad news is that like any medical technology these
days, the artificial organs are very expensive. When it is a
question of living or dying, many are willing to pay the price and
GeneCo offers easy credit. GeneCo has become the wealthiest
company in the world. But large numbers of organ recipients are
deeply in debt to GeneCo. When they cannot pay GeneCo sends the
Repo Man to legally repossess the organs from their living bodies
and leave them bleeding and dying.
The owner of GeneCo is the ruthless medical industrialist Rotti
Largo (played by Paul Sorvino). He has three has three children
vying to be the most cold-blooded to prove they are worthy to run
the empire. Meanwhile we meet Shilo Wallace (Alexa Vega) is a
teenager with blood disease that keeps her at home. She is
discovering that her dead mother has a history with Rotto Largo.
And Nathan, her father ("Buffy"'s Anthony Head), may also have had
other involvements with the most powerful man in the world. This
is all told in a world in which the smart set lives ignoring the
gruesome violence in their society that they pass every day. By
the time the story is over everybody seems to be awash in the spilt
blood. The plot does have some interesting concepts behind it
somewhere deep in the bloody organs.
The color palette is usually very controlled with strong colors
suited to the mood of the scene. That also enhances the graphic
novel feel of the film. The film uses the gimmick of having all
the expository lumps presented as comic book panels.
Reader Susan de Guardiola, who recommended the film to me, said
that she could not get the music out of her head. The reason she
is still humming the music is what is most wrong with the movie.
It may be a question of musical taste, but the music is all short
repetitive note combinations without more than a rudimentary
melody. You can find some of that style in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR,
but that also has longer and more engaging melodies such as "I
Don't Know How To Love Him". In REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA someone
will be saying things in a five-note theme repeated three times,
then will get a response to the same five-note theme. Pretty soon
you cannot get that five-note theme out of your head. The Top-40
stations work by the same principle of repetitions. But there are
no longer engaging melodies. Much of the music is not so much sung
as yelled to the sound of a heavy beat. That makes the music all
the less appreciated when it overstays its welcome and becomes an
earworm.
Along for the ride in lesser roles are Sarah Brightman and Paris
Hilton. The screenplay is by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich
based on their own stage play. (Smith has a role as a bandleader
and Zdunich plays the film's host and the grave robber.) There are
numerous borrowings (or perhaps homages) to other musicals.
However, the screenplay is probably more timely today than when it
was first produced on the stage with themes of credit problems and
corporate malfeasance, both on people's minds right now.
It is hard to get excited about songs of ecstasy over getting
kidney transplants or people who rip out their own eyes. I rate
REPO!: THE GENETIC OPERA a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 5/10.
Film Credits: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0963194/
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/repo_the_genetic_opera/
Susan de Guardiola's extensive blog on the film:
http://www.rixosous.com/2009/02/repo-the-genetic-opera.html
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Kinship Terms (letter of comment by Fred Lerner)
In response to Evelyn's comment on kinship terms in the 04/10/09
issue of the MT VOID ("I want to know if there is a term for the
relationship between my father's brother's wife's brother's
husband, and my brother's step-son's son. Mark's answer is
'acquaintance', but I am looking for something a tad more
specific."), Fred Lerner writes:
You might try a Hindi dictionary. That language has distinct words
for subtleties in family relationships that English lumps together
under "uncle", "aunt", and the like. I wonder if some
anthropologist has come up with a classification scheme for
cultures based on the ways their languages make provision for
describing family (or other) relationships--or vice versa. [-fl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Large-Print Books (letter of comment by Mike Lukacs)
In response to Evelyn's comments about large-print books in the
04/10/09 issue of the MT VOID, Mike Lukacs writes:
There are now a number of competing camera or scanner systems and
programs dedicated to use as magnifiers for reading books,
newspapers etc. that allow you to place the book on an easel or
flatbed, image it on a computer either in real time or as large
sections stored on disk, and read it greatly magnified with simple
zoom and pan controls. Some of the programs even reformat the text
into one huge scrolling line.
Look for them at opticians' stores. Medicare, etc will help pay
for these. [-mel]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Steganography (letter of comment by Mike Lukacs)
In response to John Sloan's letter of comment on steganography in
the 04/10/09 issue of the MT VOID, Mike Lukacs writes:
Truly unbreakable steganography is not much harder, in digital
images. Rather than replacing every Nth full pixel you use only
the least significant bit of all or some of the (typically 8-bit)
pixels. On these LSBs you encode another image (with a prime
number differing Hor/Vert raster). Using digital compression
coding which increases the entropy of the coded signal so that it
looks a lot like thermal noise which is expected on LSBs. Beyond
the compression coding, the picture or any other data can be
Security encoded with PGP or RSA or whatever is your favorite
algorithm. The difficulty of finding an encoded sequence to match
to any clear text sequence multiplies the strength of the final
security code. With modern computers the encoding and decoding can
be done in real time << IF >> you know the dozen or so compression
codec parameters and raster and the N bit security code key and
algorithm.
("Video compression coding was my business between ten and forty
years ago." ) [-mel]
[Mike was one of our early members and is a longtime friend. (He
also at one time had the most beautiful and elegant cats I had ever
seen.) I sort of follow his response, but I am sure there are
readers who will get more out of it that I do. -mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
A couple of weeks ago, in the 04/03/09 issue of the MT VOID, I
talked about the Linford Mystery Library of large print books. The
ad in the back of one of their books says they publish "romances,
mysteries, general fiction, non-fiction, and Westerns." And my
library does have some volumes from the Linford Romance Library,
the Linford Western Library, and so on. However, the most recent
one I checked out was from the Linford Mystery Library and was
E. C. Tubb's TIDE OF DEATH (ISBN-13 978-1-84782-145-4, ISBN-10
1-84782-145-6). The mystery is what this book is doing in a
mystery library--it is a straight science fiction novel, pure and
simple. Set in a post-atomic-war world full of controls and
shortages, the book starts with the discovery of an almost magical
source of unlimited free power. Then, of course, it turns out that
there is a downside--it will grow and destroy the world. If this
sounds terribly 1950s, it's because it was first published as WORLD
AT BAY by Panther in 1954. While it is enjoyable in a nostalgic
way, it does seem very dated now, though, and I wonder why they
picked it, and what someone expecting a mystery would make of it.
REMARKABLE CREATURES: EPIC ADVENTURES IN THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS
OF SPECIES by Sean B. Carroll (ISBN-13 978-0-151-01485-9, ISBN-10
0-15101-485-X) pointed out what a remarkable anniversary year 2009
is. Most people who follow this sort of thing are aware that it is
the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. But it is
also the 150th anniversary of the publication of ORIGIN OF SPECIES,
the 100the anniversary of the discovery of the Burgess Shale, and
the 50th anniversary of the first hominid finds by the Leakeys in
east Africa. (And it is apparently the 30th anniversary of when
Luis and Frank Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen Michael wrote their
paper on the Chicxulub asteroid extinction at the end of the
Mezozoic, since it was published in the June 1980 issue of
SCIENCE.)
[It seems like we are due for another big discovery right about
now. -mrl]
SWIFTLY by Adam Roberts (ISBN-13 978-0-575-08234-2, ISBN-10 0-575-
08234-8) is an expansion of two stories which appeared earlier, one
in a book titled "Swiftly: Stories". Alas, the expansion does not
serve it well--the middle part seems unnecessarily padded and
dragged out. In addition, Roberts draws not only on Swift's
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (the premise is that Gulliver's account was
true), but also from several other authors for concepts and images.
As one example, consider the following passage: "On the Great North
Road, a great worm of humanity pulsed slowly away to the
horizon, people walking, trudging, hurrying or staggering, handcarts
and horse-carts, men hauling packs stacked yards high with clinking
pots and rolled cloth, women carrying children, animals on tight
tethers." All that is missing is the phrase "the beginning of the
rout of civilisation, of the massacre of mankind."
Roberts also makes several annoying errors. He writes, "Each patch
of dirt was delineated from clear glass by a hyperbolic line
running from bottom left to top right, as, Bates thought, x equals
y squared." (page 2) First of all, x equals y squared is
parabolic, not hyperbolic. Second, it is parabolic in the wrong
direction (bulging up rather than down). And third, there is a
bottom half of the parabola that Bates (or Roberts) completely
ignores.
Again, Roberts labels a diary enter 11 Nov [1848] and then has
someone say it was Thursday. No, it was Saturday. On page 37 a
character uses the term "zero-sum"; this was not coined until a
hundred years later. And on page 315, a character writes, "Whilst
a new Nero arose and cried aloud 'If only all Rome had but one
neck...'" Sorry, but that was Caligula.
I will note that of Roberts's non-fiction book SCIENCE FICTION, I
said that it needed better proofreading: John Campbell was referred
to as "Joseph Campbell" at least once (page 75), Isaac Asimov's
"Hari Seldon" was spelled "Sheldon" every time after the first
mention, and Olaf Stapledon's name was spelled "Stapleton", both in
the text and in the index. (I note that MS Word's spell checking
seems to think the former *is* a misspelling, while the latter is
not flagged.) Roberts clearly needs to find better proofreaders.
[-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
The heart of a fool is in his mouth,
but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.
-- Benjamin Franklin