THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
12/03/10 -- Vol. 29, No. 23, Whole Number 1626
Frick: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Frack: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
Life Magazine on Horror Films
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies for December (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
The Coming of the Wee Phone (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
MONSTERS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
BLACK SWAN (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
THIS IMMORTAL by Roger Zelazny (audiobook review
by Joe Karpierz)
Dr. Who (letter of comment by Andre Kuznariak)
SF Predictions, Dangerous Cuisine, Books about Italy,
The Good News Bible, Saving Stuff, and a Klingon
Christmas Carol (letter of comment by Sam Long)
Genetic Politics (letters of comment by Kip Williams and
Sam Long)
Canned Laughter (letters of comment by Kip Williams
and Keith F. Lynch)
This Week's Reading (Teaching Company and UCB On-Line
Learning) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
December 9 (Thu): THE MAN FROM EARTH ("It's a Good Life" by Jerome
Bixby), Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film at 5:30PM,
discussion of film and story after film
December 16 (Thu): GENOME by Matt Ridley, Old Bridge (NJ) Public
Library, 7PM
January 13 (Thu): THE 10TH VICTIM ("Seventh Victim" by Robert
Sheckley), Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film at 5:30PM,
discussion of film and story after film
January 27 (Thu): THE PHILIP K. DICK READER (selected stories),
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
==================================================================
TOPIC: Life Magazine on Horror Films
http://tinyurl.com/26dvhuw has an article from September 2006 by
Rick Moody about horror films--with illustrations.
==================================================================
TOPIC: Culinary Response (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I recently visited Italy and discovered something about myself.
I think to me bad Italian food tastes bad; good Italian food tastes
good; very good Italian food tastes pretty good; excellent Italian
food tastes pretty good; extraordinary Italian food tastes pretty
good. I am just not responsive in the higher ranges. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies for December (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
For a few months now I have been writing a column on what films of
special interest are coming up in the next month on Turner Classic
Movies. December is the first month that I am in trouble on.
Perhaps the people who select their films thought that December is
a sort of family month and that there would be less demand for
challenging films. This is a month when people would want comfort
films for the family to enjoy. So pardon me if I am being a little
repetitive, echoing recommendations from previous months.
For real fans of tacky fantasy films, TCM is running a new
documentary:
THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY is the first study I have ever
seen that looks at Murray's bizarre imported films. Many may be
unfamiliar with the name K. Gordon Murray and his niche in the
history of film. In the 1950s and 1960s the Mexican film industry
was strapped for cash and had uneven talent for writing films.
They made a lot of movies that were at best spotty in quality with
horror films and children's films that all had a sort of tacky
feel. Actually frequently there also were some decent
visualizations, and it is easy to see how these films contributed
to later films like Guillermo Del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH. In
Florida K. Gordon Murray would import these Mexican films, dub them
poorly in English, make trailers, show them in US theaters, and
then release them to television. People seeing the horror films on
late night TV were frequently puzzled by their surreal quality. A
sample can be found at http://tinyurl.com/MT-Void-Murray on
YouTube. The documentary THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY is
being run early Saturday morning (Saturday, December 11, 2:00AM-
3:30AM).
TCM will also run a repeat of their documentary WATCH THE SKIES!:
SCIENCE FICTION, THE 1950S AND US (2005) with Richard Schickel
interviews of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Ridley Scott.
The film is a little too short to cover the subject matter at all
decently, but some interesting viewpoints are shown. (Wednesday,
December 15, 6:30PM-7:30PM)
A film that is no longer a rarity, but is still well worth seeing
is Alexander Mackendrick's THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, an Ealing
comedy starring Alec Guinness. It is not really clear that anyone
working on the film realized that what they were making was a
science fiction film, but, in fact, it now is considered to be one
of the most intelligent science fiction films of the 1950s, albeit
one without the usual tropes of science fiction. It asks what is
the nature of scientific progress. Alec Guinness is a research
chemist who develops a new textile that is stylish, stronger than
steel, and never gets dirty. It sounds like a miracle ... until
people start seeing how this new cloth will change society. The
feeling is more social comedy than robots and death rays, but it
definitely qualifies as science fiction. (Wednesday, December 29,
10:30PM-12:00M)
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946), better known in the United
States as STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, was discussed in my September guide.
David Niven plays RAF pilot Peter Carter, who died in the war, but
somehow Death did not take him. While the error is being corrected
he falls in love. He then feels he has a case to be put before a
celestial court that he deserves to be allowed to live. And when I
say a celestial court, I mean literally that. There is a courtroom
in heaven where his case is tried. Canadian actor Raymond Massey
plays a very disagreeable American (uh, United States) patriot,
demonstrating that even after the United States came to the aide of
Britain in the war, Brits still did not quite care for the United
States. The film was written and directed by Michael Powell and
Emeric Pressburger. Fourteen years later the popular Powell would
make the powerful horror film PEEPING TOM and torpedo his career.
(Monday December 20, 4:45AM- 6:30AM)
A rare find is ORPHEUS by Jean Cocteau. One does not hear much any
more about the strange films directed by this French surrealist.
For the most part his films are a taste I have a hard time
acquiring. But no study of fantasy film is complete without
looking at his THE BLOOD OF A POET (1930), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
(1946), and ORPHEUS (1950). ORPHEUS is a retelling of the Orpheus
myth set in (then) contemporary Paris. The minions of hell are men
on motorcycles. Orpheus must descend literally into Hell to rescue
his love. Bizarre images abound. (Monday December 20, 3:00AM-
4:45AM)
My pick for the month: If you have not seen THE MAN IN THE WHITE
SUIT, you should not miss this classic. I personally am most
looking forward to the K. Gordon Murray documentary. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: MONSTERS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: As a sort of a road film, MONSTERS tells the story of two
young Americans making their way across a war-ravaged Mexico--where
the war is against giant creatures of alien origin. The story is
told with a naturalistic style and with the actors improvising with
non-actor locals. In the end the film is really about people and
not special effects. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
(There is a heavy spoiler at the end will be protected by a rot13
encryption.)
In an old Japanese movie with the giant monster Gamera and other
monsters there is a sequence in which a crew building road was
asked about their progress and they say that they can finish the
road on schedule if the rains do not come early and if the monsters
do not come out of the hills and tear up the roads. This is said
rather matter-of-factly as if living with the monsters has become a
way of life. There is a very similar situation in a new film
written and directed by Gareth Edwards. There is a large area of
Mexican countryside plagued by giant monsters that tear up cities
and villages. But life goes on. What are you going to do?
Six years earlier alien life was discovered in the solar system. A
probe was sent into space to take samples and return them to Earth.
That probe broke up over Mexico. Soon there were strange tentacle
creatures springing up around Northern Mexico causing destruction.
The American government built walls to contain the creatures in
"infected zones" and built a huge wall between the United States
and Mexico to keep the creatures out. Since then the United States
military has been running air strikes over the infected zone trying
to kill the beasts. The locals just learn to live with the
disaster of giant monsters. Like cockroaches, trying to remove
them can be worse than just living with them. The monsters are
really deadly only when they are attacked. The Americans come in
and bomb the invaders and that is when the monsters become really
dangerous. Scoot McNairy plays Andrew Kaulder, a photojournalist
in Mexico getting pictures of the destruction for a news source.
His boss tells him he has to pick up the boss's daughter, guard
her, and bring her back to the US. The story becomes a sort of
cross between IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and CLOVERFIELD--as unlikely a
pairing as any I have seen in years.
What is interesting about the script is how MacGuffin-like the
creatures really are for most of the film. MONSTERS really is a
film about how two people's relationship while traveling under
adverse conditions. It may that those adverse conditions include a
quarantine due to giant creatures like octopuses on spider-like
legs, but for most of the film it could be a disease epidemic or a
hurricane rather than an alien invasion.
MONSTERS is an extremely low-budget film, but hides that fact well.
The IMDB reports that the budget was in the range of $200,000.
Besides the two main characters everyone or almost everyone else is
a local from the film locations in Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica,
and Mexico. Some of the set design of the scenes of destruction
was provided by an actual hurricane. The special effects are
created by writer/director Edwards on his computer. Perhaps for
that reason, views of the aliens are kept to a minimum, following
the lead of CLOVERFIELD. There was not even a detailed script for
the shooting. The main actors and the drafted local actors use an
improvisational style that give the film a very natural tone.
MONSTERS is not a great film, but it shows how technology is
allowing inventive filmmakers to make fairly interesting films on
budgets that are tiny by film industry standards. I rate MONSTERS
a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
A heavy spoiler follows, decoded in rot13. It can be decoded at
http://rot13.com/index.php, and it is important to understanding
the end of the film.
Fbzr erivrjref ner fnlvat gung gur svyz raqf noehcgyl naq gung jr
qb abg xabj jung unccraf gb Naqerj naq Fnz. Va snpg jr qb svaq bhg
jung unccraf gb gur punenpgref, ohg lbh nyzbfg unir gb jngpu gur
svyz ba ivqrb gb pngpu vg.
Pybfr nggragvba zhfg or cnvq gb gur irel svefg frdhrapr bs gur
svyz, fubg jvgu n unaq-uryq pnzren. Gur svefg fprar unf n HF
zvyvgnel qrgnpuzrag fnlvat gung gurl unir "ybpngrq n znyr naq n
srznyr." Gurl gura cebprrq gb trg va n cvgpurq onggyr vaibyivat na
nyvra. (Jub vf fubbgvat ng gurz vf hapyrne.) Naqerj pna or frra
zhygvcyr gvzrf. Gura jr urne uvz lryy, "uryc." Gura jr frr uvz
pneelvat na hapbafpvbhf be yvsryrff srznyr obql. Nccneragyl Fnz vf
n pnfhnygl bs gur pbasyvpg.
Gur erfg bs gur svyz vf n synfuonpx gryyvat ubj jr tbg gb gung
frdhrapr.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470827/
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monsters-2010/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: BLACK SWAN (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: An ingénue ballerina has to dance as if she has a corrupt
and worldly side she does not really have in a production of "Swan
Lake". At the same time she has this challenge there may be plots
against her to steal her coveted role. Is the pressure she feels
warping her psychologically or is the threat real? Darren
Aronofsky borrows from David Cronenberg in this surreal view of the
high-pressure realm of professional ballet. The film is strange
and beautiful to look at, but it also treads the melodramatic edge
of a horrific surrealism. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
In the world of classical ballet little is what it really seems to
the audience. To balance en pointe, rising up and balancing ones
entire weight the tips of ones toes seems light, graceful, and even
slyph-like. In fact, it is crushingly painful on the toes. The
life of a ballerina in an elite ballet company looks as light as a
dream, but it is a nightmare of hard work and stiff competition.
To Nina Sayers (played by Natalie Portman) the problems may go
beyond the artistic achievement. The dual role of the White Swan
and the Black Swan in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" is so coveted that
people might do anything to get it. Nina suspects there are
conspiracies against her. Are they real or imagined? The former
star of the company, Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) is leaving,
though not entirely gracefully, she seems to blame Nina. Then there
is the aggressive Lily (Mila Kunis), ready to push out Nina given
the slightest opening. More pressure comes from the creative
director, Thomas (Vincent Cassell, who played the lazy son in
EASTERN PROMISES). Finally there is Nina's mother Erica (Barbara
Hershey looking like a victim of too many face lifts) herself a
former ballerina. Erica's demands on Nina's career the daughter
can never hope to fulfill, but who is more than willing to dominate
her daughter and force her daughter to those goals.
Nina is young and fresh and beautiful. It is a quality that helps
her play the good White Swan. But Thomas does not think that Nina
can do the dark Black Swan role. It would be like casting Kiera
Knightly as Rosa Kleb. The role of the Black Swan does not call
for young and fresh. Thomas wants Nina to give herself a sexual
awakening that will be reflected in her darker performance. His
interest may not be carnal, but he thinks she needs to be more
sexually experienced to dance the role.
There have been films before that have shown the demands of ballet.
In particular there was THE RED SHOES (1948)--to which this film
pays tribute--and THE TURNING POINT (1977). But what we see here
we have not seen on the screen before. The world of the ballet
company has always seemed a little pristine and rarified. It
hardly seems to be a setting for a thriller with horrific
overtones, though this film does and so did THE RED SHOES.
Aronofsky shows us the pain behind the performance, physical and
psychological. We see Nina's skin, toenails, and even her eyes
rebelling at the demands of the art. At times the physical effects
are even a little revolting and reminiscent of David Cronenberg's
THE FLY.
It might have been more interesting to build the film around a less
familiar ballet. Even Thomas, the creative director, seems at
first bored at the prospect of re-doing "Swan Lake". But in the real
world what other ballets does the public generally know? Still the
touch having every music box and every cell phone playing the music
of "Swan Lake" is just a bit much. Aronofsky builds the tension
slowly but by the third act the tension is real enough.
This movie is an experience that is constantly transforming into
something unexpected. Just as Nina needs both a light and dark
side and needs to go from one to another, so does Aronofsky. A
theme that runs through his work is the dark undercurrents of
things that seem innocent. But he is more subtle with it---and
hence more credible--than a David Lynch. I rate BLACK SWAN a +2 on
the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_swan_2010/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THIS IMMORTAL by Roger Zelazny (copyright 1966, audiobook
copyright 2008 Audible, Inc., 6 hours, 30 minutes, narrated by
Victor Bevine) (audiobook review by Joe Karpierz)
THIS IMMORTAL was originally serialized in an abridged form in THE
MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION in late 1965 as ...AND CALL
ME CONRAD. It bears the distinction of being involved in one of
the rare ties for the Hugo Award for Best Novel--it tied with a
little novel called DUNE in 1966.
So, the Earth has been devastated by a nuclear war that lasted
three days. The population has dwindled to roughly four million,
and humanity shares the planet with various and sundry mutated life
forms, many of which take the form of various Greek mythological
creatures. Also, a good portion of the planet is own by a bunch of
blue skinned aliens called Vegans (no, Cameron didn't get them
here, and I don't know if they're really vegans--okay, those were
both bad jokes). They're using the Earth as a tourist attraction.
Our protagonist, Conrad Nomikos, is an arts council administrator
of sorts. He's been around awhile--a very long while. He seems to
have a lot of secrets that he doesn't wish to share with anyone,
including his new wife. He is given the duty by his bosses to show
an important Vegan around the ruins of our fair planet--or what's
left of it, anyway. It's a job he'd rather not have.
The Vegan is ostensibly writing a travelogue; Conrad will act as
his tour guide, taking him to dozens of places all over the world.
It becomes apparent that the Vegan is here for other reasons; other
members of the travelling party, some of whom are colleagues of
Conrad's are also members of the Earth's resistance movement.
These folks are trying to kill the Vegan, and it falls to Conrad to
protect the alien, much to his dismay. It's the one thing he
really doesn't want to do. Conrad must find out exactly what the
alien wants and decide what he must do about it.
THIS IMMORTAL is interesting to me in several ways. While I've
never been a big Zelazny fan, I did enjoy the Amber series of
novels (like a lot of people did), and so I thought I'd try
something different from him. It's also a Hugo winner, and I enjoy
reading all the old Hugo winners. It's particularly fascinating to
me that it tied with DUNE. I believe that Dune is the superior
novel; in any other year of that era, ...AND CALL ME CONRAD might
have won outright, but I can't see it being close to DUNE here.
I'm also fascinated by the fact that THIS IMMORTAL feels like a
much better book than the Amber series--a more serious novel that
explores various themes, including immortality, nuclear
devastation, alien takeovers, and Greek mythologies. It's
interesting to note that while we know that Conrad is long lived,
we never do find out whether he's immortal or at the very least a
god. I found the element of that mystery quite appealing.
It's almost as if Zelazny was a much more serious writer before he
penned the Amber books.
I'll tell you this: in my opinion, this book is better than most
of the Hugo nominees that have been paraded in front of us the last
few years. I'd certainly call it better than the two books that
tied for the Best Novelaward this year. Among other things, it's
actual science fiction--but I digress. I feel that the book holds
up fairly well some 45 years after its initial publication.
Certainly there are things that are dated in the novel, but the
story is well written and is entertaining.
The one problem I have is actually with the narrator, Victor
Bevine. Bevine is very monotone, and doesn't play the various
roles all that differently, although a couple are noticeably
different. He did very nearly put me to sleep a couple of times,
and I was behind the wheel driving to and from work. Not good.
All in all, I'd recommend THIS IMMORTAL, although not this
audiobook edition.
Next up, AGAINST ALL THINGS ENDING, by Stephen R. Donaldson.
[-jak]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Dr. Who (letter of comment by Andre Kuznariak)
In response to Dale Skran's review of science fiction on
television, Andre Kuznariak writes, "In response to Dale Skran's
thoughts about 'Dr. Who' (or lack of them), I suggest viewing
'Blink' from the third season of the restarted series. It
represents the pinnacle of what the series can accomplish, within
one self-contained episode. It's written by the person who runs
the show now (Steven Moffat, starting in the 5th season). Another
interesting self-contained episode that plays more like a Twilight
Zone story is 'Midnight' from season 4, primarily a psychological
thriller. I also recommend the 2 episodes before that (on the same
disc if viewing from the collected DVDs), but they involve a little
more understanding of the show's history and of course more viewing
time, being a two-part story (also by Moffat). If after watching
any of these an SF fan remains unconvinced about the value of this
show, then truly the come from a different universe!" [-ak]
==================================================================
TOPIC: SF Predictions, Dangerous Cuisine, Books about Italy, The
Good News Bible, Saving Stuff, and a Klingon Christmas Carol
(letter of comment by Sam Long)
[Due to a problem in Comcast mail system, several letters of
comment from Sam Long were not delivered, so his re-sends of them
are collected here.]
In response to Frank Leisti's comments on science fiction
predictions in the 10/22/10 issue of the MT VOID, Sam Long writes:
Apropos of SF predictions, I seem to remember that Arthur Clarke's
"A Meeting With Medusa" had as its hero, or protagonist, a man who
had been severely injured and made into a cyborg, who was sent to
Jupiter and explored the planet's atmosphere in a high-tech hot
air-hot-hydrogen, actually-balloon, and found many life forms
there, from the mile-wide medusoid (in the jellyfish sense) that
feeds on "air plankton" and manta-ray-shaped beings that preyed on
the medusoids.
And again, apropos of SF predictions, consider Heinlein's STRANGER
IN A STRANGE LAND, in which Joe Douglas, World Chief Executive, is
described as being handsome and amiable, but perhaps not too
bright, and his wife is described as consulting astrologers. That
could be a description of Ronald Reagan. How did Robert Heinlein
know in 1960, when he was writing STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, that
twenty years later the US would have a Joe-Douglas-like president?
[-sl]
In response to Mark's comments on dangerous cuisine in the 11/05/10
issue of the MT VOID, Sam writes:
What, did the pasta and the antipasto annihilate one another, like
subatomic particles? [-sl]
Mark replies, "As for the dangerous cuisine "antipasto" means
"before the pasta." If it has pasta itself in it, that means that
antipasto must precede itself. If it were "anti-pasta" then having
it with the pasta, they would undoubtedly annihilate each other and
emit heartburn." [-mrl]
In response to Evelyn's comments on books in that same issue, Sam
writes:
Carla and I are going on a tour of Italy next summer, and will
visit Venice; we'll have to check out some of your recommendations
for books about the country. Jan (formerly James) Morris is an
excellent writer: her Oxford is excellent; I used to live there.
I'll have to check out The World of Venice at the very least.
There's a series of mystery novels set in 18th century Venice, in
which the detective is a castrato opera singer. It's the Tito
Amato series by Beverle Graves Myers.
One of my aunts gave me a copy of (I think it was) the "Good News
Bible", a paraphrase in "today's" English more than a translation.
There are numerous references in it to "Israeli[s]" when
"Israelite[s]" is meant, something that annoyed me no end when I
was leafing through it.
Mark replies, "If the Good News Bible confuse Israelis and
Israelites then it is indeed bad news." [-mrl]
And in response to Evelyn's comments on saving stuff in the
11/12/10 issue of the MT VOID, Sam writes:
Good ideas for "Saving Stuff", especially if there is any
possibility of contention among heirs. Luckily for us, when
Carla's Dad died last year, there was agreement between Carla and
her brother (and between them and their father) about who got what
and what got disposed off-sold or taken to the thrift shop or to
the dump. Cleaning out the house was a major project, though, and
I think there were two dumpsters full by the time everything was
seen to. Nowadays making a list of who gets what should be easy: a
spreadsheet or a database with photos of the items and instructions
for their disposal. I'd print out a copy of each item, besides
saving the list to disc. [-sl]
Mark replies, "I think Evelyn's ideas on how to best handle
dividing up an estate shows how much we have changed over the
years. The ideas that used to excite us in the MT VOID were things
like finding new galaxies forming in space and proving the four-
color conjecture. That was decades ago. Now the ideas that excite
Evelyn are how to best divide up a parent's estate. That is more
practical, but less thrilling. I am just afraid she is going to go
on to exciting topics like what foods are best for regularity."
[-mrl]
And finally, Sam writes:
And now for something completely different: You might be amused to
know that there is a play running in Chicago over the next four
weeks or so called "A Klingon Christmas Carol", in Klingon with
English subtitles. It's being staged for charity by a theater
group from St Paul, MN. For more info, google the title. [-sl]
Mark replies, "I think I will skip 'A Klingon Christmas Carol'.
Klingon is a gutteral language and not very pleasant to listen to.
As long as they were inventing a language nearly from the bottom
up, why couldn't it have sounded a little more pleasant?" [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Genetic Politics (letters of comment by Kip Williams and
Sam Long)
In response to Mark's comments on genetic politics in the 11/26/10
issue of the MT VOID, in which he says, "I don't mean it on the
level that I don't want to be a basketball player because I am not
tall and thin. I am saying that just some ideas may occur to me
because my DNA programs me to have those ideas," Kip Williams
writes, "I think those ideas come from NBA programs, actually."
[-kw]
And Sam Long writes:
Mark [writes], "For example, in a dark room I close my eyes and
stare at the insides of my eyelids. I see patterns of light and
dark moving around."
Phosphenes. I see them too, when I close my eyes. There's a
considerable literature about them; start by googling the word. I
checked out the 2003 MT VOIDs that you cite but didn't follow the
discussion very far-just the two issues. I believe the always
entertaining and informative Oliver Sacks has discussed phosphenes;
I remember he suggested that sometimes they, or similar phenomena,
are precursors to migraines and may have influenced the art of the
medieval mystic Hildegarde of Bingen, who seems to have suffered
from that ailment. [-sl]
Mark replies, "Phosphenes seem like what I am seeing in the dark.
I have yet to be able to tell if I am seeing the same image with
both eyes or am I seeing two images superimposed. You cannot see
it with only one eye and close the other eye, since your eyes are
closed from the first. And if I am getting an image from each eye,
does someone blind in one eye get one image or two?" [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Canned Laughter (letters of comment by Kip Williams and
Keith F. Lynch)
In response to his own comments on canned laughter in the 11/26/10
issue of the MT VOID, Kip Williams writes:
I should have included this with my first comments on canned
laughter. If you want to hear the most overpowering, pervasive,
ceaseless barrage of canned laughter, sound effects, and rim shots-
-all in the service of an entirely unfunny robotic comedian--then
this is for you:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/10/unkie_dunkie_th.html.
Thanks to WFMU, I've been able to listen to this jaw-dropping
turkey several times, and might again some day. It's weirdly
hypnotic. I listened to it and sort of lost track of time and came
to later, smeared with blood and lying in a pile of headless teddy
bears. Cautiously recommended! [-kw]
In response to which Keith Lynch writes, "The most inappropriate
laugh track I've ever heard was on part of the movie NATURAL BORN
KILLERS. But that was obviously *intended* to be wildly
inappropriate, as some sort of ironic social commentary by Oliver
Stone, so perhaps it shouldn't count." [-kfl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
I mentioned recently that I listened to both a Teaching Company
course and a UC Berkeley course on ancient Rome. Obviously there
was a lot of overlap in the content, but the presentations were
very different.
The UC Berkeley course (hereafter called UCB) was a series of
(audio) podcasts of the real lectures for a real course with real
students, etc. It was intended, so far as I can tell, as a way to
allow students who cannot attend some of the lectures to keep up
with the course. As a result, it is very different from the
Teaching Company course (hereafter called TTC).
The main difference is that TTC is completely self-contained, while
UCB assumes the students will read the textbooks and readings. (As
was clear from listening to the real lectures at UCB, the students
there did not always do the readings before the class.) TTC has a
reading list, with recommended and additional readings for each
lecture, but does not assume the student is reading them. For one
thing, I think TTC realizes that while a matriculated college
student will pay a few hundred dollars for textbooks for a course,
someone taking a TTC course probably will not. For another, in
their advertisements TTC talks about how you can learn a subject
during your commute time, etc., just by listening to their course.
If you also have to do all the readings they listed, it would
double or triple the time, at least. So in the lecture, the
professor tells you everything to be covered about that lecture's
topic.
The UCB lectures, on the other hand, are more like one or two
details, livened up for the class. The professor (in this case)
spent a lot of time making comparisons between actual history and
HBO's "Rome"; SPARTACUS; I, CLAUDIUS; and so on. She also used
terms she had not defined in previous lectures, but which
presumably were in the readings. And she also made reference to a
lot of visuals, which even those students in the course using the
podcast could not see.
Apparently, UC Berkeley has a networking site called "B-space",
because the professor would say things like, "I couldn't make
copies of the supplemental reading because the copy machine is
broken, but you can find it on B-space," or, "The study guides are
on B-space." This is great for the actual students, but a bit
annoying for us hangers-on. (TTC's booklet serves as a sort of
study guide, I suppose.)
TTC's professor, on the other hand, had no references to television
or movies that I can remember, but covered the material in a lot
more detail in the lectures. Obviously, this is because the
lectures are all there is for the vast majority of their students.
(Interestingly, the lecture on Christians under Diocletian for UCB
was given by one of the professor's teaching assistants, and it was
by far the best organized and most informative of the lectures
(IMHO). It was also the only one done in a "traditional" lecture
style.)
I will admit that if you take the UCB course with all the reading,
quizzes, papers, and exams, you will probably learn more and retain
it longer than if you take TTC's course. On the other hand, if
you take TTC's course and do all the readings *it* lists, you
will also probably learn more and retain it longer.
One big difference not mentioned often is the effect of discussion
(classroom and otherwise). Any discussion of correspondence
courses or today's more hi-tech versions of distance learning talks
about this: a student sitting alone in a room studying does not
have the advantage of a student in a group of students and teachers
engaged in lively discussion. One solution to this problem with
TTC is to take the course with someone else. Mark and I first did
this with a course on the "Great Books" that we listened to on a
cross-country trip, and we found that we kept stopping the course
to comment on it, discuss what the professor had just said, and so
on. This may be hard to do if you're listening to the course on
your commute, but I still recommend it. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Man is the cruelest animal. At tragedies, bullfights,
and crucifixions he has so far felt best on earth;
and when he invented hell for himself, behold, that
was his very heaven.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche,
Thus Spake Zarathustra