THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
01/07/11 -- Vol. 29, No. 28, Whole Number 1631
Frick: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Frack: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
Questions about Myth I (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Was That Me??? (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
THE TIME MACHINE Adapted to Radio (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
My Top Ten Films of 2010 (film comment by Mark R. Leeper)
One Day at a Worldcon (comments by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE
(book review by Tom Russell)
THE KING'S SPEECH (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
MADE IN DAGENHAM (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
JUSTINIAN'S FLEA by William Rosen (book review
by Greg Frederick)
WAREHOUSE 13 (letter of comment by Alan Gopin)
Collateral Damage, Spider Man, Anne Francis, Christmas,
New Mexico (letter of comment by Sam Long)
Malzberg, Heinlein, and the Department of Homeland Security
(rec.arts.sf.fandom)
This Week's Reading (OPERATION MINCEMEAT and THE MAN WHO
NEVER WAS) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
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
February 10 (Thu): FORBIDDEN PLANET by W. J. Stuart), Middletown
(NJ) Public Library, film at 5:30PM, discussion of film and
book after film
February 24 (Thu): WANDERING LANDS AND ANIMALS by Edwin A. Colbert,
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
==================================================================
TOPIC: Questions about Myth I (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I seem to ask myself questions that nobody else does.
A course I was taking told about the history of Ancient Greece and
the economy. It led me to wonder a little about the stories I have
heard of Ancient Greece. Do Bacchantes get some sort of a stipend
for being Bacchantes? I mean, wine is one thing, but even
Bacchantes need to eat. What does a Bacchante do for a living when
she is not reveling? Is being a Bacchante something that is open
only to the independently wealthy? [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Was That Me??? (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Several people (well, some people anyway) have asked me was that my
name that they heard on National Public Radio on Sunday morning,
January 2. In fact it was my name. Every Sunday morning NPR has
the Sunday Puzzle hosted by Puzzlemaster Will Shortz. They have a
participant from the radio audience try to answer Will's questions.
At the end of each puzzle Shortz gives the listeners a puzzle of
their own to work on and next week and they can submit their
answers. The next week's participant is chosen at random from
among the people who submitted the correct answer to the current
week's question. That question that goes out to all the listeners
is a puzzle that has been submitted by a listener to Shortz off-
air. The first audience puzzle of 2011 was submitted to Shortz
from Mark Leeper of Matawan, New Jersey: "Take a plural noun that
ends with the letter 'S'. Insert a space somewhere in this word,
retaining the order of the letters. The result will be a two-word
phrase that has the same meaning as the original word, except in
the singular. What word is this?"
You can hear the program at http://tinyurl.com/leeper-puzzle.
My puzzle is asked about 6:20 in, toward the end of the program.
Next week they will give a solution.
A previous puzzle that I submitted and Shortz used is at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyIdi31112
The puzzle is "Name a famous film director, whose last name has two
syllables. Phonetically these two syllables sound like words that
are opposites of each other. What are the words and who is the
director? Challenge from Mark Leeper of Old Bridge, New Jersey."
Next week I will print the solution for each puzzle. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE TIME MACHINE Adapted to Radio (comments by Mark
R. Leeper)
Multiple time times American radio tried to adapt H. G. Wells's THE
TIME MACHINE as radio plays and the ones I remember are uniformly
terrible. The Radio Mensa web site has posted a 2009 BBC adaptation
as long as a full-length movie (99 minutes), and did a superb job.
I would say this is the best dramatic adaptation o the Wells
classic--much more faithful to the novel than the George Pal film
was (which is not setting the bar all that high). I think Radio
Mensa says they post their radio dramas for four weeks, which means
it should be around until January 28 of this year. But if you
want it, it still would be a good idea to download it soon. Enjoy.
And happy new year to all of you.
http://radiomensa.net/2011/01/01/drama-on-three.aspx
The following is borrowed text from the Radio Mensa web site:
Drama on Three - The Time Machine
Robert Glenister stars as the Time Traveller with William Gaunt as
HG Wells in Philip Osment's dramatisation of a time-traveller's
journey to the future, where mankind has diverged into two species
- the Eloi and the Morlocks.
The opening scene is set in 1943, with HG Wells recording his
broadcast Reshaping Man's Heritage. In this talk, Wells addresses
the fact that for the first time in history, man is capable of
bringing about his own destruction and the destruction of the
world.
American journalist Martha spends the evening with Wells and he
tells her the story of the Time Traveller. Wells explains that he
was actually there in person in Richmond in 1885 when the Time
Traveller came back from his first journey, and reveals that the
Time Traveller made recordings of the final moments of the world,
recordings which Wells still has and plays to Martha.
Time traveller ............................ Robert Glenister
HG Wells ..................................... William Gaunt
Young Wells ................................ Gunnar Cauthery
Martha ....................................... Donnla Hughes
Filby .................................... Stephen Critchlow
Bennett ........................................ Chris Pavlo
Mrs Watchett .................................. Manjeet Mann
Weena ........................................... Jill Cardo
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: My Top Ten Films of 2010 (film comment by Mark R. Leeper)
It is once again time to pick my ten best films of the previous
year. Last year I thought that it was a particularly weak year for
films. Sadly, that trend has gone even further. In addition, the
best film of the year will make few reviewers'/critics' top ten
lists because it did not have a theatrical release. It was made
for HBO and appeared there first where it swept the Emmy Awards,
but was not well noticed by the major film critics. That situation
is particularly galling because a French made-for-TV movie had its
first showing in the United States as a theatrical film, so it is
eligible for the major film awards.
As usual I will not keep the reader in suspense and will present my
choices with the best first.
1. TEMPLE GRANDIN--Made for HBO, this is the true story of Temple
Grandin, a doctor of animal science, a college professor, and a
person with autism. She has used her individualized condition to
reexamine livestock handling, to redesign animal handling
mechanisms, and to shed new light on the autistic mind. Clare
Danes gives a hypnotic performance and director Mick Jackson keeps
the film visually interesting and full of ideas. Rating: +3 (-4 to
+4) or 9/10
2. TRUE GRIT--The Coen Brothers remake one of the classic Western
films--a John Wayne Western yet. Their work was cut out for them,
remaking a well-liked film, but they manage to make the characters
more real and even to give the story a little more edge. Jeff
Bridges gives one of his best performances and Hailee Steinfeld
more than holds her own against the other leads. Matt Damon sort
of fades into the background. It is not clear we needed another
adaptation of the Charles Portis novel, but the production is first
rate. It has more texture and more edge than the Wayne film.
Rating: low +3 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
3. THE SOCIAL NETWORK--When we entered the Internet Age we entered
a strange new world in which it is possible accidentally to become
a billionaire. Based on truth, this is the story of how Mark
Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) fooling around invented
Facebook and the power struggles afterward when the new web site
became a mega-money maker. The story is complex, but mesmerizing.
Rating: low +3 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
4. THE KING'S SPEECH--This simple likeable story of the future King
of England attempting to overcome a speech impediment is playing to
sold out theaters here in the United States. THE KING'S SPEECH
tells the story of how a self-effacing prince of England overcame
stammering to be a leader for his people when they went to war
against Nazism. Tom Hooper directs a film that gives a rich and
warm study of the royal family of England. This is one of the
best-written films of the year. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
5. RABBIT HOLE--Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart turn in moving
performances in this story of a formerly happy couple hit by the
loss of a child and the ironic reactions of the couples' friends.
This is a journey into anguish and loss, but it does not wallow in
self-pity and is even at some times witty. Under it all there are
some wry observations of inter-couple relationships. Rating: high
+2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
6. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO--An investigative report probes
into a forty-year-old mystery of a disappearance of a girl from a
gathering of a rich and influential family. He is dealing with
forces too powerful for him, but is rescued by a mysterious and
troubled young biker with almost fantastic abilities. This is the
first of a trilogy about "The Girl", but it gives us enough of a
taste to want to know more about this woman. Rating: high +2 (-4
to +4) or 8/10
7. WAITING FOR SUPERMAN--It is impossible to overestimate the
importance of education to the well being of this country. There
is no question that our schools are sick and in desperate need of
healing. Writer-director Davis Guggenheim lays out the problem.
This documentary is a thorough look at the educational system and
how it hinders rather than fosters the intellectual growth of our
children. This year there were several really powerful
documentaries that really deserve to be seen and studied. Rating:
high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
8. FOUR LIONS--This is a low-budget, dark comedy with a very clever
concept behind it. Four dim-witted Jihadi warriors plan a giant
terrorist attack in England, but bumble at just about every turn.
Parts of the film are very funny and parts are misfires. But even
on the misfires one almost feels one should laugh just to support
the very idea of the film. Britain's TV director Chris Morris
makes his first feature film for the movie branch of Britain's
Channel 4. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
And somehow similar:
9. CARLOS--This is a five-and-a-third hour mini-series from France
telling the story of the legendary terrorist Carlos (the story is
based on fact but with gaps filled in with speculation). Though
for two decades Carlos was at the top of the "wanted" lists, we see
that the man himself was lazy, narcissistic, and not really very
bright. Edgar Ramirez plays Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, know as Carlos.
The first of the three parts is hard to follow, but eventually
writer/director Olivier Assayas makes the story worth the effort.
Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
10. INCEPTION--There comes a point when enough is too much. Writer
and director Christopher Nolan makes an intelligent thought-piece
that is at the same time an explosive action thriller with lots of
digital effects. There is little time to absorb the ideas. It may
be better to see it more than once. In a world where a few people
have the capability of invading and redesigning dreams, a team
induces dreams in the heir to an industrial empire and then enters
those dreams to plant an idea. This is a long film with a lot of
fiery explosions, intelligent ideas, sputtering machine guns, and
violent car crashes. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
Honorable Mention goes to these six films:
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT--A two-lesbian-parent family is functional
and stable until the children decide to meet the donor-father they
share but have never seen. Meeting him upsets the dynamics of the
family. What starts as a comedy about unconventional family
relationships turns into a drama with ironically more conventional
relationships. Annette Bening, Juliette Moore, and Mark Ruffalo
star. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
TOY STORY 3--Some of the most serious films being made today are
the comedies from Pixar Animation Studios that the whole family can
enjoy. Pixar has another hit returning to the "Toy Story"
franchise. In TOY STORY 3 young Andy who always loved his toys is
going to college and his toys are going into storage. As a last-
minute reprieve they go instead to a day-care center where they can
play until they break. Unfortunately that fate may not be as far
away as they had hoped. The writing quality is what makes this
film work as a comedy, an adventure, and a film with some serious
affecting human drama. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
CITY ISLAND--This comedy-drama is a real joy. In an Italian-
American family living on an island off the Bronx, everyone has a
secret or two that he keeps from the others. These secrets and the
misunderstandings they cause become a major force in the family.
Writer/director Raymond De Felitta has an uncommon talent for
creating simple but compelling characters. Rating: high +2 (-4 to
+4) or 8/10
IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN--This 139-minute documentary of Ludwig van
Beethoven is the most intelligent film biography of a composer I
have seen. By featuring great musicians and conductors giving
their commentary on the music itself this film is a step more
intelligent than most musical biographies. Beethoven's music is
transcendent and washes over the viewer. Phil Grabsky writes,
directs, and even films this account. Juliet Stevenson narrates.
Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
AFGHAN STAR--Just as Americans have their television program
"American Idol", since 2005 Afghanistan has had its own popular
music program "Afghan Star". It is the same and not the same. The
difference is that religious fanatics like the Taliban can at any
time decide singing a song is a capital crime. This is a country
torn apart by those who want to bring in modern international ways
and those who want to seal off the country with a fundamentalist
fascism. This documentary follows four contestants on "Afghan
Star" and what they experience risking their lives for a singing
competition and for freedom. Havana Marking directs. Rating: high
+2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: One Day at a Worldcon (comments by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
[This is a brief look at one day of Anticipation, the 2009 Worldcon
in Montreal.]
General comments: The science track was great, but treatment of
media was really poor, and the con was often disorganized.
Monday, August 10th
Panel 5-030 "Storing, Restoring, and Appraising" [Dale attending]
10AM-11AM
The panel was moderately useful but suffered a bit from covering a
wide range of topics. In particular, the audience often wanted to
know about the resale of SF art, but the panel was most expert in
movie collectibles. However, I did pick up a good number of tips
for selling on E-Bay, as well as a pointer to the Heritage Auction
house, which now that I am aware of the name I see selling space
collectibles as well in Ad Astra magazine.
Panel 5-049 "The Drake Equation and the Fermi Failure" [Dale
attending] 11AM-12PM
Panelists: Jordin Kari, etc.
This panel was a planning failure by the con, as it was SRO when I
walked in, and after about 15 minutes moved on its own initiative
to a much larger room. The panelists managed to mix a number of
skeptical jokes on the Fermi Paradox with a reasonable review of
the main ideas. I think you have to net this out that it is a
reasonable question that we don't know the answer to. On the
whole, the panelists were skeptical about the SETI efforts of the
Planetary society, which on panelists characterized as "ants in NYC
looking for pheromone trails, finding none, and concluding that
there was no intelligent life in NYC."
Panel 5-089 "Mr. Miyazaki's Wonderful Flying Machines" [Dale, Sara,
Jo, and Sam attending] 12:30-2PM
This panel was an unexpected surprise. The speaker had done a lot
of research comparing the anime vehicles to real aircraft, and it
was surprising that what at first appeared as fanciful airplanes
were in fact based on real vehicles, including some that you would
not believe had ever existed or flown. He also presented a thesis
on how the degree of realism in the art reflected the degree of
good or evil in the characters, with the really bad guys having
unflyable vehicles. The speaker had dug up some great video clips
on the internet of the various real flying machines. This panel
was a joy for anyone with even a passing interest in aviation and
unusual aircraft.
Panel 5-107 "A Century of Atom Smashing" [Dale, Jo, Sarah, and Sam
attending] 2-3PM
Panelists: Bill Higgins, etc.
The main thrust of this panel was to report on a trip that Higgins
and another panelist had taken to McGill University to see
Rutherford's atomic lab. Toward the end a brief review of the
state of particle physics was presented. This panel was great fun
for any hard-core techie.
[-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by
Charles Yu (book review by Tom Russell)
Suppose we could review science fiction the same way wine tasters
critique wine? Then, instead of "Fine body, hint of blackberry" we
could write "Fine idea, hint of Bradbury." The wine taster takes
one sip of wine and then spits it out rather than drinking the
whole bottle as the vintner intended; book reviewers could simply
read the spoilers...
Perhaps the greatest scientific discovery of all time was Galileo's
seeing the moons of Jupiter. Suddenly the Earth is not the center
of the universe. In more recent times there have been two
discoveries which have changed our view of the universe and of our
place in the universe: the double-slit experiment, and the
experiment which is the inspiration for Yu's story.
I didn't like the book, but I encourage you to pick it up at the
bookstore or library, read a few pages, and decide for yourself.
If you want just a spoiler taste, read the footnote on pages 109-
110. If you do decide to read the whole book you will find hints
of some science fiction classics: Charles Dickens, Carl Sagan, and
Mel Brooks. And others.
And there is even 11-dimensional music. But beware: there is a bit
of unobtainium--not my taste at all. [-tlr]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE KING'S SPEECH (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This simple, likeable story of the future King of England
attempting to overcome a speech impediment is playing to sold out
theaters here in the United States. THE KING'S SPEECH tells the
story of how a self-effacing prince of England overcame stammering
to be a leader for his people when they went to war against Nazism.
Tom Hooper directs a film that gives a rich and warm study of the
royal family of England. This is one of the best-written films of
the year. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
It has been claimed that there are statistics that say that
people's dread of death is only their second greatest fear. Their
greatest fear is public speaking.
It is the late 1920s and Britain's Prince Albert, the Duke of York
(played by Colin Firth), has a very commonplace problem. He
stammers when he speaks. If he gets in front of a microphone he
finds it only possible to utter only incomprehensible monosyllables
and long pauses. For his predecessors this would not have been a
problem. Few people ever actually heard the voices of royalty.
Loudspeakers and the radio are changing that. In the past few
people had an opportunity to hear royalty. The age of electricity
has changed that. For now, Albert is just a prince. His older
brother David, the Duke of Windsor (played by a waspish Guy
Pearce), is in line for the throne of England when their father
King George V (Michael Gambon) dies. But the king is getting old,
and neither of the brothers wants to be King of England. David is
in the midst of a romance (to put it politely) with American
divorcee Wallis Simpson (Eve Best). Albert's greatest fear is
coming true. David may abdicate and Albert may well end up king.
Albert is a much better choice for king, but he cannot get in front
of a microphone and speak to his people. After going to several
specialists, Albert is no closer to overcoming his stuttering. The
last possibility is Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) an eccentric
Australian speech therapist. He is demanding, impertinent, and
imperious. He demands the right to call the Prince "Bertie," a
familiarity reserved for the royal family. Albert demands that his
visits to the therapist be kept strictly private. Not even Logue's
wife is to know. (How Mrs. Logue learns who is husband's client is
makes for one of the more memorable scenes of the film.)
The story of THE KING'S SPEECH is at heart a simple one. There is
more than a little of THE MIRACLE WORKER in the story. Logue is
taking on a job that people considered to be experts have failed
at. He wants things done his way. The two men form a relationship
of opposites. Albert is the royal and soon to be the king. Logue
is a commoner, and as an Australian he is commoner than most. Yet
it is Logue who insists on the imperial manner. Each is engaging
in his own way, and the two form a bond that will last the rest of
their lives together. Helena Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth,
wife of Albert and the woman whom we would know as the Queen
Mother. Carter is getting old enough that she actually looks a
little old and dowdy in the role, perhaps a first for her.
Director Tom Hooper shows us an England changing in many ways. The
technology of radio is making new demands on the King. Preparing
for the King's accession ceremony the demands of the Archbishop of
Canterbury are pushed aside for the demands of the sound
technicians. Still the remarkable thing about this film is its
"niceness." In spite of being about the pressure of high
government and the rise of Nazism going on in the background, the
viewer gets a believable look at the royal family as being likable
and as far as possible unassuming people. The Prince and later
King has problems that your next-door neighbor might. Somehow too
few films are made these days that are leisurely enough for the
viewer to get to know and like the characters.
THE KING'S SPEECH has good performances all around, but the two
main characters rank highest of all. I rate THE KING'S SPEECH a
high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 8/10.
Film Credits: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kings_speech/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: MADE IN DAGENHAM (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: MADE IN DAGENHAM is a frustrating experience. It runs
very parallel to Martin Ritt's NORMA RAE and deals with more
momentous historical events, yet it feels like weak tea next to
Ritt's film. In NORMA RAE an enraged Sally Field storms through
that textile mill. You feel her rage. And you have sequences like
that of her mother being deafened by the machinery. NORMA RAE
actually makes you angry at the factory and its conditions, while
MADE IN DAGENHAM just leaves you miffed. It is ever so much more
delicate and reserved. Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4) or 6/10
MADE IN DAGENHAM is based on real and what would become historic
events. It is the story of a 1968 strike for equal pay by 187
women employed the Ford auto works at Dagenham, England. But there
is very little good in this film that was not done better in Martin
Ritt's NORMA RAE. Plus with British diffidence it is not nearly as
affecting as Ritt's film. Director Nigel Cole tells his story in
an entirely too reserved manner. Ritt knew how to go for the gut.
Both films are about factories going on strike. In NORMA RAE it is
at least in part about conditions that deafen people and deaden
lives. This film is also about the women unfairly being under-
classified and later about not getting equal pay with man. That is
a very real complaint, but it does not have the power of seeing
Sally Fields marching through a factory shutting down machines or
seeing her mother temporarily deafened by the din of the textile
machines.
At the center of the strike Rita O'Grady is played by Sally Hawkins
who was the (literally) irrepressible Poppy from HAPPY-GO-LUCKY.
She is just one of the girls in a hot noisy room where 187 women
sew together the fabric of car seats for new Ford cars. The room
is so hot several of the women remove their blouses. Without
losing modesty they wear only their brassieres, much to the
embarrassment of union representative Albert (Bob Hoskins). Albert
is a simple ineffectual man with a cockney accent. The women are
irritated that they are classified "unskilled" while doing tasks
for which men would be classified at least "semi-skilled." The
women decide to go on a one-day strike. With a twinkle in his eye
Albert chooses Hawkins to lead. Any good he can do for the women
has to be approved by his boss, Monty (Kenneth Cranham), an
official union leader does not want to rock the boat with a
relationship with the company that is paying him well. Little do
the women realize that their one-day strike would start a chain of
events that would have international implications.
There are many familiar faces in the film. After HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
the viewer just feels comfortable with Sally Hawkins on the screen.
This may not be a good choice because she at heart does not seem as
forceful as her historical counterpart had to have been. Hoskins
plays a nice, unglamorous bunny-like man, perfect for the role. He
is content to let other actors have the more dynamic personalities.
Miranda Richardson is intense as Barbara Castle, the secretary of
state for employment issues--torn on if she should keep a lid on
labor unrest or be indignant at the sexism inherent in the system.
Rosamund Pike plays Lisa Hopkins who formerly read history at
Cambridge, but now has been unhappily reduced to a trophy wife for
a Ford factory executive.
There are really two ways to teach history like the Ford Strike.
One can just say this was the situation and this is what people
did. Or one can go for the gut and get the audience emotionally
involved and indignant. Director Nigel Cole shows us the
conditions and then considers the injustice. The same story can be
told with force and power the way Ritt did with NORMA RAE. Cole
wants to make his women endearing. They are just the girls getting
together to have fun together to the sound of several sixties
popular songs. He forgets that we are not here to be nostalgic
about the 60s. He should be telling us why we do not want to go
back to these times with their inherent injustice. Showing how
sweet they were is akin to patronizing them. I rate MADE IN
DAGENHAM a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 6/10. Cockney accents
may be a little difficult to make out, particularly for some older
viewers.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371155/
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/made_in_dagenham/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: JUSTINIAN'S FLEA by William Rosen (book review by Greg
Frederick)
I just finished reading JUSTINIAN'S FLEA by William Rosen. It is a
very interesting book and covers the reign of Justinian I from A.D.
527 to 565. He was the emperor of the Eastern (Byzantine) Roman
Empire. His reign is considered by some to be a transitional time
between the old classical world and the beginnings of the later
European states. Justinian surrounded himself with the best and
the brightest ministers and generals and not just the royal and
well connected elite. This was a fortunate thing for him and
helped him to insure his later successes. His capitol was in
Constantinople, which he seldom left. Justinian sent his able
generals to reconquer the Northern coast of Africa, Sicily, the
Italian peninsula, part of southern Spain and other former regions
of the fallen Western Roman Empire.
Belisarius was one of his best generals and reconquered large areas
of the former Western Empire sometimes with little aid and support
from Justinian. Many times he lead an army of inferior size
against a large barbarian army and typically won the battle or
ended the battle in a draw. Even when he was 50 some years old and
in retirement, Justinian called him back into service to defend the
Empire against a force of 30,000 Huns' invading from the North.
Belisarius only had the emperor's guard (400 trained troops) and a
few 1000's of untrained peasants to try and stop the Hun army.
There was no large Roman legion in the local area near
Constantinople to oppose this invasion. Again as is typical of
Belisarius's career he defeated the larger Hun army. He did this
by causing them to retreat and saved the city with his superior
tactics and wise use of the battleground. Belisarius was very
innovative and incorporated a heavy Roman cavalry unit into his
army. This cavalry unit wore metal chain mail with metal plating,
carried a bow with arrows, a small lance, a sword and even throwing
darts. They did not have stirrups at that time and so could not
joust as medieval knights could but they were the forerunners of
the medieval chain mail wearing knight.
Modern European civil law owes its beginnings to Codex Justinianus.
This was a huge effort by Justinian and his ministers to assemble
and make logical sense of the many previous centuries filled with
Roman laws from various Roman emperors. Also during Justinian's
rule the infamous bubonic plague struck and killed millions across
Europe. Rats carry fleas which were infected by a deadly bacteria
caused this great terror. The rats came with the cargo carrying
ships and quickly spread it across Europe. It weakened the Empire
of Justinian and prevented him from farther goals. The plague also
made it easier for Mohammed a few decades later to conquer some of
the territory of Byzantium since the plague had depopulated some of
the cites and deceased the size of the Byzantine army. This is an
important part of European history that is probably not well
understood by many. [-gf]
==================================================================
TOPIC: WAREHOUSE 13 (letter of comment by Alan Gopin)
In response to Dale Skran's review of WAREHOUSE 13 in the 12/31/10
issue of the MT VOID, Alan Gopin writes, "The two agents on
WAREHOUSE 13 are not FBI agents, the are Secret Service agents."
[-amg]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Collateral Damage, Spider Man, Anne Francis, Christmas, New
Mexico (letter of comment by Sam Long)
In response to the 12/31/10 issue of the MT VOID, Sam Long writes,
"I've often wondered about all the "collateral damage" that occurs
in movies or comic books or whatever--you know, the cars parked
innocently on the street that the monster or the bad guys or the
good guys crash into, for example. How would the notional owners
deal with such damage, what would they tell their insurance agents,
and so on. Oh, and did you see where (the stunt double of)
Spiderman fell off the stage in the Broadway production a week ago
and was rather badly injured? [-sl]
[Mark replies:
As for the collateral damage in films: I don't see that it is too
much of a problem. If you have to tell you insurance company that
your car was stepped on by a dinosaur, it helps that the New York
Times just had a front page that says 'Rhedosaurus Loose in New
York City'."
I did hear about the 'Spider Man' fall. I cannot imagine trying to
do "Spider Man" on a live stage. What you need to do most with a
'Spider Man' story the stage has all the wrong limitations. I am
sure it will be a case of being like a dog walking on its hind
legs. That is it is not that they will do it well, but it is
amazing that they do it at all. This accident has given them some
rally bad publicity. I wonder if the problem was that they were
selling tickets for box five." -mrl]
Sam continues, "Also, Ann Francis, costar with Leslie Nielsen,
Walter Pidgeon, and Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet, just
died, age 80?" [-sl]
[Mark replies, "Yes, Anne Francis died January 2. It is curious
that it was so soon after the death of Leslie Nielson. Under
different circumstances I might say that it sounded like the final
vengeance of Morbius's id." -mrl]
Sam goes on:
Writers of Christmas or Wintertime songs are not under oath when
they write. As a matter of fact, it rarely gets to freezing, or
snows, in Bethlehem-Judah in winter--though it does get chilly.
But "earth stood hard as iron, water like stone"? Hardly. In any
case, why would shepherds wash their socks by night in December?
There are some hymns that have SF connections, however. Hymns have
titles, but the tunes that they are sung to have names. I've seen
and sung hymns to tunes named Anderson, Bradbury, Clarke, Lafferty,
Tucker, and Wolfe in various hymnals. Of course, those tunes are
named for or by their composers, not for SF's Poul, Ray, Arthur,
R.A., Bob, or Gene, but still.... The Presbyterian Hymnal
contains hymns titled "O God of Earth and Space", and "Lord of
Light, Your Name Outshining [All the stars and suns of space]".
(Zelazny would be pleased--or would he?). And there is a line from
"Our Cities Cry to You, O God" that goes "You made us for Yourself
alone, but we choose alien life."
You write, "New Mexico probably can be cold in mid-winter". It
certainly can, especially up in the mountains. My brother-in-law
and his family lived in Santa Fe (elev. about 7,000 ft; Los Alamos
is on a bluff above Santa Fe) and Carla and I would visit them for
Christmas. It was often very cold and snowy there (even though
Albuquerque, 60 miles south and 2,000 ft lower might be merely cold
with no snow). Two years ago, we got stuck in the snow at the
entrance to the brother-in-law's driveway, just 50-odd yards from
the front door; the snow was the better part of a foot deep. B-in-
l and family now live in San Antonio, TX, a much milder climate.
This past Christmas they had temps up into the high 70s--and some
down to the upper 20s. But no snow. [-sl]
[Mark replies, "As for New Mexico cold, LET ME IN did not take
place up in the mountains, but I think it was still realistically
cold. -mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Malzberg, Heinlein, and the Department of Homeland Security
(rec.arts.sf.fandom)
Further comments on Malzberg, Heinlein, and the Department of
Homeland Security (from its appearance in rec.arts.sf.fandom) can
be found at http://tinyurl.com/malzberg-heinlein.
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
After you've read the title of OPERATION MINCEMEAT: HOW A DEAD MAN
AND A BIZARRE PLAN FOOLED THE NAZIS AND ASSURED AN ALLIED VICTORY
by Ben Macintyre (ISBN 978-0-307-45327-3), reading the book is
almost superfluous. Well, okay, not really, but this is definitely
an excessive title. The book tells the true story of a super-
secret World War II operation to give the German High Command
disinformation. Briefly, the plan was this: take a body, dress
it in uniform, plant some fake documents on it that make it look as
though the invasion of southern Europe will be in the Balkans
instead of Sicily. They would then dump the body off the coast of
Spain where the Germans will eventually get a hold of the papers.
The title for the classic book on this subject--THE MAN WHO NEVER
WAS by Ewen Montagu (ISBN 978-1-557-50448-7)--was certainly
catchier. Of course, that book was less comprehensive, and also
much less accurate. There are two reasons for this. One was that
Montagu, as one of the leaders of the team that created Major
William Martin, had perhaps a natural tendency to inflate his role
and minimize those of the others, as well as to emphasize all the
good points and omit the various errors. (Another example of this
sort of narcissist distortion was Eliot Ness's memoir, THE
UNTOUCHABLES.) But there was a second reason, and in this Montagu
had a better excuse than most authors, as Macintyre points out:
because much of the truth was still classified, Montagu was obliged
to hide a lot of the details, change others to obscure the truth,
and leave a lot of names out. In fact, Macintyre spends quite a
few pages talking about Montagu's book and other accounts, along
with the movie. Not surprisingly, the film of the same name was
even less accurate than Montagu's book.
For example, Montagu's book doesn't talk about how the original
idea for "Operation Mincemeat" probably came from Ian Fleming (who
got it from a Basil Thompson mystery novel). Indeed, Montagu makes
it sound as though the entire project was his, with only passing
mention of other major players. Nor does Montagu talk about how
the team actually made a lot of errors in the execution of the
plan, such as having no random items in Martin's pockets, or
assuming there were no German spies in England who might
investigate some of the details. And though Montagu (and everyone
else) claimed "Martin" had died of pneumonia, Montagu at least
knew that he died from rat poison, and ignored the fact that this
could, in fact, have been detected if the Germans were thorough.
Or that Montagu's brother was spying for the Soviets in the early
days of the war (before Hitler wrote his treaty with Stalin), and
that information was being passed to the Germans at that time.
(One might assume that by 1943, of course, this was no longer
true).
I do disagree with Macintyre on the "unreality" of the letters
supposedly from Martin's girlfriend, which he says read more like
letters one would find in a book or movie than in real life. I
have read some letters written at that time, and there were
certainly some letters written in that style.
And in 1998, Montagu's claims that "Martin" had died of pneumonia
and that permission had been granted by his family for the body's
use were revealed as false: Martin was actually Glyndwr Michael, he
died from eating rat poison, and his family (his parents had been
dead and he was estranged from his siblings) had never been
contacted. Montagu believed that all evidence of Martin's real
name had been destroyed, but it was still on (at least) one
document, and that was discovered by Roger Morgan. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
You can only be young once. But you can
always be immature.
--Dave Barry