THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
12/07/12 -- Vol. 31, No. 23, Whole Number 1731
Jack: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Jill: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Health Crisis (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Rod Serling's "Christmas Carol" (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Storm Diary, Part 4 (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN--PART 2 (film review
by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
ANNA KARENINA (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
REDSHIRTS by John Scalzi (book review by Joe Karpierz)
Storm Diary (letter of comment by Wendy Sheridan)
Ibid (letter of comment by Fred Lerner)
This Week's Reading (GETTING INTO GUINNESS) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Health Crisis (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I went to the minimally invasive surgery center but they would not
let me in. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Rod Serling's "Christmas Carol" (comments by Evelyn C.
Leeper)
A CAROL FOR ANOTHER CHRISTMAS, a television adaptation of the
Dickens classic by Rod Serling, will be on Turner Classic Movies
Sunday, December 16, 8:00 PM, and Saturday, December 22, 4:15 PM
(both EST). This has never been shown on television since its
original broadcast in 1964 and is not available on home video.
[-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Storm Diary, Part 4 (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
[I am continuing my account of how Evelyn and I fared in Hurricane
Sandy. It is Thursday November 1. The storm really hit four days
earlier, lat Monday and early Tuesday. We lost power 3:38 PM on
Monday. It has not even been three full days we have had no
power.]
As our friend had told us on the phone, there is a local McDonalds
that has lucked out on the patchwork game of who does or does not
have power. This McDonalds does. There is a long line of people
just anxious to order hot food. But the food is not the big
attraction. They have a big playground with a plastic slide.
There were two kids playing on it. Only two. This is not the big
attraction either.
There is also a little corner where you can plug in a PC and where
you can get Wi-Fi. There is a mob of people there trying to run
PCs and plug in cell phones and iPods to charge them. That is the
big attraction to us. We both go through our email and send out
other email. I assume that any restaurant or other building that
has power and Wi-Fi has a similar mob scene.
I think they would get more business if they renamed the place The
Electronald McDonald House.
Town water is being pumped with gasoline generators and there may
be a shortage. We are trying to conserve water several ways
including avoiding flushing the toilet when possible. I won't go
into the decision criteria for when it is or is not possible to
flush. Leave me some privacy.
I think everything in our freezer has thawed. There is still some
cool in the refrigerator, but not much.
I write until sundown and then we listen to cassettes of plays
recorded off the BBC. In a lot of cultures when the sun goes down
there is not a lot left to do. They get a lot of sleep I guess.
Particularly with it being late autumn there is not a lot to do
when the sun goes down. I am getting almost as much sleep as our
backyard squirrels do. Of course with my CPAP not working it is
restless sleep.
11/02/12
Since the morning after the storm the Jersey Central Power and
Light has been making the same statement. "We expect most of the
power outages to be fixed in the next seven days. What has not
been fixed will mostly be fixed in the seven days after that."
Basically what he is saying is the outages have a half-life of less
than 168 hours. The outages decay like a radioactive isotope. And
having determined that and said it, they are making no more on-the-
record estimates.
They had a representative of the JCP&L power company on the radio.
I knew exactly what the gist of the conversation would be. This is
the gist:
Interviewer: Can listeners get any information about when their
power will return?
Power Ranger: No.
The rest of the discussion was variations on that theme. The
interviewer went on to enumerate reasons listeners would want or
need to get information when the power would be restored. Can they
get any useful information? Quoth the Power Ranger: No.
If communities near your house are getting their electricity turned
on can you take this as a sign that your power will be back soon?
Quoth the Power Ranger: No.
I should be clear about this. I recognize that scheduling a
problem like this. I can see the power company's point of view.
On the other hand their stonewalling has a large cost to the
community. There are mile-long queues of people trying to get into
gas stations. They have to prepare for a worst-case scenario
because they cannot rule it out. Information that they cannot
guarantee is true could still save a lot in societal costs.
JCP&L is stonewalling the public on when power will be restored any
place specific. I can see their point of view. Estimating return
time is complex and repairing power should take precedence to
reporting progress. But it is frustrating to sit in cold, dark
houses and not know how long the ordeal will last.
From there shortly after noon we went to McDonalds for dessert and
Wi-Fi.
It is now 57 degrees in the house and I have taken to wearing
gloves when I am not writing.
Today was the day we were supposed to send out our newsletter, the
MT VOID. We sent it out yesterday. Ironically, my editorial
concerned the likely negative effects of Global Warming. At the
time I wrote it not long ago the best example I could give was the
corn shortage due to the drought. We had so little computer and
power time yesterday we sent the editorial out as it was. Here we
have a tropical storm that did something like 50 billion dollars in
damages. The size of the storm was very likely the result of
Global Warming. I could have made that editorial extremely timely.
Sadly I could not do it because there just was not enough computer
time.
Maybe I can put a follow-up into the VOID, though at the moment I
don't know if we can even put out an issue.
I think from this point on our refrigerator is now effectively a
thick-walled cabinet.
For lunch we go to the local Outback and have a solid hot meal.
Even the bread is warm. After that we go to McDonalds where 12 to
15 appliances are plugged into one little outlet as people come,
many bringing multi-plugs and power strips, coming to take
advantage of (sort of) free electricity and Wi-Fi. I am a little
ashamed to say that though we bought meals yesterday, today we got
only a large coffee and a small hot fudge sundae. The sundae was
comfort food. We are not having a lot of comforts.
So far McDonalds and Governor Chris Christie deserve my thanks.
Christie I never used to like. In Hurricane Irene fourteen months
ago he seemed more interested in getting national coverage than on
helping his state. Somebody clued him in that that was a mistake.
He seems to be working closely with Barack Obama in a spirit of
what us old-timers called bi-partisanship. He somehow seems more
interested in helping his state and tracking its problems than in
carrying a GOP banner. [P.S. This policy did not go well with him
later. His name is not very popular among local Republicans. They
consider him a traitor for putting the welfare of the state before
party politics. And that is pretty much just what he did. Four
days later there were a lot of voters who credited Obama for having
people who knew what they were doing in FEMA. This could have been
another scandal like FEMA had with Katrina.]
After lunch and checking our email we shopped for an iPod charger
to plug in a cigarette lighter. [P.S. We got one at a dollar
store. It did not work.]
This week we got USPS mail just on Wednesday and Friday.
11/03/12
I had the last of the cold pizza for breakfast. Evelyn pointed out
that a local theater was showing a new science fiction film, CLOUD
ATLAS. Part of what makes it sound good is that it is 165 minutes
long in a warm building. It is across the parking lot from a
Costco. We decide to have lunch at Costco.
Costco is dropping its membership requirement for a few days.
Anybody can come in, warm up, shop if they want. We did some
shopping and we each got a hot dog and we shared a berry yogurt
sundae. The cinema has a new movie for five dollars. That has
nothing to do with the storm, but they are dropping prices. They
also include a free bag of popcorn. So between Costco and the
movie we had two (big) hot dogs, a sundae, and a first run movie
with popcorn. Total price $14.98 for two. Costco also had a free
recharging station for electronics. It was a great excuse to get
out of the house. It made the day a lot better.
I will not review CLOUD ATLAS without Internet connection. It
really is a film you have to see multiple times before it all gels.
Returning to the cold house I worked on review that may never be
completed.
For dinner we had bag of (once) frozen vegetables. They had not
spoiled noticeably. We listened to radio plays we have on
cassette.
At about 8 PM there was a call that was a recorded message from the
mayor saying that there had been progress in restoring power during
the day and more places will have power restored tomorrow, but
other areas will not get power until Wednesday. (This was a
Saturday.)
They are trying to figure out how to set up polls for Tuesday's
election.
This is the sixth night without power. The days are not too bad,
but the nights are cold and boring. And tomorrow they start an
hour earlier.
There are people working outside right in front of our house.
Sadly, whatever they are doing, it does not restore power. I would
be happy if they would just get our house going, even if the rest
of the neighborhood is dark. Let me worry about the Maple Street
monsters.
It is 57 degrees in the house and 34 outside. I think I need to go
to sleep in a shirt and pants just to stay warm in the night.
There is something of a conflict between Governor Christie and
JCP&L (Jersey Central Power and Light, who are delivering neither
power nor light.) JCP&L is resisting giving out any useful
information as to when power will be returning to certain areas.
All they are saying is that most of the household that are out now
will have power back in a week and most of what is left will have
power back in the next week. Of course, there is a big difference
between 98% and 51% though either could be meant by his "most".
Yesterday Christie was saying that he wanted to get a map of the
area with estimates when power would return.
It is true that time spent putting together reports would slow down
repairs. But it is also true that the uncertainty is costly to the
customers. If I know I will have power back in 24 to 72 hours I
probably do not have to go out and stock up on groceries. I can
leave the groceries on the store shelf for people who will not have
power in the next ten days. Uncertainty breeds wastage, long
queues, crime, and bad tempers. Avoiding those problems might be
better than getting the power back a day or two sooner.
As it is the most affected counties are going on gasoline
rationing. If the last digit in your license plate even, you can
get gas on even days of the month. Otherwise you can get it on odd
days. No-digit is considered an odd.
I am planning to have the final chapter of this log next week. One
problem. I have just this day received word today, 37 days after
the storm, that we are being advised to reduce water consumption.
This is because of damage done by the storm to the sewage treatment
system. I guess Sandy will be with us for a long time. I am not
sure how final the next chapter can be. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN--PART 2 (film review by
Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
Let me begin by saying that I have neither read any of the
"Twilight" books nor seen BREAKING DAWN--PART 1, although I have
seen the earlier films in this series. Thusly, I can't say whether
this film does a good job of putting the books on screen, or even
if it does a good job of being PART 2. However, I can report that
it is an entertaining end to the series, and that, as many have
noted, after a somewhat slow start has a bang-up ending full of
surprises.
Some critics appear unhappy with the slow start and the many finale
scenes. For those expecting "Indiana Jones" action from the second
one, you will surely be disappointed, but in ancient times movies
set the stage for the conclusion rather than stringing one
improbable chase after another together to make up the bulk of the
movie. The first part of the movie deals mainly with Bella
adjusting to her new-found powers as a vampire, and with the many
consequences of being a vampire, including the ever-present "What
do I tell dad?" This section is in the fine tradition of many
super-hero comics, and especially both of the Spiderman movies,
where a lot of time is spent trying to convey the sense of wonder
associated with being a vampire/super-hero.
Another unhappiness of the critics lies in the many finale scenes,
but for some reason I didn't find them as cloying or as silly as
the many endings of, say, LORD OF THE RINGS. Part of that is
surely that they move briskly along, keeping the movie under two
hours. Finally, some hostile critics complained about the general
lack of emoting by the cast, and especially the stars. This is
worth a bit more attention, but to my view, the actors were
entirely within character. Not every hero/heroine meets fate
weeping and gnashing her teeth. There is also a bit more to this,
which I'll expand on later.
The second part of the movie deals with the discovery by the
Volturi (the overlords of the vampire world) that Bella has
apparently sired a child-vampire, a serious (read--fatal) violation
of their laws, and hence to the usual gathering of allies by the
Cullens family and finally to a confrontation with the Volturi.
This is fun to watch, and I'm not going to ruin it by putting any
spoilers in the review. One thing I liked about the movie is just
about the point where you think the plot is going to veer into a
comic book or vampire cliche it goes off in a new direction that
makes a lot of sense in the context of the story. This happens
several times, and helps to create a powerful and unexpected
ending.
Those expecting a profound, adult tale on the level of, say, GAME
OF THRONES will be disappointed. BREAKING DAWN is profound to its
teenage audience; adults already know most of what the characters
discover about themselves. The entire TWILIGHT series can be best
understood as two things--a celebration of the transhuman existence
and as an X-men comic book. It is also, of course, a story of
chaste love where vampirism is, as always, a stand-in for actual
sex.
As an X-Men comic, TWILIGHT celebrates the family of odd-balls (the
Cullens) who are brought together by a charismatic leader who is
also a doctor, Carlisle Cullen (aka Professor X). They live in a
super-modern house in a beautiful isolated area, and are threatened
by the outside world and others of their own kind. An earlier film
in the series contains the ultimate X-men homage--vampires using
their powers to play baseball. BREAKING DAWN introduces several
new characters, including on the Cullens' side a vampire that
mimics Lightning Lass of the DC Legion of Superheroes, another that
controls the four elements, and a third that can create realistic
illusions. Finally, Bella Swan comes into her own as a vampire,
finding that (for some reason I didn't catch) she is now the
strongest of the Cullen clan, and also can project a field of
protection against other vampire's powers (this has been hinted at
in earlier movies). Bella is now so strong that she can smash a
huge rock into pieces with her fists, and is so invulnerable (or
ultra-fast healing) that her hands seem unscathed after doing so.
I speculate that rather like GLADIATOR in the Marvel universe,
Bella is the strongest because her will is the strongest, and not
due to any physical process. This is also suggested by the high
level of self-control she has as a new vampire.
One strength of the comic book aspects of the plot is that the
strongest player on each side has the least showy power. The
leader of the Volturi, Aro, has a kind of contact telepathy that
allows him to sense if others are lying, and in turn, makes him the
most dangerous of liars. Alice Cullen has the power to see the
future, or perhaps, possible futures. Aro is surely dangerous, but
it is hard to beat someone who can see the future.
There is another aspect of TWILIGHT worthy of comment. In the
early vampire stories, the vampire was a dirty and wretched
creature, sleeping in a coffin and lusting after blood. To the
extent the vampire was seductive that quality was a stand-in for
the corrupting power of sex. The years have been kind to the
fictional vampire, turning him from zero to hero. And yet there
are still different visions of vampirism. In BEING HUMAN, the
message is that although the vampire may be handsome, kind, loving,
great in bed, intelligent, strong, and so on, at the core, he is
still a blood-sucking monster. Of course, the deeper message of
BEING HUMAN is that at the core, we all have a little bit--or not
so little--of the monster inside ourselves. In VAMPIRE DIARIES,
vampires have all those idealized good qualities, but their
emotions are out of control, causing them to careen from love to
hate and back, and leading to a kind of eternal, tragic
restlessness that may in some cases be tempered by centuries of
experience. In BUFFY, a soul-less vampire is just a daemon
inhabiting a human body, utterly with hope for redemption (the
exceptional case of Spike not included).
The vampires of TWILIGHT are more akin to elves, idealized and
perfect, although still prey to the lust for blood. The idea that
they glitter in the sunlight is surely a reference to elves, or
even angels. And Bella is the most perfect, most idealized of them
all as a vampire. Her strength and invulnerability are nearly
limitless--we see her climbing a bare cliff so fast she seems to be
flying, running so fast she can leap hundreds of feet, and falling
what seems to be many 100s of feet without apparent harm. Vampires
don't need to sleep, but their lust is virtually unlimited, and
their appreciation for human pleasures undimmed. She has total
control, much more so than even the Cullens family, and turns aside
from human blood to hunt a puma. Her sometimes limited range of
emotion is a reflection of her new state. Although she is hyper-
aware of every sound and texture around her, she no long reacts
emotionally like a human. In some ways she resembles Commander
Data of NEXT GENERATION learning to be human. She so rapidly
adapts to being a vampire that pretending to be human is a
struggle.
As a vampire, Bella has everything she would never have as a human
woman. She will have, forever, a perfect body perfectly healthy,
and more then perfect--superhuman. She has the joys of motherhood
without the tedium of child-rearing. She can look forward to being
with Edward for, if not an eternity, something approaching that.
This is the idealized life of a fifteen-year old--forever young,
forever healthy, forever happy, forever superhuman, forever sex,
and forever free of adult responsibility. It also happens to
pretty much be the transhumanist manifesto, except for the last
item.
Sometimes one goes to the movies to learn more about the human
condition. Sometimes you see yourself reflected on the screen. In
this case, I see on the screen the reflection of the collective
unconscious of a new generation. Once books and screens reflected
a fear, even dread, of the future, whether in the form of vampires,
Frankenstein's monster, the Wolfman, giant ants, or atomic
parasites. Today we live in that future. Some of our fears have
been realized (atomic weapons), but not all, or even most of them.
Today new books and screens reflect a collective hope of a
different kind of future, one without compromise or limitation. It
is a juvenile hope that no doubt will never completely be realized.
But landing on the moon was once such a hope, so I think you should
hold back on the laughing just a bit.
BREAKING DAWN is rated PG-13. There are some fairly graphic battle
violence scenes--tearing off heads and such. The sex scenes are
soft focus and not very explicit. Recommended for those who like
this sort of thing, including fans of the TWILIGHT series.
Surprisingly entertaining and self-contained for the final movie of
a long series. Rated +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. [-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: ANNA KARENINA (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Joe Wright brings Count Leo Tolstoy's oft-filmed tragedy
ANNA KARENINA to the screen with an adaptation written by Tom
Stoppard. In spite of some unusual touches that should have
brightened things up a bit, this version is tedious and feels
overly long. The acting is wooden in a way that shuts the viewer
out of the action. Stoppard's touches serve only to pull the
viewer away from the story and act as a distraction. Rating: low
+1 (-4 to +4) or 5/10
In BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, Keira Knightley was a promising new talent
with an attractive smile. It was clear that director Joe Wright
was entranced by that smile. When he directed her in PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE she gave a big smile showing off her teeth in virtually
every scene in which she was not sad or angry. If there was no
good reason for her not to smile, she did. Sadly, this was not the
same thing as acting. But deep acting was not required for that
role. Now Joe Wright has directed Keira Knightley in a new version
of ANNA KARENINA and both are paying the price for Knightley's
deficits. In fact, there is very little emotive acting where it is
needed in the tragic ANNA KARENINA. But Wright was unlucky to
release his film while Terence Davies' THE DEEP BLUE SEA was still
in recent memory. That film, based on the play by Terence
Rattigan, has a plot that is very much parallel to that of ANNA
KARENINA but starred Rachel Weisz. Seeing both films emphasizes
the gulf between the acting abilities of the two women.
In 19th century Tsarist Russia, Anna Karenina (played by Knightley)
is in a comfortable but dull marriage to Karenin (Jude Law), a
stodgy public official. When asked to help save her brother's
marriage, Anna goes to Moscow to help counsel her sister-in-law.
Her brother Stiva has had an affair, and the stable Anna is trusted
to set things back to right. On the way to Moscow she meets
Countess Vronsky who tells her of the Countess's son, Count
Vronsky. Anna meets Vronsky at the end of her trip. The count
cuts a striking figure in his military uniform. Anna is
immediately attracted to somewhat disreputable count. Soon it
would appear that Stiva is not the only member of the family who
has a wandering eye. Once she has been with Vronsky Anna does not
want to go back to Karenin.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who plays Count Vronsky, emotes less than
Knightley, but since the story is her tragedy his acting is less
important. There are good actors aplenty in this film, but Joe
Wright seems not to be the director to be able to coax affecting
performances. Kelly Macdonald is certainly a fine actress, and she
was able to doff her Irish enunciation for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.
Wright allows her to use a strong Irish accent throughout.
All this makes it hard enough for the viewer to lose himself in the
tragedy. But Stoppard gives the story the conceit that it is
really a stage play being performed. One moment actors will seem
to be in the real surroundings and the next they will be standing
on a stage or exiting backstage. In an otherwise realistic looking
bedroom there will suddenly be footlights along the floor. Anna
will be at home and rip open the curtains. Oddly, the nature
outside seems to be rushing past her window. When the camera
returns to Anna she is inside a train car. These gimmicky segues
are there to be admired but are counter-productive distraction. If
the drama were doing its job these cute artistic touches would be
clever. Wright is having enough trouble telling the story without
them.
It is hard to condemn a movie that when it works beguiles the eye
with 19th century Russian splendor. The characters are so cold and
distant--figuratively as well as literally--that Wright needs to do
all he can to hold the audience's emotions. He just did manage.
On a modest budget THE DEEP BLUE SEA told much the same story and
made it compelling. ANNA KARENINA threw some glitz at the story,
but did not make this viewer care. I rate ANNA KARENINA a low +1
on the -4 to +4 scale or 5/10 and recommend you try one of the
other 25 screen versions listed in the IMDB.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781769/
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anna_karenina_2012/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: REDSHIRTS by John Scalzi (copyright 2012, Tor, $24.99,
317pp, ISBN 978-0-7653-1699-8) (book review by Joe Karpierz)
If you've been around this field any length of time at all, you
know what a redshirt is. Just in case you don't. It's that
character on the TV show that you've never seen before; he's the
extra guy on the away mission, and he's the guy you know is going
to get killed not long after you meet him (or her, of course). As
most of you know, the term redshirt comes from Star Trek. The
extras going with the main party on the away mission invariably
wore red shirts. And they invariably didn't make it back to the
U.S.S. Enterprise.
Our story opens with a bunch of new crew members receiving
assignments to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, the
flagship of the fleet. Andrew Dahl, Maia Duvall, Jimmy Hanson,
Finn, and Hester, all of various backgrounds, are traveling to the
Intrepid at the beginning of the novel to begin their assignment on
the most prestigious ship in the fleet. And almost immediately,
they begin to notice some very strange things going on.
For example, the rest of the crew seems to instinctively know that
they need to disappear when one of the high ranking officers is
nearby--Captain Abernathy, Science Office Q'eeng, Chief Engineer
Paul West, and Lieutenant Kerensky, just to name four--looking for
low ranking crew members for away missions. It always seems that
said higher-ranking crew members survive the missions, no matter
what the alien dangers, but the low-ranking members do not.
Lieutenant Kerensky always seems to be the one to get the worst of
every away mission, but he seems to heal quickly--quickly enough to
be able to take part in the next away mission. And then there's the
Box, which seems to be the way of solving all the nasty problems no
one knows how to solve. Dahl is taking notice of all this, and he
doesn't like what he's seeing. Something is rotten here.
At which time he meets Jenkins, the super programmer who is working
behind the scenes to help his fellow crewmates out with the away
mission issue. It seems Jenkins has put together tracking devices
to help the poor schmucks avoid getting killed on away missions.
Jenkins is a recluse, having lost his wife on a, you guessed it,
away mission. He lives in the cargo tunnels of the Intrepid, and
only comes out when he wants to. He's kept track of other data.
Like all damage on the ship happens between decks 6 and 12.
Intrepid loses the most crew members of any ship in the fleet.
Jenkins has this crackpot theory that they are actually acting out
the parts of the crew on a science fiction televsion show from back
in the early 21st Century. He's tracked when what he calls "the
Narrative" is in effect. Just about every one thinks it's a crazy
theory--every one except Dahl.
And then the real story begins, as everyone begins to accept
Jenkins theory and realize that their lives are not their own.
What starts out as a comedic tale of everyone's favorite extra
characters turns into something a whole lot more. It turns into a
touching story of human relationships and people caring for each
other enough to risk their lives to make the craziness stop. It's
a wonderful story about teamwork, friendship, and caring human
beings--oddly enough, just like on Star Trek 40+ years ago, but
with a twist. And in my opinion, John Scalzi is the perfect person
to handle this story. He treats the subject with care, and it's
clear that he loves the subject matter.
There's a lot more I can say about REDSHIRTS, but I don't want to
spoil any more of it than I probably already have. What I will say
is that you must run out and read this book. All of it. The novel
proper, and the three Codas that follow. You'll be glad you did.
[-jak]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Storm Diary (letter of comment by Wendy Sheridan)
In response to Mark's comments about Sandy in several previous
issues of the MT VOID, Wendy Sheridan writes:
As a fellow denizen of Central New Jersey, I am busy catching up
on my former activities after Superstorm Sandy. We in our section of
Rahway were without power for eleven days, and have had
intermittent outages ever since (the most recent was this past
Wednesday from the snowstorm). Our electricity is supplied by the
Seawarren substation, which apparently was submerged during the
storm and is being held together with spit, bailing wire and duct
tape.
We don't like camping without an RV, and after Irene, purchased a
propane-fueled generator that sat idle for a year and has become my
favorite piece of technology. We were able to power up our
refrigerator, microwave and modem--we are one of the holdouts that
still uses DSL for Internet access--so we were the only people on
the block with Internet and the first with electricity.
We decided on propane because I don't like dealing with gasoline
even to run my lawnmower; not thinking of the unintended
consequences of a large-scale power outage and the scarcity of
gasoline that would ensue. Our house is located in Rahway, near the
center of town (and the train station). I consider us semi-urban:
urban with trees. Also to our benefit, is that the propane filling
station is two blocks away, and they had a generator so were able
to fill our BBQ-sized tanks, which would operate the generator for
22.5 hours per tank.
During the storm itself, I watched our 75-foot pine tree fall over,
missing our garage by a couple of feet and landing on three cars in
the parking area for the condos next door to our house. This
happened around 3:30 in the afternoon.
Since we had power, I ran an extension cord out the front door for
the neighbors to charge their cell phones and other devices. We
also have a Franklin stove, so we were able to stay warm when the
temperature dropped to near freezing during the second week. The
local garden center was able to deliver a half-cord of firewood the
Wednesday after the storm, and we burned through most of it by the
time power was restored. We usually burn a cord or so for the
entire winter. We did not have a supply of batteries and by the
time we noticed, it was too late to get them, but we did have some
rechargeable LED flashlights that we could charge off a generator
circuit. Also, being Wiccans, we had a large supply of candles--
which are now almost depleted.
I ended up posting daily updates on Facebook for my friends who are
out of the area--and after the first week, the "new normal" was
getting tiresome, depressing, and repetitive. So eventually, I
posted this storm update before the nor'easter of the week after
Sandy (which I think you'd appreciate):
Science Officer's Log, Day 8. We are still running on auxiliary
power. The Chief Engineer thinks maybe we'll have the warp engines
back online sometime today, but the attack from the Sand'ees
damaged quite a lot of the ship and repair crews have been working
ceaselessly for the past 8 days.
The shift in duties has become routine and wearying. Keeping the
alternate life support systems functional takes up much of our time
now. Much of the ship's life support has been restored, but we are
still under general quarters rules.
We are fortunate that the Captain chose to leave the low- and
medium- tech systems in place. Otherwise we would not be here to
warn people of the coming invasion.
This prompted one of my other friends, who is the super for an
apartment complex that had a tree take out an exterior wall in a
tenant's apartment to post this comment:
NCC 7-11 Life support up and running but scanners are down and
communications are intermittent. We are still dealing with a breach
in the hull. Crews working today and tomorrow to get it sealed
before the coming invasion. [-ws]
Mark responds:
My suggestion to the Science Officer is to stay on alert. This is
becoming a hostile corner of the galaxy [-mrl].
==================================================================
TOPIC: Ibid (letter of comment by Fred Lerner)
In response to Evelyn's comments about PYRAMIDS in the 11/30/12
issue of the MT VOID, Fred Lerner writes:
When I was about ten years old I read Ernest Gruening's THE STATE
OF ALASKA, a history of the place, and not knowing any better I
looked at every footnote. Seeing all of the citations to "Ibid." I
took this to be some sort of marvelous encyclopaedia. My reading
was eclectic even then, and it also included WALT DISNEY'S COMICS
AND STORIES, from which I learned of another marvelous reference
work, the JUNIOR WOODCHUCK'S HANDBOOK. If I could obtain a copy of
each of these, I thought, I'd have all the reference library I'd
ever need.
Some years later, when the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG appeared, I
considered it a reasonable substitute for the JUNIOR WOODCHUCK'S
HANDBOOK. And with the World Wide Web at my fingertips, I've got
something that can fill in for "Ibid." Now all I need is more
time... [-fl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
GETTING INTO GUINNESS: ONE MAN'S LONGEST, FASTEST, HIGHEST JOURNEY
INSIDE THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS RECORD BOOK by Larry Olmsted (ISBN
978-0-06-137348-0) is about more than just Olmstead attempts to set
records acknowledged by Guinness (the record-keeping company, not
the brewery--Olmsted makes the distinction in his introduction).
Olmsted covers the history of the book, which has undergone several
name changes, ownership changes, and (distressingly) content
changes.
THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS, later GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, and
currently THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS, started as a way to
settle pub arguments in Britain, answering such questions as "what
is the fastest game bird in Europe?" or "what language has the
fewest irregular verbs?" Over time, though, it became more and
more "commercial" (i.e., pandering), dropping many of the classic
superlatives to add such "records" as "largest sports salary" and
"fastest time to place six eggs in egg-cups using the feet". As
Miles Kington said in "The Independent", "If you want to settle a
pub argument in 2004, you'd be crazy to go to GUINNESS WORLD
RECORDS. Actually, you'd be crazy to go to it at all, unless you
wanted to know who have the largest ice-lolly stick collection in
the world, or the most Pepsi cans from around the world. But I
have never been in a pub conversation in which someone said, 'I
wonder who has got the most yo-yos in a private collection,' or
"What's the most Smarties eaten by someone using chopsticks in
three minutes?"
There was even a word coined for these sorts of records:
Guinnessport (coined by Jerry Kirshenbaum in "Sports Illustrated"
in 1979).
Because they needed to make room for all these "records", the
classic ones were dropped from the book. So as Miles Kington also
said, "I have been through the new, gold-plated GUINNESS WORLD
RECORDS 2005 as carefully as I can, and can find no information on
who was the first to swim the Channel. Or the fastest. Or the
youngest. Or anything about swimming the Channel at all. I have
also been unable to find any information on the deepest well in
England, or indeed much about that sort of thing at all. ... Nor
is there anything about Scotland's highest tree. Or Ireland's
oldest church. Or Parliamentary majorities. Or even, I think,
rail crashes. With the partial exception of weight-lifting, not a
single one of the questions playfully raised by Lord Iveagh in 1956
can be answered by the book known as 'Guinness World Records
2005.'"
Two notes: Lord Iveagh asked the questions that inspired the first
GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS. And you will not see the youngest person
to swim the Channel because Guinness now has banned all athletic
records for the "youngest" for health and safety reasons.
Actually, they have banned a lot of records for those reasons--but
many of them have somehow crept back in. In 1996 they claimed all
eating records were removed. In 2000 the book still included most
watches eaten. In 2006, they accepted and promoted the fastest
time to eat a 12-inch pizza. In 2008 they included a record for
most sausages swallowed whole in one minute, after previously
ruling speed-eating of pancakes too dangerous to include.
And since he first contacted them about this book, Olmsted himself
has had all his requests for record-setting attempts refused, even
in pre-existing categories. (To set a "Guinness record", one must
get prior approval.)
There may also be a bit of sloppiness in the research. Olmsted
recounts the story of someone who transported some flammable material
to Manhattan to be used to make the world's largest fondue. The
only way legally to carry hazardous material into Manhattan was the
George Washington Bridge, but apparently the driver did not know
this and (according to Olmsted) tried first the Holland Tunnel and
then the Midtown Tunnel, before finally getting (presumably
illegally) in via the Lincoln Tunnel. The problem with this is
that the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and George Washington
Bridge are the three ways to get to Manhattan from New Jersey (the
mainland), while the Midtown Tunnel comes in from Queens and to get
to it from the New Jersey end of the Holland Tunnel, the driver
would have to drive south to the Goethals Bridge or to the
Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island, then take the Verrazano
Narrows Bridge to Brooklyn and then drive past the Brooklyn-Battery
Tunnel (renamed the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel in 2010, but no one uses
that name) to get to the Midtown Tunnel (actually the Queens-
Midtown Tunnel). (Theoretically, he could also get onto Staten
Island via the Bayonne Bridge, but that involves taking local roads
for a lot of the way.) [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
The further a mathematical theory is developed,
the more harmoniously and uniformly does its
construction proceed, and unsuspected relations
are disclosed between hitherto separated branches
of the science.
--David Hilbert