THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
11/29/13 -- Vol. 32, No. 22, Whole Number 1782
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Correction on Anniversaries (letter of comment by Paul Dormer)
The Howard, George and Gardner Show
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
The Bill Clinton Diet (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies for December (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
Notes and Comparisons of THE HAUNTING and THE LEGEND OF HELL
HOUSE (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
VAMPIRE JOURNALS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
IRON MAN 3 (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
ENERGY FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTS (book review
by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
UNDILUTED HOCUS POCUS: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN GARDNER
(book review by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
A PLANET OF VIRUSES by Carl Zimmer (book review
by Greg Frederick)
Jewish Food (letters of comment by Fred Lerner and Wendy)
Game of the States Puzzle (letters of comment
by Steve Milton, Keith F. Lynch, and Jim Susky)
This Week's Reading (THINKING IN NUMBERS) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Correction on Anniversaries (letter of comment by Paul
Dormer)
In response to Evelyn's comment on the (supposed) anniversary of
the death of George Orwell in the 11/22/13 issue of the MT VOID,
Paul Dormer writes:
Not even close. Died 21 January 1950, according to Wikipedia.
I think you are confusing him with Aldous Huxley, author of BRAVE
NEW WORLD. :-)
Incidentally, there were a number of other anniversaries last week,
and as far as the BBC seemed to be concerned, only two really
mattered.
Of course, it was the 50th anniversary of the first episode of
"Doctor Who" on Saturday, and there were a number of programmes
dedicated to that, not only the 50th anniversary special.
But Friday would also have been the 100th birthday of the composer
Benjamin Britten (born on St. Cecilia's day, and she was the patron
saint of musicians). For most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the
bulk of the output on BBC Radio 3 was either music by Britten, or
performed by Britten, or people who knew Britten talking about him.
And last week was the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg address,
and there was a documentary about this on BBC Radio 4.
Evelyn responds:
Ooops! [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: The Howard, George and Gardner Show
"Howard Waldrop, George R. R. Martin, and Gardner Dozois tell wild
tales about their adventures in science fiction fandom. Recorded at
Capclave 2013 on October 12, 2013."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvdsmhQYTyc
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
[Note the changed book for December.]
December 5: SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, Old Bridge Public Library, 6:30PM
December 12: THE IRON GIANT (film) and THE IRON GIANT by Ted Hughes
(book), Middletown Public Library, 5:30PM, discussion after
the film
December 19: THE EERIE SILENCE by Paul Davies, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 7PM (note that this is the *third* Thursday!)
January 23, 2014: THE RAPTURE OF THE NERDS by Cory Doctorow and
Charles Stross, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
February 27: THE MOON AND SIXPENCE by W. Somerset Maugham,
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
Northern New Jersey events are listed at:
http://www.sfsnnj.com/news.html
==================================================================
TOPIC: The Bill Clinton Diet (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I was reading how President Bill Clinton had a touch of heart
trouble and has given up meat, fish, and all dairy products. He is
a strict vegetarian now. And he says he is now enjoying his food
as much as ever. More. But he also has a much healthier lifestyle
by not eating meat. That really proves it can be done. I found
the whole article very inspirational. If he can do it, I can do
it. I want to make myself rich enough to afford chefs who can make
those dull, boring vegetables enjoyable. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies for December (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
Looking at the films that TCM is running in December there is not a
lot to recommend that the reader would not be likely already to
know about. One does come to mind. In a few previous months I
have skipped over Fritz Lang's THE TESTAMENT Of DR. MABUSE assuming
that it is more crime film than horror film. I tend to have the
most to say about fantastic films. However I probably should
mention it.
One of the most important filmmakers in Germany between the world
wars was Fritz Lang, whose films included DR MABUSE THE GAMBLER,
SEIGFRIED, METROPOLIS, WOMAN ON THE MOON, and M. Being Jewish he
had to flee Germany to stay alive. His final German film was a
sequel to two films not previously related. He took Commissioner
Lohmann, the detective from M, and pitted him against (well sort of
against) Lang's great super-criminal Dr. Mabuse. The original
actors play both: Lohmann by Otto Wernicke and Mabuse by the great
Rudolf Klein-Rogge.
It seems that Mabuse was captured after a long and dangerous
pursuit in DR. MABUSE THE GAMBLER. At this point Mabuse had
crossed the line from genius to madness. Years later the still mad
Mabuse is now in an insane asylum where he plans fiendishly
ingenious crimes, but can do no damage from the asylum. (Yeah.
Right.) Somehow a new crime wave begins that bears the
unmistakable stamp of the Mabuse genius. Can Mabuse be reaching
out from his confines and from his madness and still be leveraging
awesome, evil power? Can the detective who solved the child murder
case find what is behind this new terrifying crime wave?
This was the same year as KING KONG. Lang's first sound film had
been M and this was his second sound film. Lang was still playing
with the possibilities of sound. An early scene takes place in a
factory where the din from a printer drowns the characters and the
viewer in incoherent noise. He tries for this effect again later
in a scene in which two young lovers are trapped in a room.
Like DRACULA two years earlier this film was shot in two languages,
German and French. Lang claimed later that the evil of Mabuse was
intended to be a warning of the evil of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
did use some of the same tactics that Mabuse used in TESTAMENT OF
DR. MABUSE. [Friday, December 6, 6:00 AM]
Neil Simon is probably best known for writing whimsical plays that
have some autobiography in them. Once in a while his humorous
talents take him in other directions. They did that when he
decided to lampoon the entire popular genre of detective fiction.
He had all the most popular detectives and has them thinly
disguised in his MURDER BY DEATH. It should have been very funny
with his skill for comedy. Somehow humor is very subjective and I
never found MURDER BY DEATH all that funny. Perhaps it is because
I just am not that much of a fan of detective stories. The film
was very successful though, so Simon did THE CHEAP DETECTIVE, a
follow up laughing at the Humphrey Bogart films CASABLANCA and THE
MALTESE FALCON. Maybe it is because I am a film buff, but for me
it was like striking the mother lode. Simon just has one funny
joke after another. The film tells both stories somehow tied
together in an overhand knot set in MALTESE FALCON's San Francisco.
So how can you set CASABLANCA in San Francisco? By pure chutzpah
and because there was nobody to tell him not to. Peter Falk is the
Bogart-like title character and it is a great piece of casting.
Simon runs out of funny maybe two-thirds the way through, but it
still is okay. The film has a huge cast: Peter Falk, Ann-Margret,
Eileen Brennan, Sid Caesar, Stockard Channing, James Coco, Dom
DeLuise, Louise Fletcher, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, Fernando
Lamas, Marsha Mason, Phil Silvers, Abe Vigoda, Paul Williams, Nicol
Williamson, James Cromwell, Scatman Crothers, David Ogden Stiers,
and Vic Tayback. Looks like everyone wanted to be in it. [Monday,
December 30, 11:30 PM]
This is the time of year when you have your choice of 37 different
adaptations of Charles Dickens A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I am sick of
them. SICK do you hear? There really is only one I can recommend
and it is playing on TCM in December. Most are just not faithful
to the quality of Dickens movies like David Lean's GREAT
EXPECTATIONS. One really does have that literary feel, however,
and tells the story about as well as it can be told. For me the
only version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL that I would watch would be
1951's SCROOGE (which usually plays under the title A CHRISTMAS
CAROL). This is the one with Alistair Sim as Scrooge. The scenes
intended to be frightening do have some frisson. The Sim version
is the best. Accept no substitutes. (I have been told that the
George C. Scott version is nearly as good. I doubt it, but it
would be dishonest not to mention it.) [Thursday, December 19, 10
PM]
Best film of the month? Well, I am a John Steinbeck fan. I would
pick Elia Kazan's EAST OF EDEN. [Tuesday, December 31, 5:15 AM]
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Notes and Comparisons of THE HAUNTING and THE LEGEND OF HELL
HOUSE (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE HAUNTING:
- Director Robert Wise uses a lot of deep focus, harsh lighting and
shadows, Dutch angles, and slightly fish-eye lenses.
- There are many literary references that hardly anyone today would
recognize: "Lochinvar out of the Midwest," "velvet and tweed," and
"journeys end in lovers meeting," for example.
- The gate is very menacing, points within points; when you see the
house, it is also.
- There are a lot of views in mirrors (and mirrors within mirrors),
which traditionally represent a doorway into the spirit world.
- There is a sculpture of veiled head like Raffaello Monti's
"Veiled Lady".
- After Eleanor runs in Theo's room on the first night, does she
put on Theo's robe?
- The house is labyrinthine; with the mirrors, one is reminded of
Borges.
- What sort of researcher erases writing before photographing it?
- Could the staircase move like that if it has a fixed center
column? Is it like the mystical stairway in New Mexico?
- Luke's breath shows when he demonstrates it, but not while he is
just talking.
- Theo's black outfit makes it look like she is a floating head.
- Theo calls Eleanor "Nell", "baby", "Nellie my Nell", and the
others switch to "Nell" as well.
- Theo is not married, but still says, "We fixed up the apartment."
- Nell later calls Theo "unnatural" and "one of Nature's mistakes."
- Eleanor lies about having an apartment
- Theo says, "You find her--she's *your* wife. I'm taking Nell and
I'm clearing out of here," implying Nell is in some sense *her*
wife.
- Dr. Markaway checks for a pulse, but new artificial heart doesn't
beat out a pulse.
- "It ought to be burned down and the ground sowed with salt" is
another classical reference.
THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE:
- This has basically the same characters as THE HAUNTING: Barrett
as the male lead investigator, his wife, Florence Tanner
("practically a child", so similar to Eleanor), and Ben Fisher.
- The gate design is all curves rather than points; the house has
some square towers as well as pointed ones.
- Florence can't go into the chapel, just as Eleanor couldn't go
into the library.
- This has similar set design as THE HAUNTING for the interior, but
in color rather than black and white.
- Florence's first outfit and accessories is very much like Theo's
last one in THE HAUNTING.
- There is less use of deep focus and other techniques than Wise
used.
- Both Crain and Belasco had two wives; in each case, the second
wife committed suicide.
- There is less use of mirrors but there are also reflections in
teapots and such.
- Florence always wears a large cross.
- Barrett claims Florence's "rate of breath" rises to 210; this is
impossible for more than a few seconds.
- The supernatural manifestations are more explicit than in THE
HAUNTING, and they take frequent, overt control of the researchers.
- This has more deaths than THE HAUNTING.
[-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: VAMPIRE JOURNALS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
Ted Nicolaou is probably one of the most under-appreciated horror
film directors. He is American-born (though his name is Romanian)
and he sets his films and shoots them in Romania. Each film seems
to feature an attractive American woman menaced by vampires, but
she is not an interesting character. The vampires are the central
characters.
Nicolaou is best known for his series of films, the "Subspecies"
films. He was heavily influenced by the makeup and camerawork of
films like NOSFERATU. He frequently uses a low light so the
vampires cast giant shadows. But his plotting is more like that of
Anne Rice. Most vampire films are about humans when they are
confronted with vampires. Nicolaou's films are more about what is
happening in the sub-culture of vampires. The most interesting
characters in a Nicolaou film are the vampires and their plots.
Nicolaou makes his films in color, but subdues the colors so as not
to detract from the mood. The films cannot be taken literally
since the viewer can immediately tell who is and is not a vampire.
The vampires are all pasty-faced and on close-up show longer
incisors. Some vampires are still attractive, generally the good
ones and some most of the bad ones are made repulsive looking, much
like Orlock in NOSFERATU. His film went directly to cable as far
as I can tell, but they were a good cut above other films that
showed on cable. VAMPIRE JOURNALS is probably a little better
plotted than his "Subspecies" films but it is the same world and
character cross-over from the this film and the "Subspecies" films.
Rating: high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 6/10 [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: IRON MAN 3 (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
I have pretty much stopped buying tickets to comic book superhero
films. I still have enough science fiction interest to rent them
from NetFlix, but the stories are just not very rewarding. For a
while IRON MAN was okay. Here was a superhero who did not derive
his powers from an alien home planet, from being bitten by just the
right spider, from going through radiation. Tony Stark earned his
powers through genius. But he does not act like a genius and he
wins his battles by having technology he somehow created show up
like the cavalry in a nick of time. His suit has all kinds of
seemingly magical powers like the pieces fly together to
reconstruct themselves in an idea seemingly borrowed from IRON
GIANT. With all this magical technology he still wins his battles
by bruit force. And if a character the audience likes is killed,
well that is your mistake. There is always some high-tech way to
save the day. IRON MAN 3 did have one or two nice twists, but
nothing resolves itself intelligently. Today's audiences want the
special effects first and any engaging ideas they can do without.
Some of the repartee is amusing, but that is not enough to keep a
two-hour-plus film going. Rating: low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or
5/10 [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Two men set off to drive across the United States to film
interviews with the people they find, asking them what they think
of the United States and its future. The men wanted a feel for
what the economic collapse was doing to the country. The result is
a multi-faceted view of the American people today. This is an
innocent project: as a rarity among documentaries, it seems to have
no axe to grind. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
Most films that people go to a theater to see are story films, but
year-by-year we seem to be seeing more and more documentaries being
made. Most of those are presenting a political argument for some
kind of change or other. THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY is different. The
filmmakers set out not to convince anyone of anything. They simply
wanted to see the United States and tell their viewer what they
found along the way.
THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY is directed by Paul Blackthorne and filmed by
Mister Basquali. They were born in Britain and Australia,
respectively. Both came to the United States as children and were
excited about their new country. Now they are adults and the
country's economy seems to be faltering. They want to understand
how the United States is changing and what the country actually is
today. Perhaps they also want to recapture that childhood
excitement of being part of the United States. Much of their goal
was to gauge the mood of the people. This is as good-natured a
documentary as you are likely to find.
Their questioning is not systematic like a polling company would
be. Different people they ask different questions, usually based
on their impressions of the person. They may ask one person to
tell them about his religion, and someone else they will ask about
gun control. Sometimes they comment on what they have been told
and sometimes they just let the filming speak for itself. Their
style is not to ask the same query of each person but instead to
try to form a mosaic view of facets of the country. Most attitudes
are at worst cautiously upbeat and the speaker is identified with a
picture and a first name in the closing credits. One small group
from Memphis never does have their names given at the end. They
are openly racist, though they claim not to be. Everyone else is
shown in a positive light or at worst they walk by the camera
without any attention given. But there are people with extreme
views of their religion and others who have opposite points of
view. If they were brought together they might get along, but both
want to be shown and heard in the film.
While they started with four legs in the car, they finished with
eight. They are joined by Bodhi, a puppy they found wandering in a
motel parking lot and adopted. Bodhi just gives the narrative a
little more sunshine.
In the end there is no summary and no simple takeaway. Blackthorne
and Basquali just find more reason to be glad that this is their
adoptive country. There is a warm feeling for the strengths of the
country. I rate this good-natured documentary a low +2 on the -4
to +4 scale or 7/10. THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY is out on DVD and on
Video on Demand (Hulu and Amazon Instant) and from
http://www.cinemalibrestor.com.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1679227/combined
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_american_journey/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: ENERGY FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTS (book review by Dale L. Skran,
Jr.)
You don't have to watch THE BIG BANG THEORY to know that physicists
have a bit of a reputation for a particular kind of intellectual
arrogance, namely that as physicists they have the really important
insights into the issues at hand. This bias is on display as
physicist Richard A. Muller dishes out advice on energy to future
presidents. However, this should not be taken as an adverse review
of ENERGY FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTS.
ENERGY FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTS fairly brims with up-to-date
information (published 2012) and well thought out insights you
won't find in the average newspaper or magazine article. In fact,
books on energy written much before this are pretty much useless
since they don't take into account the recent boom in natural gas
production. Given all the anxiety over "running out of oil" since
the 1970s the real future we live in is way down the expectation
curve. The USA has or soon will regain its position as the #1
world energy producer due to a massive increase in natural gas
production. In fact, one basic message of ENERGY FOR FUTURE
PRESIDENTS is that there simply is NO ENERGY CRISIS--really! We
may have a lack of oil in the US, and we may have a climate change
problem, and so on, but there is no lack of energy to be had in the
short, medium, or long terms.
Muller is perhaps most famous for the independent research he
conducted that verified the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) estimates of the rise in global temperatures. For
many years Muller was viewed as a climate skeptic who kept raising
troubling questions about how the IPCC measured temperature
increases. To satisfy himself, he organized a team and conducted
an independent and much more careful analysis, concluding in the
end that (a) the temperature rise was real and (b) the rise in
temperature matched the rise in carbon dioxide very closely. This,
however, is where Muller parts company with the eco-bandwagon.
Muller is an unreformed advocate for nuclear power, and spends a
good bit of the book on his research showing that the damage done
by radiation in the Fukushima incident has been greatly exaggerated
for political purposes. Although Muller's points about radiation
are well founded, his optimism bias toward both fission and fusion
power seems overly strong, especially in comparison to competing
technologies like Space Solar Power. The contrast between Muller's
rosy view of the prospects for fusion power, the basic operation of
which has yet to be demonstrated even in a laboratory experiment,
and his complete neglect of Space Solar Power, for which the main
issues are economic and not scientific, is telling.
Muller skewers bio-fuels, the hydrogen economy, fuel cells,
geothermal power, tidal power, and wave power, concluding that each
is unlikely to contribute much to our energy future. When he opens
his cannons of skepticism on electric cars and battery technology,
he suddenly becomes quite pessimistic about the future evolution of
energy storage for reasons that are not clearly described in the
book. Also, his extreme pessimism about power from algae seems
especially inapt, as he has no professional expertise in biology,
botany, or algae farming. Paradoxically, when discussing energy
storage for large-scale solar thermal systems, Mueller becomes an
optimist again, confident that sodium-sulfur batteries can be made
to operate at lower and safer temperatures than is currently the
case.
An electric car skeptic, Mueller retreads the hoary accusation that
electric cars are useless as long as coal is used to generate
electricity, ignoring the virtuous circle that can result as coal
plants are retired and coal-sourced electricity replaced by
nuclear, solar, wind, and natural gas produced electricity. If the
cost of current batteries drops by half, or if the lifetime
doubles, Mueller's argument against cost of electric car batteries
would be obviated. A lot of people are betting against Mueller,
including Elon Musk.
Perhaps the most important point in EFFP is that the US is no
longer the source of most carbon emissions, and that there can be
no climate change solution that is not led by China and India.
Environmentalists make much of how the "rich" Americans are pigs in
carbon dioxide per capita, which is true, but it is the absolute
amount of carbon dioxide that warms the world. Viewed from this
perspective, the complete impoverishment of every American will
have little effect on the temperature rise. Thus, the real
solution to climate change is global, not local (!), and must be
cheap enough to offer an alternative to coal in places like China
and India. Mueller thinks solar power, installed at dirt cheap
wages by third-world workers, may be the answer. There may be
other solutions, but Mueller's point is a fundamental one that must
be addressed.
ENERGY FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTS is easy to read, and well worth your
time. Just don't buy into everything Mueller says! In particular,
Mueller is most accurate in presenting the current situation. Once
he tries his hand at technology extrapolation, he becomes a much
less reliable guide. [-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: UNDILUTED HOCUS POCUS: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN GARDNER
(book review by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
Martin Gardner is perhaps best known for his long-running
mathematical games column in Scientific American, but I am more a
fan of this philosophical speculations and humorous debunking of
pseudo-science. Thus, when HOCUS POCUS became available, I ordered
and read it with great alacrity.
HOCUS POCUS has a rushed, thin feeling, as though it were more an
outline for an autobiography, or perhaps cobbled together from
notes or interview transcripts rather than being carefully
polished. HOCUS POCUS is also more an intellectual autobiography
and an homage to various friends than any kind of examination of
Martin Gardner. Here and there little personal glimpses appear--
Gardner had the unworldly child's fascination with blue humor, and
a streak of cruelty that showed mainly in practical jokes.
However, in the main this is a bloodless book, with little insight
into Gardner himself. His family members are sketched in, but
aside from a few fond childhood portraits of relatives, they seem
mere ghosts in this book.
These negatives aside, HOCUS POCUS is a must read for the true
Gardner fan. I learned a lot about his involvement with magic.
From this book, it would appear that Gardner should be regarded as
one of the major amateur magicians of his time, and a true master
of "small scale" or "table top" magic, who invented a number of
amazing illusions.
For a man who did not major in mathematics, and apparently had
trouble with calculus, Gardner seems to have known most of the
great mathematicians of his time, and co-authored papers with many.
Apparently, if you study math from great mathematicians for 25
years you end up learning something! He has an Erdos number of 2,
meaning that he had co-authored a paper with someone who had co-
authored a paper with Erdos. To learn more about Paul Erdos,
perhaps the most prolific mathematician of the 20th century, check
out THE MAN WHO LOVED ONLY NUMBERS by Paul Hoffman.
Gardner elaborates a bit on the philosophical speculations he best
laid out in THE WHYS OF A PHILOSOPHICAL SCRIVENER, perhaps my
favorite Gardner book. Although I don't agree with all of
Gardner's positions, I admire his courage and honesty in taking on
the big issues and being willing to admit the limitations of his
beliefs. Gardner is too much a "Mysterian" for my taste, and far
too willing to believe that consciousness will never be understood
scientifically. Still, the idea that we may never fundamentally be
able to answer some questions ought to be on the table.
Gardner led an amazing life, and seemingly met, studied under, or
worked with most of the intellectual leaders of the 20th century.
Just one example--his English teacher in college was--drum roll--
Thornton Wilder!!! Gardner was a special kind of writer--a
journalist for intellectuals, who reported on "the good stuff' that
he found interesting. Gardner deserves enormous credit for his
courageous efforts to combat pseudo-science and dangerous malarkey
in books like FADS AND FALLACIES IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE and
SCIENCE: GOOD, BAD, AND BOGUS. He also deserves credit for his
little known but brave and patriotic service in the United States
Navy during WWII, in which he served on the USS Pope during the
Battle of the Atlantic, dropping depth charges on German U-Boats.
HOCUS POCUS is missing both an index and a bibliography.
Fortunately you can find a pretty complete Martin Gardner
bibliography in Wikipedia. It will be a long time before we see
another like him. [-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: A PLANET OF VIRUSES by Carl Zimmer (book review by Greg
Frederick)
The following is a review of the science book titled A PLANET OF
VIRUSES by Carl Zimmer. The title is a very appropriate one for
this book. Deep underground in the Earth, under a mile thick layer
of Antarctic ice and in almost any environment on this planet
viruses exist. It is estimated that there are fifteen viruses per
each creature (big and even the very small) in the world"s oceans.
Though we are still in the early stages of virology humankind has
witnessed the effects of viruses for centuries. Marine viruses are
very powerful and infectious; they infect 10 trillion ocean microbe
hosts every second. After scientists surveyed some of the oceans
they found 1.8 million types of viral genes and only 10 percent of
them matched any known viruses.
Viruses are very simple entities that consist typically of only a
few genes and a protein shell covering them. They need a host cell
to invade so they can insert their genetic material into the
genetic material of the host to then have that cell produce more of
the virus. The common cold virus which infects many people each
year is known to scientist"s as a rhinovirus. It is difficult to
cure because though the core genes of this virus do not change some
of the other genes change quickly causing the surface of the
protein shell to change shape. Our bodies create antibodies to
fight a cold we just had but if the next cold is from a rhinovirus
with a changed protein shell surface our antibodies cannot attach
to the new shell and therefore cannot fight this new cold virus.
Rhinoviruses infect a small number of cells but we feel bad due to
our body"s immune cells near to the infection that cause
inflammation, swelling and soreness.
The virus that causes many more problems for us is the influenza
virus. It enters the nose or throat and invades the mucous cells
and other cells lining these areas. These cells are destroyed and
in healthy individuals our bodies mount a defense which counteracts
this virus and the illness can be finished in a week or so. But in
some individuals who are not as healthy, the flu virus opens up a
pathway for infectious diseases to act along. Some of these can be
fatal for that person. In 1918 a very dangerous version of the flu
killed an estimated 50 million people. The origin of the influenza
virus is now known to be from birds. Birds can contain all known
human flu viruses. Birds can carry these viruses without getting
sick because they carry the virus in their gut and do not get
infected airways as we do. The flu virus is not very good at
replicating its genetic material so when it replicates the genes
acquire new mutations easily. Occasionally these mutations create
a change in the virus which will benefit that strain of virus.
Such mutations allowed the flu virus to jump from a bird host to a
human host. We then can be infected.
When the human genome was studied it was discovered that virus
genes make up about 8 percent of human DNA. Viruses have been
influencing our environments and us for many, many years. This
book is a short but clear, concise, and good source of information
about an important subject. [-gf]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Jewish Food (letters of comment by Fred Lerner and Wendy)
In response to Mark's comments on Jewish food in the 11/22/13 issue
of the MT VOID, Fred Lerner writes:
You are committing the common error of visiting upon Jewry as a
whole the sins of the Ashkenazim. You'll find in Sephardic Jewish
cuisine a wide range of tastes and materials unknown to our East
European ancestors. As my late friend Ed Slavinsky explained to
me, what Americans think of as "Jewish cooking" is really East
European peasant cuisine modified to make it kosher. You won't
find too many gourmet Polish restaurants in America, for the same
reason that you won't find too many gourmet Polish-Jewish
restaurants--and those you will find in places like Chicago base
their appeal as much on nostalgia as gastronomy. I've been to a
few Lithuanian-American restaurants with Ed Meskys, and their
cuisine is even more dire.
Sheryl and I use several Sephardic cookbooks in our kosher kitchen,
and are very pleased with the results. THE CLASSIC CUISINE OF THE
ITALIAN JEWS by Edda Servi Machlin not only offers many tasty
recipes, but also describes the history of Jewish cuisine in Italy.
(Did you know that the Jews introduced the artichoke to Italy?)
I've seen books on Greek, Syrian, and Moroccan Jewish cookery, but
haven't yet used them. And someday I want to explore the cuisine
of Bokharan and other Central Asian Jewish communities--which I
understand can be done in certain parts of Queens. [-fl]
Mark replies:
Sephardic????? My gosh. You're right. I don't think I have ever
had Sephardic cuisine. There were times when I couldn't. They
allow rice in their Kosher for Passover dishes while that is not
considered KfP for Ashkenazi.
So where were you when I was growing up and I needed you? [-mrl]
Fred responds:
When I was growing up I didn't know from Sephardic cuisine. It
wasn't until we got married and I agreed that we would keep a
kosher kitchen that I began to explore alternatives to Ashkenazic
cuisine.
Given your location, you would be better placed than I to explore
Sephardic and Mizrahi kosher restaurants and markets. This
observation is subject to revision if I get a chance to see what
Montreal has to offer. [-fl]
And Wendy [a.k.a. voxwoman] writes:
Jewish food: I want to disagree with your premise, but I find I
can't. I'm one of the rare people who actually *likes* gefilte
fish (although it has to be the all whitefish kind and served with
a generous portion of horseradish). And even though you can find
matzoh ball soup in a lot of restaurants these days, it's not
nearly as good as what my mother used to make. I remember my
mother threatening us with strange sounding Jewish food, that she'd
then not make for us, so I don't know what kasha varshiskis is (or
even if I've spelled it properly). And I'm not sure of any other
ethnic group that considers cow tongue a delicacy. Since I'll
never convince the rest of my family to even try it, I can't cook
it anymore, and that's something I miss. The tongue you get at the
deli is also not up to my mother's standards.
Naming the states: If I am asked to name all 50 states, I have to
sing the song "Fifty Nifty United States" in my head. I had to
sing that song in the 4th-grade glee club. The bridge section of
the song is a recitation of all 50 states, in alphabetical order.
It was reinforced in my memory when my daughter also had to learn
the song for school. [-w]
Mark replies:
On the gefilte, I will take the generous portion of horseradish.
Hold the fish!
My mother used to make matzo balls with less fat. That made them a
little more chewy than restaurants do. The difference is like
comparing a bagel to a slice of Wonder Bread. I prefer food that
fights back a little. Did I mention I liked horseradish?
My mother made kasha varnishkes once so we could see what it was.
Kids don't have to eat kasha varnishkes to know they would not like
it, they can just look it up on Wikipedia. That will warn you away
right there. Wikipedia is better than kasha varnishkes. On my
order, hold the kes. Hold the kasha. I will drink the varnish.
Tongue? My mother did make tongue. It was in a subtle tomato
sauce rather than pickled. All kidding aside it is the most
delicate and tender meat I have ever eaten. I know it was no
picnic to make but that is one meat that has gotten a bad rap. But
over rice is was terrific.
Mexicans eat tongue. I don't know if it is a delicacy but where I
am we can get Tacos Lengua fairly commonly. It is good. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Game of the States Puzzle (letters of comment by Steve
Milton, Keith F. Lynch, and Jim Susky)
In response to the "Games of the States" puzzle in the 11/15/13
issue of the MT VOID, Steve Milton had sent this succinct solution:
The answer is 100%. The 42nd state is New York. It must be
traversed to hit the 6 New England states none of which border 8
other states. [-smm]
Keith Lynch wrote a program to calculate all the paths; the
description and results are too long to include here. See
http://tinyurl.com/void-states-kfl. [-ecl]
In response to Mark's and Evelyn's comments on "Game of the
States" in the 11/22/13 issue of the MT VOID, Jim Susky writes:
My method was the same as Evelyn's--to draw a map.
One could try the same thing with nations. I suspect Africa would
have the most "holes" for me.
When I play trivia games with the kids, my son is fond of saying
"that's easy"--my retort is: "It's easy if you know the answer."
"Figuring out" trivia answers seems to be mostly fruitless--if you
don't get the answer quickly most times you never will.
My mother (born 1924) came from an era when BA's and MA's in
Education were still required to know something--content was not
yet shoved over by teaching "methods" and "theories". She was good
at "Arts and Literature" in Trivial Pursuit--better than me,
anyway. She got her MA during the Eisenhower administration and
kept going because every increment meant a raise. Anyway she
taught math and studied chemistry and French as a "post-Master".
Perhaps one reason I can pull 60-odd elements is that I found Mom's
CRC something-or-other--thick with onion skin pages--it was about
chemistry and had a then up-to-date periodic table (including
trans-uranic elements up to 103 give or take). I knew
"Rutherfordium" before I knew why Rutherford was famous.
You might surprise yourself with you own element list.
As for movies I remember a 1970s Western which was set in a mining
town called (by the locals) Molly Be Damned. [-js]
Evelyn replies:
I tried the "name the elements" challenge and got 63. [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THINKING IN NUMBERS: ON LIFE, LOVE, MEANING, AND MATH by Daniel
Tammet (ISBN 978-0-316-18737-4) is a collection of essays dealing
with numbers (though not necessarily mathematics). However, unlike
most such books, it is not a book of pre-existing essays, but
rather a collection of essays either written expressly for this
book, or written and stuck in a drawer until there were enough to
make into a book.
One of the essays, "Counting to Four in Icelandic", is in large
part about one of my particular fascinations, number classifiers.
For example, in English we say "two sheets of paper" or "five
pieces of fruit", not "two papers" or "five fruits" (or if we say
the latter, it means something else.) This is rare in English, but
in some other languages it is pervasive.
Another essay, "A Novelist's Calculus", is of interest to history
(and alternate history) fans. For example, he quotes Tolstoy as
writing, "The movement of humanity, arising it does from
innumerable arbitrary human wills, is continuous. To understand
the laws of this continuous movement is the aim of history. ...
only by taking infinitesimally small units for observation ... and
attaining to the art of integrating them (that is, finding the sum
of these infinitesimals) can we hope to arrive at the laws of
history."
Later Tolstoy says, "Kings are the slaves of history. The
unconscious swarmlike life of mankind uses every moment of a king's
life as an instrument for its purposes." This is not even the
"Tide of History" theory--it is more a "Random Brownian Motion"
theory. No matter all the reasons put forward why Napoleon did
what he did (often contradictory). The truth is that by the time
Napoleon's commands filtered down, most were of necessity ignored
or modified, and the actual outcome less attributable to him than
to the cumulative effects of random events. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
You have to be deviant if you're going to do
anything new.
--David Lee