THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
05/27/16 -- Vol. 34, No. 47, Whole Number 1912
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
Centennial Event in Matawan (NJ) (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Piracy (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Deiselpunk Industries (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in June (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
WEST SIDE STORY (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE GOD CELLS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
Hacking Cars (letter of comment by Peter Trei)
Electoral College (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
This Week's Reading (WHEN GENERAL GRANT EXPELLED THE JEWS
and THE MARTIAN) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
June 9: THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (2010) and story "Adjustment Team" by
Philip K. Dick (in THE COLLECTED STORIES OF PHILIP K. DICK,
VOLUME TWO, and http://tinyurl.com/leeper-adjustment-team),
Middletown (NJ) Public Library, 5:30PM
June 23: [no meeting]
July 14: ROBOCOP (1987) and story "Brillo" by Ben Bova and Harlan
Ellison ( or
http://nemaloknig.info/read-65417/), Middletown (NJ)
Public Library, 5:30PM
July 28: "The Spectre General" by Theodore R. Cogswell and "The
Witches of Karres" by James H. Schmitz (both in SCIENCE
FICTION HALL OF FAME 2B), Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library,
7PM
August 25: TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE by Solomon Northup, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 7PM
September 22: "In Hiding [Children of the Atom]" by Wilmar
H. Shiras and "The Big Front Yard" by Clifford D. Simak
(both in SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME 2B), Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 7PM
October 27: TBD, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
November 17: "Rogue Moon" by Algis Budrys and "The Moon Moth" by
Jack Vance (both in SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME 2B),
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
December 22(?): TBD, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
Garden State Spec. Fiction Writers Lectures (subject to change):
June 4: Fran Wilde, Worldbuilding in the Air, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 12N
July 9: Michael Swanwick, Building Stories, Old Bridge (NJ) Public
Library, 12N
August: TBD, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 12N
September 10: Ellen Datlow, The State of Horror, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 12N
October 1: Ken Altabef, Adventures in Publishing, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 12N
November 5: David Sklar, Character Dreaming, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 12N
Northern New Jersey events are listed at:
http://www.sfsnnj.com/news.html
===================================================================
TOPIC: Centennial Event in Matawan (NJ) (comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)
Even those readers who live in central New Jersey may not realize
that Peter Benchley got his inspiration for JAWS from a series of
real shark attacks that took place in this area. The shark attacks
took place in Matawan (and other towns) just a hundred years ago,
in 1916. Matawan will be commemorating the centennial with trolley
and bus tours of the various sites, the unveiling of a plaque in
Memorial Park, and the laying of wreaths on the graves of two of
the victims. Details may be found at
http://burrowesmansion.org/1916-shark-attack-anniversary/. (They
say this page will be updated as plans firm up.) [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Piracy (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
DVDs these days say, "Piracy is not a victimless crime." That is
true. Then again neither is stamp collecting. But people will
probably continue to do both. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Deiselpunk Industries (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
There is a large collection of public domain movies, shorts,
serials, and radio shows at a new website called Diesel Industries.
Go to http://www.dieselpunkindustries.com/ and select the menu in
the upper-right corner of the screen. The real champ site for
finding public domain is archive.org, but this new site has
material I have never seen at archive.org. The site styling has
the spirit of "Diesel Punk". (Think "Steampunk" but set in the
1950s. Think THE ROCKETEER.)
This website is fun.
(Thanks to the excellent Attaboy Clarence Podcast for pointing this
website out.)
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in June (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
June's TCM Director of the Month must be Billy Wilder. I see about
seventeen films directed by Wilder. It would not be easy for me to
pick the top two or three. And picking a film that the readers
might not know is a little tough. There is certainly the popular
Wilder film SOME LIKE IT HOT, but most people will already know it.
If you have never seen SOME LIKE IT HOT then do so. It is a great
comedy. But I think most people reading this already know the
film. I believe I have written about Wilder's ACE IN THE HOLE in
the past. Let me try you on STALAG 17 (1953).
The film starts with a narrator saying nobody seems to make World
War II movies about POWs. Well there are a number of such films at
this point. I hope the narrator saw THE GREAT ESCAPE. But STALAG
17 is one of the best and it is all about POWs. A stalag is a
German prisoner of war camp. Stalag 17 is for captured airmen, and
in this case they are all sergeants. It is a prison camp used for
only sergeants. The internees of 17 plan clever escape attempts,
but has been having very bad luck with their escapes. The men in
the barrack realize that there must be a spy among them who is
tipping off the Germans. Everyone thinks he knows whom the spy
must be. It has to be Sefton (played by William Holden, who won
the Best Actor Oscar for this film). Sefton is s phenomenally
successful scrounge. The barrack reasons that he probably could
not be so successful unless he was getting help from the Germans.
And if so what was he giving them in return? Nobody trusts Sefton,
and everybody hates him. Sefton knows he is innocent and realizes
he himself has to catch the spy that nobody else believes exists.
That would make for a good story, and much of the film is stolen by
Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck as Animal and Harry, two low-life
and very funny prisoners.
Sefton makes for one of the screen's best anti-heroes, and one of
the first. Otto Preminger also appears detestable as the Camp
Commandant. This film was undoubtedly the inspiration for TV's
Hogan's Heroes. STALAG 17 itself is based on a very popular stage
play written by two men who had been POWs in the real Stalag 17.
At the time of its release there was some discussion that the
American soldiers should have been put in a more heroic john Wayne-
like light, but seen today they seem fairly realistically
portrayed, and the film stands up well seen from the 21st century.
[Friday (into Saturday), June 9, Midnight to 2:15 AM]
BLACK ORPHEUS (1959) is a jazzy and explosively colorful retelling
of the myth of Orpheus who descended into hell to save his lover
Eurydice. But strangely the film takes place in Brazil told
against a backdrop of Carnival time in Rio de Janero. The cast is
all first-time players with the exception of Marpessa Dawn who
plays Eurydice. How the story could be going on in Rio is not
explained till the end. (Hang in there, it will make sense.) The
film was the first Brazilian movie to break out to a big
international audience. It won the Academy Award for the best
foreign language film. It was directed by Marcel Camus. But the
greatest contributors would be Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa
who Samba score was an instant classic. [Thursday, June 23, 4:00
PM]
HELL DRIVERS was a 1957 action drama directed by Cy Enfield. It is
about truckers who carry gravel and compete with each other to make
faster and faster deliveries of their loads of gravel. The fastest
driver is a hero; the slowest driver wins a pink slip. HELL
DRIVERS was made on a low budget with a sort of a nothing cast.
Well, it was a nothing cast at the time. Almost everyone in the
film went on to be stars. The cast includes Stanley Baker (ZULU),
Herbert Lom (Inspector Clouseau films), Peggy Cummins (NIGHT OF THE
DEMON), Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner), William Hartnell (Dr.
Who), Jill Ireland (Star Trek), Alfie Bass (THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE
KILLERS), Gordon Jackson (THE IPCRESS FILE), David McCallum (The
Man from U.N.C.L.E.) and Sean Connery (nearly everything else).
This was the FAST AND FURIOUS of its day. [Thursday, June 2, noon]
What is the best film of the month? I know I have previously
chosen this as the best film of the month but for me A MAN FOR ALL
SEASONS (1966) is a film of true greatness about Thomas More. You
cannot do much better than A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, Robert Bolt's
play about Sir Thomas More and his conflict with Henry VIII.
Nobody can express himself better in a verbal argument than Thomas
More. [Wednesday, June 22, 10:00 PM]
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: WEST SIDE STORY (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
These gangs are very sanitized: the Jets seem really reticent to
fight using guns, or even knives.
The Jets seem to think Puerto Ricans eat tamales.
But strangely enough, they have no objection to the mambo.
The gender roles are peculiar for 1961. I know the whole dance
thing is part of the syntax of musicals, but I cannot help but
think that if the Jets actually danced like that in the streets,
everyone would either laugh at them or decide they were all
maricons, or both. And Anybodys is far more androgynous than even
the male-named female scientists in the 1950s science fiction
movies. (Various people have claimed she was a hetero tomboy,
bisexual, lesbian, or transgender.)
Natalie Wood may be a good actress, but whoever was her voice coach
was terrible, because that is one of the worst Puerto Rican accents
I have heard. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: THE GOD CELLS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: THE GOD CELLS surveys the contentious debate on the value
of fetal stem cells in treating serious illness and it plants its
feet clearly and unambiguously on one side of the debate. Eric
Merola was so impressed with the results he got with stem cell
treatment that he wrote and directed this monument to the
treatment. If stem cell therapy is as good as he says, one wonders
why we are not hearing more about it from the rest of the world
where, unlike in the United States, the therapy is legal. I cannot
evaluate the medical claims Merola makes but they are a little too
extravagant to be taken at face value. Rating: + (-4 to +4) or /10
First the basics: What is a stem cell? Every cell in a human came
from a stem cell. It is basically the raw material from which all
the different kinds of cells descend. All the cells of a multi-
cell organism had their origin as stem cells. The fetus of a child
has a multitude of stem cells, more than are needed by the baby.
These cells are present in the early period of a fetus, but they
are material that does not get used in the making of the baby. In
the process of aborting a baby these cells that would not have
become baby are discarded as medical waste as if they had no value.
These cells can, however, be collected and used to create in a
laboratory (in vitro) many other kinds of cells that would be
useful in medicine, but almost always they are discarded. This
question of whether to use the cells gives rise to religious,
ethical, and social issues. It is considered an unnatural use of
human fetuses. The concerns have to be weighed against the
potential these cells would have to save and restore human life.
There is a question of the ethics of using biological material
taken from human fetuses to save or improve other people's lives.
Eric Merola wrote and directed THE GOD CELLS, a documentary
examining the controversy stemming from the controversy of stem
cell research.
This is partly a startling documentary and part a hard sell on the
medical benefits of fetal stem cell treatment for, well, just about
anything that needs fixing. Apparently stem cells injected in a
patient will find what needs to be repaired and will go there. THE
GOD CELLS starts with testimonials of people helped or virtually
cured from very bad diseases like cystic fibrosis and by the end of
the film it is presenting the view that the treatment is good for
just about whatever ails you. In addition to the case histories of
near miraculous cures we get a short account of what fetal stem
cells are, the controversy surrounding the treatment and big
business's war against advocacy of the treatment. And always there
is the return to covering patients relating miraculous case
histories. As an odd touch nearly every case history seems to
document a return not just to vigor in general but to a favorite
sport in particular. Frequently the patient is now championship
level at the sport.
Much of the film involves the legal status of the fetal stem cell
therapy. Patients from the United States who want the treatment
find they have to go to another country to get it. Fetal stem cell
therapy, as powerful as it seems, is currently illegal on US soil.
Americans who want the treatment must go to Mexico or Canada. This
we are told is the result of a conspiracy led by the Food and Drug
Administration at the behest of Big Pharmaceutical Corporations.
One point that should have been covered in the film and was not was
what is happening in Canada. In Canada stem cell therapy is legal
and by the evidence given it should really be taking that country's
medical environment by storm. That does not appear to be
happening. Why are we not hearing more about the popularity and
success of the treatment in Canada? In the end writer/director
Eric Merola reminds the audience that at times the treatment helps
little or not at all. We see no statistics. This documentary is
just the enthusiastic account of Merola who had had the treatment
and wanted to share his good news. He may well be right about the
importance of this medical treatment. His film is a little hard to
believe without more corroboration. THE GOD CELLS, with its
flamboyant title, is just a bit too fervent to be easily
distinguished from pseudo-science. I rate THE GOD CELLS a 0 on the
-4 to +4 scale scale or 4/10. THE GOD CELLS opens to limited
release in New York on June 3 and in Los Angeles on June 10.
Film Credits:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5482596/combined
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_god_cells/?search=god%20cells
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Hacking Cars (letter of comment by Peter Trei)
In response to Mark's comments on Michigan lawmakers who wanted to
make changing the software in a car a crime with a lifetime
imprisonment sentence in the 05/20/16 issue of the MT VOID, Peter
Trei writes:
'When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail'. The
legislators don't have a clue how to secure cars, so they pass a
'Don't Do That' law.
It's the wrong solution. Currently, some cars can have their
critical software hacked by bluetooth from outside the car. Worse,
an "update" containing malware could be pushed to every car of a
certain model. Imagine, as part of a cyber attack every Lincoln
Town Car in America is suddenly 'bricked', and can't move. Or:
Every Ford Police Interceptor Utility (as used by my states Highway
Patrol) suddenly locks the doors, goes to full throttle, and can't
be turned off.
Even on a car-by-car basis, this could be used as an assassination
weapon. (ObSF: Stross's HALTING STATE).
If you're planning to do something like that, a 'Don't Do That' law
isn't going to stop you.
Legislators and the NTSB should be leaning on the car makers to
secure the software update path, secure the CANbus (the car's
internal network), separate the media/entertainment/communications
net from the driving controls, and add sanity checking and the
ability to cut out most of the electronics and fall back to
hardwired defaults in an emergency.
But that would cost money, and the car makers might have to scale
back their payments to legislators. The only company I'm aware of
which seems to have a clue on fixing their product's data security
is Tesla. [-pt]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Electoral College (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
In response to comments on the electoral college in the 05/20/16
issue of the MT VOID, Jim Susky writes:
Some of the recent MT VOID commentary regarding the electoral
college and related ruminations beg a brief response.
I am quite sure "Mark's Crowd" is better informed than the
population-at-large, but one hears of "Democracy" so much more
often than "Constitutional Republic" that I hasten to note that the
Founders, all educated, and all much closer to the depredations of
various governances than we, were careful to make natural rights
explicit in the US Constitution and the bill of rights.
Democracy's at their worst are mobs with the legitimacy of majority
rule--without natural rights, 501 voters may enslave the other 499.
The electoral college is not a "natural right" per se, but a way
(along with the Senate) to assure that populous state are slowed
down a bit when trying mob rule over the others.
Keith Lynch is quite correct to say that "parties are private
organizations". Those who don't like that may form their own
parties.
(And I'll add that so-called "campaign finance laws" are anti-
competitive--by using the courts and police to raise the barriers
to entry they benefit the Elephants and Donkeys far more than
prevent "corruption". If they were businesses, one could invoke
Anti-Trust restrictions for being anti-competitive.)
Mark said:
"Perhaps political systems should not be manipulated at will where
the interests of others are involved."
What manipulations and by whom have nominated the likes of Donald
Trump? His case, as the most popular primary candidate, would seem
to indicate otherwise.
Finally, with respect to how various GOP leaders have begun to
support The Donald as an inevitability I'll cite Pres. Clinton who
said something like (about presidential candidates)
"Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line"
[-js]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
WHEN GENERAL GRANT EXPELLED THE JEWS by Jonathan D. Sarna (ISBN
978-0-8052-4279-9) is an examination of General Orders No. 11,
which expelled all Jews from the area of Tennessee under Grant's
control. Because of poor communication within the area, and
Lincoln's contravention of it within a couple of weeks (as soon as
he heard of it), it had only limited enforcement.
More interesting is Sarna's discussion of what happened after.
There is certainly evidence that Grant regretted his action, often
apologizing to Jewish groups even when they had not brought the
issue up (although one might argue that it was the six-hundred-
pound gorilla in the room in any case). But Sarna cites many
occasions when Grant chose Jews for various government positions,
spoke out against persecutions of Jews overseas, and in general did
more to promote recognition of Jews as full citizens in the United
States and protection of Jews from persecution everywhere.
(It is worth noting that until the Civil War, all military
chaplains had to be ordained in a Christian faith. And the
National Reform Association attempted to introduce language into
the Constitution from the time of the Civil War until the early
1900s declaring the United States a Christian nation with
"allegiance to Jesus Christ.")
But as proof that the more things change, the more they stay the
same, I will quote Abraham Lincoln, "To condemn a class is, to say
the least, to wrong the good with the bad. I do not like to hear a
class or nationality condemned on account of a few sinners."
I listened again to the audiobook of THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir (read
by R. C. Bray) (ISBN 978-1-491-59016-4) and a few new thoughts
occurred to me.
SPOILERS ahead! Do not read further if you have not read the book.
Even the movie is not enough--some of the points discussed are not
in the movie.
The hero of the book is Mark Watney, but arguably second place
would go to Rich Purnell. Though it does not come out as much in
the film, in the book it is clear that Purnell is on the
Aspberger's spectrum. What is interesting is that it is not a plot
point at all--no one talks about it or comments on it. That is
just his personality, the way Jack Trevor or Mindy Park have their
personalities.
When Watney takes the laptop outside, the liquid in the liquid
crystal display "either froze or boiled off." But how did the
laptops get into the Hab to start with. They couldn't have been
sent on one of the supply rockets--they apparently had no
protection against the cold or the vacuum. And they apparently
survived the Hab decompression as well. (And Watney specifically
says everything in the Hab is designed to survive a decompression.)
The same question exists for the Sharpies, though those might have
been in a vacuum pack. since Mark was more concerned about boiling
off than freezing. The potatoes are another question--even if they
were brought on the MDV, how did they get to the Hab without
freezing? (And how big was the MDV that there was room for
potatoes?)
After the Hab explosion, when Watney climbs into his one-armed
suit, how does he put his helmet on? Given that the helmets seem
completely detachable, he can't just tip it forward and latch it.
And he also has to be able to take it off one-handed.
Someone should make a list of all the times Watney survives because
of sheer luck. Clearly his initial survival falls into this
category, but there are many more. The Hab explosion, for example,
happens when the potatoes are just about ready to harvest, rather
than when they are still immature. (He also gets stranded *before*
the crew has eaten the potatoes.) Martinez happens to have a
wooden cross and Johansson has an ASCII table on her laptop.
Watney gets lost and runs into a crater; climbing the crater to
choose a direction is how he discovers the sandstorm.
Another question: when the rover and trailer roll over, the trailer
ends up upside down with its nose pointed downhill. Watney decides
to flip it over its nose, which means when he is done, it is
pointed *uphill*. He says nothing about any attempt to drive the
rover around it so that the rover is in front of it again, yet it
seems very unlikely that it would have all the same connectors at
both ends. (That the trailer's tow hook was undamaged implies that
the tow hooks are at the back of the vehicles.) [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
I have tried to know absolutely nothing about a great
many things, and I have succeeded fairly well.
--Robert Benchley