SFL Archives Volume 21b readthrough

 SFL Archives Volume 21b

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Movies, television shows referenced: INDEPENDENCE DAY, RED DWARF (tv-series), POLTERGEIST THE LEGACY (tv-series), SLIDERS (tv-series), NEVERWHERE (tv-series), OUTER LIMITS (tv-series), PHENOMENON, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR 1996, OSIRIS CHRONICLES, BARB WIRE, MULTIPLICITY, THE FRIGHTENERS, ERASER, THE VISITORS, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME 1996, DARK SKIES (tv-series), WARPED IN SPACE, SWAMP THING (tv-series), XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, FOREVER KNIGHT (tv-series), HOMEBOYS FROM OUTER SPACE (tv-series), THE ARRIVAL, ESCAPE FROM L.A., ISLAND OF DR MOREAU 1996, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST (tv-series), BONE CHILLERS (tv-series), MR STITCH, SPACE JAM 1, LOST IN SPACE 1998, THE CAPE 1996 (tv-series), BOGUS, THE CROW 2, THE PRETENDER (tv-series), STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE (tv-series), BABYLON FIVE (tv-series), STAR TREK VOYAGER (tv-series), STAR TREK 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL, STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT, HIGHLANDER THE TV SERIES, THEM, EARLY EDITION (tv-series), PUMPKIN HEAD 2, MILLENNIUM (tv-series), X-FILES (tv-series), ADVENTURES OF SINBAD (tv-series), ALIEN NATION: THE ENEMY WITHIN, STARGATE SG-1 (tv-series), JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT (tv-series), CONTACT, STANLEY KUBRICKS A.I., ODYSSEY (tv-series), ASTEROID, MARS ATTACKS.

SF&F stories referenced: THE DRAGON AND THE UNICORN, TEHANU, WIND FROM A FOREIGN SKY, BLUE MARS, THE FIRE DUKE, MAGE HEART, OTHER DAYS OTHER EYES, SHAPECHANGERS WIFE, RESURRECTION MAN, RELUCTANT VOYAGERS, INFINITE JEST, BUTTERFLY KID, WAR OF THE WORLDS: GLOBAL DISPATCHES, TAMULI, THRESHOLD, GOSPEL OF CORAX, WAY STATION, ARTIFACT, WILD SEED, THE LONG HUNT, DUTCHMAN, ANVIL OF STARS, BRIGHTNESS REEF, FOREIGNER, THE WATERBORN, DRUM WARNING, HIGHER SPACE, RINGWORLD THRONE, AUTOMATED ALICE, RINGSTONES, LURE OF THE BASILISK, SHADE AND SHADOW, ENCOUNTER WITH TIBER, TREKS NOT TAKEN, SQUARES OF THE CITY, THE FORTUNATE FALL, FORTRESS IN THE EYE OF TIME, WHEN GRAVITY FAILS, THE DUBIOUS HILLS, CELESTIAL MATTERS, LIONS OF AL-RASSAN, WIZARD OF THE PIGEONS, MURDER IN THE SOLID STATE, CADRE LUCIFER, THE TEN TON SNAKES, PASSAGE TO DAWN, ZOD WALLOP, HOLY FIRE, CLOUDS END, RAPTOR RED, ONE FOR THE MORNING GLORY, STARTIDE RISING, THE KILLING GAME, THE SUN THE MOON AND THE STARS, PSALMS OF HEROD, GUARDIANS KEY, BOOK OF ENCHANTMENT, THE KILLING STAR, GOOD OMENS, THE TWO GEORGES, STONE AND FLUTE, HEADCRASH, DEAD GIRLS, ARMED MEMORY, SLOW RIVER, DAGGERSPELL, VIRTUAL DEATH, HAPPY POLICEMAN, THE BASTARD PRINCESS VOLUME 2, CAMELOT 30K, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, WINTER TALE, HUMPTY DUMPTY: AN OVAL, REIGNING CATS AND DOGS, DANCING VAC, EARTHFASTS, BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN, SILVERLOCK, THE INTEGRAL TREES, TERMINAL EXPERIMENT, CONVERGENCE, ARCHANGEL, 1945, PATTERN FOR CONQUEST, ETERNAL LIGHT, A BREACH IN THE WATERSHED, ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME, DRAKON, BLUE SHIFTING, IN CONQUEST BORN, FALLING ANGEL, STARPLEX, CHRONICLES OF HAWKLAN, THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, TEN THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME, SHANGRI-LA: RETURN TO THE WORLD OF LOST HORIZON, THE RETURN, ONE MINDS EYE, LIVE FROM GOLGOTHA, THE WEIRD COLONIAL BOY, SHADOWS OF ECSTASY, GORGON CHILD, LEGACY, BEST OF JAMES BLISH, WITCHLIGHT, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, DISTRESS, GLORY SEASON, WALKING THE LABYRINTH, IDORU, WAITING FOR THE GALACTIC BUS, DEATHSTALKER, THE TRUTH MACHINE, THE REALITY DISFUNCTION, QUIET POOLS, BESERKER, RAPTURE, THE WHENABOUTS OF BURR, THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS, A FIRE UPON THE DEEP, FREE LIVE FREE, FISHERMANS HOPE, GOLDEN WITCHBREED, TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD, BLADERUNNER 2: THE END OF HUMAN, FAIRYLAND, SPARROW, NIGHT LAMP, GRUNTS, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, THE BAKERS BOY, THE LONG RUN, EMERALD EYES, THE LAST DANCER, GORMENGHAST, ECOTOPIA, CITY OF DIAMOND, TIMEMASTER, COYOTE BLUE, LOVE AND SLEEP, CHAIN OF ATTACK, GOJIRO, A WALK IN THE SUN, BLAMELESS IN ABADDON, HOGFATHER, CALLAHANS LEGACY, ALONGSIDE NIGHT, GANYMEDE CLUB, RISE OF ENDYMION, DIAMOND AGE, MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF, IMMORTAL ENGINES, VOYAGE, AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND, INFINITYS SHORE, LAW OF BECOMING, NANOTECH CHRONICLES, THE BIG U, SNOW CRASH, PARIS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, OTHERLAND, DEATH GATE, FEERSUM ENDJINN, SPOOKER, FACETS, MATHEMAGICS, QUICKER THAN THE EYE, THE HASHISH MAN, KEEPER OF THE KING, THE LAW OF LOVE, A GAME OF THRONES, A GAME OF UNIVERSE, ZOTHIQUE, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE, DEVILS TOWER, WORLDWAR: STRIKING THE BALANCE, MADOUC, EMPIRE OF THE ATOM, THE MOTION OF LIGHT AND WATER, CRYSTAL EXPRESS, GALACTIC GOURMET.

 Pop culture references: the GWAR concert at Dragon*Con 1996, Samurai Cat paintings by Mark Rogers, Ms. Magazine, Dilbert comic strip, Super Mario Bros, Choose Your Own Adventure books, DC COMICS Vermillion, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE (Tekumel rpg), Natalie Portman. 

Technology callbacks: WING COMMANDER 4, America Online's Hatrack, July 1996 Rutger University computer network re-org, ELF format, the SFL mailing list moderator going through another round of terrible outcome SF-LOVERS server system upgrades, the CGI in the 1996 movie MARS ATTACKS being cheaper than physical stop-animation puppetry work.

Death notices: Mark Lenard, SFF tv actor. Carl Sagan, American scientist.

SFL requests/discussion topics:

> Re: Lin Carter

> Dragon*Con '19...another successful year

> Re: Foundation series

> Re: Lin Carter

> Re: Van Vogt -spoilers

> Re: Michael Moorcock

> Re: Review RGB Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson MARS trilogy)

> Re: help Saberhagen vampire?

> Re: Illuminati series

> Re: Is Hubbard a respected author?

> Re: U. L. Le Guin, Earthsea stuff

> Re: George R R Marin - any good?

> Nine Princes in Amber influenced by Chandler?

> Re: Sherri S. Tepper and empathy

> Re: Captain Sulu in Voyager

> Re: Dick-Man in the High Castle

> Re: Sector General: what do the letters mean?

> Re: Robert Howard other heroes

> Anime Weekend Atlanta 96 Review

-Ben Aaronovitch, future author of the RIVERS OF LONDON urban fantasy series starts posting to the SFL Archives. Aaronovitch mostly comments on and picks apart things in CJ Cherryh's FOREIGNER series

(2021 note: Ironically, many of the complaints and issues 1996's Ben Aaronovitch is finding with the FOREIGNER series are present in Aaronovitch's RIVERS OF LONDON series)

-SFF Author Lawrence Watt Evans repeatedly tries dunking on/owning SFF fans with his insider knowledge, but fails to connect on any of his "ownage" attempts. SFF author Robert J Sawyer drops off the face of the SFL Archives after winning multiple SFF genre awards in 1996. SFF Jo Walton is becoming extremely fixated on the mil-scifi DRAKA series, especially the DRAKA elements about artificial childbirth/forced impregnation/mind control.

(2021 note: LWE stuff is funny, Jo Walton's fixation on DRAKA and it's many forms of non-consent is memorable for the out-of-nowhere-totally unprompted rant on childbirth/having children Jo Walton delivered to a in-progress SFL Archives discussion on how multiple SFF had independently started using artificial womb tech to avoid writing women characters/patch up plot holes a few SFL Archives Volumes ago)

-A SFLer marvels at how John Brunner incorporated elements of a world series chess match between Russian MI Tchigorin & American W Steinitz, and asks the SFL Archives if anyone has a full transcription of that chess game

(2021 note: Nobody publicly responded back to that SFLer. Mildly curious to see that chess game transcription too.)

-The SFF MAGEWORLDS series is notable mostly because it appears in retrospect to have been the alternate HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE choice if LUCASFILMS hadn't signed a multi-book contract with Timothy Zahn.

-A few SFLers are confused and slightly horny about the growing lesbian overtones in the SFF tv-series XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS

-BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN a SFF murder mystery story about SFF conventions gets mentioned again, and some SFLers are still very notMad about the contents in it. 

-A discussion of PKD's THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE that is so confusing and lit-crit filled I have no idea what anyone is talking about, even after 5+1 attempts at it.

-More SFLer's want to describe out the mechanics of lesbianism and homosexuality left unwritten in David Brins GLORY SEASON

-Much confusion about Ivy Press and who owns the reprinting rights to Jame's L Halperin's THE TRUTH MACHINE

(2021 note: This conversation is interesting because as of 1996 there was at least 3 registered & bonded book publishing brands with variations on the name "Ivy Press")

-Nobody can agree or figure out the ending of Gene Wolfe's first novel FREE LIVE FREE

-SFLers start discussing what Barrayar in Bujolds VORKOSIGIAN series is based on. Early consensus seemed to be Ruritania/PRISONER OF ZENDA before lit-crit SFLers started chiming in

-SFLers are unable to take anything in BABYLON 5 episode 'Grey 17 is Missing' seriously. From the gay bath-house vibes of the hidden males-only religious cult to everything involving Garibaldi and his standoff with the 'perfect predator'. SFLers feel 'Grey 17 is Missing' is one of the worse things J. Michael Straczynski has ever written.

(2021 note: SFLers of 1996 commenting on BABYLON 5 have fallen out of hero-worship mode with J. Michael Straczynski. Too many "well actually" explanations that JMS changed his mind on to retell & present himself in a better light and way too many JMS tantrums when SFLers predicted his plot twists and inspirational sources) 

-More Daniel Keys Moran stupidity. The lies and promised DKM made earlier have failed to play out, so DKM has issued new lies about his CONTINUING TIME stories that will fail to happen. SFLers who really enjoy THE LONG RUN form a DKM-DefenseSquad and start proclaiming how every detractors tune will change once the contract with Del Rey Books is finalized and signed, and two new CONTINUING TIME books drop within months next year.

(2021 note: Seeing a new DefenseSquad form up was amusing, more amusing was knowing it would take an additional 17+ years for DKM to eke out (in serialized form) the 2 CONTINUING TIME books he's being hyping since 1994.) 

-SFLers start publishing copyrighted reviews of STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT. tldr summary, most of them find it stupid as hell, worse than GENERATIONS so far, and find that the suddenly uncontrollable emotions chip in Data 110% gimps his character

-Another SF-LOVERS mailing list moderator mea-culpa trying to explain the latest round of week+ downtime of the SFL Archives mailing list. This time it's the mailing list moderator deciding to upgrade the data format used to store the SFL Archives, then finding out the new data format is NOT supported on the year+ old Linux Kernel the server uses, then the new kernel failing to detect the storage controllers holding the SFL Archives data disks, etc, etc etc.

-A 1996 SFLer asks the question "Who would pay for $5 for a 200 page novel?"

(2021 note: TOR Books currently charges $10-$12 for 170 page novellas)

-Alexei Panshin posts to the SFL Archives giving a very sanitized reason why he has written any new Anthony Villiers stories in 28+ years. Panshin notes that his contract with the publisher paid $1500 for the first edition printings, and then $3000 for the 2nd edition priting, and that he couldn't and still can't support his family on that kind of money. 

-EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE (Tekumel rpg) & it's associated novels come up again in the SFL Archives. This time, SFLers note what Tekumel books and RPG sourcebooks are still in print, M.A.R. Barker's IRL profession and interests, and note the reason why M.A.R. Barker probably uses initials vs his full legal name.

-Harry Knowles review of MARS ATTACK includes the weird details of watching MARS ATTACKS on opening day while sitting next to a total stranger who really enjoyed MARS ATTACKS. And then after the movie was over, Harry Knowles leaving the theater with his family only to encounter that same stranger shot dead in the parking lot.

(2021 note: WTF?)

-Now that the original DOCTOR WHO (tv-series) has been safely dead and buried, Doctor Who actors like Lalla Ward feel safe enough to start relating details of how John Nathan-Turner was a terrible showrunner/executive producer. 

SFL Archives 1996: Otakon 1996 review

 ------------------------------

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 02:31:14 -0400

From: smoon@clark.net (Sang J. Moon)

Reply-to: sf-lovers-misc@Rutgers.Edu

Subject: [CON] Otakon 96 Review

Otakon 96, My Perspective

by Sang J. Moon

   This is far from a complete review of Otakon 96.  This article contains

comments and opinions of events I personally saw.

   Otakon 96 was a very good convention for me because it was mostly

organized well, the anime shown in the video rooms were mostly ones I

haven't seen before, the main events were very enjoyable, and the dealers

offered some great deals.  For background information, Otakon 96 was held

on August 9th through 11th at the Hunt Valley Inn in Maryland.  The Hunt

Valley Inn was barely the right size for the number of people that attended

the con; however, there was not enough room in the main theater for all who

wished to see the Masquerade.  I can't give an accurate number of people

who attended the con, but I would approximate that there were about 500

people in the main theater during the Masquerade.  The male-female ratio

was surprisingly good (only about 5 to 1 :-)), and there were more than a

couple of families with children attending.  In terms of floor plan, Otakon

consisted of two dedicated anime video rooms, one live-action video room,

two panel rooms, the main theater, the dealers' room, the art room, the

video gaming room, workshop room, and open gaming room.  None of these were

overly crowded except for the main theater during the popular events.  The

main events I saw were the Masquerade, the dealers' room, the art show and

model competition, the music videos, and the first showing of the Tenchi

Muyo movie.  There was also the con suite, live action role playing,

karaoke and filk, game show, panels, workshops, and guests, but I did not

have time to attend these.  The guests of honor were Masaomi Kanzaki

(Xenon, etc.), Adam Warren (Dirty Pair comic book adaptation, etc.), Robert

DeJesus, Steve Bennett, C Sue Shambaugh, Jeff Thompson, Steve Pearl, Niel

Nadelman, John Staton, and Matt Lunsford.  The following is my account of

Otakon.

   In terms of organization, Otakon 96 was better than average compared to

the other cons I've attended.  Parking wasn't too bad.  The hotel was very

clean.  Registration could have been improved by having more than one

regular and one preregistration line, but luckily I was in the short

preregistration line.  Otakon should have advertised at least on their

World Wide Web homepage and flyers when registration starts on August 9th.

This was slightly annoying to me because I never received a preregistration

packet, I didn't get a response when I emailed them the question about when

registration and events start, and I assumed registration started at noon

and events started around 1pm (turned out that the video rooms started

showing at noon - missed Rose of Versailles :-().  The pocket program was

easy to read and contained all the information I wanted to know (events,

times, and map).  The main program guide was appropriate too in that it

contained the backgrounds of the guests, events, and all the anime and

live-action being shown.  All the events were relatively on schedule, but

the hotel imposed a curfew on all the rooms between 2am and 9am.  On the

whole, Otakon was easy for me because of the good organization of the staff

and probably also due to the relatively lower attendance and crowding

compared to other conventions I've attended.

   The anime video rooms were the places I spent most of my time, and I was

very happy with the selection available.  Otakon was not geared for the new

anime fan - many of the anime that hardcore fans are already familiar with

were not on the video room lists: Ranman 1/2, Uresei Yatsura, Project A-ko,

Macross Movie, Oh My Goddess, Bubblegum Crisis & Crash, Gundam 0080 & 0083,

Gall Force, Record of Lodoss Wars, etc.  Maybe future anime cons should

dedicate an extra video room for the new anime fans and show these

separately from the relatively newer or obscurer anime that the experienced

fans want to see.  The anime I saw were Assemble Insert (sillier and cuter

than usual comedy about a shy girl with super powers), The Samurai

(BWAHAHAHA - not for the maturity-challenged - some poor father brought his

very young son to watch this; he was spending a lot of the time covering

his son's eyes with his hand), Weathering Continent (a solid but sad

dungeons and dragons themed story), Miracle Girls (soap opera stuff except

the two main characters can teleport), Neon Genesis Evangelion (this is a

must-see), 3x3 Eyes II (great continuation of the 3x3 Eyes story, but

episode 3 is not out yet and the episode 2 cliffhanger makes you want to

know what happens next NOW!), Whisper of the Heart (this touching story of

ordinary people further confirms my belief that Hayao Miyazaki is the king

of anime), Escaflowne (another must-see that combines mecha and dungeons &

dragons), Video Girl Ai (romantic comedy that combines the love

complications of Kimagure Orange Road with the aiding "angel" concept of Oh

My Goddess), Pon Poko (bittersweet and strongly environmentally-minded

story of raccoons being pushed out by human expansion), Ghost in the Shell

(thought provoking Blade Runneresque story about what it means to be human

when you have nothing physical left of your human body - I thought the

movie was a little too obsessive about showing naked perfect female

bodies), Mobile Suit Gundam 8th Mobile Suit Team (standard complicated

Gundam fare about a hotshot Federation pilot during the Zion-Federation

war), Tenchi Muyo Movie: Tenchi in Love (I was expecting too much from this

- - the dialogue was slightly below average in content and quality and there

wasn't much of the character development that I liked in the series -

however the animation was excellent and Tenchi's mom was cool), Fam & Iri

(comedic dungeons & dragons themed anime about a female fighter-magic-user

and a female elf magic-user in search of treasure), Oz (the warlike nature

of man has expanded in the future and a madman and his artificially

intelligent androids attempt to take over the world or destroy it), and the

Daicon III & IV trailers (done by the guys who formed Gainax - extremely

good stuff considering they were just fans back then).  I also watched

Dragons Forever, a Jackie Chan movie about three martial arts friends

fighting a drug mob - I feel pain just watching them bash each other.

   The main events I saw were the music videos, the Masquerade, and the art

show.  The music videos were good as usual, and the winner was a video of

Ryoga from various Ranma 1/2 scenes done in good timing to the Proclaimers

song, "I Wanna Be".  It was very appropriate especially when they sang "I

would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more..." while Ryoga wandered.  I

thought a close contender was a video of various anime girls doing funny

things to the tune "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".  The Masquerade was

excellent as usual too.  The overall winner was a guy dressed exactly as

Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story (some people booed because Buzz Lightyear

wasn't anime, but the judges were the guests of honors and the quality of

the Buzz Lightyear was obviously the best).  The best performance went to a

guy dressed in a skintight costume as some anime male singer and he

actually flexed his stuff and sang a rock song in Japanese (girls were

screaming around me - don't know why :-)) The bravest person to come on

stage went to the person fully dressed in Valkyrie battloid costume that

looked like it was made from plywood (he had trouble climbing the small

steps going up to the stage).  The best craftsman award went to a guy

dressed as Tenchi in Jurai battle dress.  Two that stuck in my mind were

the group of people dressed as all the Dragonball Z characters and did a

skit where Mr. Satan beats everybody else by shear coincidence and a brave

girl dressed as Kei (from dirty pair) who actually ripped open her costume

halter top to the crowd (she had a bra on - don't think nasty thoughts

:-)).  The art work was good overall - more than a few of the female

figurines were very anatomically correct (defied gravity too) :-).  I

suggest people definitely see these events in future cons, but get in line

at least 30 minutes before the events like the Masquerade start.

   The dealers' room had an excellent selection.  They had more pure

Japanese merchandise than I've seen in other cons I've been to.  I

personally bought a T-shirt, a few graphics novels, and tapes (Nadia 1-8,

Phantom Quest Corp 1-2, Mermaid Forest, Please Save My Earth 1-2, and

You're Under Arrest 1-4) for an average price of $12 per tape.  Animeigo

was the predominant big name there.  Points of interest: Orion has started

rereleasing Nadia which it bought from Streamline - hopefully Orion will

expand their selection, Here is Greenwood 1-6 is coming out commercially

real soon, and Pandora's Box had the best deal of 50% off tape prices on

the last day.  I hope future cons can at least match this dealers' room.

   Other things of interest that occurred was the joint Maryland anime

clubs' party in the con suite on Saturday night and a theft.  The party was

okay.  There were chicken wings, cheeses, etc., but there wasn't anybody

with a strange personality who usually becomes the life of a party - I

guess anime fans in Maryland have a life and have better things to do than

get drunk :-).  There was a major theft in the hotel; someone had various

things (about $1200 worth) including a VCR stolen from their room.  Take

this as a lesson to keep your important stuff at home, on your body, or

secured in a con - don't leave it in your room.

   Overall, Otakon 96 was worth the price, and I look forward to it next

year - hopefully with a few improvements.

Sang J. Moon

smoon@clark.net

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