January 2000
Greetings From the Last Best Year of the 20th Century.
As you can tell, Y2K onset has come and gone without the world
entering Apocalypse mode (though the moon is supposed to turn
the color of blood the night of Jan, 20 - See the Space, the
Final Frontier section below - unless you are getting this the
night of the 20th in which case you should run out and look
up in the sky right now). We don't know about you, but
we are certainly glad not to be out foraging for food,
internet access, and other necessities. You might even
say we are in a thankful mood.
Thanks to everyone who came by and helped us celebrate the
onset of the final year of the millennium. Ours was the
party where everyone set around and talked, though I (Clif)
snuck away long enough to watch the program on Galaxy Quest
that Several Unlimited was showing. We got out the noise-makers
to celebrate the onset of the New Year with New York, but met
the actual new year with a kiss and a toast with a glass of cold
cider (the alcoholaphobe's champagne substitute).
I had invited a couple of people from UH to the party and worried
that they might feel a bit left out. I needn't have worried as it
turned out that John Wang was indistinguishable from any other
Science Fiction fan (and showed up prominently in the party photos
that Several Unlimited published in their newsletter) and Priti
(who was a REAL GOOD SPORT!, sayeth Margaret ~ thanks again!)
served as a continual conversation focus as she received tons of
advice on what SF she should read first.
Disaster threatened when it turned out the hotel planned to close
the breakfast buffet an hour before breakfast was scheduled,
but Dee Beetem negotiated near midnight with the staff and got a
promise to expand the hours a bit. John Moore hit the Internet and
let the Saturday Morning Breakfast group know to show up 30 minutes
early.
As 9:30 A.M. approached, the short order cook (who had been told
to expect maybe 14 people) was faced with an ever growing line of
people. And of course they weren't going to turn away customers
while there was still a line. The buffet had a bit less variety
than is usual for the hotel restaurant, but was still quite good
and a fair value for the money. Thank You, Dee and John for saving
the day so that people didn't show up to a closed restaurant. And
a big Thank You to Jan Meek who took up a collection to tip the
long suffering and good-natured cook!
Kathy Stahl arrived and joined the still-existing line as we were
heading upstairs somewhere around 11:00 A.M. , and it was
disappointing that she didn't come on up for the Open House. We
didn't expect to see Bob Stahl since he really is up in the frozen
wastelands (as in Russia somewhere north of Siberia).
Inasmuch as we were one of several side events for the main Several
Unlimited party, we actually had a larger attendance for the Friends
of Fandom Open House on Saturday than any time New Year's Eve.
At one point we had to import more chairs. Even Friends of Fandom
President, Bill Parker, managed to stop by for a short while. If you
were there for the entire thing and didn't blink, you would have seen
the (very short) mandatory annual Friends of Fandom meeting. Hey, it
was the first Friends of Fandom event after the old CONTEX date
(Thanksgiving weekend). (This wasn't a business meeting, but for some
inexplicable legal reason we are required to have an annual meeting
at which nothing specified has to happen and at which no one in
particular has to be in attendance. Go figure).
It was fun to see old friends that we hadn't had a chance to talk
with in a long while, even if some were far too short, like Brad
Frank (Hi Angela) and Jan Meek. Jan did get to brag on her kids
and publicly declare that she had sworn off marriage. It was fun
seeing Moffitt in a tux and Grady in costume. And we did have a
satisfyingly long conversation with Ben Daily and family and another
with Herb and Juliann, who we had lost email touch with three email
addresses back.
So Herb is back on the Info Alert subscription list now. As is Beth
Arganbright (if we have the email problem figured out).
Welcome back aboard, both of you, and thanks to everyone who signed
up for the Info Alert in 1999. (We warned you we were in a thankful
mood.)
And now...
Fasten your seatbelt and bring your browser window to
an upright and locked position.
And we are off ....
As always, how far off you have to determine for yourself.
Who KNOWS What EVIL Lurks in the Hearts of Men???
The Shadow Knows! - That question and response was the well-
known opening of The Shadow Radio Program in the 1940's (and
infinite reruns since) and the voice you heard was that of John Archer
who later played the lead role in Destination Moon.
During his 84 years he saw interest in the Shadow ebb and flow.
The Shadow returned in comic book form numerous times, in
reprints of the original pulps, and most recently in the form of
a 1994 movie.
The movie drew from an interesting amalgamation of the pulp Shadow
and the radio Shadow with a healthy dose of retro SF as the Shadow's
recurring enemy (see the chronology linked to below) builds the first
atomic bomb. The movie's story has been subsequently fleshed out in
an amazing series of stories, the last being a highly recommended movie
prequel, by Kimberly Murphy-Smith (Available on the web - See below).
But through all the ups and downs of the Shadow's repeated
rebirths, a large part of pull on the imagination has to have
been the memories of the stark dramatic pronouncements of John Archer.
Though John Archer himself died December 5, just short of the year
2000, his voice may well be immortal.
The WEED of Crime Bears Bitter Fruit!!
Crime does NOT PAY!
The Shadow knows...
The Shadow - http://www.cs.uku.fi/~vaisala/SHADOW/Shadow.htm
The Shadow Movie - http://amazon.imdb.com/Title?0111143#comment
The Shadow Video
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=3D078321958X/fantasicfuturesbA
Hospitals can be Murder - page 50 in
http://freehosting2.at.webjump.com/6cd9d0990/hc/hcarchives-webjump/hc01.txt
The Clouded Mind - page 52 in
http://freehosting2.at.webjump.com/6cd9d0990/hc/hcarchives-webjump/hc02.txt
The "Hands Off" Murderer - in
http://freehosting2.at.webjump.com/6cd9d0990/hc/hcarchives-webjump/hc03.txt
Anything Is Possible...And Nothing Is Impossible (Prequel)
http://members.aol.com/hczine/curissue/hc03.html
The Shadow Chronology - http://members.aol.com/yingko9/Shadow.htm
The Shadow Pulps - http://idt.net/~nexus1/_shadow/index.html
Speaking of Making Crime Pay
The Austin SF/Mystery specialty bookstore, Adventures in Crime
and Space, is now selling selected items on Ebay. Check out
the auction items at
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=3Dcrimeandspace
On their usual web page, they currently have interviews with
Elizabeth Moon (she feels Anne McCaffrey did her share in
their co-written books) and James Morrow (who is still ticked off
at C. S. Lewis). We've mentioned Don Webb's article, The Gate and
the Guardian of the Gate before, but if you haven't read it yet
be sure to now!
Note that they have signed books by both authors (and more).
Adventures in Crime & Space - http://www.crimeandspace.com/
Elizabeth Moon Interview - http://www.crimeandspace.com/MoonInt.htm
James Morrow Interview - http://www.crimeandspace.com/MorrInt.htm
The Gate and the Guardian of the Gate -
http://www.crimeandspace.com/webb.html
Doom, Gloom, and Major Disasters
Flippancy aside, the last two months have been a time when we have
lost some of our favorite icons. These include 'Q' of the British
Secret Service, the Lone Ranger, and the Fiancee of Frankenstein.
I refer to Desmond Llewellyn who played master gadgeteer 'Q' in 17
of the 21 James Bond films (did I count right, Brad?) who died
December 3 at 85, Clayton Moore who played the masked rider of the
plains died December 29 at 85, and finally Madeline Kahn whose
character in Young Frankenstein, together with Igor, managed to steal
the show. Madeline Kahn died far too early on December 3 of ovarian
cancer.
The death, not of a person, but of hope for recovering the Mars
Polar Lander, occurred January 17, 2000 as the team ended all
attempts to regain communications with the spacecraft. No longer
will the Mars Global Surveyor listen for some response from the
Polar Lander around the clock. Now Mars Global Surveyor continues
to perform special targeted observations of the Mars Polar Lander
landing site in hopes of imaging the lander or its parachute. No
evidence of the spacecraft has been sighted so far and these attempts
will continue through early February. The team has started in-depth
analysis of terrain hazards within the landing footprint. They still
have no idea what happened but are accumulating a hefty stack of
paperwork detailing things to do differently next time.
Also, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
(http://cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cossc/descriptions/cgro.html )
may be facing imminent demise. It was launched with three working
gyroscopes. One has already failed. Should a second gyroscope fail,
the GRO would tumble out of orbit and crash who knows where on Earth.
Scientists are now considering a pre-emptive controlled crash landing
in the Pacific Ocean so as to have some say on where the GRO lands.
http://www.space.com/science/astronomy/compton_telescope_000117.html
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/01/19/timfgnusa01001.html?1996766
On the Brighter Side
Ray Bradbury 's mind seems unaffected by his stroke and there is every
reason to hope for complete recovery.
Now that the court case is finished, Stephen King has triumphed over
the writer's block caused when the spirit of Christine seized a passing
van and smashed into him last June, resulting in broken bones and a
collapsed lung.
King was scandalized when the driver plea bargained down to 6 months
in jail and a one year driving suspension. Perhaps purchasing the van
and demolishing it with a sledge hammer helped with the writer's block.
http://surf.bookwire.com/news/business/2000/01/14/-----/0540-0132-Stephen-King.....html
We have reached the putative date of Bruce Sterling's Viridian
Manifesto without achieving total ecological disaster.
The Manifesto of January 3, 2000
http://www.well.com/conf/mirrorshades/viridian/manifesto.html
Viridian Design
http://www.well.com/conf/mirrorshades/viridian/
Margaret's niece is thinking about getting married the weekend before
ArmadilloCon. This is definitely news on the brighter side, since
if it was a week later we would have missed ArmadilloCon and not
gotten to hear the GOH speech by Catharine Asaro.
And speaking of Catherine Asaro, SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of
America) has placed Science Fiction/Fantasy by a number of their
authors online including some by Catherine Asaro, like the first
section of Catch the Lighning, Primary Inverstion, and The Last
Hawk.
Science Fiction Writers of America - http://www.sfwa.org/
Members Fiction Online - http:/www.sfwa.org/fiction/
Catch the Lightning - http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/page_ctl.html
Primary Inversion - http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/page_pi.html
The Last Hawk - http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/page_lh.html
Hopefully this will be a growing trend.
Quotable Quotes
''The telephone, the automobile, movies, radio, television, rock and
roll, video games, the Internet, and Barney have all been identified
as things destructive to the next generation. With the possible
exception of Barney, this is just silly scapegoating''.
- David Gerald
The Future Isn't What It Used To Be
http://www.galaxyonline.com/Contributors/Gerrold_David/Column1_P1.htm
The Force To Be With You This April
(No, not to deal with the IRS).
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm
Ltd. recently announced the simultaneous worldwide VHS
videocassette release of George Lucas' STAR WARS:
EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE.
As an industry first, this release marks the first time
ever that the millions of film fans around the globe
will be able to enjoy the same video release within a
single week -- April 3-8, 2000. (*)
(North America is April 4.)
(*) Excluding France, which releases in Fall 2000)
See:
http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/news/index.html#followup
http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=3D3D4975
Lucas Honored with Tolerance Award
George Lucas received the Sherrill C. Corwin Human
Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee,
a organization which "promotes intergroup and
interreligious cooperation, and fights all forms of
discrimination worldwide." The award was presented
by past winner Steven Spielberg.
In accepting the award, Lucas noted, "I spend a great
deal of my life concerned about education that will
hopefully teach people to be compassionate and wise
in their relationships with other people. That's one
of the answers to the problems of mankind."
"We have a gift that God has given us, and that's our
brain. If we use it, we can accomplish almost anything.
But we must use it in ways not only intellectual, but
also emotional. And we must advance equally in our
emotional lives as in our intellectual ones."
For more information, see the official Star Wars site:
http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/news/2000/02/news3a.html
Quotable Quotes
''Consider the Roswell case. It purports that U.S. officials seized a
crashed spaceship fifty years ago. They have been studying it (and
the dead crew) ever since, in a sealed hangar at Wright Patterson Air
Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. ... What are the results of all that
research? ... Except for supermarket bar-code scanners (which I might
be persuaded are alien devices, after all), I see no evidence of
anything that did not arise out of incremental innovation by
hardworking human beings.
Given the state of our U.S. budget deficit, who acts like they've
captured a starship? Us? Or Japan? (Hey, there may be a story there!)''
- David Brin
Demand More From Your Aliens
http://www.galaxyonline.com/Contributors/Brin_David/Feature1_P1.htm
The Future Is Real Soon Now!
The Convergence of TV and the Web! Science and Science
Fiction related programs on Demand!! Very very soon, the very
first original Science Fiction Movie, the first original Science
Fiction Children's Series and the first original Science Fiction CGI
Animated Movie, via the Internet!!! Interactive access to
information, products and services related to what you a watching!
Imagine Ben Bova as the Content Editor with renowned, award-winning
science fiction authors as contributors of show scripts and hypertext!
Imagine Galaxy Online.
(No relationship to the old Galaxy magazine, though they do have
Spider Robinson as a regular contributor).
Galaxy Pictures, Inc., a subsidiary, is currently developing dozens
of original small budget films, eight television series and a number
of original "web shorts". In addition, they have acquired licenses
for classic science fiction movies and TV shows for broadcast over
the Internet.
In spite of the names involved, this has been sounding like pie-in-
the-sky, but now the initial Web Site is up with a video of a Ben
Bova Interview, articles by David Gerrold, Spider Robinson, and
David Brin (the source of our Quotable Quotes this ish) with an
upcoming Orson Scott Card story "The Elephants of Posnan".
They have reviews by Tom Eason and George Zebrowski and claim
contributions from Anne McCaffrey, Harlan Ellison, Greg Benford,
Michael Resnick and Dorothy Fontana are on their way.
Someone sounds prepared to drop a ton of money to grab mind-space
for Science Fiction on the Internet. Particularly interactive
Science Fiction. They have a link labeled Investors, but when
you try to follow it, it wants a password.
I should warn you that viewing the page seems to kill Netscape across
a variety of platforms, but I'm told that it works fine with Internet
Explorer and I've successfully used lynx to read the text.
Galaxy Online - The future starts here.
Galaxy Online - http://www.galaxyonline.com/
Favorite Button For the New Millennium (which starts next year)!
"The chaotic state of human affairs precludes a rational explanation
of the Universe,
Forthcoming SF&Fantasy Books
January release from Fred Saberhagen (second in his Book of the Gods
series).
For more sf&f new book listings and more detail (updated monthly),
see http://www.clever.net/cam/forthcomingsf.html .
For Fans of Phillip K Dick
The Freedom of Information Act is a wonderful thing. If you
have an interest in seeing what was in the FBI files on Phillip
K Dick, APBnews.com has used the Act to obtain the files
including letters Dick wrote, following the infamous 1971
break-in to his apartment, expressing the belief he was part
of a plot to spread a new strain of syphilis.
http://www.apbnews.com/media/gfiles/pdick/index.html
For Fans of All That Mushy Stuff!!!
The Sapphire Awards are given to the best works from any genre that
have both science fiction and romance intrinsic to the story.
Looking at the winners, we think they are just great stories.
The Sapphire Awards are voted on by the members of The Science
Fiction Romance newsletter and cover the period from December 1998
to November 1999.
1999 Sapphire Award Winners - Novel length
* First place - A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
* Second place - The Godmother Sanction by Patricia White
* Third place - The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro
1999 Sapphire Award Winners - Short Fiction
* First Place: "Aurora in Four Voices," by Catherine Asaro
(Analog, 11/98)
* Second Place: "Dinner Date," by Patricia White (Millennium SF&F)
* Third Place: (tie)
"A Little Death," by Susan Sizemore (A Dangerous Magic, from DAW)
"Empire Day," by Astrid Cooper
(Stardates: Infinite Celebrations, from Dreams Unlimited)
Speaking of Awards, Philip K. Dick, and Catherine Asaro
The Philip K. Dick Award for distinguished science fiction published
in paperback original form in the United States have announced the
nominees for this year's award.
The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction
Society and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science
Fiction Society. The 1999 judges were Catherine Asaro (have you
noticed her name is popping up everywhere now?), Paul Di Filippo,
Charles Oberndorf, David Porush and Julie Czerneda (chair).
Philip K. Dick Award Nominees:
Code of Conduct, Kristine Smith (Avon Eos)
Not of Woman Born, edited by Constance Ash (Roc)
Tower of Dreams, Jamil Nasir (Bantam Spectra)
Typhon's Children, Toni Anzetti (Del Rey)
Vacuum Diagrams, Stephen Baxter (HarperPrism)
When We Were Real, William Barton (Warner Aspect)
Science Fiction on the Web
Richard Curtis (the agent) has opened http://E-reads.com/ for
business with about 2,000 titles (mostly previously published
and out of print) supplying books electronically in any of four
formats, Rocket eBook, SoftBook, Desktop Download, or Print on
Demand.
Existing web publishing outfits have not exactly been overwhelmed
with readers, possibly because they will publish just about anything
for a fee. The combination of the Richard Curtis reputation and tight
editorial screening may make this one take off. Many of the titles
are Science Fiction.
E-reads.com - http://E-reads.com/
Death of a GEnie
The Genie Electronic Bulletin Board closed December 30, 1999.
Along with it, died the Science Fiction Round Tables.
SFWA Story - http://www.sfwa.org/News/genieend.htm
Webscriptions Revisited
We've reported before on Baen Webscriptions to new novels in electronic
(html) form. We want to point out they have a free sample,
Ashes of Victory by David Webber, that you may want to peruse.
Baen Books - http://www.baen.com/
Webscriptions FAQ - http://www.baen.com/ws_faq.htm
Ashes of Victory -
http://www.baen.com/chapters/0671578545/0671578545__1.htm
Webs of Wonder
When David Brin's novel was turned into the movie, The Postman,
California high school teacher Don Braden created a web site
vividly linking both the novel and the film with a short
course-segment on history, society and ethics. In two weeks his work
won a national commendation, naming it among the top 1 percent of all
web curriculum sites.
David Brin was impressed.
Individual teachers have used Dune to teach ecology, a Hal Clement
novel to teach chemistry, while a social studies class would argue
the ethical questions raised by Tom Godwin's famous story "The Cold
Equations." But each of these educational uses of Science Fiction
has been isolated. Great teachers had no simple way to share their
study guides, illustrations, provocative question sets . . . or the
story itself. Until the Web.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, helped by a substantial cash grant
=66rom David Brin, is sponsoring a contest to foster Internet sites
that combine teaching with good science fiction. The Webs of Wonder
Contest will hand out a $1,000 cash first prize--plus runner-up
awards--for excellent new sites on the World Wide Web that unite
a love of learning with a passion for good stories, using science
fiction to complement subjects that today's students face in the
classroom.
There is a submission deadline of July 1, 2000. They hope to notify
winners by August 2000, and to award prizes at the Chicago Worldcon.
Worlds of Wonder Contest Info - http://www.analogsf.com/wow/
Analog Magazine - http://www.analogsf.com/
Chicon 2000 - http://www.chicon.org/
Repent Harlequin Said the Tax Man
A little review of history. The original United States (as formed
under the original Articles of Confederation) didn't work out.
The original states acted more like independent countries than one
country and the taxes at the borders, etc. was playing havoc with
commerce and for other reasons it just wasn't working.
So they called a Constitutional Convention to fix things which took
a look at the old system, threw it out entirely and wrote a new
Constitution.
Under our current system, taxation (and indeed regulation) of
interstate commerce is the prerogative of the Federal Government.
This means, for example, that the states can't charge sales tax on
interstate transactions. And even if they use a loophole so it's not
technically a tax on the interstate commerce, they can't force the
out-of-state seller to collect it (and forcing the seller to be a
tax collection agent is what makes the sales tax system a revenue
source rather than a bad joke).
And the Federal Government concentrates, by and large, on income
rather than commerce for its tax base. With the advent of the
civil rights law and other legal revisions in the late 20th
century, some fairly strange things have been declared to be
interstate commerce (generally for fairly admirable reasons).
Enter the Internet.
With the advent of things like Ebay. you can sell just about anything
legal to the world (we mentioned Crime and Space's Ebay page earlier).
And, unless your buyer is in the same state as you, no sales tax.
The state and local government of the seller can't charge it, nor can
that of the buyer, nor the state where the web server resides, nor
all the states the communication lines run through.
Though they would dearly love to, every one, bless their greedy
little hearts.
Nor is it your responsibility to collect value-added taxes (VAT)
for other countries. (Unsurprisingly, this is a sore point with
US/Canada with respect to magazines).
Normally the individual citizen of the US has not engaged in very
much interstate commerce except when traveling, and that has been
of a fairly inconsequential nature since if you travel to Louisiana
and make a purchase there it is a local Louisiana purchase (on \
which sales tax is due).
The most usual manner in which people engaged in interstate
commerce was mail order. And it wasn't very convenient to live your
life from mail order because you had to make sure that you received
out of state catalogues for everything you might want and allowed
enough shipping time before you needed it, enough time for the order
to wend its way through the snail mail to the merchant, to be filled,
and then to be shipped back to you.
But on the Internet you can easily search for what you need (and
sometimes find it) when you need it.
Internet savvy companies will take your order and payment and ship
it to you the same day. Better yet some goods and services can be
delivered electronically (which is to say instantaneously) and these
goods and services are a growing segment of the economy.
So your local taxable storefront with a limited customer base is
increasingly competing with your out-of-state non-taxable company
with the potential volume scale available with a virtually unlimited
customer base.
Which one do you think is going to survive? Where are your
investment dollars going to be bet???
This Internet commerce is still in its infancy, but local politicians
who understand what it is going to do to their power base are frothing
at the mouth.
(Fortunately the threat of the Internet to the power base of
national politicians is more longterm, so they are unconcerned
as yet).
But our Brave New World isn't here yet.
We could yet wind up stuck in 1984 with Big Brother. Nations
could yet regulate free speech out of the Internet. (The next
president is going to be filling a lot of Supreme Court slots).
And state politicians have another card up their sleeve with
respect to e-commerce.
If you can't stop it or tax it or even regulate it much, you have
one final option. You can license it. And you can charge what
ever you want to for a license to, say, auction things off.
New Hampshire has dusted off an old state law (RSA 311B) and decided
it applies to the Internet even if you are sitting in your home in
Texas selling an old Star Wars lunchbox.
They require an apprenticeship, or an examination, and an annual
license fee of $85, an exam fee, and a $10,000 state bond. Non-
compliance is a felony, punishable by time in prison.
Then in November, North Carolina found old General Section 85B,
enacted back in 1973. North Carolina wants online auction sellers,
selling for profit, to become licensed as auction firms, which
requires an exam, and $300 in fees the first year, including a
contribution to a recovery fund. Non-compliance is a misdemeanor,
punishable by jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
Tennessee seems to be gearing up to pass a similar law in their next
legislative session.
And if they can license virtual auctioneers, they can license virtual
storefronts because the precedent will be in place. But the small
virtual auctioneer doesn't have the funds to effectively challenge
it in court from the beginning.
Frequently it seems that the Internet has a crisis of the day.
Fortunately we have won most of the important battles so far
(usually in the courts) with minor setbacks with respect to
intellectual property laws and encryption where the battle
isn't over.
We have won those battles with the instant organization capability
of the Internet and by a broad base of volunteers willing to apply
pressure.
We can't quit now.
The logical spearhead for this battle is the OAUA (Online Auction
Users Association). So far none of this has undergone legal tests and
the North Carolina General Assembly is asking questions about
the interpretation. So this is winnable, but they need your help to
keep clueless politicians from destroying part of the Internet.
So what does this have to do with Science Fiction?
Maybe nothing, if you have no desire to buy or sell SF online. But it
affects the future you and your kids are going to live in. And I ran
into it via Kim Holec's regular column for the web zine, Aphelion
which is about as Science Fiction as you can get.
OAUA Fights Gov. Regulation- Needs Your Help!!!!
http://www.auctionwatch.com/mesg/read.html?num=3D2&thread=3D101981
Wayward Musings by Kim F. Holec
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/features/kim_06.htm
Apheliaon: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/index2.htm
Science Fiction on TV
Sliders a Goner after February 4, 2000
Sliders slides out of first-run airings with its
series finale on 2/4/2000. The Science Fiction
Channel will fill its slot starting 2/11/2000 with
an extra episode of Farscape. SciFi is even airing
the Farscape premiere episode one more time.
(Personally, I'm ecstatic because this is the ONLY
episode I'm missing! - Margaret)
Look for both a Farscape feature film and tie-in
paperback book series in the future!
OK, so Farscape is showing two episodes each Friday
in February 2000 - which are all reruns - but
Farscape's 2nd season will should show up in March
2000 sometime. What a way to spend the February
sweeps period!
First Wave gets only one new episode in February
with lots of repeats until maybe March.
Kevin Sorbo's Return A Sure Thing Now
Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, the upcoming
syndicated SF television series based on an
idea by the late Star Trek creator, has received
a two-season commitment from Tribune
Entertainment, executive producer Majel
Roddenberry told SCI FI Wire. Tribune
committed to the production of 44 episodes of
the new series, starring former Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys lead Kevin Sorbo as
starship captain Dylan Hunt.
See:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-tv.html?2000-01/05/14.00.tv
For more information, see our listing at:
http://www.clever.net/cam/sftv.html
Science Fiction at the Movies
Mission to Mars is set for a March 10, 2000 release!
http://movies.go.com/m2m/
The SCI FI Channel's original miniseries adaptation of
Frank Herbert's novel Dune (titled Frank Herbert's Dune)
added Matt Keeslar to the cast list to play Feyd, the
nemesis to hero Paul Atreides, played by newcomer Alec Newman.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2000-01/19/11.00.sfc
Jonathan Frakes is in line to direct Total Recall 2, the sequel
to the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film based on Philip K. Dick's
short story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale." But whether
that works out or not, he will definitely be directing Sony
Pictures' Steve Was Here, in which an economically depressed town
fakes an alien landing to bring in tourists.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2000-01/19/11.45.film
Leo Confirms Anakin Rumors
Leonardo DiCaprio confirmed that he talked with George Lucas during a
visit to the director's Skywalker Ranch last year about playing
grown-up Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II. In an interview
with Entertainment Tonight, DiCaprio also said he would be interested
in playing the role, but that no decision was made.
DiCaprio's remarks appeared to confirm widespread rumors that the
Titanic star is being considered for the role, and also to contradict
denials from Lucasfilm.
Meanwhile, George Lucas told CNN after receiving an award from the
American Jewish Committee that he is still writing the
script for Episode II. "We start shooting in June, and ... hopefully,
it will be finished by October," the director said.
But for a June shoot you, would think they would have the whole cast
in hand and would argue against going with DiCaprio. So who knows.
Forthcoming SF, Fantasy, & Gaming Cons
Relax at Millennium OwlCon January 21-23 at Houston's Rice University!
There will be filking at OwlCon, Jan 22-24, Sewall Hall, Rice
University. Lee Billings, Ben, Susan, Jeremy and Judy Craft
will be doing live filk. In addition, Judy will have CD's and
cassettes, as well as filk books, including Xenofilkia, so we
have a good chance of finding the lyrics for that filk you can't
quite remember.
Judy plans to emphasize fantasy gaming filk, since there will be many
gamers at OwlCon. Some of them are interested in filking, and some
want to find out what filking is. This could be a good opportunity to ]
bring in new blood (pun intended) to the Houston filking community.
Also, come by and hear L.E. Modesitt, Jr., author of the Saga of
Recluce and the Spellsong Cycle, at OwlCon on Friday, January 22,
2000.
For a more complete listing see our monthly What's Happening list
at http://www.clever.net/cam/concalendar.html .
Only 223 days to Chicon II.
For those who track ex-Texans ...
kT FitzSimmons has a Hugo Ceremony News blurb in the lower
half of the Chicon Hugo awards page. Having worked for
Bill Parker at one too many Worldcons I know what she says
is true. But I have to admit I find the writing of Chairman Tom
more engrossing and entertaining (Sorry KT). Peruse his "Surfin'
Their Lives Away" and "What's a Worldcon for?" taken from
the Progress Reports. Both are jewels of the thoughtful
essay.
Chicon 2000 - http://www.chicon.org/
Chicon 2000: Hugo Awards - http://www.chicon.org/hugos/hugos.htm
Surfin' Their Lives Away - http://www.chicon.org/depts/chair.htm#pr4
What's a Worldcon for? - http://www.chicon.org/depts/chair.htm#pr3
Race for 2004 Heats up - Uncle Lensman Wants You
Till now, the bids for the 2004 Worldcon have been from Charlotte
(North Carolina) and "Nieuw Amsterdam" (New York to those who
don't ride the time streams).
Now the MCFI (Massachusetts Convention Fandom, Inc.) has launched
a Boston bid. Their unsuccessful 2001 bid was moved from Boston to
Orlando due to hotel problems, but that seems to have been resolved
as enough Boston hotels have been built that they no longer price
themselves out of the market.
Site Selection for the 2004 Worldcon will be administered by
Philadelphia in 2001: The Millenium Philcon.
Boston in 2004 - http://world.std.com/~sbarsky/mcfi/
Charlotte 2004 Worldcon Bid - http://www.scenic-city.com/charlotte2004/
Nieuw Amsterdam in 2004 AD Standard - Requires Interworld Access
The Millenium Philcon - http://www.netaxs.com/~phil2001/
Ready for A Brave New Year
The Fandom Association of Central Texas has their reading (and
meeting schedule lined up into the new year). If you can't make
it to their meetings in Austin (held at Adventures in Crime & Space
bookstore (609-A W. 6th St) at 7:00 PM), then you may want to read
along and email your comments into A. T. Campbell in advance of the
meeting. If you read along it's only fair (though not mandatory) to
order your books from http://www.crimeandspace.com/order.html .
* January 18: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K.
Rowling
* February 1: Signal to Noise by Eric S. Nylund
* February 15: The Golden Globe by John Varley
* March 7: Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
* March 21: Diaspora by Greg Egan
* April 4: Code of Conduct by Kristine Smith
* April 18: The Veiled Web by Catherine Asaro
* May 2: Playing God by Sarah Zettel
* May 16: Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
* June 6: A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
FACT SF Reading Group - http://www.eden.com/~acs/reading/index.html
A. T. Campbell, III - atc@acm.org
J. K. Rowling - http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author.htm
Eric S. Nylund - http://locusmag.com/1997/Issues/07/Nylund.html
John Varley - http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Rampart/3870/
Robin Hobb - http://www.locusmag.com/1998/Issues/01/Hobb.html
Greg Egan - http://www.netspace.net.au/~gregegan/
Kristine Smith - http://www.sff.net/people/ksmith/
Catherine Asaro - http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/
Sarah Zettel - http://www.locusmag.com/1998/Issues/01/Zettel.html
Diana Wynne Jones - http://suberic.net/dwj/
Vernor Vinge - http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix/vinge/
For information on other Houston and/or Texas Science Fiction
Organizations See our list at http://clever.net/cam/clubslist.html .
Space, The Final Frontier.
Total Lunar Eclipse January 20, 2000
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEextra/TLE2000Jan20.html
NASA has designed a Mars Flag for official use. The designers
were fans of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. So the colors
of the flag are red, green, and blue after each title in the trilogy.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/01/07/mars.flag/index.html
The Write Stuff (Pen and Ink Optional!)
Ursa Major Science Fiction Literary Association's Writer's Workshop
coming up February 12, 2000 in San Antonio.
First novel complete??? Before you go looking for an agent on the
web, check out Robin Nobles' "Agents on the Net... Legit or Not".
It could save you a bundle and a career.
http://www.robinsnest.com/agents.html
FFFeedback
We heard from Carol Phillips
---
Dear Clif,
Somewhere, I think on a web page, you announced a NASA
area SF Club. Several weeks- a few months ago, I wrote
to the person at the email address you announced for
more information, and got no response. Unless you have
more current information, like a new contact person, I
would suggest that that information is out dated. There
is interest down here, but no starter person, it seems.
Carol
P.S. I forgot to mention how much I enjoy the info alerts.
A bit wordy, but informative and entertaining. Thanks
for doing it, and keeping it up!
---
Thanks for the kind words, Carol. I'm betting that you
just caught the group down there in the middle of holiday
crunch. I'll be forwarding your email address to someone
else in the NASA Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.
Also it's possible the email just didn't go through. I know
that every-time we send an info-alert out there is a good
chance that someone doesn't get it for reasons that are never
clear. Last time it happened with Rondinella Williams.
Occasionally Margaret doesn't get one of my messages,
either at home or at work, though losses in the other direction
seem rarer.
Of course the Info-Alert goes out to mumbledy-hundred people &
Margaret and I exchange a _lot_ of emails, but the point is, it can
happen. So I think it's a little soon to give up yet. (Guys??).
- Clif
----
We also heard from T'Pell Wilson:
>From SciFi Wire: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire
Alliance To Renew SF&F TV Shows/9:00am ET, 7-Jan-00
Canadian television producer Alliance Atlantis
Entertainment intends to renew its slate of syndicated
hour-long SF&F shows...Alliance...will be pushing a
new slate of children's programs at this month's Annual
Program Conference and Exhibition sponsored by the
National Association of Television Program Executives,
or NATPE, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"But we are still in the hour-action business," Alliance
Atlantis Entertainment president Peter Sussman said. "We
are going to NATPE with a view to renewing Beastmaster,
Final Conflict, Amazon and Total Recall 2070." (Thanks
to Barbara for bringing this to my attention.)
>From Sci-fi Wire: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/
9:00am ET, 5-Jan-00
New Trek Series Ideas Rejected
Paramount Studios has rejected two pitches for
a new Star Trek television series from Star
Trek: Voyager executive producers Rick Berman
and Brannon Braga, Majel Roddenberry told SCI
FI Wire. The studio plans to air a new series
once Voyager ends its seven-year run next
season, "but it's not giving away any
information to say they've already turned down
two premises that have already been handed
in," said Roddenberry, whose late husband,
Gene, created Star Trek.
----
Thanks for sharing the information!!
You know, T'Pell, if I had Barbara's email I would send her a
sample Info-Alert.
- Clif
Millennium Madness Takes Its Toll
We heard from Brad Frank
----
I'm sure there'll be plenty of debate about exactly when the
millenium actually begins.
Consider this: Years are measured from Jesus birth (A.D. in the year
of our Lord), but somebody mis-counted, and Jesus was actually born
in 6 B.C. Does this mean the new millenium actually started 6 years
ago? (Or would it be 5? I'll let the mathematicians figure that one
out.)
There wasn't a year "zero".
But neither was there a year 1, or 2, or 200, or 500, because the
current system of numbering the years wasn't adopted until the 6th
century A. D. (and in some countries not until centuries later).
Furthermore, the date of the new year hasn't always been January 1.
The Roman year began on March 15. Early Christians measured it from
December 25 =96 if you're gonna count the years from Jesus birth, it
makes sense to start the year on his (supposed) birthday!
OK, so there wasn't a year "zero".
Big deal.
The calendar has been tinkered with so many times through the ages,
who really knows for sure? The general public LIKES the idea of the
millennium starting on January 1, 2000.
And if the Y2K bug bytes, that will have far more significance to
society than the date that a famous author chose for a famous
movie. So see ya New Millenium's Eve!
Brad
And from Al Jackson
----
Jan. 1 2000. My CPU is working just fine.
Here is something I am wondering.
In 1900 the New York Times took the factual change about the
millennium to heart. That is from Jan 1900 to Jan 1901 the
masthead listed the millennium as the 19th century ... not until
1901 did it roll over to the 20th. I don't even know if the New
York Times even lists the millennium in the paper any more.
Any one seen a Jan 1 2000 New York Times?
Does it still have the 20th , as it should, or the 21st.
Al
And From Stanley Sutton
----
It's the 20th Century. Try the U.S. Naval Observatory as an
authority. You can go to their web page, or any published
Ephemeris.
And From Karl Schleicher
----
It is a silly, childish discussion, and only exposes those who wish
to maintain a contrary opinion. I bet that no one is talking about
the new century on December 31, 2000. As far as technical correctness,
Christ was probably born in 6BC and certainly by 4BC, when Herod died.
I hope this argument did not discourage you from celebrating a week
and a half ago. I plan to use your argument to celebrate the turn of
the century again next year.
By the way, (Stanley's) US Navy site points out "In the astronomical
system, AD 1 is designated +1; this is preceded by year 0, which is
preceded by year -1." So much for the claim "there was no year zero".
There are plenty of calendars to pick from. All arbitrary, but with
their own heritage. The Royal Observatory Greenwich site says:
Apart from the Christian calendar, there are about 40 other
calendars in use throughout the world. A few of them are listed,
showing their years on 1 January 2000:
Byzantine 7508, Chinese 4636, Indian (Saka) 1921, Islamic
(Hegira) 1420, Jewish(A.M.) 5760. The date on which the year
changes is different for each calendar.
Karl Schleicher
And from Carol Phillips
----
"The millennium" will refer to 2001-3000.
"The millenium" will refer to 2000-2999.
That way everyone can be happy. People who can count and
spell can useone definition; people who can't count or spell can
use the other.
Carol http://www.ghg.net/redflame/
----
Carol,
What about those of us who can count but can't spell. Many
of you have no idea what Margaret protects you from.
- Clif (Who spells phonetically. Consistently, but not in
standard English.)
We heard from Dave Richards
----
It is the year 39 Dave
Kneel before Dave and beg forgiveness for your error,
lest smite you down shall he him.
Potentate,
Dave Imperator
And John Moffitt
----
We have uniformly rejected all letters and declined
all discussion upon the question of when the present
century ends, as it is one of the most absurd that can
engage the public attention, and we are astonished to
find it has been the subject of so much dispute, since
it appears plain. The present century will not
terminate till January 1, 1801, unless it can be made
out that 99 are 100 ... It is a silly, childish
discussion, and only exposes the want of brains of
those who maintain a contrary opinion to that we have
stated.
- The Times, 26 December 1799
=2E...
I plan on attending the ritual breakfast on Jan 22nd.
I will also be bringing in my 25 year collection of
trilobite jewelry ... some of which I designed myself.
=2E... (perfect silver trilobite discussion deleted)...
Everybody else can just enjoy a show-n-tell if they
choose to sit at our end of the table.
The other end of the table will be arguing which
century we are in. Those arguing for the last year
of the 20th Century will be correct. Those who are
wrong will be happy to know that they are in agreement
with Time, Newsweek, and most of the TV networks. I'm
trying to quit rolling my eyes ... I think I'm
starting to strain those tiny little cables that are
attached to the backs of my eyes.
(John is collecting answers to to the question of
which century it is and what "What authority do
we go to for the CORRECT answer?" - Continuing
=66rom an earlier Moffitt note ...)
I will compile and show all answers ... even the dumb
ones ... just kidding :-) ... there are no dumb answers,
only dumb people.
----
So expose yourself to ridicule and send your answer
to the question to John at jmoffitt@swampgas.com .
But for this issue of the Info Alert, I, Clif Davis get
to have the last word. Isn't it amazing how that works
out?
The word "century" refers to a time span of 100 years. The
word "millennium" refers to a thousand year period. This is
what the words mean in standard English usage. If you use
them to mean something else, say a period of 99 years, you
are departing from standard English. The standard
authority for standard English usage is the dictionary
and you can use whichever one you wish.
The words "century" and "millennium" make no reference
to when they start or stop. Tomorrow will be the start
of a 100 year period and so it will be the beginning
of a century. Right now is the beginning of a period
of a thousand years. To paraphrase one of the patron
saints of the entertainment media, "There is a millennium
born every minute."
But, when we talk about a numbered century or a numbered
millennium we are making reference to a specific and unique
period of time. This period of time is defined with respect
to our calendar, the Gregorian Calendar. There is only one
period of 100 years which is the 3rd century AD. There
is only one 3rd millennium BC. When we talk about the
"current century" or "this millennium", we are referring
to the particular unique numbered millennium (or century) that
holds at the particular time in which we make the statement.
As is standard in English, we talk about "the century" or
"the millennium" when it is clear which one we mean (and
normally we mean this century or this millennium, as that
is something that doesn't change very frequently).
It is true that there are many calendars and many systems
of measuring time which have been used and many which are
still in use.
This is irrelevant.
It is true that 39 Dave makes just as much sense and is
equally as arbitrary as 2000 AD.
But this is also irrelevant.
In the English language and the American culture, we do
not base our time measurements on years Dave (wel,l most
of us don't).
It doesn't matter if the Gregorian calendar didn't start with
an event that the people who set it up believed it did. (It
doesn't even matter to the Gregorian calendar if Christ even
existed).
It doesn't matter how many people have adjusted or mucked
up the calendar before it got to us, or for what reasons they
did it.
The year 1AD in the Gregorian Calendar starts on
a specific date, to wit January 1, 1 and ends on a
specific date December 31, 1. (Normally we leave out the
AD since it is understood that we will specify BC if
that is what we mean).
As it happens, in the Gregorian calendar, January 1, 1
was preceded by December 31, 1 BC and there is no year
0.
But that is not important.
All that is important is that the first year AD is the year 1 AD.
The second year AD in the Gregorian calendar was the
year 2 AD. The first 100 years AD (or the first century AD
which we say as the first century as long as its clear
we don't mean the first century BC) is comprised of
the years 1 AD - 100 AD.
The second century, the second 100 years) immediately follows
and is the years 101 AD through 200 AD. which follows just from
where the Gregorian calendar starts and what the word century
means.
If you simply count forward, you will find that the 20th century
goes from 1901 AD through 2000 AD.
We are currently in 2000 AD and so we are in the 20th century.
Similar arithmetic should convince you that the years 1001 AD
though 2000 AD comprise the second millennium AD.
Given standard English usage of "this" and "the", the
phrase "this millennium" and "the millennium" currently
refer to the second millennium.
In the year 2001 AD the phrase "this millennium" and
"the millennium" will refer to the third millennium. The
millennium will change at midnight on December 31, 2000 AD.
If you disagree, then either you don't understand the
Gregorian calendar, you can't count, or you don't
understand English.
There are no other alternatives.
Why then, do so many people so strongly believe otherwise?
Why then, do so many supposedly educated intelligent people
who should know better stand there on TV and talk about
2000 AD as the start of "the millennium", from the president
of the United States, to newsmen, to characters on every show
who each talk about the new millennium beginning on January
1, 2000?
Maybe it says something about the quality of education.
Frankly, I don't know. But to me it says something about the
danger of defining your reality by what politicians say and
what you see on television.
Aren't you glad that's over with???
Be seeing you!
Margaret A. Fincannon, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
Clifton B. Davis, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
http://www.clever.net/cam/fof.html fof@www.clever.net
And now for your reading pleasure, THE FINE PRINT...
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