Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion

Archive - 02/12/2005 to 05/24/2005

Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion

Ahhh, c'mon gang, it's been almost a week now. Someone here has to admit to seeing STAR WARS EPISODE III: THE REVENGE OF THE SITH. Don't be shy. I know that this board is often focused on the higher-minded arts, but we certainly can get down and dirty with the POPyoular movies and teevee shows and books and music and such.

So, let's have it.....come out of hiding and give your thoughts on the little movie that managed to be released last week following a month of superhype. Sure, it's expected on this board to be something disliked, even loathed, but there is no way in hell that I'm the only one here who saw it. C'mon....fess up.

I'll start: I took a 4-day weekend last week so Debbie and I could visit the Grand Canyon. We've now lived in Arizona for more than two and a half years and we haven't taken the time to play tourist with what I find to be the ultimate spot-o-beauty. We made a cup-of-joe visit almost 20 years ago on our way to Vegas, and since then the thought of returning has always been stuck to the back of my skull. The thought went something like this: "Jiminy Christmas, you'se gots to see that muthufucking Grand Canyon again you stupid fool. Other than meeting Debbie for the first time, there isn't much else in the world that has taken your breath away like that." OK, the Debbie comment was a bit gratuitous, but she reads this board and maybe it'll get me laid!

Anywho, we headed up to Flagstaff first, figuring that a stayover there would allow us to get to The Canyon bright and early the next day. After making a detour to Meteor Crater, not just any ole crater, but METEOR CRATER, we skidded on into Flagstaff, saw that there was not much to do in Flagstaff on a Thursday evening, and headed on over to the local multi-plex to catch up on the final, but middle, chapter of Star Wars.

It was nifty. Sorry, but it was. It was the epitome of eye-candy, very colorful, very fun, and we had a blast. Yes, Debbie, who never cared for the Star Wars films had a blast.

The Star Wars series has no special nostalgia for me. Many people who have suffered through Episode I, and couldn't admit to liking Episode II (horrible acting with the love story, but still good fun with the rest.....Yoda kicking Christopher Lee's ass is well worth the admission), wax nostalgic over their childhood viewings of Star Wars; the special summertime movie memories they cherish.

I was too old for that. I was 16 when Star Wars was released (No, not Episode IV A New Hope.......Star Wars. Period.) I loved it. It was a hoot. I was saddened to read my hero, Harlan Ellison, shredding the movie, and I always wanted to shout, "Yes, I know that you can't hear sound in space. Yes, I know that space fighters don't need to twist with momentum required due to the force of gravity, but so the fuck what....this is fun!" It was the first time I ever read something by Harlan that made me want to disagree. When he later raved about Raiders Of The Lost Ark, I couldn't understand his acceptance of one modern serial over another, but what the hell....after all, the man still liked my favorite movie, Apocalypse Now, so he can't be all bad huh?

I loved Star Wars, but I didn't worship Star Wars. When its sequel was released, my friends and I dubbed it The Empire Strikes Buttocks because, for some reason I cannot recall, we hated it. I don't now. Jedi is lame. Phantom Menace is embarrasing. Empire does NOT strike buttocks. It is quite fine as Star Wars films go.

OK, I just lost my point. I guess I am wafting nostalgic after all......, 25 years later and I still can't see the title of the first sequel without "buttocks" bouncing around my brain.

Back to Episode III: it's fun. It's colorful. It's got sound in space and the ships fight gravity that doesn't exist. Yoda kicks some more ass. Obi-wan rides a silly big lizard while kicking the ass of an odd clone/droid (?) with severe respiratory problems. Hayden Christenson (or, to be honest, Lucas' script) doesn't quite sell how this whiney young Jedi becomes the dreaded Darth Vader. But y'know what? Fuck if I care. There's fluff movies to hate, and there's fluff movies to enjoy, and this final/middle episode of Lucas' cash-cow is one that I will enjoy again at the theater, and when the DVD is released.

I'll say it loud and I'll say it proud: I am a denizen of the Art Deco Dining Pavilion, and I not only saw Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.....I enjoyed it.

Thank you, and good night.

-TODD

now playing BBC7.....
..the Soldier thing...it's well done, but I wish Harlan could have narrated it himself. Oh well, England is far away from Los Angeles... When exactly was it made? BBC7 seems like a rerun channel for classic programming. Mind you I like a lot of it - yesterday I listened to a Dr Who episode (with Jon Pertwee! obviously THAT can't be brand new, he died awhile back...didnt he?) and Ibsen's _Enemy of the People_ (The 19th century archetype of HE, and Ralph Nader, and....)

yeah, I know, I'm clueless. I'm not British....

Amy - you can make CDs from webcasts?? Huh? Oh well, if it's illegal I guess I don't *want* to know how. Many programs are not available as licensed recordings though. (The more fools they; it's better to co-opt the Internet than fight it.)

cf Nellie McKay...

I have Realplayer, which comes with access to a legal-download store (99 cents per song, $9.99 per album or about $17.50 for a double album like the McKay one) only my connection is a bit slow for that; it would take an hour to download one song on dialup. Anyway, I found it filed there under "Alternative/Punk/Indie Rock/Baroque Pop." Whatever that is. What, not in the jazz or jazz-pop or fusion area? I'll have to check Tower Records' web site (which has more than the physical stores usually stock...)sub-genres are awfully hard to figure out.

Kristin

Finally--I will be heading up to Los Angeles to meet Harlan Ellison. Last time bad tires kept me from going to his booksigning. Now I have no excuse! I've been looking forward to this ever since I was mailed a card last week announcing this shindig. If anyone else from this site is going, let me know. I'd love to meet the people behind the posts that I've been reading for some time now.

Thurl Ravenscroft, February 6, 1914 - May 22, 2005
I'm sad to report the death of Thurl Ravenscroft at the age of 91. Ravenscroft was best known as the voice of Tony the Tiger, but he also sang "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch," and many voices throughout the Disney Parks including The Grim Grinning Ghosts section of the Haunted Mansion.

http://news.google.com/news?q=Thurl+Ravenscroft&num=30&hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1&safe=off&sa=N&tab=nn&oi=newsr

http://members.aol.com/allthurl/thurl2.htm

Oopsie!

HARLAN: (I swear I talk to people other than Harlan)
That's what I get for not checking the Pavilion more regularly. I burned the BBC 7 production of SOLDIER to CD this morning and sent it to your home via Priority Mail. If Rob's version is better than mine, feel free to give mine a ride in the microwave oven. And of COURSE I wouldn't distribute it otherwise! I figured that you had rights to a copy of your own work.

As for your birthday, I get the impression you care for them about as much as I do. I gave up on birthdays several years ago. Not going to post WHY here, but I have a good reason. We also have similar feelings about Xmas, though I'm still forced to grudgingly participate in the whole mess. You'll understand why I pointed that out when you see the notecard with the disc.

Did you know that your "birthday party" is being held on National Masturbation Day? I do hope your guests don't celebrate both at the same time.

Harlan,

Are you doing any more work for BBC Radio? I'm working on a Drama-doco for BBC Radio Drama for broadcast in November 2005.

FAQ

Early Birthday Greeting
I will probably be under the knife with a minor operation at a local hospital...on your birthday...so....here is an early one for you, HE. H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y ! ! !

Harlan,

I was wondering how you'd handle the copyright issue of that, which is why I offered the link only. Glad you were able to authorize a dupe. It's very good and has the bumpers before and after.

Happy Birthday, sir.

Jay

ROB:

By all means, find me at the EnigmaCon, and introduce yourself. Love to meet you and shake your hand, and if needed, berate you...on whatever topic you feel necessary.

As for bringing me a download of the BBC programme--this is for Steven Barber in Long Beach, whose remarks are, in the main, dead on correct--I do not believe that even I have the right to steal off the web. HOWEVER, the legal permission to do so on my behalf is implicit in my contract with BBC 7. The rights permission we mutually signed guarantees me an aircheck of the programme for my files, and one for the university archive(s) that keep my papers and samples of my work. So Rob, acting as my designated "agent" in this matter, may in fact download the artifact if it is given only to me, and I do not reuse it commercially.

So, yes, Rob, in this lone instance you, or anyone else here, may download a copy for me...but for no other purpose save your own personal use, with no exceptions to the "no passing it on" rule.

If any of you know more of this than I do, please jump in and straighten me out. You know how sedulous I am about this stuff, and I don't want there to be even the PERCEPTION of breaking the rules.

Thanks to both of you, and to Amy, as well.

Yr. pal, Harlan

re: the end of wormholes for time travel
Wasn't it James Blish who said, "All the science I ever needed, I got out of bottle of Scotch?"

Remember all those old SF stories set on non-rotating Mercury that were renedered obsolete when it was discovered that Mercury did rotate and did not endure one hemisphere in perpetual day?

Well it looks like another entire category of SF stories might have just been flushed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4564477.stm

Dear Keith:

I know what you went through. Tried the Metrogel (cream for me), but no luck. Tried about 10 variations, and got the "backlash"--which can happen. All hail to a very thick layer of foundation. I worship the god Sephora.

Best--Susan

Uploads and Copies
Rob -
As you will undoubtedly be told by others, uploading and copying of copyrighted material for distribution, even free, is strictly verbotten. See Mr. Ellison's protracted battle with AOL, et al, for examples. Those same laws apply to performed as well as written properties. I would avoid, at all costs, anything above and beyond copying for your own benefit -- or at least anything you publicly admit to doing on a website message board.

And I, too, am a way-too-long-in-the-tooth Harlan fan.

ASIDE TO COOKIE:
Disc rec'd and now permanently lodged in my automotive cd player. Wonderful work, m'lady. My esposa was dutifully impressed (she of the pipes like your own). Keep 'em coming!



Nim

Nellie McKay
Just listened to some samples on Amazon.Com. She has a great range: you can't say these songs all sound alike. I will hie self to the CD store.

Found out by accident that she's an actress too, and has a movie (SAFETY GLASS) out this year.

pipes like Billie


Infodude
beat me to the punch, but yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes,
Madileine Peyroux,
yesyesyesetc.

regards,

neal, who is reading don quijote and laughing a lot

Solidarity, Sister!
Susan,

I was diagnosed with a mild case of rosacea in 2001, after spending an agonizing summer and winter with a painful splotch on my face under my right eye. The dermatologist told me it was a very mild case... Nevertheless, I got a prescription for Metrogel and someone who loves me signed me up to get the Rosacea Review (The national Rosacea Society Newsletter). It has been very helpful.

I'm fairly lucky that my case is mild, and the flareups generally occur during winter. My tube of Metrogel lasts a whole year.

I can only imagine what a worse case might feel like. If you don't mind talking about it, how long does the laser treatment last, and is it painful? I am fortunate that the Metrogel takes away the scaly redness after a few hours, and also the pain.

Incidentally, having seen you several times now in stalking Harlan the Nightmare Maker, I never would have guessed you were a fellow sufferer, especially to the severe degree you seem to be. So those treatments must work.

-Keith

HARLAN: From her website, http://www.nelliemckay.net :

BOOKING AGENT
Joe Brauner, Creative Artists Agency
212-277-9000

PUBLICITY
Carla Parisi, Wrecking Ball Media
973-846-0041
wreckingball@nj.rr.com

Benny Tarantini, Columbia Records
212-833-5858
Benny_Tarantini@sonymusic.com

Intro and I have Part One of Soldier recorded ... Part Two soon.
Hello All,

So I have just managed to record part one of Soldier from the BBC 7 web site. Part two should be available very soon. The recording is in MP3 format and I can burn this to an audio CD with part one and part two.

I don't think this is a problem but I do wonder about the difference between recording a radio program to a cassette tape for personal use, recording a web stream of a radio show for personal use and downloading a TV show for personal use. I'm sure that would be an interesting discussion here.

Anyway, I can send off the CD as soon as I have part two recorded.

Now for anyone interested a bit of an anecdotal introduction:

My name is Robert Cohen.
I started reading Harlan when I was in junior high school. At that point I had the bright idea to make a super 8 movie (I was making a lot of them then) based on the short story "Eggsucker." I wrote to Harlan to ask permission (having paid some attention to what I was reading by Harlan I certainly wasn't going to proceed without permission). A few weeks later, I got a phone call from Harlan explaining to me that I could not do this as the story was in development at NBC. I also got the sure feeling I had been a bit naive (which I certainly was) but Harlan was very polite and to the point... and I was delighted to run around telling my friends at the time that I had just gotten a phone call from Harlan Ellison.

Later that summer, I went up to Phoenix to see Harlan as the guest of honor at the world Science Fiction convention and had a grand time. At one point, perhaps after the reading from I ROBOT, Harlan asked, "Any questions?" Sitting in the front row, I quickly raised my hand, to which Harlan replied with something like, "Be sure your question is intelligent or I shall surely berate you," to which I quickly put my hand down, giving Harlan a great big laugh from the audience. I actually was never in doubt about my intelligence or the intelligence of my question but at 14 wasn't really up to facing down threats in general and I was also sure that putting my hand down would get a laugh and I would still get to ask my question later, which I did.

Well enough with the kid stories, I'm sure we all have lots. But I will add that if it wasn't for Harlan and The Glass Teat or The Deathbird stories, etc., I might never have become so interested in media reform or comparative religion or producing documentaries (my latest project can be seen at www.votergate.TV) or certainly wouldn't have ever read Borges (first failing in my teens and then succeeding in my 30's on a determined and delighted second try). So, much gratitude is held by me on all those points and many others.

If I can, I'm thinking the convention would be fun this weekend. It has been a long time since I've been to an SF convention and if anyone else from this group is about maybe we could meet. Perhaps I could bring the CD then if I can go.

Well glad to chime in here with you all and I hope the recordings are a welcome addition to the archives.

All best regards,
Rob Cohen

Guess I gotta find this Nellie McKay person. Still won't make me forsake the wonderful memory of the late Kirsty Macoll.

Nellie McKay
From "I Wanna Get Married:"
"I need to cook meals/I want to pack cute little lunches/for my Brady bunches/then read Danielle Steele."

I'm in.

Mark W.

Department of Too Much Information Dept.?
"Soldier" Music

The opening music you hear when the reading begins is part of a song called "Son Et Lumiere" by The Mars Volta. Here's a link for samples from Amazon.com Very freaky progressive rock. -- duane

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009V7T2/qid=1116893191/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/103-5194126-4494244

SOLDIER
HARLAN & SUSAN:

A/V geek that I am, I've taped part one on regular audiocassette. I'll catch part two tomorrow and send it off to you immediately.

Don't know if you're gonna dig the read, though....

David Savage: Thanks for the info!
Jay Smith: Thanks for the direct link! Oh, and I should have your KTMAs ready by the end of the week.

HARLAN and NELLIE MCKAY
HARLAN: I took the liberty of passing your words below onto Joe Brauner of CAA; he will absolutely get them to Nellie McKay. So your superlatives about Ms. McKay's music will eventually get to her (and I'm sure she'll revel in them).

All best to you & Susan,

D.T.S.

NELLIE MCKAY
INFOMAN asked me to say that he's sorry he screwed up the spelling of Nellie McKay's name in the post below -- but all the superlatives still stand. By way of penance, an URL to a nifty profile in which the writer agrees with Harlan's assessment of Ms. McKay (the new Cole Porter):
http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/music/features/n_10015/

Regards,
Anya

NELLY MACKAY
HARLAN (and everyone else who has only just picked up on her): Glad you guys _finally_ gave Nelly a listen -- I've been raving about her since her CD hit the stores last year. I even raved about her right here on Webderland (guess I'll need to rave LOUDER next time). Fee-nomenal, ain't she? (The Doris Day-style album cover is keen). Can't wait to here what she cooks up next.
And while she isn't as wildly creative and as eclectic Nelly MacKay (pronounced Muh-Kiii), Madileine Peyroux has great set of pipes well worth your listening time.

Yours in recycled info,
the Man

TV, Music and Such
Adam-Troy: Saw your review of SAPPHIRE AND STEEL on Sci-Fi weekly. Gotten any hate mail yet? Well, seriously it is difficult to get anyone into that show if they aren't already hooked; it IS slow-paced, cerebral and just plain weird! I first heard of it reading the old magazine Fantasy Empire. My father called it a "Beckett play" and I had no answer for him. LOL. I agree it's a rotten shame the series ended on a cliff hanger and then never came back.

Harlan: Thanks for the CD recommendation. Um is it really two discs of audio material or just the new "Dual Disc" FORMAT (look up on amazon.com) which sounds like it tries to combine audio cd with DVD or something and may not work on all players. (esp car ones)I didn't want to bother with the friggin video sales pitch just to find out what Dual Disc is. Hey, you can even get a BLEEPED audio version without the naughty lyrics! (the one they sell at Walmart I guess.) You can get the non-Dual Disc version for about $4 cheaper.

iirc PAL is a VIDEO format (the British standard for analog TV) it can be converted to American NTSC, or you can try to get hold of a multi-standard VCR. Digital formats (audio or video) are another matter. The UK is way ahead of the US with digital audio broadcasting (DAB - terrestrial digital radio although it is often available on satellite too)... If you want to just *listen* to BBC7 etc to www.bbc.co.uk/radio - if your machine does not already have streaming audio software you can download it (realplayer or windows media if you use IE) for free. And yes, it does work on dialup! Although you probably need a version of Windows that is less than five years old....I have BBC7 on live right now and they archive shows on their server too. Although there's a warning it might be disrupted by "industrial action" (ie strike)......

Do you know if British digital radio *can* be taped to analog (universal format) audio cassette?

ANd then we have DVDs which are DELIBERATELY incompatible - (US region one, UK region two, etc) to (supposedly) prevent piracy....and incompatible digital-TV formats. Oh well.

Sigh...I haven't been to any meetings of the incredibly long running local Dr Who fan club (some members weren't even born when it started) but maybe they have the new series in a US format....connections you know.

Kristin
love elcectica and old British TV
yeah, I probably sound smart alecky. Sorry

Nellie McKay

GET AWAY FROM ME is really as good as Harlan says; I've been playing it without letup for the past six months, and the sucker hasn't quit yet. For once, a CD's cover blurb gets it right: She sounds like an unholy mix of Doris Day and Eminem, with (as Harlan notes) healthy dollops of Randy Newman, Blossom Dearie, and Cole Porter thrown in for good measure. Harlan, if you want to get in touch with her, go to http://www.nelliemckay.net/, and write her an email. Her new CD is due out in September, and it would be a gas if you could supply the liner notes.

(And since we're raving about new songwriters, I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest you check out I AM A BIRD NOW, by Antony and the Johnsons. Someone said that hearing Antony's voice--reminiscent of Nina Simone in many ways, yet wholly distinct--is like hearing Elvis for the first time. All I know is, I listened to five seconds of "Hope There's Someone," the opening cut on I AM A BIRD, and I had goddamned GOOSEBUMPS. So check him out, by all means.)

(Shit, I may even send you a copy. That's how sure I am you'll dig it.)

Direct Linkage
Correction,

To streamline your listening pleasure, use this address:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/monday/rams/1800.ram

You must have RealAudio player.

Part One.

Soldier repeat on BBC7
Harlan,

I caught the tail end of Part one. If you direct your browserthe the following address and scroll down to the 18:00 - 18:30 programme, you can hear and/or record it using the ole stone knives and bearskin techniques.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/monday/

DAVID SAVAGE:

Thanks, kiddo, but no thanks. PAL is useless to us. But many many thanks for the heads-up. We'll try to prise an aircheck out of the Beeb. But if anyone else in the U.K. with a plain old tape recorder can catch it IN SITU, we would not turn it down. The archives cry out.

And on ce more, David, thank you.

Yr. pal, Harlan

WHO DID IT?

I may be losing it.

I cannot, for the life of me, remember who, among you, sent me the unsolicited gift of a 2-CD album by a new (to me) and breathtakingly original singer/pianist/lyricist/composer named

NELLIE McKAY

whose 18-track introduction (to me) has not knocked me out in response to a new talent so spectacularly as when, for instance, I first heard Steve Lacy on soprano sax decades ago.

Folks, this woman is THE GOODS.

Cookie, was it you?

She has a vibrant, multidimensional, muscular, yet sweet as candied yams voice that sometimes rechannels Jackie Cain of Jackie & Roy fame; sometimes capers like Blossom Dearie, sometimes gutbuckets like Frances Faye, sometimes swings sweet like June Christy or Chris Conner, sometimes inveigles like Ella, sometimes sounds like the separated-at-birth sib of Bob Dorough, sometimes (when she's singing and playing piano accompaniment) reminisces the great voice of the recently-departed Jackie Paris, and the very early Mark Murphy, with a soupcon of Frank D'Rone. And Noel Coward weariness.

She metamorphoses from track to track, first doing ballad, then scat, then hip-hop, then pure jazz club warbling, then big band a la The Andrews Sisters, then barrelhouse, then sophisticated Bobby Short melodiousness, then she goddam goes off without even a warning and belts out a rhythm&blues-cum-rap-Hoagy Carmichael creation (bow-wow-wow--W O W !). She takes from every milieu, every venue, recapitulates and brings them forth born anew. Her range, both vocally, and conceptually, is amazing: courant, informed, smart as smart can be, sly but never arrogant, touching but pragmatic, endearing but never treacly. Each composition makes its special appeal; but never begs, never drywashes its hands a la Uriah Heep; never cries crocodile tears and tries for cheap sympathy. Snappish, sometimes; but never meanspirited.

She has written the music and lyrice for everything on these discs, and...

Wait for it...

Remember you heard it here first...

Nellie McKay is the 21st Century Cole Porter.

I'll say it again.

NELLIE McKAY IS TO MODERN LYRICS WHAT COLE PORTER WAS TO THE MOST URBANE, WITTIEST, MOST PIERCING AND PROVOCATIVE GREAT WORD-PLAY 20th CENTURY MUSICAL ARENA.

Folks, this kid is Brecht-Weill rolled up in one, with an urban, succulent sense of Lotte Lenya and Peggy Lee stirred in. She is Porter and Randy Newman and Eminem and Lambert/Hendricks/&/Ross and Oscar Brown, Jr. and Noel Coward and Dorothy Donegan and Billy Strayhorn and Lorenz Hart and Yip Harburg and Bono neatly assimilated, transmogrified and daubed on here'n'there to get the color of their essence, yet in no way overpowering the genuine originality of her voice, her singing style, her rhythmic sense, her piano playing and...most of all..to be knocked out by it...and the lyrics come with the album so you can follow along...HER COMPOSITIONAL, HER WRITING, HER CREATING SENSE is (and I use the word advisedly, yet properly) awe inspiring.

I get a lot of music from readers. All the time. More than I want, more than I can listen to. Most of it is shit. Some of it is playable. A bit of it is listenable. A drib or dollop is enjoyable. Once, during a very delicate shade of blue, moon I get something that is keepable, memorable, worth my ear-time and my thought-time. But not in MANY years have I heard anybody like a Stevie Ray Vaughn, an Anita O'Day, a Roy Orbison, a Nat King Cole, a Jane Green, a Cliff Edwards, a Theo Bikel, a Billie Holliday, a Todd Duncan or Paul Robeson...a Janis Joplin, so clearly identifiable, a fresh sound without peer, combined in a person whose songwriting skills compare solidly with, oh hell, even Jacques Brel and Leonard Cohen.

So who has done me this great pleasure?

Who, among you, remind me please, so I can say thankyou again and again, who sent me NELLIE McKAY?

I'd love to get in touch with her, to convey the joy expressed above. And if she needs someone to write the liner notes on her next CD, well, it's been years since my last forays--a Benny Goodman album, and a pair of film scores by Ennio Morricone--but I'd fair fancy to ricochet a few remarks anent this kid.

So, please, whoever my Secret Santa has been, declare thyself.

And as for the rest of you...I do not think you will hate me for suggesting you rush out forthwith and obtain the Columbia 2-disc CD

GET AWAY FROM ME.

By Nellie McKay.

Yr. pal, the enthralled Harlan

SUSAN

I don't get in from work till after the 6pm SOLDIER broadcast, and I've only just read your note. My plan had been to listen to it from the BBC7 website using the 'listen again' feature, which should be functioning for 'Soldier' from tomorrow.

But I've just noticed that there's a repeat at midnight each night.

However, I can only receive digital radio via a Freeview box attached to the TV, so my only way of taping it would be onto a PAL VHS tape. Is this still of use to you?

Harlan: Buncha newspapers with the Arthur Salm interview went into the mail Friday. Should arrive Wed-Thursish. Sorry it took me so long, but there it is.

Soldier on BBC7 TONIGHT

DAVID:

Thank you for the notice regarding SOLDIER. Would you do us a favor and record the show for us? Please, also, and this is important, would you include date and time of recording. If the aircheck includes interstitial material -- such as an announcement of BBC identification or suchlike -- by all means don't cut it out. It helps us in verifying provenance of the broadcast for bibliographers. This is a godsend, your advisement, as we would have no other timely way of knowing this adaptation was about to be aired and, as we have no access at the moment, a copy for our files becomes most important. We will, of course, reimburse you for any costs incurred.

Please let us know if this great favor is possible.

Thank you in advance. Susan

the transformation of ideas over time

Alex wrote:

> I love much of Bradbury's work, but sometimes the man is a bit
> too quick to assume ownership of an idea. "The Butterfly Effect,"
> good or bad, is not a steal from "A Sound of Thunder," and, in
> fact, doesn't resemble it.

I haven't seen the movie, but I suspect it would be a little difficult to draw a direct line from Bradbury's story to it. As Alex says,

> It's one of those stories where someone keeps going back in time
> in an attempt to change the present for a desired effect (and, of
> course, every attempt results in a present worse than the previous
> one). Bradbury's a great creator, but he didn't coin the notion of
> going back in time to change the past and thereby "fix" the present.

And "The Sound of Thunder" isn't about that at all. No one goes back to the past to fix the present; rather, someone goes back to the past for a little adventure, and a tiny error creates sizable changes in the future.

Regarding the concept of "The Butterfly Effect," I seem to recall that some physicist or geometeorologist coined the term, inspired by Bradbury's story, for small disturbances in one locus that connect to much larger disturbances far away -- the notion that a butterfly flapping its wing (not being killed, as in Bradbury's story) in China might lead to a tsunami on the other side of the globe. I suspect this was not intended to be a scientific description but more a metaphor for unforeseen, distant, and possibly dire effects from seemiingly small activities.

So this concept, as well as its rather different use in the recent pop movie, are both descendants of, separate branches from, Bradbury's story.

As for Bradbury's irritation at Michael Moore,

> An homage to Bradbury is not the same thing as theft.

is all that need be said.

Bradbury
I love much of Bradbury's work, but sometimes the man is a bit too quick to assume ownership of an idea. "The Butterfly Effect," good or bad, is not a steal from "A Sound of Thunder," and, in fact, doesn't resemble it. It's one of those stories where someone keeps going back in time in an attempt to change the present for a desired effect (and, of course, every attempt results in a present worse than the previous one). Bradbury's a great creator, but he didn't coin the notion of going back in time to change the past and thereby "fix" the present.

This is a bit like Bradbury's complaint that Michael Moore had used a play on the title of "Farenheit 451." Like that title, Bradbury's image of stepping on an insect has become a recognized bit of the contemporary vocabulary. But that doesn't mean that every reference to it is all there is to every piece that uses it as a reference. An homage to Bradbury is not the same thing as theft.

I haven't seen this mentioned here, although the article isn't new... Apparently Bradbury claimed that the concept of the movie "The Butterfly Effect" (which I think Harlan was hired to write a small publicity text for) was "a direct steal from me, of course". http://www.cfq.com/interviews/a_classic_encounter.htm

Again, for HARLAN AND SUSAN:

I received the goodies last night. Thank you! As always, not necessary, but very much appreciated. Harlan, THANK YOU. You know the memory of that pepper mill has been driving me mad for years. I ordered one immediately after reading your post. We can compare taste in peppers next time. :)

Sad to hear that PAPRIKASH FONO is gone. It has indeed become BIG SKY RANCH, an (ugh) "American Steakhouse." I'm from Texas. Steak, I don't need. I also did some checking on BRAVO FONO, and found a few more ratings and an old review. Sounds as though it's a mix of Italian, French, and perfunctory Hungarian. There's not a single damned Hungarian restaurant in the entire state of Texas, so I always look for one when I travel.

And of COURSE I can make langos. But that stuff doesn't travel. Sorry!

Here are the restaurant links, shortened for comfort:

March 1995 review:
http://tinyurl.com/dbd6t

3 user ratings, 2001-2003:
http://tinyurl.com/ahdxw

I don't think anyone has mentioned this. I'm not sure when it was made, but there's a two-part radio adaption of 'Soldier' on BBC7, one of the BBC's UK digital stations, being broadcast on Monday and Tuesday night, 6pm. It should be possible to both listen to it live and to listen again after broadcast on the BBC7 website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/

http://www.digitalcity.com/sanfrancisco/dining/venue.adp?sbid=100984300

On closer look, all the reviews are from 2000 and 2001, so probably aren't relevant. If you like, I can check around to see if any of the local net-connected foodies have eaten there recently.

Keith,

I was responding to your request to resolve the conflict between freedom of speech and respect of the feelings of others in the recent Koran incident. When lives are on the line, it’s not sufficient to justify action with an abstract freedom-of-speech position such as, “They got the right to flush that book, and I got the right to report it, and fuck ‘em if it puts their turbans in a twist.”

When you perform an inflammatory act, it needs to be for a reason.

There needs to be a positive return on any horror that is unleashed.

The media must certainly confront the shameful things that are being done in America’s name. America will never find peace while its actions reveal it as an oppressive colonial power willing to torture innocent and guilty alike to insure a steady supply of cheap oil. But unfocused “spray and pray” muck raking does nothing to advance the resolution of the situation at hand. So much of what passes as “journalism” today has no more depth or purpose than that of a bored three year old poking a hornets nest with a stick, just to see what will happen.

I’m all admiration for the confrontational and constructive journalism of a man like Thomas Friedman, but I can’t say that I understand or respect the motives of a magazine like Newsweek when it prints a blurb like the Koran article, and then is unable to back up its facts or successfully defend itself when the shit hits the fan.

Robert Sheckley update


at www.neilgaiman.com

there is a url posted there for a Paypal account where we can donate to RS's Relief Fund.

I would post it here, but it appears extremely long.

so go to Neil's site and have a looksee.

Regards,

Neal

TOM:

Plz, if you will: a URL code so I can check out those user reviews for Stanford Fono.

he

Hungarian restaurant info
Doing some Web searching, I found that Ghiradelli Square has no Hungarian restaurants at present. However, I did find the following, taken from an AOL city guide thingie:

---------------
Bravo Fono
Stanford Shopping Center
Palo Alto, CA (i.e. down here in Silicon Valley about 30 miles S. of San Francisco)

The owners had the Paprika Fono Hungarian restaurant at San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square before coming to Palo Alto in the 1980s. An outside wall of glass bricks lends a glow to the dining room, further enhanced at night by candlelight, white tablecloths and brightly colored paintings by the restaurateur's daughter. Favorites at lunch are the light salads and the seafood melange in puff pastry with a sherry sauce. At night, lovers opt for the bouillabaisse, braised lamb shank or tender mussels sautéed in a wine-perfumed sauce. Desserts are rich.
-----------------

6 user reviews, with four very high and two very low. Haven't eaten there myself.

REPLIES TO SOME 'A YOUSE

ROB EWEN & JON MANZO:

The package with my (unsolicited grrrrrr) birthday presents arrived today. As usual, they were smart and hard to resist, despite my psychopathia anent people gifting me. So you earn my thanks, another year of huggybunny friendship, and a wry smile at your indefatigability.

The Borges lectures was an inspired choice, and I am faunching to play the artifact. The Hiaason--as you suspected--I already had, and had read, and had enjoyed enormously, though on sum I find Hiaason's antic-crime-cape novels a pale imitation of Westlake and Dutch Leonard and Larry Block, who OWN that vein of ore. Nonetheless, TEAM RODENT was a super essay, and since I already have a copy, I called a man whom i know only HATES the Disney Oligarchy--his name is J. Michael Straczynski--it may strike a familiar note--and queried him as to the book's presence in HIS library. He said not, and so you may rest easily knowing your birthday gift went to a regifted good home.

Thanks again, both of you.

Jon, please tell your mother, the bounteous Gladys, that our baby is well, but seems to have developed the croup; and our child continues to cry for her mommy. Was it something we said?

Seduced & abandoned, Yr. pal, Harlan

-----------------------------------------------------------------

KEITH CRAMER & ROB:

Susan has been doing the facial laser surgery for some while now. Oh, I'd say a year and a half...we just don't talk about it much, openly, beyond the circle of our close friends. It is because--fair-skinned English rose that she is--Susan suffers from a serious case of rosacea. (You could look it up.) It was what W.C. Fields (and about 15 million other Americans)(primarily fair-skinned women) suffered from. They thought the red nose and florid complexion was the mark of Fields being the inveterate tippler, but it was also rosacea. It is seriously painful; and though Susan never complains, she exists in a near-constant state of discomfort and frequent anguish. So the V-Beam Laser treatments "blow up" the blood vessels in the face, shrinking them, and thus reducing the redness...though not the pain. The treatment leaves her face visibly bruised, and she is, naturally, uncomfortable going out in public till the discolorations and swelling go down. Unfortunately, the dermatologist Susan sees only gets the V-Beam once a month, and this time my honey's appointment coincides with one of my public appreances (EnigmaCon, UCLA, next Saturday). So she's a bit wing-flappy about it.

As for the "birthday party" they're putting on for me--the day before, Friday the 27th of May, same day as Kissinger's and Dashiell Hammett's, being my natal-celebration hello 71--it was held as a secret even from Susan till last week (the convention committee went through that double-agent Mata Hari Kathryn Drennan, Joe Straczynski's wife) and if you mooks aren't already seriously aware of my feelings re such interludes, well, let's just say I am trying, in my declining years, as the shadow overflies my demesne, to be more gracious and just to smile like a mensch, to accept, to look goofy, and to pretend to being sooo surprised. Beyond that, kindly spare me the snippy remarks about ooooooo how did you get haaaaaaarlan to show up for a berthhhhhhhhday party?

I can still hurt you, you know.

Resignedly, and with a death rictus grin, I remain,

Yr Olde Pal, Harlan

-----------------------------------------------------------------

AMY KOSTYN-JENKINS:

The "traveling peppercorn mill" of mine that you covet, was designed and made for me by Tom David of Tom David, Inc. in Nantucket, Massachusetts. You can obtain one or more easily, and I'll give you the specifics in a moment; but the manner in which Tom and I linked up for the creation of this useful gadget is an emblematic anecdote of how I purposely (and with charming humility) manipulate the received world to provide me with my every smallest desire. Here's how it went down:

Fifteen years ago or so, I saw a small advertisement (it was either in the back of an issue of The Atlantic or The New Yorker) for a "one-handed pepper mill." Looked good; nifty design; clever idea. It was, in fact, the Unicorn Peppergun, available in black or red; and I gave a phone call to (508) 228-6233, which was Unicorn/Tom David, Inc. at 6 Old Quidnet Milk Route, PO Box 541, Nantucket MA 02554, and by chance got Tom hisownself.

We chatted, he knew who I was, and I ordered a red peppergun. (In the years that have followed, I've ordered maybe a dozen more, for friends.)(That first one lasted a full decade-and-a-half-plus before constant use produced a tiny fracture in the plastic, and Tom replaced the item free, though that is probably just me...but at least it's a testimonial for its serviceability even if you wear out one every ten-plus years.)

Then he asked me if I had any ideas for "new products" congruent with his area of expertise, gadgets I might be wistfully dreaming of someone someday inventing...and I leapt like a puma:

I do a lot of travel by air for lecturing (I said) and one of the things that drives me bugfuck is the parsimonious piffle packet of cheapass pepper that comes with every snack or meal on the planes. First of all (I continued), the quality of the peppercorns used is the lowest one can obtain, because most people have no savory palate for the exquisite varieties of peppers available. So the fairydust sprinkle one can prise out of that packet enhances in no discernible way the wretched fare one is being served, which MIGHT, possibly, only maybe, be slightly bettered were the condiments fresh and eloquent.

Second, there's barely enough to pepper a piece of carrot in that packet. If you want pepper on your steak, your peas, your beans, your salad, your gravy, your fish, your tomatoes...well, forget it, Jack. Seven grains, most of which spray off into the aisle or your lap.

Third, that friggin' paper packet defies entry. The pepper is contained in hollow tubes, or "runs" as they're referred to in the trade, which--when you carefully pinch open the packet--squeeze closed, thereby trapping what little pepper was therein to begin with. Or you get what looks like the standard sugar packet of paper, and when you tear away the hem, half the grains spill, unless you've been prescient enough to shake-down and tap the packet beforehand. All of the foregoing of which, is a nuisance and a pain in the ass, for a reward barely commensurate with the effort. (I concluded, now red in the face.)

Tom roared with laughter.

"I'll see what I can come up with, to ease your pain," he said. Or words to that effect. It has been more than fifteen years.

Some while later, I got a call from Tom, reminding me who he was, asking me if my flame-red one-handed peppergun was working okay, and saying that our little chat had borne some interesting fruit, and there was a package in the mail to me, that I should let him know how I took to the contents.

It was, of course, the Unicorn Minimill that you admired when we had lunch, Amy. When I pull it out on a plane, at first people cannot figure out what I'm doing, and some even make snotty remarks about, "Oh, you travel with your own pepper shaker," to which I ALWAYS reply, "Pepper MILL, not 'shaker.' You 'shake' that grubby thimbleful of crap on your lettuce while I grind fresh Jamaican peppercorns onto MY salad. Yes, I in fact DO 'travel with my own pepper' mill. Do you, and I hope the answer is yes, have a problem with that? Or would you simply prefer to fall enviously silent so I can lord it over you?"

Tom is a terrific guy, his products are splendiferous, and you can find him on the internet at www.peppergun.com or call his company toll-free at 800-634-8881.

As for PAPRIKASH FONO in Ghiradelli Square, it has been a number of years since I ate there, and the last time it had been hideously and trendily renamed something like "The Fono Big Sky Restaurant." It still served Hungarian food of a high order, as I recall, but some of the specialties I relished, and went there specifically to enjoy, were either no longer extant, or had to be ordered sotto voce sans menu. It seemed still to be doing business, but I had the feeling the untutored palates of most visiting tourists were acclimated only to fast-food crap, and that Paprikash Fono, under WHATEVER name, was undergoing tense times.

I don't even know if it's still there; and if it is, does it still specialize in Magyar cuisine? If anyone out there lives in the San Francisco enclave, and could handily answer these questions for Amy and me...we would bow in your direction.

Hoping this answers the questions, I remain,

Longing for langosh, Yr. pal married to a Hungarian-Brit,

Harlan

"so Pornopolitik would be: Saddam Hussein's anus?"

By the burnin' pages of Revelation and the quakin' butts of Benedictine monks, I can't wait to see the centerfold!

Goofy Qs for Harlan and Susan:

Where did you get your itty bitty peppermill?

Does your favorite Hungarian restaurant (please repeat the name) in Ghirardelli Square serve finely-ground kolbasz? How about angyalos bogoros? Not sure about the spelling of that last one, but it translates roughly to "angel penis." It's a hand-rolled potato-based noodle sauteed in breadcrumbs and butter. Like most Hungarian foods, it's REALLY great for your arteries.

(didn't want to bug you at home for this, but would really appreciate answers)

Thanks!
Amy

Distributing Copyrighted Material
How may something so obviously, utterly wrong, seem so right?

I wonder if IRC is still capable of sending Word files.

The fact is, at the time, I was so in love with that author (despite being warned by same, in unrelated email, not to delve) that when the entrancing new tale was discovered at last, it seemed only natural to share it with true believers. However, the feeling of inherent wrongness soon crept in as well, even as the heart and soul of the tale was converted to voltage differential and spectrum.

How can equilibrium ever be restored to such ignomy?

(12:18)

Frank Gorshin/Susan's Face

Sorry to read about Frank Gorshin - saw him on Broadway a couple of years ago in GRACIE AND ME, a one-man show about George Burns. I think I was the youngest in the audience at 41. He did an excellent impersonation of Burns.

I also remember the claymation short from the '90s which featured three Kirk Douglases in a newspaper office - all voiced by Gorshin! A wonderful entertainer and a fine actor.

And Susan - what & why a 'lasered face'? And speaking of your face, I hope your right eye is back to normal now!

thanks
Rob E.

Scary
Lee,

Yes, I agree with you about semantics. But haven't we seen, even here, riled emotions at words tossed candidly?

I do think it hurts the US image to report on this abuse, and does nothing to engender goodwill toward us in the birthplace and cradle of civilization. But I don't think reporting facts is wrong. Democracy depends on the electorate being as informed as possible, the better to make decisions in the voting booth. Obviously, you can't have Democracy in a vacuum. Everyone sees the dirty laundry. Newsweek is not responsible for those deaths during the riots. In each case, someone was responsible for it, directly. Be it a police office who got hot, or a fellow rioter who trampled his fellow, or the wayward restless vengeful spirit of Kitty Genovese exacting justice on men who abuse women. (was that xenophobic, or what?)

Ed,

The events cataloged by the NY Times, while tragic, still speak of exceptions. I'd measure the US record of human rights abuses against any of the records of any of our adversaries over the past 200 years, and find us the gentler jailer. There is still work to be done, however. Those soldiers found guilty of abuse of power should be locked up, with the key flushed down a particularly hairy pipe.

Steve Evil,

I do get your point. Understand it well, I do. (hehe). But I don't think people should be forgiven for being obtuse. The world is a small place, with many different peoples, holding many different beliefs. Tolerance is the new name of the game, because genocide is out.

Steve Dooner,

Been meaning to reply to your earlier post. I have actually seen the list you mention, but I'll be damned if I can find it either, and I'm fairly good at this Internet-thingy. I can even name 5 other Internet search tools besides Google!

Susan and Harlan,

I see. You wait until the last minute to give your latest stalker info about you're next appearance. Damn you both. I can't make it. (Good luck with the laser, Susan! Are you finally having that HE tattoo removed?)

-Keith

Okay, it's a bit nuts to get worked up about the desecration of a handful of copies of a widely-reproduced, widely-disseminated book.

But it's amazingly stupid to harp on this one particular point, at the expense of the greater, more IMPORTANT point: that the United States engages in torture. Either we do, or we ship the victims to proxies who are guaranteed to perform torture. _Newsweek_ didn't source a story properly; big deal, considering the stuff they _did_ sourse properly, and the even _worse_ stuff that's come out of other places.

I mean, what are we supposed to think? "Sure, we sicced dogs on naked men and women, we forced them to perform sodomy, we beat them and deprived them of sleep, we treated them like animals... but hey, one thing we did _not_ do was flush their Korans down the toilet?"

Ugh.

Heinous? This speaks for itself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html

So what are you going to do about it?

hmmm


so Pornopolitik would be: Saddam Hussein's anus?


I am VERY sorry,

Neal

Crap, did I post that? I meant geopolitik. Brain fart. Crap.

The Difference
Folks, here's the difference between an honest analysis of global reapolitik and cheap tabloid journalism.

An honest analysis: Saddam Hussein's heinous.

Cheap Tabloid Journalism: Saddam Hussein's Hanes.

chickenshit media

If I remember correctly, somebody asked Harlan here recently if he was familiar with Greg Palast, a hell-raising leftist journalist based in Britain, who has a fine piece on this very subject today:

http://www.gregpalast.com/

Hey Keith,

I can sort of see your point; I find it hard to get worked up over a piece of paper as well. However, you've got to remember these people don't see it quite the same way. For them, it's not just a piece of paper with the word of God written on it, it is THE word of God, made tangible, the subject of worship. To desecrate it is to desecrate the word of God.

None of us are very religous here. To us it might seem overblown, certainly not worth violence. But for really religous people, for whom it's reality and not just abstraction, it's a very serious matter. Not just for Muslims, but for Religous folk in general. I mean if you desecrated a crucifix in front of a devout Catholic, or ripped up a Bible in front of an Evangelical Christian, they'd react very badly as well. Ditto the Star Spangled banner.

I don't think it's so much whether the reaction was warranted, as that it shows a deliberate contempt for that belief system. It sure doesn't help attitudes that the West is at war with Islam. For Muslims, it appears as an attack on their religion, and the response is to counter-attack. And if the incident hadn't come so soon after the bombing and occupation of two Muslim countries,it would probably have gone unnoticed. I doubt it would have gotten violent.

I love how the media retracts any story the Pentagon doesn't like.

There's my political post for the day.

Keith,

The Koran is just a symbol, as "nigger" is just a word.

These are troubled times, when disrespect can lead to killing and general mayhem. It's important to focus on the practicalities of the situation and save the abstractions for later. We have crushed the old Iraq, and don't know how to build a new one. Thousands of our people are dying over there, beside tens of thousands of Iraqis. We need to act in ways that bring about an end to conflict, and neither flushing the Koran, nor reporting the act does anything to bring that about.

Flushing the Qur'an
I know this could be one of those hot button topics, but does anyone want to discuss this? I'm conflicted by my liberalistic outlook on life and politics.

Harlan is quite anti-pc (and, funny enough, anti-PC), and that's how I'm tying this into Webderland.

On one hand, I believe we should treat people with respect and dignity. I think flushing someone's holy book down a toilet (or even sitting it on the toilet), is a disrespectful act. However, on the other hand, fuck that. It's just a book, just like the Bible, the Bagivadgita, and the Torah. In this, it is also like the US flag. A symbol of a higher ideal. It is NOT the ideal itself, which can exist only in us.

So if a bunch of people get their panties in a wad over this type of thing, so be it.

Incidentally, I think the larger story here is Newsweek's pussy-move of retracting this story, because the information was gleaned from a suddely "untrustworthy" anonymous administration source, when there have been many OFFICIAL reports from the Red Cross alleging the same behavior at Gitmo.

Thoughts?

-Keith

Infoman,
She didn't say it was Harlan's birthday party. I suppose it could be but I think his birthday's on the 27th.

Cindy


Amy,
I think Kevin Kirby was being friendly.
:)
Cindy


Kevin,
Go buy two more books by said author and donate them to your local library. THEN say two Hail Marys and four Our Fathers
( I'm protestant) and don't do that again.

I like your smile.
:)
Cindy


Hiya Neal.
;)

Stan,
I was in love with Frank Gorshin when I was five. I share your sentiments.

Cindy

Ancient Math Texts Deciphered
Wow – new (ancient) work from Archimedes comes to light!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/sv/20050520/tc_siliconvalley/_www11686887

-- Jon

FRANK GORSHIN
A great impressionist, if not a great actor died yesterday...Frank Gorshin had that ability to either love the guy or hate him in whatever acting job he has done. Though it was a hokey grade Z picture..INVASION OF THE SAUCERMEN... you know...the vein-extruding balloon headed monsters with the alcohol laden finger tips...well---to me his performance in the movie especially in the bar scene was a foretaste of greater things to come for this versatile actor, comedian, impressionist. He also did perfect impressions of KIRK DOUGLAS.

To you Frank...may you play to a standing ovation in the part of Heaven reserved for actor/comedians and impressionists.

What the hell? When did Enigmacons start up again? And how'd they get *that* big in terms of guest list?

A bit of background; as noted on the website's "About Us", Enigma was founded by UNC-Chapel Hill alum, Robert Hurt, who'd been active in the UNC-CH sf club, Chimera. Well, I was the founder of what eventually got named Chimera, and in fact I turned the club over to freshfaced frosh Robert Hurt when I was briefly back on campus the start of the fall semester after I'd left.

Later, when I moved out to LA myself, I learned of Enigma and Robert's involvement and became probably the only, at the time, non-UCLA-student members. I was also the eminence gris behind the first Enigmacon due to having had con organizing experience, and still have the t-shirts.

Susan, Harlan, please give any of the old-timers my regards. I'd go down myself for this, save that I'm already committed as a program participant for Baycon and there are folk coming in for that con who are expecting me to be there (not so much as a program participant, but just as friends).

The HE Birthday Party and Face Lasering
SUSAN: How the hell did you get Harlan to agree to a birthday party?!? (At a convention, no less!!) And why would one (voluntarily) let another take a laser to one's face? (All I can think of is bad, SF b-movies with guys or aliens getting their faces shot to hell by laser guns).
Yours in lack of information and incredulity,
the Man.

Gaiman's post on Sheckley indicated that there was a need for money to get him out of the Ukraine and back home. If anyone hears about a place to send donations, please post the contact info here in the Pavilion.

HARLAN ELLISON SIGNING -- LOS ANGELES
HARLAN TO APPEAR AT ENIGMACON 2005
ON SATURDAY MAY 28TH AT THE UCLA CAMPUS.

HE APPEARANCE TIMES:

1pm - 2pm Birthday Party
2pm - 3:30pm "Telling A Story In The 21st Century" Panel.
4pm - 5pm Signing

Registration is free, but donations are asked for to help support WorldTrust.org's efforts to rebuild after the tsunami in Sri Lanka. To register, and for more information go to:
www.enigmacon.org. Registration on the day will be at the Bruin Plaza. Please check the website for updates and changes.


Note: I picked the day before the convention to have my face lasered (CLEVER OF ME) please don't scream at the pulsating human blob. You may point and laugh. --SE

Distributing copyrighted material
Wow. You offer the defense of "(I) asked them to delete it" (which ALL sites offering bootleg material do) and "they bought the book afterwards," but is there really a question in your mind as to whether or not your initial action was correct?

Short answer: You were wrong.

I don't care HOW hard it is to find a particular work. Unless you have permission from the author or his/her estate, you've got no business using their work that way. I wanted to introduce a friend of mine to Harlan's work. Know what I did? I bought him a book. The fact that both of your people "bought the book" indicates that perhaps it wasn't all that difficult to find in the first place.

Just my opinion, since you asked.

Was the "smile" meant to imply you were being a wiseass or being friendly? I wasn't quite sure.

The AOL Precedent
Hi anyone, who may be out there.

Reading over the website, I noticed that the AOL e-book matter was (not too recently) settled.

I'm wondering about a similar case, several years ago, in which I agreed to electronically transfer (over IRC) the entire contents of a hard-to-find short story (not by Ellison) to two remote individuals. Does there exist any opinion as to the appearance of such a story exchange? Even though I asked the recipients to please delete the story after reading it, and they did buy the book itself afterwards, there still remains in my mind the question of whether I should attempt to compensate the author for any transgression that may have occurred.

:)

Important Robert Sheckley update


on Neil Gaiman's website


www.neilgaiman.com

regards,

Neal

Damn you, Barkley! Now I have to get my Bester books out when I have so much else on the plate.

No, no, I'll enjoy it. "The Demolished Man" was the first SF novel I ever read in close to a single sitting. I can do it again. For Alfie.

Hey, you adapt the screenplay and I'll do the storyboards. How about that?

And are there plans to do anything like "DREAM CORRIDOR" again? I just found them in my collection and realised how much I missed comics like that. And the wealth of talent was extraordinary.

JH

Sorry I can't help you Steve Dooner, but I did come across this choice morsel at "creation scientist" William Dembski's website. He is commenting about the recent fun in Kansas and the lack of official scientific participation.

"I therefore await the day when the hearings are not voluntary but involve subpoenas that compel evolutionists to be deposed and interrogated at length on their views. There are ways for this to happen, and the wheels are in motion (e.g., Congressional hearings over the teaching of biology in federally funded high schools for military kids). For such hearings to have the desired effect, however, will require that evolutionists be asked the right questions.

What I propose, then, is a strategy for interrogating the Darwinists to, as it were, squeeze the truth out of them..."

I laughed at this until I began to actually think about it.

Gorshin
Not true about Gorshin; he evidently has another couple of performances already in the can, including some voice work for an animated film.

Hey, fellow skeptics, I need help . . .
I read a recent quote on evolution that had an enormous list of all the indivdual branches of science that have independently corroborated evolution (eg: Genetics, Physics, Geology, Cladistics, Systematics, Paleontology, Biochemistry, etc.). The list went on long enough for it to be humorous, and I would enjoy sharing it in my classes as a lighthearted way to communcate with students who have no idea about the integral importance of The Theory of Evolution in scientific inquiry.

Did anyone else here read it?

Steve Dooner

Just a note for Frank Gorshin fans: his final tv performance will be in CSI's season finale tonight.

D.

Star Wars Report: OK, IT'S OVER!
Well, it's 2:41 am EDT and I'm back from seeing Revenge of the Sith. A very, VERY satisfying end (or middle, depending on your point of view) of the Star Wars films.

And now it's time to put the toys away and move on...anyone up for an adaptation of The Man in The High Castle or The Demolished Man? I'm ready...

Chris B.

UTLEY:

Belay that last order. I got the number.

he

One of the great added joys of the recent DVD release of all the Ed Sullivan shows that featured the Beatles, was the inclusion of a Frank Gorshin segment that is still fresh and funny fourtysomething years on.

Mark W.

It's getting positively MOROSE around here
.

Frank Gorshin R.I.P.
...although I'm sure it didn't escape most of the crew, I thought it worth mentioning. I loved the guy's impression work.

be well,
John

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Obit-Gorshin.html?pagewanted=print

Thanks, Duane!

Duane typed: Dear Big Grammar: " -... / -.-- / - / . / -- / ."!

Duane, - .... .- - / .-- .- ... / ... --- / --. --- -.. -.. .- -- -. . -.. / ..-. ..- -. -. -.-- --..-- / --- -. -.-. . / .. / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. / .- / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - --- .-. .-.-.-

Nice work.

And while we're speaking of Grammar... KELSEY Grammer has signed to play "Beast" in the third X-men movie.

Speaking of grammar,

How cool is it that at least one person (Harlan) gets how ubiquitous the "." is to the entire internet revolution, something the grammar gurus over at Webster.Inc (hereafter known as "Big Grammar" don't seem to understand.

The internet lives by the "." The internet dies by the "."

So why in the hell is the "official" spelling of e.mail....
e"-"mail?

A "-"? For hell's sake, what significance does the "-" have for anybody who swims around in this electronic medium? I mean, what are we working with here? Morse code?

Dear Big Grammar: " -... / -.-- / - / . / -- / ."!

.-.-.-

HEY, UTLEY!!!!!

If you've still got my phone number, call me and give me YOUR new phone number for my TLDV file. If you've lost my number, send an e.mail to Rick Wyatt, Galactic Webmaster, conveying your new phone contact in Smyrna.

Yr. pal, Harlan

A Brief Word about "Star Wars"
Okay, I loved the movie when it came out, but I also knew it was pretty empty as far as science fiction was concerned. I dug the techie aspects, the set design, the sense that Lucas was trying to give his Flash Gordon story the material depth of, say, Tolkien. (In other words, the sense that a ray gun or a spaceship had a _reason_ for being wat it was.)

And this was before I read Harlan's discussion of the _Star Wars_ tsunami-- the piece about how Darth Vader sucks eggs. Which I'll probably reread tonight when I get home.

So it's fun to read the piece at Salon, http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2005/05/18/force/index.html, where their staffers write about when they discovered that the Lucas movies were pretty much bullshit.

Lost Art of Journalism
Mr. Berman, et al -
I aggree with your lament on the loss of Poetic Journalism, but it doesn't stop there. I'm very much lamenting the death of the old "4th Estate" demi-neutrality of journalists everywhere. Gone, apparently, are the days in which a journalist simply reported the event in an interesting way without the need to editorialize/slant the piece. A little political bent here and there was always expected, but with the rise of such politicized self-important news sources as Fox News, USA Today and ... well, Newsweek ... we no longer have significant sources of independent journalism where the reader can arrive at their OWN conclusions on a story. I'm afraid the pressure of ratings and revenues have made thoughtful journalists, the likes of Cronkite, Severeid and Brinkley, very much a thing of the past.

As a grad of ye olde USC School of Journalism, where I learned the art of copy using something called a "stylebook" (evidently no longer in use), I am saddened by the state of the industry and the ease at which it is manipulated. Whoudda thought, at this late date, Rolling Stone would have become a neutral leading source of my world view???

Harlan, at least that's one good thing (among many bad) that the internet's done. I can read the International Herald Tribune online whenever I want...


Nim

There's a positive review of Eisner's The Plot: The Secret History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in this past weekend's Financial Times. "...the volume of information still makes the book a demanding read...an intriguing book, masterfully drawn."

A.J. BERMAN'S QUESTION FOR RICK
OY! EVEN _I_ UNDERSTOOD the writing in "Link to More Specific Rules" in the header above your posting, Alex -- and I have a bit of dyslexia. I double-checked and it _isn't_ in fine print. If you get into writing as a full-time gig, better be careful -- _those_ contracts have rules that'll come back to bite ya in the keister (or is it kiester?).

Forgot two things.
(Rick, is there a policy on self-piggybacked posts? If they annoy you, I for one will stop--as I know I do this often.)

I meant to say, after that catalog of duties--I'll never sleep again.

Also, HARLAN, something has been preying on my mind for a while; a question you can perhaps answer, with your experience with newspapers and magazines:

Where has poetic journalism gone? I mean, I well understand the necessity of Who, What, Where, When, but I have to wonder where the lyricism has gone in the realm of newsprint. Outside of the openings and closings of the investigative newspaper-magazine "Portrait of a Child"-type stories, I just don't see a sense of rhythm and style anywhere outside of the sports pages.
Even columnists and op-edders seem to eschew a Royko-like sense of beats and cadence and effect for straight-ahead "here's what I think" articles.

As my own style is very much that of style and effect, this just makes me wonder. Any thoughts on this?

HARLAN: Great indeed to hear about Mr. Sheckley. Do let him know that he has devotees in abundance pulling for him.
(and I'd love to see him get well and gift us with more books about, say, Hob Draconian ...)

BOB: I love Neal Adams. Love his art, love his politics, love his passion.
Hate his ideas about science, but hey; you can't have everything.

CLIFF: Man, what I'd give to have been at that table.

No; I take it back--as long as I'm giving the moon and the stars, I'd give them to have Will back and still working. As, I'd warrant, would we all.


ALL: Yeah; my presence here has been kinda thin on the ground lately. I still read everything here and a great deal of the stuff in the Forum, but things, they do be fraught.

Press secretary-ing, organizing committes, organizing petitions, helping to organize media-event/politician-attended rallies, column-writing, doing business trips for trainings, conducting grievances--all with the implied promise of even MORE duties and responsibilities in the future. Plus, all this is in addition to my full duties at work.

But it's worth it. As Robbie Robertson wrote for The Band, "I work for the union ... 'cause she's so good to me ..."
("King Harvest [Will Surely Come]", if you didn't ken it.)

Okay, so we have a large number of pictures from Dragon*Con, but no names. Other than Ellison, I don't know who they are. Any chance of the names being added?

Harlan story at
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/masters/

DragonCon 2004 Pictures
Official pictures are up and the first few are some of Harlan...

http://www.dragoncon.org/photos04/guests/index.htm

Harlan, here's a terrific Neal Adams interview you and everyone else might enjoy:

http://www.comicfoundry.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=100

ain't the kinda place to raise your kids...
But it is weirdly beautiful. Go here and take a virtual stroll.


http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050517.html

Mr. Ellison,

I do a lot of travelling - by which I mean driving (see http://farnorthracing.com to see why) and I buy a lot of audiobooks to pass the time. You keep showing up as a performer in all these short story compilations (Arthur C Clarke, Orson Scott Card) plus I have a collection of your own works, and you are by far my favourite storyteller. I love the fact that you use your vocal range to bring the stories to life (**slurp** TER-MITES! **slurp**) and your reading of "Laugh Track" is my all-time favorite reading of any story by any author.

So thank you for that.

DG

TO JOHN PACER

Good to know you got it. Just re-color what's there. The apostrophe-s was just "conveniencespeak." Plz add nothing new, just refurbish what was originally on-the-button.

Let me know what I owe you. And, thanks again.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Harlan: I received your button today. Do not worry as it looks like it will be a rather easy task. I was surprised by how small it was. I had assumed it was larger and that I could easily stencil it. Instead I'll have to actually do it by hand, which is no problem. I just have to actually concentrate now, heh heh. All I gotta do is go to MickeyDee's and buy a soda or something to get a reference for the actual colour of those golden arches.

I did have a question about the text, though. You referred to the button as saying "McShit's" when actually it says "McShit." There's no apostrophe "s." I'm wondering if you want me to put an apostrophe "s" or just retouch what's there.

- John

Harlan - I'm certain you would counsel me on the need for a thorough archive... I'm glad it's found a happy home within your walls, and I hope Susan enjoys it. And if you have any other gaps, send word and I'll have Burbank set the agents in motion... I got resources...

Also, I'm still finalizing details on the Lookofsky disc, and will let you know when the levee breaks.

SEX BOOKS OF THE 60's
MUST BE TIME FOR PAPERBACK NOSTALGIA, what with Hardcase publishing doing original paperback novels (by guys like Stephen King) and these two articles (which mention Harlan Ellison) popping up in the media ether:

http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0517,takefive,63488,15.html

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/25/books-cotner.php

A NOTE TO MR. STEVEN UTLEY

Mr. Utley.

Sir.

Your book received.

Ahem.

You may hereafter consider me as one umbraged to the Pimsoll line with outrage. Lesser little auctorial shits were sought out to commend your works in ebullient aass-kissing; and even that ex-Texican expatriate bint Tuttle has her snoot in the mix. But I -- chum of your cradle year -- the man who held your head while you vomited up the narcotic poisons of a youth misspent -- who championed you to the Feds and the IRS -- am IIIIIII asked to contribute an encomium to Utley?!?!!!!!

No,in thunder!

How come you do me like you do do do, how come you do me like you do?

Ratbastard.

Bereftedly yourn, the remains of the writer formerly known as

Good Ole Harlan (sob!)

Was up in Seattle last week, and stopped by the Science Fiction Museum. Don't recall if it'd been mentioned hereabouts, but Harlan's first typewriter, with a facisimile of the first manuscript page of Glowworm in it, is fairly prominently displayed. And the info plaque for the helmet worn in Soldier specifies that it and Demon With A Glass Hand inspired Terminator. Along with the it being the model for the helmet worn by Robin Williams as Mork.

Which, although I didn't know it at the time, was annoying, since I learned this morning that Robin Williams showed up at our weekly company meeting last Friday and spoke/performed for a few minutes. Which I missed, due to being in Seattle. Would've loved to have heard it; I certainly enjoyed his bit at the quite a while back Harlan Roast, and recall reading an interview with him in the late '90s that showed that he really understood the Internet before most non-tech types had any idea about it (OK, not the technical underpinnings, but the implications).

While I am basically one with Brian Siano on the matter of STAR TREK and STAR WARS, I suspect that many people would have got wherever they were going to get without help from Gene Roddenberry or George Lucas. Consider (heh heh): http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4119

Simply Put...
Yay.

MR. HILLIARD:

The envelope for Melinda Snodgrass reached me today. It has been readdressed for forwarding, and has been reposted to her.

DOUG LANE:

What an un expected bit of largesse; what an unexpected dollop of yesterday; what a startling gift. It arrived today. Susan has never seen it and she is simply faunching to imbibe the long-lost broadcast. As again, as always, you amaze and delight, my friend.

TO ALL:

Got word from bedside at Kiev, Sheckly is breathing on his own, and the wailing cum lamentations may have been premature. He continues, defying all the odds, as a secret agent against death.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Just wanted to clarify Lab Rat Lenny's post -- the article by Marc S. Williams refers to Orson Scott Card's recent essay on the death of the "Star Trek" franchise, in which Card criticizes the original "Star Trek" series for failing to tap the talent available at the time. Card represents that talent with a list of ten "excellent" authors of the day, including Niven, Aldiss, Moorcock, and, listed first among Card's ten, Ellison. The article does strongly (and in Ellison's case erroneously) imply, without stating outright, that none of these ten contributed to "Star Trek"; however, Ellison's primary placement in this list doesn't really indicate any critical judgment on Card's part of Ellison's superiority. The Williams-penned rebuttal does make it sound like Card has ranked Ellison "first on his list of important authors" in general, as though Card had drafted one of those fundamentally preposterous "best-ever" lists and crowned Ellison king. I think this is an unintentional ambiguity on Williams', and Lenny's, part.

While it's clear Card admires Ellison's writing; and while I am no expert on Card; and while Ellison appears (most enjoyably, by the way) on the audiobook of _Ender's Game_, perhaps indicating that the respect is mutual; and while lots of other things also are true; nonetheless I do seriously doubt that, were Card to draft such a list, Ellison would top it. It _could_ happen -- but it hasn't.

Just so's nobody gets confused.

Hey, Doug!

Well, rats. Harlan took you up on it. Could you please point me in the right direction so I can order a copy?

And a very belated "thank you" for mentioning the Robin Williams interview on Audible. For some reason, a search for "Harlan Ellison" does NOT bring up those selections. What a great combination of personalities! I had to dig out my Lenny Bruce albums after listening to them discuss "The Palladium." It's one of my favorite bits, too.

Thanks for your help!
Amy

I feel like I need a really powerful hot shower. I don't mean to bust on Lab Rat Lenny-- but do we really need another testimonial on how much SF owes to things like _Star Trek_ or _Star Wars_? Yes, both are ending their existence in the national media (although the merchandising goes on), and yes, lots of fans and creators were hit by these at an impressionable age. But do we really need so wade so _much_ in these sugary memoirs?

Like I said, I feel like I need a shower-- a really powerful hot shower, where all of that glucose gets stingneedled out of my pores, and I don't have to worry about any unscrubbed residue turning rancid and attracting ants. A really _astringent_ shower.

We've all read the testimonials from people about how Lucas or Roddenberry's product made them an SF fan. But there's an obvious question here: what would they have become if they hadn't encountered it? If _Star Wars_ had never come into being, would legions of modern geeks have stuck with normal, non-fantasy-oriented entertainments? Of course not: they would have glommed onto something else. Maybe they would have chosen something _better_. Maybe a lot of pallid product wouldn't have clogged the culture afterwards.

Harlan Ellison, whom Card ranks first on his list of important au
Salt Lake Tribune

Science fiction fans (and authors) owe debt to 'Star Trek'
by Marc S. Williams

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_2735808

"Star Trek" is criticized for not using science-fiction writers of the time. In fact, first-rate writers such as Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Bloch and Norman Spinrad wrote episodes. Harlan Ellison, whom Card ranks first on his list of important authors, also contributed an episode ("City on the Edge of Forever").

DOUG:

Like discovering a mythical long-lost papyrus from the Great Library of Alexandria. Do I want it?

Honey, deed ah doooooooo!!!!

Yr. pal, Harlan

Harlan - about 300 years ago, you hipped us in this venue to Harry Lookofsky's album "Stringsville". Through one of those wonderful series of searching daisy-chains, I found myself exchanging e-mails with Harry's widow Sherry yesterday; she was mentioned at the end of an article about the album by violinist Jon Rose as having "Stringsville" available from her, on request, along with her e-mal address.

Of course, I requested; it appears that a planned 2001 reissue of the album by Koch Jazz never happened, and opportunity seldom beats on the front door so loudly. But the article mentioned Harry's FIRST record as well, on Epic from 1954 - a four song EP by the Harry Lookofsky Strings entitled "Miracle In Strings", with Harry on three violins and two violas, Billy Taylor on Piano, Oscar Pettiford on cello and bass, and Charlie Smith on drums, all lovingly arranged by Quincy Jones. Mrs. Lookofsky says the disc she's offering contains both "Stringsville" and the earlier EP.

I've ordered a pair; the second one is earmarked for you if you want it, owing to the fact that you may not have known about the EP or even have heard it. Let me know if you'd like it and when it comes in, I'll send it your way (if the Post Office cooperates - did the package with the tape and the photo CD ever arrive?) - otherwise, I'd wager there are enough jazz fans in these parts that someone will give it a home.

Harlan Ellison wrote what is considered to be the single best epi
Commentary:
“Star Trek” will never die
by
STEPHEN SEITZ

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=54700

Harlan Ellison wrote what is considered to be the single best episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.”

Highest praise possible for little old me


Jeez Harlan, thanks. And thanks to your lovely wife Susan as well. It's so flattering to hear such kind things from someone with such a refined taste in literature. Susan I meant. haha

As good as it felt to be complimented by Unca Harlan, it was even better to hear that Robert Sheckley seems to be recovering.

And thanks to all of you who had such nice things to say.

A-TC I sent you email, i bet it looked like spam. It's the one where I describe my penis. I guess it does look kind of like spam...

respectfully,
neal

Hi Cindy.

That's why you're Superman, JON ;)
Yeah. And if I recall, Shatner got his in that one, too.

How's the Night Life on Cissalda?

Cheers, Jon

Streisand
There's another Streisand death in Ellison's work, and dammit, I can't recall the title. The very funny story about aliens who come down and start making love to humanity.

re the HE interview book: I'm picking up the subject in the Bulletin Board under "General".

Heads Up : Don Diego de la Vega's Alter-Ego ...

From Neil Gaiman's Journal at : http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/journal.asp

posted by Neil Gaiman 5/14/2005 12:21:00 a.m.
Collectors of Lisa Snellings' author rats will be delighted to hear that Harlan Ellison (as Zorro) joins Poe, Lovecraft, and some other author in the set. There's a picture of the Gang of Four here.) (And Lisa's rat-shop is here, but Harlan's not up there yet.)

the Gang of Four URL : http://www.lisasnellings.com/blogger/gang_of_four_lg.jpg

the rat-shop URL : http://www.lisasnellings.com/ratbag.html

Cheers,

Dougie.

David,

The story in which Streisand is swallowed by the earth is "Ecowareness." You'll find it in THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON and in APPROACHING OBLIVION.

The only thing I recall about the effect of one of HE's stories being read to a disturbed patient, though, was included in the intro to the new edition of PAINGOD; believe the story was "Lonelyache," and I don't believe there was any mention of Streisand.

Bests,

--tr

TV Alert: If you all get c-span2 (Book TV), Bradbury will be on Sunday at noon: 12:00 pm 2005 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Ray Bradbury

That WAS choice Neal- I enjoyed it and I needed it.

Thanks and thanks,
Cindy


Rich,
I left you a message on the Valerie thread. In it I apologize profusely for my bad behavior and the bullshit remark I made about the purse.

Check it out-- I'm sorry.

Sincerely,
Cindy

Crash
Adam-Troy: I'm going to get an email together in response to your question. I'll have to go into some detail and I don't want to fling spoilers all over the board. But I'm glad you're familiar with MAGNOLIA. That will make life much easier.

eating leftover chocolate ruggeleh (so evil, but so good),
Amy

David Loftus --

Thanks so much for your kind reply. I really didn't know any of this before. I have a Kismet recording which belongs to my husband -- I want to say Alfred Drake was the lead singer on the recording. I'll have to pull it out -- I think, but am not sure -- it may be the original Broadway recording. I also didn't realize that Harlan Ellison had performed with a "young Barbra Streisand." Streisand, who has a commanding voice, has never been one of my favorites -- I am always disconcerted by the large gasps for breath she takes between musical phrases and her lack of subtlety with a lyric.

Again, I very much appreciated your kind attention and response!

Kate

Luck? Whats that?
Neal, you are suuuch a literary genius.....

Tuesday, I happened upon fine woolen dress pants in a thrift store for $7 and $9 (Talbots and Banana Republic brand, Italian made stuff!) the better for job hunting/work but I still haven't found a real job. (Anyone in the Bay Area: Seeking admin/clerical part time. email me if you know who's hiring.) Is that luck?

but that was Tuesday, not Friday. I still can't get my Real Audio musicstore to let me log in for downloading.

IIRC the Exploratorium musuem in San Francisco is running an exhibit debunking superstitions. They mentioned it on the local NPR outlet this morning. (Well I was only half awake, so I'd have to check to make sure.)

Ahh, Lab Rat Lenny...you HAVE read Harlan's introduction to CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER (his script) ???? The real story behind that and many other things complete with reproduction of Harlan's "Committee" letter.

Music wise : my own father is close to Harlan's age (just turned 72) and LESS into rock music. Mom gave him the DVDs of the Leonard Bernstein CONCERTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, said to be an excellent crash course in classical music appreciation. Not that *he* needs it - it's more nostalgia.

Harlan, is there anything you haven't done? (lol)

Thanks everyone for the film recommendations. I'll probably go see HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY first though, being fluff headed (G) ...also I want to go before the local multiplexes get taken over by the Star Wars fans. CRASH I expect to see on DVD eventually; we rent one every week since my brother works at a Hollywood Video store.

Kristin

Kristin

various and sundry, as usual

Duane:

Yes, got his "just deserts" always applies . . . unless you were to speak of the rare situation where the person was demanding a full, multi-course meal and got -- well, you know.


Kate:

Harlan seems to have missed your question, and nobody else has jumped in, so here's what little I know. He sang in small clubs in New York for a while -- I'm guessing in the mid or late 1950s -- and once shared a bill with young Barbra Streisand. I seem to recall reading an Ellison intro or interview where he complains that she hogged the entire tips jar for the night, so he got his revenge later in a story with a brief mention of her dying violently and hitting a high note as the world is destroyed. (Maybe someone can recall the story title as well as the book intro where Ellison talks about the effect a reading of the story had on a mentally disturbed person by a caretaker who knew the Streisand anecdote, whereupon the patient spilled his/her guts about a terrible wrong carried about inside for years.)

Ellison was also in the chorus of the original Broadway production of "Kismet" (source of the song "Stranger in Paradise," which like much of the rest of the music, was based on compositions of Borodin). You can hear him singing "Marsinah, buy from me" in the bazaar scene.

I don't know whether he particularly sang the blues, but I believe he knew a lot of blues and jazz artists in the 1950s.


Jan:

Bill Gauthier beat me to it, but yes, there are at least TWO collections of Stephen King interviews out there -- in hardcover, no less! I've read 'em both. I'm not particularly a King fan (I've read maybe half a dozen of his novels), but for some reason I enjoy reading interviews with the man. He sounds like a great guy -- much more fun to hang out with, share a brewski, than the average popular writer.

But you took the words out of my mouth: I would LOVE to edit a collection of Ellison interviews. I've collected quite a few over the years (including one brief one I did myself in 1984), although I'm sure Barney and Tim have more.

No question there's a wealth of material to choose from, and it would make better reading than the vast majority of interview collections that have been published. The challenge would be to convince a publisher that it's worth it. There aren't as many readers out there who know of Ellison as would recognize the name of King, let alone pay for a book collection.

You're caught between the rock of a small publisher that would jump at the chance but would have trouble marketing the product/getting the word out far and wide, versus the hard place of a large and reputable publisher who possibly would and could do so but might not consider the investment worthwhile. . . .

Robert Sheckley
Bob is getting stronger day by day. Today he breathed on his own for
over 2 hours and talked to me, Anya, Simon and the doctors with his
own voice. The doctors today dare to make predictions. So they told us
they will try to switch his breathing to his own completely in 5 days.
In 5 days Bob will have enough power to stand up and make little
walks. The doctors also have found some serious problems with his
heart. But we hope not that really serious. Bob must say good bye to
cigarettes

Rusty Aardvarks
Neal: yes, a masterpiece of a rant. Bravo!

Amy: Was very impressed by CRASH and dunno how come your own impressions so badly deteriorated after the fact. Am interested in hearing elucidations.

Harlan Saves Star Trek!
Damn It Jim! The Show’s Over
by John Stith at
http://www.webpronews.com/business/topbusiness/wpn-54-20050513DamnItJimTheShowsOver.html

"A letter writing campaign led by science fiction giant Harlan Ellison kept the show alive after the first season."

NEAL JOHNSON:

Very very very VERY funny.

Genuinely, protracted giggling, shared with Susan who also giggled, cute and funny and clever and apropos to cheer us at the end of a long, tough week F U N N EEEEEEEEE, funny.

Thank you.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Oh, my god, czech the colander!!
It's Friday the 13th!!

it's friday the thirteenth.

i'm going to break my foot, or lose my wallet, or fall
in the river and drown, or just fall in the river and
ruin my clothes, or accidentally cook the cat, or get
clawed by the cat on my way to the pan, or i will win
the lottery which will cause the sun to go immediately
nova-which would be really bad luck for everyone not
just me, or the toilet will overflow repeatedly with a
full load of stuff, or big buxom bartender jodi will
reveal her frightening breasts to me, or there will be
a snake or a mouse or a shrew or a vole in the coffee
can (i refuse to open the coffee can for 24 hours),or
someone with gross greasy fur-covered lips will have a
heart attack in front of my house and i will have to
perform mouth-to-mouth(bullshit, that fucker is dead),
or i'll accidentally pour fluid all over my beautiful
copy of "bloodsucking fiends" by christopher moore, or
my delivery from amazon.com will
arrive, wet, with something that smells suspiciously
like post office employee urine, or-while we're on the subject of bad things happening to
my books-something really bad will simultaneously happen to all my
books while i watch and die a slow
illiterate death, or stumpy the dumb outside cat will get spontaneous explosive colitis and ruin my deck with a great deal of fanfare,or i will get the phone call that
everyone dreads ("hi, it's mom, i'm at the
airport"...*CLICK*), or graycat will use my favorite
soundgarden disc as homeplate or toilet paper or a
barfbag or hairball container or worse, or i will run
out of gas oil or patience, or i will get a ticket for
driving while crying in grief over my lost soundgarden
disc christopher moore book or cat scratches, or a
mafia hitman will mistake me for a mark and that will
be that, or i'll spill my beer....

but that's ok. 'cause i still have unca harlan. yes i
do.

happy friday every........ugh.........

respectfully,
neal

Ah yes
Whenever I think of the term "class act", it's behavior like that - coming in and taking a cheap shot, unprovoked and long after the bell has rung - that really defines it for me.

I have to second Adam-Troy's enjoyment of CRASH (not to be confused with one of David Cronenberg's weaker efforts). This is a super movie that will quickly be forced out of the multiplex by the summer blast from Hollywood. I would liken it to MAGNOLIA and GRAND CANYON, two of my favorite movies from the '90s.

What puts this film over the top for me is the clever screenwriting: this could have been a morbid, turgid movie driving home a point that is not actually original, but Haggis' has blended in a robust sense of humor that surprises at times.

And yes, Bullock shines in her few scenes.

-TODD

>In reviewing my posts I realized I never actually said what has been in my heart for the last week <

No, you were too busy misreading my own post about Sheckley, calling me a jackass, and then not bothering to apologize or acknowledge your mistake.

A class act as always: Barney Dannelke.

Harlan, read your interview with Meth about your solution to the problem in the Middle East and loved your solution, and this coming from a full blooded Lebanese. But, you know, couldn't you exclude Lebanon next time you tell the story? We're really a great bunch of folks. We'll have you in for coffee in our stores... before we attempt to overcharge you. Well, um, we really get along with each other, well, uh, except that time in 1860 when the Druze massacred the Maronites, the Maronites massacred the Druze, and the Melkites were defending against everyone else. But, no, really, things have improved, except for that little incident in the 1950's when Eisenhower had to send the Marines in. Ok, truly, in these modern days, we REALLY are getting along with each other, well, except for the murder of Hariri and the bomb last week in Jounieh that killed a resident and injured many others. *sigh*. Ok, nevermind. Bottle up the whole neighborhood.

Frankie, Baby!

In answer to your plaintive posting: We wuv you THIS much.

Now siddown, shuddup and order.

Chuck

Frank--a little to the left; you're off your mark.

D.

OK - 3 people came through with phone and e-mail info so I can pass this along to Delany and my friends family before leaving tomorrow. Thanks to everyone. - B.

Just Deserts
I want to make sure I understand this:

When something bad happens to a bad person (or a person who did a bad thing), would we write that the person received his "just deserts?" If so, is this in all cases?

I thought I knew everything about English grammar before I read that post today. Turns out I have a lot to learn. Or relearn.

I bet nobody here missed me at all. My heart is as pained as a hyena's.

Love bites.

contact info request
If anybody has a way of contacting Samuel R. Delany by phone or e-mail - a good friend of his is in the hospital right now. Nobody anyone here knows, just someone Samuel did scholarly type stuff with in the 1970's and '80's. I'm quite certain he would want to know about this old friends condition.

My gmail is at the top. Cell phone is 610-657-5886. Worst kept secret on the net. I'll be in the Poconos from Tomorrow night until Sunday afternoon with no e-mail, thus the phone info.

In reviewing my posts I realized I never actually said what has been in my heart for the last week or so along with everybody elase, namely that I'm also pulling for Bob Sheckley. Never had the pleasure but his books occupy the good bookcases on the 3rd floor and not the boxes in the basement where bad Daw paperbacks languish in obscurity. So if Our Pal, Harlan manages to sneak a message behind the rusty Iron Curtain, add my name to the legion of boosters.

- Barney

COLLEEN:

Thanks, but I don't need it.

he

REPLY TO SCOTT BRIGGS OF KEW GARDENS

Sir:

I am not now, nor have I EVER been an "enemy" of rock'n'roll.

I was listening to it, sonnyboy, when it was nicely termed "race records." I KNEW Alan Freed and Ole Doc Lemon and half a dozen other deejays who were playing the sides to opprobrium and the screams of antichrist from lovers of Patti Page BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. Thus, the way you posit your message is bullshit and offensive. You ASSUME you know what my attitudes are, without the knowledge to inform such opinions. But when it comes to rock, child, kindly do not presume to teach your dear old Granny how to suck eggs.

Until you can sing along with me, the lyrics to "Miss Petunia" by Day, Dusk & Dawn, don't be calling me an "enemy" of ANY goddam variety of music.

I loathe hip-hop and rap and heavy metal, but I also want nothing to do with opera. I have my predilections, and you have yours. Do not sidle like the hyena, sidewise, to the position that just because someone doesn't share your particular likes and dislikes, that they are an "enemy" of ANYthing.

I do so hate how you wanderers come bopping along with sparse and sillyass flotsam of opinion, and posit it as Obiter Dictum.

As for classical music, though I find Glass more a bore than a pleasure, does my having spent the entire day today listening to the original piano recordings of Lecuona playing his own music from 1929 till he died, does that count as sufficient to remove me from the Enemies List of classical music?

Awaiting your salty riposte, I remain,

Yr. pal, Harlan

ADAM-TROY: I saw CRASH last Saturday, and I saw the same connection to Altman and P.T. Anderson. Sandra Bullock (whom I dislike intensely) gave a shockingly fine performance as an upper-class racist. I always enjoy Don Cheadle’s work, even when he can’t quite hold onto a cockney accent, as in “Ocean’s Eleven.” My initial response to the movie was much like yours, and I remain pleased that there’s at least one movie in wide release that involves using a few brain cells.

But I’m curious, and please let me know via email, if you maintain this enthusiasm after discussing the movie in depth. It didn’t hold up for me. When I first left the movie, I felt it was a solid 7 (out of 10), which represents the lowest number for a film that I would watch again. After dinner and conversation, it dropped to a 5. And if forced to an “X out of five” scale, it would be a two. I know; my math is fucked. I’m interested in hearing if it still works for you once you get past the initial "wow" stage.

Still, it was nice to go to a movie and end up having a conversation that didn’t involve special effects.

HARLAN: The package is heading out tonight, Express Mail.

Amy (and thank you for the update on Robert Sheckley…the news seems to have deserted him.)

Sheckley Update
E-mail, quoted online by Ellen Datlow.

Thursday May 12 2005 @ 11:07AM BST
Anya Sheckley writes from Kiev:

Dad gets just a little better each day, though I expect it will be many weeks before he will be able to fly home. Still unable to breathe on his own for more than a few minutes and still very weak. I can feel his frustration in wanting to talk and not being able and wanting to write but being too weak to hold the pen.

(adam again) here's hoping his improvement continues.

Unrelated tidbit, disgracefully presented in the same post as these life-and-death issues only because that's the forum I have: I just returned from the motion picture CRASH, starring Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Esposito, Matt Dillon, and others, and must report that it's that rarity: a literate American film of substantial sensitivity, and raw emotional power, about life as it is actually lived on this planet. It belongs to the SHORT CUTS / MAGNOLIA / Robert Altman genre threading multiple characters of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds, and watching as they collide in surprising, disturbing, and sometimes uplifting ways. Simply terrific film, and worth catching before the CGI-fest starts.

CLIFF METH'S INTERVIEW WITH ELLISON
CLIFF: I plan to use Harlan's last line after every waiting room discussion or barroom debate with strangers in the near future. Great interview. 'Nuff said.

Best wishes from the "Information Highway,"
the Man.

Harlan mentioned in Star Trek essay
To Harlan:
The local paper published an essay by Orson Scott Card about the demise of Star Trek. You and several other writers are mentioned in the article. Would you like a copy of the essay?
Note: If you do, do you want the entire paper or just the section that contained the essay?
Mahalo,
Colleen

Condescending Language
Brian -
You post reminds me of the last minute change of titles on Timothy Dalton's second foray into the James Bond franchise. Originally entitled "License Revoked", it was changed to "License To Kill" when the studio's "tests" that showed Americans wouldn't understand the word revoked...

Nim

Some nice words from Christopher Hitchens about The Right Word:

Stop Smiling: You've written on a number of occasions, but never explained entirely, that you write in a somewhat posthumous manner.

Christopher Hitchens: Yes. Write as if it's your last words. Because then you can be sure that you don't wonder, “Will the agent like this? Will my publisher say, 'Well, couldn't we punch it up a bit more or make it more fancy?' What will my family think?” All the things that constrain people.

SS: Does that work as a deterrent to your being edited?

CH: Yes. It does, I think. Because people would judge you a lot more if they think, “Well, he won't do [this or that].” They'll say, “Don't use the word 'Promethean.'” Actually, that happened recently. I used the word “Promethean” and the [magazine editors] said, “Take that out because people won't know what Promethean means.” I said, “Maybe they won't. I'll cut it out if you give me another synonym for it. You give the words that would stand in for it and I'll change it.” “There doesn't seem to be one,” they said. “No, there isn't, is there?” You either know what “Promethean” means or you don't. If you do, it saves you about 50 words. And if you don't, then you can look it up! So I said, “No. I'm going to keep it, because it's an important word and it's actually not condescending to Americans in the least. You have to condescend far more by finding the 50-word substitute. No, I won't change it. Fuck you. And I don't mean to publish in your magazine, either, for that matter.”

I'm reading this review, and