Aucbvax.1548
fa.sf-lovers
utzoo!duke!mhtsa!ucbvax!JPM@MIT-AI
Sat Jun 6 23:25:18 1981
SF-LOVERS Digest V3 #143
SF-LOVERS AM Digest Sunday, 7 Jun 1981 Volume 3 : Issue 143
Today's Topics:
SF Fandom - Awards & APAs, SF Books - Fantasticats,
SF Topics - Children's TV (Winkie Dink and You and Planet Patrol)
Compu-fiction & Children's stories (Jane Langton),
Humor - "About a Secret Crocodile"
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Date: 6 Jun 1981 12:44:32-EDT
From: cjh at CCA-UNIX (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: Hugos
To say that Hugo awards are "at the whim of the con committee" is no
longer anywhere near correct. A committee can give special awards
(e.g., St. Louiscon (1969) gave Armstrong/Aldrin/Collins an award "for
the best moon landing ever", and I'm working on lobbying the
Denvention II committee for a similar award for Young&Crippen) but for
the past several years concoms have specifically been forbidden to
call these awards Hugos.
A concom can include \\one// additional category, which must go
through the same process of nomination and balloting as the rest of
the Hugos. (One such tried to use this as a mechanism for giving a
Hugo to Tolkien, offering the RingS as an example of a "series";
nominees included the Lensmen and the Foundation trilogy, which won.)
The problem is that it would be easy to exhaust the worthwhile series
if this were made permanent (look at what happened to the Gandalf
(Life Master of Fantasy), which is about to be banned from the Hugo
ballot); mechanisms for non-annual awarding could be very painful.
As it happens, SFWA already has a Life Master award for SF; I think
past winners include Heinlein, Williamson, and Simak, all of whom are
a long way past their primes.
If there's anyone seriously interested in this, I'd suggest they
draw up a proposal and knock it around a while. I would \\not//
suggest trying to get it into the Denver business meeting; they'll
have enough problems with pass-on business and you'll probably get a
much better motion if you pass it around some people who know the
history of the Hugos.
------------------------------
Date: 5 Jun 1981 23:55:40-PDT
From: decvax!duke!unc!bch at Berkeley
Subject: cats in sf
As a true cat-lover (almost more than an sf-lover) I cannot help but
respond to this:
(1) Larry Niven's Kzinti (known space series) may not be the most
flattering image of cats, but are remarkably accurate representatives
of feline psychology (predatory, but not seriously; always making war
just a little bit before they are ready to; immensely proud with great
dignity and always a little embarrassed at a show of extreme pleasure
or emotion...I always wondered why Wu didn't dangle a rubber ball on a
string in front of one.)
(2) The artificially evolved cat-people in Cordwainer Smith's
stories, notably Alpha Ralpha Boulevard.
Many more, many more...just have to get back to my library to get
authors and titles correct.
purringly, Byron Howes
------------------------------
Date: 6 Jun 1981 1145-PDT
Sender: LEAVITT at USC-ISI
Subject: Cats in sf
From: Mike Leavitt <LEAVITT USC-ISI AT>
Do the cat-people in Cordwainer Smith's stories count as being of
interest to a cat club?
------------------------------
Date: 5 Jun 1981 23:51:11-PDT
From: decvax!duke!unc!smb at Berkeley
Subject: Purr-fect SF
Phyllis Eisenstein also has a race of cat-like aliens, though the
title escapes me at the moment. It might have been "Starcats".
------------------------------
Date: 5 Jun 1981 23:52:32-PDT
From: decvax!duke!unc!bch at Berkeley
Subject: Purr-fect SF
Don't think I have read that. I am also trying to remember the name
and author (possibly Laumer) of a short story about a kitten who can't
figure out why dumb babies grow up to be intelligent humans (and drink
coffee!) and lively intelligent kittens grow up to be dumb lazy cats.
Is convinced that he won't do this but along the narration somehow has
to give up his kitten-soul to the child in order to protect it.
------------------------------
Date: 4 June 1981 01:37 edt
From: Schauble.Multics at MIT-Multics
Subject: Postal APA for cartoon lovers
Since there seem to be such a large number of cartoon fans around:
There exists a postal apa for animation buffs. This is presently
circulated by mail every other month. (For those used to SF-Lovers,
this interval is comparable to the reversing of the magnetic poles.)
There will be a membership limit of about 30, but there is presently
space. If you have an interest, type up a contribution of at least one
page (no upper limit), make 30 copies of it, and send them to
ApaToons
c/o Gigi Dane
3433 W. Sierra Vista
Phoenix, AZ 85017
Deadline for the first mailing is July 9, 1981. Future deadlines at
two month intervals.
For those who aren't familiar with postal apa's, I will let Ye Ed
dredge up the last explanation that went through here and insert it
<RIGHT LINE AFTER THIS>
[ OK, I'm caught. APAs are Amateur Press Associations. The members
of the APA all submit some contribution (usually having something
to do with the purpose of the APA, like Science Fiction or
animation buffs - however, a lot of biographical material and
random (although often enjoyable) noise is also submitted). Some
poor soul then goes through the mush and orders them into an issue
of the APA, adding appropriate editorial comments (mainly restricted
to administrative matters), and mails out an issue to each member of
the APA.
Variations on the same theme: some APAs (like the one Paul refers
to) require you to send enough duplicates of you contribution for
all the issues that are to go out. Others only require an original.
Some editors of the APAs charge the members (for time, postage,
supplies, and duplicating costs, if any), while others are silly
enough to do it out of love. Some APAs come out weekly, but usually
new issues come out monthly or so. -- Jim ]
Paul
------------------------------
Date: 6 June 1981 14:27 edt
From: Margolin.PDO at MIT-Multics
Subject: Winkie Dink
The name of the cartoon which had viewer participation was "Winkie
Dink and You". Our heroes would get into trouble with bad guys, and
we could save their asses. The only situation I remember is them
being stuck in a pit, so the viewer had to draw a staircase or a rope
or something. They were then able to climb out and get the bad guys.
------------------------------
Date: 18 May 1981 2037-EDT
From: Antonino Mione <MIONE AT RUTGERS>
Subject: 1960's Sci-fi.
I am trying to find someone who remembers something about a series
called 'Planet Patrol'. It was done with puppets similar to those in
'Fireball-XL5'. I do not remember the names of the characters. All
I remember is the ship which they used to travel throughout the solar
system. It was similar to any cylindrical rocket but it had a doughnut
shaped tube around this rocket. It landed on a platform similar to the
one which the Millenium Falcon lands on in TESB. An access arm was
used to enter and exit from the ship. Does this sound familiar to
anyone???
Tony:<MIONE>
------------------------------
Date: 22 May 1981 1137-PDT
From: LEWIS at SRI-AI (Bil Lewis)
Subject: "Compu-fiction"
As I remember, at the West Coast Computer Faire there were
some people pushing some sort of computer based fiction story that
allowed the user\\\\reader? to stick in their two-bits worth and
redirect the story. Anyone out there know more about this?
There is method to my madness here, as some of us are going to
meet with a gentleman from a large publishing firm next week that is
interested in exploring the possibilities. Now I have a good idea of
the general type of things that are possible, but would love to her
what others think.
Full text generation from some sort of formal schema is out of
course (See Mann & Moore in AJCL V7 N.1. They cover the work of
Badler, Meehan, Schank, Carbonell, &c.). Thus we can't pretend to use
AI, but are rather stuck with writing out all of the text ourselves
and using "clever programming". The real question is "How clever can
that programming be?" Ideas?
-Bil
------------------------------
Date: 1981-5-20-12:59:39.71
From: Martin Minow at PHENIX at METOO
Sender: Paul Young (YOUNG at DEC-MARLBORO)
Subject: Jane Langton Mysteries -- re: Morris Keeshan's comment in issue 122
Jane Langton has written three murder mysteries that I know of, all
HIGHLY recommended. Two of them, The Transcendental Murder (also
called The Minuteman Mystery), and The Memorial Hall Murder are
currently available in paperback. All of her books are enjoyable and
highly literate.
The Transcendental Murder is set in Concord Mass. during Patriot's Day
festivities. Among other things, it suggests a love affair between
Thoreau and Emily Dickenson.
The second book, Dark Nantucket Noon, concerns a murder that takes
place during an eclipse of the sun. To say more would spoil the
ending, but SFL readers should enjoy it. Check your local library.
The Memorial Hall Murder is set in Harvard's Memorial Hall during
rehearsals for an annual performance of Handel's Messiah.
The first two were featured on WGBH's "Reading Aloud" about two
summer's ago.
Regards.
------------------------------
Date: 19 May 1981 13:51:35 EDT
From: Ralph Muha <MUHA BBN-NU AT>
Subject: time and tin cans ...
They fed the problem to the computer by pieces and by wholes. The
machine was familiar with their lingos and procedures. It was
acquainted with the Non-Valid Context Problems of Morgan Aye and with
the Hollow Shell Person Puzzles of Tony Rover. It knew the Pervading
Environment Ploy of Maurice Cree. It knew what trick-work to operate
within.
Again and again the machine asked for various kinds of supplementary
exterior data.
"Leave me with it," the machine finally issued. "Assemble here again
in sixty days, or hours--"
"No, we want the answers right now," John Candor insisted, "within
sixty seconds."
"The second is possibly the interval I was thinking of," the machine
issued. "What's time to a tin can anyhow?"
[from "About a Secret Crocodile" by R. A. Lafferty]
------------------------------
End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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