/** ***************************************************************** * ****************************************************************** * The Non-Sequitur Express * Sometimes fate hands you a deck of cards, or maybe a bacchi ball. * Published weekly, or at other random intervals, by Phillip Thorne * http://home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/Reviewer/NonSeqExp/ * * Volume 1, Issue 11: Friday 31 December 1999 * ****************************************************************** * *************************************************************** */ In this issue: LETTER: Happy new millennium-ish thingy! UPCOMING: Heads Up, Animation, Primetime, Voyager. NANOWATCH: X-Files, Virtuosity, Phantom, Gargoyles. ERRATA: TV scheduling snafus. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions /** ***************************************************************** * LETTER FROM THE EDITOR * This is where I babble. * *************************************************************** */ To my loyal readers, I extend my apologies. It's been over two weeks since the last issue; I fear Clio, the muse of history (media reviews are a subset of history, yes?) deserted me for that period. Less mythologically, sustaining weekly releases has been a challenge, and I might just adopt a fortnightly schedule to save myself the stress. A second apology: if this installment seems a little short, it's because I'm trying to transmit out before the century turns -- or, more usefully (it's 20:00 EST here in Philadelphia and there've been no reports of meltdowns or ICBM launches) before the new TV week begins (I think there's a good bet, now, that it will). I donated blood recently. Have you? It's a great way to possibly save one or more lives every two months, and you don't have to get dirty or spend money! Also, if you're male, it's about the only one to dispose of excess iron. Call 800-26-BLOOD or 800-GIVE-LIFE for the location and hours of the nearest donation center or Bloodmobile. Remember, until researchers work out the kinks in fluorocarbons, encapsulated hemoglobin or nanotech respirocytes (http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html), it's the only game in town. So, I hope everyone had a (insert desired emotion) (insert appropriate celebration) holiday, and I hope you're stocked up with (insert appropriate supplies) for tonight's new-year date-changing millennium-ish thing. Cheers! /** ***************************************************************** * UPCOMING * Series, Seasons, Episodes, Movies, Books * *************************************************************** */ Heads up: Apparently, "Futurama" will be absent from Fox's Sunday schedule until February sweeps. On Sunday 26-dec-1999 20:30, it's replaced by a new episode of "Family Guy" (FGy); the week after (2-jan), by a second episode of "The Simpsons" (Sim), and the week after that (9- jan), it's the pilot episode for "Malcolm in the Middle." Sunday 9-jan-2000-20:00 on UPN/WPSG-57 you can also see the 1992 film that started (sort of) the sensation, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The eagerly-awaited third volume of Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn Trilogy," _The Naked God,_ is finally available in US bookstores. Hardback only. Longtime fanfic house Eyrie Productions Unltd. has released chapter 3.7 of _Neon Exodus Evangelion_ (www.eyrie.net/NXE/nxe3-7.txt). NXE is EPU's fanfic reworking of Gainax's anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion." They've moved NERV to Worcester Massachusetts, reshuffled the cast, spliced in major elements of the PC game "X- Com:UFO Defense" and made the background theology comprehensible. Cinema: Bicentennial Man Columbia live pg 1217 Isaac Asimov Galaxy Quest Dreamworks live pg 1225 Toy Story 2, 2nd ed Pixar cg g 1225 bloopers Fantasia 2000 Disney cel g 0101 Imax Supernova MGM live pg13 0114 Mission to Mars HollyPict live 0310 The Road to Eldorado Dreamworks cel 0331 Fantasia 2000 Disney cel g 05-- standard Battlefield Earth WB live 0512 L.Ron Hubbard Dinosaur Disney cg 0519 Mission Impossible 2 Paramount live 0524 Red Planet WB live 0616 Titan AE FoxAnim cg 0616 The X-Men Fox live 0714 Marvel Pokémon 2 WB cel 0721 Space Cowboys WB live 0804 Dungeons and Dragons WB live 10-- TSR 2001:A Space Odyssey WB live 1231 Kubrick/Clarke Upcoming Animated: RSST Sole Survivor 25/110 m 1227 3 RSST Liquid Dreams 44/119 r 1228 3 RSST ...And Then There Were Two 42/117 w 1229 4 RSST Marauder 43/118 r 1230 RSST Search and Destroy 23/108 f 1231 * RSST Heart 45/120 m 0103 4 RSST Hot Ice 53/123 t 0104 RSST Swarm 22/107 w 0105 RSST Missing in Action 24/109 r 0106 RSST Sole Survivor 25/110 f 0107 RSST No Substitute 41/116 m 0110 4 RSST ...And Then There Were Two 42/117 t 0111 5 RSST Marauder 43/118 w 0112 4 RSST Liquid Dreams 44/119 r 0113 * RSST Clip Show 142 f 0114 * RSST The Inside Story 54/124 m 0117 2 RSST Heart 45/120 t 0118 RSST Pluto and Beyond 141 w 0119 RSST Sole Survivor 25/110 r 0120 5 RSST ...And Then There Were Two 42/117 f 0121 RSST Missing in Action 24/109 m 0124 5 RSST Liquid Dreams 44/119 t 0125 RSST No Substitute 41/116 w 0126 2 RSST Clip Show 142 r 0127 5 RSST Hot Ice 53/123 f 0128 SH22 The Fall and Rise of Sherlock Holmes 101 m 1227-1600 fox TFBW The Trigger, part 2 117 t 1228-1600 fox TFBW Spider's Game 118 w 1229-1600 fox TFBW Call of the Wild 119 r 1230-1600 fox TFBW Dark Voyage 120 f 1231-1600 fox Gdz Cash of the Titans 202 z 0101-0930 fox TFBM Master of the House 102 z 0101-1100 fox Avg Avengers Assemble, part 2 102 z 0101-1130 fox CSSM Ape-lien 103 s 0102-1130 48 Upcoming Primetime TV: 2 Buf Beer Bad 405 t 1228-2000 wb Dil (Premp'd) --- t 1228 2 Ang Sense and Sensitivity 106 t 1228-2100 wb 7D (Premp'd) --- w 1229 2 Ros Monsters 102 w 1229-2100 wb N+A (Premp'd) --- f 1231 EFC (Premp'd by Phila Mummers Parade) --- z 0101 2 SG1 Need 205 z 0101-1600 29 TNG Yesterday's Enterprise 315 z 0101-1800 57 TNG The Offspring 316 z 0101-1900 57 SG1 Gamekeeper 204 s 0102-0400 29 2 Sim Brother's Little Helper .... s 0102-2000 fox 2 Sim E-I-E-I (annoyed grunt) .... s 0102-2030 fox XF Field Trip 622 s 0102-2100 fox RD Pete, part 1 806 s 0102-2300 12 EFC The Vanished 302 s 0102-2300 17 RD Pete, part 2 807 s 0102-2330 12 2 Buf The Harsh Light of Day 403 t 0104-2000 wb Dil Holiday 112 t 0104-2030 upn 2 Ang In the Dark 103 t 0104-2100 wb * 7D The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 210 w 0105-2000 upn 2 Ros Missing 104 w 0105-2100 wb * N+A Fire and Ice 111 f 0107-2100 cbs 2 EFC Deja Vu 304 z 0108-1600 17 * SG1 Tok'ra, part 1 211 z 0108-1700 29 SG1 Need 205 s 0109-0400 29 * Sim Little Big Mom 1104 s 0109-2000 fox * XF Orison 708 s 0109-2100 fox RD Only the Good 808 s 0109-2330 12 EFC Emancipation 303 s 0109-2330 17 2 Buf The Initiative 407 t 0111-2000 wb Dil (Premp'd by NHL) --- t 0111 2 Ang Rm w/a Vu 105 t 0111-2100 wb Upcoming episodes of STAR TREK VOYAGER: (Premp'd) --- m 1227 Prototype 213 t 1228-1900 Torres taken to build bots. Alliances 214 w 1229-1900 Ally with Kazon? (Premp'd) --- w 1229 Threshold 215 r 1230-1900 Warp 10 salamanders! Meld 216 f 1231-1900 Psycho crewman, Tuvok melds. Lifesigns 219 m 0103-1900 Doc's Vidiian girlfriend. Investigations 220 t 0104-1900 Paris resigns. Kazon spy? Innocence 222 w 0105-1900 Tuvok help backwards-agers? 2 Survival Instinct 602 w 0105-2100 Seven help former drones? Tuvix 224 r 0106-1900 Tuvok+Neelix = Confusion Resolutions 225 f 0107-1900 Virus, abandon Janeway etc! Survival Instinct 602 z 0108-1900 ibid Sacred Ground 307 m 0110-1900 Janeway religious to save Kes. Remember 306 t 0110-1830 Torres remembers alien genocide. /** ***************************************************************** * NANOWATCH * Offensive bloodclotting in "The X-Files." * Composite serial killer in "Virtuosity." * Composite doppelganger in "Phantom 2040." * Composite landscaper in "Gargoyles." * *************************************************************** */ Series: The X-Files Title: S.R. 819 (610) Date: 17 January 1998 Synopsis: Krycek tests a new weapon: spiked carbon spherules, smaller than red blood cells, that replicate and form blockages across blood vessels. The "dams" can be cleared by laser, but quickly reform. The external symptom is black raised traceries on the skin. The spherules can be commanded remotely (in both instances from a range of ~10-20m via a PDA) to alter their effect: to induce pain or completely suppress circulation. Scully and a surgeon discover them in a sample of A.D. Skinner's blood, and Mulder refers to them as "nanotechnology" to Senator Matheson, who calls them "a technology the world believes is completely theoretical." The plan is apparently to export them to Tunisia as part of a medical relief bill (the eponymous SR 819). Title: Virtuosity (film) Date: 1995 Synopsis: A researcher has created silicate-based nanomachines that, in large quantities, can replicate the appearance of a macroscopic organism such as a snake; moreover, if the aggregate is damaged, the remaining units can feed on available silicates (such as plate glass) to replicate replacements in a matter of seconds. The entire mass is controlled and given form by a standard AI module the size of a gaming die. In an unrelated incident, an artificial personality -- a composite of serial killers used for criminal profiling in VR -- is stolen, and the module in which it's stored is dropped into a container of unassigned units, bringing SID 6.7 into the real world. Series: Phantom 2040 (animated, syndicated) Title: The Sum of the Parts (103) Date: 2 October 1994 Synopsis: One of Maximum, Inc.'s current robotics projects is the "fractal biot," a creature composed of thousands of "fractal cells" that can reform themselves into any shape (always green in color). A standard biot brain is far larger than the cells, and must be carried in an external case (typically by a remote human operator). To obviate this shortcoming, Rebecca Madison makes an order for a supply of "crystal nanochips" to be fabricated on one of the orbital platforms and smuggled to Earth; each is small enough to direct a single cell. She uses the biot (dubbed "Heisenberg" by her son, because "nothing is certain") to impersonate the newly-resurgent Phantom in a bid to terminally sully his reputation. Series: Gargoyles (animated, syndicated) Title: Walkabout (233) Date: Spring 1996 Synopsis: In the Australian outback, a research lab is developing solar-powered nanobots meant to work together in huge silvery masses to refinish large tracts of real estate. The composite evolves an intelligence and disables the magnetic field in which it's stored, consuming the lab and covering the landscape in sterile geometry. Goliath (who arrives on his Avalon peregrinations) and former foe Dingo enter the Aboriginal Dreamtime to confront the intelligence before it penetrates the lab's nuclear reactor and gains unstoppable power, and beg it to stop: "there's another kind of order - law and order." Convinced, it sheds most of its mass and combines with Dingo and his power armor to become a new crusader for justice. /** ***************************************************************** * Errata * *************************************************************** */ 22-dec-1999's episode of "7 Days" was not 201 "The Football" but 117 "A Dish Best Served Cold" in which a former chrononaut returns for revenge. 23-dec's "Roughnecks" was 44/119 "Liquid Dreams" rather than 51/121 "Ice-olation," but the next day's episode was as scheduled. /** ***************************************************************** * Legalese * Acknowledgments * Opt-in/out Instructions * *************************************************************** */ All books, movies, television shows, toys and other creative works reviewed or analyzed herein are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement is expressed, implied or intended. The original reviews and analyses are themselves copyright 1999 by Phillip Thorne. Some data has been reprocessed via aint-it-cool- news.com, foxkids.com, tv.excite.com, upcomingmovies.com and other sites. I'd like to thank Julius Caesar, Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis the Short), and Pope Gregory XIII for our current calendar. You're receiving this newsletter because you've specifically subscribed to it; or you're getting a trial issue because you're a friend, former classmate and/or former or current coworker of Phillip Thorne. To continue your subscription (issue 2.1 and onwards), send an email message to pethorne@earthlink.net with the words "SUBSCRIBE NON- SEQUITUR" or 'subscribe nonsequitur' in the subject line and/or body. To stop subscribing, s/subscribe/unsubscribe/ig. Capitalization and punctuation don't matter. /** ***************************************************************** * ****************************************************************** * The Non-Sequitur Express * http://home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/Reviewer/NonSeqExp/ * Volume 1, Issue 11: Friday 31 December 1999 * Copyright 1999 Phillip Thorne, pethorne@earthlink.net * ****************************************************************** * *************************************************************** */