/** ************************************************************************ * ************************************************************************* * The Non-Sequitur Express * Adventure's a part of life; so is belly lint. What's your point? * * Published at fortnightly or random intervals by Phillip Thorne * http://home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/NonSeqExp/ * * Volume 2, Issue 10: Thursday, 20 April 2000 * *********************************************************************** * *********************************************************************** */ OBSERVATIONS: RSTC petition, Balticon, VV, EPU, Power Pinheads. UPCOMING: Animation, Primetime-ish, Voyager. ANALYSIS: How old are today's SF authors? ERRATA: SAM, GDB, EFC. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. /** ************************************************************************ * OBSERVATIONS * *********************************************************************** */ My favorite RSTC website, roughneckchronicles.com, is organizing a petition drive to Sony-Tristar to maintain its support for the show. We fans want DVDs, a soundtrack, toys, continued airing of the episodes, possibly a second season. (One of my coworkers notes the irony: when a megamediacorp declines to press merchandise on consumers, the consumers rise up and demand the privilege.) The relevant URLs to participate are: www.roughneckchronicles.com/petition.html www.roughneckchronicles.com/petition.mv www.roughneckchronicles.com/roughnecksflier1.pdf This weekend I'll be Amtrakking down to Balticon 34, the Baltimore area SF/fantasy/media/gaming convention. Piles of authors will be attending, including Octavia E. Butler (the Xenogenesis trilogy), Catherine Asaro (Skolian Imperialate), Charles Sheffield (Heritage Universe), Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz (a couple of Trek novels), and Wendy and Richard Pini of "Elfquest" (whatever that is -- I suspect I first heard tell of it in middle school and, responsible lad that I was, decided it was too mature for me to know about). Nanoforge, a frequent RoughnecksChronicles.com poster, will be there drumming up support for the above petition. Albany (New York) PC game developer Vicarious Visions (VV) did not meet its 1-apr deadline for mastering "Terminus," but they have revamped the portion of their website devoted to the massive 3D space flight/combat sim/RPG. I've mentioned before that I served as concept artist from 1997-8, and despite their discarding my cockpits, several of my interiors and spacecraft have survived; the files can be seen under www.vvisions.com/terminus/ : United Earth Military station interface_b09.htm Commercial station interface_b10.htm Marauder outpost interface_b11.htm Bee (surface) ships_b01.htm Rayskate (surface) ships_b05.htm Razor ships_b06.htm In contrast, Eyrie Productions (EPU) *did* release chapter 3:9 ("The Blood-Dimmed Tide") of their Gainax-inspired fanfic "Neon Exodus Evangelion" (eyrie.net/NXE/) on 1-apr, but (much to the torment of readers, judging from the site's online poll) it failed to complete the series in any satisfying way; in fact, it actually initiated several new plot threads. Now fans must await "NXE: The Motion Picture: Apotheosis Now" (not to be confused with "Apocalypse Now" (1979) or a disdainful nickname for the first "Star Trek" film (1979), "Spockalypse Now"). It occurs to me that whenever Saban's Power Rangers are depicted on kidsized apparel, something is wrong. Specifically, they acquire superhero proportions -- bulging muscles and undersized helmets. The latter implies that the teenage heroes within are veritable pinheads, and I'll refrain from following that thought through the acting abilities of the relevant thespians. This issue's masthead quote is from the irascible dwarf sidekick in "Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible" (1996), a mercifully short- lived fantasy cartoon. During that same era, there was at least one other cartoon built around a stage illusionist; the antagonists were a couple of evil magicians who combined into a two-headed dragon that argued with itself. /** ************************************************************************ * UPCOMING * Series, Seasons, Episodes, Movies, Books * *********************************************************************** */ HEADS UP: Sat-22-apr-16:00 : "Earth: Final Conflict", WB17 - new episode! Sat-22-apr-20:00 : "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996), ABC, 120 minutes. Expect at least 21 minutes (19%) of the original 111 to be replaced by cybernetic DisnABCorg ads. It's the movie that gave "Voyager" all its Borg sets and costumes, and destroyed the validity of the wonderful J&GR-S novel _Federation_. Thu-27-apr-18:40 : "Macross II: Lovers Again" (1992), MOVIEPlex, 140 minutes, tv14-as,l,n,v. MOVIEPlex (gotta watch the capitalization) might show anime intermittently, but they only seem to have five titles. In this one: they're worse than the Zentraedi, because their pickle-shaped warships are *blue*, and because the decades-old Minmei Defense doesn't work against them, and moreover their Lord Emperor Ingues has too many intestines and is advised by a giant talking brainy skull and conquers worlds from a giant tree stump. But it's okay, because a snot-nosed TV investigative journalist will save humanity! That and noble self-sacrifice. That, and self-sacrifice, and a transforming starship with guns in its shins. A photojournalist, self-sacrifice, an old starship, love, and - ummmm - cheerful songs. NON-NETWORK-BACKED ANIMATION: 4 RSTC Betrayal 31/111 bkn f 0421 4 RSTC The Face of Truth 35/115 bkn m 0424 4 RSTC Mixed Signals 52/122 bkn t 0425 4 RSTC D-Day 62/127 bkn w 0426 4 RSTC Metamorphosis 61/126 bkn r 0427 4 RSTC The Inside Story 54/124 bkn f 0428 CSSM The Maltese Monkey 119 48 s 0423-1130 CSSM Rhesus Pieces 120 48 s 0430-1130 CSSM Escape From the Plant of the Apes 121 48 s 0507-1130 * PRLR From Deep in the Shadows 1-- y7 fox z 0422-0800 * Nas Daredevil 1-- -- fox z 0422-0930 3 TFBM Mercenary Pursuits 104 -- fox z 0422-1000 * FTTD Bindi 1-- -- fox z 0422-1100 * Gdz Ring of Fire --- -- fox z 0423-1130 PRIMETIME ETC.: * Chm Chick Flick --- pg wb r 0420-2100 * N+A The Bugmeister, part 1 120 pg cbs f 0421-2100 B5 The Wheel of Fire 520 pg tnt z 0422-0700 BCJ Bad Luck Betty 124 pg tnt z 0422-1000 SAM ??? --- -- upn z 0422-1200 r SG1 Touchstone 214 pg 29 z 0422-1500 s 0430-0400 * EFC The Fields 318 g 17 z 0422-1600 s 0430-2330 Star Trek: First Contact pg abc z 0422-2000 120 * Cle Trial and Error 1212 pg 17 z 0422-2000 z 0429-1300 * JAT Dead Woman Walking 1312 pg 17 z 0422-2030 z 0429-1330 SI1 Star Wars 112 -- 35 z 0422-2100 Who Destiny of the Daleks, part 3 --- -- 35 z 0422-2200 Who Destiny of the Daleks, part 4 --- -- 35 z 0422-2230 r Fut Brannigan, Begin Again 202 pg fox s 0423-1900 r Sim Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner -- fox s 0423-2000 r XF The Unnatural 620 14 fox s 0423-2100 * Ros Four Square 118 pg wb m 0424-2100 * Buf Where the Wild Things Are 418 14 wb t 0425-2000 SAM (Pr'emp'd by baseball) 0425 * FGy Fifteen Minutes of Shame 208 14 fox t 0425-2030 * Ang Five by Five 118 14 wb t 0425-2100 * 7D Pope Parker 219 pg upn w 0426-2000 * Chm Ex Libris --- pg wb r 0427-2100 Macross II: Lovers Again 14 plx r 0427-1840 140 * N+A The Bugmeister, Part Bee 121 -- cbs f 0428-2100 B5 Objects in Motion 521 pg tnt z 0429-0700 BCJ High Treason 125 pg tnt z 0429-1000 DS9 Tears of the Prophets 526 pg 29 z 0429-1500 * SG1 One False Step 219 pg 29 z 0429-1500 s 0507-0400 * EFC Apparition 319 g 17 z 0429-1600 s 0507-2330 * Cle Double 1210 pg 17 z 0429-2000 z 0506-1300 * JAT Love Potion No.10 1313 pg 17 z 0429-2030 z 0506-1330 SI1 A Child is Born 113 -- 35 z 0429-2100 Who City of Death, part 1 --- -- 35 z 0429-2200 Who City of Death, part 2 --- -- 35 z 0429-2230 * Fut Bender Gets Made 213 -- fox s 0430-1900 * Sim Kill the Alligator and Run 1116 pg fox s 0430-2000 r Chm Ms.Hellfire --- -- wb s 0430-2000 * XF Hollywood A.D. 718 pg fox s 0430-2100 STAR TREK: VOYAGER: * Live Fast and Prosper 621 w 0419-2100 New. The Thaw 223 r 0420-2200 AI clown torments corpsicles. Tuvix 224 f 0421-2200 Tuvok+Neelix=handwringing. Threshold 215 z 0422-1800 (This must be a typo.) Resolutions 225 m 0424-2200 Janeway/Chakotay sick, abandon! Basics, part 1 226 t 0425-2200 Seska/Kazon finally defeat, strand... * Muse 622 w 0426-2100 New. False Profits 305 w 0426-2200 Ferengi rule with latinum fist. Basics, part 2 301 r 0427-2200 ...crew; psycho fights back. False Profits 305 f 0428-2200 (Another typo?) Meld 216 z 0429-1800 Maquis psycho and Tuvok. /** ************************************************************************ * ANALYSIS * How old are today's notable SF authors? * *********************************************************************** */ The two magazines _Analog Science Fiction and Fact_ and _Asimov's Science Fiction_ share a publisher and a format for their annual indexes. I happened to own the appropriate issues for four years. I looked up each listed author (TOT) in the ISFDB; about half listed birth dates (DAT), from which I could calculate their ages at the time they contributed to that volume, and of first publication (PREMIERED). Age ranges, averages and standard deviations for each supercategory are listed below. I also aggregated all the unique authors and calculated their ages as of this year (2000); that's the fifth row of the table. Magazine Year Tot Dat Contributed Premiered Range Avg Stdv Range Avg Stdv -------- ---- --- --- ----- --- ---- ----- --- ---- Analog 1986 67 41 30-72 45 11.4 21-56 33 8.5 Analog 1996 64 36 28-71 53 11.2 15-56 32 8.8 Asimov's 1996 64 46 33-82 52 9.3 17-53 30 7.7 Analog 1999 67 32 30-85 53 13.8 19-50 32 7.1 -------- ---- --- --- ----- --- ---- ----- --- ---- Overall 2000 215 119 30-85 55 11.4 15-56 31 7.9 There are 215 unique authors in this population, of whom the youngest is now (2000) 30; the oldest 85. The youngest first published at 15, while the oldest didn't start until age 56. Regardless of precocity, these two magazines tend to publish the work of 50-somethings. I can think of two factors that may have confounded my analysis. First, the lack of birthdates in many ISFDB records; I could only analyze about half the contributors, and it might not be a representative sample. Second, I lump together authors in all categories: not only serials, novellas and novelettes, but also poems, editorials and fact articles. (The last category in particular includes many one-time-only contributors.) Assuming these data are representative, what hypotheses can we generate? Why the senior-tilted age distribution in these magazines, and is it cause to worry? Is this a sign of America's demographic shift? Where are all the young wannabee fans-turned-authors we'll need as replacements? Are they uninterested? Has the US school system failed them and they're unable to string two paragraphs together? Are they too busy founding dot-coms? Is their creativity being squandered on TV- inspired self-published web fanfic? Do they exist, but are simply being published in other hardcopy venues (_Locus_, _Science Fiction Age_, etc.)? For the raw data, please consult The Non-Sequitur Plus! at: home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/NonSeqExp/Plus/sf-author-ages.xls In one of his many collections, Isaac Asimov (whose first sale was at age -- to editor John Campbell of _Astounding_ (later _Analog_)) argued for the importance of magazines to new writers. Anthologies (which were on the rise at the time) can afford to wait until they fill with A-list stories. The "pulps," in contrast, have publishing deadlines, and sometimes must admit subpar works -- thus giving newbies much-needed encouragement and exposure. In fact, Campbell (?) inaugurated _Astounding's_ "Probability Zero" category to showcase short works by new authors. /** ************************************************************************ * ERRATA * *********************************************************************** */ Despite my Upcoming listings in 2.9, there was no episode of "Secret Agent Man" on tue-11-apr; UPN must've changed its schedule. It's also not being repeated on sat-15-apr; but it hasn't been canceled, since it reappears sat-22-apr. (At least according to one schedule.) "God, the Devil and Bob" was canceled by NBC, not CBS. Half my mistake was that tv.excite.com doesn't list networks, merely channel numbers and callsigns. One-quarter the cause was that the Big Three have failed to establish brand identity in my mind. One-eighth the culpability is that, despite recognizing the above problems, I haven't bothered to tape a crib sheet to my monitor bezel. One-sixteenth is due to my eye slipping when I tried to look it up in the hardcopy TV listings. And the remainder of this converging series I'll leave for further self-flagellation. In 2.9's review of _EFC: The First Protector_ I neglected to mention that, like _The Arrival_, the cover illustration is largely irrelevant; it features William Boone, Lily Marquette and Da'an, against the Ma'el mosaic discovered in "The Secret of Strand Hill." The mosaic looks to have been run through Photoshop's "crystallize" filter. And regarding _The Arrival's_ cover: in 2.8 I lumped that criticism along with literary nitpicks, implying editor James Frenkel was responsible; he has nothing to do with jacket design, of course. /** ************************************************************************ * Legalese * Acknowledgments * Opt-in/out Instructions * *********************************************************************** */ The set of creative works herein reviewed and analyzed, including the subset {books, movies, TV shows, toys}, are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement or endorsement is expressed, implied or intended. The original reviews and analyses are themselves copyright 2000 by Phillip Thorne. Certain data may have been obtained and aggregated from, repeatedly and in particular: AICN aint-it-cool-news.com Corona Upcoming Attractions corona.bc.ca/films/ Epguides.com epguides.com Excite tv.excite.com FOXKids Shows foxkids.com/foxkids/shows_F.html The Internet Movie Database imdb.com The Internet Speculative Fiction Database sfsite.com/isfdb/ Pazsaz Entertainment Network pazsaz.com Roughneck Chronicles roughneckchronicles.com Star Trek Continuum startrek.com Station Terminus stationterminus.com Upcoming Movies upcomingmovies.com If you're receiving this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it. Or possibly you've procrastinated in subscribing and I'm sending it to you anyway. Or maybe you're a family member and I'm demonstrating that I'm still alive. In any case, to cancel your subscription, send an email message to pethorne@earthlink.net with the words "UNSUBSCRIBE NON-SEQUITUR" in the subject line and/or body. Capitalization and punctuation don't matter, since I'm doing this all manually. /** ************************************************************************ * ************************************************************************* * The Non-Sequitur Express * http://home.earthlink.net/~pethorne/NonSeqExp/ * Volume 2, Issue 10: Thursday, 20 April 2000 * Copyright 2000 Phillip Thorne, pethorne@earthlink.net * ************************************************************************* * *********************************************************************** */