/** ************************************************************************ *** ************************************************************************ *** The Non-Sequitur Express *** Look, an aphid farm! *** Published at fortnightly or random intervals by Phillip Thorne *** http://nsx.underbase.org/ *** *** Volume 2, Issue 19: Wednesday, 26 July 2000 *** ************************************************************************ *** ********************************************************************** */ OBSERVATIONS & C: BC2k, Knight Rider, Nanotech, SF news. ERRATA & O+A+A: What rodents are good for. UPCOMING: Gundam Wing, Baby Blue, new eps on SFC. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. /** ************************************************************************ *** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS *** BotCon 2000 *** Knight Rider et cetera *** Nanotech for Nontechs *** SF news (Voyager, X-Files, Red Dwarf) *** ********************************************************************** */ Something always comes up and precludes my applying as much effort to NSX as I should (a possible downside to being employed 40 hours a week). This time, it's BotCon 2000, the seventh annual itinerant national Transformers convention -- this year has 1100 preregistrants, more than '99's total attendance. It's 22:30 now, my flight leaves tomorrow at 09:35, and I'm still fabricating and/or packing such items as unassembled foam components of Quintesson masks for the art show, cardboard easeloids in case there's no other means of raising fellow artists' flatpieces to the vertical, business cards, folding name placards for the panelists (I've unilaterally decided the convention organizers might forget such niceties, and *I* always forget names), and -- oh, right -- clothes. *** Reportedly, David Hasselhoff abandoned "Knight Rider" (1982) because the wisecracking car (the uncredited William Daniels) had more fans. Nonetheless, he returned for the telemovie "Knight Rider 2000" (1991) in which KITT's brain is plugged into a '57 Chevy and stuns James "Scotty" Doohan due to criminal database corruption. Don't confuse that continuity with "Knight Rider 2010" (1994), an "Action Pack" telemovie which had nothing whatsoever to do with Michael Knight or the Foundation for Law and Government, but did have a crystal containing the uploaded mind of the protagonist's murdered girlfriend plugged into a car (in the last five minutes) so he could visit her in VR. (Not to be confused with the "very little cellulite" brain-in-a-box in "RoboCop: The Series" (1994).) That car had guns, which KITT didn't (until the aforesaid stunner), but his five successors did (plus missiles) in the series "Team Knight Rider" (1997) which featured a red convertible, a black van, a silver pickup, and two grey motorcycles that magically combined into a goofy- looking car ("please ignore the smoke and VFX lightning"). Oh, and annoying human partners. (Not to be confused with binary-bonded Transformer-human pairs. "Head on!") And a giant VTOL cargo aircraft, successor to FLAG's semi that drove itself (not surprising... it no doubt had KITT 0.3a as the autonav). It should, however, be confused with the "Simpsons" spoof "Knight Boat" ("There's always a river." "Or a canal." "Or a fjord.") which combined the wisecracking AI with another David Hasselhoff vehicle (so to speak), "Baywatch." Or possibly the target was "Thunder in Paradise" (1994) with its transforming talking armed-and-armored speedboat piloted by former pro wrestler Terry "Hulk" Hogan and friends. *** Without a technical background, a description of Drexlerian molecular nanotechnology is necessarily reduced to something on the order of: 1. Economic activity is composed of goods and services. 2. Goods are made of atoms. 3. Services are provided by goods (or people using goods). 4. Molecular manufacturing is the capability to create any desired structure of atoms (subject to physical law). 5. MM involves no human labor -- labor cost is zero. 6. MM can utilize atoms from any source -- materials costs are low or zero. 7. MM controls every atom in the production line -- wastes are zero. 8. MM can arrange atoms in ways impossible today -- new types of goods. 9. A large-and-increasing number of influential and knowledgeable people believe MM is feasible. 10. They believe thusly due to a large number of precedents in physics, chemistry and biology. *** Paramount is adding new active content to startrek.com, including a realtime multiplayer trivia game with a non-cheesy prize: a walk-on role in the seventh season finale of "Voyager". That season beings wed-4-oct-21:00, with the sixth season finale "Unimatrix Zero" airing at 20:00. In other news, UPN will be renamed "The Paramount Network" as of 1-jan-2001... argh, I'll have to revamp my abbreviations. In this year's Emmys (#52), the series received six technical nominations: Outstanding Costumes for a Series, Outstanding Hairstyling FAS, O Makeup FAS, Music Composition OFAS (Dramamtic Underscore), Sound Editing OFAS, and Special Visual Effects OFAS. (I wonder... are there any *non*-outstanding *non*-for-a-series categories?) [via startrek.com] The eighth season of "The X-Files" (opening sun-5-nov-2000) will reportedly have only 20 episodes, not 26; David "Mulder" Duchovny will appear in 11, but Gillian "Scully" Anderson gets an interim partner in the person of Robert Patrick (Mr.Liquid Metal of "Terminator II"). [via space.com] A film version of that wacky/serious British SF comedy, "Red Dwarf", is reportedly in the works. Filming is slated for January and February of 2001, with worldwide release that fall. [via M.Keller via www.llew.co.uk] /** ************************************************************************ *** ERRATA & OMISSIONS, ADDENDA & ADMISSIONS *** ********************************************************************** */ In 2.17, I complained about local pest fauna (canada geese and rabbits), and wondered what their use was. Well, the rabbits (and maybe goslings) support our local hawk population -- rabbits, plus voles, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, and maybe the occasional groundhog. And when said rodents become roadkill, the crows move in with their spatulas Crows are members of the raven family, and ravens are the world's largest songbird. Crows can solve tricky puzzles to get food, and they're probably as smart as those garish-and-loudbeak tropical parrots that can examine a variegated set of plastic toys and tell you what properties differ. They're certainly smarter than dogs, which unlike squirrels, can't figure out how to untangle a 3-D leash puzzle to reach the food; they simply get frustrated and go to sleep. Which at least is adaptive -- if you can't solve a problem, might as well save your energy. /** ************************************************************************ *** UPCOMING *** Series, Seasons, Episodes, Movies, Books *** ********************************************************************** */ HEADS UP... In case you were wondering, and if I haven't mentioned it recently: no, I do *not* follow every TV series listed herein, nor do I watch every repeat of those shows I *do* follow; and to wring even more efficiency from my viewing, most everything passes through a VCR for ad-excision. Advisories... On fri-28-jul-20:00, the WB presents a new half-hour animated series, "Baby Blue," about first-time parents. Two episodes will air that night. On sat-5-aug, SG1 airs at 14:00 not 17:00. And "Knight Rider" now airs weekdays at 18:00 on wgbh-48. New eps... SFC continues to air new episodes of "The Invisible Man", "Farscape", "Lexx", and (I assume) "First Wave". "Invisible Man" also airs on wgbh-48, but in a different order. The Cartoon Network anime- import airings are also new, except (probably) for DBZ, which has been running in US broadcast syndication for years. Anime... MoviePlex returns to airing anime with "Sol Bianca" (yet again) on thu-3-aug-20:00. "Gundam Wing" (GWg) airs on the Cartoon Network (ton), weekdays 17:30 and certain weeknights 00:00. "Dragon Ball Z" (DBZ) airs weekdays 17:00 and certain weeknights 00:30, and Saturday 11:00. They also have "Tenchi Muyo", but I'm not sure when. The midnight dubs of GWg are the unexpurgated version; characters are permitted to say "kill." (Remember 1984's "The Transformers", in which said robots had to threaten with: "prepare for termination"?) Deletions... I'm dropping FGy "Family Guy", Mis "Mission Hill" and PJs "The PJs" from the listings. I don't list *every* primetime cartoon, I don't watch them, and I don't know if any of you readers do. I'm also dropping Chm "Charmed", at least until the new fall episodes arrive. PRIMETIME ETC. PROGRAMMING... r 7D Deja Vu All Over Again 214 pg upn w 0726-2000 r FGy Death Is a Bitch 114 14 fox w 0726-2030 r Vgr Virtuoso 934/613 pg upn w 0726-2100 r Chm Morality Bites 4399025 pg wb r 0727-2100 * SAM The Breach 112 pg upn f 0728-2100 * Inv Liberty and Larceny 105 pg sfc f 0728-2000 f 0728-2300 * Fsc LATP 2: I Do, I Think 212 14 sfc f 0728-2100 z 0729-0000 * Lex Brigadoom 218 -- sfc f 0728-2200 z 0729-0100 * GWg Scenario for Bloodshed 107 -- ton z 0729-0000 FWv All About Eddie 214 pg sfc z 0729-1200 r EFC One Taelon Avenue 320 pg 17 z 0729-1600 s 0806-2330 r SG1 In the Line of Duty 202 pg 29 z 0729-1700 s 0806-0400 Vgr Flashback 845/302 pg upn z 0729-1800 z 0729-2300 * Inv The Devil You Know 106 -- 48 z 0729-2000 r Cle Creegan 1202 pg 17 z 0729-2000 z 0805-1300 r JAT Sex and the Single Spy 1304 pg 17 z 0729-2030 z 0805-1330 SI1 35 z 0729-2200 Who Meglos 35 z 0729-2300 Who Full Circle, part 1 35 z 0729-2330 FWv Playland 215 pg sfc s 0730-1900 s 0730-2200 r Fut A Head in the Polls 2acv03 pg fox s 0730-1900 r Sim It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge babf18 pg fox s 0730-2000 r XF Brand X 7abx19 14 fox s 0730-2100 r Lex Brigadoom 218 -- sfc m 0731-0130 r EFC Apparition 319 pg 17 m 0731-0400 r Ros Into the Woods 1ada11 pg wb m 0731-2100 * GWg The Treize Assassination 108 -- ton t 0801-0000 r Buf The Harsh Light of Day 4abb03 14 wb t 0801-2000 r Ang In the Dark 1adh03 14 wb t 0801-2100 r Dil The Return 211 pg upn t 0801-2030 * GWg Portrait of a Ruined Country 109 -- ton w 0802-0000 r 7D Space Station Down 215 pg upn w 0802-2000 r Vgr Memorial 936/614 pg upn w 0802-2100 mov Sol Bianca (60min) 14 plx r 0803-2000 r SAM Like Father, Like Monk 104 pg upn f 0804-2100 * Inv The Value of Secrets 108 pg sfc f 0804-2000 f 0804-2300 * Fsc LATP 3: The Maltese Crichton 213 14 sfc f 0804-2100 z 0805-0000 * Lex Brizon 219 -- sfc f 0804-2200 z 0805-0100 r SG1 Prisoners 203 pg 29 z 0805-1400 s 0813-0400 r EFC Keep Your Enemies Closer 312 pg 17 z 0805-1600 s 0813-2330 * Inv Liberty and Larceny 105 -- 48 z 0805-2000 SI1 35 z 0805-2200 Who Full Circle, part 2 35 z 0805-2300 Who Full Circle, part 3 35 z 0805-2330 Vgr -- upn s 0806-1800 Vgr The Chute 847/303 pg upn s 0806-1900 FWv The Harvest 216 pg sfc s 0806-1900 r Fut How Hermes Req'd His Groove Back 2acv11 -- fox s 0806-1900 r Sim Saddlesore Galactica babf09 -- fox s 0806-2000 TNG All Good Things 1 277/725 -- upn s 0806-2000 r XF Orison 7abx07 -- fox s 0806-2100 TNG All Good Things 2 278/726 -- upn s 0806-2100 abc wpvi-6, cbs kyw-3, fox wtxf-29, ind wgtw-48, ind wfmz-69, nbc wcau-10, pbs whyy-12, pbs wybe-35, upn wpsg-57, wb wphl-17; plx MoviePlex, sfc Sci-Fi Channel, and tnt is TNT. 7D 7 Days, Ang Angel, B5 Babylon 5, Buf Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chm Charmed, Cle Cleopatra 2525, Dil Dilbert, EFC Earth: Final Conflict, Fsc Farscape, Fut Futurama, FWv First Wave, GWg Gundam Wing, Inv The Invisible Man, JAT Jack of All Trades, Lex Lexx, Ros Roswell, SAM Secret Agent Man, SG1 StarGate SG-1, SI1 Space Island One, Sim Simpsons, TNG Star Trek: The Next Generation, Vgr Star Trek: Voyager, Who Doctor Who, XF The X-Files. STRIPPED SF... Star Trek: The Next Generation Weeknights 21:00 1 hour, TV-PG, WFMZ-69 Genesis 271/719 t 0725 Troi the frog, Barclay the bug. Journey's End 272/720 w 0726 Wes gets super powers in DMZ. Firstborn 273/721 r 0727 Worf's son visits self from future. Bloodlines 274/722 f 0728 Ferengi threatens Picard's - son?! Emergence 275/723 t 0801 Ent-D dreams and gives birth. Pre-emptive Strike 276/724 w 0802 Ens.Ro infiltrates the Maquis. All Good Things 1 277/725 r 0803 Picard time-jumps via senility... All Good Things 2 278/726 f 0804 ...but Q helps him save humanity! Babylon 5 Weekdays and Saturdays 06:00 1 hour, TV-PG, TNT A Late Delivery from Avalon 312 m 0724 King Arthur returns. Ship of Tears 314 t 0725 Bester, blip ship for Shadows. Interludes and Examinations 315 w 0726 Kosh KO'd when JS has V fight S. War Without End, pt 1 316 r 0727 Time travel! Big station! Steal! War Without End, pt 2 317 f 0728 Unstuck! The One! Great War! Zathras! Walkabout 318 z 0729 Dr.Franklin meets a singer. Grey 17 is Missing 319 m 0731 Garibaldi kills the Zarg. And the Rock Cried Out, ... 320 t 0801 Londo has Narn get Lord Refa. Shadow Dancing 321 w 0802 Dr.Franklin gets knifed. Z'Ha'Dum 322 r 0803 Jump. Jump now. The Hour of the Wolf 401 f 0804 Where's Sheridan? Londo & Cartagia. Whatever Happened to Mr. ... 402 z 0805 Sheridan & Lorien underground. The Summoning 403 m 0807 Garibaldi returns. /** ************************************************************************ *** 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 has been obtained and aggregated from the following sites: Excite tv.excite.com The Internet Movie Database imdb.com Star Trek Continuum startrek.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://nsx.underbase.org/ *** Volume 2, Issue 19: Wednesday, 26 July 2000 *** Copyright 1999-2000 Phillip Thorne, pethorne@earthlink.net *** ************************************************************************ *** ********************************************************************** */