/** ************************************************************************ *** ************************************************************************ *** The Non-Sequitur Express *** You can't lead a dead horse to water, but he needs no help to stink. *** Published every eleven days or so by Phillip Thorne *** http://nsx.underbase.org/ *** *** Volume 2, Issue 29: Tuesday, 14 November 2000 *** ************************************************************************ *** ********************************************************************** */ OBSERVATIONS & C: BBC, Great Conjunction, ISS One, PhilCon, grammar. ERRATA & O+A+A: Subscriber addresses, TV ep numbers, the missing M. ANALYSIS: The cast of "X-Men: Evolution". UPCOMING: KidsWB and FoxKids lineups, encores, thru 22-nov. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. /** ************************************************************************ *** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS *** ********************************************************************** */ TIMELINE... On this date in 1922, the BBC began transmitting regular radio news programs (or programmes). [Via NPR.] And nine days from this date, in 1963, (23-nov-1963), the BBC aired the first episode of a children's educational/SF series that would run for 26 seasons (until 1989), "Doctor Who". There's a full list of companions/actors at http://us.imdb.com/Title?0056751 (and they even use Romana's full name). ASTRONOMY... This month sees the so-called Great Conjunction, a once-in-20- years event in which Sol, Jupiter and Saturn align. We North American skywatchers are fortunate that it occurs high overhead at midnight; in the constellation of Taurus, near the orange star Aldebaran. On 12-nov the pair is joined by Luna in full phase. Saturn makes its closest approach to Terra c.19-nov, inclined so its rings are fully visible. Jupiter himself arrives 26-nov. [Via _Discover_, nov-2000] On sat-18-nov-2000-02:51, watch for the peak of this year's Leonid meteor shower (remnants of Comet Tempel-Tuttle); we should see about 100 per hour (predicts astronomer John Mosley of the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles). Next year, 18-nov-2001-05:01, could produce 1500 per hour. [Via space.com] Remember, a meteoroid is an orbiting body, a meteor is the streak of light as it passes through the atmosphere, and a meteorite is the hard-landed remnant. SPACE FLIGHT... 384km up, and 12 days ago, the first permanent crew ("Expedition One") of the International Space Station began their four- month exile. Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev (Russia) and William Shepherd (US) will be crammed into the noisy Russian Zvezda module until 30-nov, when Shuttle _Endeavour_ delivers solar arrays to power a more spacious US module. Expedition Two (Susan Helms and Jim Voss (US), with Yuri Usachev) will replace One on 26-feb-2001. [Via Space.com] Shepherd was granted his surprise request that the radio callsign "Alpha" be assigned (at least temporarily) to the station (though callsigns are usually attached to pilots, not vehicles). The ISS used to be Freedom, and was then briefly Alpha. Reportedly a set of five names (Alliance, Unity, Freedom, Aurora, and Alpha) were approved by the coalition's international members and forwarded to NASA administrator Dan Goldin in 1993, but that was before Russia signed on. For instance, Yuri Semenov of aerospace firm Energia prefers "Beta" or "Mir 2". [Via Space.com] CONVENTIONS... I'm off to Philcon2000 this weekend, the annual to-do of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. No planes, trains, taxis or alternate hotel arrangements this time; I can drive there from work on Friday, and drive home Sunday evening. (It's almost as convenient as Genericons IX-XI (1996-98), the on-campus convention conducted at RPI during my attendance.) The big guests this year are authors Vernor Vinge (pronounced vin-jee) and Poul Anderson, and artist Bob Walters. The non- big guests are about 160 other notables of SF, fantasy, gaming, publishing, et cetera, including author Jack Chalker and Pocket Books "Star Trek" editor John Ordover. (See: philcon.com, psfs.org, genericon.org, vrinimi.net) GRAMMAR.... A radio ad here in the Philadelphia market has been extolling the virtues of oil-fired home furnaces. "How much does it cost to convert to gas heat?" the ad asks. "$500, $1000, $2000, or up to $3500 or more?" I've heard this "up to X or more" construct before, and I don't like it. "Up to X" signifies a maximum, but "X or more" a minimum; together, they're an oxymoron. Or is it a amplification construct, the way some languages use a double negative? Or might it denote a statistical distribution? -- I.e., "most often no more than X, but occasionally higher." /** ************************************************************************ *** ERRATA & OMISSIONS, ADDENDA & ADMISSIONS *** ********************************************************************** */ You readers would be receiving this at your new addresses, if I had any notion where I'd put the hardcopy note so I could enter them into my mail client's address book. Hmmmmm. In 2.28's Upcoming, all the listings were missing episode numbers, due to a typo in my automation. I've been referring to my slightly-fictionalized-dreams-accounts as "somnabulations." One, that's missing an "m" (as in "som-NAM-bu-la-tions"), and Two, that's a technical term for sleepwalking, which is not what I'm describing. It's excusable as a metaphor, I suppose. /** ************************************************************************ *** ANALYSIS *** The cast of "X-Men: Evolution" *** ********************************************************************** */ Two weekends ago, KidsWB premiered the latest full-motion incarnation of Marvel Comics' long-running "X-Men" series. Ever get the impression that the writers of each successive "X-Men" adaptation are stuck in a rut regarding characters? The 1992 cartoon (Fox, Marvel Studios) had 8 main good guys. The 2000 film dropped two. The new "X-Men: Evolution" (WB, Film Roman/Marvel Studios) has the film's set, plus three others. Sometimes those characters are pre-existing core team members, sometimes peripheral, sometimes new additions. Bad guy lineups are more complicated. The 1992 show had at least three main bad-mutant leaders (Magneto, Apocalypse, Sinister) but their respective teams were often composed of itinerant free agents. Given the first two episodes of "X-Men Evo", it seems Magneto's group will be a superset of the movie's grouping. "X-Men" (1992) "X-Men" (2000) "X-Men: Evo" (2000) Power --------------- --------------- ------------------- ----------------- Prof.Xavier Prof.Xavier Prof.Xavier Telepathy Cyclops Cyclops Cyclops Optic blasts Jean Gray Jean Gray Jean Gray Telekinesis, TP Storm Storm Storm TK-weather Beast Strength/agility/fur Wolverine Wolverine (add) Wolverine Healing, blades Rogue Rogue (add) Rogue (add) Power borrowing Jubilee (add) Zap! Nightcrawler (add) Teleportation Shadowcat (jr) Shadowcat (add) Passes thru matter Spyke (add) ??? --------------- --------------- ------------------- ----------------- Magneto Magneto Magneto TK-magnetic Mystique Mystique Mystique Shapeshifting Sabretooth Sabretooth Sabretooth Strength Toad Toad (add) Jumping/tongue Avalanche (add) TK-vibration Apocalypse Shapeshifting Sinister Healing Juggernaut Strength --------------- --------------- ------------------- ----------------- /** ************************************************************************ *** UPCOMING *** Series, Seasons, Episodes, Movies, Books *** ********************************************************************** */ HEADS UP... On KidsWB, "X-Men: Evolution" has pushed "Batman Beyond" to overwrite "Men in Black." Or did "Static Shock" do that? They've got three superhero cartoons now, anyway. This coming sat-18-nov, "Batman Beyond" is "The Return of the Justice League." It must be special because it was advertised. The Mainframe CGI series "Action Man" has suffered the wrath of the kiddification filter, which seems to assume viewers can't integrate context, and instead inserts Pokémon/Digimon-style blurbs to explain characters and equipment. Hellooooo, that's what hypertext captioning is for. Also, Doctor X has been an idiot ever since he transferred his mind to Brandon's body; he's forgotten his SI prefixes, to boot. On FoxKids, "Escaflowne" is still MIA, and "Cybersix" has been replaced by the live-action series "Scary Stories" which (judging from two minutes) is a sort of "Sightings" (with Jonathan "Riker" Frakes) for kids. There are now three episodes of "Digimon" per Saturday morning, which may include one, two, or three premieres. On 10:00-sat-18-nov, watch the stunning and controversial series finale of "Transformers Beast Machines", which aired nearly a year ago in Canada. And CGI secret agent Max Steel could pound extreme sports hero Alex Mann into the ground with the weight of his plots, let alone nanobot "Going Turbo!" powers. This week, the Sci-Fi Channel has copy-and-pasted its long-absent Friday night lineup onto every night. It's repeats of "The Invisible Man", "Farscape", and "Lexx". The recent animated SF film "Titan A.E." is now out on video and DVD ($13.95 at Boscov's). There's some behind-the-scenes data at the IMDb, http://us.imdb.com/tiger_redirect?TOPBUCKET_TAE&/Behind/Titan/ . Our local Tribune/WB affiliate, wphl-17, has started showing "Andromeda" encores (eight day delay) in the sun-23:30 slot. Its former occupant, "Earth Final Conflict", has moved one hour to mon-00:30. There's a are-we- going-to-believe-TV-Showcase? possibility wtxf-29-fox has started again showing "DS9" reruns in the mon-04:00 slot, but all my VCR found there was "Home Improvement." Sure, Tim Allen starred in a film that spoofed (among other things) Trek (ie "Galaxy Quest"), but it's really not the same. The second volume of the new Herbert-Anderson "Dune" prequel trilogy, "House Harkonnen", is now available in hardcopy on bookstore and library shelves. TOONS ETC. ... * TFBM Endgame: The Downward Spiral, pt.1 211 fox z 1104-1000 * BBy The Call, pt.1 50 wb z 1111-0800 * ActM Swarm, pt.1 112 fox z 1111-0830 Digi Iron Veggiemon 204 fox z 1111-0900 * Chan Bullies 7 wb z 1111-0900 * Digi Ghost of a Chance 217 fox z 1111-0930 * Ccap Stormy Weather 15 wb z 1111-0930 * TFBM Endgame: When Legends Fall, pt.2 212 fox z 1111-1000 * Digi Run Yolie Run 218 fox z 1111-1030 * XMEv The X Impulse 2 wb z 1111-1030 * Nasc Payday 203 fox z 1111-1100 * SShk They're Playing My Song 5 wb z 1111-1100 * MxSt Amazon 203 wb z 1111-1130 * BBy The Call, pt.1 51 wb z 1118-0800 * ActM Swarm, pt.2 113 fox z 1118-0830 * Digi An Old Enemy Returns 219 fox z 1118-0900 * Chan Tough Break 8 wb z 1118-0900 * Digi The Darkness Before Dawn 220 fox z 1118-0930 * Ccap Allies 16 wb z 1118-0930 * TFBM Endgame, pt.3 213 fox z 1118-1000 * Digi The Crest of Kindness 221 fox z 1118-1030 * XMEv Rogue Recruit 3 wb z 1118-1030 * Nasc Red Flag 204 fox z 1118-1100 * SShk The New Kid 6 wb z 1118-1100 * MxSt When Lightning Strikes Twice 204 wb z 1118-1130 Chan The Power Within 2 wb z 1125-0900 Chan Enter the Viper 4 wb z 1125-0930 Sim I Love Lisa 9f13 29 m 1113-1830 Sim Brother's Little Helper 1022 29 m 1113-1900 Sim Duffless 9f14 29 t 1114-1830 Sim Kill the Alligator and Run 1116 29 t 1114-1900 Sim The Front 9f16 29 w 1115-1830 Sim It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge 1118 29 w 1115-1900 Sim So It Has Come to This: The Simpso/ 9f17 29 r 1116-1830 Sim Saddlesore Galactica 1109 29 r 1116-1900 Sim Whacking Day 9f18 29 f 1117-1830 Sim Alone Again Natura-Diddly 1110 29 f 1117-1900 PRIMETIME ETC. PROGRAMMING... * Cle Reality Check v1221 pg 17 z 1111-1400 * JAT Croquery in the Pokey v1321 17 z 1111-1430 * SG1 Point of View 306 29 z 1111-1500 s 1119-0400 * EFC Take No Prisoners 406 17 z 1111-1700 m 1120-0030 * And Angel Dark, Demon Bright 106 17 z 1111-1800 s 1119-2330 * Inv Impetus 107 48 z 1111-2000 Fut (Pr'emp'd by postgame) fox s 1112-1900 * Sim Insane Clown Poppy 1117 fox s 1112-2000 * XF Without 802 fox s 1112-2100 r Inv The Devil You Know 406 pg sfc m 1113-2000 Fsc Look at the Princess: A Kiss is Bu/1 211 14 sfc m 1113-2100 * Ros Wipeout! 207 wb m 1113-2100 Lex Luvliner 204 sfc m 1113-2200 r Inv Impetus 407 pg sfc t 1114-2000 * Buf Fool for Love 507 wb t 1114-2000 * Ang Darla 207 wb t 1114-2000 * DkA 411 on the DL 106 fox t 1114-2100 Fsc Look at the Princess: I Do, I Thin/2 212 14 sfc t 1114-2100 Lex Love Grows 207 sfc t 1114-2200 r Inv Separation Anxiety 408 pg sfc w 1115-2000 Fsc Look at the Princess: The Maltese /3 213 14 sfc w 1115-2100 Lex White Trash 208 sfc w 1115-2200 r Inv Reunion 412 pg sfc r 1116-2000 * Fsc The Way We Weren't 14 sfc r 1116-2100 * Chm Power Outage wb r 1116-2100 Lex Wake the Dead 210 sfc r 1116-2200 r Inv Cat & Mouse 413 pg sfc f 1117-2000 f 1117-2300 Fsc The Ugly Truth 217 14 sfc f 1117-2100 z 1118-0000 * Lex Twilight 213 pg sfc f 1117-2200 z 1118-0100 r SG1 Watergate 407 sho f 1117-2200 * Cle Pod Whisperer v1270 17 z 1118-1400 * JAT One, Two, Three, Give Me Lady Libe/ 1324 17 z 1118-1430 * SG1 Dead Man Switch 51 29 z 1118-1500 s 1126-0400 * EFC Second Wave 407 17 z 1118-1700 m 1127-0030 * And Ties That Bind 107 17 z 1118-1800 s 1126-2330 * Inv The Value of Secrets 108 48 z 1118-2000 * Fre Enemy 104 pg upn z 1118-2000 * Lv9 Reboot 104 pg upn z 1118-2100 * Sim Lisa the Tree-Hugger 1201 fox s 1119-2000 * XF Patience 804 fox s 1119-2100 r Lex Norb 212 sfc m 1120-0130 Sim Krusty Gets Kancelled 9f19 29 m 1120-1830 Sim Some Enchanted Evening 7g01 29 m 1120-1900 * Ros Meet the Dupes 208 wb m 1120-2100 Sim Marge in Chains 9f20 29 t 1121-1830 Sim Bart the Genius 7g02 29 t 1121-1900 * DkA Prodigy 107 fox t 1121-2100 * Buf Shadow 508 wb t 1121-2100 * Ang The Shroud of Rahmon 208 wb t 1121-2100 Sim Homer's Barbershop Quartet 9f21 29 w 1122-1830 7D (Pr'emp'd by NHL) upn w 1122-2000 Vgr (Pr'emp'd by NHL) upn w 1122-2100 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; fx F/X, plx MoviePlex, sfc Sci-Fi Channel, sho Showtime, tnt is TNT, ton Cartoon Network, usa USA. 7D 7 Days, And Andromeda, Ang Angel, BCJ Brisco County Junior, Buf Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cle Cleopatra 2525, EFC Earth: Final Conflict, Fky FreakyLinks, Fre Freedom, Fut Futurama, Inv The Invisible Man, JAT Jack of All Trades, Lv9 Level 9, PJs The PJs, SG1 StarGate SG-1, Sim Simpsons, Sld Sliders, Vgr Star Trek: Voyager, XF The X-Files. STRIPPED SF... Star Trek: The Next Generation Weeknights (Tue-Fri) 21:00 1 hour, TV-PG, WFMZ-69 The Enemy 155 t 1114 The Price 156 w 1115 The Vengeance Factor 157 r 1116 The Defector 158 f 1117 The Hunted 159 t 1121 Babylon 5: The Widescreen Edition Weeknights (Mon-Fri) 19:00 1 hour, TV-PG, The Sci-Fi Channel All Alone in the Night 211 m 1113 Acts of Sacrifice 212 t 1114 Hunter, Prey 213 w 1115 There All the Honor Lies 215 r 1116 And Now for a Word 214 f 1117 In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum 217 m 1120 Knives 216 t 1121 Confessions and Lamentations 218 w 1122 Divided Loyalties 220 m 1127 The Long, Twilight Struggle 219 t 1128 Comes the Inquisitor 221 w 1129 The Fall of Night 222 r 1130 /** ************************************************************************ *** 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 have been obtained and aggregated from, repeatedly and in particular: Excite TV tv.excite.com The Internet Movie Database imdb.com Space.com space.com If you're receiving this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it. To cancel your subscription, send an email message to pethorne@earthlink.net (or nsx@underbase.org) with the words "UNSUBSCRIBE NON-SEQUITUR" in the subject line and/or body. Capitalization and punctuation don't really matter, since I'm still doing far too much of this manually. /** ************************************************************************ *** ************************************************************************ *** The Non-Sequitur Express *** http://nsx.underbase.org/ *** Volume 2, Issue 29: Tuesday, 14 November 2000 *** Copyright 1999-2000 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org *** ************************************************************************ *** ********************************************************************** */