/* ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** Published at sporadic intervals by Phillip Thorne ** Volume 4, Issue 2: Friday, 1 March 2002 ** Previous issue: Tuesday, 1 January 2002 ** Next issue: Who knows? ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** ** "*Their* periodic table has 250 elements." ** "And our school board's cut us back to 16 -- all of them *lanthanides*." ** --"The Simpsons":"The Latest Gun in the West", 24-feb-2002 ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* */ OBS & COGS: Welcome, Classmates.com, job, unemployment, Klingon Google. ERRATA: Anything regarding TV. UPCOMING: Chronicle, Zim, Futurama, FOX anim and -Kids, TV ads, films. TOY REVIEWS: More Gundam, animé figures, ExoSquad retread, MegaBloks. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. http://nsx.underbase.org/ - back issues http://nsx.underbase.org/index_plus.htm - synopses, reviews, analyses, etc. http://nsx.underbase.org/tv/ - Philadelphia and network TV listings mailto://nsx-discuss-l@underbase.org - post on this issue (if subscribed) http://www.underbase.org/ - additional databases /* *************************************************************************** ** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS ** ** Welcome to new NSX readers. ** Classmates.com. ** Help Phil find a job, and get NSX published more frequently. ** Unemployment calculations. ** Short takes: Klingon Google, M&M and Heinz colors, COBOL, physics kooks. ** ************************************************************************ */ [1] To the latest batch of NSX subscribers, including several former classmates from WCASD, welcome! For my new readers, _The Non-Sequitur Express_ is a self-published not-for- revenue e-newsletter, now in its fourth year, that focuses on whatever crosses my mind long enough to be rigorously researched and edited: science fiction in television, films and books; Japanese and domestic animation; science and technology; toys; musings on society and perception; and funny trips taken by my sleeping brain. I presume you-the-readers share an interest in some subset of those topics, or you wouldn't be subscribing. The newsletter's title alludes to my erratic topic shifts, and to the fact that issues do *not* follow with any sort of regularity. (Alternative reasons for your subscription include: Research projects -- EVIL projects to CONQUER the WORLD! -- into the phenomenon of vanity e- newsletters, or into my thoughts specifically and their written form. You met me at a con and we exchanged e-ddresses. You're a former classmate and I wager you'd be interested. If you are *not* interested, and don't appreciate a 25-kB missive thumping into your job's in-box every few weeks, see the footer to unsubscribe, or contact me directly at .) Those of you from HHS might remember _The Alternative Press_, a 1992 experiment into freedom of the press on school grounds. I don't recall being directly involved, nor do I recall authorizing "The Only Authorized Phillip Thorne Fan Club", as advertised in the first issue. Nonetheless, consider NSX a spiritual descendent. *** [2] I've located most of the above-mentioned WCASD friends via parents whose telephone numbers haven't changed. However, if you're willing to spend a little money, there's an alternative: Classmates.com. This database claims to have some 21 million members, each registered as the alum of at least one school. For free, you can create a basic profile for yourself (which includes your e-ddress and all your alma maters), and read the profiles of other members (e-ddress hidden). Upgrade to "Gold" ($3/mo, billed as $36/yr) and you're permitted to add an autobiography, given access to member benefits (message boards, chat, reunion planning, group deals), and allowed to send "Hi Notes" to other members. Whether Hi Notes conceal the e-ddress of the recepient (restricting you to Classmates.com's system), I don't know. (Of course, any header-censoring is easily circumvented: the first Note you exchange can *include* contact info in the message body.) *** [3] I sometimes identify myself as a Computer Programmer, but in database design, that'd be counted as conflating Person with Role. It's more accurate to say I *work* as a computer programmer; more accurate yet to say I work at it *sometimes*. As a contractor, I choose to be employed for irregular periods, and endure the unpaid hiatuses (hiati?) between. During these vacations, it's always my intention to *get stuff done*, such as populate a decent illustration portfolio or analyze my website logs, but somehow my dedication to projects inevitably falters. (I blame lazy circadian rhythms and a clammy cellar.) Ironically, NSX has been published more regularly when I've been *busy*, ie *employed*. (The phenomenon is not unprecedented. It's been noted that college students who play varsity sports often earn better grades than their uninvolved peers, because they're forced to exercise better time-management skills.) Many a self-help article emphasizes the importance of networking in the job hunt, and gushingly cites numbers like, "If you have 10 friends, and they each have 10 others, that's 100 people you can tap!" It might just be my contrary streak, but I always sneer at such glowing estimates. What if your circle of friends is insular, and has few outside contacts? What if that circle never gossips about job opportunities? What if they (and their opportunities) are all on the wrong side of the country? Regardless... I present to you-my-readers this incentive: help me find a job, now, and see NSX published more frequently to your in-box! (Insert music here.) That's right, you might very well know of opportunities in computer programming, technical writing or illustration. You might know of them in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You might know people who know, and you're definitely in a position to recommend the authorial and organizational skills of the candidate. (Swell to crescendo.) Employment! Matching skills to social needs! Make yourself, Phil, *and* the economy happy! [ http://www.greententacles.com - how to support your SF fans, and how they can benefit your business ] *** [4] In the US, unemployment benefits are administered by state governments. Demographers have several measures of employment: (1) The "*un*employment rate", counts those with no jobs who are actively searching. (2) The broader measure of "*under*employment" adds "discouraged workers" (no jobs, given up searching) and "involuntary part-time workers" (aren't working full-time, but want to). Note that neither counts those people who are on extended vacations, or *voluntarily* not working/not looking. (3) The "job vacancy rate" counts how many slots are open to the unemployed, regardless of skill-fit or geographic convenience. [ http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/toc.htm - US Dept of Labor FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) ] [ http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_81000/81315.stm - UK changes calculations, 22-apr-1998 ] [ http://www.keystoneresearch.org/publications/summaries/jobless.html - factors in joblessness, 1997 ] *** [5] SHORT TAKES Google is a search engine with international reach, and so certain major pages have been localized (ie translated). The more exotic versions include Esperanto, Hacker (aka "1ee+"), and romanized Klingon. (Mentioned in rec.arts.startrek.tech.) [ http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en ] M&M-Mars is preparing to introduce a new color of M&M Chocolate Candy, and H.J.Heinz is introducing three new colors of ketchup. After green and purple, we now have Passion Pink, Awesome Orange and Totally Teal -- but the specific color in any single bottle will be a surprise. Blue, it seems, is still unappetizing. [ http://global.mms.com/us/ - register to vote here; beware of Flash!] [ http://www.heinz.com/jsp/news_f.jsp - official Heinz news releases ] [ http://www.billbarol.com/blather - ketchup mentioned on a blathering blog ] [ http://www.kgw.com/living/living-top-story.html?StoryID=37650 - ketchup 27-feb ] To expand my job skills, I've been studying COBOL (specifically, COBOL-85), and have found it isn't nearly as vomitrocious as its reputation imputes. Certain features derived from the era of precious memory are obvious: the SQL-like way variables are declared, the emphasis on files. Its business orientation is obvious in certain features: the merges and sorts, the ability to add multiple values in a single columnar operation. These and other aspects are actually more concise than the equivalents in C/Perl/Java-like languages: the way collation sequences (ie sorting order) are defined, or how the identically-named portions of two records can be combined in one step. There are kooks aplenty in the Usenet group sci.physics, and sometimes they make the error of wandering into alt.religion.kibology. Therein, their incomprehensible, inconsistent, ad hominem ravings are mercilessly pilloried -- rants from the like of George Hammond (cubical brains, proof that God = g_uv), Kurt Stocklmeir (FAQY, God dislikes the slimy slimes who have blood of animals between teeth, space lizards, rejected upon trying to kiss Kirsten's legs) and Archimedes Plutonium (aka Ludwig Plutonium, aka Ludwig van Ludwig, owner of a Legal Law Desk, coiner of searchenginebombing). This latter crackpot is mentioned in the April issue of _Discover_ magazine. /* *************************************************************************** ** ERRATA & OMISSIONS, ADDENDA & ADMISSIONS ** ************************************************************************ */ Most everything regarding TV schedule changes in the past two months. /* *************************************************************************** ** UPCOMING AND ONGOING ** ** SFC's "The Chronicle" production canceled. ** Nik's "Invader Zim" production canceled; repeats on Sundays. ** FOX's "Futurama" production canceled; moves to Thursday. ** FOX Thursdays: double "Family Guy", "King of the Hill", "Futurama". ** FOXKids Saturdays: "Power Rangers", "Galidor", "Transformers", "Digimon". ** X-Files s9 last 11. ** TV Commercials: CGI hamster, negative mass chips. ** Current Films: January through March. ** ************************************************************************ */ [1] TV PRODUCTION AND SCHEDULE CHANGES The Sci Fi Channel has canceled production of its Friday Prime original series "The Chronicle" after s1. Production of Nickelodeon's "Invader Zim" has been canceled. Of the two seasons, 11 of s1's 20 eps have aired, but s2 has been slashed from 20 to 6. An online petition to save the show is available, and many attendees signed a physical petition at Katsucon 8. Despite fan proposals that it be picked up by TCN (probably for Adult Swim), precedent indicates it's unlikely Nick will sell it. Eps are not currently airing fri-21:30, but repeats can be found at sun-13:00 and -13:30. [ http://www.petitiononline.com/izlovers/petition.html - 42,619 and counting ] Production of FOX's "Futurama" has been canceled after s4; most of its eps are yet to air. It's been moved from Sunday to Thursday. FOX's new Thursday primetime lineup (starting thu-28-feb-20:00) is all animation: dual eps of "Family Guy", "King of the Hill", then "Futurama". FOXKids Saturday has begun airing two new series: "Power Rangers Wild Force" (08:30) and "Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimensions" (09:30). PRWF is yet more formula: five team members, CGI Zords, villains with a schtick (nature good, industrial pollution bad), rubber monsters; but this iteration, the White Ranger is female. "Galidor" is a quest show (in the mold of eg the original "Land of the Lost"): kid with unsuspected destiny is taken from his homeland as it's being conquered, is later retrieved, gets sidekicks in funny monster suits. "Transformers: Robots in Disguise" (08:00) and "Digimon" s3 (09:00, 10:30) are showing new eps. The last 11 eps of s9 of "X-Files" begin airing this sun-3-mar-21:00. *** [2] TV COMMERCIALS "Blockbuster Video" is currently running a series of TV ads featuring a CGI hamster and rabbit; looks like the studio is using the sort of fur-renderer developed for "Stuart Little" or "Monsters Inc." The motto of Quaker-brand Quakes (the chips that apparently have negative mass) has changed from "Go Ahead: Snack Your Butt Off" to "Go Ahead: Snack Away". *** [3] CURRENT FILMS Two animé films had limited releases: "Escaflowne" and "Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis". The first is a re-imagining of the TV series (90 minutes isn't much room for subtlety), and the second (from the venerable creator of "Astro Boy") is unrelated to the 1920s silent expressionist film. Disney's animated "Return to Never Land" is a sequel to their 1953 "Peter Pan" (not to be confused with 1991's "Hook"); a theatrical release, unlike the direct-to-video majority (Aladdin II: The Return of Jafar (1994) and III: King of Thieves (1996), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Pochahontas II: Journey to a New World, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True). "Ice Age" is a CGI picture from new-to-features Blue Sky Studios. It concerns a party of (um, paleolithic? holocene?) critters (mammoth, saber- toothed cat, etc.) and the human child they adopt. The clueless rodent is current appearing in FOX network-identification spots. The martial arts comedy "Kung Pow! Enter the Fist" was originally titled "The Dubbed Action Movie". "The Time Machine" is the third film adaptation of H.G.Wells' novel, directed by his great-grandson. "Resident Evil" is based on the gory zombie video games. "Blade II" is a sequel to the 1998 Wesley Snipes vampire-hunter movie (based on the Marvel Comics character). Nickelodeon's "Clockstoppers" features Plot Device #46(b), Fun While Hyper- Accelerated (via Wristwatch). (See "Star Trek", "Duck Tales".) Date Title Studio/Distributor Rating Note ---- ------------------------- ---------------------- ------ ---------- 1/25 Kung Pow! Enter the Fist O/Fox PG-13 1/25 Escaflowne ?/Bandai PG-13 animé 1/25 Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis ?/Tristar PG-13 animé 2/15 Return to Never Land Disney/Disney G animated 3/08 The Time Machine DreamWorks/WB PG-13 3/15 Resident Evil Constantin/Screen Gems R 3/15 Ice Age Blue Sky/Fox PG CGI 3/22 Blade II New Line/New Line R 3/29 Clockstoppers Nickelodeon/Paramount PG ---- ------------------------- ---------------------- ------ ---------- /* *************************************************************************** ** TOY REVIEWS ** ** "Char's Counterattack" Bandai Gundam figures. ** McFarlane and Bandai animé figurines. ** "ExoSquad" returns as "Tech Wars". ** MegaBloks "BlokBots" continues, new "Warriors Future Force". ** ************************************************************************ */ [1] Bandai has released the latest subline of 4.5-inch mecha in its "Gundam" series: replicas of the suits from "Char's Counterattack", a sequel (set 15 years later) to the original "Mobile Suit Gundam". *** [2] The following two lines appear to have sold out in my area. McFarlane Toys has been releasing highly-sculpted (but minimally- articulated, it appears) animé figures for some time, in its "Ultra Action" line. The blister cards include Tetsuo from "Akira" (with extra arm), the lead female from "Armitrage III", Maj.Kusanagi (cyborg skin) from "Ghost in the Shell", and Ryoko from "Tenchi Muyo". Nearby in the toy aisle you find figure 3-packs by Bandai. Each blister card included a large mecha and two small figurines. The figures look to have only 3 points of articulation: the shoulders and neck. Series Mecha Figurines -------------------- ----------------------- --------------------------------- Big O Big O Roger Smith, R.Dorothy Wayneright Outlaw Star Outlaw Star (with base) Gene Starwind, Melfina Vision of Escaflowne Escaflowne Van Fanel, Hitomi Kanzaki -------------------- ----------------------- --------------------------------- *** [3] Remember "ExoSquad", the 1995 toy line (by Playmates) and animated series (by Universal Cartoon Studio)? Remember how, under the ExoSquad label, Playmates re-released the 3-inch Destroids from the "Robotech" line (Matchbox) of 1985? Well, ExoSquad's E-Frames themselves are now being re- issued under the name "Tech Wars", by a company called "Re:play!". I saw the following six models at my local K*B Toys, marked down from $15 to $8: Item# Name Original Colors ------ ----------------------- -------------------------- ----------------------- 630451 Enemy S.H.O.C. Infantry (Neo infantry) black,orange,t-green 630453 Command (DeLeon's Field Comms) drab,gold,t-orange 630454 Aerial Assault (Marsh's Aerial Attack) blue,yellow,t-yellow 630458 Military Enforcer (Napier's Police Enforcer) green,black,t-blue 630459 Ground Assault (Bronsky's Ground Assault) tan,t-tan 630460 Enemy S.H.O.C. Command (Neo command) grey,silver,red,t-clear ------ ----------------------- -------------------------- ----------------------- The backstory/premise printed on the blister cards is a modification of ExoSquad's: unified human military against creations (androids, not organics) run amuck. Colors have been changed, and the mold and plastic quality seem to have been reduced. Each toy comes with a figure, a slight- resculpt of the original: new heads on the humans, robotic limbs on the NeoSapiens. *** [4] LEGO-clone Ritvik MegaBloks continues with its robot-themed sets. There are 3 new BlokBots (Torch, Spy, and Toxic), and a new subline called "Warriors Future Force". Each piloted battle mecha has camo-colored bricks, with a "Color Stick" marker for customization. Set Name Pcs Colors Note ---- ---------------- --- ----------------- ---------------------- 9331 Space 195 purple grey black 9332 Swat 185 black grey 9333 Ice 185 white blue grey 9338 Torch 155 red black yellow (new) 9337 Spy 165 black grey t-blue (new) 9339 Toxic 160 green orange grey (new) 9341 Scuba 430 yellow blue black (2 bots) 9519 D-105 Sandstorm 125 black tan t-red, brown 9521 U-122 Striker 95 black grey silver t-orange, orange 9527 J-227 Quadwalker 375 grey black silver t-green, yellow green 9528 U-240 Assault 412 black grey silver t-orange, orange silver ---- ---------------- --- ----------------------------------------- /* ************************************************************************ ** 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 2002 by Phillip Thorne. In this issue, certain data (possibly not otherwise acknowledged) have been obtained, aggregated and synthesized from: Classmates.com classmates.com Corona Coming Attractions corona.bc.ca Epguides.com/TVTome epguides.com The Internet Movie DataBase imdb.com Masto's Auto-Kibo Mailer (subscription) M&Ms Chocolate Candies mms.com M&Ms Colorworks colorworks.com news:rec.arts.animation news:rec.arts.sf.tv news:rec.arts.startrek.tech Upcoming Movies upcomingmovies.com If you're receiving this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it, or possibly you're interested in special topical coverage, or maybe I've sent you a teaser issue. To subscribe and unsubscribe, use the addresses below: Publisher: nsx@underbase.org (human) Newsletter: nsx-l@underbase.org (automated system) nsx-l-subscribe (to subscribe; blank subject) nsx-l-unsubscribe (to unsubscribe) Discussion list: nsx-discuss-l@underbase.org nsx-discuss-l-subscribe (to subscribe; blank subject) nsx-discuss-l (to post) nsx-discuss-l-unsubscribe (to unsubscribe) /* *************************************************************************** ** *************************************************************************** ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** Volume 4, Issue 2: Friday, 1 March 2002 ** Copyright 1999-2002 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */