/* ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** Written, edited and published in the drizzle, by Phillip Thorne. ** Volume 4, Issue 9: Wednesday, 11 December 2002 ** Previous issue: Wednesday, 27 November 2002 ** Next issue: Sooner than you thought, huh? ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** ** "You're spies, probably Russian, and you've brainwashed me to ** steal some nano-techno thingie..." ** --An amnesiac post-godling Cordelia Chase, very ** confused by her forgotten friends' lifestyle. ** "Angel" #404. ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* */ OBS & COGS: PhilCon 2002, mystery noise, handy guide (3), web finds. ERRATA: Writer's ego, practical use for Hoberman Sphere. TOY REVIEW: LEGO Galidor now on clearance. TOY REVIEW: MAGZ and GEOMAGS magnetic building toys. UPCOMING TV: "Futurama", "Digimon" s4, TCN changes, listings. 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. mailto://nsx-discuss-l@underbase.org - post on this issue (if subscribed) http://www.underbase.org/ - additional databases /* *************************************************************************** ** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS ** ** PhilCon 2002 this weekend. ** Mystery of the aggravating noise -- solved! ** Phil's Handy Guide (Part 3). ** Found around the web: Turkish "Star Trek", SG-1 LEGO minifigs. ** ************************************************************************ */ ::: A. PhilCon 2002 this weekend ::: This year's edition of the nation's oldest SF convention, PhilCon, runs this coming weekend: fri-13-dec to sun-15-dec. The primary guests are: principal speaker CONNIE WILLIS (record-setting winner of both six Nebula and six Hugo awards), artist guest of honor DONATO GIANCOLA (winner of four 2001 ASFA Chesley awards), special guest DAVID GERROLD (scriptwriter on Trek and "Babylon 5", author of the "War Against the Cthorr" series), special guest NALO HOPKINSON (up-and-coming young author of Caribbean- styled SF), special guests SPIDER and JEANNE ROBINSON ("Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" series), and special media guest ROBERT PICARDO (the EMH/Doctor from ST:Voyager). (PhilCon, like most cons operated by long-established local fan groups, has evolved into a "generalist" gathering -- speculative fiction (SF, fantasy, historical fiction) in books, comics, TV, movies; plus side- dishes of art, animé, role-playing games, and costuming. Around the world, there exist specific conventions dedicated to each of these topics. Fans ("fen") can be elitist at times, and prefer their own volunteer-operated conclaves to those run by for-profit companies, e.g. the "Creation Star Trek Conventions".) [ www.psfs.org -- Philadelphia Science Fiction Society ] [ www.philcon.org ] ::: B. Mystery of the aggravating noise -- solved! ::: I'm accustomed to the habitual noises of my PC, but last week something new intruded upon the auditory environment of my cellar corner: a high- pitched whine even more irritating, even better tuned to put my nerves on edge and prickle them with sticks, than the bearings of that dang-nabbit humming fan. I brought in my parents as consultants on the search, and my father couldn't detect the noise (which demonstrates my supreme wisdom in avoiding the lawn-mower whenever possible). It was too high-pitched to be the 60-Hz hum of house current, but we still checked everything electrical: not the PC, or its UPS... or the ballasts in the fluorescent ceiling lights, or the transformer on the furnace, or in any of the power bricks scattered around the room... or in the wall sockets themselves... or the cable TV cable running around the perimeter, or the refrigerator upstairs. Once every possible candidate was unplugged, unscrewed, and disconnected, with the sound still unstymied, I fell back on Holmes Heuristic Number One: the one concerning impossibilities and improbabilities. The buzz was noticeably louder above head-level, and concentrated in one corner. Could it be...? From the shelf I pulled down the box containing my collection of calculators, PDAs and similar electronica, and stuck in an ear. ...indeed it was! I set aside candidates until I found the offender: the Columbia Electronics "Gundam"-branded junior PDA -- still sealed in its plastic retail packaging. Plastic, meet scissors! Battery compartment lid, meet screwdriver! AAA cells, meet fingers! Even now, the whine did not cease, but merely ramped down an octave. We can all thank the Deities of Inductance and Impedance that this didn't turn into one of those "even unplugged, the TV remains on" horror stories; yanking the memory-backup watch cells finally -- finally! -- silenced that dangnable whistle. The insertion of fresh AAAs did not elicit a return, but just to be safe, I took them out again when I stored the PDA. The manual makes no mention of such a thing, but was the tone, in all its composure-shattering edge- of-perception non-glory, merely a low-battery alarm? Or was it some freak resonance inherent in the circuitry? ::: C. Phil's Handy Guide (Part 3)... ::: ::: To thoughts that are sometimes profound, but not often ::: 7. If a "profession" is a career in which practitioners must be certified by a state-approved sanctioning body (eg doctor, teacher, lawyer, accountant, engineer), and a "trade" is one with a union (eg builder, mechanic, trucker), then what's the term for those knowledge-jobs that require training, but aren't certified in any way? "Professional software engineer" is a misnomer on at least two counts, but "hacker", "code-slinger", and "software artisan" just don't elicit respect. 8. If the fate of many graduates of intense four-year colleges is to work in fields totally unrelated to their majors, then should the utility of the classic "liberal arts degree" be reconsidered? Would a foundation in critical thinking, effective writing, business practices, and worldwide telecom and postal standards (plus remedial handwriting) better prepare Young Americans of the Future for low-status-but-essential office jobs? 9. Are you stressed during holiday shopping because all your relatives live in houses crammed full of stuff, and you don't want to add to the mess? Consider consumables instead -- fancy jellies, syrups, cookies and cookies; edibles they wouldn't otherwise buy. If they come in interesting packaging, all the better. 10. If discarding acres of wrapping paper offends your conservationist side, and you have no hyperactive kids to placate, then consider creating a set of reusable gift boxes, permanently covered in high-quality signature paper. On Christmas morning, cutting of ribbons and popping of lids, can replace the rending of wrapping. ::: D. Found around the web ::: [ http://www.thewavemedia.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=22646 -- a review of a "Star Trek" parody filmed in Turkey; link provided by Graham Kennedy to news:rec.arts.startrek.tech. Warning: do not read after abdominal surgery or while drinking milk. ] [ http://www.thegateroom.com/lego.shtml -- LEGO minifig customs of the SG-1 team. ] /* *************************************************************************** ** ERRATA & OMISSIONS, ADDENDA & ADMISSIONS ** ** Attack of the writer's ego! ** Hoberman Sphere: practical use #1. ** ************************************************************************ */ Regarding Issue 4.8's notice of Henderson's ten-year reunion... Yes, I *can* twist any arbitrary topic to myself -- why do you ask? Reader LUKE LORENZ had this comment regarding Hoberman Spheres: Interestingly enough I witnessed an astrophysical demonstration at Penn State lead by SETI co-founder Frank Drake and a team of astronomers from PSU where they used -- and quite effectively I might add -- a Hoberman Sphere to demonstrate the collapse of red giants into a dense singularity of sorts and then slightly rebound and expand before final compression and resulting supernova. [...] /* *************************************************************************** ** TOY REVIEW ** "LEGO Galidor" on sale at TRU and Kohl's ** ************************************************************************ */ If you're a major international toy company with a half-century of experience, do you rely on the sales of a single line? Not if you're smart -- and for the past five years, the LEGO Group has experimented with extensions to their ubiquitous plastic bricks. The most recent such is a line of modular action figures based on the characters of "Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension", a live-action juvie SF series that first aired on FoxKids-broadcast a year ago (and now airs on FoxFamily- cable -- or is that ABC Family?). Despite being LEGO/Technic-compatible, the figures have not exactly been glinching off store shelves. Kohl's department store has cut "Galidor" prices by 25% (as of 18-nov), and Toys'R'Us (at least their US/PA/Exton location) has now (6-dec and 11-dec) slashed prices twice: Pricepoint Before After Later =================================== ====== ===== ===== "Basic" figures (bubblecards) 11.99 4.98 2.98 "Superdeluxe" (boxed, 8318 and 8321) 19.99 9.98 6.98 TDN Module 34.99 14.98 9.98 =================================== ====== ===== ===== I picked up the 8311-"Gorm" (black) and 8318-"Ooni" (red) sets at TRU, because they're the most insectoid characters: the segmented style of the toys fits them, and the pieces can be reused in other LEGO constructs. (And dollar-cost averaging wins again: buy first at price X, return and buy again at lower price Y.) Assembled, 8311-"Gorm" is a 23-cm tall humanoid in a severe, purple- trimmed black suit and helmet. He's molded in black, grey and purple, with purple paint on the torso, and blue/green/red on the face (for the mismatched eyes). The plastic seems to be the same high-quality ABS as used in LEGO bricks, with matching colors; the hands and plate are molded in a more flexible plastic. The default body consists of 10 segments: head, torso, upper/lower arms/legs. That's 10 points of articulation, plus 4 more at wrists and ankles: the hands pivot, and the feet are ball-jointed. Two extra segments are included: a spare forearm with a bigger, four-digit grasping hand; and an ellipsoidal plate that can stand in for loincloth, or coattails, or wing. The torso has the 5 sockets you'd expect, plus 5 others: in the "navel", small of the back, and a delta at his shoulders. These permit you to attach wings, or a tail, or extra arms, or use the torso as part of a centaur. Because the torso is hollow, Technic axles can be run through both the hips and the abdomen -- impalement fun for everyone! The inner structure of the neck-socket prevents the same trick with the shoulders. Each limb-segment connects with a ratchet-pivot-mounted Technic-sized pin to a ratchet-socket in the superior segment; the ratchets lock movement to 24 segments of a circle (15deg). Together, the two degrees of freedom constitute a ball-joint, though with many segment-combinations the range of motion is restricted by the limb's shape. All limbs are bilaterally symmetrical, so they can be swapped left/right; hence, the hands aren't very hand-like. Given the stiffness of the joints, Gorm can balance in a wide variety of dynamic poses -- and he can do so on a LEGO baseplate, because slots are molded in the soles of his boots. They don't actually "clutch", but they do permit X-Y alignment. That and the quantized joints should be handy for stop-motion filmmaking... The 8318-"Ooni" set contains 27 segments: 2 heads (Ooni and Gorm), an 11- socket torso, 2 short shoulder-nodes with pin-base (a 3-socket and a 5- socket), 3 plates (2 ellipsoidal and 1 delta), 4 hands (2 Gorm, 2 Jens- claws), 6 clawed feet, and 11 limb segments (7 short, 4 long). The parts are variously molded in red, brick-red, and black, with grey and light- grey accents. Many of the segment-shapes are common to the 8311-"Gorm", 8314-"Gorm Deluxe" and 8312-"Jens" sets. All the LEGO-Galidor torso-segments contain only sockets, but the limb- segments and shoulder-nodes each have a pin: so they can be polymerized. You can give a creature two elbows, or a sinuous neck (quite stable), or multiple shoulders. Because the joints use the Technic-standard pin, interoperability is possible, but requires some imagination. The sockets are not quite large enough to admit a 2x2 round brick. The hands grasp a Technic axle, so you can equip your figures with staffs or barbells. /* *************************************************************************** ** TOY REVIEW ** "Magz" and "GeoMag" magnetic construction sets ** ************************************************************************ */ Everybody loves playing with magnets, because of that magical "action at a distance" they exhibit. Several construction toys exploit that property, allowing one to build structures that almost assemble themselves. "Magz" and Italian-made "GeoMag" are two rival "node/spar" systems, consisting of steel spheres and magnet-tipped plastic rods (of several colors). Rods can join end-to-end or in parallel arrays, or join with spheres into complex polyhedra. "Magz" also features "Cuballs", which are spheres trapped in cubical plastic cages, enabling rigid square structures. Both systems are rather pricey; GeoMag more so. Set SRP Bars Balls Cubes Note =================== === ==== ===== ===== ================ Magz $15 36 20 0 Mega Magz $35 94 36 0 Dyna Magz $30 64 20 15 Super Magz $21 32 20 0 Larger parts Cuballs for Magz ? 0 0 20 GeoMag 14 $10 6 8 GeoMag 20 $14 12 8 GeoMag 42 $22 24 18 GeoMag Glow 86 $58 54 32 GeoMag 184 $98 120 64 GeoMag Glow 184 $130 120 64 GeoMag Deluxe 1450 $855 1000 450 Walnut briefcase =================== === ==== ===== ===== ================ [ http://www.naturestapestry.com/magz.html ] [ http://store.yahoo.com/nationalwildlife/651114.html -- Magz ] [ http://store.yahoo.com/nationalwildlife/651113.html -- Mega Magz ] [ http://www.niftycool.com/magmagcontoy.html ] [ http://www.niftycool.com/megmagmagcon.html ] [ http://www.niftycool.com/dynmagcontoy.html ] [ http://www.niftycool.com/cubformagcon.html ] [ http://www.geomags.com/construction_sets/index.cfm -- GeoMags ] /* *************************************************************************** ** UPCOMING TELEVISION ** ** "Futurama" returns to FOX -- sometimes. ** Original premiere of "Firefly" airs fri-20-dec. ** "Steven Spielberg's Taken" breaks SFC ratings records. ** "Digimon" s4 all week on UPN. ** TCN's January Adult Swim lineup -- "Futurama", "Lupin III", etc. ** Specific and weekly programming. ** ************************************************************************ */ ::: A. News ::: FOX is now airing -- sometimes, in some markets, when NFL doesn't get higher priority -- Year 5 of "Futurama". That's Year, not Series -- this year we get all the Series 4 eps that didn't air last year, largely because it was full of leftover Series 3. (Hereby decide terms Year, Season, and Series. Season if Year and Series coincide. Year calendar, Series production run.) Despite poor ratings, FOX has ordered two new eps of Joss Whedon's SF- western series "Firefly", bringing the total package to 15. The original two-hour premiere, "Serenity", will air next week, f-20-dec-20:00. Unlike the commanded-by-the-execs premiere (with more action that isn't), *this* one actually explains how Rev.Book, Simon and River joined the ship. Last week and this, SFC is airing the much-since-June-touted 20-hour miniseries, "Steven Spieldberg Presents Taken", chronicling the alien abductions of four generations of three families across 50 years, including zero-gee sex with aliens. (Is that the reason it's gotten record-breaking ratings for SFC?) Ten 2-hour eps, with a second ep each night -- though not in any obvious way. UPN is now airing "Digimon" s4 all week in the 16:00 slot. (At the beginning of the season, Monday featured a new ep, with the balanced filled by s3.) Beware, the Monday airings appear to occasionally skip an ep. According to toonzone.net (and repeated on news:rec.arts.animation), Cartoon Network's (TCN's) new Adult Swim lineup begins sun-12-jan, featuring comedy animation syndicated from the broadcast networks (where much of it failed or was underappreciated), animé, and original series. The Sunday schedule (23:00-26:00) consists of "Futurama", "The Oblongs", "Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law", "Sealab 2021"/"Aqua Teen Hunger Force", "The Ripping Friends", and "Mission Hill". The Monday-Thursday schedule (23:00-26:00) features "Futurama" again, plus "Home Movies", "Lupin III", "InuYasha", "Yu Yu Hakusho", and "Cowboy Bebop". Saturday will consist of extended Toonami. TCN has also acquired the animé series "Trigun" (the hero/idiot adventures of a gunfighter who's not what his ruthless reputation implies) and "Reign" (the story of Alexander the Great). (-- toonzone.net) ::: B. Specific programming ::: Date Time Dur Channel Title ======== ===== ==== =========== ================================== f-06-dec 20:00 upn "ST3:The Search for Spock" f-13-dec 20:00 upn "ST4:The Voyage Home" f-20-dec 20:00 2:00 fox Firefly: "Serenity" f-20-dec 20:00 upn "ST5:The Final Frontier" ======== ===== ==== =========== ================================== ::: C. Weekly programming ::: Days Time Dur Channel Seas Title Categ Form ======= ===== ==== =========== ==== ============================= ====== ==== s------ 19:00 0:30 fox * 5 Futurama SF anim s------ 20:00 0:30 fox * ?? The Simpsons anim s------ 21:00 1:00 wb * 4 Angel --t---- 20:00 1:00 upn * 7 Buffy --t---- 21:00 1:00 wb * 2 Smallville sup'ro ---w--- 20:00 1:00 upn * 2 Enterprise SF ---w--- 21:00 1:00 wb * 1 Birds of Prey sup'ro ------z 17:00 1:00 wtxf-29 # 5 Stargate SG-1 SF ------z 18:00 1:00 wphl-17 * 3 Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda SF ------z 18:00 1:00 wpsg-57 e 2 Enterprise -mtwrf- 17:00 0:30 tcn * 1 He-Man(3) SF anim -mtwrf- 17:30 0:30 tcn * 1 Transformers Armada SF anim -mtwrf- 16:00 0:30 upn # 4 Digimon SF anim s------ 11:00 0:30 upn e 4 Digimon s------ 16:30 0:30 nik Invader Zim SF anim ------z 08:00 0:30 fox * 1 Stargate Infinity SF anim -mtwr-- 24:00 0:30 tcn G Gundam SF anim -mtwr-- 24:30 0:30 tcn G.I.Joe SF anim ======= ===== ==== =========== ==== ============================= ====== ==== ::: D. TV listings websites ::: [ http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_shows/tv_schedule.jhtml -- Nickelodeon ] [ http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/ -- Sci Fi Channel ] [ http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=selectDay -- Cartoon Network ] /* ************************************************************************ ** Legalese ** Acknowledgments ** Opt-in/out Instructions ** *********************************************************************** */ The original content (layout, text) of this newsletter is copyright 2002 Phillip Thorne. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted only as per applicable copyright law, if all copyright notices remain intact, and if citation trails (URLs or otherwise) are provided. That said, if you think colleagues would find an issue useful, please reproduce it -- but also suggest they subscribe. Those creative works (books, films, TV, websites, software, toys, etc.) referred-to (reviewed, synopsized, quoted, condensed, analyzed, etc.) herein are the property of their respective owners, are referred-to according to copyright law as interpreted in the U.S., and are cited whenever possible. No (endorsement, infringement, insult) is (expressed, implied, intended), except where specifically stated. In this issue, certain data (possibly not separately acknowledged) have been obtained, aggregated and synthesized from: weekly box office numbers boxofficemojo.com The Cartoon Network cartoonnetwork.com Digital Media FX digitalmediafx.com movie listings fandango.com Google search engine google.com more movie listings hollywood.com even more movie listings movies.com yet more movie listings movietickets.com Nickelodeon nick.com SFC's news of speculative fiction scifiweekly.com fan-compiled TCN Toonami news toonamiinfolink.com fan-compiled animation news toonzone.net Usenet News news:rec.arts.startrek.tech news:rec.arts.animation 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 9: Wednesday, 11 December 2002 ** Copyright 1999-2002 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */