novaBBS - rec.arts.sf.fandom - Re: MT VOID, 03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215

THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215

Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Sending Address: evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
All material is the opinion of the author and is copyrighted by the
author unless otherwise noted.
All comments sent or posted will be assumed authorized for
inclusion unless otherwise noted.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to eleeper@optonline.net
The latest issue is at <http://www.leepers.us/mtvoid/latest.htm>.
An index with links to the issues of the MT VOID since 1986 is at
<http://leepers.us/mtvoid/back_issues.htm>.

Topics:
My First Sneak Preview (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
The Animals Are at It Again (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
2021 Nebula Award Finalists
This Week's Reading (OUT OF THE RUINS, THE TIME TRAVELER'S
ALMANAC, UNDER THE SKIN) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)

==================================================================
TOPIC: My First Sneak Preview (comments by Mark R. Leeper)

I think I am scarred for life. Well. Perhaps scarred is not the
right word. It is just that I am some sort of psychologically
conditioned. Conditioned may be a better word. But every time I
hear Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" I picture
warriors from ancient Greece having sword fights. I admit it is a
strange connection to have. And I would love to be rid of it. But
it is all the fault of the music and of comics and the monster
magazines.

Back in 1963 I knew something big was coming. Literally. Big.
months I think I had looked forward to the upcoming release of the
film JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. This was the screen version of
Apollonius' story of the quest for the Golden Fleece. It included a
metal giant.

I had a comic book of the film. I read that comic over and over.
The cover showed the mighty ship Argo ducking under the hairy
armpit of some god---Poseidon, I think--holding open the way
through a splashy waterway between two smashing rocks. That
thirteen-year-old me had been excited by anything I could find out
about the movie. This was going be have visual effects by the same
guy who did the visual effects for THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, Ray
Harryhausen. Ya can't do better than that. Not then ya couldn't.

Before the film came to the local theatre it came to TV. Well,
sort of to TV. But there was something special about how this
film was being distributed in a new way. At the time if you went
to see a film you saw it in a theater. But for the first time we
had an alternate way to see the film. I was living in Longmeadow,
Massachusetts about a thirty-minute drive from Hartford. In
Hartford there was experiment going on. It was called PAY TV.
And, wow! they were using JASON as their test film. And I got to
see it right in my own home.

I think it was TV station WTIC that was sponsoring the experiment.
It encrypted the signal and then just sent the movie to a common TV
station. You could almost watch it except for a few small
technical pains. The engineers scrambled the soundtrack chortling
it out and making a noise like a jukebox being ground in a
dishwasher. You could make out what characters were saying, at
least if you were willing to put up with a few of the little
intentional technically enhanced inconveniences. A voice sounded
like a cross between a human voice and the ringing of a
bell--weird! They did something similar to scramble the picture.
They shuffled the scan lines alternately with ten indented and then
ten not. With a little effort you could follow the story and I did
have the comic book as a guide.

But none of this deterred me from my watching my special preview.
I followed along in the comic. And I enjoyed it. In the trailer
they had claimed the story of "gods like men and men like gods."
To a young teenage Mark this was potent stuff. The scrambled TV
version apparently did not want to use the Bernard Herrmann score,
so played light classical music before and after the film. They
played Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man". Somehow all
this just made the film better when I saw it in a real movie
theater. The film used the Harryhausen score, but the trailer in
Hartford used the Copland score.

Now I just have to hear the Copland and I am back in ancient Greece
with Jason and Argus and the rest of those fun guys. [-mrl

==================================================================
TOPIC: The Animals Are at It Again (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

<https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/03/09/
giant-joro-spiders-east-coast-may>

Giant spiders expected to drop from sky across the East Coast this
spring

An invasive species of spider the size of a child's hand is
expected to "colonize" the entire East Coast this spring by
parachuting down from the sky, researchers at the University of
Georgia announced last week.

Why it matters: Large Joro spiders--millions of them--are expected
to begin "ballooning" up and down the East Coast as early as May.
Researchers have determined that the spiders can tolerate cold
weather, but are harmless to humans as their fangs are too small to
break human skin.

And even long-dead animals are getting into the act:

<https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/
597554-fossilized-vampire-squid-named-after-biden>

Fossilized vampire squid named after Biden

A vampire squid that died more than 300 million years ago has been
named after President Biden by a group of paleontologists who
discovered the new species, The Guardian reported.

[This is apparently a tribute to Biden:]

The researchers decided to name the fossilized sea creature after
the president because they were "encouraged by his plans to address
climate change and to fund scientific research," The Guardian
reported.

[-ecl]

==================================================================
TOPIC: 2021 Nebula Award Finalists

Novel

The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
Plague Birds, Jason Sanford (Apex)

Novella

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed
(Neon Hemlock)
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters, Aimee Ogden (Tordotcom)
Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
"The Giants of the Violet Sea," Eugenia Triantafyllou
(Uncanny 9-10/21)

Novelette

"O2 Arena," Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy's Edge 11/21)
"Just Enough Rain," PH Lee (Giganotosaurus 5/21)
"(emet)," Lauren Ring (F&SF 7-8/21)
"That Story Isn't the Story," John Wiswell (Uncanny 11-12/21)
"Colors of the Immortal Palette," Caroline M. Yoachim
(Uncanny 3-4/21)

Short Story

"Mr. Death," Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/21)
"Proof by Induction," Jose Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5-6/21)
"Let All the Children Boogie," Sam J. Miller (Tor.com 1/6/21)
"Laughter Among the Trees," Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/21)
"For Lack of a Bed," John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 4/21)

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen;
Titan)
Thornwood, Leah Cypess (Delacorte)
Redemptor, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)
A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Root Magic, Eden Royce (Walden Pond)
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen; Rock the Boat)

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Encanto (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures)
The Green Knight (Sailor Bear, BRON Studios, A24)
Loki: Season 1 (Marvel Studios)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
(Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios)
Space Sweepers (Bidangil Pictures)
WandaVision: Season 1 (Marvel Studios)
What We Do in the Shadows: Season 3 (FX Productions,
Two Canoes Pictures, 343 Incorporated, FX Network)

Game Writing

Coyote & Crow, Connor Alexander, William McKay, Weyodi Oldbear,
Derek Pounds, Nico Albert, Riana Elliott, Diogo Nogueira,
William Thompson (Coyote & Crow, LLC.)
Granma's Hand, Balogun Ojetade (Balogun Ojetade,
Roaring Lion Productions)
Thirsty Sword Lesbians, April Kit Walsh, Whitney Delagio,
Dominique Dickey, Jonaya Kemper, Alexis Sara, Rae Nedjadi
(Evil Hat Games)
Wanderhome, Jay Dragon (Possum Creek Games)
Wildermyth, Nate Austin, Anne Austin (Worldwalker Games, LLC,
Whisper Games)

Click here to read the complete article

On Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 11:00:57 AM UTC-4, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:
> THE MT VOID
> Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
> 03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215
>
> Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mle...@optonline.net
> Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, ele...@optonline.net
> Sending Address: evelynchim...@gmail.com
> All material is the opinion of the author and is copyrighted by the
> author unless otherwise noted.
> All comments sent or posted will be assumed authorized for
> inclusion unless otherwise noted.
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to ele...@optonline.net
> The latest issue is at <http://www.leepers.us/mtvoid/latest.htm>.
> An index with links to the issues of the MT VOID since 1986 is at
> <http://leepers.us/mtvoid/back_issues.htm>.
>
> Topics:
> My First Sneak Preview (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
> The Animals Are at It Again (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
> 2021 Nebula Award Finalists
> This Week's Reading (OUT OF THE RUINS, THE TIME TRAVELER'S
> ALMANAC, UNDER THE SKIN) (book comments
> by Evelyn C. Leeper)
>
> ===================================================================
>
> TOPIC: My First Sneak Preview (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
>
> I think I am scarred for life. Well. Perhaps scarred is not the
> right word. It is just that I am some sort of psychologically
> conditioned. Conditioned may be a better word. But every time I
> hear Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" I picture
> warriors from ancient Greece having sword fights. I admit it is a
> strange connection to have. And I would love to be rid of it. But
> it is all the fault of the music and of comics and the monster
> magazines.
>
> Back in 1963 I knew something big was coming. Literally. Big.
> months I think I had looked forward to the upcoming release of the
> film JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. This was the screen version of
> Apollonius' story of the quest for the Golden Fleece. It included a
> metal giant.
>
> I had a comic book of the film. I read that comic over and over.
> The cover showed the mighty ship Argo ducking under the hairy
> armpit of some god---Poseidon, I think--holding open the way
> through a splashy waterway between two smashing rocks. That
> thirteen-year-old me had been excited by anything I could find out
> about the movie. This was going be have visual effects by the same
> guy who did the visual effects for THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, Ray
> Harryhausen. Ya can't do better than that. Not then ya couldn't.
>
> Before the film came to the local theatre it came to TV. Well,
> sort of to TV. But there was something special about how this
> film was being distributed in a new way. At the time if you went
> to see a film you saw it in a theater. But for the first time we
> had an alternate way to see the film. I was living in Longmeadow,
> Massachusetts about a thirty-minute drive from Hartford. In
> Hartford there was experiment going on. It was called PAY TV.
> And, wow! they were using JASON as their test film. And I got to
> see it right in my own home.
>
> I think it was TV station WTIC that was sponsoring the experiment.
> It encrypted the signal and then just sent the movie to a common TV
> station. You could almost watch it except for a few small
> technical pains. The engineers scrambled the soundtrack chortling
> it out and making a noise like a jukebox being ground in a
> dishwasher. You could make out what characters were saying, at
> least if you were willing to put up with a few of the little
> intentional technically enhanced inconveniences. A voice sounded
> like a cross between a human voice and the ringing of a
> bell--weird! They did something similar to scramble the picture.
> They shuffled the scan lines alternately with ten indented and then
> ten not. With a little effort you could follow the story and I did
> have the comic book as a guide.
>
> But none of this deterred me from my watching my special preview.
> I followed along in the comic. And I enjoyed it. In the trailer
> they had claimed the story of "gods like men and men like gods."
> To a young teenage Mark this was potent stuff. The scrambled TV
> version apparently did not want to use the Bernard Herrmann score,
> so played light classical music before and after the film. They
> played Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man". Somehow all
> this just made the film better when I saw it in a real movie
> theater. The film used the Harryhausen score, but the trailer in
> Hartford used the Copland score.
>
> Now I just have to hear the Copland and I am back in ancient Greece
> with Jason and Argus and the rest of those fun guys. [-mrl
>
> ===================================================================
>

[snip]

This would appear to be the system used for the scrambled signal:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonevision

[quote]

The Phonevision system was operational on station WHCT* in Hartford, CT for at least two years,
ending in 1969. The station would run conventional (non-subscription) entertainment programming
during the day, and then switch to Phonevision-encoded programming in the evening.

[/quote] - https://www.earlytelevision.org/phonevision.html

* Today's WUVN [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUVN ]

In Milwaukee, from 1981-1984, there was:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SelecTV_(American_TV_channel)

--
Kevin R

Subject	Author
MT VOID, 03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215	eleeper@optonline.net
Re: MT VOID, 03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215	Gary McGath
Re: MT VOID, 03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215	Kevrob

Intolerance is the last defense of the insecure.

arts / rec.arts.sf.fandom / Re: MT VOID, 03/18/22 -- Vol. 40, No. 38, Whole Number 2215