@START@ ATW Policy Policy Statement for Across The Wire Monthly BBS Magazine: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POLICY DATE: March 7, 1995 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ General Policy: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. No charge will be collected for access to this magazine. The door/magazine may be run on a pay BBS, but no additional charge will be claimed for access to this information. 2. Individual articles may contain there own copyright information. 3. The copyright notice on Across The Wire magazine is on source code and the door reader only. The following rules shall apply to all articles/screens submitted: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. T&J Software retains the right to refuse any article submitted for publication in Across The Wire magazine. 2. T&J Software reserves the right to modify/change the text of any articles submitted (for spelling and clarity only) for the magazine. 3. T&J Software reserves the right to refuse any ANSI screen submitted for publication in the magazine. BBS ANSI screens will be displayed pending room in the database. We don't want a bloated database filled strictly with BBS ads <G>. 4. BBS advertisements will only be included if the subject BBS is an active BBS carrying the magazine (regular uploading of the log file). 5. ANSI screens in "bad taste" will be rejected. How to Submit Articles: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Articles should be uploaded to T&J Software BBS by the 21st of each month to be included in the next month's magazine. Articles can be uploaded to the following locations: T&J Software BBS 717-325-9481 3 Nodes - 28.8k Upload to ATW SUBMISSION file area. E-Mail to: tjsoft@postoffice.ptd.net Crash it to Fido 1:268/400 Submitting your BBS Name and Number for inclusion in the magazine: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. A BBS will only be added to the magazine BBS Listing if the sysop of the submitting BBS uploads the magazine log files on a monthly basis. 2. After three months of no magazine log files being sent to T&J Software, the BBS listing will be removed from the list. 3. No charges will be collected to include a BBS name in the listing or for advertising in an ANSI screen. Tom & Jane Wildoner T&J Software @START@ATW Readers Questions ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: Harry Long To whom it may concern. Good day to you, I am visually impaired, and this magazine format is wonderful. I understand there is more like this. How do I get this wonderful stuff? RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner Hello Harry! Glad you enjoy the magazine. There are several magazine type doors on the market, but I'm not familiar enough with them all to know exactly where to find them. Two that come to mind are: Door World Magazine and USA Today. T&J Software also has several informational type doors such as the Hubble Space Telescope Info Door, Consumer Product Safety, Consumer Information, Federal Job Listings, etc. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: Warren Miller Hello ATW Staff! I am really impressed with the magazine. I would like to see some more Internet addresses posted within the magazine. Popular Web sites, special ftp sites, etc. This mag keeps you posted. I had a caller that found PLAYBOY online and downloaded the last 3 or 4 centerfolds. Wonder if the kids found this yet? :-) Keep up the good work! Warren Miller - Sysop of the Horseless Carriage RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner Hello Warren! Appreciate your feedback! We would like to expand on the internet coverage in future issues. The magazine is getting very large and we are considering branching out to a special Science Magazine (updated monthly just like ATW) and possibly an Internet Magazine. Let me know your thoughts on this! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: VICTOR DAVIS Hello! I just wanted to say that I think this is a fine service and I have enjoyed it quite a bit. RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner Thanks! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: Karen Gaughan Hi I know very little about WWW. I have been given an address of a board that I would like to access. Would you please tell me if it is possible from here? http://www.primenet.com/~kitsonk/mormon.html I would also like to know where I can find out more about the WWW and something called Mosaic. Thanks for any help you might offer. As you can tell this is my first experience with WWW. Thanks, Karen in Archbald RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner I tried the above listed address and it works fine. Probably the best way to learn the WWW is to go surfing! I've never even looked at book on WWW (other than designing Web Pages) and you would be surprised at what you can learn by simply jumping around! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: PLEASURE MASTER Great door. I am in the process of changing from RA to Interbbs and to switch[ed] over from that software to the new and getting this door running was a breeze. Keep up the GREAT work RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner Thanks! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: ANTHONY MCCULLOUGH Very nice! This magazine is here to stay! RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner Thanks! Let us know what you would like to see! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MESSAGE FROM: SysOp This is a test for the ATW Staff. RESPONSE FROM: Tom Wildoner Got it! <G> @START@ATW BBS List BBS's Proudly Carrying "Across The Wire" Magazine ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ NOTE: It is important to run the UPLOAD.EXE MONTHLY and to not keep uploading the same *.ATW file every month. Running the UPLOAD.EXE file ensures us of having the most recent information from the readers!! All BBS's with a date of 9/95 will be removed from the Jan 96 Listing unless we receive your log files. Alabama ~~~~~~~ Power Station BBS Allen Godwin 334-574-6841 10/95 UP ALL NIGHT BBS MAX2000 334-347-3001 9/95 Firefighter BBS Shawn Gavin 334-981-9689 12/95 Alaska ~~~~~~ ICE BBS Network Runtime Error 907-346-2371 9/95 Arkansas ~~~~~~~~ Boston Mountain Information Bob Sprague 501-634-2140 10/95 eXchange Jackalope Junction Steve Prado 501-785-5381 11/95 The R.F. ZONE BBS Matt Nelson 501-935-5574 9/95 Arizona ~~~~~~~ PC-Arizona BBS Ron Keane 602-423-0640 12/95 California ~~~~~~~~~~ Death Row! Stafford Hyacinth 619-439-9686 9/95 On The Fly BBS Blade 714-554-2518 9/95 The Visible Spectrum BBS Robert L. Clark 805-237-8025 11/95 The Twilight Zone Robert Ayers 805-258-0413 9/95 The Launch Pad BBS Rick Olsen 805-734-3878 12/95 ACT III BBS Stagehand 818-701-6380 9/95 Alberhill Online! Jeremy Preece 909-245-2232 12/95 ATTENTION to Details BBS Clint Bradford 909-681-6221 12/95 Gonzo's Wild Cat! Place Mark Gonzales 909-699-1656 12/95 Inland Sports BBS Jim Charters 909-789-2978 10/95 The LOONEY BBS Dan Looney 916-366-0375 10/95 Colorado ~~~~~~~~ The Mars Hotel Cap Bateman 303-360-6626 12/95 The Saturday Knights BBS Don Johnson 303-420-8927 12/95 NetComm BBS Bill Watts 303-730-7045 12/95 Connecticut ~~~~~~~~~~~ Terminal Frost John Normington 203-928-2357 9/95 Delaware ~~~~~~~~ Renegade's Cove Dave Osburn 302-653-1467 12/95 Keeper's Corner Tom Underwood 302-653-7052 11/95 Florida ~~~~~~~ Help-Online Patrick Greeley 407-336-4419 9/95 EastSide System David Lane 407-337-1274 11/95 The Higher Power BBS Ralph Allen 407-466-1661 11/95 Jupiter BBS Services Ted Parsons 407-575-3853 12/95 Barney's PipeLine! BBS Will Crain 407-728-7386 10/95 Treasure Coast Online Dean May 407-878-0790 12/95 Communication Port BBS Dale Dumont 813-545-0111 10/95 The Dark Side BBS! Aubrey Presha 813-582-9214 12/95 Tropical Avenue Big Kahoona 813-661-0853 12/95 Eyes & Ears BBS Jan Edward Morell 904-423-6699 12/95 Serendipity BBS Bob Mascaro 904-457-4066 9/95 The Southern Comfort BBS Karl Albright 904-458-2073 9/95 The Night Ranger John Hambel 904-563-0129 9/95 Flapping Jack's Place Phil Edwards 904-563-1580 12/95 Wrinkles & Feathers BBS Marty Barel 904-939-8404 11/95 The NutHouse! BBS Edna Kelly 941-625-8233 9/95 Georgia ~~~~~~~ The Green Lantern BBS Merrill Guice 912-245-0644 11/95 Kitty's Cafe! Michelle Mendez 912-328-9909 11/95 Hi-Tech Gateway BBS Dick Stein 706-694-3295 11/95 Hawaii ~~~~~~ Sparks!BBS Anthony McCullough 808-682-9402 12/95 Idaho ~~~~~ The UPPER ROOM BBS Steve McNutt 208-331-0082 12/95 Anita's Place BBS Anita Nikiforuk 208-666-4010 10/95 Illinois ~~~~~~~~ People Who Need People Marty Ritter 312-271-4733 11/95 Addison DOS Haus Leroy Hein 708-832-7754 11/95 The Sojourner BBS Rick Flint 708-872-4096 12/95 Indiana ~~~~~~~ Nerdville BBS John Guarnero 219-736-4957 11/95 ArcadiaVision BBS John C. Tabler 219-766-2378 11/95 The Right Choice BBS Skip Howard 219-962-2132 11/95 The CyberSpace BBS Charlie Smith 317-856-9020 12/95 Graphic Station Tony Hite 812-426-0477 10/95 KA9LQM Ham Shack BBS Mike Anderson 812-476-7564 11/95 Orleans On-Line Paul Seigle 812-865-3597 11/95 Iowa ~~~~ Horseless Carriage Warren Miller 515-752-6554 12/95 Kansas ~~~~~~ 501 EnterPrises BBS David Kreifels 316-326-3906 12/95 The Firehouse BBS Randy Leach 316-442-3702 11/95 Condor Express Enterprises Paul Williams 913-232-6154 9/95 Kentucky ~~~~~~~~ The Little Bitty BBS Louis Luxemburg 502-933-7241 12/95 Magic$oft BBS! Tem House 606-371-6337 12/95 Maine ~~~~~ Grouchy Marx BBS Grouchy Marx 207-368-5402 11/95 Maryland ~~~~~~~~ ShareWare Paradise Bryan Rittmeyer 410-239-7473 10/95 CRANk cRUz 410-377-2559 12/95 Massachusettes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nocturnal Charlie Kaczor 508-943-8411 12/95 Michigan ~~~~~~~~ Newaygo Online David Jourden 616-924-4329 12/95 Games World Online BBS Joker 810-792-1986 9/95 The Intensive Care Unit Ben Shaver 906-428-3250 12/95 Mississippi ~~~~~~~~~~~ Monroe County Online Rob Westbrook 601-256-9182 9/95 The Eagles Den BBS Gary Trivanovich 601-396-9811 12/95 BoxCars BBS!!! Scott James 601-429-3175 12/95 Missouri ~~~~~~~~ Paradise Valley Steve Lingo 314-761-4908 9/95 The Parson's Toys Bill Turner 314-774-3047 12/95 Beyond Tomorrow Will Wright 816-263-0980 11/95 Nikonos V BBS Dennis Smith 816-746-6911 9/95 Nebraska ~~~~~~~~ Castle Keep BBS Jim Kerber 402-292-1021 10/95 Nevada ~~~~~~ New Hampshire ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Politically Incorrect Bill Ford 603-625-2687 10/95 New Jersey ~~~~~~~~~~ The Waterside BBS Darrin Hentze 201-641-5375 12/95 Writers Block BBS Rick Cowles 609-299-6033 9/95 Space Station II Bob Meany 609-665-0969 12/95 ADAMSCOM Online....tm Mark Adams 908-572-7490 12/95 The Spinning Wheels BBS Ken Bourke 908-781-0232 11/95 New Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~ Political BBS Brian Tafoya 505-672-1665 12/95 New York ~~~~~~~~ UnderWorld BBS John Jaromin 518-587-2540 11/95 The Sanatorium! Barry Bogart 607-648-8565 11/95 The EastNet System Mark McCarthy 914-472-0779 9/95 Farby's Funhouse Gary Farbman 914-744-5085 10/95 North Carolina ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gentle Breeze BBS Larry Beheler 704-657-6898 12/95 The Pig-Pen BBS Boss Hog 910-324-1703 12/95 Mayberry BBS Randy Culler 910-789-8183 10/95 North Dakota ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daedalus Online Davis Robinson 701-857-6090 12/95 Ohio ~~~~ Let's Talk BBS System William DeFranco 216-845-3249 10/95 The Edge of Insanity Dale Miracle 216-896-4251 12/95 FIRST TRY Ken Mathews 614-685-3013 12/95 Doug's Place BBS Douglas Reese 614-759-7018 10/95 Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~ Huggy bears BBs Donald Burch 405-949-2090 10/95 The Circle BBS Michael Warshum 918-445-5273 10/95 Oregon ~~~~~~ Emerald Online BBS Chuck Orton 503-343-1420 10/95 Pennsylvania ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frank's Place BBS Frank Lisak 412-422-8246 9/95 Innovations BBS Bob Pacifico 610-264-8530 10/95 T&J Software BBS Tom & Jane Wildoner 717-325-9481 11/95 The FreeLand BBS Marty Cox 717-636-0936 11/95 Stimpy's Sandbox Mark Friend 717-730-8504 12/95 Woody's NutHouse Jim Woodward 717-748-5728 11/95 The Northeast File Bank Stuart Wilson 717-876-0152 12/95 Blue Light Special Fubar 717-957-9230 12/95 Tennesee ~~~~~~~~ The Tazewell BBS Jim Edmondson 615-626-0557 11/95 The Peek Hole BBS Mike Howard 615-758-4288 12/95 The Registry BBS Bill Kern 615-870-0794 12/95 JOE'S GARAGE BBS Joe Pusateri 901-382-0268 12/95 Texas ~~~~~ Tin Can BBS Rickey Starling 409-544-7098 12/95 Cyberbase Jerry George 409-774-7225 10/95 Casa De La Luz Chuck Haynes 512-219-9853 12/95 Ralph Cody 512-339-7838 11/95 Dingle Delaware Cathy Keller 512-442-8145 10/95 Rusted Shut Eugene Lee 817-778-2828 12/95 Utah ~~~~ Planet Reisa BBS White Lace 801-596-7350 9/95 Virginia ~~~~~~~~ Empire Systems ][ Chip Slate 703-251-1645 9/95 AD Public Message System James Goldbloom 703-998-2958 12/95 Servant of the Lord BBS Charles Wootten 804-590-2161 12/95 PowerBase BBS Chris Elliott 804-793-3618 10/95 The Gondor BBS Kevin Jendro 804-872-0543 12/95 West Virginia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Bit Bank Jamie Willingham 304-728-0884 10/95 Pa-Pa Bears BBS Steve Criner 304-755-4319 12/95 Wisconsin ~~~~~~~~~ The BIRCH BARK BBS James Fish 414-242-5070 10/95 AARRGGHH! BBS Victor Loberger 414-334-7041 10/95 The Binary Bicycle Scott Daniels 414-375-1877 12/95 MarLyn's Manor Marve & Lynn Heisler 414-432-1393 12/95 K-9 Korner RBBS Ron Mainguth 608-849-9796 12/95 Northern Lights! Greg Schlagel 715-426-9886 12/95 Birnamwood Bytes Bbs Rick & Jeff 715-449-3071 10/95 NIKOhost BBS Christopher Nikolai 715-675-5756 11/95 Puerto Rico ~~~~~~~~~~~ Hurricane BBS Luis Benitez 809-781-4207 12/95 Canada ~~~~~~ The Foothills HAM BBS Chris Kringel 403-283-1107 11/95 The Midnight Oil BBS John Wagontall 403-329-3381 12/95 THN Systems Canada Dave Turner 416-255-2484 9/95 You Want it You Got it BBS Chief White Cloud 519-445-0998 12/95 The Back Door/2 Peter Lazenby 604-632-4640 11/95 The Twilight Zone BBS Al Hacker 613-225-3916 9/95 Playtime II BBS John Farrow 613-546-6604 12/95 Rednecks and Renegade Terry Bendell 705-444-5326 11/95 Wang's Studio Michael Wang 905-527-5467 11/95 The BBS Encounter Glenn Woerffel 905-737-4639 9/95 Australia ~~~~~~~~~ Wicked City Jeff Ainsworth +61 7 273 3931 Music Talk Steve Gasson +61 8 327 0249 Ace BBS Peter Nitschke +61 8 357 8775 United Arab Emirates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NPCserv BBS Elias Khoury 011971-5005-207 Japan ~~~~~ HoneyTree BBS Dwight Collins 011-81-3117-62-8914 Portugal ~~~~~~~~ VISUS BBS Jose Camara 351-1-7968168 United Kingdom ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Juke Joint BBS Jurt Adkins +44-(0)161-230 6369 How to get your BBS listed: 1. Run the program UPLOAD.EXE which is included with the ATW door. This program will ask you for some information and will then ZIP up the information and log file. The file created will be called xxxxxxxx.ATW - simply upload this file to T&J Software! T&J Software BBS 717-325-9481 3 Nodes - 28.8k Upload to ATW SUBMISSION file area. E-Mail to: tjsoft@postoffice.ptd.net Crash it to Fido 1:268/400 2. Your BBS will remain on the list indefinitely as long as the log files are sent to T&J Software on a monthly basis. 3. After lapsing for three months, your BBS listing will be removed. 4. The UPLOAD.EXE must be run each and every month! @START@Pharmacy Phacts! ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │ PHARMACY PHACTS │ └────────────────────────────────┘ Brought To You By PharmAZcy Online! A Pharmacy/Medical/Computing BBS 2400-14400 bps - 24 hrs/day (602) 955-3835 Its that time of the year, cold and flu season is upon us! Contrary to popular belief, colds and flus are not directly caused by changes in temperature. Although Mom warned you to "button up" to prevent catching a cold, colds are actually "caught" by transmission of a virus. Cold viruses are extremely hardy and can live for long periods outside of a human host. Cold viruses are mostly transmitted by inanimate objects, referred to as fomites. A person with a cold sneezes into his/her hand, rubs his/her eyes, coughs, bites fingernails, or does anything to cause his/her mucous membranes to contact his/her hands. This action transmits the virus from the inside of the host to the hosts hands. From there, the infected person touches a doorknob, turns on a faucet, picks up a pot or pan, or does things associated with normal daily activities and transmits the virus from his/her hands to the inanimate object (fomite). The next person comes along and touches the fomite that the infected person touched, rubs his/her eyes, puts fingers in mouth, or does anything to touch his/her mucous membranes, and the virus is now transmitted to that person. If this is true, then why do more people get colds and flus in the Winter. Probably because people are in closer contact due to the cold weather. Peoples noses tend to "run" more often in the Winter due to the change in temperatures from going from outside to inside. Whatever the association, having a cold or flu is not a fun experience. How do I tell the difference between a cold or flu? A cold usually creeps up on you slowly with common symptoms of a runny/stuffy nose, sneezing, and sore throat. A cold lasts from 5-7 days and rarely causes fever and headache. A cold infection usually causes only slight muscle and joint pain with a mild feeling of fatigue and weakness. Influenza or "The Flu" has a sudden onset, one day you feel fine and the next day horrible. Persons infected with the flu experience prominent muscle and joint pain, fever, headache and extreme fatigue and weakness, which may last up to 2-3 weeks. A runny nose, stuffiness, and sore throat are not usually associated with an influenza infection. Complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia are more often associated with flu infections and can be dangerous in the very young or the elderly. How do I treat a cold or flu infection? Prevention is the best treatment. Since most viruses are spread by hand, constant handwashing throughout the day will help. Frequently clean well-used surfaces in your environment and try to keep from touching your mouth, eyes or nose with your hands and fingers. Influenza can best be prevented by these same strategies and also by getting an annual "Flu Shot". For locations of influenza vaccination sites nearest to you, call your county health department. Although colds and flus are self-limiting and are not curable, symptoms can be treated. There are hundreds of various over-the-counter (OTC) cold and flu symptom medications. However, the ingredients in these preparations can be narrowed to around ten different compounds. Although used for treat- ment of allergy, antihistamines cause the side-effect of drying-up mucous membranes. This side-effect can be of use in those with excess nasal discharge, such as occurs in those with colds or flu. Antihistamines may also help reduce the inflammatory response caused by viral infections. Decongestants reduce blood flow to engorged mucous membranes which results in shrinkage of the membranes promoting drainage, nasal ventilation, and relief of feelings of stuffiness. Topical decongestants or nasal sprays containing a decongestant should be limited to three days of use as rebound congestion will occur with longer use. Oral decongestants do not cause this effect and can be used for longer periods. The table below lists the various antihistamines and decongestants found in the various OTC cold and flu medications. Always read the ingredients in any OTC medication before buying and ask your pharmacist before self- treating. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Antihistamines Decongestants ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Brompheniramine Ephedrine Chlorpheniramine Naphazoline Clemastine Oxymetazoline Diphenhydramine Phenylephrine Phenindamine Phenylpropanolamine Pheniramine Pseudoephedrine Pyrilamine Thonzylamine Triprolidine Michael Guzzo, PharmD Candidate @START@Remedies De-mystified! ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Colds, "Flu," Viruses - and Allergy Remedies De-mystified! │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Most of the illnesses we catch are caused by viruses, whether they give us head colds, intestinal upsets, or nagging coughs. Unfortunately, antibiotics do not have ANY effect on viruses. But you should see a doctor if fevers stay high, pain or cough are severe, or the illness seems worse than a "typical" cold. WHAT COLD MEDICINES WILL HELP? When you let a virus run its course, you can still try to feel better by taking a cold remedy. But, which one? Of the dozens of cold remedies, there are really only FOUR TYPES of ingredients that help much - the rest do little, if anything. Many cold remedies are very similar. Ask your pharmacist for help, or look for these four "key ingredient" words in BOLD PRINT on the label of whatever you select: 1. DECONGESTANT - dries up congestion, has a mild stimulant effect ("no drowsiness") 2. ANTIHISTAMINE - for allergies and itching. Also dries up congestion. Some people get drowsy on them, but there are lots of different ones to choose from. 3. COUGH SUPPRESSANT - only one ingredient works, dextromethorphan (often called "D.M."). It works as well as codeine, but works best on a dry, hacking cough. (Is your cough caused by phlegm or drainage? Dry it up with ingredients #1 or #2!) 4. FOR PAIN AND FEVER - three choices here - aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil, Nuprin). All work fine. No aspirin for kids. Now - Pick and Choose! All the cold medicines on the shelf are just single ingredients or combinations (plus lots of confusing advertising!). If you tell your pharmacist what kind of ingredients you want, he/she can point you to the right shelf. (Many also come generic!) EXAMPLES of the four categories, and some combinations... 1 = Decongestants 2 = Antihistamines 3 = Cough Suppressants 4 = Pain and Fever 1. Sudafed, yellow Triaminic 2. Chlor-Trimeton, Benadryl 3. Robitussin-DM, Vicks 44, Delsym, Hold cough drops 4. Anacin, Bufferin, Datril, Tylenol, Nuprin, Motrin-IB, Advil 1+2. Sudafed-Plus, Actifed, Contac, Drixoral, Dimetapp, orange Triaminic, Benadryl-D 1+3. Vicks 44-D, Robitussin-CF, red Triaminic-DM 1+4. Sudafed Sinus, Co-Tylenol, Co-Advil 1,2,3. Purple Triaminic, Tylenol Cold & Sinus 1,2,3,4. Comtrex, Thera-Flu, Medi-Flu, Tylenol Cold Medicine. [Submitted by ATTENTION to Details BBS, Mira Loma, CA - 909-681-6221] @START@Review of Robert Graves and the White Goddess by Graves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS ROBERT GRAVES AND THE WHITE GODDESS 1940-85 By Richard Perceval Graves Weidenfeld and Nicolson/Little, Brown, $50 cloth by ALEXANDER FINLAYSON There are Romantic poets. And there are guys who goat-trip after flinty ice-queens. Robert Graves qualifies for both categories, which the third and final volume of his biography, written by his nephew, ably demonstrates. To get the full picture, we have to go back to Volume Two. In 1926, Graves met Laura Riding, an ambitious and wildly unstable American poet. Riding was a dominatrix who felt it was her mission to "reeducate" Graves in a highly personal code whereby the female is the judge of all things and the man the subject of judgment. This suited Graves fine. He saw in Riding his poetic Muse, his White Goddess. It was the poet's role to be possessed by the Muse and to do its bidding, and so he did, with the sanction of his wife. When Riding added another man to this "family," the whole arrangement ended, not surprisingly, in disaster. Riding threw herself out a window. Graves did the same... from the next floor down. Volume Three is the "recovery from Laura" period. Graves settles down with a new, even-keeled wife and produces the works for which he is best remembered: I Claudius and The White Goddess. In this last book, Graves applied his immense learning to show that before the rise of ancient Greece, society was matriarchal, ruled by the White Goddess. The world's present misery began, he goes on, when the goddess lost her rule to partriarchal forces. To Graves, the goddess was the fountain of true poetic inspiration and, until his death in 1985, one young woman after another had the role of Muse pushed upon them. Take Judith, age 17. The moment he meets her he feels he can converse with her in a way that "expresses a range of experience so complex that we could never have translated it into everyday language." When away from Cindy, he believes they are "actually present in some incorporeal form in each other's immediate surroundings." Day-to-day life was less exalted. The Judiths and Cindys found it fun being Muses for a while. But they tired of existing to be adored, or took off when they found he couldn't handle them associating with other men. But even when they treated him badly, Graves refused to lay blame at their feet. For the sad thing is, without them he would have gone silent as a poet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives -----> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books/books.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Review of The Bride Of Texas by Josef Skvorecky (fiction) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS THE BRIDE OF TEXAS By Josef Skvorecky Random House, $32 cloth by ALEXANDER FINLAYSON The wily old slave Uncle Habakuk has committed yet another transgression, so the overseer doles out the most disgusting punishment he can dream up. He makes him eat a bucket of caterpillars. Habakuk wolfs them down, making a fine show of enjoying his meal. It is the overseer -- and everyone else watching -- who throws up. Such is the kind of ripping yarn that fills Josef Skvorecky's new novel, The Bride Of Texas, his first in five years. In an epigraph, he describes the method he will use to tell his tale. He quotes Laurence Sterne: "Though my digressions are all fair -- and that I fly off from what I am about ... I constantly take care to order affairs so that my main business does not stand still in my absence." The Bride Of Texas is a Sterne-like potboiler. It's a historical romance, Civil War category. Or to use the subtitle, it's a "Romantic Tale from the Real World." Events of the novel are based around the real-life Lincoln Slavonic Rifles, a long-forgotten band of Czech emigres who fought for the Union cause. Most were escapees from the Hapsburg Empire who landed in America looking for a better freedom than the revolutions in Europe would ever provide them. There are two main narratives. The first follows the Toupelik family, whose father has been blinded by letters from a cousin in Texas telling of unbridled wealth to be had in America. He takes advantage of the fact that his daughter, Lida, has been knocked up by the son of his well-to-do neighbor to buy the family passage to Texas, which costs less than a dowry. Torn from her lover, Lida turns her heart to stone (the way a broken bone will mend as hard as rock, to use the author's metaphor). Lida has such striking eyes she can make any man act like a smitten goof. But her brother Cyril has fallen for a light-skinned slave girl, who just happens to be the concubine of the crippled heir the status- seeking Lida wants to marry. Meanwhile in Austria, Sergeant Kapsa has fallen in love with his tyrannical captain's wife, kills him when the lovers are caught in the act and flees to America with the jewels the wife has entrusted to him. He joins the army because it beats working in a brickyard for pennies, whereupon a chance battlefield meeting with the wife of a Polish doctor revives his old love for the captain's wife... and so it goes. The Rifles march with Sherman across the Carolinas to the Battle of Bentonville, gabbing, reminiscing and generally BS-ing about who's slept with whom and how they each ended up in America. Like any good genre fiction, Bride is mostly plot. Skvorecky has a tendency to not attribute names to speakers and the frequent switching of scenes from person to person and past to present makes the story at times hard to follow. That aside, Bride is that rare thing: a potboiler you have to read twice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives -----> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books/books.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Review of Portrait of Picasso As a Young Man by Mailer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS PORTRAIT OF PICASSO AS A YOUNG MAN By Norman Mailer Knopf Canada, $40 cloth by OLIVER GIRLING "PICASSO! MAILER!" the words shout, massive in gold/red serif caps on the blue jacket. In much smaller white italic along the bottom, the book's title: Portrait Of Picasso As A Young Man by Norman Mailer. "One great artist portrays another," goes the publisher's blurb, and indeed, though one has "disappeared" (in the euphemistic French phrase), the other carries his legend far beyond his craft, with rare live appearances taking on the status of happenings. I had the chance to attend one of these last week (Oct. 24), when Mailer gave the first slide-lecture of his career at the AGO's Walker Court in support of this book, his most recent. Though organization was a bit of a shambles -- Mailer didn't have a switcher at the podium, so he had to keep calling for the next slide (some which were out of order) and he read verbatim from the book for too long, when off-the-cuff commentaries held the audience much better -- he still inspired excitement in the room and, in the end, successfully conveyed much of the book's substance. The man's appearance is by now so well known he's a picture, especially juxtaposed with Picasso's portraits -- diminutive in his trademark, rumpled three-piece suit and loosened tie. If the head's outline eye-Dentifies him with a septuagenarian Alfred E. Neuman (sharp-angled, jug-eared, white mop on top), the expression contradicts any notion of a welterweight -- alert, stern, humorous around the eyes. Macho reputation aside, he seems more like a grand old man of American letters: clear-speaking, motivated by ideas, intellectually combative. Later, in the Members' Lounge, the publisher conducted a session that seemed more like Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee from Alice In Wonderland than a press conference. Enthroned in a leather chair, Mailer was flanked by two journalists who fired an unending series of questions at him, tag-team style, then recorded his bon mots in shorthand on stenopads like principal secretaries. ("Would a Norman Mailer get along with a Pablo Picasso if you met today, Mr. Mailer?" "No, I don't think I would") As the publicist dragged him off for book signings, I desperately fired a sinker-ball: "What was it like working with the Picasso of cinema, Jean-Luc Godard?" "No, that's not true at all, I don't agree that Godard is the Picasso of cinema. Maybe Braque, but... I don't want to get into the subject, if you don't mind. It turned into a very ugly situation." The matter in question: Godard's King Lear, in which Mailer and his daughter were cast as Lear and Cordelia, until "the incident," at which time they were replaced by Burgess Meredith and Molly Ringwald. To see two living titanic egos in conflict, rent the video. Inadvertently, this points to a characteristic of the book, not necessarily a flaw: Mailer is out of sympathy, if not touch, with postwar visual aesthetics. He couches this in terms of antipathy to obscurantist critics, who suffocate the connections between art and life by obsessing on the technical, syntactical aspects of art works at the expense of the larger public's desire to understand art and relate it to their own lives. He seems to wishfully absolve artists (including Picasso) of responsibility for this obscurity, but as postwar art (especially American) has shown, art and criticism are symbiotic. His approach is literary and biographical. At times his judgments and analyses of individual paintings are breathtaking: a legitimate passion for his subject is manifest all the way through. This means that even where the reader feels his premise is wrong, or exaggerated, it works by allowing Mailer to run with the work while being Mailer. One such idea is that Picasso's habit of splitting faces in two was based on his early experience of an autopsy on a young girl, in which her face was cut in half. I don't believe it -- but I'm very happy Mailer does, because it lets him introduce the larger themes he reads in the work: death, sex, psychic abyss, the view up the inside of the nose. There is some fine detective work here, such as why Picasso sometimes called Braque "mon cher Wilbur" (a review of one of Braque's shows appeared over the account of Wilbur Wright's first successful bi-plane flight). And he has included large excerpts from Fernande Olivier's Souvenirs Intimes (she was Picasso's first long-term lover), never before translated. This book is a very useful antidote to our romantic notions of that time: Olivier depicts a hard, mean Paris society amongst whom Picasso and company lived. Mailer ends, true to his own heart, on a criminal note: the sculpture heist from the Louvre that resulted in the arrest of Picasso and Apollinaire on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa. In the fallout from this caper, everybody's nastier side was revealed -- and gay youth (in all senses), according to Mailer, was over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives ---------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@REVIEW: INTERNET 101 2nd Edition, Alfred Glossbrenner REVIEW: Internet 101: A College Student's Guide, Second Edition Author: Alfred Glossbrenner, McGraw-Hill 1995 334 pages, paperbound, ISBN: 0-07-024207-0 $19.95 When I first saw INTERNET 101, the first thing that struck me was the author is Alfred Glossbrenner. It's probably fair to say that he has introduced more people to the online world than any other single individual. I recall Glossbrenner books back in the mid 1980s dealing with everything from shareware to BBSing. Alfred Glossbrenner possesses the unique knack for explaining complex subjects in a way that anyone can understand. INTERNET 101 certainly demonstrates this talent. INTERNET 101 is obviously aimed at college students - after all, one of the biggest Internet communities exists in the .EDU domain where students have "free" acess to the Internet. INTERNET 101 gets students up and running fast with "The Internet 5-minute University" as the first twelve-page chapter is called and gives them instant Internet skills. Next, readers are shown the "Top Ten Cool Things You Can Do Right Now" which include fun exercises in using TELNET, finger, reading a USENET newsgroup, e-mail, and Gopher. Its the closest thing to instant gratification in 23 pages I've seen. In subsequent chapters, Glossbrenner covers more mundane yet essential topics such as hardware requirements and communications software. Next he delves into the complexities of how to FIND things on the Net using utilities such as Archie, Gopher, Veronica, WAIS and the World-Wide Web. The next chapter shows readers how to GET things on the Net using FTP and points them to a few goodies such as Scott Yanoff's Internet Resources List and other well-known on-line guides. The chapter ends with a discussion of Rick Gates' Internet Hunt, a fun way to test your skills at finding and getting information from the Net. There's more - plenty of information on processing files which covers file compression, UUENCODE/UUDECODE, image files, graphic viewers and where to get them. Now that the readers have had an excellent sampling of what the Internet is all about, Glossbrenner covers e-mail use in greater detail. Next, Glossbrenner tells you what to tell your parents about the Internet and how to get THEM connected too, presumedly so they can use e-mail to write home for $$$$$. Some of the other topics covered in Internet 101 are IRC, library card catalogues, newsgroups and mailings lists, foreign language practice, Project Gutenberg, The Online Book Initiative, music , getting jobs and dates (!) using the "personal" newsgroups, anonymous remailers, finding a graduate school and grant money, travel information, games galore and a chapter on the X-Rated Internet. Glossbrenner concludes the book with a treatise on The Internet Toolkit and Glossbrenner's Choice of a plethora of shareware programs and text files available directly from him for a reasonable $5.00 per HD disk. The second edition contains a great deal of updated information on the current state of the Internet, which is constantly changing. This is especially apparent in the coverage of the World Wide Web which has grown exponentially since the first edition of INTERNET 101 was published. My impression of INTERNET 101 is that it is an excellent guide to the beginning Net user which offers a good taste of the features and goodies of the Internet. Although tailored for the 18-20 year-old college freshman, it's of equal use and value to anyone with no computer or online experience (like my wife who is now "attending" the Glossbrenner Five-Minute Internet University as I write these final lines). (C) 1995 Michael Crestohl Nahant Massachusetts USA mc@shore.net DISCLAIMER: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has. All opinions expressed are strictly my own. @START@Review of Leonardo's Bicycle by Paco Ignacio Taibo II (fict/myst) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 9 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS LEONARDO'S BICYCLE By Paco Ignacio Taibo II The Mysterious Press, $26.95 cloth by JASON ANDERSON Reading at Harbourfront last year, Paco Ignacio Taibo II apologized for his limited abilities with the English language before reciting a piece that was packed with high-calibre profanities. If what I've heard about the complexity and precision of Spanish cussing is true, I wish I could read him untranslated. Alas, like the guy in the Pet Shop Boys movie, I am a bilingual illiterate. Luckily, Taibo's books are bountiful -- Leonardo's Bicycle is his seventh book to be published in English since 1990. Moreover, this one will tell you all you ever wanted to know about Carlos Santana. Leonardo's Bicycle contains three concurrent narratives hinging on two events. The first event is Leonardo da Vinci's invention of the bicycle 400 years before the world noticed. The second is the stuff of urban mythology: two Texan female basketball players are attacked in Mexico -- one is killed and the other wakes up to discover that one of her kidneys has been removed. Notable Mexican crime writer and Santana fan Jose Daniel Fierro developed a big crush on the kidney-deficient one while watching her play on cable TV in Mexico City and comes to her aid. While they investigate the case of the missing organ, Fierro also works on the story of crusading journalist Antonio Amador and Fierro's grandfather, an overactive anarchist in the brutally violent times of early 1920s Spain. Narrative No. 3? Well, it starts with the fall of Saigon and ends in the Chelsea Hotel. Leonardo's Bicycle is the kind of metaphysical mystery novel that Umberto Eco attempted with The Name Of The Rose and Foucault's Pendulum. While avoiding Eco's pratfalls of semiotic skullduggery, Taibo matches the plotting of a Dashiell Hammett novel with the sense of narrative play of Italo Calvino or Julio Cort zar. Superb stuff, though disappointingly low on the cussword count. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives ---------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Review of Memory's Ghost by Philip J. Hilts (psychology) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 9 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS MEMORY'S GHOST: THE STRANGE TALE OF MR. M AND THE NATURE OF MEMORY By Philip J. Hilts Simon & Schuster/Distican, $30 cloth by ALEXANDER FINLAYSON Imagine reading a magazine from cover to cover, putting it down, then picking it up again and being able to read it as though you'd never seen it before. That's what it would be like if you lived in an eternal present. And that is how the man referred to as H.M. in neurological literature sees the world. At age 16, in an ill-conceived lobotomy, H.M. had the centre of his brain sucked out through a straw. It was the 1950s and neurology was in its dark ages. While the surgery did little for H.'s epilepsy, it inadvertently delivered to science a unique specimen, a man without a memory. William James believed the present lasts from three to 12 seconds. All other mental activity is memory and reconstruction from it. H. lives from day to day with the usual skills and abilities, except he has only those three to 12 seconds. As one of H.'s doctors says, each moment for him is like "that fraction of a second in the morning, when you are in a strange hotel room, before it falls in place for you." For H., the world bursts out of a wall of mist, so to speak. Consequently, he needs regular reassurance that, a moment ago, he didn't do something wrong. Which is why he spends much of his time doing crosswords. Puzzle clues have the advantage of telling him what he must do next (fill in this row, fill in that one). He has no idea how old he is. He can enjoy watching a TV show but not remember watching it. Shown some old family photos and asked to guess when they were taken, he says 1936. At another time, he says 1985 or '86. The study of H., conducted in 1977, enabled breakthroughs in neurology. Apart from H.'s case history, though, Hilts' book is largely a primer on memory research. The most useful thing it leaves you with -- like the better pop science books, but unlike most contemporary literature -- is lines that tease you (like the belief, current in neurology, that the act of memory is one construction, not sponge-like recording). Or this fascinating line from the poet W. S. Merwin: "And I moved forward, because you must live forward, which is away from whatever it was that you had, though you think when you have it that it will stay with you forever." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives ---------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@BOOKS: Book on a Wire by Edward Kay (bio of Great Farini) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS BOOK ON A WIRE by EDWARD KAY I'm standing about seven metres or so above the ground, on a platform at the Main Space Circus School at Harbourfront, getting ready to take my first swing on the trapeze. I assume the takeoff position. To do this, you have to grasp the bar and lean out so far that the only thing keeping you from falling from the platform is your spotter, a veteran acrobat who holds you from behind by your safety belt. Nothing, I discover, obliterates one's sense of cool faster than being dangled by the ass out over the Great Abyss. Despite my best efforts to maintain a nonchalant air, the palms of my hands are gushing perspiration at a rate of, oh, about five or six litres a minute. Is this any way to make a living? Nah. But it does at least give me some appreciation for a man who until recently was one of Canada's forgotten greats: William Hunt, a.k.a. The Great Farini, one of the most famous high-wire artists of the 19th century. Farini is the subject of an exhaustive new book by Toronto-based author Shane Peacock, The Great Farini: The High-Wire Life Of William Hunt (Viking/Penguin, $29.99 cloth). Peacock feels, passionately, that his subject has been unfairly packed off to the horse latitudes of history as a result of that time-honored and annoying Canadian tradition of ignoring our outstanding compatriots. Back in the mid-1800s, Farini escaped the confines of small-town Ontario to become a sort of showbiz renaissance man. In his day, he crossed the Niagara gorge on a tight-rope while doing laundry (a feat that I and most people I know have difficulty enough doing even without the gorge and the tight-rope), wowed the world with his high- wire stunts, then went on to become an impresario with a special talent for invention, hyperbole and, as he might have put it, humbugging the public. One of Farini's first and most interesting creations was Lulu, a comely young lass who stole the hearts of many a Victorian gentleman with her feats of acrobatic derring-do -- at least until Lulu got tired of dressing as a woman and revealed himself for what he actually was, Farini's adopted son. And believe me, even without the drag accoutrements, this is no easy gig. On cue, I leap from the platform and, grasping the trapeze bar, go hurtling out into space. Observation No. 1: the G-forces are greater than I expected. Holy shit are they greater than I expected. Marek, the normally affable instructor/ground controller begins to shout instructions like a boot camp sergeant. Good thing, too, because what with all the blood that normally supplies oxygen to my brain having apparently departed for my ankles, I can use some friendly advice. On command, I bring my legs up and hook them around the bar. Then, as the trapeze sails back up to its highest point, I let go with my hands and hang by my knees, arms stretched toward the ground, swinging like a pendulum through space. All that blood, and then some, has now returned to my head. Everything seems a little blurry. And I have this strange tightness in my eyeballs. They're engorged with blood, I imagine -- big, red, hard-boiled eggs bulging out of my eye sockets. It doesn't feel like they can get any tighter. Jesus, what if they're about to burst? In just a few short moments, all those nice, gawking Harbourfront tourists, their children and their french fries will be splattered as my eyes explode. THE CATCH If Farini ever had these kinds of thoughts, he certainly didn't write about them, or at least he wasn't quoted in Peacock's book. Which is one of its problems. The Great Farini reveals more about the persona than the person. You can infer things from the accomplishments, both grand and dubious, that Peacock has documented -- inventing the parachute, exploring Africa, exhibiting unfortunate whales and displaying less-than- scientifically credible human freak shows, to name a few -- but you still can't, despite the book's 454 pages, get any intimate sense of the human behind these weird and wonderful obsessions. Peacock's style, workmanlike and a little stiff, exacerbates the situation. His admiration of Farini, though not without justification, seems to have clouded his vision. Speaking of vision, my eyes do not explode after all. After a few more practice runs, I work up to a classic flying trapeze routine wherein I will be caught in mid air. The first attempt is aborted by the catcher; I have screwed up the timing. On the second try, however, I swing out, hanging by my knees, and, in an upside-down and backwards orientation, see my catcher arcing out towards me on a second trapeze. This time I can feel I'm in sync, and experience a thrill of anticipation knowing that in a few moments, I will be making the connection. Our arcs intersect; his hands lock onto my wrists, my hands lock onto his arms, and I release my leg grip from the trapeze bar, which immediately slips away. I am now swinging through space, held by nothing more than the grasp of another human. It occurs to me that I have finally executed all the moves properly, with something (I am told later by a sympathetic onlooker) approaching gracefulness. Maybe so, if you don't see the bruises that will form behind my knees by the end of the day, and will eventually grow to be the size of my hand and the color of a banana that's been left in the sun for a month or two. "You're brave to do that," comments a middle-aged woman in the crowd as I walk away from the net. Wrong. She has no idea of the number of fears I have suppressed to do this. And that's the real trick -- never let the crowd see your frailties. Apparently Farini was such a master of that skill that he has left his biographer with a very narrow range of self-congratulatory archival material to work with. Peacock deserves kudos for his dogged research efforts, but at the end of the day, there isn't enough of the human factor in this biography to make it absorbing. Whether you're reading a story or watching someone on a trapeze, the thing that holds your interest is the tension generated by watching mere mortals like yourself cope with obstacles thrown in their path. Gods, on the other hand, face no such difficulties. That may make them superior, but it also makes them dull. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives ---------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Review of The Great Farini by Shane Peacock (bio) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS BOOK ON A WIRE by EDWARD KAY I'm standing about seven metres or so above the ground, on a platform at the Main Space Circus School at Harbourfront, getting ready to take my first swing on the trapeze. I assume the takeoff position. To do this, you have to grasp the bar and lean out so far that the only thing keeping you from falling from the platform is your spotter, a veteran acrobat who holds you from behind by your safety belt. Nothing, I discover, obliterates one's sense of cool faster than being dangled by the ass out over the Great Abyss. Despite my best efforts to maintain a nonchalant air, the palms of my hands are gushing perspiration at a rate of, oh, about five or six litres a minute. Is this any way to make a living? Nah. But it does at least give me some appreciation for a man who until recently was one of Canada's forgotten greats: William Hunt, a.k.a. The Great Farini, one of the most famous high-wire artists of the 19th century. Farini is the subject of an exhaustive new book by Toronto-based author Shane Peacock, The Great Farini: The High-Wire Life Of William Hunt (Viking/Penguin, $29.99 cloth). Peacock feels, passionately, that his subject has been unfairly packed off to the horse latitudes of history as a result of that time-honored and annoying Canadian tradition of ignoring our outstanding compatriots. Back in the mid-1800s, Farini escaped the confines of small-town Ontario to become a sort of showbiz renaissance man. In his day, he crossed the Niagara gorge on a tight-rope while doing laundry (a feat that I and most people I know have difficulty enough doing even without the gorge and the tight-rope), wowed the world with his high- wire stunts, then went on to become an impresario with a special talent for invention, hyperbole and, as he might have put it, humbugging the public. One of Farini's first and most interesting creations was Lulu, a comely young lass who stole the hearts of many a Victorian gentleman with her feats of acrobatic derring-do -- at least until Lulu got tired of dressing as a woman and revealed himself for what he actually was, Farini's adopted son. And believe me, even without the drag accoutrements, this is no easy gig. On cue, I leap from the platform and, grasping the trapeze bar, go hurtling out into space. Observation No. 1: the G-forces are greater than I expected. Holy shit are they greater than I expected. Marek, the normally affable instructor/ground controller begins to shout instructions like a boot camp sergeant. Good thing, too, because what with all the blood that normally supplies oxygen to my brain having apparently departed for my ankles, I can use some friendly advice. On command, I bring my legs up and hook them around the bar. Then, as the trapeze sails back up to its highest point, I let go with my hands and hang by my knees, arms stretched toward the ground, swinging like a pendulum through space. All that blood, and then some, has now returned to my head. Everything seems a little blurry. And I have this strange tightness in my eyeballs. They're engorged with blood, I imagine -- big, red, hard-boiled eggs bulging out of my eye sockets. It doesn't feel like they can get any tighter. Jesus, what if they're about to burst? In just a few short moments, all those nice, gawking Harbourfront tourists, their children and their french fries will be splattered as my eyes explode. THE CATCH If Farini ever had these kinds of thoughts, he certainly didn't write about them, or at least he wasn't quoted in Peacock's book. Which is one of its problems. The Great Farini reveals more about the persona than the person. You can infer things from the accomplishments, both grand and dubious, that Peacock has documented -- inventing the parachute, exploring Africa, exhibiting unfortunate whales and displaying less-than- scientifically credible human freak shows, to name a few -- but you still can't, despite the book's 454 pages, get any intimate sense of the human behind these weird and wonderful obsessions. Peacock's style, workmanlike and a little stiff, exacerbates the situation. His admiration of Farini, though not without justification, seems to have clouded his vision. Speaking of vision, my eyes do not explode after all. After a few more practice runs, I work up to a classic flying trapeze routine wherein I will be caught in mid air. The first attempt is aborted by the catcher; I have screwed up the timing. On the second try, however, I swing out, hanging by my knees, and, in an upside-down and backwards orientation, see my catcher arcing out towards me on a second trapeze. This time I can feel I'm in sync, and experience a thrill of anticipation knowing that in a few moments, I will be making the connection. Our arcs intersect; his hands lock onto my wrists, my hands lock onto his arms, and I release my leg grip from the trapeze bar, which immediately slips away. I am now swinging through space, held by nothing more than the grasp of another human. It occurs to me that I have finally executed all the moves properly, with something (I am told later by a sympathetic onlooker) approaching gracefulness. Maybe so, if you don't see the bruises that will form behind my knees by the end of the day, and will eventually grow to be the size of my hand and the color of a banana that's been left in the sun for a month or two. "You're brave to do that," comments a middle-aged woman in the crowd as I walk away from the net. Wrong. She has no idea of the number of fears I have suppressed to do this. And that's the real trick -- never let the crowd see your frailties. Apparently Farini was such a master of that skill that he has left his biographer with a very narrow range of self-congratulatory archival material to work with. Peacock deserves kudos for his dogged research efforts, but at the end of the day, there isn't enough of the human factor in this biography to make it absorbing. Whether you're reading a story or watching someone on a trapeze, the thing that holds your interest is the tension generated by watching mere mortals like yourself cope with obstacles thrown in their path. Gods, on the other hand, face no such difficulties. That may make them superior, but it also makes them dull. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives ---------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Review of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOOKS BOOKS A FINE BALANCE By Rohinton Mistry McClelland & Stewart, $35 cloth by NIGEL HUNT Brampton-based Rohinton Mistry has written his version of the great big Indian novel and it is... big. At 748 pages, to properly digest the contents of this tome a reader requires many quiet evenings curled up in a comfy chair, preferably with a toasty fire in the fireplace and a sleeping dog at your feet. Strong wrists would also be a definite asset. I advise such comportment not just because of the novel's length, but also because of its graceful pace. Many have already compared the feel of A Fine Balance to classic 19th-century novels, and the combination of enormous detail with a traditionally elegant storytelling voice make it easy to agree. But who's complaining? Like its grand Victorian predecessors, once you pick up this book you soon find yourself caught up in a fascinating world peopled by fully realized characters. Despite the wealth of detail, the situation is surprisingly simple. Two impoverished low-caste tailors meet a student on a train and become friends. Coincidentally, they are all heading for the same address: the apartment of a widow who will hire the tailors and rent a room to the student. Mistry then plows through the entire history and social situation of each character, producing in effect a microcosm of India in the mid- '70s: a country brutalized by caste violence and a government-imposed "State of Internal Emergency." Once the scene is established, the top is set to spin. As a writer, Mistry shows a rare ability to hold in equilibrium the tiny human triumphs and tragedies with the greater political picture that constantly impinges on the little people who are helplessly trying to just have a life. The author also treats us to a delightful array of secondary characters, ranging from a hair-collector to the widow's disapproving brother to Beggarmaster, ruler of the city's underclass. Mistry's first novel, Such A Long Journey, won the Governor-General's Award, among several other honors. A Fine Balance was passed over by this year's jury, but won the Giller Prize. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available Books archives ---------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Books eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Review of two new books on moviemaking ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAPER VIEW PAPER VIEW DIALING FOR DIALOG by DAVID DRAYTON William Goldman (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, All The President's Men), one-time highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood history, once wrote that the single most important fact, perhaps, of the entire movie industry is that nobody knows anything. Yet, if you go to the film section of most book stores you'll see a shelf full of books, written by people you've never heard of, that seem to know everything about making it in the glam, glam world of movies. Wanna be a hot-shot director? Wanna write "screenplays that sell?" Forget four years of film school. Just buy the book! And judging by the number of books out there it seems that everybody has a Hollywood success formula except for Mr. Goldman. Well, almost everybody. Highly acclaimed director Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon) in his recent book Making Movies (Publisher, price, format) admits that, "nobody knows what that magic combination is that produces a first-rate piece of work." And in Joe Engel's Screenwriters On Screenwriting: The Best In The Business Discuss Their Craft (Publisher, price, format TK) legendary screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown, Shampoo) calls screenwriting "... an act of prophecy ... you're guessing." So why even bother with the film industry, let alone put down coin on a couple of books that can't even tell you how to make it big? Why not get that accounting diploma like Dad told you to? 'Cause, my friend, accounting sucks! And making movies really is glamorous. And if you flip through these two books you'll get a good insight into how some of the more talented people in the business role the dice in the biggest crap shoot in the world -- making movies. Although he doesn't know the magic combination, it's hard to think of another person who knows more about "the crap shoot" than Lumet. With 39 films and some 50 Oscar nominations under his belt, who better to tell us how it's done? Making Movies, in a swift, very economical 220 pages, gives us the whole process of making a movie from Lumet's point of view. We see how he chooses his material. How he works with the writer. How he deals with actors in rehearsal and on the set. How he shoots. How he edits. How he works with the composer. And how he suffers through test screenings. Lumet gives us the whole ball of wax in an often funny and opinionated book. But Making Movies' biggest asset is its straight-forwardness and complete lack of pretension. Lumet describes the process of moviemaking plainly and simply without an overload of technical jargon. He doesn't assume that you're a film expert but doesn't underestimate your intelligence either. And what we come away with after reading Making Movies is a real feeling for the whole mysterious process. We see Lumet, the meticulous master craftsman, work just as hard on his mega-bomb The Wiz as he did on his Oscar magnet Network, and we realize good movies really are magic. All this magic of course starts with the blank page and in Screenwriters On Screenwriting Joel Engel (biographer of Rod Serling and Gene Roddenberry) interviews a cross-section of Hollywood page- fillers. We get the word from veterans like Robert Towne, Horton Foote (Tender Mercies), and Ernest Lehman (North By Northwest). From prominent women: Amy Holden Jones (Indecent Proposal), and Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands). From rookies that hit it big: Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King) and Ted Tally (The Silence Of The Lambs). And many more. What do they have to say? A lot. And a lot of it is contradictory. None of them writes a screenplay the same way. Michael Mann (Last Of The Mohicans) sums it up best when he says, "There are no rules. That's rule one." But Engel keeps plugging away hoping to discover "the secret." If there is a common thread that runs through the interviews, it's that real screenwriters are just like us when they sit down in front of a computer -- they doubt themselves completely. "I wake up frightened every day," says Richard LaGravenese. This coming from a man who scored three other hits with The Ref, The Bridges Of Madison County and, most recently, Unstrung Heroes, and has signed for big bucks to write producer Joel Silver's next action flick. So go ahead -- read these books if you want, and make your movie. I'm sure it will be a smash. But what do I know? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Iomega announces new Windows '95 Software..... Iomega Announces New Windows 95 Software Tools and Upgrades for Zip & Ditto Company dedicated to enhancing customer satisfaction with new comprehensive programs. ROY, Utah -- October 24, 1995 -- Iomega Corporation (NASDAQ: IOMG) today announced its is launching a major campaign to enhance the satisfaction of its customers by offering a comprehensive program that includes enhanced Windows 95 support, special rebate coupons for Zip customers and expansion of its customer service capabilities. "As a result of Iomegas rapid growth and the unprecedented popularity of our Zip drive, customer service resources have been stretched", said Michael Jones, Iomegas director of technical support services. "We hear what our customers are saying, and we are aggressively approaching the situation from a number of angles -from increased customer service to Windows 95 support -in order to endure that our customers are as satisfied with our service as they are with our products." MAJOR FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SUPPORT Company executives said Iomega immediately will begin: ╖ increasing capital investment on automated equipment . doubling its technical support personnel, and creating additional means of contacting Iomega by enhancing and improving its on-line service support, including America on-line, Microsoft Network, automated fax-on-demand, and its home page on the world wide web. "Whenever a company experiences such overwhelming demand for its products, it can expect a strain on its support resources. Iomega recognizes this issue", said Stan Corker, director of Removable Storage Research at International Data Corporation. "Iomega has shown that it is committed to its customers by offering high quality products. Now it is taking the next critical steps in ensuring that it maintains a loyal base of customers." FREE DRIVERS AND NEW ZIP TOOLS FOR WINDOWS 95 The Zip drive is an ideal complement to Windows 95, providing an unlimited, portable storage solution that is fast and easy to use. "Making our products fun and easy to use with Windows 95 is important," said Andy Grolnick, Zip product line manager. "Windows 95 highlights the latest in home and business computing and is quickly increasing our customers' need for easy, affordable storage and backup." The basic drivers for using the Iomega Zip drive with Windows 95 are included on the CD version of the new operating environment. Customers can also obtain Windows 95 software drivers free of charge by calling Iomega toll free at 1-800-MY-STUFF (800-697-8833) or by accessing the drivers via Iomega's on-line services. Iomega is also offering a new version of its Zip tools software to fully maximize the consumer's use of Windows 95. Available currently as an upgrade to Zip customers for only $29.95, Zip tools for Windows 95 is designed to deliver a new level of value and features to Zip customers. By mid-November, Iomega expects to begin shipping the Zip Tools for Windows 95 with all Zip drives at no increased cost. Zip Tools for Windows 95 is a 32-bit application that takes full advantage of Windows 95 and delivers a new level of features, including: exclusive Blue Zip icons in the 'My Computer' window, making it easy for customers to access their information, Guest 95, a popular Zip feature that lets the customer temporarily connect and use the Zip drive on any computer within seconds, Copy Machine 95 that lets the customer easily create duplicate disks, ╖ Iomega's unique software read and write protection that secures all information and assigns a password to protect the most sensitive information, ╖ features that allow Zip tools to appear within pull-down menus, ╖ support of Windows 95's integrated, context-sensitive Help, and ╖ support of the Windows 95 long file name feature. For more information or to order the new Zip Tools Software upgrades for Windows 95, customers can call 800-998-0037, TOKEN OF APPRECIATION TO CUSTOMERS As part of its customer appreciation efforts during this high-growth period, all registered Zip customers who have sent in their registration cards will be receiving rebate coupons worth $30 via mail for Zip disks and accessory purchases. In addition, the coupons will also be sent to all customers who have or will purchase the Zip tools software upgrade for Windows 95. "Zip owners are consuming Zip disks and accessories at a very rapid pace," said Grolinck. "The rebate coupons will serve as a thank you to those loyal customers." NEW ONE-STEP BACKUP WITH WINDOWS 95 For Ditto tape drive customers using Windows 95, Iomega is offering a new innovative and easy to use software package for its range of popular Ditto tape backup products. The Windows 95 compatible Ditto software with easy to use "1-Step" capability is now available to existing customers free of charge through any of Iomega's online services including, America Online, Microsoft Network, and CompuServe. In addition, customers can access Iomega's internet site at www.iomega.com or contact the Iomega bulletin board service at 801-392-9819. For those customers who do not have access to online services, the software is available on floppies for $14.95 via 1-800-MY-STUFF. All Ditto products shipping from Iomega since the beginning of October will include the new Windows 95 compatible Ditto software with easy to use "1-Step" capability, including: ╖ one-step backup: customers simply dick an icon and back up their entire hard-disk drive, ╖ one-step restore: if a file is lost, the customer just identifies the files that are missing and the software will restore them in one step, ╖ one-step copy: allows customers to copy files from tape to the disk, or from disk to tape in one step, and ╖ the Works: for full flexibility and advanced functionality, Ditto Tools for Windows 95 enables the customer to customize the software to match their personal backup preferences. CUSTOMER SUPPORT REFERENCES: Windows 95 software drivers: 1-800-MY-STUFF (800-697-8833) Zip Tools software upgrades: 800-998-0037 Ditto Tools software upgrades: 1 800-MY-STUFF (800-697-8833) Internet address: www.iomega.com Bulletin Board Service: 801-392-9819 Iomega Corporation provides personal computer storage solutions that help people manage their computer stuff - anywhere. These solutions include: Zip drives and disks; later this year, the Jaz one-gigabyte drives and disks; Ditto tape backup drives and tape cartridges; and the Bernoulli line of removable drives and disks. Used in homes, business, government and education, and by creative professionals, Iomega storage solutions are available through computer retail stores, resellers and major distributors. The company can be reached at 800-MY-STUFF (800-697-8833) or 801-778-1000. ### Iomega and Bernoulli are registered trademarks of, and Zip, Ditto, Jaz and the Iomega logo are trademarks of, Iomega Corporation. All other company and product names are marks of their respective companies. @START@QEMM 8 Press Release 11/2/95 QUARTERDECK SHIPS QEMM(R) 8 TOTAL MEMORY MANAGEMENT FOR WINDOWS 95, WINDOWS 3.X, AND DOS Maximizes Available Memory and Increases System Performance for All PC Systems MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Quarterdeck Corporation (Nasdaq: QDEK) plans to begin shipping QEMM 8 next week, the latest version of the company's flagship memory management product that includes new memory and reporting utilities for Windows 95, Windows 3.x and DOS, all in one package. QEMM 8 incorporates memory multiplying technology based on technology originally introduced in MagnaRAM(TM), which will help both Windows 95 and Windows 3.x users maximize their available memory for applications, as well as the Resource Manager, which allows more applications to run and multitask under Windows 3.1. QEMM 8 includes for the first time a Windows control panel with a real-time monitor for system memory under both Windows 95 and Windows 3.x. The control panel also lets users call QEMM utilities: Manifest(R), Optimize, and QEMM Setup. All three utilities are available for Windows 95, Windows 3.x, and DOS users. "QEMM 8 is a complete memory manager," said Alexander Eckelberry, vice president and general manager of Quarterdeck's Utilities Business Unit. "Quarterdeck has incorporated all core memory technologies into one package: system memory maximization, memory multiplying and system resource management. This is the only memory manager users will need to operate their systems more efficiently, whether they are using Windows 95, Windows 3.x, or DOS." QEMM 8's system memory management squeezes up to 634k out of the 640k of conventional memory for Windows and DOS users. With the Stealth and the new FreeMeg features, system ROM data, normally loaded into the first megabyte of conventional memory, and Windows applications and their data are loaded into extended memory, freeing up more conventional memory for Windows and DOS applications. Major features of QEMM 8 include: -- Memory Multiplying: compresses both physical and virtual memory in Windows 3.x and Windows 95 to provide maximum available Windows memory. -- Resource Manager: manages the capabilities of the GDI (Graphic Display Interface) and User resources under Windows 3.1, allowing the user to open more applications and multitask without running out of memory. -- System Memory Management and FreeMeg: Stealth system memory management gives users extra high memory by moving system, video, and other ROM functions out of the first megabyte of memory. FreeMeg stops Window programs and their data from eating up precious conventional memory by loading them into extended memory. -- Manifest: Quarterdeck's award-winning system reporting and diagnostic utility now comes in a single version that has the same interface for both DOS and Windows. It provides reports on such items as hardware IRQs and PCMCIA card status. Under Windows 95 or Windows 3.x, Manifest gives detailed reports on memory usage by the operating system itself and by the programs running under it. System requirements include an Intel-based PC running Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, or Windows 95; with 4.5 megabytes of available hard disk space. PCs running Windows 95 or Windows 3.x require at least 4 MB of RAM. Systems running DOS require at least 1.25 MB of RAM. QEMM 8.0 supports PC or MS DOS 3.3 and above, DR DOS 6 and Novell DOS 7. All specifications are subject to change without notice. The anticipated street price of QEMM 8 is $69.95. Registered users of QEMM 7.x or earlier are entitled to an upgrade for $29.95, plus postage and handling. Customers may order QEMM 8 immediately by calling 800-683-6696. Additional information is available on Quarterdeck's World Wide Web site (http://www.quarterdeck.com), or through Quarterdeck's CompuServe Forum (GO QUARTERDECK). About Quarterdeck Quarterdeck Corporation is a pioneer in the development of software products in three strategic business areas: utilities, remote computing and the Internet. The company has led the industry in bringing utilities solutions to the Windows and DOS environments with its award winning QEMM(R). The company also recently shipped three Windows 95 products: MagnaRam(TM) 2, Cleansweep(TM) 95, and WinProbe(TM) 4. The company also offers an entire line of powerful, next-generation Internet tools for corporate, small business and individual users called Quarterdeck Mosaic, InternetSuite(TM), WebServer(TM), WebAuthor(TM), Quarterdeck IWare Connect(TM), and IWare InternetSuite(TM) for Novell Netware. The company's diverse customer base includes government, educational, corporate, small business and individual users. Dublin, Ireland serves as its European headquarters, with offices in England, France, Germany and Australia. Quarterdeck Corporation's address is 13160 Mindanao Way, 3rd Floor, Marina del Rey, CA 90292. Further product availability and pricing information can be obtained by calling 310-309-3700, by accessing Quarterdeck's Internet Web site at http://www.quarterdeck.com, or by sending a mail request to info@@quarterdeck.com. Quarterdeck, Manifest, DESQview, and QEMM are registered trademarks and CleanSweep, GameRunner, MagnaRAM, WinProbe, Quarterdeck Mosaic, InternetSuite, WebServer, and WebAuthor are trademarks of Quarterdeck Corporation. All other trademarks and tradenames, registered trademarks and registered tradenames, are the property of their respective holders. -0- 11/2/95 /NOTE TO EDITORS: Quarterdeck press releases are available at no charge through PR Newswire's Company News On-Call fax service and on PR Newswire's Web site. For a menu of Quarterdeck press releases or to retrieve a specific release, call 800-758-5804, extension 103851, or http://www.prnewswire.com on the Internet/ /CONTACT: Ina McGuinness or Cecilia Wilkinson of Pondel Parsons & Wilkinson, 310-207-9300, or investor@@pondel.com; or Rolf Rudestam of The Rudestam Group, 909-585-2012, or rolf@@quarterdeck.com, or CompuServe 71514,3637; or Ellen Spooren of Quarterdeck, 310-309-4261, or ellen@@quarterdeck.com/ (QDEK) CO: Quarterdeck Corp. ST: California IN: CPR SU: @START@MSDOS.SYS settings From Microsoft SUMMARY ======= The Windows 95 Setup program creates a file called Msdos.sys in the root directory and sets the file's Read-Only, System, and Hidden attributes. Unlike the Msdos.sys file in MS-DOS, this file is a text file. It contains a [Paths] section that lists the locations for other Windows 95 files (such as the registry file) and an [Options] section that you can use to personalize the boot process. MORE INFORMATION ================ The [Paths] section can contain the following settings: --------------------------------------------------------------------- HostWinBootDrv=<Root of Boot Drive> Default: C Purpose: Specifies the location for the root of the boot drive. --------------------------------------------------------------------- WinBootDir=<Windows Directory> Default: Directory specified during Setup (for example, C:\WINDOWS) Purpose: Lists the location of the necessary files for booting. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WinDir=<Windows Directory> Default: Directory specified during Setup (for example, C:\WINDOWS) Purpose: Lists the location of the Windows 95 directory specified during Setup. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The [Options] section can contain the following settings and must be manually inserted: -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootDelay=<Seconds> Default: 2 Purpose: Sets the amount of time the "Starting Windows" message remains on the screen before Windows 95 continues to boot. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootFailSafe=<Boolean> Default: 0 Purpose: A setting of 1 forces your computer to boot in safe mode. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootGUI=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 1 forces the loading of the GUI interface. A setting of 0 disables the loading of the GUI interface. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootKeys=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 1 enables the use of the function key boot options (that is, F4, F5, F6, and F8). A setting of 0 disables the use of these function keys during the boot process NOTE: A setting of BootKeys=0 overrides the use of BootDelay=n. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootMenu=<Boolean> Default: 0 Purpose: A setting of 1 enables the startup menu. If this setting is 0, then you must press the F8 key when "Starting Windows" appears to invoke the startup menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootMenuDefault=<Number> Default: 1 if the system is running correctly 4 if the system hung in the previous instance Purpose: Use this setting to set the default menu item for startup. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootMenuDelay=<Number> Default: 30 Purpose: This setting is used to set the number of seconds your system will pause on the startup menu. If the number of seconds counts down to 0 without intervention, the BootMenuDefault is activated. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootMulti=<Boolean> Default: 0 Purpose: A setting of 0 disables the multi-boot option. (For example, with a setting of 0 you cannot boot your previous operating system.) A setting of 1 enables the F4 and F8 keys to boot your previous operating system. NOTE: This setting is set to 0 by default to avoid the corruption of data by allowing you to inadvertently boot MS-DOS and run a disk utility that does not recognize long filenames. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootWarn=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 0 disables the safe mode boot warning message and the startup menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BootWin=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 1 forces Windows 95 to load at startup. A setting of 0 disables Windows 95 as your default operating system (this is useful only if you have MS-DOS version 5.x or 6.x on the computer). NOTE: Pressing F4 inverts the default only if BootMulti=1. (For example, pressing the F4 key with a setting of 0 forces Windows 95 to load.) -------------------------------------------------------------------- DoubleBuffer=<Boolean> Default: 0 Purpose: A setting of 1 is a conditional setting that enables double- buffering for controllers that need it (for example, SCSI controllers). A setting of 2 is an unconditional setting that enables double-buffering regardless of whether the controller needs it or not. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DBLSpace=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 1 allows the automatic loading of the DBLSPACE.BIN file. A setting of 0 prevents the automatic loading of this file. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DRVSpace=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 1 allows the automatic loading of the DRVSPACE.BIN file. A setting of 0 prevents the automatic loading of this file. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LoadTop=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 0 does not let Windows 95 load COMMAND.COM or DRVSPACE.BIN/DBLSPACE.BIN at the top of 640K. If you are having compatibility problems with software that makes assumptions about the available memory try setting this to 0. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Logo=<Boolean> Default: 1 Purpose: A setting of 1 forces the default Windows 95 logo to appear. A setting of 0 prevents the animated logo from being displayed. A setting of 0 also avoids hooking a variety of interrupts that can create incompatibilities with certain third-party memory managers. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Network=<Boolean> Default: 0 Purpose: A setting of 1 means the network was installed and adds "Start Windows, bypassing startup files, with network support" as an option on the Windows 95 startup menu. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Msdos.sys file also contains a section that contains seemingly useless information. This information is necessary to support programs that expect the Msdos.sys file to be at least 1024 bytes in length. For example, if an anti-virus program detects that the Msdos.sys file is less than 1024 bytes, it may assume that the Msdos.sys file is infected with a virus. If you delete the Msdos.sys file your computer will not start. The following statement, followed by a series of "X"s, appears in the Msdos.sys file: ;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs. ;Do not remove them (Msdos.sys needs to be >1024 bytes). Since each line begins with a semicolon (;), the lines are not read by the system. How to Edit the Msdos.sys File ------------------------------ If you want to change any of the values in the Msdos.sys file, follow these steps to edit the file: 1. Click the Start button, point to Find, then click Files Or Folders. 2. In the Named box, type "msdos.sys" (without quotation marks). In the Look In box, click your boot drive (usually drive C). Click the Find Now button. 3. Use the right mouse button to click the Msdos.sys file and then click Properties on the menu that appears. 4. Click the Read-Only and Hidden check boxes to remove these attributes from the Msdos.sys file and then click OK. 5. Use the right mouse button to click the Msdos.sys file and then click Open With on the menu that appears. 6. In the "Choose the program you want to use" box, click WORDPAD and then click OK. 7. Make the changes you want to the Msdos.sys file. When you are done, save the file and then quit WordPad. 8. Use the right mouse button to click the Msdos.sys file and then click Properties on the menu that appears. 9. Click the Read-Only and Hidden check boxes to set these attributes for the file and then click OK. Close the Find window. 10. Quit and then restart Windows. @START@Compadre CD-ROM for PowerPoint WARNING: Blatant marketing hype ahead...don't say I didn't warn you... Okay, so here's the press-release for our PowerPoint add-on CD-ROM: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THREE D GRAPHICS PRESENTS COMPADRE... INTELLIGENT CONTENT FOR POWERPOINT FOR WINDOWS 95 Pacific Palisades, CA, November 1995.....Three D Graphics debuts Compadre(tm), the first "intelligent content" CD-ROM designed specifically to enhance Microsoft's PowerPoint(tm) for Windows(tm) 95. Rather than just another collection of clipart or textures, Compadre contains a vast assortment of everything you need to create fantastic PowerPoint presentations. And, every element of Compadre has been fine-tuned to work with PowerPoint and with Windows 95. There's even a Windows 95 Setup Wizard that creates shortcuts to all of the CD elements in convenient places within a PowerPoint folder. The value of Compadre is further emphasized by the fact that Microsoft is including a demo of Compadre with every copy of Microsoft Office 95 and Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95. "Compadre is a step beyond," says Elmer Easton, president of Three D Graphics. "It is an essential adjunct for people who want to do outstanding PowerPoint presentations. When Microsoft developed PowerPoint for Windows 95 the developers made significant advances in the ability of the program to support multimedia. Compadre builds upon these improvements and adds a myriad of content on a single CD-ROM." "PowerPoint for Windows 95 is the result of extensive research, plus valuable feedback from many of our 15 million customers worldwide," notes Dave Martinez, PowerPoint product manager at Microsoft Corp. "It's exciting to see companies, such as Three D Graphics, enhancing the program even more through their own creative efforts. Compadre's rich graphic and multimedia content is presented in an intelligent format, making it easy to apply to PowerPoint presentations." INTELLIGENT CONTENT ATTRACTIVELY PRESENTED There are seven basic types of content provided on the Compadre CD-ROM. And, with Compadre's Setup Wizard, they are all just a mouse-click away: Textures -- PowerPoint has a new "Textured" fill option. Compadre provides 152 unique tiling textures, each of which is 128 x 128 pixels and is offered in both a "light" and "dark" variation. Music Clips -- Thirty five music clips are included, in both .WAV and MIDI formats, for use as either transition sounds or as the underlying presentation music. The clips were created by Midisoft Corp., one of the world's leading providers of digital music. Sound Effects -- Compadre contains 96 different sound effects, provided in .WAV format. Sound categories include bullets, transitions, introductions, builds and miscellaneous sound effects. Presentation Design Templates -- While PowerPoint itself contains many outstanding design templates, Compadre goes a step beyond, with 120 very artistic looks. Each template includes two background masters: a Title slide and a Presentation Body slide. When you install Compadre, the Setup Wizard creates a special "Compadre" tab in the "New Presentations" dialog box. Each template can be previewed in the dialog box before use. Video Clips -- Twenty three video clips, designed for business presentations, are included. Each is 4 to 15 seconds in length. The video clips can be merged with the sound clips to add excitement to PowerPoint presentations. Multimedia Buttons -- More than 1400 multimedia buttons are included, in Windows .BMP format. They come in many different styles and colors, both with and without button graphics. The blank buttons can be customized by adding special user-defined text or graphics. Bitmap Backgrounds -- One hundred eighty full-screen backgrounds are provided in three formats as Windows .BMP files. The formats include 300 dpi monochrome, 24-bit True Color at 640x480 pixel resolution, and 8-bit color. SETUP WIZARD ALLOWS INTELLIGENT CONTENT CONFIGURATION Since the key to effective use of any software is intuitiveness and ease-of-use, Three D Graphics has gone to great effort to make Compadre fit the user's needs. The key is the Setup Wizard, which allows the user to set up "shortcuts" for enabling just those portions of the content that the user will need. These "shortcuts" make the Compadre for PowerPoint 95 content available with just one or two mouse clicks. The Wizard even allows the user to copy portions of the CD-ROM directly to the hard disk for faster access to items that are used very frequently. The Setup Wizard concept for content is unique to Compadre. Compadre also includes 6 sample presentations, all utilizing elements from the CD-ROM to demonstrate how to use the videos, buttons, sounds, music, textures and backgrounds to create stunning presentations. Compadre is available now, at an introductory cost of $49.95, direct from Three D Graphics. It includes one CD-ROM and a colorful manual that illustrates much of the graphic content on the disk. A demo of Compadre can be downloaded from the Three D Graphics web site at http://www.threedgraphics.com/compadre/ Compadre can be ordered directly through the web site. This site can also be reached through the PowerPoint home page at the Microsoft web site, http://www.microsoft.com/ Three D Graphics, founded in 1985 is the preeminent developer and licensor of data-driven graphics software under several operating systems. Widely known for its award-winning stand-alone package "Perspective," Three D Graphics licenses charting and graphics software to companies worldwide for incorporation into a wide range of other product types. Integration of this technology is easy using "The Presentation Graphics SDK." Three D Graphics is also the author, developer and licensor of TextureMaker, published by Adobe Systems for use on Macintosh computers. For sales and marketing information, please contact Three D Graphics 860 Via de la Paz Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Phone: 800/913-0008 or 310/459-7949 FAX: 310/459-5822 @START@Iomega Zip Drive--Tips and Tricks Iomega Zip Drive Tricks for Win95 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't pretend to be an expert on this topic, but here are a few of my experienFeel free to add to this thread, and expand the info. If others have been as frustrated as I have trying to get their Zip drive to work under Win95, perhaps this thread can help a lot of people. Here is what I found when trying to install my parallel port Zip drive for Win95 1. To run the Zip drive under Win95, you should install the driver "ppa3.mpd", which is supplied by Iomega. A copy of this driver is included on the Win95 program disk. Ppa3.mpd is a "protected mode" driver. Protect mode is the fastemode of operation under Windows 95, and it uses 32-bit drivers (sometimes called Mini-Port drivers) to support devices such as hard disks, video cards, scsi controllers, etc. More on installing this driver later. The parallel portdrive basically installs itself an an SCSI device. 2. The Windows 3.xx ZipTools that come with the drive WILL NOT work under Win95 once you have installed the Iomega protected mode driver (ppa3.mpd). A Windows 95 version of the Iomega Tools is required, which Iomega will sell you for $30. For those of us that bought the drive after Win95 was released, thsucks. Iomega wants to sell us the tools needed for the current MS operating system. Worse, within a few weeks Iomega has said these tools will be free withnew drives, but has not announced any free upgrade path for those of us who justgot the drive. Message--be careful if you are about to buy a Zip drive...you mawant to hold off until you see something on the box clearly stating that the Winversion of the software is included. I tried to send Iomega some mail on my opinion about this, but apparently didn't have valid addresses...used one's others have posted, but I'll bet they got a flood of mail and killed those addreOh well. Meanwhile, figure I can get along without the tools. 3. The ppa3.mpd driver which came on my Win95 disks did not work properly on my machine. The drive would never recognize disk changes, even if I used the software "eject". Also, it would often hang Win95, requiring a push of the resebutton (nothing else could get me out). Turns out there is a more recent versioof the ppa3 driver available. Also turns out that I may have been able to get toriginal driver to work if I had have know about parameters which can be specifiin the Win95 device manager (more later). I tried for days to get the updated pfrom the Iomega web page, but had no luck...their system was either down, or somjust so slow that you could not use it without getting many timeouts. I found asite (a private one) that has lots of good Zip drive info, and the current ppa3 check it out: URL: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~jwu/iomega.html The new driver, with a Sept. date rather than June, seems to have fixed the probI was having getting the drive to operate. When you download the driver, and unit into an empty directory, you will see a file called WIN95INS.RTF. That is thdirections for installing the driver. Many people won't have a clue to look in file. I finally figured out that .rtf stands for Rich Text Format, and that thedesigned to be read with the WordPad program (a great little word processor thatwith Win95). So load up WordPad, and read the win95ins.rtf file--that gives youinstructions you need to install the ppa3 driver. Wouldn't it have been nice ifwould have told you about the win95ins.rtm file, and how to read it, in a littlefile packed with the driver? 4. An irritating thing. Iomega didn't include an uninstall program with the drTurns out that if you go to reinstall the driver, you will all of a sudden find removable drive shown on you "My Computer" screen. I tried removing the 2nd drive using the Win95 tools, but no luck (anyone else?). Anyway, I had assumed that a reinstallation would replace the previous install, but not so...iyou want to add another drive, but Win95 or the driver don't seem to physically check to see if there is a 2nd drive. I don't know what the official way of deloriginal driver is, but here is what I did. I opened the Win95 Regedit.exe progis the editor for the registry. Then I hit Edit/Find, and searched for the wordIomega. I deleted all keys that referred to them, except for those keys that welisting a path to the CD ROM, etc. This amounted to deleting half a dozen keys Most of them were pretty straight forward--for example under the key SCSI there two other keys, 0000 and 0001. The contents of each numbered key were basicallyidentical. This made it clear that each was a seperate installation of the drivdeleted both numbered keys in each place, so I could start over on the installatscratch. This procedure is not for the faint of heart, but it worked fine. I fwhat the heck, I can always reinstall Win95 from scratch if I get things too mesThere is probably an easier way to get rid of the old ppa3 driver than the way Iand perhaps some kind sole out there will post it here. 5. Once you get the Sep version of the driver installed, do this: Right click drive icon in My Computer. Choose Make a Shortcut. Put a short cut on the desknow on, you can Right click on the shortcut to get a list of things you can do wzip drive, including eject, explore, find, copy, etc. Cool. Remember the Rightclick trick--very handy. 6. Now, test the drive by copying files to it, and then seeing how things went.copy an executable file to it, and try running it from there. Try copying an .eback from the Zip drive (rename it of course), and run that from your C: drive tsure it copied fine. 7. The win95ins.rtf file also has (at the end) some notes about some parameterscan set. You set these in Control Panel/System/Device Manager. Click on SCSI Controllers, and then on the Iomega device. Then click the Settings Tab, where can enter the parameters: For example, you could enter: /mode:fast /speed:6 If you choose a mode that won't work for you, Win95 will come up in that god-awf"Safe Mode", where you can retry entering the parameters. /mode:nibble is the safest (and slowest) mode--so if you have problems, drop back to that mode. On my machine, I have a bidrectional port, but the /mode:bidir didn't work for mHowever, I was able to successfully use /mode:fast. The speed parameter, as faras I can tell so far, doesn't seem to make much difference. I can't even figureif speed:1 is surposed to be faster or slower than speed:6. The win95ins.rtf fidoesn't say. Anyone know? Well, thats about all I know. If anyone gets any info about Iomega deciding to take care of their supporting customers, and makes the Win95 zip tools availablefree, email me and let me know: curt@teleport.com. Also, check out my high-speed modem page if you are interested in high speed modwill soon be adding a Win95 section. Best regards, Curt... @START@POWERTIP: Shortcut to desktop in the Start button Greetings to all you users of the world's greatest Software :-) I'd like to share a tip with you, I got from my colleague Christine Koch: How to create a shortcut to the desktop: Create a shortcut to the Explorer on your Desktop: - right click on the Start button - Choose open - Go into the Programs Folder - drag the Windows Explorer Icon on your Desktop using the RIGHT Mouse button - choose copy here Then change the command line switch: - right click on the Shortcut you created - choose Properties - choose Shortcut - Type in following command line as target: C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /root, The last "," is vital! - If you want the two pane Explorer view ad the switch ,/e The rename the Shortcut to "Desktop" or whatever you choose and drag the icon onto the start button. Voila! Enjoy :-) -- The opinions expressed in this message are my own personal views and do not reflect the official views of Microsoft Corporation. @START@New Pervasive 3D & Multimedia Chip from 3Dlabs For those interested, the latest announcement from 3Dlabs regarding PERMEDIA our new 3D graphics and Multimedia processor. For more information you can visit our web site at http://www.3Dlabs.com/3Dlabs or email me directly. Regards Tim Lewis at 3Dlabs. NEWS RELEASE -------------------------- 3Dlabs Redefine PC Graphics with PERMEDIA Family of Graphics Processors for Pervasive 3D High-performance 2D, 3D, video and VGA acceleration on a single chip; PERMEDIA boards will run Creative Labs 3D Blaster games SAN JOSE, CA - October 23, 1995 - 3Dlabs Inc. today announced its second-generation, low-cost 3D graphics accelerator family -- PERMEDIA(tm) -- that sets a new standard for integrated 2D, 3D and video acceleration. PERMEDIA delivers 3D performance up to four times greater than any other announced graphics chip or video games system - at pricing equal to many 2D-only graphics boards. PERMEDIA will be available to selected OEMs in the first quarter of 1996, and drives the price of a complete multimedia graphics solution to below $250. PERMEDIA generates 25 million texture-mapped pixels-per-second with high quality, true per-pixel perspective correction and full bi-linear filtering. PERMEDIA's well-balanced 3D capabilities also include Gouraud shading, optional Z-buffering, fogging, blending, translucency, overlays and stencils at a rate of up to 500,000 50 pixel triangles-per-second. PERMEDIA contains a compact and highly optimized unified graphics engine, re-architected using technology developed for 3Dlabs' GLINT(r) workstation-class graphics processors. PERMEDIA is also protected with the same fundamental patent estate as the GLINT product line. "I believe that 3Dlabs is positioned to be the leading provider of 3-D graphics in desktop PCs. The PERMEDIA chip strikes an impressive price/performance balance and they have the strategic partners, like Creative Labs, necessary to grow the market for entertainment-class 3-D graphics," said Geoff Ballew, semiconductor application market industry analyst, at Dataquest. Microsoft Corp. are using 3Dlabs-based hardware as a primary development platform for the Direct 3D(tm) and Reality Lab real-time 3D APIs. PERMEDIA provides 100% hardware rasterization acceleration for the Microsoft APIs under Windows(r) 95 - providing levels of 3D performance far exceeding that of any games console on the market. "3DLabs is a long established affiliate of Microsoft in bringing hardware acceleration to our full range of 3D APIs, from Reality Lab and Direct 3D(tm) to OpenGL(r)." said Kate Seekings, 3D technology evangelist at Microsoft. "PERMEDIA is a significant step in making 3D acceleration pervasive on the Windows-based desktop, with unprecedented levels of performance and functionality. Microsoft plans to support the PERMEDIA architecture, helping to ensure that users of Windows can take full advantage of its capabilities through Microsoft's 3D APIs." "3Dlabs is the leading supplier of 3D silicon on the PC and we are now redefining the dynamics of that market," said Osman Kent, president and CEO of 3Dlabs. "With the introduction of PERMEDIA, 3Dlabs is providing a mainstream, pervasive 3D/multimedia chip that can replace not only today's high-end VGA products, but also any 3D game-oriented silicon. While many companies are trying to bring their first game silicon to life, we have already delivered robust silicon through GLINT and 3D Blaster in both the professional and entertainment market segments. Our vision now is to make world-class 3D available on every new PC, be it in the home, office or plane. Our licensing program and merchant chips in the PERMEDIA family are moving us aggressively toward this goal." The first-generation, low-cost 3D chip from 3Dlabs was used exclusively by Creative Labs on their 3D Blaster(tm) board, which will be shipping in volume this Christmas. Creative plans to use custom versions of PERMEDIA for future boards in the 3D Blaster family. Creative has been closely involved in the PERMEDIA design process and has worked with 3Dlabs to make 3D Blaster titles run on any PERMEDIA-based board without modification. This is possible due to the functional compatibility between 3D Blaster and PERMEDIA, and industry standard APIs - such as Microsoft's Reality Lab and Direct 3D. Many titles shipping today on 3D Blaster use Creative's CGL graphics library. Creative has licensed CGL to 3Dlabs - enabling CGL-based games titles to also run unmodified on PERMEDIA based cards. "The PERMEDIA architecture is the ideal platform for our continuing relationship with 3Dlabs," said Hock Leow, vice president of the video and graphics product group at Creative. "PERMEDIA not only provides outstanding 3D performance for games and other pervasive 3D applications, but also includes the high performance 2D and video functionality we need to make our boards excel at accelerating all the graphics applications used by our customers. We are committed to working with 3Dlabs to make PERMEDIA the leading 3D architecture for pervasive 3D. Licensing our software to 3Dlabs provides a tremendous momentum to PERMEDIA by providing an immediate collection of top quality games for PERMEDIA-based boards." "By definition, pervasive 3D includes all the entertainment applications," said Henry Choy, director of entertainment products at 3Dlabs. "We received a lot of positive feedback from the game developer community about Creative's 3D Blaster board. We listened carefully to their comments and integrated the performance and functionality into PERMEDIA to make it the leading next-generation 3D games accelerator." While games have been the first high-volume 3D market segment, 3D graphics will become even more pervasive during 1996 with 3D capabilities being integrated into everyday applications such as 3D Web browsers, multimedia navigators, digital publishing, financial visualization, presentation packages and the graphic user interface itself. 3Dlabs is working closely with many 3D applications developers, ensuring that key vendors have access to hardware and technical support, ensuring that software is optimally accelerated by GLINT and PERMEDIA cards. PERMEDIA's seamlessly integrated 2D performance exceeds that of today's fastest accelerators for the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system, and its video processing capabilities include MPEG-compatible YUV color conversion and fully filtered, bi-linear scaling to provide 30fps video playback at full-screen resolution. In addition, video can be freely used as a perspective texture, enabling real-time video effects to be generated with ease - one example of how 3D-based chips are inherently more powerful than the current generation of 2D-only chips. On-chip VGA is also fully accelerated providing unmatched performance for legacy VGA-based software and games. PERMEDIA makes advanced 3D acceleration affordable and widespread, fueling the growth of the market for 3D software. PERMEDIA is the first pervasive 3D graphics chip that is both inexpensive enough to be used in low-cost games boards, and has the performance and functionality to be used for everyday 2D and 3D graphics tasks, including personal productivity applications. "With GLINT's leadership position in the professional segment, 3Dlabs has been perceived as being a high-end only 3D chip company. With PERMEDIA we now have merchant chips for both the professional and pervasive 3D markets - that makes us unique in the PC industry," said Neil Trevett, vice president of marketing at 3Dlabs. "We are fully committed to extending the high-end 3D performance of the PC, and as 3D markets develop, we will continue to migrate and adapt our high-end 3D technologies into PERMEDIA-class devices." 3Dlabs is licensing the PERMEDIA technology to strategic partners developing high-volume, consumer-class devices that require integrated 3D, 2D and video acceleration. Designed completely in VHDL, PERMEDIA cores are totally portable and scaleable, allowing this ground-breaking graphics technology to be easily integrated into systems-on-silicon designs. Silicon and Software Support for PERMEDIA PERMEDIA can be used in conjunction with 3Dlabs' soon-to-be released floating point 3D-pipeline processor. This combination allows up to 500,000 bilinear-filtered, texture-mapped, 50 pixel triangles-per-second to be generated on desktop machines by offloading much of the geometry pipeline from the host CPU. This chip combination will provide a new level of price/performance for demanding 3D delivery systems such as arcade games, simulation and virtual reality. IBM Microelectronics and 3Dlabs have closely cooperated during the development of PERMEDIA and the newly-announced IBM RGB526DB LUT-DAC is the result of this cooperative effort. Both IBM and 3Dlabs have integrated functionality into their silicon that takes full advantage of the product features designed into both chips. When the RGB526DB LUT-DAC is used in conjunction with PERMEDIA, a graphics board can offer high-quality double-buffering, in multiple independent windows - an essential feature for pervasive 3D - with no extra memory or supporting hardware. 3Dlabs will be supporting the widest range of 3D APIs in the industry with the PERMEDIA architecture, including Reality Lab and Direct 3D. Productivity application APIs such as Silicon Graphics' OpenGL, Autodesk's Heidi(tm), Apple's QuickDraw(tm) 3D will also be supported - allowing any 3D application to be accelerated by a PERMEDIA board. Technical Information The PERMEDIA uses the industry-standard, low-cost SGRAM (Synchronous Graphics RAM) memory architecture for all of its framebuffer and ancillary buffers such as Z and texture. With a fully synchronous 64-bit external data path, the combination delivers a memory bandwidth of up to 400 Mbytes/sec. Future devices in the PERMEDIA family using a higher clock frequency will raise this bandwidth to 800 Mbytes/sec - doubling graphics performance. SGRAM is available from many DRAM vendors and is aggressively priced as synchronous memory becomes the de-facto choice for EDO DRAM replacement. PERMEDIA takes full advantage of SGRAM's advanced features such as block write and bit-masking. As all graphics buffers are kept in SGRAM, software has complete freedom over how the memory is used - for example, if the PERMEDIA board is being used for pure 2D work, then all the memory can be used to drive the highest possible screen resolution. PERMEDIA uses the innovative BGA (Ball Grid Array) package to achieve ease-of-integration onto motherboards or graphics cards. PERMEDIA is a 3.3V, 0.35 micron device with an initial clock frequency of 50MHz. Company Information 3Dlabs is a worldwide supplier of merchant chips, enabling software and technology for 3D graphics. The company's products and technologies enable silicon, board and system vendors to integrate 3D capabilities into their products for such applications as games, multimedia, CAD, simulation, virtual reality and interactive TV. 3Dlabs products are protected by over 20 US and international patents. The GLINT family of graphics processors is recognized as the industry-standard accelerator architecture for workstation-class high-performance 3D graphics on the PC, with over 40 companies having incorporated GLINT into their 3D products. Referred to by the 'The Red Herring' investment magazine as "the first member of the next generation of chip vendors", 3Dlabs Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, CA., was founded in April 1994, and is privately owned. -30- PERMEDIA(tm) Testimonials ==================== Market Analysts "I believe that 3Dlabs is positioned to be the leading provider of 3-D graphics in desktop PCs. The PERMEDIA chip strikes an impressive price/performance balance and they have the strategic partners, like Creative Labs, necessary to grow the market for entertainment-class 3-D graphics." Geoff Ballew, semiconductor application market industry analyst for Dataquest. "The PERMEDIA is 3Dlabs' third generation 3D part. It is the type of device we have predicted would be offered in 1996, a 3DVGC. 3Dlabs has taken a leading and aggressive position with this new part." Jon Peddie of the PC Graphics Report. Software Developers "3DLabs is a long established affiliate of Microsoft in bringing hardware acceleration to our full range of 3D APIs, from Reality Lab and Direct3D(tm) to OpenGL(r). PERMEDIA is a significant step in making 3D acceleration pervasive on the Windows(r) - based desktop, with unprecedented levels of performance and functionality. Microsoft plans to support the PERMEDIA architecture, helping to ensure that users of Windows can take full advantage of its capabilities through Microsoft's 3D APIs." Kate Seekings, 3D technology evangelist at Microsoft. "Virgin has a number of truly outstanding games coming out in 1996 that use groundbreaking 3D graphics and texturing effects. With it's super-console class 3D acceleration, the PERMEDIA will let us deliver PC titles with levels of performance, responsiveness and 3D realism that go way beyond what can be done today - which is cool for us and great for game players." Tony Fagelman, Internal Development Manager at Virgin Interactive Entertainment. "I found porting Descent to the 3D Blaster, which uses 3Dlabs' technology, to have been easy and straightforward. The initial port took only 1 week. You can now run Descent at 640x400/15 bit color with excellent frame rates on a 486/66 based machine. The specification of PERMEDIA looks even better - 3Dlabs have taken input from developers and added features such as bilinear filtering and higher fill rates." Jay Patel, technical director at Interplay. "Gremlin have invested heavily in 3D as the future of games with many of our new products such as Actua Soccer, Fatal Racing and Normality rely heavily on giving the impression of reality in a 3D world. Innovations like the new PERMEDIA graphics accelerator are a major benefit to the games developer and games playing world and can be nothing but great news, ensuring that longed-for-escapism is as real as possible." James North-Hearn, Product Director at Gremlin. "The PERMEDIA is a truly wonderful chip, our VRML-based browsers have been waiting for this level of performance to be available at this price. With the 3D Blaster and now PERMEDIA, low-cost 3D hardware will become widespread and 3D Web access will be truly enabled. We will be working closely with 3Dlabs to take full advantage of the full range of the their silicon - from PERMEDIA to GLINT." Tony Parisi, co-inventor of VRML and president of InterVista Software. "We selected 3Dlabs as a 3D acceleration partner for Heidi, and we are getting great performance on GLINT-based boards with applications such as 3D Studio MAX. Though not required, 3D hardware enables Heidi to run at its absolute best, and PERMEDIA will further decrease the cost to users who want to use 3D accelerators. We look forward to working closely with 3Dlabs to ensure Heidi is fully supported and optimized for PERMEDIA-based boards." Eric Wagner, director of the graphics development group at Autodesk. Hardware Manufacturers "The PERMEDIA architecture is the ideal platform for our continuing relationship with 3Dlabs. PERMEDIA not only provides outstanding 3D performance for games and other pervasive 3D applications, but also includes the high performance 2D and video functionality we need to make our boards excel at accelerating all the graphics applications used by our customers. We are committed to working with 3Dlabs to make PERMEDIA the leading 3D architecture for pervasive 3D. Licensing CGL to 3Dlabs provides a tremendous momentum to PERMEDIA by providing an immediate collection of top quality games for PERMEDIA-based boards." Hock Leow, vice president of the video and graphics product group at Creative. "As the number one supplier of immersive Virtual Reality entertainment equipment, Virtuality lead the field in real-time playing action using high quality texture mapped 3D graphics. With 3D such a vital part of our success, the levels of performance PERMEDIA offers can only enhance the perceptual experience Virtuality users have come to expect. 3Dlabs have demonstrated that they can deliver to spec. and we look forward to the availability of PERMEDIA." Dr. Jonathan D. Waldern, Managing Director, Virtuality Group plc. "We are committed to use PERMEDIA in our new range of 3D graphics boards. PERMEDIA provides an unbeatable level of performance and integration, and being able to leverage Creative's games titles will give us a very fast start into the 3D games market." Isaac Levanon, executive vice president of Televideo. Silicon Manufacturers "We are excited to add such significant value to boards using PERMEDIA - per window double buffering is a feature that is extremely valuable to end-users. It is unusual for graphics chip and LUTDAC vendors to work so closely together to take advantage of each others products. From the success of this collaboration we look forward to undertaking similar projects with 3Dlabs in the future." Carlos Bielicki, product marketing manager at IBM Microelectronics. "The PERMEDIA is tremendous endorsement for the SGRAM architecture, and a truly innovative 3D accelerator that is leading the industry. Use of SGRAM provides a crucial advantage over burst EDO DRAM as SGRAM will be easily scaled to single cycle access times up to 100MHz - something that 3Dlabs will take advantage of. Our company looks forward to working with 3Dlabs and its PERMEDIA customers to create the next generation of low-cost graphics cards." Mueez Deen, Sr. Marketing Manager at Samsung. "The driving force behind SGRAM is bandwidth, and the rapid emergence of 3D is a major driver. With 3D graphics accelerators like 3Dlabs' PERMEDIA chip hitting volume in 1996, Micron's SGRAM with it's excellent performance-to-cost ratio, is well placed to take advantage of this growing market." Paul Watkins, technical marketing & applications manager at Micron. 3Dlabs and PERMEDIA are trademarks, and GLINT is a registered trademark of 3Dlabs Inc. Ltd. 3D Blaster is a trademark of Creative Labs. Microsoft, Windows and Direct 3D are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. QuickDraw is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc. All other trademarks are acknowledged. @START@Introducing Private Secretary v1.0 Hi! Everybody! I would like to introduce a neat software named 'Private Secretary'. Private secretary is designed for someone who need their own secretary to take care busy schedule everyday and once you hire it, it will make your life easier than ever before. This is a personal information organizer which has following functions 1. Appointment management 2. Do It management 3. Birthday management 4. Ceremony management 5. Homework management 6. Project management 7. Car care 8. File management 9. Address book 10. Diary 11. Calendar 12. CD conllection 13. Program diskette management 14. Coupon management 15. Case sensitive On-line help (F1) All in one package!!! It is available now at CICA ftp site (cica/pub/pc/win3/upload). It will transfer to '/win3/access' Please download following free trial file for 30 days. - PSCT.ZIP (6.33 MB) @START@WebForms 2.0 <ASP> - WWW forms generator! Q&D Software Development is delighted to announce the release of our latest version of WebForms, the popular WWW forms generator for Windows. WebForms 2.0 lets you create your own WWW forms which you can link to your home page, allowing you to accept orders for your products, conduct surveys, or anything else you can think of that requires a response from your users. And WebForms requires no CGI! New in version 2.0 -- *Direct Importing -- WebForms can now go directly to your POP3 mail server to import your responses! *Table support -- include HTML tables in your forms! *Unlimited number of fields in response printouts! *Much, much more! If you're already familiar with WebForms, you can download the upgrade file from our Web site at http://www.q-d.com. If you need more info, read on: WebForms consists of two modules combined into one amazing program. The first module, called the WebForms Forms Generator enables you to design your forms in any way you like. Using the WebForms Forms Generator module, you can create text areas along with many different types of controls including text fields, radio button groups, check box groups, list boxes, graphic images, and hypertext links. WebForms' easy point and click interface allows you to create as many controls as you like, having them appear in whatever order you like. Once you've finished designing your form, just click the 'Complete' button and the WebForms Forms Generator goes to work. In a matter of micro-seconds you have a professional looking WWW form which you can upload to your network server or Internet Service Provider (or wherever you keep your home page). You can create as many forms as you like for whatever purpose you like. Anyone who stops by your home page will be able to fill out the form and click the 'Submit' button, resulting in an encoded e-mail message sent to whatever e-mail address you specified when creating the form! Which brings us to... The second module, called the WebForms Response Reader, reads the responses received from any WebForms Form. All you need to do is tell WebForms your e-mail address, and WebForms will call your existing winsock, connect to your POP3 mail server, and import your messages into its database. (If you don't have a POP3 mail server you can save each message to your hard disk as a plain ASCII text file and import from there.) There is no need to 'clean' the text file by removing any addressing information, since the WebForms Response Reader is intelligent enough to sift through the text of each message and pick out what it needs. The WebForms Response Reader can even tell which WebForms Form each message is responding to! This powerful database feature allows you to simply click on the name of the form for which you would like to read responses, and presents these responses in a clear, concise, scrollable table view. You can even select whether to view New messages, Old messages, or All messages. Most programs of this type are written by electronic publishing companies for their own use. They then charge YOU for their services, forcing you to pay more each time you want to make the littlest changes to your form. With WebForms, YOU are finally in control. WebForms is brought to you by Q&D Software Development, creators of WebMania, WinBrowse, and Dear Diary, among other popular shareware programs. To download any of our programs, or to view our catalog, we invite you to visit our web site at http://www.q-d.com. @START@Kermit 95 News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ===================== Contact: Lee Fitzpatrick Manning Software Inc. +1 (203) 629 2078 (Voice) +1 (203) 661 9018 (Fax) lee@manning.com KERMIT 95 Communications Software for Windows 95 A new product by the team that developed the Kermit protocol and the world-renowned Kermit communications products. Early users' praise: "The first thing I did was to verify that I could achieve the fast file transfer on a dialed connection that I was used to ... did it ... 3240 cps @28800 BAUD for uncompressible data (I don't often get that out of ZMODEM). Having done that, I got rid of Hyperterminal. Then I verified that it would Telnet using the Win95 Winsock and SLIP or PPP ... it did (excellent terminal emulation) ... then I got rid of QVT." -- Vincent Fatica Syracuse University "I've used MS-DOS Kermit for years and now that I am running Windows NT, I am overjoyed to have Kermit 95 running under it. I am a frequent user of EMACS over a dialup line and Kermit gives me far more control over reprogramming individual keys than any other terminal emulator I have seen, either freeware or commercial." -- Tom Horsley Harris Computers Greenwich, CT, November 13, 1995 -- Manning Software and Columbia University's Kermit Project announced today the release of a new product: the Kermit 95 communications package for Microsoft Windows 95. Dubbed K-95, it is a fast and friendly, fully native, 32-bit communications software package for both serial and TCP/IP communication. With a projected street price of $54 and very little competition, K-95 is positioned for aggressive market penetration. "The number of people needing communications software is growing rapidly, and we expect K-95 to become a major player in the Windows 95 segment of the marketplace," said Marjan Bace, President of Manning Software. "The numbers of people working from their homes is growing exponentially. The estimates for those currently using BBSs range from 30 to 50 million. A new trend is BBS access over the Internet--suddenly, BBSs are turning themselves into global resources by joining the net," he added. "The work-at-home crowd will use K-95 and its scriptable operation to log onto their corporate network either by a direct call or by connecting through a data network like SprintNet or Tymnet," Mr Bace said. Because of the key role of online communications in today's world, the entire Windows 95 marketplace is also the Kermit 95 marketplace. K-95 is the perfect Telnet client for Netscape, Internet Explorer, and other popular Web browsers. Used in this way K-95 "gives you important benefits: you can transfer files while in your telnet session; you have more and better terminal emulations to choose from; and you have colors, scrollback, key mapping, and local printing," he added. The just-released version 1.1 comes in two parts: a full-GUI Dialer and a console-mode Kermit engine. For most common uses of the system users will deal solely with the Dialer. It is replete with menus, pushbuttons, dialog boxes, notebooks, etc. "Under the hood is the most intensely tested and improved communications engine ever," Mr. Bace said. The K-95 engine itself is accessed through a traditional non-GUI command/terminal screen. Fully GUI'ized access to K-95 is in development and registered buyers of the current version 1.1 will receive a free upgrade to the fully GUI version planned for early 1996. Announced in September on the Internet, K-95 has already logged hundreds of orders and numerous bulk licenses are in negotiation. "The Columbia Kermit Web site had an average weekly hit-rate of 10,000. This has doubled to 20,000 per week in response to the announcement of Kermit 95," said Christine Gianone, Manager of the Kermit Project. "In the Windows 95 newsgroups on the net, people are clamoring for full-function, native Windows 95 communications software that actually works," she added. Frank da Cruz, the leader of the Kermit development team and an internationally known communications expert, has compared the operation of K-95 to the alternatives that are currently available -- Microsoft's built-in Hyperterminal and Telnet applets and Mustang Software's QModemPro -- and has posted the results in tables on the Columbia University Kermit Website: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html He concludes that Hyperterminal provides substantially lesser capabilities, while there is great deal of operational overlap between QModemPro and K-95. The strengths of Kermit appear to be in providing robust, reliable operation in diverse application situations, while QModemPro's strengths are its support of fancier BBS features like RIP scripts, doorway mode, and a 100% GUI interface. Mr. da Cruz has invited comparisons and postings on the Internet by others. QModemPro is expected to have a street price of approximately $99. According to Mr. Bace the "popularity of the traditional versions of Kermit--known to be of high quality--will be the wedge we will use to open the marketplace for this commercial product." Previous versions of Kermit software have been bundled with the products of major computer, networking, and software vendors. They are in use in thousands of companies the world over, at practically every university in the world, and throughout the US and other governments. Kermit lies at the heart of many high-profile mission-critical communication applications, from the recent Brazilian national elections to the UN relief efforts in Bosnia. And, the Kermit support team has gained a reputation for excellent support -- voice, e-mail, newsgroup, BBS, etc, and is known for its rapid response to trouble reports. The following Sales Sheet details Kermit 95 features, operational capabilities, tech support, pricing, and ordering information. To receive more information please contact Lee Fitzpatrick at Manning Software. KERMIT 95 SALES SHEET ===================== Features K-95 features a graphical Dialer; a directory preloaded with hundreds of dialup and network connections; fast screen updates; full color selection; the same high-quality VT100/VT200/VT300 and ANSI terminal emulation that the Kermit Project is famous for; virtually unlimited and instantaneous screen rollback; flexible key mapping; full support for all VT100/200/300 keys; integrated mouse functions like copy-and-paste, cursor steering; screen height and width selection; character-set conversion; versatile printer control; pop-up context-sensitive help, debugging, etc. Operation K-95 operation supports: The leading file transfer protocols (X/Y/ZMODEM, ASCII, and K-95's Kermit protocol is, of course, the fastest and most advanced implementation of the Kermit protocol available anywhere), incorporating: sliding windows; long packets; control-character unprefixing; locking shifts; character-set translation; an update feature; file transfer recovery; automatic file transfer initiation; and much more; Windows 95 long filenames; background as well as foreground file transfers; management of multiple sessions through the graphical Dialer; an intelligent phone-list that understands the difference between international, long-distance, local, toll-free, and internal PBX calls, and adjusts itself according to your location and allows multiple phone numbers for a single service, and can be told how many times and how frequently to redial if the connection is not made; script programming (using the same portable Kermit script language that is already in widespread use on hundreds of other platforms) which, when used in combination with the Windows 95 System Agent, allows for automatically scheduled unattended communications tasks; Support The software comes with a 100-page user manual plus a 500-page technical reference manual. A dedicated newsgroup and a tech-support BBS are available for discussion and patch distribution. Voice support is available at $2.50 per minute via a 900 hotline. Kermit 95 will be aggressively supported with patches, updates, information bulletins, and a Kermit magazine all of which are free of charge to registered users. Pricing Unit price: $54.00 plus shipping. Quantity discounts, academic site licenses, and bulk right-to-copy licenses are available. For further information, see: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html To order, contact: Lee Fitzpatrick Manning Software Inc. lee@manning.com Marjan ________________________ Marjan Bace, Ph D Publisher and Partner Manning Publications Co. 203 629 2028 fax: 203 661 9018 ________________________ @START@OS-Link Interfaces for PCI Bus BBK-PCI and BBK-PCI light are our new OS Link Interfaces for PCI BUS. BBK-PCI offers highest performance OS-Link interface for PCI Bus based environments. The board incorporates a T425 transputer with 1 MB of dual ported RAM for communication. The sustained data rate supports four fully saturated links without loading your PC, since this adapter can act as a bus master and transfer data between link and host memory via DMA. Moreover, a lot of sophisticated new features as compared to conventional link interfaces are provided. The interface comes with a modified iserver as well as low-level routines in C source code for handling links from within your own host applications. Device drivers for Windows NT and Linux are under development and will be shipped subsequently. BBK-PCI light is a smaller version without transputer nor memory. This one gives you a PCI interface to one inmos, TTL, or Parsytec style link at data rates of 1200 kB/s while sending and 700 kB/s while receiving. It is, just like its bigger brother, capable of bus mastering and hence, unlike conventional link adapters, won't bother the host system's processor. So the PC actually gains performance without adding a processor. As with BBK-PCI, a modified iserver and low-level C routines are included with the board. Writing device drivers for Windows NT and Linux will depend on customer's demand. If desired, the Light version can be configured to be sofware-compatible with inmos' B004. Please ask us for technical details. The prices ex-works, excluding shipment, VAT, and any applicable taxes are DM2790 for BBK-PCI and DM990 for BBK-PCI light. Delivery for both boards is expected to start late november. Please contact: Ingo Mohnen & Partner GbR Rottstrasse 33 52068 Aachen Germany Tel: +49-241-541901 Fax: +49-241-536836 EMail: 100425.2144@compuserve.com @START@Simware offers Remote LAN Client New features of A2B ease complex LAN connections for end users Simware Inc. has released new capabilities of A2B including Remote LAN Client, which lets users take advantage of A2B functionality within the most popular vendors' remote access server environment; and QuickStart, which makes setting up complex remote LAN communication sessions as easy as clicking a Windows icon. A2B lets remote and mobile workers access network resources on their company's LAN, and go through the LAN to reach information stored on mainframes, mini-computers, the Internet and other TCP/IP hosts from their Windows PCs, using a single connectivity program and one call. A2B automates the entire connection and communications process. Connecting To Remote Access Servers Using A2B's Remote LAN Client features, customers can dial up and connect to the most popular remote LAN servers. A2B detects any pre-existing client software and gives users the option of replacing it with A2B. The installation, if desired, is performed automatically. Users can then take advantage of To-and-Through, Windows Login and other unique A2B features while utilizing the server's management applications, modem pooling facilities and other resources over the A2B connection. Setting Up Remote Sessions A2B's QuickStart feature acts like an install wizard, letting users select items from a list and automatically building a session document for them. A2B also makes it easier for users to get the functionality they want from their remote LAN connection, by specifying the applications to automatically launch. Price and Availability A2B 3.2 is now available and is priced at $495 per copy. It is available as a no-charge enhancement for all existing A2B 3.0 customers with a maintenance contract. About Simware Simware Inc. is a leading provider of connectivity and LAN automation software. The company focuses on the automation capabilities of its products to provide solutions that make it easier for users to get to the information they need and to provide IS with tools that directly address their cost of ownership challenges. Customers include Chevron, Citibank, Levi Strauss and the U.S.Departments of Commerce and Justice. Founded in 1982, Simware is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: SIMWF) headquartered in Ottawa, with offices in North America and Europe. For more information contact: Barry Gander Dave Manley Simware Inc. Duval Woglom Brueckner & Partners (613) 228-5116 (617) 248-1881 gander@simware.com dmanley@duval.com @START@Migration software available to upgrade Netware 4.1 Simware Inc. has announced the REXXWARE Migration Toolkit, a migration tool that helps companies with large networks plan and execute intelligent migrations from NetWare versions 3.x to NetWare 4.1. The Migration Toolkit automates much of the work that large organizations face when they decide to migrate their enterprise network's many servers to the newest version of Novell's industry-leading network operating system. The Migration Toolkit significantly reduces the effort and cost of upgrading a large, enterprise- wide NetWare network. The Migration Toolkit is an outgrowth of REXXWARE, Simware's NetWare automation scripting tool that NetWare administrators have been using to automate their LAN management tasks. The Migration Toolkit helps with six steps in an enterprise-wide upgrade to NetWare 4.1 from NetWare versions 3.11 and 3.12. Following the initial corporate planning effort that determines staging, logistics and the structure of the new NetWare Directory Services (NDS) tree, IS managers begin using the Migration Toolkit: 1. Auditing: Extensive customized reporting capabilities about the existing NetWare 3 network help administrators plan their migration efforts, define the scope of the migration effort and ensure accuracy. 2. Modeling: All modeling is done off-line, so ongoing network operation is not affected. 3. Importing: Allows managers to take external information from other sources, thereby making NDS usable as an information database from the outset. This saves enormous manual labor effort, as the importing would otherwise be done manually item-by-item. 4. Editing: Batch editing allows NetWare managers to search the database for common objects, and apply additional attributes which are common to all as necessary. 5. Duplicate Object Management: By discovering potential duplicate objects that existed on the old NetWare 3 network, the Toolkit can merge the identical 3.x objects into a single NDS object, thereby eliminating a post-migration clean-up task. 6. Migrating: The Toolkit allows you to migrate into the new environment in stages, moving all objects/properties first, then the file system, then the print system. The Toolkit has a unique trial-run mode for the migration of the file and directory system. The final migration is a minimal risk operation. REXXWARE Migration Toolkit is now available and will be sold through Simware's direct sales force and through its reseller channel. It is priced at $795 (U.S.), quantity one. Simware Inc. is a leading provider of connectivity and LAN automation software. The company focuses on the automation capabilities of its products to provide solutions that make it easier for users to get to the information they need and to provide IS with tools that directly address their cost of ownership challenges. Customers include Chevron, Citibank and the U.S.*Departments of Commerce and Justice. Founded in 1982, Simware is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: SIMWF) headquartered in Ottawa, with offices in North America and Europe. For More Information Contact: Barry Gander Dave Manley Simware Inc. Duval Woglom Brueckner & Partners 613-228-5116 (617) 248-1881 gander@simware.com dmanley@duval.com @START@PC-based 4-Port Time Division Multiplerer from Eigentech, Inc. Eigentech, Inc. announces the worldwide availability of its PC-based, four-port, intelligent Time Division Multiplexer; the uMUX*100. The uMUX*100 plugs into one ISA or Micro-channel card slot of any IBM-type PC for its power and COM port access to the configuration and diagnostics menus. The uMUX*100 supports RS-232, RS-422/V.11 and V.35 electrical interfaces for both DCE and DTE with speeds up to 128Kbps. For additional information and further details on the Eigentech uMUX*100 you may either: Visit the Eigentech WebSite at: http://www.eigentech.com/eigentech/ E-mail Robert J. Marciniak at: bobmar@ix.netcom.com E-mail Eigentech Sales at: sales@waterw.com Phone: 1-800-676-8689 (US Only) -or- 1.609-985-9185 Write to: Eigentech, Inc. 115 Church Road Marlton, NJ 08053-9410 Submitted by: Robert J. Marciniak COO & VP Marketing Eigentech, Inc. @START@Play Blues Guitar - CD ROM for Windows Play Music, Inc. (formerly Kudosoft) announces it's first product: Play Blues Guitar with Keith Wyatt ------------------------------------ Product Description Play Blues Guitar with Keith Wyatt is a multimedia music education CD-ROM for Windows that teaches guitarists to play electric blues guitar. The CD uses text, video, animation and an animated MIDI fretboard to give the aspiring guitarist a comprehensive introduction to the style of blues. Based on the concept that the best way to learn to play music is by playing, Play Blues Guitar features four songs together with lessons for playing the solo and rhythm guitar parts for each song. Blues guitar solo and rhythm technique lessons as well as an animated music glossary are linked to the songs and lessons, so that the guitarist learns technique and theory while playing the songs. Product Features ╖ Learn to play four classic blues styles: the 12-bar medium shuffle, the slow blues, the minor-key blues and the 8-bar blues. ╖ Learn to play both solo and rhythm guitar. ╖ Learn fundamental solo and rhythm guitar techniques to sharpen your playing skills, including essential scales and chords, solo and rhythm phrasing techniques and tips on building solos. ╖ Learn music fundamentals by watching entertaining animations. ╖ Learn guitar techniques and music fundamentals within the context of four songs. ╖ View over 250 text, video and animated MIDI subjects including over 100 minutes of video and animations. ╖ Use the animated fretboard-graphically see and hear the guitar riffs on an animated fretboard. Start playing at a slow tempo, then gradually pick up speed until you can play along with the band. Loop sections to repeat several bars of music at one time. Mute the guitar track, play along with the rhythm section and make up your own parts! Forty MIDI practice sessions are included on the CD. Minimum System Requirements MPC compatible 486 or greater 4 MB RAM or more 256 Color SVGA graphics Mouse or other Windows(tm) compatible pointing device MPC compatible CD-ROM drive with at least 150 KB transfer rate Windows(tm) 3.1, MS-DOS 5.0 or greater MPC compatible sound card with either onboard MIDI Synthesizer or external General MIDI compatible synthesizer To obtain more information call Play Music, Inc. directly (800-887-PLAY). PBG has a suggested retail price of $59.95. For a review of the product, see: http://www.mecklerweb.com/netday/morph/archive/951016.htm and scroll down to the reviews section. Contact Information: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Scott M. Szymkowski | s.szymk@ix.netcom.com | | President | sales (800) 887-PLAY | | Play Music, Inc. | bus (818) 766-2958 | | 11320 Chandler Blvd. Suite G | fax (818) 766-7616 | | North Hollywood, CA 91601 | | | | If You Want to Learn Music, Play Music!!! | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @START@Sapphire/Web - Web Application Development Tool Sapphire/Web is a Visual Application Builder from Bluestone, designed specifically for creating applications that use Web technology to deliver information both internally within an organization and across the World Wide Web. Sapphire/Web creates applications that use HTML as the cross platform user interface language, running with Oracle, Sybase and Informix databases as well as files, functions and legacy application code. Sapphire/Web uses a powerful visual programming paradigm that drastically reduces the coding effort normally associated with developing Web applications. Sapphire/Web will work with any (HTML 2 or higher) web browser, and any web server which supports HTTP 1.0 and CGI 1.0/1.1. Platforms: AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, OSF1, Solaris, SunOs For more information, and to download a free evaluation copy of the software, please access the Sapphire/Web site at http://www.bluestone.com/products/sapphire/ or contact us at Bluestone 1000 Briggs Road Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 USA (609)727-4600 info@bluestone.com -- Ray Bentz Phone: (609)727-4600 Bluestone, Inc. Fax: (609)778-8125 1000 Briggs Road Email: bentz@bluestone.com Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 Web: http://www.bluestone.com/ @START@Announcing: Internet Resources for the Environmental Industry Announcing: Internet Resources for the Environmental Industry http://www.enviroindustry.com/resources.html A well-maintained list of Internet resources relevant to the environmental industry, including general starting points, design for environment, government agencies, ISO 14000, law/regulation/policy, pollution prevention, recycling, and wastewater. Sponsored by the Environmental Industry Web Site http://www.enviroindustry.com/ Yours, Steve Habib Rose @START@ARTIC DRILLING (51 Support, 48 Oppose) (FWD) *FORWARDED MESSAGE* Defending the Environmental Agenda October 27, 1995 IN THE MAIN RING: 51 Senators Say "Just Drill It" 48 Say "No" to Drilling in the Arctic TAKE ACTION: Time for Arctic Kudos and Kicks IN THE MAIN RING: Good Guys Pick Up Four Votes The pundits say that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. That may be true for some. But today we came four votes closer to beating the oilies who want to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife, and that is a close that counts for something. Today the Senate rejected an amendment to take the Arctic drilling provision out of the Budget Reconciliation bill by a vote of 48 to 51. Earlier this year a similar amendment garnered only 44 votes. Four votes were not enough to turn the tide, but they are certainly enough for us to feel a sense of accomplishment for the hard work of thousands of concerned activists who spent the last few weeks calling and writing their Senators, writing letters to the editor, and working with local newspapers to get positive editorials. But in the words of Yogi Berra, "It ain't over til the fat lady sings." and the fat lady has not yet sung. Our hopes for saving the Arctic now rest with President Clinton and his promised veto (no disrespect intended.) ***TAKE ACTION*** While it is still fresh in your mind, take time to thank those Senate heros who voted against the special interests to protect the Arctic Refuge. Thank them on the phone, thank them in the mail, and best of all thank them in the press with a letter to the editor of your local paper. Also while it is still very fresh take time for a little pay back for those who sided with big oil/big money. And remember, pay-back is always more fun in public. A vote chart for determining who is who follows: ARCTIC DRILLING--MOTION TO TABLE THE BAUCUS AMENDMENT. (NO -- N is the correct vote) (YES -- Y is the wrong vote) Y Abraham (R-MI) Y Inhofe (R-OK) Y Akaka (D-HI) Y Inouye (D-HI) Y Ashcroft (R-MO) N Jeffords (R-VT) N Baucus (D-MT) Y Johnston (D-LA) Y Bennett (R-UT) N Kassebaum (R-KS) N Biden (D-DE) N Bingaman (D-NM) Y Bond (R-MO) Y Kempthorne (R-ID) N Boxer (D-CA) N Kennedy (D-MA) N Bradley (D-NJ) N Kerrey (D-NE) Y Breaux (D-LA) N Kerry (D-MA) Y Brown (R-CO) N Kohl (D-WI) N Bryan (D-NV) Y Kyl (R-AZ) N Bumpers (D-AR) N Lautenberg (D-NJ) Y Burns (R-MT) N Leahy (D-VT) N Byrd (D-WV) N Levin (D-MI) Y Campbell (R-CO) N Lieberman (D-CT) N Chafee (R-RI) Y Lott (R-MS) Y Coats (R-IN) Y Lugar (R-IN) Y Cochran (R-MS) Y Mack (R-FL) N Cohen (R-ME) Y McCain (R-AZ) N Conrad (D-ND) Y McConnell (R-KY) Y Coverdell (R-GA) N Mikulski (D-MD) Y Craig (R-ID) N Moseley-Braun(D-IL) Y D'Amato (R-NY) N Moynihan (D-NY) N Daschle (D-SD) Y Murkowski (R-AK) Y DeWine (R-OH) N Murray (D-WA) N Dodd (D-CT) Y Nickles (R-OK) Y Dole (R-KS) N Nunn (D-GA) Y Domenici (R-NM) N Pell (D-RI) N Dorgan (D-ND) Y Pressler (R-SD) N Exon (D-NE) N Pryor (D-AR) Y Faircloth (R-NC) N Reid (D-NV) N Feingold (D-WI) N Robb (D-VA) N Feinstein (D-CA) N Rockefeller (D-WV) Y Ford (D-KY) N Roth (R-DE) Y Frist (R-TN) Y Santorum (R-PA) N Glenn (D-OH) N Sarbanes (D-MD) Y Gorton (R-WA) Y Shelby (R-AL) N Graham (D-FL) N Simon (D-IL) Y Gramm (R-TX) Y Simpson (R-WY) Y Grams (R-MN) Y Smith (R-NH) Y Grassley (R-IA) N Snowe (R-ME) Y Gregg (R-NH) N Specter (R-PA) N Harkin (D-IA) Y Stevens (R-AK) Y Hatch (R-UT) Y Thomas (R-WY) Y Hatfield (R-OR) N Thompson (R-TN) Y Heflin (D-AL) Y Thurmond (R-SC) Y Helms (R-NC) Y Warner (R-VA) N Hollings (D-SC) N Wellstone (D-MN) Y Hutchison (R-TX) [END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE] ALSO, READ about the vote on the CNN Environmental Home Page: http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9510/alaska_drilling/index.html -- Benton Kealii Pang Botany Department _ University of Hawai`i at Manoa "If you plan for a year, plant kalo, if you plan for ten years, plant koa, if you plan for a hundred years, teach the children...Aloha `Aina" P. Burgess benton@.hawaii.edu @START@Sea level rise report issued FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1995 SEA LEVEL RISE REPORT ISSUED EPA has released, "The Probability of Sea Level Rise", a report which further confirms the probability of sea level rise. The report provides estimates of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on coastline sea level elevations. The report projects that along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, sea level is most likely to rise 26 centimeters by the year 2050 and 55 centimeters by the year 2100. Also, there is a one percent chance that the sea level will rise 30 centimeters in the next thirty years, 120 centimeters in the next century, and four meters over the next two centuries. By comparison, tidal gauge measurements show that sea level along the U.S. ocean coastlines rose 30 centimeters in the last century. The new EPA estimates in the report reinforce the desirability of taking actions to mitigate climate change and to adapt to sea level rise. In developing the new sea level rise assessment, EPA used the latest available science to reduce uncertainties and increase confidence in the results. New science models that predict lower concentrations of CO2 were used. The new EPA study also includes the cooling effects of sulfate emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion, and possible declines in ocean circulation. Concurrently, independent satellite data has begun to confirm estimates of current rates of sea level rise. The revised downward projections also are the result of the phaseout of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) under the Montreal Protocol. In earlier studies, there was serious concern about the potential contribution of CFC's to climate change. CFC's were perceived as potentially responsible for about one- quarter of the expected warming in previous assessments. Because of the phaseout, CFC's are no longer expected to contribute significantly to global warming. EPA's projections are consistent with those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a U.N. organization. The IPCC projects that global sea level will rise in a range from 20 to 86 centimeters by 2100, with 49 centimeters the best guess for the year 2100. The EPA median estimate for global sea level rise is 45 centimeters. However, the EPA prognosis also includes a one percent chance of a global sea level rise to 112 centi-meters by 2100 and a one percent chance of a global sea level rise of more than four meters by 2200. Internet access at http://www.gcrio.org/EPA/sealevel/seatitle.html. For assistance on access, phone 517-797-2730. For further information, contact Alexander Winslow at 260-4033. To obtain a free copy of the report, fax a request to 513-489-8695 or write to National Center for Environmental Publications and Information, P.O. Box 42419, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45242. @START@US CO2 Emissions Continued Rise in 1994 From the "Global Change Electronic Edition," November 1995... US GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CONTINUED TO RISE IN 1994 Energy Information Administration releases latest data The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on 25 October released a report which shows that total US greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in 1993. According to __Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1987-1994__, emissions grew from 1,617 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent (mmtce) in 1990 to 1,644 mmtce in 1993, an average annual growth rate of 0.6%. The growth is driven primarily by CO2, which in 1993 accounted for over 85% of US greenhouse gas emissions. While complete data is not available for 1994, the report indicates that growth continued in that year. CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use -- which account for over 98% of US CO2 emissions -- grew from 1,372.5 million metric tons of carbon (mmtc) in 1993 to 1,396.2 mmtc in 1994. More than half of this 1.7% increase came from the transportation sector. The balance of the increase came from the industrial and commercial sectors, as emissions from the residential sector showed no significant change between 1993 and 1994. Over the 1990-1994 period, CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use increased at an average annual rate of 1%. The EIA notes that this is about half the rate at which the economy grew. It attributes the relatively slower growth in CO2 emissions to greater dependence on natural gas (which emits about 55% as much carbon per unit of energy than coal), greater electricity production from nuclear power plants, and demand-side management programs which encourage energy efficiency and conservation. Howard Geller and Hugh Morris, of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, say the data shows an "energy intensity" improvement: adjusting the data to eliminate the effects of weather variations, the US required 4.6% less energy for a constant dollar of Gross Domestic Product in 1994 than it did in 1990. They said in a brief issued on 1 June 1995 that this represents a 1.2% annual improvement in energy intensities between 1990 and 1994. This is much lower than the 2.3% annual improvement between 1973 and 1986. "Efficiency improvements in recent years were not large enough to compensate for growth in overall economic activity, resulting in higher energy use and carbon emissions." Geller and Morris say the emissions increases "are troubling in light of the Climate Change Convention and the commitment of industrialized nations to return to 1990 emissions levels by 2000." They recommend that the Clinton Administration's Climate Change Action Plan be "well funded and effectively implemented." They also say the US should go beyond the plan and in particular should improve the energy efficiency of vehicles. "These challenges," they say "should not be overlooked as the Federal government strives to reduce the budget deficit and streamline its operations." SOURCES Geller, Howard and Hugh Morris, __US Carbon Emissions Continue to Climb in 1994__ (Washington, DC: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, 1 June 1995). Available at http://solstice.crest.org/efficiency/aceee/briefs/score94.htm. United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, __Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1987-1994__ (Washington, DC: DOE, 1995), DOE/EIA-0573(87- 94). A summary of the report is available on the World Wide Web via the EIA's home page at http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/press11.html. Available from New Orders, Superintendent of Documents, PO Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. Order copies over the telephone by calling +1 202 783 3238. Fax your order by calling +1 202 512 2250. ***************** Published in "Global Change Electronic Edition," September 1995. Copyright 1995 by Center for Global Change. "Global Change Electronic Edition" encourages readers to reproduce and disseminate this material. "Global Change Electronic Edition" is available in its entirety on the World Wide Web at http://solstice.crest.org/environment/global_change/gc.htm. Portions of the Electronic Edition also are available as simple text files at several locations on the Internet. For more information, contact the Editorial Office, Global Change, 1347 Massachusetts Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20003-1540. Tel/Fax: +1 202 547 0850. Email (Internet): nsundt@igc.apc.org. A parallel hard-copy publication, "Global Change," is published and distributed by the Center for Global Change (College Park, Maryland, USA). For subscription information on the hard copy edition, contact the Center for Global Change, University of Maryland, Executive Building, Suite 401, 7100 Baltimore Avenue, College Park, MD 20740, USA. Tel: +1 301 403 4165. Fax: +1 301 403 4292. @START@THE LATEST AND GREATEST FROM EPA WATCH EPA WATCH America's most reliable newsletter on environmental affairs. In the latest (October 31) issue of EPA WATCH, you will find: "EPA, FAA Clash Over Aircraft Emissions Standards" The outcome of a fierce, behind-the-scenes regulatory battle between two powerfuFederal regulatory agencies will have a profound effect on the ability of the U.to maintain its position as the global leader in aeronautics and aviation. "Close Vote Expected on 'No Welfare for Lobbyists' Amendment" An amendment that would ensure that no Federal funds may be used to engage in political advocacy (lobbying) faces an uphill battle in the Senate and is being vigorously opposed by environmentalists. "Dole, White House Ponder Regulatory Reform Options" The Clinton administration and the GOP Senate leadership are carefully considering the political costs and benefits of how to handle Majority Leader BoDole's regulatory reform bill, S. 343. "EPA Unveils New Compliance Initiatives" EPA has announced two new initiatives designed to enhance compliance with the nation's environmental laws on an industry-by-industry basis. "Prospects Dim for Superfund Reform" Once again, Congress appears on the verge of failing to come up with a legislatisolution to the nation's ailing and largely discredited hazardous waste cleanup program, Superfund. "EPA to Evaluate the Health Risks to Children from Environmental Hazards" Effective immediately, EPA assessments of environmental risks will take into account health risks to children and infants from environmental hazards from theair, land, food, and water. For more information about EPA WATCH and a sample copy, contact Bonner Cohen at 202-739-0179. @START@FWS news release U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service NEWS RELEASE _________________________________________________________________ For release October 30, 1995 Megan Durham 202-208-5650 REPORT OUTLINES SUCCESS IN SAVING ENDANGERED SPECIES: RECOVERY EFFORTS ARE WORKING America's effort to save endangered species has prevented the extinction of more than 99 percent of animals and plants on the Endangered Species List and nearly 60 percent of species listed the longest are stable or increasing in number, according to a new report to Congress from the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "This report shows that we can save endangered species, but it takes time," said George T. Frampton, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. "The Aleutian Canada goose, the Columbian white-tailed deer, the greenback cutthroat trout, and a host of other species are living proof that recovery programs work." Species listed the longest are showing the greatest signs of recovery, said Mollie Beattie, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fifty-eight percent of the 106 species listed from 1968-73 are considered "stable or increasing," compared with 22 percent of the 294 species listed from 1989-93. Overall, about one-third of all listed species are known to still be declining and many of these are the most recently listed species for which recovery progams have not had time to work. Only seven species listed between 1968 and 1993 have been officially recognized as extinct. "The fact that more than 99 percent of all our endangered species continue to exist is one of the great successes of the endangered species program," Beattie said. "Preventing extinction is our first goal. From there, we can begin to bring these species back to the point where they are no longer endangered." The ultimate goal of the endangered species program is to "recover" species so that they can sustain themselves in the wild and are numerous enough that they no longer need the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Some species respond to recovery efforts relatively quickly while, for others, recovery is more difficult. How long recovery takes depends on how much a species has declined, how much natural habitat remains, whether the causes of the species' decline are understood and can be controlled easily, how long that species takes to mature and reproduce, and other factors. A September 1 Science Magazine article cited a study reporting that the median population sizes of taxa at time of listing as endangered or threatened were only about 1,000 individuals for animals and 100 for plants. More than half of listed species are plants. The current population trend of about 23 percent of listed species is uncertain. As funding permits, the Fish and Wildlife Service is conducting surveys to determine the status of species whose current population trend is uncertain. Beattie said critics of the Endangered Species Act often cite the difficulty and cost of recovering species. "Recovery is like emergency room medicine. It costs more than seeing your regular doctor for preventive care. And it costs more to recover endangered species than it would have cost to prevent their decline in the first place. Nevertheless, I doubt a single American would say that saving the bald eagle wasn't worth the time or money. "The Fish and Wildlife Service's budget for recovery programs for all 962 listed U.S. species was $39.7 million in FY 1995. That's about the cost of building one mile of urban highway. Americans spend 40 times more than our recovery budget on popcorn at the movies every year," Beattie said. Beattie said some inflated estimates of endangered species recovery costs come from adding up estimates contained in recovery plans. "That makes for easy math but seldom reflects the actual cost of species recovery, any more than adding up the cost of every item on a menu would tell you the cost of dining at a restaurant," she said. Recovery plans can often overestimate the amount of money it will eventually take to carry out recovery actions for an individual species. For example, the recovery plan is required to identify possible land acquisitions that may be needed to protect a species habitat, but less expensive alternatives such as conservation easements may later be found that protect habitat without acquisition. Or research breakthroughs for one species may be applicable to other species, lowering recovery costs for those species. Beattie pointed out that the true benefits of recovery efforts for endangered species cannot be measured only in dollars and cents because they have broad benefits for human health and the environment. "Many physicians and medical researchers support saving endangered species because they know that wild plants and animals are potential sources for new cancer-fighting drugs and other medical breakthroughs. Habitat saved for endangered species also benefits a wide variety of other fish and wildlife, including both game and nongame species, as well as clean water, outdoor recreation, and other environmental values," Beattie said. "These environmental values go back into our economy. Americans spent $59 billion on fish and wildlife-associated outdoor recreation in 1991." Recovery plans are prepared by experts from Federal, state, and private agencies and universities. Each recovery plan details actions needed to bring that species back. A new Clinton Administration policy also provides for affected stakeholders to be included in the development and implementation of recovery plans. The public is invited to comment on draft recovery plans. Although most recovery plans have been written to cover individual species, some cover multiple species occupying the same habitat, and others have broad benefits for entire ecosystems. For example, recovery of the northern spotted owl is provided for in the President's Forest Plan, which also offers benefits for salmon and a host of other species in the Northwest forest ecosystem including the Pacific yew, source of the anti-cancer drug taxol. Recovery efforts for the Louisiana black bear are saving habitat for migratory songbirds and other species. The report says that of the 893 species covered by the report, 484 (54 percent) had final approved recovery plans as of September 30, 1994, and another 185 (21 percent) had approved draft plans. Of the remaining 224 species without recovery plans, 159 had been listed for less than 3 years but had recovery plans in development. Fourteen species did not need recovery plans. Ironically, Assistant Secretary Frampton said, some legislation currently pending in the Congress would make recovering endangered species more difficult, time-consuming, and costly than under the current law by eliminating important habitat protection for endangered species and reducing the responsibilities Federal agencies now have to protect endangered species. "Some of the proposals now before the Congress would essentially reverse the progress we have made in recovering endangered species," Frampton said. The report, entitled "1994 Report to Congress: Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Program," will be available for sale shortly from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. A limited number of advance copies are available for review by accredited news media. -FWS- _________________________________________________________________ @START@FREE Global Data Available Global Satellite and Environmental Data Available from NASA's Mission to Planet Earth Program The Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) at Goddard Space Flight Center gives away data for studying and learning about Earth's atmospheric dynamics, upper atmosphere, oceans, and vegetation. You can use these data to study * greenhouse global warming * deforestation and desertification and their role in climate change * ozone depletion * El Nino effect on weather and climate * impact of volcano eruptions on ozone concentration * the role of oceans in global climate and more. Goddard DAAC products are provided at no cost and are many available ON LINE from our World Wide Web (WWW) site: URL: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Our Help Desk will answer your questions! address: GSFC DAAC User Services NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Code 902.2 Greenbelt, MD 20771 email: daacuso@daac.gsfc.nasa.gov voice: 301-286-3209 (9-5 Eastern, Monday-Friday) fax: 301-286-0268 You can order any product listed below by putting an X between the brackets ([x]) and e-mailing the following portion back to us. 82P[ ] The DAAC Starter Kit containing: "The Goddard DAAC: A Source for Global Earth Science Data" The Goddard DAAC Periodic Newsletter, "Data Streams" The Goddard DAAC data parameter table Optionally, the following information about our data is also available (Please check all data sets of interest): 92P[ ] Goddard Data Assimilation Office (DAO) 5-year 4-Dimensional Assimilation data, containing global surface and upper air wind, temperature, water vapor, and radiation parameters. 93P[ ] Nimbus-7 Level 3 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data: global ozone concentrations and reflectivity. 94P[ ] Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) Imagery: full and reduced resolution radiances, pigment and chlorophyll concentration, diffuse attenuation coefficient, water- leaving and aerosol radiances. 95P[ ] Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Land Level 3 Data: Daily and 10-day Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) produced with improved algorithms from the original AVHRR radiance data. 96P[ ] Tiros Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) Pathfinder Data Set: Temperature and water vapor profile produced from calibrated satellite radiance data as well as rawindsonde, buoy and ground data. 98P[ ] Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere - Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA-COARE) Field Observations: Tropical Pacific air-sea interaction, radiation and cloud parameters. 99P[ ] Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Level 3 Data Products: global maps and profiles of ozone and other constituents, wind velocity and solar irradiance. 10P[ ] Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment (GEDEX): Contains data sets considered directly or indirectly relevant to the study of the Greenhouse Effect, including temperature, solar irradiance, atmospheric constituents, cloud, and radiation budget data. 11P[ ] Interdisciplinary Data Collection: Eight catagories of data including atmospheric constituents, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric sounding, biospheric, hydrology, solar energy input, surface temperature, and other miscellaneous data sets mapped to a common grid, and orientation. 22C[ ] The GEDEX CD-ROM Set The Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment (GEDEX) data collection contains over 60 data sets with parameters relevant to greenhouse gas effect research (surface and upper air temperature, solar irradiances, radiation budget, clouds, and greenhouse gases). Many data sets are available for a 10 year period spanning the 1980s. Depending on the data set, coverage is global, regional, or local. 26C[ ] ISLSCP CD-ROM Set The International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Initiative I - Global Data Sets for Land-Atmosphere Models, data collection contains vegetation and biophysics, hydrology, near surface meteorology, radiation, soils, snow, and ice parameters. Monthly, monthly-6 hourly, and some 6-hourly data are available globally for 1987 through 1988 on a common 1-degree grid. 12P[ ] Most Recent Copy of the Earth Observing System bimonthly newsletter, "The Earth Observer" 91P[ ] Most Recent Copy of the Goddard DAAC Periodic Newsletter, "Data Streams" 101P[ ] NASA Fact Sheets from the Science Office, covering: * volcanos and global climate change * El Nino * clouds and the energy cycle * global warming * polar ice * biosphere * ozone: what is it and why do we care about it 42P[ ] "Producing a CD-ROM: A Workbook": This workbook describes the step- by-step procedures used to produce a Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) product. It is designed to help you understand the process of creating a CD-ROM and the decisions that you must make during preparation. 44P[ ] "Data and Information Services for Global Change Research: EOSDIS Distributive Active Archive Centers" Comprised of a brief description of all the Distributive Active Archive Centers within the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS). IMPORTANT: Please mark your choices, include your name, complete mailing address, daytime phone, fax, email, affiliation, and send this back to daacuso@daac.gsfc.nasa.gov The Goddard DAAC Mission The Goddard DAAC's mission is to maximize the investment benefit of the Mission to Planet Earth by providing data and services that help people fully realize the scientific and educational potential of global climate data. @START@3D Games List Here's the list of 3D games I've compiled so far. The games are for Mac, DOS, Windows and OS/2 platforms. First, a list of those who responded to my initial post: For game titles: -------------- James Kurien Susan C (Matthew) Bailey Kevin Stone Frank Hung David Pipes Rui 'Cyb' Pereira Damon Holmes loegbibl@inet.uni-c.dk For WEB pages: -------------- Jeff Till - http://general.amug.org/~marathon/dave/ Dave Coufal - http://methane.mit.edu:8001/user/coufal/mac3d.html Perecli Manole - http://www.pol.umu.se/html/ac/download.htm Thanks, guys-n-gals. OK. Here's the list. I still need info on some of the publishers of some of the games, as well as version info, if anyone knows. 3D Games -------- A = Apogee M = MacPlay (division of Interplay) B = Bungie Corp. N = Anark C = Access O = Origin D = Stardock R = Reality Bytes I = Interplay Productions S = SSI i = id Software T = Time/Warner ? = publisher(s)/licensee(s) unknown C = Commercial version available M = Macintosh platform D = Demo version available D = DOS platform R = Registered version available W = Windows platform S = Shareware version available O = OS/2 platform ? = version availability unknown ? = platform unknown Shareware version: a version that is somewhat limited, but downloadable at no initial cost. By paying a fee you receive a full-featured version. Registered version: the full-featured version of a shareware application, usually available through registration and not available in retail outlets. Demo version: a limited use version of a commercial product that is usually available for downloadable at no initial cost. Commercial version: a full-featured version usually available only in a retail outlet. Publisher Version Platform -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Title |i|A|I|M|B|R|O|T|C|N|S|D|?||S|R|D|C|?||M|D|W|O|?| -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Wolfenstein 3D |x|x| | | | | | | | | | | ||x| | | | || |x| | | | Wolfenstein 3D 3-Game |x|x| | | | | | | | | | | || |x| | | || |x| | | | Wolfenstein 3D 6-Game |x|x| | | | | | | | | | | || |x| | | || |x| | | | Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny|x|x| | | | | | | | | | | ||x|x| | | || |x| | | | Wolfenstein 3D 1st Encounter |x| | |x| | | | | | | | | ||x| | | | ||x| | | | | Wolfenstein 3D 2nd Encounter |x| | |x| | | | | | | | | || |x| | | ||x| | | | | Wolfenstein 3D 3rd Encounter |x| | |x| | | | | | | | | || |x| | | ||x| | | | | Wolfenstein 3D |x| | |x| | | | | | | | | || | | |x| ||x| | | | | -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Doom |x| | | | | | | | | | | |x||x|x| | | || |x| | | | Doom II |x| | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | |x|x| ||x|x|x| | | Ultimate Doom | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x|x| | | -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Heretic |x| | | | | | | | | | | |x||x|x| | | ||x|x|x| | | Hexen-Beyond Heretic | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x|x| | | Quake |x| | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x||x|x|x| | | -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Pathways into Darkness | | | | |x| | | | | | | | || | | | |x||x| | | | | Marathon | | | | |x| | | | | | | | || | |x|x| ||x| | | | | Marathon 2 | | | | |x| | | | | | | | || | |x|x| ||x| | | | | -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Title |i|A|I|M|B|R|O|T|C|N|S|D|?||S|R|D|C|?||M|D|W|O|?| -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Avarice | | | | | | | | | | | |x| || | | | |x|| | | |x| | Corridor 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | Cybermage | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | Cyclones | | | | | | | | | | |x| | || | | | |x|| |x| | | | Dark Forces | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | |x|x| ||x| | | | | Descent | | |x|x| | | | | | | | | ||x|x| |x| ||x|x| | | | Duke Nukem 3D | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | Galapogos | | | | | | | | | |x| | | || | | | |x||x| | | | | Havoc | | | | | |x| | | | | | | || | | | |x||x| | | | | Myst | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x||x| | | | | Rise of the Triad | |x| | | | | | | | | | | || | | | |x|| |x| | |x| Sensory Overload | | | | | |x| | | | | | | || | | | |x||x| | | | | Shadowcaster | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | System Shock | | | | | | |x| | | | | | || | | | |x||x| | | | | TekWar | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | Terminator Future Shock | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | The Basement | | | | | | | |x| | | | | || | | | |x||x| | | | | Ultima Underworld I | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | Ultima Underworld II | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | Under a Killing Moon | | | | | | | | |x| | | | || | | | |x||x|x| | | | WitchHaven | | | | | | | | | | | | |x|| | | | |x|| |x| | | | -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Title |i|A|I|M|B|R|O|T|C|N|S|D|?||S|R|D|C|?||M|D|W|O|?| -------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+ -+-+ Wayne @START@Primal Rage PC FAQ v1.6 Primal Rage PC CD-ROM FAQ v1.6 This document answers some of the commoner questions about PR for the PC CD-ROM. It is far from comprehensive, though; even though I have the game now, I can't play it very well on a keyboard. So I'm saving up for a Gravis PC four-button joystick! ^_^ Corrections and additions to this FAQ are welcomed. Contents: 1. What is Primal Rage? 2. What do I need to play PR CD-ROM? 3. Was anything taken out of PR CD-ROM? 4. How do I do keyboard moves? 5. I can't get Blizzard's Freeze Breath! 6. How do I pause PR? 7. Why are obscene words in the source code? 8. Where is the PR Demo? 9. Can I play PR without the CD? 10. Can you e-mail PR to me? 11. What bugs are in PR? 12. Where do I get more PR info? 13. Credits and Thanks 1. ///What is Primal Rage?/// Primal Rage is an arcade fighting game in the same genre as Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, etc. You play the one of seven mythological dinosaurs/apes and do one-on-one combat in your quest to rule the New Urth. Use a fully orthogonal interrupt-driven combo system to pummel your opponents, in addition to half a dozen special moves and three fatalities per character. If you're getting low on energy, just snack on a human. Tastes like chicken! ;-) 2. ///What do I need to play PR for the CD-ROM?/// You need a personal computer with a CD-ROM drive (duh), 486 DX/25 and at least 4 megs of random access memory. My understanding is that if you run the 4 meg version, you must do all special moves on the keyboard. If you have 8 megs of RAM available the graphics will be better, the animation smoother, and the gameplay quicker. If you have 16 megs of RAM to spare, the game will look and sound its best. The game automatically detects how much RAM is available and sets up the appropriate version during normal installation. You can choose the language in which the text is displayed. While it is possible to do special moves on the keyboard, they are wildly different from the arcade version and sometimes very frustrating. A Gravis four-button control pad is recommended; it works especially well since the arcade game originally had four buttons anyway! ^_^ 3. ///Was anything taken out of PR for the CD-ROM?/// PR for the CD-ROM is overall an excellent translation. The 16-meg rendition has all the characters, moves, fatalities, animation, edible worshipers etc. of arcade PR version 2.3. Best of all, it has combo names! Combo names happen when you do certain combos involving special moves or the like; you get the bonus of some outRAGEous name printed on the screen, like Vertigo's STREAKER COMBO. PR for the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear all lack combo names. Let's hear it for the CD-ROM! 4. ///How do I do the moves on a keyboard?/// Um, good question. If you're a lucky soul with a Gravis four-button joystick then you can do the moves just like in the arcades (see the PR General FAQ or condensed movelist to learn how). But if you're stuck with a keyboard, the moves are done quite differently. Fortunately, Sir Galahad, CWilson784 and others have found 'em all! These moves also work for a two-button joystick, or a four-button joystick that you've configured as a two-button joystick. IMPORTANT: All keyboard/two-button joystick special moves are done by holding down buttons 1 and 3 (high quick and low quick) and performing the proper movements...each move will just list the movements since the buttons are all the same... D-Down U-Up T-Towards opponent A-Aawy from opponent * : finishing move ** : chomp a human Armadon Bed-O-Nails: 1+3, D-D-U Iron Maiden: 1+3, B-U-F Mega Charge: 1+3, B-D-F Gut Gouger: 1+3, F-F-B Hornication Uppercut: 1+3, D-F-U Spinning Death: 1+3, B-F-D Flying Spikes: 1+3, B-B-U *Gut Fling: 1+3, D-D-D-U *The Impaler: 1+3, D-B-U-D *Meditaion: 1+3, F-D-F-F Chomp Human: 1+3, U-F-D-B Blizzard Mega Punch (Short): 1+3, B-D-F Mega Punch (Quick): 1+3, B-U-F Mega Punch (Long): 1+3, B-F-F Mega Punch (Fake): 1+3, D-U-U Cold Breath: 1+3, D-B-F Ice Geyser: 1+3, D-D-U Punching Bag: 1+3, F-D-B-B Air Throw: 1+3 (in air) Throw: 1+3, F-D-U-B *Brain Basher: 1+3, U-F-U *To Da Moon: 1+3, D-D-D-U *Redemtion: 1+3, D-F-U-D Chomp Human: 1+3 U-U-F-D Chaos Grab-N-Throw: 1+3, F-B-B Power Puke (Slow): 1+3, U-B-B Power Puke (Fast): 1+3, U-F-F Fart of Fury: 1+3, D-F-U-B Ground Shaker: 1+3, B-U-D Flying Butt Slam: 1+3, D-F-U-D Battering Ram: 1+3, F-F-F *Golden Shower: 1+3, D-D-U-B *Cannonball: 1+3, D-F-D-D *Churl: 1+3, U-U-D-B Chomp Human:1+3, F-D-B-U Diablo Fireball (Slow): 1+3, D-B-B Fireball (Fast): 1+3, D-F-F Torch: 1+3, U-D-D Hot Foot: 1+3, B-D-F Mega Lunge: 1+3, D-U-F The Pulverizer: 1+3, U-F-F Inferno Flash: 1+3, U-U-U *Incenerator: 1+3, U-B-D-D *Fireball: 1+3, F-F-F-F *Infernal: 1+3, U-D-F-A Chomp Human: 1+3, D-U-D Sauron Primal Scream: 1+3, D-U-B Earthquake Stomp: 1+3, U-D-D Leaping Bone Bash: 1+3, D-U-D The Cranium Crusher: 1+3, D-U-U Stun Roar: 1+3, B-F-F Air Throw: Tap 1+3 (in air) Neck Throw: 1+3, F-B-B *Carnage: 1+3, B-B-U-F *Grape Crusher: 1+3, F-U-D-B *Flesh Eating: 1+3, D-D-D-U Chomp Human: 1+3, D-D-U Talon Brain Basher: 1+3, B-U-F Pounce and Flip: 1+3, F-D-D Frantic Fury: 1+3, D-F-F The Slasher: 1+3, D-U-F The Face Ripper: 1+3, D-D-F Jugular Bite: 1+3, B-F-U (after a direct hit) Run Forward: 1+3, F-F-F Run Back: 1+3, B-B-B *Shredding: 1+3, F-D-U-U *Heart Wrenching: 1+3, F-D-U-D *Stampede: 1+3, F-B-U-D Chomp Human: 1+3, F-D-B Vertigo Venom Spit (Slow): 1+3, D-F-F Venom Spit (Fast): 1+3, D-B-B Voodoo Spell: 1+3, F-B-B Ground Teleport: 1+3, D-D-D Air Teleport: 1+3, D-U-U Come Slither: 1+3, B-B-B Scorpion Sting: 1+3, F-F-D *La Vache: 1+3, B-B-D-F *Shrink and Eat: 1+3, B-B-D-U *Petrify: 1+3, U-U-F-F Chomp Human: 1+3, D-F-U Primal Rage PC-CD Rom keyboard only cwh v1.2 9/17/95 pc only thanx to: ChuckD blizard14 ermac@imap1.asu.edu Cmoreno243 5. ///I'm following the manual's directions, using a joystick, and I still can't get Blizzard's Freeze Breath!!!/// The manual is wrong. Blizzard's Freeze Breath is hold buttons 1+2+4, move joystick A, T. NOT 1+2+3 A/T 6. ///How do I pause PR?/// Use the space bar. 7. ///Why are obscene words in the source code?/// It's part of the censor feature. If you achieve the top score, you'll have the opportunity to enter your full name on the high score list, instead of just your initials. The censor feature is there to keep you from entering obscene words, and its default setting is Strict. If you put in a word that the censor doesn't like, it'll replace the word with a string of j's (except for the first letter). The censor can't rub out the f-word unless it knows what the f-word is, so you'll see it and other unsavory words like it in the program's source code. Got it? Can we please stop denouncing PR as a tool of the devil now? Please...? 8. ///Where can I find the Primal Rage demo?/// ky4h@Virginia.EDU (Kin-Wah Yim) writes: For all of you who want to d/l the demo, you can get it from computer express's ftp site: ftp.cexpress.com/demos/ibm/primal.zip It's around 7.5MB, and it looks pretty cool. According to Chris (chris@skypoint.com) PC Gamer is supposed to have Primal Rage and Need for Speed demos in their October issue (disc 11). sccmcmul@ucsalf.ac.uk (christopher.mcmullen) writes: The Primal Rage demo is also available on an issue of PC Format (CD), and later, on PC ZONE's cover cd. However, they appear to be two different versions of the game, with identical graphics, but different moves, and neither work with the move list.. 9. ///Can I play PR without the CD?/// No. You have to have the CD loaded in order to play PR. This is to keep people from pirating & distributing illegal copies of the game. 10. ///Can you e-mail me a copy of PR/tell me how to get free money/send me a PR coin-op?/// No. Computer piracy is contemptible, "free money" is a scam, and a coin-op costs too much. 11. ///What bugs are in PR?/// Yes, we've noticed a few annoying glitches... sccmcmul@ucsalf.ac.uk (christopher.mcmullen) writes: 1) Finishing a round with Diablo's hot foot messes up the screen palette.. the screen turns kind of psychedelic. 2) Using the joypad, and having the sound effects on causes the character controlled by the joypad to leap around without pressing a direction. I've not had this happen in any other game, but turning the sound effects off seems to fix it. yours truly (vctr113062@aol.com) writes: 3) Using a keyboard, Sauron cannot do his Earthquake Stomp in the air. 4) On the left-hand side of the keyboard, characters cannot do a crouching Low Power basic attack (also knows as the "low 3+4", done by pressing the x+n+m keys). bdaniels@mercury.interpath.net (Brian Daniels) writes: 5) After a few plays, when game is brought up it will think the joystick is stuck in the up position. If you go to the game options screen the highlight scrolls up non-stop. Only fix I have found is to unplug stick, plug stick back in, restart game. _Very_ annoying! I cannot find any form of joystick centering options in this game. 12. ///Where can I get more info on PR in general?/// Check out the PR General FAQ! It's updated and posted irregularly to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, rec.games.video.arcade, rec.games.video.nintendo, and rec.games.video.sega by yours truly (Victar, vctr113062@aol.com). The current update can be found at ftp.netcom.com/pub/vi/vidgames/faqs, or in the ProPage section of GameZero's World Wide Web site, http://www.gamezero.com/team-0. There's also a condensed movelist for PR with a four-button joystick. I will repost the general FAQ/condensed movelist to a specific newsgroup or e-mail it you upon request. Please send such requests by e-mail. 13. ///Credits and Thanks/// Several of y'all deserve to be on this list but aren't because I can't remember your name! Sorry! If you'd like to remind me who you are and what I swiped from your post, e-mail me, and immortality in this FAQ's credits shall be yours. ^_^ Sir Galahad <ermac@imap1.asu.edu>..............moves, info rmsts@indirect.com (RMS).............................moves mbruce@tower.net (Matt Bruce).....................info chris@skypoint.com (chris)..............................info CWilson784@aol.com ....................................moves edju@chaph.usc.edu (Liu Kang)......................moves, info cascade@matrix.infomatch.com (Cascade)......moves ky4h@Virginia.EDU (Kin-Wah Yim)..............info kevchow@unixg.ubc.ca (Kevin C. Chow).......moves sccmcmul@ucsalf.ac.uk (christopher.mcmullen)..info rommel@cs.tu-berlin.de (Jens Petersen)..............info bdaniels@mercury.interpath.net (Brian Daniels)..info @START@PR 4-button joystick movelist Note: all moves & fatalites do work on SNES Primal Rage, though some are very hard to do without a C&L arcade-quality joystick. Chaos' Churl & Golden Shower fatalities are censored in SNES PR. Chaos doesn't do anything during the Golder Shower and a censor sign appears. In the Churl, Chaos doesn't suck his puke back in. "Version 2.3 only" fatalities are not in Genesis PR. Last I heard, all moves & fatalities listed here work for the IBM PC version if you're using a four-button joystick. If you're using the keyboard or a two-button joystick, many of the moves are different. See the PR for IBM PC FAQ for keyboard moves. 1= High Quick, 2=High Fierce, 3=Low Quick, 4=Low Fierce A=away, D=down, T=toward, U=up, AD =down&away, etc. ARMADON Bed-O-Nails: Armadon balls up like a porcupine with spikes sticking out of him. Hold 2+3; move joystick D, U Iron Maiden: Jumps into the air and turns his back downward and lands on opponent. Hold 2+3; move joystick A-U-T Mega Charge: Takes 5 steps and then does an uppercut with his horn Hold 1+3; move joystick A-D-T Gut Gouger: Impales opponent with his horn and throws the opponent. Hold 1+2+3; move joystick T, A Hornication Uppercut: Armadon leaps and does a nose spike straight into the air. Hold 1+2+3; move joystick DT-T-UT Spinning Death: Gets into a ball and spins across the screen. Hold 1+4; move joystick A, T-D Flying Spikes: Armadon shoots spikes from his tail. Hold 2+4; move joystick A-U *Gut Fling: Armadon digs his horn into the opponent and slings their guts around. Hold 1+2+3; move joystick D, D, D, D, U *Meditation: Armadon curls up and creates electricity that zaps your opponent. Hold all buttons; move joystick T, D, A, T, T *Falling Spikes: Armadon curls up and shoots spikes into the air. The spikes land on and impale your opponent. Hold all buttons, tap joystick D, A, U, D **Chomp a human: Hold all buttons; move joystick U-T BLIZZARD Quick Mega Punch: Gives your opponent a big bash to the head. Hold 1+3; move joystick A, T Short Mega Punch: This punch has the fastest wind-up, medium range, and the longest recovery time. Hold all buttons; move joystick A, T Long Mega Punch:This has the same wind-up and recovery time as the Quick Mega Punch, and the longest range. Hold 2+4; move joystick A, T Fake Mega Punch: Blizzard winds up for a Long Mega Punch but doesn't actually punch! Hold 1+3; move joystick D, U Freeze Breath: Chill your opponent out Sub-Zero style, then combo them. Hold 1+2+4; move joystick A, T Ice Geyser: Blizzard creates a column of ice freezing the opponent. Victim must be close and either in the air or not blocking. Hold 1+2+4; move joystick D, U Punching Bag: Hit button 1 five or six times to beat the enemy up, then before his brain meter regenerates and he shakes out of your grasp, tap another button to deliver the wind up punch. 2=low arc, 3= medium arc, 4= high arc. Hold 1+4; move joystick T-D-A-U Air Throw: Grab opponent in the air. Useful in combos too. Tap 2+3 while airborne Throw: Hold 2+3; move joystick A-U-T *Brain Bash: Blizzard pounds opponent into the ground and punches the opponent's brain out! Hold 1+2+4; move joystick D, D-A-U-T *To-Da-Moon: Blizzard does the punching bag, winds up, and knocks opponent into the background! Hold all buttons; move joystick D, D, D, D, U *Redemption: Blizzard sends the opponent's soul to heaven, and all that's left are the bones. Hold all buttons; tap joystick D, T, U, D, U or, all buttons and U-A-D-A-U, then shake joystick down & up **Chomp a human: hold all buttons; roll joystick A-U-T-D CHAOS Grab-N-Throw: Grabs opponent by the neck and tosses him across the screen. Hold 2+4; move joystick T, A Slow Power Puke: Chaos pukes a blob of green stuff. Hold 2+3; move joystick U-T Fast Power Puke: Hold 1+4; move joystick U-T Fart of Fury: Chaos sticks his butt in the air and farts a poisonous cloud. Hold 2+3; move joystick T-U-A Ground Shaker: Chaos jumps up and lands creating an earthquake. Can be done in the air on version 2.3 only. Hold 2+3; move joystick A, AU, AD Flying Butt Slam: Jump and lands on opponent with his butt. Hold 2+4; move joystick D-T-U-UT-DT Battering Ram: Chaos puts his shoulder out and charges. Hold 1+3; move joystick T, T *Golden Shower: Chaos raises a leg and urinates on the opponent, and the only thing left are the bones. Hold 1+3 and move joystick D, D; then hold all buttons and move joystick A, T, A, T *Cannonball: Chaos does a cannonball into the water. Only works on stages with water in the background in version 1.7. Hold all buttons; move joystick AD, UT-DT-AD *The Churl: Chaos does a slow puke, walks off the screen, walks on from the other side, and catches the puke in his mouth. Hold all buttons; joystick T, T, T, A, A, A (or, hold all buttons & rapidly shake joystick back & forth) **Chomp a human: Hold all buttons; move joystick T-D-A DIABLO Slow Fireball: Diablo shoots out a fireball that travels across the screen. Hold 2+4; move joystick D-T Fast Fireball: Hold 1+3; move joystick D-T Torch: A flame blast from Diablo's mouth. Hold buttons for it to last up to 5 seconds. Hold 1+3; move joystick U-T Hot Foot: A blast that goes about 1/2 way across the screen burning everything in its path. Hold 2+4; move joystick UA, DT Mega Lunge: Diablo ducks his head, charges, and throws his head into the air. Hold 1+4; move joystick D-T The Pulverizer: Leap into the air and land on your opponent's head. Hold 1+4; move joystick U-T-D Inferno Flash: Diablo teleports in a flash of fire. Hold 2+3+4; move joystick U *Incinerator: Diablo rears back and blows a HUGE blast of fire that burns the flesh off the bones! Hold all buttons; move joystick UA-D-DT *Fireball: Diablo blasts a hugh fireball that roasts your opponent! Hold 2+3+4; move joystick T, T, T *Infernal: Diablo sends his opponent to hell. Hold 1+3+4; tap joystick U, D, U, D, D **Chomp a human: hold all buttons; move joystick D, U, D SAURON Primal Scream: Sauron roars and creates a shield around himself. Hold 1+3; move joystick D, U Earthquake Stomp: Jumps on the ground to shake up your opponent. Can be done in the air on version 2.3 only. Hold 1+2+4; move joystick U, D The Cranium Crusher: Sauron leaps into the air with his head. Leaves you vulnerable if you miss. Hold 1+4; move joystick D, U Leaping Bone Bash: Pounce on your opponent and bite off some of his flesh. Hold 2+3; move joystick D, U, D Stun Roar: Fireball-like projectile fired from his mouth. Hold 1+3; move joystick A, T Neck Throw: Sauron bites your opponent in the neck and tosses them across the screen. Hold 2+4; move joystick T, A Air Throw: Grab opponent in the air. Useful in combos too. Tap 2+4 while airborne *Carnage: Grab your opponent by the throat and shake them up. Hold all buttons; move joystick A, T, A, T, A *Flesh Eating: Sauron walks over to his fallen opponent and tears into them, eating each piece as he rips it off. Hold 1+3 and move joystick D, D; then hold all buttons and move joystick U, U. *Grape Crusher: Sauron stomps his victim flat. Hold all buttons; tap joystick U, D, U, D, D **Chomp a human: Hold all buttons and move joystick D, D, U TALON Brain Basher: Talon flips in the air and lands on the opponent's head. Hold 2+3; move joystick A-U-T Pounce and Flip: Talon takes a few steps and pounces on opponent, does a couple of slashes, and flips off. Hold 2+3; move joystick T- D-DT Frantic Fury: Talon becomes a blur of claws and creeps toward opponent. Hold 1+4; move joystick D-T Slasher: Two fierce slashes, but only hits once. Hold 1+3+4; move joystick D-T Face Ripper: Talon jumps on the opponent and bite his face several times. (Must be close to opponent.) Hold 2+4; move joystick D-T Jugular Bite: Talon jumps onto opponent and chomps your neck. NOTE: This can only be used in a combo and up close. Hold 2+4; move joystick A, T Run Forward/Back: Talon can run toward or away very fast. This is good for dodging. Hold 1+3; move joystick T or A *Heart Wrenching: Talon walks up to the opponent, cuts them open, rips you heart out, and eats it. Hold 1+3+4; move joystick T-D-A-U *Shredder: Frantic Fury-like fatality. Hold 1+4; move joystick T-D-A-U *Stampede: Talon summons his children. Hold all buttons and tap the joystick T, A, U, D **Chomp a human: hold all buttons; move joystick T-D VERTIGO Slow Venom Spit: Vertigo spits purple acid across the screen. Hold 1+3; move joystick T, T Fast Venom Spit: Hold 2+4; move joystick T, T Voodoo Spell: Vertigo emits hypnosis rings that stun your opponent. Short range. Hold 2+3; move joystick A, A Ground Teleport: Rolls up in a ball and reappears _on the ground_ next to opponent; choose which side by holding the joystick toward or away after doing the move. Can be done in the air on version 2.3 only. Hold 2+4; move joystick D, D Air Teleport: Rolls up in a ball and reappears _in the air_ next to opponent; choose which side by holding the joystick toward or away after doing the move. Does not damage opponent. Can be done while on the ground or in the air. Version 2.3 only. Hold 2+4; move joystick D, U Come Slither: Vertigo lashes her tail out and drags the opponent over for some beating. Hold 1+3; move joystick A, A Scorpion Sting: Whips Vertigo's tail out and swats across the screen and a blade shoots out too. Hold 2+3; tap joystick T, T *Petrify: Vertigo does a Voodoo Spell that turns your oppoenet into stone and then Scorpion Stings them to bits. Hold 2+4 and tap joystick A, A, A; then hold all buttons and tap joystick T, T *Shrink and Eat: Vertigo does a Voodoo Spell and shrinks your oppoent. She then eats them like a worshipper. Hold 2+4 and tap joystick A, A, A; then hold all buttons and tap joystick D, U *La Vache Qui Rit: Vertigo turns the opponent into a cow. Hold all buttons and tap joystick A, A, A, D, T **Chomp a human: hold all buttons and move joystick D-T-U There are three types of jumps in Primal Rage that can be done by any characters. First, to do a standard jump, just press up or diagonally up. Pretty easy, eh? The second type of jump is the long jump. To do a long jump, tap down, then do a "normal" jump immediately afterward. This jump will be higher and faster than the standard jump, and it will go much farther. No more characters whose only jump is a drifter... The third type of jump is the most difficult, and most surprising jump in any game. It is a "hop jump" and you do it by pushing the direction you want to jump (T or A), then down, then do the standard jump (i.e. T, D, UT, or A, D, UA). Additionally, the "hop jump" can now be done straight up, just tap forward (or backward), down, and straight up! Finally, unlike in Primal Rage v1.7, you can execute Hop Jumps during matches with the computer (and the computer can use them against you, too!) so your strategy will not have to change quite as drastically. @START@QUAKE Mini-FAQ +----------------------------------------+ | Q U A K E M I N I F A Q - 09/09/95 | +----------------------------------------+ by joost schuur (jschuur@ftp.cdrom.com) The purpose of this document is to inform people about the game QUAKE and to reduce the amount of frequently asked questions to the relevant Usenet newsgroups. Behold that this FAQ will probably raise more questions than it answers. id Software, the makers of QUAKE, have been a bit quiet about updates on QUAKE's status. Nevertheless, the interest in QUAKE is enormous, as QUAKE is expected to be a quantum leap in computer gaming. This FAQ may be distributed freely, provided it remains unaltered, and the original author is mentioned. It is forbidden to redistribute this FAQ commercially in the form of magazines, books, CDs or other pay services without prior permission of the author, joost schuur (jschuur@ftp.cdrom.com). I would appreciate not being flooded with QUAKE questions at this point. Should further information on QUAKE be available, they will be added to future versions of this mini FAQ, quaketalk (see section 7) or possibly full featured QUAKE FAQ (see section 8). This mini FAQ will be reposted weekly to relevant gaming usenet news groups and it's latest version can be retrieved from ftp://ftp.mantis.co.uk/pub/doom/periodic/q_mini_faq 1 - What is QUAKE? QUAKE is a 3D 'point of view' action orientated game with certain role playing elements from id Software. It is the successor to DOOM and features an engine with many enhancements, such as: . full six degrees of freedom. no more 2.5Dness as in DOOM . polygon based, texture mapped items . environmental sound effects . advanced player interactions . highly advanced networking capabilities: + QUAKE servers that can be linked among eachother + dozens of players in one game + leave/join games in progress + source code availability for the server. make your own modifications and recompile on other platforms. . QUAKE will come with its own C like programming language, allowing you to addons to the game never before possible A plot for the game has not been concieved yet. It will possibly center around a fantasy/medival theme, but people will be able to create their own scenarios. QUAKE will be available for DOS first. A port to Linux and other Unix platforms should follow thereafter and then a native Windows '95 version. Other platforms such as OS/2 will soon follow. 2 - Is QUAKE 'DOOM 3'? No. There will not be a product called 'DOOM 3'. QUAKE is id Software's next own project after DOOM 2. A special port of DOOM to Nintendo's new U64 console system is being done, which will feature some enhancements to the PC version, but this is also not 'DOOM 3'. For more info on this, check: http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~mapleson/sgistuff/ultra64/ultra64.html 3 - When is QUAKE due out? id has been very persistant in insisting QUAKE will come out 'when it's done'. They do hope however to bring the game out by christmas '95. An exact release date cannot be made yet, since the game is still in a developmental phase. It is always hard to predict when a piece of software will be ready for a release. 4 - What will the hardware requirements be? This is probably the question that's going through everyone's minds the most. 'How will QUAKE perform on my system?' and 'Will I need a pentium system?'. Based on the information I have onhand, it is my educated guess that QUAKE will perform slightly worse than DOOM on a comparable system. The targeted machine should be a 486 DX2/66 or slightly better. Having a pentium will certainly not hurt, but QUAKE will not be a pentium only game and is still likely to be very playable on a 486 based system. As far as RAM is concerned, indications are that 8 megs will increase playability significantly. It is unsure wether QUAKE will require 8 megs, but 8 or 16 megs will certainly help make playing QUAKE much more enjoyable. 5 - Are the screenshots for the game? Yes. As of August 4th, 1995, id released a first series of screenshots, revealing some of the level building capabilities of QUAKE and one of the monsters, a red dragon. They can be obtained from their ftp site at ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake/quakepix.zip or at a mirror such as ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/idstuff/quake/quakepix.zip A picture of id's QUAKE editor called qe_dev.gif can be found there too. Further mirrors can be found in the 'List of DOOM FTP/WWW sites', periodically posted to rec.games.computer.doom.announce. The screenshots can also be viewed via World Wide Web at id's web site described in section 10 of this minifaq. 6 - Is there a playable demo/beta out? No. There is no alpha/beta/demo/preview of any sort available to the public currently. Based on remarks made by id, it is highly unlikely that anyone outside of the company will get involved in the beta testing of QUAKE. 7 - Where can I get more info on QUAKE? For the past year now, I've published quaketalk, a newsletter on QUAKE. I attempted to gather any QUAKE related bits of information from the net and elsewhere. The current version is 363 and is available at ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/docs/faqs/qtalk363.txt In the future, the filename may change to reflect the new version number. A HTML version of quaketalk can be viewed from the quake section of Doomgate described in section 10. 8 - When will there be a real FAQ to the game? Hank Leukart and I plan on bringing out a real, full length FAQ to QUAKE as soon as we've gathered enough information and have ensured id's cooperation on this. For now this mini FAQ should cover the most common questions on QUAKE. As soon a full FAQ is available, it will be announced in the appropriate Usenet newsgroups mentioned in section 9. 9 - Where can I discuss QUAKE? Currently, the only QUAKE only newsgroup is alt.games.quake. However, a lot of news sites don't carry it, so QUAKE can also be discussed on comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action and rec.games.computers.doom.misc. There are plans to formally create a rec.games.computer.quake.* hierarchy, to prevent a confusing disarray of alt.* newsgroups as was the case in the early DOOM newsgroups. Should you wish to participate in the creation of a quake newsgroup hierarchy, feel free to sign up to the quake-proposal mailing list by sending a mail to quake-proposal-request@montefiore.ulg.ac.be with 'subscribe' in the Subject. This is not a general QUAKE mailing list, but one dedicated to the creation of QUAKE newsgroups. On IRC (the Internet Relay Chat), quake enthusiasts already meet on the #quake channel. 10 - QUAKE WWW sites There are already a couple of World Wide Web sites dedicated to QUAKE. Most of them carry identical contents, but who knows, this might change. Here they are: - id Software's own QUAKE screenshots page: http://www.idsoftware.com/qss.html - Hank Leukart's Rumor Mill page is dedicated to up and coming new games. He also has a page on QUAKE http://www.portal.com/~hleukart/rumorsquake.html - Jason van Fickell runs the 'Unofficial QUAKE homepage' http://www.hal-pc.org/~jasonv/quake/ - Yours truly also runs the QUAKE section of Doomgate http://doomgate.cs.buffalo.edu/games/quake/ - Colin Caird has yet another QUAKE page http://www.islandnet.com/~ccaird/doom/quake.html _ ___ ___ =====| |/ _ \/ __|=========================================================== | | (_) \__ \ joost.schuur@student.uni-tuebingen.de lotlhwI on IRC _/ |\___/|___/ http://home.pages.de/~jschuur/ go away ===|__/================================================nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'= @START@Reviews on Jazz Christmas '95 and Radix: Into the Void First, Radix and Jazz Christmas '95 are out. Http://www.epicgames.com for details. Now, my reviews: Jazz Christmas 1995 As Mark Rein and Craig Lafferty have stated (thanks for your honest replies Epic, not false hype - i.e. You will love this game no matter what hype) the engine is not new. Still, there are a couple neat levels in this nice free version of Jazz. I also have noticed differences in the character animations. They seem much more cartoony (at least in the first level) and smooth. Enemies are a nice change from the usual turtles. In addition, this edition of Christmas Jazz seems to not have any theme around turtle bad guys, just a couple of nice Christmas themed levels. For instance, the Bloxis planet (can't remember the exact name) is a nice change. The platforms are Duplo Blocks (large Lego blocks, the type for preschool age). Enemies include a Raggedy Ann and flying airplanes with mean pilots. And, for a little more fun, they programmers added some demented violence (I won't spoil it for you, but it has something to do with Lego type people). Graphicals wise, the game is good. As it is using the old engine, there has not been a lot of changes. Jazz looks the same, and the game runs at the same speed (fast). Backgrounds are mostly solid colors (but I think I did see some parallax scrolling on Bloxis!) As stated before, the animations are nice and fluid. To be honest, there isn't really anything new in this department. Gameplay wise, the game is still just as fun. Jazz has the same weapons and moves. He still says "What are you doing" too. Epic has graciously added a bonus level (there might be one more somewhere) to show off Jazz's speed. Powerups abound, this time there were a LOT of carrots. In addition, there are nice secret passages to run around in. Once again, Jazz remains unchanged. As to the sound, I really liked it. Carol of the Bells and The Drummer Boy (that might not really be the name of the tune, I'm not sure) are prevalent all through the level as background music. The digital sound format sounded great (although I wish I could hear it through General Midi). And the arrangement of the songs was so much better than some of the music in games now-a-days. There was actually some creativity :). All in all, the Christmas edition is still the same old thing, but quite enjoyable. I suggest you download it. Grade: B+ (nothing really new, but fun to play) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Radix: Into the Void Now I know that megabyte size doesn't mean that a game will be good, but hey, Doom was the biggest shareware game when it was released and so was OMF, and we both know how those did. So when I saw that Radix was almost 4.0 megs, I wondered if this game would be interesting. Well, I really tried to like it, I really did. I'm a fan of Epic and most of the games are of good quality. This one wasn't buggy, but their usual mixture of good gameplay and fun wasn't there. First, the install went fine. And I booted it up. One thing I disliked was that the choice of control was only available in the SETUP, but not in the running game. Still, I can live with that. I then started the game. The beginning sign in screen reminded me of Raptor: Call of the Shadows, but from there the relation stopped. Before playing the game, you are briefed as to the mission you are supposed to complete. It was pretty straight forward, so I finally got to the gameplay. Well, this is the place where Radix failed. I'm really glad that the made the game in the POV of in the ship (at first it was going to behind the ship). If they hadn't, this game would have been horrible. But as it is the control needs lots work. Maybe it's because I was expecting Descent type controls (and there are a lot of them) or Terminal Velocity type manuevering; but when I tried moving, I immediately disliked the control. I even tried using the mouse, using the keyboard, and using the keyboard plus my CH Pro Joystick, but nothing really helped. The mouse was a little better, but hard to really go around corners. The joystick was adequate, but there was no analog control (i.e. push a direction and you go that way. Even if you push the joystick harder, the direction of the ship goes at the same speed). Consequently, the ship is very hard to control. Trying to align a ship in the cross-fire is pretty tough. Another problem was the constant forward movement. There was no way to stop the ship at all. There was a key to speed the ship up, but nothing like Terminal Velocity or Descent, where the speed of the ship is adjustable. A major gripe I had was the fact that bumping into walls hurt. And, it made a horrible sounding noise. A lot of times, I would get stuck on the walls and have a hard time turning around. Shooting wasn't too bad, one can't just hold down and fire because there is an amount of energy alloted to gunfire. If one fires too many times in a row, then you can't shoot at all. This was a commendable feature since it didn't make the game a hold-down-the-button-and-move-around-the-screen fest. I did like the weapons more than Terminal Velocity, but there were only three of them in the shareware version. One thing I should make clear is that the levels are severely limited. It is not like Descent or Terminal Velocity which both have large levels and places to move around. Radix actually has straightforward levels (literally) as the the entry way is at the bottom of the map, and the baddie to end the mission is at the top of the map. At least the ship could turn around, one thing I usually hate is a game on rails (games like Rebel Assault and Panzer Dragoon). Sound wise, the sounds were good. The music seemed better than Terminal Velocity but there was no General Midi. That wasn't too bad though. Graphical wise, the game is nice. Textures and enemies are presented fairly well. Nothing to stunning, but the graphics are nice and clean with lots more color than other 3D like games. Walls sometimes slope up and down and pixelation isn't too bad. Good to say the least. I guess you can figure out that the major gripe I have is the control/gameplay. But that is really what makes or breaks a game and Radix doesn't have the quality control to make it fun for any length of time. If the control was improved, this game would be more interesting. But don't expect it to be another Descent or Terminal Velocity. Though I am not a big fan of Descent, after playing this, I suddenly realized how wonderful Descent is. Grade: C+ (needs better controls!) -- Jared Ong jong@owl.csusm.edu --------------------------------------- We are spinning our own fates good or evil, and never to be undone Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar...Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped out. - William James @START@Epic's Amazing New 3D Game A surprise announcement from the Vice President of Epic MegaGames: ------------------------------------------------------ EPIC MEGAGAMES AND IT'S AWARD WINNING DIGITAL EXTREMES DEVELOPMENT TEAM ARE WORKING ON AN AWESOME 3D ACTION GAME FOR WINDOWS 95 KNOWN SIMPLY AS "UNREAL" ------------------------------------------------------ We call it "UNREAL" because that's the reaction we've been getting from people who have seen this (until now) highly secret game running. If you're anticipating Quake, you might want to download the shareware version of Extreme Pinball which is being released on our web site, ftp site, and CompuServe form (GO EPICFORUM) on Friday November 10th. Check out the READ THIS section. At the very end there are two screen shots of OUR awesome new 3D game, UNREAL. Those aren't renderings from our Silicon Graphics workstations - those are REAL screen shots from the game itself! A leading games magazine writer in England who recently played an early version of UNREAL wrote us saying that it "LOOKS BETTER THAN QUAKE". We've seen Quake too and we know our game will kick it's ass so keep an eye out for UNREAL! While you've got it, don't forget to play and purchase Extreme Pinball, it's amazing for more reasons than just the UNREAL screen shots! In fact, it's so good that it's being released in retail stores world-wide by Electronic Arts on PC-CD and coming soon on Sony Playstation. Both UNREAL and Extreme Pinball are developed by Digital Extremes, the team that brought you the award winning Epic Pinball (PC Format rated 91%). If you don't already own the classic Epic Pinball check out the awesome deal where you can get Extreme Pinball CD AND Epic Pinball CD for only $69!! Extreme Pinball CDs are in-stock and shipping NOW! In addition to Extreme Pinball we've also just released Radix, a 3D flying shoot-em-up and an a new 1995 Christmas Shareware Edition of Jazz Jackrabbit. If you haven't seen our recently released scrolling shooter Tyrian check that out too! The UNREAL engine is a polygon-based real 3D engine and it WILL be out in 1996. It will require Windows 95 and 8Mb of RAM. The screen shots you see in Extreme Pinball are reduced to 320x400 (the resolution of Extreme) but in the game itself you're can play in a Window at any resolution or at 640x480 in full screen using Direct Draw. With Windows Dispdib support slower machines (ie. less than 486/75) can be easily accomodated using a super-fast 320x240 mode. We're not going to tell too much about the engine features, network play or the gameplay features because we want to keep a lot of the state-of-the-art details secret until the game is closer to being released. Over the next few months we will release more high-res screen shots and some Quicktime and Video for Windows movies of the game in action. This way you'll have a chance to learn lots about this incredible game and the industry leading technology behind it. It's going to totally ROCK! Epic MegaGames is now working with Electronic Arts, the world's leading entertainment software publisher. Our first project with EA, Extreme Pinball, is finished and coming to stores this month. We've signed contracts for two more awesome games with Electronic Arts (sorry, no details about those two games are being released yet) and we expect further announcements to come soon. With our alliance with EA you can count on UNREAL containing some pretty awesome stuff! As shareware fans already know, Epic is reknowned for having superior sound quality. ALL of our new games are for Windows 95 and we've written a completely new sound system to take advantage of it. The new sound system is a vast improvement over it's DOS-based predecessor. Because it's Windows 95, any sound card that works under Windows automatically works with this system without installation. Plug and Play is finally here and it's going to be great! Now you can enjoy the crystal clear sound that eminates from high end sound cards, like the Turtle Beach Monterrey, that was not previously supported by many DOS games. With this sound system the new games are all going to sound amazing, especially UNREAL which has uses the advanced 3D spacial features of the new sound engine for maximum effect. In addition to UNREAL we're working on a sequel to One Must Fall which will be a full 3D polygon-based fighting game with the kind of realistic lighting and detailed 3D characters shown in the UNREAL screen shots. PC Format's ARCADE GAME OF THE YEAR, Jazz Jackrabbit also gets a sequel and this time it's got 8 amazing levels of parallax scrolling and loads of special visual effects. We believe it will be the best platform game ever created for the PC - wait until you hear how incredible the music sounds in Jazz2! More details about OMF II and screen shots and movies of Jazz2 (which will likely come out around April/May 96) will start appearing on our Web site (http://www.epicgames.com) soon after Christmas. A T1 line, which will increase the speed and connection capacity of our Web server 30 times, is on order and should be in place in around December 1, 1995. Until then we apologize if you have problems getting through or if you experience sluggish performance. Mark Rein, Epic MegaGames. Check out the Epic Web Site at http://www.epicgames.com or GO EPIC on CompuServe to visit our forum or download our latest shareware games via FTP at ftp.uml.edu in /msdos/games/epic @START@MK3 moves from CompuServe Aqui estäo todos os movimentos de todos os lutadores do Mortal Kombat 3 (excelente!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Sub-Zero* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ice Ball: Down - Forward - Low Punch Ice Shower: Down - Forward - High Punch Ice Shower front: Down - Forward - Back - High Punch Ice Shower behind: Down - Back - Forward - High Punch Ice Klones: Down - Back - Low Punch Slide: Back & Low Punch & Block & Low Kick Fatality 1: Back - Back - Down - Back - Run [outside sweep] Down - Forward - Back - High Kick [outside sweep] (Sub-Zero blows mist at his victim, which freezes the opponent, who then falls backward and crumbles) Fatality 2: Block - Block - Run - Block - Run [close] Down - Forward - Down - Forward - Low Punch [close] (Sub-Zero picks his opponent up high over his head. The victim then freezes just before Sub-Zero breaks him in half) Animality: Forward - Up - Up [close] Up - Up - Up [close] (Sub-Zero morphs into a polar bear and proceeds to mangle his victim) Friendship: Low Kick - Low Kick - Run - Run - Up (Sub-Zero makes a snowman) Babality: Down - Back - Back - High Kick Stage: Back - Down - Forward - Forward - High Kick Combos: High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (6 hit 30% on 2.0, 23% on 2.1) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Leg Sweep - Roundhouse Kick - Roundhouse Kick High Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (3 hit 19%) Run - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick High Punch - Low Punch - Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Stryker* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long Grenade: Down - Back - High Punch Short Grenade: Down - Back - Low Punch Baton Throw: Forward - Forward - High Kick Baton Trip: Forward - Back - Low Punch Fatality 1: Down - Forward - Down - Forward - Block [close] Down - Forward - Down - Forward - Block [close] (Stryker turns his back to the players, and upon turning back around, reveals a time bomb strapped to his victim's chest and holds his ears as the victim explodes) Fatality 2: Forward - Forward - Forward - Low Kick [screen] Forward - Forward - Forward - Low Kick [screen] (Stryker shoots an electric clamp at his opponent, electrocuting them) Animality: Run - Run - Run - Block [sweep] Run - Run - Run - Block [sweep] (Stryker turns into a dinosaur and munches away) Friendship: Low Punch - Run - Run - Low Punch (Stryker plays an unsuccessful crossing guard for the cast of MK3) Babality: Down - Forward - Forward - Back - High Punch Stage: Forward - Up - Up - High Kick Combos: Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Jump Kick - Baton Throw (6 hit 36% against some characters) Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick - Baton Throw (50%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch (3 hit 18%) High Kick - High Kick - High Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch Run - High Punch - High Punch - Crouch Punch - Baton Throw ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Shang Tsung* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volcanic Eruption: Forward - Back - Back - Low Kick Fireballs: 1: Back - Back - High Punch 2: Back - Back - Forward - High Punch 3: Back - Back - Forward - Forward - High Punch Morphs: Cyrax: Block - Block - Block Jax: Forward - Forward - Down - Low Punch Kabal: Low Punch - Block - High Kick Kano: Back - Forward - Block Kung Lao: Run - Run - Block - Run Liu Kang: Circle Joystick (like Liu's old Fat.) Night Wolf: Up - Up - Up Sektor: Down - Forward - Back - Run Sheeva: Hold Low Kick - Forward - Down - Forward - Release Low Kick -or- Forward - Down - Forward - Low Kick - Low Kick Sindel: Back - Down - Back - Low Kick Sonya: Down & Run & Low Punch & Block Stryker: Forward - Forward - Forward - High Kick Sub-Zero: Forward - Down - Forward - High Punch Goro: ????? (Can we say Kano Transformation?) Fatality 1: Hold Low Punch - Down - Forward - Forward - Down - Release Low Punch [close] Hold Low Punch - Down - Forward - Down - Forward - Release Low Punch [close] (A bed of nails rises behind Shang Tsung, who then throws his victim onto it) Fatality 2: Hold Low Punch - Run - Block - Run - Block - Release Low Punch [close] (Shang Tsung levitates his victim, who glows green as his soul is taken. The victim's skeleton then falls to the ground in a pile of dust) Animality: Hold High Punch - Run - Run - Run - Release High Punch (Shang turns into a snake and eats his opponent alive) Friendship: Low Kick - Low Kick - Run - Run - Down (Shang turns into a bird from Joust and hops away) Babality: Run - Run - Run - Low Kick Stage: Up - Up - Back - Low Punch Combos: Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Roundhouse Kick (5 hit 28%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - High Kick (4 hit 19%) High Punch - High Punch - High Kick (3 hit 18%) High Punch - High Kick - Low Punch - Roundhouse Kick Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Sonya* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rings: Down - Forward - Low Punch Bicycle Kick: Back - Back - Down - High Kick Square Wave Punch: Forward - Back - High Punch Leg Grab: Down & Low Punch & Block Fatality 1: Back - Forward - Down - Down - Run [any] Down - Down - Down - Forward - Low Kick [any] (Sonya blows a fatal kiss to her victim) Fatality 2: Hold Block & Run - Up - Up - Back - Down - Release Block & Run [more than half screen] (Sonya turns into a purple blob and kills her opponent) Anamality: Hold Low Punch - Back - Forward - Down - Forward - Release Low Punch [close] (Sonya morphs into a hawk and mangles her opponent) Friendship: Back - Forward - Back - Down - Run (Sonya dances) Babality: Down - Down - Forward - Low Kick Stage: Forward - Forward - Down - High Punch Combos: High Kick - High Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Back & High Punch (6 hit 34%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Back & High Punch High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Roundhouse Kick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Smoke* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harpoon: Back - Back - Low Punch Teleport Uppercut: Forward - Forward - Low Kick (can be done in air) Invisibility: Up - Up - Run Air Throw: Block (in air) Fatality 1: Up - Up - Forward - Down [screen] (Smoke blows up the Earth) Fatality 2: Hold Run & Block - Down - Down - Forward - Up - Release Run & Block [sweep] (Smoke drops a grenade in his opponent's mouth, blowing him up) Animality: Down - Forward - Forward - Block [> jump] (Smoke turns into a bull and charges the enemy) Friendship: Run - Run - Run - High Kick [screen] (Smoke's chest opens to reveal a giant horn that HONKS you) Babality: Down - Down - Back - Back - High Kick Stage: Forward - Forward - Down - Low Kick Combos: Harpoon - High Punch - High Punch - Low Kick - High Kick - Low Punch (5 hit 24%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Teleport - High Punch - Harpoon - Uppercut (7 hit 40%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch (3 hit 17%) High Punch - High Punch - High Kick (3 hit 19%) Jump Kick - Teleport - Low Kick - Air Throw (3 hit 28%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Sindel* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fireball (in air): Down - Forward - Low Kick Fireball (ground): Forward - Forward - Low Punch Scream Pull: Forward - Forward - Forward - High Punch Flight: Back - Back - Forward - High Kick Fatality 1: Run - Block - Block - Run & Block [close] Run - Run - Back - Back - Run + Back [close] (Sindel screams at her opponent, destroying most of the victim's flesh, leaving a messy pile of bones) Fatality 2: Run - Run - Block - Run - Block [sweep] Run - Run - Block - Run - Back [sweep] (Sindel's hair wraps itself around her victim. She then runs away, leaving her victim spinning helplessly as all of his limbs fly off in different directions) Animality: Forward - Forward - Up - High Punch Forward - Forward - High Punch (Sindel morphs into a purple wasp, grabs her victim, and flies off the screen as she stings her victim to death) Friendship: Run - Run - Run - Run - Run - Up (Sindel kicks a football between her opponents legs and then says, "That was fun!") Babality: Run - Run - Run - Up Stage: Down - Down - Down - Low Punch Combos: High Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick - Air Fireball (6 hit 40%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - High Kick - Flight - Air Fireball (5 hit 31%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - High Kick (4 hit 22%) High Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Roundhouse Kick High Kick - High Punch - Low Punch - High Kick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *sektor* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heat Seeker: Forward - Down - Back - High Punch Straight Missile: Forward - Forward - Low Punch Teleport: Forward - Forward - Low Kick (can be done in air) Fatality 1: Low Punch - Run - Run - Block [sweep] Back - Back - Back - High Kick [sweep] (Sektor's chest opens up to reveal a large crushing machine, which then smashes the victim) Fatality 2: Forward - Forward - Forward - Back - Block [half screen] (Sektor uses a flame thrower to incinerate his victim) Animality: Forward - Forward - Down - Up [close] Down - Down - Down - Up [close] (Sektor morphs into a bat, which flies around and cuts off the victim's head) Friendship: Run - Run - Run - Run - Down (Sektor plays some bells) Babality: Back - Down - Down - Down - High Kick Stage: Run - Run - Run - Down Combos: High Punch - High Punch - High Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (5 hit 26%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch (3 hit 18%) High Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (3 hit 19%) Teleport - Jump Kick - Straight Missile (3 hit 22%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Kick - Low Punch High Punch - High Punch - High Kick Heat Seeker - Teleport - Run - Low Punch - Straight Missile ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Night Wolf* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Axe Uppercut: Down - Forward - High Punch Shoot Arrow: Down - Back - Low Punch Shield Aura: Back - Back - Back - High Kick Shoulder Slam: Forward - Forward - Low Kick Fatality 1: Up - Up - Back - Forward - Block [close] Down - Forward - Forward - High Kick [close] (Night Wolf summons the magic of his shaman to use the light of the moon to disintegrate his victim) Fatality 2: Back - Back - Down - High Punch [far] Back - Back - Back - High Punch [jump distance] (Night Wolf raises his axe to the heavens, it is struck by lightning, and then he casts the lightning at his victim) Animality: Forward - Forward - Down - Down [close] Down - Down - Down [sweep] (Night Wolf morphs into a wolf and attacks his victim...big surprise!) Friendship: Run - Run - Run - Down (Nightwolf turns into Raiden and an MKII machine falls from the sky) Babality: Forward - Back - Forward - Back - Low Punch Stage: Run - Run - Block Combos: Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Axe Uppercut - Axe Uppercut - High Kick (7 hit 41%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Axe Uppercut High Punch - High Punch - Axe Uppercut - High Punch - Shoulder Smash (5 hit 34%) High Kick - High Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - High Kick High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Low Punch (4 hit 21%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Liu Kang* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- High Dragon Fire: Forward - Forward - High Punch Low Dragon Fire: Forward - Forward - Low Punch Flying Kick: Forward - Forward - High Kick Bicycle Kick: Hold Low Kick (3 sec.) - Release Fatality 1: Forward - Forward - Down - Down - Low Kick Forward - Forward - Forward - Back - Forward - Low Kick [next to opp.] (Liu Kang disappears, sends his his soul through the victim (who incinerates), and Liu reappears) Fatality 2: Up - Down - Up - Up - Block & Run [anywhere] Up - Up - Up - Run & Block [anywhere] (Liu disappears, and a Mortal Kombat (the first one) machine drops onto the victim) Animality: Down - Down - Up [sweep] (Liu turns into a dragon and bites his opponent's head off) Friendship: Run - Run - Run - Down & Run (Liu makes a shadow of a dragon on a movie screen) Babality: Down - Down - Down - High Kick Stage: Run - Block - Block - Low Kick Combos: High Punch - High Punch - Block - Low Kick - Low Kick - High Kick - Low Kick (7 hit 34%) High Punch - Low Kick - Low Kick - High Punch - Low Kick (5 hit 25%) High Punch - High Punch - Block - Low Kick - Low Kick - High Kick - Low Kick Low Kick - Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick Jump Kick - High Dragon Fire - Flying Kick (3 hit 22%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Kung Lao* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hat Throw: Back - Forward - Low Punch Teleport: Down - Up (flick joystick down) Dive Kick: Up - Down - High Kick (while in air) WhirlSpin: Forward - Down - Forward - Run (tap Run to continue spinning) Fatality 1: Run - Block - Run -Block - Down [anywhere] Block + Run - Block + Run - Down [outside sweep] (Kung Lao begins to spin faster and faster, until his victim is pulled into the spin and explodes) Fatality 2: Forward - Forward - Back - Down - High Punch [sweep] (Kung Lao throws his hat at the victim, which hits him four times, cutting a new part off each time) Animality: Run - Run - Run - Run - Block [close] Run - Run - Run - Run - Block (Kung turns into a gut-eating cheetah) Friendship: Run - Low Punch - Run - Low Kick [over sweep] (Kung throws his hat and a poor dog goes after it) Babality: Down - Forward - Forward - High Punch Stage: Down - Down - Forward - Forward - Low Kick Combos: High Punch - Low Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (34%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Kano* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Knife Throw: Down - Back - High Punch Knife Uppercut: Down - Forward - High Punch Grab & Bite: Down - Forward - Low Punch Air Throw: Block (in air) Flying Cannonball: Hold Low Kick (3 sec.) - Release Fatality 1: Hold Low Punch - Forward - Down - Down - Forward - Release Low Punch [close] Forward - Forward - Forward - Low Punch [close] (Kano pulls the victim's skeleton out through the mouth) Fatality 2: Low Punch - Block - Block - High Kick [sweep] Forward - Forward - Forward - High Kick [over sweep] (Kano shoots a laser from his bionic eye and fries his victim) Animality: Hold High Punch - Block - Block - Block - Release High Punch [close] Hold High Punch - Forward - Forward - Forward - Release High Punch [close] (Kano morphs into a spider and sucks the life from his victim) Friendship: Low Kick - Run - Run - High Kick (Kano chews bubble gum, blows a bubble and it pops in his face) Babality: Forward - Forward - Down - Down - Low Kick Stage: Up - Up - Back - Low Kick Combos: High Punch - High Punch - Crouch Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick - Knife Slash (37%) High Punch - High Punch - High Kick - High Kick - Low Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick High Punch - High Punch - High Kick - Low Kick - Roundhouse Kick (5 hit 31%) High Punch - High Punch - Crouch Punch - Jump Kick - Air Throw (5 hit 28%) Jump Kick - Flying Kannonball - Jump Kick - Knife Uppercut (4 hit 25%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch High Kick - High Kick - Low Kick - Roundhouse Kick High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Run - High Punch - Run - High Punch - Hop Kick - Air Throw Run - High Punch - High Punch - Crouch Punch - Jump Kick - Cannonball ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Kabal* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Purple Fireball: Back - Back - High Punch (may also be done in air) Tornado Spin: Back - Forward - Low Kick Ground Razor: Back - Back - Back - Run Fatality 1: Down - Down - Back - Forward - Block [outside sweep] Back - Back - Forward - Down - Block [outside sweep] (Kabal removes his respirator and inflates his victim's head, sending him/her floating off the screen before it bursts) Fatality 2: Run - Block - Block - Block - High Kick [close] Run - Block - Block - Block - High Punch (Kabal removes his mask, revealing a monstrous face. He looks at his victim, who is then scared to death) Animality: Hold High Punch - Forward - Forward - Down - Forward - Release High Punch [close] Hold High Punch (3 sec.) - Rel. High Punch (Kabal morphs into a rhinoceros skeleton and gores his victim) Friendship: Run - Low Kick - Run - Run - Up (Kabal roasts a marshmallow on his sword) Babality: Run - Run - Low Kick Stage: Block - Block - High Kick Combos: Low Kick - Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Uppercut - Hop Kick - Purple Fireball - Ground Razor (7 hit 45% without Ground Razor) Tornado Spin - Ground Razor - Low Kick - Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick - Purple Fireball (9 hit 56%) High Punch - High Punch - High Kick - High Kick - High Kick (5 hit 25%) Jump Kick - Tornado Spin - Ground Razor - Low Kick - Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick - Purple Fireball (10 hit 66%) High Punch - High Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick - Purple Fireball Tornado Spin - Low Kick - Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Jump Kick - Purple Fireball Run - Low Kick - High Punch - High Punch - Uppercut - Jump Kick (w/ Low Kick) - Purple Fireball High Punch - High Punch - Crouch Punch - Uppercut ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Jax* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Single Missile: Back - Forward - High Punch Double Missile: Forward - Forward - Back - Back - High Punch Shoulder Slam: Forward - Forward - High Kick Gotcha Punch: Forward - Forward - Low Punch Gotcha Throw: Throw - Tap High Punch Back Breaker: Block (in air) Ground Smash: Hold Low Kick (3 sec.) - Release Fatality 1: Hold Block - Up - Forward - Down - Up - Release Block [close] Hold Block - Forward - Down - Back - Up - Forward - Rel. Block [close] (Jax's arms morph into blades ala T2 before he dices and slices up his victim) Fatality 2: Run - Block - Run - Run - Low Kick [screen] Run - Run - Run - Block - Low Kick [screen distance] (Jax grows to immense proportions and then stomps on his victim) Animality: Hold Low Punch - Forward - Forward - Down - Forward - Release Low Punch [close] (Jax turns into a gut-eating lion) Friendship: Low Kick - Run - Run - Low Kick (Jax jumps rope) Babality: Down - Down - Down - Low Kick Stage: Down - Forward - Down - Low Punch Combos: High Kick - High Kick - Uppercut - High Punch - Block - Low Punch - High Punch - Back + High Punch (7 hit 34%) High Punch - High Punch - Block - Low Punch - Roundhouse Kick High Punch - High Punch - Block - Back + High Punch High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Block - Back + High Punch ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Cyrax* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net Kapture: Back - Back - Low Kick Exploding Teleport: Forward - Down - Block Long Grenade Throw: Hold Low Kick - Forward - Forward - High Kick Short Grenade Throw: Hold Low Kick - Back - Back - High Kick Pile Driver: Down - Forward - Block, then Low Punch [close] Fatality 1: Down - Down - Up - Down - High Punch [anywhere] Up - Up - Up - Down - High Punch [anywhere] (Cyrax's head spins until he takes off like a helicopter, then he comes down on the victim's head cutting him into tiny pieces) Fatality 2: Down - Down - Forward - Up - Run [close] Hold Block - Down - Back - Up - Forward - Down - Rel. Block - Run [close] (Cyrax self destructs, killing his opponent in the process) Animality: Up - Up - Down - Down [close] Up - Up - Up - Down [next to opp.] (Cyrax morphs into a shark, who devours his victim from beneath the playing field) * Note: Cyrax is apparently unable to show mercy in Ver. 1.0, so you must morph into Cyrax after showing mercy with Shang Tsung for this to works properly. Friendship: Run - Run - Run - Up Babality: Forward - Forward - Back - High Punch Stage: Run - Block - Run Combos: High Punch - High Punch - High Kick - High Punch - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (6 hit 30%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch (3 hit 18%) High Kick - High Kick - Roundhouse Kick (3 hit 19%) Long Grenade - Net - Roundhouse Kick - Uppercut (3 hit 50%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Kick - Low Punch High Punch - High Punch - High Kick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Sheeva* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mega Stomp: Down - Up (flick joystick down) Fireball: Down - Forward - High Punch Ground Stomp: Back - Down - Back - High Kick Fatality 1: Forward - Down - Down - Forward - Low Punch [close] Forward - Forward - Forward - Low Punch [close] (Sheeva pounds her victim into the ground with all four arms) Fatality 2: Hold High Kick - Forward - Back - Forward - Forward - Release High Kick [close] Hold High Kick - Forward - Forward - Forward - Rel. High Kick [next to opp.] (Sheeva rips the skin off of her victim, leaving a bloody mess...ever seen Hellraiser? Yuck!) Animality: Run - Block - Block - Block - Block [close] (Sheeva turns into a scorpion and stings away) Friendship: Forward - Forward - Down - Forward - Pause for 1/2 second - High Punch (Sheeva turns around and spins plates) Babality: Down - Down - Down - Back - High Kick Stage: Down - Forward - Down - Forward - Low Punch Combos: High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - High Kick - High Kick - Low Kick - Roundhouse Kick (7 hit 37%) High Punch - High Punch - Low Punch - Forward & High Punch (4 hit 22%) Low Kick - High Kick - High Kick - Leg Sweep (4 hit 19%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PC Game Cheat & Info list maintainer (current version is .8) http://www.panix.com/~viper/ (wait for your comments) http://www.xmission.com/~rstulce/index.htm ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/solutions/non-IF/cheatlam.txt ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/faqs/cheat.list ftp://ftp.nucleus.com/pub/cheats/cheat_li.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @START@Duke Nukem 3D Official Slide Show Released! 3D Realms today released the official Slide Show for Duke Nukem 3D. Duke Nukem 3D is a fortcoming SHAREWARE title from 3D Realms! Inside the slide show are over 20 PCX shots that have not been seen ANYWHERE else, plus some text on the game. If you're interested, grab it! t's available now! The filename you'll be looking for is DUKESHOW.ZIP. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/19/95 - Duke Nukem 3D screen shots ===================================== Common Duke Nukem 3D questions: Q: When will it be out? A: The offical responce is "When it's ready". We are trying for a pre-XMAS release, but will hold the game to early January if we don't think it's ready to go out. We will NOT rush the game to make some lame deadline. We are getting more and more optomistic as the days go by though. Q: What are the system requirements? A: 486 DX2/66 (local bus recommended). The basic answer is "What are you happy playing on?" We are "happy" with the above system. 8 MEGS of ram and CD will be required. Also, a CD-ROM is required for the registered version. Q: What weapons are there? A: Still tweaking and working on them, but the basic list is: Kick, High speed pistol, shotgun, 3 barrel chain gun, rocket launcher, pipe bomb with remote detonator, shrink ray (really fun), microwave assault cannon, wall mounted laser trip bomb (plant and forget). Obviously some will be held back from the shareware version. Which ones? Dunno yet. Q: How many levels are there and how big is the shareware version? A: The shareware version will be 5 levels and a secret level. 4 of the levels are going to be really fun for network play and the other two fairly large, but slanted towards single play more. The full game will have another 21 levels or so, depending on time. At least 18 though. The shareware version will likely be between 4 and 5 megs in download size. Q: Can I be a beta tester? A: No. Sorry, but we have all we need at the moment. We'll post a message if we need any more. Please let us get back to work :) PRESS PEOPLE ============ Direct your email to me at the following addresses if you have any questions. Internet: george.broussard@3drealms.com CompuServe: 71321,2743 WHERE TO GET OUR GAMES ====================== To get the shareware versions of any of our games, or to check out what we're up to, contact one of the following sites. All three are posted to immediately upon a release. 1) Software Creations - This is the official home BBS for 3D Realms Entertainment and Apogee Software, Ltd. Software Creations is also reachable over the Internet by telnetting to bbs.swcbbs.com. (508) 368-7036 2400 - 14.4k (Public Access) (508) 368-6604 14.4k - 28.8k (Public Access) (508) 368-7139 2400 - 14.4k (Member Access) (508) 368-3424 14.4k - 28.8k (Member Access) 2. CompuServe: GO REALMS. Lots of our authors get on this site and talk about the games they are working on. 3. Internet World Wide Web: http//www.3drealms.com. We are currently getting over 2,000 hits a day, so drop by and see what's new and what's got everyone coming back! This site will be updated frequently with screen shots and other bits of information. COMING SOON: The Apogee/3D Realms "Live Shot" camera. Within a week or so, we will have a camera hooked up that will drop "live" shots to the web site every few minutes. We might focus the camera on the screen of a Duke Nukem 3D development computer, or on one of our other internal 3D games such as Prey. You never know what you'll see. Thanks for checking out this slide show. 3D Realms Entertainment: "Reality is our game." (tm) George Broussard President, 3D Realms --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Joe Siegler - Apogee Software | |\ _,,,---,,_ | | apogee@metronet.com | ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ | | | |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' | | http://www.swcbbs.com | '---''(_/--' `-'\_) | | finger apogee@metronet.com | Flash, the sleeping kitty cat! | --------------------------------------------------------------------- @START@Ripley/Master Lu Walkthrough First, in deference to Sanctuary Woods, this is not a thorough walk-thru, in that I'm not listing out all the miniscule commands step-by-step as is given in their Official Player's Guide. This is more of a macroscopic overview with some key hints on getting through each section. Second, the game comes with a walkthrough up until you enter the Hall of Classics, so I'll start after then. Third, some things will be true in general, including: always buy foreign currency the first time you arrive in a new land; sketch everything you can; listen carefully to everything you hear. *PEIPING* HALL OF CLASSICS The wheel spokes knocked something out of place. Talk to Mei, look at and sketch everything you see. Talk to the priest. Mail your two treasures back to New York and then go to DANZIG. *DANZIG* Go to the castle, and chat with the gardener until you've no more choices. Chat with the Baron. There is a hard-to-spot oddity in the sitting room. BILLIARD ROOM Take everything you can, and open every drawer you can. FINDING THE LAB From the Billiard Room, you need to use the billiard ball and a tiny, hidden switch on the wall to get the secret door to open. GETTING THE EMERALD Get everything from the drawer and walls. To get the emerald, set up a mechanism using the lever key, the surgical tubing, the pump handle, the handle from the faucet, and the periodic table (!). GETTING OUT OF THE LAB The mechanism here requires the glass jar, the lever key, the pump rod, the pump handle, the cork, the rubber plug, the garden hose, the surgical tube, the faucet pipe, and the handle to the sink (yes, they *all* go into the mechanism). For the combination to the door, read the letters on the Emerald backwards, and look at an item which you got in this room which is not presently keeping the door open. AFTER THE LAB Head to the graveyard. Check out the bell. After Wolf leaves, try climbing the ladder to peer into the grates. After you see the rope mechanism, you'll have to go back to New York to get a pair of items that began the game in the Odditorium. When you come back to Danzig with these items, the ladder will be gone, and Wolf will be at the side of the castle. You need some of the he's using. Distract him by doing something on the castle grounds to anger him. Then grab his stuff, and use it to get back at the grate. You'll need the two things from New York, plus another thing you grabbed on the castle grounds, to put into the grate to get the bell ringing. Send the treasures back to NY (but keep the emerald) if you didn't drop them off already, and then head to PERU. *PERU* Be sure to look carefully at this Posh Express Office more than the others, and sketch things, and ask questions of the desk clerk. Head to MOCHA MOCHE. MOCHA MOCHE Cross the chasm and talk to the digger. Bargain with him for the oddity, and then give him something from your inventory. Grab the rest of his things, including the toy, when he leaves. Get the vines (two of them) and replace the rope with them. Use the rope and ladder to get the skull. Oh, and of course, look at the stele. THE OBSERVATORY Your journal now has plenty enough material on the first page alone to open the door to the observatory (look for patterns in the order of the glyphs). Use the skull and shovel to move the dome. Then grab everything you can and head back to Peru, and then get a plane to EASTER ISLAND. *EASTER ISLAND* Talk to the woman in the pit. Talk to her about things til you find out all you can from her. Head to the old woman's cove. OLD WOMAN Talk to the old woman, and take all you can. Head back to the dig site. Read and take the note. Take everything else you can as well, both at the dig site and in the buildings (there are five, including the note). Get the obsidian stone from the statue you sketched. Head back to the old woman. Use two of the things in your inventory together to move the statue. Give the old woman one of your items which should go with the statue, and then head back to Posh Express. Do some trading. Head back to the Old Woman with the last bit of the statue. After the old woman leaves, get Twelvetrees to help you check out the hole on the cliff. Take everything, including the item she drops. Head to the Quarry. QUARRY MAZE Use the primitive map and Twelvetrees' map to find your way to the four symbols on the statues (sketch them). Figure out which rock needs moving. Use two of the items you have as a single combined item to wet down the area in front of the rock. Sketch what you find, and then take it back to Twelvetrees. ESCAPING THE DIG SITE Go into the shed and find the item you can pick up. Rig a trap using the item you just found, the drain valve of the gas tank, the pull cord, and the lighter. Do something to get the nasties' attention and get out of the window quickly. Then, after all is resolved, send your oddities back to New York and then head to SIKKIM. *SIKKIM* Grab an item from the Posh Express here. Get past the guard using something small you found long ago (the guard has something that looks a lot like this tiny item). The guard does have a good bit of information about things, which you should listen to carefully before getting past him. Talk to him again before you go by him. TEMPLE There are five prayer wheels you can take. Take them all and rearrange them in their correct order (what the monks tell you will help. Note that the monks KNOW one prayer, and are SEEKING a second, different one, neither of which matches the movable wheel in front of them). Then talk to the monk who's been there the longest and you'll get into the maze. TEMPLE MAZE Pull each rope to figure out which ways you may go (you can only go in lighted directions). Map the maze -- it is long, but there are luckily no one-way doors. There are two oddities that you can pocket at dead ends in the maze. The ladder going up is easy to get to, and you need but look at everything in the Cupola. Head back to the Posh Express, mail your goodies back to NY, and then head to PEIPING. *PEIPING, Finale* Get the gong and mallet -- you'll regret not having them otherwise. Crush the guy who's trying to kill Mei. Get your journal back, and restore the writing on it with something from the room. You'll be whicked off to the Farm. FARM This is a pretty self-explanatory area. Talk to the Farmer after every new discovery. Look at everything at the farm, and then head where the farmer indicates; find the hand, and dig it out (you'll need a shovel). Go into the hole. Remember, the farmer has lots of answers. *TOMB* FIVE CORRIDORS Check out all five, and read the last line on your journal. There are some items you can take before passing through the jade door (actually, one is too big to carry, but you can bring it with you still). PATTERN TUNNEL You'll need to find a way to trigger the traps without being killed. It's easier than it looks. Get the crank handle, and never leave it behind when you move through a door. BLOCK TUNNEL You have to prop the heavy block up with something. You need a third item besides the crank and the propping-up item to be able to get the propping item into place safely. Grab the crank again. BRIDGE This is tricky, and I'll only mention two things you should do here: 1) move the wheel a few time and pay close attention. 2) You are heavier than Mei, and so she should cross first. TOMB CHAMBER Mercury is very heavy, much heavier than water, and so things float in it very easily. The rest is simple. Have fun! --Steve -- Steve Pagano pagano@math.binghamton.edu FDC Zazu SirZazu@msn.com "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each." -- TSE @START@Phantasmagoria Walkthrough. Dear friends, Sorry for not posting this walkthorough to individuals as my modem broke down. Grab it, guys. INTRODUCTION This Walkthru has been written based on the *UNCENSORED* version of "Phantasmagoria" and is intended only as a guide to enable you to finish the game. If you follow it "verbatum", you will miss out on a lot of the small details and subtle changes that take place and add to your enjoyment of the game. It also assumes you have read the manual that comes with the game. Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of the instructions contained in this Walkthru, but errors do occur. Please let me know if you find any so I can correct them at the earliest opportunity. There are certain things you should do every day, and which are not included in this Walkthru. You will notice a fortune-telling machine in the Reception Hall. Check it every day and notice that it becomes more sinister as the game progresses. You might also want to periodically check behind the bar to see if anyone has been nipping at the absinthe! There are two paintings in the Conservatory on the third floor. If you periodically look at the large one, you will begin to notice subtle changes. And if you regularly inspect the rooms in the house, you will notice things appearing and disappearing. Directions to the various rooms in the house will only be given the first time you visit them, so you may want to draw yourself a floorplan so you don't get lost. The same goes for the various locations on the grounds. "Phantasmagoria" uses an interactive cursor, which basically takes the guesswork out of things because you no longer have the option to examine or pick up objects. Run your cursor across the screen until it either highlights or becomes a direction arrow. If it highlights, click on your left mouse button and Adrienne will do whatever is necessary for that action. If the item is necessary to progress in the game, it will appear in one of your inventory boxes. If not, Adrienne will put it back down. If your cursor becomes a direction arrow, click on your left mouse button and Adrienne will move in that direction. If you are told to "examine" "use" or *open* an item, simply run your cursor across it until it highlights. Whenever you want to use an item in your inventory, click on the item to remove it and it will become your cursor. When you are finished with the item, you must return it to your inventory before proceeding. If you are able to talk to a character in the game, your cursor will highlight when you run it over that character and will remain highlighted until that person runs out of things to say. CHAPTER 1 (Sunday, October 16 - 9:00 a.m.) Watch the opening video of Don and Adrienne. When you assume control of the game, click cursor on floor and Adrienne will stand up. Click cursor on kitchen cupboard against RIGHT wall and view open drawer. Click on matches and Adrienne will take them. You will now see the book of matches in one of your inventory windows. Walk NORTHWEST and Adrienne will open the Pantry door. Turn on light just above Adrienne's head. Examine rug to reveal trap door. Try to open trap door, without success. Perhaps you can find something later that will help you to pry the trap door open. Exit Pantry. Walk SOUTH TO leave Kitchen and then walk NORTHWEST to enter Dining Room. Examine fireplace and take poker. Walk SOUTH and examine mirror. Walk SOUTH to reposition Adrienne. Walk NORTH and enter Kitchen. Open door to Pantry and turn on light. Use poker on trap door to open door. Attempt to walk downstairs, but Adrienne will remark that she can't see a thing. Use matches on Adrienne to provide light. She will automatically walk down the basement stairs and light lantern. Take hammer laying on floor and explore basement. Walk back upstairs and exit Pantry. Exit Kitchen and return to Dining Room. Walk EAST to enter Reception Hall and watch video. Zoom in on fireplace and take newspaper laying on floor. Walk EAST and then NORTHEAST. Try to open door and discover it's locked. Walk SOUTH back to Reception Hall. Walk EAST and play piano. Click on bar and examine bottles until Adrienne picks one up. Try to open the door to the right of the bar, but it's locked as well. Walk EAST. Walk upstairs and go EAST to enter Marie's bedroom. Take tarot cards sitting on dresser against RIGHT wall. Walk WEST and open drawer of dressing table. Take the letter and read about Marie's affair with Gaston. Click on "EXIT" and Adrienne will close drawer. Exit Marie's bedroom. Walk WEST and enter Carno's bedroom. Walk SOUTHWEST and examine box sitting on table. Open box and examine ring. Open dresser drawer and examine cigarette case. You will notice that there are 3 cigarettes. Lay on bed and see video of hands grabbing Adrienne followed by video of Don coming to her rescue. Exit Carno's bedroom. Walk NORTH *twice* and enter Trophy Room. Examine mirror. Touch chair. Try to work gramophone. Exit Trophy Room. Walk WEST and enter Dark Room where you'll find Don. After discussion with Don, leave Dark Room. Walk EAST and Adrienne will climb stairs leading up to third floor. Examine door just to the RIGHT of where Adrienne is standing to discover key is stuck in lock. Go WEST to enter Nursery. Pick up teddy bear sitting on top of dresser and head will fall off. Walk SOUTH and touch strange bubble floating above crib. Exit Nursery. Walk SOUTH down hallway and then turn WEST. Walk EAST to enter Adrienne's bedroom. Examine dresser against LEFT wall to open drawer and take $5 bill. Walk SOUTH and examine computer. Exit Adrienne's bedroom. Walk WEST and enter Conservatory. Locate and examine *dragon statue*. Walk WEST until you find two paintings. Examine both paintings. Exit Conservatory and return Dark Room to see what Don is up to. Walk back downstairs to the main floor. Leave the house by the front door to RIGHT of stairs and walk SOUTH to car. Click on car and Adrienne will automatically get in and drive into town. After arriving in town, walk NORTHWEST to old house. Open mailbox and read letter to see who lives there. Pat dog. Perhaps you should look for something the dog might like. Leave house and return to car. Walk NORTHEAST into town. Observe that the Antique Store is closed. Perhaps you can try again tomorrow. Enter Real Estate Office. Keep talking to agent until he tells Adrienne to look for keys. Open file cabinet drawer and Adrienne will take key. Leave and walk WEST to General Store and observe that it's closed as well. Walk SOUTH to car and return home. Enter house by front door. Walk SOUTHWEST and try key from Real Estate Office on large double doors. No luck!! Walk SOUTHWEST and then NORTHEAST. Try key on Library door. Bingo!! Click on magazine sitting on table. Examine desk in RIGHT corner, then examine statue on desk to take statue. Click on drawer to read letter from Carno. Walk NORTH and examine fireplace. Take a closer look and Adrienne will accidentally remove a loose brick. Look through hole in bricks to see hidden room. Try to remove bricks with poker and hammer, but nothing happens. Examine statue in your inventory to reveal letter opener. Use letter opener on fireplace and Adrienne will remove enough bricks for her to fit through. Enter Chapel. Walk WEST and examine book on altar to read about Carno's family tree. Open box and see evil escape. Video shows evil travelling upstairs and into the Dark Room. Adrienne ends up in Dark Room with Don and Chapter 1 ends. CHAPTER 2 (Monday, October 17 - 10:00 a.m.) Inventory Items: $5 Bill, Hammer, Newspaper, Key, Poker, and Tarot Cards. Watch video of Adrienne having a confrontation with Don. Walk down to main floor and hear music playing. Return to second floor and enter Trophy Room to discover gramophone is playing. Leave Trophy Room and return to main floor. Leave house by front door and walk to car. Drive into town. Walk to Antique Store and discover it's open. Enter Antique Store and listen to Lou talk on the phone about cameos. Examine glass case to see crucifix. Talk to Lou until she runs out of things to say and then leave store. (NOTE: Lou may or may not give Adrienne some old newspaper articles to read during this visit. If not, she will later in the game). Enter Real Estate Office, watch video and then leave. Walk to General Store and discover it's open as well. Enter General Store and talk to Harve, the owner, to get drain cleaner. Give $5 bill to Harve to pay for cleaner and he will tell Adrienne about Malcolm. There is more to the store than meets the eye. Walk WEST and then SOUTH until you reach the back of the store. Read the sign above the barrel. Take soup bone from barrel. Exit General Store and return to Antique Store. Enter Antique Store and talk to Lou to get more information about Malcolm and his nurse, Ethel. Keep talking to Lou until she runs out of things to say. Exit store and return to the car. (Note: You have the option of returning to Malcolm's now, but you won't be able to get in the house). Get into car and Adrienne will drive home. After Adrienne gets out of the car, enter barn. Enter stall just to LEFT of Adrienne and Spaz will jump down from loft. Walk SOUTH and discover evidence that someone is living there. Click on pots and Adrienne will be surprised by Don. Give drain cleaner to Don. If Don leaves the barn without the drain cleaner, return to the house and walk up to the Dark Room. Knock on door and Don will take the drain cleaner. Chapter 2 ends. (NOTE: If Don takes the drain cleaner in the barn, Adrienne must still return to the Dark Room in order to end Chapter 2). CHAPTER 3 (Thursday, October 20 - 12:30 p.m.) Inventory Items: Bone, Hammer, 2 Keys, Newspaper, Poker, Tarot Cards. After watching opening "Picnic" video, click on large tree at RIGHT to meet Cyrus. He will tell you his mother is in trouble, so follow him into the barn. (NOTE: If you don't catch Cyrus hiding behind the tree, head for the barn and he will find you before you get a chance to go inside). Talk to Harriett and Cyrus, and then climb ladder up to loft. Take pitchfork and then use pitchfork on pulley to bring pulley closer. Use pulley to rescue Harriett. Examine hole and see nail. Use hammer to remove nail and climb down ladder, where Adrienne will talk to Cyrus and Harriett. Walk SOUTHWEST to follow them and then talk to them again. Exit barn. Enter house and walk upstairs to locked room on third floor. Take newspaper from inventory and use it on door. Adrienne will shove paper underneath door. Use nail on door to push key key through. Pull newspaper from underneath door to get key. (NOTE: If you do not have the newspaper, you can use the poker to retrieve the key). Unlock door with key and enter Tower Room. Open door on extreme RIGHT and enter Malcolm's Bedroom. Take book from dresser and read inscription. Look out window and see Greenhouse. Exit room and return to hallway. When you hear baby crying, enter nursery and see chair rock and hear someone singing lullaby. (NOTE: Don't worry if you don't hear baby crying because this isn't necessary to progress further in the game.) Enter Adrienne's bedroom and examine computer. Adrienne discovers "YOU HAVE DANGER" amongst the other garbled words. Exit bedroom. Exit house by front door and walk to car. Drive into town and return to Malcolm's house. Give soup bone to dog, open gate and knock on door. (NOTE: If you have never talked to Ethel before, she will slam the door in Adrienne's face, so you'll have to knock again. If you paid a second visit to Malcolm's house during Chapter 2 after getting the soup bone, you will only have to knock once.) Give book to Ethel to gain entrance. Watch video of Adrienne talking to Malcolm. Adrienne will automatically leave house and return to car. Drive home and watch video of Don confronting Adrienne when she gets out of car. Chapter 3 ends. CHAPTER 4 (Friday, October 21 - 7:00 a.m.) Inventory Items: Hammer, 2 Keys, Newspaper, Poker, Tarot Cards After viewing opening video of highly controversial *alleged* rape scene, Adrienne ends up in her bedroom. Exit bedroom. Walk down to second floor and enter Carno's bedroom. Pick up necklace sitting on table. Adrienne will hear voices and then necklace will disappear. Walk down to main floor and Harriett will talk to Adrienne. Keep talking to Harriett until she tells Adrienne about building in the woods. Follow Harriett into the kitchen and give tarot cards to her to see video of tarot card reading. Walk outside (using side door from Dining Room). Talk to Cyrus and see video of him teasing the cat. Leave and look around and then return. Talk to Cyrus again and then follow him. Walk EAST, NORTHWEST, SOUTHWEST and SOUTHEAST to find him. After he fells the tree and leaves, use the tree to cross. Go EAST and take telescope lens case. Go EAST and enter Greenhouse. Walk EAST and pick up large pot to discover Hortencia's remains. Walk WEST and take trowel to see video of Hortencia's murder. Adrienne will run out of Greenhouse and end up beside telescope. Use telescope to learn that lens case is missing. Put lens case on telescope and then use telescope to see window beside Tower Room. Return to house and see strange truck parked in driveway. Enter house through front door and talk to Mike, the phone installer. Walk upstairs to Tower Room but, as Adrienne passes the Dark Room on her way to the third floor, Don will come out and harrass her. Proceed to Tower Room and discover a secret panel on LEFT. Use hammer on panel and Adrienne will remove enough boards to reveal entrance. Enter Attic. Examine pictures. Open trunk and take cameo. Pick up locket and then diary, but Adrienne won't keep them. Examine contraption. Exit Attic. Walk downstairs to main floor and watch video of Don confronting Mike, ending Chapter 4. CHAPTER 5 (Friday, October 31 - 8:30 p.m.) Inventory Items: Cameo, 2 Keys, Hammer, Poker After viewing opening video of Adrienne crying bloody tears, examine computer and notice the words "GET OUT" and "DO NOT TRUST" amongst garbled letters. Exit bedroom. Walk to Attic and notice mirror reflecting. Look into mirror to watch video of Leonora's murder. Exit Attic and walk downstairs to Trophy Room. Notice how the mirror has changed? Look into mirror to see video of Regina's murder. Exit Trophy Room. Walk downstairs to main floor. Cyrus will instruct you to go to the barn. Exit house by front door and head straight for the barn. Watch seance video. Exit barn. Look into the pond to the LEFT of side door to find bodies of Sofia and Spaz. Adrienne will end up in Dining Room. Examine mirror to see video of Victoria's murder. Adrienne will end up in the Kitchen. Walk down to Basement and hear woman crying. Walk NORTHWEST, then NORTH and Adrienne will enter small room. Notice hand coming through the bars behind her. Exit Basement. When you hear music, exit the house and walk to the Gazebo. Examine red rose at edge of walkway leading into Gazebo and watch video of Gaston and Marie. Return to house. Walk upstairs to third floor and enter Conservatory. Notice dragon statue is now in middle of room? Examine revolving light. Examine circle of light being shone on wall to reveal secret panel, and Adrienne will enter secret passage. Use elevator on RIGHT to go down. Pick up white item laying on ground to reveal cigarette butt. Examine peephole on LEFT to peer into Marie's bedroom. Pull lever to reveal secret entrance to Marie's bedroom and Adrienne will enter bedroom. Exit bedroom through secret panel. Walk NORTH and use second elevator (to LEFT). Walk NORTHEAST and find chasm. Walk SOUTHEAST and click on switch straight ahead to enter Theatre. Take note of location of secret panel Adrienne just entered through. Walk SOUTH and enter Make-Up Room to LEFT of chair. Open cupboard and find picture of Carno and Malcolm on top shelf. Examine poster behind dressing table. Exit Make-Up Room. Examine chair and see video of Adrienne in chair. Exit Theatre through double doors and find Don passed out in Reception Hall. This ends Chapter 5. CHAPTER 6 (Saturday, October 22 - 9:20 a.m.) Inventory Items: Cameo, Hammer, 2 Keys, Picture, Poker Watch opening video of Adrienne finding Don hung over, discovering Spaz' collar followed by Mike's arrival. Walk to Library and enter Chapel through fireplace. Open box where evil escaped from in Chapter 1 and read book. Instead of exiting the Chapel through the fireplace, notice a new path is now available. Walk SOUTHEAST and then enter secret passage just to RIGHT of where Adrienne is standing. Follow the passage and Adrienne will find herself in the Crypt. Examine the name plates on both tombs to discover this is Carno's and Marie's final resting place. Use poker on left tomb to reveal Marie's body. (Note the crucifix entwined in her hand. This may be important during Chapter 7 if you are in need of a holy item). Use poker on right tomb to reveal Carno's body (or so you think <G>). Walk NORTHWEST and examine coffins to discover two other wives are buried there. Exit the Crypt and return to the Chapel. Exit Chapel through fireplace and return to Reception Hall. Walk upstairs to Marie's bedroom and look at mirror over dressing table to see video of Carno's burned face, followed by Marie & Gaston in Marie's bedroom and Carno sneaking up on Gaston and dragging him into secret passage. When Adrienne exits bedroom, she hears Marie calling for Gaston ("my angel"). Do you remember seeing "my angel" somewhere else in the game? Walk to the front door and talk to Mike. Then leave house by front door and enter the barn. Walk SOUTH and you will see video of Harriett and Cyrus packing to leave. Talk to each of them until they have nothing more to say and then leave the barn. Get into the car and drive to town. Go to Malcolm's house. Open gate and knock on door. When Ethel answers, give her picture of Malcolm and Carno to gain entrance. Watch video of Malcolm and Adrienne and pay close attention to *everything* Malcolm has to say. It could save your life in Chapter 7 <G>! Adrienne will automatically leave Malcolm's and end up back at her car. Walk to the Antique Store and give cameo to Lou to trade for crucifix. Leave Antique Store and return to car. Drive back home. Enter house through front door and watch video of Mike, followed by video of a possessed Don killing Mike. This ends Chapter 6. CHAPTER 7 (Saturday, October 22 - 3:30 p.m.) Inventory Items: Crucifix, Hammer, 2 Keys, Poker There is more than one way to play Chapter 7, all of which will enable you to finish the game. This is the *EASY* path and assumes you have traded in the cameo for the crucifix at the Antique Store. Watch opening video and then examine computer to discover that Don has destroyed it. Walk down the hall to nursery and pick up glass shard laying on floor. Leave nursery and go downstairs to main floor. Enter Theatre and examine video machine to RIGHT of chair. Watch video of Carno being burned. Enter Make-Up Room to LEFT of chair. Examine vest laying on floor to find snowman. As the Hintkeeper would say, "the open Dark Room beckons"!! Take a deep breath and enter the Dark Room. This is where the movie sequence begins, and complete instructions are contained in the README file contained in your game directory. If you are killed at any point during this sequence, the movie will review itself up to the point where you made a bad choice. You then have the opportunity to try something different. Enter the Dark Room and watch video. When you are able to once again take control of the game, reach for the acid to the RIGHT of where Adrienne is standing and she will throw it in Don's face. Take the book sitting on the table and Don will catch Adrienne in her attempt to flee the room. Watch video of Don strapping Adrienne into "The Throne of Terror". Once you have taken the book, there is no way to escape this fate. At the first opportunity, give Don the snowman to distract him, and then pull the lever on the RIGHT side of the chair (or Adrienne's LEFT side) to kill him. After the demon rises from Don's body, escape the Theatre through the secret passage to the RIGHT of the double doors. When you regain control of the game, go EAST and, when you come to the chasm, grab the overhead water pipe. Adrienne will cross the chasm, run through the passage and enter the room at the end. When you get to this part of the game, time is of the essence so you have to be quick with your actions. *Immediately* bolt the door (the bolt is on the LEFT side of the door). Run SOUTHWEST and you will see a table within a circle. Click on the table to position Adrienne inside circle. Place the book on the table and Adrienne will begin to translate. When you are asked to place the talisman on the open book page, search the body laying on the other side of the table and Adrienne will get the talisman. Immediately place it on the book, remembering that you have to remove it from your inventory first. When you are asked to drip blood of a living person over the talisman, use the glass shard on Adrienne and she will cut her finger and drip the blood. When you are asked to hold a blessed item over the talisman, take the crucifix and place it on the book. Adrienne will continue with her incantation and the demon will rise behind her and then disappear. The story ends with a shell-shocked Adrienne slowly walking away from the house. ADDENDUM My thanks to Nancy B. Linsley for providing me with a list of all videos she saw while playing "Phantasmagoria" so I could double-check what I already had and add the couple that I was missing. The only one I didn't manage to find was the wine barrel video in the basement. When you have finished, you might want to go back and replay Chapter 7 without any of the *necessary* items in your inventory before entering the Dark Room, and you will have the opportunity to race through the secret passages while tripping over dead bodies with Don in hot pursuit <VBG>! You'll find Mike's body in the secret passages when you pull the lever to open the secret entrance to Marie's bedroom. You'll find Cyrus' body on the way to the Crypt, and Harriett's remains are in the Theatre. Unfortunately, the sleezy Real Estate agent is still alive <G>! DID YOU NOTICE ... That if you look closely at the mirror in the Dining Room, the portrait over the fireplace is of a different person. That if you examine the large painting in the Conservatory in Chapter 4, the paint is still wet. That if you open the dresser drawer in Carno's bedroom in Chapter 5 and examine the cigarette case, one cigarette is missing. That if you look in the jewellery box on the table in Carno's bedroom in Chapter 7, the ring is missing. That if you open the box sitting on the altar of the Chapel in Chapter 7, the book is missing. That if Adrienne tries to leave the house by the front door in Chapter 7, she will discover that an evil force is preventing her from opening it. She will automatically run to the side door and, when she discovers it won't open either, she will take the hammer and try to break the windows. At that point, she realizes that she's trapped and you *know* you're in trouble <G>! This walkthru is Copyright (C) 1995 by Susan Niles, and is not to be distributed or reproduced without the express written consent of the author. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PC Game Cheat & Info list maintainer (current version is .5) http://www.panix.com/~viper/ (wait for your comments) ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/solutions/non-IF/cheatlam.txt ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/faqs/cheat.list ftp://ftp.nucleus.com/pub/cheats/cheat_li.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Best Regards, Richard Loh. lohcc@pop.jaring.my @START@** HL's Crusader: No Remorse Review ** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- **- C R U S A D E R : N O R E M O R S E R E V I E W -** Origin has finally "created a world." Released: October 23, 1995 EST Written by: Hank Leukart (ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: The *FULL* review, complete with eight 640x480x256 screenshots, a QuickTime movie, a MOD file, and the full HTML document is available from my homepage at http://www.portal.com/~hleukart by choosing "Game Reviews and Previews" and then choosing "Crusader: No Remorse." These pages use tables, frames, and other features of Netscape Navigator. Usage of Netscape Navigator v2.0 is highly recommended. Origin Systems, Inc. has never ranked high on my list of game companies. Considering my hate for RPGs, Ultima always ranked low on my game list. I disliked System Shock, and I am one of the few who never got into Wing Commander. Actually, the only Origin game I can ever remember liking was Auto Duel, a great game in which you drive a car around in a futuristic world, delivering packages and blowing up other cars along the way. Auto Duel, of course, is over ten years old, and I played it on my old Apple II+. So naturally, when I heard about Crusader: No Remorse, I thought, "Yeah, right," and went back to playing Buried In Time. After hearing a lot more good things about Crusader and downloading Origin's nine megabyte QuickTime movie with action from the game (see download section at left), I finally caved in and bought the game. To use an annoying cliche, "the rest is history." Origin's Crusader: No Remorse is so far my favorite action game of 1995, beating out such heavyweights as Mech Warrior 2, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, and FX Fighter. Although Crusader has the plot of any standard action game ("You have chosen to throw in your lot with the global Resistance opposing the tyranny of the World Economic Consortium. Kill everyone."), the game itself is far from a copy. The box's claim that Crusader is a "nonstop action game from a different perspective" is not a lie. I do not know anyone who isn't at least slightly sick of the first-person, 3-D action games that have been manufactured without stop since DOOM's release. I was starting to wonder if companies were going to abandon the thought of creating more original action games in favor of copying DOOM. Fortunately, my fears were only in vain; Origin did not forget me. Crusader is a kill everything shoot `em up, but instead of scrolling to the right or being in first person, the game uses an isometric (three-fourths) 3-D view, similar to the view of the latest Ultimas and Syndicate. By taking a look at the game screen shots (see left), you can see that this view is a welcome change from the standard action genre. All of Crusader's graphics are rendered in beautiful, 640x480x256 mode. Everything looks very realistic, and the perfection of the scenes immerses the player. Nothing was neglected, from the rotating gun turrets to the robotic enemies, the floor mines to the key cards. Additionally, the game's animation is smooth and looks like a lot of time was put into it. All of the enemies move realistically, and the Silencer's (the Silencer is your character) techniques look authentic. The way he handles the gun, runs, jumps, and rolls all look very cool. The only small problem I found with the animation is that when you move the Silencer into somewhere he should not be (e.g. try to roll him into a fence), he will jerk back unexpectedly. Speaking of the game's immersiveness, the environment is spectacular. You can blow just about everything up, and if you cannot blow it up, you can probably pick it up. See an enemy next to a barrel filled with toxic chemicals? Blow it up. See a tank of gas sitting next to a robotic gun attached to the wall? Watch it go up in flames. If you see a computer, you can walk over to it, read the owner's E-mail, and later use the secret code you discovered to open a security door. Try turning a valve and watch as some toxic gas leaks from a pipe across the room and kills a guard. Shoot a metal container and watch it go rolling across a room, hit a guard, and kill him. Crates often contain ammunition, force fields can be deactivated by destroying the computer that controls them, security monitors can be looked at to view other parts of the building, and floor mines can be destroyed with spider bombs so that they do not destroy you. In other words, if it is in the game, it can undoubtedly be interacted with. Unlike many other shoot `em ups, however, Crusader is not completely brainless. Granted, much of the game is composed of shooting everything in view, but the whole thing is not that easy. Many rooms are more strategy oriented. Guards, robots, bombs, and crates are placed in various strategic places making it difficult to take out the guards without getting killed by surround robots or being seen by a security camera. In these situations, some thought is often helpful. Using land mines, explosive pacs, and spider bombs skillfully can often mean the difference between life and death. Deciding whether to kill a robotic gun or a guard first can be extremely important. Other strategy-based parts of the game include locating key cards and codes to go through doors and figuring out which switches and buttons to push to deactivate force fields. Along with strategy, Crusader attempts plot, doing this with a number of full-motion video and 3-D rendered cut sequences. The rendered movies are quite good, but they are unfortunately far and few between. The full-motion video actors are usually unbelievable, annoying, and just plain bad. If there is one thing about Crusader that I do not like, this is it. Thankfully, these sequences are easily skipable and are not necessary to complete the game. An explosive game requires explosive sound, and Crusader is not deficient in this area. The game uses an all-digital sound system called Asylum (similar to Epic's MASI system) and is pretty cool. All of the music is very techno-oriented with lots of cool drum beats and adrenaline rushing rhythms to instill excitement into the game. The sound is realistic; the guns sound like guns, the explosions sound nice and big, and the screaming deaths of the guards lets you know when you hit and when you missed. The only drawback to Asylum is that it only supports 100% Sound Blaster compatible sound cards. For those with UltraSounds and similar cards, you are out of luck. Fortunately, the creator of Asylum promises patches to support other sound cards in the coming months. And, just as all action games involving killing people should be, Crusader is filled with tons of graphic violence. When you shoot a guard, he not only falls to the ground but a small pool of blood stains the floor around him. Fire a rocket at a guard and watch as he is reduced to a bit of ash on the floor. One of my personal favorites, though, is shooting a barrel filled with toxic chemicals next to a guard. The barrel catches fire, followed by the guard catching on fire, who then runs around screaming bloody murder, all the while being smothered by flames. Disgusting? Yes, and I love it! Obviously, Crusader is not for the faint of heart. In most action games, the characters are confined to a small number of movements, such as up, down, left, and right. In Crusader, a lot more are available. Of course, you can move forward, backward, left and right, but you can also side step left and right, duck, roll left and right, run, jump, place mines on the floor, open crates, and use computers. The control is actually surprisingly easy, and can be mastered after about one half hour of play. For some reason, the game only supports keyboard and mouse control, with no game pad or joystick control available. I was a bit surprised by this; although I think that keyboard control is much better than mouse or joystick for this particular game, I can see how some would be annoyed by this. If you are a die-hard joystick fan, you may want to think twice before grabbing Crusader. Even then, however, Crusader's impressive game play offsets this small annoyance. One trend I have been seeing lately is the short playing time of games. Phantasmagoria cost $60 and gave me less than seven hours of playing time. Full Throttle, albeit an impressive adventure, was completely exhausted in less than six hours. Origin did the right thing though, and Crusader gives at least twenty hours of playing time. The game contains fifteen missions, each of which usually takes over an hour, sometimes more. I must say that I was pleased to see the sheer length of the game, as Crusader is giving me four times more playing time than Phantasmagoria did, and it does so for only $50. As a whole, Crusader: No Remorse is a remarkable game. Origin's new approach at action gaming has definitely turned out a winner. I still do not love Origin, but their great job at creating an original, exciting action shoot `em up has succeeded. Crusader is ground-breaking and if you are an action game fan, it is not to be missed. With Crusader's immersiveness and realism, Origin has finally done what their slogan promises: they have "created a world." This review is Copyright (C) 1995 by Hank Leukart, All Rights Reserved. ----------- Hank Leukart ------------ | "Official" DOOM FAQ v6.666 Writer --- (ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu) --- | FAQ available by E-mail/FTP/WWW -------WEB PAGE NOW AVAILABLE:------- | "Official" DOOM FTP Site: --(http://www.portal.com/~hleukart)---| ftp.cdrom.com: /pub/idgames @START@Pacific HiTech CD-ROM Presents... Pacific HiTech CD-ROM Presents... Game Head Monthly (November) Pacific HiTech CD-ROM in the age old tradition of listening to their users and fans is proud to present the October '95 issue of the Game Head Monthly CD-ROM. This month the disc is crammed with all of those HUGE games that you've been waiting to download..... Including our top ten new games this month! "And the winners are:" 1. Abuse v1.01 Final Release (DOS) 2. Inner Space (WIN 95) 3. Jewels of the Oracle (WIN) 4. Asteroid Mayhem v1.0 (DOS) 5. Preassure Drop (WIN 95) 6. Sky Borg (WIN) 7. Entombed v1.7 (WIN) 8. Skull Quest 2 (DOS) 9. WORMS Demo (DOS) 10. Pyramid Deluxe Solitaire v1.00 (DOS) JUST TEN GAMES? NO WAY ... YOU GET 50!! The disc contains over fifty great games. All of them verified by the games squad and deemed acceptable for human time consumption! WE GET VISITORS ***FLASH***FLASH*** Pacific HiTech has been rated in the top 5% of the internet by point communications!!!! Every day Pacific HiTech gets over 20,000 gamers checking out the newest stuff on our pages. You can too..... the address is http://www.pht.com/ We also have a mailing list, that we draw winners from for FREE STUFF! (Who doesn't want some FREE STUFF? Any Hands?) Anyway, make a bookmark for Pacific HiTech and see if we don't have the best games site around! _______________________________________________________________ Peter Bowen |Pacific HiTech | New Product Development |3855 South 500 West, Suite M | pab@pht.com |Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 | (801) 261-1024 x212 |U.S.A. | _______________________________________________________________ @START@G+ Magazine Goes Live! G+ Magazine, the Electronic Journal of Computer Entertainment, has now made its live debut on the Web. After many months of work, planning and sweat, G+ Magazine comes to you live and kicking at http://www.midnight.com.au/G+/start.html Come and visit, look around, subscribe to G+ and give us your ideas. G+ is published monthly, free-to-air, and is produced by contributors around the world for your edification and enjoyment. The latest issue (2.01) contains: Contents G+02.01.00.01 =-=--=-= G+02.01.01 Editorial: G+02.01.01.01 A New Horizon, by Eric Chew G+02.01.01.02 Step by Step, by Robert J. Spencer G+02.01.01.03 Colophon: This Is What It Takes G+02.01.02 Rumour and Occasional Fact: G+02.01.02.01 All The News That Matters, And Some That Doesn't G+02.01.02.02 The Update Update, by Matthias Rauhut G+02.01.03 Previews: G+02.01.03.01 Battlecruiser 3000AD, by Fred Oxley G+02.01.03.02 Shannara, by James Flood G+02.01.03.03 Shadow Of The Horned Rat, by Someone at Mindscape G+02.01.03.04 Operation: Inner Space, by Fred Oxley G+02.01.04 Reviews: G+02.01.04.01 CH Pedals, by Kenneth Goh G+02.01.04.02 Zone Raiders, by Andrew Boskovic G+02.01.04.03 Crusader: No Remorse, by Howard Ship G+02.01.04.04 TQS, by Kenneth Goh G+02.01.04.05 Thunderscape, by Gary Goodman G+02.01.05 A Brief Opinion On... G+02.01.05.01 3D Ultra Pinball, by Paul Williams G+02.01.05.02 3D Lemming, by anonymous G+02.01.05.03 PGA Tour Golf 96, by Eric Chew G+02.01.05.04 Thunderscape, by Fred Oxley G+02.01.05.05 Wetlands, by James Flood G+02.01.05.06 Mortak Kombat 3, by Fred Oxley G+02.01.05.07 Fighter Duel, by Kenneth Goh G+02.01.05.08 Uncle Sam Wants You! G+02.01.06 Focus: G+02.01.06.01 3DDD -- What Does It All Mean? G+02.01.06.02 Hype: Cause and Effect G+02.01.06.03 A How-To Guide to Home Focusing G+02.01.07 Random Reader's Comments: G+02.01.08 Industry Profile: G+02.01.08.01 Take 2, by James Flood G+02.01.09 Columns: G+02.01.09.01 On The Pulse, by Chris "Kegster" Ansell G+02.01.09.02 James Hogan's Postcards From The Tropical Igloo G+02.01.09.03 Wild Bill's Defence Journal, by T.G.A.T.T. G+02.01.09.04 The Story of the Bull & The Bear G+02.01.09.05 Converging Vectors, by Kenneth Goh ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ -- Chris Stronach PR/Communications Voice: +(61-9)242-1977 Midnight Publications Fax: +(61-9)242-4204 (Australian Office) Producers of PC Games Plus and G+ @START@ThunderScape Magic weapons & item table from CIS Thunderscape: Magic Weapons and Item: It seems there are two kind of magic weapons in the game: If it got the word magic in front of it (magic staff, magic Longsword etc.) it will only raise the Weaponskill for some points. (Easy to discover) If the weapon got a name, it has some special effects. Here now is a list of all the named weapons and items, i've encountert in the game: SWORDS Damage Price Skills Special Brede's Katana Max 24 35000 +25 Sword double damage to 5 - 15 Cutting Demons Thunderclap Max 34 50000 +30 Sword (2-handed) 4 - 24 Cutting 3 - 13 Electric Avenger Max 28 40000 User gains Bonus 6 - 16 Cutting to hit, every time the take damage Ripper Max 30 25000 +30 Sword 8 - 18 Cutting Sword of Ashes Max 28 125000 +10 Sword double damage to 5 - 20 Cutting Skeletons 1 - 6 Death Venom Max 12 82000 +30 Sword 1 - 6 Cutting 3 - 8 Poison Wisper Max 16 35000 +10 Sword can be used as 3 - 8 Cutting second weapon, raises change of scoring a critical hit Fang Max 18 50000 +30 Fenching Increases user's 5 - 10 Impale initiative 7 - 12 Cutting KNIFES Death Dealer Max 13 16000 +25 Knife does 5 extra 4 - 9 Impale damage to Target Shadow blade Max 18 15000 +20 Knife raises change of 5- 10 Impale +10 Stealth scoring a critical hit AXES All 3 Axes raises chance of scoring a critical hit Skullsplitter Max 18 18000 +15 Axe 4 - 9 Cutting Deathwish Max 32 25000 +5 Axe 7 - 22 Cutting 5 - 5 Death Executioner's Axe Max 30 45000 +30 Axe (2-handed) 5 - 20 Cutting MACES Bert Club Max 90 double damage to (2-handed) 18 - 48 Blunt Skeletons Warmonger Max 36 45000 +30 Mace Allows user to 8 - 28 Blunt double the effects of berserk attacks Shatter Storm Max 30 50000 +30 Mace Grants extra 6 - 16 Blunt attacks POLE ARMS Dreamer Max 18 35000 +15 Pole All hits must 6 - 11 Blunt resist or target will sleep Reaper Max 22 65000 +10 Pole Does double damage 6 - 16 Cutting Skeletons 5 - 10 Death Daemon Slayer Max 26 75000 +25 Pole Does double damage 6 - 21 Impale Demons Trident of Ages Max 28 65000 +25 Pole 8 - 23 Impale Dragon's talon Max 28 +30 Pole 4 - 14 Impale 6 - 21 Cutting 4 - 9 Fire SHIELD Drythen's Shield 24000 +25 Shield + 3 Willpower RINGS Ring of Protection all armour stats + 1 Ring of Reflexecs increases user's initiative Ring of Warmth +3 protection vs. cold Frivlar's Ring - nothing - Thaumaturge's Ring +20 Cast spells, increases healing rate Omar's Ring +3 protection vs. electricity Palmela's Ring +3 protection vs. poision Pho Hum's Ring +3 protection vs. acid Crusader's Ring +1 Strengh AMULETS Smithy's Ember +6 protection vs. fire Dancer's Amulet +20 Martial skill, + 15 Acrobat skill Amulet of vigor + 5 Hitpoints, increase resistance to poision Demon Amulet increase resistance to sleep Radiant Diamond increase resistance to disaesed Radiant Onyx +10 Stealth Radiant Rubin +10 protection vs. poison Radiant Shapphire +3 Willpower OTHERS Roscoe's Belt +20 Fenching Boots of balance +20 Acrobats, Armour +5 Shadow boots +25 Stealth, +15 Knife, Armour +4 Founder's Arour Increase defense against impaling, Armour +6 Radiant Plate Armour Armour +10 SPELL ITEMS Wand of undoing Dispel Spell Wand of magic restore mana Wand of wisper's Charm Spell Wilhelm's Wand Mana Bolt Wand of Ashes Fireball Talon of the Anarch Maelstrom Spell Tear of the Beast Charm Spell Radiant Cepter Banish Spell If i missed some item, please let me know. Good luck with the game Sir George 100712,543 Sir George, 100712,543 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PC Game Cheat & Info list maintainer (current version is .7) http://www.panix.com/~viper/ (wait for your comments) http://www.xmission.com/~rstulce/index.htm ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/solutions/non-IF/cheatlam.txt ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/faqs/cheat.list ftp://ftp.nucleus.com/pub/cheats/cheat_li.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @START@Review of Stonekeep Review of : Stonekeep Type : RPG/Adventure Dist: : Interplay Rating (0-10) : 8.5 I have played Stonekeep for about 25 hours, and am not finished yet, in fact, I don't even think I am half way through yet, so this review may be imperfect on a few things, but it should give those who are trying to decide wether or not to buy it a better idea. :) I have a 486/DX2-66 with 16 MB of RAM, a double-speed CDROM, and a Sound Blaster AWE-32. Install: This worked just fine for me. No problems, very straightforward, asks for digital sound, and midi sound (autodetected my AWE on both)... You choose here, which resolution to play the animations in. I picked full-screen high-resolution and it works at a very acceptable speed. Company Intro: I am a sucker for graphics! I love this intro! It has this gold bar fly onto the screen (along with appropriate stereo sound) and then this laser shoots in from the side of the screen, and burns "Interplay" into the bar. Excellent music at this point also! It looks like a rider for THX! Intro: If you have seen the mpeg/avi that has been floating around on the net for the last 4 months, it is the same as that. The graphics are good and fast, and the sound is good. Character Generation: There is none. This is perhaps a weak point of the game, which is why I labeled it a RPG/Adventure rather than a straight RPG. In fact, thinking back on it, it should actually be Adventure/RPG. There is no "role-playing" that I have seen so far, everything that your character says is predetermined at a specific spot, so you can't really "play" your character the way you want to. But, you do have skills and attributes that get raised as you exercise them. Graphics: Graphics are 320x200 VGA. The movement is "step". Some people complain that in this day and age, that step-movement is like 10 steps backward (no pun intended). I tend to disagree. Maybe it is becuase I grew up with RPG's that used that style of dungeon movement. I really don't like games that make me move with the mouse, it makes my enjoyment of the game diminish greatly... So, the movement is step, and the area is full screen with side areas being used for pop up inventory, journal and a "mirror". The mirror is where you equip yourself and your comapions. You can also see effects of specific spells there. All the magical effects that I have encountered so far are really well done. Spells looks good, react good. I would say that graphics are top notch (except for some of the digitized actors...One in particular looks horrible, The lady that walks in the blue halls - she only has 4 colors of flesh-tones... she looks like she is draw in in EGA!) Sound: The sound is excellent. Especially the music! As far as I can tell, it is themed to each level, and to combat. I have the AWE-32, so I get really nice sounding MIDI, and it is quite decent. The mood is very well set for all of the levels. The music does cycle, but it is long enough that it doesn't get annoying. All the digitized speech is good, and really sets the ambience of the game. When you come to something, characters speak about it, and it really feels like they are right next to you. Linearity: I believe the game to be quasi-linear. There are definetely things that you have to do to progress (keys to find to open doors, etc.), but it really hasn't hampered me much. There are enough things to do each area, and enough places you can get to, that I don't think that you will ever feel boxed in having to do something particular. NPC's: The game does have NPC's, but you really don't have a choice of when to get them, and drop them. They do that on their own. You also can't really do anything with them, except for equipping some of them. But, they do add a real feeling of depth to the game... You're walking along and Farli (the first NPC you get), will murmur about this wall "not being made of the earth". It really is well done. Plus so far, I have had about 5 NPC's, so that is good. You aren't stuck with the same ones the whole game. Combat: Combat is good, if a bit unrealistic. It is like Lands of Lore a bit. To throw things, you bring up your inventory bar, and click on them, and your cursor becomes the thing you selected. Then you click on the screen, and it throws the object in that direction. For melee weapons, it is like Arena: The Elder Scrolls; you can equip either hand with a weapon, and then point the cursor on the screen, and press the corresponding mouse button, and you see the weapon/hand lash out and attempt to hit the spot. Here is where the unrealism sets in, you are in heated battle with a monster, and you type 'i' to bring up your inventory list. Well, while your inventory list is up, the game freezes. You can completely disrobe your character, and rearm him in the middle of battle, and no time will pass. What makes this great, is you can throw arrows at people with an incredible rate of fire! Makes some of the more hard fights much more doable. I am not complaining to much though. Combat is acceptable. Magic: Magic is based on runes, and scribing them on "rune-sticks", which have a 'mana' reserve. You find runes all over the dungeons on scrolls and they get transcribed in your journal. Then you can copy them onto your runestick to cast them later. The neat thing is that you can get things called "meta-runes" that affect a normal rune. For example, you have a rune that heals a person, you get an "area affect" meta-rune, and you first scribe the heal rune on the stick, then scribe the area-affect meta rune around the heal rune, and it heals the whole party instead of just one person. Even cooler, is that you can use more than one meta rune at a time! For example, a good rune is a "missle-weapon shield", well inscribe that with the area-effect and the "increased-time" meta-rune, and you can cast it on the whole party, and it will last longer. I do like the magic system in this game, it seems simple at first, but now it is getting more interesting. Some of the spells seem to have very few uses though... Storyline: Here is where Stonekeep loses a few points with me. I really like storylines! That is why Wasteland and Bards Tale III rank at the top of my list of RPG's (both, interestingly enough made by Interplay). The game comes with a small hard-cover book entitled "Thera Awakening". I didn't read the book until tonite (come on, I wanted to play the game!), and in the game, there really isn't much "history" or anything like that, you pretty much just forge ahead by the seat of your pants. I have a lot of unanswered questions about their society, about Stonekeep, about magic, etc. The whole Stonekeep universe seems a bit murky to me right now, it is getting clearer slowly, but it is taking a while. I read the book, and its written in an entire different age as far as I can tell, there are some of the same races, and it describes magic a little, but other than that, I didn't really get much out of it... So, I would like to see a bit more background material on this universe. Overall: Stonekeep is worth getting if you like dungeon based games. The graphics and sound are above par, and the world is quite real. I have had the game crash on me twice. Not too bad, in over 25 hours of playing. I would not rate the game as being very hard, on a scale of 1 to 10, it would rank around a 6 probably. The AI has a few bugs, like opening a door and seeing two guards (of whatever race) right inside the door. Well, all you do is start throwing arrows through the door, and they will stay there and take the punishment until they die! It has kept my attention this long, and I consider it a worthy addition to my library. Cheers! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mathew Beall "Power is at all times Graduate of Computer a dreadful thing..." Science at U of Arizona - Lord Prothall GCSc++++l++u+e+m---h!gt++r+ Lord Foul's Bane (Stephen Donaldson) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @START@Internet Press (version 1.5) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Internet Press A guide to electronic journals about the Internet -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Version 1.5 - 16 April, 1995 by Kevin M. Savetz - savetz@northcoast.com and John M. Higgins - higgins@dorsai.dorsai.org This document is copyright 1995 by Kevin M. Savetz and John M. Higgins. All rights reserved. More legal stuff is near the end of this file. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- +Additions: +@ The Edge; +Cybersurfing; +Globetrotter; +Internet Sex Surfer News; +Online World Monitor; +Science & Engineering Network News; +The Virtual Mirror +Webnews; +Websurf #Updates: -Deleted: Scout Report (temporarily [?] gone do to changes at InterNIC) The Internet is full of many high-quality publications about the net itself. But surprise, surprise, like everything else 'round here they're tough to find. Here's some guidance on what's out there and what's good. Some are pointers to other net resources, some address broader issues of the net. Some are free, some cost $$$. Be warned that some of these are startups, which often fail to live up to their promise and publication schedule. WHY THE WEB SUCKS: For publishing, that is. After spending months finding, reading and reviewing E-zines it's clear that the best way to publish is to put it right in my hands. Oh, if you want spiffy graphics the Web can't be beat. But a magazine is all about the text. Making a magazine Web-only -- forcing the reader to remember the publishing schedule and go hunt for it is like printing a newspaper by only making it available in libraries. FEEDBACK Y'ALL: Let us know about any other good e-journals or newsletters dis HOW TO GET THE INTERNET PRESS ONCE: E-MAIL - To: ipress-request@northcoast.com Subject: archive Body: send ipress HOW TO GET PERIODIC UPDATES TO THE INTERNET PRESS: E-MAIL - To: ipress-request@northcoast.com Subject: subscribe Body: ignored USENET - alt.internet.services, alt.culture.internet, alt.etext MUST-READS (Guides, newsgroups, etc): alt.internet.services; Net- Happenings mailing list (or comp.internet.net-happenings); Yanoff's Special Internet Connections List; NetSurfer Digest. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=TIPSHEETS=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (Free): A little academic. But since it's edited by John December, the master of the colossal CMC guide, it's worth checking. WWW - http://www.rpi.edu/~decemj/cmc/mag/current/toc.html #EVERYBODY'S INTERNET UPDATE (free): Monthly newsletter from the Electronic Frontier Foundation aimed at picking up where the EFF's Guide to the Internet (formerly the Big Dummy's Guide) left off. E-MAIL - To: listserv@eff.org Subject: Ignored Body: add net-guide-update USENET - comp.org.eff.talk, alt.internet.services FTP - ftp.eff.org: /pub/Net_info/Guidebooks/Everybodys_Guide/Updates GOPHER - gopher.eff.org: /Net Info/EFF's Guide to the Internet/Updates WWW - http://www.eff.org/pub/Net_info/Guidebooks/Everybodys_Guide/Updates/ HUMAN CONTACT - Adam Gaffin, adamg@world.std.com INTERNET-ON-A-DISK (Free): So-so newsletter on public domain electronic texts, books, government manuals, etc. Also includes pointers to some other resources. E-MAIL - To: samizdat@world.std.com Subject: Newsletter request Body: subscribe Internet-On-A-Disk your@address INTERNET RESOURCES (Free): Web-only newsletter produced by Heriot-Watt University Library. Although aimed primarily at staff and students at the Scottish University, it's got pointers useful to others. Not spectacular, but worth checking out. WWW - http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn.html +THE INTERNET SEX SURFER NEWS ($): Not being much for spectator sports, the "aSNAIL MAIL: Phillip Mason 403 Stringtown Road Williamsburg, KY 40769-9727 (USA) HUMAN CONTACT - phillip@iglou.com NEW ON THE INTERNET (Free): Completely different from the similarly-named $$$ pub. A decent collection of pointers and ideas, though a bit on the breathless side. E-MAIL - To: new.on.the.net@reply.net. Subject: None Body: None; mail kicks back the latest issue. NETSURFER DIGEST (Free): An interesting startup that crisply reviews a wide range of net topics and resources. For example, one issue discussed some interesting disagreements among the net.gods, pointed to a furious thread on anti-feminsim that had broken out on alt.mens-rights, and offered pointers to a few cool publications. E-MAIL - To: nsdigest-request@netsurf.com Subject: Ignored Body: subscribe nsdigest-html (Recommended!) or Body: subscribe nsdigest-text WWW - http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html FTP - ftp://ftp.netsurf.com/pub/nsd/ +SCIENCE & ENGINEERING NETWORK NEWS ($$$): Ambitious monthly listing resources for science professionals from medicine to physics. Very thorough, loaded with good stuff, but runs $97 a year. E-MAIL - To: senn@world.std.com +THE VIRTUAL MIRROR - They claim it's not a magazine, but it looks like one to us, a good one at that. Regularly updated collection of tips and net articles. WWW - http://mirror.wwa.com/mirror/ WEBster ($$$) - Good news and commentary on Internet happenings as well as excE-MAIL - To: 4free@webster.tgc.com Subject: Ignored Body: Ignored HUMAN CONTACT - love-letters@webster.tgc.com +WEBNEWS - Well-edited monthly collection of web-based information. One issue hooks into the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Homepage, an exotic pet breeder and a biography of St. Patrick. WWW - http://twinbrook.cis.uab.edu:70/webNews.80 THE WEB WORD - This startup monthly aims to give pointers like the top 10 web sites, news, and how-to tips. Pretty good. Quizzically, it's only available by e-mail at launch. Long. E-MAIL - To: innovation@euronet.nl Subject: Ignored Body: intro Your@address Your Name -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=NET TALK-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= +@ THE EDGE - Surprisingly good effort coming from a net hound in NYC. Well-done news and commentary about the net. WWW - http://www.dorsai.org/~tristan +CYBERSURFING - Regular column appearing in The Age, a daily Australian paper and written by Jason Romney. Worth checking out. WWW - http://werple.mira.net.au/~jromney/ HUMAN CONTACT - jromney@werple.mira.net.au BITS AND BYTES (Free): Good computer miscellanea. But why do so many publications grab snippets of Edupage, an excellent infotech e-pub? On the long side. E-MAIL - To: listserv@acad1.dana.edu Subject: ignored Body: SUBSCRIBE bits-n-bytes [case matters!] GOPHER - gopher.dana.edu: /Electronic Journals FTP - ftp.dana.edu: /periodic CYBERWIRE DISPATCH (Free): Very high quality coverage of the Internet and cyberspace. Editor Brock Meeks (a reporter for Interactive Week) became famous by getting sued for libel by a "make.money.fast"-type. Short. Soon to become part of HotWIRED. E-MAIL - To: majordomo@cyberwerks.com Subject: Ignored Body: subscribe cwd-l USENET - comp.society.privacy GOPHER - cyberwerks.com WWW - http://cyberwerks.com EFFECTOR (Free): The Electronic Frontier Foundation's membership newsletter, great for telecom policy updates. Short E-MAIL - To: listserv@eff.org Subject: Ignored Body: subscribe your@address effector-online USENET - comp.org.eff {preferred!} GOPHER - gopher.eff.org FTP - ftp.eff.org DIGITAL FUTURE - ($$$) Formerly FYI, a well-written pub covering a range of Internet topics that seems focused on the commercial aspects of the net. One recent issue addressed Compu$erve's push into Internet access, a new net catalog venture, and the creation of a new cyberspace magazine. Nicely done, but seems too reliant on press release stuff. You can decide for yourself since free samples and an abridged version are readily available. E-MAIL - To: fyi@marketplace.com Subject: fyi Body: Humans here, ask nicely GOPHER - marketplace.com Human contact: jhart@csn.org +GLOBETROTTER - British Web-based bi-monthly featuring news about the net. Nothing dramatic and there's too much stuff about other topics, though (OJ, e.g.). WWW - http://www.dungeon.com/~globe HOTWIRED (Free): The E-version of Wired magazine. For all the hype, it's not vWWW -- www.hotwired.com INTERNET ADVERTISING REVIEW (Free) -- An occasional newsletter written by Michael Strangelove, author of a book on doing business on the net. Send for the second issue. E-MAIL - To: mstrange@fonorola.net Subject: REVIEW2 INTERNET INDEX: A shameless and very well executed imitation of Harper's Index compiling interesting net stats. WWW - http://www.openmarket.com/info/internet-index/current.html EMAIL - internet-index-request@OpenMarket.com Subject: ignored Body: subscribe internet-index INTERNET MONTHLY REPORT (Free): IMR announces the online accomplishments, milestones, and problems discovered by a variety of organizations in the Internet community. Very long, 100k-plus. E-MAIL RETRIEVAL - To: rfc-info@isi.edu Subject: Ignored Body: Retrieve: imryymm.txt e.g., Retrieve: imr9408.txt = Aug. 1994 FTP - venera.isi.edu/in-notes/imr/imryymm.txt nis.nsf.net/internet/newsletters/internet.monthly.report GOPHER - is.internic.net:Internet Info.../Internet Monthly Reports JASBITS (Free): Computer and net miscellanea. What it lacks in newsiness it makes up in entertainment value. E-MAIL - To: jsquires@cerf.net Subject: Ignored Body: Subscribe Your Name MATRIX NEWS ($$$) - Not strictly about the net, this monthly looks more broadly about cross-network issues issues. Expect Internet, Bitnet, UUCP plus stand-alone services like the Well and Compu$erve. Pretty techie/academic. Subs are $25 a year. Samples readily available. E-MAIL - To: mids@tic.com Subject: Ask nicely Body: Humans here GOPHER - gopher.tic.com WWW - http://www.tic.com FTP - ftp.tic.com META MAGAZINE (Free): A monthly mostly about net-related stuff. Not bad, but could use a little more meat. Worth a test drive, if you can handle the Web-only nature of the pub. WWW - ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/mlinksva/meta.html NETWORK OBSERVER (Free): Monthly commentary and bits about the net. Lengthy. E-MAIL - To: rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu Subject: subscribe Your Name Body: NADA NETWORKS & COMMUNITY (Free): The emphasis here is on "community" in Internet-land. Short and less techie than you might expect. Too much excerpting from other net sources. E-MAIL - To: cvington@netcom.com Subject: ignored Body: SUBSCRIBE YOUR NAME GOPHER - gopher.well.sf.ca.us /Community/Civic Nets NEW ON THE NET ($$$): Stats about what new domains are signing up to the net, listed by state, area code, type of company, etc. Short version is free. A longer version with lots of detail is $10. Presumably a prospect list for consultants, software companies, etc. WWW - http://directory.net/netinfo HUMAN CONTACT - p00426@psilink.com NSF NETWORK NEWS (Free): Bi-monthly news on the real nuts and bolts of the net. Mucho techie, but one issue had a good overview to telecom legislation in Congress. E-MAIL - To: newsletter-request@is.internic.net Subject: Ignored Body: SUBSCRIBE NSF-NETWORK-NEWS) GOPHER - is.internic.net: InterNIC Info.../About InterNIC Info... WWW - http://www.internic.net/newsletter +THE ONLINE WORLD MONITOR ($$$) Norway-based bi-monthly reviewing different aspects of the net. One issue contained a section on the Net in Africa and assessing the web by e-mail. Author publishes a companion e-book called the Online World Handbook. WWW - http://login.eunet.no/~presno/index.html +WEBSURF - Web-based magazine, largely about non-net stuff, but offers some links and Web-publishing advice. WWW - http://www.crl.com/~whisper/WEB1TOC.html -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Legal, Ethical and Moral Stuff-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Copyright 1994-1995 Kevin M. Savetz and John M. Higgins. This list may be redistributed provided that the article and this notice remain intact. This article may not under any circumstances be resold or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from Kevin Savetz and John M. Higgins. That includes publication by magazine or CD-ROM. But if you're interested, talk to us. We write for a living, after all. @START@How can I use the Internet as a telephone? FAQ: How can I use the Internet as a telephone? Version 0.3 - Oct 22 1995 * This is a DRAFT FAQ. This document is new and in transition. If you notice that software for doing speech over the Internet is missing from this list, or information herein needs updating, please send e-mail to savetz@northcoast.com * This document is copyright 1995 by Kevin M. Savetz and Andrew Sears. All rights reserved. More legal stuff is near the end of this file. *** TABLE OF CONTENTS Can I use the Internet as a telephone? How does it work? What do I need to call others on the Internet? Is the sound quality as good as a regular telephone call? Is there a noticeable delay to hear the other user? What is the difference between full duplex and half duplex? What is multicasting? Can I talk to users across PC/Mac/Unix platforms? Can I talk to users of other phone software? What software is available? For the Mac Maven NetPhone PGPfone CU-SeeMe For Windows Speak Freely CU-SeeMe Internet Phone DigiPhone Internet Global Phone WebPhone (vaporware) Internet Voice Chat (defunct) For UNIX Speak Freely CyberPhone NEVOT vat mtalk ztalk What hardware is available? Jarba Earphone Sound Advantage Legal Stuff Where to Find this Document *** CAN I USE THE INTERNET AS A TELEPHONE? Yes. In recent months, several programs have become available that will let you, equipped with the right computer hardware, an Internet connection, and special software, to speak in real-time over the Internet, using your own voice rather than by typing - in effect using the network like a telephone. Some of the programs available to do voice on the 'net is free, others are commercial. Many of these products are ready for prime time, but others are still very experimental. +++ HOW DOES IT WORK? It's magic! Audio conferencing programs work by digitizing your speech as you talk and sending the digital data over the Internet. But there's a problem: a typical modem connection has limited bandwidth - 14.4KBPS modems can send and receive a maximum of 1,800 bytes of non-compressible data each second. Telephone quality speech needs 8,000 bytes per second of bandwidth. There are two solutions to the problem: get more bandwidth, or compress the sound information before transmitting it. Although both solutions are used, most programs compress the audio. There are a variety of methods for encoding and compressing sound data, and as you might expect, the standards aren't necessarily very standard, yet. The quality of the audio you'll send and receive depends on the application you're using, the speed of your computer and the compression method used. In my tests, audio is usually understandable, albeit less clear than a phone call. Still, talking across the country or around the world for the cost of an Internet connection is kind of amazing, and easy on the wallet. You and the associate you are talking to need to be using software that can transmit and receive the same protocol. That doesn't necessarily mean you need the same software, or even the same type of computer. For instance, the GSM protocol is pretty standard. However, some programs can only use proprietary encoding methods, so they'll only communicate with the same software on the other side of the wire. Standard compression methods are: GSM: for more information: http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~jutta/toast.html CVSD RTP: Real Time Protocol +++ WHAT DO I NEED TO CALL OTHERS ON THE INTERNET? Besides the software, you will need an Internet connection You'll also need a fairly speedy computer (at least 25 MHz). Although the exact specs vary from program to program, a Mac Classic or a PC XT generally won't do the trick :-) Your computer will also need a sound card (for PCs; Macs have built-in sound,) speakers and a microphone. All sound cards will have a microphone jack in the back of them. Many Macs have mic jacks. If yours doesn't, you'll need a serial Microphone, such as MacRecorder or Sound Advantage. If you connect to the Internet over a modem, you will need a SLIP or PPP connection. The bare minimum for good quality sound is a 14.4k modem. The quality of a 14.4k connection will depend largely on the software and the error rate of your telephone line. A 28.8k modem should give excellent quality for most all applications. +++ IS THE SOUND QUALITY AS GOOD AS A REGULAR TELEPHONE CALL? Surprising to most people, if you have a good Internet connection then the sound quality is comparable to a regular phone call. However the sound quality varies dramatically between applications. In nearly all cases, the limiting factor will not be the speed and capacity of the Internet, but will depend on the local work at each end. If both parties have fast network connections, some applications provide sound quality significantly better than a regular telephone call because they use 16 bit signals rather than 8 bit signals in regular phone lines. +++ IS THERE A NOTICEABLE DELAY TO HEAR THE OTHER USER? The answer to this also depends on the application and users' Internet connections. For most applications, you might notice a delay, but for good connections it seems be in the range of .01-.05 seconds. A delay over .05 seconds might be noticeable on the normal telephone system because you will hear an echo, but calls over the Internet do not produce an echo. +++ WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FULL DUPLEX AND HALF DUPLEX? In a full duplex conversation, you can speak and hear the other person at the same time, like on the phone. In half duplex, only one person can speak at once; if you speak while the other person speaks, then you will not be able to hear each other. In these applications, you usually press a button to speak. Most applications are starting to support both full duplex and half duplex modes. Your sound card will either be full duplex or half duplex, which will control which mode you can operate in. Most new Macs and many Unix stations come equipped with full duplex sound cards, but most PC's do not. +++ WHAT IS MULTICASTING? Multicasting allows one user to send packets to several users for conferencing. The M-Bone is overlay on the Internet that will allow one site to broadcast to many users at once. In addition to being used for voice conferencing, multicasting can be used to make the Internet a broadcast service to allow users to hear live radio broadcast or even see live video of events like Space Shuttle launchings. For more information about the MBONE, see http://org1000-www.cs.sandia.gov/mbone.html and http://www.best.com/~prince/techinfo/mbone.html +++ CAN I TALK TO USERS ACROSS PC/MAC/UNIX PLATFORMS? Yes. Speak Freely offers full compatibility between Windows and Unix users. CU-SeeMe offers full compatibility between Mac and PC users. +++ CAN I TALK TO USERS OF OTHER PHONE SOFTWARE? Maybe. To talk to others using different software you need to have the same type of connection scheme and the same type of compression. There are two standards emerging for establishing connections that are emerging, VAT and RTP, which are compatible with each other. Since VAT was the first working voice conferencing program, many other applications have mimicked its method of establishing a call. Programs using RTP will use the same connection procedure but will have added capabilities to control call quality. Those applications that conform to the RTP/VAT standard include Maven, Netphone, Vat, Nevot and soon Speak Freely. GSM seems to be emerging as the compression standard and is supported by Maven, Netphone, Speak Freely, Internet Global Phone and Nevot. There are also slight variations between the compression algorithms that might still cause compatibility problems. If you are using a commercial product with a proprietary compression system, then you are out of luck because you will not be able to talk with people using any other type of software. *** WHAT SOFTWARE IS AVAILABLE? +++ For the Mac >>> Maven Maven was the first Internet audioconferencing tool for Macintosh. Maven is free software, but it is a bandwidth hog. Maven requires a minimum of 13KBPS. The program can talk to other Macs running Maven, as well as the UNIX vat program. Platform: Macintosh, 16BPS of bandwidth Encoding/compression: vat or Maven-proprietary Features: Full/Half Duplex Negatives: Uses more than 14.4k of bandwidth Mailing list: send e-mail: To: listserv@cnidr.org Body: subscribe maven your name Software: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/infosystems/maven ftp://ftp.univie.ac.at/systems/mac/info-mac/comm/tcp Cost: free >>> NetPhone NetPhone, like Maven, it gives an Internet-connected Macintosh the ability to do audioconferencing. But NetPhone works over slower connections, even with a 14.4KBPS modem. At a sampling rate of 10,000 samples per second, the sound quality isn't wonderful, but the voice of my NetPhone compatriots are certainly understandable. There's a free demo version of NetPhone available that limits calls to 90 seconds. Platform: Mac LC or faster, 14.4KBPS modem Encoding/compression: vat, CVSD, GSM Features: User Directory, Full/Half duplex, Good Compatibility/VAT compatible, WWW Compatible Negatives: sometimes has poor sound quality, demo only last for 90 seconds E-mail: netphone-orders@emagic.com Web page: http://www.emagic.com/ Software: http://www.emagic.com/ Mailing list: send e-mail: To: netphone-request@northcoast.com Body: subscribe Cost: $75 per copy, or $125 for two copies. Free demo. >>> PGPfone This product comes from the makers of the PGP encryption scheme. It is currently only available in beta format for Macs, but a Windows 95 version will be available soon. The encryption scheme used in the application is banned for US export, and because of current lawsuits against the makers of PGP, users outside the US must use a different version. The current version only supports full duplex. Platform: Macintosh Encoding: PGP Features: Good encryption Negatives: Only beta version, Only full duplex sound supported Web page: http://web.mit.edu/network/pgpfone/ Cost: Free >>> CU-SeeMe for Mac See description in Windows section. +++ For Windows >>> Speak Freely Speak Freely is written John Walker, the founder of Autodesk. It is free and one of the best applications available. It offers many advanced features such as voice mail, multicasting, encryption, and usually offers excellent sound quality. Its GSM compression routine requires a high-end 486 or Pentium processor. Will work for 14.4 modems with GSM, but sound quality is degraded. Current version is not compatible with other software except for Speak Freely for Unix. Complete source code is available. Version 6.0 will be compatible with the VAT/RTP standard and will include DVI4 and L16 compression and will include a user directory accessible from within the application and on WWW. Platform: Windows 3.1, 386 Enhanced Mode, Winsock, 14.4KBPS modem Encoding/compression GSM, ADPCM, PCM, PGP, DES, IDEA Features: Voice Mail, good variety in compression/encoding, excellent sound quality, full/half duplex, multicasting for conferences, WWW compatible Negatives: sound quality is marginal over 14.4k modems E-mail: kelvin@fourmilab.ch Web Page: http://www.fourmilab.ch/netfone/windows/speak_freely.html Software: Windows: http://www.fourmilab.ch/netfone/windows/speakfb.zip Unix: http://www.fourmilab.ch/netfone/unix/speak_freely-5.3.tar.gz Source Code: http://www.fourmilab.ch/netfone/windows/speakfs.zip Voice Chat Room: http://rpcp.mit.edu/~asears/voice.html Cost: Free >>> CU-SeeMe for Windows and Mac CU-SeeMe is a project of Cornell University for audio and video conferencing over the Internet. Sound quality is good, but your might have problems with a 14.4k connection. Viewing images is impossible at 14.4k and is slow and 28.8k, but audio conferencing will work without images. Users can transmit images using a camera that can be purchased for as little as $99, but a camera is not needed. One main advantages of CU-SeeMe for audio conferencing is that users can either connect directly to each other or they can enter a multi-person conference at a reflector. In addition, CU-SeeMe probably offers the best compatibility with other applications. Features: Good conferencing capabilities, and allows for video conferencing, good sound quality, compatible across Windows/Mac, WWW compatible Negatives: Need at least a 28.8k connection Web Page: http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/ Mailing list: send e-mail: To: LISTPROC@cornell.edu Body: Subscribe CU-SEEME-L Firstname Lastname Software: Windows: ftp://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/pub/CU-SeeMe/PC.CU-SeeMeW0.70b1/cu Mac: ftp://CU-SeeMe.cornell.edu/pub/CU-SeeMe/Mac.CU-SeeMe0.80b2/CU-See PowerMac: ftp://CU-SeeMe.cornell.edu/pub/CU-SeeMe/Mac.CU-SeeMe0.80b2/C >>> Internet Phone Internet Phone runs on top of Internet Relay Chat, providing you with a list of on-line users and topics of conversation, making it easy to find new people to chat with. Quickly becoming one of the most used applications because the software makes it easy to find others to talk to. The main disadvantage is that that the software is one of the few application that only offer proprietary compression scheme, which makes it impossible for it to be compatible with other applications. The test version allows for one minute of conversation before it times out. Platform: Windows 3.1, 33 MHz 486 or faster, Winsock 1.1, 14.4KBPS modem Encoding/compression: Internet Phone proprietary Features: Excellent user directory, full/half duplex, low bandwidth demands Negatives: Demo limited to one minute, not compatible with any other software, cannot make connections without using IRC E-mail: info@vocaltec.com Web page: http://www.vocaltec.com/ User directory: http://www.pulver.com/ Software: ftp://ftp.vocaltec.com:/pub (one minute demo) Mailing list: send e-mail: To: majordomo@pulver.com Body: subscribe iphone Cost: $99 >>> DigiPhone This is application just recently was made available. Because they do not offer a test version, little is known about how well it works. DigiPhone has had major hype but is hard to find - the company seems to have a much better marketing department than distribution department. While it seems that they have invested heavily in advertising, they offer no WWW distribution of their product. Another version, DigiPhone Deluxe, includes a Web browser, E-mail, telnet, FTP, voice messaging and caller ID. Features: Good integration with other Internet applications Negatives: Not available on the Internet, not compatible with other software E-mail: custserv@planeteers.com Web page: http://www.planeteers.com/ Software: Not Available on the Internet Compression: Proprietary Cost: $89.95. $149.95 for DigiPhone Deluxe >>> Internet Global Phone Internet Global Phone is not a clean, ready-to-use application. In fact, it is very much a work in progress. Internet Global Phone is a "technology demonstration project" providing a code platform for two way real-time voice exchange over the Internet. The details of the project are documented in an article in Dr. Dobb's Journal in December 1994. If you like hacking in Microsoft Visual C++, you too can hack on Internet Global Phone. IGP currently lacks a real user interface. Platform: Windows 3.1, 20 MHz 386 or faster, 14.4KBPS modem Encoding/compression: GSM E-mail: lsing@tor.hookup.net (Sing Li) Software: ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/win3/demos/IGP* Source code: ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de:/pub/local/kbs/tubmik/gsm/ddj Cost: free >>> WebPhone (vaporware) WebPhone is an unreleased product of Quarterdeck. Their aim will be to integrate WebPhone with their Web browser. Web page: http://www.qdeck.com/qdeck/press/webphone.html Cost: Less than $50 >>> Internet Voice Chat (defunct) Internet Voice chat is no longer available. +++ For UNIX >>> Speak Freely for Unix See information above in the Windows section >>> CyberPhone New addition to the FAQ. Very little is known about CyberPhone at this time. Platforms: Sun running SunOS or Solaris, 386/486/586 running Linux 1.2.8+ and X Windows Web site: http://magenta.com/cyberphone/ Software: ftp://magenta.com/pub/cyberphone Email: cyberphone@magenta.com Mailing list: send email: To: listserv@magenta.com Body: subscribe cyberlist Cost: $20. Free demo available. >>> NEVOT NEVOT (Network Voice Terminal) provides voice communications using unicast, simulated multicast or IP multicast, using the vat or RTP protocols. Requires a high-end workstation. Encoding/compression: vat, RTP, GSM, LPC Platforms: SunOs 4.1, Solaris 2, Irix, HP/UX Features: RTP/VAT compatible, good controls, WWW compatible Web site: http://www.fokus.gmd.de/step/employees/hgs/nevot/nevot.html Software: ftp://gaia.cs.umass.edu/pub/hgschulz/nevot ftp://ftp.fokus.gmd.de/pub/minos/nevot Cost: free >>> Vat Vat was the first audio conferencing tool for the Internet. Requires a high-end UNIX machine. The VAT standard for setting up a call is quickly becoming the dominant standard along with RTP, which will allow users of different applications to communicate. Encoding/compression: vat Platforms: Sun Sparcstation, Silicon Graphics and DECstation 5000 Software: ftp://cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice/videoconference/vat/ Cost: free >>> MTALK MTALK is an "very alpha" experimental voice-talk system for LINUX. It uses low bandwidth (approx. 1 KBPS) and claims to work even on computers with very low bandwidth connections. Requires a LINUX workstation with a Soundblaster compatible sound-card. Encoding/compression: unknown Platforms: Linux E-mail: misch@elara.fsag.de Software: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/sound/talk/ Source code: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/sound/talk/ Cost: free >>> ZTALK Simple, "Extremely alpha" voice software for Linux. Includes a voicemail feature. Encoding/compression: GSM Platforms: Linux E-mail: feinmann@cs.mcgill.ca Source code: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/sound/talk/ Cost: free *** WHAT HARDWARE IS AVAILABLE? >>> Jarba Earphone Combo microphone and earphone for Mac or PC: http://www.jabra.com >>> Sound Advantage Microphone for Macintosh: http://www.emagic.com/soundadv/ *** LEGAL STUFF This document is copyright 1995 by Kevin M. Savetz and Andrew Sears. All rights reserved. Permission for the following types of distribution is hereby granted, provided that this file is distributed intact, including the above copyright notice: - non-commercial distribution - posting to Internet archives, BBSs and online services - distribution by teachers, librarians and Internet trainers - inclusion on software/FAQ/Internet-oriented CD-ROMs Permission for commercial distribution may be obtained from the editor. SHARE THIS INFORMATION FREELY AND IN GOOD FAITH. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THIS DOCUMENT. This document is new and in transition. If you notice that something important is missing, or information herein needs updating, please contact the editor. The editor and contributors have developed this FAQ as a service to the Internet community. We hope you find it useful. This FAQ is purely a volunteer effort. Although every effort has been made to insure that answers are as accurate as possible, no guarantee is implied or intended. While the editor tries to keep this document current, remember that the Internet and its services are constantly changing, so don't be surprised if you happen across statements which are obsolete. If you do, please send corrections to the editor. Corrections, questions, and comments should be sent to Kevin Savetz at savetz@northcoast.com and Andrew Sears at asears@mit.edu -- please indicate what version of this document to which you are referring. *** WHERE TO FIND THIS DOCUMENT Oh boy! This FAQ has been rated among the top 5% of all sites on the Internet by Point Survey. This file is posted on the 5th and 19th of each month to Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services, alt.bbs.internet, alt.culture.internet, alt.winsock.voice, alt.winsock.ivc, comp.sys.mac.comm, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.comm, alt.answers, comp.answers, and news.answers You can find it on the World Wide Web: http://www.northcoast.com/~savetz/voice-faq.html http://rpcp.mit.edu/~sears/voice-faq.html You can receive each new edition of this document automatically via electronic mail, if you are so inclined. This is a low-volume list, with updates every few weeks. To subscribe, send e-mail: To: voice-faq-request@northcoast.com Subject: subscribe voice-faq Body: <ignored> You can also receive it once via electronic mail (without subscribing to automatic updates). To: voice-faq-request@northcoast.com Subject: archive Body: send voice-faq You can also receive it via anonymous FTP, in: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/alt.internet.services/ @START@How can I send a fax from the Internet? FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet? Version 1.2 - April 27 1995 Send comments & updates to Kevin Savetz - savetz@northcoast.com . This document is copyright 1994-1995 by Kevin M. Savetz. All rights reserved. More legal stuff is near the end of this file. If you notice that an Internet fax service is missing from this list, or information herein needs updating, please send e-mail to savetz@northcoast.com . *** TABLE OF CONTENTS Can I send a fax from the Internet? Free services TPC.INT Remote Printing FaxLine Sacramento Fax Service *New e-mail address* University of Minnesota Fax Service IBAG Faxes to Phoenix *NEW* Swedish University Network fax.air.org - faxing to Hong Kong Commercial Services Elvis *info corrected* FAXiNET InterFax Interpage Stoic Fax/Telex Gateway *NEW* Unigate Stupid Internet/Fax Tricks Universal Access WebFax Fax Services that are no more Legal Stuff Where to Find this Document *** CAN I SEND A FAX FROM THE INTERNET? Indeed. There are several services for sending a fax via Internet mail - some are free while others are pay services. At least one service even lets you receive a fax via Internet mail. The e-mail-to-fax services that I know about are discussed below. All the services require that you can send and receive electronic mail to the Internet. *** FREE SERVICES +++ TPC.INT Remote Printing One fax-from-the-Internet service is the brainchild of Carl Malamud (the creator of Internet Talk Radio) and Marshall Rose. They're doing research on how to integrate special-purpose devices, like facsimile printers, into the fabric of the Internet. It works simply enough - send electronic mail to a special address, and soon after (if your recipient's fax machine is in a covered area), out comes a freshly-minted fax. You can send a fax to multiple fax machines, or even a combination of faxes and traditional e-mail recipients. After the deed is done, you will receive electronic mail telling you if your fax was successfully sent or not. The service is free. You can't send a fax just anywhere with this service. A variety of companies, institutions and citizens linked to the Internet have joined the experiment by linking a computer and fax modem to the 'net. When an organization joins as a remote-fax server, it specifies what areas to which they are willing to send faxes. When you send an e-mail fax message, you (naturally) must include the phone number of the recipient's fax machine. A computer looks at the phone number and decides if any participating fax machines cover the area to which you want to send a fax. If so, your message is routed to the appropriate machine for faxation. Otherwise, you will receive electronic mail informing you the fax couldn't be delivered. To send a fax by e-mail, send a message To: remote-printer.<info>@phonenumber.iddd.tpc.int Where <info> contains information for the cover page. In <info>, "/" is turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space. For example, the address: To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@12025551212.iddd.tpc.int Would send a fax to +1-202-555-1212 with the cover page: Please deliver this facsimile to: Arlo Cats Room 123 Note: There's another way to address faxes which seems to work more reliable sometimes. Note that the phone number is backwards and the numbers are separated by periods. To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.0.2.1.tpc.int The following addresses can be used to obtain more information: tpc-coverage@town.hall.org - Current fax coverage (automated reply) tpc-faq@town.hall.org - Frequently Asked Questions (automated reply) tpc-admin@town.hall.org - Administrative questions (human) tpc-rp-request@aarnet.edu.au - Majordomo mailing list agent tpc-rp@aarnet.edu.au - Mailing list contributions (mailing list) There's a WorldWideWeb page which provides information about the TPC.INT fax service. If your Web browser can display forms, you can even fill out a form and send a fax interactively. Use your favorite Web browser to connect to: http://linux1.balliol.ox.ac.uk/fax/faxsend.html +++ FaxLine Sacramento Fax Service This service is a feature of a Sacramento, California-based bulletin board system. You can use it to send faxes to areas that are a local call from Sacramento, including the California State Legislature. This service is run as a hobby and is connected to the Internet by UUCP, so it can take from 12 to 24 hours for your fax to be delivered or for the help files to reach you. It does not support multiple addressing: only one fax number per message. It also does not send a cover page, so be sure to start your message with a note directing it to someone's attention. It will truncate faxes longer than two pages (that's 132 lines). To use this fax service, send e-mail To: faxline@sacto.com Subject: local (7 digit) phone number, without area code Body: <text of fax> For complete usage information, send e-mail To: request@sacto.com Subject: 052 For a list of some legislators' fax numbers in the Sacramento area, send e-mail: To: request@sacto.com Subject: 050 +++ IBAG Faxes to Phoenix This Web-to-fax gateway will allow you to send free faxes to the Phoenix, Arizona area (area code 1-602.) To use it, point your forms-capable Web browser to: http://www.ibag.com/fax.html +++ The University of Minnesota Fax Service The University of Minnesota operates a fax gateway which allows students and staff to send faxes anywhere. Even if you don't go to UMinn, you may use the service to send faxes to folks at the University and exchanges local to the campus. The structure for e-mailing a fax is: To: /pn=John.Doe/dd.fax=234-5678/@fax.tc.umn.edu Put your recipient's name, with a period between the first and last names, after pn= and put the seven digit fax number after the characters dd.fax=. This name will be printed in the "To:" field on the fax cover page. The area code for the University of Minnesota is 612, so you don't need to supply an area code. For more information, send e-mail to ccs@maroon.tc.umn.edu. +++ Swedish University Network The Swedish University Computer Network (sunet) has a national fax service that can be used by anyone at no cost. Users in Sweden can use it to send faxes all over the world but users outside Sweden can only use it for telephone numbers within Sweden. To send a fax to Arlo Cats at +46-87654321 (that's international notation for Sweden, phone number 08/765 43 21) send e-mail to: Arlo_Cats@F087654321.fax.sunet.se Note that you will always have to preface the phone number with the letter "F" for "fax". Special characters in the body of your message are converted to Swedish characters: ASCII Becomes ASCII Becomes } a with circle accent [ A with diereses { a with diereses (two dots) \ O with diereses | o with diereses ` e with right accent ] A with circle accent For more information, e-mail faxmaster@fax.sunet.se +++ fax.air.org - faxing to Hong Kong To send a free fax to Hong Kong, send e-mail To: number@fax.air.org Don't include are or country codes, just the local Hong Kong fax number. Attempts to dial numbers starting with 0, 1 or 99 will be rejected. The service offers do-it-yourself logo and signature registration as well as a "secure mode" compatible with PGP. For help or more information, send e-mail: To: help@fax.air.org *** COMMERCIAL (PAY-FOR-USE) SERVICES +++ Elvis This service allows you to send faxes to the former USSR, Europe, Japan, the United States and Canada. The service is based in Moscow, so faxes to the USSR are relatively cheap, faxes to the rest of the world are relatively expensive. Prices listed are for "standard" fax mode. For fax service to Moscow from former USSR: $0.40 / page fax service to former USSR from former USSR: $0.95 / page For fax service to former USSR from elsewhere: $1.95 / page fax service to Europe and Japan: $2.90 / page fax service to USA and Canada: $3.80 / page fax service to other countries: $5.80 / page It offers a WorldWideWeb interface at: http://www.elvis.ru/english/faxgate_interface.html Or, you can access the service via an e-mail interface. For more information, send e-mail to To: faxgate@elvis.ru Body: help<return>english (for help in English) or Body: help (for help in Russian) You can reach a human via e-mail at: To: gatemaster@elvis.ru +++ FAXiNET Another fax-by-mail service is FAXiNET, which lets you send any text (ASCII) or PostScript documents to virtually every destination that can be direct dialed from the United States. For an extra fee, the company can also receive faxes for you, which will be delivered to you via electronic mail. FAXiNET offers two rate plans. Plan 1 has a one-time activation fee of $35.00, a monthly maintenance fee of $9.95 and a per-page transmission cost (to US destinations) of 39 cents. Plan two, for lower-volume users, has a one-time activation fee of $20 and no monthly maintenance fee; however faxes cost 65 cents per page. International rates depend on the destination country: from Albania ($2.25/page) to Zimbabwe ($2.52/page). Faxes to the United Kingdom are 56 cents/page; Mexico is $1.52/page. Additional services, including adding your custom logo and signature to your faxes, are available at extra cost. Corporate accounts are also available. More information is available from AnyWare Associates, FAXiNET, 32 Woodland Road, Boston, MA 02130. (617) 522-8102. E-mail: info@awa.com (for automated response) or sales@awa.com (for a human.) Information is also maintained on FAXiNET's web server: http://www.awa.com/faxinet/ +++ InterFax InterFax allows you to send faxes via e-mail within the US or internationally. InterFax is a fee-based service (billed to your credit card) but, unlike the services listed above, InterFax lets you send faxes anywhere, not just select locations. As of this writing, InterFax costs $5 per month, which includes the first five fax pages. Additional pages cost 50 cents each. There is a one-time sign-up charge of $25. For further information, send e-mail to faxmaster@pan.com, or contact InterFax at PO Box 162, Skippack, PA 19474 USA. (215) 584-0300. Fax: (215)584-1038. +++ Interpage Fax Gateway Interpage has a unique slant on the faxing-via-email: instead of charging the sender of the fax, Interpage charges the recipient (who must have an Interpage account.) The idea is that you can use Interpage to forward your regular e-mail to you via fax, or you'll give your Interpage e-mail address to correspondents that don't have access to a fax machine. Interpage also offers the more common service of letting its customers send text or postscript e-mail that turns into a fax. Each Interpage Fax Gateway customer receives an e-mail address and a configuration account. Customers may forward their regular e-mail to Interpage for faxing, have correspondents send e-mail directly to their Interpage accounts, or both. Interpage allows users to filter incoming electronic mail in order to only fax messages from specific individuals, for instance. The charge for basic service is $5 per month plus $.20 per minute for faxes destined for the United States or $.30 per minute to Canada. If a fax is dispatched to an 800 number, there is no charge. There is a $10 sign-up fee. There is a one week free trial period, although users will be responsible for any toll charges they incur. For more information: http://interpage.net info@interpage.net 1-203-499-5221 +++ Stoic Fax/Telex Gateway A commercial service that sends faxes and telexes. Based in the Soviet Union. For fax service to Europe: $1.36 / page fax service to North America: $2.90 / page fax service to Asia, Pacific Ocean Region: $2.24/page fax service to elsewhere; $2.46/page For telex service to Europe: $1.58 / page telex service to North America: $2.68 / page telex service to elsewhere; $4.68/page For more information, send e-mail to boris@stoic.spb.su . +++ Unigate Unigate is another pay-for-use service that allows you to send faxes to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It also allows you to receive faxes as electronic mail. Unigate also handles e-mail-to-postal mail conversion. Here's their price structure: For fax service USA to Russia: $1.59 / page fax service from Russia to Canada: 1.79 / page fax service from Russia to Europe: 2.59 / page For postal-mail service USA-Russia: $1.00 / page snail-mail service from Russia to Canada: 1.50 / page snail-mail service from Russia to Europe: 1.79 / page For more information, e-mail yuri@atmos.washington.edu . *** STUPID INTERNET/FAX TRICKS +++ Universal Access WebFax This service doesn't have much to do with sending a fax via e-mail e-mail, but it's interesting anyway: The Universal Access WebFax server allows retrieval of most World Wide Web documents using any fax machine - no Internet connection is necessary. It works this way: you dial the phone number using the handset of your fax machine and enter the URL of the site you wish to see on the Touchtone keypad (for instance, www.northcoast.com is "99966784266") and, when prompted, press the "start" button on your fax machine. The selected document will then be transmitted. It supports text and display of forms, inline images, and will even play Web audio files over the phone. The service is free, but you pay for the phone call to Southern California. For more information: http://www.datawave.net/ or call 1-805-730-7777 from the handset of your fax machine *** Fax Services That Are No More Don't tell me about these. They have ceased to be. - Digital Chicken was a service that let users send faxes to Canadian government and citizens. Use TPC.INT instead. - cssnet.sanford.nc.us fax server - no longer available due to hard drive crash. - FaxLinq, which used to let users receive faxes via e-mail, was discontinued in Jan 1995. *** LEGAL STUFF This document is copyright 1994-1995 by Kevin M. Savetz. All rights reserved. All prices in US Dollars, unless otherwise indicated. Permission for the following types of distribution is hereby granted, provided that this file is distributed intact, including the above copyright notice: - non-commercial distribution - posting to Internet archives, BBSs and online services - distribution by teachers, librarians and Internet trainers - inclusion on software/FAQ/Internet-oriented CD-ROMs Permission for commercial distribution may be obtained from the editor. SHARE THIS INFORMATION FREELY AND IN GOOD FAITH. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THIS DOCUMENT. This document is always in transition. If you notice that something important is missing, or information herein needs updating, please contact the editor. The editor and contributors have developed this FAQ as a service to the Internet community. We hope you find it useful. This FAQ is purely a volunteer effort. Although every effort has been made to insure that answers are as accurate as possible, no guarantee is implied or intended. While the editor tries to keep this document current, remember that the Internet and its services are constantly changing, so don't be surprised if you happen across statements which are obsolete. If you do, please send corrections to the editor. Corrections, questions, and comments should be sent to Kevin Savetz at savetz@northcoast.com (Internet) or "savetz" (America Online/eWorld.) Please indicate what version of this document to which you are referring. *** WHERE TO FIND THIS DOCUMENT On the WorldWideWeb: http://www.northcoast.com/~savetz/fax-faq.html You can receive it via anonymous FTP: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq ftp://ftp.eff.org:/pub/Net_info/Technical/net-fax.faq You can get it using Gopher: gopher://gopher.eff.org/11/Net_info/Technical/net-fax.faq This file is posted twice monthly (on the 5th and 19th of each month) to the Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services, alt.online-service, alt.bbs.internet, alt.fax, alt.answers, comp.dcom.fax, comp.mail.misc, comp.answers, and news.answers You can receive each new edition of this document automatically via electronic mail, if you are so inclined. This is a low-volume list, with updates every few weeks. To subscribe, send e-mail: To: fax-faq-request@northcoast.com Subject: subscribe fax-faq Body: <ignored> You can also receive it once via electronic mail (without subscribing to automatic updates). To: fax-faq-request@northcoast.com Subject: archive Body: send fax-faq @START@New WWW Sites ======== The Link Tank ============= A rapidly growing database of URLs based in the UK and Eire. Covers a wide range of topics from Arts to Weird. <URL:http://www.webzone1.co.uk/www/webentity/linktank/index.htm> ==Trevor May=============================================== email - trevor.may@zetnet.co.uk =========================================================== ======== For those of you familiar with Cinemaven Online and it's resident movie critic Doug Thomas, AKA the Movie Maven.... We have a new home!! We are now at: ******************************* *<URL:http://www.marquee.com/>* ******************************* We still have the same great reviews, but now we have more! More fun, more reviews, and more power! Marquee is proud to announce that we are powered by the awesome force that is KE Texpress from the guys at Dingo Software Systems in Vancouver BC (they are at <URL:http://www.dingo.com/>). Come on over, check us out, and give us your feedback. Don't forget to check out our first installment of the Marquee Quintessential Hall of Fame. This is where you can give your opinion of the Quintessential work of some of the world's great film artists. This month we honor Albert Finney. ********************************************************* *<URL:http://www.marquee.com/goodies/quint-current.html>* ********************************************************* Watch us grow as we add new reviews, showtimes, and tons of fun movie stuff! Thanks to all our loyal fans at CineMaven! You will love Marquee! Doug Thomas doug@marquee.com Bob Cappel bob@marquee.com ======== BMW of North America's official site. Photos of BMW's U.S. cars, in-depth specifications, options, MSRP, plus links, feedback and a BMW U.S. dealer locator. <URL:http://www.bmwusa.com/> ======== Hi all, The www server of the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Amsterdam has currently been updated to cover all research done at the four main research groups: Chemical Reactor Engineering Heterogeneous Catalysis and Chemical Processes Process Systems Engineering BioProcess Engineering Highlights: -MPeg movies of 2 phase flow trhough slightly inclined pipes and 'Johan's batch reactor runaway' -Previously unreleased audio tracks of the department's tea-lady Nicole. <URL:http://ctwww.chem.uva.nl/> Regards, Danny Brands (brands@sara.nl) ======== The Competitor Any Sports Page Can Give You The Stats. We have the story. <URL:http://webcom.net/~compete/cover/cover.html> An often-times irreverent and always hip sports magazine based in Toronto Ontario, The Competitor covers local and international sports. Already featured on The FAN 590 All-Sports Radio's Innovators Program and the November issue of Toronto Computes. If you're looking for an offbeat take on the world of sports and original journalism found only on the Internet visit us at... <URL:http://webcom.net/~compete/cover/cover.html> Regular Features: Main Events, This Just In, Off The Bat, The Rumours Page Special Olympic Report, Sports Fiction, Doing Business, Your View, Community Sports Calendar ======== We are pleased to announce version 2.5 of our on-line course samples. Teach yourself a programming language using the WWW. Self tests, exercises, course notes, software, and more <URL:http://www.cit.ac.nz/smac/csware.htm> Graphics and diagrams used to explain concepts. Covers sets, pointers, file-handling and much much more. -- Brian Brown Senior Lecturer, Computing Central Institute of Technology Trentham, Upper-Hutt -- ======== MEd Guide <URL:http://kernighan.imc.akh-wien.ac.at/stz/plattner/txt/medgde.html> The MEd Guide is a Medical Education resource guide compiled by a Student for Students. It4s main purpose is to guide students to resources than can be useful when studying Medicine. Also physicians can use this guide to find interesting medical related resources. ======== On November 1st Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. will begin publishing its two newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, on the internet. For those of you interested, they will be located on the World Wide Web at <URL:http://www.phillynews.com/>, home of Philadelphia Online. The Internet Editions of both newspapers are posted automatically to the web and run real-time with the inhouse Atex Publishing systems. The extraction and conversion software needed to do this was developed completely by PNI's own online development staff. Currently available at the site is "Planet Jobs," a searchable database of the help-wanted ads from both papers. This too runs in sync with the print operation and has a unique "shopping cart" feature which lets the user keep the ads they have checked off while browsing. Also at <URL:http://www.phillynews.com/> is "Getalife," a guide to good times in and around Philadelphia. "Getalife" features such services as a searchable restaurant guide (the Restaurant Rover) and schedules and seating charts for sporting and entertainment events. The staff at Philadelphia Online has some other big services on the burners that will hopefully come up before the end of the year. But for now they hope you enjoy the two newspapers and general face lift of the site coming November 1st. Questions and comments can be directed to the webmaster at the site. Thanks for your interest. Chris Nelson Developer Philadelphia Online nelson@phillynews.com ======== Check out the full, hyperlinked article at "From Now On - The Educational Technology Journal" <URL:http://www.pacificrim.net/~mckenzie/> THE BREAKING EDGE OF CHANGE Innovations come at us like great, crashing rollers. The pace of change is hectic. Innovation is rampant and chaotic. How do we stay on top? How do we ride these waves and keep abreast of all that is new? Leading organizations forward during these times requires a risk-taking, forward-leaning style which is the antithesis of bureaucratic, status-quo maintenance and management. "Leading Edge" fails to capture the challenging, questioning spirit required. "Bleeding Edge" is entirely too negative and too limited a metaphor. "Breaking Edge" cuts in many directions. The leader is riding a wave. The leader is breaking through. The leader is challenging and questioning. The leader is out in front and on top. How do teachers and library media specialists and technology coordinators and tech coaches and directors manage this feat? This article offers more than a dozen strategies to see the waves coming and catch rides on the very best of them. Remember Peter the rabbit Throw away recipes and cookbooks Think the unthinkable Beware purple hat thinking Join, join, join Keep bad company Rock the boat Lean forward Lean back Scan the horizon Hide the plan Browse Graze Search Ask lots of questions Trust your intuition Get lost Take a hike Go on an excursion Remember to dream Remember the kids ======== There has been an alternate server set up for the Apple Computer Developer Services Web site (formerly only at <URL:http://www.info.apple.com/dev/>). The new server is <URL:http://dev.info.apple.com/> Although the majority of the content is exactly the same, there are a few things you will only find on the new site, specifically: Searching the entire developer area Inside Mac - Imaging with QuickDraw 3d (yes, all 1000 pages are in HTML!) Searching of just the Inside Mac book Table of Contents of the area Alphabetical Index Content will continue to be updated on both sites for the time being, but please change your bookmarks to our new server! The cutoff date for www.info.apple.com/dev is undetermined at this time, but it will be within the next couple of months. ======== Chase Environmental Group provides environmental and Radioactive Waste Engineering and Remediation services to Industry and government. We also provide worker training and Site assessment <URL:http://www.iglou.com/ceg/> (502)327-6191 (502) 327-7957 FAX Chase Environmental Group 8008 Vine Crest Ave Louisville KY 40222 ceg@iglou.com ======== Canada in Space: Shuttle Flight STS-74 <URL:http://www.conveyor.com/space/sts74.html> This new web site provides information with an emphasis on Canadian participation in Shuttle flight STS-74. The site is oriented toward the general public but will also be of interest to educators. Educators will find that ideas can be drawn from the site as far as running student and class projects for upcoming missions where Canadian astronauts will be present (this Spring). The site will be fairly dynamic during the course of the mission providing links to obtain up-to-date informaton, images, graphics and news items about the mission - again with a Canadian slant. Users will also find, and hopefully fill out, a short on-line survey to help define what will appear in web sites to support similar Canadian space activities in the near future. ...John Criswick criswick@conveyor.com ======== Smoking Gun Games is pleased to announce their World-Wide Web presence! Jeff Black, owner of the Ottawa-based company, has this to say to all interested: "We are very happy to supply you with all your gaming needs. Whether it's collectable card games, roleplaying, miniatures wargames or computer gaming, Smoking Gun Games is firmly commited to quality customer service and the best gaming experience available." Smoking Gun games stocks a full range of collectable card games, AD&D Second Edition from TSR, White Wolf Studios Storyteller series of products, and Warhammer 40K and Fantasy Battle miniatures and rules systems. Our mail-order service is in full swing - call in to (613) 226-0962 and let us know what we can get for you! We also have four networked 486 DX4/100 PC's with 16-bit sound cards for quality stereo sound, state of the art joysticks and comfy chairs! These machines are linked for network DOOM!, Heretic, Mechwarrior II, Rise of the Triad, and many other multi-player games. Our Web page is located at <URL:http://www.magmacom.com/~sharvey/sgun.html> Come take a look and see what you think! Call us and let us know you've seen us on the Web, or E-mail to sharvey@magmacom.com (that's me! - Jeff's erstwhile partner in crime). We look forward to hearing from you! Remember that phone number (613) 226-0962. We've got voice mail service available from Bell Canada, so your calls will never go unheard! ======== Mountain Man Graphics, Australia Web Publications Index Update: <URL:http://magna.com.au/~prfbrown/welcome.html> A new article entitled "The Nature of Nature". A new web page for an old concept ... The Nature of Nature need not be revealed only to the mind of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics. It is close to one and all ... We have a center of compassion just as we have a center of intellect ... In understanding one's self, one evolves. All welcome. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BoomerangOutPost: Mountain Man Graphics, Australia SnailMail: P.O. Box 194, Newport Beach, NSW 2106, Australia E-Mail: prfbrown@magna.com.au -- ======== Provides a starting point for people with regular household quantities of material to recycle. Includes information on toxic and hard-to-recycle materials. Offers information from a USA national perspective, intended to supplement that available from local recycling agencies (a list of local agencies is included, and will be maintained). <URL:http://www.best.COM/~dillon/recycle/> ======== Q&D Software Development is delighted to announce the release of our latest version of WebForms, the popular WWW forms generator. WebForms 2.0 lets you create your own WWW forms which you can link to your home page, allowing you to accept orders for your products, conduct surveys, or anything else you can think of that requires a response from your users. And WebForms requires no CGI! New in version 2.0 -- *Direct Importing -- WebForms can now go directly to your POP3 mail server to import your responses! *Table support -- include HTML tables in your forms! *Unlimited number of fields in response printouts! *Much, much more! If you're already familiar with WebForms, you can download the upgrade file from our Web site at <URL:http://www.q-d.com/>. If you need more info, read on: WebForms consists of two modules combined into one amazing program. The first module, called the WebForms Forms Generator enables you to design your forms in any way you like. Using the WebForms Forms Generator module, you can create text areas along with many different types of controls including text fields, radio button groups, check box groups, list boxes, graphic images, and hypertext links. WebForms' easy point and click interface allows you to create as many controls as you like, having them appear in whatever order you like. Once you've finished designing your form, just click the 'Complete' button and the WebForms Forms Generator goes to work. In a matter of micro-seconds you have a professional looking WWW form which you can upload to your network server or Internet Service Provider (or wherever you keep your home page). You can create as many forms as you like for whatever purpose you like. Anyone who stops by your home page will be able to fill out the form and click the 'Submit' button, resulting in an encoded e-mail message sent to whatever e-mail address you specified when creating the form! Which brings us to... The second module, called the WebForms Response Reader, reads the responses received from any WebForms Form. All you need to do is tell WebForms your e-mail address, and WebForms will call your existing winsock, connect to your POP3 mail server, and import your messages into its database. (If you don't have a POP3 mail server you can save each message to your hard disk as a plain ASCII text file and import from there.) There is no need to 'clean' the text file by removing any addressing information, since the WebForms Response Reader is intelligent enough to sift through the text of each message and pick out what it needs. The WebForms Response Reader can even tell which WebForms Form each message is responding to! This powerful database feature allows you to simply click on the name of the form for which you would like to read responses, and presents these responses in a clear, concise, scrollable table view. You can even select whether to view New messages, Old messages, or All messages. Most programs of this type are written by electronic publishing companies for their own use. They then charge YOU for their services, forcing you to pay more each time you want to make the littlest changes to your form. With WebForms, YOU are finally in control. WebForms is brought to you by Q&D Software Development, creators of WebMania, WinBrowse, and Dear Diary, among other popular shareware programs. To download any of our programs, or to view our catalog, we invite you to visit our web site at <URL:http://www.q-d.com/> ======== Franceway <URL:http://www.franceway.com/> : France's server. At last a great, enjoyable, global server which aims at dealing with anything that regards France, ranging from cultural and touristic topics to the presentation of French dynamic firms. An astonishing display concerning our regions, cities and activities. We invite you to discover France in its diversity and gentleness. -- /---------------------------------------\ | DECOUVERTES | | infos@franceway.com | \---------------------------------------/ -- ======== <URL:http://hole-in-one.com/> Hole-in-One is an integrated "Yahoo"-like directory service and search engine for the Japanese WWW. A computer with Japanese display capability is required, but both Japanese and English sites are cataloged, and the language is indicated. ======== Play king of the web beat the king on top <URL:http://www.hacom.nl/inet/games/kingofweb.html> King Of The Web -------------------------------------------------- INTERNET PAGE PRODUCTIONS TECHNICAL DIV. IPP SOFTWARE KVK A'FOORT Wederik 36 43458 ======== Our server recently hiccuped. We want to apologise for the inconvenience and thank everybody who helped with suggestions. We're up again at <URL:http://pc1502.geographie.uni-regensburg.de/html/rng/wwwrng.htm> About 1MB of binary random numbers is currently available. For every file the deviation from expectancy and the one-sided and two-sided probability are given. We've now added an ASCII random number table for easy use of random numbers in hand calculation. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Regards, Gerald Gerald.Huber@geographie.uni-regensburg.de ======== Fiction Addiction is the site for you if you enjoy a good romp between the covers - book covers that is. Fiction Addiction features independent book reviews of both new and old popular fiction. An innovative feature of the site is the ability to vote for the next books to be reviewed Visit now!!! <URL:http://www.iol.ie/~westrock/fiction/> --------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks, Derek Doran, Sinead Masterson. ======== _INTERNET RESOURCES_ Newsletter: Issue 14 November 1995 is now available on the World Wide Web at the URL: <URL:http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn.html> If you type the above address into your browser, make sure the 'W's in 'libWWW' are in upper case! _INTERNET RESOURCES_is a FREE WWW newsletter produced by Heriot-Watt University Library. It informs about new and recent Internet resources of interest to the higher education community. It also hopes to provide occasional guidance on various aspects of electronic information. It may be of use to anyone interested in the more serious aspects of the Internet and its resources. For those without a Web browser, an email version of the Newsletter (which will contain HTML codes, however) may be available by sending 4 separate email messages to: webmail@www.ucc.ie with the subject blank, and the text of the first message to read: go http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn14/irn14.html and the text of the second message to read: go http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn14/irn14b.html and the text of the third message to read: go http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn14/irn14c.html and the text of the fourth message to read: go http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn14/irn14d.html Note: the address is case sensitive! -- Edited by Roddy MacLeod (libram@bonaly.hw.ac.uk) (URL: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/libram/roddy.html) and Gordon Andrew (libgra@bonaly.hw.ac.uk) (URL: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/libgra/gordon.html) ======== COMMERCIAL: Gezien, een kleine personal scanner die al uw papieren in uw computer krijgt. Vraag meer informatie aan, zoek uw lokale dealer, of doe mee aan onze enquete en win een gratis ScanJet! <URL:http://www.hp.nl/products/scanners/ScanJet> ======== The SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE . INC. software for Windows 'Intellectual Property Triad', creates and prints your data and official US form for COPYRIGHT, TRADE-MARK or PATENT on your Laser Printer. For information and useful related lists and links visit <URL:http://www.wp.com/SyIn/> or e-mail briz@ix.netcom.com. ======== Info: Olympic Ticket Holders! Atlanta Hosts is a new resource on the WWW to help you locate nice accommodations for the 96 Olympic Games. Any size group can stay close to Atlanta (Zone 1) in private homes. Our Hosts are excited about having you come and stay with them. Many Hosts offer special amenities such as B&B, golfing, tennis and swimming privileges. Any size group can stay. Many combinations of rooms. All accommodations are located in one of Atlanta's nicest areas. Visit Atlanta Hosts page or e-mail (dasco@mindspring.com). Call 770-631-0191 <URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~dasco/aoh2.htm> ======== Dear all, 'Medicine and the Internet on the WWW' is a collection of Web pages newly published by Oxford University Press. <URL:http://www.oup.co.uk/scimed/medint/> The pages are associated with a new book introducing doctors and other health-care professionals to medical applications of the Internet. I the pages will show just how complimentary the Web can be to a traditional paper-based publication. While a few books and journals have been published in toto in hypertext, there has been little experimentation with 'extending' the usefullness of the mainstream printed book. The main benefits of such a venture, as I see them, follow: * The pages bring together the URLs of all the resources mentioned in the book to save the reader typing these in manually each time - a time-consuming process, and as we all know, its easy to miss-spell a URL. * URLs are arranged chapter-by-chapter, meaning the reader can go online with a background of relevant reading (important for maximum appreciation, and consolidation of wht has just been by means of practical experience). * Selected medical resources (world, European, and specialty-based) are given a brief peer-review on the Web pages, helping to guide doctors to relevant material (most sites consist only of URL listings). * In maintaining the links in the Web pages, and through user-reporting of dead links (via the feedback page), subsequent revision of the printed book becomes less of a task (it is easier to re-verify the URLs). * From a marketing point-of-view, the Web enables knowledge of the book to reach a wider prospective audience. Because the Web is available globally, it gives the book a more international flavour and appeal; printed books tend to be of more relevance to a particular geographic area or cultural environment. WWW server statistics should illustrate this. * The use of a feedback page and a page for comments should encourage constructive feedback that will help guide the next edition to the requirements of the audience. * The comments page also provides for the publication of additional material and/or debate on certain topics that for reasons of economy were excluded from the printed work. * Online updates can protect the investment in a hard copy. These updates can be saved to disk and printed for the user to add to his or her copy. The process of revision of the printed work is again simplier, since most of the digesting/reviewing/writing has been spread thinly across these online updates. I don't think putting entire books on the Web is necessarily the way to go; the concept of an 'electronic supplement' can bring the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you have the easy-to-handle practicality and easier-to-sell hard copy; on the other, the unrivalled currency and internationality of Web-based resources. I would be interested to receive any feedback about similar publishing experiences had by readers of this group. Did you have similar aims? Did it work for you? What sources of funds have you found to develop in this area? I hpe you will take a critical look at our pages, and look forward to your comments. Feel free to mail me directly with your advice or tips :-) Regards, Dr Bruce McKenzie (Author, 'Medicine and the Internet') -- __________________________________________________________________ Bruce C McKenzie MB,ChB (NZ) Author, Medicine and the Internet 75337.2274@compuserve.com Oxford University Press, 1996 http://www.oup.co.uk/scimed/medint ======== Life, the Universe, and Everything <URL:http://www2.msstate.edu/~rbh2/index.html> Has links and original information on zoology (birds, fish, mammals, invertebrates, etc.), botany (plant family notes/checklist, Palms, etc.), geology/paleontology (dinosaur checklist), history, literature, pets (incl. aquarium pages) and more in an ever expanding set of pages. Robert Hole, Jr. rbh2@ra.msstate.edu comments always welcome ======== This is the official announcement of the new release of The Wine Page, Version 3.0. With this release, we are shifting to a new provider in attempt to offer even more content and interactivity. We are now sponsored by the nice folks at speakeasy.org here in Seattle. Please make a note of the new URL: <URL:http://www.speakeasy.org/~winepage/wine.html> Our basic goal with The Wine Page is to provide the best resource possible to bring together those interested in the wine world. This is currently accomplished with no commercial interest or support. The primary emphasis here is placed on depth of content - we feature an extensive archive of tasting notes, essays, a wine FAQ, a glossary, a couple of electronic magazines, a tour of Washington State wine producers, a report on the Seattle wine scene, ubiquitous list of links, etc. etc. Still, we try to balance the sometimes imposing weight of the content with gentle humor and levity - We feature an area (Rate Robert Parker) where folks can get revenge upon the famed wine critic. Additionally, we have our very own web-contest (doesn't everybody?) with an actual prize. We've had about 80,000 visitors over the past year with few complaints. I won't take any more space bragging other than to say we've had a a series of published compliments from both folks in the wine trade as well as Internet providers (e.g. frequent stints on AOL and Compuserve link pages) and print magazines (e.g. New York Times, Internet mags., indexes, etc.) Please feel free to forward any comments, criticisms, suggestions my way. Thanks for your time, Jarrett Paschel winepage@speakeasy.org -- The Wine Page On the WWW ---> http://www.speakeasy.org/~winepage/wine.html E-mail ---> winepage@speakeasy.org ======== Fairly comprehensive web site of Mythology and mythology products. <URL:http://www.the-wire.com/culture/mythology/mythtext.html> -- Untangle Incorporated: Everything Online http://www.io.org/~untangle/unthome.html Personal:ROC's http://www.io.org/~untangle/rochome.html Just for fun: http://www.the-wire.com/culture/mythology/mythtext.html ======== Meteorite! magazine is published quarterly by Pallasite Press in Auckland, New Zealand. Topics cover anything and everything associated with meteorites, such as new discoveries, collecting, history and more. Regular news and reviews also feature. Meteorite! now has a home page on the Web, accessible at: <URL:http://ihug.co.nz/met/metmag.html> More information about the magazine is available in the Web pages, including full contents of every issue, a feature article, pictures and subscription and advertising details. For information about the Web pages, please contact Aaron Schiff (afs@ihug.co.nz). E-mail related to the magazine itself should be directed to the Editor, Joel Schiff (j.schiff@auckland.ac.nz). ------------ Aaron Schiff afs@ihug.co.nz Ph: +64-9-486-2428 Fax: +64-9-489-6750 ======== x Vegetarian Pages <URL:http://www.veg.org/veg/> The "Vegetarian Pages" is a website full of links and information about vegetarianism, veganism and related topics. It attempts to be the major reference to vegetarian-related information on the Internet. That is: If we don't have it online, we should have a link to it. In October 1995, we had in excess of 100,000 recorded hits to our hosted text/HTML files. Of course, this does not count many more cached hits. The above URL supercedes the PREVIOUS URL for the Vegetarian Pages. Please STOP USING <URL:http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Vegetarian/>. Update your links now! Listings for the following vegetarian resources are maintained: Events News FAQs Mega-Index Recipes/Nutrition/Health Books/software Organisations (and also Vegetarian-friendly Organisations) Articles On this website, you will also find the following hosted resources: European Vegetarian Union Vegan Society (UK) Vegetarian International Voice for Animals Vegetarian Society of the UK Vegetarian Union of North America (soon) World Guide to Vegetarianism along with many other smaller resources. Feedback welcome. Gedge -- gedge@veg.org -- Maintainer, Vegetarian Pages: http://www.veg.org/veg/ ======== Anti-Virus Resources - To Avoid and Recover from Virus Attacks. <URL:http://www.primenet.com/~mwest/index.html#VirusProtection> All you need to protect (and recover if nessary) from computer virus attacks in one location. Put this "First Aid" URL for you computer in a safe, accessible place. o Software: Scanners System Monitors Data Integrity Checkers Virus Signature Updates o How to: Recover from a virus attack Report a new virus o Virus: Related news Descriptions Alerts o CHK-SAFE mail list: Ensure clean AV software regardless of the source Alerts to known infected files The "First Aid" URL for your computer. <URL:http://www.primenet.com/~mwest/index.html#VirusProtection> === <mwest@primenet.com> || http://www.primenet.com/~mwest/ PGP/Privacy, Roller Coasters, HTML, Anti-Virus, Martial Art & more PGP FngPnt: 42 98 08 7D F5 AC B0 F7 89 A1 81 1A 97 FC F4 EC PIdaho - PGP w/Email. Freeware! ======== Linn's Stamp News, the world's largest weekly stamp news and marketplace now has a website up and running.The site features a reference area for beginning collectors, articles and news from the pages of Linn's, advertising rate information, subscription information, and books published by Linn's. Look for this site to grow considerably. Reach Linn's On-line at: <URL:http://www.best.com/~linns/> until the middle December. After this time, set your browser to www.linns.com Thank you for interest in Linn's (linns@bright.net). -- Linn's Stamp News World's Largest Stamp News and Marketplace -- ======== For the latest 16bit & 32bit Internet shareware & freeware software, visit <URL:http://www.io.org/~mstz/Overview.html> Shiraz Shariff -- @START@O'Leary Brothers One day a man walked into a bar, sat down on a stool, ordered a drink and listened to the conversations going on around him. From a corner he heard two men talking... "So, what country are ye from?" "Why, Great Britain, best in the world!" "Well wouldn't you know? I come from there too! What part of Britain are ye from?" "Scotland, me laddie!" "That's amazing! I come from there too! So what town are ye from?" "<generic Scottish town> of course!" "What a coincidence! So do I! What neighborhood are ye from?" "I live right by the old church." "Of all the luck! So did I!" The bartender, seeing the man's puzzled expression, said "Yep, the O'Leary brothers are drinking again." @START@Iraqi elections Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was re-elected president by an overwhelming 99.96% of the popular vote in this week's single- candidate national elections. In an unrelated story, roughly 5000 Iraqi voters--about 0.04% of the total Iraqi voting population-- mysteriously disappeared Tuesday.... @START@Another bar joke... Picked this one up from a friend at school: 137 lemmings walk into a bar. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. @START@Understanding our differences... Told to me by a friend, unknown source... Q: What's the difference between a psychotic and a neurotic? A: A psychotic doesn't believe that 2 + 2 = 4. A neurotic knows it's true, but it bothers him. @START@Very basic first aid treatment While reading a First-aid manual I got to a chapter on the treatment of burn victims. I could not believe the line that read: "The most important procedure in the treatment of burns is to remove the victim from the fire" @START@REVIEW: NOW AND THEN NOW AND THEN A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 5.1 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: wide release 10/20/95 Running Length: 1:36 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Gaby Hoffman, Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell, Melanie Griffith, Rita Wilson Director: Lesli Linka Glatter Producers: Suzanne Todd and Demi Moore Screenplay: I. Marlene King Cinematography: Ueli Steiger Music: Cliff Edelman U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema What is it about females bonding in graveyards? First, we get the climax of MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO amidst the quiet solitude of the tombstones. Now, two key scenes in this newest women's buddy film take place in a similar setting. Unless I'm very much mistaken, this is not representative of a real-life trend. The tactic of including these sequences is symptomatic of the single major flaw suffered by both films--a contrived artificiality that deadens any possible emotional response to the characters or their situations. Of the two, NOW AND THEN is the worse offender. Very little in this film comes across as believable. When individual moments work (and it's usually just isolated "moments", not even whole scenes), it's typically because they involve the kind minutiae anyone can dredge up from their memories. For example, consider the rather charming account of a first kiss. In penning this, screenwriter I. Marlene King probably relied more on real experience than imagination. Unfortunately, this sort of personal insight is not the norm for NOW AND THEN's hopelessly mundane script. The film opens and closes in the modern time frame. There, we meet adult versions of our four heroines: Samantha (Demi Moore), an emotionally unstable science fiction writer; Roberta (Rosie O'Donnell), a down-to-earth, hard-working doctor; Teeny (Melanie Griffith), an actress; and Chrissy (Rita Wilson), a prudish, pregnant housewife. The occasion of their reunion is Chrissy's impending blessed event. Between the modern-day prologue and epilogue, we are treated to an eighty-minute flashback to the Summer of 1970. There, we encounter junior high versions of Samantha (Gaby Hoffman), Roberta (Christina Ricci), Teeny (Thora Birch), and Chrissy (Ashleigh Aston Moore). For most of the film, these four are "investigating" the 1945 death of "Dear Johnny", a young boy whose spirit they believe they have summoned through an impromptu seance. In the process, they learn things about friendship, loss, and death. Everything, from the overall arc of the story to individual lines of dialogue, is too obvious. The four young actresses are all more impressive than their adult counterparts, although certain casting choices left me scratching my head. As good as Christina Ricci is as Roberta, am I really supposed to believe that she grows up (and out) to become Rosie O'Donnell? This goes beyond a reasonable suspension of disbelief. At least the other three transformations are acceptable. While the 1970s segments of NOW AND THEN are of the hit-and-miss variety, the 1995 scenes are uniformly bad. I had some interest in what happened with the twelve year olds, but I didn't care about them at all once they had grown up. The "now" scenes feel much like an excuse for four high-profile actresses to lend their names to this film. At best, their presence is superfluous. Yet even had the film remained entirely in the "then" time frame, it still would have been lacking. There's just not enough originality here, no matter what year it is. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: DEVOTION DEVOTION A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 5.7 Canada, 1994 U.S. Availability: varies (limited) Running Length: 2:03 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Sex, profanity, nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Jan Derbyshire, Kate Twa, Cindy Girling, Eileen Barrett, Steve Adams Director: Mindy Kaplan Producer: Arlene Battishill Screenplay: Mindy Kaplan based on a story by Arlene Battishill Cinematography: Mario Araya Music: Arlene Battishill U.S. Distributor: Northern Arts Entertainment In discussing DEVOTION, a story about a lesbian love triangle, writer/director Mindy Kaplan has stated that she wanted to "create characters and situations that people could recognize and identify with." She has succeeded, albeit perhaps *too* well. All the elements of this story are achingly familiar, having formed the plot core of everything from TV soap operas to Harlequin romances. The only difference here is that all three participants are women -- but just because something is "gay" doesn't make it inherently better or more interesting than its "straight" counterpart. A tired story is worn out regardless of the sexual orientation of the characters. DEVOTION centers around Sheila Caston (Jan Derbyshire), an up-and- coming standup comic whose outrageous show has attracted the attention of a husband-and-wife TV sitcom production team, Lynn and Bill Matthews (Cindy Girling and Steve Adams). However, all is not smooth sailing en route to signing Sheila to the lead role of this cutting edge lesbian program. The first face-to-face meeting between Shelia and Lynn is strained, and we soon learn that they know each other from years ago. Now, with a bright future ahead, Shelia finds herself haunted by past memories, and caught between her current lover, Julie (Kate Twa) and unexpected repercussions from her unrequited first love. The first half-hour of DEVOTION, while lively and energetic, has a glib tone that displays little sympathy for its characters. Everyone is constantly smiling, but the happiness seems forced and unnatural. There's a jaded feel which threatens to alienate the audience. Eventually, DEVOTION softens its approach, devolving into a fairly routine melodramatic style with all the expected love triangle elements: passion, love, jealousy, and self-doubt. As the film moves along, it becomes possible to feel for the characters, even though the screenplay holds few epiphanies. DEVOTION is graced by the strong performances of Jan Derbyshire and Kate Twa. Together, they have effective chemistry; separately, each is capable of standing on her own. It's a credit to the actresses that they're able to do something with such limited material. Both throw themselves into the work with an earnestness that gets translated to the audience. On those rare occasions when DEVOTION sparkles, it has little to do with the script and everything to do with its stars. Regurgitated story and tone variations aside, one of the primary reasons why DEVOTION represents such a dubious entertainment value is that it's far too long. There's not enough real psychological or emotional drama to sustain this story for two hours, and the average viewer will find herself or himself fidgeting through the last quarter. Bits of DEVOTION will strike a responsive chord with some audience members, but the movie as a whole doesn't reach the level of achievement it's striving for. Ultimately, the strengths of the presentation don't adequately compensate for the banality of the content. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: NADJA NADJA A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 5.6 United States, 1994 U.S. Availability: varies (limited) Running Length: 1:37 MPAA Classification: R (Sex, vampirism) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Elina Lowensohn, Martin Donovan, Galaxy Craze, Peter Fonda, Jared Harris, Suzy Amis, Karl Geary Director: Michael Almereyda Producers: Mary Sweeney and Amy Hobby Screenplay: Michael Almereyda Cinematography: Jim DeNault Music: Simon Fisher Turner U.S. Distributor: October Films Hip. Cool. New Wave. Chic. These are only some of the adjectives applicable to Michael Almereyda's new take on the vampire legend. Of course, one other term springs to mind, but it isn't nearly as complimentary. Pretentious. There are times when NADJA becomes too full of itself, as if the writer/director is attempting to prove that he's more than just a film maker; he's an *artist*. Hal Hartley regular Elina Lowensohn is the title character, and her erotic, exotic portrayal of a female vampire may be the best on-screen presentation of the undead since that of Bela Lugosi. Cloaked and cowled in black with flawless skin and well-defined eyebrows, Lowensohn's Nadja is a startling creature, and the camera clearly loves her. Her European accent is also perfect for the role. (How important was Lugosi's to his Dracula?) NADJA opens in modern-day Manhattan, where there are apparently all sorts of vampires and zombies roaming around. One such is the venerable Dracula (although he doesn't last more than ten minutes into the film), while others include his daughter Nadja and her twin brother Edgar (Jared Harris). Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Fonda), a nutcase vampire-killer acting like an aging hippie who dropped too much acid during the '60s, has driven a stake through Dracula's heart and is now after the kids. Helping him in his quest is his nephew (or is it son?), Jim (Martin Donovan, another Hartley favorite), whose wife Lucy (Galaxy Craze) has fallen under Nadja's spell. One pleasant aspect of NADJA is that very little is played straight. Much of the film is done tongue in cheek, and there are a number of sly, satirical references to the legendary Dracula story. Visually, allusions vary from NOSFERATU to PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE. Almereyda is clearly having fun with his material. His vision of Van Helsing as a borderline maniac is clever, and a number of double entendres (including one about being "born again") are worth a hearty chuckle. Filmed in sterling black-and-white interspersed with Pixelvision sequences (created using a Fisher Price toy camera), NADJA is occasionally exquisite. There are scenes of stunning beauty and fevered chaos, with eerie music playing to their accompaniment. Unfortunately, Almereyda doesn't restrain his artsy visual inclinations, and his weird style becomes self-indulgent. Used too often, even the best tricks grow tiresome. NADJA is a prime example of this. And when the plot dries up an hour into the proceedings, the director apparently thinks that canny cinematography can keep things going to the end. It doesn't work, and NADJA struggles to reach the final credits. Smoke and mirrors only work when the audience can't see through them, but, in this picture, they're painfully obvious. David Lynch's involvement in something this bizarre should surprise no one. In addition to his executive producer credit, Lynch has a cameo as a morgue attendant. Although he never steps behind the camera, the man who made ERASERHEAD and BLUE VELVET is full of praise for Almereyda, which is expected considering NADJA's offbeat style. But where Lynch's films always possessed an edge, NADJA doesn't have much to recommend it beyond atmosphere, occasional playfulness, and Lowensohn. As vampire movies go, this one lacks bite. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: GET SHORTY GET SHORTY A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 8.8 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: wide release 10/20/95 Running Length: 1:45 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, violence) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Dennis Farina, James Gandolfini, Bette Midler Director: Barry Sonnenfeld Producers: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher Screenplay: Scott Frank based on the novel by Elmore Leonard Cinematography: Don Peterman Music: John Lurie U.S. Distributor: MGM The better you know movies, the more appreciation you'll have for the wit and energy of Barry Sonnenfeld's GET SHORTY. While it's quite possible for the cinematically unaware to enjoy this film--it's got a fair amount of readily-accessible comedy and action--this is a real treat for movie buffs. The story is as much about the love of motion pictures as it is about gangsters. Scott Frank's script for GET SHORTY, which lifts huge chunks of dialogue directly from the book, captures the spirit of Elmore Leonard's work the way no previous adaptation has been able to (THE MOONSHINE WAR, STICK, CAT CHASER). This film is wry and sardonic all the way through, with the actors and director knowing exactly how to play each scene for maximum effect. GET SHORTY is much more a comedy than anything else, and a very funny one at that. John Travolta, playing his second gangster in a row, is Chili Palmer, a loanshark on a mission to Los Angeles to recover $300,000 gained through an insurance fraud. Once near Hollywood, however, Chili, an avowed movie-lover (he has the lines from TOUCH OF EVIL memorized and can recognize RIO BRAVO from a sound byte), becomes seduced by the thought of producing a film. So he hooks up with schlock director Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) and scream queen Karen Flores (Rene Russo). And when Chili starts to pitch an idea, none other than big time actor Martin Weir (Danny DeVito) shows interest. Nevertheless, even as things start looking up for Chili's movie, a host of gangsters try to muscle in on his action--one way or another. Not since SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER has John Travolta been this cool. His comeback work in PULP FICTION may have been effective, but he's better here. Travolta has got Chili down cold, from the mannerisms to the look. With a fine supporting cast that includes Danny DeVito, Rene Russo, and the always-reliable Gene Hackman, Travolta is surrounded by talent. It would have taken a poor director to botch up this production. One of the great pleasures of watching GET SHORTY is that you don't have to turn off your brain while the film is on screen. The script is smart, and makes few concessions to mentally challenged audience members. There's a lot going on beyond the obvious. Take role reversals, for example. As Chili is seduced from a criminal lifestyle by movies, his motion-picture colleagues are drawn away from film by the lure of the gangster experience. Ultimately, it turns out that the common denominator for success in either career is attitude--a quality which Chili possesses in abundance. Those familiar with PULP FICTION may detect hints of that film here, and not just because of Travolta's presence. Much of the dialogue has the same kind of quirky, snappy quality as that which Tarantino writes. (Quentin is an admitted Leonard fan; in fact, his next directorial effort may be an adaptation of the author's RUM PUNCH.) There's one instance where tough gangsters discuss the meanings of "e.g." and "i.e." On another occasion, Chili lectures Martin on the importance of a stare. The ending is a little reminiscent of that of THE PLAYER, with a couple of big name cameos. It's a clever way to conclude a wonderfully entertaining romp. GET SHORTY may indeed be 1995's PULP FICTION, but this less profane film is likely to find wider acceptance. It's certainly more mainstream, but, at least in this case, that's not a bad thing. With GET SHORTY, Sonnenfeld has shown that broad appeal doesn't necessarily equate with stupidity. That's a lesson Hollywood should learn. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@ON SCREEN: Copycat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN COPYCAT Starring Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter. Screenplay by Ann Biderman and David Madsen. Directed by Jon Amiel. Opens Oct. 27. (eeee of 5 eyes) by GEMMA FILES I'll freely admit Copycat, the smart new Hollywood thriller from British import Jon Amiel (Sommersby), sounded pretty good to me from the get-go. -- though probably not for reasons others might share. Sure, I too was enticed by the pairing of Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver, two of my all-time favorite actresses, and the prospect of a movie that lets female leads play cat-and-mouse against an intelligent serial killer (with nary a prospective male rescuer in sight). But then again, I'll go see anything where there's even an outside chance of Harry Connick Jr. being shot down in the street like the piano- playin', stupid-statements-about-every-other-type-of-music-makin', Cajun lounge lizard dog that he is. It doesn't really ruin the movie to tell you that this does not, unfortunately, come to pass. But Copycat is such a tensile little missive from hell in all other respects that I'm entirely satisfied with what does actually go on: swift-moving plot action, interesting twists and a slew of genuine scares; a complex variety of relationships between male and female characters; plus, from Mesdames Hunter and Weaver, two of the most intense performances I've seen all year. Homicide detective M.J. Monahan (Hunter) keeps getting mysterious phone calls from someone who claims to have inside information on her latest case. This turns out to be Dr. Helen Hudson (Weaver), a criminal psychologist who calls herself "the fucking muse of serial killers" -- especially so these days, as she's been confined to her apartment by extreme agoraphobia since being attacked by redneck freak Darryl Lee Cullum (Connick). Because she's small, Southern and occasionally calls people "sir," Hunter will draw inevitable comparisons to Jodie Foster's Agent Clarice Starling in The Silence Of The Lambs. Weaver, with more reason, could be seen as doing a psychiatric riff on her role as shell-shocked Alien attack survivor Ellen Ripley. Once again, there's a menace the authorities need her expert knowledge on in order to contain, and she spends most of her time alternately trying to convince them how serious the situation is and begging off getting personally involved. You could say that what Copycat is really about is the difficulties and rewards of female solidarity in the face of our killer-obsessed "serial culture"'s increasingly perverse ramifications. Or you could just say it rocks. Either way, it's two hours well worth your attention. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Never Talk To Strangers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS Starring Rebecca De Mornay and Antonio Banderas. Screenplay by Lewis Green and Jordan Rush. Directed by Peter Hall. (ee of 5 eyes) by DAVID DRAYTON While watching Never Talk To Strangers I kept hoping against hope that it would get worse, that it would get so stinky that it would become an absolute howler -- a camp classic instead of just a bad movie. Alas, it never happened. Although, when Rebecca De Mornay started nibbling on Antonio Banderas' perfectly lit tush, it came damn close. Trouble is, British director Peter Hall and screenwriters Lewis Green and Jordan Rush aren't just interested in Banderas' butt. They are also interested in -- but have little talent for -- making a suspense yarn in the tradition of Hitchcock's Suspicion. Poor Sarah Taylor (De Mornay), a criminal psychologist, is gradually becoming unglued. Somebody's been sending her some very ugly presents: dead roses, a mutilated cat, her obituary printed in the papers, and it may well be the new man in her life, devastatingly hunky Puerto Rican securities consultant Tony Ramirez, played by Banderas. The filmmakers are unable to make us care about Tony's guilt or innocence. Or make us worry about the other suspicious characters that crowd Sarah's life. Nobody in the mostly female audience at the screening I attended gasped at the end when the stalker was revealed. After the nibbling, they were all gasped out. Strangers is such a woefully inept thriller that one suspects if it didn't star the hottest Hollywood studmuffin of the moment, it would have been a prime candidate for a straight-to-video release. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: A Pure Formality ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN A PURE FORMALITY Starring Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski. Screenplay by Giuseppe Tornatore and Pascale Quignard. Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. French with subtitles. (eee of 5 eyes) by GEMMA FILES Call it the 1995 Multiple-Ending syndrome. In the growing tradition of recent puzzlers like The Usual Suspects and Seven, A Pure Formality -- a surprisingly freaky new film from Cinema Paradiso warmth-meister Giuseppe Tornatore, starring acting heavyweight Gerard Depardieu and fellow director Roman Polanski -- has "a twist, and a twist, and a twist." And while solving its mysteries may not exactly qualify you for a top spot at the CIA, it might get you some kind of position in court if anyone decides to mount another version of Franz Kafka's The Trial. A Pure Formality kicks off with a literal bang, a gun fired straight into the audience's "face." It sets up a first-person tracking shot up and running through the rainy French woods, and resolves into a bizarre blend of metaphorical and metaphysical "investigation": Columbo meets Waiting For Godot. Discovered wandering on a mud-soaked country road, without identification and several relevant parts of his recent memory, Depardieu is hauled in for questioning by the world's tiniest and most inefficient group of police. Chief Inspector Polanski soon appears on the scene, bearing questions. Depardieu turns out to be a famous but reclusive mystery writer named Onoff, and Polanski turns out to be his greatest fan, initially deferential due to his love of Onoff's books but increasingly impatient with le maître's inability to explain himself. After all (to paraphrase Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space), a man has been found dead... murdered. And somebody's responsible. Both Polanski (who fans of his dramatic work may still recall from his turn as the nose-slitting little thug in Chinatown) and Depardieu are at the top of their form -- the former charmingly steely, the latter dazed with a rage turned alternately against the world and himself. Watching them go head-to-head makes a movie in itself. But the real punchline, when it comes, is a doozy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Three Wishes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN THREE WISHES Starring Patrick Swayze and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Screenplay by Elizabeth Anderson. Directed by Martha Coolidge. Opens Oct. 27. (ee of 5 eyes) by CAROLYN BENNETT It's not often that I leave a film totally confounded. But Three Wishes, a peculiar little offering from director Martha Coolidge (Rambling Rose, Angie), supplied the rare occasion. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is Jean Hallman, a widowed suburban mom with two young sons in the 1950s. While driving, she accidentally collides with a pedestrian, a mysterious drifter named Jack McCloud (Patrick Swayze). Feeling guilty, she invites him to stay in her home until his broken leg is healed. A Forrest Gump without the personality, McCloud is one odd bird, drinking herbal teas and sunbathing in the nude, shocking Hallman's uptight neighbors. Eventually, the placid stranger wins over some of them when, using Eastern philosophy, he coaches the town's loser little-league baseball team to success. Mom's older, geeky boy, Tom, and the younger, sickly Gunny become attached to McCloud and want him to stay forever. McCloud's mission, it seems, is to ease troubled minds by granting wishes. Is he a wizard who makes the wishes of his family come true, or does the family heal itself through positive thinking? The literary term "magic realism" could be applied here, but why be coy -- "split-personality" is a more apt description of the nature of the film. While Three Wishes looks great (the art direction and costuming is modern-milly-marvelous and Coolidge sets the '50s suburban tone well), the story jumps from mother to sons to brooding stranger without pausing to develop the characters. But hey, there're special effects (rather lousy ones at that) revealing little Gunny's overactive imagination. The kid sees monsters, the kid flies around a fairground. Is he really flying? Who cares? The film is all over the place like Mike Palmateer in his goal crease. Do you believe in magic? Well, you'll have to to enjoy this saccharine tale. Be prepared to not only suspend your disbelief, but choke it into the nether world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Leaving Las Vegas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN LEAVING LAS VEGAS Starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. Screenplay by Mike Figgis based on the novel by John O'Brien. Directed by Mike Figgis. Opens Oct. 27. (eeee of 5 eyes) by DENIS SEGUIN Depressing movies are hard to watch. This goes some way toward explaining the popularity of films with happy endings. Or it may be that making a depressing film that people want to watch is simply more difficult to achieve and so less likely to be financed. There's a fine line between being too oppressive and alienating your audience entirely and caving into pressure to not be oppressive and thus compromising the work. Director Mike Figgis (Internal Affairs, The Browning Version) recognized this when he set out to bring a truly depressing book to screen. How depressing? John O'Brien, the author of Leaving Las Vegas, committed suicide two weeks after learning the film was to be made. Leaving Las Vegas is his suicide note. Ben (Nicholas Cage) is an alcoholic. He goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets a prostitute named Sera (Elizabeth Shue) who, for no reason other than her interest in his stated mission, takes a shine to him and finds herself in love. Ben accepts her love but makes her promise him one thing: that she will never ever ask him to stop drinking. The premise is simple but Figgis sustains and subverts expectation with unbalancing twists and narrative cheekiness, especially with Julian Sands in a bizarre cameo as Sera's pimp. It's an intense and moving story that's also beautiful to watch, with profoundly atmospheric set-pieces -- the neon of Vegas, the stark beauty of the desert -- infused with saturated color. (Perhaps this saturation is an echo of Ben's pickled liver.) "A couple of factors are crucial," says Figgis. "One is how you cast it. Nick Cage and Elizabeth Shue are not threatening in terms of their base material as actors. So your two central characters are attractive and sympathetic, they have a lightness and charm, and that gives them and the story more leeway to be darker. "Then," he continues, "you have to be careful not to wallow in the mud, especially when you get get into editing. Individually the scenes may be wonderful but the cumulative effect of watching them strung together can easily become depressing." For instance, there is the tricky matter of Ben's drinking. How often can you show a man draining a bottle of liquor before you inure the audience against the effect that liquor is supposed to have? "You have to find the saturation point," he says, seemingly unaware of the pun. "I took out a lot of the shots of his drinking. If the audience no longer notices then that's failure." You notice -- the bottles are like slow bullets -- and afterwards you may find yourself pondering abstinence. Conversely, there is the music. The soundtrack music is surely the most effective and most abused weapon in a director's arsenal. Figgis has made nine feature films, but he started out as a musician in his native England (he was in a band with Bryan Ferry pre-Roxy Music). He wrote the score for the film and produced all the tracks, as well as playing trumpet and keyboard (and hired his pal Sting to sing a few of the songs). It is his music that gives him an edge over other directors. "It's not that you have music in your head, it's just when directing a scene you can ask the actor to underplay the emotion knowing that you intend to be stronger on the score at that point, or they can overplay it so that you can then undercut the emotion by contrasting it with something lighter." This is exactly what Figgis does, and the result -- actors in the foreground, Vegas neon in the background, music all around -- is a vertigo-inducing emotional limbo. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. "Music is much more powerful than film. You can make someone cry with music far more easily. You can't make someone cry with a piece of film, unless you really are a genius. But the minute you put a bit of corny music to an indifferent scene you can have an audience sniffling." "It's an interesting thing," concludes Figgis. "The directors who are clever enough to recognize music as a rival. Your ego is a healthy enough organ to say, 'When that audience cries, goddamn it, I want it to be because of me and not what the composer did.' " Mike Figgis wins either way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Mighty Mira ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN MIGHTY APHRODITE Starring Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino and Helena Bonham Carter. Written and directed by Woody Allen. Opens Oct. 27. (eee of 5 eyes) by ALEX PATTERSON Welcome to Woody Allen Number... what, 25, 26? Like most of his post- Crimes And Misdemeanors work, the new one is middling Woody, neither his best nor his worst. It's called Mighty Aphrodite, and if you don't hate the title, you probably won't hate the movie. We open upon the glory that was Greece: in an amphitheatre, a classical tragedy's Greek chorus sets the stage for the comedy to follow. We learn of a childless married couple in New York City (Allen, Helena Bonham Carter): he's a successful sportswriter; she's trying to get financing for her art gallery. He's happy with the way things are; she thinks they should have a child. Problem? Wifey "doesn't have time to get pregnant." (How, exactly, she's going to find 18 years to raise a child when she can't find nine months to gestate it is never addressed.) Out of the blue, the couple happens to hear about a healthy, white, days-old infant ready for adoption. Without so much as a waiting list or a test for their suitability as parents, they're given the kid. And the kid is wonderful -- so wonderful that his adoptive dad becomes obsessed with finding the biological mother, to see if she's wonderful, too. But bio-mom turns out to be a good deal less than wonderful. In fact, she's an uneducated hooker/porn star (Mira Sorvino) whose many names include Linda, and who mispronounces words in a cartoon-character voice (Allen's palpable contempt for the working classes is one of his least attractive traits). When Woody (regardless of his characters' names, he's always Woody) first arranges to meet her, she thinks he's an in-call and proceeds to talk dirty and doff her tacky slutwear. That Aphrodite works at all is due primarily to the remarkable comic skills of Mira Sorvino. Sure, other characters get a few funny lines too, but Linda is exactly what Sorvino thought the character was when she first read the script: "One of the great Dumb Blonde roles of all- time." And what Sorvino does with it is nothing less than a scene- stealing, star-making performance. Who, you might be asking, is this Mira Sorvino person? Well, she's ferociously talented, she graduated from Harvard, and she speaks fluent Chinese -- clearly no Dumb Blonde. Daughter of tough-guy actor Paul Sorvino (GoodFellas) and featured in Quiz Show and Barcelona, Mira's imaginative comic turn makes the bubble-brained Linda more sympathetic than Allen's alternately sneering and sentimental script gives her any right to be. The film hasn't even opened yet, yet I suspect the actress is already sick of being asked what it's like to work with Woody Allen. "Well, I was very nervous at first. It wasn't because of anything he was doing; I was just very intimidated by the fact that I was actually working with Woody Allen. He's very encouraging, and he gives you free run of the role. He doesn't care if you say his lines right or not. That was the first thing he said to me. He said, 'Listen, you don't have to say any of the lines I've written if you don't want to. They're just a guideline.' " This, from someone known for his writing, is pretty extraordinary. "It gives the actor a tremendous freedom and a feeling of licence to go with the immediate impulse rather than sticking with some preordained plan. Which is why his films are so special, because he tends to do no 'coverage,' just 'master' ['establishing'] shots. Although this film looks less like that because he moves the camera a lot, and dollies in." Mighty Aphrodite is like Bullets Over Broadway in that regard, shot entirely in masters, without the usual cutting to close-ups and so on. "Except," Sorvino, ever the perceptive student of the cinema, points out, "the shots aren't quite as wide as the ones in Bullets. They tend to move from one person to the other, so there's more of the feeling of traditional coverage. But it's still actually the spontaneity of everything happening in real time. In a Woody, you see a direct response to whatever is going on. It's very organic, and that's what gives it that fresh, exciting feeling." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews - http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies/movies.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@REVIEW: VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 5.1 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 10/27/95 (wide) Running Length: 1:40 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, violence, gore) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon Director: Wes Craven Producers: Eddie Murphy and Mark Lipsky Screenplay: Charles Murphy, Michael Lucker, and Chris Parker Cinematography: Mark Irwin Music: J. Peter Robinson U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures It seems that movie makers have lost the art of creating a good, scary vampire flick. The last such film to grace the screen was probably FRIGHT NIGHT, and that was a decade ago. Since then, the "sensitive" vampire has come into vogue--a creature tortured by its own inhumanity and appetites. While these existential nightstalkers have an appeal as character studies, they aren't all that frightening. True evil, of the absolute, soulless kind, is what makes for a terrifying bloodsucker. Unfortunately, that's not exactly what VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN offers. To be fair, Eddie Murphy does a better-than-average job as Maximillian, the last vampire on Earth. There are moments when Murphy is positively chilling, and he doesn't ham it up too much. Comedy is mixed in effectively, but it's what the humor is mingled with that doesn't work. As a horror film, VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN is a failure. Aside from Murphy's creature, there's nothing compelling in this picture. The script is dull, the characters are flat, and the direction is rather ordinary. (This is especially surprising considering that horror master Wes Craven, who did the first and last NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREETs, is at the helm.) Maximillian makes his entrance to Brooklyn by crashing a ship into the docks. On board are numerous corpses, all drained of blood. A huge wolf is seen disembarking, but no one believes the eyewitness. Next thing, there's a vampire roaming the streets, feeding on gangsters and recruiting a young thief/con man (Kadeem Hardison) as his ghoulish servant. But Max is in New York for a reason--he's on the trail of the only other member of his kind, the offspring of a vampire/human mating, a woman whose "other half still sleepwalks in humanity." He intends to bring out her true nature and introduce her to immortality. The person in question happens to be Rita Veder (Angela Bassett), a police officer assigned to investigate the murders on the ship that brought Max to the United States. And the vampire isn't the only one interested in her. Her partner, Justice (Allen Payne), is equally smitten. The hero is supposed to be Justice, but Allen Payne's portrayal lacks energy. The result is a bland and unsympathetic character. Why should we care about this guy? Instead, our attention gravitates to Murphy, the only performer attacking his role with relish. Thus, as in all recent vampire movies, it's the villain, not the good guy, who keeps us interested. And Max isn't really such a bad seed--he's just lonely and misunderstood. The centuries can turn tedious without a mate to share them with. There's some chemistry between Murphy and Bassett, but absolutely none in the Bassett/Payne pairing. Yet both relationships get equal screen time. There are a few comic highlights. One occurs when Max shape-shifts into an Al Sharpton-type preacher who gives a sermon on how "evil is good." Here, as the script ventures into pure satire, it acquires an edge that is absent most of the rest of the time. Also, some of the interplay between Julius (Hardison) and his older buddy Silas (John Witherspoon) is witty, and worthy of a few laughs. This pair does a great "Two Stooges" act. Overall, however, VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN doesn't live up to its promise or premise. The humor is hit-and-miss and the horror just isn't all that frightening. Eddie Murphy proves that he still has screen presence, but he needs a better showcase. The problem here isn't as much the talent in front of the camera as it is the weak and hackneyed script. VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN is in need of an infusion (or should that be transfusion?) of originality and creativity--two qualities that are blatantly absent. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: MIGHTY APHRODITE MIGHTY APHRODITE A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 10/27/95 (limited), 11/3/95 (wide) Running Length: 1:38 MPAA Classification: R (Sexual situations, mature themes, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Weller, Michael Rapaport Director: Woody Allen Producer: Robert Greenhut Screenplay: Woody Allen Cinematography: Carlo DiPalma U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films The film opens in an amphitheater in Greece, with an appropriately garbed Greek chorus chanting of the deeds of Achilles and Oedipus. Suddenly, unexpectedly, the masked men and women decide to switch to the tale of Lenny Weinrib (Woody Allen)--definitely not a name known from mythology. And, as things go from slightly absurd to completely ridiculous, the Chorus, led by F. Murray Abraham, say things like "Oh cursed fate! Some thoughts are better left unthunk!" and breaking into verses of "When You're Smiling." And all this is accomplished with an appropriate level of pomposity. MIGHTY APHRODITE, Woody Allen's 1995 film, lacks the brilliance and hilarity of his two previous efforts (MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY and BULLETS OVER BROADWAY), but it's not bad as a lightweight one-hundred minutes at the movies. Thematically, the film is pretty thin, unless you consider that everyone's life can resemble a Greek tragedy in one way or another. Allen appears determined to craft a motion picture that can be laughed at without plumbing any especially deep neuroses of the human condition. The story opens with Lenny and wife Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter, sans period costumes and British accent) discussing adoption. Lenny doesn't want a child, but Amanda does, although she isn't willing to sacrifice a year of her life to have one the normal, biological way. Eventually, Lenny gives in and the couple gets a healthy male infant, whom they name Max. As the child grows and Amanda becomes more wrapped up in her attempts to procure her own art studio, Lenny fights a growing curiosity to learn more about his son's natural mother. Eventually, he sneaks a peek at the adoption agency's records. This leads to a meeting with Linda Ash (Mira Sorvino), the woman who gave birth to Max. Much to Lenny's dismay, she turns out to be a statuesque blond with a helium voice and little in the way of intelligence. Worse still is how she makes her living--her dual career involves starring in porn films and turning $200 tricks for a bald-headed, homicidal pimp. Woody Allen really only has one on-screen personality, and he plays it here as usual, although, at this point in his career, he's getting a bit old for roles better suited to someone twenty years his junior. Helena Bonham Carter, taking time out from Merchant/Ivory type productions, gives a snappy turn as a contemporary American woman. The only noticeable acting blot on MIGHTY APHRODITE is Michael Rapaport, who displays the same lack of range and energy he showed in HIGHER LEARNING. The shining star is, without a doubt, Mira Sorvino (AMONGST FRIENDS, BARCELONA), giving the finest performance of an as-yet short career. Since, in BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, Jennifer Tilly earned an Oscar nomination for an inferior portrayal of a character of similar intelligence, Sorvino deserves at least that much--if not more. This is a star-making outing by one of America's top young actresses. The most original element of MIGHTY APHRODITE is the use of the Greek Chorus. However, what starts out as a clever, innovative device quickly becomes tedious through overuse. The Chorus seems always to be on hand to make pithy remarks, and their presence becomes intrusive. At times, it's as if Woody Allen is attempting to take a page out of the MONTY PYTHON book, and those two very different styles of humor do not mix well. While not up to the level of many of Allen's recent films, MIGHTY APHRODITE is nevertheless an entertaining diversion. The comedy, most of which is light and easily accessible, is worthy of some laughs, and the movie has a good sense of irony. MIGHTY APHRODITE is far from a tour de force, and some Woody Allen die-hards may be disappointed, but there's enough in this picture to recommend it. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@ON SCREEN: Home For The Holidays ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS Starring Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr. Screenplay by W.D. Richter. Directed by Jodie Foster. Opens Nov. 3. (eeee of 5 eyes) by DENIS SEGUIN The poster for Jodie Foster's new feature Home For The Holidays shows, from a condescending height, a forlorn Holly Hunter in a oversized quilted coat. It's not an enticing advertisement simply because it doesn't show Hunter's eyes to maximum effect: from the first close-up you're smitten. So don't let the ad turn you off the film, any more than the memory of Little Man Tate might. With this fine, character-driven comedy Foster has put her maudlin directorial debut behind her. Ostensibly, the film is about that specifically American complaint: the proximity of U.S. Thanksgiving to Christmas, and the mixed feelings of adult children as they return to the parental home and contemplate going through the same process again in four weeks. But Foster has created something more than a series of skits based on the word "dysfunctional." She builds scene upon scene to create a compassionate yet tartly realistic portrait of familial dissolution as seen through the eyes of an older sister. There are moments of broad humor and the characters at times flirt with caricature, but the overall sensation is a keen sense of the passage of time. Forty-something Claudia (Hunter) is more than usually beleaguered. She's just lost her job, her daughter (Claire Danes) has announced her intention to have sex and her favorite sibling, Tommy (Robert Downey, Jr.), is not going to be there to lean on, but her estranged sister (Cynthia Stevenson) will be. He does eventually show, accompanied by a handsome friend (Dylan McDermott), but not before giving us a scary taste of what a Tommy- less holiday for their clan might be like. His surprise arrival proves him a double-edged sword. He either brings out the best or the worst in the family. Based on a short story by Chris Radant, W.D. Richter's screenplay will sing for those who've been there, the sense of playing a game in which the rules are secret. How do you speak to the sister who is a stranger to you? How do you behave like an adult when all forces are combining to make you revert to adolescence? Claudia watches as her frail father (Charles Durning) insists on carrying her bags, as her wig-wearing mother (Anne Bancroft) looks resignedly in the mirror at the ravages of age. It's a resignation which Hunter's Claudia is beginning to recognize herself: there are creeping crow's-feet at the edge of those marvelous eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Total Eclipse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN TOTAL ECLIPSE Starring Leonard DiCaprio and David Thewlis. Screenplay by Christopher Hampton. Directed by Agnieszka Holland. Opens Nov. 3. (eee of 5 eyes) by GEMMA FILES At first glance, Agnieszka Holland's (Olivier, Olivier) film adaptation of Total Eclipse, Christopher Hampton's play about the obsessive creative and sexual relationship between poetic wunderkind Arthur Rimbaud and older, married lyric poet Paul Verlaine, may well not strike many people as their prime choice for a fun night out at the cinema. Beautifully acted, scripted and shot, it's nonetheless dark in the extreme, both literally (you never saw so many 19th-century garrets or milky-green shots of absinthe) and figuratively. The fault for the movie's lack of mainstream human appeal lies squarely with its subjects. In 1871, Rimbaud (Leonard DiCaprio), then only 16, sent some of his work to Verlaine (David Thewlis), who invited him to come stay at the house he shared with his pregnant young wife Mathilde (long-suffering Romane Bohringer). Soon enough, Rimbaud's arrogance and talent for anarchy began to rub off. Verlaine beat Mathilde, deserted her to run off with Rimbaud, and spent the next two years wandering around Europe with him -- writin', fightin', drinkin' and fuckin' each other silly, their trip eventually ending in a confrontation that left Rimbaud wounded and Verlaine in jail. Both DiCaprio and Thewlis give stunning performances. Thewlis captures perfectly Verlaine's hypocrisy, envy and desperate thirst for love, DiCaprio Rimbaud's eccentric charm and brutal honesty. But the movie has some serious technical flaws, which audiences may find hard to get over (its European/American cast can't seem to decide on a common accent, for one thing). And while I'm sure this is just the bourgeois in me talking, I'm also continually bemused by how "geniuses" of any stamp often seem to measure their worth by spending their lives hurting as many people as they possibly can, including themselves. I know it happens... I'm just not sure I want to watch it for two hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Mallrats ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN MALLRATS Starring Shannen Doherty and Jeremy London. Written and directed by Kevin Smith. Opens Nov. 3. (ee of 5 eyes) by ALEX PATTERSON When 24-year-old suburban slacker Kevin Smith made Clerks, his mother said, "You spent $27,000 on that piece of trash?" Young Kev got his revenge, though, when critics loved the flick and a distributor bought it for five times that price. It's his second movie, Mallrats -- costing in the millions and featuring a recognizable star -- that's the piece of trash. As another foul-mouthed, mean-spirited farce from the world of retail sales, is Mallrats anything more than Clerks, Part Deux? Not really. In fact, considering it's not nearly as funny as its progenitor, it's actually something less. Yeah, sure, Mallrats stays true to the smartass ethos established by Clerks, but in those long, embarrassing silences between the yuks you can hear the sickening sound of a filmmaker slamming headfirst into the dreaded Sophomore Slump. (Or maybe Sophomoric Slump; a couple of the bits are in almost unbelievably bad taste.) Late-adolescent underachievers Brodie (Jason Lee) and T.S. (Jeremy London) get dumped by their girlfriends (90210's Shannen Doherty and Lisa Loeb look-alike Claire Forlani) on the same day, complaining of their boys' Sega-induced immaturity. Brodie and T.S. suddenly have a mission: win back their girlies. Their method: hang out at the mall -- and, in the process, destroy the TV dating show being taped there. Clerks leftovers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (director Smith) are a pair of potheads who assist them in their mayhem-making, while a cameo by comix superstar Stan (Spiderman) Lee temporarily calms them down with a discussion of superhero genitalia. The blase nihilism associated with Gen XT humor is present and accounted for. But there's many a moment when Mallrats feels, distressingly, less like a product of the indie/alternative revolutions than a '90s retread of Animal House, with the Crusty Old Dean from the frat-brat genre of Smith's older brothers and sisters replaced by a Crusty Old Game-Show Host. In short, the chubby kid from Jersey can still come up with some funny stuff, but I sure wish he'd try aiming a little higher. We're in Beavis And Butt-head territory, people -- and not just because of the gross-out gags. In Beavis' galleria, there's a store called Expensive Lady; in Mallrats', there's one called Fashionable Male. But not only are some of the better Beavis episodes considerably funnier than Mallrats, they actually contain more insightful social commentary. A jokey reference to the shopping centre as "a monument to consumerism" is about all the context or criticism you're going to get from this picture. There is, to be sure, something seriously wrong with young people who can't find anything better to do than act as barnacles on the barge of capitalism. But you won't find any answers -- or even any questions -- in Mallrats. And because it mistakes outrage for wit, you won't find too many laughs, either. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Powder ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN POWDER Starring Mary Steenburgen and Sean Patrick Flanery. Written and directed by Victor Salva. (ee of 5 eyes) by DENIS SEGUIN Hug a genius! This would seem to be the message of Powder, a feel- good, special-person film that's all heart and no brain. More evidence, as though we need it, that the studios are more comfortable making movies about Gump-like morons than about anyone gifted. Powder had three parents: mother, father and lightning. Mom was scorched on the way to the hospital but the baby, rather than being burnt to a crisp, is as white as a lamb's fleece. And sensitive? When the distraught dad disowns the albino newborn in its incubator the brain scanner registers Powder's emotional earthquake. When next we see him, the teenaged Powder (Sean Patrick Flanery) is being coaxed by a counsellor (Mary Steenburgen) from his hiding spot in the basement of his granddad's home. The old guy has died of natural causes and now Powder is a ward of the state of Texas. It's abundantly clear that the boy's specialty is more than skin-deep. Never mind that he is atypically articulate for one lacking a formal education, he has memorized verbatim a huge library -- "Pick a page," he says to a counsellor who is holding Moby Dick. So where else do you put so gifted a person but in an adolescent's orphanage amidst a bunch of heavily muscled bullies? My interest died there and the film did nothing to resuscitate it. No one on the screen seems impressed by Powder's extraordinary powers -- teased at dinner by spoon-wielding louts, he summons every spoon in the cafeteria to take shape in a four-foot post-modern sculpture. The next day they send him for an I.Q. test. Guess what? He's really smart, right off the scale. Too bad none of it rubs off on writer/director Victor Salva. The smothering platitudes come fast and furious. For instance, having been subjected to abuse by the vast majority of the characters, a pouting Powder announces, "I don't need friends." "That's funny, I thought you were a genius," says the thoughtful science teacher (Jeff Goldblum) -- because, you see, even geniuses need friends. What the film never pauses to consider is that Powder may be correct. A being with telekinetic powers who hears the thoughts of his fellows, who uses his entire brain, would find the rest of us pretty dull folk. What's the point in a conversation when you know it all ahead of time? Such a person would either become a ruler of millions or a hermit. Not this one. Although he blows up the odd appliance with his "electric personality" (his joke, not mine), he's less powder keg than powder puff. He just keeps his head down, talking about going home, curing the sick and teaching lessons in eating crow to bullies. When he finally gets home he finds all his books are gone, but you ask yourself, why does he want them when he's got the whole library inside his head? There's the rub: for all its mawkish emotion, the film is more concerned with what's outside than what's inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: The Silences Of The Palace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN THE SILENCES OF THE PALACE Starring Ghalia Lacroix and Hend Sabri. Written and directed by Moufida Tlatli. Tunisian with subtitles. Opens Nov. 3. (eeee of 5 eyes) by GEMMA FILES Moufida Tlatli's distinguished debut film, The Silences Of The Palace, begins with a searching close-up on the face of her central character Alia (played as an adult by Ghalia Lacroix, as a child by Hend Sabri), a young singer born in the kitchens of Tunisia's former ruler (the Bey) and his grown but powerless sons, the princes. It is the 1950s and a revolution in Tunisia has deposed her former masters, but Alia's once-bright future has become a daily grind. Unable to legally marry her lover, she ekes out a living performing meaningless songs for bored restaurant patrons and is on the verge of having yet another abortion. When she hears that Prince Sid'Ali (who may have been her father) has died, Alia returns to the ruined palace to confront the silent legacy of class-conscious sexual exploitation that killed her gorgeous servant mother, Khedija (Amel Hedhili), whose life-lessons of endurance and compliance Alia can neither emulate or reject. Through flashbacks, we find out that Alia's maturation came to a head when she realized that as long as she stayed in the palace, she would be fair sexual game for any interested prince. Her genes may be half- royal and her talent exceptional, but her sex places her firmly in the category of an owned object ("I don't belong to myself," a fellow servant says, half-heartedly, half-gratefully). In one harrowing scene, Alia, suddenly engulfed by a lifetime of lies, flees the kitchen and races in a frantic circles on the lawn until she literally blacks out, like some zoo animal crazed with a fear so constant it verges on boredom. One of my peers down at Sight And Sound called this "a feminist Godfather Part II," which actually applies. Though the film is long and meditative, nary a moment nor a cast member feels wasted, and it builds in pressure like a slow-cracking dam. If you liked Zhang Yimou's Raise The Red Lantern, then you'll love The Silences Of The Palace, and that's really the clearest parallel I can make. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Vampire In Brooklyn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN Starring Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett. Screenplay by Charles Murphy, Michael Lucker and Chris Parker. Directed by Wes Craven. (ee of 5 eyes) by DAVID DRAYTON In the sweetest of my sweet '70s dreams, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield rule the air waves, my afro blow-out kit actually works, and I am John Shaft by day (in turtleneck and black leather jacket) and Prince Blacula by night: haunting the city streets looking for a quick bite and my long lost African vampire princess. In the sweetest of my sweet '90s dreams, Angela Bassett pledges her undying love for me (after seeing Strange Days I still can't get her biceps out of my mind), butterfly bow ties are back in style, and Eddie Murphy goes back to Saturday Night Live and teaches those bums a thing or two about sketch comedy. But unfortunately in my real life nothing of what I dream comes true and I have to settle for "reel life" and a movie called Vampire In Brooklyn, starring Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett, that recalls the '70s blaxploitation classic Blacula but has none of its low-down spooky fun. Vampire is simply very short on scares and laughs. Which is surprising considering that Vampire is a team-up of horrormeister director Wes Craven (Nightmare On Elm Street) and comic superstar Murphy. Though I will admit that Murphy as the undead Maximillian with his long, slick-backed hair and drop-dead threads makes a great-looking vampire (he looks like a '90s blood-hungry Superfly), and that Bassett as detective Rita Veder makes for a gorgeous if somewhat reluctant vampiress. Still, one wishes they were in something a lot better than this toothless offering. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@REVIEW: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 5.8 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 11/3/95 (wide) Running Length: 1:43 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mature themes, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Cynthia Stevenson, Steve Guttenberg, Claire Danes Director: Jodie Foster Producers: Peggy Rajski and Jodie Foster Screenplay: W.D. Richter based on a short story by Chris Radant Cinematography: Lajos Koltal Music: Mark Isham U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures Certain holidays have a greater appeal for film makers than others. Take Christmas, for example--there have been dozens upon dozens of pictures set on and around this late-December observance. Alas, Thanksgiving has not enjoyed the same cinematic exposure. Aside from PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES, few Turkey Day pictures leap to mind. So the field is ripe for a prime entry. With Jodie Foster in the director's chair and Holly Hunter in the lead, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS looked like a likely candidate to help fill the vacancy. Unfortunately, this film ends up more like stuffing than meat. As dramatic comedies go, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS is highly uneven. In general, the humor works pretty well, even if it is often of the cruel sort. Foster's film offers its fair share of laughs, although most come at the expense of "easy mark" characters. Dramatically, however, the movie is only a step up from a flop. It's difficult connecting with these oddball personalities, who all seem like refugees from David Lynch's version of middle America. And, with no emotional link, who really cares whether one person or another overcomes their problems? Holly Hunter plays Claudia Larson, an art restoration expert who has just lost her job. After sharing a passionate lip-lock with her boss (Austin Pendleton), she heads to the airport for a Thanksgiving trip home to Baltimore. In the car on the way, her daughter (Claire Danes), who is remaining behind in Chicago, informs Claudia that she intends to lose her virginity in the next few days. What can a mom say to that except "use protection"? After a plane trip spent sitting next to someone who won't shut up, Claudia arrives at her childhood home. There, one-by-one, she meets the entire weird crew. First up are her mother, Adele (Anne Bancroft), and father, Henry (Charles Durning), who are getting ready for the holiday. Then there's the family's black sheep, Tommy (Robert Downing Jr.), who arrives in the middle of the night with a friend (Dylan McDermott) in tow. Next is Aunt Glady (Geraldine Chaplin), a spinster who wears Froot Loops necklaces. Finally, there's Claudia's baby sister, Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson), who acts like a petulant martyr. Of course, when all of these people sit down for dinner, disaster occurs. With the exception of Robert Downey Jr (CHAPLIN), who spends the whole movie over-the-top, the acting is fine. Holly Hunter (THE PIANO, COPYCAT) gets the most out of her role, and Cynthia Stevenson (THE PLAYER) does some nice things with a thinly-scripted part. The problem is, most of these characters are written as offbeat weirdos just for the sake of having a bunch of oddballs. Take a look at Nora Ephron's MIXED NUTS to see what a mistake that is. Also, so much effort is put into distancing the audience from the film's population (so the jokes won't seem too mean-spirited) that when we're required to sympathize with them for dramatic purposes, it doesn't work. At the center of all the chaos is Claudia, who has reached an emotional crisis. The film's solution is to give her a love interest, even though there's no obvious chemistry between Hunter and McDermott. In the end, we could care less whether they get together. And that's the problem with most of HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS--we don't care enough about what's happening. Aside from a few effective, low-key scenes, the movie doesn't involve the viewer. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS astutely observes that no matter how much one hates Thanksgiving, Christmas is always around the corner for a repeat of the "festivities." If it's all the same, one holiday is more than enough with this group. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: PERSUASION PERSUASION A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 United Kingdom, 1995 U.S. Availability: beginning 10/95 (limited) Running Length: 1:44 MPAA Classification: PG (Mild language) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Amanda Root, Ciaran Hinds, Sophie Thompson, Samuel West, Simon Russell Beale, Phoebe Nicholls, Corin Redgrave Director: Roger Michell Producer: Fiona Finlay Screenplay: Nick Dear based on the novel by Jane Austen Cinematography: John Daly Music: Jeremy Sams U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics Jane Austen, considered by many literary critics to be among the first of the "modern" writers, is perhaps best known for creating believable, strong-willed, independent female characters in an era when women in books were often little more than window dressing or plot devices. Although remembered primarily for her alliterative titles, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, Austen authored six major novels, including that upon which this film is based, PERSUASION. Those horrified by Roland Joffe's looser-than-loose "interpretation" of Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER will be overjoyed to learn that cinematic faithfulness to classic novels is not a dead art. Not only does PERSUASION remain true to Austen's story, but Nick Dear's script, as brought to the screen by director Roger Michell, conveys a sense of atmosphere and "feeling" that a less-adept adaptation might lose. PERSUASION opens in early 19th century England (1814, to be precise), in the wake of war with France. Across the Channel, Napoleon has abdicated and been confined to Elba, and British servicemen are returning home. Among them is Captain Frederick Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds), a navy officer who has been away for more than eight years since his marriage proposal to then-19-year old Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) was refused. Now, almost a decade later, Anne lives in a state of constant regret, attempting to fill an empty life through her selfless devotion to family and friends. However, although she remains without either husband or suitors, circumstances have decreed that she has not seen the last of the one true love of her life. Even though the subject material of the film might sound like the stuff of a Harlequin romance, PERSUASION has far greater depth than any dime store soap opera. The movie offers not only keen insights on the lasting, and agonizing, effects of love, but explores the theme of consequences. While the hand of fate can be seen working throughout, the characters' circumstances are ultimately the result of their own choices and actions. Anne is responsible for her unhappiness, and, when an opportunity arises to redress her past error, she must seize it or lose Frederick forever. The barrier to overcome is the deep emotional scarring created by her decision of eight years ago. To a lesser extent, PERSUASION also works as a social commentary. The film takes aim at the pre-Victorian society in which it is set--a social structure that encouraged the empty words of sycophants over true expressions of friendship. Many of the characters are cloaked in artifice, and it's only as their real motives are uncovered that we learn of their duplicity and superciliousness. Michell uses some of this shallowness to comic effect through the fatuous presentation of characters like Anne's father (Corin Redgrave) and sister Elizabeth (Phoebe Nichols). It's men and women like this that draw our sympathy towards those who are honest and straightforward, like Anne and Frederick. The fine cast is populated by members of England's Royal Shakespeare Company. Amanda Root, who has the main role, is a revelation with her natural manner of conveying complex emotions. Root's most obvious assets are her expressive eyes, which display everything from longing and pain to surprise and joy. The actress brings a captivating mix of dignity, charm, and willfulness to Anne. Her co-star, Ciaran Hinds, illustrates Frederick's deeply-buried torment, both when it's repressed and when it comes bubbling to the surface. These two actors command our attention, especially when they share a scene. Also, a few somewhat-familiar faces, like Sophie Thompson, Corin Redgrave, and John Woodvine, have supporting parts. Occasionally in the past, I have compared British-produced period pieces to episodes of PBS's MASTERPIECE THEATER. In this case, it's more than a comparison, since PERSUASION is due to be shown on that program in 1996. Like nearly all MASTERPIECE presentations, this one boasts impeccable production values. Its faithfulness to the source material results in a few slow spots, but PERSUASION is nevertheless fine entertainment. And, at a time when most love stories involve copious displays of skin, it's a rare pleasure to see so much emotion brought to the screen by a single kiss. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: LES MISERABLES (1995) LES MISERABLES (1995) A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 9.5 France, 1995 U.S. Availability: 11/3/95 (limited) Running Length: 2:54 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Boujenah, Alessandra Martines, Salome Lelouch Director: Claude Lelouch Producer: Claude Lelouch Screenplay: Claude Lelouch, inspired by the novel by Victor Hugo Cinematography: Clause Lelouch Music: Francis Lai, Philippe Servain, Erik Berchot, Michel Legrand, and Didier Barbelivien U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers In French with English subtitles Claude Lelouch's LES MISERABLES is one of the year's motion picture triumphs: an epic drama that takes the themes of Victor Hugo's novel and transplants them to the twentieth century. Rather than merely re- telling a story that has previously been brought to life in a variety of different incarnations (including a hugely popular musical), Lelouch has chosen to take ideas, plot strings, and themes from the novel and apply them in a unique and tremendously effective manner to the greatest tragedy of this century: World War II and Hitler's Final Solution. The film centers around four people whose lives are inextricably entwined. They come together, offer redemption and salvation to each other, then are ripped apart. The outsider is Henri Fortin (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a former middleweight boxing champion-turned-truck driver who has agreed to aid a Jewish family in their flight from Nazi occupied France to Switzerland. The refugees are Andre Ziman (Michel Boujenah), a renowned defense attorney; Elise Ziman (Alessandra Martines), a premiere ballerina; and their young daughter, Salome (Salome Lelouch). As Henri and his charges trundle across the French countryside, the illiterate driver requests that Andre read to him from Victor Hugo's LES MISERABLES. As the story-within-the-story unfolds--complete with filmed scenes lifted directly from the novel--Henri is enraptured, seeing parallels in his own life to both LES MISERABLES' Jean Valjean and Cosette. Like Valjean after meeting the little chimney sweep, Henri is determined to devote the rest of his life to the selfless aid of others. The rest of the film follows Henri, Andre, Elise, and Salome as their paths diverge and converge. Like a master composer, Lelouch overlays elements of Hugo's novel on each of their stories. Those familiar with LES MISERABLES will immediately recognize the boundless symbols and references--some subtle, some obvious. Those who have never read the book, seen a previous filmed version, or experienced the musical will not be left floundering, however. Lelouch re-tells enough of the original that a person would have to be blind not to see the interconnections. It's difficult to emphasize what Lelouch has accomplished with this movie. No film that I'm familiar with has so ably intersected a classical novel with a modern tale. It's been tried, most frequently with Shakespeare, but never has the result been such an unqualified success. This version of LES MISERABLES is a masterpiece precisely because it doesn't merely regurgitate Hugo's tale. It's something simultaneously new and timeless. Above all, LES MISERABLES is a story of the indomitable nature of the human spirit. Despite the title and its attendant images of misery, poverty, injustice, and oppression (all of which are present in one form or another), the movie is a decidedly uplifting experience, because its concentration is on the power to overcome. To be sure, there's much evil in this world, but there's good as well. For every Gestapo officer, there's a Henri Fortin or Jean Valjean willing to risk everything to save a small child. Lelouch re-uses actors to underscore the parallels between Hugo's book and his own story. In fact, legendary French star Jean-Paul Belmondo, who turns in one of the best male performances of 1995, takes on three roles: Henri, Henri's father, and Valjean. Numerous other actors do similar multi-character duty. Names are also used to form connections. For example, Henri attributes the qualities of LES MISERABLES' Marius to a young man of the same name whom he takes under his wing. Then, there are times when clips from a previous, black-and- white version of LES MISERABLES are artfully intersected with Lelouch's all-color images. Although Belmondo's performance is towering, his co-stars are exceptional enough not to be reduced to scenery. Michel Boujenah and Alessandra Martines are more than capable of holding up their corners of the story, but the real find is young Salome Lelouch, an impressive young actress who deserves more exposure in future features. As in Nikita Mikhalkov's BURNT BY THE SUN (where the director's granddaughter had a key role), this is a rare instance when nepotism uncovers an acting gem. One recurring theme throughout LES MISERABLES is that there are really only two or three stories that continuously repeat themselves throughout history. Lelouch uses his creative powers to drive home this point, mixing not only tales from two different centuries, but carefully developing similarities between Henri's life and that of his father, who dies early in the film. Themes echo and resonate through every minute of the nearly-three hour picture. The director is constantly reminding us that what makes a story great, whatever the medium chosen for its telling, is that in it we see ourselves and people we know. Nowhere is this more true than in LES MISERABLES. Whether Hugo's, Lelouch's, or both, you will rarely find a more powerful, cathartic, and ultimately satisfying narrative to immerse yourself in. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: KICKING AND SCREAMING KICKING AND SCREAMING A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 6.4 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 11/95 (limited) Running Length: 1:34 MPAA Classification: R (Mature themes, nudity, sexual situations, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Josh Hamilton, Olivia D'Abo, Chris Eigeman, Parker Posey, Jason Wiles, Carlos Jacott, Carla Buono, Eric Stoltz, Elliot Gould Director: Noah Baumbach Producer: Joel Castleberg Screenplay: Noah Baumbach based on a story by Noah Baumbach and Oliver Berkman Cinematography: Steven Bernstein Music: Phil Marshall U.S. Distributor: Trimark Pictures If we're to believe the movies, members of the so-called Generation X are hopelessly caught in the grip of ennui, struggling (and mostly failing) to make sense out of life and the world in general. We've seen this story so many times that it's starting to wear thin. In many ways, KICKING AND SCREAMING is mildly enjoyable, but all it really does is go over old ground with new characters. Much of KICKING AND SCREAMING's appeal results from its cast. Josh Hamilton (WITH HONORS) is the weakest of the performers, giving a somewhat bland portrayal as Grover, a 22-year old would-be author with writer's block. Much better is Olivia D'Abo (THE LAST GOOD TIME, GREEDY) as Jane, his girlfriend, who decides to move to Prague after graduating. Chris Eigeman essays Max, a character with the same sort of acerbic wit as the ultra-patriotic American he brought to life in BARCELONA. Jason Wiles, Carlos Jacott, and Parker Posey are effective as Grover and Max's friends. And what would any Gen X picture be without the presence of the ubiquitous Eric Stoltz? The basic premise of KICKING AND SCREAMING is to follow a small group of college graduates as they are reluctantly forced to face "reality"--moving away from campus, forming new relationships, and getting jobs. As it turns out, none of the characters are able to make a clean break. Grover and Max still hang out around their alma mater, Jane runs away to another country, Otis (Jacott) goes to grad school, Skippy (Wiles) audits a few classes, and Chet (Stoltz), the career student, returns semester after semester. The characters are all pretty likable, and it's not too hard to sympathize with their situation--at least until their social paralysis becomes irritating. But KICKING AND SCREAMING is essentially a film of moments. Much of the dialogue is crisp, and there are several individual scenes that work to near-perfection (most notably the flashbacks that detail the building of Grover and Jane's relationship), but the connecting material is weak. Above all, the movie comes to a conclusion without a sense of closure. KICKING AND SCREAMING is often witty, occasionally hilarious, and ultimately bittersweet. But, in the final analysis, there's not much here that's original or insightful. This is essentially the story of a group of post-college slackers wrestling with life's many, varied tribulations--not exactly virgin ground for '90s film makers. And, in this case, what's on screen is just a little too familiar to be worth lauding. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: TOTAL ECLIPSE TOTAL ECLIPSE A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 7.3 France-United Kingdom, 1995 U.S. Availability: 11/3/95 (limited) Running Length: 1:50 MPAA Classification: R (Nudity, sex, violence, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, David Thewlis, Romane Bohringer, Dominique Blanc Director: Agnieszka Holland Producer: Jean-Pierre Ramsay Levi Screenplay: Christopher Hampton based on his play Cinematography: Yorgos Arvantis Music: Jan A. P. Kaczmarek U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features The lives of tortured artists have always made for fascinating film fare. From AMADEUS to MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, dramatic re- creations of the often-frenzied, always-tormented lives of "great" men and women have captivated audiences. Since genius is often synonymous with self-destruction, it should come as no surprise that director Agnieszka Holland's presentation of the relationship between two 19th century poets is overflowing with grimness, grief, and anger. Yet, even though we never feel much sympathy for either Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio) or Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis), the material is nevertheless strangely compelling. TOTAL ECLIPSE opens in 1871 as established poet Verlaine invites the wild 16-year old Rimbaud to live with him. The youth, who possesses a keen intellect but little regard for conventional etiquette, astounds his host while simultaneously horrifying Verlaine's young, pregnant wife, Mathilde (Romane Bohringer). Soon, with his promises of intense experiences and new insights into life, Rimbaud seduces Verlaine from his family. The two men, now sexual partners as well as friends, bounce from Paris to Brussels to London, arguing about the existence of love and whether indeed "the only unbearable thing is that nothing is unbearable." The story related in TOTAL ECLIPSE is ambitious. What transpired between Verlaine and Rimbaud more than one-hundred years ago has influenced poetry since, but has never been dramatized for the screen until now. The relationship is complex, encompassing just about every emotion from love to hate--a profoundly unhealthy attraction that poisons not only the lives of the two principals, but that of everyone who has contact with them. What befalls the Verlaines' marriage is only the first tragedy. As scripted by Christopher Hampton (DANGEROUS LIAISONS, CARRINGTON), the presentation of Verlaine and Rimbaud's story is erratic. At times, it's absorbing--almost hypnotic--but those stretches don't last. There are other sequences when the film becomes ponderous and pretentious, and where over-the-top acting blunts dramatic impact. The narrative also has a tendency to jump from year-to-year and place-to-place. As far as the characters are concerned, they're interesting only when they're together. During the overlong denouement, when the poets are separated, the proceedings become a little dull. The performances by the two leads are as uneven as the story itself. DiCaprio (THE BASKETBALL DIARIES) and Thewlis (NAKED) both have moments when they truly shine--the latter as a pathetic man questing for something to re-ignite his inspiration and the former as a cruel, torn youth who sees human society as a hypocritical, ugly place. On the other hand, each also has scenes where they overact the material (imagine them crawling around barking like dogs). Cesar-winning French actress Romane Bohringer (SAVAGE NIGHTS) is a model of solid, consistent acting, making the most of limited screen time. Despite its flaws, TOTAL ECLIPSE is the kind of movie that stirs thoughts and ruminations about the nature of genius, the true meaning of art, and the unfailing capacity of great people to destroy themselves and others. Holland has not matched the success of two of her previous films--EUROPA EUROPA and OLIVIER OLIVIER--but this picture is still a respectable examination of a fascinating historical relationship. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@ON SCREEN: A three-piece Bloomsbury set ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 9 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN CARRINGTON Starring Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce. Written and directed by Christopher Hampton. Opens Nov. 10 (eee of 5 eyes) by ALEX PATTERSON New York City -- A show-biz joke: A benevolent organization is offering Mother Teresa all manner of worldly prizes for her work. A car? A house? "No, no," she keeps protesting, "I only want to help the poor." "But Mother Teresa, there must be something we can give you." Pause. "Well," she admits, "I would like to direct." Christopher Hampton, on the other hand, really didn't want to direct. The Oscar-winning screenwriter (Dangerous Liaisons) wrote his Carrington script back in the '70s. Many years later, he finally had in place what he considered the ideal helmsman (Four Weddings And A Funeral's Mike Newell) and the ideal stars (Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce). But scheduling conflicts prevented the power-trio from being in the same place at once. One of the biopic's French executive producers suggested Hampton himself sit in the stencilled folding- chair. "I told him I'd never directed a film before, only written them," recalls Hampton. "He said, 'Don't worry, in France we do this all the time.' " And so, after many hours studying Truffaut's similarly triangular Jules And Jim, Hampton came up with Carrington. It's a tasteful, carefully researched, beautifully acted but somewhat stodgy period- piece about the London writers and artists of the first quarter of this century known as "the Bloomsbury set." In Bloomsbury's front ranks were such luminaries of British bohemianism as Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster and Eminent Victorians author Lytton Strachey (Pryce); their B-list included a minor painter named Dora Carrington (Thompson). Carrington (as she preferred to be called) is best remembered not for her canvasses, but her life-long, platonic but nonetheless passionate love affair with the older -- and decidedly gay -- Mr. Strachey. Over the years, Carrington took many other lovers, but they appear to have been merely Strachey substitutes. For Hampton, Carrington represented a remarkable love story. And sticking with this seemingly hopeless situation over a couple of decades may have given him a taste of Carrington's long-running, logic-defying devotion. After all that time, though, things seem to have worked out for the best: Jonathan Pryce took Best Actor at Cannes this spring; Carrington took the Jury Prize; and the $6 million production has already earned $10 million in Europe. And it's led to bigger things for both men: Hampton just finished filming Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, and in January, Pryce will sing duets with Madonna in Alan Parker's oft-delayed movie version of Evita. (Ay carumba! -- Peronista ed.) Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, The Ploughman's Lunch) claims he'd heard of Strachey before he signed up to play him, "but I went to art school, you see, so I was actually more familiar with Dora Carrington." Although the character is fairly flamboyant, I point out his Strachey's still a good deal less campy than such great English eccentrics as Anthony Blanche (Nickolas Grace) in Brideshead Revisited or Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) in Withnail & I. "Well, like most gay people I know," notes Pryce, "if there's camp (in Strachey) it's in his wit and in how he says things. I think to play him any 'bigger' would have been a mistake." The actor's take on the Carrington-Strachey affair is as one "based on mutual attraction and need." Says Pryce, "The amateur psychologist in us would say she looked for an older, wiser man with whom she would not have sex," because of an older, distant father and a mother she didn't particularly like. "But I think the film is better for not going into all that." A "quality" drama for the A&E crowd, Carrington has many attributes; being cinematic, however, isn't among them. An excess of the literary is a common enough problem in British productions, but one that this filmmaker aggravates by announcing each "chapter" with titles and and dates. I found myself wishing it had been directed by Hampton's Dangerous Liaisons collaborator, Stephen Frears. Or, for that matter, Mike Newell. It's always difficult to make the facts and figures of someone's messy life fit the dictates of drama. In all, it's a satisfactory if underwhelming excavation of a couple of curious characters from an era that can still capture the imagination. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@REVIEW: CARRINGTON CARRINGTON A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 8.6 United Kingdom, 1995 U.S. Availability: 11/10/95 (limited); 11/17/95 (wide) Running Length: 2:02 MPAA Classification: R (Mature themes, sex, violence, discreet nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Steven Waddington, Samuel West, Rufus Sewell Director: Christopher Hampton Producers: Ronald Shedlo and John McGrath Screenplay: Christopher Hampton based on the book LYTTON STRACHEY by Michael Holroyd Cinematography: Denis Lenoir Music: Michael Nyman U.S. Distributor: Gramercy Pictures Love comes in many forms--platonic, romantic, and sexual--and this is the issue at the heart of CARRINGTON, a cinematic biography of artist Dora Carrington and her near-lover, writer Lytton Strachey. Though Dora, a heterosexual woman who didn't lose her virginity until she was in her twenties, and Strachey, an avowed homosexual, each had an assortment of male bed partners, they were intensely devoted to each other with a passion that was "all absorbing" and "self-abasing". Even without a sexual element, their love was transcendent, majestic, and ultimately tragic, for one could not live without the other. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton (TOTAL ECLIPSE) makes a successful directorial debut with this picture, an artistic and emotional examination of the seventeen year liaison between Dora (Emma Thompson) and Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). The movie is historically accurate, but its focus is less on the events of the time than on the relationship between the principals. CARRINGTON is a special love story that challenges the intellect with as much vigor as it touches the heart. Hollywood inevitably equates love with lust; Hampton shows that it's possible to have souls in synch even when their sexuality is incompatible. Lytton Strachey was born in 1880, fifteen years before Dora Carrington. The two met shortly after the onset of World War One. At that point, he was a confirmed pacifist; she wanted nothing more than to be a man so that she could fight. Strachey would go on to write several unique biographies, using a style characterized by "a brevity which excludes everything that is redundant and nothing that is significant." The 1918 publication of EMINENT VICTORIANS cemented Strachey's literary reputation. Dora, on the other hand, remained a little-known talent during her lifetime, since she painted just for herself and Strachey, not to exhibit or sell. CARRINGTON is divided into six chapters, most of are named after the men who float in and out of the title character's life. Of course, Strachey is there all the time, a constant supportive and loving presence. In one segment, Dora loses her virginity to ardent suitor Mark Gertler (Rufus Sewell). In another, she marries Ralph Partridge (Steven Waddington), primarily because Strachey is attracted to him. This leads to a bizarre triangle where only one relationship is consummated. Then there's an tryst with Partridge's best friend, Gerald Brenan (Samuel West), and a later affair which results in an unwanted pregnancy. The film is beautifully photographed, with each scene carefully composed. One of CARRINGTON's most poignant--and lasting--images is of Dora sitting outside of Ham Spray House at night. As she gazes in through lighted windows at the various couplings taking place, it's possible to feel her loneliness. The stunning sequence is made all the more impressive by the slow, deliberate manner in which it was filmed. Thompson, as always, is a joy to behold. Here, with a Buster Brown haircut, the actress gives a carefully restrained, subtly nuanced performance that can stand toe-to-toe with her Oscar-winning turn in HOWARDS END. The versatile Jonathan Pryce, better known to American audiences for his Infiniti TV spots than for film roles like BRAZIL, is every bit Thompson's equal. It's a rare pleasure to watch two top-notch equals play off one another. There is tangible chemistry between them, although not of the conventional sort. Unlike Thompson's most recent Merchant-Ivory entry, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, CARRINGTON's tone is not one of restraint. Strachey and Dora don't have sex, but their love is definitely neither unrequited nor unacknowledged. This is a passionate, although never gratuitous, motion picture, with a clear view of how it wants to portray its characters and their complex relationship. The result is a memorable portrait of two of history's most unique lovers. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@ON SCREEN: Nick Of Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN NICK OF TIME Starring Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken. Screenplay by Patrick Duncan and Ebbe Roe Smith. Directed by John Badham. Opens Nov. 22. by GEMMA FILES The movie: Nick Of Time. The story: Guy with gun against clock -- no holds barred. It's 12:07 p.m., and all harried Everyguy Gene Watson (Johnny Depp) wants to do is keep his angelic daughter out of trouble long enough to make an important job interview. But unbeknownst to him, Gene has already caught the eye of Mr. Smith (Christopher Walken) and his sidekick, Ms Jones (Roma Maffia) -- a man and a woman with fake police I.D., a grey van and a nightmare proposition: Take the .35 Mr. Smith's just handed him, and use it to shoot the Governor of California dead before the next 80 minutes are up, or they'll kill his kid. The resulting 80 minutes exactly of "real time" thriller have Depp's sweetly serious accountant becoming ever more entangled in a paranoid's dream of pressure and betrayal. Dogged constantly by Walken's gaunt, mocking, suited spectre, one finger always pointed at his watch, Depp is left to connect the expositional dots almost entirely on his own, like an audience member suddenly dropped into the middle of the screen. "Take what I'm about to say as a compliment," I tell Nick Of Time's director, affable jack-of-all-genres John Badham (of Saturday Night Fever fame and Point Of No Return infamy). "Up until about 75 per cent of the way through the movie, I could see absolutely no way for it to end happily." "Well, I guess that means I miscalculated somewhere," Badham replies, smoothly, "because I was hoping to keep people on their toes until the credits start to roll." Badham attributes much of the movie's "docu-dramatic" feel to its two screenwriters, Patrick Duncan and Ebbe Roe Smith, but especially Duncan, the story's originator, who wrote and directed the critically lauded Vietnam mini-epic 84 Charlie Mopic. "It was a powerful, character-driven thriller, in the old-school mode," says Badham. "Very old school, in fact -- it reminded me of Hitchcock." Not that Badham dares compare himself with the portly master of modern suspense, mind you. According to him, no one has a right to call themselves an "auteur" unless they write their own material. That's why you'll always see his work identified as John Badham Movies, not John Badham Films. "What I loved," he says, "is that because it's all from Depp's point of view, you're forced to think like him. The audience isn't made up of killers --" "One assumes." " -- but they can understand why Gene becomes willing to kill. They have to ask themselves hard questions. "What would you do? How far would you stick your neck out? People may find themselves thinking: 'Wait a minute -- this guy has a gun. Why doesn't he just shoot Mr. Smith?' Well, because he's a human, not some ex-Navy SEAL who happens to have a kid. Forget Arnold or Sly. He's not even Bruce Willis." What evolves, then, is a situation like a Hong Kong action film, where the big question becomes less whether Gene is going to die, but if he's going to be able to die without being a stooge -- and still keep his daughter alive. Badham nods. "It's nightmare logic," he agrees. "But not impossible, in the world we find ourselves living in, and that's even more scary. What it really comes down to is a question of rights, the same rights Gene Watson shares with the Governor, the basic rights not to be killed, or forced to kill. I mean, Chretien's wife gets up to go to the john, and there's a guy with a knife. The fact that things like this happen on a regular basis makes a situation like Gene Watson's that much more credible." Not to mention that much more of a box-office draw. Badham smiles again. "Oh yes." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: La Teta Y La Luna ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN LA TETA Y LA LUNA Starring Biel Duran and Mathilda May. Directed by Bigas Luna. Spanish with subtitles. Nov. 17-23. Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor W. 532-6677. (See eye's Independent & Repertory listings for times.) (ee of 5 eyes) by EDMUND LEE From Spanish titmeister Bigas Luna (Jamon, Jamon, Golden Balls) comes his most bust-lusting feature to date, La Teta Y La Luna. This one's even got 'em in the title (it translates into The Tit And The Moon) and in the name of central character (Tete). So you can imagine there's more than an eyeful of exposed glorified mammaries in this coming-of-age tale. Unfortunately, less provocative but more thought- provoking things like good storytelling are less present and a film that wants to be cute and offbeat ends up only being silly. Tete, the narrator, is a little boy who jealously watches his baby brother suck the milk from his mother's breast and spies on her nightly "filling" by his father. Tete, naturally, desires a "tit of his own" and makes a wish upon the moon. Soon, a travelling show arrives and with it a French motorcycle-riding "Fartman" and his beautifully endowed wife/partner Estrellita. Tete believes his prayers have been answered, but he must compete with a passionate flamenco-singing trailer-park electrician named Miguel who has also become obsessed with her. Much of film consists of Tete peeking at Estrellita and/or Miguel wailing love songs outside her trailer. There is one incredibly outlandish scene in which Tete meets Estrellita outside her trailer and asks for some of her milk. So Estrellita whips it out and shoots a spectacular arching stream into his open, appreciative mouth. Estrellita, while we're on the subject, is a woman who gets turned on by tears and collects in a bottle those cried by her husband, who may be a master-blaster but is sadly far from a killer-filler. Now all this may sound much more amusing (writing about it certainly is) than it is actually watching it. Luna has tossed in more than enough quirks, but he hasn't much substance to offer in this coming- of-age story. The threadbare plot trundles along from one voyeuristic scene to the next delivering little in the way of intensity or interesting insights. And while it's an odd little piece, the direction or the script aren't wacky enough to pass as surreal comedy (Luna somehow manages to make even the outrageous fart-show humdrum), and not believable or realistic enough to pass for anything else. La Teta Y La Luna strives to be an eccentric charmer in the manner of My Life As A Dog but is undone by its implausibility: In the end it only succeeds in being an extended, pretentious, boy's boob fantasy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@REVIEW: TWO BITS TWO BITS A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 7.6 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 12/95 (limited) Running Length: 1:25 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cast: Gerry Barrone, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Al Pacino, Andy Romano Director: James Foley Producer: Arthur Cohn Screenplay: Joseph Stefano Cinematography: Juan Ruiz-Anchia Music: Carter Burwell U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films When you think of Al Pacino, the image that comes to mind is one of energy, intensity, and violence. Whether a cop (SEA OF LOVE, SERPICO, HEAT) or a crook (THE GODFATHERs, SCARFACE), Pacino's characters are almost always hard-hitting, hyperactive portraits of caged fury. So it's more than a minor departure for the actor to appear in James Foley's TWO BITS as Gitano Sabatoni, a dying, regretful old man. This is a small, understated role--character actor material--yet Pacino immerses himself so fully in the part that we forget about the performer the moment we see the performance. Despite Pacino's presence in the cast, this isn't his movie. Nor does it belong to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who has a supporting role as Gitano's timid daughter. Instead, the focus is on newcomer Gerry Barrone, who plays 12-year old Gennaro, the fictionalized childhood counterpart of screenwriter Joseph Stefano. This film, which Stefano first committed to paper in 1970, is autobiographical, recounting one crucial day in his life as a boy in South Philadelphia during the heat of a Depression era summer. That day is August 26, 1933, when Gennaro first starts noticing life for what it is. It's a day of eye-opening experiences and tough lessons; of awareness, magic, and sadness. As Alec Baldwin states in his voiceover narration, it's the day La Paloma--the newest movie theater in the neighborhood--opens. Until 6 pm, there's a special rate at the cinema: get in for only 25 cents. So Gennaro spends his time roaming the streets, looking for odd jobs that will pay enough for him to afford a matinee. This quest for two bits takes place against the backdrop of an America where the only thing more scarce than money is employment. The story is simple, and the film's message is equally as plain: never give up wanting and striving, no matter how unattainable the dream seems. For Gennaro in TWO BITS, that goal is watching a movie in the air-conditioned confines of La Paloma. As the film progresses, this simple theater takes on a monumental symbolic importance. Although TWO BITS isn't explicitly about the love of movies, a sense of affection and admiration for the black-and-white classics of the time permeates the production, beginning with the clips shown during the opening credits. The film is suffused with nostalgia--at times it's almost excessive--and the period set design is effective. It's apparent from the tone that this is a filmed memoir, not a fictional account. The greatest failing of TWO BITS is a tendency to ramble. Individual episodes work well on their own, but some of the connecting material is weak, and the voiceover is often more irritating than helpful. The film is also too self-conscious about getting across its theme. Subtlety would have worked fine, but, to make sure we don't miss it, Al Pacino's character states the message explicitly. TWO BITS represents an undemanding form of entertainment--a period piece that lives on nostalgia and an elemental story. Perhaps the most successful aspect of this film is that it encourages us to connect events in Gennaro's life with moments in our own, thereby enriching the emotional impact. Credit director Foley (GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS) for another fine, character-based piece. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: AUGUSTIN AUGUSTIN A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 6.8 France, 1995 U.S. Availability: varies Running Length: 1:01 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Cast: Jean-Chretien Sibertin-Blanc, Stephanie Zhang, Nora Habib, Thierry Lhermitte, Guy Casabonne Director: Anne Fontaine Producers: Brigitte Faure and Philippe Jacquier Screenplay: Anne Fontaine Cinematography: Jean Marie Dreujou U.S. Distributor: Kino International In French with subtitles AUGUSTIN reminds me of a scene in Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNRISE. Julie Delpy's Celine and Ethan Hawke's Jesse are discussing cable TV access shows. Jesse proposes doing "a day in the life of..." program where one ordinary person's activities--no matter how mundane--would be shown live and unedited for twenty-four hours. In many ways, that's what AUGUSTIN is, although its running time is a whole lot shorter than what Jesse suggests. But Anne Fontaine's film is devoted to the minutiae of everyday living, as it gives us an hour-long portrait of a dull, unimportant Frenchman. The camera even follows the main character into the bathroom, and stays there while he sits on the toilet and explains why he chose this lavatory over others in the building. Strange material, indeed... AUGUSTIN doesn't have much of a plot. It's an unusual, cinema verite-style character study that takes place over a several-day period. Augustin (Jean-Chretien Sibertin-Blanc) is an insurance claims collector who moonlights as an actor. The picture follows him from an interview to a screen test as he attempts to nab a minor part in an upcoming film. Since Augustin is thorough to the point of absurdity, he decides to research the role--that of a room service attendant in a four star hotel--by spending a day at one of Paris' finest, delivering meals to distinguished guests and helping a maid make beds, clean mirrors, and scrub wash basins. The film is oddly engrossing, even though much of its content is centered around ordinary activities (the hotel-cleaning scene takes up over a quarter of the length). When AUGUSTIN works, it's largely because of the performance of lead actor Jean-Chretien Sibertin-Blanc, who invests his character--a weasely neurotic--with a certain likability. Augustin is basically a creep, but Sibertin-Blanc manages the difficult task of capturing the audience's sympathy. It's not easy to like a character like this, but, in this movie, it happens. The script is full of wry little insights into life, and there are times when it's vaguely reminiscent of something by Woody Allen. The comic tone is uneven, and there are few laugh aloud moments, but AUGUSTIN possesses a sardonic wit. Ultimately, however, Fontaine's story hangs on the acting job by her leading man (who also happens to be her brother), and his sad-sack, deadpan delivery is perfect for the part. Those interested in this kind of quirky character dissection will find AUGUSTIN refreshing, and the film's brevity is a definite plus. More time with this person would have been tiresome. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@REVIEW: HALFAOUINE (CHILD OF THE TERRACES) HALFAOUINE (CHILD OF THE TERRACES) A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0 Tunisia/France, 1990 U.S. Availability: varies Running Length: 1:38 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Nudity, sexual themes, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Cast: Selim Boughedir, Mustapha Adouani, Rabia Ben Abdallah, Mohammed Driss, Carolyn Chelby Director: Ferid Boughedir Producers: Ahmed Baha Attia, Eliane Stutterheim, and Hassen Daldoul Screenplay: Ferid Boughedir Cinematography: Georges Barsky Music: Anouar Braham U.S. Distributor: International Film Circuit In Arabic with subtitles Although it has been floating around film festival circuit for the better part of five years, Ferid Boughedir's feature HALFAOUINE (named after the small Tunisian town where it takes place), has finally received U.S. distribution, albeit of the most limited kind (I believe there's only one print). However, while the film contains a few memorable sequences, it's hardly worth the kind of intensive search that will be necessary to uncover the nearest screening. Regardless of the culture in which a child grows up, adolescence is always a confusing and difficult phase of the maturation process. In the Muslim lifestyle, where women's features are veiled and men assert themselves as the "superior gender", the male's transition from boyhood to manhood is all the more difficult. At the age of 12, Noura (Selim Boughedir) is regarded as neither a child nor an adult. His growing sexual curiosity has gotten him banned from the women's baths, where his mother took him when he was younger, but he is not yet old enough to be permitted to listen to discussions of "men's matters." His sense of isolation is profound. His father (Mustapha Adouani) is emotionally distant, yet warns him against closeness with his mother and aunt, saying that "men don't hang around with women." Noura's only real companionship comes from a local libertine named Salih (Mohammed Driss), who is the village's political outcast. HALFAOUINE is a coming-of-age story that, at its core, isn't much different from similar narratives set in the United States. Most of the film deals with Noura's attempts to come to grips with his impending adulthood, and sexual discovery is a large part of that growth. Like many boys his age, Noura is forever trying to sneak peeks at the female body. It's natural that in a society where women display little skin in public that there is great curiosity about what lies under all the clothing. Telling Noura's story isn't the movie's lone objective. Openly challenging religious traditions, the writer/director criticizes the cultural schism that exists between the sexes. As depicted in HALFAOUINE, women are objectified in Muslim society, and it's the lack of meaningful communication between husbands and wives that perpetuates the cycle. In addition to his social commentary, Ferid Boughedir paves the streets of HALFAOUINE with a political subtext that is difficult for an outsider to understand in anything but the broadest sense. HALFAOUINE contains interesting material, but a combination of subpar acting and poorly-realized characters stains the fabric of the production. Aside from Noura, there isn't a well-scripted personality in this film, and lead performer Selim Boughedir is not a naturally gifted actor. He seems to have two expressions: a blank look and a silly grin. Because of Boughedir's limited range, Noura comes across as emotionally stunted, which results in a picture that seems big on ideas but small on heart. HALFAOUINE is worth a look because of its perspective of a different culture, not because it tells an engrossing tale. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) @START@ON SCREEN: Casino royale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN CASINO Starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. Screenplay by Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese. Directed by Martin Scorsese. (eeee of 5 eyes) by ALEX PATTERSON It's three hours long. It relies more heavily upon voiceover narration than most documentaries. And it's too much like Goodfellas and the first two Godfathers for its own good. I wanted to get these things out of the way at the start so we can concentrate instead on what's good about Casino. And what's good about Casino is: Everything else. Despite the inevitable problems of coercing tidy drama from messy history -- and despite the colossal quantity of that history which director Martin Scorsese and his co- writer Nicholas Pileggi (the Goodfellas team) have chosen to illustrate -- Casino is one of the best movies of the year. There are a million stories on the Las Vegas Strip, and Scorsese and Pileggi can't seem to resist telling us every damn one of them. Spanning a decade beginning in 1973, Casino covers the downfall of Sam Rothstein, a gangster from the East (Robert De Niro) who takes over Vegas' Tangiers Hotel. Rothstein runs the joint profitably, if ruthlessly, until his grip on both his business and his sanity are threatened by a gold-digging, cokehead wife (Sharon Stone) and a sadistic thug from his past (who else but Joe Pesci?). Of the three actors, we know we can count on De Niro. As long as he's in a Scorsese picture, Pesci's reliable, too. The surprise here is Stone: this is the first time I've understood the appeal of her death- dealing sexpot schtick. Together, they're a combustible trio, and their inevitable meltdown is emotionally convincing. (Speaking of daring casting, Casino also puts three standup comics in dramatic roles: Don Rickles, Dick Smothers and Alan King. There's also James Woods as a pimp, but then, that's just typecasting.) As we've come to expect from this director, the camera work and editing are fantastically virile and imaginative. The images are then luxuriously upholstered with so many hits of the '60s, '70s and '80s (including "Satisfaction" by both the Rolling Stones and Devo) that the soundtrack will have to come in several volumes. For sensory overload and sheer cinematic vitality, Casino is an embarrassment of riches. Despite the narrative sprawl, the tell-don't-show nature of the drama (which is, apparently, what happens when Pileggi writes his screenplay before he writes his book), the repulsive characters and the pulverizing violence, Casino is one of very few releases this year that has actually got me excited again about going to the show. What it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in directorial dynamism. The filmmaker's command of the medium is just about unparalleled -- right down to his crew's perfection in choosing the costumes (high-ticket vulgarity that's eye-popping yet believable) and the cars (no matter the year, De Niro's always driving the latest Eldorado) -- and watching this certified genius at full throttle is one of the great joys of our age. Given the high standard of achievement we've come to expect from Martin Scorsese after Goodfellas (and Raging Bull and Taxi Driver and The Last Temptation Of Christ), Casino might rate as a slight disappointment. But you're better off with something slightly disappointing from Scorsese than with an unequivocal success from practically anyone else. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Confessions of Lothaire Bluteau ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN LE CONFESSIONNAL Starring Lothaire Bluteau and Patrick Goyette. Written and directed by Robert Lepage. French with subtitles. Opens Nov. 24. (eeee of 5 eyes) by DENIS SEGUIN Actors do not generally give the best interviews. Directors, screenwriters, cinematographers: there's something tangible to their tasks. Actors act and few can account for it, let alone explain it. Which brings us to the movie star. The degree of the actor's fame is in inverse proportion to the actor's willingness to portray their work as anything other than divine providence. Hence, the not uncommon figure of the overpaid wanker who takes a drag of a cigarette and drawls, "Man, I just do it, you know?" Lothaire Bluteau is a movie star in at least one part of this country. The Quebecois actor who first came to prominence in the rest of Canada in Denys Arcand's Jesus Of Montreal ('89) was already well known at home for his film and theatre work. Then Bruce Beresford saw Bluteau onstage in London in Rene-Daniel Dubois' Being At Home With Claude and cast him in Black Robe ('91). From Jesus to gay hustler to Jesuit missionary, it was more like the roles were playing variations on the theme of Bluteau -- pallid, rake- thin, stressed to the point of catatonia. His public appearances confirmed what the screen showed: a tottering narcoleptic, a pouting somnambulant, eyes shifting slowly in oversized sockets -- for pity's sake, someone shoot this man, put him out of his misery. It was refreshing then to discover a relaxed, tanned albeit still Modigliani Bluteau in Toronto for the Canadian premiere of Robert Lepage's first feature film, Le Confessionnal. He was positively garrulous. For good reason: sure, he's proud of the film and his integral role -- both actor and film have drawn critical raves --but he seems finally to have grasped what screen acting is all about. And he's keen to talk about it. "I had this tendency to become the character," said Bluteau. "People loved it in drama school because I was becoming these guys, people suffering, and it was wrong. It's no longer the character, it's you. And it gets to the point where you start fucking walking out," and here Bluteau bellows at an imaginary director, "I don't want to hit my mark, fuck you." In Le Confessionnal, he plays Paul, a man who returns from a trip to China for the Quebec City funeral of his father only to find that his adopted brother Mark is missing. This disappearance sets up a parallel story as the film moves from Paul's 1989 present back to 1952. In that year Quebec City was the location for Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess -- the story of a priest wrongly accused of murder who knows the truth but is prevented from divulging it by the sanctity of confession -- and Lepage uses that film as a leitmoitf as he weaves an intricate path through two stories from two generations of a Quebec City family. A missing brother, an unknown father, a confession that saves the sinner and destroys the victim. True to its director's style, the film is multi-layered and succeeds on every level: as mystery, as ghost story, as psychological drama, as art. As in Lepage's latest stage opus, The Seven Streams Of The River Ota, the architecture of the narrative is something to be savored. "In Le Confessionnal, says Bluteau, the visual sense of it is part of the storytelling. As an actor, you have to be available to and aware of the technicality of the film. If I'm being lit dramatically then it affects the scene, I don't have to be dramatic. My job is to filter the essence of the scene." For instance, in one scene Bluteau's character is sitting in a room asleep before the snow of late-night television when the phone rings. The camera creeps forward into the room as the phone rings and Paul goes off screen to answer it. You know what the news is but Paul doesn't. We hear his stricken voice, his half of the conversation, while the camera continues its impassive progress until the TV screen fills the frame. Cut. "Some people say it's an intellectual approach," says Bluteau, "that Robert is afraid of emotion." Or perhaps we're accustomed to getting our emotion in prepackaged bits, roll tears, cue swelling strings. One thing is certain: it's not a scene that calls for a great tragedian. Says Bluteau, "There's no actor coming out and performing." "I've been researching this for a long time," he says. "Are you asking the audience to feel their own emotion or are you throwing it in their face?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Sex, drugs and Gregg Araki ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN THE DOOM GENERATION Starring Rose McGowan, James Duval and Johnathon Schaech. Written and directed by Gregg Araki. Opens Nov. 24 (eee of 5 eyes) by GEMMA FILES Forget the moon like blood and the sky like sackcloth and ashes; forget the pale horse, the pestilence, the wars and rumors of wars. Forget the Beast, let alone His mark. Because when you start talking about visible signs of a coming Apocalypse, the prospect of The Doom Generation -- as that oddest of incongruities, "a heterosexual movie by Gregg Araki" -- has to rank pretty darn high on any list. "For me," I tell Araki, "that subtitle was like the first laugh of the movie." Araki grimaces. "Yeah, it's pretty self-conscious, I guess," he replies. "I mean, I've always been very open about being gay, but I never set myself up as a politician or a spokesperson, 'cause my whole day isn't 100 per cent just about who I sleep with... and what I make movies about is my perspective, not my philosophy." "But the fact is, because you flirt with bisexuality almost all the way through..." Another smirk. "It's that blatant, huh?" "...yeeeees." I pause. "So The Doom Generation reads like a 'het' movie which couldn't possibly have been made by a straight person." "Yeah, I kind of wanted to take the piss out of movies like Philadelphia, or The Wedding Banquet, because they're pushing a 'normalcy' that's totally ridiculous for anybody my age. But that kind of 'crossover of repulsion' means Doom Generation could also be taken just as this sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll movie by the straight kids down at the octoplex, which I love." Like the kiss before the mindfuck, then, The Doom Generation presents its audience with a how-to-manual of unsafe sex, cool tunes and bodily functions gone wild, its star-crossed teenaged protagonists -- touchingly stupid Keanu clone Jordan White (James Duval) and hyped-up Mia Wallace wannabe Amy Blue (Rose McGowan) -- trapped in a world where (literal) signs of the Rapture are everywhere, and every purchase you make comes to exactly $6.66. After accidentally aiding and abetting in the shotgun decapitation of a psychotic Quik-E-Mart clerk, Amy and Jordan find themselves on the run with a hitch-hiking wet dream named Xavier Red (the unbearably buff Johnathon Schaech), who Amy sneeringly refers to as "a life- support system for a cock" just before falling (repeatedly) into bed with him. But Ms Blue has her own fatal charm to contend with, as every move she makes turns up yet another passionately obsessive yet completely forgotten past lover, all of whom prove equally ready to die for her -- or kill her. Yes, it's John Waters satire by way of MTV Grand Guignol, all wrapped up in a pre-Millennial daze, and I haven't even told you which one of them turns out to have Jesus tattooed on their genitals. "It's definitely not for everyone," Araki admits, "but the response has been a whole lot more 'love it' than 'hate it' -- except for the journalists, who just seem to want to describe what I'm wearing, or my tattoo, or play pin the tail on the trendy queer L.A. guy. To have the attention deflected from your film onto you, like it's a duel between product and personality." He shakes his head. "It's almost as annoying as people assuming the things I write about are personal experiences." But this may be the price Araki will always pay for deliberately trying to make an impact. As he proudly points out, few people will walk out of The Doom Generation saying: "Who cares?" "People make a big fuss about its extremity," Araki (somewhat disingenuously) complains. "But I wrote the damn thing, and I can tell you right now, it's not nihilistic. At its core, it's just a sweet, romantic movie: purity of love in an impure world." "Exploding heads and all." Back to smirk. "Why not?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: MONEY TRAIN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN MONEY TRAIN Starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Screenplay by Doug Richardson and David Loughery. Directed by Joseph Ruben. (AA) (ee of 5 eyes) by ALEX PATTERSON Call it White Men Can't Jump Turnstiles. Money Train again pairs up Wesley Snipes with Woody Harrelson; this time, the two-tone team play brothers -- well, foster brothers -- and lifelong best buds. (As Chuck D once noted, "Every brother ain't a brother.) John (Snipes) and Charlie (Harrelson) both work as Manhattan transit cops -- until a series of personal and professional disasters gives Charlie the idea to rob the subway car carrying the daily take. John isn't too keen on the idea, since he's making headway with Grace, a pretty Latina on the force (Jennifer Lopez). But Charlie is as unstoppable as a runaway LRT, especially as it would be a chance to take revenge on his crusty old boss Patterson (Robert Blake, barely recognizable from his Baretta days), who likes nothing better than busting our boy's ass. Charlie's heist plan itself isn't particularly clever -- in fact, it all seems so easy, it's hard to believe nobody has tried it before. But before getting to that stop, we have to sit through a fair amount of sub-plottery: sibling rivalry over Grace, Charlie's gambling addiction and a pyromaniac who's been spraying lighter fluid into token booths, barbecuing the clerks within. After The Cowboy Way, the last thing I wanted to see was Woody Harrelson down in the New York subway again; the place is unpleasant enough without a movie star who looks like he should be driving a snack truck. And yet the Woody-Wesley chemistry turns out to be the best thing aboard this Train: there's an easygoing camaraderie between them that takes some of the sting out of Joseph Ruben's anonymous direction, the generic/heroic score and the virtually continuous fist- fight sequences. Money Train is a tolerable blue collar action comedy, but it's not up to Speed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Vampires of New York ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN NADJA Starring Elina L"wensohn and Peter Fonda. Written and directed by Michael Almereyda. Nov. 24-Dec. 7. Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor St. 532- 6677. (See eye's Independent & Repertory listings for times) (eee of 5 eyes) by GEMMA FILES All that gorgeous, world-weary European nightclubber Nadja (Elina L"wensohn) wants is to change her life -- but this may prove more difficult than it seems at first, especially if you happen to be the daughter of Dracula, one of a pair of vampire twins born "in the shadow of the Carpathian mountains, by the shores of the Black Sea." Burdened equally with a limitless trust fund and a ravenous hunger for human blood, she drifts from city to city, pursuing the affections of her estranged twin brother Edgar (Jared Harris) and seeking asylum -- however temporary -- from the root of her eternal weltschmertz: "The pain of fleeting joy." "Although the movie's ostensibly about 'monsters,' it's really a very human story," claims Michael Almereyda, writer/director of the cinematic fable that bears his titular monster's name. "I've always been attracted to people who are excessive, compulsive, out of control, and vampires are certainly that. They unite the new-style, Cronenbergian 'monster from inside' with old-style Hollywood's fear of contagion from the outside. They exemplify the love of darkness, the urgent need and the hunger for things that might be considered evil that we all have. At base, they're shorthand for talking about how people use each other." At a recent screening, a fellow critic called Nadja "one of the most pretentious films I've seen all year," and since the root of "pretentious" is "pretense," I guess he's right, because Almereyda's film sure ain't anybody's idea of a home movie... unless maybe you lived in Hell, and all you had to shoot with was the legendary discontinued FisherPrice Pixelvision plastic toy video camera. Blown up to 35mm and juxtaposed with hallucinatory black-and-white imagery, this hectic play of dot and shadow endows Nadja (the character) with a truly alien world-view, and Nadja (the film) with a cool, postmodern grace that almost eludes coherent description. "I definitely wrote Nadja with Pixelvision in mind," Almereyda says. "In fact, at the time, I thought it would be all Pixelvision. I'd already done one movie that way (Another Girl, Another Planet) and the primary thing about Pixel is that while it looks great, it's really cheap. But it also has a definite up-all-night feel, a certain sense of heightened reality that goes well with the idea of a vampire." Though Almereyda cheerfully cops to lifting most of his plot from the 1936 horror classic Dracula's Daughter, his characters are late 20th- century New Yorkers through and through: Verbose, morbid and over- analytical, slipping easily from fierce intellectual psychobabble to highly quotable B-movieisms. For example, a mere half-hour after Nadja advises a victim to "dare to dredge up the primary pain," career vampire-hunter Dr. Van Helsing (lunatic 1960s relic Peter Fonda, sporting surfer-length hair and mirrored glasses) is telling his bemused nephew, Jim (Hal Hartley stalwart Martin Donovan), that "blood is like chewing gum to these creatures." And the truly freaky thing is, given what we've already seen -- Nadja's "slave" Renfield bathing her in shark-embryo plasma, Nadja and Jim's depressed wife Lucy swapping menstrual blood in front of the Christmas tree, a Dracula "like Elvis in the end... drugged, confused, surrounded by zombies" -- both points of view seem entirely relevant. "I've had people ask me why I bothered making a vampire film," Almereyda admits, "when there're plenty of 'real' stories to be told. But I believe the fun of cinema lies in seeing how far your definition of reality can be stretched. I mean, fantasy comes out of reality, because everybody's imagination has a firm basis in fact, and we keep coming back to these kinds of stories. So, to me, it's less escape than... excavation." With vampire films neatly redefined, then, what's Almereyda's next cinematic venture going to be? "A beach movie. In color." Sardonically: "Seen any good ones lately?" "Never." "High time for one, then, isn't it?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON SCREEN: Through The Olive Trees ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES Starring Mohamad Ali Keshavarz, Hossein Rezai. Written and directed by Abbas Kiarostami. Farsi with subtitles. Nov. 24, 25, 29, 30. Cinematheque Ontario, AGO's Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas St. W. 923-FILM. (eee of 5 eyes) by DENIS SEGUIN This is what Akira Kurosawa said to Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami: "What I like about your films is their simplicity and fluency, although it is really hard to describe them. One has to see them." It's tempting to leave it there: if the master himself is at a loss for words, well, who am I to plunge ahead? Especially after seeing only one Kiarostami film, Through The Olive Trees, and the third of a trilogy at that. It's a film within a film within a film that started with Where Is The Friend's Home?, followed by and And Life Goes On..., in which he told the story of returning to the earthquake-shattered village where the first film was shot. Through The Olive Trees is based on an incident that occurred during the filming of And Life Goes On.... It begins with an admission: a man (Mohamad Ali Keshavarz) standing in the yard of a girls' school announces to the camera that he will be playing the director in this movie. He then steps into the role, wanders through a gaggle of chador-clad schoolgirls and selects one, Farkhonde (Tahereh Ladania), to act in his film. By coincidence, the young man (Hossein Rezai) he selects to play the newlywed husband opposite her is in fact her failed suitor. On to the set. Watching through the camera of the film within the film, we see take after take; the director cannot get his actors to deliver the goods. And then we see why. Out of sight of the camera, up on a balcony from which he descends into the frame, Hossein is persisting, insisting that Farkhonde could do no better than marry him. The real relationship is directing, or rather misdirecting, the course of their filmed relationship. And? Well, that's it. It would have helped to see the previous two films before being dropped unawares into this little world. Still, the viewing delivers its own rewards. First for a view into a country and society long demonized by our own media. And as testament to the subtleties incumbent on a filmmaker working under an Islamic regime: you notice, for instance, how he handles the touchy issue of Hossein's ardor without ever using the word love or hinting at lust or even sneaking in a svelte profile shot of the object of beauty. Kiarostami does this in two ways: by letting Hossein's eyes speak for him and with an incredible final five-minute long shot. It's a truism that state repression is a catalyst for artistic refinement -- when you can't come out and say it, you find a way to say it anyway -- which is why the film's sexiest moments are ones in which the actors never touch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@:ON SCREEN: Toy Story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON SCREEN ON SCREEN TOY STORY Screenplay by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. Directed by John Lasseter. Animation. Opens Nov. 24. (eeee of 5 eyes) by CAROLYN BENNETT I always feel slightly seedy when I attend a children's movie sans enfant, and the Saturday morning preview screening of Disney's new animation film Toy Story gave all those decent young parents another opportunity to eye me suspiciously. Maybe I should stop wearing the trench coat, ball cap and sunglasses and quit fishing around in my pockets so much... Onto the movie. How encouraging, how absolutely reassuring to hear hearty adult laughter at a movie aimed at children. Toy Story, the first entirely computer-animated feature, is a delight -- a smart and funny comedy that occasionally goes way over the heads of the wee ones. Not that junior and juniorette won't enjoy the movie; toys coming to life will enchant just about any child. The humor, however, is grown up, full of sly wit, inside jokes and broad, good-natured fun. Disney recruited some of the brightest writers, actors and animators around to work on Toy Story and it shows. A gang of toys come alive whenever their owner, a young boy named Andy, is not around. Sheriff Woody, an old-fashioned cowboy doll, is their leader, the guy who brings Mr. Potato Head, Bo Peep, Slinky Dog, Rex the Dinosaur and the other playthings together. Woody's leadership and position as Andy's favorite toy is threatened when the kid receives Buzz Lightyear, a new action superhero toy for the '90s. Rivalry ensues between Woody and Buzz, but when the two are separated from Andy and have to find their way back home, they learn how to cooperate and work together. Utilizing the vocal talents of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Annie Potts and Wallace Shawn, to name a few, Toy Story's characters are surprisingly self-aware, the story highly imaginative and amazingly, it never lags. I kept waiting for Toy Story to disappoint, to become maudlin or tired. It didn't happen. As for the computer animation, it's so detailed, so sharp, that after a while you feel like you're watching live action. The real stars are the 1,000 or so gigabytes it took to make it. In this year of grim, soul-wrenching film, Toy Story is a blast of fresh air. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available collected reviews -----------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Movies eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: P.M. Dawn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC P.M. DAWN Jesus Wept Gee Street/Island/PolyGram by MARC WEISBLOTT Point-blank, Jesus Wept is a decade-defining juggernaut and essential listening for anyone who strayed away from most rapless mainstream black pop after Thriller. For the rest of us, however, Jesus Wept is but a more refined ride on the same ol' spiritual treadmill, a funhouse where the mirrors could use a real good scrubbing. The opening, "Downtown Venus," picks up where P.M. Dawn's underrated Hendrix tribute-album input, "You Got Me Floating," left off. This time around they ride on the hump of Deep Purple's "Hush," a decided sideways shift from their chart-topping manipulations of Spandau Ballet and George Michael. All samples aside, "Venus" sounds like a pedestrian collision between the Bangles' "Walking Down Your Street" and "Walk Like An Egyptian." Meanwhile, P.M. Dawn have emerged as the most original derivative R&B act of time eternal, and the calibre of Jesus Wept's cyberdelic collaborations tell the tale. "My Own Personal Gravity" floats on a magic carpet called "4 O'Clock In The Morning," as crafted by a pre- Piano Man Billy Joel's band the Hassles (which Billy left to form Atilla, a duo that were arguably one of P.M. Dawn's cosmic precursors). "I'll Be Waiting For You" is crooned atop "Pacific" by 808 State, crowning them the ambient-age answer to Booker T & The MGs. But from "The Puppet Show" onward, Jesus Wept too often becomes a place where every day is like Around The World In A Day. Well, at least Paisley Park still lingers in somebody's heart. The album is appended by a suite called "Fantasia's Confidential Ghetto," led off by a languid reading of "1999." Prince Be is talking in the past tense of course, because he's already been there. The time warp then envelops "Once In A Lifetime," jitterbug style, transforming David Byrne's sardonic bent into a metaphysical meditation. Lastly, they tackle Harry Nilsson's tropical shuffle "Coconut," reducing a disc of exhaustive spiritual exaltation into a spiralling spool of jabberwocky. Here, most of all, Prince Be triumphs as the Biggest Weirdo in the World (well, one of 'em, anyway). Quick, somebody sign this dude up for the lead role in the next touring dinner-theatre production of The Point. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at --> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music/music.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@SPINcycle -- October 26 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPINcycle SPINcycle by JASON ANDERSON * THE MIDGET FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE/The Gold Experience (NPG/Warner): Like its predecessor Come, not as lame as you'd think. The first track, "P Control" (the P stands for pustule, I swear), is a raunchy rewrite of "Delirious" and the next, "Endorphinmachine," is the rocker that won't fit in Lenny Kravitz's pants. Then what's-his- face goes on auto-pilot for another year. * BLINKER THE STAR/Blinker The Star (Treat And Release/PolyGram): One- man band in post-Nirvana mold. Canadian lad Jordon Zadorozny is regarded as a genius by local in-the-knows but on this debut he goes for dissonance over tunes and self-indulgence over self-editing. Not too useful if you already own In Utero. (P.S. Sebadoh fans must die.) * ERIC MATTHEWS/It's Heavy In Here (Sub Pop/Warner): Sub Pop's dodgy attempt to market a new-school Burt Bacharach to Esquivel fans. Apparently written under the influence of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter, Matthews' songs are fine but the arrangements are leaden and lugubrious. Miles behind the cannier retro-pop of The High Llamas. * DAN BRYK/Asshole (No! Discs): Far closer to Bacharach, although Bryk might be the nerdiest guy in town. Few of these confessional songs are over two minutes long, but Bryk's got a knack for merrie melodies and tragicomic songwriting, and "She Doesn't Mean A Thing To Me Tonight" and "The Trouble With Nice Guys" are wondrous. A tape to warm the cockles of your heart. * PET SHOP BOYS/Alternative (EMI): Alternative to what, you ask? A collapsible tent? Another botched feature film? Collected here are way more non-album PSB songs than one could ever need, 10 of which are truly excellent. Most perplexing is how the duo evolve from wannabe Arthur Bakers into... * STEELY DAN/Alive In America (Giant/Warner): Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the masters of taste and irony in the '70s (a decade with little of either), return to up the total of post-Gaucho product to a truly slack four albums. New arrangements of their Lite FM staples are hit-and-miss and it's all as comfortable (and as reassuring) as a pair of pyjamas. * HORACE ANDY/Life Is For Living (Ras/Denon): Horace is best-known to non-reggaeheads (like me) for his fine performances with Massive Attack. Producer Mad Professor did a dub version of Massive's Protection that was head music par extraordinaire and he takes Horace into similarly strange nooks. Time becomes liquid. * OASIS/(What's The Story) Morning Glory? (Epic/Sony): I'd like Oasis better if their songs didn't sound like hoary George Harrison outtakes. The best song here, "Hello," is co-credited to Gary Glitter -- egads! This is less murky-sounding than the '94 debut, but in the Britpop Battle, Oasis are plods next to Supergrass' ingenuity at copping from the same sources, and the continued trumpeting of their virtues proves that Limeys rarely understand what rock's supposed to sound like. * GARBLERAYS/Your Favorite Sleep Position (Teleharmonic Implosion): Goes with Dan Bryk in the Great Tapes I Got In The Mail category. The 'Rays are an arty pop band from Hamilton with an ear-pleasing difficulty deciding on chords and time signatures. Full of the peculiar Canadiana that made The Rheostatics' Melville so essential to our nation's health. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at --> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music/music.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: Mike Scott ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC MIKE SCOTT Bring 'Em All In Chrysalis/Virgin/EMI by ERIN HAWKINS Wow, what an incredible record! Mike Scott -- world traveller, visionary poet and full-time dreamer -- has crafted 13 epochal songs for an album that rivals all the joy of the Waterboys' unbeatable Celtic romp, Fisherman's Blues. Somewhere between the Waterboys' Room To Roam and 1993's rock-out Dream Harder, Scott began an odyssey that took him from his apartment in Manhattan to Findhorn Bay in Scotland -- home to the international spiritual community known as the Findhorn Foundation. The society -- which, amongst many other things, teaches meditation and the importance of unconditional love -- gave Mike the kick up the pants he needed to replace the leaky roof of his soul, which he'd been covering with patches for most of his life. His soul-searching, and many of the events leading up to it, are reflected in songs like "Learning To Love Him," "She Is So Beautiful" and the epic "Long Way To The Light," which shamelessly chronicles his journey to Findhorn Bay -- emotional baggage and all. Besides the intimate, just-like-you're-sitting-right-beside-him feel of the recording, I think the reason I'm drawn so close to this record is exactly because of the open and vulnerable side to his lyrics. I want to listen in. I want to know more. There are many glimmering moments, like "Bring 'Em All In," which he sings in a despondent voice, accompanied by the subtle sound of his fingers sliding rapidly over the guitar strings. "What Do You Want Me To Do" is another, with its quasi-religious refrain: "What do you want me to do, Lord?" and its dollop of Dylan harmonica. Just when you find yourself reaching for the Kleenex, Scott throws in his smile-inducing paean to Dublin, "City Full Of Ghosts," a madcap tourist brochure with the classic lines: "Dublin is a city full of magic/ Dublin is a city full of light/ Dublin is a city full of wonder/ Dublin is a city full of shite." And there you have it. The man who gave us all those unicorns, fairies and fiddles is now stoking the fire of the finest folk music imaginable -- and has a sense of humor, too! What better inspiration to pour yourself a glass of scotch and kick off those sneakers of urban cynicism? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at --> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music/music.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: Let them eat rock ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY October 26 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC THE UPPER CRUST Let Them Eat Rock Upstart/Rounder/Denon AC/DC Ballbreaker EastWest/Warner by JASON ANDERSON, ESQ. If the musical genre known as "rock 'n' roll" is informed by a history of class warfare, then it has been a distressingly one-sided battle thus far. As the Baron von Scratchenbautem notes in his study, Sabbath Shtinken Sabbath: "In 40 years, what has the rabble offered to polite society? Animalistic noises from the throat of a troglodyte (this vile, hairy beast does not even know the word 'diaphragm,' never mind know how to sing from its vicinity) married to the kerrang of stringed instruments and the ear-splitting pounding of a carcass tautly spread over a pail for refuse -- surely such electrically amplified cacophony can only appeal to those possessed of the least rarified of tastes. ...And it is this hideous noise, dear colleagues, that rules this cess-filled world!" The Baron's scorn is directed chiefly at "the aged, denimed delinquents" in AC/DC. "Genitally obsessed" they may be, but there is a certain primal charm about this antipodean ensemble that the Baron overlooks. Their most recent long-player, Ballbreaker -- produced with clean precision by the truly troglodytic Mr. Rick Rubin -- is their most effective collection in many years. True, the writing of Messrs. Angus and Malcolm Young has devolved to the point where the saucy double entendres that filled a song such as "You Shook Me All Night Long" are now single at best (the title song, for one lurid example, contains this sentiment: "Her hand went for my throat/ As I began to choke/ She said, Honey shoot your load"). Yet the efficiency of AC/DC's delivery makes Ballbreaker quite memorable, and highly desirable to the group's plebeian listenership. In regards to the unprecedented achievement of the Upper Crust, we return to the text of the Baron: "If known degenerate and failed rock star Keel could demand his 'right to rock' in a minor hit single of 1985, when will the higher-born demand their Divine Right to Rock?" Like AC/DC, the Upper Crust hail from the colonies but not from its gutters. They are the cream of Boston's best families, and if I may use the vernacular, they are very creamy. Led by Lord Bendover and Lord Rockingham, the Upper Crust proffer "riff"-based rock 'n' roll with a far more elevated world view -- at long last, a musical combo fit for the highest levels of society! In such masterpieces as "Rock 'n' Roll Butler," "I Got My Ascot 'n' My Dickie," "Who's Who Of Love" and "Little Rickshaw Boy," these gentlemen struggle to look and sound their very best (their powdered wigs are not just for appearances!) and note the achievements of their manservants. (And, salaciously, their ladyservants as well!) The Baron's dreams of a civilized rock 'n' roll group are realized in the Upper Crust, who rightfully scorn any perceived indebtedness to unseemly forebears in "Friend Of A Friend Of The Working Class." "They say we're too high class," our noble heroes sing, "but that's balderdash!" And if the rabble are to grumble over the Upper Crust's coronation, I have but one thing to say: Let them eat rock! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at --> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music/music.htm eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: New Wet Kojak ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC NEW WET KOJAK New Wet Kojak Touch And Go/Cargo F.M. EINHEIT/CASPAR BR(tm)TZMANN Merry Christmas Thirsty Ear/Outside TECHNO ANIMAL Re-Entry Virgin/EMI by JASON ANDERSON Rock 'n' roll, that constantly devolving but oddly beautiful thing, ain't supposed to have beats any more. Last year, the coolest new rock bands were the slowest ones. Now time has lost all meaning. This ambient trend is out of control, the surest sign being that the craziest varieties are being produced not by the boppy techno-ites but the brainy art rockers. The albums in this review lie outside the strict confines of the emergent ambient genre since: stuff happens on them; they may exclude synthesizers and include loud guitars; and they are much too weird to be at all relaxing, and may in fact inspire deviant behavior. New Wet Kojak is the alter ego of Girls Against Boys' Scott McCloud and Johnny Temple. Not a "project," they are careful to say, but a whole 'nother band, despite the fact that GVSB are onto major-label status and will be very big with that double-bass mega-rock thing they do. Something like pre-Venus Luxure GVSB material but much less dissonant, New Wet Kojak is rilly sleazy. Man (and I mean that in the gender-inclusive sense), I committed a sexual act while playing this album and it worked out fine -- being a gentleman, I will describe the experiment no further, although it was with the finest of your female species. If you're after the modern-rock equivalent to the fabled Winelight -- the Grover Washington Jr. record that had a cover picturing a lounging mistress and a glass of Bordeaux -- this is it. Plenty of low-tech Love Unlimited Orchestra arrangements with acoustic guitar, burly bass frequencies, saxophone and dirty talk. "Freak now," McCloud says, and the man is never at a loss for champagne. Know what I'm sayin'? But if your lady (or dude or goat, since we are talking an omnisexual kinda thing) likes the freaky stuff, there's Caspar. This Teutonic "new Hendrix" (or so he has been acclaimed, and after witnessing his El Mo gig last spring, almost plausibly so) has dropped the bomb with the help of F.M. Einheit, the drummer out of that unpronounceable German combo, Einstürzende Neubauten. On Merry Christmas, Einheit rat- tat-tats on various drum-like objects while Caspar Br"tzmann leans his guitar against the amplifier to get a happy hum. Otherwise, he goes scree! scree! scree! and Merry Christmas is very fine, though not as gonzo as Home, Caspar's last album with his band Massaker. Better than that Martin Denny crap and the Roger Whittaker Christmas album that hung over my early childhood like the Sword of Damocles. Um, whatever. But be careful with this Techno Animal jive. T.A. feature much the same cast of musicians as God, who, despite the name and All That Implies, are the most purely evil ensemble to have ever graced my stereo. These musos -- principally Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick -- are veterans of the late '80s grindcore scene, that time in English music when hyper-intellectual types were playing as loud as possible as soon as possible and the only dude the music appealed to was Jim Carrey (I kid you not -- he admitted it on Arsenio). Techno Animal are on a more ambient tip than God but then again, this is Muzak in hell. (Even Joseph Lanza, author of the critical study Elevator Music, would feel his flesh curdle.) Berserker though deceptively mellow shit -- with an almost indiscernable guest appearance by trumpeter Jon Hassell, who learned those Eno records the hard way -- and longer than that Smashing Pumpkins album by nearly 30 minutes (that means a running time longer than the Audrey Hepburn version of War And Peace). So if your baby is a luuded-out Napalm Death fan who likes to tie you up with surgical tubing, this'll get both of you off, but the best Re-Entry might be you into the hallway. In all sincerity, these may be three of the best CDs of the year. Freaky is as freaky does. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: 5ive Style ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC 5IVE STYLE 5ive Style Sub Pop/Warner by TIM POWIS "White boys playing funk, huh?" sneered my co-worker as I sampled 5ive Style on the office boombox. In a sense, he was right. Hailing from the same Chicago-centric clique that's yielded such bands as Tortoise and Gastr Del Sol (not to mention the hideously named but musically intriguing The For Carnation and The Sea And Cake), 5ive Style is an all-instrumental, all-white quartet whose bread and butter tends toward either copping James Brown licks wholesale ("Freddy Flakeout" attempts rather uncompellingly to recontextualize the riff from "I Can't Stand Myself") or cooking up reasonable facsimiles thereof ("Hard Afro Rubalon" and "Round Up," the latter owing plenty as well to Funkadelic). Fortunately, there's more to 5ive Style than bread and butter. Just as fortunately, they hardly ever sound like a singerless Red Hot Chili Peppers, even though the bands share many influences. 5ive Style's opening number, "Deep Marsh," has a Captain Beefheart-ish riff/melody (5ive Style excels at shrugging off any distinctions between the two) riding a drum pattern that's more hectic than funky. The bridge is a whole 'nother can of tuna, though, setting a riff purloined from Led Zeppelin's "For Your Life" to an appropriately bullying Bonzoid beat, and the song ends with a slow, Hendrixy section. (What's that high- pitched buzz that runs quietly through the song, a dentist's drill?) Belying its offhand title, "I Told Ya" is a spooky dub experiment with reverberant drums, a Twin Peaks synth drone, an anonymous voice, tingling chimes and a background pervaded by the pops and crackles of a well-worn record. Odd little touches and instrumental sounds abound elsewhere: the zoned-out organ (or is it a melodica?) in "Hard Afro Rubalon," the coffee-percolator percussion in "Apple Pie," the arbitrary key changes and the further adventures of the dentist's- drill synth in "Waiting On The Eclipse." These are the telltale signifiers indicating that 5ive Style is a white funk band, or at least a band that's playing at funk rather than just playing it. Which maybe helps keep things interesting, but this band is good enough that when it really hits its stride, as it does in the latter half of "Round Up," the power of the groove is all that's needed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@SPINcycle -- November 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 2 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPINcycle spinCYCLE by EMILY SMITH * GARBAGE/"Only Happy When It Rains" (Mushroom 7-inch): Sparkly, catchy and large. Just enough fuzzy dissonance and strong female vocals. A comforting British sound (hence the Britcentric press like 'em) straight from the U.S.A. Another variation on the consummate happiness generated by wallowing in continual misery. * THURMAN/"She's A Man" (Righteous 7-inch): Lead singer looks suspiciously like Donny Osmond. Suspiciously T-Rex-riffed. Happy as the Partridge Family. * MENSWE@AR/"Stardust" (Laurel 7-inch): Badly behaved and not particularly talented, but they we@r nice suits. Some late-'60s styling with brass punctuation. Completely undeserving of the hype. Menswe@r? Shitewe@r, more like. Reportedly the lads swill pints at The Good Mixer in Camden. Shite pub, too. * THE BLUETONES/"Bluetonic" (Paradox 7-inch): Twangy with happy bits and Smiths-onian guitar influence. Sound and purity of a '60s one-hit- wonder. * CAST/"Alright" (Polydor 7-inch): Upbeat and hummable. Loveable cute- boy harmonies and guitar jangle. Warm fuzzy feelings all-round. * NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS + KYLIE MINOGUE/"Where The Wild Roses Grow" (Mute 7-inch): Nick, oh Nick, why hast thou have forsaken me? I thought you could do no wrong. Why the soap opera girlie-cum-squeaky pop diva when there are plenty of others who can sing? Oh yeah, Kylie's a star! An extremely bizarre pairing that may have more to do with sales than artistic integrity. But hey, death can be breathtakingly beautiful. And it becomes her. * SLEEPER/"What Do I Do Now?" (Indolent CD single): Cars-like electrobits and a crunchy chorus thinly veiled by fragile girlie vocals. * PULP/"Mis-shapes" (Island CD single): Jarvis! Jarvis! Jarvis! Momentum, melodrama, emotion and excitement! And Pulp have been around long enough that when Jarvis went through his Buddy Holly phase, the bespectacled one was still alive (c'mon, what's a few decades' exaggeration?). Unlike most Britpop bands, they'll still be remembered two years from now. * BUNNY BRAINS/Bunny Brains (TK): These guys don't care if anyone likes them or their music. And that's probably just as well. Musical deconstruction with only the slightest hint of melody that oscillates from psychedelic to displeasingly noisy. Y'know, that Zappa/Beefheart kinda influence (stuff you're supposed to like because it's brilliant). Not a Beatrix Potter creation. The evidence is in the packaging, which includes... a photo of someone's cock in a mousetrap. Ouch, anyone? I think I missed something here. Or maybe I didn't have a head-full of the appropriate hallucinogens. A final note -- an alarming scene is being promoted by the British music press: New Romo. You have been warned. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: Andy Prieboy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 9 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC ANDY PRIEBOY Sins Of Our Fathers Doctor Dream/Cargo by ERIN HAWKINS He was the cool and surly singer for Wall Of Voodoo when they re- emerged in 1985 with Seven Days In Sammystown. He sounded like Bela Lugosi meeting Woody Guthrie in a dark alley, wrote songs about people teetering on the brink -- and was a thinking Goth Girl's pin-up boy who read history books and had a wicked sense of humor. I'm talking about Andy Prieboy. Somewhere between the conceptually interesting but commercially suicidal follow-up Happy Planet and the live album Ugly Americans In Australia , Wall Of Voodoo drifted off into no-man's land. After the split, one of Prieboy's first solo efforts was his haunting ballad "Tomorrow Wendy," which was covered by his pal Johnette Napolitano on Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting, as well as on his clever debut album, Upon My Wicked Son, where the two sang as a duet. The Sins Of Our Fathers is a musical triumph of epic proportions -- an uncontrollable stagecoach ride through cactus patches and dangerous lands. Yet underneath the crashing drums, robust Gilbert & Sullivan- esque backing vocals and pounding honky-tonk piano lurks a regular guy who's trying to reckon just as much with his ex-girlfriends as he is with the bigger things like Eurocentric liberalism, homelessness and the draconian methods of major record labels. Besides his captivating lyrics and vaudevillian arrangements on songs like "Sins Of My Fathers," "Psycho Ex" and "Who Do You Think We're Coming For," Prieboy's also written some of the most compelling gut- wrenching lyrics to come out on a "pop/rock" record in a long time like "When The Heart Awakes," which moves me just as much as Mike Scott's journals from Findhorn Bay. Finally, we can't stop the review without mentioning his side- splitting "Daddy Buy Baby A Boob-Job" and his big disco number, "Robbing Her Own Room," which paints a strange and funky backdrop to the story of a junkie girl who digs her own grave "spoon by spoon." C'est magnifique!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@SPINcycle -- November 9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 9 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPINcycle spinCYCLE by ERIN HAWKINS * DWIGHT YOAKAM/Gone (Reprise/Warner): Country bun-king rockets back after summer's very fun Dwight Live disc with mixed-bag of car- crashing rock-outs and stylishly twangy, swingin' ballads. He dun do us no wrong. * DEAD VOICES ON AIR/New Words Machine (Hypnotic/Cleopatra): Sonic shelf paper to line the cupboards of your mind. Sub zoviet:france/Cranioclast workout will also melt the woofer in that gray cell you call your speaker cabinet. Queasy listening. * THE POGUES/Pogue Mahone (Warner Bros/Warner): After a shaky beginning trying to fill the post-Shane void, The Pogues have finally got their balls in gear and put together a tight, brawling, bruising, "I'm-sorry-I-hurt-you-baby" album. It's a mean upper-cut, so let the Guinness flow! * GEORGE GERSHWIN/The Piano Rolls Vol. 2 (Nonesuch/Warner): Pre-radio, pre-talkies, George was the supreme ivory tinkler. Hits from the mid- teens, updated with a Yamaha Disclavier to give authentic player piano feel. However, a little goes a long way, unless you're running a saloon. A real saloon that is, you know sawdust, spitoon, a fist fight, broken glass etc.. * T.J. KIRK/T.J. Kirk (Warner): Maximum jazz funk from guitar, bass and drums trio. Very classy choice of covers. The coolest tunes by James Brown, Roland Kirk and Monk including "Soul Power," "Rip, Rig and Panic" and "Epistrophy." Shit! Goddamn! Get off your ass and jam! * LOREENA McKENNITT/A Winter Garden (Quinlan Road/Warner): A pleasing five-track "Christmas" EP from our velvet-cloaked Celtic mistress. "Coventry Carol" always gave me the willies in Sunday school and she makes it even gloomier and "Good King Wenceslas" is a Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead-flavored pageant. Pass the cranberry sauce. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: THE RENTALS & ERASURE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 9 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC THE RENTALS Return Of The Rentals Maverick/Reprise/Warner ERASURE Erasure Mute/Elektra/Warner by MARC WEISBLOTT At press time, Boris Yeltsin is still alive, but aren't his prospects looking awfully dodgy? It kinda takes us back to a more innocent time, when the ability of a head of the Soviet Union to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide always seemed a bit in doubt. To wit, the only enduring image of Konstantin Chernenko takes place in a wrestling ring, flinging flour back and forth in Frankie Goes To Hollywood's video for "Two Tribes," and Yuri Andropov had pretty much kicked the bucket by the time his face showed up on the front of a Steel Pulse album. But what about those last few years when Leonid Brezhnev was waning? The era when, having become little more than a burly block of ice, the shadow he cast continued to represent a duplicitous menace to the entire Western world? Fear not: the last days of Leonid are belatedly getting their due, thanks to the return of The Rentals -- the stone-faced sons and daughters of American embassy employees in Prague whose guitarist was imprisoned for alleged espionage activities and, upon his release, welcomed into Madonna's stable, presumably to pick up where the Plastic People Of The Universe left off. The Rentals sound like they figured the Beach Boys' "Heroes And Villains" and David Bowie's "Heroes" were basically the same thing, and it's already made them friends in high places: "Friends of P." can only be about Johnny Depp's band, which means lifetime V.I.P. passes to the Viper Room are probably in the bag. (This is a tissue of lies. Get on with it -- Warsaw Pact ed.) In actuality, The Rentals are fronted by Matt Sharp, the surliest (and therefore most talented) member of teen sensations Weezer. Here his choirboy vocal stylings are augmented by a mesmerizing two-Moog attack (a reincarnation of The Buggles' shimmering backing vocals) and the violin reverberations of that dog's Petra Haden. The overall effect is... well, until now, I didn't know that a person's blood could be made to feel that cold. This is what the Cars would've evolved into had they not been a bunch of geeky-looking guys who suddenly found themselves fawned over by fashion models, or what Gary Numan could've become were he ever capable of making any friends who weren't electric. Erasure, meanwhile, have never seemed more intimate with their machines -- and that relationship is the essence of their self-titled eighth offering. On this self-described Dark Side Of The Moon surrogate, Vince Clarke bobs and weaves through that friggin' Pink Floyd prism so many times that, after a while, its colors start to fade. His sidekick's singing is more elegiac than ever but amid Erasure's prog-minded ambient mood swings, their trademark deconstructive applications of campy pop cliches come off just a little trite. Still, it's reached the point where we need Andy Bell more than ever -- who else is gonna play Boris Yeltsin? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: QUEEN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 16 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC QUEEN Made In Heaven Hollywood/A&M/PolyGram by MARC WEISBLOTT Of course it's the best Queen album in quite a while, of course practically every song is ominously overwhelmed by the lead singer's ruminations about mortality and of course the packaging is totally nonchalant about the fact that it's been four whole years since most of Made In Heaven was recorded. What's not totally certain is whether that's really Freddie Mercury raising his fist on the cover or, in the tradition of Plan 9 From Outer Space, Brian May's chiropractor kinda sorta fit the part. Still, on the inside it's definitely Freddie, live from the after- life, in an atmosphere that doesn't attempt to reconstitute Queen's glories -- instead, it succeeds in updating them. For these fellers, that was probably more of a challenge than it sounds, considering how often Queen had misfired from Hot Space through Innuendo. Yet, back in 1991, in the early throes of a reissue-fueled renaissance, the time was almost perfect for Queen to gracefully bow out of active duty. As fate would have it, Made In Heaven sounds a whole lot more refreshing and relevant in the here and now. But of course it does. Case in point, "I Was Born To Love You," a maudlin toss-off that was Freddie's first bid in launching a solo career at the height of his mid-'80s muscle-shirt-and-moustache phase, becomes a redoubtable adult contemporary anthem in the context of mid-'90s Queen. Similarly, "You Don't Fool Me" is Queen's most delectable mid-tempo right turn since "You're My Best Friend" -- with a swagger that lands somewhere between ABBA and the Little River Band. Altogether, the mood of Made In Heaven lands closest to News Of The World -- without the yin of "We Will Rock You" or the yang of "We Are the Champions," but a charming crop of understatements instead. Oh, the stench of stadium-sized excess is intact, mainly on the last- ever Mercury recording, "Mother Love," where studio trickery converts what was probably an unfinished generic Queen song into some disconcerting dizziness. Then there's this thing apparently titled "Yeah," a 22-minute requiem for Freddie that reeks of Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor's aspirations to become a new-agey answer to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. AIDS aside, the most unfortunate thing about Freddie Mercury's passing was that he never got the chance to stage his own death before it happened in reality. Made In Heaven comes pretty close, but it's too bad there isn't a microphone cord long enough to reach that high. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: k.d. lang, The Amps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC k.d. lang All You Can Eat Warner Bros./Warner THE AMPS Pacer 4AD/PolyGram by PERRY STERN k.d. lang has always regarded herself as an alternative artist and indeed she is. Although her album sales have never risen as high as her public profile would indicate, at least she can find solace in the fact that she's revered by her peers. But apparently the years of touring and the pressures of adoration have taken a toll, and after the elaborate productions of her last two albums (Ingenue and the soundtrack for Even Cowgirls Get The Blues), lang felt the need for a bit of cocooning. Last year she and her collaborator Ben Mink built their own home studios in Vancouver and set to writing a looser, more relaxed album. All You Can Eat lays bare lang's desires and demons in ways she couldn't have in her earlier guise as the reincarnated Patsy Cline or on her way to establishing herself as a world-class song interpreter (if she never sang another note after recording Roy Orbison's "Crying" she would still be the best vocalist breathing). With mostly pop constructions spiced occasionally with a funky bass line or elevated by some airy strings, lang sings songs that come much more from the heart than the head. After successfully reconstructing The Breeders and releasing the best album of '94, Last Splash, Kim Deal went home, too. Unfortunately domesticity in Dayton, Ohio, proved to be a bigger ordeal than life on the road, what with twin sister Kelley getting busted and landing in rehab. Nevertheless, Kim set to work, and although several other musicians contributed (including Breeders drummer Jim MacPherson and bassist Josephine Wiggins), The Amps sound like a gang of one. Adamantly lo-fi and dangerously amateurish in its musicianship, Pacer is probably the album lang fantasized about making when she dreamed of a home production. The dry insouciance of Deal's vocals and the fuzz- drenched thrumming of the guitars all but scream: 'Take it or leave it, but don't analyze to death.' Suffice to say that "Tipp City," "Bragging Party" and "Dedicated" are as good as anything on Last Splash although they might not provide the instant gratification of a "Cannonball." All You Can Eat might be as lo-fi as lang is willing to go, but it brings her closer to her alternative roots than she's been since her cowpunk days. Yet it's clear that k.d.'s powerful voice wouldn't work on music as mushy and malleable as Deal's. Considering the self- effacement in Deal's singing style and utter lack of pretension on Pacer, it's ironic that lang is the KD that insists on lowercase initials. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@SPINcycle -- November 23 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPINcycle spinCYCLE by JASON ANDERSON * THE CARDIGANS/Life (Stockholm/PolyGram): A friend who buys Swedish imports yet is not Swedish himself swears their earlier, more Sundays- oriented material is better, but The Cardigans bring color to my cheeks. Life is kitschy light pop with handclaps, crap organs and c'mon-and-kiss-me lyrics for teenagers in roller rinks. * MAGNETIC FIELDS/Get Lost (Merge/Cargo): At long last, Stephin Merritt's one-man band -- a sort of queer-pop homage to ABBA -- lives up to the SPIN-spun reputation. Now he's caught up to Prefab Sprout circa Two Wheels Good, which means a low-budget but shiny tribute to the heart's filthy lessons. * GARBLERAYS/Your Favorite Sleep Position (Teleharmonic Implosion): The 'Rays are an arty rock band from Hamilton with an ear-pleasing difficulty deciding on chords and time signatures. Your Favorite Sleep Position is full of the peculiar Canadiana that made The Rheostatics' Melville so essential to our nation's health. * DJ FOOD/A Recipe For Disaster (Ninja Tune/Cargo): A very savvy album from a duo better known as Coldcut -- in this incarnation, they put a strange Latin flavor to low-key techno and hip-hop beats, like New Kingdom remixing Tito Puente. Funky and warm, A Recipe For Disaster is my favorite hour of U.K. dance esoterica since Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman. * ACETONE/"The Final Say" (Hut CD single): This Californian trio have shown leanings toward country-rock but I wish they didn't. They're already masters of the lazy, lumbering rock riff -- "The Final Say" is performed as if they had something else on their minds at the time. The B-side cover of Phil Manzanera's "Diamondhead" further reveals their good taste. * POLVO/This Eclipse (Merge/Cargo): America's most obtuse indie-rock band go mainstream... slightly. Having mastered a twin-guitar attack something like Sonic Youth's, had they been physics doctoral candidates, Polvo are circling back to more conventional structures on this EP, their second since their 1993 masterpiece Today's Active Lifestyles. I think I heard a verse somewhere. * BLACK GRAPE/It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah (Radioactive/MCA): What can you say about a band whose principals are an addled singer, an even more addled dancer and a toaster (though more like a reggae singer than a kitchen appliance)? Shaun Ryder and Bez rise from the flames of the Happy Mondays and go for funk overkill in Black Grape. "In The Name Of The Father" is a top slice of hyperdisco and Ryder's ramblings haven't been so fine since the Mondays' Bummed. It feels like there's a party in his mouth and everyone's invited. * HARVEST MINISTERS/A Feeling Mission (Setanta/Bar None/Koch): What with all the money they've made off Edwyn Collins, his label Setanta have set off to conquer America with... a gentle, wry Irish sextet. A Feeling Mission is a bit of a misstep for the Harvest Ministers after a superb debut on Sarah Records -- many songs are overwritten and leader William Merriman's Joycean schtick gets thin. Some really lovely songs, but no Gorgeous George. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@ON DISC: QUINCY JONES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY November 23 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ON DISC ON DISC QUINCY JONES Q's Jook Joint Qwest/Warner by MARC WEISBLOTT As a record producer, Quincy Jones can pretty much do no wrong. Sure, he hasn't exactly proven himself the most perceptive magazine publisher (Vibe has been dodgy from the start), music industry magnate (his label's only notable success outside the R&B realm was maintaining the American career of New Order) or television impresario (two words: MAD TV), but Q's Jook Joint is another trip to the multi- generational musical amusement park first traversed on 1989's Back On The Block. In the interim, having a daughter with Nastassja Kinski hasn't inspired Quincy to attempt an all-star remake of David Bowie's "Theme From Cat People" -- besides, putting out fires with gasoline is not very good advice. Rather, the Jook Joint is a generally safe place to be, bobbing and weaving around Q's own heritage and history. That means high-concept collaborations like "Let The Good Times Roll" with verses traded between Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Bono -- who probably wasn't even seen sneaking into the recording session. But thankfully Quincy is also capable of working in the future tense, unleashing teenage diva Tamia on the swellegant "You Put A Move On My Heart." The even younger Brandy gets her star turn on an insistent remake of "Rock With You" -- an idea that comes off better on paper than it does on record, proving just how unimpeachable Michael Jackson used to be, back when Quincy Jones was in control. So when Quincy imparts part of that control to R. Kelly, for a co-production called "Heaven's Girl," the Love Boat-like notions start to seem cluttered -- even if it culminates with a "seductive chant" courtesy of Naomi Campbell. Q's Jook Joint's least cluttered offerings shed a different light on their performers, like the unusually unpetulant Gloria Estefan revealed on "Is It Love That We're Missing" or Duke Ellington's "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" fronted by Phil Collins, whose new role as schmaltzy jazz gadfly finds him in his most engaging state since -- forgive me, please -- Face Value. Getting Brian McKnight, the smartest R&B around singer right now, to add his bittersweet strains to a timeless James Moody melody is a consummate example of Jones' mastery. But then, its eloquent effects are instantly quashed by a remake of the Brothers Johnson's "Stomp," featuring the can-banging troupe of the same name, and raps from Coolio and Shaquille O'Neal. Sure, it's cute, but it's just a little too cute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 @START@Steak w/Blue Cheese Dressing SUBJECT: Steak w/Blue Cheese Dressing I love this recipe because it's quick, easy and delicious. Enjoy! :) This MicroCook ASCII file can be Imported into MicroCook. Don't alter this file if you plan to import it or share it with friends that also use MicroCook. Use the MicroCook ASCII Import menu function to Import this File. MicroCook V.1.5.72 ASCII Recipe Recipe Name: Steak with Blue Cheese Dressing Category...: Beef Servings...: 4 Ingredients: 8 oz Blue cheese, crumbled 1 cl Garlic, finely chopped 2 T Dry white wine Dash Ground red pepper 2 T Margarine or butter 4 sm New York strip or rib eye Steaks, 1-inch thick (about 2 lb) Dash Freshly ground pepper 1/4 C Water Sprig Snipped parsley Preparation: Cook and stir cheese, garlic, wine and red pepper over low heat, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted. Keep warm. Heat margarine in 12-inch skillet until hot. Cook beef steaks over medium-high heat, turning once, until medium doneness, about 5 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with pepper. Remove from skillet and keep warm. Add water to skillet. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly to loosen browned bits. Boil 2 minutes. Stir pan juices into cheese mixture. Pour over steaks. Sprinkle with parsley. NOTE: You can also use Roquefort cheese - Bobbie - : bobbie.mikes@moondog.com : bobbiekat@aol.com @START@Rugalach 1 cup butter, at room temperature 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cups flour Filling (recipe follows) 1/2 cup melted butter Beat 1 cup butter and cream cheese until light. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add salt and gradually stir in flour. When dough is smooth, form into 6 portions. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill overnight or a few days. Prepare filling. Roll out one portion of dough into a circle 1/8 inch thick. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle 1/6 of filling over circle. Cut into 12 wedges. Roll each wedge from wide end to point. Shape into a crescent. Place on a greased cookie sheet and brush with more melted butter. Repeat with remaining wedges, then with remaining dough. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Makes 6 dozen cookies. Filling 1 cup chopped raisins 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon Combine raisins and walnuts in a bowl. Stir in sugar and cinnamon. @START@Spinach Pasta Sauce This is one of my favourite spinach recipes. 800g fresh spinach leaves 60g butter 60g flour 500 ml milk salt and black pepper grated nutmeg 40g freshly grated parmesan cheese Wash the spinach. Put a generous handful to one side and steam the rest. Drain, keeping the liquid. Chop the spinach finely and keep it warm. Make a bechamel sauce using the butter, flour and milk, then dilute with the spinach liquid. Check flavour and add nutmeg. Add the cooked, chopped spinach to the bechamel sauce and at the last minute, add the finely chopped raw spinach. Pour over pasta (spaghetti or linguine) and serve at once with grated parmesan. I sometimes add some garlic and/or bacon, but this sauce is divine without. Sorry about the metric measurements - I can't follow imperial. @START@Pumpkin Dessert Not quite a cake, not quite a pie, but a rich & yummy holiday dessert! *** Pumpkin "Cake" 1 box (Duncan Hines) yellow cake mix 1/2 c. margerine or butter 1 egg Reserve 1 c. of the cake mix, put the rest in a medium mixing bowl. Melt margerine, add to mix. Add egg. Mix well. Press mixture into bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. 1 16 oz. can plain pumpkin 3 eggs, beaten 2/3 cup milk 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 t. ground cinnamon Combine above ingredients, mix well, and pour over cake mixture in pan. 1 c. reserved dry cake mix 3/4 c. white granulated sugar 2 T. butter Combine as for piecrust (eg, mix by "cutting" dry ingredients into shortening with 2 table knives or with a fork until a crumbly mixture is obtained) and sprinkle over pumpkin. Bake at 350'F for 50 min. Pumpkin should be "set" as for pumpkin pie. *** Jill Jill Nicolaus Dept. Organismal Biol. & Anatomy University of Chicago 1027 E. 57th Street Chicago, IL 60615 @START@Diablo Sauce Diablo Sauce Yields 2 cups Ingredients: 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 large garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp. Fennel seeds 2 Serrano or 1 Jalapeno pepper, quartered and seeds retained if a more fiery effect is required 2 red bell peppers, coarsele chopped flesh of 1 large, ripe mango 2 cups chicken broth 2 tbsp. butter Juice of 1 lime salt to taste Method: Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat and add garlic, onion and fennel seeds. Saute for a while then stir in peppers and mango. Cook for 5 minutes before adding chicken broth. Reduce by 3/4. Transfer mixture to blender and blend ingredients on high speed for 1/2 min. Season to taste with lime juice and salt. - AGNES LEE JNVZ44A@prodigy.com @START@White Clam Sauce Louis Gagnon and Yu-Ling Laurie Lai both requested pasta sauce recipes. This is one that I make a lot. It's so fast and it tastes great. Mom and Dad's White Clam Sauce 1 large onion, chopped 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 bottle clam juice 2 small cans clams, minced or chopped (I use chopped) 1 tsp. garlic powder 2 tbls. Italian seasoning 1 tsp. oregano black pepper to taste 4 tbls. olive oil 1 tbl. butter generous handful of parmesan In a heavy saute pan, heat olive oil and butter until butter stops foaming. Over medium heat, saute onion and garlic until onion is transluscent. Be careful to watch the garlic so it doesn't burn. Add garlic powder, oregano and italian seasoning. Toss together making sure everything is mixed throughly. Add clam juice. Reduce for about 2 minutes. Add clams and turn off heat. Add cheese and pepper. Stir well. Serve over linguine. Garlic bread and a caesar salad are great with this. @START@Creamy Swiss Enchiladas Creamy Swiss Enchiladas 6 tortillas 1 1/4 cup cooked chicken 1/2 cup diced green chiles * 1/2 cup mild green chili salsa * 2 T. sour cream 1 t. salt 1 cup heavy cream 1 t. salt 1 cup grated Swiss cheese Mix together chicken (diced or shredded), green chiles, salsa, sour cream, and 1 t. salt. Mix heavy cream and 1 t. salt in pie plate. Dip tortillas in cream and fill with chicken mixture. Roll and place in ungreased baking dish. Pour any remaining cream over enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Makes 3 servings. * I buy 7-8 ounce cans and mix the remaining chiles and salsa with the extra cream before pouring over the enchiladas. @START@Apple Gingerbread Apple Gingerbread 6 Tbsp. solid shortening 1/3 cup granulated white sugar 1 egg 1/2 cup molasses 1 3/4 cup flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 Tbsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ginger 1/2 tsp. salt 2/3 cup strained applesauce Cream together shortening and sugar. Beat egg; add molasses; mix well. Sift together three times the flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with applesauce. Bake in a greased pan in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Serves eight. @START@Quick Tomato-Basil Pasta RE: looking for a "spaghetti" sauce. Here's a tomato-based pasta sauce that works much better with a broader or tubular pasta such as penne, fusilli or ziti. It will comfortably serve 2 with sauce left over. Cook more pasta for additional servings. QUICK TOMATO-BASIL PASTA 1 15-Oz can diced tomatoes or 1 pound diced fresh Roma (pear) tomatoes. 2 large minced garlic gloves 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1-2 tablespoons dried basil or half a dozen fresh leaves thinly sliced. 8 ounces of a thick pasta to hold sauce-- i.e. penne, fusilli. Boil water and cook pasta. Mix tomatoes, olive oil and minced garlic in sauce pan and heat. Add dried basil and stir. (If using fresh basil, add at end). Drain pasta and place in bowls. Spoon on sauce and top with freshly grated parmesan or asiago cheese. Variations: For more zip, add a dash of red pepper flakes when cooking tomatoes. For a meat course, dice two boneless chicken breasts and saute them in 1 tablespoon olive oil and one minced garlic clove. For a vegetarian main course add zucchini rounds or thin asparagus spears and cook them in the tomato sauce. Joel Schwarz University of Washington @START@Toasted Pumpkin Seeds 2 Cups pumpkin seeds 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 T. melted butter or margarine 1 1/4 tsp. salt Preheat oven to 250. Do not wash pumpkin seeds. Wipe off excess fibers. On a cookie sheet, combine pumpkin seeds with remaining ingredients. Bake approximately 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until seeds are crisp, dry and golden. Enjoy! @START@Avocado Cake Gene H. Chua said <Does anybody have a cake recipe that uses avocado? I was able to taste one a long time ago... and would appreciate it if somebody can help me.> AVOCADO CAKE WITH DATES Makes 12 servings Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 30 to 35 minutes Nonstick cooking spray or butter 1 1/2 cups cake flour 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup mashed avocados (about 1 1/2 avocados) 1/2 cup thawed frozen nonfat egg substitute (equivalent to 2 eggs) 1/3 cup nonfat milk 1 cup chopped dates Powdered sugar (optional) Additional dates, slivered Spray a nonstick 9-inch-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly brush with butter. Sift together cake flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Blend together avocados, egg substitute and nonfat milk in small bowl. Stir into dry ingredients along with dates until blended. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees 30 to 35 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. Garnish top with a few slivers of dates, if desired. Per serving: 217 calories, 4 grams fat, no cholesterol, 119 milligrams sodium. @START@Snow Pudding This is from the 1941 Knox gelatin cookbook: SNOW PUDDING 1 envelope Knox Sparkling Gelatin 1/4 cup cold water 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup hot water 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 2 eggs, whites only Soften gelatin in the cold water and add sugar, salt and hot water. Stir until dissolved. Add lemon juice and grated lemon rind. Stir occasionally and when very thick beat with wire spoon or whisk until frothy. Add whites of eggs beaten stiff and continue beating until stiff enough to hold its shape. Turn into mold that has been rinsed in cold water. Chill and when firm unmold and serve with favorite sauce. Creme Anglaise Sauce 3 egg yolks 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1 1/4 cups hot milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 tablespoon softened butter 1 tablespoon rum, optional Beat the egg yolks in a 1 1/2-quart stainless steel or enameled saucepan until thick, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugar and beat in hot milk in droplets. Stir over moderately low heat with wooden spoon until sauce thickens enough to coat the spoon. Do not let it simmer or the egg yolks will curdle. Stir in vanilla and butter and optional rum. Serve warm or cool. Lemon Sauce 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/8 teaspoon each salt and nutmeg 1 cup boiling water 2 tablespoons butter 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt and nutmeg and gradually add the water. Cook over low heat until thick and clear. Add butter and lemon juice and blend thoroughly. @START@Chicken Cannelloni Chicken Cannelloni Serves 8 Early in the day or night before. Marinara Sauce: 1 large can of chopped tomatoes 2 midsize cans of tomato sauce 2 small cans of tomato paste 1 cup chopped mushrooms 1 saut^?ed chopped green pepper 1 saut^?ed chopped onion 1/2 saut^?ed clove of minced garlic 1/2 tbspn basil 1/2 tbspn oregano 1 tbspn olive oil Saute finely chopped onion, green pepper, and mushrooms with minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until all constituents are softened over medium heat. In slow cooker, combine above ingredients with remaining ingredients (do not drain fluid from canned tomatoes) and cook on low heat for at least 8 hours. Stir every few hours. (30 minutes/8 hours) 4 hours before dinner Filling: 4 large chicken breasts or 6 chicken thighs 2 15 oz containers of ricotta cheese 3 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese 2 cups grated fresh paremesan cheese 1 cup lightly saut^?ed (in olive oil) chopped mushrooms 2 eggs 1 cup alfredo sauce 1/2 clove of minced garlic 1/2 tbspn of basil 2 boxes of manicotti tubes Set skinned chicken in water that just covers all pieces. Add garlic and basil and boil for 30 minutes. While chicken is cooking, beat 2 eggs in a large bowl. Thoroughly mix ricotta, moz., and parm cheeses with eggs and 1 cup alfredo sauce*. Drain broth from and run cold water over chicken in strainer. Chop deboned chicken into small pieces which will be easy to fill manicotti tubes. Mix chicken together with other ingredients until homogenized. Boil 1 box manicotti pasta for five minutes in boiling water. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Immediately remove all pasta and separate them so they do not stick together. Use cake icing decorator (they are very handy) or long skinny tea spoon to fill manicotti tubes. When you are nearly finished filling cooked pasta, boil second box as before. Preheat oven to 375*F. Fill remaining tubes of pasta when ready. Place cannelloni in casserole dishes and cover with marinara sauce. If you are preparing well in advance you may refrigerate overnight. Bake for total of 40 minutes covered with aluminum foil. At 30 minutes, remove aluminum foil and cover cannelloni with layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Cook for ten more minutes uncovered. Let cool for 5 minutes. (preparation time: 3 hours) Serving suggestions: You may want to make 2 extra cups of alfredo sauce to be poured over cannelloni. Also have fresh grated parmesan on hand. Serve with fresh french bread after a good oil and red vinegar salad. A good Chianti washes it all down. *Alfredo Sauce (1 cup): 2 tbspn butter 2 tbspn all-purpose flour 1/4 tspn salt 1 cup 2% milk 1/3 cup parmesan cheese dash white pepper (optional) Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour (1 tbspn at a time), salt, and white pepper. Add milk and parmesan cheese all at once. Cook quickly and stir frequently till mixture thickens and bubbles. (prep time, 20 minutes) @START@Florentine (Spinach) Pizza Spinach Pizza Note: This is a covered deep dish pizza. Crust: 1 Tbs sugar 1 pkg (1 tbsp) yeast 2 cups lukewarm water 1/4 cup vegetable oil 4 - 6 cups all purpose flour * dissolve sugar and yeast in large bowl; let stand until bubbly * add oil * stir in 4 cups of flour until smooth (I use my KitchenAid) * knead appropriately * turn into greased bowl and let rise until doubled * make sauce * punch down dowug and let rest for 10 minutes Tomato Sauce 2 Tbs olive oil 1 minced garlic clove 1 large can (28oz) of crushed tomatoes and puree 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh basil pinch of salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper * heat olive oil, saute garlic * add tomatoes, spices simmer 30 minutes Cheeses 2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese 1/4 cup grated romano cheese Spinach Pesto 1/4 cup pine nuts 3 chopped garlic cloves 3/4 cup olive oil 1 cup chopped spinach 3/4 cup basil leaves 1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese 1/4 cup grated fresh romano cheese * grind pine nuts, garlic and olive oil in food processor * add spinach and basil, puree until smooth * add cheeses * add salt & pepper to taste Preparation of the whole shebang: * roll out two thirds of dough on lightly floured surface * fit this into pan and press dough over the sides * mix cheeses and spread evenely over the dough * roll out remaining dough to form a 14" circle * place over the filled dough, seal of edges and remove excess * pour the tomato sauce over the top layer * top with spinach pesto Bake in preheated 450 oven for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden @START@Easiest Pie Crust Easiest Pie Crust combine: 2 1/2 c. flour 1 t. salt combine: (it's easiest to measure both into one measuring cup) 1/2 c. plus 2 T. vegetable oil (I use canola; some corn oil may add flavor) 1/4 c. plus 1 T. water Add the liquid to the dry ingredients all at once and stir with a fork. Knead dough a bit with your hand if necessary. Divide dough in half to make 2 9-inch crusts; for pie with top crust, use 2/3 dough for bottom and 1/3 for top. Roll out **between two sheets of waxed paper**. Peel off top sheet, invert pie plate over dough and flip over to turn dough into pie plate. @START@Dramatic Hubble Images at Nov 2 Space Astrononmy Update Don Savage Headquarters, Washington, DC October 30, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Jim Sahli Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/286-0697) Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD (Phone: 410/338-4514) NOTE TO EDITORS: N95-73 DRAMATIC HUBBLE IMAGES AT NOV. 2 SPACE ASTRONOMY UPDATE What some scientists are calling 'the most dramatic images yet taken by the Hubble Space Telescope' will be presented at 3 p.m. EST, Thursday, Nov. 2, 1995, in the NASA Headquarters Auditorium, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC. The images will be the focus of the next Space Astronomy Update, entitled "Star Birth in the Eagle Nebula." The images will reveal dark pillar-like structures in the Eagle Nebula (also called M16) which are columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust. The pillars, protruding from the interior wall of a dark cloud like stalagmites from the floor of a cavern, are slowly being eroded away by radiation from nearby stars. This process exposes small globules of even denser gas which had been buried deep inside the clouds. These are incubators for new stars and are called, appropriately enough, "EGGs" (Evaporating Gaseous Globules"). Panelists will be Dr. Jeff Hester, Astronomer in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy at Arizona State University, Tempe; Dr. Anne Kinney, Project Scientist for Education, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore; and Dr. Bruce Margon, Chairman of the Astronomy Dept., University of Washington, Seattle. Moderator will be Dr. Steve Maran, Senior Staff Scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The SAU will be carried live on NASA Television, with 2-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA Centers. @START@Science Instruments Selected for 1998 Mars Missions PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 Contact: Diane Ainsworth FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 30, 1995 SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS SELECTED FOR 1998 MARS MISSIONS An extremely lightweight camera and a variety of instruments designed to study daily weather patterns and the icy south pole on Mars have been selected by NASA officials to fly aboard an orbiting spacecraft and lander in late 1998. Known as the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter and the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, the robotic missions will enable detailed scientific studies of the planet's atmosphere, climate, meteorology and surface volatiles such as water ice and frozen carbon dioxide. The lander will be the first mission ever sent to the poles of Mars, where it will settle on terrain that appears to consist of alternating layers of clean and dust-laden ice. "These investigations will collect data that is fundamental to a better knowledge of the climate of Mars, both in the past and in the present," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress Jr., associate administrator for Space Science at NASA Headquarters. "Landing in a polar region is particularly interesting and exciting. These areas probably hold the key to understanding what appear to be quasi- periodic climate fluctuations on the planet over thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, and the nature of the orbit of Mars makes this our only opportunity to send a mission to a pole during the next decade." The orbiter will carry an advanced technology optical camera called the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter Color Imager, to be provided by Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego. With a total mass of only 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs), the camera system is less than 1/20th the mass of the Mars Observer camera spare, also provided by Malin, that will fly aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, scheduled for launch in November 1996. The camera consists of two elements: a wide-angle camera that will acquire daily weather maps of Mars with a surface resolution of 0.8 kilometers up to 7.2 kilometers (0.5 miles to 4.5 miles), and a medium-angle camera with a resolution of 40 meters (131 feet) that will study alterations in the planet's surface over time due to changing atmospheric conditions and winds. The orbiter also will carry an atmospheric instrument called the Pressure Modulator Infrared Radiometer (PMIRR), which was selected for flight in July. PMIRR will measure temperature profiles of the Martian atmosphere and monitor its water vapor and dust content. Malin Space Science Systems Inc. will provide another low- mass camera for the Mars '98 lander, called the Mars Surveyor '98 Descent Imager. It will produce wide-angle views of the Martian surface beginning about 10 seconds after the lander's parachute has been deployed, at approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in altitude, until its landing. These pictures will be used to provide a larger geographic context for local landforms around the landing zone, and to help tie together images from the orbiter with the exact landing site. Once on the surface, the lander will power up an integrated science payload to be supplied by Dr. David Paige of the University of California at Los Angeles. Known as the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor, this payload achieves a mass of just 17 kilograms (37 lbs) through the use of common electronic components and other shared subsystems. The payload includes a mast-mounted imager to take stereo photos of the surrounding landscape; a 2-meter (6.5-foot) robot arm that will dig up and deliver surface samples to a thermal and evolved gas analyzer to determine their content of ice and frozen carbon dioxide; and a mast-mounted meteorological package with sensors to record atmospheric pressure, temperature and winds. During its planned 86-day surface mission, the lander's robot arm will attempt to dig trenches in the icy polar soil and then use a small arm-mounted camera to transmit close-up pictures of any stratified layers. "Like the exposed walls of the Grand Canyon on Earth, these layers should reveal a fascinating record of gross fluctuations in the Martian environment, telling us more about why a planet that appears to have been so wet in the past is so cold and dry now," said Huntress. NASA is continuing discussions with the Russian Space Agency (RSA) about the possibility of Russia supplying a science instrument for the lander, in addition to hardware that the RSA is contributing for the PMIRR orbiter instrument. Options for the lander include a laser-ranging device that measures atmospheric dust and haze or an electromagnetic sounder that would map soil density variations and possible subsurface water. A final decision on these lander instruments should be made by the end of November, Huntress said. The Mars '98 Orbiter and Lander are scheduled for separate launches aboard Med-Lite expendable launch vehicles in December 1998 and January 1999, respectively. The missions are part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a 10-year series of cost-capped missions to Mars featuring two launches every 26 months. @START@Ulysses Offers New Insights on Conditions Over Sun's Poles PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 Contact: Diane Ainsworth October 26, 1995 ULYSSES OFFERS NEW INSIGHTS ON CONDITIONS OVER SUN'S POLES After a journey of more than 3 billion kilometers (2 billion miles), the Ulysses spacecraft has completed the first pole-to- pole passage over the Sun, showing scientists some of the solar forces at work in high latitude regions never before explored. Scientists on the international NASA/European Space Agency mission gathered at Dana Point, CA this week for a 2-1/2-day workshop at which they compared notes on results from the spacecraft's first complete solar orbit and presented preliminary results of Ulysses' recently completed pass over the Sun's northern pole. "This has been an exceptional journey to explore regions of the Sun never visited by spacecraft before," said Willis Meeks, U.S. project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Spacecraft data over the polar regions of the Sun are allowing scientists to begin assembling the first three-dimensional picture of the heliosphere ever compiled." Several scientists from the Ulysses team explained the mission's results in a panel discussion that aired today on NASA Television. They included Dr. Edward J. Smith, U.S. project scientist at JPL and a co-investigator on the magnetic fields experiment; Dr. John Phillips of Los Alamos National Laboratory, principal investigator on the solar wind plasma experiment; Dr. Antoinette Galvin, University of Maryland, a co-investigator on Ulysses who also works with x-ray images of the Sun from the Japanese Yohkoh mission; Dr. Richard Marsden, ESA project scientist and a co-investigator on the cosmic rays and solar particles experiment; and Dr. J. R. Jokipii, an interdisciplinary scientist from the University of Arizona. Over the course of its five-year journey, Ulysses confirmed some theories about the Sun and found a few surprises, the scientists reported: -- Ulysses verified global differences in solar wind velocity, composition and temperature. -- The spacecraft saw outward-propagating, high-speed and long-period Alfven waves continuously in the high-speed solar wind over both poles of the Sun. (Alfven waves are waves which move along magnetic field lines and accelerate charged particles.) -- An increase in magnetic field intensity in the polar regions was not seen, as was expected. Instead, Ulysses found a uniform magnetic field whose intensity did not change from equator to pole. -- The theoretical "cosmic ray funnel," which would allow easy access of cosmic ray particles into the polar region, was not found. Only a slight increase in cosmic ray intensity was seen over the pole. With its northern pass completed, Ulysses will begin to journey back out to the orbit of Jupiter. The spacecraft will reach the giant planet's distance of 5.4 astronomical units (about 800 million kilometers or 500 million miles) on April 17, 1998. Once there Ulysses will loop back and return, this time arriving in the vicinity of the Sun during its most active sunspot phase. "The Sun will be near solar maximum in the fall of 2000 and the solar magnetic field will have reversed polarity," said Dr. Edward J. Smith, Ulysses project scientist at JPL. "We expect the profile we obtain five years from now will be dramatically different and give us many new insights into the dynamics of this star at the center of our solar system." Based on the importance of its investigations and the excellent condition of the spacecraft, the Ulysses mission will continue through a second set of polar passes beginning in September 2000. At the conclusion of its mission in December 2001, the spacecraft will have collected data on solar phenomena at all latitudes during the quietest and most active phases of the 11-year solar cycle. The Ulysses mission is an international project of the European Space Agency and NASA to explore regions of space above and below the Sun's poles. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S. portion of the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. @START@Embryonic Stars Emerge from Interstellar Eggs Don Savage Headquarters, Washington, DC November 2, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Fred Brown Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/286-5566) Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD (Phone: 410/338-4514) RELEASE: 95-190 EMBRYONIC STARS EMERGE FROM INTERSTELLAR "EGGS" Dramatic new pictures from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show newborn stars emerging from dense, compact pockets of interstellar gas called evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs). Hubble found the "EGGs," appropriately enough, in the Eagle nebula, a nearby star-forming region 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. "For a long time astronomers have speculated about what processes control the sizes of stars -- about why stars are the sizes that they are," says Jeff Hester of Arizona State University, Tempe. "Now we seem to be watching at least one such process at work right in front of our eyes." Pictures taken by Hester and co-investigators with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2) resolve the EGGs at the tip of finger-like features protruding from monstrous columns of cold gas in the Eagle nebula (also called M16 -- 16th object in the Messier column). The columns -- dubbed "elephant trunks" -- protrude from the wall of a vast cloud of molecular hydrogen, like stalagmites rising above the floor of a cavern. Inside the gaseous towers, which are light-years long, the interstellar gas is dense enough to collapse under its own weight, forming young stars that continue to grow as they accumulate more and more mass from their surroundings. Hubble gives a clear look at what happens as a torrent of ultraviolet light from nearby young, hot stars heats the gas along the surface of the pillars, "boiling it away" into interstellar space -- a process called "photoevaporation." The Hubble pictures show photoevaporating gas as ghostly streamers flowing away from the columns. But not all of the gas boils off at the same rate. The EGGs, which are denser than their surroundings, are left behind after the gas around them is gone. "It's a bit like a wind storm in the desert," said Hester. "As the wind blows away the lighter sand, heavier rocks buried in the sand are uncovered. But in M16, instead of rocks, the ultraviolet light is uncovering the denser egg-like globules of gas that surround stars that were forming inside the gigantic gas columns." Some EGGs appear as nothing but tiny bumps on the surface of the columns. Others have been uncovered more completely, and now resemble "fingers" of gas protruding from the larger cloud. (The fingers are gas that has been protected from photoevaporation by the shadows of the EGGs). Some EGGs have pinched off completely from the larger column from which they emerged, and now look like teardrops in space. By stringing together these pictures of EGGs caught at different stages of being uncovered, Hester and his colleagues from the Wide Field and Planetary Camera Investigation Definition Team are getting an unprecedented look at how stars and their surroundings appear before they are truly stars. "This is the first time that we have actually seen the process of forming stars being uncovered by photoevaporation," Hester emphasized. "In some ways it seems more like archaeology than astronomy. The ultraviolet light from nearby stars does the digging for us, and we study what is unearthed." "In a few cases we can see the stars in the EGGs directly in the WFPC2 images," says Hester. "As soon as the star in an EGG is exposed, the object looks something like an ice cream cone, with a newly uncovered star playing the role of the cherry on top." Ultimately, photoevaporation inhibits the further growth of the embryonic stars by dispersing the cloud of gas they were "feeding" from. "We believe that the stars in M16 were continuing to grow as more and more gas fell onto them, right up until the moment that they were cut off from that surrounding material by photoevaporation," said Hester. This process is markedly different from the process that governs the sizes of stars forming in isolation. Some astronomers believe that, left to its own devices, a star will continue to grow until it nears the point where nuclear fusion begins in its interior. When this happens, the star begins to blow a strong "wind" that clears away the residual material. Hubble has imaged this process in detail in so- called Herbig-Haro objects. Hester also speculated that photoevaporation might actually inhibit the formation of planets around such stars. "It is not at all clear from the new data that the stars in M16 have reached the point where they have formed the disks that go on to become solar systems," said Hester, "and if these disks haven't formed yet, they never will." Hester plans to use Hubble's high resolution to probe other nearby star-forming regions to look for similar structures. "Discoveries about the nature of the M16 EGGs might lead astronomers to rethink some of their ideas about the environments of stars forming in other regions, such as the Orion Nebula," he predicted. The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. @START@CN Detected in Comet Hale-Bopp Optical spectroscopy of Comet Hale-Bopp Spectra of Hale-Bopp with a wavelength range of 330nm to 830nm were obtained with the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope on La Palma on August 30th. Two 300 second exposures were made through a slit width of 2.4 arcsec at a position angle of 357 degrees. Simultaneous imaging on the 1-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope by I.M. Cartwright showed that the slit sampled the jet at a distance of ~10 arcsec due to its spiral structure. Subsequent analsysis has revealed the presence of CN emission at 388nm with a flux level of (1.7 +/- 0.8) x 10E-14 ergs/sec/cm2. Initial modelling using a Monte-Carlo model with HCN as the parent gives a production rate of (6 +/- 3) x 10E25 molecules/sec. No other emissions were observed. The dust colour in the optical is reddish compared to solar, agreeing with the results found by Mike A'Hearn & colleagues with IUE in the UV. Ratio spectra between different regions show that the dust in the central condensation and jet was significantly redder than the surrounding coma. Alan Fitzsimmons and Martin Cartwright Queen's University of Belfast. @START@NASA Announces 1994 Phase II Research Proposal Selections James Cast Headquarters, Washington, DC November 3, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1779) RELEASE: 95-199 NASA ANNOUNCES 1994 PHASE II RESEARCH PROPOSAL SELECTIONS NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology has selected four research proposals for immediate negotiation of a fixed-price contract valued up to $500,000 each with a two-year performance period. The proposals are for Phase II contracts in NASA's Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Pilot Program. A total of seven proposals were submitted by contractors completing Phase I projects. All proposals were peer reviewed for both technical merit and commercial potential. Selections were based on the following factors: scientific and technical merit, results of Phase I, evidence of commercial potential, and capability of the small business concern. The objective of a Phase I project is to determine the feasibility of the proposed research. Phase II continues the research of the most promising Phase I projects. The STTR program is similar to the Small Business Innovation Research Program but varies by requiring a small business concern to conduct cooperative research and development by partnering with a research institution. At least 40 percent of the work must be performed by the small business concern, and at least 30 percent of the work must be performed by the research institute. NASA anticipates the selection of approximately seven additional proposals from those submitted in categories of general aviation software and systems, and small-scale robotics by mid-December 1995. SBIR PHASE II AWARDS Small Business Concern Research Institution DigiNet Research Inc. University of Houston 3019 Orchard Hill 4800 Calhoun Road San Antonio, TX 78230 Houston, TX 77204 Grafikon Ltd. University of Maryland 11329 Classical Lane Advanced Visualization Lab. Silver Spring, MD 20901 College Park, MD 20742 Innovative Aerodynamic Technologies Old Dominion University 534-C Wythe Creek Road Dept. of Computer Science Poquoson, VA 23662 Hampton Blvd. Norfolk, VA 23529 Quality Information Systems, Inc. University of California 10680 West Pico Blvd, Suite 260 at Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90064 4732 Boelter Hall Los Angeles, CA 90024 @START@NASA Begins Series of Live Educations Telecasts Terri Hudkins Headquarters, Washington, DC November 3, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1977) RELEASE: 95-200 NASA BEGINS SERIES OF LIVE EDUCATION TELECASTS A live, pre-college educational NASA television broadcast entitled, NASA...On the Cutting Edge, will begin Tues., Nov. 7, featuring students using computers to manipulate robots, examining how the Sun interacts with Earth and our Solar System, exploring the international Space Station, and previewing NASA's future exploration and scientific advancements. Now in its second season, NASA...On the Cutting Edge is a series of three, 1-hour, live and interactive education television programs broadcast via satellite to schools in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico between 4-5 p.m. Eastern time. Last season, over 2,000 education institutions participated in the series. The videoconference series updates teachers and students in grades 5-12 with explorations of NASA research in science, mathematics and technology. Registered participants can dialogue with NASA presenters on-air during each program via phone. Post-broadcast interaction is available through Internet conferencing on NASA Spacelink. To register, send an e-mail to: nasaedutv@smtpgate.osu.hq.nasa.gov There is no charge to participate but schools must register in advance to receive satellite coordinates, announcements, publications and support materials and instructions on how to obtain an Educator Account on NASA Spacelink. To register, write NASA Teaching From Space, Oklahoma State University, 308 CITD Room A, Stillwater, OK 74078-0422, or call 405/744-6784. The 1995-96 schedule includes: Robotics Tuesday, November 7, 1995 4-5 p.m. Eastern See how telerobotic and virtual reality systems push the limits of space exploration and how NASA develops specialized robots, which make astronauts time in space safer and more effective. Preview exciting robotic spin- offs in agriculture, health care, and futuristic amusement parks. Students in Pasadena, CA, will use local controls to operate an experimental robot in a Mars-like test field at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a robot in a neutral buoyancy tank at the Maryland University, College Park, MD. These tests will execute actual courses that will be undertaken in future NASA Mars missions. International Space Station Thursday, January 25, 1996 4-5 p.m. Eastern Find out how this multi-national effort will yield our first permanent steps into the Cosmos and learn why planned experiments need to be conducted in this permanent microgravity environment. Fire & Life -- The Sun-Earth Connection Thursday, April 11, 1996 4-5 p.m. Eastern This program examines how solar orbiters are answering questions like, "What processes drive the Sun's variability?" and, "How does the Sun interact with Earth, the Solar System and the Interstellar Medium?" The educational broadcast series is produced for NASA by the Teaching From Space Program in conjunction with Oklahoma State University's Educational Television Services and NASA Field Centers. NASA TV broadcasts on C-band, Spacenet 2, transponder 5, 69 degrees West longitude. NASA TV intends to simulcast live broadcasts when they do not conflict with Shuttle mission programming and scheduled video news feeds. Distance-learning networks and PBS affiliates are encouraged to simulcast the broadcasts. @START@Space Radar Findings Offer New Insights Douglas Isbell Headquarters, Washington, DC November 6, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1753) Mary Hardin Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA (Phone: 818/354-5011) RELEASE: 95-201 FROM ANCIENT EARTH TO MODERN FLOODS, SPACE RADAR FINDINGS OFFER NEW INSIGHTS ON THE CHANGING FACE OF OUR HOME PLANET Findings from two flights of a spaceborne imaging radar aboard the Space Shuttle have given scientists insights into flooding in the American midwest in 1993, the course of the Nile River, and collisions between ancient supercontinents eons ago. The findings are being presented this week at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in New Orleans. The space radar data were taken by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X- SAR) during two flights of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in April and October 1994. NASA launched its first Earth-observing synthetic aperture radar on Seasat in 1978. Two later versions of the instrument flew on the Space Shuttle in 1981 and 1984, each an improvement on its predecessor. X-SAR is a follow-on to the Microwave Remote Sensing Experiment, a German payload that was flown on the first Shuttle Spacelab mission in 1983. One of the most astonishing results of the 1981 mission was the discovery of ancient river beds under the sands of the Sahara Desert in North Africa. The 1984 mission enabled explorers to find the Lost City of Ubar in Oman. The Magellan mission to Venus was equipped with an imaging radar that provided the first comprehensive look at the surface of that cloud-shrouded planet. Following are highlights of the 1994 findings. RADAR LOOKS BACK IN TIME AT ANCIENT EARTH Hundreds of millions of years before the first humans were born, and even millions of years before the dinosaurs reigned, the Earth was dominated by one giant landmass that formed when all of the present-day continents crashed together. Now, scientists using spaceborne radar to look beneath the sands of Africa's Sahara Desert have discovered where these ancient continents collided more than 650 million years ago. "The formation of this 'supercontinent' resulted in a massive ice age that covered the land with glaciers and set the stage for the evolution of the first complex animals. Finding the location of this collision zone is fundamental to understanding how this ancient supercontinent was formed," said Dr. Robert Stern, a member of the radar team from the University of Texas at Dallas. "This discovery also helps unravel the mystery of what controls the course of the Nile, a question that has perplexed geologists for more than a century." "These data reveal geologic structures buried beneath the thin skin of desert sands in a manner that is reminiscent of an x-ray's ability to study the inside of a human body," Stern said. "If you're standing on the surface there is little to be seen. The geologic structures we are seeing are obscured by a few inches to a few feet of sand." The recent discovery beneath the sands of the Sahara has helped scientists look back in time to the era of so- called supercontinents, including an exotic landscape scientists call Greater Gondwana. This landmass formed when fragments of east Gondwana (present-day Australia, Antarctica and India) crashed into west Gondwana (present- day Africa and the continents of North and South America). "The collision zone between east and west Gondwana is buried beneath the sands of the Sahara Desert and cannot be detected using conventional field work or other types of remote sensing imagery," Stern said. "We knew from the results of the first Shuttle imaging radar experiment in 1981 that spaceborne radar could reveal amazing things beneath the Sahara. A team from the U.S. Geological Survey had discovered ancient rivers buried elsewhere in the Sahara. We thought that we could use the capability of the SIR-C/X-SAR system to penetrate ultra-dry sand and reveal the faults and folds of this collision zone, in a region of northern Sudan called the Keraf Suture. Now that we know where it is, we can move on to studying how and when the collision occurred." BENEATH THE SANDS, CLUES ON THE COURSE OF THE NILE The radar data also have revealed the faults and fractures in the rocks that control the course of the Nile River in the northern Sudan. "In this region, the Nile makes a big lazy 'S', first north, then southwest, then north again," Stern said. "We can see on the radar images the structures that control the northward stretches of the Nile. We're trying to use the radar images to explain why the Nile turns southwest instead of continuing north to the Mediterranean. Understanding what controls the course of the Nile is a critical part of understanding the history of the river that is essential to millions of people in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia." In addition to helping answer questions related to the collision zone and the course of the Nile, Stern said the SIR-C/X-SAR radar data would be invaluable to developing nations in the area and private companies in their searches for oil, gold and water beneath the Sahara Desert. RADAR DATA REVEAL POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE FLOODING Scientists investigating the damage caused in the midwestern United States by the so-called "Great Flood of 1993" have developed a new technique -- using these spaceborne and imaging radar systems -- to understand the potential for future flooding and how that might impact neighboring communities. A team of scientists used data from the spaceborne radar, along with data from two airborne radar systems, to map the Lisbon Bottoms and Jameson Island flood plains of the Missouri River in central Missouri. The flood plain was ravaged by the severe floods of 1993 and, more recently, by floods occurring this year. The team, led by Dr. Raymond E. Arvidson, chair of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, analyzed SIR-C/X-SAR data and airborne radar data obtained during two flights of a NASA DC-8 aircraft in the summers of 1994 and 1995. From this database, the team estimated that the 1993 flood added at least 5 million metric tons of sand to the flood plains study area and eroded about 3 million metric tons of soil. "These all-weather radar systems are very sensitive to the presence of vegetation and can also be used to acquire very detailed topographical data -- the shape of the flood plain, the presence or absence of levees, the presence or absence of vegetation," Arvidson said. "These parameters are very important for damage inventory. Radar is a natural for flood-monitoring and damage assessment. It is a new way to assess flood damage because monitoring can be done during the flood and damage assessment can be done using post-flood data." The radar systems are capable of distinguishing between soil moisture and standing bodies of water. Unlike other remote sensing systems, the radar can penetrate a forest canopy and bounce off the water, sending data back to the aircraft or spacecraft. A study of the flooded area over time allowed Arvidson and his group to look at the natural recovery of vegetation as the flood plain returned to normal. Arvidson and his team hope the information gained from their study will provide new ways for environmentalists to manage wetlands in flood-prone areas, such as the Missouri River flood plain they are currently analyzing. "The long-term objective is to use this area as a demonstration site for using radar to map wetlands characteristics," Arvidson said. "We're trying to use the information to predict the extent to which these wetlands alleviate flooding downstream, where there are thousands of acres of rich farm land. The management of wetlands requires periodic detailed mapping, and radar systems such as these provide the needed coverage and quantitative information." SIR-C/X-SAR is a joint mission of the United States, German and Italian space agencies. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, built and manages the SIR-C portion of the mission and also manages the airborne radar missions for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth, Washington, DC. @START@Space Disturbance Detected by Geotail Before Reaching Earth Don Savage Headquarters, Washington, DC November 6, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Jim Sahli Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/286-0697) RELEASE: 95-202 SPACE DISTURBANCE DETECTED BY NASA SATELLITE BEFORE REACHING EARTH A NASA spacecraft detected a huge interplanetary disturbance which struck the Earth's protective magnetic field on Oct. 18, producing a magnetic storm and auroral displays, or "Northern Lights" that persisted for two days. The phenomenon was visible in the United States as far south as Denver, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, who reported critical satellite data to other government agencies and scientists around the world. The information was relayed electronically to the U.S. Air Force and to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Laboratory, in Boulder, CO, where evaluators issued an updated "space weather alert" to commercial satellite operators, electrical utilities and other organizations worldwide. "The rapid response to the Wind observations and the prompt issuance of the alert were made possible by advanced data systems, technology and networks," said Dr. Keith Ogilvie of Goddard, NASA's Project Scientist for Wind. The central processing and distribution systems were developed and implemented by NASA and supported by the Wind science teams, NOAA, the Air Force, and international partners. The disturbance, called a "giant magnetic cloud," was 65 million miles across and speeding toward the Earth at over 2.1 million miles per hour when it was detected at 3 p.m. EST on Oct. 18 by NASA's Wind spacecraft. Wind is an unmanned spacecraft patrolling interplanetary space 662,000 miles from Earth, pointed toward the Sun. Invisible to normal telescopes and to the human eye, the cloud was composed of magnetic fields and electrified subatomic particles ejected from the outer atmosphere or corona of the Sun. About thirty minutes after the front edge of the giant cloud passed over the Wind probe, it swept over Japan's GEOTAIL satellite, which was located on the sunward side of the Earth in its 120,000 X 40,000 mile elliptical orbit. GEOTAIL also gathered important scientific data. Minutes later, the disturbance struck the outer limits of the Earth's magnetic field, which acts as a protective buffer. The impact compressed the magnetic field on the sunward side of the Earth and stretched it out away from the Sun on the night side, triggering the magnetic storm and aurora. "It was detected with instruments on Wind that sense the magnetic fields, particles and waves in interplanetary space," said Dr Ogilvie. "This is a good example of what we had been expecting since Wind was launched Nov. 1, 1994. This wonderful observation is a great first birthday present from Wind." A complete analysis of the Oct.18 Wind data, and data from other spacecraft and instruments, may take months or years, but is expected to tell scientists much about how interplanetary disturbances propagate through space and affect the Earth's environment. Future disturbances are anticipated as the 11-year sunspot cycle is expected to peak shortly after the year 2000, according to NASA scientists. EDITOR'S NOTE: A color drawing depicting the disturbance is available to news media representatives by calling the Headquarters Imaging Branch on 202/358-1900. Photo numbers are: Color: 95-HC-651 B&W: 95-H-664 Users of the Internet World Wide Web can obtain background information on Wind, GEOTAIL and related space missions, and view scientific data on the Oct. 18 disturbance at the following URL: http://bolero.gsfc.nasa.gov/~solart/cloud/cloud.html @START@SURFSAT Successfully Launched Into Space Donald L. Savage Headquarters, Washington, DC November 7, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Jim Doyle Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA (Phone: 818/354-5011) RELEASE: 95-204 SURFSAT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED INTO SPACE A satellite payload designed and built by college students was successfully launched Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, onboard a NASA launch vehicle. Now in orbit 746 miles above Earth, SURFSat-1 rode piggy-back on the upper stage launch vehicle for Radarsat, a Canadian satellite. SURFsat carries low-power radio transmitters which send in three microwave bands to NASA tracking stations. SURFSat-1 is used for deep space communication research and development, and also will be used to test a new set of Earth orbit tracking stations. The student project was initiated at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, in 1987 as part of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program of the California Institute of Technology. The first objective was to design, build, launch and operate a low-cost, low-power vehicle to be used to test the performance of space communication in the new Ka-band, at frequencies of approximately 32 Gigahertz. NASA's Deep Space Network is being upgraded to support higher frequency Ka-band transmissions from planetary spacecraft. This will permit the use of more channels compared to current X-band deep space links. One purpose of the SURFSat payload is to test how Earth's atmosphere affects Ka-band signals. Despite the new band's potential advantages for deep space communication, it is expected to be affected more by weather than X-band transmissions. SURFSat-1 carries a pair of beacons, one in each of the two bands, which imitate a probe far out in deep space by transmitting at only a thousandths of a watt of power. As the satellite passes overhead, engineers can collect data allowing them to compare performance in each of the two bands over a wide range of elevation angles and weather conditions. SURFSat-1 also carries an experiment to test ground stations supporting NASA's new Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry project. The stations will communicate with a spacecraft to be launched by Japan that will make radio astronomy studies of quasars and other objects at the edge of the universe. When the project began in 1987, six Caltech students were chosen to begin SURFSat. Each summer, a new group of undergraduates took over. Through 1994, a total of 61 students, including those from other colleges, have participated. JPL provided a dedicated laboratory for the work and a test range and a lab at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. Three former SURF students are now full-time employees at JPL. The original idea was to build a simple spacecraft appropriate to a student project and give students an opportunity to work with space technology. The solar-powered satellite consists of two aluminum boxes, about 12 inches by 12 inches by 16 inches permanently bolted to the guidance section of a NASA Delta II second stage booster. Shortly after launch it was separated from the primary payload, Radarsat, and moved into a polar orbit. Cost of the SURFSat project from beginning to end was $3 million. The primary SURFSat-1 experiment was supported by the Deep Space Network Advanced Systems Program, sponsored by the NASA Office of Space Communications. Support for the second experiment was provided by the U.S. Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry Project at JPL, sponsored by NASA's Astrophysics Division. Support for the integration of the satellite with the Delta II launch vehicle was provided by personnel of the Orbital Launch Service Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. @START@Tests May Provide Insight on Severe Weather Effects no Aircraft Don Nolan-Proxmire Headquarters, Washington, DC November 1, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1983) Lori Rachul Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (Phone: 216/433-8806) RELEASE: 95-197 TESTS MAY PROVIDE INSIGHT ON SEVERE WEATHER EFFECTS ON AIRCRAFT NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH, has simulated severe weather conditions in a wind tunnel -- rain, ice and lightning--and the tests may lead to improved flight safety. Severe weather tests were conducted in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at Lewis for the Joint Program on Improvement of Lightning and Static Protection of Radomes, led by a consortium of government agencies and commercial companies in the U.S. and Europe. Aircraft nose radomes, the fiberglass shell that forms the housing for radar equipment, are susceptible to damage from lightning strikes because they are constructed from non-electrically conducting materials. Without adequate protection, the radome is vulnerable to being punctured or shattered by a lightning strike, which could damage the weather radar. To minimize the possibility of damage, radomes are usually fitted with an arrangement of solid metal bars, called diverters, that intercept lightning strikes and conduct them safely to the airframe. Although these diverters provide adequate protection, they sometimes interfere with radar performance. Tests in the IRT were conducted on a newer protection device, called segmented diverters, which are designed not to interfere with radar performance. Simulated lightning tests were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the segmented diverters in rain and/or icing conditions. This was the first time that lightning tests have been applied to an aircraft component in a wind tunnel in combination with severe weather conditions. The tests in NASA's IRT simulated the typical in-flight environmental conditions that occur at the altitudes and temperatures where most lightning strikes to airplanes have occurred. The IRT underwent minor modifications to accommodate a 500 kilovolt (kV) Marx-type lightning generator which was positioned outside the tunnel. The generator produced high voltage impulses reaching a peak amplitude of 500 to 750 kV for times ranging from 1 to 20 microseconds. The voltage test was simulated in the tunnel via a porcelain insulated feed through a bushing installed in the tunnel floor. The simulated lightning strike was applied from an electrode attached to the bushing and positioned adjacent to the radome being tested in the tunnel. Over 80 lightning strikes were applied to radomes typical of the radomes currently in use on general aviation, regional and large transport aircraft. Prime contractor to the consortium is AEA Technology in the UK. Major subcontractors are DGA/CEAT in Toulouse, France and Lightning Technologies, Inc., in Pittsfield, MA, who provided the lightning simulation equipment for the tunnel tests. -end- EDITOR'S NOTE: Images accompanying this release are available to news media representatives by calling the Headquarters Imaging Branch at 202/358-1900. NASA Photo Numbers are: Color B&W Lightning Protection Device 95-HC-642 95-H-655 Transport Radome 95-HC-643 95-H-656 @START@Hubble Observes Heart of the Densest Known Star Cluster FOR RELEASE: November 8, 1995 CONTACTS: Robert Irion University of California, Santa Cruz (Phone: 408-459-2495) Barbara Kennedy Pennsylvania State University (Phone: 814-863-4862) Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute (Phone: 410-338-4514) HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PEERS DEEP INTO THE CROWDED HEART OF THE DENSEST KNOWN STAR CLUSTER By pinpointing individual suns in the glare of the most tightly packed cluster of stars in our galaxy, the Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled hints of either a massive black hole or another remarkable phenomenon: a "core collapse" driven by the intense gravitational pull of so many stars in such a small volume of space. A team of astronomers used the telescope's sharp images to count an extraordinary number of stars in the ancient globular cluster M15, about 37,000 light-years away. Hubble spied hundreds of stars in a tiny area at the center of M15, whereas earthbound telescopes see a single blur of light. Careful analysis of the distribution of these and thousands of neighboring stars suggest that at some point in the distant past, the stars converged on M15's core, like bees swarming to their hive. This runaway collapse, long theorized by researchers but never seen in such detail, may have lasted a few million years-- a flash in the 12-billion-year life of the cluster. Thanks to the laws of physics, the core probably stopped collapsing before many of the stars collided. Rather, stars near the center would have settled into an uneasy cosmic waltz, both attracted to each other by gravity and repelled by close encounters that slingshot them through space. An alternate scenario also could explain the pileup of stars at M15's core: a black hole that may have formed early in the cluster's history. The black hole would have gradually gained mass as more stars spiraled inward. If it exists, it would now be several thousand times more massive than our sun. The study, which will appear in the January 1996 issue of the Astronomical Journal, was led by Puragra Guhathakurta of UCO/Lick Observatory, UC Santa Cruz. Coauthors are Brian Yanny of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Donald Schneider of Pennsylvania State University, and John Bahcall of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. All of the astronomers were associated with the Institute for Advanced Study when the research began. A precise reading of the speeds at which stars move near M15's core would reveal whether the stars are packed so tightly because of the influence of a single massive object, or simply by their own mutual attraction. Stars would orbit more quickly in the grip of a black hole's gravitational field. Such measurements are time consuming but possible with the Space Telescope. "It is very likely that M15's stars have concentrated because of their mutual gravity," Guhathakurta says. "The stars could be under the influence of one giant central object, although a black hole is not necessarily the best explanation for what we see. But if any globular cluster has a black hole at its center, M15 is the most likely candidate." The team began using Hubble to observe the centers of globular clusters in 1991 and now has data on about twenty clusters, but the images of M15 are by far the most stunning. Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) probed M15 in April 1994, four months after astronauts installed corrective optics to sharpen the telescope's blurry focus. "I first started thinking about this observation in 1970," says Bahcall. "I never expected that Hubble would see things as clearly as it does. The results are so exciting that they are a dream come true." Bahcall and astrophysicist Jeremiah Ostriker of Princeton University first proposed in 1975 that M15 might harbor a black hole. While distinguished by its extreme density of stars, M15 is in other respects similar to the rest of the dozens of globular clusters that freckle space in and around our Milky Way. Each cluster is like a miniature galaxy, with 100,000 to one million stars in a compact spherical blob. The largest and closest--including M15, in the constellation Pegasus--are visible to the naked eye on dark nights as faint hazy patches. Globular clusters contain almost no gas or dust and show few signs of recent star formation. Astronomers believe they are primordial remnants, left over from the birth of the Milky Way. As such, they are ideal laboratories for studying how stars evolve. Cluster stars also provide a limit on the age of the universe, independent of the expansion of the universe itself. Stars at the core of M15 may be crowded closer together than anywhere in the Milky Way except in the galaxy's hidden heart. Attempted studies of this exotic locale with ground-based telescopes proved frustrating. Atmospheric blurring washed out the interesting details at the core. Astronomers used Hubble before its repair mission to examine M15, but even after correcting the distorted images they could not discern the true distribution of the innermost stars. In contrast, the latest WFPC2 photos of the inner 22 light-years of the cluster revealed about 30,000 distinct stars. That's a fraction of M15's population, but far more stars than scientists had ever imaged in such a small region of a globular cluster. The astronomers used the Planetary Camera (the highest-resolution part of WFPC2) to study M15's core. The closer they looked toward the core, the more stars they found. This increase in stellar density continued all the way to within 0.06 light-years of the center--about 100 times the distance between the sun and Pluto. "Detecting separate stars that close to the core was at the limit of Hubble's powers," Yanny says. Beyond that point, even Hubble's eagle eye could not reliably resolve individual stars or locate the exact position of the core. However, the researchers suspect that stars jam together ever more tightly inside that radius. The team plotted the distribution of the stars as a function of distance from the core. Computer simulations helped them include stars they may have missed when bright stars drowned out faint ones in the Hubble images. The resulting pattern matches the predictions of Bahcall and others for what would happen under the influence of a central black hole. But the pattern also is consistent with a core collapse, known as a "gravothermal catastrophe." Astronomers think the cores of about 20 percent of all globular clusters may have collapsed in this way. For a gravothermal catastrophe to occur, globular clusters must transfer energy from the inner parts of the cluster to outer regions. As this happens, stars near the core lose some of the energy of their random ("thermal") motions. Several billion years might pass before the stars become too lethargic to resist the gravitational pull of their neighbors. At that point, they begin to collapse inward as a group. "It's a catastrophe in the sense that once it starts, this process can run away very quickly," Guhathakurta says. "But other processes could cause the core to bounce back before it collapses all the way." The major such process, researchers believe, is the powerful jolt of new motion that binary-star systems can impart to a third star that wanders too close--effectively spreading the stars out again. @START@NASA Lewis and Cleveland Clinic to Collaborate 95-54 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lori J. Rachul NASA Lewis Research Center (216/433-8806) Holli Birrer The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (216/444-0142) NASA LEWIS RESEARCH CENTER AND THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION FORM LONG-TERM COLLABORATION CLEVELAND, OH -- NASA Lewis Research Center and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation today signed a Space Act Agreement, establishing a three-year relationship for cooperative research. This is the first such agreement between NASA and an academic medical center which provides an opportunity for long-term collaboration. Under the agreement, NASA Lewis and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Department of Biomedical Engineering will engage in mutually beneficial research activities to develop products and technologies, and solve technological problems related to orthopaedic and cardiovascular devices, medical imaging and microelectrical mechanical systems. "This agreement brings together two of the leading scientific and technological institutions in Cleveland," said NASA Lewis Director Donald Campbell. "NASA Lewis has been and continues to be a major contributor to the Cleveland economy. Indirectly through jobs and salaries, but more directly in sharing our technological wealth and expertise that exists at the Center. This is a multiplying factor of taxpayer dollars that benefit the public through new products and services." NASA Lewis and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation currently are collaborating to develop an artificial heart pump; a technique that places a microtexture on the surface of titanium biomedical implants; and computer assisted minimally invasive surgery, in cooperation with the Ohio Aerospace Institute and Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The Cleveland Clinic's Department of Biomedical Engineering also recently was awarded a three-year grant to study the effects of microgravity on bone strength. "This agreement forms the basis for greatly expanded technical cooperation between NASA Lewis and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The goal of this joint venture is the development of innovative medical products, devices and methods to better diagnose and treat the sick," said J. Fredrick Cornhill, D. Phil., Chairman of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Department of Biomedical Engineering. NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, NASA Lewis Director Donald Campbell, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Chairman of the Board of Governors, Floyd Loop, M.D., and Chairman of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Department of Biomedical Engineering, J. Fredrick Cornhill, D. Phil., participated in the signing ceremony. A number of local, state and federal government officials were also in attendance. Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been a prime source of much of the Nation's new technology. NASA Lewis Research Center is committed to expanding its technology transfer and commercialization efforts for the benefit of the American people and for the Nation's economy. NASA Lewis Research Center currently is engaged in over 500 cooperative efforts with industry, universities and other agencies. Celebrating 75 years of world-class care, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation continues to advance the frontiers of medicine by providing state-of-the-art care in a multispecialty academic medical center model. Since the Cleveland Clinic's founding in 1921, clinical and hospital care have been integrated with research and education in a private, non-profit group practice, which has distinguished the Cleveland Clinic in American medicine. @START@NASA Lewis to Oversee SOHO Launch 95-57 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lori J. Rachul (Bus: 216/433-8806) NASA LEWIS TO OVERSEE LAUNCH OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOLAR AND HELIOSPHERIC OBSERVATORY CLEVELAND, OH -- NASA Lewis Research Center will oversee the launch of the internationally designed and fabricated Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 23. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO, which carries a complement of 12 experiments, will study the structure of the Sun's interior and the generation of solar wind to provide a better understanding of the Sun and its importance to life on Earth. "Lewis' long tradition of expertise managing launch services and expendable launch vehicles traces back to the early 1960s," said SOHO Launch Manager Gary Sagerman. "Back then, Lewis had a large team of people responsible for the design and integration of the total launch vehicle, as well as overall responsibility for the success of the launch." Sagerman said that although launch service is now purchased "commercially" and the Lewis role in design and fabrication has evolved into one of oversight, Lewis' Launch Vehicle Project Office still feels responsible for ensuring a successful launch. SOHO will be launched on an Atlas IIAS rocket. Lockheed-Martin, Denver, under contract with Lewis, is providing the launch vehicle and launch services for SOHO. Developed by a consortium of international partners, including NASA, the project's key objective--to provide a clearer understanding of the interactions between the Sun and the Earth's environment--will yield data enabling scientists to solve some of the most perplexing riddles about the Sun. During its two-year mission, SOHO will have a superlative and uninterrupted view of the Sun from a circular orbit around a point known as the "L-1 Lagrangian point" approximately 930,000 miles from Earth, where the gravitational forces of the Earth and Sun balance one another. From this position, the spacecraft will investigate the interior dynamics that produce energy flow and magnetic field structures at the base of the solar corona. Studies will link the internal structure of the Sun with its extensive outer atmosphere, and the origin of the solar wind--the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously through the Solar System. Measurements of variation in the Sun's total brightness will also be conducted. Research will be performed using 12 experiments that were developed by an international team of scientists and engineers from the United States and Europe. The Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies (GOLF) and the Variability of Irradiance and Gravity Oscillations (VIRGO) experiments will probe the internal core structure of the Sun and its irradiance and radiance by measuring the spectrum of free global isolations. The Michelson Doppler Imager/Solar Oscillations Imager (MDI/SOI) will measure oscillations on the Sun's surface to gather information about the outer layer of the Sun's interior. The Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER), the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS), the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS), and the White Light and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) experiments constitute a combination of telescopes, spectrometers, and coronagraphs that will observe the hot atmosphere of the Sun known as the corona. SUMER, CDS, and EIT will observe the inner corona, while UVCS and LASCO will observe the outer corona. They will obtain measurements of the temperature, density, composition, and velocity of the corona. The Charge, Element, and Isotope Analysis System (CELIAS) the Comprehensive Suprathermal and Energetic Particle Analyzer (COSTEP) and the Energetic and Relativistic Nuclei and Electron Experiment (ERNE) will analyze the charge state and isotopic composition of ions in the solar wind, and the charge and isotopic composition of energetic particles generated by the Sun. The Study of Solar Wind Anisotrophies experiment uses telescopes to measure the large scale structure of the solar wind streams. In addition to contributing three experiments--MDI/SOI, UVCS, and LASCO--NASA is responsible for the collection and dissemination of SOHO science data through NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Deep Space Network at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ESA is responsible for managing the overall program. SOHO is part of a larger effort known as the International Solar- Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) science initiative. ISTP aims, through coordinated exploration of the space regions neighboring Earth, to understand the behavior of the solar-terrestrial system and, therefore, the way in which the Earth's atmosphere responds to changes in the solar wind. "Scientists around the world are confident that SOHO will provide new insight about the Sun and its direct bearing on our lives. Lewis' role in this important program underscores the Center's support and commitment to cutting edge space missions," Sagerman said. SOHO will receive final testing and preparation for launch in the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility at KSC. There, several processing activities will be performed on the payload module to prepare the science instruments for launch. Fifteen Lewis launch management experts, including Sagerman, will be on hand at the Florida launch site to oversee launch activities. @START@Jonathan's Space Report, No. 264 Jonathan's Space Report No. 264 1995 Nov 17 Cambridge, MA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle ------- Mission STS-74 was launched at 12:30:43 UTC on 1995 Nov 12. Atlantis left pad 39A on the second attempt; the Nov 11 attempt was scrubbed at T-5min due to bad weather at the transatlantic abort sites. On Nov 12, separation of the RSRM-51 solid rocket motors came at 12:32:47 (approx) and main engine cutoff (MECO) was at around 12:39:15, followed by separation of external tank ET-74 a few seconds later. The OMS-2 orbit circularization burn was successful at 1314 UTC and the payload bay doors were opened at about 1400 UTC. Atlantis was placed in a 300 x 339 km x 51.64 deg orbit with a period of 90.92 min. The RMS arm was used to grapple the 316GK Docking Module in the payload bay at around 0546 UTC (scheduled) on Nov 14. The Docking Module (DM) was due to be unberthed at 0621 UTC and moved over the Orbiter Docking System (ODS) in the forward part of the payload bay. At 0717 UT on Nov 14 the Docking Module was successfully connected to the Orbiter Docking System as Atlantis fired thrusters to slam the ODS into one of the DM's docking ports, docking the craft together. At around 0900 UT the RMS arm released the DM, now connected to the ODS by a tight seal. Atlantis made an OMS burn at 0327 UTC on Nov 15 to begin the terminal approach to Mir. It made rendezvous at a distance of 50m at 0528 UTC (data from Bill Harwood). Atlantis remained at 50m until 0556 when it resumed its approach, stopping again at 0618 at a distance of 10m. Final approach from 10m began at 0622 and Atlantis docked with Mir at 0627:39 UTC on Nov 15. By 0636 the latches on the APDS docking system were closed and the Docking Module was firmly attached to Kristall. The hatches to Mir were opened at about 0900 UTC. Orbit of the Mir/Atlantis complex is 391 x 394 km x 51.6 deg. Crew of the complex are: Yuriy Gidzenko (Station commander, Russian Air Force), Sergey Avdeev (Mir Flight Engineer, RKK Energiya), Thomas Reiter (Mir Flight Engineer 2, European Space Agency), Ken Cameron (Atlantis commander, NASA), James Halsell (Atlantis pilot, NASA), Chris Hadfield (Mission specialist, Canadian Space Agency), Jerry Ross (Mission Specialist, NASA), and William McArthur (Mission Specialist, NASA). Recent Launches -------------- The European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is in orbit! In 1983, the IRAS satellite made the first survey of the far infrared sky. Its liquid-helium cooled telescope operated for less than a year, but it is still generating Ph.D. theses at a rapid rate - perhaps one of the most striking examples of a single mission having a profound influence on astronomy. Unlike IRAS, ISO will carry out pointed observations at specific targets of interest instead of scanning the entire sky. ISO's instruments are much more sophisticated - IRAS measured the brightness of sources at four wavelengths while ISO will return images and high resolution spectra over the entire infrared range from 2.5 microns to 200 microns. Mass of ISO is 2498 kg at launch, 2418 kg at beginning of observations, and 1515 kg dry. There are four instruments, the LWS and SWS long and short wavelength spectrometers, and the ISOCAM and ISOPHOT camera and photometer systems. The liquid helium cooled 60 cm telescope may operate for as much as a year and a half. ISO was launched by an Ariane 44P from Kourou on Nov 17 into an elliptical transfer orbit with a period of 24 hours 8.8 minutes, and an altitude of 570 x 71498 km x 5.2 deg. Its on-board propulsion system will synchronize the orbit with a 23-hour 56 minute sidereal period, but unlike a communications satellite the orbit will be elliptical with an apogee of 70000 km, taking it far from the radiation belts. The cover of the cryogenic dewar will be ejected on Nov 28 launch and performance verification observations are planned to begin around Dec 10. Astronomers with time scheduled on ISO (including your eager correspondent!) will have to wait until early next year before regular observations begin. The V80 flight of Ariane used a standard 44P vehicle, with an H-10-III upper stage, but with the No. 02 type payload fairing. Launch was at 0120 UTC on Nov 12, with second stage burn at 0123 and third stage burn at 0125. The third stage shut down at 0138 and ISO separated at 0140 UTC. Table of Recent Launches ------------------------ Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Oct 6 0323 Kosmos-2321 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk LC132 Navsat 52A Oct 8 1851 Progress M-29 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Cargo 53A Oct 11 1626 Luch-1 Proton-K/DM2M Baykonur Data Relay 54A Oct 19 0038 Astra 1E Ariane 42L Kourou ELA2 Comsat 55A Oct 20 1353 Columbia ) Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 56A Spacelab USML-2) Oct 22 0800 UHF F6 Atlas II Canaveral LC36 Comsat 57A Oct 23 2203 Meteor Conestoga 1620 Wallops LA0 Micrograv FTO Oct 31 2019 Kosmos-2322 Zenit-2 Baykonur LC45L Sigint 58A Nov 4 1422 Radarsat ) Delta 7920 Vandenberg SLC2 Rem sensing 59A SURFSAT ) 59B Nov 6 0515 Milstar DFS 2 Titan 4 Centaur Canaveral LC40 Comsat 60A Nov 12 1230 Atlantis ) Shuttle Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 61A Docking Module ) Nov 17 0120 ISO Ariane 44P Kourou ELA2 Astronomy 62A Reentries --------- Oct 26 Resurs-F2 Landed Nov 5 Columbia Landed at KSC Current Shuttle Processing Status ____________________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 2 STS-75 Feb 29 OV-103 Discovery Palmdale OMDP OV-104 Atlantis LEO STS-74 OV-105 Endeavour OPF Bay 3 STS-72 Jan 11 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/RSRM-52/ET-75 VAB STS-72 ML2/ LC39A STS-74 ML3/ .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS6 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : jcm@urania.harvard.edu | | USA | jmcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu | | | | JSR: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html | | ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news/news.* | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------' @START@Cosmic Ray Mystery May Be Solved Donald Savage Headquarters, Washington, DC November 21, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Jim Sahli Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/286-0697) RELEASE: 95-208 COSMIC RAY MYSTERY MAY BE SOLVED Physicists from Japan and the United States have discovered a possible solution to the puzzle of the origin of high energy cosmic rays that bombard Earth from all directions in space. Using data from the Japanese/U.S. X-ray astronomical satellite ASCA, physicists have found what they term "the first strong observational evidence" for the production of these particles in the shock wave of a supernova remnant, the expanding fireball produced by the explosion of a star. "We are very pleased to contribute to the solution of an 83-year old mystery," said Dr. Koyama, of the Department of Physics at Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. Cosmic rays were discovered in 1912 by the Austrian physicist Victor Hess, who subsequently received the Nobel Prize in Physics for that work. They are subatomic particles, mostly electrons and protons, that travel near the speed of light. Ever since their discovery, scientists have debated where cosmic rays come from and how ordinary subatomic particles can be accelerated to such high speeds. Supernova remnants have long been thought to provide the high energy cosmic rays, but the evidence has been lacking until now. The international team of investigators used the satellite to determine that cosmic rays are generated at a high rate in the remains of the Supernova of 1006 AD -- which appeared to medieval viewers to be as bright as the Moon -- and that they are accelerated to high velocities by a process first suggested by the nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi in 1949. The satellite contains telescopes for simultaneously taking images and spectra of X-rays from celestial sources, allowing astronomers to distinguish different types of X-ray emission from nearby regions of the same object. The tell-tale clue to the discovery was the detection of two oppositely-located regions in the rapidly expanding supernova remnant, the debris from the stellar explosion. The two regions glow intensely in what is called synchrotron radiation, which is produced when electrons move at nearly the speed of light through a magnetic field in space. The remainder of the supernova remnant, in contrast, produces ordinary "thermal" X-ray emission, meaning radiation from hot gases such as oxygen, neon, and gaseous forms of magnesium, silicon, sulfur, and iron. The cosmic rays are accelerated in the two regions that glow with synchrotron radiation, the physicists concluded. Specifically, charged particles are accelerated to nearly the speed of light and energies of 100 trillion electron volts as they bounce off turbulent regions inside the shock front from the supernova explosion. This amount of energy is over 50 times higher than can be produced in the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth. Like a ping pong ball bouncing between a table and a paddle while the paddle is brought ever closer to the table, an electron, proton or an atomic nucleus bounces back and forth within the supernova remnant, continually gaining speed, until it attains a high energy. This process was first proposed as a theory by Fermi in 1949. "Since we found cosmic ray acceleration under way in the remnant of Supernova 1006, this process probably occurs in other young supernova remnants," according to Dr. Robert Petre, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Greenbelt, MD. Astronomers estimate that there is a supernova explosion in the Milky Way galaxy, which contains the Earth, about once every 30 years. Supernova 1006 is classified by astronomers as the explosion of a white dwarf star, known as a Type IA supernova. Other types of supernovae, involving the collapse of massive stars in the Milky Way, and in galaxies beyond, may also produce cosmic rays. The discovery observations were made with solid-state X-ray cameras on the ASCA satellite, which was launched from Kagoshima Space Center, Japan, aboard a Japanese M-3S-II rocket on Feb. 20, 1993. Major contributions to the scientific instrumentation were provided by Goddard's Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics and by the Center for Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The capability to obtain spatially resolved X-ray spectra -- that is to determine the different spectra at various locations in an image -- is a tremendous advance in space technology," said Dr. Stephen Holt, Director of Space Sciences at Goddard. Approximately 25 cosmic rays bombard one square inch every second in space just outside the Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere shields the surface of the Earth from these "primary" cosmic rays. However, collisions of the primary cosmic rays with atoms in the upper atmosphere produce slower moving "secondary" cosmic rays, some of which reach ground level and even may penetrate to depths of many feet below the ground. @START@NASA Sponsors Symposium on World Disease Control Michael Braukus Headquarters, Washington, DC November 21, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1979) Raj Khanna Third World Foundation, College Park, MD (Phone: 301/405-1894) NOTE TO EDITORS: N95-77 NASA SPONSORS SYMPOSIUM ON WORLD DISEASE CONTROL Health officials and disease control experts will gather Nov. 28-30 at the Stouffer Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD, for a symposium on the use of satellites to monitor and control insect transmitted diseases. Sponsored by NASA and the Third World Foundation of North America, the symposium will inform government officials from various countries of NASA's scientific and technological capabilities for detecting, monitoring, and improving the control of diseases such as malaria and cholera. Health ministers and medical directors from at least 20 countries including Bangladesh, Belize, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Peru and Rwanda will attend. The symposium will feature discussions on the economics of disease surveillance, deforestation and urbanization. In addition, participants will discuss ideas for joint activities between NASA and other interested countries. NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences, Washington, DC, manages the Agency's global monitoring and human health research program in conjunction with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Centers for Disease Control. The symposium, which begins at 9 a.m. EST, is open to the media. A complete agenda is available from the NASA Headquarters Newsroom by calling 202/358-1600. To register for the symposium, media should call the Science and Technology Corp., Hampton, VA, at 804/865-0332. @START@Russian Scientists Visit JPL for Pluto Express From the "JPL Universe" November 17, 1995 Russian Scientists Visit Lab to Discuss Cooperation on Pluto Express Pre-project By JIM WILSON Two leading scientists from the Russian Institute of Space Research (IKI) visited JPL Nov.3 to discuss with members of JPL's Pluto Express Pre-project the possibilities of cooperation in the proposed low-cost spacecraft mission to the distant planet early next decade. Dr. Viacheslav Linkin, a leading scientist at the institute, and Dr. Vladimir Gotlib, leading instrument and spacecraft engineer, have been discussing this cooperation with JPL's Pluto Express team, including Manager Robert Staehle, Team Scientist Dr. Richard Terrile, and engineers Hoppy Price and Steve Matousek, for more than a year. One option the parties are considering is to use Russian launch vehicles to carry U.S. spacecraft that, in turn, would carry Russian planetary probes or "Zonds." The U.S. Deep Space Network would provide communication during critical parts of the mission, and scientists from both nations would study Pluto, its moon Charon and other objects. "We look forward to working closely with you as we put the pieces together to lead toward the first mission to Pluto," said Staehle to his Russian colleagues after the meeting. @START@Comet Sample Return Mission Selected as Next Discovery Flight PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 Contact: Diane Ainsworth FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 22, 1995 COMET SAMPLE RETURN MISSION PICKED AS NEXT DISCOVERY FLIGHT A spacecraft designed to gather samples of dust spewed from a comet and return the dust to Earth for detailed analysis has been selected to become the fourth flight mission in NASA's Discovery program. Known as Stardust, the mission also will gather and return samples of interstellar dust that the spacecraft encounters during its trip through the Solar System to fly by a comet called Wild-2 in January 2004. Stardust was one of three Discovery mission proposals selected for further study as part of a February 1995 announcement by NASA that a Moon-orbiting mission called Lunar Prospector had been selected as the third Discovery flight. "Stardust was rated highest in terms of scientific content and, when combined with its low cost and high probability of success, this translates into the best return on investment for the nation," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress Jr., NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science. "The Stardust team also did an excellent job of updating their plan to communicate the purpose and results of this exciting mission to educators and the public." The Stardust mission team is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington in Seattle, with Lockheed-Martin Astronautics, Denver, as the contractor building the spacecraft. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will provide project management. Comet Wild-2 is known as a "fresh comet" because its orbit was deflected from much farther out in the Solar System by the gravitational attraction of Jupiter in 1974. Stardust will approach as close as 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the comet's nucleus. "Space scientists are intensely interested in comets because we believe that most of them are well-preserved remnants from the earliest days of star and planetary formation," Huntress said. "Stardust should also give us some unique guidance about how to focus the science we plan to conduct a few years later with a surface lander on a different comet during the international Rosetta mission." Stardust will be launched on an expendable launch vehicle in February 1999 for a total mission cost to NASA in real-year dollars of $199.6 million. The return capsule carrying the dust samples would parachute to Earth in a landing on a dry Utah lake bed in January 2006. Stardust will use an unusual material called aerogel to capture the dust samples. This porous, extremely low density material is somewhat like glass in that it is made of silica -- a pure form of sand -- and it has about the same melting point. Although aerogel does not absorb moisture, the strangely fluorescent substance can absorb large amounts of gas or particle matter due to its remarkable internal surface area. The spacecraft will also carry an optical camera that should return cometary images with 10 times the clarity of those taken of Halley's Comet by previous space missions, as well as a mass spectrometer provided by Germany to perform basic compositional analysis of the samples while in-flight. Stardust was selected over a proposed mission to study the circulation of the atmosphere of Venus, known as the Venus Multiprobe, and a proposed mission to collect samples of particle matter from the Sun, called Suess-Urey. These three missions and Lunar Prospector were among 28 Discovery proposals submitted to NASA in October 1994 in response to an August 1994 announcement of opportunity. The first two missions in the Discovery program will be launched in 1996, in February and December, respectively: the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, a small spacecraft that will orbit and study the asteroid Eros beginning in January 1999; and the Mars Pathfinder, designed to place a small lander and robotic rover on the surface of Mars in July 1997. Formally started in NASA's FY 1994 budget, the Discovery program features small planetary exploration spacecraft with focused science goals that can be built in 36 months or less, for less than $150 million (FY '92 dollars), not including the cost of the launch vehicle. The program grew out of a series of discussions and workshops that NASA has held with the space science community. @START@Physics News Update #249 (21 Nov 1995) This is a "Physics News Update" distributed by Phillip Schewe of AIP Public Information. For those who want to receive PNUPs via email, mail listserv@aip.org with a blank subject line and the command "add physnews" in the body, and you will be added to the distribution list. Past PNUPs, as well as "What's New" and "FYI" news bulletins, are available for anonymous FTP from ftp.hep.net in the PHYSICS-NEWS directory, in subdirectories by year. The files are named by date; the latest file is always found as "latest.txt". (Thanks Kipp!) I am redistributing this with Mr. Schewe's permission. Complaints or suggestions about the Updates should go to him at pfs@aip.org. Header courtesy of Sendhil Revuluri (s-revuluri@uchicago.edu). --Vishnu Jejjala The University of Maryland ********************************************************************** PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News Number 249 November 21, 1995 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein PLASMA INSTABILITIES AT THE CENTERS OF TOKAMAKS have been greatly brought under control in two separate experiments. Physicists at the TFTR tokamak at Princeton and at the DIII-D device at General Atomics in San Diego have shaped the magnetic fields inside their fusion reactors so that the deuterium plasma confined there assumes a hollow profile. In this "reversed magnetic shear" mode, the central electron density rose by a factor of three above previous levels. Controlling and maintaining a high plasma density and high temperature are important parts of the longterm effort to develop commercial electricity-generating plants powered by thermonuclear fusion reactions. According to the TFTR researchers, "This regime of operation holds promise for significantly improving the tokamak reactor concept and can lead to a dramatic increase in the performance of present tokamaks." (F.M. Levinton et al. and E.J. Strait et al., two articles in the upcoming 27 November 1995 issue of Physical Review Letters; journalists can obtain copies from AIP Public Information at physnews@aip.org) THE INFRARED SPACE OBSERVATORY (ISO), just put into orbit by the European Space Agency, will extend the work performed a decade ago by NASA's IRAS satellite, but with greater sensitivity and with a 10-fold improvement in spatial resolution. ISO will look at infrared light in the 3-200 micron wavelength range. This corresponds to targets at temperatures between 10 and 1000 K, objects such as cool stars, brown dwarfs, the interstellar medium, and distant infrared galaxies. ISO's eccentric orbit keeps the craft out of Earth's radiation belts for 16 hours each day. (New Scientist, 4 November 1995.) ACOUSTIC TIME-REVERSAL MIRRORS (TRMs) are devices that record a sound wave emanating from a source and generate a new one that behaves as if the original were travelling backwards in time. Previously TRMs had been rigorously tested for sound propagating through fluids such as water or air. For example, shouting "too" at the device would yield a reversed acoustic wave (sounding something like "oot") that converges backward towards the speaker's mouth. The principle has now been shown to be valid in solids by a team at the University of Paris (Didier Cassereau, Didier.Cassereau@loa.espci. fr). Demonstrating TRMs in solid objects has been more difficult because there are two types of sound waves that propagate through solids: longitudinal and transverse. Therefore, sound produced in a solid object will result not in a single wavefront but in at least two that travel at different speeds. The Paris researchers first use the TRM to send an ultrasonic wave into the solid sample. Then, the echo reflected back (say, from a defect in the sample) is detected by the TRM, which utilizes a network of rodlike transducers that both record the incoming echo and then broadcast a time-reversed version. This signal, in turn, reflects from the defect, an echo returns to the detector, and so forth, in an iterative process leading to a clearer location of the defect. TRMs have potential applications for detecting tiny metallic defects in airplanes and for locating and destroying kidney stones. For example, shining ultrasound waves through a patient with a kidney stone produces distinctive echoes from the stone. The TRM would record the echoes, and then generate a reversed wave, sending back sound energy that would travel back to the stone. (Paper 1pPA5, Acoustical Society of America Meeting, St. Louis, Monday, November 27) @START@1995 Atlantic hurricane season (thus far) Here's the roundup of how the Atlantic hurricane season has gone (so far). Could it be that we've reached the last storm of the year? 1995 Atlantic season (as of 6 November) Allison H-1 June 3-6 65kt 2.50 NSD 1.00 HD 0 IHD 1.7 HDP Barry TS July 6-9 50 2.25 0 0 0 Chantal TS July 13-20 60 6.75 0 0 0 Dean TS July 28-31 40 0.25 0 0 0 Erin H-1 Jul.31-Aug.4 75 4.25 2.00 0 4.0 Felix IH-4 Aug.8-22 115 14.00 9.75 1.25 23.9 Gabrielle TS Aug.9-12 60 1.50 0 0 0 Humberto H-2 Aug.22-Sep.1 90 9.75 8.00 0 17.7 Iris H-2 Aug.22-Sep.4 95 12.25 7.50 0 18.8 Jerry TS Aug.22-25 35 1.00 0 0 0 Karen TS Aug.26-Sep.3 45 5.00 0 0 0 Luis IH-4 Aug.28-Sep.11 120 13.50 11.25 8.25 45.2 Marilyn IH-3 Sep.12-22 100 9.50 7.50 1.00 19.5 Noel H-1 Sep.27-Oct.7 65 9.50 3.00 0 5.1 Opal IH-4 Sep.27-Oct.5 130 5.00 2.75 1.00 8.8 Pablo TS Oct.5-8 50 4.00 0 0 0 Roxanne IH-3 Oct.8-20 100 10.25 4.50 0.25 9.5 Sebastien TS Oct.20-24 50 3.00 0 0 0 Tanya H-1 Oct.27-Nov.2 75 5.50 3.00 0 6.1 ____________________________________________________________________________ Totals (19 NS, 11 H, 5 IH) 119.50 58.00 11.75 157.9 ***************************************************************************** STATUS OF GRAY'S ATLANTIC 1944- | Nov30 | Jun 7 | Aug 4 | Observed SEASONAL HURRICANE FORECAST 1994 | 1994 | 1995 | 1995 | (as of FOR 1995 Mean | Fcst.| Fcst.| Fcst.| 11/6/95) ============================================================================= Named Storms 9.3 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 19 Named Storm Days 46.1 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 120 Hurricanes 5.7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 Hurricane Days 23.0 | 35 | 35 | 30 | 58 Major Hurricanes (Cat. 3-4-5) 2.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 Major Hurricane Days 4.5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 12 Hurricane Destruction Potential 68.1 | 100 | 110 | 90 | 158 Net Tropical Cyclone Activity 100% | 140% | 140% | 130% | 234% ***************************************************************************** DEFINITIONS Atlantic basin - The area including the entire Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane - (H) A tropical cyclone with sustained low level winds of 74 miles per hour (33 m/s or 64 knots) or greater. Hurricane Day - (HD) Four 6-hour periods during which a tropical cyclone is observed or estimated to have hurricane intensity winds. Tropical Storm - (TS) A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds between 39 (18 m/s or 34 knots) and 73 (32 m/s or 63 knots) miles per hour. Named Storm - (NS) A hurricane or a tropical storm. Named Storm Day - (NSD) Four 6-hour periods during which a tropical cyclone is observed or estimated to have attained tropical storm or hurricane intensity winds. Hurricane Destruction Potential - (HDP) A measure of a hurricane's potential for wind and storm surge destruction defined as the sum of the square of a hurricane's maximum wind speed (in 10,000 knots*knots for each 6-hour period of its existence. Intense Hurricane - (IH) A hurricane reaching at some point in its lifetime a sustained low level wind of at least 111 mph (96 kt or 50 m/s). This constitutes a category 3 or higher on the Saffir/Simpson scale (a "major" hurricane). Intense Hurricane Day - (IHD) Four 6-hour periods during which a hurricane has intensity of Saffir/Simpson category 3 or higher. Saffir/Simpson (S-S) Category - A measurement scale ranging from 1 to 5 of hurricane wind and ocean surge intensity. One is a weak hurricane whereas 5 is the most intense hurricane. Net Tropical Cyclone Activity (NTC) - Average seasonal percentage sum of NS, NSD, H, HD, IH, IHD. Gives overall indication of Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane activity. 1 knot = 1.15 miles per hour = .515 meters per second. Best regards, Chris ***************************************************************************** Chris Landsea Voice: (305) 361-4357 NOAA AOML/Hurricane Research Division Fax: (305) 361-4402 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Internet: Miami, Florida 33149 landsea@aoml.noaa.gov ***************************************************************************** @START@Sci Fi Author Book Signing WRITERS OF THE FANTASTIC! ------------------------- * Book signing! * Meet the authors! Saturday, December 2, 1995, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Borders Books and Music 25222 El Paseo Mission Viejo, CA 92691 ............................................................................. Scheduled to Appear: ** GREGORY BENFORD ** Professor of Physics at U.C. Irvine and prolific science fiction writer whose works include "In the Ocean of Night," "Across the Sea of Suns," "Great Sky River," "Tides of Light," "Furious Gulf," "Sailing Bright Eternity," "Timescape" and "Shiva Descending." His novel "Beyond the Fall of Night" is a sequel to Arthur C. Clarke's "Against the Fall of Night." ** JAMES BLAYLOCK ** A writer of contemporary fantasy with a touch of humor, set in local venues including the Mendocino Coast and downtown Orange. Author of "Land of Dreams," "All the Bells on Earth," "Night Relics," "Lord Kelvin's Machine," "The Paper Grail" and "The Last Coin." Blaylock's "Homunculus" was winner of the 1987 Philip K. Dick Award for the Best Original SF Paperback. ** DAVID BRIN ** Known for thrilling science packed extrapolations of the human future. Author of "The Postman," "Earth," "Earthclan," "Startide Rising," and "The Uplift War," "Glory Season," "Sundiver," "The Practice Effect," "Heart of the Comet" (with Gregory Benford), as well as a short-story collection, "The River of Time." ** TIM POWERS ** Powers writes colorful historical fantasy. Author of "Last Call," "On Stranger Tides," "Epitaph in Rust," "Forsake the Sky" and "The Stress of Her Regard". "The Anubis Gates" (1984) and "Dinner at Deviant's Palace" (1986) were winners of the Philip K. Dick Award for the Best Original SF Paperback. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=>*<=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= BOOK BENEFIT WEEKEND! --------------------- Borders Books and Music 5:00 p.m. Friday, December 1 until closing Sunday, December 3, 1995 Books and music are an excellent choice for gift giving, and even more so when the UCI Libraries benefit from your generosity. Plan to shop for gifts or for yourself, on the weekend of Dec 1, 2 and 3 and a portion of your purchase can benefit the UCI Libraries. Its easy... just let the cashier at Borders know that you want 15% of your purchase to benefit the UCI Libraries, and they will take care of the rest. "Book Benefit" coupons will be available in the store in advance and on the date of the promotion. Don't forget to mention that you want to benefit the UCI Libraries. (Promotion applies only on the scheduled days and to in-stock merchandise.) For more information, contact: Borders Books and Music 25222 El Paseo Mission Viejo, CA 92691 (714) 367-0005 (Off the 5 Freeway, take the OSO EXIT and cross over the freeway to Cabot. Turn right on Cabot, then right on El Paseo. ) @START@THE INTERNET TOP 100 SF/FANTASY LIST ----======= THE INTERNET TOP 100 SF/FANTASY LIST =======---- Edition Number 44 30th October 1995 r--------------------------------------------------------------------------, | This chart was compiled using votes sent in by 864 people. If you want | | to vote for a book, then send a message containing your votes to me at | | tcooke@spam.maths.adelaide.edu.au. Each line of your message should | | contain a vote for one book, and should be of the form: Score out of 10, | | Title of the book, and then the Author or Editor of the book. | L__________________________________________________________________________J =============================================================================== Pos | Title | Type | Author/Editor | Score =============================================================================== 1 Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien 8.72 (378) 2 Ender's Game S1 Orson Scott Card 8.27 (336) 3 The Long Run Daniel Keys Moran 8.21 (38) 4 Tigana Guy G. Kay 8.19 (65) 5 Dune S1 Frank Herbert 8.16 (341) ^ 6 Hyperion S1 Dan Simmons 8.14 (173) 7 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester 8.13 (85) 8 1984 George Orwell 8.13 (99) 9 The Anubis Gates Tim Powers 8.04 (61) 10 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein 8.01 (210) 11 The Earthsea Trilogy S Ursula Le Guin 7.98 (127) 12 Player of Games Iain M. Banks 7.95 (73) 13 A Fire Upon the Deep Vernor Vinge 7.93 (119) 14 Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner 7.92 (85) 15 Aristoi Walter Jon Williams 7.91 (34) 16 The Stars my Destination Alfred Bester 7.89 (96) 17 Ubik Philip K. Dick 7.88 (39) 18 Witches of Karres James Schmitz 7.85 (26) ^19 Lest Darkness Fall L. Sprague de Camp 7.85 (26) 20 The Book of the New Sun S Gene Wolfe 7.84 (93) ^21 Neutron Star C Larry Niven 7.81 (67) ^22 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller 7.81 (122) 23 The Hobbit J.R.R.Tolkien 7.81 (242) ^24 Way Station Clifford Simak 7.80 (50) 25 Lord of Light Roger Zelazny 7.79 (104) 26 The First Chronicles of Amber S Roger Zelazny 7.79 (141) 27 Last Dancer Daniel Keys Moran 7.77 (24) 28 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 7.75 (113) 29 The Dispossessed Ursula Le Guin 7.72 (114) ^30 Good Omens Pratchett/Gaiman 7.72 (37) 31 Startide Rising David Brin 7.71 (166) ^32 True Names Vernor Vinge 7.70 (26) 33 The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula Le Guin 7.69 (151) 34 Double Star Robert A. Heinlein 7.68 (58) 35 The Dying Earth S1 Jack Vance 7.68 (44) ^36 Timescape Gregory Benford 7.67 (32) 37 The Door into Summer Robert A. Heinlein 7.67 (82) 38 A Scanner Darkly Philip K. Dick 7.67 (38) ^39 Protector Larry Niven 7.65 (56) 40 The Foundation Trilogy S Isaac Asimov 7.65 (265) 41 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 7.63 (105) 42 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 7.62 (124) ^43 Past Through Tomorrow C Robert A. Heinlein 7.61 (32) ^44 Speaker for the Dead S2 Orson Scott Card 7.61 (209) 45 Gateway S1 Frederick Pohl 7.60 (136) ^46 Use of Weapons Iain M. Banks 7.58 (67) 47 Have Spacesuit, Will Travel Robert A. Heinlein 7.57 (71) ^48 The City and the Stars Arthur C. Clarke 7.55 (41) 49 City C Clifford Simak 7.54 (56) 50 Bridge of Birds S1 Barry Hughart 7.54 (24) ^51 The Fall of Hyperion S2 Dan Simmons 7.52 (115) ^52 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy S1 Douglas Adams 7.52 (252) 53 Jhereg S1 Steven Z. Brust 7.51 (59) 54 The Dragonbone Chair S1 Tad Williams 7.51 (58) ^55 A Song for Arbonne Guy G. Kay 7.50 (38) 56 The Snow Queen S1 Joan Vinge 7.47 (35) 57 Methuselah's Children Robert A. Heinlein 7.47 (34) ^58 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe S1 C.S. Lewis 7.45 (52) 59 The Wheel of Time Series S Robert Jordan 7.45 (117) 60 Nova Samuel R. Delany 7.44 (26) 61 I Robot C Isaac Asimov 7.43 (164) 62 Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein 7.42 (66) 63 Green Mars S2 Kim S. Robinson 7.41 (44) ^64 Lord Valentine's Castle S1 Robert Silverberg 7.41 (38) ^65 Mort S4 Terry Pratchett 7.40 (42) 66 The Mote in God's Eye L.Niven/J.Pournelle 7.40 (178) 67 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 7.39 (161) ^68 Tau Zero Poul Anderson 7.38 (34) 69 Neuromancer William Gibson 7.38 (220) 70 The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells 7.38 (68) 71 Citizen of the Galaxy Robert A. Heinlein 7.36 (83) ^72 To Your Scattered Bodies Go S2 Philip J. Farmer 7.36 (37) 73 Downbelow Station C.J. Cherryh 7.36 (41) ^74 Eon S1 Greg Bear 7.36 (60) 75 The Uplift War David Brin 7.36 (119) 76 Marooned in Realtime Vernor Vinge 7.35 (59) 77 The Time Machine H.G. Wells 7.33 (103) 78 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke 7.32 (152) 79 The High Crusade Poul Anderson 7.31 (28) 80 Cyteen C.J. Cherryh 7.31 (70) 81 Tunnel in the Sky Robert A. Heinlein 7.30 (46) 82 Five Hundred Years After Steven K.Z. Brust 7.29 (15) 83 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein 7.27 (217) ^84 The Many Coloured Land S1 Julian May 7.26 (38) 85 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 7.25 (95) ^86 Creatures of Light and Darkness Roger Zelazny 7.25 (26) 87 Ringworld S1 Larry Niven 7.23 (209) 88 Red Mars S1 Kim S. Robinson 7.22 (86) 89 The Caves of Steel S1 Isaac Asimov 7.21 (131) ^90 Slaughterhouse 5 Kurt Vonnegut 7.19 (31) 91 Mission of Gravity Hal Clement 7.19 (60) ^92 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Philip K. Dick 7.18 (43) 93 Castle of Wizardry S4 David Eddings 7.18 (43) ^94 Glory Road Robert A. Heinlein 7.17 (26) ^95 The Warrior's Apprentice L.M. Bujold 7.17 (28) ^96 The Shockwave Rider John Brunner 7.16 (24) 97 Legacy of Heorot L.Niven/S.Barnes 7.16 (34) 98 Rendezvous with Rama S1 Arthur C. Clarke 7.15 (185) 99 The Peace War Vernor Vinge 7.15 (57) *100 Count Zero William Gibson 7.14 (48) =============================================================================== {S1} indicates that the book is the 1'st book in a series. {C} indicates a collection of short stories. * indicates that the book was not on the chart last week. ^ indicates that the book has risen from last week's position. A,B indicate that two books by the same author are in different series. This chart is also available via WWW at http://www.clark.net/pub/iz/Books/Top100/top100.html NOTE: When voting for series, _The Book of the New Sun_ will refer to the first four books. _The Urth Cycle_ includes _The Urth of the New Sun_. Also _The Chronicles of Amber_ refers to all ten books. You are also allowed to vote for each book in the series individually. The Book of the New Sun / The Urth Cycle ---------------------------------------- The Shadow of the Torturer S1 7.84 (93) The Claw of the Conciliator S2 7.55 (75) The Sword of the Lictor S3 7.73 (59) The Citadel of the Autarch S4 7.71 (60) The Urth of the New Sun S5 7.01 (45) Wheel of Time Series -------------------- The Eye of the World S1 7.11 (117) The Great Hunt S2 7.03 (111) The Dragon Reborn S3 7.33 (110) The Shadow Rising S4 7.43 (102) The Fires of Heaven S5 7.45 (97) Lord of Chaos S6 7.43 (80) Foundation Series ----------------- Foundation S1 7.65 (265) Foundation and Empire S2 7.36 (190) Second Foundation S3 7.44 (196) Prelude to Foundation S4 5.70 (69) Forward the Foundation S5 5.83 (58) Foundation and Earth S6 6.02 (80) Foundation's Edge S7 6.11 (89) The First Chronicles of Amber ----------------------------- Nine Princes in Amber S1 7.51 (141) The Guns of Avalon S2 7.79 (47) Sign of the Unicorn S3 7.50 (45) The Hand of Oberon S4 7.50 (45) The Courts of Chaos S5 7.64 (45) The Earthsea Series ------------------- A Wizard of Earthsea S1 7.98 (127) The Tombs of Atuan S2 7.43 (68) The Farthest Shore S3 7.43 (52) Tehanu S4 5.20 (29) =================================================== I have received a number of mail messages concerning _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_. Apparently (since I haven't read it yet), the setting of this book takes place after _The Magician's Nephew_ (although TLtWatW was written first). Are there any comments as to whether I should label the books differently (so that _The Magician's Nephew_ is labeled S1) or not? -- Tristrom Cooke | Editor of the tcooke@maths.adelaide.edu.au | Internet Top 100 | SF/Fantasy List @START@DreamWatch Online - best Sci-Fi WWW site The super bumper November Issue of DreamWatch Online is now available: http://www.flavour.co.uk/flavour/dreamwatch This month - a brand new look. Special feature on Quantum Leap with interview, review, QL links and QL competition, the latest news on VR.5's future, The DreamMaster reviews the best Doctor Who web sites, the all new and free Classified Listings: buy, swap announce, sell accross the Net! and the massive Sci-Fi Resource Database. @START@REVIEW: POWDER POWDER A film review by Christopher Null Copyright 1995 Christopher Null Once in awhile, Hollywood manages to surprise me with an uncompromising film full of genuine emotion and enough to make you really think. POWDER was completely unexpected: it's easily one of the best films I've seen all year. Something of an updated, hybridized E.T., POWDER is the story of an albino teenager (Sean Patrick Flanery) with strange powers of telekinesis, empathy, and the ability to channel and absorb raw energy. As Powder says, "I'm not like other people." That's putting it lightly. His mother is struck by lightning before Powder's birth, and he is born premature, an apparent freak of nature. His redneck father will have nothing to do with him, and Powder ends up in his grandparent's basement until his teens. When Powder finally emerges from hiding, the small Texas town has no idea what to make of him, and typical of Southern paranoids, he is immediately ostracized as a social deviant. It soon becomes apparent that Powder is more than just an extremely pale kid, as some subtle and not-so-subtle changes begin to take effect, and we find that the outcasts among us can really be the greatest of people. Powder reflects the deconstruction of all that's wrong with society, and the film manages to hammer home its messages of peace, tolerance, and the cessation of fear without ever becoming preachy. POWDER manages to take this kind of story to new and better heights than its predecessors. Powder is a recluse, but unlike NELL, we can understand and sympathize with him. Powder is the embodiment of virtue, but unlike FORREST GUMP, he is not just a victim of circumstance. And Powder is imbued with supernatural ability, but unlike E.T., we can relate to his persecution on an individual level. POWDER probably deserves a dozen Academy Award nominations, especially for Flanery's jaw-dropping leading role. The makeup, which had to literally be painted on, is almost surreal, and writer/director Victor Salva (who's done virtually nothing before this) deserves my highest praise. The special effects are groundbreaking, the camerawork (shot in and around Houston) is excellent, and the supporting cast of Jeff Goldblum, Mary Steenburgen, and Lance Henriksen is solid. This probably isn't a film for the brain-dead hordes of moviegoers looking for mindless eye candy. It requires a little commitment on the viewer's part, but it's well worth it. In the end, POWDER is a stirring example of what to do right, not only in filmmaking, but in living one's life as well. RATING: ****1/2 \-------------------------------\ |* Unquestionably awful | |** Sub-par on many levels | |*** Average, hits and misses | |**** Good, memorable film | |***** Perfection | \-------------------------------\ -Christopher Null / null@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu -Movie Emporium (archives) / http://www.notes.tpoint.net/emporium/ -Contributing Editor, FEEDBACK / http://www.eden.com/~feedback -E-mail requests to join the movie review mailing list @START@REVIEW: STRANGE DAYS STRANGE DAYS A film review by Daniel Simon Copyright 1995 Daniel Simon I won free tickets to the new film STRANGE DAYS, so I went to see it on its opening night. When a movie company knows it has a good film on its hands--except it's a film whose appeal may not transfer so well through previews and posters, they use such ticket give-aways to spawn the advertising they need: word-of-mouth. As I believe in free-enterprising moves like that, and the economic strength of educated consumerism, I want to take my part in this, and not take something for nothing. The following is my public, honest appraisal of STRANGE DAYS. See the film. This cinematic venture from the makers of several past blockbusters is fresh, stimulating, and well-made on every level. STRANGE DAYS is set only hours before the turn of the millennium, in a ravaged, chaotic Los Angeles--a virtual police state, which is exaggerated but provoking. A virtual reality technology originally developed for police surveillance has developed into an illegal "drug" of sorts, called "playback" or "the wire": Human experiences can be recorded and played back, "straight from the cerebral cortex," with almost the same intensity in which they are experienced. But now you might be turning away; I know what you must be thinking. After the great Summer of Cyber-Films, in which computer wizardry has paraded in lieu of substantive entertainment, it may be hard to imagine such a fantastic technological premise (perfected virtual reality--only four years from now ...) not being fecklessly exploited. But that's simply not the case with STRANGE DAYS. The way the futuristic hardware adds to the film's artistry is reminiscent of BLADE RUNNER. The "wire-tripping" concept never serves to cover for any deficiencies in the film. On the contrary, it is treated so straightforwardly that it adds greater dimension to the characterizations and gives us new and real avenues of human possibilities to explore. This film establishes a strong sense of realism in its futuristic concepts, then creatively builds on them. Especially considering our obsession (and angst) with all which our unique, precipitous technological age portends--particularly how easily marketable it proves to be, STRANGE DAYS was a film idea begging to be compromised: to be written with slick style and little craft, cast with a more appeasing lead, marketed with one-liners and cyber-gloss. But, following writer James Cameron's talented lead, director Kathryn Bigelow and her collaborators have walked the straight and narrow; it is clear they cared about movie-making. Still, at a cursory glance, some may dismiss the film, saying, "This is all familiar territory." But again, the unconventional merits of this film may not be communicated well along all the conventional channels. Its originality cannot be found in its striking visuals or in its mere semblance of high-concept, but rather in the film's total of skillfully-woven elements. STRANGE DAYS works because of its integration. And nothing here comes across as heavy-handed, even including an all-too-obvious scene invoking the Rodney King beating. This is not "safe," but focused, filmmaking. Of all cinematic elements, modern film plots are generally the weakest. As you "debrief" a film experience on the way home, with a friend or in your own head, character analysis or special effects usually command more psychic indulgence than plot. But the surprisingly good mystery plot of this movie was foremost on my mind. I could tell you how it involves a slain rapper/social figure, a psychotic sex killer who sends his "blackjack" recordings to the hero, a music producer who clearly knows more than we do, and malevolent rogue cops whose number might be just two--or a hundred. What is important, though, is the coherence of the plot's turns, questions, surprises, character motivations, and accidents: an uncontrived story which unfolds to a compelling denouement. And the tempo throughout could not be better. Ralph Fiennes is interestingly cast as Lenny Nero, a "successful" product of his times. As a dealer in black market "wire-tripping," he drives a new Mercedes, but wears fake Rolexes to bribe his way out of jams. But he always seems to be running on empty, in business and in relationships. He exploits his friendship with Mace (Angela Bassett), hustling the clients of her limousine service. He intrudes on his past girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis), with whom he is trying to sustain a dead relationship through "playback" of the past. Fiennes, who we've seen in SCHINDLER'S LIST and QUIZ SHOW, is a wonderful natural actor. Here he takes a well-written part and gives it "real guy" appeal. We want to see more of him. Juliette Lewis, as the ex-girlfriend, is very good, so deeply "in character"--as always--that you wonder about the real-life actress--whether she needs a vacation to a solitary locale to find the real her. Darkly convivial actor Tom Sizemore (True Romance) is effective as Nero's best friend. And only slightly over-the-top is Michael Wincott as the dark, "wire-tripping" record mogul, whose capricious, rasping rants bring to mind the similar dark, powerful whacko he played in THE CROW. (I liked him best as Kent the juvenile junkie in TALK RADIO.) But it is perhaps Angela Bassett's performance as Nero's friend Mace that deserves the most credit--not because it is any more convincing, but because it meets the unusually high challenges of a very complicated role. As Mace - a security professional--she is superior to Nero in both moral strength and hand-to-hand combat. Few actresses are believable defeating men in fist-fight scenes, but Bassett is. And she handles a gun in the no-nonsense fashion of a Marine. She does all this while lending an emotional and distinctly feminine presence to the screen. In the film's most empathetic character, she is remarkably able to juxtapose toughness with sensitivity in the role of a woman desperately trying to preserve a very bright, decent spirit in a culture which requires self-alienation for better survival--a world in which the wearing vigilance to see the other guy coming first has stunted every individual's ability for spiritual growth. I should point out that this is a movie for mature audiences. It contains every element for which R ratings are given. The fact that undeveloped mentalities will view this film and be negatively influenced may even provide hours of worry to religious conservatives with nothing better to do. But taking a different tack: I am someone who loves the films of the '40's and '50's for a beautiful, "untouched by the world" quality that the characters sometimes possess; STRANGE DAYS is utterly bereft of that quality. Presented to us is a raw and animalistic techno-culture, which I sensed as disturbingly prescient. But in this film's gestalt, there is plenty of creative energy to ride, enough to make it a positive and highly stimulating experience. You just may want to offset some minor subconscious "impurities" that the film's jaded mood is bound to affect by a pastoral outing or a reading from classical Liberalism. When you put all of its elements together, STRANGE DAYS contains a blend of enough originality and energy to be one of the most memorable films of the year. One of these elements is the very last scene, which will surprise some viewers. Without giving too much away: it is a refreshing turn that defies a particular stale, but all-pervasive, convention. We've seen this convention defied before, but rarely so with no compromises, no window dressing or conciliatory character-modifications to make it more acceptable. At the conclusions of our Hollywood movies--movies carefully plotted on demographic marketing maps to produce myriad satisfaction--how often can you note that the ending had more integrity than even the rest of the film, that the film deserved it? -- Daniel Simon Daniel 1st@aol.com @START@REVIEW: CHICKS IN CHAINMAIL Edited by Esther Friesner A Review of the Fantasy Anthology CHICKS IN CHAINMAIL Edited by Esther Friesen Review Copyright 1995 by David E. Cortesi What can I say? I had to pass 2 hours waiting in a shopping mall. This was the only remotely interesting title in B. Dalton's SF shelf. About that title: the publisher put a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer of responsibility for it on the back cover. The editor opens the introduction with a paragraph taking full responsibility. What are they worried about? Who could possibly object to the word "chainmail"? Editor Friesner asked her contributors for "Amazon humor" and got quite a bit, most of it embarrassingly feeble. Some of the stories are nothing but mildly smutty jokes. The collection opens with a 250-word Zelazny effort with a conclusion that could only be improved by Michael Palin doing his "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" bit to really thump it home. To call some of the 20 stories "slight" is to flatter them. Take Judy Lynn Nye's "The Growling," which recounts at boring length the disasters that befall a male raiding party that has the bad luck to attack a village of warrior women who are all in the throes of PMS on the same day. Ho, ho. A few of the stories betray real cleverness. "Career Day" by Margaret Ball explores what happens when a Mommy gets stuck with leading a class of fourth graders to show them where she works. The problem is that mommy's day job is that of free-lance swordswoman in an adjacent dimension. It would have been fun to see this idea explored at greater length. Ball has to cram too much exposition into the opening pages. The story would be better with more room to breathe and development of the children's reactions. There might even be a novel in this concept. Three of the writers convey real emotion and drama. Mark Bourne's "On the Road of Silver" tells about a middle-aged planetarium docent who is made to recall her true past as the warrior daughter of a warrior king in Faerie. Only half awake, half of her still a suburban gardener, the only army she can raise against her enemies is a company of garden slugs. There is real human feeling in the conflict with the budget-slashing planetarium, and in the relationship of wife and husband. "The Guardswoman" by Lawrence Watt-Evans is a slender but touching tale of a lonely young woman whose male comrades-in-arms shut her out of their off-duty fun. But the flawed gem of the collection is "Were-Wench" by Jan Sterling. It's Sterling's first sale, and reads like it: there are clumsy transitions, and the exposition of preceding events is handled awkwardly. Just the same, I'll tip Sterling as a comer, if she keeps at it. This story has a deep conflict worth thinking about (albeit the resolution is rushed); and it has real feeling in its human relationships. Best, the writing is -- in spots -- sensational. I mean that word in two senses. In places, the prose is sensationally good, and it is so because Sterling has an instictive grasp of how to visualize and communicate sensory experience. She conceives the story with all her senses, and she conveys that sensorium to the reader quietly and clearly. You taste and smell and hear the village, the fights. This is a raw beginner's work but I want to read more by this writer. %T CHICKS IN CHAINMAIL %C Riverdale, NY %D 1995 %E Esther Friesner %G 0-671-87682-1 %I Baen Publishing Enterprises %O US$5.99 %P 341 -- Dave Cortesi - reading news from home This wouldn't be official SGI info even if I was at work. @START@Review of THE GOD-FEARER by Dan Jacobson THE GOD-FEARER by Dan Jacobson Charles Scribner's Sons, ISBN 0-684-19660-3, 1992, 159pp, US$18 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper This is an alternate history, though not in the usual mold. And I am reviewing it as such, not as the (basically) mainstream literary novel that Jacobson was writing. Kobus the Bookbinder lives in the town of Niedering in the land of Ashkenaz, in a Europe with a culture comparable to our Middle Ages (a nice broad swath, that). But it's not our Europe, as the name Ashkenaz should tell you. In this Europe, the God-Fearers, descendents of the ancient Yehudim, rule, and the Christer are blamed for all the misfortunes that befall the world. ("Christer" is both singular and plural, by the way.) Now that Kobus's wife Rahella has died, his primary human contact is his housekeeper Elisabet. But Kobus is starting to have visions: two Christer children who keep appearing to him. Who they are and what their appearance means is what this book is about. The alternate history aspect is emphasized in many places, talking about how "the Muselmi tried to put an army into the land of Pannonia," "Buddh in the land of Sinn," and so on. Jacobson has done his homework: the Egyptians are "Mitzrim," a Hebraicized derivation of Egypt's name for itself. And, true to alternate history tradition, Jacobson has his protagonist thinking about how his (different) world came about--in this case, by the God-Fearers winning over the Romaim instead of, say, staging a rebellion in the Holy Land. (In actual history, by the way, there were Romans who were considered "honorary Jews" and were called "God-Fearers.") But it is in the very emphasis on the alternate history that Jacobson fails to convince. Kobus also thinks about what things might be like if drinking blood, devouring children, worshipping asses, scheming to seize power, and killing God were aimed, not at the Christer, but at the God- Fearers. God-Fearer children think it very funny to run up behind a Christer man, pull down his pants, and laugh at his uncircumcized penis. The Christer claim to be the elect, the chosen ones. The Christer are accused of witchcraft, poisoning wells, etc. And so on. Now, in fairness, Jacobson is not trying to write an alternate history novel. He's trying to write a literary novel with emphasizes on each individual's responsibility to protect society from the evils within it. He is doing this by the sort of "walk a mile in my moccasins" approach that many trainers seem to like. In Jaconson's case, he turns around the situation in our world to one in which the Christians are subjected to precisely the same persecutions that the Jews were subjected to in our world. Now maybe it's my familiarity with alternate histories that makes me find this unimaginative and unconvincing, but I didn't think this aspect worked either. However, perhaps outside the science fiction field this technique will work better. In summary, while this book has been lauded by mainstream critics, it has little to offer the alternate history fan. %T The God-Fearer %A Dan Jacobson %C New York %D 1992 %I Charles Scribner's Sons %O hardback, US$18 %G ISBN 0-684-19660-3 %P 159pp -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com Sometimes I have intermittent problems, and sometimes I don't. @START@EVOLUTION'S SHORE by Ian McDonald EVOLUTION'S SHORE by Ian McDonald Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-37435-4, 1995, 355pp, US$12.95 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper Once again Ian McDonald has written a science fiction novel of the future (and, no, that's not redundant) which reminds us that the future is not going to be all high-tech and shiny, nor is it going to be all Euro- American. EVOLUTION'S SHORE (known as CHAGA in Britain) is set in Kenya in the early part of the 21st century. McDonald's protagonist is Gaby McAslan, a newswoman from Northern Ireland, who manages to land a job reporting on the situation in Kenya. And just what is that situation? Well, it seems that "parcels" from outer space have landed at various places around the world along the equator and a strange life form or forms has emerged--and is spreading. And this appears to be connected with strange goings-on around Saturn as well. McDonald does a good job in depicting the strangeness of the alien life form, but he does an equally good--and perhaps more important--job of depicting the strangeness of his future Kenya society. This is not the "back-to-traditional-values Kirinyaga" that Mike Resnick writes about, but a society in touch with and affected by the rest of the world, yet also maintaining its own path and its own ways. This is not to say there is anything wrong with Resnick's construct as a plot device. But he is using the artificial "Kirinyaga" as the basic premise of his story, while McDonald is using 21st century Kenya as the background of his extra-terrestrial science fiction premise. As such, his Kenya must be more believable as a real extrapolation of today's Kenya, and I believe it succeeds in this. In fact, the irony is that (for me at least) McDonald's background is more interesting than his core premise. Like many readers, I suppose, I started reading science fiction because it portrayed a world different than the one I knew. Maybe it was that the world was in the far future, when people had paranormal powers, or maybe it was on a distant planet with a fight for survival against dangerous animals and harsh conditions. As I grew older, I discovered that there were places just as strange and just as interesting here on Earth (as Lawrence Watt- Evans noted so well in "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers"). And I started to look for authors who had realized this--who figured out that they could set a story in a society other than their own. Various "cyberpunk authors" do it in various degrees. George Alec Effinger does it in his "Marid" trilogy. Maureen McHugh does it in CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG. Gwyneth Jones does it in WHITE QUEEN. And Ian McDonald does it, here and in many of his earlier short stories. Given all this, I think having a Euro protagonist is the right choice. One might ask if this isn't just a copy of Hollywood always having an Anglo- Saxon protagonist even in a movie set in Peru or China, but I don't think it is. When you watch a movie you see not what the main character sees, but what the director and cinematographer films. But when you read a book not written by an omniscient narrator, you see things through the main character's eyes, and from the main character's viewpoint. So having that viewpoint the same as the majority of the readers makes sense (as anyone who's ever tried to read a book written for people with a different cultural background will agree). My only objection might be that the space mission pieces don't seem to match the rest of the story. (Then again, how much do today's shuttle missions "match up" with life in Kenya today?) There may be a few too many science fictional references, especially towards the end, but this seems to have been intentional overload, as the "postface" is a line from Samuel Delany's TRITON: "In science fiction, everything should be mentioned at least twice ... with the possible exception of science fiction." But these are minor quibbles in an otherwise excellent and fascinating novel. This one is making my Hugo nomination ballot. [In Britain, this novel is called CHAGA. One may only speculate on why the publisher thought it necessary to change the name for an American audience. Or why it appears to be missing from the publisher's list of upcoming books on their Web page.] %T Evolution's Shore %A Ian McDonald %C New York %D November 1995 %I Bantam Spectra %O trade paperback, US$12.95 %G ISBN 0-553-37435-4 %P 355pp -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com Sometimes I have intermittent problems, and sometimes I don't. @START@Review: TRIPOINT by C.J.Cherryh TRIPOINT by C.J.Cherryh Warner, ISBN 0-446-51780-1, 1994, 374pp, UKP15.50 A book review by Steve Hodge (hoj@sloth.demon.co.uk) I do not generally buy hard back sf, preferring to save my money and wait for the paper back version, so when I found myself at the till with a copy of C.J. Cherryh's Tri-point in my hand I felt a bit like a nicotine addict in the tobacconist. There is every chance, I told myself that you won't enjoy this as much as you think you are goingto, and it is costing you more money than it ought. I yield to no-one in my admiration for, indeed addiction to, most of the Cherryh canon, but even her greatest fan would have to admit that a few of the novels have lacked freshness and been a trifle formulaic. To anyone who shares these feelings, I can report that they need have no concerns about Tripoint. It is a story set in the milieu of merchanters and star stations like Downbelow Station & Merchanters Luck, but with a fresh cast of characters, who since they are mostly merchanters have a lot in common with Sandor and Alison Reilly, but are still new and interesting. Like her best stories the plot rattles along, working on a number of different levels with the technology nicely worked into the action. The story concerns the working out of a decades long feud between the merchanters Corinthian and Sprite which started when a one night stand between two young crew members went wrong on Mariner station, and finishes in almost space opera style at Tripoint, a jump point between Pell and Viking where anything can and does hide. Cherryh uses the book to develop the social dynamics and to a lesser extent the economics of a merchanter society. Merchanters are star ships trading between star station, the ship supporting a full population of men women and children. Their journeys run into months and years of elapsed time, but because of time dilation effects, far longer as time runs for the stations. The result is that the only social continuity for the merchanters lies with other merchanters whom they can only meet when in dock on the stations, or passing each other at dark, and dangerous in the aftermath of war, jump points between the stations. Cherryh is unsurpassed among current sf writers at following through the implications of such a scenario, but as good a job as she does with the merchanters I find it hard, as yet, to see the system she describes as a sustainable one in social and economic terms. However there is a hint at the end of the story that we shall see more of the principal characters in some future novel. If so it I am very much looking forward to it. %A Cherryh C.J %T Tripoint %C New York %D 1994 %G ISBN 0-446-51780-1 %I Warner Books Inc %O Hard back UK Sterling 15.95 %P 377 Pages -- Stephen MG Hodge @START@Review: RAPTOR RED RAPTOR RED by Robert T. Bakker A book review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1995 Mark R. Leeper I suppose it was a matter of time before someone wrote a book like RAPTOR RED. It is a perennial natural science topic to take some animal of interest and write a story of the animal's life for one year. I believe there is a book called THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT, though I don't know the author. Victor Scheffer wrote a similar book called THE YEAR OF THE WHALE (copyright 1969). Then there is Hank Searls's SOUNDING (1982), a novel that took the reader into the mind of a sperm whale. Searls may have exaggerated a bit on cetacean intelligence (my favorite line was having the whales remember World War II as the time when the oceans were noisy), but he did give a feel for the point of view of a whale. Of course James Oliver Curwood's THE BEAR (originally THE GRIZZLY KING) was adapted successfully into a film. It was a matter of time before somebody like Robert Bakker, author of THE DINOSAUR HERESIES and one of the two or three most popular American experts on dinosaurs, wrote a description of life in the time of dinosaurs (in this case the early Cretaceous) in a novel-length story. Eric Temple Bell (who wrote science fiction under the name John Taine) wrote a 1934 novel, BEFORE THE DAWN, which was very much along the same lines. He has scientists viewing the prehistoric past with a sort of time scanner, but the main characters are dinosaurs. Bakker has taken his view of the early Cretaceous and describes the life, mind, and emotions he envisions a Utahraptor would have. A Utahraptor is a raptor the size of those in the film JURASSIC PARK. Bakker was an advisor on that film and apparently told the special effects people that they should go ahead and portray raptors of the size they were in the film. That was larger than any raptors that had been found at the time. He said to go ahead and portray them that large, because it was likely that there might have been raptors that big that just had not yet been discovered. Coincidentally, by the time the film was released or shortly thereafter fossils of Utahraptor were discovered that were the right size. It is difficult to write a really adult story realistically from an animal's point of view. It almost always comes out at about teenage level at most. RAPTOR RED does have violence and sex. The former is considerably more graphic than the latter, but I think neither is any worse than what plays on cable. And on cable it is humans who are doing it. So this book is probably suitable for a ten-year-old, and because it is salted with Bakker's theories about dinosaurs and presumably is a fairly accurate representation of the period, it is not too juvenile to be read by an adult. The structure is a little too much like THE BEAR in that the title dinosaur suffers a loss at the beginning that leaves her unattached. The cub in THE BEAR lost his mother, and here the title character's mate is careless in making a kill and has his intended prey fall on him. The book is the account of how Raptor Red travels with her sister and looks for a mate. Along the way she has to fight off creatures like the giant sauropod called a whip-tail, allosaurus-like acros, and deinonychs. Thankfully, there are few of the dinosaurs that we had plastic models of as kids. That would be a sort of name-dropping, I suppose. She also has to face a flood, but no volcanos. We see how she hunts, what she looks for in a mate, and a great deal of the family life behavior that Bakker theorizes. Probably the book would have been more rewarding if it had been clearer which theories Bakker was challenging. I think a dinosaur expert might see more controversial ideas in the book than the uninitiated would catch. Each chapter starts with a sketch of some animal who will be appearing and (I discovered too late in my reading) there is also a drawing toward the end of the book depicting all the dinosaurs drawn to scale. While I have read more rewarding books, this one serves its function. It might make a good holiday gift for some teenager who likes dinosaurs. Of course $21.95 is just a little on the hefty side for a less than hefty novel. %T Raptor Red %A Robert T. Bakker %C New York %D October 1995 %I Bantam %O hardback, US$21.95 %G ISBN 0-553-10124-2 %P 246pp Mark R. Leeper mark.leeper@att.com @START@FAMOUS MONSTERS by Kim Newman FAMOUS MONSTERS by Kim Newman Pocket Books, ISBN 0-671-85300-7, 1995, 448pp, L4.99 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper This collection of fifteen horror stories isn't available in the United States yet, but I assume it will be soon, because it's so much *about* the United States, and in particular, about Hollywood. Whether he's writing about Lovecraft Great Old Ones surfacing off the southern California coast, or what might have happened to history if Fatty Arbuckle hadn't made it to that party with Virginia Rappe, or what became of Charles Foster Kane's Xanadu, Newman is focused on Hollywood. Even the few non-Hollywood stories are about Hollywood in a way, with one about Superman and one about another, more offbeat, superhero. Not all the stories are compelling. In particular, while "Where the Bodies Are Buried" had some interest, "Where the Bodies Are Buried II: Sequel Hook" seemed to fulfill the promise, or rather the curse, of sequels. And "The Pale Spirit People" may have had some promise, but somehow all I could picture it when reading it was that it seemed perfect for being made into a boring movie with the second-stringers from "Saturday Night Live." Now that's real horror. Still, the majority of stories here are fresh and involving, and I would recommend this. (I do hope that some American publisher will pick this volume up, especially since I think only "Ubermensch" has appeared over here, but I fear it unlikely. Newman is too British for Arkham House, and too little known for Bantam. I suppose the one hope is that Tor picks it up for either its horror or its Orb line.) %B Famous Monsters %A Kim Newman %C London %D 1995 %I Pocket Books %O paperback, L4.99 %G ISBN 0-671-85300-7 %P 448pp -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "Why are women reading romances presumed to be any more idiotic than men watching football?" --Beth Kolko @START@[DS9] S.O.S. #2 - Indiscretion ----_______/_______/_______/ ---------------------------------./\.---- _/_/ _/ / _/_/_/ INDISCRETION ::/ \:: ==_______/_/ / _/_______/ ================================::( )::= _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/ Rating: 7.8 `|,-^\|' _______/_______/_______/ ` ' BY AIRDATE BY RATING ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The Way of the Warrior 9.3 [Indiscretion 7.8] The Visitor 9.3 Hippocratic Oath 8.0 Hippocratic Oath 8.0 The Way of the Warrior 9.3 [Indiscretion 7.8] The Visitor 9.3 ================================== ================================== Average 8.6 Average 8.6 Standard Deviation 0.8 Standard Deviation 0.8 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The EPISODE BREAKDOWN follows. If you aren't interested, you can move along to the next article now. Indiscretion (105 ratings) --------------------------------------------------------------- ......Voter Stats....... Current Name Average Count StdDev Rating =============================================================== Average 7.8 Standard Deviation 1.1 Median 7.9 =============================================================== Colin O'Connell 8.1 (7) 2.0 4.6 Sue Boggs 7.1 (3) 1.8 5.0 Tom Little 7.1 (7) 1.3 5.0 Chris Springob 5.7 (75) 2.9 5.5 Pam Buickel 7.4 (29) 2.1 6.0 Shelley Coultish 6.9 (4) 1.8 6.0 Alwin Li 7.2 (13) 2.7 6.0 John Quintanilla 7.0 (51) 2.2 6.0 Jeffrey Schultz 8.1 (39) 1.7 6.0 Ron Carman 7.3 (5) 1.9 6.5 Andrew Chiang 8.8 (10) 1.1 6.5 Kevin Chu 8.2 (4) 1.8 6.5 Joe Creighton 7.0 (75) 1.6 6.5 Mike Finnerty 7.2 (2) 1.1 6.5 Al Mink 8.4 (4) 1.7 6.5 Anton Sanderfoot 8.7 (75) 0.8 6.5 John Walchle 7.4 (74) 1.3 6.5 Raymond MacDonald 8.3 (2) 2.3 6.7 Eric Berg 7.1 (2) 0.5 6.8 Nick Gouskos 7.6 (48) 1.3 6.8 Michael Gemmell 8.0 (4) 0.9 6.8 David Calvin 8.2 (42) 1.4 7.0 Tim Lynch 7.1 (72) 2.3 7.0 Aiken Ragabash 8.0 (3) 1.0 7.0 Jeff Rupley 6.7 (74) 1.5 7.0 Edward Sadowski 8.3 (3) 1.5 7.0 Chris Silvester 7.2 (51) 1.1 7.0 Joan Marie Verba 7.6 (16) 1.1 7.0 Gayle Yarter 7.7 (30) 1.6 7.0 Melissa Koehn 8.0 (4) 1.5 7.1 Dave Coombs 7.5 (57) 2.4 7.2 Timothy Cree 8.2 (58) 1.2 7.2 Drew Aron 8.0 (21) 1.1 7.3 David Blanshine 8.0 (17) 1.3 7.3 Charles Odell 8.5 (5) 1.6 7.3 Paul Kugelmass 8.0 (32) 1.5 7.4 Joe Reiss 8.3 (72) 1.1 7.4 Misael Fernandez 7.8 (6) 1.3 7.5 Mike Heffner 7.4 (75) 1.5 7.5 Gary Lehman 7.8 (10) 1.9 7.5 David Pedigo 7.5 (7) 2.3 7.5 Bartricia Williams 8.2 (2) 1.1 7.5 Daniel Zimmerman 8.5 (55) 1.6 7.5 Sean Erwin 7.6 (54) 2.0 7.6 Stephen Flore 6.1 (30) 3.3 7.6 Jim Prince 8.3 (4) 0.9 7.6 Ken Papai 7.9 (55) 1.2 7.7 Steve Fenster 8.2 (54) 1.3 7.8 David Hull 7.3 (65) 2.5 7.8 Roshan Jain 8.4 (4) 0.8 7.8 Chi-May Wu 7.9 (29) 1.1 7.8 Mark Nockleby 7.0 (68) 1.7 7.9 Ted Pohler 9.1 (4) 0.9 7.9 Jerry Adde 9.3 (3) 1.1 8.0 Karl Anderson 9.0 (7) 0.8 8.0 Dan Bahauddin 8.9 (4) 0.8 8.0 David Elsey 8.4 (4) 1.2 8.0 Michael Evans 8.0 (49) 1.3 8.0 Michael Hopkins 7.4 (55) 1.1 8.0 Wayne James 7.8 (30) 0.7 8.0 Andy Johnson 6.7 (75) 1.5 8.0 John Lee 8.1 (11) 0.8 8.0 Edward Myers 8.3 (45) 1.3 8.0 Mike Sadowsky 8.5 (4) 0.4 8.0 Baiju Shah 7.8 (22) 1.5 8.0 Gregg Weaver 8.7 (36) 0.9 8.0 Maria Yudlowitz 8.0 (15) 1.2 8.0 John Zaepfel 8.0 (4) 1.6 8.0 Jo Braker 8.8 (4) 1.0 8.2 Lukas Hauser 8.9 (32) 0.8 8.2 Edward J. Sabol 8.0 (43) 2.2 8.2 Craig Cassar 8.5 (8) 1.1 8.3 Paul Manson 8.5 (30) 0.8 8.3 Paul Nash 9.4 (5) 0.8 8.3 Paul Mackin 7.7 (44) 0.9 8.4 Blanche Cohen 8.1 (50) 1.4 8.5 Saul Epstein 9.0 (11) 0.7 8.5 L. Todd van der Heyden 8.3 (3) 0.3 8.5 Melissa Lowery 8.5 (1) 0.0 8.5 Darren Noel 9.1 (3) 0.8 8.5 Craig Seanor 9.0 (4) 0.4 8.5 Buzz Dysan 9.2 (3) 0.7 8.6 Sherry Wu 7.5 (45) 1.6 8.6 Gregory Matteucci 8.1 (4) 0.9 8.8 Stephen Ratliff 8.9 (6) 0.6 8.8 Norman Richards 9.1 (4) 0.4 8.9 Christine Burik 7.0 (70) 1.9 9.0 Jose Gonzalez 9.1 (10) 1.0 9.0 Stuart Hargreaves 8.6 (4) 1.2 9.0 Shelly McGraw 9.3 (4) 0.5 9.0 Michael Allan Thomson 9.2 (4) 1.0 9.0 T.J. Young 6.8 (75) 2.4 9.0 Cari-Lin Armstrong 9.5 (3) 0.4 9.3 Mat May 9.8 (4) 0.3 9.3 Dan Wendelin 8.3 (42) 1.4 9.3 Nathan Epstein 9.5 (29) 1.0 9.4 Mary Anne Espenshade 9.0 (5) 0.6 9.5 Anthony Lafosse 9.6 (4) 0.5 9.5 Linda Lowery 9.4 (4) 0.9 9.5 Neil Sarver 7.9 (61) 2.3 9.5 Tony Li 9.4 (17) 0.5 9.6 Lewis Brooks 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 Jeremy Jacobs 7.3 (41) 2.8 10.0 Leroy Jenkins 9.4 (4) 0.8 10.0 Jon Smart 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're new to the S.O.S., please keep reading. If you're familiar with the system, you can move along to the next article now. WHAT IS IT? The S.O.S. (Spoiler-free Opinion Summary) is a twice-weekly posting (and a web site) run by yours truly. Its purpose is to provide an indication of the Net's reaction to new episodes of several current sci-fi series, namely * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * Star Trek: Voyager * Sliders * Space: Above and Beyond HOW DO I JOIN IN? Watch a new episode of any of the series covered by the SOS. Then... * Send an email to `jreiss@vt.edu'. * Include your rating for the episode, on any 0 to X scale. If X is other than 10, just let me know. * Include your first and last name, especially if it doesn't appear in the header of your message. Having it in your sig is fine. * DO NOT include spoilers! * Try to submit before I make the postings, on Monday and Thursday evenings. If you don't, that's OK. Any ratings I get after the second posting will be used to calculate episode averages and will appear on the web pages, but they will not appear in any postings. * You may submit changes to your ratings later. But it'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if you could use the web interface instead! ...or better yet (for me at any rate)... * Surf on over to `http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/sos/sos.cgi'. * Enter your first and last name in the form provided there. * Submit your 10-scale ratings for the episodes airing that week, or link to additional pages where you can view/modify your ratings for previous episodes of any of the SOS series. This concludes this installment of the S.O.S. Join us next posting for more exciting adventures... and keep those opinions coming! Joe -- | NeXTMail OK! | Rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. | | ________ | The sinners are much more fun. | | | |__) | ======================================================== | | (_|OE| \EISS | - Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young" | @START@[DS9] S.O.S. #1 - Rejoined ----_______/_______/_______/ ---------------------------------./\.---- _/_/ _/ / _/_/_/ REJOINED ::/ \:: ==_______/_/ / _/_______/ ================================::( )::= _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/ Rating: 7.6 `|,-^\|' _______/_______/_______/ ` ' BY AIRDATE BY RATING ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The Way of the Warrior 9.3 [Rejoined 7.6] The Visitor 9.3 Indiscretion 7.8 Hippocratic Oath 8.0 Hippocratic Oath 8.0 Indiscretion 7.8 The Way of the Warrior 9.3 [Rejoined 7.6] The Visitor 9.3 ================================== ================================== Average 8.4 Average 8.4 Standard Deviation 0.8 Standard Deviation 0.8 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The EPISODE BREAKDOWN follows. If you aren't interested, you can move along to the next article now. Rejoined (29 ratings) --------------------------------------------------------------- ......Voter Stats....... Current Name Average Count StdDev Rating =============================================================== Average 7.6 Standard Deviation 2.0 Median 8.0 =============================================================== Bozena Sakowska 6.2 (31) 2.7 1.0 Mike Heffner 7.3 (76) 1.6 3.8 Chris Silvester 7.1 (52) 1.2 4.0 Misael Fernandez 7.4 (7) 1.6 5.0 David Henderson 9.3 (76) 0.7 5.0 Michael Gemmell 7.8 (5) 0.9 7.0 Bartricia Williams 8.0 (3) 0.9 7.5 George Workman 7.4 (6) 2.2 7.8 Chi-May Wu 7.8 (30) 1.1 7.8 Christine Burik 7.0 (71) 1.9 8.0 Michael Hopkins 7.4 (56) 1.1 8.0 Paul Nash 9.2 (6) 0.9 8.0 Darren Noel 9.2 (4) 1.0 8.0 Anton Sanderfoot 8.7 (76) 0.8 8.0 Jon Smart 9.0 (2) 1.4 8.0 Gayle Yarter 7.7 (31) 1.6 8.0 James Eagan 8.8 (9) 1.0 8.2 Anthony Lafosse 9.3 (5) 0.8 8.2 Phil Kilinskas 8.8 (32) 1.3 8.3 Eric Berg 7.6 (3) 0.9 8.5 Joe Chelena 8.5 (5) 0.7 8.5 Carol Dunsmore 9.1 (4) 0.8 8.5 Cari-Lin Armstrong 9.4 (4) 0.4 9.0 Mary Anne Espenshade 9.0 (6) 0.6 9.0 L. Todd van der Heyden 8.5 (4) 0.4 9.0 Michael Allan Thomson 9.2 (5) 0.8 9.0 Jeremy Jacobs 7.3 (42) 2.7 9.2 Dan Bahauddin 9.0 (5) 0.7 9.4 Shelley Coultish 7.4 (5) 1.9 9.5 --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're new to the S.O.S., please keep reading. If you're familiar with the system, you can move along to the next article now. WHAT IS IT? The S.O.S. (Spoiler-free Opinion Summary) is a twice-weekly posting (and a web site) run by yours truly. Its purpose is to provide an indication of the Net's reaction to new episodes of several current sci-fi series, namely * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * Star Trek: Voyager * Sliders * Space: Above and Beyond HOW DO I JOIN IN? Watch a new episode of any of the series covered by the SOS. Then... * Send an email to `jreiss@vt.edu'. * Include your rating for the episode, on any 0 to X scale. If X is other than 10, just let me know. * Include your first and last name, especially if it doesn't appear in the header of your message. Having it in your sig is fine. * DO NOT include spoilers! * Try to submit before I make the postings, on Monday and Thursday evenings. If you don't, that's OK. Any ratings I get after the second posting will be used to calculate episode averages and will appear on the web pages, but they will not appear in any postings. * You may submit changes to your ratings later. But it'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if you could use the web interface instead! ...or better yet (for me at any rate)... * Surf on over to `http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/sos/sos.cgi'. * Enter your first and last name in the form provided there. * Submit your 10-scale ratings for the episodes airing that week, or link to additional pages where you can view/modify your ratings for previous episodes of any of the SOS series. This concludes this installment of the S.O.S. Join us next posting for more exciting adventures... and keep those opinions coming! Joe -- | NeXTMail OK! | These blast points. Too accurate for Sandpeople. | | ________ | Only Imperial Stormtroopers are this precise. | | | |__) | ======================================================== | | (_|OE| \EISS | - Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Star Wars" | @START@[VOY] S.O.S. #2 - Persistence of Vision ----_______/_______/_______/ ---------------------------------./\.---- _/_/ _/ / _/_/_/ PERSISTENCE OF VISION ::/ \:: ==_______/_/ / _/_______/ ================================::( )::= _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/ Rating: 7.1 `|,-^\|' _______/_______/_______/ Scale: 10.0 Best ` ' BY AIRDATE BY RATING ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The 37's 6.0 Elogium 5.1 Initiations 7.1 Twisted 5.6 Projections 7.9 The 37's 6.0 Elogium 5.1 Parturition 6.1 Non Sequitur 6.6 Non Sequitur 6.6 Twisted 5.6 [Persistence of Vision 7.1] Parturition 6.1 Initiations 7.1 [Persistence of Vision 7.1] Projections 7.9 ================================== ================================== Average 6.5 Average 6.5 Standard Deviation 0.9 Standard Deviation 0.9 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The EPISODE BREAKDOWN follows. If you aren't interested, you can move along to the next article now. Persistence of Vision (120 ratings) --------------------------------------------------------------- ......Voter Stats....... Current Name Average Count StdDev Rating =============================================================== Average 7.1 Standard Deviation 1.9 Median 7.4 =============================================================== David Calvin 5.8 (18) 1.7 1.5 Neil Sarver 6.4 (21) 2.5 1.5 Ron Carman 5.7 (23) 2.7 2.0 Stephen Flore 5.4 (23) 2.7 2.5 Kevin Roach 6.4 (23) 1.6 2.5 Andy Johnson 6.0 (23) 1.7 3.0 Daniel Lai 5.5 (23) 1.8 3.0 Daniel Zimmerman 7.0 (23) 2.5 3.0 David Blanshine 6.0 (16) 1.9 4.0 Louise Diodato 5.9 (7) 1.3 4.0 Jeff Rupley 5.3 (23) 1.6 4.0 Chris Stone 6.8 (12) 2.7 4.0 Lukas Hauser 6.8 (18) 2.9 4.4 Robert Centor 5.9 (8) 1.5 5.0 Chris Silvester 7.0 (23) 1.4 5.0 John Wielgosz 5.6 (22) 1.9 5.0 Colin O'Connell 5.1 (23) 2.3 5.2 Timothy Cree 6.9 (22) 1.4 5.5 Tim Lynch 6.1 (23) 2.3 5.5 Toby Elliott 6.8 (18) 1.4 5.8 Pam Buickel 7.9 (8) 1.4 6.0 Kevin Chu 6.1 (5) 2.6 6.0 Dave Coombs 6.7 (23) 2.2 6.0 Nathan Epstein 2.5 (5) 2.3 6.0 Mary Anne Espenshade 6.5 (8) 1.2 6.0 Misael Fernandez 7.2 (9) 1.3 6.0 Janet Jarmann 7.3 (14) 1.5 6.0 Alwin Li 6.0 (14) 2.1 6.0 Marko Peric 6.9 (6) 1.4 6.0 Ted Pohler 6.5 (4) 1.0 6.0 Bozena Sakowska 5.2 (14) 1.5 6.0 Jim Prince 6.8 (8) 0.9 6.2 Mike Heffner 6.8 (23) 1.8 6.3 Michael Evans 8.0 (23) 1.2 6.5 L. Todd van der Heyden 6.8 (3) 0.3 6.5 Mark Mackey 6.4 (8) 1.0 6.5 Craig Seanor 6.1 (8) 1.7 6.5 Chi-May Wu 7.0 (23) 1.4 6.5 Sherry Wu 7.0 (20) 1.2 6.7 Amelia Terhune 6.2 (7) 1.6 6.8 Michael Gemmell 6.9 (3) 0.4 6.8 David Hull 6.8 (21) 2.3 6.9 Eric Mortensen 7.7 (17) 1.1 6.9 Stephen Ratliff 7.5 (9) 1.6 6.9 Christine Burik 6.4 (23) 1.6 7.0 David Carter 7.2 (23) 1.3 7.0 Thomas Catsburg 7.3 (22) 1.0 7.0 Blanche Cohen 6.3 (20) 2.0 7.0 Joe Creighton 6.1 (23) 1.5 7.0 Greg Franks 6.1 (12) 1.8 7.0 Michael Hickerson 7.1 (23) 1.9 7.0 Michael Hopkins 7.6 (23) 0.6 7.0 Tony Li 8.1 (20) 1.7 7.0 Al Mink 6.6 (5) 1.5 7.0 Edward Sadowski 6.0 (3) 1.0 7.0 John Walchle 7.1 (22) 1.1 7.0 Drew Aron 7.9 (23) 0.9 7.1 Nick Gouskos 6.9 (23) 1.2 7.2 Steve Fenster 6.7 (23) 1.5 7.3 Jeff Linder 6.9 (12) 1.0 7.4 Paul Mackin 6.6 (16) 1.7 7.4 Dan Bahauddin 6.3 (8) 1.5 7.5 Guillaume Lessard 6.1 (20) 1.6 7.5 Shawn Marier 6.0 (23) 2.5 7.5 Ashley Miller 6.0 (12) 2.0 7.5 Bonnie Miller 5.7 (7) 1.8 7.5 Gregory Paik 7.2 (23) 1.2 7.5 Mike Sadowsky 6.4 (5) 1.5 7.5 Anton Sanderfoot 8.2 (23) 0.7 7.5 J Thompson 6.8 (8) 2.1 7.5 Mark Vita 6.5 (8) 1.3 7.5 Nora Joy Wade 8.3 (5) 0.6 7.5 Jeremy Jacobs 6.7 (20) 1.9 7.6 Gary Lehman 8.2 (23) 2.0 7.7 Eric Andeen 7.1 (8) 1.2 7.8 James Eagan 8.1 (13) 1.6 7.8 Gregory Matteucci 6.8 (9) 1.3 7.8 Ben Debaan 5.9 (6) 1.9 8.0 Chris Henry 6.9 (20) 1.7 8.0 Wayne James 7.8 (23) 0.4 8.0 Edward Myers 7.3 (23) 1.3 8.0 Dan Pearl 6.1 (5) 2.6 8.0 Norman Richards 8.0 (1) 0.0 8.0 T.J. Young 6.8 (23) 2.4 8.0 John Zaepfel 7.2 (3) 1.4 8.0 Yudong Chen 6.7 (4) 1.5 8.4 Geoff Cashman 8.5 (7) 1.0 8.5 David Elsey 6.1 (4) 3.0 8.5 Sean Erwin 6.2 (22) 1.8 8.5 David Gerstman 5.7 (5) 2.2 8.5 George-Harold Jennings 8.5 (1) 0.0 8.5 Linda Lowery 8.3 (6) 1.0 8.5 Paul Manson 8.6 (23) 0.7 8.5 William Miller 6.6 (23) 2.1 8.5 Shaun Usman 8.7 (22) 1.1 8.5 Joe Reiss 8.1 (22) 0.9 8.6 Jeffrey Schultz 7.3 (23) 2.2 8.6 Dianne Parry 7.0 (23) 2.0 8.8 John Bafford 8.2 (16) 1.2 9.0 Joe Chelena 7.3 (7) 1.1 9.0 Mike Finnerty 7.0 (2) 2.8 9.0 Gene Forfar 8.8 (9) 0.5 9.0 Brian D. Green 7.6 (23) 2.0 9.0 William LeFebvre 6.1 (5) 2.9 9.0 Chris Springob 5.8 (23) 2.9 9.0 Robbie Veith 7.9 (22) 1.0 9.0 Gregg Weaver 8.4 (23) 0.8 9.0 Michael Moore 8.0 (9) 1.5 9.2 Richard Sevrinsky 6.3 (8) 2.7 9.2 Linzy Criswell 7.1 (8) 1.5 9.5 Anthony Lafosse 9.0 (2) 1.0 9.7 Jon Smart 9.8 (1) 0.0 9.8 Paul Nash 8.8 (5) 0.6 9.9 Cari-Lin Armstrong 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 Lewis Brooks 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 Timothy Bruening 8.7 (12) 1.3 10.0 Carol Dunsmore 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 Buzz Dysan 8.9 (2) 1.6 10.0 Darren Noel 9.4 (3) 0.6 10.0 Ruth Wilson 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're new to the S.O.S., please keep reading. If you're familiar with the system, you can move along to the next article now. WHAT IS IT? The S.O.S. (Spoiler-free Opinion Summary) is a twice-weekly posting (and a web site) run by yours truly. Its purpose is to provide an indication of the Net's reaction to new episodes of several current sci-fi series, namely * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * Star Trek: Voyager * Sliders * Space: Above and Beyond HOW DO I JOIN IN? Watch a new episode of any of the series covered by the SOS. Then... * Surf on over to `http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/sos/sos.cgi'. * Enter your first and last name in the form provided there. * Submit your ratings on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best) for the episodes airing that week, or link to additional pages where you can view/modify your ratings for previous episodes of any of the SOS series. ...or, if you don't have web access... * Send an email to `jreiss@vt.edu'. * Include your rating for the episode on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best). * Include your first and last name, especially if it doesn't appear in the header of your message. Having it in your sig is fine. * DO NOT include spoilers! * Try to submit before I make the postings, on Monday and Thursday evenings. If you don't, that's OK. Any ratings I get after the second posting will be used to calculate episode averages and will appear on the web pages, but they will not appear in any postings. * You may submit changes to your ratings later. But it'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if you could use the web interface instead! This concludes this installment of the S.O.S. Join us next posting for more exciting adventures... and keep those opinions coming! Joe -- | NeXTMail OK! | + I... I don't believe it! | | ________ | + That is why you fail. | | | |__) | ======================================================== | | (_|OE| \EISS | - Luke Skywalker & Yoda | @START@[VOY] S.O.S. #1 - Tattoo ----_______/_______/_______/ ---------------------------------./\.---- _/_/ _/ / _/_/_/ TATTOO ::/ \:: ==_______/_/ / _/_______/ ================================::( )::= _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/ Rating: 6.6 `|,-^\|' _______/_______/_______/ Scale: 10.0 Best ` ' BY AIRDATE BY RATING ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The 37's 6.0 Elogium 5.2 Initiations 7.2 Twisted 5.7 Projections 7.9 The 37's 6.0 Elogium 5.2 Parturition 6.1 Non Sequitur 6.6 [Tattoo 6.6] Twisted 5.7 Non Sequitur 6.6 Parturition 6.1 Persistence of Vision 7.1 Persistence of Vision 7.1 Initiations 7.2 [Tattoo 6.6] Projections 7.9 ================================== ================================== Average 6.5 Average 6.5 Standard Deviation 0.8 Standard Deviation 0.8 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The EPISODE BREAKDOWN follows. If you aren't interested, you can move along to the next article now. Tattoo (81 ratings) --------------------------------------------------------------- ......Voter Stats....... Current Name Average Count StdDev Rating =============================================================== Average 6.6 Standard Deviation 2.5 Median 7.0 =============================================================== Ron Carman 5.6 (24) 2.8 0.8 Timothy Burke 5.4 (20) 2.2 1.0 Leroy Jenkins 3.4 (4) 3.1 1.0 John Quintanilla 6.4 (19) 2.5 1.0 Chris Silvester 6.8 (24) 1.8 1.0 Brian D. Green 7.3 (24) 2.2 2.0 Shawn Marier 5.9 (24) 2.6 2.0 John Walchle 6.8 (23) 1.5 2.0 Eric Muller 3.7 (18) 1.4 3.0 Thomas Catsburg 7.2 (23) 1.2 4.0 Andy Johnson 5.9 (24) 1.7 4.0 Alwin Li 5.8 (15) 2.1 4.0 Colin O'Connell 5.1 (24) 2.3 4.0 Jeff Rupley 5.3 (24) 1.6 4.0 Mike Sadowsky 6.0 (6) 1.6 4.0 Richard Sevrinsky 6.1 (9) 2.7 4.0 Nick Gouskos 6.8 (24) 1.3 4.8 Vince Denny 6.2 (2) 1.8 5.0 Jenny Hardesty 6.0 (5) 1.0 5.0 Chris Henry 6.8 (21) 1.7 5.0 David Hull 6.7 (22) 2.3 5.0 Jeremy Jacobs 6.6 (21) 1.9 5.0 Stewart Blandon 6.5 (24) 1.9 6.0 Louise Diodato 5.9 (9) 1.2 6.0 Michael Evans 7.9 (24) 1.3 6.0 Gregory Matteucci 6.8 (10) 1.3 6.0 Dianne Parry 7.0 (24) 1.9 6.0 Jeffrey Schultz 7.2 (24) 2.1 6.2 Mike Heffner 6.8 (24) 1.8 6.3 Steve Fenster 6.7 (24) 1.4 6.5 Edward Myers 7.3 (24) 1.3 6.5 Dan Pearl 6.2 (6) 2.3 6.5 Craig Seanor 6.1 (9) 1.6 6.5 Mark Vita 6.5 (9) 1.2 6.5 David Gerstman 5.9 (6) 2.1 7.0 Robin Harwood 7.1 (9) 0.9 7.0 Al Mink 6.7 (6) 1.4 7.0 Jason Rego 7.0 (1) 0.0 7.0 Kina Rutman 6.6 (24) 1.6 7.0 Edward Sadowski 6.2 (4) 1.0 7.0 Anton Sanderfoot 8.1 (24) 0.8 7.0 Chris Springob 5.8 (24) 2.9 7.0 T.J. Young 6.8 (24) 2.4 7.0 Jim Prince 6.9 (9) 0.8 7.1 Eric Andeen 7.2 (24) 1.0 7.2 Chi-May Wu 7.0 (24) 1.4 7.2 Michael Hopkins 7.6 (24) 0.6 7.4 Geoff Cashman 8.4 (8) 1.0 7.5 Kevin Chu 6.3 (6) 2.4 7.5 Neil Sarver 6.5 (22) 2.4 7.5 J Thompson 6.8 (9) 2.0 7.5 Sean Erwin 6.3 (23) 1.8 7.8 David Carter 7.2 (24) 1.3 8.0 David Elsey 6.5 (5) 2.7 8.0 Mary Anne Espenshade 6.7 (9) 1.2 8.0 Drew Aron 8.0 (24) 0.9 8.4 Ramon Calero 7.9 (22) 1.3 8.5 Robert Centor 6.2 (9) 1.6 8.5 Misael Fernandez 7.3 (10) 1.3 8.5 Stephen Flore 5.6 (24) 2.7 8.5 Ashley Miller 6.2 (13) 2.0 8.5 Gene Forfar 8.8 (10) 0.4 8.6 Elizabeth Tudhope 7.6 (21) 0.9 8.7 Vahe Peroomian 8.5 (23) 0.7 8.9 John Bafford 8.3 (17) 1.1 9.0 Carol Dunsmore 9.5 (2) 0.7 9.0 Janet Jarmann 7.4 (15) 1.5 9.0 Mike Jewison 6.9 (9) 1.8 9.0 William Miller 6.7 (24) 2.1 9.0 Terry Roberts 6.8 (9) 2.2 9.0 Bozena Sakowska 5.8 (24) 2.1 9.0 Wade Tomlin 9.0 (1) 0.0 9.0 Joe Chelena 7.5 (8) 1.2 9.3 Eric Thornton 8.2 (4) 1.2 9.4 Nora Joy Wade 8.5 (6) 0.7 9.5 Buzz Dysan 9.2 (3) 1.2 9.8 Matthew Brown 7.6 (24) 1.5 10.0 Pam Buickel 8.1 (9) 1.5 10.0 Anthony Lafosse 9.3 (3) 0.9 10.0 Paul Nash 9.0 (6) 0.7 10.0 Darren Noel 9.5 (4) 0.6 10.0 --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're new to the S.O.S., please keep reading. If you're familiar with the system, you can move along to the next article now. WHAT IS IT? The S.O.S. (Spoiler-free Opinion Summary) is a twice-weekly posting (and a web site) run by yours truly. Its purpose is to provide an indication of the Net's reaction to new episodes of several current sci-fi series, namely * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * Star Trek: Voyager * Sliders * Space: Above and Beyond HOW DO I JOIN IN? Watch a new episode of any of the series covered by the SOS. Then... * Surf on over to `http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/sos/sos.cgi'. * Enter your first and last name in the form provided there. * Submit your ratings on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best) for the episodes airing that week, or link to additional pages where you can view/modify your ratings for previous episodes of any of the SOS series. ...or, if you don't have web access... * Send an email to `jreiss@vt.edu'. * Include your rating for the episode on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best). * Include your first and last name, especially if it doesn't appear in the header of your message. Having it in your sig is fine. * DO NOT include spoilers! * Try to submit before I make the postings, on Monday and Thursday evenings. If you don't, that's OK. Any ratings I get after the second posting will be used to calculate episode averages and will appear on the web pages, but they will not appear in any postings. * You may submit changes to your ratings later. But it'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if you could use the web interface instead! This concludes this installment of the S.O.S. Join us next posting for more exciting adventures... and keep those opinions coming! Joe -- | NeXTMail OK! | Rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. | | ________ | The sinners are much more fun. | | | |__) | ======================================================== | | (_|OE| \EISS | - Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young" | @START@[DS9] S.O.S. #2 - Little Green Men ----_______/_______/_______/ ---------------------------------./\.---- _/_/ _/ / _/_/_/ LITTLE GREEN MEN ::/ \:: ==_______/_/ / _/_______/ ================================::( )::= _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/ Rating: 8.0 `|,-^\|' _______/_______/_______/ Scale: 10.0 Best ` ' BY AIRDATE BY RATING ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The Way of the Warrior 9.1 Rejoined 7.6 The Visitor 9.3 Indiscretion 7.7 Hippocratic Oath 7.9 Hippocratic Oath 7.9 Indiscretion 7.7 [Little Green Men 8.0] Rejoined 7.6 The Way of the Warrior 9.1 [Little Green Men 8.0] The Visitor 9.3 ================================== ================================== Average 8.3 Average 8.3 Standard Deviation 0.7 Standard Deviation 0.7 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The EPISODE BREAKDOWN follows. If you aren't interested, you can move along to the next article now. Little Green Men (135 ratings) --------------------------------------------------------------- ......Voter Stats....... Current Name Average Count StdDev Rating =============================================================== Average 8.0 Standard Deviation 1.4 Median 8.0 =============================================================== Pam Buickel 6.9 (31) 2.5 0.5 Gregory Matteucci 7.1 (5) 2.4 3.0 Colin O'Connell 7.2 (9) 2.5 3.5 Mike Finnerty 7.2 (6) 1.2 5.0 Chris Springob 5.6 (77) 2.9 5.5 Sean Erwin 7.6 (56) 2.0 5.8 Thomas Catsburg 7.2 (26) 1.6 6.0 Bruce Hoye 6.4 (13) 1.3 6.0 Paul Kugelmass 7.9 (34) 1.6 6.0 Chris Stone 8.1 (24) 2.5 6.0 Eric Berg 7.3 (4) 0.9 6.5 Kevin Chu 7.9 (6) 1.5 6.5 Shelley Coultish 7.2 (6) 1.8 6.5 Stephen Ratliff 8.4 (8) 1.1 6.5 Gayle Yarter 7.7 (32) 1.6 6.5 Mark Nockleby 7.1 (70) 1.7 6.7 Kevin Roach 8.5 (4) 1.5 6.8 Karl Anderson 8.7 (9) 1.0 7.0 Robert Centor 7.5 (5) 1.7 7.0 Jenny Hardesty 7.0 (3) 2.0 7.0 Michael Hickerson 7.8 (77) 2.0 7.0 David Hull 7.3 (67) 2.5 7.0 Andy Johnson 6.6 (77) 1.5 7.0 Tom Little 7.2 (9) 1.2 7.0 Tim Lynch 7.1 (74) 2.2 7.0 Jeff Rupley 6.7 (76) 1.6 7.0 Edward Sadowski 8.0 (5) 1.2 7.0 Chris Silvester 7.1 (53) 1.2 7.0 Bartricia Williams 7.8 (4) 0.9 7.0 Daniel Zimmerman 8.5 (57) 1.6 7.0 Paul Mackin 7.7 (45) 0.9 7.2 Joe Reiss 8.3 (74) 1.1 7.3 Mark Mackey 7.7 (6) 1.0 7.4 Jim Prince 8.1 (6) 0.8 7.4 Janet Rollins 7.3 (17) 1.5 7.4 Eric Andeen 7.8 (15) 2.8 7.5 Dan Bahauddin 8.8 (6) 0.9 7.5 Allen Blue 8.0 (8) 0.9 7.5 Joe Creighton 7.1 (77) 1.6 7.5 Misael Fernandez 7.4 (8) 1.5 7.5 Michael Gemmell 7.8 (6) 0.8 7.5 Michael Hopkins 7.4 (57) 1.1 7.5 Guillaume Lessard 7.5 (20) 1.4 7.5 Randy Pratt 7.6 (58) 1.6 7.5 Robbie Veith 8.1 (77) 1.1 7.5 Maria Yudlowitz 8.0 (17) 1.1 7.5 Melissa Koehn 7.9 (5) 1.3 7.6 Michael Evans 7.9 (51) 1.5 7.7 Dan Wendelin 8.3 (44) 1.4 7.7 Nick Gouskos 7.6 (50) 1.3 7.8 Sue Boggs 6.8 (6) 1.5 7.8 Wayne James 7.8 (32) 0.6 7.8 John Lee 8.0 (13) 0.7 7.8 Drew Aron 8.0 (23) 1.0 7.9 Derek Bosch 8.2 (5) 1.1 8.0 Christine Burik 7.1 (72) 1.9 8.0 Dave Coombs 7.5 (59) 2.4 8.0 Rick Diamant 2.7 (3) 4.6 8.0 Pablo Fuentes 8.7 (2) 0.9 8.0 David Gerstman 8.4 (16) 1.5 8.0 Brian D. Green 8.7 (6) 1.6 8.0 Mark Ho 8.0 (28) 1.3 8.0 Mark Kubo 8.0 (1) 0.0 8.0 Anthony Lafosse 9.1 (6) 0.9 8.0 Danika Lee 8.2 (3) 0.3 8.0 Alwin Li 7.2 (15) 2.5 8.0 Jeff Linder 8.3 (7) 0.7 8.0 Michael Moore 8.6 (9) 2.2 8.0 Aiken Ragabash 7.8 (5) 0.8 8.0 Jason Rego 7.5 (2) 0.7 8.0 Mike Sadowsky 8.1 (6) 0.9 8.0 Jeffrey Schultz 8.0 (41) 1.7 8.0 Craig Seanor 8.6 (6) 0.7 8.0 Douglas Stebila 8.2 (7) 0.3 8.0 Leland Traiman 7.6 (7) 2.4 8.0 Mark Wood 7.9 (77) 1.4 8.0 David Yeung 7.7 (16) 1.1 8.0 John Zaepfel 7.8 (6) 1.3 8.0 Lukas Hauser 8.8 (34) 0.8 8.1 Jo Braker 8.7 (5) 0.9 8.3 David Blanshine 8.0 (19) 1.2 8.5 David Calvin 8.2 (44) 1.3 8.5 Andrew Chiang 8.7 (11) 1.1 8.5 Buzz Dysan 8.8 (5) 0.7 8.5 Saul Epstein 9.3 (27) 0.5 8.5 Greg Franks 7.5 (45) 1.9 8.5 George-Harold Jennings 8.3 (6) 1.1 8.5 Bonnie Miller 9.1 (11) 0.8 8.5 Anton Sanderfoot 8.7 (77) 0.8 8.5 Joan Marie Verba 7.6 (18) 1.1 8.5 Chi-May Wu 7.9 (31) 1.1 8.5 T.J. Young 6.9 (77) 2.4 8.5 Toby Elliott 8.2 (64) 1.0 8.7 Mike Heffner 7.3 (77) 1.6 8.8 Nancy Uno 7.0 (58) 1.9 8.8 Gene Forfar 9.2 (13) 0.8 8.9 Gabrielle Lawson 8.9 (5) 0.8 8.9 John Bafford 8.5 (19) 0.6 9.0 Jason Barnes 8.5 (6) 2.1 9.0 Stewart Blandon 6.8 (11) 2.7 9.0 Louise Diodato 7.8 (6) 2.0 9.0 David Elsey 8.4 (6) 1.0 9.0 Nathan Epstein 9.5 (31) 1.0 9.0 Mary Anne Espenshade 9.0 (7) 0.5 9.0 Minnie Eviliegh 9.0 (1) 0.0 9.0 Robin Harwood 7.8 (6) 1.2 9.0 L. Todd van der Heyden 8.6 (5) 0.4 9.0 William Miller 8.2 (77) 1.4 9.0 Al Mink 8.6 (6) 1.3 9.0 Edward Myers 8.3 (47) 1.3 9.0 Paul Nash 9.2 (7) 0.9 9.0 Darren Noel 9.2 (5) 0.8 9.0 Marko Peric 7.5 (5) 3.7 9.0 John Quintanilla 6.9 (53) 2.3 9.0 Gregg Weaver 8.7 (38) 0.9 9.0 Steve Fenster 8.2 (56) 1.3 9.2 Stephen Flore 6.2 (32) 3.3 9.2 Janet Jarmann 7.2 (14) 2.0 9.5 Linda Lowery 9.2 (6) 0.9 9.5 Paul Manson 8.5 (32) 0.8 9.5 Mat May 9.7 (5) 0.3 9.5 Ashley Miller 8.2 (77) 1.4 9.5 Michael Allan Thomson 9.2 (6) 0.8 9.5 James Eagan 8.9 (10) 1.0 9.6 Kina Rutman 8.1 (39) 1.5 9.7 Blake Thomas 6.8 (66) 2.7 9.7 David Henderson 9.3 (77) 0.7 9.8 Jeremy Jacobs 7.4 (43) 2.7 9.9 Sean Blinn 8.9 (5) 0.8 10.0 Lewis Brooks 9.8 (3) 0.3 10.0 Matthew Brown 6.2 (25) 1.9 10.0 Yudong Chen 8.5 (40) 1.2 10.0 Tony Li 9.5 (19) 0.5 10.0 Bozena Sakowska 6.5 (32) 2.6 10.0 Wade Tomlin 10.0 (1) 0.0 10.0 --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're new to the S.O.S., please keep reading. If you're familiar with the system, you can move along to the next article now. WHAT IS IT? The S.O.S. (Spoiler-free Opinion Summary) is a twice-weekly posting (and a web site) run by yours truly. Its purpose is to provide an indication of the Net's reaction to new episodes of several current sci-fi series, namely * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * Star Trek: Voyager * Sliders HOW DO I JOIN IN? Watch a new episode of any of the series covered by the SOS. Then... * Surf on over to `http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/sos/sos.cgi'. * Enter your first and last name in the form provided there. * Submit your ratings on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best) for the episodes airing that week, or link to additional pages where you can view/modify your ratings for previous episodes of any of the SOS series. ...or, if you don't have web access... * Send an email to `jreiss@vt.edu'. * Include your rating for the episode on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best). * Include your first and last name, especially if it doesn't appear in the header of your message. Having it in your sig is fine. * DO NOT include spoilers! * Try to submit before I make the postings, on Monday and Thursday evenings. If you don't, that's OK. Any ratings I get after the second posting will be used to calculate episode averages and will appear on the web pages, but they will not appear in any postings. * You may submit changes to your ratings later. But it'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if you could use the web interface instead! This concludes this installment of the S.O.S. Join us next posting for more exciting adventures... and keep those opinions coming! Joe -- | NeXTMail OK! | + Then we're dead. | | ________ | + I've been dead before. | | | |__) | ======================================================== | | (_|OE| \EISS | - Capt. Scott & Capt. Spock, "Star Trek VI" | @START@[VOY] S.O.S. #1 - Cold Fire ----_______/_______/_______/ ---------------------------------./\.---- _/_/ _/ / _/_/_/ COLD FIRE ::/ \:: ==_______/_/ / _/_______/ ================================::( )::= _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/ Rating: 7.1 `|,-^\|' _______/_______/_______/ Scale: 10.0 Best ` ' BY AIRDATE BY RATING ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The 37's 6.1 Elogium 5.2 Initiations 7.2 Twisted 5.7 Projections 7.9 The 37's 6.1 Elogium 5.2 Parturition 6.2 Non Sequitur 6.7 Tattoo 6.6 Twisted 5.7 Non Sequitur 6.7 Parturition 6.2 Persistence of Vision 7.0 Persistence of Vision 7.0 [Cold Fire 7.1] Tattoo 6.6 Initiations 7.2 [Cold Fire 7.1] Projections 7.9 ================================== ================================== Average 6.6 Average 6.6 Standard Deviation 0.8 Standard Deviation 0.8 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- The EPISODE BREAKDOWN follows. If you aren't interested, you can move along to the next article now. Cold Fire (81 ratings) --------------------------------------------------------------- ......Voter Stats....... Current Name Average Count StdDev Rating =============================================================== Average 7.1 Standard Deviation 1.7 Median 7.0 =============================================================== Vikas Aggarwal 6.0 (7) 3.6 2.0 Colin O'Connell 5.0 (25) 2.3 3.0 Shawn Marier 5.8 (25) 2.6 3.5 Geoff Cashman 7.9 (9) 1.7 4.0 Misael Fernandez 7.0 (11) 1.6 4.0 Paul Hadsall 5.4 (23) 2.3 4.0 Jeff Sutherland 6.5 (20) 1.9 4.0 Michael Allan Thomson 3.5 (2) 0.7 4.0 Vince Denny 5.8 (3) 1.4 5.0 Louise Diodato 5.8 (10) 1.1 5.0 Andy Johnson 5.8 (25) 1.7 5.0 Nick Gouskos 6.8 (25) 1.3 5.5 Jeff Linder 6.8 (14) 1.0 5.5 Elizabeth Tudhope 7.5 (22) 1.0 5.5 Ron Carman 5.6 (25) 2.7 6.0 Nathan Epstein 3.4 (7) 2.4 6.0 Brian Heung 6.0 (1) 0.0 6.0 Bruce Hoye 5.5 (24) 1.2 6.0 Mark Kubo 7.0 (2) 1.4 6.0 Bill McIntyre 7.5 (2) 2.1 6.0 Jeff Rupley 5.3 (25) 1.6 6.0 Bozena Sakowska 5.8 (25) 2.1 6.0 Chi-May Wu 7.0 (25) 1.3 6.0 Randy Pratt 6.5 (23) 2.2 6.2 Jeremy Jacobs 6.6 (22) 1.8 6.3 Gregory Matteucci 6.7 (11) 1.2 6.3 Pam Buickel 8.0 (10) 1.5 6.5 Janet Jarmann 7.3 (16) 1.4 6.5 Mark Mackey 6.4 (10) 0.9 6.6 Dan Bahauddin 6.2 (10) 1.4 7.0 Allen Blue 7.0 (2) 0.0 7.0 David Carter 7.2 (25) 1.3 7.0 David Hull 6.7 (23) 2.3 7.0 Alwin Li 5.9 (16) 2.0 7.0 Bonnie Miller 5.9 (8) 1.7 7.0 Charles Odell 6.1 (5) 2.7 7.0 Dan Pearl 6.3 (7) 2.1 7.0 John Quintanilla 6.5 (20) 2.5 7.0 Robert Richard 6.6 (3) 1.4 7.0 Mike Sadowsky 6.1 (7) 1.5 7.0 Chris Silvester 6.8 (25) 1.8 7.0 Nora Joy Wade 8.3 (7) 0.9 7.0 David Yeung 6.5 (10) 1.0 7.0 Timothy Cree 6.9 (24) 1.4 7.4 Eric Andeen 7.1 (25) 1.2 7.5 Joe Chelena 7.5 (9) 1.1 7.5 David Elsey 6.7 (6) 2.4 7.5 Natalie Foster 7.4 (24) 0.8 7.5 Mike Heffner 6.8 (25) 1.8 7.5 Koseishoku Osama 7.3 (3) 1.3 7.5 Paul Mackin 6.6 (17) 1.7 7.7 Jeffrey Schultz 7.3 (25) 2.1 7.7 Anton Sanderfoot 8.1 (25) 0.8 7.9 Robert Centor 6.1 (10) 1.5 8.0 Ashley Miller 6.4 (14) 2.0 8.0 Al Mink 6.9 (7) 1.3 8.0 Jason Rego 7.5 (2) 0.7 8.0 Terry Roberts 6.9 (10) 2.1 8.0 Drew Aron 8.0 (25) 0.8 8.1 Eric Nelson 8.1 (1) 0.0 8.1 Sean Erwin 6.4 (24) 1.8 8.3 Paul Manson 8.5 (25) 0.7 8.4 Dianne Parry 7.0 (25) 1.9 8.4 Eric Thornton 8.2 (5) 1.1 8.4 Thomas Catsburg 7.2 (24) 1.2 8.5 Kevin Chu 6.6 (7) 2.3 8.5 Edward Myers 7.3 (25) 1.3 8.5 James Wong 7.8 (25) 1.5 8.5 Yudong Chen 8.0 (22) 1.1 8.7 Buzz Dysan 9.2 (4) 1.0 9.0 Shawn Hill 5.0 (2) 5.7 9.0 John Paulus 9.0 (2) 0.0 9.0 Vahe Peroomian 8.5 (24) 0.7 9.0 Gene Forfar 8.8 (11) 0.4 9.2 Chris Springob 6.0 (25) 2.9 9.5 Michael de Souza 8.3 (10) 0.9 9.6 Darren Noel 9.6 (5) 0.5 9.8 Cari-Lin Armstrong 10.0 (2) 0.0 10.0 Carol Dunsmore 9.7 (3) 0.6 10.0 Anthony Lafosse 9.5 (4) 0.8 10.0 Paul Nash 9.2 (7) 0.7 10.0 --------------------------------------------------------------- If you're new to the S.O.S., please keep reading. If you're familiar with the system, you can move along to the next article now. WHAT IS IT? The S.O.S. (Spoiler-free Opinion Summary) is a twice-weekly posting (and a web site) run by yours truly. Its purpose is to provide an indication of the Net's reaction to new episodes of several current sci-fi series, namely * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * Star Trek: Voyager * Sliders HOW DO I JOIN IN? Watch a new episode of any of the series covered by the SOS. Then... * Surf on over to `http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/sos/sos.cgi'. * Enter your first and last name in the form provided there. * Submit your ratings on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best) for the episodes airing that week, or link to additional pages where you can view/modify your ratings for previous episodes of any of the SOS series. ...or, if you don't have web access... * Send an email to `jreiss@vt.edu'. * Include your rating for the episode on a 0 to 10 scale (10 being best). * Include your first and last name, especially if it doesn't appear in the header of your message. Having it in your sig is fine. * DO NOT include spoilers! * Try to submit before I make the postings, on Monday and Thursday evenings. If you don't, that's OK. Any ratings I get after the second posting will be used to calculate episode averages and will appear on the web pages, but they will not appear in any postings. * You may submit changes to your ratings later. But it'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if you could use the web interface instead! This concludes this installment of the S.O.S. Join us next posting for more exciting adventures... and keep those opinions coming! Joe -- | NeXTMail OK! | Quantum Leapers do it within their own lifetime. | | ________ | | | | |__) | ======================================================== | | (_|OE| \EISS | - Mark Baushke, USENET | ======== @START@Ferengi Rules List =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-= THE RULE$ OF ACQUI$ITION - FERENGI =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-= [You can distribute this list as you wish, as long as you don't modify it!] (Please see notes below for guide to the new format) Compiled by.......: Michael J. Baker (baker@cs.odu.edu) Last updated......: November 13, 1995 New rules.........: 203 (Little Green Men) 1. Once you have their money, you never give it back. [Rom, "The Nagus"] (C) 3. Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to. [Quark, "The Maquis Part II"] (C) 6. Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity. [Zek, "The Nagus"] (C) 7. Keep your ears open. [Odo, "Hands of the Prophet"] (C) 8. Only a fool passes up a business opportunity. [Vung, DS9 Novel #7 - Warchild (p174)] (N/C) Note: Both rules were designated the 8th rule in both books. 8. Small print leads to large risk. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p6)] (N/C) 9. Opportunity plus instinct equals profit. [Nog, "The Storyteller"] (C) 10. Greed is eternal. [Quark, "Prophet Motive"] (C) 13. Anything worth doing is worth doing for money. [The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (p27)] also [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p9)] (N/C) 16. A deal is a deal (...until a better one comes along.) [Quark, "Melora"] (C) Add-on: [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p10)] (Add-on is N/C) 18. A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all. [Ben Sisko & Nog, "Heart of Stone"] (C) 19. Satisfaction is not guaranteed. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p12)] (N/C) 21. Never place friendship above profit. [Quark, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 22. A wise man can hear profit in the wind. [Pel, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 27. There's nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p16)] (N/C) 31. Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother. (...insult something he cares about instead.) [Quark, "The Siege"] (C) Add-on: [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p17)] (Add-on is N/C) 33. It never hurts to suck up to the boss. [Quark & Pel, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 34. War is good for business. [Quark & Dax, "Destiny"] (C) 35. Peace is good for business. [Quark & Dax, "Destiny"] (C) 40. She can touch your lobes but never your latinum. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p23)] (N/C) 41. Profit is its own reward. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p24)] (N/C) 44. Never confuse wisdom with luck. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p25)] (N/C) 47. Never trust anyone whose suit is nicer than your own. [Quark, "Rivals"] (C) 48. The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife. [Pel, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 52. Never ask when you can take. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p28)] (N/C) 57. Good customers are as rare as latinum, treasure them. [Quark, "Armageddon Game"] (C) 58. There is no substitute for success. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p30)] (N/C) 59. Free advice is seldom cheap. [Quark, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 60. Let's you and him fight. [Tunk, TNG Novel #33 - Balance of Power (p87)] (N/C) 60. Keep your lies consistent. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p33)] (N/C) Note: Both rules were designated as the 60th rules in each book. 62. The riskier the road, the greater the profit. [Pel, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 65. Win or lose, there's always Huyperian beetle snuff. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p36)] (N/C) 69. Ferengi are not responsible for the stupidity of other races. [Tunk, TNG Novel #33 - Balance of Power (p179)] (N/C) 75. Home is where the heart is, but the stars are made of latinum. [Quark, "Civil Defense"] (C) 76. Every once in a while declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies. [Quark, "The Homecoming"] (C) 79. Beware of the Vulcan greed for knowledge. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p41)] (N/C) 82. The flimsier the product, the higher the price. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p42)] (N/C) 85. Never let the competition know what you're thinking. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p43)] (N/C) 89. Ask not what your profits can do for you, ask what you can do for your profits. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p44)] (N/C) 94. Females and finances don't mix. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p46)] (N/C) 97. Enough...is never enough. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p47)] (N/C) 99. Trust is the biggest liability of all. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p48)] (N/C) 102. Nature decays, latinum last forever. [Quark & Nog, "The Jem'Hadar"] (C) 103. Sleep can interfere .... [cut off] [Pel, "Rules of Acquisition"] (C) 104. Faith moves mountains...of inventory. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p50)] (N/C) 106. There is no honor in poverty. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p51)] (N/C) 109. Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack. [Quark, "Rivals"] (C) 111. Treat people in your debt like family. Exploit them. [Ben Sisko, "Past Tense, Part I"] (C) 112. Never have sex with the boss's sister. [Quark, "Playing God"] (C) 113. Always have sex with the boss. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p56)] (N/C) 121. Everything is for sale, including friendship. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p58)] (N/C) 123. Even a blind man can recognize the glow of latinum. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p59)] (N/C) 139. Wives serve, brothers inherit. [Odo, "Necessary Evil"] (C) 141. Only fools pay retail. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p61)] (N/C) 144. There's nothing wrong with charity...as long as it winds up in your pocket. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p62)] (N/C) 153. Sell the sizzle, not the steak. [Quark, ST: DS9 Comic #22] (N/C) 162. Even in the worst of times someone turns a profit. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p63)] (N/C) 177. Know your enemies...but do business with them always. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p64)] (N/C) 181. Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p65)] (N/C) 189. Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p66)] (N/C) 191. A Ferengi waits to bid until his opponents have exhausted themselves. [Tunk, TNG Novel #33 - Balance of Power (p157)] (N/C) [Tunk was corrected as to the number of this RofA as being 184] 192. Never cheat a Klingon...unless you're sure you can get away with it. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p67)] (N/C) 194. It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in your door. [Quark wasn't sure of the number of this one] [Quark, "Whispers"] (C) 202. The justification of profit is profit. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p69)] (N/C) 203. New customers are like razor toothed gree worms, they can be succulent, but sometimes they bite back. [Rom, "Little Green Men"] (C) 214. Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach. [Quark, "The Maquis Part I"] (C) 216. Never gamble with an empath. [Quark, DS9 Novel #12 - The Laertian Gamble (p7)] 217. You can't free a fish from water. [Quark, "Past Tense, Part I"] (C) 218. Sometimes what you get free costs entirely too much. [Quark, ST: DS9 Comic #12] (N/C) 218. Always know what you're buying. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p71)] (N/C) Note: Both rules were designated as the 218th rule in each book. 219. Possession is eleven-tenths of the law. [Tunk, TNG Novel #33 - Balance of Power (p67)] (N/C) 223. Beware the man who doesn't make time for oo-mox. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p72)] (N/C) 229. Latinum lasts longer than lust. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p74)] (N/C) 236. You can't buy fate. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p75)] (N/C) 242. More is good...all is better. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p76)] (N/C) 255. A wife is a luxury...a smart accountant a necessity. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p77)] (N/C) 261. A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p78)] (N/C) 266. When in doubt, lie. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p79)] (N/C) 284. Deep down everyone's a Ferengi. [ST: DS9 TFRoA (p80)] (N/C) 285. No good deed ever goes unpunished. [Quark, "The Collaborator"] (C) 286. When Morn leaves, it's all over. [Quark, "The House of Quark"] (C) Note: Not a Real RofA, but canon. Revised Rules of Acquisition (with "R" designation) ---------------------------- 1R. If they want their money back, give it to them. [Quark, "Prophet Motive"] 10R. Greed is dead. [Quark, "Prophet Motive"] 21R. Never place profit before friendship. [Rom, "Prophet Motive"] 22R. Latinum tarnishes, but family is forever. [Rom, "Prophet Motive"] 23R. Money can never replace dignity. [Rom, "Prophet Motive"] 285R. A good deed is its own reward. [Rom, "Prophet Motive"] =-=-=-=-= NOTES =-=-=-=-= * In the TNG episode "Bloodlines", Cmdr. Riker mentions that the Ferengi governement is debating an amendment to the Rules of Acquisition. (stardate 47829.1) * We know from Quark (The Maquis Part I) and from Pel (Rules of Acquisition) that there are 285 rules of acquisition. * Quark mentioned rule #223 in "Profit and Loss". * Pel may have invented what she said for the rule #103. * It seems that Quark violated the rule #112 when he was younger. * The revised rules came about when Zek had an encounter which changed the Grand Nagus into a Ferengi without greed. By the end of "Prophet Motive" Zek returned to normal & thus these rules were never accepted. * Some of the rules listed here are "non-canon" meaning that they are not official (i.e. from the TV series). These rules come from both TNG & DS9 comic books and paperbacks. They are listed here however, because they seem to fit. Non-canon rules are designated by a (N/C) after the rule. While canon rules (those officially from the series) are designated with a (C). * Pocket Books recented printed a book called "The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition" which included most of the rules from the series & added many more...almost one-quarter of the rules have now been "uncovered." Those rules from the series were not documented from this book as well, only the "non-canon" ones. The intro by Quark is very fuuny & I recommend the book to any RofA folowers. :) Rules from that book are shortened as (ST: DS9 TFRofA). * Some rules have been listed with duplicate numbers. This is not a mis-print. Both of the two sources have the same number rule. In all cases, both sources have been non-canon. So, both rules & sources have been listed for completeness. * If you're not on the list & want to be, send me your e-mail address & I'll add you on. Or, you can check out my RofA Home Page at http://www.cs.odu.edu/~baker/rules.html or for those with Netscape v1.2 check out http://www.cs.odu.edu/~baker/rules3.html -- Michael Baker, Senior, Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University <baker@cs.odu.edu> -or- <mjb600z@barbados.cc.odu.edu> Let's Go Pittsburgh Penguins! Lord Stanley Returns in '96! (I hope :) Let's Go Hampton Roads Admirals! Bring back the Riley Cup! Gratz to the Tampa Bay Storm - Arena Bowl Champs '91 '93 '95 :) President of the Alpha Beta Omega Chapter - Alpha Phi Omega Maintainer of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition List @START@T&J Software BBS [H[1C[0;36;44m████████╗[4C██╗[9C██╗[19C[30;40m███████████████████ [2H [36;44m╚══██╔══╝[4C██║[9C██║[3H[4C██║[4C████████╗[6C██║[40m[s [u[44m[18C[1;40mSysOp: Tom Wildoner[4H [0;36;44m██║[4C██╔[40m[s [u[44m═██╔═╝[1C██[3C██║[21C[1;40m(717)325-9481[5H [s [u[0;36;44m██║[4C██████║[3C╚█████╔╝[10C[1;37;40mINTERNET: [33mtjs[s [uoft@postoffice.ptd.net[6H [0;36;44m╚═╝[4C╚═════╝[4C╚════╝[40m[s [u[44m[15C[1;37;40mFIDO: [33m1:268/400[7H[8H [0;36;44m███[40m[s [u[44m████╗[2C██████╗[2C███████╗[1C████████╗[1C██╗[4C██╗[2C[40m[s [u[44m█████╗[2C██████╗[2C███████╗[9H[3C██╔════╝[1C██╔═══██╗[40m[s [u[44m[1C██╔════╝[1C╚══██╔══╝[1C██║[4C██║[1C██╔══██╗[1C██╔═[40m[s [u[44m═██╗[1C██╔════╝[10H[3C███████╗[1C██║[3C██║[1C█████╗[40m[s [u[44m[6C██║[4C██║[1C█╗[1C██║[1C███████║[1C██████╔╝[1C████[40m[s [u[44m█╗[11H[3C╚════██║[1C██║[3C██║[1C██╔══╝[6C██║[4C██║██[40m[s [u[44m█╗██║[1C██╔══██║[1C██╔══██╗[1C██╔══╝[12H[3C███████║[40m[s [u[44m[1C╚██████╔╝[1C██║[9C██║[4C╚███╔███╔╝[1C██║[2C██║[1C[40m[s [u[44m██║[2C██║[1C███████╗[13H[3C╚══════╝[2C╚═════╝[2C╚═╝[40m[s [u[44m[9C╚═╝[5C╚══╝╚══╝[2C╚═╝[2C╚═╝[1C╚═╝[2C╚═╝[1C╚══════╝[40m [44m[14H[15H[53C██████╗[2C██████╗[2C███████╗[16H[4C[40m[s [u[1;33;40mSpecializing in DOORS and UTILITIES![13C[0;36;44m██╔[40m[s [u[44m══██╗[1C██╔══██╗[1C██╔════╝[17H[3C[30;40m█[1;33mOur Doors[s [u[0;30m█[1;33mare[0;30m█[1;33minformational,[21C[0;36;44m██[40m[s [u[44m████╔╝[1C██████╔╝[1C███████[18H[4C[1;33;40meducational, or [s [ujust for fun. So[17C[0;36;44m██╔══██╗[1C██╔══██╗[1C╚════██[40m [44m[19H[4C[1;33;40mcome[0;30m█[1;33mby[0;30m█[1;33mand relax[s [u[0;30m█[1;33mat[0;30m█[1;33ma[0;30m█[1;33mplace[21C[s [u[0;36;44m██████╔╝[1C██████╔╝[1C███████║[20H[4C[1;33;40mwhere[s [u[0;30m█[1;33mour DOORS[0;30m█[1;33mare[0;30m█[1;33malways open![s [u[17C[0;36;44m╚═════╝[2C╚═════╝[2C╚══════╝[21H[22H[23H[0m @START@ Current versions of T&J Software Doors/Util's --== T&J Software ==-- Current versions of doors and utilities File Request from 1:268/400 Program Version MAGIC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Announce!: Send screens prior to door. v3.70 ANNOUNCE ANSI Vote Booth: Users vote on screens. v2.60 ANSIVB * GoodUser: Good user door access only. v1.70 GOODUSER Money Market: Stock market game. v4.00 MONEYM OneRun: Set door entries. v3.50 ONERUN T&J Lotto: Lotto number door. v1.70 LOTTO * BadUser: Restricts door access. v3.00 BADUSER Convince!: Convince users to reg doors. v1.50 CONVINCE ! Dollarmania!: Online slot machine. v3.00 DMANIA Lasso!: Classic online hangman door. v1.50 LASSO Lemonade: Sell the most to win. v4.10 LEMONADE Prize Vault: Guess the combination. v4.60 PVAULT Scramble: Unscramble words 28,000+ v4.00 SCRAMBLE Bordello: Online whore house! v1.51 BORDELLO Video Poker: Just like the casino's. v1.71 VIDEOP * Ratio!: UL/DL ratio for door access. v1.20 RATIO Studs!: Adult online action! v1.50 STUDS Studette!: Adult online action! v1.20 STUDETTE Strip Poker!: 5 card stud, male/female. v1.31 SPOKER OnLine!: Text viewing/searching. v1.90 ONLINE T&J Raffle!: Prize give-away door. v1.10 RAFFLE On Line Legal Advisor Door v1.10 OLA * AgeCheck!: Age limitations for doors. v1.10 AGE * TJYesterday: Yesterday's callers WC! v2.10 YEST * TJStat: Activity log analyzer WC! v2.10 TJSTAT * TJTop30: Top Downloaded files WC! v1.20 TOP30 * WinCheck!: Add on for T&J Lotto. v2.00 Bible Online: The complete Bible. v1.00 BIBLE Business Cards: Share with other BBS's! v1.00 BCARD LimitLog: Limits logs per day WC! v1.00 LIMIT * WCAlarm: Alarms on ERROR.LOG WC! v1.00 WCALARM JunkYard: Collect/Sell garbage. v1.00 JUNKYARD * ExState: Business Cards utility. v1.00 * World Fact Book 1994 v2.00 WORLDFB FedJobs: Online federal jobs. v1.10 FEDJOB Apocrypha Door: Complete text. v1.10 APOC * TJNew (WCX): New callers WC! v1.00 NEWWCX * TopDL (WCX): Top downloaders WC! v1.10 TOPDL * TopUL (WCX): Top uploaders WC! v1.00 TOPUL * TJSLevel (WCX): Sec. level sorter WC! v1.00 SLEVEL * TJBad (WCX): Bad user lister WC! v1.00 BADWCX * TJGood (WCX): Good user lister WC! v1.00 GOODWCX * TJTFiles (WCX): Top files WC! v1.00 TFILE * TJMessage (WCX): Top message poster WC! v1.00 TMESSAGE * TJWho? (WCX): Who's online? WC! v1.00 TJWHO * FArea (WCX): File area lister WC! v1.00 FAREA Consumer Information Door v1.00 CINFO * U.S. Census Door v1.00 CENSUS Book of Mormon: Complete text. v1.00 Consumer Product Safety Door v1.10 CSAFETY * Across The Wire Monthly magazine! v1.01 ATW * 144BBS Door: View/Search online. v1.00 144BBS * InBetween: Classic online card game. v1.00 TJINB Endangered Species Door v1.10 ESDOOR Hubble Space Telescope Info Door v1.00 HST DogFAQ Info Door v1.00 DOGFAQ *= Free door/utility program WC!= Wildcat! BBS Program != InterBBS Door! All doors can be found on the T&J Software BBS at: (717)325-9481 28.8 (3 Nodes - 28.8k) Internet: tjsoft@postoffice.ptd.net FIDO: 1:268/400 FREQ: TJSOFT for a complete information package! (about 25k) FTP: ftp europa.com /outgoing/DOORS/tj-software anonymous login with EMail address for your password. Visiting Sysops have instant access to all doors/utility programs. How to get the latest copy of all T&J Software Doors/Utility Programs: 1. Format SIX HD disks (3.5" only). 2. Get THREE dollar bills. 3. Mail your $3 and SIX HD disks to: T&J Software 397 W. Broadway Jim Thorpe, PA 18229 ──┬── │om T&J Software @START@The UPPER ROOM BBS [H[1C[44m [0;1;44mBoise & the Treasure Valley's Fir[40m[s [u[44mst Christian BBS! [0;31;44m▄ [2H[1C [40m[s [u[44m [1mServing the Lord 24 hours since 1992 [40m[s [u[44m [0;31;44m▀█▀[3H[1C [40m[s [u[44m ▀ [4H[1C[40m[s [u[44m [1;36mThe UPPER ROOM Bulletin Board [40m[s [u[44m [0;30;44m│ [5H[1C [1;36m208-33[40m[s [u[44m1-0082 8-N-1 14.4kbps [40m[s [u[0;30;44m│ [6H[1C [36mBBS Software: Spitfi[40m[s [u[44mre v3.5 [30m▄[1C▄ [40m[s [u[44m [7H[1C [36mYour Sysop: Steve McNutt, BAC [40m[s [u[44m [30m│ │ ╟[37;40m|[30;44m╢ [40m [44m[8H[1C [36mSFNet Hub_ID: A0208000 [1C[40m[s [u[37;40m·· ···[30;44m█ [1C[1;33;40m·[0;30;44m█ [40m[s [u[44m [9H[1C [40m[s [u[44m[2C[37;40m::::::[30;44m██ [1C[1;33;40m■[0m■■[s [u[30;44m█ [10H[1C │ [40m[s [u[44m [31m░░░░░░░░░░[2C[37;40m" "" " ""[30;44m█ [1C[40m[s [u[37;40m.....[30;44m█ [11H[1C │ │ [40m[s [u[44m [31m░░░░░░░░[1m░░░░░░░░[2C[0m" """" """"[30;44m█[40m[s [u[44m [1C[37;40m:.:::[30;44m█ [12H[1C │ [40m[s [u[44m [37;40m" """[44m [31m░░░░░░░░[1m░░░░░░░[30;45m░░░░[40m[s [u[45m░░░░[2C[0m""" """"""" [31;44m░░[1C[37;40m::.::[30;44m[40m[s [u[44m█ [13H[1C[37;40m===[44m [1C[40m" """ [s [u[31;44m░░░░[1m░[1C[0m:: : [1;30;45m░░░░░░░[31m░░░░░░░░[1C[40m[s [u[45m[0m"" """""" "" [1;31;44m░░[1C[0m:::.: [31;44m░ [40m[s [u[44m [14H[2C[37;40m= =[44m [31m░[1C[37;40m""""" [s [u[1;31;44m░░░░[30;45m░[1C[0m:::: [1;31;45m░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒[40m[s [u[45m[1C[0m" """""""""" [1;30;45m░░[1C[0m.:::: [31;44m░░░░[40m[s [u[44m░░ [15H[1C[37;40m==== [31;44m░░░[1C[37;40m"" "" [s [u[1;30;45m░[1C░░░[1C[0m: :: [1;31;45m▒▒▒▒▒[1C[0m. [s [u[1;31;45m▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[1C[0m" """" """" [1;31;45m░░[1C[0m::::: [s [u[1;31;44m░░░░░░[0;31;44m░░░░░░ [16H[1C[37;40m==== [s [u[1;31;44m░░░[1C[0m" "" . [1;31;45m░░░[1C[0m:::: [s [u[1;31;45m▓▓▓▓[2C[0m:. . [1;31;45m███[3C[0m"""" """" " [s [u[1;31;45m▒▒[1C[0m.:::: [1;30;45m░░░░░░[31;44m░░░[1C[0m·· · [17H ===[7C""" . [1;31;45m▒[1C[0m..:: ::.[1;31;45m██[1C[0m..::.[s [u. [1;31m▀ [0m""" """""""" [1;31;45m▓▓[1C[0m::······· [s [u[1;31;45m░░[30m░░░[1C[0m:: :[18H[61C" " " " [1;31;45m▒░░[40m[s [u[45m░[2C[0m:::[19H [1;32m* [0;32m30 Online Games [1;36m* [s [u[0;36mOnline CD-Rom [1;31m* [0;31mChristian Reading Room[20H [s [u[1;35m* [0;35mAcross The Wire Magazine [1;37m* [0mSFNet Interna[s [utional .QWK Net[21H [1;31m* [0;31m33 File Areas [1;36m* [0;36m[s [us[1;33mWORD[0;36mnet - God & Country .QWK Net [1;35m* [0;35mMan[s [uy Other Features[22H[23H[30m [D[0m @START@People Who Need People [H[3C[0;1m■[36m■[0m■[1;34m■[64C[37m■[36m■[0m■[1;34m■[2H [s [u[36m▄▓▒[0;36m█▓▄[62C[1m▄▓▒[0;36m█▓▄[3H[1;37m▄▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█[s [u▓▒[1;34m░▄[58C[37m▄▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▄[4H[37m■■[36m■■■[s [u[0;36m■■■[1;34m■■[58C[37m■■[36m■■■[0;36m■■■[1;34m■■[5H[37m▐▓[s [u[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m██████████████████████████████████[s [u████████████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[6H[s [u[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████[31;47mHÉår ¥É[40m[s [u[37;40m███████████████████████████████████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[s [u[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[7H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[s [u[0m████████[31;47mÆÑd WÉ£çòmÉ tô....[37;40m███████████████████████[s [u█[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[8H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[47m [40m███████████████████████[s [u██████████████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[9H[s [u[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[47m [31m[40m[s [u[47mPeople Who Need People[37;40m████████████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m[s [u[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[10H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[s [u[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47m(312) 271 - 4733 8N1[37;40m█[s [u[47m [30m28,800 Bps[37;40m██████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[11H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m███[s [u█████[30;47mAdults Only (18+) [37;40m████████████████████████[s [u[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[12H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47mFeaturing:[37;40m████████[s [u████████████████████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌ [13H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47m∙[40m[s [u[37;40m█[30;47mShareware & PD Files - NightOwl CD's [37;40m███[s [u[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[14H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47m·[37;40m█[30;47m100[40m[s [u[47m's of Adult GIFS - Super Smutware CD[1;37m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[15H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m███[s [u█████[30;47m∙[37;40m█[30;47mLots of interesting Newsgroups [40m[s [u[37;40m████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[16H[s [u[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47m·[40m[s [u[37;40m█[30;47mInternet UUCP Connect[37;40m███████████████████[s [u[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[17H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47m∙[37;40m█[30;47mOnl[40m[s [u[47mine Games Featuring L.O.R.D. 3.26a[37;40m███[1;47m░▒▓█[40m[s [u[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[18H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[s [u[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m████████[30;47m·[37;40m█[30;47mMultiple Netw[40m[s [u[47morks G-X Rated SIG's[37;40m██████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌[19H[37m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌░▒▓█[0m███[s [u█████[30;47m∙[37;40m█[30;47mPersonals/Global Registry [40m[s [u[37;40m█████████████[1;47m░▒▓█[40m▐▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▌ [20H[37m■■[36m■■■[0;36m■■■[1;34m■■[58C[37m■■[36m■■■[0;36m■■■[s [u[1;34m■■[21H[37m▀▓[36m█▓▒[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▀[58C[37m▀▓[36m█▓▒[s [u[0;36m█▓▒[1;34m░▀[22H [36m▀▓▒[0;36m█▓▀[62C[1m▀▓▒[0;36m█▓▀ [23H [1;37m■[36m■[0m■[1;34m■[64C[37m■[36m■[0m■[1;34m■[0m @START@PharmAZcy Online! ███████ ██ ██████ ██████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀ ██ ███████ ██████ █████ █████ ███████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ █ ██ ▀ ██ █ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▄ ██ ▀██▀ ██ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ██ █ ██ ██ ██ ██████ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ▀▀ ██ Member: (WME-Net) ██ ██ █████ ██ ██ █████ ████ ██ World ██ ██ ██ █ ██ ██ ██ █ ██▄ ██ Message ███████ ██ █ ██ ██ ██ █ ██▄▄ ▄▄ Exchange * Home of "Ask A Pharmacist" * ┌────────────────────────┐ Pharmacy/Medical/Computing │ Your SysOp: │ Bulletin Board Service. │ Michael Guzzo │ Node 1: (602) 955-3835 │ Pharm.D. Candidate │ 2400-14,400bps, V.32/V.42bis └────────────────────────┘ Phoenix, AZ - 24 Hrs/Day @START@Door Author Marketing Association! ▀▌ ▐ ▐ ▌ ▄▀ ▀▄ ▀▄ ▀▄▐▄▄ ▄▌▄█▄▀▄ ▄▌█▌ These files bought to you ▀▄▀█▄▄ ▀███▀▀▄▄▄▄▄ ▀███▀█▌▀ courtesy of the ▀▄▄ ▀███▀▀▀█▄████████▄ ██ ▐█▄▀ ────────────────────────────── ▀▀▀████▄▄▄ ▀██▀▄███ ██████████▌▐███▀ █▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀█▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀█ ▀███▀▀▀▄▄ █ ,▌▐ ,████████ ██ █ █ █▀▀█ █ █ █ █▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▄▄▄ ▀▄▄█████▄ ▀▄█▄▀███████▀▄██ ▀▀▄▄ █▄▄█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █▄▄█ █▄▄█ ▄▄▄█ ▐▓████████ ▀▄██▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ██▀█▀▄▄ ▓███████▀▄█████████████▄▀ ▀▀▄▀▄ Door Authors Marketing Association ▀▓█▓██▀▄████████████▓██ █ ▀▄ (DAMA) Support BBS! ▀▀▀▄█▄█████▓████▓███▌▄▄▄▄ ▐██ ▀██▓██▓█▓███▀▐▌█▄ ▀▀▀▄▄ ▐▀█▌ ▀▀██▓█▀▀▀█▄ ▀█ ▀▄ ╖ another great ▐▀ █ ▄▄▄████▀█▄▄ ▀▄ █ ║ ╓ ╥ ╖ ╥╖ ╓─ ╓─╥ ─╫─ ║ ▀▌ ██▀▄ ▀█▌ ▀█ ▀▄ █ ╙╨╜ ╨ ╙─ ╨╜ ╙─ ╙─╨ ╙ ■ (Ver 4.11) ▐ █ ▄▀█ █ █▄ ▄██▄ ▄▄ ▌ ▐▌ ▌ ▐▌ █ Bob Dalton - Sysop (501) 741-5699 ▐███▓▄▄▌▐▌ █ █ ▀▄ ╥ ╥ ╓─╖ ╖ ╓─╖ ╓─╖ ╥╖╓╥ ╓─╖ ▐ ███▓█▐▌ █▄▄ ▀ ▌ █ ║╓╖║ ╟─ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║╙╜║ ╟─ ▐ ▐██▒▓██▌▐▌█▀▀▀▀▀ ╙╜╙╜ ╙─╜ ╙─╜ ╙─╜ ╙─╜ ╨ ╨ ╙─╜ ▄ ███▄▀█ █▌█▄▀ (FIDO 1:391/3010) ▀▀█▀▄██▐▄▄ HOME OF BOB DALTON SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AND DOOR GAMES! FREQ "FILES" for the latest list of all my files or FREQ "DOORS" for a list of all DAMA Products wcPRO files listing. Date: 11/19/95 00:14 **** [5 ] BOB DALTON DOOR PRODUCTS ADGT103.ZIP 461K ADVENTURE DOOR GAME TOOLKIT - VERS 1.03 Tired of paying for BIOG200.ZIP 119K BIOGUIDE BIORHYTHM Door Program - Vers 2.00 Fun and CAMPT200.ZIP 125K CAMPTOWN RACES Door Game - Vers 2.00 Fun and easy to play DBT100.ZIP 244K DEATH BY TRIVIA Door Game and Construction Set - Version DDIGM101.ZIP 52K DDIGM 1.0 Lord IGM door Kit for Turbo Pascal. Using the same DDPLUS71.ZIP 716K DDPLUS 7.1 Turbo Pascal 7.0 Door Kit Supports most popular DDSET663.ZIP 50K DDPlus Setup package for DDPlus based Door products - ESC100.ZIP 119K ESCAPE Door Game - Vers 1.00 - Fun and entertaining arcade GFEST123.ZIP 134K GRUNT FEST -Mech Inf Combat Door Game Vers 1.23 - Hooahh... GOC210.ZIP 311K GODFATHER OF CRIME Door Game - Vers 2.10 A rip-roaring, RTP197.ZIP 234K RISE TO POWER Door Game - Vers 1.97 With Automatic SOTL113.ZIP 132K SHIP OF THE LINE - Sailing Ship Combat Door Game - Vers TFB113.ZIP 132K TASK FORCE BROADSIDE - Pacific Naval War Door Game - Vers WFRT113.ZIP 127K WAY FREIGHT-Rail Operations Door Game Vers 1.13- No time for **** [7 ] LOCATHA INDUSTRIES DOORS BGRID435.ZIP 1295K BATTLE GRID 4.35 * Release Version * EGA/VGA/SB Animated FOB135.ZIP 1120K FIELDS OF BATTLE 1.35 * Release Vrsn* EGA/VGA/SB Animated GLOCK102.ZIP 1049K GRID-LOCK 1.02 ** Release Version ** VGA256c/SB Animated GSHIP104.ZIP 911K GUNSHIP 3000 1.04 * Release Version * VGA256c/SB Animated PEYES124.ZIP 1064K PRIVATE EYES 1.24 * Release Version * VGA256c/SB Animated SLOT124.ZIP 1273K SLOT-TRIS 1.24 ** Release Version ** VGA256c/SB Animated **** [10 ] DAVE WENDLING DOOR PRODUCTS BUSTED50.ZIP 89K Bust those untrustworthy users with this joke on-line door! ENQUIR50.ZIP 93K Enquirer on-line door. Enquiring minds want to know <grin> TERRA837.ZIP 786K Terra-Firma Real Time Interactive Space War Biggest and the WHODUN54.ZIP 251K WhoDunIt Mystery/Solve the murder Door game. **** [13 ] DIGITAL INTERFACE SOFTWARE FR360.ZIP 951K Future Runner On-Line Door Game for most All BBS Programs. IE200.ZIP 534K Island Empires On-Line Door Game for most BBS programs. NW800.ZIP 546K Nuclear War On-Line Door Game for most BBS Programs. Modeled RK950.ZIP 428K Rebel Kingdom On-Line Door Game for most BBS Programs. Rebel **** [15 ] EXDX DOOR PRODUCTS EAW251.ZIP 318K EMPIRES AT WAR Door Game - Vers 2.51 Game of conquest and LORDCHAT.ZIP 41K LORDCHAT 1.0 Lord IGM Multi-node action word chat. by Steve RAW256.ZIP 276K ROMANS AT WAR Door Game - Vers 2.56 From the Pillars of RBBJ105.ZIP 155K RIVERBOAT BLACKJACK Door Game - Vers 1.05 Multi-player RRX220.ZIP 345K RAILROAD EMPIRES Door Game - Vers 2.20 Railroad Tycoon Door SFC110.ZIP 431K STAR FORCE COMMANDER 1.10 Door Game The Ultimate **** [19 ] DREAMWARE DOOR PRODUCTS DRMACE14.ZIP 78K [ Acey Deucy v1.4 ] Acey Deucy, also known as 'Between the DRMANN12.ZIP 59K Announce! v1.2 A GREAT Announcement Door! This is your DRMAPT13.ZIP 53K Adopt Me!v1.3 The 'Door Adoption' Concept! Ask you users DRMBJD11.ZIP 81K [ BlackJack Dice v1.1 ] Play BlackJack with dice! Can you DRMBOX11.ZIP 81K [ BoxDice v1.1 ] Based on the classic card/dice game. DRMBSP13.ZIP 95K BattleShipv1.3 DreamWARE's BattleShip!! The classic game of DRMCDS14.ZIP 77K [ Card Sharks v1.4 ] Card Sharks, also known as High Low. DRMCHT14.ZIP 101K DreamCHATv1.4 The MUSICAL Chat Door NOW WITH MORE SONGS DRMCRP11.ZIP 78K [ DreamCRAPS v1.1 ] An EXCELLENT Vegas style Craps door for DRMDWN11.ZIP 86K DreamDOWNv1.1 The ULTIMATE Download Door! Use to allow DRMHNG11.ZIP 285K DreamHANG v1.1 The ULTIMATE Online HangMan game! 100% ANSi DRMLOG13.ZIP 66K DreamLOGv1.3 DreamLOG is a beautiful caller log display DRMLST14.ZIP 131K DreamLISTv1.4 DreamLIST is an online BBSList Data- Base. DRMORD18.ZIP 114K DreamORDERv1.8 The ULTIMATE Online Catalog/Order Door! Let DRMOTH12.ZIP 72K Othellov1.2 The classic board-game comes to your BBS! 100% DRMPRS11.ZIP 76K PressIT v1.1 The classic dice-game comes to your BBS! 100% DRMROM14.ZIP 309K [ DreamROM v1.4 ] The ULTIMATE CDRom Access Door! Let your DRMSEZ11.ZIP 78K [ Simon Sez v1.1 ] Simon comes to your BBS! You remember DRMSHF10.ZIP 426K [ DreamSHUFFLE v1.0 ] The Online Word Scramble Game! Over DRMSLT15.ZIP 76K DreamSLOTSv1.5 The ULTIMATE in Online Slot Machines! 100% DRMSTA11.ZIP 80K [ DreamSTACK v1.1 ] The ULTIMATE Tetris Door! Totally Sysop DRMSTK11.ZIP 80K [ DreamSTAKES v1.1 ] Based on the classic dice game DRMTCH13.ZIP 75K DreamMATCHv1.3 Similar to "Concentration" 100% ANSi Grafix DRMTRG11.ZIP 79K [ Target Dice v1.1 ] Based on the classic dice game Target DRMTRK10.ZIP 81K [ DreamTRACK v1.0 ] ~<>^ The Animated Dog Racing Door ^/\~ DRMYTZ10.ZIP 87K [ Yahtzee v1.0 ] The ULTIMATE Yahtzee Door! Simply the ROM0618.ZIP 296K 6.18.95 DreamROM v1.5 (Public Beta) File includes **** [20 ] HIGH VOLTAGE SOFTWARE ENS110.ZIP 166K Ensemble 1.10 - This is a compainion door to NEXUS ADULT FOD201.ZIP 229K Forces of Darkness 2.01 - Greatest space role playing FWARS210.ZIP 230K Food Wars 2.10 - Exciting door game from the makers of Nexus NEXUS260.ZIP 170K Nexus 2.60 - Incredible match maker door! This is the best **** [21 ] T&J DOOR PRODUCTS AGECHK11.ZIP 93K AgeCheck! Door v1.1: Check users age before door entry. BORD!151.ZIP 438K Bordello! Door v1.51 -- Run your own whore house and fight CID!10.ZIP 281K Consumer Info Door v1.00: Contains info for consumers with CPS11.ZIP 205K Consumer Product Safety Door v1.10: Contains info for DMANIA30.ZIP 214K Dollarmania! Door v3.00 -- InterBBS online slot machines! DOGFAQ10.ZIP 462K DogFAQ Info Door v1.00 from T&J Software and Cindy Tittle ESDOOR11.ZIP 183K Endangered Species Door v1.10 from T&J Software. Allows FEDJOB10.ZIP 344K FedJobs! Door v1.00: Your online access to 100's of gov't HST10.ZIP 189K Hubble Space Telescope Info Door v1.00: Contains all the LASSO!15.ZIP 228K Lasso! Door v1.5 by T&J Software, based on the popular LEMON40.ZIP 125K Lemonade Door v4.00 - run your own stand! Supports various MONEYM40.ZIP 136K Money Market v4.00 Door Game: Compete in a simple stock OLA!12.ZIP 209K --== On Line Legal Advisor Door v1.2 ==-- Legal advice on ONLIN!19.ZIP 165K OnLine! Door v1.9 -- View/Search TEXT files online, view PV!46.ZIP 131K Prize Vault! Door v4.6: Crack the 4 number combination and SCRAM!40.ZIP 233K Scramble! Door v4.0 - unscramble the words in a set time SPOKE131.ZIP 155K Strip Poker! v1.31--The adult card game! Play against 10 STUDET12.ZIP 209K Studette! v1.2 -- Adult action door game! Be the TOP STUDS!15.ZIP 214K Studs! v1.5 -- Adult action door game! Be the TOP STUD on TJBC10.ZIP 152K T&J Business Cards Door v1.0: Online business cards for your TJINB10.ZIP 149K T&J InBetween Door v1.00: A few twists on an old game! TJLOT17.ZIP 137K The T&J Lotto Door v1.70 - win at the lottery by picking the TJPOK171.ZIP 178K T&J Video Poker! v1.71-- You set the payoff, 2's or better TJRAF!11.ZIP 134K The T&J Raffle Door v1.1: Run a raffle on your BBS! Fixed # TJYARD10.ZIP 333K JunkYard! Door v1.00 by T&J Software: A completely new door **** [23 ] DEATH BY TRIVIA DATA MODULES TV-TRIV.ZIP 3K TV Trivia data module for Death By Trivia Door Game **** [29 ] ADGT DOOR GAME MODULES CA-TSA.ZIP 55K file "book" on how to to design and make a good text adventurDETECT.ZIP 62K module for use with ADGT. Already compiled and ready to use. DUDLEY.ZIP 47K Module for use with ADGT. Needs to be compiled before use. ELECTR.ZIP 80K module for use with ADGT. Already compiled and ready for use.LAB.ZIP 108K module for use with ADGT. Already compiled and ready to use. PORK2S.ZIP 16K Module for use with ADGT. (PG13) - Needs to be compiled beforPORTSC.ZIP 59K Module for use with ADGT. Needs to be compiled before use. QUES-S.ZIP 21K Module for use with ADGT. Needs to be compiled before use. TOHO.ZIP 177K module for use with ADGT. Compiled and ready to use. TOSSED.ZIP 137K Module for use with ADGT. Needs to be compiled before use. **** [30 ] DB SOFTWARE DOOR PRODUCTS 3STOGE10.ZIP 176K The 3 Stooges! Trivia v1.0 - BBS Door about the age old BEATLE12.ZIP 181K Beatles! Trivia v1.02 - First of it's kind! All questions CANADA12.ZIP 179K Canadian! Trivia v1.02 - BBS Trivia Door. All questions CHEERS12.ZIP 180K Cheers! v1.02 - A BBS Door about the TV Sitcom "Cheers!" ELVIS12.ZIP 179K Elvis Presley! Trivia v1.02 - A BBS Door Game about the life FIRES12.ZIP 179K Fire-Rescue Trivia v1.02 - A BBS Door of Many topics for JBOND12.ZIP 180K James Bond Trivia! v1.02 - A BBS Door Game about Ian QLEAP12.ZIP 180K Quantum Leap! Trivia v1.02 - BBS Door about the TV Series. SCUBA32.ZIP 181K Scuba Diving Training & Trivia! v3.02 - A BBS Door for THE70S12.ZIP 181K The 70's! Trivia v1.02 - A BBS Door Game about the time and USCG12.ZIP 178K USCG Captains License Quiz v1.02 - BBS Door of a sample quiz XMAS!12.ZIP 180K Christmas! Trivia v1.02 - BBS Door about Christmas **** [31 ] GCS SOFTWARE PRODUCTS VAMPV15.ZIP 227K Vampires: Children of Darkness v.15 Online door game for VAMPV16.ZIP 296K Vampires: Children of Darkness v.16 Amazing new release!!! A **** [32 ] NON-DAMA DOORS 2002V2B6.ZIP 631K Latest version of Trade Wars Door Game ABR113.ZIP 391K >>---> ARROWBRIDGE I <---<< Quest for the Orb (v1.13) AC6-0950.ZIP 159K Alpha Colony 6 on-line space conquest/colonization door game B-SOTG18.ZIP 78K badlands - shadow of the gunne cyberpunk cowboy adventure dooBBSVP100.ZIP 48K BBS Video Poker 1.0 Oct. 1995 (Jacks-or-better). DOOR.SYS, BJ323.ZIP 46K BBS BlackJack/21 card game door. Version 3.23. PCBoard BRE0960.ZIP 331K Barren Realms Elite (BRE) Version 0.960 Inter-BBS Online CLDOOR41.ZIP 30K Call Door converter program - Excellent Door interface prg! CWALL22B.ZIP 59K Carange Wall 2.2==-- Written By: Brent Fraliex A oneliner DATA-104.ZIP 149K --==> BBS Utiliteez <==-- +++++++ The DataDoor Beta 1.04 DM56.ZIP 102K Door Master V5.6 FFS26003.ZIP 163K Freshwater Fishing Simulator v 2.6.003b Door by Eric IMP361.ZIP 533K Imperium v3.61 - Strategic Wargame Door Ansi Graphics based KNK42.ZIP 86K Kannons & Katapults medieval combat door game. Fun. LOD421A.ZIP 115K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 1 of 7 LOD421B.ZIP 547K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 2 of 7 LOD421C.ZIP 141K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 3 of 7 LOD421D.ZIP 495K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 4 of 7 LOD421E.ZIP 566K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 5 of 7 LOD421F.ZIP 789K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 6 of 7 LOD421G.ZIP 30K Land of Devastation Door Game - Part 7 of 7 LORD350.ZIP 514K -= Legend Of The Red Dragon 3.50 =- The hit door becomes LORE_130.ZIP 509K - - - - -* LORE Version 1.30 *- - - - - An on-line game of MEK150.ZIP 84K MEK ARENA 1.50 Long Awaited Newest Version of Mek Arena! MEL_320.ZIP 466K MELEE version 3.20 Official Public Release! This ansi door MW19G.ZIP 353K MECHWARS v1.9G : Released 12/07/93. Bug fix upgrade with no OXV201.ZIP 344K Iron Ox v. 2.01 -- Maintenance release. 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