• MT VOID, 12/31/21 -- Vol. 40, No. 27, Whole Number 2204

    From evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jan 2 08:35:31 2022
    THE MT VOID
    Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
    12/31/21 -- Vol. 40, No. 27, Whole Number 2204

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

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

    Topics:
    Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
    Lectures, etc. (NJ)
    My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments
    by Mark R. Leeper)
    CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
    THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente (book review
    by Joe Karpierz)
    FALLING FOR FIGARO (letters of comment by Gary McGath,
    Dorothy J. Heydt, and Paul Dormer)
    This Week's Reading (James Fenimore Cooper, my family
    and books, editions of Bibles, and AUTHORIZED: THE USE
    AND MISUSE OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE) (book comments
    by Evelyn C. Leeper)

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
    Lectures, etc. (NJ)

    Both groups have returned to the B.C. (Before COVID) schedules, and
    the films will be shown as part of the Middletown meetings.

    The November MTPL meeting was postponed due to scheduling conflicts
    with several members.

    December 2 (MTPL), 5:30PM: NIGHT OF THE DEMON, short story
    "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James
    <https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9629>
    January 6, 2022 (MTPL), 5:30PM: Stanislaw Lem Centennial:
    PILOT PIRX'S INQUEST (1979), short story "The Inquest"
    by Stanislaw Lem
    <https://tinyurl.com/Pirx-More-Tales>
    January 27, 2022 (OBPL), 7:00PM: THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments by
    Mark R. Leeper)

    A NIGHT TO REMEMBER was released in 1958 and up until 1997 it was
    the iconic film telling the story of the sinking of the RMS
    Titanic. It was over-shadowed by the 1997 TITANIC and now is
    rarely ever seen. The 1997 version had guns blazing and even a bit
    of nudity. I still prefer the earlier film. The more recent film
    has lots of digital effects work, but the older film has familiar
    British actors including Kenneth More, Honor Blackman, Michael
    Goodliffe, David McCallum, and Alec McCowen. It was directed by
    Roy Ward Baker who later also directed QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.

    [A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Monday, January 3, 2002, 12:45PM]

    TCM also has a day of horror on January 28:
    01/28/2022 11:30 AM Them! (1954)
    01/28/2022 01:15 PM The Mummy (1959)
    01/28/2022 03:00 PM The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
    01/28/2022 04:30 PM The Fly (1958)
    01/28/2022 06:15 PM House of Wax (1953)

    And finally, TCM will be running the rarely shown Kenju Mizoguchi
    epic, THE 47 RONIN, on January 17 at 2:00AM.

    [-mrl]

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)

    There were many adaptations of classic literary works in 1990, but
    for both production quality and pure entertainment value I gave the
    edge to that year's CYRANO DE BERGERAC, giving it a +3 (-4 to +4
    scale), and said that that was likely to remain the best adaptation
    of the story to film we would see in our lifetimes and very likely
    the most entertaining, even if we included Steve Martin's popular
    modern reframing ROXANNE. I still stand by that.

    CYRANO DE BERGERAC, and this year's film of similar title, CYRANO,
    are of course adaptations of Edmond Rostand's popular play, first
    presented in 1897. (Rostand took some poetic liberty,
    incidentally, but Cyrano was a genuine historic figure who was
    soldier, expert swordsman, poet, playwright, philosopher, and even
    a science fiction writer. His best-known literary work today is A
    VOYAGE TO THE MOON, which is why Rostand put so many references to
    moon travel in the play. Cyrano suggested several means of extra-
    terrestrial propulsion, mostly absurd, but on one he got lucky.
    Cyrano de Bergerac was the man who first suggested that space
    travel might be possible using rocket propulsion.) The story is of
    the noble swordsman who would like to woo his beautiful cousin but
    is stigmatized by his own prodigious nose. When it turns out that
    an inarticulate but handsome soldier under Cyrano's command also
    loves her, Cyrano agrees to help the soldier. The soldier will
    provide the good looks and Cyrano will provide the words. The
    story packs into a surprisingly small space comedy, tragedy, drama,
    action, and adventure.

    This year's version, titled simply CYRANO, it does everything it
    can to make the nobility repulsive, visually as well as character-
    wise. We see the Count De Guise (played by Ben Mendelsohn) giving
    instructions and orders to his fiancee, Roxanne (played by Haley
    Bennett). De Guiche does not know that he will soon be losing his
    safe control over the woman in his own coach. Let De Guise rest in
    peace.

    Cyrano is played by Peter Dinklage, and as a result, almost all the
    nose jokes are dispensed with in favor of remarks about his height.
    This means, among other things, that the marvelous scene in which
    Cyrano comes up with dozens of insults to his nose. Apparently
    screenwriter Erica Schmidt (Dinklage's wife) did not feel she could
    do that scene justice with height jokes--or maybe decided that
    height jokes were a bit too insulting in real life to put a whole
    scene of them on the film. Dinklage is immensely talented but his
    singing voice leaves a lot to be desired. (On the other hand, the
    same could be said of Rex Harrison in MY FAIR LADY.) Christian is
    played by Kelvin Harrison, Jr., with no comment being made about
    his race--I'm not sure if we are supposed to acknowledge it or not.
    (One reviewer felt that having a Black character be inarticulate
    and rescued by what is in some sense a white savior was a bad
    choice.)

    Kudos for the very detailed sets and production design.

    Released theatrically 12/31/21. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4), or 7/10.

    Film Credits:
    <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12889404/reference>

    What others are saying:
    <https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cyrano>

    [-mrl/ecl]

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente (copyright 2021,
    tordotcom, 150pp, hardcover, $20.99, ISBN 978-1-250-30113-0) (book
    review by Joe Karpierz)

    The world was introduced to Tetley Abednego in the short story "The
    Future is Blue", which first appeared in Jonathan Strahan's
    anthology DROWNED WORLDS, published in 2016. (Is it that old
    already? It's still on my to be read stack.) I'd read it in one
    of the "year's best" anthologies, and liked the story enough that
    it did stick with me for a period of time (and let's be honest, I
    think that it's true for most people that read enough of this stuff
    that after a short period of time, most works drop out of memory,
    especially short works).

    The setting is a Earth devastated by climate change. As implied by
    being included in the "Drowned Worlds" anthology, the planet is
    essentially entirely covered by water. Tetley lives on a floating
    clump of junk called Garbagetown. Tetley is generally happy, given
    her plight. However, while she may be happy, no one is happy with
    her. "The Future is Blue", included in this volume, not only sets
    up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
    children get their names--tells the story of just *why* people are unhappy--check that, *very* unhappy--with her. And while the story
    is more than five years old at this point, there may be readers out
    there who have not read it, and so I won't spoil then end of the
    story, but suffice it to say that she does a thing that is not ... well-received.

    I would not have expected that there was much more to tell about
    Tetley, but that is after all why writers write and people read: to
    tell and experience stories. "The Past is Red" picks up many years
    later. Tetley is still reviled for her deed at the end of "The
    Future is Blue". She is 29, lives on a pontoon boat moored to a
    port, and doesn't venture on land because of a law enacted--
    although given the society she lives in it's unclear how the law
    came into being and how it's enforced, but it probably doesn't
    matter given the state of the world--back when she did the thing.
    She loves her world, just as much as she did when she was young and
    just getting her name, and the world hates her just as much as it
    did then.

    "The Past is Red" opens the wings of Tetley's story more than the
    original. She finds technology, love, a friend or two, and
    surprisingly, a husband. Her husband is a character from "The Past
    is Blue", and I can't say much more than that without spoiling the
    thing that Tetley did. Yep, it all comes back to that. But the
    technology she finds leads to a surprising discovery that I sure
    didn't see coming. It's a discovery that makes the plight of those
    on Earth that much more sad, I think, and at the same time makes
    whoever is left angry, if they were to find out. Given that I
    didn't see it coming, the reveal worked for me, although I can see
    why it might take some readers out of the story.

    It's been hard to describe the book without giving anything away,
    which is probably the best kind of story. Sure, stories can be
    summarized enough to give readers an idea of what's going on
    without spoiling them, but some are better just left to be
    discovered on their own. This is one of those. [-jak]

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: FALLING FOR FIGARO (letters of comment by Gary McGath,
    Dorothy J. Heydt, and Paul Dormer)

    In response to Mark and Evelyn's review of FALLING FOR FIGARO (and
    people falling asleep during operas) in the 12/24/21 issue of
    the MT VOID, Gary McGath writes:

    There's a filksong about someone who always falls asleep watching
    Wagner's "Goetterdaemmerung". Understandable, since it's one of
    the longest operas in the regular repertoire. [-gmg]

    Dorothy J. Heydt responds:

    Indeed.

    I'm blanking on the name of the famous 20th-century conductor who
    habitually conducted without a score, having memorized the whole
    enchilada.

    One day he was preparing to conduct "Goetterdaemmerung" (where
    "preparing" consisted of things like finding his cufflinks and
    checking to make sure the soloists had all shown up), and a friend
    of his suggested that he have the score on hand "to keep track of
    all the tempo changes."

    "My dear Ermintrude," he answered, "there *are* no tempo changes in 'Goetterdaemmerung'. It plods along from 7 p.m. to quarter past
    midnight like a damned old cart-horse." [-djh]

    Paul Dormer adds:

    Which reminds me of the comment by an American music critic: "'Parsifal' is
    one of those operas that start at 6 p.m. Four hours later, you look at
    your watch and it's a quarter after 6." (I now like "Parsifal", but it
    took me a long time to get into it.) [-pd]

    Gary also adds:

    [Mark and Evelyn write,] "The film has a nice selection of operatic
    arias, with the ones "sung" by the two leads actually voiced by
    Stacey Alleaume and Nathan Lay."

    Marnie Nixon's ghost is glad they got credited. [-gmg]

    Evelyn notes:

    The contractual requirements for credits have changed a lot since
    Marnie Nixon's day. That's why ending credit sequences last
    forever--even the company that supplies the Porta Potties has to
    get credit. [-ecl]

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

    The "Classical Stuff You Should Know" punted last week on a
    full-length podcast in favor of a reading of Mark Twain's
    "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses". It's a good choice, but it
    got me thinking more about my family and books than about Fenimore
    Cooper per se.

    What started that train of thought was the fact that my father
    mentioned only three books he really liked: THE LAST OF THE
    MOHICANS (James Fenimore Cooper), MY ANTONIA (Willa Cather), and
    LOST HORIZON (James Hilton). The latter was a lifetime love, but
    the first two were more books of his younger years, and he didn't
    own a copy of either of them.

    For that matter, we didn't have a lot of books in the house, just
    two small bookcases with an odd assortment of books and magazines.
    These including a four-volume set of Homer in Spanish as well as
    Dante's DIVINE COMEDY, also in Spanish, with the Dore
    illustrations. He also had a couple of books that ended up as
    mine: Jules Verne's MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and Franz Werfel's STAR OF
    THE UNBORN. The latter was a science fiction novel by an author
    best known for THE SONG OF BERNADETTE; how my father ended up with
    I never did find out.

    However, my parents respected books, and we always had library
    cards. (I think I was five when I got my first library card.)
    Accumulating books when you were in the military and moving a lot
    was inconvenient, and there was always a base library, as well as
    town libraries and school libraries. But we never talked about
    books that I can recall--reading was a solitary avocation. And in
    any case, I doubt I would have shown Twain's comments on Fenimore
    Cooper to my father.

    (The only time I can recall talking to my father about my reading
    was when I wanted to know if the "compass" ["brujula"] in Jorge
    Luis Borges's "Death and the Compass" was the navigational device
    or the geometric tool. It was the navigational device.)

    Our house was also one which did not have the King James Version of
    the Bible like everyone else had, but rather the Revised Standard
    Version. It occurs to me only now that this was probably not a
    real conscious choice by my father to spurn the KJV, but the effect
    of his growing up in a Spanish-speaking environment. Because there
    was not the entrenched use of quotations from the KJV version in
    everyday speech, and no history of its use in his family, there was
    nothing that made that the obvious choice. (I came to this
    realization reading AUTHORIZED: THE USE AND MISUSE OF THE KING
    JAMES BIBLE by Mark Ward (Lexham Press, ISBN 978-1-683-59055-2.)
    [-ecl]

    ===================================================================

    Mark Leeper
    mleeper@optonline.net


    There were so few people at the concert that if one
    more person were missing, there wouldn't be any room
    for him.
    --Guillermo Juan Borges

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to eleeper@optonline.net on Sun Jan 2 14:37:38 2022
    On 1/2/22 11:35 AM, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:
    TOPIC: CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)

    There were many adaptations of classic literary works in 1990, but
    for both production quality and pure entertainment value I gave the
    edge to that year's CYRANO DE BERGERAC, giving it a +3 (-4 to +4
    scale), and said that that was likely to remain the best adaptation
    of the story to film we would see in our lifetimes and very likely
    the most entertaining, even if we included Steve Martin's popular
    modern reframing ROXANNE. I still stand by that.

    I'll stick with the wonderful Ferrer version until I hear there's a
    better one. I hated Steve Martin's take on it.

    This year's version, titled simply CYRANO, it does everything it
    can to make the nobility repulsive, visually as well as character-
    wise. We see the Count De Guise (played by Ben Mendelsohn) giving instructions and orders to his fiancee, Roxanne (played by Haley
    Bennett). De Guiche does not know that he will soon be losing his
    safe control over the woman in his own coach. Let De Guise rest in
    peace.

    De Guiche, in the original play, isn't a total villain. He shows courage
    as a military leader and recognizes Cyrano's worth in the last act.

    Cyrano is played by Peter Dinklage, and as a result, almost all the
    nose jokes are dispensed with in favor of remarks about his height.
    This means, among other things, that the marvelous scene in which
    Cyrano comes up with dozens of insults to his nose.

    What's the point of Cyrano without the nose?

    Apparently
    screenwriter Erica Schmidt (Dinklage's wife) did not feel she could
    do that scene justice with height jokes--or maybe decided that
    height jokes were a bit too insulting in real life to put a whole
    scene of them on the film. Dinklage is immensely talented but his
    singing voice leaves a lot to be desired.

    I've seen a musical version of Cyrano, with Christopher Plummer in the
    title role. It played in Boston in the eighties; I don't know if it made
    it to Broadway. It's biggest mistake was rendering the dialogue in
    Alexandrine rhyming verse, as in the original French. It sounded
    ridiculous to my ears. Christian was poorly characterized, lacking not
    only charming words but any desire to be more than a dumb soldier. The
    songs mostly didn't work well.

    I went with a bunch of friends. The ones who hadn't read Rostand's
    Cyrano gave it enthusiastic applause; the ones who had (including me;
    I've read it in French and in multiple translations) were unimpressed.


    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Kevrob@21:1/5 to eleeper@optonline.net on Sun Jan 2 20:59:08 2022
    On Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 11:35:32 AM UTC-5, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:
    THE MT VOID
    Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
    12/31/21 -- Vol. 40, No. 27, Whole Number 2204

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

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

    Topics:
    Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
    Lectures, etc. (NJ)
    My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments
    by Mark R. Leeper)
    CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
    THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente (book review
    by Joe Karpierz)
    FALLING FOR FIGARO (letters of comment by Gary McGath,
    Dorothy J. Heydt, and Paul Dormer)
    This Week's Reading (James Fenimore Cooper, my family
    and books, editions of Bibles, and AUTHORIZED: THE USE
    AND MISUSE OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE) (book comments
    by Evelyn C. Leeper)

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
    Lectures, etc. (NJ)

    Both groups have returned to the B.C. (Before COVID) schedules, and
    the films will be shown as part of the Middletown meetings.

    The November MTPL meeting was postponed due to scheduling conflicts
    with several members.

    December 2 (MTPL), 5:30PM: NIGHT OF THE DEMON, short story
    "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James
    <https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9629>
    January 6, 2022 (MTPL), 5:30PM: Stanislaw Lem Centennial:
    PILOT PIRX'S INQUEST (1979), short story "The Inquest"
    by Stanislaw Lem
    <https://tinyurl.com/Pirx-More-Tales>
    January 27, 2022 (OBPL), 7:00PM: THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments by
    Mark R. Leeper)

    A NIGHT TO REMEMBER was released in 1958 and up until 1997 it was
    the iconic film telling the story of the sinking of the RMS
    Titanic. It was over-shadowed by the 1997 TITANIC and now is
    rarely ever seen. The 1997 version had guns blazing and even a bit
    of nudity. I still prefer the earlier film. The more recent film
    has lots of digital effects work, but the older film has familiar
    British actors including Kenneth More, Honor Blackman, Michael
    Goodliffe, David McCallum, and Alec McCowen. It was directed by
    Roy Ward Baker who later also directed QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.

    [A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Monday, January 3, 2002, 12:45PM]

    TCM also has a day of horror on January 28:
    01/28/2022 11:30 AM Them! (1954)
    01/28/2022 01:15 PM The Mummy (1959)
    01/28/2022 03:00 PM The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
    01/28/2022 04:30 PM The Fly (1958)
    01/28/2022 06:15 PM House of Wax (1953)

    And finally, TCM will be running the rarely shown Kenju Mizoguchi
    epic, THE 47 RONIN, on January 17 at 2:00AM.

    [-mrl]

    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)

    There were many adaptations of classic literary works in 1990, but
    for both production quality and pure entertainment value I gave the
    edge to that year's CYRANO DE BERGERAC, giving it a +3 (-4 to +4
    scale), and said that that was likely to remain the best adaptation
    of the story to film we would see in our lifetimes and very likely
    the most entertaining, even if we included Steve Martin's popular
    modern reframing ROXANNE. I still stand by that.

    My two favorite Cyranos: Miguel Ferrer and Quincy Magoo.

    Cyrano is played by Peter Dinklage, and as a result, almost all the
    nose jokes are dispensed with in favor of remarks about his height.

    Magoo was short, but the nose references stayed in his version.

    https://youtu.be/qxUjFets8mQ

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Adventures_of_Mr._Magoo
    ===================================================================

    TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente

    ....
    up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
    children get their names--

    I would hope some one so-named didn't end up in hot water. :)

    Our house was also one which did not have the King James Version of
    the Bible like everyone else had,...

    Not if they were part of the largest Christian denomination, in which case a translation from the Vulgate such as Douay-Rheims would have been in order, prior to Vatican II.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douay%E2%80%93Rheims_Bible

    I had to get a Jerusalem Bible for my Sophomore year high school
    religion class.

    --
    Kevin R

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jeff Urs@21:1/5 to Kevrob on Mon Jan 3 06:42:53 2022
    Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> wrote:
    On Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 11:35:32 AM UTC-5, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:

    TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente

    ....
    up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
    children get their names--

    I would hope some one so-named didn't end up in hot water. :)

    I'd have thought that just such circumstances would be what it took to
    bring out their real strength.

    --
    Jeff

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Kevrob@21:1/5 to Jeff Urs on Mon Jan 3 01:03:37 2022
    On Monday, January 3, 2022 at 1:42:55 AM UTC-5, Jeff Urs wrote:
    Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com> wrote:
    On Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 11:35:32 AM UTC-5, ele...@optonline.net wrote:

    TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente

    ....
    up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
    children get their names--

    I would hope some one so-named didn't end up in hot water. :)
    I'd have thought that just such circumstances would be what it took to
    bring out their real strength.

    --

    That H2O would have to be just at the boiling point, no?

    --
    Kevin R

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)