never had or lost any contact with the multitude of Americans when
producing classical arts productions. The Britisn know that even their
best TV comedies have universally been set in the modern Britisn culture
. The *Hallmark Cards Showcase* has produced excellent models for
non-s.f. productions. The Hallmark producers' attention to high concept
with a collateral exertion to tie in to common themes in the humanities
has garnered awards that has caused the company to be lauded richly and
loudly nearly every year.
I suggest that similar care and devotion to high art in the hands of
a sufficiently literate and developed production house could lift sf tv
as well, if a strong-spirited visionary will take charge of a studio
invest in that producer even as he clears out deadwood educational
defect8ives and brings commonly literate producers and workers.
*That* studio needs to stay clear of the advertizing agency houses
that make American TV so pureile.
Stracyznski is a good start but what I'm looking for is a visionary
production studio that will do consistent justice to the height, width
and breadth of most classical and moderm American SF and mainstream
adventure novels apart from Arthur C. Clarke's very transferrable novels
Simply put, when you lead and train someone as though they will and
*can* become what they *could* be and be the very best at the same time,
the mentored almost certainly will rise to that level of expectation or
fall short of it because of natural deficencies.
American TV production houses lack people with the specific literary
breeding to accomplish this apart from a thorough housecleaning with
replacement with significantly improved education and vastly changed
attitude about producing low concept TV.
My annoyance with advertizing agency exectuives is because their
executives appearantly believe Americans think about nothing else
besides food, money, sexual pleasure, and athletic/movie star/rock star
spectacles.
I'd easily and quickly believe the evidence that the ad agency execs
don't feel secure about high concept TV in any form except when it's
Hallmark Cards. Low concept trash talk TV including raw sex is
(supposedly??!!) 'cool'.
And it is four years to 2000 A.D. [Shudder] [Shudder]
Lawrence E Dunlap
(1:106/2927)
___
* UniQWK #5136* Noise? I'm shaving! I'M SHAVING!
--- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000)
* Origin: Computer Living F'n BBS-Houston, TX 713-444-2927 (1:106/2927)
Ä [19] SFFAN (2:463/2.5) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ SFFAN Ä
Msg : 2 of 225
From : Lawrence E Dunlap 1:106/2927 .˙ō 05 .íâ 96 23:01
To : Frank Glover
Subj : Re: Botched seaQuest
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Frank,
FG>
FG>LE> For a submersible to be built to the size that is found in that
FG>LE> cancelled program, it would require a economy generating a $40 to 90
FG>LE> trillion planetary GDP to permit such a construction twice.
FG>LE>
FG>LE> Even if we don't crash the shaky economy we run today, some major
FG>LE> breakthrough in technology would be necesssary to allow such a
FG>LE> economy
FG>LE> with the developing world being largely like the US of 1995 in 2032
FG>LE> as it was portrayed in that show.
FG>Why not? I wouldn't make too many assumptions about the design (and in
FG>the case of SeaQuest`II' it would be just a matter of digging up the CAD
FG>blueprints),fabrication and construction techniques available in
30-odd years. We didn't see much in the way of factories and production
lines, so who knows how much it has in common with today?
FG>Indeed, all those large, privately owned undersea habitats imply that
FG>they're not outrageously expensive to build.
FG>(One thing I noticed from the second Back to the Future movie was that
FG>someone must've discovered and been able to produce cheaply those
FG>antigravity devices almost overnight. Most cars seemed retrofitted
FG>with them, rather than having been designed in. And if they can be
FG>found in something as mundane as the hoverboards, it *must* be cheap
FG>to make. I'll bet most people didn't consider that, but I find
FG>*sudden* tecnological changs of that sort to be the most interesting...)
FG>Frank
FG>Origin: Rochester, NY (1:2613/477)
Most of the technology of seaQuest was partially contrived fantasy
instead of rigorously researched projections of current science and
technology. It is what ruined seaQuest in its inception.
My other point is even optimistic US and British scientists
recognize there must be feasible economies to make such feats possible.
The global scientific consensus is that no possible sets developed
confederation of developing nations *can* be as advanced as 1995 United
States in the 2030's on Terra without generating such suffiicent
pollution that it would kill us off in about ten years were every such
nation to receive such a level of technollgy/pollution capacity at the
same time.
Secondly, no nation will be able to build massive submersibles or
spacecraft without global cooperation, because the resources necessary
for those gigantic ships would come from the resource production streams
which would service individual national needs, making that projection of
seaQuest particularly unlikely given the current millieu of nation
states jostling for scarse resources in some areas even as recently as
1985, even as their citizens starve for the sake of war. . . .
No coherent global culture and society is possible as soon as 2030
simply because no such planetary advancement is very likely outside of a
total transmorphing of the many economies that make up the 1996 global
economy by way of some type of regional economic or natural disaster
that could trigger global crisis/emergency.
The emergency might lead world leaders to consider many such
transmorphing decisions and theories after a crisis has been stablized
successfully to prevent starvation in the developed world, for example,
because stablizing the chance of a fatal famine in our US/Canada/Mexico,
Europe/Australia would be considered sufficiently critical indeed.
It doesn't have to be famine--any serious regional emergency which
would cripple individuals and nations globally where several decades of
lasting hardships for billions is possible without action qualifies as
sufficiently intense enough to prompt discussion of such changes.
Humanly engeinnered disasters add to the possibilities
However, the Daggers don't qualify, BTW, because that is very less
possible development if we are dealing with only the global public
domain biotechology area as the only environment from which such
developments can emerge into the world stage. While the Daggers do hole
that potential, no such possibillity is known to be resident within the
current public domain, global, human scientific research & development system
Something like a hypothetical disappearence of a nation from
existance unexpectedly and instantly begins to be intense enough to me.
It would have to have some particularly critical economic fallout of
one to begin to prompt changes, too.
Lawrence E Dunlap
(1:106/2927)
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* Origin: Computer Living F'n BBS-Houston, TX 713-444-2927 (1:106/2927)
Ä [19] SFFAN (2:463/2.5) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ SFFAN Ä
Msg : 3 of 225
From : Lawrence E Dunlap 1:106/2927 .˙ō 05 .íâ 96 23:03
To : Nicolai Shapero
Subj : nuclear
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
MJ>Hmmm. Obviously, some research is called for. We now have three
MJ>candidates for the originator of this idea. Jack says it was Larry
MJ>Niven. You say Jerry Pournelle. I think it was Robert Heinlein.
MJ>Does anyone remember exactly where they saw it? I don't.
MJ> Origin: (1:105/302.47)
Captial solution to a quagmire I've grown tired of reading the
sharpshooters jibes going back and forth. . .back and forth. . . in
my mail packet!
Lawrence E Dunlap
(1:106/2927)
___
* UniQWK #5136* Hello, everybody, I'm a human!
--- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000)
* Origin: Computer Living F'n BBS-Houston, TX 713-444-2927 (1:106/2927)
Ä [19] SFFAN (2:463/2.5) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ SFFAN Ä
Msg : 4 of 225
From : The Raven 1:363/309 .åō 04 .íâ 96 12:58
To : Patrick Long
Subj : nuclear
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
-=>what is dresden fill me in.
PL> It's a shame History classes leave out so much these days...
It shows us, however, that this person is less than 20 years old.
Jack Butler
... "If Botticelli were alive today, he'd be working for `Vogue'."
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20 [NR]
* Origin: Forethought BBS -=- Orlando, FL -=- 407-679-6561 (1:363/309)
Ä [19] SFFAN (2:463/2.5) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ SFFAN Ä
Msg : 5 of 225
From : The Raven 1:363/309 .˙ō 05 .íâ 96 10:45
To : Lori Brown
Subj : ST Voyager
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
LB> I'm afraid I don't understand "Polyanna?" Who is that?
Re: Old Disney movies. You can probably find it at a blockbuster.
Jack Butler
... "Lights on the river bridge... filling the harbor with halos."
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20 [NR]
* Origin: Forethought BBS -=- Orlando, FL -=- 407-679-6561 (1:363/309)
Ä [19] SFFAN (2:463/2.5) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ SFFAN Ä
Msg : 6 of 225
From : The Raven 1:363/309 .˙ō 05 .íâ 96 10:51
To : Bianca Wesslak
Subj : NUCLEAR
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BW> Yeah and what about japan and hiroshima and nagashaki, there still being
BW> effected
Listen to this very carefully: Those were nuclear weapons. They were
designed and built specifically to explode, kill people, and spread radiation
and radioactive fallout as far as possible. That was the job of those *two*
items. Count them again: two. For all your talk about "nuclear accidents",
you seem to forget that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hardly accidents.
And neither city is still radioactive. I've been to both of them; the
only radiation I was exposed to was sunlight.
A nuclear reactor is *not* a nuclear bomb. It does not explode. It
does not go up in a great glowing mushroom shaped cloud.
BW> how about since all the nuke bombs being exploded, and the unsafety of
BW> nuke power plants, every one born today has a little bit of plutonium in
BW> there lungs, among other things.
Do you have any idea how poisonous plutonium is? I'm not just talking
about radioactivity, I'm talking about *toxicity*. It would be safer for
you to eat white arsenic than a "little bit" of plutonium, and not because
of plutonium's radioactivity. The sheer poisonous nature of the element
would kill you before the radiation.
Care to explain how we are all carrying around lethal amounts of
plutonium in our lungs, and yet are not falling over dead from plutonium
poisoning?
BW> Nor have I at any point gone for fossil fuels in this debate, so you can
BW> save the fossil argument, I also don't think that nuclear enerby is such
BW> a good idea either.!
Brilliant. So, nuclear's out... fossil fuels suck... what do you
suggest as an alternative? Wind power? Muscle power?
