Thanks. I'll start looking for a copy.
Well, we still have Larry Niven and his cousin David to talk about. -- And what do you think of Isaac Asimov?
Sorry. Mad Magazine is a satire periodical (newsmagazine size) published in the US since the 50s.
In my own (slightly aged) opinion, their humor took a sharp turn for meaner pastures after the founder passed away.
If I had any memory of which issue -- or even what year -- that "Monsters" item appeared, I could contact the publisher in New York City and see if a back issue or a reprint is available. However, I'm not sure their database extends to the individual article level.
About 1,000 years ago, when a news reporter referred to the Kennedy White House as "Camelot", MAD MAG was inspired to set it (and each successor) to music. "The White House Follies of [####]" the year each President took office. The few bits and pieces I remember are
* Lyndon Johnson's administration set to "My Fair Lady"
-- Mrs J having the daughters "Repeat after me, 'Lyndon Baines reigns mainly with my brains.'"
-- Mrs J advising him "Drink lots of beer, \ Drive in fast cars, \ Point to your scars, \ Show off!"
* Richard Nixon set to Gilbert & Sullivan
-- Pat Nixon and the daughters singing "Three Nixon Wives are We"
-- J Edgar Hoover assuring Nixon that "I am the very model of a modern criminologist \ My instinct for survival would delight an anthropologist."
In the meantime, about the "Monsters" spread, I also remember
d) Dracula, wearing a Yarmulke, cowering back from an old Jew holding a Star-of-David.
e) Frankenstein's monster sitting in an auto mechanic's shop, quietly reading a newspaper, while the cable clamps from a battery charger are attached to the bolts in his neck.
---
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things,"
Of atoms, stars and nebulæ,
Of entropy and genes;
And whether one can bend space;
And why the spaceship shrinks.
---
reply
share
TheWiseWolf
11 years ago
That's a shame, the 'Ambassadors' one in particular sounded interesting. Oh well, never mind.
Back to Niven - can you believe no-one's made a film of Ringworld yet? How awesome would that be? I like Asimov too.
reply
share
Frumious_Bandersnatch_46
11 years ago
I found that story more years ago than I usually care to admit to.
Must have been 40 or 50 years ago. I'll be 68 this year.
BTW: Another story I found (in the 40-45 years ago bracket) was Niven's "Neutron Star". If you've not yet read it, I recommend it.
A film of Ringworld"?
Molto fantastico!
However, I just read that the Syfy cable channel is planning a mini-series on it. Unfortunately, I've seen too many of their "original" offerings. I'll give it a try, but I don't hold out much hope for a watchable production.
With a (very) few notable exceptions, good science-fiction has seldom received much respect in Hollyweird.
I've been (semi-)frantically looking for my Ringworld set ever since you reminded me of it. Either they're in storage or else they've been lost in one of too many moves over the decades. I still remember seeing that first title in 1970 and immediately picturing a tide-locked planet (as Mercury was then thought to be) with a molten-rock Hell on one side and a frozen-air Hell on the other and a thin "ring" of habitable area where they almost meet.
---
Computasaurus Emeritus
---
reply
share
TheWiseWolf
11 years ago
Syfy are doing a Ringworld series? Any idea when this is due to air? I'll definitely give it a watch. It could be brilliant! Of course, it could be awful - you're right about film and TV often butchering sci-fi. Have you seen the film of Dune? Godawful adaptation of a fantastic novel. They should remake that, I think - with today's CGI they could really do the sandworms justice.
Yes, I've read Neutron Star. I enjoy the Man-Kzin books, which contain short stories written by various authors but based on Niven's Known Space and the wars between humanity and the kzinti. I think one of these featured Neutron Star.
Your idea of a Ringworld would make sense for a Niven story, given his fondness for planets with only small habitable areas, like Jinx and Plateau.
reply
share
Frumious_Bandersnatch_46
11 years ago
I don't think there will any middle ground: The Syfy channel's miniseries of Ringworld will either be brilliant or unwatchable. I'm hoping for the best -- but given their past record I'm preparing for the worst.
Yes. We saw David Lynch's 1984 production several times. There was a huge lot of stuff in the novel and I think the screenwriter(s) did a fairly good job of keeping what was needed to maintain a cohesive story in one film. (If they'd tried to keep everything they'd have had a 9-to-12 hour tetralogy and no one would have financed that kind of production for s-f back then.)
BTW: For what it's worth, in 2000 the Syfy channel aired a 3-part miniseries they'd filmed in the Czech Republic. I couldn't get through it. I thought the sets looked as if they'd been copied from s-f mags of the 1930s and the costumes copied from the chess pieces of a made-for-TV production of "Through the Looking Glass" some years ago.
Galloping off on a tangent: Do you think Niven's "kzinti" might have been the source of the name "Xindi" in the "Star Trek: Enterprise" season 3 story-line?
Re: Ringworld: In the meantime, I've got my fingers crossed, my toes crossed, my eyes crossed, .....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things,"
Of atoms, stars and nebulæ,
Of entropy and genes;
And whether one can bend space;
And why the spaceship shrinks.
reply
share
TheWiseWolf
11 years ago
I agree with you about the Syfy miniseries being either be brilliant or unwatchable. I'm excited to hear about it, it has the potential to be wonderful, but yes, given their record I will not be at all surprised if it's total rubbish. Very keen to see how they bring Speaker-to-Animals to life, though!
I suppose it's possible that the kzinti might have been the source of the name Xindi (though the actual races are quite different), but I couldn't say for certain. I do know that they are the inspiration for the kilrathi from the Wing Commander franchise. In a nod to their creator, the kilrathi live in the 'Niven sector'.
One of the big problems with the Dune film, in my opinion, is that it makes no sense if you haven't read the book. If you have, you know what's going on even though it's not explained - if you haven't, you will have very little idea of what's happening. There's nothing so complex about the story that it couldn't have been explained fairly easily in the movie for those who hadn't read the book, but there seems to have been no concessions to these people at all. I also dislike deviations from the book, such as the 'weirding module' instead of the 'weirding way' of fighting.
I have heard of the miniseries, but never seen it. From what you say about it, it's probably just as well!
reply
share
Frumious_Bandersnatch_46
11 years ago
Actually it worked the other way for me:
• I had tried to read the book while I was still in school (early 60s). I got terribly bogged down. Could not follow the story. Much too complex for little Frumious at 15. Might as well have tried to read a Russian novel -- in the original Russian.
• I set it aside for another try later. Forgot about it completely.
• Fast-forward 20 years to the early 80s. Thanks to David Lynch, I'm getting a good overview: inter-relationships, pronunciation guide, and who-did-what-and-with-which-and-to-whom.
• After that, the novel was still a hard read, but I was able to get through it and appreciate it -- and appreciate all the good stuff that Lynch had to leave out to keep the movie down to a "budgetable" size.
As to the mini-series, I've heard high praise and no praise for it. This only proves that we don't all have the same taste.
Observations are relative to the observer.
— Albert Einstein
We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are.
— Anaïs Nin
and
No two persons ever watch the same movie.
Since I have no idea where you live, you may wish to try a video rental before you buy -- make up your own mind. Do you have access to Netflix?
reply
share
TheWiseWolf
11 years ago
Well, we're all different, and vive la difference as they say in France. Be a dull world if we were all the same.
"No two persons ever watch the same movie" - ain't that the truth, you only have to look at these message boards for proof!
reply
share
Frumious_Bandersnatch_46
10 years ago
Long time no hear.
I've given up trying to find my "Ringworld" books. I'm going to guess they were lost either in the move from Los Angeles, California, to Atlanta, Georgia; or else the move from Richmond, Virginia, back to California.
So:
1) Can I afford to replace my "Ringworld" set?
2) Were you able to find a copy of the "Dune" mini-series?
3) Did Thor turn into a wereman on the next full moon?
The thing about the Xindi on Star Trek: Enterprise is that they seemed to be a federation of three or four intelligent races that all evolved on one planet. I skipped most of Season 3 because it was giving me the impression that the show was being written by three rotating committees who weren't speaking with each other -- and with no regard to continuity.
---
If "the quality of mercy is not strain'd",
what keeps it from being lumpy?
---
reply
share