From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V00 #274 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume00/274 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 00 : Issue 274 Today's Topics: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and pr [ "Gary" ] [B7L] Re: Hamlet & conversion site [ JEB31538@cs.com ] Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire, etc, [ "Ellynne G." ] [B7L] Penguins (was Fantasy, satire [ "Ellynne G." ] Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and pr [ "Ellynne G." ] Re: [B7L] Penguins (was Fantasy, sat [ Penny Dreadful ] [B7L] Re: Anna [ Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@comp ] Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and pr [ "Neil Faulkner" ] Re: [B7L] Introduction [ "Ellynne G." ] Re: [B7L] Anna & the nature of love [ Natasa Tucev ] Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and pr [ "Una McCormack" ] [B7L] Fantasy [ Natasa Tucev To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides and Ring Lords Message-ID: <00c601c02af5$e7991fa0$82bac0d1@Pgadam> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Neil wrote: >>This is the stuff of LotR and rpgs like ADnD. Yet, though Tolkien is >amazingly popular (Book of the Century, remember?) and his second-rate >imitators fill the >shelves in bookshops ... > >Am I alone in the world in actually rather liking LotR ? The fact that it >spawned a lot of poor imitations doesn't stop the original from having its >good moments (interspersed with the dire moments) and the fact that it's >apparently popular doesn't necessarily make it totally beneath contempt. I >was rather pleased it won the Waterstones Book of the Century poll I Love LOTR it has been a favourite of mine since I was very young. You merely have to appreciate fine writing and the ability to 'paint' a vivid scene with just words to fully admire and appreciate Tolkien. As far as I am concerned, it is a common thing for there to be immitators out there, they see how great J.R.R. was and want to be just like him. Success always spawns those that will be immitators. Just recall that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" I recently misplaced my copy of The Two Towers and as a result I had to buy the whole thing, so I could have a complete set in similar bindings... See? --Gary-- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 14:07:29 EDT From: JEB31538@cs.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: Hamlet & conversion site Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On the other list, a currency conversion site was given. http://www.xe.net/currency/ I've put this on my list of favorites because it's a very handy site for B7 fans to have, considering all the different currencies you might have to deal with. Also, the pound does fluctuate and now is a very good time for Americans to be buying British items. A helpful fan (thanks very much, Carol) pointed out that 17 pounds was 24.8902 dollars and therefore Hamlet would cost Americans 25 dollars + 1 dollar for bank fees from Horizon and not the 29 dollars I originally thought it would. The Hamlet information is now up at the Horizon site, but not easy to get. Basically you click on news and then cast news and then Gareth and then September 29th and the information gets displayed. http://www.horizon.org.uk/ If you want a wonderful picture of Gareth as Claudius in Hamlet, go to Judith Proctor's site and check it out. http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/index.html You find it by going to Gareth Thomas and scrolling down. I normally just pick up the chronological list of all activites and it's near the bottom of that section. It doesn't take all that long for it to load. The Hamlet picture is in color unlike the Oberon picture which is also on the site and very good, too. (You can get the Oberon picture easily from the main site page.) Joyce (Yes, my check is already in the mail to Horizon for Hamlet. ) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:23:32 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire, etc, trying to get back on topic Message-ID: <20000930.125231.-89663.0.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 30 Sep 2000 11:11:59 +0200 Jacqueline Thijsen writes: > At 18:44 29-9-00 +0100, Neil Faulkner wrote: > > >Much like the Star Wars universe, though there's an annoying > >Tarzan reference in RotJ that drives me up the wall. > > Which reference is that? Chewie, swinging on a vine, gives the well-known Tarzan yell. > > >- alien invaders who infiltrate us by looking exactly like people > we used to > >know (we somehow overlook the lumbering gait and blank-eyed stares) > > Well, on monday mornings that's only natural. > Fridays, too. Somedays, some people should just show up for work on a cold, stone slab in a body bag.... Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:34:53 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Penguins (was Fantasy, satire and princess brides) Message-ID: <20000930.125231.-89663.1.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 30 Sep 2000 16:14:25 EST "Jessica Taylor" writes: > > >Thinking about it, my Ideal Fantasy Film would have a lot of > elements in > >common with my Ideal B7 Movie. > > > > >The hardest part in both cases is fitting in the penguins. > > A few years back, I came across a review for a fantasy novel that went on at length about how great the book was, especially about how the author actually managed to make the image of a giant penguin exacting vengeance completely convincing. I think it was by Tanith Lee and was called something like Paradys or some other odd spelling of paradise (I actually saw a copy somewhere and started to look through it, but two of the main characters were compulsive killers with very unsavory habits, so I didn't get far, but it obviously stuck in my memory). As Jessica said, "Think I covered everything, witty dialogue, a plausible setting, gloomy atmosphere and I even managed the penguins." Well, gloomy atmosphere and penguins. The dialogue may have been witty. I'm not sure about plausible. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:52:29 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides Message-ID: <20000930.125231.-89663.2.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Fri, 29 Sep 2000 17:33:45 +0100 Tavia Chalcraft writes: > Neil wrote: > >This is the stuff of LotR and rpgs like ADnD. Yet, though Tolkien > is > amazingly popular (Book of the Century, remember?) and his > second-rate > imitators fill the >shelves in bookshops ... > > Am I alone in the world in actually rather liking LotR ? Well, I _can_ go on for even longer about LotR than about B7. I think it shows what taking a few decades to work out all the details can do for a series. I mean, if Tolkien tells you Frodo sees a red star rising higher and higher each night, you can be sure that there is a red star in that part of the horizon that rises higher and higher each night during that part of the year. If they run into an evil weather pattern on a malicious mountain, you can be sure that it fits a legitimate weather pattern to be found on mountains. The level of detail alone is overwhelming. But there just isn't a level on which it doesn't satisfy. Action adventure? It's that. Detailed politics? Has that. Developed cultures? That too. Deep literary stuff? Check again. And I won't even go on about how Beowulf influenced him, or the languages, or - Say, remember when it was discussed what kind of plural ending -ar was for Auronar? Eldar, Sindar, Valar, Maiar... stop me when you notice a trend, here. The Auronar had strange abilities, isolated themselves from humanity, and we never did see the tips of Cally's ears, did we (not that it would matter, other than having the elven word for leaf having a related root for the elven for ear, Tolkien never actually _says_ elves have pointed ears.... Did Cally ever say anything about Auron life expectancy?)? Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 13:23:57 -0600 From: Penny Dreadful To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Penguins (was Fantasy, satire and princess brides) Message-Id: <4.1.20000930130959.0099f750@mail.powersurfr.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 12:34 PM 9/30/00 -0600, Ellynne G. wrote: >A few years back, I came across a review for a fantasy novel that went on >at length about how great the book was, especially about how the author >actually managed to make the image of a giant penguin exacting vengeance >completely convincing. I think it was by Tanith Lee and was called >something like Paradys Tanith Lee, "The Secret Books of Paradys IV: The Book of the Mad". Unlike sometimes, she didn't seem to be getting a bit bored with this particular universe by the end of the series. At least I think this was the end of the series. Excellent series, and I am not even that big a fantasy fan (I always want to say "I hate fantasy" but obviously that's not true), or even universally unconditionally enamoured of Tanith Lee (although I do like her work in general). A must-have for penguin fetishists...(and the cover of my copy has a painting of a naked woman on it too) ObB7, Tanith Lee wrote for B7. Nyah! (weak...) --Penny ______________________________ "No rules, no naps, no shoes!" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 14:04:43 +0100 From: "Neil Faulkner" To: "b7" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire, etc, trying to get back on topic Message-ID: <000201c02b17$1e1049c0$e535fea9@neilfaulkner> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Jacqueline Thijsen > At 18:44 29-9-00 +0100, Neil Faulkner wrote: > > >Much like the Star Wars universe, though there's an annoying > >Tarzan reference in RotJ that drives me up the wall. > > Which reference is that? The bit where Chewbacca gives a Tarzan yodel as he swings across to the big two-legged metal thingie. I don't mind him swinging, it's the yodel that bothers me. It's probably the only moment in the whole trilogy that denies the illusion that SW is set in another reality, unconnected to our own. The various references to Hell I can take as being part of the translation (presumably all the dialogue's been translated for our benefit), and the various homages to westerns and other genres (including Tarzan again, in the first film) are fine so long as they remain 'in universe'. No doubt this says something interesting about the way we watch these things. > >- alien invaders who infiltrate us by looking exactly like people we used to > >know (we somehow overlook the lumbering gait and blank-eyed stares) > > Well, on monday mornings that's only natural. I know some people who are like that all the time. They're called production managers. Neil ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 15:45:34 EDT From: B7Morrigan@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire, etc, trying to get back on topic Message-ID: <41.17e2647.27079cde@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 9/30/00 3:17:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, N.Faulkner@tesco.net writes: > > >- alien invaders who infiltrate us by looking exactly like people we used > to > > >know (we somehow overlook the lumbering gait and blank-eyed stares) > > > > Well, on monday mornings that's only natural. > > I know some people who are like that all the time. They're called > production managers. As a manager of long experience (15 years - aagh!) I must quibble with this reference. We're not aliens. We are however the undead. The corporation has sucked the soul out of our bodies. Morrigan newly liberated from dark, satanic Corporate America but still a capitalist at heart. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 18:27:05 -0400 From: DDJ To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides and Ring Lords Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.20000930182705.006d1f08@keystonenet.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >>Neil wrote: >>>This is the stuff of LotR and rpgs like ADnD. Yet, though Tolkien is >>amazingly popular (Book of the Century, remember?) and his second-rate >>imitators fill the >shelves in bookshops ... >> >>Am I alone in the world in actually rather liking LotR ? The fact that it >>spawned a lot of poor imitations doesn't stop the original from having its >>good moments (interspersed with the dire moments) and the fact that it's >>apparently popular doesn't necessarily make it totally beneath contempt. Thought of this thread today, while reading an article titled "Dr Seuss and Dr Einstein: Children's Books and Scientific Imagination," which essentially argues that children's fantasy and picture books can develop the right mindset for science. At one point, the author (Chet Raymo) states "I would more quickly welcome into my science classes the child who has travelled in Middle-Earth and Narnia than the child who stayed home and read nothing but 'useful' information." That, in turn, left me wondering which category Blake and Avon would've fit. DDJ frazzled@keystonenet.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 19:57:13 -0400 From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" Subject: [B7L] Re: Anna Message-ID: <200009301957_MC2-B539-DED1@compuserve.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Sally continued to argue: >"Alive, Servalan can hand over power. = >Dead, she's just one more corpse." > >All of which indicates an overriding belief that = >Servalan's command to disarm will be effective. = I certainly don't think it would be 100 per cent effective. I do think i= t would create a certain amount of confusion (we know from Traitor that the= re were some people who were personally loyal to Servalan). She may be hopi= ng for enough of a split in the armed forces to renew the recent civil war, = in which the rebels would also join. That's why she should have been cultivating military contacts, too. >I shouldn't be surprised if Chesku kept his trophy = >wife right out of anything and everything where = >she could develop political nous or influence. Anna's job (as Bartolomew) is to watch people; I imagine that her marriag= e to Chesku was arranged by her controllers specifically to put her into a position where she is able to watch rising politicians (including him) fo= r any dangerous tendencies. She should also have met plenty of military high-rankers at those interminable presidential dinners. I hypothesise a= n affair with one of them, because we know she'd used that technique before= , and it would be the simplest cover for a plot. >Then why doesn't she seem to take any precautions = >against possible alarms etc? Did she assume that = >everything *would* go so perfectly that there would = >be no need for a back-up force in case an alarm got = >through (as it did?) Clearly, something did go badly wrong, and it can't be put down purely to= the wild card of the Liberator crew. Coups are like heroics, they seldom= run to schedule. On my story, her back-up force and Servalan's relief force are identical, led by her military lover, but an unknown cock-up (maybe he was reassigned at the last moment, but I prefer to think she picked the wrong man and he was quite unable to improvise when things beg= an to go off course) causes them to fulfil their official role rather than t= he one she planned. I certainly agree that Anna made mistakes (not having a secure guard on Servalan in the cellar strikes me as particularly odd) - I perceive her a= s a gloriously flawed character to match Avon. I just can't believe she'd = be so hare-brained as to set up a plot which was so obviously doomed without= a Factor X. Harriet ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 21:07:00 +0100 From: "Neil Faulkner" To: "b7" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides Message-ID: <000601c02b49$291f54a0$e535fea9@neilfaulkner> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Ellynne G. > Well, I _can_ go on for even longer about LotR than about B7. > Say, remember when it was discussed what kind of plural ending -ar was > for Auronar? Eldar, Sindar, Valar, Maiar... stop me when you notice a > trend, here. Hmm, and if the Sarcophagus alien was related to the Auronar (well, they both had the mental power stuff, didn't they), and she was so much attached to That Ring .... then maybe ... The bastards! They stiffed Galadriel! Actually if there's one bit of Tolkien I'd like to see made into a film, it would probably be the tale of Turin Turambar. It's got everything a gloomy gothic tragedy could ask for - damaged childhood, missing parents, friends slain by accident, an evil dragon, treacherous dwarves, unrequited love, incest, suicide. I think Galadriel was at Menegroth at the time so she could get a cameo. The only change I'd make is have Morgoth let Hurin go a bit earlier so he could turn up in time to see Turin throw himself on Gurthang. No, of course I'm not into Tolkien... Neil ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 23:43:29 EDT From: B7Morrigan@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se, freedom-city@blakes-7.org Subject: [B7L] Dup B7 videos Message-ID: <35.ae56c28.27080ce1@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Driven by the demon acquisition, I inadvertently purchased duplicates of the B7 videos, volumes 8 and 14. Volume 8 contains "Shadow" and "Weapon" and is still in shrinkwrap Volume 14 contains "Aftermath" and "Powerplay" Ideally, I'd love to trade these videos for volumes 19, 21, 22, or 24, none of which I currently have. In lieu of that, I'll make these NTSC videos available at a pretty low price to any struggling students or other fans who can't otherwise get them from Amazon or Ebay. Just send me a direct email. First come, first serve. $5 each, or $7.50 for both, plus $3.20 for Priority Mail. Morrigan Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 22:11:39 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides and Ring Lords Message-ID: <20000930.222043.-472513.0.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 30 Sep 2000 18:27:05 -0400 DDJ writes: > > Thought of this thread today, while reading an article titled "Dr > Seuss and > Dr Einstein: Children's Books and Scientific Imagination," which > essentially argues that children's fantasy and picture books can > develop > the right mindset for science. [snip] > > That, in turn, left me wondering which category Blake and Avon > would've fit. > Blake openly read all that stuff and went on at great length how it was so much better than certain government approved reading lists. Avon read everything he could get his hands on, too, but he said it was to help him understand such hopelessly warped mentalities as the people who actually _enjoyed_ reading it. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 22:20:36 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Introduction Message-ID: <20000930.222043.-472513.1.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 30 Sep 2000 18:16:50 EST "Jessica Taylor" writes: > > Sally wrote: But Cally gets a > bare > >handful of lines in Rescue, and Vila's later, very apt "who cared > about > >Cally?" > > I think that was the most moving thing about Rescue, the anonymity > of > Cally's death and the way the others reacted so stoicly as though > they were > all pretty much desensitized to death by that point except for Vila. > The > scene when Tarrant wakes up by the fire and asks about Cally and the > only > response was Avon saying "Cally's dead" is probably (IMHO) one of > the > saddest ever on B7. I think the terseness, the lack of overall reaction underscored their emotional exhaustion at that particular time rather than overall desensitization. To me, the feelings seemed to be there but no one was in any state to deal with them. Add to which, they were in a pretty precarious position themselves and didn't know whether or not they might be joining her soon (and what exactly did cause the whole planet to blow up so plot conveniently?). However, you're making the classic error of assuming Cally died, a point for which there is debatable evidence at best. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 06:20:10 +0200 From: Natasa Tucev To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Anna & the nature of love Message-Id: <200010010420.GAA23362@Tesla.rcub.bg.ac.yu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Tavia wrote: > I've also read a lot of >fiction which assumed that Blake, for reasons of Cause and/or Federation >mind-mangling, was incapable of love. > Back to the terms 'loving' and 'lovable' - the whole discussion ensued from there. Just a coincidence, but they are also central to Eliot's Cocktail Party, so I'll take the liberty of referring to it. Eliot claims that all people are basically unloving and unlovable, i.e., too selfish and egotistic for the 'genuine' surrender to love. It is the general human condition, he says, and most of us Are contented with the morning that separates And with the evening that brings together For casual talk before the fire Two people who know they do not understand each other, Breeding children whom they do not understand And who will never understand them. (There. I've introduced some poetry to the list.) The tiny minority who are truly loving and lovable, for Eliot, are those who are willing to sacrifice their personal interests (or even their lives) for some common good, for the benefit of mankind. If this definition is applicable to anyone in B7, it is certainly not Avon. I'm not entirely in favour of this concept, but I've used it here because the theory that Blake is incapable of love due to his devotion to the Cause really makes me angry. It is contradictory in itself. I cannot remember that Blake has done anything selfish throughout the series. Correct me if I'm wrong. I also think the script writers (most of them) make it clear that he is much more driven by the love for mankind than by the hatred for the Federation. This is more than obvious when he puts a plague warning into Fosforon's orbit, rather than to use this opportunity to kill Servalan (as 'somebody else' suggests they should do). Natasa ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 21:41:38 -0700 From: Helen Krummenacker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire, etc Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire, etc Message-ID: <39D6C082.21D0@jps.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > - great scientific breakthroughs made by mad scientists stranded on barren > planets with only their beautiful daughters for company. (If she's so > beautiful, how come he's always so pigging ugly?) I don't know. I thought Hal Mellanby was fairly good-looking, although I wasn't entirely keen on his ensemble. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 08:31:59 +0100 From: "Una McCormack" To: "b7" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides Message-ID: <018601c02b7b$3bfcaa00$0d01a8c0@codex> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Neil: > Actually if there's one bit of Tolkien I'd like to see made into a film, it > would probably be the tale of Turin Turambar. Ooh yes. Probably the grimmest story in the whole of Tolkien. > It's got everything a gloomy > gothic tragedy could ask for - damaged childhood, missing parents, friends > slain by accident, an evil dragon, treacherous dwarves, unrequited love, > incest, suicide. And is set amongst the ashes and ruins of once beautiful kingdoms. > I think Galadriel was at Menegroth at the time so she > could get a cameo. The only change I'd make is have Morgoth let Hurin go a > bit earlier so he could turn up in time to see Turin throw himself on > Gurthang. Wasn't quite grim enough for you, was it, Neil? Una ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 10:11:40 +0200 From: "Marian de Haan" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Anna & the nature of love Message-ID: <001801c02b7f$3c256ae0$faee72c3@marian-de-haan.multiweb.nl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Natasa wrote: >the theory that Blake is incapable of love due to his devotion to the Cause really makes me angry. It is contradictory in itself. I cannot remember that Blake has done anything selfish throughout the series. Correct me if I'm wrong.< Well, IMHO the way he claims Liberator for his fight, with total disregard to the wishes of Jenna and Avon, might be considered a bit selfish from their viewpoint :-) Marian ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 11:03:09 +0200 From: Natasa Tucev To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Fantasy Message-Id: <200010010903.LAA27071@Tesla.rcub.bg.ac.yu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" 1. Actually, B7 has a lot of elements which belong to the realm of fantasy/myths/archetypes. I've written a silly essay about some of them. I'll just add another one to the list: the fact that the Federation is not unlike some mythical monsters. At the very beginning, Blake claims he intends to see the heart of the Federation torn out. The problem is, the heart is not where he expects it should be, on Earth, but rather 'on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity'. Another problem is, that even when this heart (Star One) is torn out, the Federation goes on living. It very much reminds me of a dragon whose chopped-off heads are replaced by new and more numerous ones. 2. A good fantasy film - how about 'Willow'? Does anyone else on this list like it? 3. Has anybody tried inventing a computer font which would use runes instead of letters? It wouldn't be very practical though. Natasa ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 11:37:17 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) From: Nic Mayer To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Servalan Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII There's an article in todays Observer, where Jacqueline Pearce says that Servalan took over her life. Its at: http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4070427,00.html Nic General (USMC) - Danny's Girls www.paranoidangel.freeserve.co.uk I used to be conceited, but now I am perfect ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 14:39:19 +0200 From: Natasa Tucev To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Fantasy Message-Id: <200010011239.OAA31670@Tesla.rcub.bg.ac.yu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" (I'm sorry, I wiped off the original message but I think Neil asked whether there could be something like B7 written in the fantasy genre). The Evil Empire is spreading throughout Earthsea and forcing everyone to speak RP English and wear ill-fitting tunics. Blake the Barbarian rebels against the Empire and in a particularly gory scene he fights Travis the Captain of the Guard and chops off his arm with a sword and plucks out his eye with a bodkin. He is caught and dumped into dungeon while evil sorcery is used to turn all his rebel friends into penguins (except Bran Foster who is turned into a hard-back edition because he's so thick). A jewel is placed into Blake the Barbarian's skull and the magic makes him accuse everyone who rebels against RP and tunics of being a traitor. Then he recalls his past and is shipped to a penal island, along with Vila the Thief, Avon the Wizard, Gan the Giant with an Arrow in His Head and Jenna the Pirate. They escape thanks to a magic ship haunted by Zen the Genie (Jenna wakes him up by rubbing a green lamp). Magic bracelets enable them to get to a desired island, while to return to the ship they have to put on red high-heel shoes, turn thrice and repeat, 'There's no such place like the Liberator'. Avon the Wizard makes the ship invisible. Later they run into Red Cally who's dressed in red and also knows some magic. Feel free to continue. Natasa ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 13:00:58 -0400 From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" Subject: [B7L] Re: Fantasy, satire and princess brides Message-ID: <200010011301_MC2-B54D-E034@compuserve.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Russ wrote: >Isn't Beowulf about an individual hero defending his = >own community against a pair of monsters? = In the first part, Beowulf sails in and defends someone else's community (though with a similar culture) against a pair of monsters (Grendel and dam). In the final part, many years later, he dies defending his own community against a single monster (the dragon). Harriet -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V00 Issue #274 **************************************