From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V00 #288 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume00/288 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 288 Today's Topics: [B7L] teleport duty [ "Marian de Haan" ] Re: [B7L] Christmas presents [ "Dana Shilling" ] Re: [B7L] Christmas presents [ "Ellynne G." ] Re: [B7L] Re: Avon & the kitchen [ "J MacQueen" ] Re: [B7L] Re: b7spin: Re: The Matrix [ Kathryn Andersen ] [B7L] Gallows humour [ Natasa Tucev To: Subject: [B7L] teleport duty Message-ID: <000101c035df$f7fe6f40$52ed72c3@marian-de-haan.multiweb.nl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The often heard complaint about the women crew members being relegated to teleport duty in S2 made me curious about how many times each character gets the honour of flicking those switches. So, to satisfy my curiosity, I sat down to count. [Excellent reason for watching S1-2 again :-)] As this is a list of how many times someone is appointed to the duty, I left random occasions out (like Cally hearing Avon call for teleport in Breakdown; she obliges but Vila was on duty). To keep things simple I counted the sending down and back up as one, unless the retrieval is done by a different character. Behold the result, (with the 'random' occasions - not included in the main figures - between brackets): - Avon 13 times - Vila 13 - Cally 12 (+2) - Jenna 10 (+1) - Orac 5 - Blake 2 (+1) - Gan 0 (1) So the top of the list is shared by Avon and Vila. [And we never hear those gentlemen complain about the task being a waste of their talents :-)] Cally's count does not include her bringing up Avon in Breakdown and sending back the soldiers in Redemption). Jenna's count does include her operating the teleport together with Avon in Cygnus Alpha but not her spacing of the crimo). The overall pattern for S1 and the first third of S2 (up until Horizon) shows Avon as first choice for teleport duty. The only exception is Duel, where Blake chooses Vila [but maybe that's because he thinks it prudent to leave Avon to fume by himself over Vila calling him a machine :-)]. When Avon isn't available (because he's part of the landing party), the job goes to Vila. If Vila is also included in the landing party, Jenna is the third choice for S1 and Cally for S2. It is interesting to note that in Cygnus Alpha the teleport is operated by Avon and Jenna together, although Blake appears to regard Avon as the expert. :-) Blake seems to consider the job beneath him since he only does it when he has guests to dispatch: Sarkoff and Tyce in Bounty and Del Grant in Countdown. The only other times he deigns to dirt his fingers on the switches are when he spaces Vargas - no time to give the order to someone else :-) - and when he tries to retrieve Jenna in Deliverance. The only time Gan gets to operate the teleport is in Time Squad, and I consider that a random occasion although I realise that this is debatable :-). It seems to me we have a missed chance here, because by making Gan Chief Teleport Operator the writers could have given him something meaningful to do. Marian ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 12:36:43 -0400 From: "Dana Shilling" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Christmas presents Message-ID: <006301c035fd$2b6c74e0$45ae4e0c@dshilling> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sally said: > > 'tis one thing to think of what we'd give Our Heroes (Blake would > like a Successful Revolution, Avon wants the Liberator and Dayna would love > Servalan's head, but none of these are exactly easy to gift-wrap). As long as you have a hatbox, the last one would be... > > Dayna would mean well, but almost certainly end up buying things *she'd* > like and getting tetchy if they didn't like the stuff just as much; Jenna > the same (except for Blake, and I think we can all guess what she'd like to > give him). And his Christmas present to her is letting her... > >I have > to say Avon is a definite give-them-money-it's-easier type. The money of > course coming from the Treasure Room, and someone else's share if he can > manage it :-). I think Avon gives wonderful and usually extremely expensive presents, because he can't stand the thought of anyone being one-up on him. Not that I think he spent a lot of time in his local on Earth, but I can imagine it being something of a sport to succeed in buying a drink for Avon, knowing that he would feel compelled to send you a case of champagne in revenge. -(Y) ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 00 12:23:53 PDT From: Jacqui Speel To: Subject: Re: [Re: [B7L] Christmas presents] Message-ID: <20001014192353.10117.qmail@ww184.netaddress.usa.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Avon would have got Blake the 'How to win friends...' book, and perhaps t= he Eisenstein film 'October' (Russian revolution). Blake would have given hi= m 'The Sting.'. "Dana Shilling" wrote: Sally said: > > 'tis one thing to think of what we'd give Our Heroes (Blake woul= d > like a Successful Revolution, Avon wants the Liberator and Dayna would love > Servalan's head, but none of these are exactly easy to gift-wrap). As long as you have a hatbox, the last one would be... ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home= =2Enetscape.com/webmail ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 00 12:28:39 PDT From: Jacqui Speel To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [[B7L] Christmas presents] Message-ID: <20001014192839.11953.qmail@www0l.netaddress.usa.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I suspect Avon when buying presents for himself goes for 'so plain it mus= t be expensive' objects, and gets given joke presents ('baby's first computer'= , 'Teach yourself computing') "Sally Manton" wrote: And Avon, my Avon ... putting aside the joyous picture of him at the loca= l = mall during the pre-Christmas frenzy (I'm in Australia, remember; this me= ans = manic shopping crowds combined with 40 deg C heat and endless repeats of = balalaika Jingle Bells complete with wobble-board and/or digeridoo), I ha= ve = to say Avon is a definite give-them-money-it's-easier type. The money of = course coming from the Treasure Room, and someone else's share if he can = manage it :-). ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home= =2Enetscape.com/webmail ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 00 12:32:16 PDT From: Jacqui Speel To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: B7 gods]] Message-ID: <20001014193217.17945.qmail@www0w.netaddress.usa.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable And Cally is the Norse goddess who dispenses the apples of eternal life (= I haven't read up my legends in 'a long time) Playing 'mix and match' gods might be simpler: how about Gan as Wayland t= he Smith? Jacqui "Ellynne G." wrote: Let's see, Loki was never overly attached to telling the truth, definitely the brains of the Norse pantheon, considered himself neither stupid nor expendable but always wound up going, hung out with a one eyed= guy he was destined to bring about the death of, had one extremely evil female type from the enemy interested in him (his wife Angurboda) but also had a fairly long suffering, no idea what she saw in him type from the 'good guys' interested in him (his other wife, Sigyn).... We're talking Avon as avatar instead of an avatar of Avon, right? ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home= =2Enetscape.com/webmail ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 14:39:34 -0600 From: Betty Ragan To: B7 Lyst Subject: Re: [Re: [B7L] Christmas presents] Message-ID: <39E8C486.4CD38D03@sdc.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jacqui Speel wrote: > Avon would have got Blake the 'How to win friends...' book, and perhaps the > Eisenstein film 'October' (Russian revolution). _Braveheart_. Avon should *definitely* give him a copy of _Braveheart_. :) -- Betty Ragan ** ragan@sdc.org ** http://www.sdc.org/~ragan/ "I love hearing that lonesome wail of the train whistle as the magnitude of the frequency of the wave changes due to the Doppler effect." -- Sidney Harris ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 15:33:56 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Christmas presents Message-ID: <20001014.153359.-107137.0.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gan: Gives everyone fruitcake, which he sincerely believes is the best present anyone can get. Vila: Gives everyone useful items just like the useful items they've noticed were missing. Jenna: Gives everyone a country western CD (offered to book a cruise trip for Blake but he couldn't find a clear spot on his calendar and hinted he might be getting her something similar). Soolin: Gives everyone individual, nicely wrapped boxes in which are shiny bullets with their names engraved on them. Just in case they ever need them, she says sweetly. Cally: Puts a lot of thought into it. Gives Vila a copy of Les Miserables (unabridged), knowing the story of the reformed thief, Jean Valjean, will inspire him. Gives Dayna a copy of Count of Monte Cristo, hoping the story of the fruitless cost of revenge will help her put her own life in perspective. Gives Tarrant a copy of Walden by Thoreau, hoping he will take the parts about the unexamined life not being worth living and _peaceful_ civil disobedience to heart (a few bombs are all well and good, but perspective is needed). Gives Gan The Complete Works of Tennyson because she's sure he'll enjoy it as much as she has. Gives Avon "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Gives up on Jenna. Gets her the stack of trashy romances she knew she wanted. Dayna: Gives Tarrant a working model of her latest gun design with a sprig of mistletoe (just in case he missed the obviously flirty nature of weapons as presents). Gives Soolin a subscription to Mercenary Monthly, which is deeply appreciated (except that Soolin suspects the 'address change' slip is a clever, Federation ploy to find out where they are). Gives Vila a small, explosive device, which seems to have no point, till she casually mentions she has the trigger switch, which may 'accidentally' get flipped if he even _thinks_ about touching her stuff again. Gives Orac added memory storage (from Orac's idea of an inferior model) since he _always_ says he doesn't have enough to do what she asks him to. Gives Avon the large, brightly striped skin (like tiger stripes only in neon orange and lime green on purple) of something she's killed because she's noticed how plain his room is and thought this would brighten it up (she thought about stitching it into a new leather jacket for him but can't sew). Tarrant: Forgets holidays entirely. Gets gift certificates for the only store he can find open that late on Christmas Eve, so everyone will be able to pick up a couple containers of free mouth wash and asprin to start off the new year. Orac: Sees to it computer printing out Tarrant's gift certificates malfunctions so they say they're from him. Avon: gives Vila 'Subservience for Dummies.' Gives Tarrant 'The Idiot's Guide to Piloting.' Gives Dayna 'Revenge for Dummies.' Gives Soolin a video game with a high violence rating. In a mood of complete sentimentality, gives Cally a necklace with little links small objects (like teeth) can be attached to. By interesting coincidence, this happens just before Vila runs to his room and comes back with the useful, suspiciously familar presents for everyone. Gives Jenna a CD with "You're So Vain," "Beat It," "What Are You Waiting For?" and "Christmas at Ground Zero" on it. Gives Blake "How to Win Friends and Influence People for Dummies." Gives Gan a one year old fruitcake. Blake: Tells everyone he's booked them a wonderful vacation cruise to a little world called Star One. 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, 15 Oct 2000 09:53:07 EST From: "J MacQueen" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Avon & the kitchen Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Helen Krummenacker >pomegranates You're an evil woman, Helen, to mention those... Regards Joanne _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 07:40:46 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: [B7L] Re: b7spin: Re: The Matrix Message-ID: <20001015074046.A5879@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Sat, Oct 14, 2000 at 02:46:42PM +0100, Una McCormack wrote: > Iain: > > > > hokum. But I honestly don't see what all the fuss was about. > > > > a) Great outfits > > > > b) A sense that the filmmakers had at least read one or two SF novels, > > which is refreshing Absolutely. > > c) Really terrific outfits > > > > d) A few nifty bits of direction > > > > e) Remarkably good outfits > > > > f) Lawrence Fishburne is usually good value > > > > g) You know, there were some pretty good outfits. > > So sartorial achievements aside (and I did say it was stylish (and I > suspect you're thinking more of the bird's leather top than Keanu's leather > coat)) - what was all the fuss about? (Please remember that I nod off > during Bond films.) Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a damn good action > film that looked really great, but I can't see why people thought it was > the best film they'd ever seen. Well, mostly (b), which is very hard to find in films unless you're watching Anime. They Got It Right. That was my feeling, anyway. It wasn't *just* an action film. Even if had been just an action film, it was, indeed, a "damn good action film that looked really great", but it was SF! Not just a bunch of SFX without a plot. For my full rantings on the subject, you can look at my review on my reviews page Kathryn Andersen -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Susan: What are we going to do now? Turlough: Die. (Doctor Who: The Five Doctors) -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | \_.--.*/ | v | #include "standard/disclaimer.h" ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 19:30:44 -0600 From: Betty Ragan To: B7 Lyst Subject: Re: [B7L] Christmas presents Message-ID: <39E908C4.2B9D5000@sdc.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ellynne G. wrote: > Gives Avon the large, brightly striped skin (like tiger stripes only in > neon orange and lime green on purple) of something she's killed because > she's noticed how plain his room is and thought this would brighten it up Oh, gawd! I'm having a *delightful* time imagining this. I wonder if he would actually put it in his room? For Dayna, he just *might*, and I'd *love* to see that! > Gives Tarrant 'The Idiot's Guide to Piloting.' [snicker] -- Betty Ragan ** ragan@sdc.org ** http://www.sdc.org/~ragan/ "I love hearing that lonesome wail of the train whistle as the magnitude of the frequency of the wave changes due to the Doppler effect." -- Sidney Harris ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 13:16:11 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: b7spin: Re: The Matrix Message-ID: <20001015131611.A7636@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Ooops! Sorry folks, slip of the alias (put b7l instead of b7spin) Sorry sorry sorry. -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | \_.--.*/ | v | #include "standard/disclaimer.h" ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 22:49:02 EDT From: B7Morrigan@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se, freedom-city@blakes-7.org Subject: [B7L] Question about a serial story Message-ID: <11.a653565.271a751e@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am hoping with the wealth of knowledge out there, someone can help me track down a story. I've been happily immersed in a box full of "Gambits" for the last week or so (when not overwhelmed by RL). I read a story called "Day of the Bounty Hunter" that appears serially in the Gambit zines. I read part 1 in Gambit 10; part 2 in Gambit 12; part 3 in Gambit 13. Part 3 ends with "To be continued but part 4 is not in Gambit 14. I did a search using the author's name (S.R. Mowatt) on Judith's site but I didn't get any matches, leading me to believe that the info isn't indexed that way. Does anyone know where the story continues? Morrigan Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 20:17:09 -0700 From: Helen Krummenacker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: blakes7-gods Message-ID: <39E921B6.2003@jps.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > >Tarrant: Skip classical, go with Thor. > > I think he's more like Apollo (brighter than Thor), though this may be a > matter of personal distaste. And he'd probably know something about the > history of spacecraft, so might like the link with the 20th century > American space programme. > I also like this because of Phoebus Apollo as the chariot-driver who moves the sun. Space-pilot, you see? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 11:51:17 +0200 From: Natasa Tucev To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Gallows humour Message-Id: <200010150951.LAA03472@Tesla.rcub.bg.ac.yu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Recently I was reminded of the Freudian concept of 'gallows humour' (I'm not sure how exactly this is translated in English). It refers to the human capacity to make jokes in the moments of grave danger or near death. I recalled some instances of this in B7: (in Space Fall) JENNA: What do you think they'll do to us? BLAKE: Something unfriendly. (in the alien ship in Time Squad) JENNA: It's a difficult maneuver. He'll get there. BLAKE: I'm breathless with anticipation. Maybe the exchange in Duel, when Blake pretends to fight the Federation battle-ships with a wooden spear, also belongs to this category. Perhaps this is also connected with the question which has been recently posted to the list - whether Blake does anything to reward Jenna's loyalty and affection. Perhaps he makes these jokes in order to lift her spirits in the moments of crisis. Whether she needs such help is questionable, but it probably appeals to her more than would some pathetic 'it was nice knowing you but now we're both going to die' speeches. Natasa ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 00 03:44:03 PDT From: Jacqui Speel To: Subject: Re: [Re: [B7L] Christmas presents] Message-ID: <20001015104403.13020.qmail@www0x.netaddress.usa.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Orac gets 'Thomas the Tank Engine' (steam trains) or The Clangers (scienc= e fiction for young children) episodes with the Iron Chicken in Betty Ragan wrote: Ellynne G. wrote: > Gives Avon the large, brightly striped skin (like tiger stripes only in= > neon orange and lime green on purple) of something she's killed because= > she's noticed how plain his room is and thought this would brighten it = up Oh, gawd! I'm having a *delightful* time imagining this. I wonder if he would actually put it in his room? For Dayna, he just *might*, and I'd *love* to see that! > Gives Tarrant 'The Idiot's Guide to Piloting.' [snicker] -- = Betty Ragan ** ragan@sdc.org ** http://www.sdc.org/~ragan/ "I love hearing that lonesome wail of the train whistle as the magnitude of the frequency of the wave changes due to = the Doppler effect." -- Sidney Harris ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home= =2Enetscape.com/webmail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 10:44:33 GMT From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Christmas presents Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Dana wrote: But giving wonderful presents (expensive or not) involves actually *thinking* about the other person and what they might personally want. Avon doesn't do that unless made to, does he? Give them enough money and they can pick something wonderful for themselves, thereby shifting the work of thinking away from him. Also, there's no danger of him *getting it wrong* (an embarrassment I can't see My Darling wanting to risk). Actually the early crew would be the worst to shop for from his point of view, since IMHO at least three of them (Cally, Gan, Blake) strike me very much as 'it's the thought that counts' type (I still think Gan would buy them socks, but he'd choose the patterns very carefully ) and Vila probably leans that way, especially since anything expensive he wants he can steal for himself. Jenna and Avon, or Avon and Soolin, would be right - they could exchange 'gifts' (expensive 23rd century boutique stuff neither of them particularly wants and neither will expect the other to keep) rather than presents. Tarrant and especially Dayna would be better off (and probably happier) with the money IMHO (mind you, I can see Tarrant at least trying VERY OBVIOUSLY to pretend he *liked* whatever Dayna and/or Vila gave him. Oh joy ...) _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2000 13:13:25 +0200 From: Calle Dybedahl To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: B7 gods]] Message-ID: <86k8ba4asq.fsf@tezcatlipoca.algonet.se> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>>>> "Jacqui" == Jacqui Speel writes: > And Cally is the Norse goddess who dispenses the apples of eternal life (I > haven't read up my legends in 'a long time) Idun. And that'd definitely be the later, not particularly active, Cally. -- Calle Dybedahl, Vasav. 82, S-177 52 Jaerfaella,SWEDEN | calle@lysator.liu.se "Such a pretty day for a bloodbath." -- Callisto, "Xena: Warrior Princess" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 08:40:00 EST From: "J MacQueen" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Fantasy, SF and all that stuff Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: "Sally Manton" >Nononono ... well, yes Argh. Vicar of Dibley cross-over, anyone? Regards Joanne _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V00 Issue #288 **************************************