Young People Read Old SFF: A Martian Odyssey

[James Nicoll]

BSP: The sequel! I expose my young volunteers to Weinbaum's classic tale of a man and
an alien.


http://youngpeoplereadoldsff.com/story/a-martian-odyssey
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My Livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll (For all your "The problem with
defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)

[T Guy]

Intelligent and interesting reactions here.

Mikayla's 'using the word “ejaculated” to describe someone speaking with excitement is really unfortunate...Any tension that might have been there is diffused since the narrator obviously lived so he could tell this story to us.' are comment comments on 'old' stories. Most of you shall be familiar with Doyle/Watson using 'ejaculate as a noun of speech, I believe.

[T Guy]

On Monday, 4 July 2016 17:19:41 UTC+1, T Guy wrote:

> ...comment comments on 'old' stories. Most of you shall be familiar with Doyle/Watson using 'ejaculate as a noun of speech, I believe.

Most of you probably worked out that 'comment comments' should be 'common comments,' I believe...

[Kevrob]

On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 12:21:22 PM UTC-4, T Guy wrote:
> On Monday, 4 July 2016 17:19:41 UTC+1, T Guy wrote:
>

> > ...comment comments on 'old' stories. Most of you shall be familiar with Doyle/Watson using 'ejaculate as a noun.....

Verb?

>....of speech, I believe.
>

We learned the noun "ejaculation" as a part of speech, back when
fire
was "high tech."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejaculation_(grammar)

Since I went to Catholic school, I was exposed to the prayers of
that type, too.

> Most of you probably worked out that 'comment comments' should be 'common comments,' I believe...

Kevin R

[Robert Carnegie]

On Monday, 4 July 2016 17:19:41 UTC+1, T Guy wrote:

Well, if "noun of speech" includes a verb.
<http://qi.com/infocloud/sherlock-holmes>
Waston writes "a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up"
in the story of "The Man with the Twisted Lip". Of course
it means that Holmes, who was sitting thinking (and smoking
shag tobacco), suddenly shouted "Aha!" or something like that.

"Ejaculation" is the noun used in a non-medical sense.

[Jack Bohn]

Great scott! Are they too young even to compare it to Fraggle Rock?

--
-Jack

[Robert Carnegie]

On Tuesday, 5 July 2016 15:33:25 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
> Great scott! Are they too young even to compare it to Fraggle Rock?

"Fraggle Rock" is the next subject but one :-)

[T Guy]

On Tuesday, 5 July 2016 03:03:36 UTC+1, Kevrob wrote:
> On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 12:21:22 PM UTC-4, T Guy wrote:
> > On Monday, 4 July 2016 17:19:41 UTC+1, T Guy wrote:
> >
> > > ...comment comments on 'old' stories. Most of you shall be familiar with Doyle/Watson using 'ejaculate as a noun.....
>
> Verb?

Well spotted, Wilson. I wondered who'd notice that first.

>
> >....of speech, I believe.
> >
>
> We learned the noun "ejaculation" as a part of speech, back when
> fire
> was "high tech."
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejaculation_(grammar)
>
> Since I went to Catholic school, I was exposed to the prayers of
> that type, too.

As linked to from the Wikiarticle.

[David DeLaney]

On 2016-07-05, Jack Bohn <jack....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Great scott! Are they too young even to compare it to Fraggle Rock?

... Wikipedia says 1983-1987, then reruns. DVDs from 2005-2009 released.

29 isn't exactly "too/very young" these days, is it?

Dave, there's enough reruns around now that almost everything gets lost among
everything else; classics like I Love Lucy or Muppet Show can stand out...
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://gatekeeper.vic.com/~dbd/ -net.legends/Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[Quadibloc]

On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 8:01:42 AM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:
> BSP: The sequel! I expose my young volunteers to Weinbaum's classic tale of a man and
> an alien.

I remember being reminded of that story when I watched a commercial for "OS/2
Warp" featuring nuns speaking in Dutch - as one of them spoke the name of the
operating system, it made me think of the Martian creatures' attempt at speech.

John Savard

[James Nicoll]

In article <c2ab6cf9-b495-421b...@googlegroups.com>,

T Guy <tim.b...@redbridge.gov.uk> wrote:
>On Monday, 4 July 2016 17:19:41 UTC+1, T Guy wrote:
>
>> ...comment comments on 'old' stories. Most of you shall be familiar
>with Doyle/Watson using 'ejaculate as a noun of speech, I believe.

Classmates in 1980 made the same complaint about War of the Worlds (a
scene where the protag ejaculates to his wife), so something to tie the
generations together.

[James Nicoll]

In article <db3edaea-1c52-4c10...@googlegroups.com>,

I think Fraggle Rock is to them as Howdy Doody is to me.

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 7/6/2016 7:55 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <c2ab6cf9-b495-421b...@googlegroups.com>,
> T Guy <tim.b...@redbridge.gov.uk> wrote:
>> On Monday, 4 July 2016 17:19:41 UTC+1, T Guy wrote:
>>
>>> ...comment comments on 'old' stories. Most of you shall be familiar
>> with Doyle/Watson using 'ejaculate as a noun of speech, I believe.
>
> Classmates in 1980 made the same complaint about War of the Worlds (a
> scene where the protag ejaculates to his wife), so something to tie the
> generations together.
>

Sexual innuendo not only ties the generations together, it helps create
new generations. :P

--
Running the rec.arts.TV Channels Watched Survey for Summer 2016

[Kevrob]

On Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 10:57:16 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <db3edaea-1c52-4c10...@googlegroups.com>,
> Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
> >On Tuesday, 5 July 2016 15:33:25 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
> >> Great scott! Are they too young even to compare it to Fraggle Rock?
> >
> >"Fraggle Rock" is the next subject but one :-)
> >
> I think Fraggle Rock is to them as Howdy Doody is to me.
>
>

As I crawl through my 60th year, I can clearly remember watching
Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob and Clarabelle. I would have been a
three-year old!

I checked the dates on the wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howdy_Doody#Howdy_Doody.27s_return

ObSFTV note: a character in the Canadian version of the show
may have given Sydney Newman the idea for DOCTOR WHO.

Kevin R

[Steve Coltrin]

begin fnord

Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> writes:

> Sexual innuendo not only ties the generations together, it helps
> create new generations. :P

Innuendo is very unlikely to result in... oh. You meant the other kind of
innuendo.

--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org Google Groups killfiled here
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

[Jack_Bohn]

James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <db3edaea-1c52-4c10...@googlegroups.com>,
> Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
> >On Tuesday, 5 July 2016 15:33:25 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
> >> Great scott! Are they too young even to compare it to Fraggle Rock?
> >
> >"Fraggle Rock" is the next subject but one :-)
> >
> I think Fraggle Rock is to them as Howdy Doody is to me.

With my vague memories of Captain Kangaroo, and vaguer memories of Bozo the Clown, I find it strange that I knew the much older "Porky in Wackyland" to compare it to. I guess it is what survives and stands out.

--
-Jack

[Cryptoengineer]

"Jack_Bohn" <jackb...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:nln6m8$775$1...@dont-email.me:

My father was one of the 'Mad Men', working in the ad business in NYC
in the early 60s.

As a side effect, when I was a tiny tot I got to be in the peewee gallery
on both the NYC verson of 'Bozo the Clown' (it was a franchise) and a
show called 'Birthday Party'.

pt

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <nln6m8$775$1...@dont-email.me>,

Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo; I also remember the brief
tenure of Pinky Lee and just a little bit (from before we moved,
when I had to limit my TV-watching to other people's sets)
Captain Ed McConnell and his sidekick, Froggy the Gremlin, who
was a frog-shaped squeeze toy.

The Mickey Mouse Club launched a year or so later.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <nln6m8$775$1...@dont-email.me>,
Jack_Bohn <jackb...@gmail.com> wrote:

"Porky In Wackland" was I suspect run for many years on local kids'
shows across the country as were most Warner Cartoons, Popeye Cartoons,
Woody Woodpecker etc. (It gets less play now since it was B&W, but
that wasn't an issue when all and then most TVs were B&W anyway).
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Quadibloc]

On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 11:00:03 PM UTC-6, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:

> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo;

Odd, I can remember Captain Kangaroo (but not Howdy Doody), but I wasn't even
born yet in 1953. I thought the show Captain Kangaroo survived well into the
1960s.

John Savard

[Quadibloc]

Apparently the language was actually Czech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmQ3f1PRnw0

but there's no audio, so you can't hear how "Oh-Hess-Two Varp!" reminded me of
"We are vrrriends - Ouch!" from A Martian Odyssey.

John Savard

[Quadibloc]

My mistake; I had a temporary glitch on my computer, so that sound through the
earphone jack was turned off; the video does have sound.

John Savard

[Robert Woodward]

In article <57cfcc26-0cf0-4c0b...@googlegroups.com>,

It lasted to 1984 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Kangaroo>.

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
news:57cfcc26-0cf0-4c0b...@googlegroups.com:

According to IMDB, Captain Kangaroo was in production from 1955 to
1991. Howdy Doody was 1947 to 1960.

Some crossover, but not a lot for two farily long running shows.

--
Terry Austin

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote in
news:robertaw-9E2B02...@news.individual.net:

IMDB says 1992, but it's unclear if that was regular production or if
it includes specials of some sort.

[Kevrob]

Bob Keeshan was Howdy's original Clarabell AND Capt Kangaroo!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Keeshan

He was a bit of a local legend when I was a kid. Some of my schoolmates
lived in his town, Babylon Long Island, NY, and would tell tales of
seeing him at church, or in the grocery store.

I watched the Captain for "Tom Terrific, and Manfred the Wonder Dog,"
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Terrific

VERY early SF content exposure!

Kevin R

[Greg Goss]

My friend's favourite song, from 1963, talks about watching Captain
Kangaroo.

(quick wiki)
Apparently it ran till 19 EIGHTY-FOUR. then remixed with a bit of new
material until 93.
--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

[Greg Goss]

Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote in

>> It lasted to 1984
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Kangaroo>.
>>
>IMDB says 1992, but it's unclear if that was regular production or if
>it includes specials of some sort.

The wikipedia article says it ran till 84, then in 86 was revived,
remixed with some new material and ran for another half decade or so.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <dub4ib...@mid.individual.net>,

Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
>Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>>On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 11:00:03 PM UTC-6, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>
>>> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
>>> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
>>> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
>>> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo;
>>
>>Odd, I can remember Captain Kangaroo (but not Howdy Doody), but I wasn't even
>>born yet in 1953. I thought the show Captain Kangaroo survived well into the
>>1960s.
>
>My friend's favourite song, from 1963, talks about watching Captain
>Kangaroo.
>

That would be "Flowers on The Wall" by The Statler Brothers.

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

t...@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) wrote in
news:dubdum...@mid.individual.net:

Countin' flowers on the wall
That don't bother me at all
Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do

Released 1966. Either somebody's memory is off, or there's more
than one song from the era mentioned Captain Kangaroo.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <dubdum...@mid.individual.net>,

Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>In article <dub4ib...@mid.individual.net>,
>Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
>>Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>>
>>>On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 11:00:03 PM UTC-6, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>
>>>> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
>>>> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
>>>> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
>>>> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo;
>>>
>>>Odd, I can remember Captain Kangaroo (but not Howdy Doody), but I wasn't even
>>>born yet in 1953. I thought the show Captain Kangaroo survived well into the
>>>1960s.

Entirely possible, but he wasn't on the three (count them)
channels we could get in Kettleman.

[Greg Goss]

Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:

I like the Heatherly version from much later. But my memory was
likely off.

[Kevrob]

On Friday, July 8, 2016 at 10:07:10 PM UTC-4, Greg Goss wrote:
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
> >On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 11:00:03 PM UTC-6, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >
> >> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
> >> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
> >> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
> >> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo;
> >
> >Odd, I can remember Captain Kangaroo (but not Howdy Doody), but I wasn't even
> >born yet in 1953. I thought the show Captain Kangaroo survived well into the
> >1960s.
>
> My friend's favourite song, from 1963, talks about watching Captain
> Kangaroo.
>

Hmmmm. I remember "Flowers On The Wall" as recorded by the
Statler Brothers in 1966.

"Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Capt. Kangaroo
Now don't tell me there's nothin' to do."

The song's narrator couldn't have jumped on the `net at
0-dark-30 and waste time as efficiently as we moderns!

> (quick wiki)
> Apparently it ran till 19 EIGHTY-FOUR. then remixed with a bit of new
> material until 93.
> --

Kevin R

[Quadibloc]

On Friday, July 8, 2016 at 2:16:13 PM UTC-6, Kevrob wrote:

> I watched the Captain for "Tom Terrific, and Manfred the Wonder Dog,"
> see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Terrific
>
> VERY early SF content exposure!

Yes, my favorite Tom Terrific episode was the Munimula one.

John Savard

[Quadibloc]

On Friday, July 8, 2016 at 11:03:34 PM UTC-6, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:
> t...@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) wrote in
> news:dubdum...@mid.individual.net:

> > That would be "Flowers on The Wall" by The Statler Brothers.
>
> Countin' flowers on the wall
> That don't bother me at all
> Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
> Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
> Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do
>
> Released 1966. Either somebody's memory is off, or there's more
> than one song from the era mentioned Captain Kangaroo.

But that's "King of the Road", by Roger Miller!

John Savard

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <193cfe75-dfc3-43fa...@googlegroups.com>,

By no means, "King of the Road".

[Cryptoengineer]

Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
news:193cfe75-dfc3-43fa...@googlegroups.com:

Um, no.

King of the Road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOe27SJ3Yc
No mention of Captain Kangaroo.

Flowers on the Wall (Statler Brothers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg1di8sGxWc

(hope I'm not missing the <irony> tags...)

pt

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
news:193cfe75-dfc3-43fa...@googlegroups.com:

You really need to smoke less dope, son.

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Cryptoengineer <treif...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:XnsA6416AD92A...@216.166.97.131:

It's Quaddie. You can't expect any connection to the world the rest
of us live in.

[BCFD36]

On 7/9/16 9:39 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
> news:193cfe75-dfc3-43fa...@googlegroups.com:
>
>> On Friday, July 8, 2016 at 11:03:34 PM UTC-6, Gutless Umbrella
>> Carrying Sissy wrote:
>>> t...@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) wrote in
>>> news:dubdum...@mid.individual.net:
>>
>>>> That would be "Flowers on The Wall" by The Statler Brothers.
>>>
>>> Countin' flowers on the wall
>>> That don't bother me at all
>>> Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
>>> Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
>>> Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do
>>>
>>> Released 1966. Either somebody's memory is off, or there's more
>>> than one song from the era mentioned Captain Kangaroo.
>>
>> But that's "King of the Road", by Roger Miller!
>
> Um, no.
>
> King of the Road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOe27SJ3Yc
> No mention of Captain Kangaroo.

Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let 50 cents
No phone, no pool, no pet,
Aint got no cigaretts

>
> Flowers on the Wall (Statler Brothers)
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg1di8sGxWc
>
> (hope I'm not missing the <irony> tags...)
>
> pt
>

--
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire

[Quadibloc]

On Saturday, July 9, 2016 at 10:39:12 PM UTC-6, Cryptoengineer wrote:

> Um, no.
>
> King of the Road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOe27SJ3Yc
> No mention of Captain Kangaroo.
>
> Flowers on the Wall (Statler Brothers)
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg1di8sGxWc
>
> (hope I'm not missing the <irony> tags...)

No, my memory really was in error. Thank you for your help.

John Savard

[Butch Malahide]

On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 9:01:42 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> BSP: The sequel! I expose my young volunteers to Weinbaum's classic tale of a man and
> an alien.
>
>

> http://youngpeoplereadoldsff.com/story/a-martian-odyssey
> --
> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
> My Livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
> http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll (For all your "The problem with
> defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)

I couldn't read those kids' reviews. Couldn't relate to them. The phrasing
is odd and jarring, the thinking is dated. Dated 2016, I mean.

[Don Kuenz]

LOL. Allow me to comment on one review.

Overall, I quite liked this story. Whenever I finish a story
and immediately go back to read bits of it again, I know
it's a good story.

It pays to keep a packet of Post-it Page Markers handy when you read.
That way you can permanently bookmark, for future reference, all of the
good passages, as you read.

--
Don Kuenz KB7RPU


Hark, hark,
A static spark,
The tape is wound around
So some baboon
Can croon his tune
In Stereophonic Sound.

[Wayne Brown]

The reviews written by "Jamie" and "Mikayla" were especially jarring.
Jamie's reference to "little things that bring you out of the story"
like "watches that don't tell you what day it is. Maybe even just
people wearing watches" was funny. As I write this I'm wearing
a Casio chronograph that doesn't show the day or date and which I
bought brand-new about three years ago.

Of course, Jamie's real howler was referring to the time when "A
Martian Odyssey" was written (1934) as "the deep past."

--
F. Wayne Brown <fwb...@bellsouth.net>

ur sag9-ga ur-tur-še3 ba-an-kur9
"A dog that is played with turns into a puppy." (Sumerian proverb)

[Robert Carnegie]

On Monday, 25 July 2016 21:00:55 UTC+1, Wayne Brown wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Jul 2016 02:51:00 in article <727bd9cd-ead1-49a3...@googlegroups.com> Butch Malahide <fred....@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 9:01:42 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> BSP: The sequel! I expose my young volunteers to Weinbaum's classic tale of a man and
> >> an alien.
> >>
> >>
> >> http://youngpeoplereadoldsff.com/story/a-martian-odyssey
> >> --
> >> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
> >> My Livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
> >> http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll (For all your "The problem with
> >> defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)
> >
> > I couldn't read those kids' reviews. Couldn't relate to them. The phrasing
> > is odd and jarring, the thinking is dated. Dated 2016, I mean.
>
> The reviews written by "Jamie" and "Mikayla" were especially jarring.
> Jamie's reference to "little things that bring you out of the story"
> like "watches that don't tell you what day it is. Maybe even just
> people wearing watches" was funny. As I write this I'm wearing
> a Casio chronograph that doesn't show the day or date and which I
> bought brand-new about three years ago.

I have a retro Casio digital watch (LCD, I'm not
Neanderthal [*]) that does tell me day and date, and
just as well. But I suppose it wouldn't do that
on a trip to Mars. How many days in a week on
Mars anyway... maybe it depends which week.
"Omnilingual", my ass. :-)

> Of course, Jamie's real howler was referring to the time when "A
> Martian Odyssey" was written (1934) as "the deep past."

Those strange aeons...

[*] Clearly I do still think that digital watches
are a pretty neat idea. (YASID for zero points)

[Kevrob]

Too easy. H2G2.

I bought a digital watch a while back just for wearing while
riding my bike. Lost it some time ago. It's best feature
was that the face was slanted so you could read it by a sideways
glance to your wrist, without taking your hand off the handlebar.
$20 at the Times Outlet stoe that's on the route I take to work.
I should replace it, after I tune up the bike.

Kevin R

[Peter Trei]

On Monday, July 25, 2016 at 6:42:28 PM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:

The length of a Martian 'sol' is 24 Earth hours, 39 minutes, and 35.24 seconds.
Back when Spirit and Opportunity were both operating, one of the major watch
manufacturers gave the entire rover team watch calibrated to run at Martian
speeds. I don't know if this was repeated for Curiosity.

The teams did initially operate on Martian time, according to daylight at the
different landing sites, but they've relaxed on that to some extent.

However, while seasons *are* important (especially for solar-operated
Opportunity), there's no real calendar. Days are counted separately for each
mission, with 'Sol 1' the day of landing. Oppy's sol count is now in the 4000s.

pt
,

[Michael F. Stemper]

On 2016-07-25 15:00, Wayne Brown wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Jul 2016 02:51:00 in article <727bd9cd-ead1-49a3...@googlegroups.com> Butch Malahide <fred....@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 9:01:42 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> BSP: The sequel! I expose my young volunteers to Weinbaum's classic tale of a man and
>>> an alien.
>>>
>>>
>>> http://youngpeoplereadoldsff.com/story/a-martian-odyssey
>>> --
>>> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
>>> My Livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
>>> http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll (For all your "The problem with
>>> defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)
>>
>> I couldn't read those kids' reviews. Couldn't relate to them. The phrasing
>> is odd and jarring, the thinking is dated. Dated 2016, I mean.
>
> The reviews written by "Jamie" and "Mikayla" were especially jarring.
> Jamie's reference to "little things that bring you out of the story"
> like "watches that don't tell you what day it is."

I just realized that the ObSFW for this comes from a famed logician:

`What a funny watch!' she remarked. `It tells the day of the month,
and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!'

BTW: I missed the original post, and the start of the "Almost BSP"
thread, as well. What is "BSP"?

--
Michael F. Stemper
Always use apostrophe's and "quotation marks" properly.

[David Goldfarb]

In article <nnldu1$hba$1...@dont-email.me>,

Michael F. Stemper <michael...@gmail.com> wrote:
>BTW: I missed the original post, and the start of the "Almost BSP"
>thread, as well. What is "BSP"?

The start of that thread didn't actually say, but a little later
on James expanded it to "Blatant Self Promotion".

--
David Goldfarb |"Federico Fellini brought his own security to
goldf...@gmail.com | tonight's show...and they were six of the
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | toughest clown midgets I've ever seen."
| -- Billy Crystal

[William December Starr]

In article <o9zC2...@kithrup.com>,

djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said:

> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember

> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo; I also remember the brief
> tenure of Pinky Lee and just a little bit (from before we moved,
> when I had to limit my TV-watching to other people's sets) Captain
> Ed McConnell and his sidekick, Froggy the Gremlin, who was a
> frog-shaped squeeze toy.

Was that the Froggy of "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy!" fame?

ObSF: That phrase gets some mention in George R.R. Martin's THE
ARMAGEDDON RAG, which I think is very, very good even by GRRM
standards, but apparently it mostly sank without a trace back in
1983.

-- wds

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On 26 Aug 2016 20:43:17 -0400, wds...@panix.com (William December

Starr) wrote:

>In article <o9zC2...@kithrup.com>,
>djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said:
>
>> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
>> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
>> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
>> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo; I also remember the brief
>> tenure of Pinky Lee and just a little bit (from before we moved,
>> when I had to limit my TV-watching to other people's sets) Captain
>> Ed McConnell and his sidekick, Froggy the Gremlin, who was a
>> frog-shaped squeeze toy.
>
>Was that the Froggy of "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy!" fame?

Yes.

>ObSF: That phrase gets some mention in George R.R. Martin's THE
>ARMAGEDDON RAG, which I think is very, very good even by GRRM
>standards, but apparently it mostly sank without a trace back in
>1983.

Which is a bloody shame. It's a brilliant book, and I'm pleased I was
able to tell George as much to his face back before he went Hollywood.



--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <npqnn5$5as$1...@panix3.panix.com>,

It is good, and I've been surprised it hasn't been re-issued to
huge success with a "By the author of!" cover.

[Steve Coltrin]

begin fnord

t...@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) writes:

> In article <npqnn5$5as$1...@panix3.panix.com>,
> William December Starr <wds...@panix.com> wrote:
>>ObSF: That phrase gets some mention in George R.R. Martin's THE
>>ARMAGEDDON RAG, which I think is very, very good even by GRRM
>>standards,

Ook.

>> but apparently it mostly sank without a trace back in
>>1983.
>>

> It is good, and I've been surprised it hasn't been re-issued to
> huge success with a "By the author of!" cover.

It was, except for the huge success part:
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?405172

--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org Google Groups killfiled here
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

[Anthony Nance]

It is really good - at least, I very much enjoyed The Armageddon Rag.

Like a great many things that GRRM has published, TAR has been re-issued
with "By the author of..." on the cover. Courtesy of Isfdb, here's the
cover of the 2012 Gollancz edition:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OmQXqjUaL.jpg

Tony

[Chris Buckley]

On 2016-08-29, Anthony Nance <na...@math.ohio-state.edu> wrote:
> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote:
>> In article <npqnn5$5as$1...@panix3.panix.com>,
>> William December Starr <wds...@panix.com> wrote:
>>>In article <o9zC2...@kithrup.com>,
>>>djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said:
>>>
>>>> Now, we didn't have a television set till 1953, when we moved to
>>>> Kettleman City (which was the armpit of California and probably
>>>> still is, but my father's job there paid well). I can remember
>>>> Howdy Doody but not Captain Kangaroo; I also remember the brief
>>>> tenure of Pinky Lee and just a little bit (from before we moved,
>>>> when I had to limit my TV-watching to other people's sets) Captain
>>>> Ed McConnell and his sidekick, Froggy the Gremlin, who was a
>>>> frog-shaped squeeze toy.
>>>
>>>Was that the Froggy of "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy!" fame?
>>>
>>>ObSF: That phrase gets some mention in George R.R. Martin's THE
>>>ARMAGEDDON RAG, which I think is very, very good even by GRRM
>>>standards, but apparently it mostly sank without a trace back in
>>>1983.
>>>
>>>-- wds
>>>
>>
>> It is good, and I've been surprised it hasn't been re-issued to
>> huge success with a "By the author of!" cover.
>
> It is really good - at least, I very much enjoyed The Armageddon Rag.

> Tony

I agree it is very good; the best novel or series Martin has done.
It's one of the rare books that I bought in paperback when it came out
and then went back and bought another copy in hardcover. That can be
compared to _Game of Thrones_ where I just sold my hardcover copies
(for $500) that I had bought when each came out. (I don't consider
_Game of Thrones_ to be bad, it's above average, but other people
obviously value it much more than I do.)

Chris

[Brian M. Scott]

On 30 Aug 2016 02:49:01 GMT, Chris Buckley <al...@sabir.com>
wrote in<news:slrnns9t4...@video.sabir.com> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

> On 2016-08-29, Anthony Nance <na...@math.ohio-state.edu>
> wrote:

[...]

>> It is really good - at least, I very much enjoyed The
>> Armageddon Rag.

> I agree it is very good; the best novel or series Martin
> has done. It's one of the rare books that I bought in
> paperback when it came out and then went back and bought
> another copy in hardcover.

I think that Joy Chant’s _Red Moon and Black Mountain_ is
the only book for which I’ve done that.

[...]

Brian
--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

[Chris Buckley]

On 2016-08-30, Brian M. Scott <b.s...@csuohio.edu> wrote:
> On 30 Aug 2016 02:49:01 GMT, Chris Buckley <al...@sabir.com>
> wrote in<news:slrnns9t4...@video.sabir.com> in
> rec.arts.sf.written:
>
>> On 2016-08-29, Anthony Nance <na...@math.ohio-state.edu>
>> wrote:
>
> [...]
>
>>> It is really good - at least, I very much enjoyed The
>>> Armageddon Rag.
>
>> I agree it is very good; the best novel or series Martin
>> has done. It's one of the rare books that I bought in
>> paperback when it came out and then went back and bought
>> another copy in hardcover.
>
> I think that Joy Chant’s _Red Moon and Black Mountain_ is
> the only book for which I’ve done that.
>
> [...]
>
> Brian

Yes, it's very rare for me also since it could only happen when an
author wasn't already on my hardcover-buy list. Checking my shelves,
I see only _Tigana_ by Kay, and _The Shadow of the Torturer_ by Wolfe
as other times I've done it with contemporary authors. (I've done it a
couple of times with classics like Bester's pair and a couple by
Pohl).

I had _Red Moon and Black Mountain_ in hardcover already, from early
years with the Science Fiction Book Club - which, thinking back on it, did
wonders for me in broadening my view of the science fiction world. I kept
on forgetting to send back their monthly notice and so got books I wouldn't
have known to order!

Chris

[Brian M. Scott]

On 30 Aug 2016 22:00:50 GMT, Chris Buckley <al...@sabir.com>
wrote in<news:slrnnsc0j...@video.sabir.com> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

> On 2016-08-30, Brian M. Scott <b.s...@csuohio.edu> wrote:

[...]

>> I think that Joy Chant’s _Red Moon and Black Mountain_
>> is the only book for which I’ve done that.

> Yes, it's very rare for me also since it could only
> happen when an author wasn't already on my hardcover-buy
> list.

In my case it happened because the first U.S. publication
of RMaBM was in paperback (Ballantine’s Sign of the
Unicorn), and apart from the SFBC edition it didn’t come
out in hardcover here until five years later.