Monthly Archives: August 2005

Reviews

Gunslinger Girl

Maybe I ‘m getting jaded, but a show about turning prepubescent girls into cybernetic assassins is just a bit over the top. It’s like since they’re a Gunslinger, cyber-enhanced, they aren’t human anymore. And their handlers are a bunch of sociopathic thugs, or they would be except they are government agents so this makes them dedicated civil servants.

The girls are supposed to be robotic killing machines, and with the brain-washing and conditioning they go through, they mostly turn out that way. Of course, sometimes a little emotion may break through, but that’s a sign for more conditioning (which shortens their life span, not that what they have is much of a life.)

I don’t know if the authors are going out to an extreme limb to make a point, or if this is the only place left for them to go. There have been other girl assassin shows, like Noir, but they generally are about the girl’s quest to regain her humanity, not about watching it get drummed out the her.

So, while this show has very good production values, I don’t think I could take another DVD of this. I will give it a 4 out of 10.

fandom, General, Media, Reviews, science fiction

BLOC for RUT #2

Sharee Carton, an Australian fan, left a copy of her latest fanzine with Avedon. Right Up There #2, published 20 years after #1. Sharee had never met Avedon but a Letter of Comment (LOC) from Avedon on #1 had a big influence on the next issue. Avedon suggested that a fanzine should have staples. (Evidently #1 was a one sheet.) Given the current state of the fanzine world and Ansible, I don’t think that is a truism any more. Although it may be argued that Dave is just distributing a very thick fanzine one page at a time just to avoid stapling.

I read RUT#2 and Sharee covered her fannish life and what she has been doing for the past 20 years. Working trawlers out of Cairns; not for me.

Sharee and I knew a lot of fans in common from long ago but never met. We even didn’t meet at the 1984 LACON. She went to Corflu #1 and #2; I went to #3. She was a West Coast, Canadian fan; I hung out on the East Coast, until she had gone back to Australia.

Music was a big influence on her life and for RUT #2 she asked a number of correspondents to give a “Desert Island Disks” compilation of what music they would want to have on a desert island. 10 Disks. And, to some extent, how have the choices changed in 20 years.

This got me to thinking of my own musical influences and what my DID would be. I was traveling with my entire record/CD collection on an iRiver device. What would I take if I had to pare down the 3900 songs (450+ albums) already on the player?
Continue reading BLOC for RUT #2 →

fandom, General, travel

On to London

It was a dark and stormy day that day I left St Andrews. This was the St Andrews I had feared to face. The Force 3 gale winds, rain, and a links course. Fortunately, I was in a cab heading for the train station. One of the train bridges to Edinburgh was under repair that week so a bus was coming by to ferry the train passengers to Edinburgh. That didn’t seem to put a crimp into my travel plans so I hopped aboard and tootled on.
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General, golf, travel

St Andrews B&B

I should write a short blurb about Brownlees, the B&B I stayed at. The room was a touch too small for a large American but conveniently located for a traveling single. (And I managed to deal with the smallness.) The bathroom was in the hall and I had to share with someone I never saw, so it was never an issue. There was an alleyway right next to the door that led to the Scores and the R&A was just a minute away. The Alley came out at the top of a park that overlooked the North Sea and the Aquarium. Jo and John took good care of the silly American who didn’t even have a key to open his golf bag. Very tasty full breakfasts in the morning got you ready for a few rounds of golf or touring. I’ve never had beans with my breakfast before, but they work. All-in-all, a very pleasant week.

General, golf, travel

Playing the Old Course

I had been trying to find out how to get a game on the Old course since I arrived. There was no club house for the OC, just the starter shack. The two clubhouses on the property are by the New/Jubilee and the Eden courses. Everyone kept mentioning the ballot, where they drew the starting times from a hat for the next day. So I went to find out how to get on the ballot and discovered that the ballot is for groups; singles aren’t allowed on the ballot. (I never did find out where you go to get on the ballot.)
Continue reading Playing the Old Course →

General, golf, travel

Golfing at St Andrews

With clubs on shoulder, I headed down to the New Course Saturday morning. There are five courses at St Andrews, in addition to the Old Course. The New Course and the Jubilee Course are Links courses, similar to the Old Course. The Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgrove (9 hole) Courses are more parkland-type courses, more inland than the others and more similar to American courses. The clubhouse for the New and Jubilee is located near the first tees for those courses, while the other three’s clubhouse was located farther away across the Old Course. The Old Course doesn’t have a club house, just the starter’s shack and the caddy shack. The R&A is not a clubhouse for the Old Course, it is just a clubhouse for a private golf club located by the first tee of the Old Course (and not open to the public).
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