Pavilion Digest: July 2009

[robochrist]

Name: Rob
Source: unca20090706.htm
'Scuse me! I mean "apprise yourself OF"......!!

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[Semi-Writer]

Name: Semi-Writer
Source: unca20090706.htm
Tricky things, fan gatherings. While in Norfolk, Virginia in 1994, I witnessed the behind-the-scenes failure of a convention. It all disintegrated within a mere 48 hours of its scheduled start due to poor ticket sales. Plans for celebrity guest stars to appear (including a certain actor who was once thrown unceremoniously--albeit deservedly--across a bar by Harlan Ellison) disintegrated within hours. The vendors, who'd arranged for the trip out there, were HIGHLY pissed. (The fact that the Head Organizer was orchestrating everything out of the attic/bedroom in his mother's house was a good clue that someone's ambitions had exceeded their know-how.)

But then you have the successful ones that shine with an admirable level of skill and excellence... a world where "Star Wars" battles "Star Trek" and everyone walks away a winner... http://tinyurl.com/n2gnl9

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[tardis59]

Name: David Ray
Source: unca20090706.htm
Big day for me - I turned 50 today!! To quote of one Harlan's favorites, Satchel Paige: "Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter." My sweet wife Orit made a wonderful dinner tonight. I am truly blessed to have her as my wife. I don't want to imagine what I'd be without her...

David

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[reddragon70]

Name: Iain Aitken
Source: unca20090706.htm
Car jokes are always a popular subject for me. I love all the variations of the theme that you get. Here in the UK Yugos tend not to be the main brunt of these gags, though I am sure they have been, with the main targets being Ladas, Skodas and a few other weird and wonderful manufacturers thrown in.

One that has always made me laugh was this one... What do you call a Lada/Skoda/Yugo (delete as applicable) with two exhausts? A wheelbarrow. There are a few other ones but as they are a rather sexist and not politically correct I will refrain from telling them.

The funny thing is that for me the foreign import car is the home grown one. Now though I drive an imported job, a PT Cruiser. American car, gearbox like stirring porridge filled with bolts... However I do like it. I used to have a Ford Puma (which sadly was never sold in the USA) and I loved that car. 0-60 MPH is a little over 8 seconds, stuck to the road like glue and had beautiful handling. However all my friends took the piss out of it, saying it was a hairdresser's car.... Hmmmmph.

All that said though I have always believed that a car should do exactly what is required of it. Namely get from A to B whilst not being at C too often (C being the Garage, petrol station etc etc). What it looks like is not that important. How big it is, likewise not that important. Colour? I'm with Henry Ford!

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[JanMSchroeder]

Name: Jan M Schroeder
Source: unca20090706.htm
In response to Mary's questions, I submit that one could just as easily say the same about any serious hobbyist. The most easily compared for me are sports fanatics. Some sports fans dress up like their favorite player, paint themselves their team colors, re-enact plays from Important Games, talk endlessly about statistics, collect memorabilia... Sound familiar?

Why do people think that Trekkies and SF fans are stranger than sports fans or Civil War enthusiasts when they engage in many of the same activities?

It's about play because not everything in life has to be serious and full of purpose. Some take it more seriously than others but they're doing something that brings them pleasure.

Jan S.

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[Richard Cohen]

Name: Richard Cohen
Source: unca20090706.htm
Came across the Andrew Porter report
of
a DILLON exhibit which opened May 24
at Fusion Designs Gallery in Brooklyn.

It could still be in place, so you noveboracensic types
might want to call up and inquire.

Richard

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[Richard Cohen]

Name: Richard Cohen
Source: unca20090706.htm
Whoops: here's the reference for that
http://file770.com/?cat=164

Richard

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[Adam-Troy]

Name: Adam-Troy Castro
Source: unca20090706.htm
The discussion that ensued from my reference to Trekkies 2 prompts me to post a link to this, to my mind the most succinct and most cutting thing ever written on the subject of fandom in general.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38664

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[AlexKrislov]

Name: Alex Krislov
Source: unca20090706.htm
Congrats, Bob. My wife went on disability under STRS, the State Teachers equivalent of PERS. It is a win-win, if you're ready to leave.

But your gain is Cuyahoga's loss. It annoys the hell out of me that my county is so hot to dump its most experienced employees to save a few bucks. It's a pennywise, pound foolish approach to government.

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[Mary]

Name: Mary
Source: unca20090706.htm
I understand about play, Jan and not taking life so seriously. It's when people get so immersed in Star Trek, sports, whatever to the point that their marriage, job, and individuality is lost, I tend to get a bit worried.

Then again, if this is what gives them pleasure and makes them happy, who am I to judge, especially if they're not hurting anyone?

On a more positive note...Trekkies 2 showed a segment where Denise and company traveled to Serbia, a country plagued by war and fear. Star Trek had made a tremendous impact on so many, and had given them a reason to hope that there is a future where everyone could get along. I can't argue with that...I like those kind of stories.

Read the bit in The Onion, ATC. That hit the nail on the head with a resounding bang. Ouch!

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[FrankChurch]

Name: Frank Church
Source: unca20090706.htm
Ok, this guy Demjanjuk, an SS Nazi guard, is finally sent to Germany for trial. The guy is on the verge of death, being nearly 90 years old, but Germany still finds a sense of justice to try this old cocksucker. Note the irony. No, we cannot try Bush or Cheney for their crimes even though they are fresh crimes and about as evil.

Kudos to Germany. At least you understand reality.

---------------

Bruce, find a swimming pool and stay at the bottom.

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[FrankChurch]

Name: Frank Church
Source: unca20090706.htm
Sorry to doublepost, but I have to ask Harlan:

Harlan, do you think todays College kids could understand or at least enjoy the humour of silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin? I say this because we are having a mini-war about this in the forums. Thanks.

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[MichaelRapoport]

Name: Michael Rapoport
Source: unca20090706.htm
(and thanks to Richard Cohen from this New York-area resident who hadn't previously been aware of it but will definitely check it out)

The Dillon exhibit is apparently still running, though it's unclear for how much longer - the gallery's website (fusiondesignsny.com) says only that it's "on view." The gallery is at 140 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn; it's near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway or a short walk from several subway lines. One of the partners in the gallery and accompanying boutique is Lee Dillon, Leo and Diane's son and an artist himself.

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[Alan]

Name: alan
Source: unca20090706.htm
The notion of comparison Bush/Cheney to Nazi regimes goes without my needing to call you on it.I'm sure you don't literally mean it,but having read some of your past postings that hammer Israel for wanting to exist in PEACE and not have anymore Arab psychotics in their backyards has made me wonder.I fucking hate talking politics because there is really is no way to change someones opinion unless they really want to UNDERSTAND the other sides argument.You've formed your opinions from what sources you've found reliable,okay,I have the absolute reversal;I think the Palestinians are inherently violent due to their constant CHOICE of violent protest.
Prez.Bush was an idiot!Cheney was UNLAWFUL. Ask any Californian who went through the Black Outs from the Grids being shut-down and Energy costs peaking for record profits only weeks after meeting with Cheney.Ask any investor in ENRON who saw all their retirement flush away only months after meeting with Cheney.
Yes,Cheney was a Hack,a UNLAWFUL fuck!A man coming to the realization all He once stood for is now questioned including his Homophobic leanings.
To quickly embrace the term TORTURE in these times is in these TIMES,I think,questionable of an individual at minimum.
A fan of Pulp Fiction recognize alot of interrogation that has been described of Terror-Mates as standard operating procedure by Law Enforcement for decades.I'll admit Water-Boarding and Strip-Stacking is reprehesible, but so was Twin Towers.

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[Tony Isabella]

Name: Tony Isabella
Source: unca20090706.htm
I have anger issues. They're filed in a long box between Angel and the Ape and Anthro.

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