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blakes7-d Digest Volume 00 : Issue 155
Today's Topics:
[B7L] War wounds - Well lasers really, and full of techy stuff.
[B7L] "Hostage" & "Terminal" (was Re: Terminal)
[B7L] Rich or Dead?
[B7L] Star One
Re: [B7L] Rich or Dead?
Re: [B7L] Star One
[B7L] Traivs
Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
[B7L] Re: Terminal (was Sarcophagus)
[B7L] Moloch (was: Harvest of Kairos)
Re: [B7L] War wounds
[B7L] "Hostage" & "Terminal" (was Re: Terminal)
Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
Re: [B7L] "Hostage" & "Terminal" (was Re: Terminal)
[B7L] Other peoples mail
Re: [B7L] Ben Steed
[B7L] Blake, Rattle & Roll
Vila's tools (Re: [B7L] Blake, Rattle & Roll)
Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
[B7L] Re: Countdown (was Terminal (was Sarcophagus))
Re: [B7L] Other peoples mail
Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
Re: [B7L] Other peoples mail
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 21:58:41 +0100
From: "Andrew Ellis" <Andrew.D.Ellis@btinternet.com>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] War wounds - Well lasers really, and full of techy stuff.
Message-ID: <006201bfd0c5$a3899220$a08201d5@leanet>
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>B7Morrigan@aol.com wrote:
>> Which brought up my question. Is it then possible for a laser weapon to
work
>> as an automatic weapon on rapid fire or all of the shots single fire
only?
>
To which Kathryn replied.
>Things like Star Wars and the like have deceived us with their laser
>"bolts" that one can actually see bouncing around like bullets.
Well light can be reflected from a surface, happens every day when I shave !
>A
>laser is a continuious beam of coherent light,
Actually a Laser is a device used for producing a beam of coherent light,
but I'm nit picking.
>which presumably keeps
>being emitted as long as you have your finger on the trigger.
Or it can produce pulses, for as long as you keep your finger on the
trigger. Or it can produce one pulse when you put your finger on the
trigger.
>So you
>could theoretically carve a hole in your opposition by training your
>laser across the field of fire.
As is the case with a laser cutting machine.
>I don't actually see what benefit one would gain from pulsing the
>laser - that is, giving out pulses of coherent light in bursts, rather
>than a continuous beam. Unless it was a power-saving mechanism, but
>it might not be, since it could take more energy to start and stop the
>beam than to keep it continuously running. I don't know enough about
>the technicalities of lasers.
In the single pulse case, there can actually be considerable benefit. The
power source "charges" the laser, and if it runs continuously, the laser is
simultaneously discharging in a nice steady state, giving a flow of energy
somewhat less than the flow of energy in (the remaining energy be converted
to heat, sound etc). If the output is supressed (eg by removing one of the
mirrors) then the laser may be "fully charged up". When you replace the
mirror, all of the energy that has built up is suddenly released as an
intense pulse of light, often many orders of magnitude greater than the mean
intensity of the continuous beam.
So if the damage mechanism is to heat up the target its not much good to do
it with a continuous low intensity beam, because normal heat loss will
disipate the energy as fast as you can deliver it to the target. Much better
to deliver all of the energy in an instant and vaporise a small volume of
the target (approximately given by the beam area times the absorption
length).
Actually with the mirror removed, you do get a low intensity incoherent beam
which could be used for targetting before you improve the quality of the
laser cavity by pulling the trigger.
>What I do recall is that the way a laser works, it is similar to the
>principles applied in polarizing light. Normal everyday light, the
>waves are going at all different angles. With polarized light, a
>polarizing filter only allows light whose waves are in alignment with
>the filter to get through. With a laser, the light gets bounced back
>and forth inside the laser until the only light that gets out is
>coherent - of the same frequency and the same phase. (Thus light from
>a laser is all the same colour - same frequency) A targeting laser is
>red, and not very high energy. Presumably combat lasers of B7 ilk are
>of higher energy (a different colour), using something other than
>rubies to push the light through.
Well, yes, BUT the difference between a polariser (or indeed a piece of
coloured glass), and a laser is that the polariser simply throws away
unwanted light (50 % of it) whilst a laser produces Light Amplification by
Stimulated Emission of Radiation (note the capitals). That is, the existing
light in the cavity stimulates additional light to be emitted in the same
state (coherent with) as the original light.
If anybody is still reading this, it is interesting to note that the device
usually referred to as a laser is actually a Light Oscillation by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation. Only one guess each as to why they changed the
acronym.
Gnog.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 18:20:08 -0600 (MDT)
From: Betty Ragan <bragan@aoc.nrao.edu>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] "Hostage" & "Terminal" (was Re: Terminal)
Message-Id: <200006060020.SAA26068@zia.aoc.NRAO.EDU>
Responding to me, Sally wrote:
> <Blake would inisist that he'd want to take the risk alone (as he did in a
> very similar situation in "Hostage" (I find it *very* interesting to compare
> those two episodes,btw)).>
>
> Haven't thought that one out as yet, but I can see some resemblances - *do*
> go on ...
Oh, my *where* to start... :)
Well, to begin with, there are some pretty obvious parallels. In both
cases you have a person (Blake in "Hostage," Avon in "Terminal")
walking into what they know is very, very probably a trap in hopes of
rescuing someone they care about. And in both cases it does, indeed,
turn out to be a trap.
Of course, there are interesting differences, too:
* Blake, unlike Avon, is quite upfront about what he's going to do and
why (although that *might* simply be because the rest of the crew
happened to be present when the message from Travis came in -- it's
not like Blake couldn't be secretive, too).
* Blake is very calm and together -- almost matter-of-fact, even --
about the whole thing, where Avon... erm... isn't. :)
* Both of them intend to be the only one taking the risks, but their
approaches to that particular issue are *very* different. Blake
doesn't expect anyone to want to come with him, and stresses that the
others don't need to be concerned for themselves since he's the only
one who will be in danger. Avon assumes the others will come after
him if not given sufficient disincentive, and announces that he'll
kill anyone who tries to follow him. (Though, of course, some of the
others come after both of them, anyway.)
* Blake knows that Inga's on Exbar, and that Travis has her. Avon
isn't certain that Blake really *is* on Terminal in the first place,
and has no idea what kind of situation might be waiting for him there.
There are doubtless many conclusions that can be drawn from examining
these differences, but for the moment I'll content myself simply with
listing them. :)
There's also another major similarity between the two episodes, in
that they both involve Avon putting himself at great personal risk to
protect Blake (and in a situation that he could quite easily have
stayed out of). The risk may be bigger in "Terminal," but it's hardly
negligible in "Hostage." No matter what Avon says (or implies),
deliberately alerting your enemies to your whereabouts is a damned
risky thing to do, and there are a lot of ways that plan could have
gone very badly wrong (in different ways than it did). And, of
course, charging down to Blake's rescue after Plan A failed very
nearly *did* get him killed.
Here's what I find *really* interesting to contemplate with regards to
these two episodes, though. Given that Avon in "Terminal" finds
himself in a situation very much analogous to Blake's in "Hostage,"
imagine one of the other crewmembers pulling the same kind of stunt on
Avon that Avon tried to pull on Blake. I think he would have been
*insanely* angry. He might very well have shot the perpetrator. He
very probably would have looked on it as an act of betrayal, whatever
the motivation behind it. All of which makes the fact that *he* pulled
it on Blake *extremely* interesting, IMO. I can't help wondering how
Blake saw Avon's actions, or how Avon expected Blake to see them.
But, boy, I'd really, really love to know!
(Why, yes, I *have* put a great deal of thought into these two
particular episodes. :) "Terminal" is just a marvelous all-around
episode, and "Hostage," while less compelling, IMO represents a
*major* piece of the Blaek-Avon puzzle...)
--
Betty Ragan ** bragan@nrao.edu ** http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~bragan
Not speaking for my employers, officially or otherwise.
"Seeing a rotten picture for the special effects is like eating a
tough steak for the smothered onions..." -- Isaac Asimov
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 21:44:27 -0400
From: "Dana Shilling" <dshilling@worldnet.att.net>
To: "b7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Rich or Dead?
Message-ID: <000501bfcf58$c5257020$17604e0c@dshilling>
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That sounds like next season's hit game show, doesn't it?
In "Cygnus Alpha," WHY does Jenna tell Avon about the treasure room? She
certainly doesn't like him very much, and she doesn't really gain any
advantage by telling him before he finds it himself.
On the plot level, it's odd that aliens would have collected so much
Earth-type jewelry (Avon isn't holding uncut gems--the stuff looks like 40s
and 50s costume jewelry. I like to think of dear little Mary Sue the PA
being sent to the Portobello Road with a fiver to buy the props.) On the
screenwriting level, it's a very clumsy way to handle the exposition--Avon
hauls the stuff into the teleport area so he can tell Jenna something SHE
told HIM in the first place. Obviously the BBC couldn't afford another set
to show the discovery rather than talking about it!
When Avon says that "We could own our own planet" just before "What do you
want to be, rich or dead?" that seems to imply that they'd be co-owners
rather than splitting up the money and each going on eBay to purchase
MyPlanet.
Of course, with or without imagination, if Jenna had agreed she probably
would have been dead within a week... (is this precognitive flash to
Aftermath another example of the S1-S2/S3-S4 mirroring)?
-(Y)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 19:55:03 -0600
From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Star One
Message-ID: <20000605.195505.-88471.0.rilliara@juno.com>
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One of the big questions that always comes up with Star One is why they
are only concerned _now_ with the possible death count, etc. from blowing
up Star One. This usually leads to lengthy arguements on what kind of
damage and fatalities we're talking about, who would be suffering them,
and how bad the Federation was in comparison to the damage Blake intended
to cause.
I'm not discussing that.
There's a story I read ages back where a character is facing what was
essentially a court martial trial by his peers (a sort of elite fighting
group whose rules for court martials were to have all the members of the
group listen to the prosecution and defense and then vote). The character
on trial had destroyed and extremely evil individual but had deliberately
killed an old, companion in arms to do it. Without going into extreme
detail, the old friend had suffered unique injuries causing him to be
nuttier than a fruitcake, though possibly not incurable. THe main
character hatched a plan for destroying the villain which required
deliberately packing up the fruitcake and sending him to his death. In
his trial, the main character points out that 1) it was the only way he
could think of to destroy the villain, 2) the villain might not have been
actively attacking them then but they all knew it was a matter of time,
3) the villain had killed plenty of innocent people in the past, and 4)
he sincerely believed his friend (had he been in full possesion of his
marbles) would have agreed to the suicide mission.
However, despite making this statement, he's pretty laid back about the
whole trial and keeps telling his defender how pointless it all is. When
they come back with the vote and his acquital (there was a lengthy story
aside on tallying the vote, including the decision to count one absentee
member of the group as an abstain), he tells his defender what the
results were before she can tell him - he knew the people well enough to
guess how each one would vote. She's irritated and tells him he's off by
one - there was less guilty vote and one more abstaining vote (she adds
how one character she considered a sure-fire guilty had abstained
instead).
However, she was wrong. The main character hadn't counted the absentee
member. The extra guilty vote was his. That was what made the whole
trial meaningless. In his mind, there was only one vote that counted, a
vote no acquital could override.
Back to Blake. Maybe what Blake is doing is justified, but maybe Blake
is beginning to realize the one person he can't justify this to is
himself. It may be justified in _military_ terms, but he cannot justify
it in terms of his _ideals_. On some level, he sees himself as doing a
Samson in the temple, taking an extreme step because of _personal_ needs.
Cally and Avon might not have this problem, but they're catching on to
some of Blake's difficulties. Cally questions him directly and gets a
partial admission of Blake's personal reasons behind this decision. Avon
is doing his usual emotional withdrawal, though he gives Blake a pretty
blunt summary of what he knows Blake (on some level) seems himself as
doing.
Just a thought.
Ellynne
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 13:16:00 EST
From: "J MacQueen" <j_macqueen@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Rich or Dead?
Message-ID: <20000606031600.96128.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>From: "Dana Shilling" <dshilling@worldnet.att.net>
>That sounds like next season's hit game show, doesn't it?
<croaky voice> Or one of the more recent ones - Jenna seems to be using at
least one lifeline in stalling Avon so that Blake had an opportunity to
teleport back. It's no use phoning a friend when he's down on a hostile
planet, and you can't be sure his phone is working...
Regards
Joanne
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:59:19 EDT
From: B7Morrigan@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Star One
Message-ID: <7b.501d891.266dd117@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
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Elynne wrote
In his mind, there was only one vote that counted, a vote no acquittal
could override.
>
> Back to Blake. Maybe what Blake is doing is justified, but maybe Blake
> is beginning to realize the one person he can't justify this to is himself
Good insight Ellyne and I'm intrigued by the story you recounted. I'd
wondered how the resistance handled matters within itself as they surely
couldn't turn a murderer or thief over to the authorities, but weren't set up
as judge or jury, though many might volunteer as executioner. Yet there must
have been internal situations that demanded some type of justice system.
It also works nicely (your above listed statements) with all of the fanfic
that have Blake deliberately not returning to Liberator because he couldn't
justify his actions leading to Star One, and what he would have done there
had the situation not warranted different action.
Trish
"I don't mind rough. It's fatal I'm not too keen on. "
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 18:19:57 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.com>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Traivs
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-0605171957-6d2Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
On Tue 06 Jun, DragonFly wrote:
> does anyone know why stephan greif (travis one) left the series? (sorry
> folks if I spelt his name wrong.) I see him more on convension photos that
> travis 2 even though he was in more episodes?
Filming committment if I recall correctly. The dates clashed. I think it was as
simple as that
>
> I consider him to be much better than (travis two) despite having seen the
> episodes with travis two in much before I saw any with travis one in.
What you want is 'Travis the final act'. It's an audio tape that interviews
both actors who played Travis (though there is more of Brian Croucher than
Stephen Greif). It also discusses Travis's background with various people.
Stephen is also interviewed on 'Action' one of Sheelagh Wells' tapes. He's got
a lovely voice and of all the cast, he seems to have the secret of eternal
youth. He looked wonderful at Deliverance a couple of years ago.
Judith
PS. Blatant plug - I've got copies of both tapes for sale on the web site -
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs,
pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth
Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.knightwriter.org )
Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 17:12:03 EST
From: "Jessica Taylor" <morgaine54@hotmail.com>
To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
Message-ID: <20000606071203.24014.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
>To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
>Subject: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
>Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 02:13:25 PDT
Sally wrote:
<Not that I can do much better ... the problem is, when Blake lets
the bad
guy live, we can put it down to his Noble Streak (even if said Noble
Streak
is seriously in abeyance at other times, and makes him look like an
idiot
when he does things like this). When Avon does it (Aftermath) we can
come up
with unlikely but not *totally* impossible theories about conserving
arrows.>
He-he, good one
< When Tarrant does it, it's his Sir Galahad bit and quite
understandable.
Vila ..? Doesn't like bloodshed, even when it *isn't* his own.
When Dayna does it ... errmmmm ...>
Dayna is probably the most realistic of all of them. While I don't think she
particularly likes killing she is prepared to if she feels it is necessary
and this can probably be attributed to growin up on Sarron killing the
natives (an idea i'm not entirely comfortable with). I think Aftermath is
where we see her display the least regard for life so maybe the death of her
father and sister gave her a greater regard for other living things (just a
theory). Regarding Servelan I think that Izzy may be right and that for
Dayna that would be too easy, she doesn't seem to me to be the sort of
person to take revenge lightly. She wants to be there when Servelan dies.
Jessica
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
>
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 01:00:16 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Terminal (was Sarcophagus)
Message-ID: <20000606080016.47094.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
After I wrote:
<Gan, Blake, Cally and Tarrant would have gone to Terminal for any of
their crew-mates, no question.>
Ellynne answered: <Blake would go for anyone who asked him if he
didn't see it as being very much against the interests of his little
revolution (unfortunately, the guy could have spurts where 'noble
sacrifice' included a lot of innocent bystanders).>
Oh, there's no doubt he can kill without too much agonising, and
(like Avon and Tarrant) accepts the principle of 'acceptable
collateral damage' as part of his war. He's also got that
cold-blooded streak (from Horizon, where he's prepared to have Jenna
and himself tortured *and* the whole crew ondemned to the mines
rather than give the Liberator to the Federation.)
But there *are* instances of his 'great big bleeding heart' taking
precedence over the revolution or anything else, like common sense
(Countdown being one). And Horizon is also proof that he's quite
prepared to give his *own* life for his crew.
When you think of it, Blake would probably be a better revolutionary
if he *could* stop his heart overruling his head, but a much worse
human being.
<I'm just trying to remember a time when Cally faced a dangerous
rescue mission that wasn't 'cause' related.>
Children of Auron?
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 00:59:27 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Moloch (was: Harvest of Kairos)
Message-ID: <20000606075927.63079.qmail@hotmail.com>
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After I wrote:
<(in Kairos Cally's all over the map - in Moloch she and Tarrant are
AWFUL,>
Mistral asked:
<Will you elaborate on this a little, Sally? I think Moloch is one of
Cally's better third series eps; she's not sad and wimpy at all, even
if she hasn't got a lot to do, she seems interested in fighting the
Federation again, and she seems to think Vila should be treated like
an adult.>
'Tis only five minutes, but it drives me more nuts than the way he's
written Tarrant through the whole episode.
To paraphrase: "What if there's an emergency?"
"They can call for help, and we'll bring them straight up."
"There's an emergency."
"No, I need twenty minutes to bring them straight up."
Yes, I've said before I see her as being complacent sometimes (and
they can all be staggeringly stupid at times), but *this* is
ridiculous ... why if she *knew* it needed to be done hadn't she got
on with it??? (The answer is, of course, that saving Tarrant and Vila
at this point would cut the whole episode rather short.)
Actually, IMO it's one thing to treat Vila as an adult, it's another
to wilfully blind oneself to him as an individual. She's been there
throughout, watching him take orders he wasn't keen on from Blake,
Avon *and* Tarrant (and she saw the results of pushing him too far in
'City'). She *knows* that he finds it hard to stand up to the Alphas,
and how disastrous it can be if he's pushed too far. They're just
lucky that this time, Vila's baulk doesn't land them in more trouble.
BTW, Avon's concern over Vila (actual *voiced* concern!!) may also be rather
out of character, but I like it too much to quibble.
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:48:11 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] War wounds
Message-ID: <20000606104811.37788.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Neil wrote: < wounded man ties up another three or four ferrying him out of
the battlezone whilst a corpse is just a corpse.>
Except in fanfic, where a corpse is just one of Our Heroes waiting to be
brought back to life.
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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:47:38 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] "Hostage" & "Terminal" (was Re: Terminal)
Message-ID: <20000606104738.40065.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
In response to my urging, Betty wrote:
<Well, to begin with, there are some pretty obvious parallels. In both
cases you have a person (Blake in "Hostage," Avon in "Terminal") walking
into what they know is very, very probably a trap in hopes of rescuing
someone they care about. And in both cases it does, indeed, turn out to be
a trap.>
Agreed. (Which makes Avon's 'it is an unacceptable risk' rather ironic in
hindsight. But then My Darling is a firm believer in 'do as I say, not as I
do').
<Blake, unlike Avon, is quite upfront about what he's going to do and why
(although that *might* simply be because the rest of the crew happened to be
present when the message from Travis came in - it's not like Blake couldn't
be secretive, too).>
I think he would probably have told them some of it, anyway. It's too soon
after Trial (which is what Vila appears to touch on with his "don't go
alone, not again,") for him to try another unexplained bolt - we and they
have to wait all of two more episodes, and "Voice from the Past" for that
(and that one ties in beautifully as well - not only the bolt and Avon and
the rest following him anyway, but the "just try trusting me" line in
"Voice" and "Terminal".)
<* Blake is very calm and together - almost matter-of-fact, even - about the
whole thing, where Avon... erm... isn't. :)>
That's one way to put it. Just 'coz he refuses to leave the flight deck for
thirty hours, then risks the ship by forcing it through the cloud, then
almost kills Tarrant for trying to interfere, then threatens the lot of them
... <g> what do you mean, not calm and matter-of-fact??
Inga's safety may be important to Blake, but I still don’t think he had more
than cousinly affection for her. He certainly isn't emotionally affected the
way he is for Cally (Seek-Locate-Destroy), Avon (The Web, Countdown) or
Jenna (Deliverance).
<There's also another major similarity between the two episodes, in that
they both involve Avon putting himself at great personal risk to protect
Blake (and in a situation that he could quite easily have stayed out of).>
Agreed again.
<And, of course, charging down to Blake's rescue after Plan A failed very
nearly *did* get him killed.>
Actually, there's also the echo there in Avon following Blake down to try
and protect him (and getting caught and nearly killed for it), and Tarrant
and Cally going after Avon for the same reason (and getting caught and - in
Tarrant's case - having Servalan threaten to shoot him through the head). In
the field of Cavalry Charges, Our Heroes tend to have rather mixed results
...
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:48:49 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
Message-ID: <20000606104849.271.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Jacqueline wrote:
<Ever since this came up, I've had a mental picture of Dayna repeatedly
banging her head against the bulkhead because it simply didn't occur to her
that she could have used the teleport to kill Servalan until exactly two
seconds *after* she sent Servie off.>
Oh, and *thank you* for handing copies of the mental picture out - I
looovvve it...
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:29:34 +0100 (BST)
From: Iain Coleman <ijc@bsfiles.nerc-bas.ac.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] "Hostage" & "Terminal" (was Re: Terminal)
Message-Id: <Pine.OSF.3.96.1000606122546.22724A-100000@bsauasc>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Sally Manton wrote:
> Agreed. (Which makes Avon's 'it is an unacceptable risk' rather ironic in
> hindsight. But then My Darling is a firm believer in 'do as I say, not as I
> do').
That particular exchange is one of my favourite Blake moments. 'It is not
unacceptable, because I accept it.' That one line sums up so much about
the man, and his essential difference from Avon. To Avon, the way to win
is to play the system to your own advantage. Blake, by contrast, seeks to
reconstruct the reality around him by an act of will.
Great line. I bet it was written by Chris Boucher.
Iain
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 21:35:21 EST
From: "Jessica Taylor" <morgaine54@hotmail.com>
To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Other peoples mail
Message-ID: <20000606113521.90798.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
A few days ago I found the archives for the mailing list. I was reading
through some of them starting with last months and the March/April ones and
then scrolled down and had a look through November 1992. It was odd, i'm not
sure if it was the fact that I was still at primary school in 1992 that
freaked me out or the strange feeling that I was reading someone elses mail
(well I was, wasn't I?).
But I started scanning for familliar names. I also started wondering if the
same conversation topic would keep coming up every so often as new members
joined and old ones left, strange thought, like that idea of history being a
cycle.
Jessica
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 16:42:41 +0300 (EET DST)
From: Kai V Karmanheimo <karmanhe@cc.helsinki.fi>
To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Ben Steed
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.20.0006061637210.20309-100000@kruuna.Helsinki.FI>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Hello again.
With the risk of stating the obvious, I'm going to contribute to this
discussion of Ben Steed's three episodes, or rather
his... ideology. Though all B7 writers display some idiosyncratic
mannerisms (Allan Prior's soma and penchant for having a lot of explosions
on Liberator/Scorpio/pursuit ships, Robert Holmes' Avon&Vila scenarios,
and Roger Parkes' Orac-as-a-medical-aid device), it's Steed who seems to
be most consistent with certain thematic elements in his scripts (apart
from Tanith Lee's horror-and-romance formula, of course). As has been
noted that they are male vs female and a mistrust for technology. I would
say these two are linked.
Note in "The Harvest of Kairos" how Servalan flaunts her expected victory
and lists the resources she had to achieve. Technology, the
strictly-controlled (tyrannical) society and the antiseptic,
beyond-visual-range killing are associated with Servalan, a woman. Jarvik,
the sympathetically-portrayed, pronouncedly masculine figure, holds no
trust in computers, abandons his (apparently) privileged job in Space
Command's killing machine for honest menial work and sees more glory in
the old-fashioned face-to-face, *man-to-man* confrontation.
In "Moloch" we have the technologically advanced society of Sardos that
has isolated itself from "the normal evolutionary process" and is now
effectively ruled by a computer. We of course only see two Sardoans, but
it is not surprising that they are both women, so they can be portrayed as
essential helpless victims in the face of the Federation troops whose
rough, action-prone masculinity is superior to the passive defence of the
energy screen. Once both Moloch and the worst villains have been disposed
of, it is natural that the remaining troops and the convicts, most of whom
probably weren't some harmless political criminals (here again, the
essentially sympathetic Doran has a misogynist streak), will be beneficial
to Sardoans, as "they're a stuck-up bunch". In both these cases you have a
technologically advanced, computer-dependent society ruled over by women,
and detached from the "natural" by that technology (natural evolution,
natural emotions, sand and surf etc.); they are then contrasted with the
introduction of a strong, machine-sceptical male (note Astrid's attempt to
destroy Moloch) whose superiority (though thwarted in "Harvest") is based
on things like strength, ruthlessness, or just distrust of computers. It
is entirely essentialist, of course, the old "have balls, will rule the
world, thank you".
Finally, in the gender warfare of "Power" it is technology (the focusing
crystals, artificial insemination, nutrients brought by Scorpio) which
grants the female Seska independence from the male Hommiks, who must then
forcefully reinstate the "natural order". Gunn Sar, though not a
sympathetic character in the way Jarvik was, is similarly endowed with
physical power, machismo and distrust for the technical ("Your
computer! Not your books or your mates or your woman or your assistant,
but your computer."). It is partially to do with his ignorance of them but
the overall idea is that technology is antagonist to the true male virtues
of power and glory ("Expensive baubles for the ladies").
Like Avon, we grin when Gunn Sar gets confused with his math: "I rule by
the strength of my right arm and by my left arm and by the...". However,
think of the connotations of that statement. What do the Hommiks do to the
Seska once they have captured them and surgically removed the
crystals? What is the whole point of the war? Sexual power goes with
physical power, the alpha male's superiority is confirmed by the
feminine's sexual submission. The Jarvik-Servalan relationship was more
open-ended (Servalan played with Jarvik as much he with her), but in Gunn
Sar's case the power is in his hands and between his legs (though you
can't say that on the BBC). The Seska's unwillingness to submit threatens
this order, so the sexual dominance must be imposed by force.
I think the main problem with "Power" is that as Gunn Sar is disposed, the
task of being the dominant male and the vehicle of Steed's ideology falls
largely on Avon's shoulders. The key scene is the one where Avon
forcefully takes the neckband from Pella. Whereas the other moments of
Avon kissing someone in the series are given drooling ovation, I haven't
at least noticed much attention to this scene, despite its
sado-masochistic overtones that people seem to find "beautiful". Is it
because here Avon is pushed into the role of a rapist, forcing himself on
a woman against her will, overpowering her and taking the neckband, the
symbol of the Seska's power and independence, the key of their
untouchability (compare this to the formally similar scene in
"Sarcophagus")? And at the end, it is Avon who puts things back into order
by showing Pella that *he* has the bigger... gun, which in Steed's world
is all that matters. Avon of course uses technology to a degree, but in
the end, it's him alone, one *man* walking tall and carrying a big stick
that puts it right, all under the convenient pretext that "she started
it!" Personally, I find this portrayal of Avon nasty but not
entirely out-of-character, at least more easily acceptable than that of
"Harvest".
There is more you could say about his characterisation and his plots
(quite obvious the way he conveniently ignores Soolin until the last
minute) of the actual episodes, but have to go now.
Kai
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 10:28:28 -0400
From: "Dana Shilling" <dshilling@worldnet.att.net>
To: "b7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Blake, Rattle & Roll
Message-ID: <000501bfcfc3$7f9e0ce0$456a4e0c@dshilling>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
"Cygnus Alpha" may be the first (though certainly not the last) instance of
"props that couldn't have gotten there." When Vargas confronts Blake over a
pile of teleport bracelets, there are at least a dozen bracelets there. (It
doesn't seem to worry Blake at all in terms of future reliance that the
bracelets are made out of such cheap tat that Vargas can crush them.)
Blake isn't carrying anything except a gun when he teleports down.
Presumably, then, the bracelets must have been concealed about his person.
It's a tribute to him that he can walk normally with seven bracelets
strapped around each ankle and lower leg...or that he could stuff the
bracelets down the front of his tunic without their shifting around or
making any noise. I will terminate the analysis at this point.
Where did Vila's burglar's tools come from, BTW? Was there a Burglar's Tool
room built into the ship too (and a Picnic Equipment room for the cooler)?
The tools that Avon and Jenna use for repair purposes at least make some
sense--like a set of wrenches in the glove compartment.
"Time Squad" is sort of the B7 version of "Home Alone," in which the crew
manages to misplace 25% of the remaining sentients. (Since she's unconscious
in a storage room, I'd love to see a few scenes where she sets booby traps
involving paint cans, etc.)
Centero base manages to misplace a cipher machine. You'd think the first
thing they'd do after the guerilla raid would be to inform HQ. ("Oi, Kev,
where's the !@##$%^ cipher machine then? Didya pawn it again?") Much like
the frustration of finding out that one's telephone line has gone down, and
trying to use the same phone to report the malfunction.
-(Y)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 10:50:28 EDT
From: Tigerm1019@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Vila's tools (Re: [B7L] Blake, Rattle & Roll)
Message-ID: <9e.56769b3.266e69b4@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
In a message dated 06/06/2000 9:28:16 AM Central Daylight Time,
dshilling@worldnet.att.net writes:
> Where did Vila's burglar's tools come from, BTW? Was there a Burglar's Tool
> room built into the ship too (and a Picnic Equipment room for the cooler)?
> The tools that Avon and Jenna use for repair purposes at least make some
> sense--like a set of wrenches in the glove compartment.
Someone advanced a theory a while back, maybe on another list, that Gan was a
skilled machinist and made them for him, using facilities that the Liberator
had. Or perhaps Vila made them himself. Burglarly (or at Vila's type of
burglary) requires a lot of mechanical skill, so I can see this possibility.
He did display a lot of technical knowledge and expertise in S-L-D, City,
Power and Games.
Tiger M
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 14:11:48 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.com>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-0606131148-313Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
On Mon 05 Jun, Steve dobson wrote:
> Mistral added
>
> > I have to agree with you, Gnog. I was deeply annoyed when Jarvik
> > got killed, I'd hoped that he would be an ongoing and worthy adversary
> > to our heroes. He was much more believable and easier to take than
> > Servalan's third and fourth series vampish nuttiness.
>
> Yes, I really enjoyed Jarvik too, always cool when it looked like the
> Liberator had gotten away - supreme confidence in his plan. Although he did
> overcome the Federation guards a bit too easy foer my liking.
Although I liked Jarvik as a character, I used to really hate the way Servalan
reacted to him as I felt it was the horrible 'every women just needs a real man'
stereotype. (which may indeed have been how Ben Steed intended it, given his
other episodes).
However, a few years back, another fan pointed out to me that Servalan could be
confident enough in her own power and sexuality to be able to accept domination
in the bedroom as something she could enjoy - an escape from the pressure of
always having to be in command.
I like that view of the relationship, especially as Jarvik's lack of political
ambition makes it very believable. He wasn't a threat to her in that way and
she could be certain that his attraction to her as a woman was genuine.
Judith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs,
pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth
Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.knightwriter.org )
Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Tue Jun 6 18:39:51 BST 2000
From: Ika <blake@gaudaprime.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Countdown (was Terminal (was Sarcophagus))
Message-Id: <200006061744.SAA18312@ns4.uk2net.com>
> From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
> Subject: [B7L] Re: Terminal (was Sarcophagus)
> Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 01:00:16 PDT
> -----
> After I wrote:
> <Gan, Blake, Cally and Tarrant would have gone to Terminal for any of
> their crew-mates, no question.>
>
> Ellynne answered: <Blake would go for anyone who asked him if he
> didn't see it as being very much against the interests of his little
> revolution (unfortunately, the guy could have spurts where 'noble
> sacrifice' included a lot of innocent bystanders).>
>
[snip re Blake being cold-blooded and practical on occasion]
> But there *are* instances of his 'great big bleeding heart' taking
> precedence over the revolution or anything else, like common sense
> (Countdown being one). And Horizon is also proof that he's quite
> prepared to give his *own* life for his crew.
>
I always saw Countdown as a PR exercise, to be honest - is that too cynical?
And it's also one of the few times you see Blake getting himself involved in
someone else's rebellion (and doing better for the revolution as a whole than,
oooh, say Avon in Rumours of Death. What did you have in mind in Countdown as
Blake's 'bleeding heart' overriding common sense? (It's a while since I've seen
it.)
> When you think of it, Blake would probably be a better revolutionary
> if he *could* stop his heart overruling his head, but a much worse
> human being.
Again, I'm a bit cynical about this. I'm not sure how often his heart does
overrule his head - that might be because I've seen "Trial" too many times and
really taken to heart the bit where he as good as confesses to Avon that the
whole thing is a manipulation of the crew. I think Blake (like an ex of mine)
manages to be simultaneously very emotional and sincere and *also* manipulative
and practical. He believes in his rhetoric, but it's still rhetoric.
Ika
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 18:43:54 +0200
From: Julia Jones <julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Cc: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Other peoples mail
Message-ID: <TFU+iNAKpSP5Ewmc@jajones.demon.co.uk>
In message <20000606113521.90798.qmail@hotmail.com>, Jessica Taylor
<morgaine54@hotmail.com> writes
>It was odd, i'm not sure if it was the fact that I was still at primary school
>in 1992
<groan> thank you for that kind thought, yet another reminder that there
are fans out there who are the same age now as some of us were when we
watched the original run...
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 23:02:12 +0200
From: Jacqueline Thijsen <inquisitioner@wish.net>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Harvest of Kairos
Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000606225103.00a88ab0@pop3.wish.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
At 12:48 6-6-00, Sally Manton wrote:
>Jacqueline wrote:
>
><Ever since this came up, I've had a mental picture of Dayna repeatedly
>banging her head against the bulkhead because it simply didn't occur to her
>that she could have used the teleport to kill Servalan until exactly two
>seconds *after* she sent Servie off.>
>
>Oh, and *thank you* for handing copies of the mental picture out - I
>looovvve it...
It comes from me being the kind of person who'd be quite capable of
forgetting her own head if it wasn't fastened to the neck. It's exactly the
sort of thing that would have happened to me if I'd been at the controls.
Last year we had a discussion about Mary Sues and about what would *really*
happen if one of us was to appear on the Liberator. Well, I'd get kicked
off after the fifth time I'd nearly managed to crash into a star or some
other inconveniently placed piece of space furniture because I was too busy
reading a book to look where we were going. I'd hide under the floorboards
every time there was even a hint of anyone other than the crew managing to
come aboard. And I'd run for the lifepods the first time Cally got a funny
look in her eyes.
Jacqueline
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 12:22:36 EST
From: "Jessica Taylor" <morgaine54@hotmail.com>
To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Other peoples mail
Message-ID: <20000607022236.79746.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>From: Julia Jones <julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
>To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
>CC: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
>Subject: Re: [B7L] Other peoples mail
>Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 18:43:54 +0200
>
I wrote:
> >It was odd, i'm not sure if it was the fact that I was still at primary
>school
> >in 1992
Julia replied: <groan> thank you for that kind thought, yet another reminder
that there
>are fans out there who are the same age now as some of us were when we
>watched the original run...
Sorry, I didn't mean to make anyone feel old. Actually you're lucky to have
seen all the episodes the first time round. Getting episodes out on video
has its advantages but it gets kind of annoying when you miss really
important episodes because you can't find them in any of your local video
stores (I still haven't seen Star One and I can't find Terminal and Rescue).
Have you ever seen the tapes that combine episodes into one block. I
accidentally watched most of the first season this way but they're dreadful.
It's like whoever's made them has taken four hours worth of episodes and
compressed them into three hours so that a lot of stuff doesn't entirely
make sense and there is no flow to it. Does anyone know why these were made,
I can't work it out.
Jessica
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End of blakes7-d Digest V00 Issue #155
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