From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V98 #9 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume98/9 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 98 : Issue 9 Today's Topics: Re: [B7L] AT&T to buy Teleport... Re: [B7L] Intro Re: [B7L] Slash debate Re: [B7L] AT&T -- Teleport Re: [B7L] Intro [B7L] Time warp for Avon... Re: [B7L] What Pushed Avon over the edge? Re: [B7L] PAUL DARROW ON BBC ONLINE Re: [B7L] AT&T to buy Teleport... Re: [B7L] AT&T -- Teleport Re: [B7L] PAUL DARROW ON BBC ONLINE Re: [B7L] Re: Avon and Cally Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Re: [B7L] AT&T -- Teleport [B7L] Casting & pets [B7L] Re: Jackie's flick Re: [B7L] Re: Avon and Cally [B7L] Re: Avon Calling Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Re: [B7L] What Pushed Avon over the edge? Re:[B7L]Children of Auron Re: Re:[B7L]Children of Auron [B7L] Against a dark background [B7L] Star One Re: [B7L]Children of Auron Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic [B7L] Web page update [B7L] Star One Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Re: [B7L] Against a dark background ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 20:16:28 -0800 From: Pat Patera To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] AT&T to buy Teleport... Message-ID: <34B6F61C.7000@geocities.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Alex Dering wrote: > > I was ... reading the NY Times and the > headline: AT&T to buy Teleport for $11.4 Billion (or some such figure) > caught my eye. The first thing I thought was, of course, Oh Wow! ... Avon Alert! Kerr Avon sighted on 21st Century Earth. The Liberator got caught in one of those pesky Treky spacial anomolies and flung back to the Old Calendar. Naturally, he immediately set about building himself a tidy nest egg by selling technology to the highest bidder. Just think of what the compound interest on that $11 Bil will be worth by the time Avon gets back to his own time. No wonder he's a rich, spoiled and pampered Alpha. Pat P ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 20:24:23 -0800 From: Pat Patera To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Intro Message-ID: <34B6F7F7.51FC@geocities.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Tramila Farris wrote: > I plan to lurk for a while > since I have no clue what are dead horses on this list. > don't be shy. just leap hip deep into the horse**** We are generally happy to flog a dead horse on this list. The fandom just celebrated it's 20th anniversary and after so many years it's tough to find a subject that *hasn't* been flogged before! Pat P ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 20:47:47 -0800 From: Pat Patera To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Slash debate Message-ID: <34B6FD73.5C6B@geocities.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit re: Ross Mallet's post: > >Knock off the sexist crap. I can't help what gender I was born into. You > >can't tell the difference. Julia Jones wrote: > Actually, sometimes you can. > !Generalisation alert! > Women write emotions, men don't. > I have to agree that most male writers don't allow characters to emote. For many slash readers, the whole point of the genre is the emotional relationship. Men tend to get caught up in the action, not the motivation. I tend to find this true in commercial fiction as well. Men tend to write more exciting action plots, but I seldom care whether the characters survive or not. Women tend to write characters I care about, but the excitement often isn't there. A few great writers can handle both: JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, Barbara Hambly (most all her fantasy books), Mary Stuart (the Merlin Trilogy). And thanks Sarah for the fine statistics on how many men write fanfic - slash or gen. About what I would have guessed. Tho I've never quite understood why. The series fans write about are all action-based plots. Pat P ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:27:10 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] AT&T -- Teleport Message-ID: <19980110132710.54453@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Fri, Jan 09, 1998 at 04:30:00PM -0800, PATTI McCLELLAN wrote: > I thought it was common knowledge that Avon bought out AT&T > with the proceeds he got from selling out everyone else at > Gauda Prime. > > Now, don't crucify me yet, I just got here. My name is > Patti and I've been a B7 fan for about 5 years now. I was > thinking though, that perhaps he didn't sell out EVERYONE > else. Perhaps AT&T now stands for Avon, Tarrant & T______ > (suggestions?) Avon, Tarrant & Tarrant? Deeta didn't really die? Or there's uncle Dev, don't forget. -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:30:24 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] Intro Message-ID: <19980110133024.52778@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Fri, Jan 09, 1998 at 03:07:06PM -0800, Tramila Farris wrote: > Hi! I'm Tramila and I've been a long time B7 fan. (ie more than 5 > years....a drop in the bucket for some of you others. ) A medium-time fan, then. > since I have no clue what are dead horses on this list. Do we have a dead-horse FAQ?D > Tramila Farris ambrov Zeor ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ah! So what are *your* thoughts on the recent posts about a Sime/Gen Blake's 7? Was Vila a Sime or not? Travis? (-8 Kathryn Andersen -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Friends: people who borrow my books and drop them in the bath. -- Kaijen, Observations -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 02:34:06 -0500 (EST) From: adering@ziplink.net (Alex Dering) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Time warp for Avon... Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" We've all missed the most obvious aspect of this whole thing about AT&T buying teleport. Avon falls through a space/time anomaly and ends up on 20th century earth. Thinking of the Seska and how cosmetics is one of the few recession proof industries (back in the Great Depression the cosmetics industry still posted profits), Avon starts his own company, thus Pela is able to look stunning, even though there are only three Seska left. ---------------------------------------- The louder he talked of his honor the faster we counted our spoons. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson -- ---------------------------------------- website: http://www.ziplink.net/~adering ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 20:54:23 +0100 (BST) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List Subject: Re: [B7L] What Pushed Avon over the edge? Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=ISO-8859-1 On Fri 09 Jan, Matt Cherry wrote: > > > I agree with the comments of many of you that by the time of Avon's > tragic showdown with Blake in the final episode he had become > obsessively parnoid and distrustful.I was wondering what all of you > throught what proved to be the main factor in making him this way. I've > narrowed it down to three reasonsin order of importance in my opinion. > > A: Anna Grant's betrayal of him. > > B: The disappointment he felt after learning that his "reunion" with > Blake in "Terminal" was merely a trap by Servalan. > > C: Just a general bitterness and depression over a realization that > despite all his claims of "I don't need you Blake.....one day the others > will not follow you....i can be a better leader...blah blah blah in > virtually every episode of seasons 1 and 2, that Blake in fact WAS the > better leader, and enjoyed a great deal more success over the Federation > when he was at the helm of the rebellion than Avon ever did. > > Just ant to get all of your thoughts on it. I hate 'me too' messages, but I agree with all the above and can only add that I think Cally's death was important. Judith -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 Redemption 99 - The Blakes 7/Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 03:36:32 -0800 From: Rhonda L Stroud To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] PAUL DARROW ON BBC ONLINE Message-Id: <2.2.32.19980110113632.006831a0@mail.halcyon.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Just a favor for me (and maybe some other misguided fools), My ISP refuses to carry any kind of chat capability, due to security issues (or at least, that's the reason they give). Bearing that in mind, could someone transcribe it and publish here? Although I can't help but surmise that Gareth is correct, it would still be of interest to read. Thanks in advance, Rhonda At 04:31 PM 1/9/98 -0000, you wrote: >AVON CALLING! CHAT ONLINE WITH PAUL DARROW > >Paul Darrow's celebrated performance as Avon has spawned a worldwide fan base, and earned him a place in television folklore. Beeb@ the BBC (http://www.oi.beeb.com) will be chatting live to Paul Darrow on Friday 16th January between 1-2pm. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 10:35:48 -0000 From: "Dangermouse" To: "Kathryn Andersen" , "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] AT&T to buy Teleport... Message-Id: <199801101121.LAA18072@gnasher.sol.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I was just re-reading the Doctor Who Missing Adventure "Cold Fusion", and > there's a bit where the Doctor is explaining to Tegan about transport... > > "These days, on most worlds, people travel using transmats - > matter transmitters that teleport -" > "It's all right, Doctor, I've seen Blake's 7." > (Cold Fusion, p140) > So, does that make Lance Parkin a fan? (-8 Dunn, but I certainly am - hence lines in my books such as: Show me someone who believes in anything, and I'll show you a fool. (Sanctuary, which also includes references to Vandor and Keezarn. And the one I've to deliver by next month is mostly set on "Vandor Prime" - which may or may not be the centre of the Vandor Confederacy) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 10:38:36 -0500 From: ay648@yfn.ysu.edu (Carol A. McCoy) To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] AT&T -- Teleport Message-ID: <199801101538.KAA17084@yfn.ysu.edu> Kathryn wrote: >On Fri, Jan 09, 1998 at 04:30:00PM -0800, PATTI McCLELLAN wrote: >> I thought it was common knowledge that Avon bought out AT&T >> with the proceeds he got from selling out everyone else at >> Gauda Prime. >> >> Now, don't crucify me yet, I just got here. My name is >> Patti and I've been a B7 fan for about 5 years now. I was >> thinking though, that perhaps he didn't sell out EVERYONE >> else. Perhaps AT&T now stands for Avon, Tarrant & T______ >> (suggestions?) >Avon, Tarrant & Tarrant? >Deeta didn't really die? Or there's uncle Dev, don't forget. I'm more inclined to think Avon, Tarrant, and Travis. Travis is the one who didn't die. Since he'd be out of a job--his Andromedan venture having fallen through--he'd be looking for new investment and career opportunities. Carol MCoy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 16:42:16 +0100 (MET) From: gwr@easynet.co.uk (Gareth Randall) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] PAUL DARROW ON BBC ONLINE Message-Id: <199801101542.QAA12233@samantha.lysator.liu.se> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >My ISP refuses to carry any kind of chat capability, due to security issues >(or at least, that's the reason they give). Bearing that in mind, could >someone transcribe it and publish here? I'm sure someone will send a transcription, but it's worth knowing that you'll be able to read a full transcription on the BBC's web site; it'll go up a day or so after the event, and stay there indefinitely. Just go to http://www.oi.beeb.com, and follow the links to "Back Chats". In addition to the text transcription, they'll almost certainly have some pictures of Paul and Brian taken during the session (that's what they've done for their previous chats). It may be worth just trying the site, despite your ISP's attitude. I think it's a Java-based chat system, so it might slip through their net. In any case, you could always post a question in advance should you so wish; that's what I've done with other BBC chats. It pretty much guarantees that it will be asked and addressed, and you don't have to be hanging around your computer at the appointed time - you can simply check the transcription at your leisure. Gareth http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~gwr ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 10:48:35 -0500 From: ay648@yfn.ysu.edu (Carol A. McCoy) To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Avon and Cally Message-ID: <199801101548.KAA17853@yfn.ysu.edu> Penny wrote: >The rest of the crew were straight forward about >their pasts...Avon seemed to speak to keep it hidden. I can't recall any of them being open and straight forward about their pasts. We got little bits and pieces, but seldom anything on a personal level. Interestingly, the two crew you might expect to be most reticent revealed the most about their private lives. Avon told the third season crew about Anna. Soolin told the fourth season crew about the loss of her family. Carol McCoy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 10:54:44 -0500 From: ay648@yfn.ysu.edu (Carol A. McCoy) To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Message-ID: <199801101554.KAA18117@yfn.ysu.edu> I'm a bit tardy in replying to this. Courteny asked (in regards to a set-up theory on GP): >Could you suggest some zines or stories I could look for that focus on the "Avon >and Blake set it up" theory?? It would be very much appreciated. I know there have been others, but the only one my memory will cough up at the moment is "Curtain Call" by Liz Sharpe, Southern Seven 3. The zine should be available from Linda Knights. Carol McCoy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 08:35:56 -0800 From: Ovina Maria Feldman To: B7 Subject: Re: [B7L] AT&T -- Teleport Message-ID: <34B7A36C.DC951627@gte.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Tavan? My brain is still befuddled by sleep, but wasn't that Pres. Sarkof's daughter? Kathryn Andersen wrote: > On Fri, Jan 09, 1998 at 04:30:00PM -0800, PATTI McCLELLAN wrote: > > I thought it was common knowledge that Avon bought out AT&T > > with the proceeds he got from selling out everyone else at > > Gauda Prime. > > > > Now, don't crucify me yet, I just got here. My name is > > Patti and I've been a B7 fan for about 5 years now. I was > > thinking though, that perhaps he didn't sell out EVERYONE > > else. Perhaps AT&T now stands for Avon, Tarrant & T______ > > (suggestions?) > Avon, Tarrant & Tarrant? > Deeta didn't really die? Or there's uncle Dev, don't forget. > -- > _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen > / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat > \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" > v | > ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere > Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe -- C progamme run. C programme crash. C programmer quit. Return to COBOL. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 11:59:45 -0500 From: Harriet Monkhouse To: "Blake's 7 (Lysator)" Subject: [B7L] Casting & pets Message-ID: <199801101200_MC2-2ECB-B02F@compuserve.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Jackie asked: >Does anyone else think it strange that the >casting department of a RADIO play brought >in a Blonde actress to play Soolin, and a Black >actress to play Dayna? Is Wilcox blonde? I thought she was brunette last time I saw her, but I suppose you never know with actresses. She sounded remarkably like Glynis Barber (though I will maintain to my dying day that the only person capable of interesting me in Soolin is Helen Baxendale). But only John Motson could possibly confuse Angela Bruce and Josette Simon. They're not remotely alike in voice or appearance. Julie discussed whether Avon should have a black cat or a tortoise for a pet. Well, Blake knew him better than we do and he thought that flying ball of Ensor's was just the thing. Harriet ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 09:33:10 -0800 From: Neil Wagner To: "*Blake's 7 Mailing List" Subject: [B7L] Re: Jackie's flick Message-ID: <34B7B0D6.6286@ix.netcom.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat 10 Jan 1998 Fran Myers wrote: >Jackie asked for the title of the film I refered to - "Sky Wide and >Crooked" was the English title. It's not listed under that name in the >video reference book. A search of the Internet Movie Database revealed the following - 1.Princess Caraboo (1994) .... Lady Apthorpe 2."Dark Season" (1991) TV Series .... Miss Pendragon 3."Moondial" (1990) TV Series .... Miss Raven/Miss Vale 4.How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) .... Maud 5.Bourne Identity, The (1988) (TV) .... Madame Jacqui 6.White Mischief (1987) .... Idina 7."Vienna 1900" (1980) (mini) TV Series .... Anna: "Spring Sonata" 8."Blake's 7" (1978) TV Series .... Servalan 9.Measure for Measure (1978) (TV) .... Mariana 10.Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1967) 11.Don't Lose Your Head (1966) .... 3rd lady ... aka Carry On - Don't Lose Your Head (1966) 12.Gypsy Girl (1966) ... aka Sky West and Crooked (1966) 13.Plague of the Zombies, The (1966) .... Alice Tompson ... aka Zombies, The (1966) 14.Reptile, The (1966) .... Anna Franklyn I've seen #13 and I think #14. Jackie definitely looked like a healthy teenager. -- Neil - nw@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 16:55:34 -0000 From: "Heather Smith" To: "Blake's 7" Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Avon and Cally Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol wrote: > I can't recall any of them being open and straight forward about > their pasts. We got little bits and pieces, but seldom anything > on a personal level. Interestingly, the two crew you might expect > to be most reticent revealed the most about their private lives. > Avon told the third season crew about Anna. Soolin told the fourth > season crew about the loss of her family. Don't forget Gan's speech about his past to Jenna, that was pretty personal. Heather 'can't think of a clever quote to go here' Smith 'There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish' -The fourth Doctor ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:07:38 EST From: penny_kjelgaard@juno.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: Avon Calling Message-ID: <19980110.100124.13127.0.Penny_Kjelgaard@juno.com> I went to the web page but my browser was unable to load. Is there anyone who is going to be able to get/make a copy of the chat and post it to the list? I am sure we would ALL appreciate it and then we could talk about it. Thanks, Penny ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:18:29 EST From: Ashton7 To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Message-ID: <48aa9799.34b7bb76@aol.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-01-10 11:02:40 EST, ay648@yfn.ysu.edu writes: << >Could you suggest some zines or stories I could look for that focus on the "Avon >and Blake set it up" theory?? It would be very much appreciated. I know there have been others, but the only one my memory will cough up at the moment is "Curtain Call" by Liz Sharpe, Southern Seven 3. The zine should be available from Linda Knights. >> Leah and I wrote a story using that theory, too. Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of it. Oop ack. I'm thinking... thinking... In fact, it was a novella. Arlen had a big part in it. Blake and Soolin got close. Avon left the group (Blake paid him off; it was part of their deal) but Vila followed him.... Wait! That's it. "Fool's Paradise," I think it was. Now, where was that published? Dang. Annie ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:07:07 -0600 From: "Lorna B." To: Subject: Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Message-Id: <199801101907.NAA00717@pemberton.magnolia.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Annie said: > Leah and I wrote a story using that theory, too. Unfortunately, I can't recall > the name of it. Oop ack. I'm thinking... thinking... In fact, it was a > novella. Arlen had a big part in it. Blake and Soolin got close. Avon left the > group (Blake paid him off; it was part of their deal) but Vila followed > him.... Wait! That's it. "Fool's Paradise," I think it was. Now, where was > that published? Dang. Didn't you also do "Season of Lies," which was kind of along the same theme? Lorna B. sig under construction ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 98 21:07 GMT0 From: majikthise@cix.compulink.co.uk (Gary Marden) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Cc: majikthise@cix.compulink.co.uk Subject: Re: [B7L] What Pushed Avon over the edge? Message-Id: In-Reply-To: <19980109070819.21498.qmail@hotmail.com> > I was wondering what all of you thought what proved > to be the main factor in making him this way. I've > narrowed it down to three reasonsin order of importance > in my opinion. You forgot option D. Too many blows to the head. Avon does seem to get roughed up on many an occasion during the series. Gary ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:11:32 +0100 (BST) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List Subject: Re:[B7L]Children of Auron Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=ISO-8859-1 On Fri 09 Jan, J. I. Horner wrote: > I have just watched 'Children of Auron' again and that last scene, the > nursery of 5000 comment, well it makes you realise that it wouldn't work > would it? > > The planet they were going to was uninhabited so the raising of those > infants was down to just two people initially. No way could they raise > 5000 all at one go. My sister has triplets and the fall out from that > litter would turn your hair white so 5000 - really! > > Of course they would have to defrost them in batches, but they would need > to be very small batches - no more than six or seven a year is my guess. > And of course second and subsequent years you would be able to 'deliver' > even fewer as you would still have all the one-year olds to deal with. > > By the time the first lot were old enough to help out their would still > only be a very small number. I expect you could do a mathematical > simulation to work out how long it would take to bring them all up but I > expect the first generation would have started to die off before they > were all born. > > And surely when they started to reach adulthood they would prefer to > replenish the Auron stock by more natural means? > > Of course, maybe the Aurons are really clever and have found a way of > gestating feotuss (what is the plural of feotus?) until they are about > five so they come out fully toilet trained and reciting the alphabet but > even so... > There's precedent in Blake's 7 for clones being forced rapidly to maturity. 1. Blake's clone ('Weapon') was only a few hours old but was obviously an adult human being with language and other basic knowledge. 2. 'Time Squad' Zen said that the alien brood units were capable of producing adults very quickly. 3. 'Deliverance' As the rocket carrying the gene stock was unmanned, they must have had some way of forcing stock to maturity in order to care for the rest. Judith -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 Redemption 99 - The Blakes 7/Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 07:51:39 +0100 (BST) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List Subject: Re: Re:[B7L]Children of Auron Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=ISO-8859-1 On Fri 09 Jan, Alison Page wrote: > Lady C said > > > Actually, they probably would wish to replenish the stock "naturally", > but > > the frozen embryos would still provide more genetic diversity. It has > been > > YEARS since my last biology class - I can't seem to remember the > threshold > > number needed to prevent in-breeding in humans? Any of you younger (and > > therefore closer to your school days) persons remember? > > well I'm not young, but I seem to recall someone telling me the threshold > was about 200 - which sounds kinda reasonable. I know they have trouble > with captive breeding programs when the population of captive animals gets > too low. But to be 'safe' and after all that's a big consideration when you > are talking about human well-being, you would need quite a bit more I would > imagine. I *wish* more SF writers would understand biological facts like > this as well as hard science. Actually, it's not quite as simple as that. Sone species have far more genetic diversity than others. I think the world population of hampsters, for example, is descended from a very small number of individuals, and they're still doing fine. Cheetahs in the wild are remarkably low in genetic variability. Wheras some captive reintroduction programmes (It may be Hawaian geese that I'm thinking of) have run into problems that may well be caused by the loss of a large percentage of the original gene pool. Variation gives ability to copy with change and a wide variety of conditions. It also reduces the impact of bad recessives in the gene pool. If you assume that th Auronar had already weeded out the bad recessives from the stock they used for cloning, then a smaller gene pool could well be safe. Judith -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 Redemption 99 - The Blakes 7/Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 23:36:42 -0000 From: Alison Page To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Against a dark background Message-ID: <884475585.1029916.0@alisonpage.demon.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit So - there's this massive minefield in space which is so big and powerful that the Andromedans can't get round it or destroy it. And we're supposed to believe the federation constructed this in *thirty years* - this being an organisation which hasn't even developed decent computer graphics yet? No way. Now here's how I see it. The galaxy is a closed system - like the star system in Iain Banks' novel 'Against a dark background'. A sealed system can't grow (for the sake of argument) it can only rise and fall in a series of empires and federations. I think it's pretty clear that the federation is built on the ruins of some earlier Terran diaspora which had fallen into barbarism. Perhaps that was why their technology was so patchy. What if this has been going on a long, long time. What if the universe of Blakes Seven is like a nightmare the human race can't wake from. There is no progress, there is no hope. The minefield in space has been built up over unimaginable lengths of time. Star One has been established for millenia. The Federation have just rediscovered it, and they are using it to run their own computer systems, because it is far better than anything they have. But it is very, very old. In this theory Servalan is the only one who really understands - or rather intuits - what life is all about "...it's an old wall, Avon; it waits. I hope you don't die before you reach it." An old wall indeed - but does it keep them out, or us - in Alison ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 23:21:57 -0000 From: Alison Page To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Star One Message-ID: <884475583.1029910.0@alisonpage.demon.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit And while we're at it, what's with Star One anyway? I love that episode - it must be in my top three or four - but what the hell is going on? For a start, if there's an impenetrable minefield in the way of the Andromedans, how did that small group of them get onto Star One which is *this* side of the minefield? And how had Travis helped them, seeing as they had never met him, and he had never been to Star One before? He just seemed to be a liability to them, they didn't need him to drop the shield - they had already figured out the Federation computer system. And Star One itself - what would happen when all the technicians living there got too old to do their jobs anymore? Nobody would be able to replace them, because nobody knew where they were. I'm rubbish at remembering series facts so I may be labouring under a delusion here - if so please put me out of my misery. Alison ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 20:02:50 EST From: AChevron To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L]Children of Auron Message-ID: Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-01-10 18:01:35 EST, you write: << There's precedent in Blake's 7 for clones being forced rapidly to maturity. >> I agree that that precident is there for the maturation of fetuses/clones in a short period of time. I think the concern would have to be is how "normal" a colony of such people would be, even without the added twist of telepathy. Cally seems to have had a normal childhood/adolescence. There seems to be no reason to suppose that the Auron did not pass over the newborn to be raised by parents/surrogates through a normal aging process. This would have allowed the time to develop social skills etc. ( Star Trek's Charlie X was an excellent example of what happens without this process). My solution of this puzzle, and I promise to try and not keep bringing this up, is that at some point after the establishment of the colony other Auron survivors, from Auron and off-world, made their way there. Even with Brood Units, which we have no reason to believe Liberator to have carried, the colony would still need tools, food, raw materials, educational materials, etc. So outside contact of some sort would be nessacary. The good news is with telepaths, security could be maintained better. Anyways, enough rambling. This was an excellent original question, and I've enjoyed the threads from it. Deborah Rose ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 07:32:16 +1100 From: Kathryn Andersen To: "Blake's 7 list" Subject: Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Message-ID: <19980111073216.17170@welkin.apana.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Sat, Jan 10, 1998 at 01:07:07PM -0600, Lorna B. wrote: > Annie said: > > Leah and I wrote a story using that theory, too. Unfortunately, I can't > recall > > the name of it. Oop ack. I'm thinking... thinking... In fact, it was a > > novella. Arlen had a big part in it. Blake and Soolin got close. Avon > left the > > group (Blake paid him off; it was part of their deal) but Vila followed > > him.... Wait! That's it. "Fool's Paradise," I think it was. Now, where > was > > that published? Dang. > Didn't you also do "Season of Lies," which was kind of along the same > theme? I thought "Season of Lies" was a the-fourth (and third?)- season-was-all-a-lie kind of story. Federation propaganda or something. -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 12:24:37 +1100 (EST) From: kat@welkin.apana.org.au (Kathryn Andersen) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se (Blake's 7 list) Subject: [B7L] Web page update Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just thought I'd let you folks know I've updated my web page; I have all my Blake's 7 stuff on a separate page now, I've joined both web rings (yes, there are two of them - I don't know what that says about us) and I've updated my quotes file. -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen / \ | http://connexus.apana.org.au/~kat \_.--.*/ | #include "std/disclaimer.h" v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 15:50:48 +1300 From: "Lucas Young" To: Subject: [B7L] Star One Message-ID: <000501bd1e3b$c47445a0$53fd31ca@glsharp> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Can you imagine how many of these mines you'd need to protect and entire galaxy??? If they didn't go all the way round the aliens could have just gone round them... Hi all I have been lurking for a while and thought I'd speak up! I love the drama in B7, even if the sets wobble and every planet looks like England on an overcast day... 8) Always loved the Liberator, I wonder if anyone has created it in 3D (Lightwave, 3D Studio etc etc) Lucas Young Digitalus http://www.digitalus.co.nz ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 21:46:18 EST From: Ashton7 To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] PGP Fanfic Message-ID: Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-01-10 14:19:14 EST, msdelta@magnolia.net writes: << Didn't you also do "Season of Lies," which was kind of along the same theme? >> Oh, "Season of Lies." That one was quite different. In that one, the entire fourth season of Blakes 7 turned out to be Federation propaganda and the crew of the Liberator found out what was going on and rescued Blake from a Federation prison. Annie ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 21:59:14 -0800 From: Ovina Maria Feldman To: B7 Subject: Re: [B7L] Against a dark background Message-ID: <34B85FB2.A9ABC856@gte.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There was a mention (in Rumours of Death?) of pre-atomics, which I have always taken to imply that there was at least one devastating atomic/nuclear war before the Federation arose to power. That could account for the peculiar mixture of high and low tech (effective space travel, but trully clunky communications boxes, for example). Also, did anyone actually say that the minefield had been build up in 30 years -- wasn't that just the re-location of central control? Star one could have been a Federation base/outpost for a long time. It's implied that some kind of contact with the Andromodans had been made a long time ago. I like the idea of eons having past and old technology being re-discovered or recovered as new -- makes for an interesting linkage to the Foundation Trilogy. Alison Page wrote: > > So - there's this massive minefield in space which is so big and powerful > that the Andromedans can't get round it or destroy it. > > And we're supposed to believe the federation constructed this in *thirty > years* - this being an organisation which hasn't even developed decent > computer graphics yet? > > No way. > > Now here's how I see it. The galaxy is a closed system - like the star > system in Iain Banks' novel 'Against a dark background'. A sealed system > can't grow (for the sake of argument) it can only rise and fall in a series > of empires and federations. I think it's pretty clear that the federation > is built on the ruins of some earlier Terran diaspora which had fallen into > barbarism. Perhaps that was why their technology was so patchy. > > What if this has been going on a long, long time. What if the universe of > Blakes Seven is like a nightmare the human race can't wake from. There is > no progress, there is no hope. The minefield in space has been built up > over unimaginable lengths of time. Star One has been established for > millenia. The Federation have just rediscovered it, and they are using it > to run their own computer systems, because it is far better than anything > they have. But it is very, very old. > > In this theory Servalan is the only one who really understands - or rather > intuits - what life is all about > > "...it's an old wall, Avon; it waits. I hope you don't die before you reach > it." > > An old wall indeed - but does it keep them out, or us - in > > Alison -- C progamme run. C programme crash. C programmer quit. Return to COBOL. -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V98 Issue #9 ************************************