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Over two weeks, Ive had the two most amazing cinematic experiences in my life. Neither of those areover-selling it. They were amazing evenings and I am so happy I got to go through them.

Lets start with Cinequest. Its a film festival. One of the best in the world from folks that I talk to, and

every year, they have a silent film or two. Were lucky enough to have folks like Dennis James, perhaps the worlds

finest cinema organist, around. Ive been to all but two of the silents Cinequest has shown, and this year they

chose F.W. Murnaus Faust. Id seen it, at least part of it, and I knew I had to get a look at it on the big screen with

the Mighty Wurlitzer.

Only there was somethign else. Lightning.

Don Buchla is an inventor. Hes also a musical genius. His work has gone from early analog set-ups toincredible MIDI controllers. He invented a series of devices that were obviously Theremin-inspired. The Lightning

sticks are very impressive, the sticks can be programmed with a series of sounds and their position in relation to

a central stand. Its amazing, and Id never gotten a chance to watch it in action.

And Mark Goldstein, a local electronic musical legend, would be playing the Lightning along with Dennis

James on the console... and the THEREMIN!

I love the Theremin. In fact, you should listen to the theme Song to Drink Tank 300 at http://johnny-

eponymous.podbean.com/2011/12/01/theme-song-to-the-drink-tank-300/. Its Unwoman and my friend Heather

at their finest with the Theremin. So, Mark and Dennis were playing along with Faust, and as always Jason Wiener

and our buddy Phil had front-row seats.

The film started and, from the first notes of the Wurlitzer, I was entranced. Sitting in the front row, youcan see down into the pit as well as seeing all the screen at the California Theatre. I split my time between being

tied into the film and being tied into the motions of the musicians in the pit. The two of them created an amazing

soundscape, and the story of Faust and in particular the cinematography was amazing. It was incredible. The film

made me go through a series of emotions, but most importanly, it was incredible to see how the music and the

film played with each other. The most important thing was that the guys were actually watchign the movie. That

made everything so awesome. We watched the film from as close as we could, felt the wind from the pipes and

could see how Mark played the Lightning sticks, but beyond the entire intellectual event, there was some magic

in that old Arts-and-Craft theatre we found.

After The End, we gave

an immediate standing ovation

I think Jason, Phil and I literally

jumped to our feet. It was amaz-

ing. Perhaps the best part of the

film was the over-the-top (even

for the silent era) performance

of Emil Jannings. The man who

would win the first Oscar ever

awarded but in a helluva fine per-

formance in a film by one of the

three biggest names of Silent Di-

rection (along with Von Stroheimand Griffith). The entire presen-

tation was incredible and then

I headed home and got a good

nights sleep and realised that it

was a film that you have to dis-

sect into pieces. Murnaus direc-

tion, the performances and the

music all need their own disec-

tion. Ill have to buy the DVD. and

everything I can read on it.

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The biggest thing for Film Geeks of 2012

had to be the debut of the 5.5 hour long version

of Abel Gances Napoleon. It was a part of the San

Francisco Silent Film Festival programme in the off-

season at the beautiful Art Deco Paramount The-

atre in Oakland. When it was announced, dozens of

tickets flew off the shelf for 40 or 50 dollars a piece.

Later, when you add in the Ticketmaster fees, and an

increase in prices, the tickets ended up in teh rangeof 90 to 130 dollars!

I was lucky; Jason got the tickets for fifty

bucks. Fifty bucks, front row.

Now, Napoleon hasnt been shown at all in

teh US since 1981 when they toured it around the

world, and this version was first shown in 2005 in

the UK. The man in charge was Kevin Brownlow.

Let me talk about him for a moment. If

there is a man who deserves an Oscar for being

the greatest film historian who has ever lived, it isKevin Brownlow. He deserves it so much, in fact,

that he DOES have an Oscar (I believe technically

its an Academy Governors Award) for his work

documenting and preserving the films of the silent

era. His lifes work has been assembling, perserv-

ing and ocassionally presenting Abel Gances mas-

terpiece. As time has gone by, many of the classic

silents have lost a lot of their material. Metropolis is

the ultimate example. Less than half of the original existed in a presentable form less than 10 years ago, and now

after the discovery of a much longer print, its as near-complete as youll ever find. Many films were cut down for

release in foreign countries, typically American releases of foreign films were much shorter. Here, Napoleon isas long as it is likely to ever be again: fives, thirty-two minutes. Napoleon is, without doubt, the longest of all the

surviving silent films, but its not just its length that makes Napoleon impressive.

Its the depth of innovation.

The film was made in 1927, not much more than a year before the Sound Era would begin. At that point

many films were still shooting very simply, largely locked-down cameras, sometimes not even moviing within

a scene. Gance would have none of that. In fact, I would argue that Gance might have over done it a bit in the

camera movements. pans, turns, a swish or two, at one point theres a party going on and it seems to have been

shot using a camera on a swing. I think there were a couple of jib shots, too! Everything that would identify the

MTV Gerenation of film shooting was there. All of it. Its amazing that films like Strike and Battleship Potempkin

often get pointed to as the films that defined modern editing (they did!), but Id argue that modern shooting wasdefined by Napoleon.

There was extensive use of tinting, a practice that was HUGE in the pre-1930s era of film. Many classics

widely used tints to give their films some color well before the two-strip Technicolor technique started to be

used. Here, the tinting is subtle, but intelligently used. I knew the climax was here when the screens were tinted

Blue on the right, white in teh middle, and red on the left.

Oh yeah, I also meant screens. Three of em.

You see, Gance shot the less half-hour or so in a format called Polyvision. Here, Gance used three cam-

eras to capture three images. Some of them he tried to make into one sweeping vista, not entirely successfully

but the entire effect, sitting right there in the front row, was amazing. He also used the three screens to show

different images and moments. That was the most effective use of the technique as you werent trying to see if

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the edges lined up. The effect of the process is that it overwhelms you and, especially if youre sitting where we

were, it forces you to move your attention. It makes it less about a performance and more about a scene.

Napoleon had out-grown a single actor. It had become something that could only be experienced across

three screens.

Now, with all this talk of the techniques, you may think that this was a movie without a story. It was no

such thing. The movie starts out with a truly magnificent openign segment. Little Napoleon Buenoparte is at

school and theres a giant snowball fight. Its rough going as his two rivals are together on the other side. Here

he shows early hints of his own genius and wrath. After getting hit with a snowball with a rock in it, he goes and

beats the tar out of his rivals and then leads his fort to a charging victory. The kid who played Little Nap was justabout perfect. He had the look of Napoleon, along with a great amount of poise. I was surprised to see that he

was 17 when they shot it as he looked no more than 12 or so. It was one of the best young actor performances

Ive ever seen in a silent, an era known for its youth performances. That sequence was like the entire movie in a

single point: fun, funny, sweeping, powerful, multiple layers of story going on and a powerful moving camera. The

action is big, the acting is excellent and when it moves from teh battlefield to the dorms, it shows Napoleons

temper and strength. Very impressive.

Its also there that we are introduced to Napoleons pet eagle. It plays an important part throughout the

film, and it REALLY made Jason want a pet eagle. I didnt have the heart to try and talk him out of it.

The funny thing is stuff like montage and well-placed graphics all power the film as much as the perfor-

mances, but the most powerful moments of the film are the stares of the star, adult Napoleon, Albert DieudonnThe secret of the film is that Gance, an actor, understood the value of a stare, a look, a moment. This is obviously

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an actor who understood what it takes

to make a film that is powered by the

performance, and then he did somethign

very intelligent: he went big on every-

thing else. That is the sign of a smart di-

rector and an absolute genius. I havent

seen Abel Gances other masterpiece

JAccuse, but I have seen Austerlitz, an

other Napoleon movie and it had manymarkings of a film made by an actor who

just flat-out gets how movies are made.

Napoleon shows all this in

spades.

Almost everyone was there.

personally saw Stephen Toblowski (Ned

Ryerson from Groundhogs Day), talked

to Leonard Maltin briefly, of course Brownlow was in attendance, at least one of the founders of Google, a couple

of big wigs from CAA, a lot of the local film community, and most importantly, me, Jason, Phil, Espana, Thad, Joe

Price, Lynn, and of course, The Lovely & Talented Linda. It was with them that we went to dinner at this wonderfuPho place and talked and joked and ate great Vietnamese food and talked some more. It was a wonderful time

and it was the first meeting of the multiple parts of my world: my fandom friends and my Cinequest friends, and

they seemed to like each other. I Love when that happens.

The funny thing is, even if you think that Napoleon is the greatest film ever made, and there are a lot of

folks in the know who say that, its not flawless. There are a couple of completely extraneous plotlines, including

one thats a story of a woman who is in love with Napoleon. Its an interesting story, provides one particularly

complex and lovely scene where they put the marriage of Napoleon to Josephine with the girl marrying a Na-

poleon doll. It was a great scene, but the storyline didnt really provide any momentum to the overall story. The

amount of time spent on the Revolution, and in particular on The Terror. I mean, it would make sense that theyd

get a lot of coverage, but really it was a tad long.

One of the best moments, and one of the reasons why I can certainly understand that Napoleon wasa hugely influential film, was after we are introduced to the Revolution, and especially to Robespierre (who is

wearing the most awesome small round sunglasses in history and REALLY looked like David Caruso) and theres

a young man passes out the lyrics to La Marseillaise and the gathered crowd joins together in singing it. Its a

great moment, the editing and super-imposition of images is fantastic. Its a powerful scene that shows, perhaps

completely opposite of what Gance was thinking, was how easy it was for the French at that moment to be

swept up, carried along the road towards... well, whatever. La Marseillaise was a classic moment in another film

Casablanca, where they sing it at full volume to drown out the singing Nazis. The similarities between the two

scenes are exact, while what I took away from both of them was almost the exact opposite.

There was also an amazing amount of music in a silent film. Hurdy Gurdy players, songs, drummers, it was

all over the place.

The other best part might have been the fact that the film was accompanied by the Oakland East Bay

Symphony Orchestra. It was amazing to be sitting right over the pit of the Orchestra... and not just because

there was an amazingly hot bassoonist in there! The score was written by Carl Davis, who was conducting the

orchestra not 10 feet from where I was. It was amazing to be there... and not just because I could stare down at

the hot bassoonist.

All in all, it was an amazing day. 8 hours in the theatre and while walking around the theatre during the

breaks was great as people were loving getting to talk movies. And I met Kevin Brownlow and got to thank him

for the greatest cinematic experience of my life!

This issues got some stuff in it! Its got Taral Wayne, Steven H Silver, plus a cover from Steve Stiles (the

first one hes done for us in a few years) and art from Mo! Its awesome!

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The other day I was luxuriating in the final hours of a long, splendid nap, when I was suddenly struck overthe noggin by the Muse. I actually got out of bed to think about it for a little while before finishing my snooze.

To tell the truth, Id been through a week of hip pain that, when in bed, made a full nights sleep impossible

A sudden change in the weather and an end to my hip pain was the occasion for sleeping in. And with plenty o

sleep also comes a fresh supply of dream material.

Normally, my dreams are of no use to anyone but me. Who wants to hear about my living with a Viet-

namese boat family in the aftermath of a global rise in sea level? Or of how nearly I was swept out the window

into the muddy, malevolent, ten-story deep waters? Im still trying to forget that one myself...

But this dream... it was beaut. It was well worth working up into a lengthy story, perhaps even a book

There was pathos in it, beauty, irony, tragedy, song and inspiration.

It is the story of Debb, the only Fraggle in the Rock who cannot sing. All her life Deb has been unable

to hold a tune, and spoils songs for her friends when she joins in. She plays no instrument. She flatly cannotcompose lyrics. And she drives Cantus the mystical meistersinger to exasperation. Every Fraggle has a song

inside. You must have a song. Why the hell dont you have song? Debb doesnt know that she drank from the

Spring of Dissonance while a babe. But neither Cantus or the other Fraggles can help.

Debb is from a different corner of the Rock. Obviously, she isnt at home with people who spontane-

ously break into song, and has grown footloose. As a recent arrival at the Great Hall, she meets people she

would like to be her friends, only Debb doesnt fit in there either. If she hasnt anything in common with most

Fraggles, however, she does share a passion with Gobo for poking her nose into new places.

One day she finds a tunnel where a curious hole has opened high on the wall, and climbs up to take a

look. On the other side is another, unknown cavern. Water has weakened the rock wall over eons until it has

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collapsed, and Debb easily climbs through onto a gravelly slope. Most of the cavern is full of jumbled rock and

pools of still water. I have to stop at this point, or give away the story. But what Debb discovers amidst the chaos

is so mind-numbingly terrible that once it sinks in what had happened, she can only flee back to the Great Hall..

where she weeps hysterically. Several days go by before her friends can even draw from her what she has seen

The story turns on that point.

So now what the hell do I do?

Oh, sure, I could spend a lot of time writing it up for the fanboys to read, and some will say, this sure

was swell, but Im of the old school of writing. Samuel Johnson said nobody but a fool would write without pay

Of course, he said this in the 18th. century, when he would have looked like a fool wearing knee-stockings and awig. But, you have to agree with him when you think about it,. A good manuscript and a Loonie wont even buy

a cup of coffee.

Ive been writing for years without anyone paying me. I did it because I wanted to. But, lets face it, self-

indulgence will only motivate me so far. Let Steven King write his next novel for free, and give me the two mil-

lion dollars to write my Fraggle Rock novel instead. Hell never miss it, trust me. More money only puts him in

a higher tax bracket.

Unfortunately, theres another obstacle. While Jim Henson could possibly have been flattered into per

mitting me to base a masterpiece of literature on his brainchild, the current owners are Disney. Disney would

only be terrified if some unknown made better use of their property than theyre able to, and an army of venom

ous, kung-fu lawyers would parachute into my neighborhood to hunt me down and kill me.So, like I said... what the hell do I do now?

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immediately prior to my enrollment, the class had been taught by Phyllis Eisenstein or Jody Lynn Nye. The year

took it, the class was being taught by Gene Wolfe.

I think the word that came to mind when I realized Gene would be teaching the class was intimidating. Of

course, Gene is an excellent writer and teacher and even as we all got to know him a certain amount of the

intimidation factor remained throughout the class.A couple of years later, I was speaking on the phone to Gene, most likely about Windycon programming

and he suddenly stopped and said, Is there something you forgot to tell me? I ran our conversation through and

couldnt think of anything. I had hit all the topics I had planned to. I hear crying in the background. Right, Since

the last time I spoke to Gene, my wife had given birth to our first daughter.

When I had heard that Gene was going to be honored as the recipient of the first Fuller Award by the

Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, I knew that I wanted to be there to share the evening with him.

The Fuller Award is named after Henry Blake Fuller (1857-1929). His most famous novel is The Cliff-

Dwellers (1893), for which a literary society has been named since 1907, although Fuller was never a member

Many of his works used literary realism to detail the lives of the citizens of Chicago, and Theodore Dreiser de

scribed him as the Father of realism. Since the Hall of Fame is only open to authors who have shuffled off this

mortal coil, the Fuller Award has been established to let authors enjoy their accolades while there is still time

As I mentioned to Valya Dudycz Lupescu, who organized the extravaganza, it is wonderful to see Gene being

recognized by the literary establishment outside of science fiction.

The event took place at a private estate located in the suburbs of Chicago. The owner purchased the es-

tate in the 1980s, and as his personal collection of coin operated nickelodeons, stereoscopes, gramophones, slot

machines, and other toys from an earlier era grew, so also grew the house. Prior to the start of the ceremonies

attendees were able to walk around and look at portions of his home.

When I arrived, I almost immediately bumped into Michael Swanwick, who had already performed cur-

sory reconnaissance of the house. He suggested that the downstairs was the place to go, a fact that was lamented

by Betty Anne Hull, who had joined us, but for whom stairs present something of an issue. I headed downstairs

I first became acquainted with Gene

Wolfe in the mid-1980s when I first discov-

ered The Book of the New Sun and took

my first stab at The Shadow of the Torturer.

It didnt take me very long to realize that I

had not clue one as to what was happening

and that the authors prose was not any-

thing like what I had ever tried to read be-

fore. But, I had heard good (no, great) thingsabout the books and I struggled onward,

gaining an appreciation for the work as I

went.

The first time I met Gene Wolfe was

at Rivercon XXI in 1996. In my age-addled

mind, I recall being on a panel with him, but

when I checked the program book, I discov-

ered that I was not a program participant

at the con that year, so that probably says

something about my memory. In any event,I introduced myself to Gene at one of the

panels, only a few quick words.

A couple of months later, I enrolled

in a class being offered on writing science

fiction by Columbia College in Chicago, ac-

tually the suburbs of Chicago. In the years

An Evening with Gene WolfeBy Steven H Silver

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and was pleasantly surprised to see Michael and Betty

walking through a gramophones a few minutes later. Yes,

the enormous cage elevator does work and Betty was

able to use it to more fully explore the house.

My meager powers of description really cant do

justice to the house and its contents. The walls are lined

with old movie posters from the earliest days of cinema

through the 1950s (I think the most recent poster I saw

was for Charles Chaplins 1957 film A King in New York).In front of the posters is a row of coin operated machines

which, when a activated, play music and have scenes en-

acted by moving slats. Gramophones are lined up in tidy

rows with only Nipper missing. The gramophones were

among those things which were not running, so we

couldnt hear the delightful scratchiness of old 78s.

Heading deeper into the maze of rooms, Michael,

Betty and I came to a room filled with slot machines,

scales, stereoscopes, and nickelodeons. Prior to coming

to the event, I had emptied the change from my pockets,but Michael had some nickels and quarters and dropped

one into an old nickelodeon, so we were able to watch

the images from a bygone era flicker by. After examining a

fortune telling machine similar to the one in Big, I helped

Betty back to the elevator and continued to poke around

before climbing the stairs into the turret which houses a

pendulum and a theodolite.

The room where the awards were to be given

was an enormous room designed to hold the owners

pipe organ. The organ was originally built by the Wurlitzer

Organ Company for the Riviera Theatre in Omaha, Ne-braska in the 1927. Youve heard of the Mighty Wurlitzer...

This is it (number 1571, in fact). When the owner bought

the organ, it had 2,400 pipes, which sounds impressive

until you realize that he has since expanded it to contain

8,000 pipes, making it the largest pipe organ in the world.

It stands on a stage at one end of the room, in front of a

large blue drapery which is filled with tiny holes. Behind

the scrim are the majority of the organs pipes, although

there are plenty in the music room itself, including pipes

that stretch 37 feet up the walls. Trumpets in the back

of the room are also controlled from the organ, as are

a piano, various drums, symbols, bells, and other instru-

ments in the rooms behind the curtain. Various parts of

the organ were originally taken from Wurlitzers in the

Nile Theatre in Mesa, Arizona, the Hub Roller Rink in Chi-

cago, the Paramount and Egyptian Theatres in Los Angles,

and many others.

The room is huge, and ornate, and the organ,

dwarfed by the space around it, draws all of your atten-

tion.

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Eventually, it was time for the main event to begin and I found that Betty had saved a seat for me (unfor-

tunately, Fred Pohl, her husband who bought Genes first science fiction story, was unable to attend).

The first part of the evening was emceed by Gary K. Wolfe, who made sure that everyone knew he was no rela-

tion to Gene, although whenever Gary made that statement, Gene would announce that he was going to tel

their mother. After Gary spoke, he introduced Neil Gaiman, Genes one-time collaborator, who proceeded to

regale the assembled with stories of Gene, as well as a reading of A Solar Labyrinth, a Gene Wolfe story thatfirst appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in April, 1983 and has been reprinted in Storeys

from the Old Hotel.

Gene came up to receive the award and give his acceptance speech, a good deal of which was spent

roasting some of the friends he new were in the audience, and demonstrating his sense of humor with all the

self-deprecation he could be expected to manage at an event designed to make sure he knew how important

loved, and even revered, he is.

When the organ was first brought to the estate, it

was located in a more modest room, however when the

owners son decided to get married, the current room

was designed and built in a ten month period to accom-

modate the organ and the wedding. In addition to the or-

gan, the room also contains a couple of calliopes located

at the back of the balcony.

When I entered the room after my excursion up

the turret, I noticed that Gene had arrived. I tried to makemy way over to him, but was unsuccessful. The propertys

manager was about to start on a tour of the back of the

organ for Gene, his family, and a select few. Jennifer Ste-

venson suggested that if they didnt want us to join the

tour, they would turn us away, and so we traipsed along

with the group, which also included David Hartwell, Law-

rence Santoro, and Genes daughter Terry, and three of his

granddaughters.

The rooms behind the scrim took up three sto-

ries of varying heights and contained numerous tubes andinstruments. Even as I took pictures of the rooms, filled

with the various instruments connected to the organ,

knew that I couldnt do them justice. As with everything

else in the house, I just couldnt back away enough to get

the scope of everything.

Following Genes speech was a production of a

live radio play adaptation of his story The Toy Theatre

by Chicago author Lawrence Santoro, performed by Terra

Mysterium. The actors were accompanied by R. Jelani Ed-dington on the Mighty Wurlitzer, mostly incidental music,

but the play did include the song Coin Operated Boy,

written by Amanda Palmer (who was not present) and

originally performed by The Dresden Dolls on their debut

album in 2004. As a radio play the staging was minimal, but

there was movement and the actors even went so far as

to interact with each other in appropriate ways. Santoros

adaptation worked quite well, maintaining Genes style and

dialogue while, in Santoros words, cutting away the pa-

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per.

Once the play ended, it was time for Ed-

dington to perform a solo concert on the Mighty

Wurlitzer. There was no set play list circulated, and

Eddington provided a brief introduction before

each piece, talking about the composer, about the

organ, about music in general. He played a reprise

of Coin Operated Boy without the vocal accom

paniment, as well as Londonderry Air (after all itwas St. Patricks Day). Eddington explained that the

finale would be a piece which would show of the

versatility of the organ and show how it could rep-

licate the sound of a full orchestra. Long before

he revealed the composer as John Williams or the

piece as Star Wars, it was clear what we would be

hearing. He did, also, warn the people in the bal-

cony that the trumpets would be sounding behind

them. After the finale, Eddington offered up an en-

core: a medley of patriotic music as the Wurlitzerwas first lifted above the stage on its rising plat-

form, and then sunk below the stage until only the

top half of the organ was showing.

It would be awesome to see a silent movie

accompanied by that organ. I think the closest Ive

come was as a student at Indiana University when

Dennis James would accompany silent films on

their 4,543 pipe Schantz organ.

Following the concert, it was time to head

over to the Carousel Pavilion for dinner...except

that Gary K. (no relation) Wolfe realized that for alof Neils introduction of Gene and Genes stories

Neil never actually presented the award to Gene

The two performed a quick hand off and posed for

pictures and we walked up to the Carousel Pavil-

ion.

The Carousel Pavilion was a large, cavern-

ous room in a building finished in 1997. Tables were

sprinkled throughout and two railway cars lined

one side of the room. An enormous clock stood

in the center of the room and there was an ornate

barrier to the back half. Walking through the bar-

rier revealed a large carousel. Around the walls o

the rooms were organs purchased from dance halls

and fairgrounds.

Dinner was provided by Wild Asparagus

and I found myself at a table with Tina Jens, Jody

Lynn Nye, Bill Fawcett, and Lawrence Santoro. Dur-

ing the meal, Toastmaster Peter Sagal, who hosts

the NPR news show Wait, Wait...Dont Tell Me! and

who had been announced as a Special Guest at Chi-

Top - Jody Lyn Nye with the Fuller AwardBot tom - Fashionplate David Hartwell on the ride!

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con 7 the day before, introduced family, friends, and colleagues of Genes to make a toast. Peter explained that

although he was a long-time science fiction fan, and noted his attendance at Noreascon III in 1980, where he

met Pohl and Isaac Asimov, he didnt really know everyone he would be introducing that night and, following a

cursory exploration of Wikipedia, decided it would be better if he just made stuff up, proceeding, for instance, to

introduce Genes daughter Terry, who rebelled against her father to become a motorcycle mechanic in the Pacific

Northwest.

Most of the toast were short, enough that when the third toast ended, Sagal asked the toasters to speak

for longer period so he could finish his salad, which was a poached pear salad.

After dinner, they announced that the carousel would be open for rides.The Eden Palais Carousel is an 89 foot wide, 42 foot tall structure that was built in 1890 with 36 hand

carved life-sized horses created by Josef Hbner and four gondolas. The center is covered in seven paintings by

Andre-Charles Coppier. Despite its size, the carousel was designed to be toured rather remain in one place and

it traveled throughout from 1890 until 1959, when it was purchased from the Caron family by Magic Mountain

an amusement park in Golden, Colorado, which opened in 1957. Unfortunately, around the time the carouse

arrived, Magic Mountain declared bankruptcy. The carousel was left outdoors for the winter before it was pur

chased and rescued by Charles and Sue Bovary, who put it into storage in Great Falls, Montana. It remained in

Great Falls until it was purchased and moved to its present location.

The assembled masses moved towards the carousel like theoretical lemmings towards a cliff1. I rode the

first wave on one of the horses, which bucked very much like a real horse. I found myself wondering how longit was going to last and thinking about how embarrassing it would be to explain to my wife that I threw my back

out on a carousel. The big surprise was that not only did the horses move, but the gondolas also moved.

While the second group rode the carousel, I took the opportunity to explore the tremendously lush railroad

cars, one a Pullman Palace Car, the other a Victorian Station Caboose, which were in the room. Both spoke of

an elegance in travel which is lacking these days. Of course, when travel took so much longer, comfort was much

more important.

Shortly before I left, I was able to corral Peter Sagal, with whom I had been in touch for Chicon 7, and

whom I saw at a taping of Wait, Wait...Dont Tell Me! several years ago, and discuss some ideas we had for his

schedule at this years Worldcon. Then, business, pleasure, and celebration of a friend behind me, I climbed into

my car and drove home, wondering how I could get back onto the estate to share its marvels with my wife and

children.

1 - Lemmings dont actually do

that...it is all a canard perpetrated

by Disney who pushed the lem-

mings off.Sagal and Wolfe

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Michael DirdaJody Nye and Bill Fawcett

Jil l Thompson and SomeGuy named GaimanPeter Sagal

8/2/2019 Drink Tank 312

14/14

Dear Chris:

Were getting California temperatures here, so who wants to be inside? The first day of spring is coming

up, and it will feel like the first day of summer. Global warming exists... Got some issues of The Drink Tank to

comment on...

308...If people complain about The Drink Tank, refer them to the General Manager of the complaints

department. Let Linda take a swipe at them; shed have a great time. As always, those who complain like to

point out what they see as a problem, but rarely offer to help solve it.

A note from Jack the Ripper to start the locol? How fitting. The Cronenburg movie A Dangerous

Method won a number of Genie Awards earlier this month, including a Best Actor award to Viggo Mortensen.

Emerald City was a great fanzine, and I locced each issue I got. So what if it didnt have a locol? Communication

was the main thing.

Taral says fan art is going away? I sure hope not, but then, I am afraid this whole fanzine thing is going

away, so weve got to work hard to keep it around. I have some Rotslers tucked away for my own zine. Yes, I am

considering putting my own zine together, and see what it looks like. I have lots and lots of favours to call in...

Ian MacDonalds Planesrunner was mentioned recently in another zine, cant remember which offhand.With 1080 worlds/universes out there to explore, this can provide his characters with as many settings and

adventures as he can cook up. Looks like fun, as long as it doesnt become another neverendology, like Xanth

or Discworld...

309...I am not a comics reader, so I havent read the comics being discussed. I have no opinion of Watch-

men, although I cant help but be familiar with some of the characters like Rorschach. If I owned the characters

I could say no sequel, and make it stick. If you sequel anyway, I can go and get an injunction, and Ill sue yer ass.

But, if I have sold the rights and you want to sequel, I hope youd listen to me when I say Id prefer there wasnt

a sequel, but I wouldnt be surprised if you went for the sequel anyway, for you own the rights, purchased from

me. DC Comics is a business first and foremost, and will listen to its shareholders before its creators and con-

sumers.

310...Ive been to Chicago three times, all for Worldcons, and we ha enough money to see the World-con, but never enough money to stay longer and see some of the city. This time, theres no money and no real

impetus to see yet another Chicago Worldcon, so well keep saving for London. I am sure there are great things

to see in Chicago, but theres no use longing for something I cant have.

More from the Cranky Old Man, yours truly. I am sure Ill have other things to say the next time around

Ill check with eFanzines to see if 311 is there yet. See you next loc.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

I personally dont think that Fan Art is going away, but I think that the forums for it will be changing.

Few blogs have gotten on teh original fan art bandwagon, but it could happen. Im salivating about

getting to spend time in Chi-Town!

Letter Graded Mailsent to garcia@computerhistory.org

by Our Gentle Readers