From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V98 #306 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume98/306 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 306 Today's Topics: [B7L] Patience Re: [B7L] Blake's Legend [B7L] The Name Game -- A New Drabble Re: [B7L] The Name Game -- A New Drabble Re: [B7L] Gan and Avon [B7L] Re: Orac and Marvin [B7L] Re: spod Re: [B7L] Gan and Avon [B7L] unsbuscribe Re: [B7L] Gan and Avon [B7L] Avon the genius? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 20:58:55 PST From: "Joanne MacQueen" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Patience Message-ID: <19981211045856.4587.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain Kathryn said: >Ah well, at least most of us have seen all the episodes >of Blake's 7 - haven't we? Apart from me. Reading the transcripts isn't quite good enough for getting the feel of the episode's atmosphere (although I'm very, very, very glad all of those people took the time to make them available - I'd have no idea what happened in several stories without them). Maybe I *should* acquire that spare copy of "Shadow/Weapon" if it is still available - as a Christmas present for myself, naturally . But then again, I have to give back the zines Pat Fenech lent me at some point, and I'm seriously considering ordering my very own copy of "The Machiavelli Factor" (that's a wonderful cover on that story - I begin to see what it is that Judith sees in Gareth Thomas whenever I look at that one! The story itself is really good, too.) Judith said: >I fantasise happily about the others being wonderfully >nice to me. Most of us would be delighted if Avon, Vila or Blake fell >in love with us. Gan however, would be nice to me even if I wasn't >the object of his dreams, wheras Avon would probably be >horribly sarcastic. Gan had patience, and that wasn't a common >quality on board Liberator. How true. Unfortunately, Avon seems to have had some sort of standing order when it came to supplies of Blake's patience, and Cally, I suspect, was being bled of hers by requests for a little refreshment on Vila's part. Tarrant and Dayna saved their supplies of patience for situations where it was most needed. Same with Jenna and Soolin. Orac had none whatsoever. For what it's worth, I think Gan could have supplied the lot of them with patience and still have some left over. This is not to say that that he was, by any means, a saint. We know that isn't true. But limiter or no limiter, he tended to be very even-tempered, something I don't think can be claimed for the others (except possibly Cally, and she didn't start out that way). That makes his behaviour in "Breakdown" all the more startling. Time to go home for the weekend, I think. Regards Joanne If you are planning to go to the Spring Ball, you had better plant now the carriage seeds. Except, of course, if among your associates you have an aunt, a friend or a fairy godmother...In that case, the pumpkin seeds will suffice. --Frederic Clement, The Merchant of Marvels and The Peddler of Dreams. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 18:48:20 +0100 (BST) From: Judith Proctor To: Lysator List Subject: Re: [B7L] Blake's Legend Message-ID: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu 10 Dec, Achtung74@aol.com wrote: > forgive me if this is a stupid question or is common knowledge but I have been > away for some time and the last time I was on this group there was talk of a > fan video called Blake's Legend which might even feature a cameo from an old > cast member..could someone fill me in on any new news regarding this? I've often wondered about that myself. I think it was Peter Tudenham who did the cameo, appearing as someone in the military. Last I heard it was being edited, but that was quite a long time ago. 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: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 08:54:37 -0600 From: kmwilcox@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (K. Michael Wilcox) To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] The Name Game -- A New Drabble Message-Id: <199812111448.PAA28013@samantha.lysator.liu.se> The Name Game Krantor tried to change his scowl into a smile before entering the office, but failed. "They're here," he announced. Toise did not answer. "Sir." Toise nodded. "Then show them in." Krantor waved a hand, and an elderly couple was escorted in. "Can we have the body?" the man said. "We're eager to leave." "Of course," Toise answered. "But first, how exactly is your family's name pronounced?" "Khevedikh." They were escorted out, and Toise broke into giggles. "Both hard but aspirated! I don't think anyone chose that in the pool, so the house keeps the whole six million!" "Fantastic," Krantor hissed. K. M. Wilcox A drabble is a work of 100 words (not counting title). This and more B7 drabbles can be found at http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~kmwilcox/Blake ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 12:47:54 EST From: Tigerm1019@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] The Name Game -- A New Drabble Message-ID: <3ef10fab.36715aca@aol.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-12-11 09:55:04 EST, you write: << "Of course," Toise answered. "But first, how exactly is your family's name pronounced?" "Khevedikh." They were escorted out, and Toise broke into giggles. "Both hard but aspirated! I don't think anyone chose that in the pool, so the house keeps the whole six million!" "Fantastic," Krantor hissed. >> This is great. I've really enjoyed your drabbles, K.M. More, please. Tiger M ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:20:41 EST From: Tigerm1019@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Gan and Avon Message-ID: Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-12-10 07:29:07 EST, D. Rose wrote: << Avon doesn't show the innovative genius that Ensor and Muller do because he hasn't the time to sit down and develop it. He manages to come up with an anti-detection screen, is constantly puttering around and modifying Liberator, and adapts the technologies like the stardrive to use. I think he more than earns the title genius, even if we don't see some "masterwork" of his. Which isn't to say he can't foul things up royally. He is human, after all, and part of the fun of his character is how agravatingly human his flaws are. >> I think Avon was very smart and very good with computers, but I still wouldn't describe him as a genius. In fact, I don't consider any of the crew to be geniuses. They were all smart people and excellent in their fields of expertise (even Vila and Gan) but they weren't geniuses. As for the stardrive, Dr. Plaxton actually installed it and I got the impression that Tarrant was the one who did most of the actual repair and maintenance on it and the rest of Scorpio, with assistance from Avon and Vila. Tarrant went through pilot training at the Federation Space Academy (a five year program - "Moloch"), and I am going to make some extrapolations from this. I think Tarrant was an engineer with a specialty in spaceship drives and systems. Of all the crew, he seemed to be the one with the most knowledge of how spaceships worked and why. Avon seemed mostly to be adapting existing technology for his own needs, which may not be easy, but is still a different matter from coming up with something new. As for screwing up royally, they all did that on a regular basis, except maybe for Gan. He's the one with the patience and common sense. Tiger M ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 18:24:37 +0100 From: Steve Rogerson To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: Orac and Marvin Message-ID: <36715553.752519B@mcr1.poptel.org.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Excellent Rob. And so in character. Actually I think Marvin would get on well Vila. -- cheers Steve Rogerson Redemption 99: The Blakes 7 and Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Ashford, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ "Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care what you smell" Star Wars ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 18:23:33 +0100 From: Steve Rogerson To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: spod Message-ID: <36715513.DE82DD82@mcr1.poptel.org.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Julie said: "I am thinking of fighting back by ordering the Avon calendar and putting it on the wall above my desk." What Avon calendar? -- cheers Steve Rogerson Redemption 99: The Blakes 7 and Babylon 5 convention 26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Ashford, Kent http://www.smof.com/redemption/ "Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care what you smell" Star Wars ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 14:44:08 EST From: AChevron@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Gan and Avon Message-ID: Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-12-11 13:34:27 EST, you write: << Avon seemed mostly to be adapting existing technology for his own needs, which may not be easy, but is still a different matter from coming up with something new. >> I agree with this statement, but still hold that Avon was indeed a genius. Creativeness is not the only criteria for genius. The ability to think laterally is one, and this is a skill Avon shows in detail. As for creativeness, I still hold that the sensor deflector is indeed an example of creativeness. The form of electronics is not what one would expect a computer guru to be that skilled at. He absorbed the nessacary knowledge, made the intuitve leaps, then physically built the hardware to mate onto alien technology. That simply is not something any technician can do. I also hold that the main reason we don't see Avon designing original things is that he lacks the time and facilities. Mueller was supported by a corporation, Ensor had over 30 years of isolation to design Orac, Egrorian had 10. Besides learning about the Liberator's systems, Avon had to take part in his share of landing parties, watches, and routine repair functions aboard ship. The fact he managed to design anything at all is evidence of his genius. D. Rose ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 06:24:50 +1100 (EST) From: Jennifer Becker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] unsbuscribe Message-ID: <19981211192450.5758.rocketmail@send105.yahoomail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii please unsubscribe me from the list. Thanks Jen _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 23:04:04 +0000 From: Julia Jones To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Gan and Avon Message-ID: In message , Tigerm1019@aol.com writes >I think Avon was very smart and very good with computers, but I still wouldn't >describe him as a genius. He's a genius. It says so in the publicity material put out by the BBC. -- Julia Jones ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 07:13:18 EST From: Mac4781@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Avon the genius? Message-ID: <3a0b931b.36725dde@aol.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Checking my dictionary, the first two definitions for genius are: (1) a. Exceptional or transcendent intellectual and creative power: b. One who possesses such power. (Avon doesn't qualify under this definition to my mind.) (2) A natural talent or inclination. (Avon and many of his collegues qualify as a genius under this definition.) But for my personal perceptions, I only assign the term genius to those who fall under categoy 1. I consider the creative part to be the main determination of genius. I'm more inclined to call definition two people gifted, experts, outstanding, etc. Deborah wrote: > As for > creativeness, I still hold that the sensor deflector is indeed an example of > creativeness. This doesn't work for me. First because it's more adapting a known idea to a new situation (not creative enough). And second because other minds were developing the same technology at the same time. For me, a genius has to conceive of something that is uniquely innovative: Orac, the stardrive, the Muller android. I think Avon would be the first to admit that he wasn't in that category. > I also hold that the main reason we don't see Avon designing original > things is that he lacks the time and facilities. Avon wasn't a spring chicken when he boarded Liberator. He had plenty of time to establish creative credentials before then. The Federation didn't appear to be shy about setting up their creative geniuses with proper facilities (Plaxton, for one example). > Mueller was supported by a > corporation, Ensor had over 30 years of isolation to design Orac, Egrorian > had 10. The obsessive compulsion to create of Ensor, Egrorian, Muller and Plaxton is another reason I don't think Avon matches their category of genius. When I think of a genius, I think of someone for whom creation is essential to his/her existence. They aren't happy if they aren't puttering away on their toys. And they'll go to any extreme to be able to do that. Avon didn't have that devotion to creativity. He wasn't bursting with ideas that demanded his attention. Julia wrote: > He's a genius. It says so in the publicity material put out by the BBC. Aside from the fact that I don't consider publicity material to be canon, they were probably assigning him genius per definition two above: very good in his field. The show never established him as a creative genius, which is the proof I'd need to assign him definition one status. You can't tell me something; you have to show me. I think the publicity material also referred to Blake as charismatic, but I also take that with a grain of salt because he didn't capture my interest in a charismatic way. Per definition one genius, the crew member I think comes closest is Dayna, with her ability to develop innovative weaponry. It would depend on how innovative her inventions really were. Per definition two, many of them qualify. Avon is gifted with computers. Blake with leadership. Vila with locks. Jenna and Tarrant at piloting. Etc. Carol Mc -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V98 Issue #306 **************************************