SWILnews #3
                                             for the week of Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 1988

EVENTS:
   The science fiction discussion table didn't meet due to lack of population.  The topic for Oct. 1 will be sf and fantasy in
multiple media, including Star Trek.  See Chris Cobb for more details.
   The Pterodactyl Hunt is still looking for a few good Orcs and Hobgoblins to serve their respective Kings, Geoff Hopcraft and
Bruce Hahne.  Talk to either of them or to Joel Offenberg if you're interested.

NEWS:
   A too-late announcement: The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled for the first launch in 26 months on Thursday 9/29 at
9:59 AM EDT.  Expert opinion is that the launch will be postponed due to either weather or technical difficulties, but who knows.
   Courtesy of Jim Moskowitz, there are a couple of pages from the Net up in Birdwainer describing each of the major sf magazines.
I'll bring it to the next meeting.

BOOKS:
   I read _Vacuum Flowers_ last week and enjoyed it a lot.  I don't want to scare anyone off by saying that Michael Swanwick
tosses his readers into a future society with no explanation of what's going on, so I'll add that partial explanations are
eventually given, and that Swanwick, like William Gibson, is very good at giving hints and details which give societal background
without stopping for a long-winded "As you know, ..."-style explanation of what's going on.  There are some very nice touches,
such as the following conversation, an aside in another discussion:
..."Won't they have a sentient program on the job, then?"
   "After what happened to Earth?"
and the amount to which most of the characters take for granted their society and all it entails, including weightlessness,
"wetware," and the vacuum flowers of the title.  And then there's a series of questions tossed off by a minor character:  "Where
does an airwhale fit into an ecosystem?  What do they sell in Green City?  Why can't an anogenic construct eat?  What are the
seven basic adaptations to weightlessness?"
   Swanwick investigates some aspects of artificial personality modification, and of what personality actually is, that are
ignored or glossed over in such books as _Neuromancer_ and _When Gravity Fails_.  On the whole, I thought _Vacuum Flowers_ would
have made a better sequel to _Neuromancer_ than _Count Zero_ did; but it also makes sense on its own.  Cordwainer Bird library now
has a copy, in hardback; everyone is welcome to read it, of course, but please try to take good care of it.

   Ed Bernstein has actually read _Once On a Time_, by A. A. Milne, mentioned in this space last week.  He says that it's worth
reading, and adds that it can be found in the Swarthmore Public Library.

TELEVISION:
   The first episode of the new season of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ was on at 8 PM on Wednesday on channel 11.  Apologies
for not having this SWILnews available in time to make that announcement worthwhile; but rumor has it that various people will be
taping the episode.  Also, I think that's the time slot the show will be in this season, so there's always next week.
   Star Trek Classic episodes are showing every Sunday at noon on channel 29.
   Friday the 7th of October will also be the date of the two-hour premiere of the new TV series of _War of the Worlds_ on
channel 29.
   Saturday, November 19, there will be a celebration of the 25th anniversary of _Dr. Who_ showing on NJN, which is channel 23.

ATTENDANCE:
   Jessica Hines, at long last, became a non-member of SWIL by attending her fourth consecutive meeting (I didn't notice that last
week was her third).  Jeff Hildebrand and Peter Wagner will be dismembered this coming Saturday if they attend (don't worry --
it's a lot less painful than it sounds).
   Those who signed the attendance sheet included: Joel D. "First on the Sheet" Offenberg, Janice Frankel, Joshua the Longer,
Jenny AnyDots, Geoff "Kind-Hearted" Dare, D. Jane Holtzman, Bruce "I want my bicycle!" Hahne, Jessica "I can't think of anything
to go in the quotes" Hines, Jeff "DW25"  Hildebrand, Glenn the Archer, TweedleJed, Dan (the unwanted 11th) Diaz, Geoff "The one
facing east" Hopcraft, Morgles, Murknose Gunkheimer, Perly Pete, and ztaK neraK (upsidedown) (and backwards).

   If it was so, it might be, and if it were so, it would be, but as it isn't, it ain't.  That's logic.
                                                          Contrariwise,
                                                           TweedleJed