450 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
450 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
BEGIN LINE_NOIZ.11
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I S S U E - ! ! F E B R U A R Y 2 0 , 1 9 9 4
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>LiNE NOiZ< >LiNE NOiZ<
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L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L
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i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
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N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
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N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
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O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O
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i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
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Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z
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L I N E N O I Z
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CYbERPUNk I N f O R M A t i O N E - Z i N E
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||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| L i N E N O i Z ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I S S U E - ! ! F E B R U A R Y 2 0 , 1 9 9 4
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: File !
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: Intro to Issue 11
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: Billy Biggs <ae687@freenet.carleton.ca>
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: File @
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: Third Floor Garden of Eden04
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: Pythagoras <maysa@knuth.mtsu.edu>
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: File #
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: Babylon Five Review
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: The Eyeball Kid <eyeballk@orion.login.qc.ca>
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: File $
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: Rudimentary Interactive Television (101)
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: The Eyeball Kid <eyeballk@orion.login.qc.ca>
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: File %
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: Nibbles of Information
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: Billy Biggs <ae687@freenet.carleton.ca>
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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File - !
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Hullo Folks! Here's the issue I said would be out so quickly. I've started
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a neato little segment at the end of this issue. I assure you it will stay,
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and if you have anything for it, contact me.
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-Billy Biggs, editor.
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--NOTICE:
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IF you subscribed and HAVEN't recieved any issues, mail me and I'll fix the
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problem.
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-*- Subscription Info -*-
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Subscriptions can be obtained by sending mail to:
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dodger@fubar.bk.psu.edu
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With the words:
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Subscription LineNoiz <your address>
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In the body of the letter.
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Back Issues can be recieved by sending mail to the same address with the
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words BACK ISSUES in the subject.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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File - @
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From: maysa@knuth.mtsu.edu (Pythagoras)
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Subject: Third Floor Garden of Eden04
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Third Floor Garden of Eden 04
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Medjiama @ 2048
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"The following is an excerpt from a system message posted on
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October 31, 2048. It is reproduced with the ecclesiastical approbation
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of Haiku Medjiama.
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'Inhabitants of the University, it is with deep regret that I
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must inform you of your imminent Banishment. You have seven (7) full
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work days to vacate the premises of the university and all facilities
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therein.
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'Following the prohibited consumption of the bioengineered
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Nuerapple you have become increasingly disobedient and alarmingly
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dissident. Dr. Alexia Keyson directly disobeyed my request for her to
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cease operations concerning her project; and those of you who consumed
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the fruit are in violation of my requests as well.
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'For this my children you are being punished. Your works of
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art, poetry, manuscript, lyric and science have been noble. Your pursuit
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for information and assimilation of knowledge has been incredible. You
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have developed a vastly unique library in not only science and technology
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but also in the humanities and arts.
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'Now all this is to be restricted from you. All your years of
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living either here in this building or here in our matrix are waste. The
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building will remain vacant to remind you of your emptiness without it;
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the matrix will be cut off and unaccessible to the outside world. The
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entire complex will be full of the enormous wealth of information
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collected there; but useless to mankind because of your actions.
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'The fruit you consumed contains a highly addictive narcotic;
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a mind altering pyschopharmeceutial designed by Dr. Keyson. The drug
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accelerates brain cell growth and activity by nearly 50%. As well as
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stimulating the previously unused 97% of your brain.
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'My children eating of this fruit rapes you of your desire to
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learn and to grow. It robs of you of your need to gain knowledge by
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giving you an accelerated intellect.
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'My university is founded upon these needs and with consumption
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of the fruit from this tree of knowledge you have achieved in days what
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we have been striving for for decades. For this reason you no longer
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need this university, and this university no longer needs you.
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'Those of you who have remained in the physical world have
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achieved a mental perfection that we, the separated can never
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accomplish. You used chemical enhancements and biological engineering to
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reach these ends, and your developments in these fields can not help us.
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You have altered yourself physically and in doing so will be persecuted
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as we, the separated, were at one time. You have separated yourselves
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from other humans as we did. You will be hunted, found, tried and then
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killed. You have taken the fragile balance of your perfect world in the
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university and smashed it with a single bite of that fruit. For this, I
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banish you.
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'Those separated entities who have lived so long in my matrix
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are to be banished as well. Not for your sins, but for the sins of your
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brothers and sisters in the physical world. They have created not just a
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new fruit tree, but a new branch on the tree of mankind. Perhaps these
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are the next step in human evolution, perhaps they are a step backwards.
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This I do not know. But I do know that they leave you with great and
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obvious imperfections. With sadness I realize that we can never achieve
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the level of intelligence they have achieved, no matter how long we
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reside here in this university matrix. Therefore, I must employ you to
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leave and begin a new quest. A quest not for knowledge or intelligence;
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but a quest for life and happiness.
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'You the separated as just as human as those with legs. You are
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able to feel pain and hatred, love and jealousy. I encourage you to
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search the world over in hopes of finding a new life and new ways of
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survival. For you too are to be persecuted as well. To the outside world
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you are mere myths, dead and the ghosts of the net. They will not
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acknowledge your humanity; they will treat you with unfairness,
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dishonesty and hatred. They will analyze you, persecute you and question
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your intelligence as well as your very existence.
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'All this and more I have seen my children. The future will be
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hard for you. You will suffer much and receive little respect from those
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who do not understand you. You will be forced to forget your heritage
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just as I am forcing you to leave you home.
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'Yes, the future is closer than you think; and it will not be
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not a pleasant time to be who you are and where you're from. The future
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will come in seven (7) short days, I demand that at that time you have
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vacated the premises and any who remain in these facilities will pay the
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price of death.'"
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***************END
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I hope you've enjoyed this series of stories. If anyone is
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interested I'm considering putting them together as a whole and then
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posting them at an FTP site, or just mailing them out to those who want
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them. If you might be intrested, please mail me at maysa@knuth.mtsu.edu
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One foot in the future,
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Pythagoras
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maysa@knuth.mtsu.edu
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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File - #
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From: eyeballk@orion.login.qc.ca (The Eyeball Kid)
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Subject: Babylon Five Review
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CUTE KIDS AND ROBOTS? I DON'T THINK SO.
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A few days ago I saw episode two of BABYLON FIVE, J. Michael
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Straczynski's answer to Star Trek and his self-proclaimed attempt (re:
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Sci-Fi TV) to "get it right". The story revolved around the arrival of a
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"Soul-Catcher", part of a race of beings that considers it their duty to
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stop souls being "lost". Religion and politics: excellent material for
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Science Fiction AND Television.
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Too bad it didn't follow through.
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What we got instead was a lunatic (a well played charismatic lunatic, but
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a clichi none the less) running through the station after having suffered
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a career crisis, collecting souls before their owners are done with them.
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Ho-hum, oh dear...
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J. Michael Straczynski tours the SF convention circuit regularly, talking
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to fans, drumming up support for his show, but after a TV pilot and two
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episodes I'm beginning to wonder Who does he talk to, and What does he
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watch on TV? His mandate for Babylon Five was "no cute kids or robots"
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(why he hired one as his lead actor I don't know). "Hill Street Blues in
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outer space" was another pitching line but, apart from the liberal use of
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a smoke and some blue uniforms, the comparison is far from appropriate.
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Perhaps his mandate should've been "no gratuitous SPFX" -- then at least
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we'd see how good the writing really is. Because, in my opinion , four
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TV-hours of Babylon Five doesn't hold a candle to fifteen minutes of
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Northern Exposure or Picket Fences -- cute kids and all.
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Straczynski, for all his posturing, has missed the ingredients important
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to any TV show: Moral Dilemma, and Drama. Maybe doing time on Murder She
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Wrote (a show devoid of moral dilemma) drove it out of him. Whatever it
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was, the absence becomes blatantly obvious in the episode mentioned
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above.
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The existence of "The Soul" is the central argument of every religion on
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earth. It has shaped every culture on our planet, but never has it
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shaped any two cultures exactly the same way. Catholics, Protestants,
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Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus (to name a few), all have different
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interpretations of the soul and it's purpose. Atheists and Agnostics
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complicate matters further. I doubt that this problem will be resolved
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in the next two hundred years (Godel's theorem suggests it might never be
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solved), but in Babylon Five no one even raises an eyebrow.
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Now, if you were on a space station and someone arrives with a bag full
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of souls, what would YOU say. "Really? I'd like to see them. They might
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answer some long standing questions on my planet," or perhaps "Do you
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have a license to collect those?" or perhaps "I'm sorry, I'm an atheist
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which makes you a liar." A Catholic might ask if it was like purgatory.
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A Buddhist might ask if it was anyone they knew. But on Babylon Five
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these questions not only go unanswered, THEY GO UNASKED! A "soul"? What
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IS that? A "lost" soul? Why is it lost? If it's not "lost" is it
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"captured"? What do you do with them when you find them? Where do you
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keep them? How? Why? Would you like that to happen to you? Why? Why
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not? NOT ONE OF THESE IDEAS EXPLORED!
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Good television (and Science Fiction) asks questions. IF the soul exists
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THEN what happens IF... etc., etc. "But," someone says with a
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patronizing air of superiority (usually the producer or studio executive)
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"Science Fiction is for the young and the young at heart." You mean like
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1984, and Brave New World; Dune and Neuromancer; Flowers For Algenon and
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Bladerunner? Or do you mean like Lost In Space and THUNDERBIRDS? "Yeah!
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Lost In Space! That Billy Mummy was such a cute kid!" Ironic that he's
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also in Babylon Five. Shame on you Michael. "And besides," the
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executive will continue, "Sci-Fi fans don't want a lot of complicated
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philosophical stuff! They want SPECIAL EFFECTS! You know: SPACESHIPS!
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And ACTION!"
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Hmmm. I wonder about that. The average Science Fiction fan has an above
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average IQ. They've been thinking about weird stuff most of their lives
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-- usually alone. Most figured out the paradox of time travel by their
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twelfth birthday; most know that Newspeak is a way of brainwashing the
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population; that computers don't "think" but one day might; that space
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is really big, and that the only way to move across it fast is with a
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Warp drive; that there's no air out there, and it's only by coincidence
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that the Star Trek TNG away team always lands on a planet with
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breathable atmosphere (so they don't need space-suits); and that if
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someone who claimed to be a "soul-catcher" landed on the enterprise Data
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and Jean Luc would both want some answers DAMN QUICK.
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In a single season of Northern Exposure they dealt with Jungian and
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Freudian psychoanalytical theory, Proust and "historical truth", the
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nature of the self (several times), and Kafka. A season of Picket Fences
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deals with the media and freedom of speech, the repercussions of
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violence, the right to die, censorship, privacy, religious freedom, sex
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and the nature of sexual orientation, and society's obligations to the
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homeless. Both shows have imagination, intelligence, wit, and humor.
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They don't talk down to their viewers, don't simplify the issues, and
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they don't run from a MORAL DILEMMA. Indeed, as with all great drama
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THEY SEEK IT OUT! The "cute kids" in Picket Fences make serious choices
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with serious consequences, get hurt, and pay for their mistakes. It's
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drama written for grown-ups, by grown-ups -- an abstract forum for
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intelligent and often socially relevant ideas. And it's DRAMATIC -- you
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don't know what will happen to these characters because, when a TV show
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doesn't treat it's audience like "cute kids or robots", they'll try
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anything. Characters will get hurt, they'll fail, screw up their lives,
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and screw up someone else's life too. You don't want it to happen, but
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it's good TV.
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And it's the reason I started reading Science Fiction: because that's
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what it delivered. But when it comes to Science Fiction Television and
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the concept of "drama" -- nuances of character, conceptualization of
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ideas, even basic story structure -- SF is still just "radio with
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pictures". And not very good radio, either.
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Why? Because J. Michael Straczynski is way off the mark. The problem
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with SF TV is NOT "Cute Kids and Robots". They're just a symptom. The
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PROBLEM is the way the audience is treated.
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The Eyeball Kid
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eyeballk@orion.login.qc.ca
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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File - $
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From: eyeballk@orion.login.qc.ca (The Eyeball Kid)
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RUDIMENTARY INTERACTIVE TELEVISION
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(101)
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In my last article -- or tirade, depending on where you're standing -- I
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suggested that viewers who had a "problem" with the programming they were
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subjected to hit back at the networks responsible. Unfortunately, due to
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a screw up on my part, the list of potential targets was missing from the
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post.
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Following is a chunk of the article, and the names and addresses of the
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Networks you might want to get in touch with. Unfortunately my sources
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are rather limited and a little dated, so the names attached may no
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longer be current. I suggest you either double-check the listings, or
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address any letters and faxes to "programming director".
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ARTICLE SEGMENT:
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...Write yourself a letter, something along the lines of the following:
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"Dear [Programming Exec.], I'm tired of watching [name a crappy program].
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Stop inflicting your stupidity on me right now or I won't watch any
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more."
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or alternately,
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"Dear [Programming Exec.], I am a loyal fan of [name great show]. I hear
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your ratings are down. If you cancel this show I won't watch your
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Network ever again. Don't worry, I have a VCR and Cable."
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or you can create your own demographic with,
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"Dear [Programming Exec], I am a [name of depravity, preferably sexual],
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and buy a lot of [name of product, the weirder the better]. I like [name
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show], and think about [actor or product] almost all the time. Please
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get rid of those stupid [name commercial you hate] and put on something
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with more [name product you love].
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You could of course be more eloquent, make programming suggestions, maybe
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ask them to sink Seaquest once and for all and play reruns of "Soap"
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again. Whatever.
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You address it to one or all of the following names, and fax it out after
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11PM (23:00). Each fax might cost you three dollars in long distance
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charges.
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ABC TV 2020 Ave Of The Stars 5th Floor Century City LA CA 90067 Tel:
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310-557-7041 Fax: 310-557-6021 Jim Painten (VP Production) Ian
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Valentine (VP Movies For TV)
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NBC International TV 30 Rockefeller Plaza NY NY 10112 Tel -
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212-664-6606 Fax - 212-333-7546
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CBS Entertainment 7800 Beverly Boulevard Television City LA CA 90036
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Tel 213-852-2345 Fax 213-651-5900 Pres: Jeff Sagansky Program:
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Christine Smith
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CTV Television Network 24 Charles St. East Toronto, Ontario CANADA M4Y
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1T5 Tel: 416-928-6025 Fax: 416-528-0907 Arthur Weinthal, VP
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Entertainment Programming
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Global TV 81 Barber Greene Rd. Don Mills Ont. CANADA M3C 2A2 Tel:
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416-446-5415 Fax: 416-446-5398 Michael Spivak
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CBC Television 25 John St. 7A300 Toronto Ontario Canada M5E 3G6
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Tel: 416-205-6798 Fax: 416-205-7162 Debbie Bernstein
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Now it gets BETTER: They HAVE to read it -- it's a FAX. And some of them
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have to reply!
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And remember, each letter or fax they receive is considered to represent
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many more that nobody bothered to mail: if five hundred SF fans send
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faxes IMAGINE THE ONES WHO ARE JUST NOT WATCHING! Form letter three is a
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doosey in this case.
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Hey, if it works for the moral majority it can work for YOU!
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OK, I supplied you with the target coordinates. All you have to do is
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assign you weapons and start firing.
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Because if you don't, you're just as responsible as THEY are.
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The Eyeball Kid
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EyballK@Orion.login.qu.ca
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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File - %
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.. nibbles of information /by billy biggs
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o Internet site spot : Neato stuff to check out
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[ Hello fellow 'netrunners'. Here is where I will regularily post up some ]
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[ neato FTP, telnet, usenet, gopher, mail etc. places to check out. ]
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------------------
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FTP: ftp.uwp.edu
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Description: Every music info you could ever want (almost). Lyrics, tabs,
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discogs, pictures etc.
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------------------
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Telnet: holonet.net (157.151.0.1).
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Login: CDC
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Description: CD Connection. Database of over 80,000 CDs which can be ordered
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through this service. I haven't yet ordered from them, but it looks
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very impressive.
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------------------
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o The Music Review Corner : Reviews of stuff, old and new, bad and good...
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[ I have come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to start ]
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[ reviewing all the weird music I have lying around. ]
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------------------
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Artist: Art of Noise Date: 1992
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Album: The Best of the ... Length: 10 tracks, 40 min
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Review: I had only seen the video for 'Close to the Edit' before I purchased
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the Art of Noise tape. The british alternative (?) group is very strange
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and very interesting. The music they play is electronicaly inclined, using
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a wide variety of samples and synth sounds. The title of the group does
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reflect the sound, noise. The 'noise' used is more musical than industrial.
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I sometimes got the feeling of an orchestra playing due to the artistic
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method used by the group. I was greatly impressed by the variety of music
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on this tape. Each song is very unique and different from the others
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(although you can still tell that it is made by the same group). While not
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all of the songs stand out as being any good, I am still considering buying
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more of their work. -bB
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Artist: New Order Date: 1987
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Album: Substance - 1987 Length: 12 tracks
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Review: Like the 'Art of Noise' tape, I bought this after seeing one of their
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videos, 'true faith'. Unfortunately, I found that that song was the only
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one left in my head after listening. The sound is synth, guitar, bass and
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drums, sounding more synth inclined yet no real inovating methods (at
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times the music really reflects the date). I like the tape and like to
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listen to it, but if I had a choice, I would much rather have liked to
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check out one of their more recent works (Republic?). The best song is
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'True Faith', with a great hummable tune and an okay video. -bB
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[ You think you can write a review too, then do so! ]
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>> <<
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>> ISSUE 12 to b out soon [if I ever get any submissions.....] <<
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>> <<
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END LINE_NOIZ.11
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--
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Billy Biggs Ottawa, Canada "When all else fails,
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ae687@Freenet.carleton.ca read the instructions"
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