¡Rábanos Radiactivos! ... es no. 2150

Written by Fred Patten, and intended for Apa L, 2150^th Distribution, LASFS Meeting No. 3598, July 27, 2006.
Golden State Colonial Convalescent Hospital, 10830 Oxnard Street, North Hollywood, California 91606-5098.
Telephone: hospital(818) 763-8247; personal (818) 506-3159 * eMail:fredpatten@earthlink.net

§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(+)§(*)§(

Last Thursday, Michael Burlake took me to the LASFS meeting again. Its "centerpiece", so to speak, was a three-dimensional diorama of Hollywood with lovely tiny blinking lights, made as a decoration for a large aquarium, that David Okamoto (who made the paper sculpture of the LASFS coat of arms) proposed turning into a diorama of stfnal L.A., starting with a LASFS clubhouse sign. The meeting went swiftly enough that I had time to participate in the program; another "What are you reading?" discussion. I described Dragon and Herdsman, the fourth novel in Timothy Zahn's Dragonback series for Tor Books' Starscape line (which Kay Shapero had just gotten from the LAPL for me), as good Young Adult s-f in the Heinlein and Norton tradition. I also described The Tightrope Walker, by Dorothy Gilman, one of the murder mysteries that June Moffatt loaned me, as well-constructed as a murder mystery but with errors in its background details, such as describing someone as having been killed during World War II in December 1945 (the war was over by December), and a fictitious children's book was said to have been first published in 1946 with illustrations by Howard Pyle (who died in 1911).

My sister Sherry proposed taking me out for an all-day outing on Sunday to see her new apartment, visit a bookstore or two, and attend Charlie Jackson's FWEMS program at the LASFS. But the hospital's nurses said that I needed to spend the day in bed, so Sherry visited me at the hospital instead in the early afternoon, and we chatted for an hour or so.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

¡ZANAHORIAS ELECTRóNICAS!

-- Comments on Last Week's Distribution:

Cover - (Schirmeister) It looks like it takes some time for brain signals to reach the face. Or does the face always show the opposite of whichever Happy!/Sad! flag is up?

Table of Contents - (O.C.) The LASFS meeting number on the ToC has been wrong for the past umpteen dist'ns.

What's My Zine? - (Castora) Wine is still (or was until just recently) the favored drink in rural parts of Europe where people cannot trust the cleanliness of the ground water, and milk for local consumption is unPasteurized. That is also the explanation for the Medieval European tradition that beer is good for pregnant women. Liquids are good for pregnant women, and the alcohol in beer made it healthier than most other liquids available at the time. Who was that Batman comic-book artist who died in the 1980s, in America, from drinking "healthy" unPasteurized milk?

De Jueves #1488 - (Moffatt) Yes, The Brave Little Toaster was a book (The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances, by Thomas M. Disch; Doubleday, May 1986) before it was a movie (July 1987 release); although the book version was basically written as a movie tie-in since Disch also worked on the movie's screenplay at the same time. As John DeChancie points out, it was originally a novella in F&SF, August 1980. The F&SF version, which is much more adult and cynical, was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula. ## Yep, that's the same King Leonardo, of King Leonardo & His Short Subjects TV cartoon fame. "Here comes Leonardo, Leonardo Lion. King of Bongo Congo, the hero lion of iron. Where Leonardo travels, his subjects all go too. There's Odio Cologne who's loyal and true blue. I say there's a booming Hunter, a wily witty Fox. And Tooter who brings fun to you, and visits magic box. " (verse one of four.) It was on NBC from 1960 through 1963, sponsored by General Mills, and was denounced for blurring the distinction between "pure entertainment" and promoting the sponsor's breakfast cereals.

It Is Only + 108F Today - (Cantor) Sherry has decided to lease (not buy) a Dodge Caravan SXT minivan. I do not know whether she ever investigated the Toyota Scion fully, or if it is available for lease rather than purchase, but she commented that it looked "flimsy" beside the minivan. I inferred that the fact that it seems to be easier to get my wheelchair unfolded into a minivan, than to have to fold down the rear seats of the car or to fold the wheelchair, also made the minivan more attractive to her.

Godzilla Verses #97 - (DeChancie) Many LASFen will remember The Gallant Gallstone, but less from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead than as the title of Jack Harness' Apa L zine. ## I share your opinion of Mad Magazine. Its early stories (articles? features?) struck me as hilariously deadly parodies and lampoons of things that needed parodying. After a few years, Mad seemed to be making laborious parodies of anything & everything topical, simply because it had a high profile at the moment; and its level of humor had degenerated to that of college humor magazines trying to be shocking but only exposing their creators' adolescence.

Fish Out of Water #180 - (Helgesen) The newspaper Sunday comic strip format of a top row that has nothing to do with the story below goes back to the 1910s, if not earlier. But today's Flash Gordon may be the first to apply that format to a strip of only two rows of panels, so that if the top row is omitted, all you have left is what looks like an ordinary daily strip. ## Ken Pick, a local Furry fan, has just sold a Furry Catholic s-f space opera story to a forthcoming anthology: "Infinite Space, Infinite God, Christian SF, edited by Karina L. Fabian and Robert A. Fabian. An anthology of fifteen stories about how the future Catholic Church uses--or fails to use--its faith, wisdom and imagination to grow with the changes of the future." To be published by Twilight Times Books some time next year. I would be interested in your opinion of it (the whole book, not just Pick's story) when it is published.

Dawn Filly - (Gold) The Marina del Rey temperatures in the 67º - 77º range certainly sound attractive, now that it has been over 100º F for several days in a row in North Hollywood. But I knew the Summer heat would be dangerous when I made the decision to pick a convalescent hospital near enough to the LASFS to attend meetings, and I am still glad that I did.

Toony Loons #6 - (Zeff) Congratulations on getting the zeff.us domain name. It certainly sounds worth $6.50 a year for you, particularly with your future plans. I have received some spam ads offering to set me up with a personalized domain name (or maybe just an e.mail address), but I am satisfied with fredpatten@earthlink.net. I do not need my name to the right of the @.

Oh, All Right!!! - (Lembke) Cheese, cheese, and more cheese! I may try to get into the Staff Lounge instead of the Con Suite if the latter is not as well-stocked with cheese. The L.A.con IV Con Suite cannot have too much cheese for me; and because of my stroke, sliced cheeses and small cubes (anything I do not have to cut) are the easiest for me to eat. ## Anime has accustomed American anime fans to the concept that Japanese neighborhood fast-food shops, usually family-owned, commonly use bicycles for home deliveries.