Path: mit-eddie!mit-amt!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!newton.physics.purdue.edu!maxwell.physics.purdue.edu!sterling From: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu (Bruce S. Woodcock) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: The Return of Sir Bruce Sterling Keywords: I'm BAACCCKKK! Message-ID: <3397@newton.physics.purdue.edu> Date: 2 Apr 90 12:05:29 GMT Sender: news@newton.physics.purdue.edu Lines: 39 During an unusual lull in the often busy Callahan's, a mystic portal suddenly opens on the wall of the pub. Light streams through it, and with a suddenly flash spits out a knight. As the portal fades away the knight stands up and brushes himself off. "Damn Cyberports. Always tricky." He then walks to the bar and asks for a Black Cherry Wine Cooler. "Uh, do you take MUDpennies, Mike? I hope so," and drops 100 of them on the bar. He then turns to the room, who are surprised to see a face they haven't in a long time. The paladin sips from the drink and then adresses the room. "Well, it's been awhile! And I feel guilty about that. But I've been spending all my time recently in Islandia, a great place with some great people. For those of you who do not know, there are certain places where people from around the world can interact in a virtual reality in semi-realtime. In these places you can also dig your own rooms, create your own objects, etc. It's GREAT fun, but BE WARNED: IT'S ADDICTIVE! Anyway, I'm usually in Islandia, if you want to try, just telnet 128.32.152.202 2323 and when you get there, ask around for me. Someone will page me and I'll be happy to show you around... "I have missed some postings, but of the one's I've seen I really don't have that much to say. But I'm gald to see that the group is still active. Although SOME people don't write me email anymore.... Jilara, remember me? The cute paladin with the shining armor and the gleaming sword? "Anyway, my life is otherwise ok. Grades are iffy, and just when I needed to spend more time on them, I found a new vice (Islandia). Still, everything else seems to be okay, although I still haven't found a SO.... maybe Joelle's magic doesn't work as well as I thought.... "So a toast! To Callahan's, and to Islandia! Long may they last!" Sir Bruce then sits down next to the fire. He may be out from time to time, but he's busy building a manor back in Islandia and may not be avaiable... | Actually, life IS a bed of roses, but somebody| Of course I`m a romantic! | | forgot to remove the thorns... | Why do you think I`ve never | | Life IS fair, but most people aren`t... | had a girlfriend? | | Internet: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu| Sir Bruce Sterling, Paladin | Path: mit-eddie!mit-amt!snorkelwacker!usc!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!newton.physics.purdue.edu!maxwell.physics.purdue.edu!sterling From: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu (Bruce S. Woodcock) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Callahan's Lady Review Message-ID: <3400@newton.physics.purdue.edu> Date: 2 Apr 90 14:31:51 GMT Sender: news@newton.physics.purdue.edu Lines: 9 I got this of rec.arts.sf-lovers, and thought it appropriate here. Sorry if it's already been posted.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Actually, life IS a bed of roses, but somebody| Of course I`m a romantic! | | forgot to remove the thorns... | Why do you think I`ve never | | Life IS fair, but most people aren`t... | had a girlfriend? | | Internet: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu| Sir Bruce Sterling, Paladin | Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!newton.physics.purdue.edu!maxwell.physics.purdue.edu!sterling From: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu (Bruce S. Woodcock) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Callahan's Lady Review Message-ID: <3401@newton.physics.purdue.edu> Date: 2 Apr 90 15:38:54 GMT References: <3400@newton.physics.purdue.edu> Sender: news@newton.physics.purdue.edu Reply-To: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu.UUCP (Bruce S. Woodcock) Organization: Purdue Univ. Physics Dept., W. Lafayette, IN Lines: 73 Article 38165 of rec.arts.sf-lovers: Path: newton.physics.purdue.edu!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cbmvax!snark!eric From: eric@snark.uu.net (Eric S. Raymond) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers,genie.sfrt.s2.t48 Subject: Raymond's Reviews #25: Callahan's Lady Message-ID: <1VxJGL#2tnchH8y3d2YB44W6tB3l86b=eric@snark.uu.net> Date: 29 Mar 90 16:26:54 GMT Lines: 48 Xref: newton.physics.purdue.edu rec.arts.sf-lovers:38165 Quik-Gram-To: Donna Gould, 2000 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 This is Raymond's Reviews #25 Title: Callahan's Lady By: Spider Robinson Publisher: Berkeley/Ace (Mar 1990) Format: pb, 237pp, $3.95 ISBN: 0-441-09072-9 This once the back-cover blurb doesn't lie -- if you liked Spider Robinson's _Callahan's_Bar_ stories, you will love _Callahan's_Lady_ -- and the bordello she runs that does with sex what Callahan's did with booze. Several Callahan's Bar regulars (including Mike himself, Ralph Von Wau Wau, Fast Eddie and Jake) make cameo appearances, and there is the expected ration of comedy, drama, and awful puns. I enjoyed the Callahan's Bar stories a lot, and I enjoyed this book a lot too. And yet, and yet...here, as in much of Spider Robinson's writing, there lurks a sense of something unfinished, unconvincing, immature. Perhaps it's the density and obviousness of the Heinlein references. Perhaps it's Spider's wide-eyed faith in easy victories over hard problems, the tendency his stuff has to fall into a half-hour-with-three-breaks-for-our-sponsor dramedy format, with everything wrapped up in a neat little bow at the last frame. Perhaps it's the very earnestness with which he works to wrap every story around an ethical point of some sort. The total effect is pleasant and superficially involving, but too clever in spots and a touch preachy -- a lot like the old Trek episodes Gene Roddenberry used to turn out when he was feeling high-minded. The characters will grab you quickly and stay with you after you've finished the book, but you'll never quite believe in them as real human beings -- they're too perfect. Occasionally (as in _Telempath_ or _Night_of_Power_) Spider has created worlds and characters that are more complex, more convincing -- that reflect more of the quiet ambiguity human beings generally live in. Why he so often settles for writing fluffy, didactic morality playlets like the ones collected in _Callahan's_Lady_ is a really interesting question. Maybe they're part of his continuing homage to Heinlein. The old man, after all, had more than a touch of the didactic moralist in him. Well, I loved and revered RAH too, but if this is what's going on, Spider Robinson's true authorial voice needs to get out from under. The Master was the Master, a law unto himself. Neither Spider nor anybody else will ever write more than ersatz Heinlein -- and I'd rather read a first-rate Robinson than ersatz anything, any day. Subject: Callahan's Lady Review Newsgroups: alt.callahans I got this of rec.arts.sf-lovers, and thought it appropriate here. Sorry if it's already been posted.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Actually, life IS a bed of roses, but somebody| Of course I`m a romantic! | | forgot to remove the thorns... | Why do you think I`ve never | | Life IS fair, but most people aren`t... | had a girlfriend? | | Internet: sterling@maxwell.physics.purdue.edu| Sir Bruce Sterling, Paladin | Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca.wv.tek.com!pogo!andyd From: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: now, where did Lyra go?.... Message-ID: <8800@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Date: 2 Apr 90 01:45:25 GMT References: <8791@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Reply-To: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Distribution: na Organization: Tektronix Guest Lines: 29 >here! > >To other Mages: the prosperity of full power and good luck. To non-mages, >| Shannalyralythia | well, there's always the *next* incarnation! >| Using the account |But Islands of the Blessed, bless you, son, >|_of_Andy_Davidson__|I never came upon a blessed one. -Robert Frost > > >-- >Andy Davidson Toolsmith-in-residence Tektronix (503) 685-3033 >Internet: andyd@pogo.WV.tek.com uucp: ...!tektronix!pogo!andyd Hello everyone, there's an error in the .sig here, so I thought I might essay to correct it. That bottom .sig was intended to be : Kadyriatha---- (c'est moi) | using the account of Andy Davidson We dance round in a ring and suppose, But the Secret sits in the middle and knows. --Robert Frost, THE SECRET SITS Sorry, all. Apologies, Kady. -- Andy Davidson Toolsmith-in-residence Tektronix (503) 685-3033 Internet: andyd@pogo.WV.tek.com uucp: ...!tektronix!pogo!andyd Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca.wv.tek.com!pogo!andyd From: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: now, where did Lyra go?.... Message-ID: <8801@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Date: 2 Apr 90 03:09:05 GMT References: <8791@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> <8800@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Reply-To: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Distribution: na Organization: Tektronix Guest Lines: 12 This is *ridiculous*! My correction to the .sig came through with the wrong .sig. Please try to be patient if things show up with an incorrect .sig for a while, Kady and I will try to remember to sign our names. No, that .sig won't most likely appear here, except as an error. -- To other Mages: the prosperity of full power and good luck. To non-mages, | Shannalyralythia | well, there's always the *next* incarnation! | Using the account |*If you love something, let it go. If it comes back |_of_Andy_Davidson__|*to you, it's yours; if it doesn't, it never was. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca.wv.tek.com!pogo!andyd From: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: anger and what Message-ID: <8802@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Date: 2 Apr 90 03:18:46 GMT References: <9003271419.AA12102@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM> Reply-To: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Organization: Tektronix Guest Lines: 27 In article <9003271419.AA12102@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM> jane@FSDCUPT.CSD.MOT.COM (Jane Beckman x4030) writes: >sword. There seem to be many of us, here, who touch on this pointed topic >and are masters of the ripost." Grinning wickedly, she sheaths her blade >and sits down again. Lyra groans. As does Kady. >Finished being serious, she grins. "You've been planting a lot of puns, but >I don't know if I've got the thyme to think up too mulch more. But honesty >allows a lot of heartsease in minting a new turnip of events, so lettuce not >be squashing the movement." More groans. Lyra says, "Oak - Kay, that's enough puns. Cherries nothing like them for a laugh, but they're getting out-dated. Actually, I like them." (peanuts have been hitting her for a while. She finally notices) "Aww, nuts to you, too! Well, everyone here certainly rose to the occasion!" And she sits down. -- To other Mages: the prosperity of full power and good luck. To non-mages, | Shannalyralythia | well, there's always the *next* incarnation! | Using the account |But Islands of the Blessed, bless you, son, |_of_Andy_Davidson__|I never came upon a Blessed one. -Robert Frost Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca.wv.tek.com!pogo!andyd From: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Yeah cats! (was Re: Some ramblings) Message-ID: <8803@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Date: 2 Apr 90 03:23:34 GMT References: <9003292120.AA05832@rush.cc.cmu.edu> <1990Mar31.012432.13643@NCoast.ORG> Reply-To: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Organization: Tektronix Guest Lines: 16 In article <1990Mar31.012432.13643@NCoast.ORG> allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery) writes: >"Hmmm. I wish I understood her. Wonder who or what she was toasting?" "Now, now. This is Callahan's. And Fast Eddie is watching for someone prying." "And your comments on cats - hear, hear!" -- To other Mages: the prosperity of full power and good luck. To non-mages, | Shannalyralythia | well, there's always the *next* incarnation! | Using the account |But Islands of the Blessed, bless you, son, |_of_Andy_Davidson__|I never came upon a Blessed one. -Robert Frost Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca.wv.tek.com!pogo!andyd From: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Pain and the loss of it Keywords: pain, hope Message-ID: <8804@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> Date: 2 Apr 90 03:29:29 GMT Reply-To: andyd@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Laura Davidson) Organization: Tektronix Guest Lines: 88 Lyra fades in near the bar. There is a look of determination on her face, as though she prepares to do something, but it is not easy to bring herself to do it. She gets a Dr. Pepper from Mike, drinks most of it, and steps to the chalk line, looking nervous. Her voice wavers a little at first, but gets steadier. "To the pain of loss; perhaps, someday, to the loss of pain." <<*CRASH!*>> She throws the glass so hard that shards of it spray into the room. She looks embarrassed and apologizes to various people, tiger kittens, cats, warm fuzzies, etc. She stares at the glass shards and they fade a little, but she can't quite seem to get rid of them. Shrugging, she glances at an empty corner. As the patrons follow her gaze, they notice a grey mist forming in the corner. As it begins to clear, you see the hazy outlines of a scene. Before you can really see it clearly, Lyra says, "Perhaps this way I can touch on at least one of the sources of my pain. I'll try, anyway." And for once, not only her face but also her eyes carry expression. As the mist clears, they cloud with an old pain, and she strokes the fuzzy on her shoulder (which is sometimes grey, sometimes green) for comfort. When the mist is gone, you see two rings of chairs around each other. The inner ring has six chairs; the outer ring has around twenty. Only one chair is not in either of the rings. In the inner ring, an image of Lyra sits in one of the six chairs. Her whole being seems to radiate pain. She is dressed in her usual black, and everything else - bracelet, ring, hair, eyes, etc. - are grey. Her skin is a stark white. She looks around. To her left and right sit two people. They are obviously friends; she brightens as she sees them, and a bit of color touches her. More color appears as she studies ten or so smiling faces in the outer ring. But the color and joy fades as she looks at the previously empty chairs in the inner ring. Now these three chairs are occupied by what, even in the illusion, are obviously some sort of specter. And you begin to catch faint understandings of what she feels and thinks as she sees them. Only later do you realize that the `real' Lyra was speaking. The shadow Lyra looks at the second chair on her left. There sits the image of the boy who knew where he was going. He was so cocky, so confident that life would give him what he wanted. He fades out, for his friendship slipped away bit by bit and the loss was slow, anticlimatic. She looks at the chair two to her right. Here sits the specter of a good friend, who was always there for her. But she sees an opportunity to improve her lot at the cost of Lyra's. As she climbs the image of a staircase, Lyra is forced down a bit. The girl walks out of the outer ring and disappears. So does the stairway. Lyra looks at the chair across from her. There sits the specter of a well-trusted `friend' who really cared nothing for Lyra. Lyra makes a pushing motion, and the girl is forced out of the image. Guilt over the loss of this friend wavers briefly on the image Lyra's face. In the outer circle, the ten empty chairs endure frequent comings and goings. Some come and go now and then, some stay awhile and then move on, and some back out before they're really committed. In the outer circle, there is no chair directly behind Lyra. But directly behind her, in between the two rings, there IS a chair. In it sits the specter of a 16 year old girl with slightly wavy wheaten hair and brown eyes. Lyra looks resigned as she faces the image. This is the sister, 8 years older than Lyra, whose middle name was the first name of several relatives. However, she is only what might have been, for the sister died when scarce a month old. Lyra's (real world, not virtual) first name was the middle name of this sister. The mist gathers back, and when it disappears, the images are gone. The real Lyra, still standing at the chalk line, coughs a little, waits for the room to notice her (a rather short wait, for the most part), and says softly, "Somehow, I never could see her as being eight years older than me. I couldn't get her past 16. I wanted, and want, that perfect image of her to remain with me." "If you were wondering, the reason that none of you were in there is because I have kind of shut you out. It's not that I don't like you; you are among the best people I know. But I was afraid to open up to you, because if you knew me and mattered to me, I would be hurt if I lost you. However, I have come to realize two things. First, you already matter to me. And second, if I do not open to you and give as well as take, then I have already lost, if not you, then at least the spirit of what you try to do here. So perhaps - no, definitely - it's time to widen the circles of chairs. And perhaps, to let the empty ones fade, so that the circle shan't be too crowded." Realizing that she has been babbling, Lyra sits down at a table - not empty, this time! - after collecting a drink from Mike. You notice that the glass shards have faded sometime during this, and are gone now. -- To other Mages: the prosperity of full power and good luck. To non-mages, | Shannalyralythia | well, there's always the *next* incarnation! | Using the account |But Islands of the Blessed, bless you, son, |_of_Andy_Davidson__|I never came upon a Blessed one. -Robert Frost Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!newcastle.ac.uk!sylvaner!q1aqf From: A.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk (A Waterworth) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Some ramblings Message-ID: <1990Apr2.085941.29626@newcastle.ac.uk> Date: 2 Apr 90 08:59:41 GMT References: <9003292120.AA05832@rush.cc.cmu.edu> Sender: news@newcastle.ac.uk Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU Lines: 25 A sudden gust of laughter springs up at the end of the Bar as Daarin hears 'Thyst quoting the famous Spring poem... > Spring has sprung, > Da grass is ris. > I wonder where > Da birdies is? To everyone's surprise, the bearded and be-ringed wolfman adds to the verse... Dey say da boids is on da wing, But I tink dat's absoid, Cos every time I seen a one, Da wing was on da boid! Still giggling to himself, Daarin proceeds to fall backwards from his seat, landing with a spectacular "Thud!" amongst several kittens, fuzzies and saucers of milk... Must be something in the whisky, I suppose...??? /=====================================\ < Daarin | A.Waterworth@uk.ac.newcastle > \=====================================/ Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!yale!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!mcsun!ukc!harrier.ukc.ac.uk!raven.ukc.ac.uk!ljgw From: ljgw@ukc.ac.uk (Liam Wickham) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: The Hollow Wisp. Summary: Liam sits down. Message-ID: <2484@raven.ukc.ac.uk> Date: 2 Apr 90 11:45:16 GMT References: <2478@raven.ukc.ac.uk> <14567@reed.UUCP> Reply-To: ljgw@ukc.ac.uk (Liam Wickham) Distribution: alt Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. Lines: 37 In article <14567@reed.UUCP> mojo@reed.bitnet (it's alright ma, I'm only bleeding) writes: > >"Agreed, Liam," he says, only to realize that Liam has vanished during the >preceding paragraph. "Oh, well. An open question, then: what's the same >about them and why do we care? > >"Devil's advocate, of course; I *do* think a child's and an adult's >innocence are the same at bottom, and I *am* interested, so bear with me. >I'm just interested enough to think out loud. > >"Takers?" > >With no transition, Morpheus' corner of the bar is dark again. In a small >spot of light, the Hanged Man from a battered Rider deck lies on the bar. > The wisp alerts its owner to the questions being posed, and so Liam soon returns to Callahan's. He appears in Morpheus' corner of the bar, sits there and waits for Morpheus to greet him. He hold a Thoth deck in his right hand and Morpheus' Hanged Man in his left. He almost smiles, but recovers quickly. "Morpheus, your quick wit amuses and pleases me. Of course, the Hanged Man is the very epitomy of what I was talkng about. Indeed I have been seeing myself as the badly-aspected nature of this card for a long time. Perhaps with such synchronicity teaching me a lesson, I will become less of the sufferer and more of the active learner, though this is somewhat off our present topic. "Perhaps too, you may see the truth behind what I said in these cards." Liam puts down Morpheus' card and opens his pack. He takes out the Fool and crosses it with the World. Liam does not disappear this time. -- On Wednesday I shall be gone from here. "When confronted with wonder we usually lie or shut-up." Jonathan Carroll ('A Child Across the Sky'). Slack.