Filking with Leslie Fish

Over breakfast this morning, an unexpected but very welcome email arrived from "first fandom" identity, fan artist and filk singer/composer extraordinaire, Leslie Fish.

Way back in the 70s, Leslie was the author of numerous Star Trek fanzine stories, often featuring the Andorian character Thelin, briefly seen as Spock's replacement in an alternate history in "Yesteryear", an episode of Filmation's animated Star Trek (TAS).

In 1997, I sought Leslie's permission to upload an online version of her fascinating speculative article "A Summary of the Physiological Roots of Andorian Culture" by F. Sigmund Mead, Journal of Xenoanthropology, June 2341 - originally published in Sehlat's Roar #2, a 1976 Star Trek zine published by Randy Ash. Leslie's extrapolation of Andorian culture was way ahead of the licensed tie-in fiction, which didn't succeed in describing Andorian genetics or social aspects until the post-Deep Space Nine TV series novels, which commenced in 2001.

Leslie recalls that she drew the original artwork that accompanies the article in simple pen-and-ink, and Randy traced over them onto mimeograph stencils! Leslie says she's amazed that they came out readable at all. Furthermore, the added texture you see in the illustrations I uploaded came from the original (amazingly grainy) recycled paper. For republishing them online, I simply cleaned up good photocopies with Liquid Paper and ran the pictures through the photocopier a second time, only on coloured paper, then scanned them. (The grain of that old textured paper played havoc with my first attempts at text scanning the article, too.)

I love the old cover art for Randy's issue #1, too: each cover was hand printed from a linoleum block master! Check out that cover art on Randy's blog.

Leslie's Andorian essay still gets plenty of comment from online readers, especially from people seeking a comparison with the four-partnered Andorian paradigm (suggested by Data in TNG - "Data's Day"), as extrapolated by the recent licensed tie-in novels, and what Leslie had proposed in 1976 with her three-sexed stages of Andorian development.

I was telling Leslie, who's been out of touch with Trek fandom for a while, about recent Thelin appearances in the licensed Pocket Books fiction: in the "Crucible" trilogy (extending the scenes from "Yesteryear") by David R George III; and in a "Myriad Universes" omnibus story, "The Chimes at Midnight" (an alternate history from "Yesteryear" thru to ST VI) by Geoff Trowbridge.

Thanks to her fellow folk singer, Joe Bethancourt, Leslie now has her own website, at www.lesliefish.com/. While investigating the site tonight, I noticed the Youtube song clip on the front page: Star Trek novelist, Julia Ecklar, singing a Leslie Fish song, "Hope Eyrie", about the Apollo 11 moon landing. Check it out! It's great!

Leslie Fish is probably best remembered for the Star Trek filk song lyrics she wrote in a desperate hurry to fill a hole on an album of songs. "Banned from Argo" is still sung at Star Trek conventions the world over (to the tune of the traditional song, "Boston Burglar"). The song isn't her favourite, but it's certainly gained her many fans over the decades.

Sing it with me:

"And we're banned from Argo, everyone.
Banned from Argo, just for having a little fun.
We spent a jolly shore leave there for just three days or four,
But Argo doesn't want us any more..."



By the way, for those of you wondering, "filk songs" are science fiction media folk songs - often, but not necessarily, parodies. The term "filk" came about as the result of an infamous typographical error. A fan named Lee Jacobs meant to type the word "folk" in a program schedule and typed in "filk" instead. It struck his colleagues as being hilarious at the time, so it stuck.

A new era in fanzines

I received a great email the other day from Jim Caswell: he and his collective of Star Trek fans are writing and producing their own audio presentations used my Efrosian essay as research for one of their ongoing characters' backgrounds, and wrote to thank me.

Star Trek Eras: The Audio Series

The episode in question (about an Efrosian character by the name of Ra-tevnarem, a communications officer on the USS Potemkin) is going to be for their second season. Currently they are working on editing the third episode in their first season, so it's going to be a while before this episode is actually recorded and made available.

"It wasn't until after we had created the character that we realized that there was a bit of confusion about the race," says Jim - coincidentally yet another fellow Star Trekking librarian. "Using your article as a base, I've come up with some strong ideas that should go a long way toward... a comprehensive answer. I just wanted to say thanks and let you know that your work is proving to be quite valuable."

In the meantime, there are other episodes already available for download. The "new era" of Star Trek fanzines is online.

Lore and Order by Ian McLean

Professional Star Trek authors beware:

... a "Next Generation" fanzine story, in a poetic style that began to feel very reminiscent of Dr Seuss when I was originally composing it. First published in "Klingons over Kiron III", (c) November 1991. It seems somehow appropriate to reprint it in the week of The Cat in the Hat's 50th birthday - which was, coincidentally, the very same day as my brand new Lore action figure (from Diamond Select toys/Art Asylum) arrived from the USA!

LORE AND ORDER
'Twas a sparkling day on Kiron III *
And Lore was living high;
He'd made ten thousand credits, see,
He didn't have to try.
Lore, he was too clever,
The colonists were dim;
Yes, Lore, he pulled the lever,
And his puppets danced for him.

The colonists all brought their queries
On farming or construction.
They paid him well to hear his theories
On preventing crop destruction.
In every answer Lore did sell
There always was 'Plan B';
If people from Lore's favour fell,
He'd wreck their plans with glee.

Lore wrapped his plots in scientific guise,
The farmers never guessed
That the android with the yellow eyes,
Was Kiron III's worst pest!
A ladies' man was Mr Lore,
The women found him witty;
The menfolk, they could take no more.
Soong thought all this a pity.

That his android loved the good life,
Caused Doctor Soong to wonder
How to cope when Lore caused strife?
Soong's experiments went under!
His idea had been a good one -
To create a robot man;
But he gave the thing emotion
And Soong's troubles they'd began!

Lore, he had rejected 'Dad',
No father figure now;
"I will not let my son go bad",
The doctor made his vow.
Doctor Soong discussed his troubles,
The technician's name was Karl;
"Well catch him at his own game",
The man said with a snarl.

If they devised a riddle,
To which they knew the key;
They'd catch Lore in the middle,
The colonists set free
From Lore's manipulations,
And money-making schemes;
But Karl had other reasons:
The end of all Soong's dreams...


Illustration by Paul Beck, aka "Breeze".

For Karl, he was a Klingon spy,
Infiltrating Kiron III;
To steal the android he would try,
Technology for free!
His years of working for the Doc
Had helped him plan the feat:
To make the android's programs lock;
Karl's get-away was neat.

He walked in upon the android,
Who was busy making love;
The woman screamed, she looked annoyed,
Ran to the street above.
The android shook the bed-clothes free,
No fear he would allow;
"I know your plan's to challenge me.
Let's end it here and now!"

They paced each other 'round the floor,
Today would be the day;
If Karl could last ten minutes more,
A Klingon Bird of Prey
Would transport up the android, and
Leave orbit with its prize;
Then Lore began to crush his hand,
Karl could not believe his eyes!

Lore won by using all his strength,
Held the Klingon spy with ease.
Androids could go to any length -
"Your communicator, please..."
Imitating the Klingon's sound,
Lore admitted Karl's 'mistake',
Then smashed his skull into the ground,
One Klingon's life at stake.

And so Lore lived to lie again,
Men petitioned his creator;
Soong disassembled Lore and then
He manufactured Data.
"This new android won't love or hate;
Won't cause Lore's brand of terror.
His quest for knowledge will be great."
The Doc had learned his error.

By Ian McLean, 1991.

* otherwise known as Omicron Theta ("Datalore"). Planet first named Kiron III in David Gerrold's novelisation of "Encounter at Farpoint".

"Political Correctness is Intellectual Facism"

Sounds a bit heavy for this particular blogpage, I know, but an incident today certainly clarified several of my random thoughts into one big... well, I dunno. Mmmm, did I say "clarified"? I guess I'm still working through it.

Firstly, it's the now well-worn chestnut of people seemingly choosing to misinterpret the motives of innocent posts on the Internet. I'm quite up-front that there's an awful lot of "ego-boo" (to use a very 70s fannish term) when I share my seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek trivia. I do get a buzz out of it. And if I didn't share it, I'd have no excuse for saving all those issues of "Starlog", "Star Trek Communicator", "Cinefex" and "Cinfantastique".

Secondly, the Australian sense of humour (and, indeed, our unique brand of, umm, sarcasm) does not translate well on the Internet. If it wasn't for those little winking icons, I'd be totally sunk. ;) Sometimes it doesn't matter how carefully I prune a post, I'll wind up being accused of being deliberately: pompous; a know-it-all; egotistical (okay, I know I'm that, I just admitted as much); demeaning; abrasive... And so on.

Thirdly, I do know that the blame for ineffective communication falls upon the sender, not the receiver. But gee, scrutinizing every post for every possible permutation of misinterpretation does take away the spontaneity of posting to a Star Trek mailing list while eating breakfast.

Finally, I go back to two comments from last week's meeting of the Sydney Weblogger Meetup Group: the aforementioned quote by Steve Noble ("If you want to be noted by a particular audience... be noteworthy"), and another PR person's comment, when quoting a speaker at a conference about using new technologies, that if a blog entry wasn't confrontational to someone, then it wasn't really a blog, it was just a home page.

Yesterday, on a e-mailing list to which I belong, a question was asked about amateur Star Trek fan films. It seems that a recent, well-regarded fan film actually kills off a major character, whom fans know already survives into the Star Trek feature film series. So, my e-pal asked innocently enough, why weren't the fan films constrained to follow the official "Star Trek" canon?

As someone who's written many a fanzine story, and as an actor in an episode of Starship Exeter (not the fan film series in question, though), I answered thusly:

"Umm, because it's a work of fiction, based on TOS, but not the movies?

"Umm, because it wasn't produced by the copyright holder, so it's not a canonical episode.

"Umm, because no one dies in science fiction?

"Umm, because it's an alternative universe story?

"Just four of hundreds of possible answers."

That's written exactly as I thought it - no malice intended - but, in hindsight, it seems it was not the wisest way to write it. (Unless, perhaps, if I'm trying 'to be noted by a particular audience', some may suggest?) The person my answer was directed at took no offense to my comments - and, indeed, we'd had numerous very funny back-and-forth emails about several topics, fan films included, following that original first post.

But, this morning, all Hell broke loose (again). I read this comment, from Chris, another poster to the e-list:

"I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said 'Political Correctness is Intellectual Facism'. I happen to agree with that statement. The world is waaaaaay too over-sensitive about everything these days.

"I didn't read Ian's post as demeaning at all. I actually appreciated the sarcasm and saw it for what it was. It was witty and at the same time it made me think about why it [the fan film] would or would not be canonical.

"It would have been a very different thing if his response had been: 'You're an idiot. Duh!' Now THAT'S demeaning. But it wasn't.

"If we have arrived at the day in which sarcasm is no longer an acceptable vehicle for human expression, then I, for one, am extremely saddened.

"To Ian: you on keep writing, I'll keep reading."

(Permission to quote requested and received; thanks Chris.)

How cool is that? Until Chris mentioned the issue, I had no idea my previous post had been the subject of a dissection - and branded as "demeaning". I told the complainer, who'd leapt to the original posters's defence, "Please reread my post with a laconic Aussie accent and you'll see I was being my usual, bouncy, positive, gregarious (but obviously not humorous at all) self. Think maybe Mel Gibson without the alcohol. And the good looks. And the fortune in Californian real estate. And all those kids."

But hey, maybe I'm not "demeaning", "pompous", "a know-it-all" or "egotistical" at all - just "noteworthy"!?

I know I've complained about a lack of comments to my entries here before, and I don't - as yet - have a monitoring tool on the page to check out who's looking and how they found me, but - as a measure of reassurance - I received two really great emails today, from distant "Star Trek" colleagues who say they read this blog with interest "every day"! Way cool. Or k3wl even.

Delays, delays...

Over on the bulletin boards where "Star Trek" fiction is discussed, everyone is stressing because a couple of forthcoming titles have been announced as having shifted their publication dates. Usually by just one or two months, but I buy them all - and I have such a backlog that I certainly won't notice minor delays.

I remember well the early 80s when it was often a full eight months between Pocket ST novels. As stressful as it might be that a modern ST book might be delayed by - what? - all of four weeks, it really only matters to those who devour just one or two ST highly-anticipated titles per year, doesn't it?

My To Read stack hardly seems to have gotten any shorter since the world went wacky in 2002. (I changed jobs, and suddenly instead of having three and a half hours or more of travel time, I was walking distance to work!) And Pocket was churning out at least two or three new ST titles every month! To think that, until the very chunky four-part DS9 "Mission: Gamma" mini-series, I was actually caught up!