Conference noted::sf

    I think that, as usual, Ellison would be steamed to have his name
    attached to the film.  I heard he wasn't too happy with it, which
    comes as a tremendous surprise knowing the great respect and admiration
    he has for the entertainment industry.
    
    Frankly, I thought the movie was pretty good, although I'll agree
    with him that his original short story was better (I liked his ending
    better than the movie's "shaggy-dog story" joke ending).  But Don
    Johnson actually did a creditable job and I loved the actor who
    did Blood's voice--perfect.
    
    Even though I know that the underground society was meant to be
    symbolic, I think that having them all in whiteface was overdoing
    it in trying to hammer the point home that these people are not
    just biologically sterile but intellectually and societally as well.
    Although it certainly did make them look creepy.  The Michael androids,
    who to the best of my recollection are the filmmakers' invention,
    seemed pretty silly for an underground civilization clawing its
    way back from a nuclear holocaust (and even if the androids did
    survive from pre-war days, where would they get spare parts and
    maintenance?)
    
    But a good film.  Some really funny snappy dialogue between Blood
    and Vic/"Albert".  I'm glad I taped it (don't tell the FCC, huh?)
    
    Matt
    

    ...I just thought of something else.  What the hell were those
    "screamer" things?  Vic & Blood "impersonated" one to chase the
    roverpack away, and then were themselves chased by one into the
    boiler.  Only nobody ever explained what they were.  They seemed
    like some kind of disembodied green glow that wailed.  Did I miss
    something?  This seemed too randomly far-out for the tone of the
    rest of the film.  (or were the Screamers "symbolic", too? :-)
    
    Maybe they're just wandering mutants who glow green because they emit
    TV's silly idea of "deadly radiation", and their lonely howl is because
    everybody always sees their glow coming and runs away...? 
    
    Matt

    re:.1/.2
    
    Actually, Ellison feels mostly positive about the film. The
    bulk of his complaints has to do with the final line.
    
    And don't worry about the FCC. Copying rental tapes and the
    like are illegal, but the airwaves (statutatorily including
    cable) are still considered to be "free access", which means
    it's perfectly legal to tape broadcast programming.
    
    Presumably, the screamers were some sort of mutation caused by
    one of the world wars.
    
    --- jerry

	I should probably get the story and read it, but, how does the
	story end (as opposed to the movie's end)?

		Thanks
		Peter

    	For those who don't want to know the ending to the novelization
    of A BOY AND HIS DOG, please do NOT read between the asterisks:
    
    			*********************
    
    	The story and the movie both ended with Vick feeding the girl
    to the dog, but whereas in the movie Blood made the comment that
    the girl "didn't particularly have good taste", the story ended
    with "Whom does a boy love?  A boy loves his dog."
    
                        *********************
    
    	I put ABAHD on the same level with the 1975 SF film, DARK STAR;
    both are unsung, deep, and well-written SF films which should get
    much more notice than they have in the past.  On a less 
    generalized level, I got a real kick out of the banter between 
    Blood and Vick, and especially liked the bit where Blood told Vick 
    that he wasn't going to pretend to be asleep anymore while Vick was 
    fooling around with the girl!  :^)
    
    	What I would like to know is, how did Blood become telepathic
    and intelligent, and how is it he was able to communicate with Vick
    (and ONLY with Vick)?  I know Vick made the comment that they had
    some kind of "sense" for each other, but naturally I'm looking for
    a much deeper answer than that.  Is this explained in the story
    (no, I have not yet read it, but I know some of it)?
    
    	Larry
    

    re .5: I agree with you on DARK STAR being a good movie
    (of course the book was even better) but you have to admit
    that the acting was first rate fertilizer. That alone was
    cause enough for the movie to "not become more popular".
    Which is too bad.  I've always felt it should be remade
    using real actors (maybe in the wake of SPACEBALLS, it will..who
    knows).
    
    -Steve

    re .5,.6
    
    What is "Dark Star" about?
    

    >What I would like to know is, how did Blood become telepathic
    >and intelligent, and how is it he was able to communicate with Vick
    >(and ONLY with Vick)?  I know Vick made the comment that they had
    >some kind of "sense" for each other, but naturally I'm looking for
    >a much deeper answer than that.  Is this explained in the story
    >(no, I have not yet read it, but I know some of it)? 
    
    People with questions about inconsistencies or vagaries in the
    movie should *really* read the story. As one would expect, it's
    much more detailed than the movie. And as jerry noted, its one of
    the few - if not only - Ellison works adapted to the screen that
    he's basically happy with. There's some irony in there considering
    its one of the few projects that Harlan *didn't* work on himself.
    
    But anyway, Ellison notes in the story that the telepathic dogs
    were created as soldiers for one of the past wars. Because Harlan
    isn't particularly strong on writing realistic science, he basically 
    leaves the details of this to the reader's imagination. He does
    note that when the dogs became intelligent and telepathic, they
    also lost their hunting instinct. Thus, the dogs' relationship with
    the rovers is a symbiotic one. Vic (and other rovers linked with
    their dogs) find food (mostly canned) and share it with their partners.
    In turn, the dogs locate females for the rovers by "smelling" them
    out.
    
    If I remember correctly, Ellison leaves the question open as to
    whether the dogs can communicate telepathically with other humans.
    They may simply not want to. On the other hand, perhaps Vic and
    the other rovers partnered with the dogs have some sort of telepathic
    ability that allows the dogs to "speak" to them. In either case,
    it didn't make any basic difference to the story's plot.
    
    Periodically, Ellison still threatens to release the novel version
    of ABAHD :-). 
    
    Fred

    
    There was AT LEAST one sequal to ABAHD, "Blood's a Rover" (the title's
    a line from some poem, but which one? I found it once in the Norton
    Anthology of English Poetry, but can't find it again.) In the intro
    to "Blood", Harlan mentions another sequal. IS there another one?
    
    He also mentions that he wrote "Blood's..." because his views on
    the ending of ABAHD had changed over the years. (And he never did
    like the movies' final line...)    

    There's one other sequel: "Eggsucker." Never read it. Don't have
    any other information on it.
    
    Fred

    	Digressing from the Topic for a moment, DARK STAR is a low budget
    (but highly intelligent) SF film made by *the* John Carpenter
    (HALLOWEEN, THE THING remake) in his early days.  It was about this
    crew of men aboard the starship DARK STAR whose job it is to find
    unstable planets in other solar systems and destroy them with
    thermostellar bombs (which have thinking computer brains), to make
    the solar systems safe for future human colonization.  They have been
    doing their job virtually alone for twenty years, and the strain
    of boredom and danger is finally taking its toll... 
    
    	I disagree with 500.6's views on DARK STAR at two points:  One,
    the book (by Alan Dean Foster) was NOT better than the film; it
    *was* good, but it did not capture the rich humor of the movie.
    Two, the acting *was* very good; the people did their characters
    perfectly (especially Dan O'Bannon as Pinback).  Perhaps you are 
    mistaking camp for bad acting (much of the film was a sendup of 2001: 
    A SPACE ODYSSEY).
            
    	Larry
    

    re: A BOY AND HIS DOG
    
    Technically speaking, Larry, "A Boy and His Dog" is a short
    novel (or novella), not a "novelization".
    
    There are three prequels/sequels to "A Boy and His Dog":
    
    "Run, Spot, Run" first appeared in the magazine MEDIASCENE
    PREVIEW (now called just PREVUE) in 1980, and was reprinted
    in the January 1981 AMAZING STORIES.
    
    "Eggsucker" first appeared in ARIEL, THE BOOK OF FANTASY #2
    (1977) and was reprinted in a British anthology, THE SAVOY
    BOOK.
    
    "Blood's a Rover" (For the life of me, I can't find a citation
    anywhere for where it's appeared. I'm sure I've seen it some-
    where.)
    
    In one of the stories (I think it's "Eggsucker"), Ellison
    creates a female Rover named Spike. She was originally meant
    to be the main character for a tv show spin-off of ABAHD
    that Ellison was developing at the request of a network and
    studio (which, unfortunately, never went anywhere). "BLOOD'S
    A ROVER" was also supposed to the title of the novel compiled
    from these four stories.
    
    re: DARK STAR
    
    It should be noted that John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon first
    made DARK STAR as a *student project* for UCLA (or USC) Film
    School. O'Bannon later got some money to expand the film to
    feature length so that it could be released theatrically. It
    was a low-budget film, to be sure, but for what they had to
    spend on it, it was *amazing*!
    
    --- jerry

    "Blood's a Rover" is a phrase from a poem by A. E. Housman (1859-1936),
    a Britisn poet.  I'm afraid I can't recall the title of the poem,
    or even the context, except that it was something like "flesh stays
    home, but blood's a rover."
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    
    AHAH! Another trivia question answer! "Old age is dirt/ But blood's
    a rover..." Now I just gotta find the title...
    
    I'll check on where "Blood's A Rover" was printed this weekend--I've
    got it somewhere.

    re: .13
    
    It's from the last verse of "Reveille" by A. E. Housman:
    
    Clay lies still, but blood's a rover,
    Breath's a ware that will not keep.
    Up lad, when the journey's over
    There'll be time enough to sleep.
    
    /jlr

    
    Great! That's been bothering me for MONTHS!
    
    Also, the story I was thinking of was "Run,Spot,Run" from the 
    January, 1981, AMAZING.
    
    E.

    
    The movie took place in post world war IV America.  They made a
    breif reference to world war III when Blood was telling Vic to
    go over history.  When was WWIII ?  What caused it, and how long
    did it last?  I recall that WWIV lasted five days.
    
    Thanx
    David

    I missed it on Ch 38 but thought I was fortunate in finding it
    subsequently on WWOR (Wrong!)
    
    Avoid WWOR like the plague if you value movies. I have never seen
    a more blatant, infuriating case of cut and paste to make more space
    for commercials in my life. Without exaggeration, the two hour time
    slot contained no more than one hour of movie -- if that. It was
    all ads, ads, ads.
    
    I'm still steamed.
    
    KBS
    

    I know that this reply is somewhat late but this is the answer to
    query 17..
    
    The WWIII that they refer to is supposed to be the cold war which
    lasted the better part of fifty years if I remember the facts
    correctly. I thought this was a very nice touch..................
    
    Tahi

    I thought that Blood said that WWIII lasted something like 6 days.
    
    Well, I'll just HAVE to watch it again to be sure!  ;^)
    
    K.C.

     FYI:
    
     -WWIII, hot & cold, lasted 33 years: June 1950 to Mar 1983, when
      a "tactical armistice" was effected
     -WWIV lasted 5 days
     	"Politicians had finally found a solution for the urban blight."
     -Albert was born in 2006
     -Current year: 2024
     -Location: Phoenix
    
    							Don

    	World War Three ended in March of 1993, not 1983.
    

Location: Phoenix: that's a cute touch!

So where in this latter decade of the 20th century might an intrepid reader find
the remainder of the Blood stories? I read ABAHD back in high school and loved
it, I would love to see more! Ellisonia seems to have dried up lately.

    Did you see the movie?  If so, what did you think?
    
    I like the movie, but have never read the story.  Where can I find it?
    
    K.C.

Yeesh lotsa luck! I first saw it in an anthology of different authors 15 years 
ago. I've seen it once or twice since then. I'll check at home. Best bet might
be a library if there's a decent one in your area.

I liked the movie. It seemed a little theatrical (someone earlier mentioned the
whiteface makeup), and was certainly no award-winner, but it did fair justice
to the story. The story is definitely worth finding, though. I consider it one 
of HE's best works (IMHO 8^) ).

    The movie was OK, but I much preferred the book.  Better actors, for
    one...  :+)

I have about ten volumes of Ellison, and it's not in any of them. I think it won
a Hugo or Nebula (confirm anyone???) so it might be in one of the award 
anthologies?

    As far as Ellison's collections are concerned, it's in THE BEAST
    THAT SHOUTED LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD. It's also appeared
    in various anthologies. I'll have to dig up where it can be found.
    
    Ellison has also recorded this as a "Books of Tape" release, backed
    with a reading of his classic story "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the
    Ticktockman". Ellison is an amazing performer and both of these are
    a delight to listen to.
    
    --- jerry

Yeah, on Caedmon Records, right? They did a lot of spoken word recordings
with various celeb readers. I listened to that record once, wish I could get a 
copy.

    re:.29
    
    Yes, on the Caedmon Records label.
    
    As far as a source for "A Boy and His Dog", here are a few places it's
    shown up in:
    
    THE BEAST THAT SHOUTED LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD (Ellison
    THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON (collection)                         collection)
    THE BEST SF STORIES FROM NEW WORLDS #8 (ed by Michael Moorcock)
    NEBULA AWARD STORIES #5 (ed. by James Blish)
    THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME, VOLUME III (ed. by Arthur C. Clarke)
    WORLD'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION: 1970  (ed. by Donald Wollheim & Terry
    BEYOND ARMAGEDDON (ed. by Walter M. Miller, Jr.)                 Carr)
    THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (ed. by Jim Wynorski)
    
    This last is an anthology of novelettes that were adapted into films,
    in addition to the Ellison, it includes such stories as "Farewell to
    the Master" (THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), "Who Goes There?" (THE
    THING), "The Fly", et alia.
    
    As for other Vic & Blood stories, there are:
    
    "Eggsucker", in ARIEL, THE BOOK OF FANTASY, VOLUME 2 (ed. by Thomas
        Durwood) and THE SAVOY BOOK (edited by David Britton & Michael
        Butterworth, and unfortunately published only in the UK)
    
    "Run, Spot, Run", in the January 1981 issue of AMAZING STORIES, as well
        as an earlier issue (but I'd have to dig it out to get the actual
        issue date) of PREVUE.
    
    There's no actual short piece called "Blood's a Rover", and I must've
    been confusing it with the title of the planned fix-up novel.
    
    --- jerry