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Birmingham Telecommunications News 045
BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1992 ISSN 1055-4548
March 1992 Volume 5, Issue 3
Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
Publisher's Corner.............................Mark Maisel
Editorial: Double Standards?..................Tim Straughn
No Requiem For A Fallen Poet...................Shawn Trucks
Notes From The Trenches........................Dean Costello
Movie Review...................................Michael Davidson
The Adventures of R.G. Strangemind & Herbert...Jeremy Lewis
Special Interest Groups (SIGs).................Barry Bowden
Known BBS Numbers..............................Staff
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Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage
due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability, if any for BTN, its
editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
of such damages occurring.
With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
please forward a copy of your publication to:
Mark Maisel
Editor, BTN
221 Chestnut St.
BHM, AL 35210-3219
(205)-956-0176
We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
all of this and not get too serious about it.
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F R E E B I E : G E T I T W H I L E I T S H O T !
The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.
ADAnet One Alter-Ego Arkham Asylum
Channel 8250 Little Kingdom Joker's Castle
Crunchy Frog Myth Drannor Owl's Nest
The MATRIX Abject Poverty The Bus
The Outer Limits Bloom County The Round Table
DC Info Exchange Radio Free Troad Owlabama BBS
Amiga Alliance ][ DataLynx Martyrdom Again?!
Safe Harbor Kiriath Arba Teasers
If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via EZNet so that I can post your board as a free BTN
distributor. Thanks. MM
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N E W S F L A S H
Alter-Ego will be moving sometime this month. The new
number will be 925-5099.
If you sysops want accurate information in the bbs and
network list, you better make sure I get it. There are
getting to be too many of you guys for me to make it around
each month to check for network affiliations and other
changes.
Check EZNet and MATRIX for possible party information.
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Publisher's Corner
by Mark Maisel
I think I'll start this month by acknowledging that this issue is
rather late. I've been rather busy of late and haven't had a chance
sooner to get this out the door. Kathy has been amazingly healthy, PTA
has been hoppin', friends have been to town, and we've been out, and
I've been consulting again. Since these are all pleasant developments,
so far as I'm concerned, I'm running with them. BTN, as stated in my
disclaimer, is supposed to be fun. I treat it as such so publication
dates retain their historical flexibility. I have been on the short
side where articles are concerned recently as well. I don't worry much
about such things because BTN reflects you. If such is the reflection
you want, this is OK by me. One thing I will insist upon though, is
that before the next time you call me or leave me a message asking where
BTN is, be sure to check and make sure you've made your contribution
in the form of an article of some kind first. I choose not to do this
thing by myself and I like it that way.
Things are looking pretty good right now, with the aforementioned
shortage of articles. I've been scouting for writers but the success
has been sparse. To those of you who have come through, thanks. To
those of you working on it, lets see what you can do. I've been
thinking about parties again. I know that this will perk many of you up
out of your stupor. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the
history of BTN and the subsequent parties, I will share a bit. When I
first started up, I solicited interested people for a bbs newsletter
that would cut across brands of hardware, software, and any other
discriminators save a modem. The response I received was overwhelming.
As a way of thanking these folks for their support and articles, I
decided to throw a party for them. It was the first of several parties,
thrown privately, with me providing food and drink. As BTN became more
popular, and more people heard about the parties, I decided to open them
up to the public. To avoid liability and high expenses, I made parties
BYO. Many have complained over the years about the parties changing in
nature. I think there is merit to this charge, but I can't agree that
they are any better or worse. The only point I will cede is that some
people have become quite the slobs when in my house, and some have been
quite rude to other guests. These, along with Kathy's pathetic health
during the fall, have been the prime reasons why parties haven't
occurred more frequently. It takes me much longer to recover when the
disruption of appalling behavior and unbelievable sloppiness is standard
operating procedure for so many party go'ers. I do not wish to return
to the days of private parties only. With Kathy feeling well, I'd like
to try again and see if things can go better. I've considered renting a
place but it just wouldn't be the same, and it would add yet another
expense for me. I'll probably be making an announcement soon about the
first BTN Party of '92. It will be up to you to help me determine if
I'll announce a second one.
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DOUBLE STANDARDS?
by Tim Straughn
One would think today that public office being as public as it is,
would have a certain responsibility to society to make sure that all
people are treated equally and fairly according to the law of the land.
While I was reading Sunday's paper, however, I ran across an article,
actually it was on the front page, that totally enraged me. I couldn't
believe what I was reading.
The Department of Human Resources, some sort of subdivision of
Social Security and Child Welfare, was established to protect children
from abuse. I was raised in a Baptist Children's home, or actually was
there from the time I was 5 until I was 12, and saw these people on a
regular basis, or some other form of social worker. Don't
misunderstand, I was not an abused child, at least not by my own
parents. My brother and sisters, I cannot vouch for, because I was too
young to remember anything. Nearly every day of our lives was touched
in some way by a social worker of some status that was checking on or
investigating something, be it a new kid in the home, or one that
habitually ran away from the home. It wasn't a foster home, more like a
group home, but we didn't have group therapy or anything like that. It
was more a home for the underprivileged where parents going through
financial difficulty could farm the kids out for a while until they were
better financially able to keep them. My mother elected to place us in
this home in order to keep the four of us together when she and my
father were getting a divorce, and neither could support us. Of course,
other family members wanted to take us, but only one or two of us, and
not the whole brood of four, which of course meant each of us growing up
not knowing the others. That went over like a lead balloon with my
mother. She considered a Catholic home, but that was also out of the
question because that would have separated my brother and I from our two
sisters. We were Catholic, so you can imagine the culture shock when
placed in a Baptist home.
The purpose of this article, however, is not to cry about my
childhood. What's the point, it's gone, and I can't undo it. All I can
do is live with it. All I know is that I learned that Social Workers
are generally goody-two-shoes personalities that have never had children
who seem to be experts on raising them. Over the past two years, my
wife and I have had to endure two visits from DHR because of reports
from nosey neighbors or tattle-tale teachers that didn't know what the
hell they were talking about. It is quite probably because of some
things that my ten year old daughter has said out of anger toward her
mother, and/or someone seeing my wife discipline one of the children in
public. Most any type of discipline is frowned upon by DHR as child
abuse, whether verbal or physical, and their apparent opinion is that
any misbehavior on the child's part is a reflection on the parents'
inability to raise children and poor quality of life. I know
differently. I grew up in a large home with 35+ children being tended
by four to five "housemothers" or supervisors. This home was condoned
by DHR and they never seemed to notice when one of the kids got the crap
beat out of them for disobeying one of the housemothers. I know,
because it happened to me more than once, and never can I ever remember
DHR investigating one of the housemothers for child abuse, though
treatment there sometimes was borderline abuse, even in my opinion.
This is not to say that I was mistreated or abused by the housemothers.
Disciplined, yes. Educated, yes. Abused, no. If one of us
deliberately did something we were told not to do, and another saw us do
it and didn't try to stop the one misbehaving, then not only did the
offender get the stuffing knocked out of him/her, but the accomplice did
also just for not stopping the other or not reporting the incident. I
called my brother a fool once out of anger, and a housemother overheard
it. I got the crap beat out of me for that. I remembered not to do it
again, at least while a housemother was possibly in earshot. Nowadays,
if your child looks you straight in the eye and tells you go to hell in
public, you'd best wait until you're behind closed doors before
adjusting their attitude. I do not condone harming any child, but
sparing the rod certainly does spoil the child. A lot of adjustment can
be made with a keen peach limb without harming the child. I know there
are those that would beat the child with a rubber hose, but these are
sick individuals that shouldn't have children.
Getting back to the article that got my dander up, the problem I
saw with DHR's logic is that it's OK if DHR condones doping up a child
and disciplining the child for wanting to go home to parents or foster
parents. If you, however, give a child half a cup of beer one night to
help it relax and go to sleep, you have been contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, abused your child, and are very subject to a
jail sentence and losing custody of the child. There is something very
wrong with this picture. The case stated in the paper took place over 8
months ago. A young couple brought the children of some relative into
their home because the relatives could not provide for the children. One
of the children developed a behavioral disorder and soiled his clothes
daily. The 'foster' mother (she didn't have legal custody at the time)
decided to seek professional help, and told the boy of her intentions.
The child responded immediately, and corrected his problem, with only a
few mishaps in the next couple of months. Following her judgement, she
decided to take the boy for evaluation anyway. She told the
psychiatrist that the child had mentioned that he would "kill himself"
on occasion, but didn't think that he was serious about it at all. The
psychiatrist (who probably didn't have children) diagnosed the child as
psychotic and suicidal and in need of further evaluation by child
psychologists. Needless to say, the woman didn't believe her ears, and
decided against it. The case was reported to DHR, and that's when all
hell broke loose. The woman was ordered to take the child to Hill Crest
Hospital for the evaluation for two weeks. The child is still in the
hospital after 8 months. Immediately after the two weeks was elapsed,
the boy wanted to know when he was going home, and the staff began
disciplining him for asking, and he eventually stopped. The child was
also placed on anti-psychotic drugs (most likely a strong tranquilizer
such as Quaalude) and the foster parent's visitation rights were revoked
by DHR. Judging from what I read in the paper, this child's life has
been altered forever, IMHO, and it's all because the mother did what she
thought best for the child and legal in this state.
There is something terribly wrong when the state can remove a child
from a foster home where his behavior problems are being resolved, even
if corporal punishment is sometimes necessary, and place the child in a
hospital where he is pumped up with drugs to the point of being listless
and not knowing where the hell he is. The doctor's reasons for stopping
visitation by the parents was that "the child IS out of touch with
reality" and "has no emotional ties with anyone". Seems to me, the
child was plenty in touch with reality before being doped up stupid.
Seems to me, the ties were plenty strong, to the point he was
disciplined for asking to go home.
I fear for the youth of today, who cannot be disciplined, and whose
every misbehavior needs a pill or group therapy. Something tells me
that someone in DHR is on the take. A month's stay at Hill Crest costs
on the order of $75,000, paid by the you's and I's in our state taxes,
and this doesn't include the elaborate drugs in use there to keep
patients subdued. Every time a major malfunction in society occurs and
a young teen or young adult commits an atrocious crime, the parent is
blamed. Perhaps if parents could whack a child across the backside once
in a while without fear of retribution from DHR, that child would grow
up knowing the difference between right and wrong. The State has no
children. Bureaucracy doesn't know how to raise children. There must
be some sort of commission for every patient that DHR can commit to a
state operated hospital. Too many people are being paid to prevent me
from teaching my child the difference between right and wrong. Placing
a child in a hospital for pooping his pants and doping him up for asking
to go home is WRONG!
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No Requiem For A Fallen Poet
Or Shawn Trucks: Part III - The Final Chapter (honest!)
by Shawn Trucks
Decisions... Decisions...
In my dreams, things still exist as they were. I feel the cool
Autumn breeze on a bright October afternoon, and the warm rhythmic beat
of another heart close to mine. When I speak, my lips move silently,
unintelligibly, the words lost on some ever flowing dream-wind. But the
words are unimportant, all that matters is the moment. The moment is
everything and everything in the world is perfect. When I open my eyes
to a new day, I don't feel the emptiness of a broken heart. And when I
look into the mirror, I don't hate the person that I see. But dreams are
fleeting, and the images intangible. No matter how hard I try I can hold
them only so long, then I am forced into wakefulness by the dawning
realization of the meaningless existence I call life. The pieces begin
to connect.
I'm reminded now of a poem that I wrote recently. I think it sums
up the first paragraph pretty well. Indulge me now while I bombard you
with my petty attempts at creativity.
Wings Of Sleep
A flight upon the Wings of Sleep,
Over mountains high
And oceans deep.
A world seen perfect
From an endless sky;
Till the moment I wake
And the dreams must die.
There are times I think it would be better to live my life in
dreams, but even dreams have a habit of turning on you when you least
expect it. More and more often, my dreams are beginning to echo my
waking life. It seems that it's going to take something a little more
drastic than sleep to deal with all of my problems.
Heartfelt pain occasionally gives way to confusion, and I wonder
how everything became so messed up so quickly. As I sit typing this,
part of an old Kansas song comes to mind; "I close my eyes, only for a
moment and the moment's gone..." Sometimes I have to wonder if the
moment ever really existed. Mutually, I mean. I think it did, but it
becomes increasingly harder to tell every day. Whether it ever existed
or not has ceased to be of any importance now anyway. A point has
finally been reached, and the time at hand is a time of choices. The
fact that the decision isn't a very difficult one is somewhat
frightening I suppose. The fact that the people I care about the most
are making the decision easier is even more so. I try so desperately to
hold my life together, but I feel my will power slipping away. I close
my eyes and the image of something potentially meaningful that will
never be brought to fruition constantly weaves it's way into my mind,
drifting into my consciousness. Drifting silently...
Into a dream. It's a cold November night and I sit shivering as I
stare into the clear starry sky. I breathe a shuddering sigh and my
breath hangs in the air like a shroud, like a thin sheet pulled over the
face of some nameless corpse in a mortuary. Just another unwanted soul
destined to an anonymous burial, alone and forgotten. Tears fill my
eyes, blurring the night sky. I squeeze my eyes shut and the tears spill
forth, coursing down my face in icy streams. I finally open my eyes and
hold my hand before me. Etched on my palm is the image of a bright red
rose. As I stare at it, it slowly begins to blacken and wither. From
behind me a hand gently touches my shoulder. I turn slowly and there she
stands, her long blonde hair flowing over her shoulders, (I have no idea
who she is, I've never seen her before in real life) the expression on
her face a mixture of confusion and what looks to be slight annoyance.
She smiles slightly, irregularly then leans forward and kisses me on the
forehead. Her lips are cold against my skin. When she turns to leave,
something drops from her hand. I pick it up and look at it. It's a
picture of me. I open my mouth to speak, but when I look up she's gone.
I look back down at the picture in my hand, but the image has faded and
the picture is blank. My vision fades and consciousness bleeds back into
my life. Another piece falls into place.
And still the decision remains. The dreams seem to be pushing me
further in the direction I'm already headed. I remember another poem I
wrote sometime last year. At the time it just seemed like something to
write, and I never really thought it meant anything, but now it seems to
hold new meaning for me. Maybe it always did.
Dreams Of Reality
Over and over inside my head,
Hopes that are shattered
And Dreams that are dead.
A whisper of wind
In the back of my mind;
Just shadows of a childhood
Now faded with time.
So many memories
Yet so few are mine.
So many loves unrequited,
Only heartaches I find.
A constant swirling
Of fantasies lost;
In a dark cloud of reality
I dream at what cost?
I know one thing, the cost is pretty damn high. Now all I have to
do is decide on how I'm going to pay. Regardless of the decision I make,
this will be my last article on the subject of my life (or lack
thereof). My only real regret is that one possible decision would
involve breaking a promise I made to someone very important to me. If
that someone is reading this - and I have a feeling they are - I guess
you were right when you said I was fragile. So add a broken promise to
the long list of other heinous crimes I've committed against my "loved
ones". I guess it's about time to close this sucker off. So I'll end
with another poem. (Just ONE I promise!)
The Final Embrace
A wearied soul
So tired of trying.
A wounded heart
Not dead, but dying.
A gentle breath
Of whispered lies,
Empty promises
And alibies.
The battle lost
Before it is fought.
The broken dreams
That begin to rot.
A seething hiss
Of icy breath.
A hand that beckons
To the arms of death.
The pieces continue to connect. The puzzle is almost complete...
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Notes from the Trenches
by Dean Costello
"What the Hell is this Country Coming Too?"
I have been floating emotionally somewhere between angry and
depressed for the last week or so. I place the blame squarely on the
political leadership of the United States and a book called "The
Handmaid's Tale".
I don't know if many of you have read this book, and I frankly
don't really care much. I am about a quarter of the way through it and
it is depressing me more than disk 1 of Pink Floyd's "The Wall".
Basically, it tells about a theocracy that has taken over the United
States and returned it to those Good Ol' Days of say, umm, 1620, when
the Puritans infested Massachusetts. Apparently, the U.S. is fighting a
war, but no one knows where the war is being fought since the media is
completely controlled by the government. Women have no real legal
status in this country any more, and their position in society is based
on whether or not they can bear children. The protagonist of this book
was married and had a child (before this government), but now she is the
mistress of the Commander, which the government forced on her, and her
family is gone.
It struck me very vividly the means by which the goverment
completely controls every aspect of life. Women are no longer allowed
to read, and obviously they are not allowed to go to school. Public
speaking of any type is forbidden. Women must walk in pairs, when they
are allowed out of the house. To prevent them from looking around and
'be tempted', they must wear this blinder affair on their heads so no
one can see them, and they cannot see anything more than what is
directly in front of them.
On the 'good' side, there is little crime. Which I guess is good.
Now, I must admit that this version of Utopia is tempting
<sarcasm>, but there are a few problems with it. Among others, any
absolutism, to me, is anathema, and someone else's religion is being
forced on everyone in the society, whether they agree with all the
tenets of the belief or not. And I would argue that a society where no
one can speak in public is not a society I would like to be part of.
But the big problem to me is that the government acts in whatever
way they deem necessary to control 'public unrest'. Do the ends justify
the means? I hope not. At least one person I know (and a whole lot
more than that, from what I can tell) feels that it is perfectly
acceptable, if not the responsiblility of the government, to curtail
constitutional rights in the effort to Fight Crime.
What the hell is this? So, they are saying that in the EFFORT to
prevent crime (nothing is mentioned as to actually reducing crime, but
just trying is sufficient), it is fine to ignore things like the right
to prevent personal incrimination, the right to speedy trial, and the
right to protect against unreasonable search and seizure, as long as the
Fight Against Crime is continued. Look at the Drug War. No significant
decrease in crime has been noted (increases in the D.C. area, the one
that I am most familiar with). It looks more to me that the government
is merely trying to address symptoms (and doing a shitty job of it), and
not attempting to cure the more troubling problems.
Case in point: Funding has been cancelled for prenatal care in
D.C. A friend of mine that was working on prenatal interventions told
me that there is no better way of helping children than helping the
pregnant mother. So, funding has been cut, and we (the society) will
have to pay the price later. And it will be a hell of a lot more than
the cost of a couple of clinic appointments.
As a tangent to a tangent, don't be disappointed if you are
involved with someone with drugs, and when they go to rehab they don't
get cured. The best clinic in the country gets no better than 8-12%
PERMANENT recovery. Anyway, lord knows we wouldn't want to do the
responsible thing.
I think that I am teetering between being a libertarian and being
an anarchist. I'm not exactly sure how to reconcile my feelings. Randy
Hilliard once said that he would not be surprised to see a revolution
against the U.S. government before 2000 due to the emmense number of
disenfranchised people (for the younger readers, go ask your civics
teacher what 'disenfranchised' means); and I have to admit that I agree.
Hell, I'd be right in the middle of it, with the way I've been feeling
as of late.
There is a journalist who killed himself out in West Virginia a
week ago or so. A pretty nice chap, from what I have been led to
believe by acquaintences of mine. Anyway, he was working on a story
involving the BCCI scandel, Iran-Contra affair, and that ugly business
concerning Reagan and the boys negotiating with Iran into not releasing
the hostages until after the election. As a result, the current and
conventional wisdom is that he was the victim of a government hit. And
you know what really upsets me? Its that I am not the least bit
surprised that something like that could happen. Dammit, it's time for
a change, and it's obvious that the election booth ain't cutting the
mustard.
Cazart! Did I just call for an armed revolt against the
government? That kind of shit can get my ass thrown into Fairfax County
jail in Sununu's Oakton. Which doesn't mean that I still don't think
that the best place for George Walker Herbert Bush is stuffed on my
balcony. At least there I can keep an eye on him.
This is a quote from one of my favorite books, "V For Vendetta", by
Alan Moore:
"...It's 1988 now. Margaret Thatcher is entering her third
term of office and talking confidently of an unbroken
Conservative leadership well into the next century. My
youngest daughter is seven and the tabloid press are
circulating the idea of concentration camps for persons with
AIDS. The new riot police wear black visors, as do their
horses, and their vans have rotating video cameras mounted
on top. The government has expressed a desire to eradicate
homosexuality, even as an abstract concept, and one can only
speculate as to which minority will be the next to be
legislated against. I'm thinking of taking my family and
getting out of this country soon, sometime over the next
couple of years. It's cold and it's mean spirited and I
don't like it here anymore."
I believe that this is the best way of summing of American, circa
1991. The only thing that I would change in the above paragraph is that
I don't have any family, and the leader of the U.S. is Reagan.
But Christ knows that I don't like the current trends in the U.S. I
was reading an article in "Penthouse" about the current aggressive push
of hard-right Christianity (such as Donald Wildmon, of the AFA). It
seems that the Right-hand Christians are currently attempting to control
local governments. I see that happening right around here. These
people are getting control of School Boards, altering the cirriculum,
banning books, all that kind of good stuff.
Is this a good thing? I don't think so. An awful lot of people
seem to think that the U.S. has gone to hell in a handbasket since
prayer in schools was outlawed. I don't think so, but whatever.
But the current mindset is what Barry Goldwater said in the '64
election, "Extremism for democracy is no vice". A lot of people are
screaming for change, for "Traditional Family Values". I sure hope that
they realize their error when they get what they asked for.
Another thing, very trivial in the large scheme of things. The
high price of using BBSs in the D.C. area. Here's a message that
snapped up a couple of days ago:
8/14/91
-------
The Hallucination is now subscription only. Most existing accounts have
been set to expire in 30 days. Those who have donated have expiration dates
sometime in the future.
Your expiration date, DEAN COSTELLO, is 09-14-91.
To subscribe, read Main Board (B)ulletin #11. In a nutshell, the rate is
$25 for 6 months (or $50 for 1 year). (Incidentally, we predict this will
cover about half of our expenses). This will give you the following:
* 120 min. per day
* Unlimited downloads
* Access to send private FidoNet and UUCP "Net-Mail"
* Access to the 9600/14.4K line (the modem is due to arrive any day now)
Our mailing address is:
Virtual Perceptions
3909 Prince William Dr.
Fairfax, VA 22031
The registration process for write access to the UseNet message areas will be
put in place tomorrow night.
If you think your contribution (monetary or otherwise) is going unnoticed, we
encourage you to leave a (C)omment.
So, for $50, I can use some damned BBS. I'll have to pass, thanks.
All I do is leave messages, but in this region, leaving messages ain't
enough. For $50, I can drive 1250 miles, and I think that that would be
a better way of spending money than on a BBS.
But, as Mr. Moore said, oh so succinctly: "It's cold and mean-
spirited, and I don't like it here anymore."
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Movie Review
by Michael Davidson
First of all, I would like to explain myself. The month I wrote my
music article was the month Joseph Ray missed the deadline. In an effort
to be original, I will change my reviews to movies, unless the peanut
gallery demands otherwise. Last month, I just happened to miss the
deadline. As I am writing this, it is Feb. 15, so we'll see if Mark can
get it in the March issue.
This month I am reviewing a truly spectacular movie: Grand Canyon.
The previews make it look like a comedy, but this is everything but a
lighthearted movie. It is a heavy commentary on society today in
general.
The cast is wonderful. Kevin Kline plays a yupped-out man, who
finds a long-needed friend in Danny Glover, who plays a tow truck driver
who rescues Kline from a tight situation in an inner city. Mary
Louise-Parker plays Kline's secretary, and Alfe Woodard (pardon me for
murdering the spelling of that) plays her friend. Finally, another Mary
(whose last name escapes me) plays Kline's wife, who finds a baby while
jogging. The many sub-plots include Glover's nephew who is in a gang,
his romance with Woodard, and Steve Martin's (who plays a minor role as
a violent movie producer) run-in with crime.
The acting is superb, with great performances given by all.
Especially noteworthy is Glover's portrayal of the average American.
(Then again, when isn't Glover great?) This is a movie that makes you
stop and think about where you are and where you want to be. It really
puts life into perspective. ("All of life's riddles are answered in the
movies!" says Martin.) But the most amazing thing about this movie is
that it does it all without gimmicks, and without spending hundreds of
millions of dollars on special effects. I loved this movie, but I'd like
to leave you with a word of warning: my parents hated it. It's more for
the liberal side of you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Adventures of R.G. Strangemind and Herbert
by Jeremy Lewis
Copyright 1991,92 by Jeremy Lewis
no reprints without the permission of the author
Part XII
As the Large Gray Spaceship shot through space, a large gleaming
fist-like vessel moved up along side it, extending a long cylinder like
extension from its side and connecting it to the Large Gray Spaceship.
Meanwhile, in that dark, dark place that super beings are
intimately familiar with a small rational voice spoke,"Sir, The
Split-Splat has moved along side the Large Gray Spaceship."
"SO???" screamed the loud irrational voice.
"I thought you might like to know, sir.
"Interesting..."
"WHAT, WHAT IS INTERESTING?!?!?!?"
"The Toatans of Melba are heading after the Large Gray Spaceship."
"oh no," spoke a voice no longer as loud as it had been moments
before.
On the Large Gray Spaceship, Slob was looking at the large human's
body. Could this be him? On his planet, there was a legend about the
coming of The Great Stupid One who would lead them out of darkness.
Slob had never cared for that legend, but he knew many that did. This
human could be his meal ticket. Contemplating his newfound resource, he
failed to notice the Purple Thing get to its feet and walk off towards a
set of stairs. The sign beside the stairs read "Deck Six" and for some
strange reason, Ginger headed down.
R.G. stood up. What was he doing lying senseless on the floor? He
had to find Herbert. Something was wrong, something was terribly
wrong...He had to find Herbert. As got up and headed towards the stairs
he heard a grinding noise. Suddenly hole appeared in the wall. He
stopped long enough to see a large bald, green person walking down a
corridor inside the hole before he took off back from where he had come,
forgetting all thoughts of Herbert as he ran.
Splort smiled as he walked down the corridor that now connected the
Large Gray Spaceship and The Split-Splat. Slob was his, he blinked for a
moment as he saw what he thought to be a human run past the opening to
the corridor, but dismissed as having had to much ranting and raving in
the last couple of days. That was when he heard the soul chilling howl
as a Large Purple Thing moved to cover the opening to the Large Gray
Spaceship.
Emperor Splort summoned his guards.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SIG's (Special Interest Groups), Computer Related
-------------------------------------------------
BEPCUG CCS
Birmingham East PC Users Group Commodore Club South
Jefferson Sate Jr. College Springville Road Library
Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114 2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128)
3rd Friday, 7-9 PM 3rd Monday (Amiga)
Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM) 7:30-10 PM
BCCC BIPUG
Birmingham Commodore Computer Club Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group
POB 59564 UAB Nutrition Science Blg
Birmingham, Al 35259 RM 535/541
UAB School of Education, Rm 153 1st Sunday (delayed one week
2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM if meeting is a holiday)
Rusty Hargett 854-5172 Marty Schulman 967-5883
BACE FAOUG
Birmingham Atari Computer First Alabama Osborne Users
Enthusiast Group
Vestavia Library, downstairs Homewood Library
2nd Monday, 7 PM 1st Saturday, 1PM
Benny Brown 822-5059 Ed Purquez 669-5200
CADUB
CAD Users of Birmingham
Homewood Library
3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Bobby Benson 791-0426
SIG's, Non-Computer Related
---------------------------
BBC Birmingham Astronomy Club
Blue Box Companions Subject: Astronomy
Subject: Dr. Who Red Mountain Museum Annex
Hoover Library 4th Tuesday, 7:30PM
1st Saturday, 2PM-5PM
If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed,
please let us know by sending E-Mail to Barry Bowden on
The Matrix BBS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area
NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE
SUPPORTED TYPE
129 ADAnet One Node 1 854-9074 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
129 ADAnet One Node 2 854-2308 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
129 ADAnet One Node 3 854-0698 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
129 ADAnet One Node 4 854-5863 9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
1 Alter-Ego BBS 744-7733 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
1 Amiga Alliance ][ 631-0262 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
4 Arkham Asylum 853-7422 300-9600 USR DS WWIV 4.12
Asgard 663-9171 300-2400 WWIV 4.11
Baudville Node 1 640-4593 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Baudville Node 2 640-4639 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Birmingham BBS 854-5131 300-2400 Mind-Pawn
13 Bus System 595-1627 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
17 Byte Me! 979-BYTE! 2400-9600 USR HST WWIV 4.12
CM(ee) BBS Node 1 655-4059 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
CM(ee) BBS Node 2 655-4065 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
136 Channel 8250 Node 1 744-8546 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
136 Channel 8250 Node 2 744-5166 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
Christian Apologetic 808-0763 300-2400 Wildcat! 3.00
1 Crunchy Frog Node 1 956-1755 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
1 Crunchy Frog Node 2 956-0073 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
DataLynx 322-3425 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
Disktop Publishing BBS 854-1660 300-9600 V.32 Wildcat! 3.01
Empire 428-6074 300-2400 Image 1.2
F/X BBS Node 1 823-5777 300-2400 PC Board 14.5
F/X BBS Node 2 822-4570 300-2400 PC Board 14.5
F/X BBS Node 3 822-4526 300-2400 PC Board 14.5
12{ Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
Graphics Zone Node 1 870-5306 300-9600 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16)
Graphics Zone Node 2 870-5329 300-9600 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16)
Hacker's Corner 674-5449 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
Hardeman's BBS 640-6436 1200-2400 Wildcat! 2.55s
13 Hard Disk BBS 987-0794 300-2400 PC Board 14.5
2 I.S.A. BBS 995-6590 300-9600 USR HST Remote Access
Infinite Probability 791-0421 2400 PC Board 14.5
13 Joker's Castle 664-5589 300-2400 USR HST PC Board 14.5
Kiriath Arba 681-8374 300-2400 WWIV 4.20
15 Little Kingdom Node 1 969-0007 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
15 Little Kingdom Node 2 969-0008 300-2400 MNP4 PCBoard 14.5
1- Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.2
# Medicine Man BBS 664-5662 300-2400 GTPower 16.00
29 MetaBoard 254-3344 300-2400 Opus
Missing Link 853-1257 300-2400 C-Net
Night Watch 841-2790 1200-2400 TriTel 2.0
Optical Illusion 853-8062 300-1200 C-Net
Ouija Board 669-0623 300-1200
# Owlabama BBS 833-7176 300-2400 GTPower 15.00
1 Owl's Nest 680-0851 300-9600 PCBoard 14.5
Paradise City 853-1439 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
Pooh's Korner 980-8710 300-2400
Ravens Bluff 681-4096 300-2400 Telegard 2.7
# Safe Harbor Node 1 665-4332 300-2400 GTPower 15.00
# Safe Harbor Node 2 665-4355 300-9600 USR DS GTPower 15.00
Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-9600 Hayes PCBoard 14.5
1 ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
Strattosphere 428-1066 300-1200
Strawberry Fields 856-0267 300-2400 Telegard 2.7
Teasers 987-0122 300-2400 WWIV 4.20
2 The Bone Yard 631-6023 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
The Castle 841-7618 300-2400 C-Base 2.0
The Commodore Zone 856-3783 300-2400 Image1.2
The Den 925-0707 300-9600 USR HST ProLogon/ProDoor
4 The Dragon's Hoard 833-3790 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
12378 The MATRIX Nodes 1-4 323-2016 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
12378 The MATRIX Nodes 5-7 323-6016 2400-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
The Monster 967-4839 300-2400 Telegard 2.5i
The Other Side 520-0230 2400-9600 USR DS PC Board 14.5
2 The Outer Limits 985-1725 1200-9600 USR HST Wildcat! 3.01
The Quiet Zone 833-2066 300-2400 ExpressNET
12@ The Round Table 938-2145 300-2400 Telegard 2.5i
The Safety BBS 581-2866 300-2400 RBBS-PC
The Word 833-2831 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
Wildfire 1 942-9576 300-2400 Telegard 2.7
Wild Side 631-0184 300-1200 WWIV 4.20
Willie's DYM Node 1 979-1629 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Willie's DYM Node 2 979-7739 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Willie's DYM Node 3 979-7743 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
Willie's DYM Node 4 979-8156 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
Wonderland Avenue 699-5811 1200-2400 MNP4 PCBoard 14.5
Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300-1200 Unaxess
The many symbols you see prior to the names of many of the bbs' in the
list signify that they are members of one or more networks that exchange
or echo mail to each other in some organized fashion.
1 = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network
2 = FidoNet, an international network, multi-topic
3 = Metrolink, an international network, multi-topic
4 = WWIV-Net, an international network, multi-topic
5 = Intellec, an international network, multi-topic
6 = Uni'Net, an international network, multi-topic
7 = ThrobNet, an international network, adult oriented
8 = ILink, an international network, multi-topic
9 = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped
0 = USNetMail, a national network, multi-topic
- = RIME, an international network, multi-topic
= = TcNet, not certain at publication time
! = RF-Net, a national network, dedicated to amateur radio
@ = 93Net, a national network, dedicated to the occult
# = GTNet, a national network, multi-topic
If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let us
know via EzNet.
