Blakes7 March 2001

blakes7@lists.lysator.liu.se

96 participants
1067 discussions

Re: Out of the frying pan (was Re: [B7L] Horizon and Redemption)
by Deborah Day 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

This email was delivered to you by The Free Internet, a Business Online Group company. http://www.thefreeinternet.net --------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> > The Cadbury's mini-roll is a sponge rolled round a creamy fondant and the >whole >> > lovingly dipped in Cadbury's chocolate. Tasty. >> >> Ooh, is that the same as Debbie mentioned then? Is it gooey? Because I >> was originally looking for something rather gooey. > >I don't think it's the same thing Debbie mentioned, which seems to be an egg >shaped thing (I haven't seen one since I don't drive and don't get to go to >service stations). > I did mention mini rolls to somebody (forget who now) off-list, but then the discussion reminded me that I needed to get another fix of Mad About Chocolate eggs which are equally addictive as mini rolls. God knows what the calories are for either of those. Debbie (chocolate authority)

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Re: [B7L] Science Fiction and Political Reality (Long - was Brit-char-speak)
by Tavia 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

Pat wrote: >For example, as an American (I hate that term yank, btw) >B7 is inescapably marked as British because everyone in the >universe speaks British English. This doesn't just put off Americans: nearly everyone speaks 'BBC English' too, which is one of the factors cited by my regionally accented Other Half for detesting B7. >The real world of 20th century Britain further shapes the show >in the surprising lack of cultural diversity in the actors as well -- >It seems the only people of color I remember seeing in the show >other than Dayna and Hal "My name is Superfly" Mellanby, >are some Black guys in the fourth season ep "Warlord" ... >So there aren't a lot of people of color in the universe during the >New Calendar. This seems to be somewhat more reflective of >modern British society's numbers of nonwhites overall which I >think (please someone correct me here) is lower than in the States. I don't know the relative numbers, unfortunately, however my personal experience would suggest that several regions of England had virtually no persons of any colour other than whitish pink during the late 70s and early 80s when B7 was first shown. Growing up in a relatively rural area in the south of England, I encountered precisely zero non-white people until going to university (in 1986). Other people I know had similar experiences during the same time period in different (predominantly rural) regions of England. >But one should argue, Dayna has it all over Uhura in terms of >characterization because she was a major character in B7 >who got to do lots of vital things plot wise As I recall, including a major character (Dayna) who was black was unusual in television aimed at children at the time. >Really, I've always felt that they took the easy way out by >marking Blake so strongly as a fanatic by the time Pressure >Point and Star One rolls around, Then, B7 as a popular show >on the BBC, couldn't possibly be considered "political" in >the sense of condoning so-called "terrorist" actions against >the British State. I'm not convinced that the makers of B7 had much of a choice here: the extent of terrorist action against the UK government probably made any other course of action impossible. It's easy perhaps to underestimate the effect that terrorist action has had on ordinary UK citizens over the past decades (eg Kathryn's 'where are the waste bins' question), eg commuting to London (early 90s) I recall approximately 1--2 bombs/bomb scares per week closing either chunks of the Underground or the major London stations, and I believe the rate was similar throughout the 80s, though I'm really too young to remember the 70s.... In a society where large numbers of people have been affected directly or indirectly by terrorist action, valorising terrorist actions on public-subsidised television would simply be impossible. Tavia

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Re: [B7L] Science Fiction and Political Reality (Long - was Brit-char-speak)
by Ashton7＠aol.com 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

In a message dated 3/3/01 10:33:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, Sestina94(a)aol.com writes: << (Wow! I really did post something serious on Lysator.....Hijackers Welcome!) >> And a great, interesting post it was, too. We're leaving for lunch, but I hope to have a comment or two when we get back. Thanks, Pat. You made some interesting points. Annie

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A belated thank-you and response
by Cheryl _ 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

I would like to take the opportunity here to say a thank you to Stephen Date, Sally Manton, Carol Mc and Helen Krummenacker for their posts to me, shortly following my last one(I hope I haven't missed anyone out) - I didn't get back to my mailbox until about a week later and then it was flooded with alot of arguments from all over the place and somehow I didn't feel all that comfortable popping back in with an old post which had settled down, however; I do thank you for your responses, and to answer Helen: >>>One thing we do like to share in the way of personal information is where people are based, generally and how you came to know the show. You may have mentioned these things, but it really only registers on my brain when it's the topic of general conversation. It's interesting to see how Blake's 7 has spread and how the introduction effects long-term biases-- I came in on 3rd season. There's a suggestion that people prefer the first Travis they see.<<< I'm from Australia. I first started watching B7 from it's original air date in England - my parents are English, but they decided to make Australia home, then, got homesick for the motherland, moved us all there and then got another attack of the wanderlust and we found ourselves back in Oz, consequently, I never saw the episodes where Blake had left until much later on in my life. Ironically, Blake was my favourite at the tender age of 16 and I loathed Avon, I found Avon's cynicism to be extremely annoying(I was too damn serious at 16) plus I didn't trust him (but I had good instincts...LOL). What a different story, many years later, when I came across B7 on video - I decided to watch from the beginning again and found I still very much liked Blake but - *Oh WOW* when I first saw Avon, this time around, I thought, *nice* but it wasn't until his "What a fiasco" speech that I was finally reeled in...hook, line and sinker :-) Re: Travis, hmmm - difficult, I like them both but if I had to pick one to stay, I guess I would go with Stephen Greif (Croucher, lost points for me in 'Trial' he was so quietly intimidating as he sat through the whole trial process and then he got up for his speech and started yelling and waving his arms - blew it, as far as I was concerned):-) ===== Cheryl. (My favourite 'Blake's 7' moment) What a fiasco! We could take over the ship you said, if I did my bit. Well, I did my bit, and what happened? Your 'troops' bumble around looking for someone to surrender to, and when they've succeeded, You, follow suit! (Avon to Blake. "Spacefall") _____________________________________________________________________________ http://store.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Store - The fastest, easiest way to open an online store.

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Re: [B7L] Re: Brit-char-speak
by Ashton7＠aol.com 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

In a message dated 3/3/01 11:28:05 AM Eastern Standard Time, N.Faulkner(a)tesco.net writes: << Which is the question I was trying to answer, as should have been abundantly clear. It is a state of mind that makes B7 British, and it happens to be *my* state of mind, which means more to me than the Union Jack, Her Maj, Cadbury's Creme Eggs or driving on the left. I don't appreciate anyone trying to dispossess me of it. Least of all because it's the strongest connection that holds me to the series itself. >> There's nothing wrong with that, Neil. But I believe it was you who made the comment that fan writers had no right to "Americanize" the characters because the show and the characters were British (apologies if it was someone else but I have no time nor inclination to go back through the archives... in any case, *someone* said it). To you, it is a state of mind that the characters are British. To others of us, the characters are members of the Federation. There is no "American" and "British" attitude to attribute to the characters when those of us who feel that way write the characters. Fan fiction is all about possibilities. If you want to write your characters to be what you perceive as "British" in manner, have at it. I'm not going to tell you not to, although I disagree that the internal universe of B7 reflects a British society. BTW, regarding another aspect of this discussion, I don't recall who made the original comments about shifting from video to film, etc., but it occurred to last night that this is done on American soap operas all the time (when they go on location, usually) and has been done as long as I can remember. Annie

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Re: Out of the frying pan (was Re: [B7L] Horizon and Redemption)
by Ashton7＠aol.com 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

In a message dated 3/3/01 6:06:33 AM Eastern Standard Time, una(a)qresearch.org.uk writes: << The McVitie's jaffa cake is a small round sponge cake, the top of which is covered in chocolate, and which has a 'smashing orangey bit' in the middle (orange jelly - or should that be jell-o..?). You can guzzle a box of 12 in about three minutes. They're just yummy. >> "Jaffa," eh? Isn't that what T'ealc's character is on Stargate? Maybe the original creator of the character was familiar with these cakes! Annie

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Re: [B7L] Re: Brit-char-speak
by Bizarro7＠aol.com 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

In a message dated 3/2/01 9:21:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, N.Faulkner(a)tesco.net writes: <<but to go looking for specific incidents in particular episodes is unlikely to turn up anything. The Britishness of the Federation (by which I mean here its ideology, the mindset of its citizens, not its social or political structure) is vague and elusive, wafting through the scripts, unseen but yet subliminally perceptible. >> And there endith this discussion for me, in a nutshell. If you've got a 4 series television show about which you can't cite a specific proof of British origin for its society...save for that which is vague, elusive or subliminal, then you have a future society of Earth. Not a future society of Great Britain. If Terry Nation had wanted to portray a British-decended society, he could have easily done so, in some manner as jingoistic as Roddenberry's OMEGA GLORY episode of Trek, or as subtle as a relic of the Empire on Servalan's desk. I believe he went to some trouble to make it a future society that was NON-specific to any nationality, and as far as this non-British viewer perceived it, he succeeded perfectly. Leah

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Re: [B7L] Re: in calm discussion (was Deliverance)
by Bizarro7＠aol.com 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

In a message dated 3/2/01 12:05:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, nydersdyner(a)yahoo.co.uk writes: << Thank you, Annie, for allowing me the last word. >> And thereby proving who had more self control in the interests of this on-line community. Yes, indeed. Leah

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RE: Out of the frying pan (edging back to B7)
by Tavia 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

Mistral wrote: >Servalan eats fresh fruit dipped in chocolate > and decorated with candied violets and real gold by her personal chef, > served on priceless antique china. She absolutely refuses to acknowledge > Jarriere on the other side of the table, contentedly eating batter-fried > Snowballs. While this is a visually stunning tableau (reminds me of one of my fave films, 'The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover'), isn't it Servalan who castigates Bercol for moaning about the quality of Space Command's food? (Trial). Tavia

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Re: Out of the frying pan (was Re: [B7L] Horizon and Redemption)
by Una McCormack 03 Mar '01

03 Mar '01

Mistral wrote: > With regards to Tunnock's products, two questions: do their Snowballs have a > high enough visibility to be recognizable? Matthew certainly started salivating at the mention of the Caramel Wafer. Other suggestions from this end are the (Cadbury's) mini-roll, or the (McVitie's) jaffa cake. Neither of which (particularly the second) would need the brand name. Una

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Blakes7 March 2001