World Watch OnLine: The Buckaroo Banzai Mailing List
#  52 (9 August 1998)
Submissions: WWatchOne@aol.com
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Number of subscribers: 528
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Contents:
Greetings
BB fanfic
Greetings
Re: World Watch OnLine 51 - 2 August 1998
Brian Setzer and the Hong Kong Cavaliers...
BB/Back to the Future Connections
An open response to Robert Crowell
Re: World Watch OnLine 51 - 2 August 1998
Re: World Watch OnLine 51 - 2 August 1998

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Greetings,

Still unsure if TABB in on the tube this month.
Haven't made it to any of the TV listing websites
to check it out. My most profuse apologies, etc...

BTW - we're coming up on TABBs fourteenth anniversary
(August 26th I believe - gads, I'll be in trouble if
I'm wrong, eh?). Celebrate accordingly.

Later...
ArcLight

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Subj:	 BB fanfic
Date:	98-08-03 00:18:30 EDT
From:	missdarcie@hotmail.com (Darcie Hobart)

    Hi,
    I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of some "BB" 
fanfic.  Thanks.

Darcie

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Subj:	 Greetings
Date:	98-08-03 21:15:15 EDT
From:	shoosh@mscomm.com (S Corrao)

Greetings and Salutations Arclight,

you are my new HERO...I subscribed awhile back to your amazing site...I am
still in AWE
at you loyalty and dedication.  Every time I get my weekly update from you,
 I feel the need to view my pathetic HBO copy of BB.  I had the E-mail
address of a BB irregular that was hip to burning me a copy off his lazar
disc,  but my hard drive crashed like Buckaroo did into the 8th dimension
and now I am document less...Can you send me in the right direction to a
fellow, honorable, dedicated blazer like you self?  
My Husband wanted me to ask you what you thought of Pretty P's spit string
hanging from the beer bottle?  (He is a sick blazer)  He also likes the
scene  in Indiana Jones where the guy eats a fly during "the transportation
of the Arc of the Covenant scene.."

Okay ArcLight,  Just wanted to really say Howdy and keep on keepin the Faith

shoosh@mscomm.com

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Subj:	Re: World Watch OnLine 51 - 2 August 1998
Date:	98-08-03 22:09:05 EDT
From:	Lord TZer0

In reply to Scott Tate, who mentioned BB references in Back to the Future, As
I recollect the car in to time warp at 88mph.  Could this be a reference to
HeartBeat 88?

T

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Subj:	 Brian Setzer and the Hong Kong Cavaliers...
Date:	98-08-04 15:08:15 EDT
From:	TAYSHA@Woodruff-Arts.org (Shawn Taylor)

Just had to throw in a semi-related recommendation - Brian Setzer
(formerly of The Stray Cats fame) is touring with his new band,
originally enough called the Brian Setzer Orchestra... they are
fantastic live, and their stage show is great (they open with the
orchestra coming out and playing the opening to the James Bond theme,
with Setzer coming on for the guitar part - BRILLIANT!)
and why do I say semi-related? Because one of the best tunes in the
concert (IMHO) is a fantastic arrangement of Since I Don't Have You.
The man has taste.
 -Shawn

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Subj:	 BB/Back to the Future Connections
Date:	98-08-04 22:28:45 EDT
From:	camelot@amigo.net (Scott Tate)

Figment (one of the much-appreciated keepers of the BB FAQ) corresponded
with me recently to raise a question about something I said in issue
#51.  Specifically, he had not been previously aware of any Buckaroo
Banzai references in Back to the Future.  I've already answered him
personally, but I figure if he needed clarification, so might others out
there, so here I am again...

Here's the way I understand it:  Someone with clout on the BTTF crew was
a Banzai fan.  I'm not sure who this was; it might have been Neil
Canton, who produced both TABB and the entire BTTF trilogy.  Other
likely suspects include Dennis Jones, a production manager on both TABB
and the first BTTF movie, and perhaps actor Christopher Lloyd, who also
had a little something to do with both projects.  Anyway, whoever it was
decided to include subtle homage to BB in BTTF.  For those of you who
are worried they've missed something obvious, rest easy:  to my
knowledge, BTTF contains no direct references to BB--no recycled props,
no swiped dialogue, nothing overt.

The most obvious of these indirect allusions is the flux capacitor,
which was intended to be vaguely evocative of the oscillation
overthruster.  Note the similar names.  There is even some physical
resemblance; this is easiest to see if you cue up both video tapes and
directly compare a couple of scenes.  First watch the jet car test at
the beginning of TABB.  When Buckaroo installs the overthruster, we can
see that it lights up a triangular display box; as the test gets
underway, we see Hikita uncover an identical display back in the
bunker.  Now let's switch from the test run of Buckaroo's jet car to
that of Doc Brown's time-traveling Delorean, about 25 minutes into
BTTF.  As Doc explains the flux capacitor to Marty, we're shown the
device mounted inside the car.  There's a suspicious resemblance to the
aforementioned overthruster display box.  In fact, the lighted Y-shaped
flux capacitor looks remarkably like an upside-down version of the
overthruster display.  Ultimately, of course, both the overthruster and
the capacitor are examples of experimental, cutting-edge technology
mounted over the driver's right shoulder that allow their respective
vehicles to disappear in a blue flash of special fx.

As you can see from this example, the homage was indirect indeed, making
it difficult to tell where to draw the line.  Many parallels can be
drawn, but which were intended and which were only coincidental?
Buckaroo Banzai and Marty McFly both have alliterative initials, drive
distinctive vehicles, and play lead guitar--is that deliberate?  Was
singer Huey Lewis' cameo in BTTF meant to be reminiscent of Billy Vera's
small role as Pinky Carruthers?  The Delorean had to attain 88 mph
before it could travel in time; is that a sly nod to Buckaroo's double-B
logo, or to his designation as "HB88" during the jet car run?  At what
point do we stop being insightful and start grasping at straws?  It's a
tough call.  Still, it can be fun to see how bad of a case of deja vu
you can develop before your head starts to swim.

As long as I'm pointing out links between BB and BTTF, here are a few
more BB alumni who went on to contribute to the BTTF trilogy:  actors
Read Morgan and Matt Clark, music supervisor Bones Howe, and set
decorator Linda DeScenna.  I'm not suggesting that all (or even any) of
these folks were necessarily part of a conspiracy; I suppose that might
be the case, but I'm just making an idle observation of their presence.

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings once again, and remember:  No
matter where you've gone, there you were... or something like that...

BBI Camelot/Scott Tate

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Subj:	 An open response to Robert Crowell
Date:	98-08-04 22:44:28 EDT
From:	camelot@amigo.net (Scott Tate)

I wanted to take some time to address some of the points raised by
Robert Crowell in #51.  Now, everybody keep in mind that I am neither
physicist nor philosopher; I'm just a guy with an interest in
multidimensional physics egged on by too many comic books who's hoping
that his ignorance doesn't show too badly.  : )

Mr. Crowell is quite right to observe that the conventional ordering of
the dimensions is somewhat arbitrary.  The three dimensions defining our
physical universe are length, width, and depth or, as Mr. Crowell labels
them in his posting, the X, Y, and Z axes.  (Yes, our universe has
numerous other properties such as mass, energy flow, and so on, but we
can safely ignore them for our current discussion.)  Each axis is a
line, and our measurements of these properties are defined in terms of
how each line or axis exists relative to the others.  For example, when
measuring an object's length, we define that length in terms of an axis
or plane that is perpendicular to the same object's width.  Because of
this way of thinking, these dimensions stack up on top of each other,
growing cumulatively more complex (as shown in the Flatlander view Mr.
Crowell mentioned).

Fundamentally, though, our ordering of these dimensions is, at least to
a degree, highly subjective.  What we label as "length" or "width"
varies widely as we rotate our perception.  For example, if you stood
along one side of a square table, you might arbitrarily think of the
edge nearest you as representing the table's width, and the edges to
your left and right as its length.  But if you repositioned yourself 90
degrees and stood along one of the sides you had previously thought of
as "length," that concept  might alter.  Objectively, both your first
and second impressions would be equally right and equally flawed.

Now consider this:  We define a dimension such as length or width as an
axis, a line stretching indefinitely in two opposite directions.  But a
line, mathematically speaking, must be decreed by two points.  Take any
two arbitrary points, draw a line connecting them by the shortest length
possible and, voila, there's your axis.  But what if you don't have two
points?  What if, instead, you have only a single point, with nothing
else in the entire universe?  It couldn't be measured it in
three-dimensional terms.  But image that you could date it somehow,
through radioactive decay or some other means.  (I know, I know... If
you're present to conduct such a test, you yourself provide a second
coordinate to the point, allowing an axis to be drawn, etc., etc.  Bear
with me; this is, after all, just a theoretical exercise.)   If you
dated the point twice, your second measurement would presumably show it
to be older than your first... because even in the absence of other
defining frames of reference, the point still exists relative to
itself.  In other words, it exists in time, and time supersedes all
other qualities.

Let me borrow an analogy from late author Isaac Asimov.  One of Asimov's
best-remembered themes is his stories dealing with the Three Laws of
Robotics.  The First Law, long held to be literally unbreakable by any
robot, was that a robot could not harm a human or, through inaction,
allow such harm to happen.  But eventually (minor spoiler here, Asimov
fans) one of his robotic characters found a loophole by postulating the
Zeroth Law, which suggested that the needs of humanity as a whole
outweighs the needs of individual humans.  Likewise, I agree that Mr.
Crowell is quite correct in labeling time as the zeroth dimension and
the medium in which the rest of reality is grounded.

 I'm not sure I agree so wholeheartedly with his assertion that "it
would probably rip us to shreds if we tried to travel in time."  This
seems too simplistic of a statement, considering that we are all
constantly traveling in time, moving forward at a predetermined pace.
The real difficulty lies in attempting to accelerate or move against the
flow.  On the other hand, he may be right; after all, the longer a
physical body exists--the further it moves in time--the more wear and
tear it exhibits.  But enough of that; time travel is a whole other can
of worms, ripe for debate in semantics as well as scientific theory, and
it's probably best left alone for now.

In short, Mr. Crowell, as Dr. Emilio Lizardo once said to Buckaroo under
more hostile circumstances, "May I pass along my congratulations on your
great interdimensional breakthrough.  I'm sure, in the miserable annals
of the Earth, you'll be duly enshrined." <grin>  Keep exploring this
interesting chain of thoughts.  But just in case something like this
comes up again... hey, ArcLight, how about offering a complimentary
subscription to Stephen Hawking?

BBI Camelot/Scott Tate

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Subj:	 Re: World Watch OnLine 51 - 2 August 1998
Date:	98-08-06 15:59:10 EDT
From:	rbncrtr1@sprintmail.com (Robin Carter)
Reply-to:	rbncrtr1@sprintmail.com

I've never posted anything to this list before, other than my sign up.
so here goes:
We now have a Clancy Brown Fan Club!
Beth Blighton, artist and fanfic writer, has just issued the 1st in a
(hopefully) long line of Clancy Brown Newsletters.
Contact her at skippery_boo@juno.com.
The newest update is that he is currently filming an HBO movie in Canada
called "Vendetta"(for now). His character's name is 'Hennesey', and it
sounds like he's playing another cop. No air date yet.

We also have up and running the Clancy Brown on-line list, at
ClancyBrown@onelist.com. Please write to Earth2Kim@aol.com for
directions on how to join and get in the discussions.
We have trivia questions with such wonderful prizes as "a sloooww dance
with John Danziger in VR"(I won that one!!), and 'special CB moment'
discussions.
And any new info about 'That Man' is immediately posted here.

-- 
smile.   Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its 
ground.

Robin C.
***********************
Charter Member of the Clancy Brown Fan Club
for more info, contact: Beth <skippery_boo@juno.com> editor
"There Can Be Only One!"
"Hello, Darlin'" Clancy Brown 6/17/98
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"...if I'm in the mood
with someone who wants to be in the mood
with being in the mood..."
(S.Perry)
http://home.sprintmail.com/~rbncrtr1

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Subj:	 Re: World Watch OnLine 51 - 2 August 1998
Date:	98-08-09 09:45:27 EDT
From:	wheckel@juno.com (William  A Heckel)

How much is an ORIGANL   BB Across the 8th Dimension movie poster worth.

I jus picked one up at a yard sale. It IS FOLDED, but in perfect shape.
It was stored in a plastic
bag. Ane even smells old, in that good poster way. 

I paid  $ 5.00 for it. I just about ran to the car after I paid for it..

I also picked ORIGNALS  of the following..  I paid $ 20.00 for all of
these..


The Towering Inferno

Posiedion Adventure

The Man Who Would Be King    with ---Sean  Connery & Mike Caine

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Hmmm....

No more fanfic this week. C'mon folks, I know someone
has to have written something to occupy our time 
between installments of "The Whisper" and 
"The Shadow: Return of the Demon."

BTW - anyone have a comprehensive list of BB fanzines
and/or fanzines with BB content? And if they don't
does this sound like something we can pool our
recouces on?

- ArcLight

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