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[August 24, 1967] Up and Around (Lunar Orbiter)

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by Gideon Marcus

Wall to Wall Coverage

When President John F. Kennedy, on May 4, 1961, commited the United States to "achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth," he initiated not one, but several parallel endeavors.

To land a man on the Moon requires not just a spaceship, a rocket, and the infrastructure to support them, it requires reconnaissance.  When the President made that speech, the closest photographs of the lunar surface had been taken from 250,000 miles away.  The smallest details our 'scopes could make out at the time were about a quarter mile wide.  This is fundamentally useless when trying to determine whether a given site is flat enough to be suitable for landing a spacecraft.  Guessing the height of lunar mountains from their shadows at such resolution was similarly impossible.  Who knew how many hidden peaks lurked to snag Apollo astronauts on their way down?

Project Ranger was NASA's first major lunar project, each spacecraft taking pictures of the Moon before crashing into it. Three successful missions achieved resolutions as sharp as a foot and a half.  Good enough, resolution-wise, but can you imagine having to send a Ranger for any one of dozens of potential landing sites?  The cost would be prohibitive.  Ranger's follow-up, the soft-landing Surveyor was able to determine if the lunar surface could be landed on, but it was no better at mapping the Moon than Ranger.


Potential Apollo site areas

As early as 1960, NASA knew it would need an orbiting spacecraft if it was ever to thoroughly map the Moon.  There was Earthly precedent — the Discoverer spy satellite was at that time already taking high resolution photographs of the Earth for military surveillance purposes.  But getting a spacecraft all the way to the Moon, and it being able to provide footage of 99% of the lunar surface?  That was another kettle of fish.  That required a big rocket to carry a big satellite that could carry a big imaging system.  TV imaging was quickly discarded as being too bulky and low resolution.

In 1962, Space Technology Laboratories put forth an orbiter proposal that used a film system, with each frame to be imaged and transmitted back to Earth.  This was the first workable design, and combined with elements of an RCA proposal, NASA was able to officially solicit contractors for the project in mid-1963.  Ultimately, Boeing won the contract, in large part because of their design's use of Eastman Kodak's new dry film development system.  Their camera would be more reliable, lighter, and less susceptible to solar flares ruining the photos.

Like Scales Falling from the Eyes

It took more than two years of development, but by 1966, the 850 pound Lunar Orbiter was ready.  Using the same Atlas Agena as Ranger, the first spacecraft roared off to the Moon on August 10.  Despite some navigational failures and a bit of overheating, Lunar Orbiter 1 braked into lunar orbit on August 14.  The next day, the spacecraft began sending back pictures–not of the Moon, but of previously developed images, to test the system.

Issues plagued the high-resolution camera system throughout the mission, smearing many of the photos.  But by August 29, Lunar Orbiter 1 was able to take 205 pictures of the Moon at altitudes ranging from 1000 to just 30 miles (no air means an orbit can be as low as you like), readout of which began August 30 and finished September 16.  All of the major Apollo landing sites were photographed, and at high contrast.  The cherry on top of the lunar sundae was this photograph of the Earth, the first taken from the vicinity of the Moon, and the longest distance snapshot of our home planet:

This did not mark the end of the first Lunar Orbiter's mission.  For the next six weeks, NASA continued to receive telemetry and data from the probe's micrometeor detectors (no hits recorded).  But by October 28, Lunar Orbiter was a sick ship, indeed, running low on stabilizing jet fuel, overheating, and losing power.  It was starting to broadcast erratically, which threatened to interfere with communications with the upcoming Lunar Orbiter 2.  So, on October 29, during its 577th orbit, Lunar Orbiter 1 was directed to impact with the Far Side of the Moon.

Two for Two

Just eight days later, on November 6, Lunar Orbiter 2 headed for the Moon.  Much of it had been painted black, which addressed the navigation issues (glare blotting out the guide star Canopus).  Overheating was avoided by frequent maneuvers to minimize exposure of heat-absorbing surfaces to the sun.  By November 18, the spacecraft was snapping perfect medium resolution (for broad range) and high res (for potential landing site) pictures of the Moon from a 30 mile orbit.  Mapping was done by the 26th and readout by December 7.  Among the most significant shots included one of the Ranger 8 impact site and another dramatic photograph of Copernicus crater:


(C1 is Ranger's impact crater)


Copernicus from the side

817 pictures were taken in all, only six of which were lost due a glitch in an amplifier on the final day of readout.  Lunar Orbiter 2 is still in orbit, returning data.  In fact, it was hit three times by micrometeors back in November, probably by the same cometary fragments that give us our annual Leonids meteor display.

Following Up

Lunar Orbiter 3, launched February 7, 1967, had a more refined mission than its predecessors.  Its job was to focus on promising sites its sisters had found rather than mapping willy nilly.  NASA engineers planned to closely study its orbit around the Moon for gravitational wiggles, thus making a map of the Moon's insides as well as its surface.

Unfortunately, while the spacecraft was shooting pictures, the film advance mechanism started to balk.  NASA terminated photography on February 23 after just 211 pictures.  On March 4, with 72 photos still left to be transmitted back to Earth, the film advance motor burned out.  Still, had NASA not stopped shooting pictures earlier, it is likely they would have lost all of the photos.

The shots they did get were unprecedentedly good, including this shot of the Surveyor 1 landing site:

Gilding the lily

At this point, the Lunar Orbiter program had already fulfilled its main requirement: documenting all possible Apollo landing sites.  Now it was time to push the system to its limits.  Lunar Orbiter 4 went up on May 4, 1967, beginning photography on the 11th.  The spacecraft immediately ran into trouble.  The thermal door that regulated camera temperature wasn't closing properly, letting light leak through.  This led to a scramble to test the problem on the ground.  Engineers were able to keep the door partially open, threading the needle between too much glare and dropping the temperature such that condensation fogged the film.  The readout encoder started going, too.  NASA cut off photography atfter 163 shots, but because the encoder was bleating erroneous signals, engineers had to work out a tedious, manual system for film advance and readout.  Still, they got it done by June 1, resulting in 99% coverage of the Moon's near side at ten times the resolution possible from Earth.  This revealed a bonanza of selenological detail.  Plus, 80% of the Moon's Far Side had now been mapped, too.

The last Lunar Orbiter went up on August 1 with a primarily scientific mission.  Shooting began August 6, and on August 8, the spacecraft took an historic shot of the full Earth:

All of the planned 212 shots were taken by August 18 covering five Apollo sites, 36 science sites, and 23 previously unphotographed sites on the lunar Far Side.  An unqualified success, the spacecraft will enter the next phase of its life this week, returning data on the lunar environment and gravitational field along with the still orbiting Lunar Orbiters 2 and 3 (contact with #4 was lost July 17).

Unprecedented

It was just a few years ago that it seemed the Moon was a curse.  Most of the early Pioneer probes failed, with only Pioneer 4 a real success.  Three our of nine Rangers were duds.  Along comes Lunar Orbiter, every mission of which was more or less a triumph.  The way has been paved for the first human beings to set foot on another world in a year or two.

But beyond that, real science has been done.  A few years back, my sister gave me a lovely 1963 map of the Moon, the most detailed possible at the time.  I can't wait for a new map, based on Lunar Orbiter pictures, to come out.

I know what I want for Hannukah this year!




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Magazine, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Serial, Uncategorized

[July 8, 1967] Family lines (August 1967 Galaxy)

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by Gideon Marcus

Royal Families

The news always likes to focus on heads of state, especially when they are flashy or glamorous in some way.  From Princess Grace of Monaco to Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, these leaders are instant idols, somehow more compelling for having the reins (and reigns) of nations even though they presumably put their pants/skirts/obis on the same way as the common folk.

This week scored a triplet of spotlights.  For instance, in the island nation of Tonga, Taufaʻahau Tupou IV was crowned monarch in a ceremony that included a feast of 71,000 suckling pigs!  And that, by itself, tells you all you need to know about the current Jewish/Moslem population of Tonga…

Closer to home, El BJ, chief of the United States, has got his first grandson.  Patrick Lyndon Nugent is the newborn child of First Daughter Luci Nugent (neé Johnson).  There is no word, as yet, whether his toddler status will grant him deferment in the lastest draft lottery.

Finally, junta chairman General Nguyen Cao Ky, the flamboyant leader of South Vietnam since 1965, has decided not to run for President in the upcoming democratic (perhaps) September elections.  Premier Thiệu has been backed by the junta for the top role, instead, with Ky getting the Vice Presidential nod.  It's all a lot of musical chairs, anyway. After all, Ky has asserted that the only politician he admires is Hitler, which tells you all you need to know about the state of democracy in that country (and its current Jewish population…)

Watching Big Brother

Fred Pohl, one of the original Futurians and a pillar of the SF community, has had his hands full for nearly a decade.  After he took over the reins of Galaxy and the newly acquired IF from H. L. Gold, rather than sit on his laurels, he looked for new worlds to conquer.  Thus, Worlds of Tomorrow was launched in 1963.  But juggling three mags (plus a few reprint-only titles) was a challenging job, often resulting in uneven quality and occasionally right-out flubs.  For instance, last year's issue of Worlds of Tomorrow where the pages got all mixed up.

One would think, with WoT going out of publication, that things might be less hectic over at the Guinn Co. mags.  But, in fact, this month's issue of Galaxy is even more higgledy-piggledy, making reading a real challenge.


by Sol Dember

Which is a shame, because there's some quite good stuff in here (mixed with some mediocre stuff, to be sure).  Thankfully, you've got me to be your guide.  Just grab your compass, or you might get lost.

Hawksbill Station, by Robert Silverberg


by Virgil Finlay

One-way time travel is developed in the early 21st Century.  Since humanity is deathly afraid of creating paradoxes, the new portals are used by the totalitarian regime for just one purpose: shipping undesirables into the far past, a sort of Paleozoic Botany Bay.

Hawksbill Station is the one reserved for male subversives, established sometime in the late Cambrian (Silverberg repeatedly gives a date of two billion years ago, but of course, the Cambrian went from about 600-500 million B.C.) Our perspective is that of Barrett, the de facto head of the more than 100 settler/prisoners on the coast of what will one day be the Atlantic Ocean.  It is a community slowly decaying as its denizens age along with no greater purpose in life.  That is, until a new young convict arrives from the future, one who appears to be a government spy…

This is more of a travelogue than a story, and the ending comes on a bit abruptly.  But the characterization, the details, the setting are all so gripping that I tore through the novella in no time, despite the labyrinthine page distribution.

Four stars, and if it ever gets expanded into a novel, it could make five.

Angel, Dark Angel, by Roger Zelazny

In another future-set tale, society is maintained by a sort of corporate Angel of Death who, with the help of ten thousand teleporting assistants, brings death to citizens after they have made sufficient contribution to humanity (and are, perhaps, on the verge of being detrimental).

One noteworthy woman has cultivated the aesthetic race of spirules (depicted on the cover) as an antidote to the cold, mechanistic technology of her time.  A subordinate angel is sent to dispatch her, but things prove more complicated.

This is a middlin' Zelazny story, not an empty poetic suit like some, but not a near masterpiece like some of his other works.  Three stars.

We're Coming Through the Window, by K. M. O'donnell

Throwaway vignette about a fellow who keeps duplicating himself due to time travel and needs Fred Pohl's help to get out of it.

Cute.  Three stars.

Ginny Wrapped in the Sun, by R. A. Lafferty

Ginny seems to be a precocious four year old, but in fact, is actually just a baseline human, maturing at age 4 and going on as an upright monkey.  It's the rest of us who are evolutionary aberrations, having five times as many heartbeats that a creature our mass should have.  Inevitably, Lafferty suggests, we'll all go ape.

This tale doesn't really work, and it's a bit more impenetrable than Lafferty's usual fare.  Two stars.

For Your Information: A Pangolin Is a Pangolin, by Willy Ley

Ley's article on the strange mammal that is neither aardvark nor anteater nor armadillo is interesting, but not much more than you might get from a rather good encyclopedia entry.

Three stars.

9-9-99, by Richard Wilson

Two wizened old characters are determined to settle an old score since both have outlived their wagered death dates, the bet having been made back in the 30s.

Whether it is even possible for them to collect given the state of the Earth in the late '90s is another matter…

Good enough, I guess.  Three stars.


by Wally Wood

Travelers Guide to Megahouston, by H. H. Hollis


by Wally Wood

This is a very long, somewhat farcical account of a 21st Century evolution of the Astrodome, in which domes enclose whole cities.

Pretty dull stuff.  Two stars.

The Being in the Tank, by Theodore L. Thomas

An alien being materializes in the heart of a hellish hydrazine factory and demands to speak to the President.  But is he the real deal?

Forgettable, but inoffensive.  A low three stars.

Hide and Seek, by Linda Marlowe

A childhood game is adapted into a method of population control.  It has shock value, but little else.

Two stars.

The Great Stupids, by Miriam Allen deFord

Mad scientist makes everyone under 50 a mental moron, all in service of a rather lame joke at the end.  DeFord was once one of the stars of the genre, but her light has waned over the years.  Here's hoping she's a Cepheid variable and not a dying dwarf.

To Outlive Eternity (Part 2 of 2), by Poul Anderson


by Jack Gaughan

It is fitting that the final long piece of the issue is a sort of mirror image of Silverberg's novella in terms of strengths and weaknesses.  As we read in last month's installment, the ramscoop colony ship Leonora Christine suffered damage to its decelerators while traveling at near light speed on the way to Beta Virginis.  The solution: to accelerate to terrific velocities instead, plunging through the heart of the galaxy and out into the comparative emptiness of intergalactic space where repairs might be effected.

In this half, event after event conspires to force the Christine to travel ever faster and faster, ultimately spanning the lifespan of the universe and beyond in a matter of months.  The story is told as a series of problem-solving conversations spread out over the weeks, and each character largely exists solely to have these conversations.  Except for the women, of course, who are almost universally hysterics or hangers-on…except for the First Officer who ultimately whores herself out for the good of the crew.

In short, the setup and ideas are really neat, but its a plot outline, not a novel.  And where Poul Anderson does try to characterize, it's with quick stereotypes, and usually not agreeable ones.  As for setting, there really isn't one.  The crew of the Christine might as well be floating heads in blank spaces for all we really get to experience the ship.

Readable, but badly flawed.  Three stars.

Matrix Goose, by Jack Sharkey

Last up, some very familiar nursery rhymes as they might be rendered by robots–after the demise of humanity.  It's cute.  Three stars.


Perhaps my favorite example, art by Gray Morrow

Cross-eyed Kin

And so, Galaxy ends up a largely enjoyable, but unremarkable read — just under 3 stars in ranking.  Perhaps, with the demise of Worlds of Tomorrow further in the rear-view mirror, Pohl will be able to concentrate on (and concentrate the best stories into) his remaining mags.

On the other hand, perhaps he hasn't learned his lesson.  He's got a new magazine is coming out next month…



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[March 28, 1967] At last, a drop to drink (April 1967 Analog)

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by Gideon Marcus

Back to Basics

Our family recently went to the movies to see the latest war epic, Tobruk.  It's the story of a British commando unit teamed with a company of German Jews charading as a unit of the Afrika Korps.  Their goal: to destroy the supply depot at Tobruk and stop Rommel in his tracks.

The first half was decent, but the second devolved into Hollywood schlock.  Particularly when one knows one's history: there was such a raid, but it ended in abject failure.  Tobruk is not so mind-numbingly mediocre as TV's Rat Patrol, but they are in the same genus.

How to get the taste out of my mouth?  As it turned out, local channel 9 was airing the old Bogart movie, Sahara, filmed in 1943 as the war was going on.  I'd seen it when it first premiered, and so I knew to circle the listing and bake the popcorn so my family and friends could enjoy it with me.  If you haven't had the pleasure of this amazing saga of a lone M3 tank in the African desert, and its ragtag crew it collects from nearly a dozen different nations, well, give it a watch next time it airs.

Old Standby

Just as I found the antidote to modern bloat in a classic production of the '40s, this month, the answer to the rather lackluster science fiction being turned out of late was found not in a magazine of the '40s, but in one that, for many, peaked in that "Golden Age."  Indeed, the April 1967 Analog was one of the finest examples of Campbell's editorial output in a long time.


by John Schoenherr

To Love Another, by James Blish and Norman L. Knight

First, a case of eating words.  Please pass the mustard.

James Blish and Norman L. Knight have composed a number of novellas in a particular setting.  A few centuries from now, humanity is bursting at the seams, shoulder to shoulder on a severely overcrowded planet.  The science of tectogenetics has created a new race of humans, the Tritons, one perfectly at home in the oceans.  Against this backdrop, the asteroid "Flavia" is on a collision course with Earth, threatening tremendous damage when it hits.  Efforts are being made to minimize its impact (pardon the pun).

Two stories have been set in this timeline: The Shipwrecked Hotel and The Piper of Dis.  I rated both of them two stars.  They were dull, plodding tales, and after the last one, I stated, "I hope this is the last piece in the series."

I take it back.


by Kelly Freas

To Love Another is a vivid tale of love between Dorthy Sumter, head of Submarine Products Corporation, and her lieutenant, the Triton Tioru.  It's hard to describe it as having a plot, in the strictest sense of the word.  Rather, it is a pair of viewpoints at a particular juncture in humanity's history, one of its most momentous.  It is a gentle adventure that runs from the depths of the ocean, to the hive of a Habitat '67-type city, to… well, to the place In-Between.


Habitat '67 in Montreal

Not quite five stars, but excellent stuff.

The Enemy Within, by Mack Reynolds


by Leo Summers

What's a mother to do when her eager little boy winds up locked inside a psuedo-intelligent spacecraft, and all her efforts seem only to make the problem worse?

This is an effective, well-drawn tale by Mr. Reynolds, though if there is anything to be taken away from it, it's that spanking is an outdated punishment that ultimately does more harm than good.

Three stars.

The Feckless Conqueror, by Carl A. Larson

If humans are to settle other planets, they will either have to adapt to new environments or adapt their enivronments.  Larson examines the adaptibility of the human species, noting our tolerance to oxygen pressure, heat, cold, gravity, and magnetic fields.

It's pretty good.  Three stars.

To Change Their Ways, by Joseph P. Martino

On the planet of New Eden, where the men grow wheat and the women…turn it into bread and noodles…famine threatens.  Seems the hardheaded farmers refuse to give up their tailored grain, which cannot tolerate the seasonal cooling that is gradually chilling the planet (seasons last decades on this long-orbit world).  A sector administrator is sent to help out the planetary coordinator, mostly to harangue him about being tougher with the recalcitrants.

If ever there was a story with no drama, no plot beats, no there, it's this one.  Two stars.

The Time-Machined Saga (Part 2 of 3), by Harry Harrison


by John Schoenherr

Last month, I was a little hard on Harrison's newest serial, in which a time machine is put to work for cheap on location shooting in the 11th Century.  It's better this time around, as the production of the film goes underway.  The beefcake hack of a star gets a broken leg and refuses to work.  Luckily, Ottar, the native Viking, is more than willing to work for a bottle of whiskey a day and a silver mark a month.  And he's a natural for the part!

But while the scenes filmed in Norway and the Orkneys go well enough, a wrinkle is introduced when it is discovered that there are no colonies in Vinland–not in the 11th Century or ever.  Only one solution for that: found Vinland (with cameras rolling, of course).

It's rollicking fun with a lot of good encyclopaedic data.  My only quibble is that the timeline of Harrison's book is clearly all of a piece; the first installment had the film crew seeing themselves from a "later" time trip in the past.  But if the timeline exists with all travels baked in, why didn't they find themselves filming the landing at Vinland?  Perhaps this will be explained next chapter.

Either way, it's still worth four stars.

Ambassador to Verdammt, by Colin Kapp


by Kelly Freas

Imagine a race of aliens so bizarre that the human mind can barely register their existence, let alone make meaningful contact.  The science team on Verdammt knows the Unbekannt are intelligent beings, but prolonged interchange leads to a psychotic break.  It will take a very special kind of ambassador to bridge the species gap.

This is a story that would have fared better in the hands of a true master, a Delany or a Cordwainer Smith.  As it is, there's a bit too much artificial delaying of shoe-drops to heighten drama.  The scenes from the perspective of the character meeting the Unbekannt lack the lyricism to really make them shine. 

That said, it is a neat idea, it is at least competently rendered, and it made me think. That's what an stf story's supposed to do, right?

So, a solid three stars.

Compare and Contrast

For the second time this year, Analog has topped the pack of magazine (and magazine-ish) offerings, clocking in at 3.2 stars.  Thus, it beats out New Worlds (3.1), IF (3), Path into the Unknown (2.6), Fantasy and Science Fiction (2.5), Galaxy (2.3), New Writings #10 (2.2), and Amazing (2.1).

It was a pretty peaked month, in general, with the best thing outside this issue probably a fourteen-year old reprint by Judith Merril (which was, in fact, the only piece published by a woman this entire month).

Still, it's nice to know that oases can still sometimes be found, even this often bleak desert of a modern magazine era.  Here's hoping it the hot spring doesn't turn into a mirage next month…



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Conventions/Performances, Uncategorized

[September 4, 1965] Doctor's Orders (Review of "A Doctor in Spite of Himself")

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by Victoria Lucas

The Best Sign in the World

Time travel is a staple in science fiction. If the nearest planet isn't far enough, try a few hundred years ago, or a few thousand. I recently viewed a performance of Molière's play, "A Doctor in Spite of Himself," and while it does not feature time travel, for me a work of art from another era always requires time travel to appreciate it.

However, to get to the time to which I just traveled–the late Baroque era in Europe–travel in space was important in several ways. First, I had to travel from my home in San Francisco to Saratoga, an exotic kingdom nearly 50 miles south, southwest of San Jose. The object of going there was a play at the renowned Paul Masson Winery, sponsoring "Music at the Vineyards" for the summer, in particular last Sunday the 29th, for the matinee performance. I don't have the kind of money to either buy a ticket for the performances at the Winery, or to buy gasoline to feed my old Dodge car that is parked on the street most of the time, so arrangements were necessary. Travel in time for the travel in space was about an hour each way.

Processed By eBay with ImageMagick, z1.1.0. ||B2

The second type of space travel was the travel in the play I went to see itself. In "A Doctor in Spite of Himself," the French actor and playwright known as Molière takes us to "the countryside" of France. This travel engaged mental faculties only, no gasoline necessary. The transition was made easier by the presence of the Woodwind Arts Quintet of Los Angeles, who had had to do some traveling themselves to get to Saratoga and set up no later than 3:30 pm. Focusing on the late Baroque period in France, when the play was written, the music was mostly by Jean Philippe Rameau, with a little help from Francois Couperin and Christoph W. Gluck. (The originals were heavy on harpsichord, not a feature of wind quintets, so some arrangement was necessary and mentioned in the program, below.)

Program for "The Doctor in Spite of Himself"

The third type of space travel is entangled in time travel in that understanding the late Baroque period requires some adjustment in attitude. In thinking about the play I realized why space and time were so important. Like England's Shakespeare, France's Molière was well-known in his time and changed his language forever. Unlike England's Shakespeare, Molière was condemned by the Catholic Church and shunned by the aristocracy and saw one of his now best known plays, "Tartuffe," banned. When he died, priests refused him the last rites.
Molière, around 1658, as depicted by Pierre Mignard

The difference? I think it was that Molière did not, like Shakespeare, change the space or time of his plays to make it seem that he was not talking about the present or the nearby. Consider "Hamlet"; it was set in Denmark. Consider "Othello"; it was set in Italy. "Henry IV" was set nearly 200 years in the past from the year he wrote it. I am not advocating such subterfuge, I am just opining that it could save your bacon if you are criticizing a current dictator or monarch and/or his/her politics, mores, or religion, or those of the ruling classes. Molière was a favorite of the king and court, but not of the church or the ruling classes outside Paris. Fortunately, in my own space and time, we are allowed to not take Molière seriously, and, as he has his "doctor" say, "When a doctor makes a patient laugh, it’s the best sign in the world." Are we not all patients at some time or other?

Where the Goat is Tied, There It Must Graze

"The goat" is the wet-nurse Jacqueline's image of herself: tied to an ignorant and jealous husband who helps the steward Valere find a doctor who will treat his mute daughter. In my case, no one has gotten my goat, but I am tied to San Francisco. The back story here is that my arrival in Saratoga was associated with a performance by actors and a director (Kermit Sheets) who usually work at The Playhouse in San Francisco. My fortune is such at this time that not only am I a volunteer at The Playhouse, but I know Cyril Clayton, who is an amateur actor associated with the Playhouse, and who was driving anyway to Saratoga to play Valere, so I rode along. In the play, in the process of recruiting the "doctor," Sganarelle (actually "a woodcutter"), Valere and Jacqueline's husband Lucas (no relation, thanks be) beat and kidnap him. Rather a rough recruitment, no?

But this is all a result of the scheme of Sganarelle's wife Martine, whom he beat, and who wanted him to be beaten since she couldn't manage it herself. Sound a little like Punch and Judy? Molière spent 13 years with an itinerant commedia dell'arte group, and of course elements of that raucous and popular tradition are incorporated into his art. Think R. G. Davis and the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

I am not disturbed by the roughness, but I am, as usual, bothered by stereotypes of women, funny as they may be. In this case, women and men share being the objects of a cultural prejudice that it is not a good idea to intervene in fights or bullying, because both sides may turn on the do-gooder. After chasing away an interloper, along with her husband, Martine begins to figure out how to have her husband beaten. Oddly enough, she thinks the best way to do it is to make people believe he is really a wonderful doctor and might have to be beaten to admit that he is.

You may enjoy the play, and I don't want to give anything away, so I won't reveal more of the plot now. I felt very privileged to be in the beautiful surroundings of the Winery's outdoor stage, sampling the wine, and walking among well-dressed and genteel people, enjoying the music.

This performance is over, but watch for more summer fare at this venue. If you cannot find another performance of this play, remember that San Francisco, the surrounding area, and many if not most major cities are engorged with libraries. Molière's work is not hard to find in translation–even this least frequently performed of his plays.

I think, in fact, that this play is exactly what the doctor ordered if you could use some laughs.

[Dn't miss your chance to see Kris, Cora, and Katie Heffner talk about the state of fandom in 1965, right on the heels of Worldcon! Register now!]




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A word from our sponsor… (and a personal plea)

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by Gideon Marcus

I'm going to break character for a moment. I hope you'll bear with me, because it's important. We need your help.

One of our goals with the Journey has always been to bring lost classics to light, especially those by marginalized voices. Last year, we took the plunge and launched our own publishing company: Journey Press. Our flagship release was Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963), fourteen fantastic stories by forgotten female science fiction authors.

When we started Journey Press, we had a plan. We’d launch Rediscovery, and if it did well, we’d start selling other books: some by new authors, some reprints of forgotten gems. We decided early on that we wanted to focus on bookstores. Yes, we also made our books available digitally and through Amazon, but bookstores were and always have been at the heart of our sales strategy. People told us we were nuts, but guess what? It worked! Thanks to you and our bookstore partners, Rediscovery ended up being something of a bestseller. Within a few months, it was selling coast to coast in hundreds of stores. We got rave reviews, and word of mouth gave us a swell of interest beyond anything we’d expected.

Now established, we knew future books would have a ready base of support. To that end, we contracted with a couple of big names to reprint a couple of excellent books from the era of Galactic Journey: I Want the Stars, by Tom Purdom, and Galactic Sybil Sue Blue, thanks to the estate of Rosel George Brown. We’ve got a terrific fantasy romance in progress. More books in the Rediscovery series are planned. And on and on.

But before all those, we were ready to release my first novel, Kitra, a space adventure with themes of isolation, teamwork, and hope. It's in the "YA" genre, but it was really inspired by the "juveniles" of the 20th Century, designed to appeal to young and old alike. Not only is it a great book, but The Young Traveler did the lovely interior illustrations.

With great enthusiasm, we were counting down to launch Kitra on March 16, 2020. Many bookstores had already pledged to promote it, and advance reviews had been very positive.

And then COVID-19 happened.

Now the bookstores are closed or under restricted hours, and everyone’s worried about what’s coming next. Our promotional and business plans are completely out the window. The future of Journey Press is uncertain.

This means we have to change our strategy. We need to focus on online sales, working with the beast that is Amazon. We're not neglecting bookstores — in fact, we've got several virtual shows planned, which we'll announce in various media and you'll see on the side of the page and prefacing articles. And when this is over, we'll be partnering with plenty of stores again from the moment they open their doors. But for now, we need to go straight to you, the reader, rather than rely on middlemen. You are the ones who can and will shape the future of Journey Press.

So I'm interrupting our regularly scheduled program to make a request. Several, really:

  1. Buy our books. For you, for friends, for family. The more, the better! Each sale increases the visibility of the books while also directly supporting the Press. Plus, you get an amazing story (or several) to help while away your time in isolation or lockdown.

  2. Please leave reviews, both on Amazon and the Journey Press site on the book pages. Nothing will contribute to the success of our books more than getting the word out. Speaking of which…

  3. Tell your friends! By word of mouth, by blog, newspaper article, megaphone — let folks know we exist and that you like what we do – not just our books, but our blog, too!

  4. Recommend Rediscovery and Kitra to local libraries and bookstores. Most aren't open right now, but they will be. Plus, some are doing curbside pickup and virtual delivery. If you can support your local bookstore through this crisis, we hope you will!

  5. Connect us with presentation venues. Not only are our shows fun and educational, they're a perfect way to connect with us and the outside world right now. If there's a venue you think might benefit from a Journey appearance, please let them – and us – know!

By doing these things you will ensure that Journey Press can continue to bring out more new books from interesting creators, classic and current, for years to come. Plus, you get to read the great books we're coming out with, now and in the future. It's a win for everyone.

You can get Kitra in e-book and/or paperback here. Rediscovery is available here.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support.

Gideon Marcus

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TV, Uncategorized

[January 16, 1965] What a Difference a Year Makes (The Outer Limits, Season 2, Episodes 13-17)

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by Natalie Devitt

About this time last year, I was writing glowing reviews about The Outer Limits. It is a little disappointing that it is already time to say goodbye to the show. But with a number of changes behind the scenes, a new timeslot that certainly has not helped with ratings, and good episodes becoming few and far between, it does not entirely come as a surprise that the show did not even make it through a full second season. That said, it is with some sadness that I look back at the final five offerings from The Outer Limits.

The Duplicate Man, by Robert C. Dennis

In this adaptation of Clifford D. Simak’s 1951 story Goodnight, Mr. James, it is the year 2025 and “an alien life of unimaginable horror” called a Megasoid is on the loose, despite the fact that Megasoids “haven’t been permitted since 1986.” The creature is living in an exhibit at the Space Zoological Garden, unbeknownst to the site’s staff or visitors. Luckily, the Megasoid is currently less of a threat to the general public due to the fact that it is in the middle of its “reproductive cycle.“ Once the cycle ends, the alien’s instinct to kill reactivates.

It is up to the man responsible for bringing the Megasoid to Earth, a researcher named Henderson James, performed by Ron Randell of 1961’s King of Kings, to hunt the creature down. Rather than put himself in danger, James hatches a plan, which involves creating a duplicate of himself that can be “programmed to find and kill a Megasoid.” But he has to be careful because duplicates can be very realistic, with the ability to recall more and more of the original person’s memories the longer they exist, which can make it nearly impossible to differentiate between the two. This means that the duplicate must be destroyed as soon as its task has been completed. Unfortunately for James, that does not quite happen before the doppleganger has an opportunity to meet his wife, played by the lovely Constance Towers, who I must say has been making some interesting movies with director Samuel Fuller lately.

The premise of this episode could work in the right hands. Here, there are too many pieces that never quite seem to quite fit together; perhaps it simply tries too hard. Artistically, it certainly is ambitious, with its very stylized lighting, atmospheric musical score provided by Harry Lubin, great filming locations (which include the Chemosphere in Los Angeles), and some shots which appear to be fairly carefully composed. The costume design, while sometimes odd, takes some bold risks. On the topic of odd costumes, the episode’s creature looks a cross between a bird and a gorilla.

The dialogue and performances can be awkward at times. Even though it is a misfire, I have to give the show some praise for trying with The Duplicate Man. Two and a half stars, mainly for the art direction and production design.

Counterweight, by Milton Krims

Counterweight is based on the short story by the same name from writer Jerry Sohl. In this telling of his story, a group of five men, which include Michael Constantine (The Twilight Zone’s I am the Night- Color Me Black) and one woman, played by Jacqueline Scott (The Outer Limits’s The Galaxy Being), participate in an experiment that spans several months, a simulated journey in space to a planet called Antheon, in hopes of winning a cash prize. Inside their mock spacecraft is a panic button that anyone on board can press at any time for any reason if they want out of the experiment. In the event that the panic button is pressed, the entire experiment is terminated, and each of them goes home empty-handed. Once aboard, it is not long before strange and difficult to explain things begin happening to each of the crew members and they all start to blame one another, which jeopardizes the fate of the experiment. Is it all psychosomatic or is an outside force trying to sabotage them?

Perfectly good actors can not save Counterweight from itself, probably because there is absolutely no character development. Instead what we have is stereotypes, like the uneducated construction worker or the lonely spinster career woman. Growing worse as it unfolds, the hour’s final act is an absolute disaster, aside from a brief but memorable appearance by a much more entertaining stop motion plant creature.

Those factors combined with some seriously slow pacing overall, makes Counterweight extremely difficult to watch from start to finish. Having said that, there are a few effectively spooky moments, especially when each of the characters is trying to fall asleep, while unknowingly being targeted by a mysterious entity. Also, during these sequences, the musical score is especially effective. Still, one and a half stars is about all I can offer to Counterweight.

The Brain of Colonel Barham, by Robert C. Dennis

The United States is eager to be the first country to put a man on Mars. Colonel Barham (Anthony Eisley of Hawaiian Eye), with his “specialized knowledge about space technology”, is the perfect man for the job. The only problem is that he has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. His superiors in the military think they have the solution to solve everyone’s problems, so they propose that “his brain would be saved, perhaps forever, only the diseased, worn-out body would be discarded.“ Barham’s brain would then be attached to devices and sent into space.

Barham decides to save his precious brain and all of the esoteric information it contains. Once the procedure is completed, it is stored in a vat and hooked up to machines, which allow his brain to communicate with others. A short time later, it begins “developing new tissue.” It turns out there is an unforeseen complication of removing the brain from the body: it grows increasingly difficult to control. Anthony Eisley’s former Hawaiian Eye cast mate and star of 1957's The Incredible Shrinking Man, Grant Williams, also appears in the episode as a psychologist.

I love a good brain-in-a-jar story as much as the next girl, but this is not exactly the best rendition of the concept that I have seen. Sure, The Brain of Colonel Barham has its share of enjoyable silliness, but the episode is often bogged down by Barham’s cruelness. The voice-over used for Barham’s voice once his brain is removed is laughably bad, too. Two stars.

The Premonition, by Ib Melchior and Sam Roeca

When pilot Jim Darcy, played by Dewey Martin (The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Twilight Zone’s I Shot an Arrow Into the Sky) crashes his test plane at the exact same moment his wife, Linda (1953's The Wild One's Mary Murphy), loses control behind the wheel, time suddenly freezes, or so it seems. Reunited outside of time, they are given a glimpse of life ten seconds into the future. What they find is their daughter only seconds away from being hit by a truck. Do they try to intervene, even if it means that they risk remaining stuck in time?

Another time-related story from Ib Melchior (The Time Travelers, 1964), The Premonition is very flawed. Yet it is also easily the episode out of this entire batch that has stayed with me the most after viewing it, even though I must confess I did not care much for the character Jim.

The special effects are decent, though do not always stack up against last season's effects. There is also the fairly creative use of still photographs to explore time, which kind of reminds me of Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962). Being a huge fan of the Left Bank directors from the French New Wave, that sort of thing is right up my alley. Much like many art house films, it leaves the viewer with a number of questions, but somehow I do not really mind. All in all, this hour of the series earns three stars from me.

The Probe, by Seeleg Lester

While aboard a plane flying over Japan, a crew, which includes actors Mark Richman (revisiting The Outer Limits for the first time since The Borderland), television western actor Ron Hayes and Juvenile Oscar winner Peggy Ann Garner, find themselves in a hurricane. After abandoning their plane, they incorrectly assume they are floating in their life raft, only to discover that they are not on water at all. They have actually been captured and are being held in a space probe. To make matters worse, they are being stalked by a strange creature, which they later believe to be “a mutant, a strain of germ that grew, and grew, and grew” that is also capable of duplicating itself.

I have some mixed feelings about The Probe. On the one hand, it can be incredibly corny, with its absolutely ludicrous creature, a microbe. During the scene where it duplicated itself, I nearly laughed so hard that I cried. On the other hand, the entry probably has the most convincing bunch of actors playing the most likeable, fleshed out cast of characters that I have seen on the program over the past five weeks, including the single most memorable female character.

Now, I am not usually one to get on my soapbox, but The Outer Limits has seemed to be growing less progressive in its depiction of women over the course of the second season, mostly relegated to playing nagging wives, victims or sad career women. Last season, the female characters were allowed to be much more complex and sympathetic, so Peggy Ann Garner’s character is a breath of fresh air. As a whole, I am not completely sold by The Probe, especially since it drags a little in the middle. Nevertheless, it is fairly entertaining, with actors who bring a degree of believability to even the weakest scenes, which is why it earns two and a half stars.

What now?

Reflecting on the last five entries of The Outer Limits, and on the series as a whole, The Duplicate Man was not as rewarding as it could have been, Counterweight had few redeeming qualities, The Brain of Colonel Barham could be amusing at times, The Premonition was worth the watch, and The Probe was nearly saved by its great cast. While there certainly were some great episodes from time to time towards the end of the program's run, this is pretty representative of the second season of The Outer Limits. A show that I truly hate to say became a shell of its former self.

Sadly, this was not the farewell anyone could have wanted for the series, especially since its departure (and the ending of Alfred Hitchcock Presents this spring) means an end to more than a decade of science fiction/fantasy/horror anthology shows.

When will we ever see their like again?

[If you have a membership to this year's Worldcon (in New Zealand) or did last year (Dublin), we would very much appreciate your nomination for Best Fanzine! We work for egoboo…]




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[May 28, 1964] Down to the Wire (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 29-32)

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by Natalie Devitt

It is that time of year again. The days get longer, the weather gets warmer. For me personally, given that I work in education, things get pretty intense in that crazy race to the end of the school year. Also, this time of year, everyone’s favorite television programs usually go on hiatus. In the case of The Twilight Zone, it sounds as if their break from filming is expected to be permanent. Sure, the show is not quite what it used to be, but that still makes it better than your average television; I can only criticize it for setting the bar so high. As one of the few programs that I still make the time to follow regularly, I find myself not quite ready to give up the ritual of watching it. Luckily, we still have another month ahead of us. So, before I get ahead of myself, it is time to review the episodes this past month, to see which entries made the grade.

The Jeopardy Room, by Rod Serling

Martin Landau pays a visit to The Twilight Zone for the first time since Mr. Denton on Doomsday. In The Jeopardy Room, he portrays Major Ivan Kuchenko, a defector fleeing the Soviet Union after years of imprisonment. While hiding out in a hotel room located in a neutral country, he receives a strange phone call: on the other end is Commissar Vassiloff, who has followed Kuchenko, and is watching him through his hotel window from a building next door. Dutch actor John van Dreelen plays Vassiloff.

Following a brief conversation, Vassiloff decides to grace Kuchenko with his presence. During their visit, Vassiloff confesses, “You possess information that we would find embarrassing to have released elsewhere. So, it is not really to our advantage that you leave here.” But Vassiloff does not plan to simply kill Kuchenko. Thinking of himself as “the last of the imaginative executioners,” he turns the whole thing into a twisted game.

Vassiloff convinces Kuchenko to partake of some wine, which has been laced with an unknown substance. Kuchenko almost immediately collapses on the floor. When he regains consciousness, Kuchenko finds a tape recorder with a message informing him that while he slept, a bomb was hidden in his room. Kuchenko is warned that, “It is not visible, but it is attached to a very common object. If you trigger this object, it will be immediately blown up.” If he disables the bomb within a few hours, he is free to leave. If he turns off his lights or tries to escape, Vassiloff will not hesitate to have one of his men shoot and kill Kuchenko. In this race against the clock, will Kuchenko make it out alive?

The Jeopardy Room offers a break from the science fiction or fantasy stories. It is more like a slick thriller than your usual The Twilight Zone fare. Like most entries in the series, all the actors deliver fine performances, though I must admit that I was a little disappointed by Landau’s accent. Most of the episode takes place in one room, but because it is photographed with so much style, you barely notice it. The ending, while not totally unpredictable, is enjoyable if you do not take it too seriously. Overall, The Jeopardy Room earns a pretty solid three stars.

Stopover in a Quiet Town, by Earl Hamner, Jr.

Nancy Malone follows up a terrific role in The Outer Limits’s Fun and Games with Sleepover in a Quiet Town. Her character, Millie, and her character's husband, Bob, wake up one morning after a wild night spent partying in what they believe to be a quiet suburb. Mary Mary's Barry Nelson plays Bob. Neither one of them remembers how they drove there, but slowly they begin to notice that things seem a little off. At breakfast, all they can find is artificial food. When Bob tries to make a phone call, the phone comes right out of the wall.

When Millie and Bob venture outside, they find that they are in a ghost town. The couple discover fake animal and plant life. They listen for birds chirping, but all they hear is the sound of a little girl giggling, wherever they go. One of them assumes that the residents in small towns prefer to “peek from behind curtains.” As Millie and Bob continue to look for additional signs of life through all the artifice, all they notice is the constant sound of the child's laughter. The couple assumes there is an explanation for what they are experiencing, but what could it possibly be?

The episode’s script does not waste time getting started or setting things up. The audience does not see the party. What they see is a married couple waking up to a nightmare the morning after. If this month’s The Jeopardy Room did not quite feel like The Twilight Zone, Sleepover in a Quiet Town could not be more representative of the series, in terms of content and quality. The two leads are quite believable in their roles. Things wrap things up quite nicely at the end, and if someone has an idea of where the story is headed, that does not diminish how much fun the journey is. Sleepover in a Quiet Town does not break any new ground, but it is well-executed, which is why it receives three and a half stars.

The Encounter, by Martin M. Goldsmith

Neville Brand of Birdman of Alcatraz stars as Fenton, a veteran of World War II. While rummaging through his old stuff in his attic, a Japanese gardener named Taro comes to Fenton’s house, at the recommendation of a neighbor. In the role of Taro is George Takei, who has appeared on other programs like, Playhouse 90 and Perry Mason. The two men have a brief discussion about Taro maintaining Fenton‘s yard, which leads to Taro agreeing to help Fenton clear out some junk .

During their time together, Fenton reveals that he served in World War II. He also shows Taro a samurai sword from his war days, which reads, “The sword will avenge me.” But Taro, born in the United States, pretends not to speak Japanese. Fenton, all friendliness above a barely concealed racial contempt, invites Taro to share some beers. When Fenton leaves the room for a moment and returns to find his sword missing, he accuses Arthur of having stolen it. Tensions rise as the two men are stuck together in the attic, recalling their painful memories related to the war.

Most of the episode’s acting is decent, but the performers cannot save it from its writing. I hate complaining about Martin M. Goldsmith‘s script, because he also wrote 1945’s Detour, which is a fantastic movie. Then again, he also wrote the earlier episode What‘s in the Box, which I was not really a fan of. Anyway, the narrative to The Encounter starts off fine, then gets progressively worse as it goes on. The sequence of events often involves things like drinking beer, getting upset, drinking some more beer, then getting upset again. The whole thing made me feel like I was a rollercoaster ride that I could not get off of. The conclusion was also pretty disappointing. At the end of the day, I respect the show for having the courage to do a story like this. I realize that tackling such sensitive subject can be difficult to get right. But with The Encounter being far from a masterpiece, two stars, which mainly go to its actors, is all I can award.

Mr. Garrity and the Graves, by Rod Serling

Character actor John Dehner plays the title character in what is his third appearance on show, Mr. Garrity and the Graves. The scene is 1890 in a place called Happiness, Arizona, into which Garrity rides in a horse-drawn carriage. Shortly after arriving, Garrity visits the local bar, where he meets a bartender, who inquires about his occupation. Garrity tells him, “I bring back the dead.” Of course, it is not long before the news about the mysterious stranger spreads all over town.

When Mr. Garrity returns to the bar, he is asked by the townspeople about his profession, but he says he does not care to share the secrets of his trade. But around this time, a dog is killed by a wagon in the street just in front of the bar. Garrity vows, "I shall resurrect that dog!" Sure enough, he brings the dog back to life. He promises to bring back even more of the dead later that night, but not everyone is pleased with Mr. Garrity’s work.

I enjoyed Mr. Garrity and the Graves for the most part, but I must admit that at times it almost goes overboard with all of the hammy performances. This entry combines several seemingly different things — western, humor and horror — to create something pretty unique. The second half of the episode is better than the first half because what this story really excels at is horror. There are twists and turns at the end that stayed with me long after the episode was over. Three stars.

Passing Marks?

With four more episodes behind us, we are now approaching the final stretch of the show. Taking a closer look at the entries from the penultimate month of the series, one failed to meet expectations, two were good, while one was very good. With only one month still ahead of us, things could go any direction. Guess we will just have to tune in to see whether Twilight Zone graduates with honors.

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge! Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]



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[January 15, 1964] That was the Year that Was (1963 at Galactic Journey)

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We've got High Hopes

First things first.  Thank you for being on the Journey with us.  We love you!

It's Hugo nomination season, and that means folks are going through their files, figuring out what stuff is worth their signature on the selecting ballot.  We at the Journey were so honored to have been a finalist for Best Fanzine last year, and we think our output has only improved since then.

Check out some of the nifty things that we did in 1963:

Expanded Foreign Coverage

Science fiction is hardly a monopoly of the United States.  To that end, we brought on a slew of new associates. 

For instance, Jessica Holmes is now covering Doctor Who and other things UK.

Cora Buhlert has provided a wealth of information on German (West and East!) science fiction, in print and on the screen.  She has also brought her keen insight to English-language SF.

Then there's Margarita Mospanova, who hails from Leningrad and covers Soviet science fiction!  We are pleased as punch to have added her unique perspective.

And let's not discount the sterling continued work of Ashley Pollard and Mark Yon, who have been covering British movies, television and magazines for several years now.

We Read Everything…so You Don't Have to Read the Bad Stuff

Despite the incessant predictions that SFF is a dying genre, there is more and more stuff to read every year.  Wading through all of that to find the gems (and there are plenty) can be a slog.  We feel for you.  That's why each year, the Journey awards the Galactic Stars, providing our readers a cream of the crop report:

Spotlighting the Unsung

We've said it before: Women write 10% of what gets published, but 25% of what's worth reading.  And now there is a cadre of other marginalized voices also finally making their way into print.  The Journey has made it a mission to feature those who might otherwise be overlooked, now and in the future. 

Behind the Digital Scene

Thanks to the arrival of Los Alamos staffer Ida Moya into our ranks, the Journey's science coverage grew to include the fascinating world of computers, as well as the often hidden role of women engineers and programmers. 

Wrapping up the First Lap of the Space Race

Project Mercury wrapped up this year with the impressive 24-hour flight of Gordo Cooper.  Of course, the Soviets then had to one-up us with the (likely) conclusion of their Vostok program — a stunning two-person flight involving the first woman astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova.  The Journey has kept you up to date on all the latest crewed and automatic space shots, distilling reams of scientific data into clear, accessible prose.

Not to mention mini-biographies of the woman engineers and scientists who have made space travel possible.

To the Outer Limits

Also added to our team was the inimitable Natalie Devitt, a film expert whose reviews of Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits are often even better than the episodes themselves.

Comprehensive Coverage

And let's not forget the work of our veterans:

Gideon Marcus, the Journey's founder, who reviews Analog, Galaxy, IF, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and much more,

Victoria Silverwolf, who lyrically covers Fantastic, Worlds of Tomorrow, and the news of the day,

John Boston, covering Amazing in his delightfully candid fashion,

Rosemary Benton, our first associate and expert on the Cold War and movies,

Erica Frank, the Journey's Curator and reporter on the Weird,

Gwyn Conaway, whose fashion articles are as lovely as the clothes and models they discuss,

Vicki Lucas, our resident highbrow (who would be quite at home as one of the faces on the back of F&SF),

Jason Sacks, whose preference for DC is mitigated by his unparalleled knowledge of the comics field,

and of course, the Young Traveler, who despite her age, writes better pieces than those of many adults.

A Balanced View

Science fiction has generally been seen as the province of the white and the male since its inception.  The Journey has striven to maintain a staff representative of the genre's future rather than its past.  To that end, we (including the non-writing but essential Janice L. Newman, our Editor, and Tammy Bozich, our Archivist) are a diverse bunch in terms of age, background, and circumstance.  We feel this is one of the main reasons the quality of our work has been so consistently high.

The Request

Galactic Journey is a labor of love.  Lord knows we don't do it for the money (What money?  The Journey doesn't charge or ask for donations, and we certainly don't carry ads.)

But we do love recognition.  A lot of people have said really nice things about us over the years.  When Rod Serling's foundation gave us the Serling, we were blown away.  And when y'all made us finalists for the Best Fanzine Hugo, well, you made it all worthwhile.

You out there with World Con memberships, if you liked us enough to nominate us last year, we'd love it if you could do it again.  And if you're new to the Journey and/or to World Con, welcome, and please consider helping us get on the ballot!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and here's looking forward to a bright 1964!




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Spaceman's Punch (Raumfahrer Bowle)

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An authentic 1960s recipe courtesy of Cora Buhlert

Ingredients:

    4 oranges
    4 lemons
    1 can of pineapples chunks with juice
    1 can of peaches with juice
    2 bananas
    1 package of frozen strawberries
    half a bottle of rum
    a quarter bottle of Blue Curacao or other orange liqueur
    1 bottle of ginger ale
    Sugar to taste
  1. Squeeze the oranges and lemons and put the juice into a big punch bowl.
  2. Add the pineapples and peaches to the punch bowl with the juice from the can.
  3. Slice the bananas and unfreeze the strawberries and add them to the bowl as well.
  4. Pour half a bottle of rum (either white or brown) and a quarter bottle of orange liqueur into the bowl and let it settle.
  5. Just before serving, fill up the punch with ginger ale.
  • Because of the fruit, the punch usually doesn't need any sugar, but if you prefer it sweeter, you can add some. Use icing sugar – it dissolves more quickly.

  • If you use Barcardi or other white rum and Blue Curacao, the punch will take on an unearthly greenish-blue colour. However, we mostly use brown rum and Grand Marnier or Cointreau instead of Blue Curacao. Triple Sec or any other kind of orange liqueur work as well.

  • You can also add some kiwis for an extra alien look, but kiwis are unknown in Germany in the 1960s.

This punch packs a punch, but is remarkably hangover proof.

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