Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 20:06:27 -0400
To: _swat.org.swil @ cc.swarthmore.edu
From: jthorpe1 @ cc.swarthmore.edu
Subject: SWILnews #1 after 909

        Greetings and salutations!  And a very heartfelt welcome to the
thirty (Good Lord!  Did I really say _thirty_?) new names on this SWIL
mailing list.  This electronic document you see before you is none other
than that most prized of e-mail messages, a SWILnews.  For those who
don't
know, we (the co-presidents) send one of these out every week, so as to
keep you abreast of things happening in SWIL.  And remember, if you
don't
read all your SWILnewsi, you might be eaten by a Grue!  Well, maybe not. 
But it is a good way to find out what's going on.

        Before we get to the meaty bits, I wish to retract a statement
made
in the last SWILmeeting which was true at the time, but is no longer.
Beth
Bruch is _not_, repeat _not_ treasurer of SWIL!  She has volunteered the
poor, hapless freshling Larry to be treasurer.  So, everybody thank
Larry
(aka Vice-President of Moist Towelettes) for being treasurer, and try
not
to snicker too loudly at him for volunteering.

        Saturday the 4th marked the showing of the first Prisoner
episode
in ML4201, in which Patrick McGoohan woke up a prisoner (aha!  title
lock)
in the Disneyland-like Village.  The general consensus was that the show
was cool, but "really weird."  (Coming from Charles Danforth, that
statement carries some weight.)  Episode 2 will happen right after the
SWILmeeting tomorrow.

        Live Chess came and went during the Activities Fair, and some
people and a lot of shoes all had a very good time.  Geoff Noer was
bested
by Mark Kernighan (in a surprise upset), once again giving the title of
Live Chess Champions to the forces of darkness.  I, unfortunately, could
not attend, because I was busy working on my sunburn at a desk in front
of
Tarble (as many of you will recall).  Turnout was (obviously!) very
good,
with over twenty people signing up for SWIL info (hi guys!).

        The post of Hallowe'en Party Organizer has been filled by Andrea
Hall, once again fulfilling her role as Official Volunteerer, but we are
still in need of someone to run the Pterodactyl Hunt.  (This someone
should
be someone who has participated in the Hunt before.)  We'll talk more
about
that at the meeting.

        Plans to visit the Pennsylvania (or wherever) Ren Faire and
PhilCon
'93 are underfoot (um, I think I mean underway, but I could be wrong).
The
rates for PhilCon go up on September 17th, so it may behoove us to think
fast on this one.  (Then again, who wants hooves?)

        Hey--there's a "Campus Organizations" server on the network now. 
If we're not on there yet, can somebody get us on soon?  (Somebody
like...Geoff Noer?  Robert?  Charles?  Hmmm...?)

        If we're all very good and eat all our green beans (and that
includes every single one left in the freezer of Banana House, guys),
there
may be a SWIL 15-year reunion in the Spring.  If we're even _better_ and
eat everybody _else's_ green beans, we may be able to make it coincide
with
the (hypothetical) visit of Mike Jittlov, special effects guru and
Wizard
of Speed and Time.  Kendra the Loremistress knows things about the
reunion,
so grab her (watch it, Justin) if you'd like to help or suggest.

        We even have a book review this week, oh goodness me.  (Anyone
who
wants to write a review for the SWILnews may--we LOVE filler.)  Here
'tis:

REVIEW by jere7my tho?rpe: John Varley's _Steel Beach_
I'd seen this book on the shelves in Border's a number of times, but had
never quite gotten around to buying it.  Finally I did, and I'm quite
glad.
 This was one of the most unusually original books I've read.  It
combines
all the cynicism and hard-hitting brutal reality of cyberpunk with the
irreverence and puzzle-solving of a good detective novel.  The main
character, a reporter for a newspaper, speaks to the reader in the
time-honored Sam Spade fashion, thus making them comfortable, while
events
do their best to make them uncomfortable by disorienting them.  Hence,
the
reader feels tension.  (Cool, huh?)  The characters are believeable, the
plot moves along quickly but manages to remain rich, and the setting
(sort
of set in his Eight Worlds "future history") is too plausible to be
comfortable with.  As a sidelight, the SF "in" jokes (like the political
group the Heinleners and their leader, Valentine Michael Smith) are
downplayed just enough to be interesting.  All in all, I was both
entertained and moved by this book (yes, I literally laughed and cried),
as
well as intellectually grabbed.  I highly recommend it, although it is
not
for the weak of heart.  If you'd like to read it, by all means allow me
to
lend it to you.

        I believe that just about wraps it up for this week.  I'll put
up
the phone number list soon (really! honest!) on the SWILboard across
from
the M-Z mailboxes in Parrish.  Until then, you can call me (jere7my) at
x3925 with any questions about SWIL you might have.  We hope to see you
all
at the meeting tomorrow (noon, Saturday, room 4 near the cereals in
Sharples).  Remember: those of you who were there last week need only to
attend two more meetings and prove sentience to become full non-members! 
(Plus, we get the fun of dismembering you!  Hoorah!)  All that remains
is
the traditional reading of the attendance list:

ATTENDANCE for 9:4:93
Kathy "the right side of my body hurts!!" Davis; Sam "tithe or be
forever
damned" Weiler; Kendra "I feel Coke and sound special" Eshleman; Josh
"frilky" Burdick [Josh, you never fail to amuse me. --O]; Don "Rights to
write on plates"; Marah "I'm a freshperson too" Fortson; Beth "ilk, ilk"
Bruch [Ah, doing some Handbook-sanctioned ilksinging, I see. --O]; Colin
Schatz (a.k.a. "Zaltar"); Ben Salter; Megan Hallam; Julianna Patrick;
Ahyana "Blue" Clark; Geoff "Crum" Noer; Charles "Lord Prefect of
Pheasents"
Danforth; Geoff "Not again" Noer; Lesley "needs food...badly" Tsina
[Green
Lesley is about to die... --O]; Elizabeth "Steven, or maybe Andrew."
Christian; Larry "what color are their hands now?" Miller; KIM KLOCK
[picture of a clock--use your imaginations] w/ok; Justin - wish I had
Geoff's eyes Giacoletti [That can be arranged...  Pass the forks,
please? 
--O]; Andrea "Be kind to parakeets" Hall; b(R)ad Gabe; Jim

                                                ----Praefecti Quondam
                                                        Praefectique
Futuri

                                                        (The Once and
Future

Presidents)