SWILNEWS INTO THE HOMESTRETCH - 4/25/91

     Only a few more weeks left before the end of the year, but
we've still got plenty of things coming up to keep people
entertained. First off, FINAL CALL FOR BEM. The editorial staff
will be meeting this Saturday afternoon after the SWIL meeting to
decide which stories make it into this year's tome of superb
speculative fiction. If you want your story (or artwork) to be
considered get it to Fran Altvater by the SWIL meeting on Saturday.

     Something that will not be happening is the spring Pterodactyl
Hunt. As of last Saturday we didn't even have any Pterodactyls so
instead of trying a monsterless hunt it was decided to put it off
until next fall. It should appear in late September or early
October. Exactly when will be decided early next semester.

     Exams? Who cares about exams? In just over a week there will
be a barrage of year end events to keep your mind off studying.
Although not co-sponsored by SWIL, the famed fantasy movie _The
Princess Bride_ will be coming to campus on Friday May 3rd. The
following night will be our post-Walpurgesnacht story reading. It
will probably be in Dana basement, stay tuned for further details
and come prepared to listen or to read stories of science-fiction,
fantasy, or horror.

     Finally, on May 5th, 6th, and 7th SWIL will sponsor the yearly
Schlock Film Festival! If the whims of the movie distributor don't
turn against us, we will be bringing the following movies: _Plan 9
From Outer Space_ called by many the worst movie ever made. _The
5000 Fingers of Dr. T_, live action Dr. Seuss. _Dark Star_, vicious
beach balls, philosophical bombs, and more, all for a budget of
$80,000. Bring your own popcorn.

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. I normally don't read horror, but
I was so impressed by Simmons' SF that I decided to check this out.
The basic ideas of the book are very inventive and well drawn. The
scenario painted is exceedingly unnerving. (Which is, IMHO, a step
beyond just being horrifying.) However Simmons beats the plot line
to death. Too much time is taken up with long action scenes without
developing characters. Often I felt like Simmons was throwing
scenes in to say "See how evil these people really are?" long after
that point had been well established. At 400-500 pages this would
be an excellent book. As it is, at 900 pages the brain is numbed by
the finale. Other disagree with me though. The book won the 1990
Bram Stoker award for best horror novel. (Reviewed by Jeff
Hildebrand)

Attendance from Parents Weekend (4/13/91): Stephen "Here with bells
on" and Roo, Fran "Would anyone here like to amputate my back?"
Altvater, Andy "And rip my entrails untimely from my -er- abdomen"
Perry, Deb "Here at last!" Barolsky [But hardly last in the
attendance], Maeghan "ditto. thematic jinx" Maloney, Jed ("Send for
your US Savings Bonds today") H. [I love how the envelopes
celebrating 50 years of savings bonds are really actually being
enthusiastic about the government being in debt for 50 years.],
Josh "Seeker - Visionary - Sorcerer" Smith, Chris "I'm sleepy"
Hogendorn, Susannah "So am I" Hauze, jere7my "Wonder why, you two
(hee hee hee)" tho?rpe [He said it, I didn't!], Lin "What am I
doing here?" Thorpe/Green, Peter "5000 Fingers of Dr. T" Wong,
Joshua "Illegible" Mackay-Smith [Touche.], Melissa "Joshua, your
pen is leaking" Shaner, Leif "The White Things are attacking! Let's
run away, that usually works." Kirschenbaum, Spaced Master of
SWILdom

Attendance from 4/20/91: jere7my "Whoa! Darren! I'm FIRST!"
tho?rpe, Josh "Plant/Warrior/Mind" Smith, Laura "Sniveling Disease"
A., Joel "Anybody got a spare job?" Offenberg, Joshua "Orange
Styrofoam" Mackay-Smith, Chris "income=output" Hogendorn, Jim "this
hidden rhyme" Moskowitz, Dave "Gombelputtig..." Szent-Gyorgyi '83,
David "In absentia" Randall [Wait a minute...], Geoff "Never a
mind" H., Marguerite "the grain the Aztecs were willing to die for"
Eisenstein, Jed ("Does _Lawrence of Arabia_ count as schlock?") H.,
Brad "They ran out of housing right in front of my eyes" Gabe,
Susannah "In the beginning was CPH94, and CPH94 was with God, and
CPH94 was God..." Hauze [interesting theology], Nao "Make checks
out to Naomi A. Parkhurst" Parkhurst [Oh right, SWIL shirts should
be in soon. Pay Nao for them if you haven't already.], Stephen and
Roo "For a good prime call 391581(2^216193)-1" Sample [Arrgh!],
Andy "Power/knowledge" Perry, Peter "Lucky charms" Wong, Fran "BEM
- the all Jere7my issue" Altvater, Melissa "I am not a WAWA" Shaner
[But you and your roommate are.], Sphinx Master of SWILdom.