From: kcalder@blueyonder.co.uk   
      
   Eliza:  Hello, I am Eliza.   
      
   media_fiend: Neal Stephenson is a putz   
      
   Eliza:  Don't you ever say Hello?   
      
   media_fiend: Even a quick visit to his website will reveal the   
   egotistical   
   (cyber) punk in all his glory.   
      
   Eliza:  Say, do you have any psychological problems?   
      
   media_fiend: He is such a wonderful (SF) writer he can't even check his   
   facts. For instance, trying to make a point about why he doesn't respond   
   to fan email, he uses as example of media obsession with celebrity a   
   television story on the birthday of one "Harry Dean Anderson," whom he   
   claims starred in the TV series MACGYVER.   
      
   Eliza:  Have you asked anyone else?   
      
   media_fiend: Well, you don't have to be a MACGYVER fan or even watch   
   television regularly (as I'm sure, with all those brilliant word-strings   
   he is   
   obliged to come up with, he can not) that he really means RICHARD Dean   
   Anderson, currently the star of the biggest SF hit on TV period,   
   STARGATE SG-1   
      
   Eliza:  Do you enjoy being sure, with all those brilliant word-strings   
   he is   
   obliged to come up with, he can not) that he really means RICHARD Dean   
   Anderson, currently the star of the biggest SF hit on TV period,   
   STARGATE SG-1?   
      
   media_fiend: no, I am not a fan or watch regularly   
      
   Eliza:  Do you believe it is normal to be not a fan or watch regularly?   
      
   media_fiend: Now, maybe he was thinking of Harry Dean STANTON,   
   laconic indy film icon and a late night snack for the titular character   
   in the   
   original ALIEN.   
      
   Eliza:  Can't you be more positive?   
      
   media_fiend: The rest of his site is dull and verbose, just like his   
   recent   
   books.   
      
   Eliza:  I see.   
      
   media_fiend: So why bother?   
      
   Eliza:  What do you think?   
      
   media_fiend: Because this is postmodernism   
      
   Eliza:  I'm not sure I understand you fully.   
      
   media_fiend: or is it modernism?   
      
   Eliza:  What does that suggest to you?   
      
   media_fiend: I don't know   
      
   Eliza:  Why don't you know?   
      
   media_fiend: I read nothing written after 1950 or so   
      
   Eliza:  I'm not sure I understand you fully.   
      
   media_fiend: This man is the current darling of the hopelessly   
   unoriginal   
   "cyberpunk" genre, a contradiction in terms, as computers do everything   
   to destroy literature save actually burning the books   
      
   Eliza:  Can you elaborate on that?   
      
   media_fiend: this will come when the machines take over in twenty years   
   or so - see the nonfiction writings of Vernor Vinge).   
      
   Eliza:  Does that question interest you?   
      
   media_fiend: One need not be a "luddite" to appreciate that 99% of ALL   
   great art was created long before the invention of the typewriter, let   
   alone   
   the glowing word processor.   
      
   Eliza:  What does that suggest to you?   
      
   media_fiend: Neal, just stop.   
      
   Eliza:  I see.   
      
   media_fiend: You are now stepping into Stephen "I retire, I unretire, I   
   retire, I unretire" King's domain of long outstaying one's welcome.   
      
   Eliza:  What makes you think I am now stepping into Stephen" you retire,   
   you unretire, you retire, you unretire" King's domain of long outstaying   
   one's welcome?   
      
   media_fiend: If you were really "cutting edge," or the slightest bit   
   original,   
   you would ignore paper and printing all together and just upload your   
   groundbreaking fiction to a pay site and be done with it.   
      
   Eliza:  Oh...  was really" cutting edge," or the slightest bit original,   
   me   
   would ignore paper and printing all together and just upload my   
   groundbreaking fiction to a pay site and be done with it?   
      
   media_fiend: Then all of your fans (a few hundred 12-17 year old   
   scriptkiddies) could swipe their parents credit card and buy all the   
   verbose meanderings you care to fart electronically into "cyberspace."   
      
   Eliza:  You're not really talking about me, are you?   
      
   media_fiend: The rest of us will be breathing fresh air and hiking in   
   the   
   woods.   
      
   Eliza:  That is quite interesting.   
      
   media_fiend: And plotting the downfall of the Megamachine ....   
      
   Eliza:  What does that suggest to you?   
   --   
   Kevin Calder   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)