[net.sf-lovers] End of the World & Damnation Alley

pugh@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (10/15/85)

From: "pugh jon%b.mfenet"@LLL-MFE.ARPA


I mention again, the *best* collection of end of the whatever stories is
Catastrophes, edited by Baen.  It has several catagories, such as end of the
universe, end of the galaxy, end of the world, end of mankind, and end of 
civilization.  All good stories by good writers.  A favorite of mine was
in the end of mankind (or was it civilization?) section.  It was called
Dark Benediction and the book was worth it for this story.  It reminded me
of The Omega Man, where disease makes everyone into creatures that *must*
spread the disease by touching you, and our hero is the last pure man.
Great stuff.

And about Zelazny's Damnation Alley, the book was far fetched but fun and
the movie was god awful pathetic.  Jan Michael Vincent fighting the poorly
matted giant scorpians was a classic in terrible movie making.  The best thing
about the flick was the truck.  I got to see it a few years ago while I was
driving down Highway 101 in Hollywood.  It was parked at a gas station right
off the freeway.  It had been stripped down, but still had the fake rocket
launcher on top.  In case you have been watching too much tv recently, it
has been appearing with some road wimpier turkey in a transmission commercial,
or something like that.  I cringed and hit the mute button every time it came 
on.  The greatest invention of all time, by the way, is the remote control 
mute for tv's.  Now we need an automatic one.  Have advertisers been buying 
up the patents and preventing it's sale?  I wouldn't doubt it.  Probably is
the Illuminatus behind it all.

He know's when you are sleeping, He know's when you're awake.
He know's when you've been bad or good, 
So be good, for goodness sake.

And he's coming to your house.  Who does he work for? What's in that red suit?
And what is that "magic dust" he uses to get those raindeer to fly?
(For more on this, read Santa Claus versus SPIDER in Ellison's The Beast That
Shouted Love at the Heart of the World.  My favorite part is the footnote at
the end.  Spiro who? |-)

Jon