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Banzai Movie Commits Seppuku
Fandom's working actor, Tadao Tomomatsu, is in mourning: USA Network has chopped "Banzai Movie Friday" from its schedule. Banzai packaged a B-movie and stupid online games. For example, the TV audience was encouraged to log onto USA's website during a commercial break and guess which of the two firemen about to blast each other with firehoses would be left standing. The result was shown later in the program and those who entered could win a prize.
Tadao appeared recurringly as the seemingly innocuous Japanese tourist "Mr. Shake Hands Man", who would go to movie premiers and get famous people to shake his hand for as long as possible. The game was to guess how long celebrities would put up with him.
"So there you have it, the 'end of an era' ....or 'surprise' I've been on this show...and it's over now," says Tadao.
Or is it? "Here's the Plan...we start an e-mail campaign to bring the show back or at least get 'Mr. Shake Hands Man' his own show. Just kidding! Really I'm kidding...although where is Bjo Trimble when you need her?"
The "Mr. Shake Hands" character originated on Britain's version of Banzai and became more widely known in the UK. When the British edition of FHM magazine ran an article about Banzai, a picture of Tadao's character was the main illustration.
This year, British writers who regularly attend Gallifrey One, a Dr. Who Con held in LA, suddenly realized "Mr. Shake Hands Man" with their old pal Tadao: "There have been times I pulled the Foreign Person act and shook some hands with faces from England going bewildered and saying things like '....It's You....You're Him...' or 'Fantastic'...or '...Gaw...you're Mr. Shake Hands Man'... with the occasional "You're not Mr. Shake Hands Man. Hey, there's some git here who say's he's Shake Hands Man...' Con suite in unison: 'HE IS!!!!' I was surprised that even the BBC Online Video Crew knew who I was just as I started to Shake Hands with them. So apparently Mr. Shake Hands Man is a popular icon in the UK. I may be more famous than.......the Beatles??? Kidding."
Levine Machine
David Levine has made more news in the first month of 2002 than some of us will do the rest of the year: "Once again I've been the recipient of a huge steamin' load of good fortune."
He's sold two more stories. "Written on the Wind" has been bought by Sherwood Smith for her anthology Beyond the Last Star. It's about an insignificant member of an insignificant species in a great galactic Consortium, who must translate a three-billion-year-old message to prevent an interstellar war. "The Tale of the Golden Eagle" was accepted by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. David calls it an SF/fantasy fairy tale in the style of Cordwainer Smith. "It's the story of a bird, who becomes first a starship and then a beautiful robot woman, and the trader who wins her in a game of chance and falls in love with her. It's the first story I ever wrote that made me cry."
Meantime, his James White Award-winning story "Nucleon" appeared in the December 2001 issue of Interzone, which has come and gone on the stands in the UK, though it may still be available at some shops in the UK and may not have arrive yet at the few places in the US that carry it. David enthused about receiving his contributor's copies and finding his name on the cover, "Though it was a bit of a shock to see my story translated into British (the Nucleon is now equipped with "tyres" and a "carburettor"). Note: individual copies of Interzone can be ordered directly from the publisher; see
http://www.sfsite.com/interzone/back01.htm for details.
David's fanwriting has also leaped the Atlantic -- Peter Motte, a fan in Belgium, will translate David's essay "Survivors" from the last issue of Bento into Dutch for his fanzine De Tijdlijn.
And don't forget - David does all this while holding a day job. Two months after taking a severance package from Intel, David found a new job at Network Associates, working on the user interface for the next releases of their McAfee VirusScan and NetShield anti-virus products. "It's a lot of responsibility, but it's exactly the direction I've been hoping to move my career for some time. I've been there for a little over three weeks and I'm enjoying it a lot."
Kramer Trial Delayed
Ed Kramer's jury trial on charges of molesting two teenaged boys, originally scheduled to begin late in January at the Gwinnett Superior Court in Georgia, was postponed indefinitely as the county's court system struggled to recover from a January 14 ruling that invalidated its entire jury pool. The development was reported in a recent issue of Creative Loafing Atlanta, in Scott Henry's article "The Wizard of Dragon*Con Stands Trial," the most extensive coverage of Kramer's prosecution to appear in print.
In reporter Henry's view, "[While] he was boldly building up his fantastic empire, Kramer was shadowed by persistent rumors. The veteran dealmaker and accomplished celebrity-schmoozer often was seen in the company of a revolving troupe of young boys. Toward the end, he was seemingly oblivious to or simply untroubled by a lingering suspicion that his behavior was inappropriate and quite possibly criminal."
Kramer's friends and antagonists, as well as many guests and staff of Dragon*Con, were interviewed by Henry for the article. Quoted are: Roland Castle, Joe Christ, Nancy Collins, Mike Dillson, Dave Dorman, Harlan Ellison, Pat Henry, Ken Johnston, Milt Levy, Gregory Nicoll, Jeff Pittarelli, David Robinson, and Steve Wieck.
Ellison said, in part, "I've seen Ed around young people in unguarded moments and there was nothing about his body language that suggested anything inappropriate."
On the other hand, moviemaker Joe Christ and Dragon*Con's head of security Mike Dillson described separate examples of suspicious contact they'd witnessed Kramer having with boys since 1995. Dillson remembered calling Kramer in his hotel room to come down right away to handle a problem in the dealers' hall. "He came from the shower dripping wet and so was the little boy he had with him."
The article also reports, "Only after Kramer had been charged did anyone discover that he'd also been arrested in 1997 for allegedly molesting another member of his underage posse. That boy had recanted his story before the case went to trial and charges were dropped."
Taral Draws For Tor
Unlike most SF books, Rudy Rucker's new novel Spaceland will be illustrated -- by frequent File 770 cover artist, Taral Wayne. Spaceland is scheduled for hardcover publication by Tor Books in June. Eighteen drawings illustrate the action and concepts throughout the novel, closely based on the author's own sketches, bringing them the finish and clarity the artist is known for.
Taral's recent projects include a story for Mayhem Country, and an illustrated version of Paul Kidd's Hot Buttered Mice for Mu Press.
Fans of Taral's work can find an encyclopedic guide to all his universes on his new CD titled Off-Colour. The collection of nearly 400 images covers a range of themes -- erotic, furry, fantasy, SF, and tech. The black-and-white pencil drawings were produced mainly in 1999 and 2000. The disk is professionally replicated, with an attractive silk-screen design; and comes with vinyl cover, color printed matter and a b/w booklet. The artist's audio comments accompany about one-third of the images in Off-Colour. The CD can be run on any Mac or PC configured computer, and a viewer, Adobe Acrobat, is included on the disk. Cost, with shipping and handling, $22 US. Address -- 245 Dunn Ave. Apt. 2111, Toronto Ontario, M6K 1S6, Canada. Off-Colour is also available from Digital Impudendum.
GUFF
Eric Lindsay and Jean Weber have published their GUFF report. "Jean did all the good bits," Eric insists. There are about 50 pages of text, a color cover, plus black and white photos -- "some recognizably of fans," he adds. Copies are available within Australia for A$15, or outside Australia for A$20 or US$10. Check details at:
http://www.ericlindsay.com/guff/donate.htm
TAFF
Sue Mason, UK TAFF Administrator, has announced the 2002 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund race has two candidates. Tobes Valois has been nominated by Anders Holmström, Dave Hicks, James Bacon (Europe), Ted White and Jae Leslie Adams (North America). Chris O'Shea has been nominated by Sandra Bond, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Ian Sorensen (Europe), Ben Yalow and Mike Glyer (North America). Sue promises the ballots will be out as soon as possible.
On our side of the pond, fannish reporters should immediately begin work on their probing interview questions. Nothing is worse than a TAFF press conference full of North American zine editors uninterested in anything beyond their narrow specialty: "Is there any good Japanimation in England?" "Where is the filk room at an Eastercon?" And, "How big is the masquerade at Plokta.con?"
The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund is in the good hands of North American administrator VJ Bowen and (Velma J. Bowen P.O. Box 156 Village Station New York NY 10014-0156; E-mail: vjbowen@aol.com) and European administrator Sue Mason, (3 York Street, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA15 9QH UK; E-mail: sue@plokta.com)
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