BABYL OPTIONS: Version: 5 Labels: Note: This is the header of an rmail file. Note: If you are seeing it in rmail, Note: it means the file has no messages in it.  1,filed,, Received: by ATHENA-PO-2.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA12910; Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:27:56 EDT From: Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA27566; Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:28:02 EDT Received: by M4-035-12 (5.45/4.7) id AA02666; Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:25:32 EDT Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:25:32 EDT Message-Id: <8709300325.AA02666@M4-035-12> To: ayermish@ATHENA.MIT.EDU *** EOOH *** From: Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:25:32 EDT To: ayermish@ATHENA.MIT.EDU ***Athena Cluster Chart--9/1/87*** Cypher lock combination 37619 W20 cypher lock [2 & 5 together] then 6323 Room Phone Description 1-142 3-2019 Public (DEC VS2000) 2-225 3-0106 Public (IBM RT) 4-167 3-0105 Public (IBM RT) 4-035 3-5660 Public (DEC VSII) 6-218M 3-0104 Public (IBM AT) 11-113 3-2061 Video 11-115 3-1325 User Services 11-116 Public (DEC VS2000) 11-124 Development Cluster 11-124a IS/Anathema Training 37-312 3-0180 Electronic Classroom 37-332 3-0182 Development Cluster 37-318 3-0179 Public Cluster 38-344 3-4650 Public (DEC VS2000) 66-080 3-4474 Public (DEC VS2000) E51-007 3-0173 Public (IBM AT) W20-500 3-0103 Public (IBM RT & DEC VS2000)  1,filed,, Received: by ATHENA-PO-2.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA02796; Sun, 14 Feb 88 15:57:29 EST From: Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA04035; Sun, 14 Feb 88 15:57:23 EST Received: by M11-111-1.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA06308; Sun, 14 Feb 88 15:56:49 EST Date: Sun, 14 Feb 88 15:56:49 EST Message-Id: <8802142056.AA06308@M11-111-1.MIT.EDU> To: assassin@classic.lcs.mit.edu Cc: ayermish@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Subject: [assassin@classicola.LCS.MIT.EDU: Spring Game] *** EOOH *** From: Date: Sun, 14 Feb 88 15:56:49 EST To: assassin@classic.lcs.mit.edu Cc: ayermish@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Subject: [assassin@classicola.LCS.MIT.EDU: Spring Game] Name: Aimee Yermish Sex: F Address: East Campus Hayden 411 Phone: dl-6426 Times you should not be called: call anytime, I'll turn off the ringer on my phone if I don't want to be bothered. PLEASE LEAVE MESSAGES on my answering machine. Computer ID, if any (only one): ayermish@athena.mit.edu Previous roleplaying experience (continue on back if necessary): MIT Assassins' Guild: Rubber Tree Talks (S85) -- Israeli attache, PEN Art Auction (F85) -- Barb Walters, investigative reporter, Interpol Nesir (I86) -- writer Atlantis I (S86) -- Anna Brooks, press agent, daughter of Godfather Olympic Baseball (Su86) -- Jean S. Plicer, Professor of Biology, MIT Atlantis II (F86) -- Giulia Pavese, Italian attache, GAUNTLET Duck-Duck-Goose (I87) -- writer and GM QUAZAR (S87) -- consultant and small-time writer Midsummer Madness (Su87) -- Game Mother Tea in the Sahara (F87) -- writer and GM Society for Interactive Literature (&c): Rekon-3 -- Samel Quicktongue, jester, thief, spy, Chaos Pact Rude Awakening I -- Bottuhn, a Suellem Twilight of the Gods -- Wolfbrand, military advisor to King Gunther Velvet Underworld -- Ghia Borche, archaeologist Watergate -- Leslie Stahl, CBS news, Pulitzer prize winner Rekon-1D -- Ansin of the Comnet Bleak Frontier -- Olga Rogov, Not a Good Soviet Rekon-5 -- GM Reklone-4 -- Big Toby, Duchess of Nunu York, Botany Bay Near-Future Plans: small murder-mystery game Atlantis II (a rewrite) at SILiCON III (ever get the feeling that I'm bragging a little? One of these days I'm just going to write "yes" under previous experience) How good/evil would you like to be, on a scale from one to ten (0 is Snow White, 8 is Darth Vader, 10 is WARLOCK)? I don't know. I'd rather be extreme than wishy-washy, and I rarely like to let my morals get in the way of my goals. On the other hand, it might be nice to try something different. I don't want to be good-because-I-can't-bear-evil, or evil- because-I-can't-bear-being-nice, or any of the other sterotypes. I prefer to have my opinions and goals pretty firmly grounded; if you write my character well, I'll play just about anything. (talk to me in person if I'm not making myself clear) I usually play moderately good guys, might be nice to try wearing a black hat one of these days... Do you have any interests or hobbies that we should know about? Oh, the usual. Gaming, being domestic (sewing, cooking, etc), fencing, getting people to hate me, nothing spectacular. Would you be willing to die to achieve your goal? Well, me personally, almost definitely not. Most characters, probably not -- I've died before in games and found it a singularly unpleasant experience. However, if you write my character with strong enough feelings to the contrary, I'll play that. In general, though, I believe in "he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day." If you could be any character from a previous Assassin Game, who would you be (more than one acceptable)? I dunno. There were quite a few that I wrote that I'd love to have been able to play, but there is no overarching theme that unites them (except that they all have strong feelings about something and are capable of acting on those feelings). The characters that I played that I enjoyed the most were the leaders -- Giulia and Big Toby. I liked the very different way of looking at the game that those characters afforded me (instead of looking at small local problems, I could coordinate the efforts of other people, and take care of their local problems, in order to attack a more global problem). Of course, I'm not going to have much time this term, seeing as how I have to graduate. I'd rather be a strong lieutenant than commit myself to the time involved in being a good commander, and I'd be violently opposed to being a bad commander (not evil, incompetent). Is there anyone in particular you would like to work with? Bo Lawler, Adam Suchocki, John Conger, Harry Teplitz, Sue Landsman, lots of others. I don't get along well with the current Guild grease, with the exeptions of Tony and Niki. (See, even I answered the unasked negative question!) In general, I'm pretty easygoing -- as long as the other guy doesn't start off hating me, I can work with him. How much time do you expect to put into playing the game during the interval April 13th to 23rd? Keep in mind this will have a direct bearing on the size of your role. Well, it's actually a pretty good time in the term, but this term is bad. I have to graduate. I don't want to ask for a small role, because in my experience, that ends me up with a role that doesn't have much in the way of goals or ability to have an effect on the game. I don't want to ask for a large role, because I know I'll actually devote the time I need to play it well, and therefore might screw up my chances at graduation. Use your judgement. Please provide a description of what sort of character you would enjoy playing (continue on back if necessary). Try to give us an idea of the answers to: Do you prefer team or solo play?s Do you have strong leanings towards plot or character roles? Do you want to be a public figure? Someone who has special abilities? Etc... Team vs. solo: definitely team. No matter how much of a loner my character may be, unless she is *very* strongly written to the contrary, my first priority is always to find allies, which is tantamount to building a team. Plot vs. character: I'm not a very good actress, and I'm truly terrible at improvisation, so I just don't do too well in character roles. Besides, with nothing to do, I get bored very quickly. (Note that I'm not saying I don't want a character role. I'm saying that I don't want a boring role) Public figure: as long as I don't have to make speeches. If I'm not a public figure, though, I would guess that I'd arouse a lot of suspicion. ("Oh, c'mon, we know Aimee's got to be something interesting, why don't we already know what it is? Well, we'll just have to ask her a little more forcefully...") The Index Card Question: I am a firm believer in index cards. Item economies are very important -- people need things to trade and things to want. Abilities are even more important -- that way people don't just start killing each other to get what they want, because an ability is only useful with a live and cooperative owner. Additionally, they allow people to play characters who are very different from themselves. One caveat: sometimes GMs (often unwittingly) attempt to control the outcome of the game by loading certain characters down with abilities. It's cool to make it possible within the game for characters to become invincible (as long as you don't give some people too much of a head start), it's not cool to start them off too powerful. It might be fun to have some abilities which are important to the outcome of the game, as long as I could avoid the Phoebe Zeitgeist syndrome (becoming effectively a living item with particular abilities, the way Bud did in COLA). Other info of possible interest: No, I don't speak Spanish. Ask me more questions if you want more answers (if you're having trouble finding a role for me, I know that can be difficult, I promise not to try to gain any info from your questions or from your reactions to my answers). --Aimee  1,, Received: by ATHENA-PO-2.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA18357; Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:41:40 EST Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA12413; Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:41:26 EST Received: from ATHENA.MIT.EDU by classicola.LCS.MIT.EDU via TCP with SMTP id AA19125; Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:42:28 EST From: steve@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA12401; Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:40:06 EST Received: by M11-111-1.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA11287; Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:38:54 EST Date: Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:38:54 EST Message-Id: <8802220938.AA11287@M11-111-1.MIT.EDU> To: peanuts@classicola.LCS.MIT.EDU Subject: At long last... *** EOOH *** From: steve@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Date: Mon, 22 Feb 88 04:38:54 EST To: peanuts@classicola.LCS.MIT.EDU Subject: At long last... ...I've finally gotten around to putting the parody together enough that it's ready to be sent out. So here it is: Dramatis Personae: The Director The Music Director The Propsmaster The Bitch The Producer Several Crew Members Charlie Brown Linus Lucy Peppermint Patty Schroeder Snoopy (The DIRECTOR and SNOOPY appear on stage.) DIRECTOR: The only thing wrong with my cast is their lack of confidence. Well, their volume and their lack of confidence. Their diction, their volume, and their lack of confidence. Their attention span, their diction, their volume, and their lack of confidence. Their timing, their attention span, their diction, their volume, and their lack of confidence. Their sense of pitch, their timing, their attention span, their diction, their volume, and their lack of confidence. Their tardiness, their sense of pitch... (LINUS removes him forcibly from stage, using his blanket.) SCHROEDER: Do you know that steve has never directed, Aimee has never music directed, Leah has never produced, and I've never been in a show before? Sometimes I marvel at our consistency. SNOOPY: It is truly a dog's life. I feel so neglected. steve never lets me leave rehearsal to get food. C.B.: Sometimes, I get up early to study my lines, and I get a very positive feeling. Like today, for instance. I know my lines so well; what could possibly go wrong on a day like today? (Suddenly, the whole cast drags themselves onstage and perform "You're a Dead Man, Charlie Brown". The song is sung in harmonic minor, and VERY SLOWLY.) ALL: You were a good man, Charlie Brown. You were the kind of reminder we nee - ded. You had humility, nobility and a rigor mortis That were very rare indeed. SNOOPY: (on second beat) woof. You were a good man, Charlie Brown. And we knew you would go very far. It was hard to believe, almost frightening to conceive What a good man, you were. (C.B. walks somewhat dejectedly R and sits down.) C.B.: I think rehearsal is about the worst time of day for me. Of course, mornings aren't so great either, oversleeping and missing all my classes because I was at rehearsal late the night before. And then there are the evenings, going to IHOP after rehearsal and getting coffee spilled on me. And all those hours in between, when I have to study my lines, and my music. Well, I guess rehearsal is AMONG the worst time of day for me. (There is a VERY long pause, while C.B. considers the lunch bag with a mixture of distaste and terror.) Well, I guess I better see what I've got. (Finally, he opens it up and removes the sandwich, and gingerly tastes it.) Raspberry-kiwi preserves. Y'know, there's not a psychiatrist on earth that has anything to say about raspberry-kiwi preserves. They say a lot about peanut butter. (The MUSIC DIRECTOR comes on stage.) MUSIC DIRECTOR: Brrrrrring. (Exeunt omnes. SCHROEDER and LUCY come on and sit down in their "Schroeder" positions. SCHROEDER begins to play the air piano.) (LUCY speaks the song "Schroeder" a la' Laurie Anderson. SCHROEDER looks confused and they wander off stage in a daze. PATTY wanders on looking bored, and stands C.) PATTY: (bored) I love the theatre. The theatre is my life. I love the theatre. The theatre is my life. (Sits, then stands.) Amen. (PATTY exits. The MUSIC DIRECTOR and the PROPSMASTER both come onstage. The MUSIC DIRECTOR begins to play air piano.) PROPSMASTER: Aimee, what would you think if we were doing a show, and we were so poor that we had to sell your piano to buy paper bags? MUSIC DIRECTOR: Paper bags? PROPSMASTER: Yes. You can't expect me to do props for a show without paper bags. MUSIC DIRECTOR: Paper bags? PROPSMASTER: Well, propsmasters have to think about these things. Music directors are lucky. They never have to think about things like paper bags. MUSIC DIRECTOR: I can't stand it. I just can't stand it. (Exeunt omnes. Enter SCHROEDER, whispering/mouthing the words.) SCHROEDER: Beethoven loved the country. He quite often liked to take long walks in the countryside. He liked the peace and quiet of the country. They were an inspiration to him. LUCY: (Full volume.) Give me that ball, you blockhead! SCHROEDER: Beethoven had it nice. (exit. Enter MUSIC DIRECTOR. She lies down and goes to sleep. All the following lines are delivered from off stage) C.B.: Hi Aimee! We're here at rehearsal on time, and we warmed up on the way over. LUCY: I bound my score in a loose leaf notebook, and I brought a pencil to rehearsal to mark it with! C.B.: We spent all day studying our music! LUCY: I think Aimee's a wonderful music director! C.B.: I do too--she's just about the best there is! MUSIC DIRECTOR: (song): They like me, They're off the wall Isn't it remarkable That things work out at all... Faithful cast always near me Learn their notes all by ear. Cut off when I do, Come to fear me, Get your brain Back in gear Follow my tempo, not yours! Put your instrument up to your mouth! Watch me, you brainless twits! Can't you even count to three? Rats! I feel every now and then that I gotta bite someone I know every now and then what I wanna be A fierce jungle animal crouched on a light in a tree I'd stay very, very still 'til I see a victim come I'd wait, knowing very well noone ever counts And then like the fierce jungle creature I am I would pounce, I'd pounce, I'd pounce, I'd... BITCH (from offstage, yelling): Don't touch the lighting tree!! MUSIC DIRECTOR: Gee, good thing it snowed last night... (exit) (CHARLIE BROWN enters carrying lunch bag. Opens it and examines sandwich.) CHARLIE BROWN: (with obvious relief!) Peanut butter. I wonder if that little red-headed girl likes peanut butter. Y'know, I could probably invite her over to our house for peanut butter sandwiches, if I invited other people, and we could have sort of a peanut butter social, and then maybe I could get to know her better, and... (realizes what he's saying.) Well, it's a peanut butter kind of day. (exit, enter SNOOPY to doghouse) SNOOPY: Five minutes ago I had to pee. Right now I have to pee. Five minutes from now I'll probably still have to pee. There's never a urinal around when you need one. (exit, hopping up and down with legs crossed) (enter LINUS and LUCY) LINUS: Lucy, do you know what I intend? I intend to be a queen. When I grow up, I'm going to be the biggest queen there ever was, and I will live in a beautiful palace, and have lots of dresses to wear... (LUCY drags him offstage by his blanket.) (enter CHARLIE BROWN, as for beginning of Kite. He is just about to start singing, when he stops...) CHARLIE BROWN: Wait! I was brought up in a log cabin in a small New England town, and my parents instilled in me a strong sense of democracy, what this country's all about. I think that this production should be run under equally egalitarian principles. So why don't we put it to a vote, among the cast, that we replace the Kite with...(he turns to the audience and declaims) Four score and seven years ago, our founding fathers.... (enter DIRECTOR, pissed) DIRECTOR: Ok, ok, I give up. We'll cut the Kite. (exeunt) (enter PRODUCER, with a note pad and pen) PRODUCER: Dear Julian West. Last show we asked for a reviewer on Thursday, and he didn't show up until Sunday. This time, we asked for a reviewer on Wednesday, and all we got was a photographer. Am I right in blaming this on Cosmo Papa? (sit down) (enter at various times CHARLIE BROWN, LINUS, SCHROEDER, DIRECTOR. all greet nonexistent SNOOPY. DIRECTOR notices. enter LUCY.) LUCY: Have you lost your dog? PATTY (from offstage): Oh, no, not another Lucy Anderson line! (exeunt) ------ BOOK REPORT LUCY, LINUS, SCHROEDER, : A Tech review of Charlie Brown.... LUCY: Charlie brown was a velveeta show that had a lot of cheez whiz and was held together by Linus and Snoopy. (Lucy counts to 21). Hmm, only had 17 last time. SCHROEDER: The name of the show about which, this Tech Review is about is, Charlie brown, which is about this - loser. I found it very - I liked the part where - It was a - It reminded me of Sidney! In the part where gloria took all the pills and david then jumped on her back the lights were all fukt and the music was weird and you couldn't hear much in the back and sidney passed out on the living room floor and david said gloria you must know the score there's this kid i've got over for dinner and all and if there's no woman he won't want to ball he left, she cried, and the skittles flew - charlie brown had that sort of a kind of thing too. LUCY: The other people sang sappy songs. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. Whew, back on track! LINUS: An artist, in a fit of pique at an uncharitable critic, once said that "Talking about art is like dancing about architecture." This phrase evokes powerful images--the stresses and strains of human muscles moving a skeleton, against a backdrop of steel cable supporting a concrete bridge; the sweep of a human arm, and the sweep of an arched doorway... DIRECTOR: if I start blocking now, when I'm not really rested it could upset my thinking which is no good at all I'll get a fresh start tomorrow and the first run's on Sunday So I'll have the whole weekend unless something should happen.... Why does this always happen, I should be somewhere sleeping, Getting rest and nutrition, I work best under pressure, And there'll be lots of pressure if I wait til 2:30, I should start blocking now But if I start blocking now When I'm not really rested it could upset my thinking Which is no good at all. LUCY: The music director had nice legs. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. 29. Huh? SCHROEDER: Down came his ethics in two, smash! And Sidney offered to do the review, crash! And David got to be on top for once, Hah! But not for long. LUCY: 31, 32, 33, ,34, 35, 36, 37. Hike! SCHROEDER: Just then his bitch wife flew in, whing! It was the time for the fight to begin, Zing! She tore him up and she left him for dead, ha! But she was wrong. And she came back. To find gloria. on the floor. just like patty, on the platform, without her ankle, just like in bridegroom, which this review - is not about. DIRECTOR: How can they expect me to block this cheezy song, with something original, in just three weeks? How can they expect me to take a show like this, and make a statement to this whole bunch of freaks! LUCY: Our friends were in the audience, such as Zori, and Darrin, and Stacy, and Simson, and Marsha, and Julian, and Simon, and Jefo, and Nico, and Leslie, Sabrina, Steve Balzac, and Gorodish, the techies, Susan and Lee! LINUS: "Dancing about Architecture" is a natural outgrowth of the creative process which makes TRME unique! SCHROEDER: Desperation is energy! DIRECTOR: First thing after painting I'll start. LUCY: And they were very, very, very, very, very, very, happy, to be done. SCHROEDER: The end. LUCY: 94, 95. The very, very, very end. LINUS: The cube. DIRECTOR: I need to start to work on blocking. --- (exeunt. enter DIRECTOR, looking earnest) DIRECTOR: Sometimes, even when I'm feeling low, I'll see some little thing that will somehow renew my faith. Just something like an actor getting a line right. Then I know that this show isn't half as bad as I make it out to be. We might even get a good review... (Director walks off stage) CHARLIE BROWN: (from off stage) I think I'll introduce myself and then I think I'll ask her to come over here and sit by me on the bed. ------------------------------------------------------------------- (enter SNOOPY, all in red light) SNOOPY: Here's the World War One flying ace high above 34-101 in his Sopwith Camel, searching for the infamous Cosmo Papa. I must bring him down. Suddenly... (BITCH enters) BITCH: Get off the lighting tree! (SNOOPY exits sheepishly, BITCH mounts pitcher's mound. CREW members wander in looking lame while she speaks) BITCH: OK, crew, I want this to be our most efficient strike of the show. I'm sure if we all just stop socializing, and if you don't have something to do, ask me for something to do, then we can get the lights put away before dawn...(stops, listens to her headphones, laughs) I know that if we all really grit our teeth, and remember not to touch the shutters on the instruments... CREW MEMBER #1: What's the point of our striking if we know we're just going to have to put everything back up in a few hours? We may as well all just go home. BITCH: I'm sure that we can get this set struck in under an hour. Come on, give me a C! CREW: C. BITCH: Give me a R! CREW: R. BITCH: Give me a E! CREW: E. BITCH: Give me a W! CREW: W. BITCH: Whaddaya got? CREW: Crew! ALL: (Shuffling around, making a half-hearted nod at the concept of dealing with the set.) There is no crew like the best crew Which is our crew right here We will show you we're the best crew In TRME this year And in no time, we'll be finished And we can leave this fucking room For all we have to do is strike just one more tree And then we can all go home! (The BITCH walks off and sits by herself; pantomimes writing.) BITCH: Dear Sasaki, You'll never guess what happened to me at rehearsal last night. It's hard to believe what happened to me at rehearsal last night. I was Stage Manager and Lighting Designer And also helping the Tech. Director And as we expected, disaster struck At rehearsal last night. (Music pauses. LUCY steps forward) LUCY: Have you lost your job? (Music starts again. The MUSIC DIRECTOR comes to the edge of the stage and sings a verse of C.R.E.W. while the CREW pantomime pandemonium. The DIRECTOR walks to the BITCH's place; pantomimes writing.) DIRECTOR: Dear Professor, Four actors were there, with two out and me with One Coke to go. Then I saw him, that eight-foot white-suited rock singer I know. Firmly I vowed I would finish the run and I told all the actors to go! Professor, I know that to punt was really quite crass. Could you please send directions on how I can get to your class. Your student, Stephen Gisselbrecht. (exit all but BITCH. Enter Schroeder) SCHROEDER: I'm sorry to have to say it to your face, Rachel, but but you're a very bitchy person. (she attacks him, drags the body off stage) (enter MUSIC DIRECTOR, annoyed as usual) MUSIC DIRECTOR: Where is everybody? If they don't rehearse they're not going to be able to go on stage tomorrow. Jon, Kelly, Tami! (CAST wanders in, talking about sex. MUSIC DIRECTOR cuts them off.) MUSIC DIRECTOR: Come on, let's go. Remember, slowly with cheese... (SCHROEDER conducts in a triangle, barely keeping the right rhythm. CAST starts to sing White Christmas, unsuccessfully. The following lines interrupt at totally random times.) SNOOPY: I have to pee. PATTY: My stomach hurts. SNOOPY: I want a candy bar. PATTY: I think I'm going to pass out. CHARLIE BROWN (raises his hand): Can we rehearse now? PATTY: I'm leaving, it's 11pm. (exits) (CHARLIE BROWN, livid, chases PATTY. Others follow one by one, despite the best efforts of the MUSIC DIRECTOR.) (Enter PATTY, LUCY, and LINUS. PATTY and LUCY begin to give lines "Here's my little baby brother with his little baby brother..." LINUS suddenly turns and wraps blanket around himself.) LINUS: How do you do, I See you've met my Faithful handiman. (LUCY and PATTY scream and run. LINUS struts off.) (enter DIRECTOR, leading the CAST (all have linked hands, as kindergarteners at a museum)) DIRECTOR: Do you see this tree? It is a light tree It's called a light tree Because it gives us light To see If you touch it then the Bitch will rip your head off This is a bulb It's forty dollars And if you touch it Your skin will make the glass Explode And then the show won't make any money And over there, those little orange and red things They're the set For you to act on And over there, those big and heavy black things Are for the pit MUSIC DIRECTOR (off stage): BAND! DIRECTOR: For them to play on LINUS: Really? DIRECTOR: Yes, they play and play and play for hours and hours and sometimes they even play together... (exeunt all but DIRECTOR, who is very rapidly starting to look like a zombie. Orchestra hums funeral march, with too much bass) DIRECTOR: My brain has just shut down. It's after three A.M., and Romkey has forgotten to bring me my hourly caffiene dose. Here I stand, a withering, hollow shell of a director, and there goes that white albino paisley lizard with beady red eyes and shades, and it's doing a soft shoe behind the doghouse, I can see its shadow... (etc. ad lib. Some time during all this the PROPSMASTER enters with a small box in his hand and waits) PROPSMASTER: Hey, Steve, are you hallucinating or something? I've been standing here for a whole minute with your No-Doz and you haven't even noticed. It's uppertime. DIRECTOR: Uppertime? Uppertime! Behold the foaming can of red and white Which is brought forth to end our slumber! Behold the magic pills so clean and bright Which have been sent for our fatigue! PROPSMASTER: Ok, there's no need to make a big fuss about it, just pop the pill and get back to rehearsal.. DIRECTOR: Do-do-do-do-do-do..(etc) It's uppertime, yeah, it's uppertime, Ooh, it's up-up-uppertime, very best time of night. Bring on the No-Doz, bring on the Coke! Bring on the Vivarin and wire me up, 'Cause it's upper, super-duper-upper, upper, super-pepper-upper, upper, super-duper uppertime! (instrumental. DIRECTOR jitters uncontrollably) DIRECTOR: LOUDERLOUDERLOUDERLOUDERLOUDERLOUDERLOUDER!"!!! (more instrumental, more jitters.) PROPSMASTER: Hey, Steve, Steve! Rehearsal is over! You can go home now! Steve, calm down! Now GO HOME!"!!! (DIRECTOR collapses immediately with his eyes open. PROPSMASTER stands over him looking worried. enter LUCY) LUCY: Have you lost your god? (exeunt omnes) GROUP LINES: "What's that? Do you think it's a leko?" "I don't know. I can't tell with the bulb burned out?" "It might be a leko, or maybe a fresnel." "It could be a fresnel. Or maybe a lizard." BITCH: DON'T TOUCH IT!!! CB: Gee, it's only 7am. It hasn't been such a long rehearsal after all. Sappiness is, eating velveeta, watching the bradys, valentines, sappiness is, another key change, learning your notes for the very first time. Sappiness is singing together when the show is through. And sappiness, is when the audience sings with you. Sappiness is, another sequel, and lots of royalties too, for sappiness, is anything, yes, anything at all, that sells for you. LUCY: You're a good lay, charlie brown. DIRECTOR: WAIT! What did that have to do with the rest of the show? LUCY: What did the original line have to do with the rest of the show? DIRECTOR: There is that. (While everyone hums 'Linus & Lucy', they all come solemnly on stage, nod once, and exit.) -------- Enjoy, steve no longer your director.  1,, Received: by ATHENA-PO-2.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA16280; Fri, 26 Feb 88 23:12:00 EST From: Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA15664; Fri, 26 Feb 88 23:11:54 EST Received: by M11-111-1.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA26840; Fri, 26 Feb 88 23:09:33 EST Date: Fri, 26 Feb 88 23:09:33 EST Message-Id: <8802270409.AA26840@M11-111-1.MIT.EDU> To: dragon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Subject: levels of abstraction questionnaire *** EOOH *** From: Date: Fri, 26 Feb 88 23:09:33 EST To: dragon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Subject: levels of abstraction questionnaire Name: Aimee Yermish Address: East Campus Hayden 411 Telephone number: dl-6426 Computer address: ayermish@athena.mit.edu When don't you want to be called? (If you leave this blank, we will assume you can be called anytime) Call anytime, I'll turn off the ringer on my phone if I don't want to be bothered. PLEASE LEAVE MESSAGES on my answering machine. Is there anyone you wish to work with? Steve Balzac, if he plays. Other less important requests, well, I like Bo Lawler, Adam Suchocki, John Conger, Harry Teplitz, Sue Landsman, and a whole lot of other people. In general, I'm pretty easygoing, as long as the other guy doesn't hate me. Is there anyone you specifically do not want to work with? (sound of polite throat clearing). There are quite a number of people who, er, could not be paid enough to work with me. Personally, I don't give a damn, but I wouldn't have fun working with someone who wasn't having fun because of me. Also, I like to be able to *trust* my allies... How much time are you planning to devote to this game? Well, you know how much time I normally devote. And I won't have things like classes and all to worry me anymore (G-d willing), so I won't even feel that guilty. Only one possibility of rain: if my family comes up for graduation before the game ends, I will spontaneously cease to exist -- my parents have at best an uneasy truce with these games. What's your level? Now, what do you mean by that? You've covered most of the obvious possibilities in other questions. If you want to know about previous experience, I have played for three years, played in thirteen games, written/gamesmastered four, and been peripherally involved (consultant/gamesmother) in two. I am probably one of the more infamous people in the Guild, not least because of my election to Master Assassin, nor because of my violent opposition to charges of cheating. Other definitions of level are answered in other questions. Would you prefer to work alone, with a partner, or on a team? Alone: Nah. All I'd go and do would be to build a team anyhow, it's hard to accomplish much with just one person. Unless you've got something that you think I'd really like. Partner: Again, I'd seek out more allies fast, but having a partner is sometimes the best of both worlds, if only because it's usually safe to asssume that you can trust a partner and that you can't necessarily trust everyone on a team. Team: Actually, come to think of it, I'd go build alliances even if I were part of a team. It very rarely hurts to have a large portion of the game working with you (except when it draws unnecessary attention). Do you like to be on top? (chuckle. I'm going to just have to deadpan this one...) Command is interesting. You get a rather different perspective on the game, more like an Illuminatus -- control of groups and individuals who can do things for you is more important than being able to do the things yourself -- you can afford to have a global view of the game, with your personal problems (and those of your allies) becoming much less important, because you can usually find the resources in another part of your power structure to take care of them. Of course, being a trusted lieutenant is even better -- not so much pressure and all, but most commanders like to have someone to bounce things off of (I know I do...) As far as ending up on top, it's only fun if it feels like you did it yourself, without help from the GMs (example: I was Big Toby, Duchess of Nunu York, in Reklone 4 (Botany Bay). Not surprisingly, I was trying to win independence for my prison planet. After all my negotiations and tricks and figurings and stuff (which I had a wonderful time with), the GMs made it consummately clear to us all that we were unable to affect the outcome, because they had a planned endgame. Sure, we won our independence and had the power to enforce it, but the GMs just gave it to us at the endgame instead of having us earn it. I never felt so cheated...). If you start out on top, then ending up there doesn't mean so much -- it's more fun to, er, come from behind (will I never be able to avoid saying things like that?) Do you like to "know the case"? If you mean "know what all is going on," fer sure. I like to start out with enough of an idea to get started, but definitely nowhere near so much that there is no effort to it. (Gosh, I sound like an English noble, "'Twould hardly be sporting." This applies to the previous answer too.) Do you enjoy the feeling that "THEY're out to get you"? Not in particular. Extended periods of paranoia make me violently physically ill. Short periods of paranoia are just mildly unpleasant. Do you enjoy the feeling of being one of "THEM"? I like having something up my sleeve, even though it makes life a little tougher. No one ever believes me when I am only what I seem. As far as hunting other people, well, that's what agents and allies are for. The only paranoia-building activity I enjoy is playing with other people's minds (to the extent that I am capable of it) What are your feelings about jelly donuts? I don't like powdered sugar, and I'm not all that fond of jelly filling. Almost any other kind of donut, though. I particularly like Boston cream donuts with chocolate frosting, and very plain donuts without even any glaze. Do you suffer from hallucinations? Please describe ... Occasional auditory hallucinations (usually while sitting in lecture) because of fatigue poisons -- at least I assume the lecturer is still talking about molecular biology rather than the price of tea in China (or whatever). Are you interested/willing to participate in fun physical events? Depends on what they are, and whether or not I'm expected to do well in them. Competition usually removes most of the fun from any physical activity -- I'm slow, mildly asthmatic, out of shape, etc. And I'm not that kind of girl! (chuckle) Are you interested in off campus activities (such as semi-formal dinners, social dances, etc.)? Are you willing to contribute money toward such an event? Oh, sure, as long as I can get a ride (wouldn't want to ruin my gown). If you are going to do anythig like this, let me know LONG in advance at least something of my character's dress habits so I can make a good costume. Public events are always a good time -- can make you forget you're not having fun, if that unhappy eventuality should occur (grin). I'd be perfectly willing to contribute money (subject, of course, to its availability) as long as the amount wasn't exorbitant. Any particular requests? (Note: the earlier we receive the questionaire, the better) Ok, all right, ya finally put out a blurb. Knowing you folks, it probably has absolutely nothing to do with the game. It certainly has no obvious relationship to the title. Also, I strongly doubt that you would content yourselves with something that appears to have a fairly standard real-time real-space game structure -- I just hope it's not one of those games where the object of the game is to figure out the upper level of the game (ignoring where you started from in the process, almost always). SIL is very fond of that (Rule Psix, which worked because the starting level remained important. Rude Awakening I, which didn't work because the (really crummy, in my opinion) idea of consensual reality was carried A Bit Too Far). (lots of smiles, I'm just rattling your chain) Absolutely no Spam. It's not kosher, for one. The other reasons (all 999,999 of them) I leave to your imaginations. I'm truly terrible at strategy and tactics. No armies, please. (I always got SteveM to do the tough parts of the boardgame, all I could do was peaceful movement and combat) I am not a speechmaker in front of crowds. I have a big mouth in private, but not with an audience of more than a few. Actually, this generalizes to: I can't play a role in front of a crowd, because I get too scared. There's this fellow I hang out with all the time, name of Steve. I will not work against him. Note that I did not say "I want to work with him." I have been his sidekick far too many times, getting stuck in trivial (and boring) roles by well-meaning GMs. We work extremely well together when we are working towards similar goals from different angles (example, Rekon-1D, where he took control of the Earth and prevented the other alien groups from doing so, while I prevented the Earth from blowing up in our faces). If we're too close in the plotting, we will generally exhaust what is near us too quickly and start stepping on each other's toes. If you can't arrange something like this, then at least cast us in different but unconflicting parts of the plot. I usually play moderately good guys, might be interesting to try wearing a black hat one of these days... I like to play (and write) characters that are driven by strong emotions or other motivating factors (even fear is more interesting than nothing). I don't like characters that do what they do simply because that is what they do -- I want my character to hold her opinions because there is no other way she could exist, not because the GMs told her to. If you write my character well enough that I can understand her, I'll play just about anything. N.B. Only one of these questions will have any bearing on our casting decisions. If you guess right, you can have your dream part !!! But if you don't, you can hobnob with diplomats and kings as Joe Schmaltz, Janitor. (cheery grin) Oh, come on. That's bullshit, and you know it. Why bother writing the surveys if you don't intend to read them? And if you do read them, you can't honestly expect me to believe that you won't be subtly influenced by what you see. I've written entire characters (and had one written for me) around chance comments in a signup. Besides, I'm not very good with a mop.... But I sure am good with a shovel. I always write long surveys, in the hopes that something I say will happen to give some GM a bright idea. Ha. Ask me more questions if you (for some strange reason) want more answers. If you're having trouble finding a role for me (in some respects I'm very easy to cast, in others very difficult), go ahead and probe me on different ideas. I promise not to try to gain any info from your questions or from your reactions to my answers. --Aimee  1,, Received: by ATHENA-PO-2.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA07552; Tue, 1 Mar 88 20:52:06 EST Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA13156; Tue, 1 Mar 88 20:51:54 EST Received: by BLOOM-BEACON.MIT.EDU with sendmail-5.45/4.7 id ; Tue, 1 Mar 88 20:41:22 EST Received: from BU-IT.BU.EDU by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.58/1.26) id AA03948; Tue, 1 Mar 88 15:09:09 PST Return-Path: Received: by bu-it.BU.EDU (4.0/4.7) id AA04834; Tue, 1 Mar 88 18:01:43 EST Date: Tue, 1 Mar 88 18:01:43 EST From: spike@bu-it.bu.edu (Joe Ilacqua) Message-Id: <8803012301.AA04834@bu-it.BU.EDU> To: tanstaafl@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Ray Tracing Jell-O Brand Gelatin *** EOOH *** Return-Path: Date: Tue, 1 Mar 88 18:01:43 EST From: spike@bu-it.bu.edu (Joe Ilacqua) To: tanstaafl@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Ray Tracing Jell-O Brand Gelatin We went to the Library and found this. Liked it so much that my partner in crime (madd@bu-it) typed it in. It great!! Sorry we couldn't give you the pictures but the digitizer is broken... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RAY TRACING JELLO BRAND GELATIN Copyright 1988 ACM Reprinted with permission from \fICommunications of the ACM\fR, February 1988. \fINew technology is presented for imaging a restricted class of dessert foods.\fR Paul S. Heckbert Ray tracing has established itself in recent years as the most general image-synthesis algorithm [10]. Researchers have investigated ray-surface intersection calculations for a number of surface primitives. These have included checkerboards [Whitted 80]; chrome balls [Whitted 80]; glass balls [Whitted 80]; robot arms [Barr 82]; blue abstract things [Hanrahan 82]; more glass balls [Watterberg 83]; mandrills [Watterberg 83]; more mandrills [Sweeney 83]; green fractal hills [Kajiya 83]; more glass balls [SEDIC 83]; aquatic blobby things [Kaw 83]; more chrome balls [Heckbert 83]; pool balls [Portner 84]; more glass balls [Kajiya 86]. Unfortunately, \fInobody\fR has ray traced any food. So far, the most realistic foods were Blinn's classic orange and strawberry images, but these were created with a scan-line algorithm [2]. The \fIDessert Realism Project\fR at Pixar is addressing this problem. This article presents new technology for ray tracing a restricted class of dessert foods, in particular Jell-O(1) brand gelatin. We believe this method may have application to other brands of gelatin and, perhaps, pudding as well. This article is divided into three parts: methods for modeling static Jell-O, simulation of Jell-O motion using impressive mathematics, and ray-Jell-O intersection calculations. JELL-O SHAPE To model static Jell-O, we employ a new synthesis technique wherein attributes are added one at a time using abstract object-oriented classes we call \fIingredients\fR. Ingredient attributes are combined during a preprocessing pass to accumulate the desired set of material properties (consistency, taste, torsional strength, flame resistance, refractive index, etc.). We use the RLS orthogonal basis (rasberry, lime, and strawberry), as shown in the figure below, from which any type of Jell-O can be synthesized [9]. Ingredients are propagated through a large 3-D lattice using vectorized pipeline SIMD parallel processing in a systolic array architecture that we call the \fIJell-O Engine\fR. Furthermore, we can compute several lattice points simultaneously. Boundary conditions are imposed along free-form surfaces to control the Jell-O shape, and the ingredients are mixed using \fIrelaxation\fR and \fIannealing\fR lattice algorithms until the matrix is chilled and \fIready-to-eat\fR. JELL-O DYNAMICS Previous researchers have observed that, under certain conditions. Jell-O \fIwiggles\fR [8]. We have been able to simulate these unique and complex Jell-O dynamics using spatial deformations [1] and other hairy mathematics. From previous research with rendering systems, we have learned that a good dose of gratuitous partial differential equations is needed to meet the paper quota for impressive formulas. Therefore, we solve the Schrodinger wave equation for the Jell-O field J: .nf _2 2m V J + -- (E - V)J = 0. h .fi Transforming to a spherical coordinate system [7], .nf _ dJ 1 dJ 1 dJ VJ = E -- + E - -- + E ----- -- x dr y r dO z rsinO dP 2 _2 1 d 2 dJ 1 d dJ 1 d J V J = -- -- (r --) + ------ -- (sinO --) + ------- --- 2 dr dr 2 dO dO 2 2 2 r r sinO r sin O dP .fi [Many of the symbols used don't appear in ASCII -- ed] Fuller has given a concise and lucid explanation of the deviation form here: The "begetted" eightness as the system-limit number of the nuclear uniqueness of self-regenerative symmetrical growth may well account for the fundamental octave of unique interpermutative integer effects identified as plus one, plus two, plus three, plus four, respectively; and as minus four, minus three, minus two, minus one, characterizing the integers five, six, seven, and eight, respectively [3]. In other words, to a first approximation: .nf ---------------------------------------- | J = 0. | | The Jell-O(r) Equation | ---------------------------------------- .fi RAY-JELL-O INTERSECTION CALCULATION The ray-Jell-O intersection calculations fortunately require the solution of integral equations and the simulation of Markov chains [6], so they cannot be computed efficiently. In fact, we have proved that their solution is linear-time reducible to the traveling-salesman problem, where \fIn\fR is the number of Jell-O molecules, so we can be sure that ray tracing Jell-O will be practical only on a supercomputer [5]. IMPLEMENTATION A preliminary implementation has been completed on a VAX 11/780 running the UNIX(2) operating system. To create a picture using the full Jell-O Engine simulation, we estimate that 1 CPU eon of CRAY time and a lot of hard work would be required. We made several simplifying approximations, however, since the article is due today. As a first approximation, we have modeled a gelatin cube governed by the first-order Jell-O equation with judiciously selected surface properties; that is, color = (0, 255, 0). The frontispiece for this article was created with this model. Work is underway on a complete Jell-O Engine implementation using Lisp \fIflavors\fR. We will shortly begin computing a 100-by-100 image of a bowl of lime Jell-O using a roomful of Amigas [4]. The picture should be ready in time for SIGGRAPH with hours to spare. CONCLUSIONS Jell-O goes well with a number of other familiar objects, including mandrills, glass balls, and teapots. The composition and animation possibilities are limited only by your imagination (personal communication by Lance Williams, 1980). The Dessert Foods Division is generalizing the methods described here to other brands of gelatin. Future research areas include the development of algorithms for ray tracing puddings and other dessert foods. Another outstanding problem is the suspension of fruit in Jell-O, in particular, fresh pineapple and kiwifruit. Jell-O is: * visually appealing * futuristic * hydrodynamically captivating * tasty * goes well with other objects. \fIAcknowledgements\fR. Thanks to Paul Haeberli for tipping back a few with me on this research and to H. B. Siegel for key observations. The SIGGRAPH technical committee also deserves thanks for recognizing that \fI"there's always room for Jell-O."\fR. (1) Jell-O is a registered trademark of General Foods. (2) UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories. REFERENCES 1. Barr, a. H. Ray tracing deformed surfaces. SIGGRAPH 86 Proc. 20, 4 (Aug. 1986), 287-296. 2. Blinn, J. F. Computer display of curved surfaces. Ph. D. thesis. Computer Science Dept., Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1978. 3. Fuller, R. B. \fISynergetics\fR. MacMillan, New York, 1975, p. 125. 4. Graham, E. Graphic scene simulatons. \fIAmiga World\fR (May-June 1987), 18-95. 5. Haeberli, P., and Heckbert, P. A Jell-O calculus. ACM Trans. Graph. (special issue on ray tracing moist surfaces). Submitted 1872. To be published. 6. Kajiya, J. T. The rendering equation. SIGGRAPH 86 Proc. 20, 4 (Aug. 1986), 143-150. 7. Plastock, R. A., and Kalley, G. \fISchaum's Outline of Computer Graphics\fR. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1986. 8. Sales, S. \fIThe Soupy Sales Show\fR. 1966. 9. Weller, T. \fIScience Made Stupid\fR. Houton Mifflin, Boston Mass., 1985. 10. Whitted, T. An improved illumination model for shaded display. Commun. ACM 23, 6 (June 1980), 343-349. CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: C.1.2 [Processor Architectures]: Multiple Data Stream Architectures (Multiprocessors) -- \fIarray and vector processors\fR; I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-dimensional Graphics and Realism -- \fIcolor, shading, shadowing, and texture\fR; J.3 [Computer Applications]: Life and Medical Sciences -- \fIhealth\fR General Terms: Algorithms, Design, Theory Additional Key Words And Phrases: Food, gelatin, Jell-O, lattice algorithm, ray tracing Author's Present Address: Paul S. Heckbert, Dessert Foods Division, Pixar, San Rafael, CA 94913-3719. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Association for Computing Machinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or specific permission.  1,answered,, Received: by ATHENA-PO-2.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA18388; Mon, 21 Mar 88 11:51:33 EST From: Received: by ATHENA.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA00746; Mon, 21 Mar 88 11:51:02 EST Received: by BEETHOVEN.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA29559; Mon, 21 Mar 88 11:50:32 EST Message-Id: <8803211650.AA29559@BEETHOVEN.MIT.EDU> To: ayermish@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Subject: script template Date: Mon, 21 Mar 88 11:50:25 EST *** EOOH *** From: To: ayermish@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Subject: script template Date: Mon, 21 Mar 88 11:50:25 EST Amy, Here is the Scribe template I use in formatting scripts. It's followed by a few examples. Cut 'em out, scribe 'em, and print 'em. Notice that you have two different ways to make sure that both the @n[Person's name] and the @d[dialog they speak] end up on the same page: 1) you can insert @newpage wherever you need it, or 2) put the @d and @n fields together inside a @group field. Enjoy. ______________________________________________________________________________ Gary L. Dryfoos ARPA/Internet: dryfoo@athena.mit.edu UUCP/Usenet: ...ihnp4!mit-eddie!athena.mit.edu!dryfoo Phone: (617) 253-0184 / (617) 825-6115 USPS: E40-318, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA 02139 "So, you cannot resist, can you? No, no one can! When LeMott sings, they dance! Ha-ha-ha! They all dance!" ============================================================================== ---------------- cut here [TEMPLATE.mss] ---------------- @device[PostScript] @style[FontFamily Souvenir, FontScale 10] @style[LeftMargin 1.5 in, RightMargin 1 in] @style[spacing 1, spread .25, indent 0] @Define[n, Size -2, Use B, Centered, Above 1.5 lines] @Define[a, Size -2, Use I, Group, Break Around, LeftMargin +0.25 in, RightMargin +0.25 in] @Define[da, Size -2, Use I] @Define[d, Group, Break Around, Spacing 1.2, Spread .5] @Pageheading[Immediate, Left {@b[Monty Python]}, Center {-@value[page]-}, Right {@b[]}] @Majorheading[] @Begin[Center, Use I, size -1] @b[Dramatis Personae] @End[Center] @n[] @a[(