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doc3d

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Post Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:58 pm

City Speak

I assume most of you know about City Speak? There once was a Blade Runner fan network by that name. The key person who ran it was Sara Jane Campbell (February 3, 1959 - August 20, 1985). She died at the age of 26 following minor surgery-- you know the "unlikely" event you sign off on whenever you go into the hospital?

In January 1988 a memorial edition of the complete run of fanzines came out, issued by eluki bes shahar. Shahar states, "The vision-- stories, poetry, articles, and art-- is Sara Cambpell's". One of the major works that appeared in City Speak is Campbell's novella, "Memories of Green", a continuation of the BR story, and, though I admire and respect the guy, much better than the commercial K. W. Jeter sequels. I'm sworn not to reproduce this, but hopefully you can track down a copy on the web somewhere. Everything else seems to be out there.

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Kipple

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Post Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:46 am

I'm working on it. :wink:


(More to follow the first of the year.)
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doc3d

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Post Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:12 pm

Cool.

I tried to find a web based version, and couldn't. That doesn't mean it's not there, just that I couldn't find it. I have no idea how to contact Campbell's estate. Twenty years have passed since the final print version appeared.

If anyone can turn up a copy without a geis on reprinting the whole novella, Kipple can.

Now... even a reviewer can quote a small section of a book. So here's a bit I just manually retyped, to give people an idea of what it's like. I think this is an ok thing to do... If folks out there think otherwise, just say so and I'll pull it. Somehow I'd really like to keep her memory alive. So good luck on the quest, Kipple. (The novella is centered on the missing 6th replicant, named Willy Soledad.)

doc

From "Memories of Green" by Sara Jane Campbell pages 15-6 in the original fanzine, pages 147-8 in the omnibus edition):

--------------

Taffey Lewis was seriously scared.

It'd been even easier than Gaff had expected.

Taffey hid it well. Still, Gaff could tell by the nervous tic in Taffey's right eyelid, by the way his hand shook as he tamped out his cheap "Lamp Unto My Feet"--brand happy-cigar, that Gaff's visit was everything the sleazy hotelier had most feared.

At first Taffey had clearly hoped to wiggle his way out of the situation. He'd greeted Gaff with thick effusiveness. Led him to the shadowy "business" end of the Snake Pit bar, where the yowly noise of the floorshow was somewhat muffled. Reminded him that they were old acquaintences, like friends even, and that Gaff had practically been on Taffey's payroll when he'd first broken in.

Gaff had to smile at that. In his rookie days with Vice, Gaff had overlooked Taffey's mostly because he just couldn't be bothered. He'd even waived the payroll offer, though it was perfectly okay as per the Influence Statutes. Taffey Lewis was widely considered too slippery to even carry through on the usual gratuities, so it wouldn't have been worthwhile to do business, anyway. Gaff had always figured *when in doubt, avoid,* and he'd been able to avoid being part of Taffey's pocket-stable through the usual-- his family connections to the Tong Mafia Dreads.

Even Taffey Lewis didn't care to pester Uncle Kimura's proteges.

In the shadowy bowels of the bar, Gaff watched a smile sidle its way across the puffy expanse of Taffey's face. "It's like this, pal," Taffey grated. "I didn't know about Miss Salami and all. She just comes in here, ID looks okay, she tries out and I like her and I take her on, see, and--"

"And its guts end up all over the sidewalk," Gaff said.

"Not my fault, pal."

"Your employee created a situation." (Gaff liked the sound of that. In his opinion Deckard's encounter with Zhora had been such a mess, such a travestissement, and this made it sound as neat as a cardboard cutout.) "Our officer in charge was almost forced to leave some bystanders' brains all over the pavement-- what if they'd been some of your client types, or your girls?"

Taffey Lewis grinned. A cloud of happy-smoke hung about his bloated face. "But then your officer in charge was a pretty good shot. So what's to worry, pal?"

It was like a switch had been thrown, or some secret signal. A drink was whapped down before Gaff, a drink with two ersatz-cherry globs hanging impaled on tiny plastic swords in its sinister blue depths; and at that same instant a woman-creature, thin and pallid and gauzy-gowned, wraith-like, drifted over and looped an arm around Gaff's shoulders.

Taffey waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She was strung out bad. Languorous, she brushed a strand of fine flaxen hair from her white cheek and stared at Gaff with sunken aqua-blue eyes. She swayed; her thin arm tightened across his neck, and with deep dreadful intensity she whispered, "Hey... gimme one of those cherries, mister?"

Impassive, Gaff slid her an entire bowl of Yugoslav peanuts from down the bar. The pale-tressed fungirl fell upon them voraciously.

Taffey looked startled.

Gaff fixed a chilly stare upon him. "Your place here is becoming a well-known hangout for illegal dangerous types. Skinjobs. Escaped replicants."

"There was just one," Taffey mumbled.

"There's a whole mess of them left," Gaff said coldly. "They seem to like your place. A lot. Voulez-vous tasukeru?"

Taffey's thick fingers tightened about the forgotten happy-cigar. "Skip the pat-wah."

"I said, you'd love to cooperate. Do you wanna be a known shelterer?"

Taffey stared at Gaff, his pulpy face settling into an expression as close to fright as it might ever get. He was probably thinking about the feared Rep-Detect Division, or Vice... or even the Tong Mafia Dreads, for that matter.
Last edited by doc3d on Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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ridleynoir

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Post Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:31 pm

Sweet! Thank you again. I would love to find a copy but have yet to see anything more on it in a long time. I do remember the forum, and I believe it still exists to some degree in archives.

I have a copy of the original fanzine myself. I would hate to see Sara's legacy be forgotten because of copyright too. Thank you for sharing what you did.

Andy
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Kipple

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Post Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:37 am

I have been working on an article about CITYSPEAK. I contacted a small number of folks who had something to do with it. I'd rather say no more at this point...for, aren't surprises more "special"? :wink:

In the meantime...

Remembering Sara Campbell
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ridleynoir

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Post Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:09 am

kewl 8)
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doc3d

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Post Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:59 am

Excellent. I love surprises.

Also, a Plan B just occurred to me. I've worked as the voice man in a little low-end tv, had a radio show on the defunct weirdo FM station KRAB, and most recently did some fill in work at KMUN in Astoria (in 2002). Blah blah blah... but so sum up, I've got a trained voice, and I was thinking about turning Memories of Green into a free audiobook. I didn't promise not to *read* it.

Your thoughts?

doc
Last edited by doc3d on Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Kipple

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Post Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:23 am

doc3d wrote:Excellent. I love surprises.

I was thinking about turning Memories of Green into a free audiobook.
Your thoughts?

doc



Sounds great!

Be sure to send us a link!
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doc3d

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Post Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:28 pm

Be sure to send us a link!


You mean, like, using my prison laptop or something? :twisted:

My psychic advisor told me that such an audiobook in highly compressed .mp3 will materialize somewhere in the Aether.

Seriously, if anyone has contacts to any of the original Cityspeak group, please email me off list.

doc
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ridleynoir

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Post Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:52 pm

While looking over the W.M. Kolb Bibliography in the "Retrofitting Blade Runner" book, I spied an article written BY Sara in the November 1982 edition of Fantastic Films magazine (#31). I am going to see if my regular comic book store has it in back issue.

Andy
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Kipple

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Post Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:40 am

ridleynoir wrote:While looking over the W.M. Kolb Bibliography in the "Retrofitting Blade Runner" book, I spied an article written BY Sara in the November 1982 edition of Fantastic Films magazine (#31). I am going to see if my regular comic book store has it in back issue.

Andy



Great! :D

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Update on my article. I interviewed one person...gosh, a month or two ago. It's been all typed and edited. Only, I have been waiting on two or three others replies since. I'd rather not pressure folks on this. Sara was a very dear friend to these folks, and still seems to be a sensitive topic. I'll touch base with peoples after the holidays.
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Gene Ettix

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Post Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:26 pm

Kipple wrote:Update on my article. I interviewed one person...gosh, a month or two ago. It's been all typed and edited. Only, I have been waiting on two or three others replies since. I'd rather not pressure folks on this. Sara was a very dear friend to these folks, and still seems to be a sensitive topic. I'll touch base with peoples after the holidays.


Very admirable, Kipple. Keep up the good detective work, while exhibiting tact & respect. As long as we waited for the FC to be released, I'm sure we can afford to be patient with this.
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doc3d

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Post Sat Dec 20, 2008 2:28 pm

Kipple sez:

While looking over the W.M. Kolb Bibliography in the "Retrofitting Blade Runner"


Where the hell is Bill these days? I no longer have a current email address. Could someone fire off an email to him and ask him to contact doc3d (Elliott) via private mail?

Thanks.

doc
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ridleynoir

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Post Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:10 pm

Pm sent for Bill's privacy

Andy
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alz

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Post Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:00 am

I started creating a website for it 10 years ago (oh so long ago(!)).

You can find it here:

http://www.planet.io/_archive/web_blade ... index.html

The format is a little off, not having been updated to the latest browsers. There's a couple mixed links at the end, too.

Originally, I was trying to create a minimalistic web style that would fit on one screen (not scroll) to help emote the sensation I had when I read the original material ... that it was a fan-based, real mailed, fan letter.

--alz
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