Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #03556



To: beam@corp.sgi.com
From: Jean auBois aubois@trail.com
Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 22:47:55 -0600
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Rollerbots (was: Star Wars Ep1...)


At 8:51 PM -0000 5/22/99, Hyndman wrote:
:First thing, they didn't fire projectiles. They were laser "cannons", which
:was a fairly new concept when the original star wars was made, and you
:can't claim he ripped him self off.

No, he isn't ripping himself off. For that matter, I never claimed that he
was ripping ANYONE off.

The concept of "laser cannons" predates Lucas' existence on the earth so it
isn't his idea. Furthermore, whether they are firing bolts of light or
chunks of lead is essentially moot when you consider that the net effect is
an attempt to damage something else, eh?

Heck, even Jules Verne was using the idea of "power beam weapons" and that
was 120 years ago!!!

Using a concept in a story is not what bugged me -- it was someone claiming
that it was uniquely and originally created by Lucas that is hogwash.

:>>:Have you seen the flick?
:>Praytell, what difference does THAT make? Either the ideas are as old as
:>mud or they aren't. He didn't invent them.
:It makes a whole difference, the painting you described has NOTHING similar
:to them except the fact that they do roll, and walk. And if they were soo
:ripped off from this artist, he ripped it off from nature. Armadillo's have
:been around for a long time, as well as hedge hogs.


To begin with, Escher almost exclusively did etchings, not paintings.
Secondly, the "cool" part of the robots in question is that they move
quickly somewhere by rolling and then go into a standing stance / walking
mode when necessary -- precisely like that Escher used in his art.

For what it is worth, neither the armadillo nor the hedgehog move when they
are in their defensive posture and as a result form no comparison
whatsoever. I can't recall the creature that -does- move (it lives on
beaches and primarily uses the rolling motion when going downhill).

There is no question of "ripping off" -- I never said that Lucas "ripped
off" anyone -- I merely stated that the concept didn't originate with him.

I find it rather offensive when people put words like "ripped off" into my
mouth when I made no such statement. I suggest you go read my original
message.




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