VLVL2 (15): Dangling Brock

[dedalus204 at comcast.net]

375.32:  "But at the moment here, Brock was linked by remote control to the motor of the Huey's hoist, able to lower himself to within centimeters of the girl's terrified body [...] By the time Brock figured out the complex insult, he was also feeling mixed signals through the cable that held him . . ."


"In some ancient Greek drama, an apparently insoluble crisis was solved by the intervention of a god, often brought on stage by an elaborate piece of equipment. This "god from the machine" was literally a deus ex machina.
Few modern works feature deities suspended by wires from the ceiling, but the term deus ex machina is still used for cases where an author uses some improbable (and often clumsy) plot device to work his or her way out of a difficult situation. When the cavalry comes charging over the hill or when the impoverished hero is relieved by an unexpected inheritance, it's often called a deus ex machina."

http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Terms/deusexmachina.html


and for the comic book fans out there:

"Many comic book characters can be seen as walking deus ex machinas. Wolverine is viewed by many fans of the X-Men comics as such. His mutant powers include an incredibly fast healing factor (making him nearly invincible), enhanced senses, and a skeleton of adamantium, a fictional metal which is indestructible. Lifeguard, also from the X-Men, is widely considered by her detractors to be the ultimate deus ex. Her mutant ability is to manifest any necessary ability to save lives, which makes her a quick fix for the writers if any characters are stuck in a tight spot."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina


which also notes:

"Deus Ex Machina is also the name of the ship Joel Hodgson uses to escape from the Satellite of Love on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. "


which, incidentally, leads us to:

http://rpirani.best.vwh.net/gr&mst3k.htm



Okay, done for now.

Back again after son's baseball game tonight . . .