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The totally unofficial A-Team electronic mail newsletter
***** Now in it's second year of publication !! *****
Reflector submission address: [email protected]
Administrivia: Nicole Pellegrini
Please use the following address for subscribe/unsubscribe and back issue requests (do NOT send them to the reflector address):
[email protected]
Also use that address if you wish to change your subscription status to receive the newsletters only (or go from newsletter to news + reflector).
The A-Team Homepage: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pellegri/ateam.html
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*The A-Team Hawaii Page: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kaonohi
*Home of the On the Jazz Newsletter Archives**
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DATE: August 13, 1996
ISSUE: 23
VOLUME: 2
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Hi everyone!
A relatively quiet two weeks or so, but still a few things of note to report.
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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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MR. T HEALTH UPDATE
Some disturbing news in the past weeks regarding Mr. T's health, at least as reported in several tabloid papers. The follwoing article appeared in the August 13th issue of STAR:
"MR. T LOSING CANCER BATTLE: A Team star, 44, is too sick to even talk with his kids, say docs."
Macho star Mr. T is fighting a desperate battle against deadly cancer and he's so sick he can't even bring himself to talk to his kids.
The A-Team actor, who's just 44, was diagnosed with cancer last fall and has been getting high doses of radiation treatment.
In December he had to pull out of an acting engagement in England because he was too sick. And in the last six months he has gone into a tailspin.
Psychiatrist Dr. Frank Tan revealed that Mr. T was now suffering from severe depression brought on by the treatments.
Tan said T is so depressed he has "refused to see his children with whom he previously had a warm and close relationship."
And Tan added that the TV megastar had let himself go. "He has engaged in self-neglect - not taking care of his personal appearance and physical condition."
Mr. T is suffering from anaplastic large cell lymphoma and has been undergoing a barrage of debilitating treatments including radiation.
His doctor, Robert Huizenga of UCLA Medical School, says so far he seems to be responding to the treatment.
But Huizenga, who examined OJ Simpson twice after Nicole's murder and testified at the trial, is still cautious.
And STAR's Dr. Norton Luger says the disease is more often fatal than not:
"It all depends how fast the tumor grows and how many different areas of the body are invaded.
"His age and physical fitness will have little affect on his survival chances."
Huizenga, the former team physician for the LA Raiders football team, said it was an aggressive and rapidly spreading disease. T was reportedly originally given chemotherapy late last year but according to his psychiatrist he became really anxious "abou a recurrence of cancer." Around Christmas a business associate said "all we can do is send him our wishes."
And his mom, Lee Tero, told STAR: "I'm worried about him."
Tan, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA, says: "His depression and anxiety have prevented him from dealing with major issues in his life."
Mr. T stunned onlookers when he appeared in a Chicago court last week.
The once vibrant star gingerly put on reading glasses to read court documents and looked badly out of shape.
He is fighting a $4.9 million judgement againsth im in a court case brought by two men who claim they invented the whole Mr. T image.
But his mental state is terrifying his closest associates.
"This is not a good time for something like this," says T's attorney and close pal John Goudge. "It won't help him get better."
The depression was so bad he missed several court dates before finally appearing in Cook County Court in Chicago for the hearing.
Tan says the actor, who first rocketed to fame playing Sylvester Stallone's sparring partner in Rocky III, told him of his uncontrollable crying fits, his loss of appetite and energy.
T even refused to see or speak with his two beloved daughters, Lisa, 25, and Erica, 18.
Tan says T is so depressed he can only feel comfortable "doing things which he has long familiarity with and good memories, such as boxing.
"He has been extremely reluctant to deal with any conflict situation, even if extremely urgent," he adds.
Tan was called in by T's personal doctor Adam Karns. The shrink immediately diagnosed T as suffering from "severe clinical depression and stress and anxiety attacks."
<The End>
All I can add is that let's hope for some good news in the future and let's keep T in our thoughts and best wishes.
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MOVIE NEWS:
No new rumors to report, except apparently there's a blurb on the movie in Cinescape magazine currently and a picture of T.
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MOVIE REVIEW: "ALASKA" (with Dirk Benedict)
I managed to catch a sneak preview of this movie this past weekend, and have to admit it was quite a bit better than I expected. Now, that might not sound like a glowing review, but I went into it expecting a typical cheesy Disney kids & animals movie. Yes, there was a cute lil' polar bear cub that saves the day several times, and two kids who are the main focus of the movie, but the writing, cinematography, and mostly fast-pace managed to keep me interested even when the outcome was in no doubt from the opening.
Dirk Benedict plays the father of the two kids, recently a widower and raising the kids on his own after giving up a high stress job as an airline pilot and moving to Alaska. The girl likes it; the boy hates it. With that initial set-up taken care of in the first fifteen minutes or so, we get to the main action: Dirk's character is seriously injured in a plane crash in the wilderness and no one can locate him. Therefore it's up to the kids to brave the outdoors and track him down, along the way crossing the path of two poachers and the previously mentioned polar bear cub, the target of much of the poachers' attention.
Dirk doesn't really get much to do in the film except sit in his crashed plane at the very edge of a cliffside, then hang off that cliff for a while before getting rescued. The kids are the main focus of the movie and how the adventure brings them closer together and, of course, teach the boy a few lessons about respecting nature and all that sort of thing. There's a level of Indian mysticism mixed in for good measure and, surprisingly enough, rather well done (from what I know and have read about animal spirit guides and their importance.) However, hearing the boy say, "Trust the bear" comes across as rather forced compared to when their Indian friend's grandfather says it.
Overall, I give it a solid B: if you're only reason for seeing it is Dirk Benedict, you can probably pass on in unless you're a total die-hard fan.
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A-TEAM COMPUTER GAME
One of our subscribers wrote me this past week to say he is currently working on an A-Team computer game in Qbasic format. Anyone who is interested can receive a copy of the game when completed by emailing Eric Dahl at [email protected].
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HELP WRITE AN A-TEAM STORY!
After an email chat the other day (and some interesting experiments this past weekend :-), I'd like to propose a fun project for some of our more creatively-inclinded subscribers. We have some interesting "starts" for new A-Team stories, and would like to get people involved in continuing them "round-robin" style - basically, one person writes a few paragraphs/pages and then hands it over to the next participant to continue. No one, of course, will really have an idea at the start how the story's going to wrap up, and that's the fun of it. If people are interested and the first one turns out good enough, we'll transcibe it for the newsletter and maybe use it for a future issue of Plans Scams and Vans 3!
Here's the start for one of the stories, as proposed by Irene. If you have an idea for the next part of this adventure, or would like to get in on it later, email me at [email protected] and we'll hopefully have some fun!
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"Move it, Smith!" The rifle barrel ground into his back, and Hannibal Smith moved. His hands were bound behind his back, and the heavy sack over his head prevented him from seeing where he was headed. Firm hands grasped his shoulders, navigating him up and down stairs, around corners, into and out of buildings, until he was thoroughly disoriented. Finally the hands pushed him through one last door, which slammed and bolted shut behind him. Hannibal stood stock-still for a moment, until the sack was yanked off his head and the grinning visage of the Faceman met his gaze.
"Hey, Hannibal, glad you could make it," he said cheerfully, applying himself to Hannibal's handcuffs. Within seconds the cuffs were off and Hannibal rubbed his sore wrists gratefully as he looked around in amazement. The curtains were drawn, and the windows gave a stunning panorama of the distinctive Las Vegas strip far below. Big screen tvs, the remains of a gourmet meal for four, and the king-sized waterbed indicated that they were confined in a luxury suite in a town known for its luxury.
"Care for a drink, Colonel?" Murdock asked from his position behind the bar. "We got margueritas and mimosas made up already, there's beer and wine cold, or I can mix something else."
"The mimosas are wonderful," Amy recommended. She was strectched gracefully across a loveseat, sipping her drink from a tall, frosted glass and nibbling on a bowl of strawberries.
"But the margueritas aren't half bad," Murdock defended his drinks. He was still in his tuxedo, but had stripped off his jacket and tie and tied a bar napkin around his waist as an apron.
"I think Murdock has a new career as a bartender," Face concurred, stretching out on the waterbed.
Hannibal looked around at his team. Rarely did they manage to baffle him this completely. He couldn't decide which questions to ask first, so settled for the most mundane. "Where's BA?"
Amy nodded towards the next room. "In the jacuzzi, I think."
The burly sergeant reappeared at that moment. He wore only a white towel around his waist, and had an improbably blond bombshell tucked under each massive arm. The blonds also wore only towels, and too-small towels at that. "Hey, Hannibal, 'bout time you got here," he greeted his commander. "Get my robe, then you two get outta here, we got work to do," he dismissed the girls. Giggling, they disappeared into the next room, then emerged to wrap BA in a fluffy white bathrobe before scurrying away.
Bemused, Hannibal accepted a mimosa from Murdock and sat down in one of the overstuffed, embroidered armchairs. "I assume you have an explanation, Face?" he invited his lieutenant to report.
Face got up and poured himself another drink. "It's simple, really...."
<to be continued ?????>
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TRIVIA TIME
Last issue I posed the question:
>What was the name of the company Tawnia had "infiltrated" in the >episode "Battle of Bel-Air"?
Liz ([email protected]) was the only one in with a correct answer, which was Intermode.
This issue's question is:
>In "Beast from the Belly of the Boeing," what was the message Murdock
>sent to Hannibal and Face in morse code?
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That's all for now - I'm still waiting for a complete transcript of SJC's on-line chat on AOL to be posted so I can include it here in the newsletter, so keep an eye out for that in the future.
until next time,
nicole
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Quote of the week:
"If you stay like that they're gonna stand you in front
of a bank holding a clock!"
(Murdock in "Beast from the Belly of the Boeing")
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