An alternate Star Trek t heme

Apparently on the BLue Ray version of Star Trek's second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," there was a different Kirk preamble and different theme music!



and this is supposed to be the original theme (with the vocal by Loulie Jean Norman)

UK: Was postmodernism born with Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Francois Truffaut
From Guardian.co.uk: Was postmodernism born with Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Is Close Encounters of the Third Kind the first and greatest work of postmodern art? As the Victoria and Albert Museum prepares to unveil its exhibition Postmodernism, I have been watching Steven Spielberg's 1977 science-fiction film and it struck me as a work of art, almost a filmed installation, that defines what "postmodernity" is, or was, or will be. I remember seeing a still from the film, a few years ago, in an exhibition in some New York gallery or other. But even without that prompt, the postmodern look of Close Encounters is hard to ignore.

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 Victoria and Albert Museum, London SW7 Starts 24 September Until 15 January 2012 More details
A man sees lights in the sky that move and dance. He is not imagining things. The aliens have arrived, in a glorious nocturnal spectacle of fear and wonder. At home, he starts making models, first of clay then of earth and rock, of a mountain in his mind's eye. That too turns out to be a real place, where he intrudes on a secret scientific gathering and finally enters the blinding light of the alien mothership.


What makes me call this film "postmodernist"? Partly it is the homely suburban world where Spielberg sets his story. American films have a long heritage of adventure. Big films before this tended to be set in big places with big characters – but Richard Dreyfuss plays a nobody who lives in nowhereseville to whom something weird happens.


In high art, postmodernism was the moment when the idea of the avant garde as a radical movement – rejecting conventional society and pushing perception forward into an ever more ambitious vision of the new – collapsed. The lofty idealism of a Rothko was suddenly unconvincing to advanced artists. The idea of artists as prophets or priests was abandoned. Artists were not special and neither was art. This was above all an American moment, for it was in America in the 1950s and 60s that modernism attained its loftiest heights and shaped a national culture, from skyscrapers to the space race.


Close Encounters marks this same moment in popular culture. Science fiction is a form of modernism. It shares modern art's belief in progress and meaningful change: it proposes a history of the future. 2001, the great modernist science fiction film, actually creates a model of history in which we evolve as a species under alien guidance. By contrast, Close Encounters does not offer any sense of history or progress or any theory as to what the alien encounter means. It is rooted in everyday suburbia and the revelation that unfurls is beyond understanding. In fact, it does not feel right to call it "science fiction" at all, for it refuses the genre's rationality.


Instead of reasoning, Dreyfuss builds a mountain in his home, like a work of contemporary art. The new artists of the postmodern age in the 1980s, from Cindy Sherman to Jeff Koons, did not claim a loftier vision or even a higher level of skill than other people. They were suburban artists, like Dreyfuss, using the stuff of everyday life to make images at once ordinary and bizarre.


Postmodernism anticipated the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fall of communism, and a world with a single superpower: a global, American, suburban culture. But as soon as those things came to pass at the end of the 1980s, art moved on again, imaginations railed at the supposed complacency of postmodernism and turned once more to grand themes of death, history and mourning. Spielberg himself took up the burden of the Holocaust, leaving the unexplained, eerie optimism of Close Encounters – whoever they are, the aliens mean us no harm – far behind.


Spielberg was at his best, and so was postmodernism, in that spookily still and light-filled moment when a suburban man steps into a spaceship, and history ends. (Of course, you may have found this pretentious and baffling. But, as the movement that launched a thousand cultural theories, that, too, was typical of the postmodernist era the V&A is about to celebrate.)

The Picard Song

I'm not quite sure how this video was made, but it's pretty good.

It goes on about a minute too long, but the first four minutes are great.

QUIRKY CURRICULUM: Professor’s class gets graphic

From Red and Black (University of Georgia): QUIRKY CURRICULUM: Professor’s class gets graphicChris Pizzino has a cure for American culture — more comics.

University professor Chris Pizzino teaches two classes extolling the virtues of the graphic novel and science fiction. MICHAEL BARONE/Staff
“The anti-comics prejudice is out there,” said Pizzino, assistant professor in the University English department. “You pick it up as you go, even if you were never told it in no uncertain terms. It’s in our cultural DNA and we’re having to do some intellectual gene therapy to change how people think about comics. So that’s what I want the comics class to do.”

Pizzino, who has taught a recurring class on graphic novels in past semesters and is now teaching a class on science fiction, said he developed an interest in studying the subjects when he realized their potential for scholarly inquiry.

“Such choices don’t always arise,” he said. “I’m actually very fortunate, here at the University of Georgia, to be able to teach these classes because they’re not on the books that colleges and universities have been very supportive of making part of the English curriculum. I’ve definitely spoken to colleagues at other universities who have met some form of resistance about this. And for the science fiction, the same.”

Though Pizzino has not received resistance from professors, he said some students have come in with misguided expectations for the comics class.

“Every once in a while, someone will take the comics class out of a kind of whimsical curiosity, thinking that it’s just going to be pure fun,” he said. “And most of those people are happy to discover that they are having fun but they’re also learning to read comics. I haven’t yet had anyone turn bitter when they discover this class is going to be work as well as fun.”

And people’s understanding of comics as a lower literary form, and their urge to hide that interest as they grow older, is something Pizzino said he understands.

“I think I absorbed what was in the air,” Pizzino said. “I’ve always read comics, and then like a lot of people of my generation I kind of quit for a while and then came back to them. I came back to them to find they had been changing and were changing before my eyes in terms of the kinds of comics that were being produced.”

It’s this use of the medium as a literary form, and the cultural attitudes surrounding it, that drives Pizzino’s research — as he is working on a book entitled “Arrested Development: Comics at the Bounderies of Literature.”

“I feel that the barrier is much lower for science fiction as a narrative mode than it is for comics as a medium,” Pizzino said. “Although science fiction is definitely put down, it’s never had to undergo the legacy of censorship that comics have undergone.”

Science fiction also enjoys a higher status in American culture because certain works in that genre, such as “Fahrenheit 451” and “Stranger in a Strange Land” have become cultural touchstones to non-fans of the genre.

“At various points in American history, various science fiction novels have come to be very important to different sectors of Americans,” Pizzino said.

Still, despite the significance that science fiction and graphic novel works have had in American culture, Americans still reject science fiction and comic “nerds.”

That stigma of over-enjoyment, of loving sci-fi and the graphic novel a little too much, is something Pizzino rejects.

“I guess in the eyes of some Americans there’s something uncool about excessive enthusiasm about anything,” he said.

But a secret love of comics and science fiction is something Pizzino believes is starting to be drawn out of people by modern cinema.

“We’re seeing a lot of closeted nerds now decloseted by going to movies,” Pizzino said. “And people around the world went to see ‘Inception,’ which was a very nerdy movie to the tune of $800 million,” Pizzino said.

Using the tools of scholars before him, and the cultural value of both comics and science fiction, has become the main method Pizzino uses to spark a love for both genres in his students.

“Comic scholarship has been going on in a serious way for, depending on how you measure the time, a few years, or a decade, or more,” he said. “The comics class is very much about either
introducing a type of literacy that people may not be very familiar with or reintroducing a type of literacy and getting people to see it anew — [and] that it gives the same pleasures and challenges and rewards as any other kind of literature.”

But though he said he believes comics and science fiction are not as valued as intellectual forms, it’s become more than a topic of conversation.

In a way, it is the conversation.

With the larger advent of sci-fi pop culture, enthusiasts everywhere are “coming out of the closet.”

“Although comics are definitely seen by many in a sort of lesser light, they’re also very much a part of cultural parlance,” Pizzino said. “Even people who say they’re not science fiction nerds probably use some term every day that came from a science fiction text. They go to see science fiction films. We’re all nerds now, to some degree or another.”

Captain America: The First Avenger

This movie has been out for a while and I just saw it a couple of days ago.

I enjoyed it... it coulda been better.

The movie takes place in the 1940s, but it was made to set up the Avengers movie, which takes place in the present day. So that gave pretty short shrift to Cap's adventures throughout WWII (as told in the contemporary to WWII Captain America comic book), and to Nick Fury (who does not appear at all) and the Howling Commandoes. [Yes, I said Nick Fury doesn't appear at all. There is a character with that name in the movie, at the very end, but that isn't the real Nick Fury, I don't care what anybody says!]

I've been reading the IMDB message boards about the movie, and there are a couple of threads about the multi-racial/ethnic Howling Commandos. The ignorant (aka unknowledgeable, not stupid) posters have been set straight - that wasn't an invention of the movie makers - in the 1960s comic series entitled Nick Fury and the Howling Commandoes, that's who was there - the Free Frenchman, the Englishman, the African-American. Truth to tell I don't remember a Nisei being with the team, but it's possible.

(Japanese immigrants and even first generation citizens were interred during the War, but the US Army actually had the gall to draft the boys of fighting age and send them off to battle - albeit in the Western theater, not the Eastern. And these Nisei troops proved their courage and their patriotism over and over again - I think they were the most wounded, and the most decorated outfit in the Western theater over the course of the war.)

Anyway, the ending was an anti-climactic disappointment.

Spoilers below.

As anyone familiar with the story of Captain America knows, the comic book ran during World War II, and after the war, ceased pubication. The comic featured Steve Rogers and his sidekick, Bucky - who was only 16 or so and the camp mascot - not a grown up soldier.

In the 1960s, the character was resurrected. The Avengers, cruising around the North Atlantic, find an iceblock calved off an iceberg, and inside it is Captain America, who has been frozen since the end of the war. He thaws and wakes up screaming, "Jump, Bucky, jump!"

Turns out, the Red Skull has been defeated and is escaping in a plane. Cap and Bucky jump onto the plane, intending to bring it down. Then Cap realizes its been booby-trapped and the Red Skull isn't aboard. (There's no threat to the US). Cap slips off the plane, Bucky doesn't, and so dies. Cap falls into the North Sea, gets frozen, and wakes up 25 years later.

In the movie, the Red Skull is flying the plane toward the US, where its set to crash into the capitol and will kill thousands of people. So Cap heroically steers the plane straight down into the Arctic icecap.

The problem? Why does he do it? It wasn't clear to me that, once he'd set the plane heading straight downward, he couldn't have just jumped out of the plane with a parachute. (He still could have hit the ground, been knocked unconscious, and been frozen, but I guess the movie makers wanted him found inside the plane.)

Second problem. The anticlimactic part.

While Cap is piloting the plane into the Arctic ice, he and love interest Peggy Carter have a dialog, where they're talking like he's going to meet her at a restaurant at 8 pm in the next week.

Then his voice goes silent, and she starts to cry.

What should have happened was that the movie switches back to present day, where Cap's frozen body has just been found, and while he's still unconscious, somebody says, "that's Captain America. We need him now more than ever."

Instead, what happens is, he wakes up in what looks like 1940s US, with a baseball game going.

We think to ourselves... oh, no, he's just been dreaming all this? We've been tricked?

No. Because the baseball game Cap is listening to is not one that took place after he disappeared, but rather one that took place before he even became Captain America. How stupid is that? THat's his clue that he's being tricked, so he breaks out of the room, out of the building, and runs into high-tech Times Square, where some guy named Nick Fury (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson) approaches him and explains they'd wanted to acclimate him slowly to the truth, that he's been asleep for 70 years.

"I had a date," says Steve.

If they had to do this, why couldn't they just have had Steve go to the restaurant, and find the very aged Peggy Carter sitting there. She sees him, she's happy, she dies. That would have been poignant.

So, flawed, but enjoyable. And a helluva lot better and more worthy to be viewed than My Idiot Brother or Don't Be Afraid of the Dark!

Musing about religion

Pat Summitt announced today that she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. She's only 59, she's in relatively good health, physically-wise, she could live for another 40 years with no memory of who or what she is, how to go to the bathroom, how to clean up after herself.

When the announcement was posted on the Summitt message boards, a lot of Summitt fans started posting their horror and dismay. And most of 'em said, "She and her family will be in my prayers."

And I'm thinking, Jee-sus.

It's getting worse now. Now they're saying stuff like:

Don`t b angry [...]. God has plans for all of us. Pat has touched many lives and God will allow her to touch many more with this illness. He knows she can handle this and in a way that His glory will be shown.

AND

God chooses a person like Pat to carry out his work. My thoughts are he has a plan, and Pat has been called upon to lead the charge

Such homilies just want to make me vomit on the ground.

I'm an atheist, and have been since I was 13. I simply don't understand how people can believe in God. But, it's worse than that. Looking at the absolute misery that has infested 90% of this planet for thousands of years, looking at the mistery now - the starvation in Somalia, the starvation in the Sudan, etc. etc. and etc., and there's still millions of people who can say, "Oh, God loves us."

If you believe God exists, and you see what he wroughts, how in the world can you worship such a psycho? And frankly the same thing would hold true for Islam, I would think. You've got a religion that refers to Allah/God as the merciful and the compassionate...would such a God really tell his followers to go out and kill all unbeleivers? Why worship such a God?

Apparently Pat still maintains her faith that God will give her strength to "fight this battle," and I would not for the worlds tell her that there is no god, she's going to have to fight this battle with doctors and money cuz prayer won't accomplish shit - it never has - but when you're in the grip of a deadly disease of course you grasp at all straws (though why anyone would grasp at the straw of religion I simply don't understand), but for those who are admirers of this woman, to talk so blithely of "God's plan" and "God's glory" - Jeez, it's just sickening.

THere is no god, there's just us. We can't depend on prayer to get us to a point where civilization prevails against the monsters at the gate - and within the gates - we've got to do it ourselves.

The Hobbit Production Video Diary 3

Peter Jackson kept a video diary. This episode has Andy Serkis, the various dwarf actors and Ian McKellen.

It's interesting to see that they're working in front of a green screen - all the scenery is apparently going to be CGI.

Spiderman: Reflections of a Rock Superhero

Way back in the early 1970s, 2 records were put out. One was Spiderman, and starred Rene Aberjoinnois as Peter Parker/Spiderman and Thayer David as the Kingpin, and the other was Spiderman, Reflections of a Rock Superhero.

A few tracks are up on Youtube. This particular song, Count on Me, is my absolute favorite.

Booklist: The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age

Began this on July 15, finished it about three days later...but just to be safe I'll say July 20.

The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age, by Edmond Blair Bolles, 1999


Description from Amazon

This is an entertaining, often irreverent, history of the scientific discovery of the Ice Age. Bolles is fascinated by the way in which scientific knowledge advances. He challenges the notion that it proceeds in a rational and orderly manner, always building on previous knowledge. People, he claims, "learn unsuspected things, pulling knowledge, like rabbits, from empty hats," and often, convincing scientists of a new idea is more a matter of politics than of science. As an example of this theory, he weaves together the biographies of three important players in the great Ice Age debate.

Bolles focuses on Louis Agassiz, the naturalist who first theorized the Ice Age in 1837, but was unable to persuade the scientific community to accept his findings for almost 20 years. Second is Elisha Kent Kane, an adventurer and poet whose report on his journey to the north of Greenland in the 1850s provided the popular imagination with the vision of immense seas of ice at the Pole pouring great rivers of ice into the Atlantic and Greenland seas. Finally, Bolles writes of Charles Lyell, the great Scottish geologist whose book The Principles of Geology ignored the possibility that glaciers were capable of changing the earth's surface, and who resisted the notion of the Ice Age for many years after Agassiz had theorized about it. A master politician among his colleagues, once he was convinced of the theory, it became more widely accepted. Bolles claims that it was only the interaction among these three individuals, and many others who are mentioned in passing, that led to a lasting new understanding of the world in which we live.

The Adventures of Casanova (1948) starring John Sutton!

So okay, it really starred Arturo de Cordova as Casanova, but the only reason why I watched it was because of John Sutton.

Casanova is changed from a lover to a Zorro-type character returning to his home to fight against the invaders, in this case the villainous Comte de Brissac played by John Sutton. Sutton of course steals the films, in his all-too-few scenes.

The actor who plays Bernardo is Fritz Leiber, the father of Fritz Leiber Jr., the science fiction writer. [Leiber Jr, wrote a funny (albeit confessional) story entitled "237 Talking Statues, etc.", inspired by his difficult relationship with his father, in which Francis LeGrand II is confronted by the statues and paintings of the title, all self-portraits of his father in various roles, with which he discusses his relationship with his father.]

(Sorry it's in so many parts but my laptop was behaving very badly while I was doing this).

UK: Musical scores for silent firms unearthed in Birmingham

From the Guardian, UK: Musical scores for silent firms unearthed in Birmingham
Hundreds of musical scores used to accompany silent films in cinemas more than 80 years ago have been discovered in the collection of Birmingham city council's music library, including a theme tune used in early Charlie Chaplin films.

About 500 scores have been uncovered, many including the full parts for small orchestras of between seven and 11 players, not just a pianist. Judging by the titles, the often-fragmentary pieces were selected thematically to accompany similar plotlines. They are frequently self-explanatory: the mysterious manor house, exciting-dramatic, harrowing, creepy-creeps, wild chase, supreme peril, the poisoned cup and mounted police gallop.

"We don't actually know where they came from as they were in separate collections," explained Ali Joyce, the head of the music library. "They seem to have been in our basement for 30 to 40 years.

"We think groups of musicians would travel round cinemas and match the music to the situations in the films."

The Chaplin theme – Marche Grotesque – appears to be a unique example of a score written for a particular artist. It dates from 1916 at the height of the British-born actor's early fame as a worldwide star and was for use when his tramp character appeared on screen. It was composed by Cyril Thorne, a long-forgotten musician who wrote mood music.

The scores have the names of Louis Benson and HT Saunders stamped on them, the latter thought to have been a musical director at cinemas in Glasgow.

Neil Brand, an early film historian said: "This collection gives us our first proper overview of the music of the silent cinema in the UK from 1914 to the coming of sound. Its enormous size not only gives us insights into what the bands sounded like and how they worked with film [but also] the working methods of musical directors. Above all, it gives the lie to the long-cherished belief that silent films were accompanied on solo piano by little old ladies who only knew one tune. When they are played we will hear the authentic sound the audiences of the time would have heard."

Some of the tunes will be heard for the first time in 80 years next Tuesday – not even the librarians have heard them yet – at the launch of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's film music festival, when they will be performed at a free pre-concert event by Ben Dawson, the CBSO's pianist.

The Green Lantern

I went to see The Green Lantern yesterday, and didn't really care for it.

It starts out with the same old character tropes - the hero is an irresponsible womanizer who is given great powers, doesn't think he can handle them, his brilliant friend and beautiful girlfriend point out to him what he doesn't realize himself, then he gets an epiphany and goes out to save the world.

There's another trope I didn't care for. Irresponsible handsome character gets to be the hero, irresponsible ugly character gets turned into a deformed monster. Yes, let's teach all children that the good or evil inside someone is represented by their facial features.

Other than that.... the movie was certainly a bit too rushed in some spots, draggy in others.

There seems to be a blooper, Sinestro takes his hand-picked Lanterns flying toward Parallax - who is coming closer to Earth, then in the next scene he's present to scoff at Hal Jordan's training, in the next scene he's watching his Lanterns being destroyed by Parallax, and the next scene he's back talking to the elders (shades of the high chairs in Buckaroo Banzai).

Then there's the trope that only a "maverick" human can save the universe...yet what Hal did to destroy Parallax wasn't really all that original of an idea, you telling me all those other Lanterns couldn't have figured that out? Although they didn't have the advantage of possessing the ring of the Lantern who had imprisoned Parallax in the first place, so they couldn't have gotten him to follow them blindly right into a sun...

But of course, it's the "high noon" trope at the end, only Hal can save Earth, meanwhile the Lanterns don't show up until the very end, where they have to save the unconscious Hal from falling into the sun himself.

I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Definitely not for any kids under 13, I'd think, because the transformation of Hector Hammond into a monster is pretty gross, as is Parallax and the way he kills people.

Remembering Martin H. Greenberg, the Green Bay Packager

JSOOnline (Milwaukee): Remembering Martin H. Greenberg, the Green Bay Packager

Martin H. Greenberg edited and organized so many collections and anthologies of science fiction, fantasy, mystery and other writing, he was sometimes called the Green Bay Packager.

Greenberg, a retired University of Wisconsin-Green Bay professor, died June 25 at age 70. While still teaching at the university, he began a sideline of editing anthologies and packaging books, working with some of the biggest names in popular fiction, including Isaac Asimov, Tom Clancy, Stephen King and Sue Grafton.

"He helped publish more than 2,500 books, including novels, anthologies, and nonfiction works," according to a statement in the obituary that his family published in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

In a 2001 article, the Journal Sentinel's Dave Tianen described the range of Greenberg's many entertaining fiction collections:

"The books Greenberg has published cover an enormous range of topics and interests. A sampling of titles includes 'Alien Pregnant By Elvis,' 'Election Day 2084: Science Fiction Stories About the Future of Politics,' 'Single White Vampire Seeks Same,' 'Weird Tales from Shakespeare' and 'Sherlock Holmes in Orbit'."

As anthologist and book packager, Greenberg might conceive the concept for a collection, seek stories that fit the concept, negotiate the necessary permissions with the authors and other rights holders, and see the book through to publication. He often worked with co-editors, some of whom were big-name writers in their fields. According to a Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America post, Greenberg and Asimov edited more than 120 anthologies together.

In his academic career, Greenberg was a political scientist with a specialty in terrorism and national security.

Surprisingly, for a guy who was involved in so many books it would take a supercomputer to compile his bibliography, Greenberg told Tianen he worried about coming up dry:

"I was always scared I'd run out of ideas. A lot of it is simply reading the news, trying to stay a little bit attuned to pop culture. My youngest daughter, Madeline (14 in 2001), tries to make her old father hip. She's a reader and she loves science fiction conventions."

"The most remarkable thing about Marty," writer and frequent collaborator Mike Resnick posted on Facebook, "is that he sold over 2,000 anthologies and packed some 700 novels without making a single enemy along the way."

David Troughton as Richard III

David Troughton as Richard III on stage

The audio version, which I have.

I recently acquired a 3-CD set of the RSC's production of Richard III from 1996, starring David Troughton as Richard III. (Unfortunately John Nettles, who played Buckingham in the stage version, is not on this audio version. However, the only reason why I got this version was because Charles Simpson is in it - playing the Earl of Richmond (Henry VII) - who was also a different actor in the stage version.)

David Troughton gives an excellent portrayal of RIII (as I call him) but what's so eerie is that he sounds exactly like his father, Patrick. If you didn't know it was David, you'd swear it was Patrick.

James Cameron Helps Open New Avatar Exhibit in Seattle

InternationalBusinessTimes: James Cameron Helps Open New Avatar Exhibit in Seattle
A music and popular culture museum in Seattle is hoping to draw fans of the Oscar-winning film "Avatar" to its new exhibit. The showcase at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame opens on Saturday at noon, after a large opening event on Friday.

Director James Cameron, visual effect artist Richie Baneham, and actors from the movie including Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, and Laz Alonso will appear at Friday's event and host panels during Saturday's opening.

The exhibit, built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, will explore how James Cameron brought Pandora and its inhabitants to the big screen with props and costumes as well as hands-on exploration of the creative process used to build the world in the science fiction movie.

The museum will be the first of its kind to showcase artwork and props from the blockbuster film. Visitors will be able to use several interactive displays and try a virtual camera to see how the motion capture filming of actors fits in with the virtual world created on computers.

Another interactive exhibit allows visitors to become an actor under the "direction" of Cameron, using motion capture technology. Participants can then post a copy of their video on YouTube.

EMP is open 10:00am to 7:00pm daily and is located in downtown Seattle. There is no extra charge for the Avatar showcase, and the museum's other exhibitions include the recently opened Nirvana: Taking Punk the Masses, Battlestar Galactica, and Jimi Hendrix: An evolution of Sound.

If you can't make it to Seattle, the Avatar exhibit is expected to travel throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond once its run at EMP ends late in 2012.

Leonard Nimoy Says Phoenix Comicon May be Among his Last Public Appearances, Talks Today's Science Fiction Films

CollegeTimes.com: Leonard Nimoy Says Phoenix Comicon May be Among his Last Public Appearances, Talks Today's Science Fiction Films

Phoenix Comicon may be one of Leonard Nimoy's last public appearances before he goes into retirement, according to Spock himself.

The actor and science-fiction legend says he just doesn't feel the need for it anymore, emotionally or financially, and that he would rather focus more on his photography.

"Several museums now hold my work around the country," he says. "But the most important [reason] is my family. I have a great family life, with wonderful people that I love dearly. I've had a great, great run and I'm a very grateful guy."

College Times caught up with Nimoy in advance of this year's Phoenix Comicon, in which he'll unveil a presentation full of photos and stories of his time working in the industry, including his time on "Star Trek."

College Times: You started as Spock in 1966. What are your thoughts on the evolution science fiction through the years?

Nimoy: Science fiction has replaced the western that we used to do. Western is one of the frontier stories, and science fiction deals with those frontier issues. The way Indians used to be portrayed as the bad people, now we have Vulcans and other aliens as bad people. It has become the new final frontier, because of conflict between the nasty people there. Technology, of course, has evolved exponentially. It's just exploded and that has changed science fiction drastically. The first science fiction work I did was in 1960, I did a project called "Zombies of the Stratosphere." It's really funny to look back on it now, because it is so limited in special effects. The bombast and the gigantic creatures and explosions of today are just extraordinary. It's all about post-production these days.

Is technology one of the elements of a good science fiction story?

Well, the question is what's the story? To me, that's always important, because if you take away all the bombast and the crashes and fires and explosions, I'm interested in the story. Is there something intriguing? Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

Where did the Vulcan gesture come from?

That came from when I was a child, and I would attend holiday services with my family. When the congregation is blessed by members of the priestly tribe of the Hebrew congregation, they say "May the Lord bless you, may the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you, may the Lord turn his graces upon you and grant you peace." They were doing this in a way where they were shouting, and they held their hands out to the audiences with that gesture; the split fingers. I learned how to do it afterward and learned what it was all about; it is the shape of the letter in Hebrew that begins the word for God. They were evoking God's name as they bless the congregation.

You also introduced Spock's Vulcan Death Grip, the famous pinch on the neck, correct?

I did, because I didn't want to be punching people or have a weapon.

Because you injected some of yourself into Spock, do you find yourself more similar or different to him?

I've been told I take on his stoic characteristic. But on the other hand, my training as an actor was to use my emotions, and to express emotional responses in specific situations. Spock called for the opposite – he called for ultimate control of his emotions. I had to find a way to do that. It was my job in portraying this particular character, so I dug into my tool kit and I went to work. It took a little time to find my footing and make sure I could do that without being boring.

Spock has become a true pop culture icon. Why do you think this is?

I think people can really identify with him. At times, his wit is very clever. He's also very loyal and helpful. It's interesting – over the years, as much as we talk about Spock being a Vulcan and an alien and all that, if you really stop to think about it, he's really a human character. He's dealing with his own personal issues which are very human issues, because there's the conflict of logic and emotion in his life. And people get that and they understand that and relate to it.

Putting South African science fiction on the map

Guardian.co.uk Books Blog: Putting South African science fiction on the map

Last month, Lauren Beukes scooped one of the science fiction world's major literary awards - and in doing so, heralded something of a coming of age for South African speculative fiction.

Beukes - who describes herself as "an author, scriptwriter and recovering journalist" - won the prestigious Arthur C Clarke award for her second novel, Zoo City. The previous weekend the novel was on the five-strong shortlist for the British Science Fiction Association awards, missing out to Ian McDonald's The Dervish House at the major genre gathering Eastercon in Birmingham. But the Arthur C Clarke award – which saw Beukes beat McDonald – will be more than compensation, as will the news at the weekend that she has been shortlisted in the John W Campbell award for best new writer, to be revealed alongside the Hugo nominations in the US in August.

Beukes's novel is published in the UK by the relatively young imprint Angry Robot, which also published her debut, Moxyland. Both novels are genre-busting, fast-moving affairs that offer something comfortingly familiar yet excitingly exotic – a novel that springs, obviously, from a foreign culture, yet which is written in English, and with British and European reference points as well as home-grown ones.


Zoo City, the novel which has brought Beukes so much attention (godfather of cyberpunk William Gibson is one high-profile fan) is a mash-up of near-future SF and urban paranormal fantasy, a noirish clash of sub-genres that is refreshing for its Johannesburg locales. Zinzi is one of the "animalled" – people with some kind of stain on their conscience who magically acquire an animal familiar which follows them around and amplifies their psychic talents. Think Pinocchio or Philip Pullman written by Raymond Chandler and you're maybe a quarter of the way there.

Of course, if Beukes's success in the awards were isolated, that wouldn't constitute anything like a "scene". But since 2009, when Neill Blomkamp's District 9 shocked Hollywood by being a thoughtful, intelligent, action-filled science fiction movie that came from South Africa, of all places, there seems to have been a growing spec fiction movement.

Around the same time Zoo City landed on my doormat, so did a proof of The Mall by SL Grey, to be published on 1 June by Corvus Books. Despite the fact that this novel is described as a cross between Fight Club and the Saw movies – a marketing move that might well get the torture-porn crowd interested but didn't tempt me – I've been impressed by Corvus's speculative fiction output so far (such as Jeff Vandermeer's Finch and Chris Becket's Holy Machine) so gave it a go.

And when I finished it, pretty much in a couple of sittings, I found myself creeped out to an extent that no horror story had achieved for a long time. I put it down next to Zoo City and realised that there was something very special coming out of South Africa. I contacted Louis Greenberg - one half of the writing team SL Grey, along with Sarah Lotz, who also writes zombie novels as Lily Herne – and he confirmed that what had been a feisty, small-press community scene was now moving determinedly centre stage.

The leading lights among the SA scene seem to include horror writer Joan De La Haye, fantasy author Craig Smith, and Andrew Saloman, who has just made yet another shortlist with his novel Lun – this time, for Terry Pratchett's Between the Lines award, which looks for debut speculative fiction authors.

As you might expect, a lot of South African writing is informed by the country's own recent history – how could it fail to be? Apartheid rears its head in one form or another both in Zoo City, where the animalled are segregated, and in The Mall, where the "browns" find their way from our world to the book's nightmarish mirror-world. And that, perhaps, is part of the attraction: speculative fiction works best when it refracts real life through a fantastical lens, and magnifies, and perhaps tries to make sense of, the mundane. South Africa has had a lot of real life in the past few decades.

Beukes is certainly doing her bit to put South African SF on the map. With SL Grey coming up next and their fellow authors grabbing a lot of attention, it might well be that South African spec fiction is going to be this year's Scandinavian crime novel scene for British readers.

The Coldest Equations, by Caroline Miniscule

My latest book published for the Kindle is now available for purchase. (And within a couple of days, should be available for Barnes&Nobles Nook as well.)

It's science fiction.

Tracy Karlovassi, actress, is the star of the science fiction TV series The Coldest Equations, in which she plays Miranda Rainbird, security team leader for a corporation that deals in space travel. It is the near future, and these civilian corporations devoted to space travel have become little worlds of their own, with security agents protecting their own engineers and scientists from kidnap or spying, while at the same time spying on other corporations and attempting to kidnap their scientists and engineers.

Whenever a TV series on our earth is committed to celluloid, it is immediately created as an alternate earth, that exists just as much as our own does. And there are watchers -out there- who have devised a way to transport the actors from the TV series to their real life counterparts on the alternate earth, and vice versa.

In the TV series (and on the alternate earth) Miranda Rainbird has been framed for a crime she did not commit, and is on the run from both friend and foe. If it *were* Miranda Rainbird on the run, she could doubtless solve all her problems, skilled agent that she is. But Tracy Karlovassi has been transferred into her body...and what can a mere actress do?

It's fun, it's suspenseful, if you like classic science fiction TV and books, you'll like it. And best of all, it's only $2.99!

Available now. Go to the Kindle store via your kindle and search for The Coldest Equations, or follow this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Coldest-Equations-People-There-ebook/dp/B0052NSRKK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1306369228&sr=1-1

Trips to the moon in classical antiquity? British exhibit finds sci-fi in unexpected places

Washington Post Entertainment: Trips to the moon in classical antiquity? British exhibit finds sci-fi in unexpected places
( Sang Tan / Associated Press ) - British Library in London: The exhibition explores science fiction through literature, film, illustration and sound and display the Library’s earliest science fiction manuscripts to the latest best-selling novels.

It’s science fiction, but not as we know it.

A genre usually associated with sinister aliens and rampaging robots is getting a makeover at the British Library, which uses 17th-century manuscripts, feminist literature, and even an advertisement for liquid beef to showcase the unexpected ways in which science fiction has influenced our world.

Exhibit organizers said Thursday that one of their goals was to show that sci-fi wasn’t just “The War of the Worlds” or “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

“It’s much, much wider than that,” said co-curator Katya Rogatchevskaia. “H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, they are fantastic influences, but it’s a very diverse genre.”

It’s in service to that diversity that Soviet, Chinese, and Bangladeshi writers feature prominently, as do female authors, such as “Frankenstein” creator Mary Shelley and Jane Loudon, whose 1827 book, “The Mummy,” is set in a futuristic Britain complete with weather control and steam-powered houses.

There’s a healthy helping of the obligatory pulp — “action-packed” tales featuring busty damsels being pursued by slimy beings — but there’s a host of lesser-known material too, such as 1914 postcards showing a futuristic Moscow dominated by soaring elevated trams, or a British satirical piece from the 1820s that features a massive vacuum tube sucking people and merchandise “direct to Bengal.”

One of the most striking pieces is the second century tale by Lucian of Samosata, whose story has a group of traveling adventurers being whipped into the air by a whirlwind and dropped onto the surface of the moon.

Lucian’s story was meant as a riff on travelers’ tall tales, but the British Library said some considered it one of the world’s first works of science fiction.

___
http://www.bl.uk/sciencefiction

Endeavour crew recreates 'Star Trek' movie poster

The only problem is the poster is from the "relaunch" of Star Trek, not the original, best series!

MSNBC: Endeavour crew recreates 'Star Trek' movie poster
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The six astronauts flying on NASA's final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour are a serious bunch, but they've got a fun streak too. Case in point: The astronauts apparently like the science fiction franchise "Star Trek" enough to re-enact its most recent movie poster.

Creating custom mission posters based on popular movies has long been a tradition for NASA shuttle and space station crews. [Gallery: NASA's Most Offbeat Mission Posters]

But while past mission posters have recreated the film versions of "Ocean's Eleven" or the Matrix and Harry Potter movies, the six-man STS-134 crew of Endeavour chose something a bit more space-y: the 2009 reboot of "Star Trek," directed by J.J. Abrams.

"That was my idea!" Endeavour mission specialist Drew Feustel told SPACE.com.

Feustel said he had seen the movie during a previous spaceflight, when he launched on Atlantis in May 2009 to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

"That movie came out basically the day we launched and we were fortunate to have that movie uplinked to us on orbit," Feustel said. "I really liked the movie. I thought it was pretty neat."

Endeavour's STS-134 astronauts are slated to launch aboard shuttle Endeavour from here at Kennedy Space Center on Monday at 8:56 a.m. EDT (1256 GMT). It will be the last voyage for Endeavour before the orbiter is retired. [Photos: Endeavour's Final Mission]

Advertise | AdChoicesAdvertise | AdChoicesAdvertise | AdChoicesSpace, the real final frontier
Feustel said he suggested the latest "Star Trek" film as the theme for the STS-134 poster, and the rest of the crew agreed.

But Feustel's crewmate Greg Chamitoff remembered it differently.

"I kept trying to remember whose idea that was, and I think it might have been mine," Chamitoff said in an interview.

Regardless of the origin of the poster idea, the crew seemed to unite behind the concept.

"A lot of us are ["Star Trek" fans]," Chamitoff said of the Endeavour astronauts.

The poster features the six astronauts looking stoically ahead, their faces each in half shadow, with a dark background and "STS-134" in Star Trek font underneath. Leading the crew, in the James T. Kirk position, is Endeavour commander Mark Kelly.

"It's a pretty close approximation," Feustel said of the finished product. "It looks pretty cool; we like it."

NASA and "Star Trek"
The poster is not the STS-134 crew's only connection to the famous science fiction TV and movie franchise.

In May 2005, mission specialist Mike Fincke appeared as an extra during the final episode of the show "Star Trek: Enterprise." He visited the set during vacation, along with fellow astronaut Terry Virts, who also appeared in the episode. Fincke played an NX-01 engineer on the fictional starship.

The International Space Station's Expedition 21 crew (the current crew is Expedition 27) also donned Star Trek uniforms for their mission poster in 2009.

On Endeavour's last mission before the orbiter is retired, the space shuttle will visit the International Space Station to deliver spare hardware and a new $2 billion astrophysics experiment to search for exotic particles.

In an odd side-note, Kelly and Chamitoff also have another movie-themed poster under their belt. Both astronauts were on the crew of NASA's STS-124 flight to the space station in 2008. That crew's choice of a film to emulate: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Kelly commanded that mission on the shuttle Discovery.

The mission's new name, according to the poster? "STS-124 and the Order of Discovery."

Wonderfest Attracts Thousands To Louisville

WLKY.com: Wonderfest Attracts Thousands To Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Hundreds of science fiction and horror movie buffs turned out for a blockbuster of an expo this weekend.

The 22nd Annual "Wonderfest" gave movie and TV geeks a plethora of pieces of media history to check out.

The expo feature movie memorabilia and pop culture merchandise that spanned several genres and decades.

"It covers everything. If it's science fiction, fantasy -- it's here. You can find stuff here you wouldn't even believe exists," Sci-Fi fan David Hodge said.

The event had a life-size replica of the "Lost in Space" robot and full size heads from characters from popular horror films.

It even had two former "Bond" girls.

Actors Caroline Munroe and Martine Beswick starred in three James Bond movies between the two of them. They were among the featured guests from Hollywood.

The behind-the-scenes crowd got some exposure, too. Special effects legend Lorne Peterson enthralled the crowds with his work on all the Star Wars films.

"It's pretty amazing to have that effect on the world. To have the things you did, people talk about when they grow up and they're inspired by that type of thing. For a model maker, I don't know if there's any equivalent," Peterson said.

Visitors to the expo came from as far away as New Zealand and Japan.

One of the show's biggest attractions was the model contest. More than 500 entries were on display for visitors to admire.

No, you are not losing your mind.

If there were posts here yesterday that you read, which are not here today, it's because...they're not here.

Blogger.com, the platform that hosts this blog, was down for much of yesterday afternoon and all night...just coming up now (11 am mountain time.) And all posts made yesterday have disappeared.

Supposedly, those posts will be restored. I'll give them a day to do so, and if not, will re-post them tomorrow.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

It's the 4th Annual Fantastic Plastic "I Can't Go to WonderFest" Sale!

I received a press release from Fantastic Plastic, and share it here:

It's the 4th Annual Fantastic Plastic "I Can't Go to WonderFest" Sale!
Every year, hundreds of fantastic modeling enthusiasts descend on Louisville, Kentucky for WonderFest, a weekend long extravaganza of science-fiction, movie, TV and fantasy modeling.

http://fantastic-plastic.com/onlinecatalog.htm

And every year, thousands more fantastic modelers bemoan our inability to travel to Louisville to join in the festivities -- and maybe score some great new model kits.

To provide a quantum of solace to those unable to make this annual pilgrimage, Fantastic Plastic presents its 4th Annual "I Can't Go to WonderFest" Sale.

For the next two weeks, you can enjoy deep discounts throughout the Fantastic Plastic Virtual Museum Store On-Line Catalog. Savings are as much as 30% on many of our most popular kits, while supplies last.

NOTE: Discounts apply to Fantastic Plastic Models products only. Unicraft and Masterpiece Models kits are not included.

The 4th Annual Fantastic Plastic "I Can't Go to WonderFest" Sale runs from Monday, May 9 through Sunday, May 22.

This is our one and only sale of the year. Don't miss out on these "fantastic" savings!

And for those attending WonderFest -- have a great time! (Oh, and you can buy at these discount prices, too!)

WATCH THE SKIES!!!

- Allen B. Ury
fantasticplast@aol.com

Why The End Of Stargate Universe Means Bad Things For Syfy

Sharing a sample post from a website called Spin Off Online:

SpinOffOnline: Why The End Of Stargate Universe Means Bad Things For Syfy

Saturday, May 7th, 2011 at 6:30am
by A moment of silence, please, for Syfy’s SGU: Stargate Universe, which finishes its run with Monday’s episode, “Gauntlet.” Not only am I personally sad about the show’s cancellation, I also think that it’s bad news for Syfy overall. After all: Where are the network’s science fiction shows now?

Sure, I like Being Human, Warehouse 13 and Haven as much as the next man – Well, unless the “next man” happens to be my wife, who really loves Haven – but I’m not sure how much claim to being science fiction either show has, with all three shows (Being Human and Haven especially, Warehouse 13 slightly less so) being more supernatural than science fiction. With the cancellations this year of both SGU and, earlier, Caprica, the network formerly known as SciFi finds itself leaning on Eureka and Sanctuary as its sole science fiction dramas. How did that happen?

(And don’t get me started on the prevalence of the network’s “reality” shows like Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth or Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen. For all the flack that the network gets for its wrestling coverage – and, admittedly, I’m not sure that it gets enough – I feel as if the increasing amount of reality shows goes relatively unchecked. When obvious rip-offs of existing, non-genre-related shows – Hollywood Treasure or Face-Off, say – make it on the network, I feel like something’s gone wrong with the commissioning process.)

It’s all about ratings, of course; SGU gets less bang for its buck than Sanctuary (It doesn’t help that it’s a more costly show to produce), and so the network has to go where the money is. But losing SGU – a show that I’ll admit didn’t really find its footing until the second season, even though I think there’s a lot to like in the first – feels like a mistake that could have been avoided had the network tried to wait out another year, despite ratings. It’s not just the “The show was getting better!” thing (Although it was, he whines, hopelessly), but also… Syfy doesn’t have a space opera show anymore. Is it just me that that feels… wrong to, somehow? Shouldn’t a science fiction network make a point of having a show set in space, just because?

I know, I know, I’m old fashioned: Science fiction doesn’t just mean space, and there’s more to Syfy than sci-fi, anyway (Hence the name change, after all). But even as I look forward to the new shows that Syfy has coming up – particularly Alphas, which I’m hoping will end up being Heroes done right – I feel as if something is missing without that essential outer space element, and Blood and Chrome is still some distance away. Maybe someone can shoot Myka and Pete into orbit in the next season of Warehouse 13 for an episode, just to stave off my hunger for orbital action.

Graeme McMillan

Sam Moskowitz's The Immortal Storm

Sam Moskowitz's book The Immortal Storm, a history of science fiction fandom, was published in 1954.

Table of Contents
Preface
List of photographs
1. Introduction
2. Gernsback and the first all-science fiction publication
3. The beginning of organized fandom
4. The emergence of the first true fan magazine
5. The Fantasy Fan
6. William H. Crawford aand his contemporaries
7. Secondary fan publications: The TFG and its followers
8. The Science Fiction League
9. The New ISA and The International Observer
10. Other Happenings of 1935
11. The SFL-ISA Showdown
12. The Decline of the SFL and the ISA's Bid for Power
13. The Science Fiction Advancement Association
14. Other local groups of the time
15. The last days of Fantasy Magazine
16. Further clubs and projects of 1936
17. The first convention and the death of the ISA
18. The Dark Ages of Fandom
19. The Rise of British Fandom
20. Renaissance
21. The New Order Progresses
22. The Fantasy Amateur Press Association
23. The Third Convention and Michelism
24. The Aftermath
25. The Wollheim-Moskowitz FEud
26. The Background in Early 1938
27. The Factions Align Themselves
28. The First National Science Fiction Convention
29. The FAPA Elections of 1938
30. The Development of Michelism
31. The Greater New York Science Fiction League
32. Fantasy News and New Fandom
33. New Fandom's Rise to Power
34. The Opposition Crumbles
35. The New Fantasy Magazines and their Influence on Fandom
36. The Role of the Queens SFL
37. Amateur Magazines of the Period
38. Minor Dissensions
39. The Great Drive Toward the Convention
40. The Character of the Opposition
41. The First World Science Fiction Convention
42. Opinion Rallies
43. Breasting the Undertow
44. The Second Philadelphia Conference
45. The Illini Fantasy Fictioneers
46. The Futurian Comeback
Epilogue
Index

A Literary Shape-Shifter

Wall Street Journal - Life and Culture: A Literary Shape-Shifter

By ALEXANDRA ALTER
Like his genre-bending novels, China Miéville defies easy categorization. With his shaved head, row of earrings and sculpted arms, the 38-year-old British novelist more closely resembles a bodyguard or mixed martial artist than an author who studies linguistic philosophy and holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics.

He leapfrogs between literary categories, playing with the narrative conventions of police procedurals, Westerns, sea adventures, urban fantasy and even romance. His 2000 novel, "Perdido Street Station," won British literary prizes in two separate categories, science fiction and fantasy. "City & the City," his take on classic noir, reads like a mash-up of George Orwell and Raymond Chandler—a murder investigation leads a detective to a secret mirror city that is hidden from ordinary view.


Getty Images

China Miéville leapfrogs between literary genres, from Westerns to science fiction.
"I once said I wanted to write a novel in every genre, and I feel duty bound now to do so," he said.

His latest novel, "Embassytown," marks his first foray into straight science fiction. The novel, due out in the U.S. on May 17, takes place on a distant planet that sits on the edge of the known universe. What starts as an intergalactic space romp turns into a meditation on language. Human colonists have developed tenuous relations with the locals: the Ariekei, a winged, insect-like race with two mouths that speak simultaneously. To communicate with them, humans have bred test-tube clones who can speak the double-layered language. Relations grow complicated when the Ariekei, who are incapable of describing something that does not exist, learn to mimic the human capacity for lying.

Mr. Miéville says he first came up with the idea of an alien race with two mouths when he was 11. He resurrected the concept a few years ago when he decided to write "classic interplanetary science fiction," in the tradition of novelists like Ursula Le Guin. Mr. Miéville invented fragments of the alien language ("suhaish" and "ko," said simultaneously, mean please), and read linguistic theory by philosophers such as Paul Ricoeur and I.A. Richards.

An early draft of "Embassytown" read too much like a doctoral thesis on linguistics, so Mr. Miéville refocused his efforts on what he does best: twisty plots, monsters and "spectacle candy." "Embassytown" is filled with fantastical elements such as "gun-animals" and other creature-machine hybrids, and unappetizing sounding futuristic food, like "nutrient-rich pabulum" and "sheets of meatcloth."

Marketing an author who bounces among genres can be tricky, particularly as Mr. Miéville's publishers seek to promote him as a mainstream writer. "We want an element of whatever genre he's focused on, but more the thinking should be upscale, literary and slick," said Del Rey publisher Scott Shannon of the packaging of Mr. Miéville's books. "There's no big rocket ship on the cover."

Mr. Miéville's U.K. publisher is rereleasing eight of his backlist titles with a "unified" modern look to help rebrand him as an author who might appeal to any reader, not just genre fans. "Now that he's established himself as a name, people recognize that what they're getting is a China Miéville book," says Tor U.K.'s editorial director, Julie Crisp. "It doesn't matter if it's science fiction or fantasy or crime or a Western."

Mr. Miéville says he hopes the more generic look will help his books find a broader audience. "The genre audiences are very, very loyal," he said. "The difficulty is reaching beyond to people who say, 'I never read that sort of thing.' "

Introducing Koldcast Web TV Network

Here's the URL:
http://www.koldcast.tv/

Some of the shows available:

14 Hours to a Championship
88 Hits
A3 Night Life
After Judgement
American Heart
Anarchy For Breakfast
Animation Block
Anyone But Me
Assisted Living
Beverly Hills Salon
Bewildering Life
Blue Movies
Boxtick America
Brooklyn is for Lovers
Bumps in the Night
Bunny Hug
California Kickin
Celeste Bright
Casanovas
Central Division
Chick
Copy & Pastry

and dozens more in all genres.

BoomCHickBoom

Web TV series Haywire Ep 7 Now Available

http://www.koldcast.tv/video/the_usual_suspects

About the show:
http://haywireseries.com/
Monroe, NY. A burst of light. Area-wide power outages and the complete failure of all electronic devices. All within line-of-sight of the burst are affected. Their minds short-circuit. Their thought processes scramble and become a never-ending loop. Accomplish what you were doing when you saw the light. Then do it again. And again. And again. ANd if something gets in your way?

Does Trog Really Deserve Its Poor Reputation?

Trog (1970) was the last movie made by Joan Crawford.

I confess that it's not the type of movie I'd usually watch - but it had Simon Lack in it, an actor whom I've come to like, so I rented it. Like all of Lack's films after WWII, he doesn't have a very big role - about five minutes of screen time and only a few lines. (He plays Colonel Vickers, and shows up at the end of the movie after Trog has kidnapped a girl and hidden in his cave.)

All the reviews of this movie that I've found, trash it. But I think there's a little bit of sexism involved...not to mention hatred of Joan Crawford (who supposedly was not quite all there in the top story when it came to raising her adopted kids was concerned.)

Admittedly Trog is a cliche-fest. Trog is a smaller version of King Kong, or a hairier version of Frankenstein. He lives in a cave, peacefully on his own, until a couple of spelunkers find him. He kills one of them. Then, he is taken from the cave - Joan Crawford's character, Dr. Brockton, stands tall and shoots the charging Trog with her hypo rifle.

Dr. Brockton tries to teach him civilized ways, and is making progress, but evil Michael Gough's character wants him killed. Gough breaks into the lab, trashes it, releases Trog, and then returns to his car, only to be killed by Trog. Trog then kills a few other people - who attack him first - sees a little blond girl whom he takes a liking to (in a strictly non-sexual way, I hasten to add) and takes her to his cave.

Dr. Brockton shows up at the cave with a police officer and the Army. Despite orders not to, she goes into the cave and brings out the little girl, whom Trog gives to her voluntarily. She begs Vickers to let her go back in with her hypo gun, but the military and police will have none of it. They are going to kill Trog.

And they do.

Trog is a sympathetic character, for all that he kills a few people - only those who attacked him first. And Crawford's performance is hardly "stone face". She portrays a woman who is confident in herself and her abilities. She had a nice wardrobe, yes, and she uses it - some critics have slammed her for this. If her character had been played by a male actor one wonders if he would have received quite the same criticism.

So...Trog. Not as bad as we've been led to believe...if you like these types of movies, anyway!

Beware Email Blasts that Request Charity or Provide Warnings

If you're like me, you have friends and relatives who send you, and everyone else on their list, emails about cancer-afflicted children who have written poems that they want forwarded to everyone you know (I received this one yesterday) or warnings that your cellphone number is about to be sold to a gazillion advertisers and there's nothing you can do about it. (Received this one about three weeks ago.)

And of course, they are all frauds.

When you receive an email like this, the thing to do is go to your favorite search engine - I use www.google.com, and type the topic in and do a search on it. Usually Snopes.com debunks the warning emails - most of those have been floating around for years, and you'll also find these charity requests debunked on a variety of sites.

It's a pity, really, that there are people out there with so much time on their hands that they try to think up these things and then see how long they have an internet shelf life...all too long, apparently.

So just a tip, if you ever receive a request - especially for a charitable donation - do your research on it first - in particular if it comes from Nigeria! They are all frauds.

New Sci Fi Models from Fantastic Plastic

I get monthly newsletters from Fantastic Planet, sharing news on their new model kits, and I'll start sharing them here.

We close out April with a lot of exciting news and stuff from the Virtual Museum of Flying Wonders. Please read on...!

http://www.fantastic-plastic.com

JUST RELEASED: The C-31 "Dragon" Assault Ship in 1:144

After some delay, we're proud to announce the formal release of the 1:144 C-31 "Dragon" Assault Ship from James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster "AVATAR.". Featuring 105 pressure-cast pieces, this is by far the most complex kit we've ever produced. The kit was created in CAD by Scott Lowther and cast by Masterpiece Models. The model is 11 inches long when completed. The C-21 Dragon is available now in the Virtual Museum Store for $169.95 plus shipping.

NOTE Due to a combination of high demand and long production time on this kit, please allow one to two weeks for delivery.

Click the box art above for photos and details.

JUST RELEASED: The X-71 Super-Shuttle from "Armageddon" in 1:144

Our second April release is the X-71 Super Shuttle from Michael Bay's 1998 megahit "Armageddon" starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Most of us still remember our disappointment with Revell's 1998 version of the X-71-- which was little more than a standard Space Shuttle with a bunch of doo-hickies slapped onto it. Well, it's taken more than 13 years, but sci-fi modelers now have a chance to build the real X-71.

Mastered by Alfred Wong based on dozens of photos of the actual SPFX miniature and 1/2 scale mock-up, this 37-piece all-resin kit faithfully reproduces the lines, proportions and details of the X-71 orbiter. Decals by JBOT allow you to build either the "Freedom" or the "Independence." Landing gear are also included.

The X-71 Super Shuttle is available now in the Virtual Museum Store for $90.00 plus shipping. Click the box art above for photos and details.

RE-RELEASED: The BSG Colonial One Presidential Transport in 1:350

Back by popular demand is our Colonial One Presidential Transport kit in 1:350. Originally released in 2006, this kit has been out of the Fantastic Plastic catalog for the three years. Mastered by Alfred Wong and cast by Mana Studios, the kit includes 19 pieces, including a rotocast main body. Decals are my Microscale.

The 1:350 Colonial One Presidential Transport is available now in the Fantastic Plastic Virtual Museum Store for $80.00 plus shipping. Click the box art above for photos and details.


COMING IN MAY: The BSG (TOS) Eastern Alliance Destroyer in 1:288

Our May release is the Eastern Alliance Destroyer from the 1978 "Battlestar Galactica" (TOS) episodes "Greetings from Earth," "Baltar's Escape" and "Experiment in Terra." This 21-piece kit was mastered by Alfred Wong and cast by Millennium Models International (MMI). Decals are again by JBOT.

More than 12 inches long when completed, the Eastern Alliance Destroyer is priced at $75.00 plus shipping. To reserve your copy, email us at FantasticPlast@aol.com. Click the photo above for additional details.

"Private Sale" Continuing - Act Now!

We're continuing to clear out our final inventory of "Private Sale" kits. Remember, these are kits NOT AVAILABLE to the public through the Virtual Museum Store. And when they're gone, they're gone. If you want any of these limited castings, you have to contact us directly at FantasticPlast@aol.com. Here's what's left:
Royal Cruiser (3 remaining) 1:288 - $75.00 plus shipping
Royal Yacht 1:288 - $55 plus shipping
Stand-Up Fighter 1:144 - $55 plus shipping
Two-Man Fighter Bomber (1 remaining) 1:144 - $48.00 plus shipping

Lesbian writer Joanna Russ dies, aged 74

HayNZ.com: Lesbian writer Joanna Russ dies, aged 74
Writer and critic Joanna Russ has died in Arizona after suffering a series of strokes.

Science fiction publication Locus Magazine has confirmed the 74-year-old died peacefully in hospice care in Tucson. She first suffered a stroke in February and was admitted to care in April after a further series of strokes.

The lesbian writer first came to prominence in the late 60s in a science fiction world largely dominated by men. She is lauded as being one of the most outspoken authors to challenge male dominance in the field, and is generally regarded as one of the leading feminist science fiction scholars and writers.

Russ was best know for The Female Man, which was published in 1975. She suffered from health problems including back pain and chronic fatigue syndrome, which reduced her writing output.

Sci-fi plays eschew the tech, explore the big issues

STLToday: Sci-fi plays eschew the tech, explore the big issues
Remember that scene in "Alien," when the space creature emerges from someplace inside John Hurt?

Or how about the fight in "The Matrix," when Keanu Reeves is suspended in midair?

For that matter, think back to that incredible scene in "Star Wars" when our heroes blew up the Death Star.

Could any of that happen onstage?

No chance. The special effects that give science fiction its adrenaline jolt in the movies and on television depend on technology.

But in live theater, technology usually means something a lot simpler.

Remember that cocktail table that rolled down the stage by itself in "Titanic" last summer at the Muny? On stage, that constitutes a special effect. Heck, when the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis staged "Dracula" in 2007, audiences were knocked out when a woman seemed to levitate. It was definitely impressive, but that play opened in 1924. You can't exactly call it cutting-edge.

Maybe that's why, even though science fiction is a popular entertainment genre, you don't see a lot of it on stage: Movies and TV can do it better. Nevertheless, two plays with strong sci-fi elements are running here this week: "Intelligent Life" at HotCity Theatre and "Dark Matters," a Stray Dog Theatre Studio Workshop production.

There's no question that they are fiction. Science is another story.

But maybe, says Annamaria Pileggi, they just aren't science fiction the way we usually think of it today. To find more apt comparisons, think of science fiction TV programs from years gone by, like "Star Trek" or "The Twilight Zone."

Those shows used conventions of science fiction as a way to look at other issues: interpersonal relationships, social responsibility, love and loyalty and honor.

Some playwrights today are doing practically the same thing: not writing hard science fiction, but using science fiction conventions to set the stage for issues they want to explore.

That's how Pileggi sees "Intelligent Life," the comedy she's directing at HotCity. In the play, a band of fringe-of-the-fringe characters who call themselves the Utah Alien Chasers think they have found their grail when they encounter a mud-stained boy dressed in a dinosaur costume. Is he from Earth — or someplace else?

"It's not a wannabe movie," said Pileggi. "It is meant for the stage.

"It's about the interaction among these people and how little it takes to get somebody to believe what he or she wants to believe. I think what Lauren (Dusek Albonico, the playwright) has done is quite smart. This is a play about faith." Two years ago, "Intelligent Life" was a finalist in HotCity's Greenhouse New Play Festival.

Albonico — a Washington University alumna from St. Louis who now lives in Santa Fe — told Pileggi that the idea for the play came from her own experiences. No, she does not chase aliens. As a Catholic, however, she was always aware that she believed things that other people in her classes did not. What does that mean, she wondered? To push the question a little harder, she took it to extremes, giving her characters really strange beliefs to insist on — and making them funny.

There's nothing funny about Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's "Dark Matters" — and nothing very high-tech about it, either. "We do a few things with lighting," said the director, Justin Been. "But the heart of the play lies in the family. Science fiction is just a catalyst to bring up other points."

Set at a remote house in the mountains of Virginia, Aguirre-Sacasa's drama starts with the missing woman. Her husband and their teenage son do all they can to find her, but she's gone. Then, just as suddenly as she vanished, she returns — speaking of strange visitations and other-worldly beings.

"It's more about the thought of aliens than the presence of aliens," Been said. "The people in this family have secrets that test their relationships when they have to deal with them. It isn't humorous but it is suspenseful."

Stories of people who believe things that others dismiss have been told before (Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People," Shaw's "Saint Joan," and, closer to home, Deanna Jent's stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis' novel "Till We Have Faces," closing Sunday at Mustard Seed Theatre). Stories of families confronting secrets are legion (Miller's "Death of a Salesman," Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex"). These aren't just legitimate themes for the stage, they are favorite ones. Science fiction offers just one more way to examine them, through a lens that theatergoers don't often get to look through.

South African author wins Arthur C Clarke award

Guardian.co.uk: South African author wins Arthur C Clarke award
Lauren Beukes honoured with top science fiction prize for her novel Zoo City, set in an alternate Johannesburg
South African author Lauren Beukes has won the UK's top science fiction prize, the Arthur C Clarke award, seeing off the favourite, Ian McDonald, with a story of the criminal underclass in an alternate Johannesburg.

Published by the tiny UK press Angry Robot, Zoo City beat not only McDonald, but also the US National Book award winner Richard Powers and the Guardian children's fiction prize winner Patrick Ness.

Speaking after the "unexpected" result, Beukes said she felt "like Gwyneth Paltrow – but I promise I won't burst into tears".

"I had a speech prepared and it was curse you McDonald," she said. South Africa, is an "an incredible place to live ... and write about", she added. "It's really where science fiction is. It's in the developing world, it's first world, it's third world – the way we use technology is different to the way it's used elsewhere. This book is about magic and technology and it's very special to be here."

Described as "Jeff Noon crossed with Raymond Chandler", Zoo City tells of the festering Zoo City slum, where psychic criminal guilt takes the form of an animal familiar and where Zinzi December, looking for missing pop starlet Songweza, uncovers secrets that the local crime lord and dark magician wants to stay hidden.

According to judge and author Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Zoo City was the "clear winner".

"Zoo City filters brutal social honesty through a stunning imagination to produce a world recognisably ours and obviously different," he said. "The plotting is tight, the characterisation strong and the writing superb."

Chair of judges Paul Billinger agreed, describing the novel as a book that "realises the enormous potential of SF literature, and as a piece of social commentary it is unsurpassed in the field".

Beukes wins £2011, and becomes the ninth woman to take the Arthur C Clarke prize since Margaret Atwood first won it 25 years ago. She was presented with the award last night (Wednesday 27 April) by China Miéville, who last year won it for a record-breaking third time with his novel The City and the City.

The author later revealed on Twitter – whose users she had earlier thanked for their advice "on good places to dump a body in Johannesburg" – that "those are red wine stains down the front of my dress in the Clarke award photos".

McDonald, meanwhile, might have missed out on the Arthur C Clarke to Beukes, but he can comfort himself with the fact that his tale of a near-future Istanbul, The Dervish House, beat the South African author to the British Science Fiction Association award for best novel on Tuesday – an award he has now won with each of his last three novels. McDonald was also shortlisted for the Hugo best novel prize earlier this week.

"It seems extraordinary to think that Ian McDonald has won [the BSFA award] for each of his last three novels until you read him, and realise he really is that good. The Dervish House may even be his most complete achievement, vigorous and enthralling," said Niall Harrison, editor in chief of Strange Horizons. The BSFA prize is voted for by members of the British Science Fiction Association.

BBC America announces 'The Fades' and explains its science-fiction fixation

Los Angeles Times: BBC America announces 'The Fades' and explains its science-fiction fixation
It may be royal-wedding week in the U.K., but BBC America has its eye on spookier things: The network just announced that it’s co-producing a new supernatural drama called “The Fades,” to premiere January 2012.

Written by Jack Thorne (who wrote for the U.K. versions of “Skins” and “Shameless” as well as co-writing the Shane Meadows movie “This is England ’86”), it stars Lily Loveless and Daniel Kaluuya (who both starred in the original U.K. “Skins”) and features a plotline about a boy who sees spirits.

This comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that the channel would air 80 hours of 2003 sci-fi classic “Battlestar Galactica,” which originally ran on Syfy, starting June 18. Not only that, but the recently announced upcoming slate also includes the new series “Outcasts,” described as a “frontier sci-fi drama” about power struggles and sex in “a new post-Earth era” (premieres June 18) and the spooky fall 2011 drama “Bedlam,” about an apartment building haunted by its former inhabitants -- patients in a lunatic asylum. These new shows will join existing programs such as “Doctor Who” and “Being Human” on BBC America’s “Supernatural Saturday block.”

So is BBC America trying to compete with Syfy to become the geek network of choice?

According to Perry Simon, general manager of BBC America, it’s just a matter of focusing on what they do well. “Science fiction is a staple of British television -- there’s rich history of it, and they do it very well. As a result, BBCA has gotten a steady pipeline of quality British science fiction, and we have over the years wanted to deliver it in coherent fashion, which led us to brand 'Supernatural Saturday.' "

Some fans expressed surprise about the signing of "Battlestar Galactica,” which has no English angle (except for a few of the actors, who artfully disguised their British accents). Simon pointed out that “Galactica” joined “Star Trek: the Next Generation,” which has been in reruns on BBC America for a while. But the bulk of the programming, he promises, will be “British science fiction.”
Even the British shows may be getting a little American action, though: The season opener of “Doctor Who” found the Tardis landing in the U.S. And that may give it a boost here -- the show’s season premiere this weekend nabbed it almost 1.3 million viewers, up from last season’s opener.

Simon says the Doctor’s American setting partly “grew out of conversations about how to grow the franchise in American audience” -- but that more than anything it was creative excitement on the part of “Doctor Who” producer Steven Moffat. As he told EW, “We had an idea, and it seemed cool, so we did it.”

‘Doctor Who’: Longest-running science fiction TV show kicks off new season stateside

Columbia Spectator: ‘Doctor Who’: Longest-running science fiction TV show kicks off new season stateside
Doctor Who, the world’s longest-running science fiction television show, returns to the small screen on Saturday, April 23, with a bang—literally.

One of the most popular shows in Britain, Doctor Who is a cult favorite in America. The show follows the adventures of the Doctor, a 908-year-old time-travelling alien, known as a “Time Lord,” from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor has two hearts, and instead of dying, he regenerates into a new form—hence the ability for different actors to play him—with the same memories and similar quirky characteristics.

Matt Smith plays the 11th incarnation. He gives the Doctor an incredible range.

Steven Moffat, the show’s head writer, once remarked that though Smith is the youngest man to ever play the Doctor, it seems like he is the oldest. This simultaneously old and young Doctor is delightful to watch on-screen and appears to be portrayed by Smith with ease.

The Doctor voyages throughout the universe in a TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) that disguises itself as a blue police call box from 1960s Britain. He is the last of his kind, after he destroyed his home planet and his race in the Time War. The Doctor travels with a human companion, saving the universe—and usually humanity—from sinister aliens such as the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Weeping Angels.

[Today], the new season begins with the first of a two-part arc entitled “The Impossible Astronaut.” It is the first episode in the 48-year history of “Doctor Who” to film principally in America.

The show opens with Amy (Karen Gillan), the Doctor’s current companion, Rory (Arthur Darvill), her husband, and Dr. River Song (Alex Kingston)—a mysterious woman from the Doctor’s future—receiving envelopes telling them when and where to meet.

They head to Utah, where the Doctor awaits their arrival. There, they meet Canton Everett Delaware III, a former FBI agent. Within the first 10 minutes, a fan-favorite character dies, and it comes as such a surprise that shrieks of anguish were heard at the episode’s screening.

Delaware tells the remaining company to travel to Washington D.C. in 1969, and there the adventure truly begins.

Nixon makes a delightful appearance, and as this is a British show, it is full of American stereotypes. Whenever given the possibility, an American whips out a gun and threatens to shoot something, and the only logic given for this trigger-happiness is that they are Americans. Typical.[And true!]

Consequential Strangers, by Melinda Blau and Karen Fingerman

This book is off-topic, but it's so interesting that I thought I'd share it.

There's an old saying, "I shall only pass this way but once, so any little good I can do, let me do it now, for I shall only pass this way but once."

We pass strangers every day - each one of them has their own problems and preoccupations. A smile from you might change their life - so might a frown or a casual insult (such as sneering at their weight, or something of that nature.)

It costs nothing to give someone a friendly smile, and you never know what it might accomplish as the stranger at whom you smile goes on to struggle through his or her day.

Consequential Strangers: The Power of People who Don't Seem to Matter, but Really Do, by Melinda Blau and Karen Fingerman
W W Norton and Co, 2009
219 pages, plus Appendices, notes and index. No photos
Library: 155.927 BLA

Description
They punctuate our days, but we take them for granted: our barista, our car mechanic, a coworker, a fellow dog lover. Yet these are the consequential strangers who bring novelty and information into our lives, allow us to exercise different parts of ourselves, and open us up to new opportunities. They keep us healthy and are invaluable when we're sick. They fuel innovation and social movements. And they are vital in times of uncertainty.

In their unprecedented examination of "people who don't seem to matter," psychologist Karen L. Fingerman, who coined the term "consequential strangers" collaborates with journalist Melinda Blau to develop an idea sparked by Fingerman's groundbreaking research. Drawing as well from Blau's more than two hundred interviews with specialists in psychology, sociology, marketing, and communication, this book presents compelling stories of individuals and institiutions, past and present.

A rich portrait of our social landscape-on and off the internet-it presents the science of casual connection and chronicles the surprising impact that consequential strangers have on business, creativity, the work environment, our physical and mental health, and the strength of our communities.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction - The Birth of a Notion
1. The Ascendance of Consequential Strangers
2. The View From Above
3. Beyond the Confines of the Familiar
4. Good for What Ails Us
5. Being Spaces
6. The Downside
7. The Future of Consequential Strangers
Epilogue: The Postscript is Personal
Appendix I: 20 Questions
Appendix II: The Occupation Test
Notes
Index

Terrarium (2003)

12 astronauts volunteer to pioneer a colony, on a newly discovered planet. They awake from their frozen 15 year sleep to discover that the ship has crashed and that they are trapped in their cryotubes. To make matters worse, a hairy beast breaks in and begins devouring them, one by one...

On a whim, I did an Image search for "science fiction movie" and the first result was for Terrarium - a movie from 2003 that starred Tim Daley (not to be confused wth Tim Daly!) and Jason Hall.

An independent, low budget production.

It has a website: http://www.terrariumthemovie.com/