PR: HAL LEONARD RELEASES BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SONGBOOK

Cool New Piano Solo Folio Showcases Noted Composer Bear McCreary

(MILWAUKEE) – Variety called composer Bear McCreary’s score for Battlestar Galactica – the award-winning series on the SyFy channel from 2004-2009 – “the most innovative music on TV today,” and NPR said it “fits the action so perfectly, it’s almost devastating: (it’s) a sci-fi score like no other.” Hal Leonard Corporation is proud to publish the first-ever songbook featuring the music from the series.

McCreary himself was heavily involved in the creation of this special collection, personally translating his acclaimed, world music-infused orchestral score into fantastic piano solo arrangements. The intermediate to advanced-level songbook contains 19 selections in all, and as a bonus, also simplified versions of “Roslin and Adama” and “Wander My Friends.” There is a note from the Emmy-nominated McCreary, as well as a biography.

The music from Battlestar Galactica has a rabid following. No fewer than six soundtrack albums have been released to date, all selling well and enthusiastically praised by critics. There have also been several live concerts featuring the music. In 2008, more than 1,000 fans attended two sold-out shows at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, with some fans flying in from as far as England and Australia. Last summer, McCreary conducted the world premiere performance of the Battlestar Galactica Symphony, as part of the renowned Fimucite Film Music Festival in Tenerife, Spain. A ballet based on McCreary’s scores for the series premiered in 2009, performed by the dancers of the Theaterhagen in Hagen, Germany.

McCreary comments on the Hal Leonard Battlestar Galactica songbook, “At last, fans can now be a part of the musical process themselves and experience the score as I first did: with fingertips touching the ivories.”

A must for the show’s multitude of fans, the Battlestar Galactica Piano Solo folio (HL00313530, ISBN 978-1-61780-367-3) retails for $16.99 and is available at music stores nationwide, or through Music Dispatch (www.musicdispatch.com, 800-637-2852). www.bearmccreary.com/blog

About Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary holds degrees in composition and recording arts from the prestigious Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. However, he attributes his professional training to his mentor, the late film music legend Elmer Bernstein. By the age of 24, McCreary launched into pop culture with his groundbreaking score for Battlestar Galactica. McCreary’s other composing credits include Disney’s Step Up 3D, and several hit series, including The Walking Dead, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Caprica, The Cape and Eureka. McCreary’s swashbuckling score for Human Target featured the largest orchestra ever assembled for a television series in history, and earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme.

About Hal Leonard Corporation
Founded in 1947, Hal Leonard Corporation (www.halleonard.com) is the world’s largest music print publisher, producing songbooks, sheet music, educational publications, reference books, DVDs, CD-ROMs, children’s music products and more. In its more than 200,000 available publications, the company represents in print some of the world’s best known and most respected publishers, artists, songwriters and arrangers. Hal Leonard is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI and also has domestic offices in Winona, MN; New York; and Nashville; and offices abroad in Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

College of Sci Fi Knowledge Radiation Theater Quizbook

The Thunder Child is proud to announce our first book for the Kindle: The COllege of Sci Fi Knowledge, Eye Sci Fi edition (that means movies), with an emphasis on what I like to call "Radition Theater" - science fiction movies from 1950-1962 that featured giant bugs, giant women, shrinking men, and our first explorations of the universe.

The Quiz Book is profusely illustrated with stills and posters and features over 200 questions on a variety of topics

In the Beginning - identify movie from its opening lines
The Secrets of the Krell - trivia
They All Have Families - production people
A Star is Born - actors
That Was Probably Very Clever - quotes
The End? - identify a movie by its last lines.

And many more!

This Quiz Book is on Kindle - but don't despair if you don't have a Kindle. You can download - for free - an emulator for the PC (and read the book on a much larger screen which is very nice!) and on various smart phones.

And the price of this amazingly colossal book is only $1.99.

So - here's the thing to do. Make one night a week a Radiation Theater night, and watch one of these great filims - most of them are available viw Netflix, Amazon or even YouTube. In order to decide who gets to watch what - who has to make the popcorn, who has to clean up, have a contest with this quiz book, choose ten questions at randoms and whoever gets the least questions right - has to do the winner's bidding.

Below is the URL.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LX0DN6?tag=theeuropeansilen&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B004LX0DN6&adid=10CF8PZWE67PHMNEJDNA

PR: Koldcast ads the web series Haywire to is line up

Monroe, NY, January 28, 2011 – The horror/sci-fi web series Haywire is set to join the line-up of KoldCast TV, one of the world’s top destinations for original web-based programming. The collaboration will introduce Koldcast’s ever-growing international audience representing over 200 countries to the world of Haywire.

In addition to viewing episodes on the Koldcast website (www.Koldcast.tv), Haywire’s growing fan base will soon be able to enjoy the series in full HD on their televisions through any of Koldcast’s apps offered on the likes of Boxee and Roku. With the expanse of the Koldcast network, more viewers than ever will get a taste of the emerging series.

"Haywire is a twisted, gruesome suburban nightmare” offered Koldcast VP of Network Programming Marti Resteghini. “Not only is it a great horror series but a clever satire as well."

ABOUT HAYWIRE
Haywire is a horror/sci-fi web series produced by Lights Out Film Group (www.lightsoutfilmgroup.com). The series focuses on the effects of a strange light on the suburban town of Monroe, New York.

Jon Pertwee in The Curious Case of Santa Claus, pt 1

One Step Beyond: Wesley Lau in Mask

LikeTelevision Watch Movies and TV Shows



From the I Like Television website. A young Wesley Lau (most famous as Andy Andeson on Perry Mason), plays a pilot who parachutes into the desert of Egypt. Then, strange things start to happen.)

The Making of the Creature from the Black Lagoon

Watch Haywire: an indie sci fi/horror series

Three episodes are now available at Youtube, with new eps added on a monthly basis. The film company, Lights Out, is located in New York, and is looking for storefronts to film in front of or houses to film in. If you'd like to be a part of filmmaking history, give 'em a call! (And especially do so if you want to try out your acting chops.)

http://haywireseries.com/?page_id=42
Haywire is the saga of the effects of a strange phenomenon on the population of the small Hudson Valley town of Monroe, New York. It's horror and sci-fi with a nice peppering of drama, comedy and action for your viewing pleasure.
"Monroe, New York. 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 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 if something gets in your way?"

Haywire episode 1: The Gardener


Hawire episode 2: The Beaten Path


Haywire episode 3: Return to Sender

January Conventions

The Thunder Child has updated its science fiction convention pages for 2011. We've got two pages, one that lists conventions by date, and the other that lists conventions by location.

Below are the conventiosn for January. (That we know about. If you're holding a convention and its not listed below (or at our pages), email us and give us all the details.

http://thethunderchild.com/Conventions/USCalendarByDate.html

Remember that all the info provided below is for information only. Check the convention's website to verify dates, times and costs. (The Thunder Child isn't responsible for any info in error! Verify!)


January 14-16
RustyCon 30
"A science fiction & fantasy convention"
Seattle Airport Marriott
3201 South 176th Street
Seattle, WA
www.rustycon.com/

January 14-16
MarsCon (Williamsburg, VA)
"Southeastern Virginia's Premiere Relaxi-con"
Holiday Inn Patriot
3032 Richmond Road, Route 60
Williamsburg, VA
www.marscon.net/


January 14-17
Arisia '19
"New England's largest and most diverse science fiction and fantasy convention"
Westin Waterfront Hotel
425 Summer Street
Boston, 02210, MA
2011.arisia.org/


January 21-23
Confusion
"Brought to you by the Stilyagi Air Corps"
Detroit Marriott Troy
200 West Big Beaver Road, Troy, MI
www.stilyagi.org/

George Reeves Adventures of Superman

Over 10 years ago, TVLand aired an Adventures of Superman marathon, starting with the Phyllis Coates episodes. To my rage, the Haunted Lighthouse episode wasn't among them, and indeed, they'd skip every two or three episodes, so they weren't showing the full set.

Annoyed, I never did watch the tapes I'd made .... so it's not until today, some ten years later, that I'm finally watching all these episodes, one after the other, as I transfer them from VHS to DVD-R.

And what fun they are. I must say that yes, the first season is the best, and it's too bad Phyllis Coates has been succeeded in everyone's minds by Noel Neill...indeed, I don't think Coates was ever invited to any of the Superman reunions...at least not if Noel Neill was going to be there.

Anyway, much as I do like Neill, the Coates episodes were simply superior TV, for the most part.

Now, this is a great website you must visit if you're a fan of George Reeves' Superman shows.

http://www.jimnolt.com/

It has everything. The website owner is the author of a Superman companion book, that I've reviewed at The Thunder Child website. I can't give you the title now as, since I've moved, all my books are packed away, but as soon as I find it, I'll give it another blurb.

Merry Christmas

A video, which my Kindle readers can't view, unfortunately.

The New Seekers singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing"

(Go to Youtube and do a serch on the song if you'd like to hear it.)

Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

Just watched this while recording it from VHS to DVD-R. I do enjoy it, although it would be a lot betterif a few minutes were cut, for example the guy spending 5 minutesto catch his horse, and the two women in the motorcycle...but for most of its length its a great movie and I admit the penultimate ending has me teary-eyed.

It's always something

My mom has "free" antivirus protection on her Dell...and it's done her no good at all. She's now infected with something that prevents IE and Firefox from being able to get online, even though she's connected to the internet.

I thought I had put Panda Cloud Virus on there, but apparently not. Not that I know if Panda works, either. It was a suggestion of my brother's. On my computer, I pay for Norton, which seems to work just fine.


My mom is in her 70s, and doesn't know enough to not download stuff sent by strangers, or not open emails from people you dont' know. When I looked at her computer today, she had something called Magnetic...something... as her default IE homepage. I got rid of that and put it back to Yahoo mail..and that's when the probem started.

All malware and virus devisers should be shot on sight!

Ah, memories

For the last 3 or 4 days I've been transferring my VHS tapes to DVD-R. I've got over 200 VHS tapes, so this will probably take me a couple of months at least.

But it's fun, I'm watching a lot of shows I hadn't watched since I taped them, 20 - 1- years ago... Perry Mason, Combat!, Doctor Who (Tom Baker, and Jon Pertwee) the Avengers with Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) and so on.

Fun fun.

Of ocurse what I'm going to do with 200 expendable VHS tapes I do not know. I've tried to give them away on CHeyenne Freecycle, but no one's expressed an interest.

1950s Horror Theatre from Comedy Break

Uploaded at YouTube. 3 episodes of 1950s Horror Theatre, and then an Easter Egg at the end. Do not touch that dial.

1950s Science Fiction Theater from Comedy Break

comedy Break was a syndicated comedy skit series from 1985-1986, which starred the Comedy duo of Mack and Jamie (Mack Dryden and Jamie Alcroft). Kevin Pollak was on board for the whole series, the female supporting actor changed, I think it was Marla Frumkin first and then Jan Hooks, with Maggie Roswell subbing for Hooks on one occasion.

One or more of the writers for this showw must have been a fan of science fiction, because there were a few of these 1950s Science Fiction Theater (with Kevin Pollak doing a great William Shatner/Captain Kirk impression), and a few 1950s Horror Movie Theater (which were really science fiction spoofs, filmed in color) and one hilarious sendup of Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Press Release: GET A MOUTHFUL OF MURLOCS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

New Stein Showcases Legendary Denizens of the Deep From Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft®

SAN DIEGO, CA (December 13, 2010) – Taverncraft, a subsidiary of 3 Point Entertainment LLC, today announced they have begun shipping the latest addition to their Epic Collection stein series based on Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft®. The new stein, entitled RAWGRLRLRLRRLGLRL!!!, features Azeroth’s wildly popular denizens of the deep, the murlocs, illustrated by premier fantasy artist Matt Cavotto. The stoneware stein features numerous murlocs throughout, including Winterfin Oracle, Bluefin Murloc and Murloc Tidehunter, and is topped with an exclusive murloc-themed solid pewter lid.

“Murlocs are among the most popular monsters within World of Warcraft, and we always knew a murloc stein would be a great addition to our line-up,” said 3 Point Entertainment President Jerry Bennington. “They're wily creatures with a fun reputation, and this collectible stein, which is perfect for holiday gift-giving, is a great way to express your love for these unforgettable characters."

RAWGRLRLRLRRLGLRL!!! is the fifth release in the Epic Collection series of World of Warcraft steins. Previous steins in the series include Blood of the Horde, Alliance United, Rise of the Lich King, and Charge of the Great Dragonflights.

Each Epic Collection stein stands over 10” tall, is handcrafted from authentic fine-grain stoneware, and features panoramic bas-relief sculpting and a solid pewter lid. The new RAWGRLRLRLRRLGLRL!!! stein can be purchased at www.taverncraft.com for $99.99 / 81.99 EUR each, with the other World of Warcraft Epic Collection steins currently available for the same price.

Press Release: TAVERNCRAFT LAUNCHES NEW LINE OF PREMIUM MARVEL ETCHED GLASSES

Glasses Feature Deep-Etched Iconic Images of Legendary Marvel Super-Heroes

SAN DIEGO, CA (December 14, 2010) – You've read about their exploits in your favorite comic books. You've watched them on the silver screen. Now you can also share a drink with the world's greatest super-heroes! Taverncraft, a subsidiary of 3 Point Entertainment LLC, today announced they have entered into an agreement with Marvel Entertainment Group to create steins, tankards and mugs, plus a unique line of deep-etched glassware, all featuring iconic Marvel Comics super-heroes. The initial wave of 16 oz. pint glasses and 25 oz. glass steins are available now from www.taverncraft.com and feature Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America.

"Fans who are used to standard silk-screened steins and glasses are going to be in for a pleasant surprise," said 3 Point Entertainment President Jerry Bennington. "The deep etching really brings out the detail in the characters, and offers a dimensionality that you just can't get from simply applying an image onto the surface. Whether buying a set for yourself or as a holiday gift, fans will be able to see and appreciate the high quality and unsurpassed durability of our Marvel deep-etched glasses and steins."

Pint glasses are packaged in two-glass sets and retail for $29.99 plus shipping and handling. Each 25 oz. glass stein is packaged individually and retails for $29.99 plus shipping and handling. Additional information, images and ordering details are available at http://www.taverncraft.com.

TOAST THE HOLIDAYS WITH NEW THE HOBBIT™ STEIN

Smaug Legend 1

Smaug Legend 2

PR: Taverncraft Introduces Two Versions of the Smaug™ the Magnificent Stein

SAN DIEGO, CA (November 17, 2010) – Taverncraft, a subsidiary of 3 Point Entertainment LLC, today announced that they have begun shipping the first stoneware stein in their ongoing collectible drinkware series based on the literary masterpieces The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Smaug the Magnificent, illustrated by world-famous fantasy artist Matthew Stawicki, is available in both Epic and Legendary editions. Ordering information and detailed photos are available at www.taverncraft.com , with holiday delivery in the contiguous United States guaranteed if ordered prior to December 15, 2010.

"The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy are among the most influential books in literary history, and we're thrilled to be part of that legacy," said 3 Point Entertainment President Jerry Bennington. "From the incredibly detailed, panoramic bas-relief imagery to the pewter lid with its 'One Ring' motif, fans will cherish this hefty stoneware stein. Whether buying one for yourself or as a holiday gift, it's perfect for any Lord of the Rings devotee."

Each Smaug the Magnificent stein stands over 10” (25.4 cm) tall and is handcrafted from authentic fine-grain stoneware. The steins showcase panoramic bas-relief sculpting and a sculpted pewter lid featuring the legendary "One Ring to rule them all." The Smaug the Magnificent Epic Collection Stein is available for $99.99, while the Smaug the Magnificent Legendary Collection Stein is priced at $169.99. The Smaug the Magnificent Legendary Collection Stein is limited to 500 worldwide, features an 18K gold-plated "One Ring" lid and hand-painted gold trimming throughout the image and handle.

The stoneware Smaug the Magnificent stein joins Taverncraft's popular line of deep-etched pint glasses and glass steins featuring iconic artwork of the most popular taverns in Middle-earth. Information about the entire The Hobbit product line-up, including the Smaug the Magnificent stein, is available at http://www.taverncraft.com .



Inn of the Prancing Pony Mug



Hobbit Legend

View The Lady and the Tiger...Moth graphic novelette

I've put it up at YouTube. Remember to see the whole thing (the rest of the story is told in prose form) you can purchase it for the Kindle from Amazon.com for the extremely low price of $1.99!!!

I hate snow!

Currently visiting relatives in Rapid City South Dakota. Had 6 inches of snow last night.Not that much actually, considering what I was used to in Minneapolis, MN.... but that was 10 years ago. After 10 years in Yorktown VA where there was no snow and temps rarely got below 30 this is a shock.