Seymour the fractal Cat

Seems like I must have missed the first episode of this, which apparently aired last Thursday. This has been aired before, so I'm surprised they're not just repeating it daily instead of once a week...

Fractal Infinity: Can Natalie and Michael save Jeremy? Will L.A.I.N. get its cyber-hands on Seymour? Will Michael get his hands on Natalie? Episode 2 of 5.

Red as Blood (Snow White revisited)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/friday/


Red as Blood
A dark study of the Snow White fantasy by Tanith Lee. The Queen sets out to rescue her stepdaughter from her sinister heritage.

Will be on the site for 7 more days.

Atomic Tales pt 1 - 6

BBC Radio 7 is repeating Atomic Tales for at least the third time in 12 months, I think... all these repeats are good or bad depending on your point of view... Deep Station Emerald will be repeated starting next week...

Atomic Tales is a spoof of classic American 1950s SF, not really from the States. Some of them are amusing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/monday/

Anyway, for this week:

Their Gaze Was Green: The first in a series of 'classic American 1950s sci-fi'. Episode 1 of 6.

And Mother Makes Millions: This episode paints a chilling portrait of a world without children. Episode 2 of 6.

I've Got Your Number: Krank has created a brilliant think piece where all of mankind has a unique number. But what if your number was copied? Episode 3 of 6.

Land of Plenty: On Mars, humanity lives on tinned food known as Magcans. But then the cans start to malfunction. Episode 4 of 6.

Unstoppable!: The tension continues in the sci-fi serial as a space train hurtles towards Earth. Episode 5 of 6.

Night of the Cicadas: The cicada is a friendly chirruping insect, but what if it grew to a vast size and hungered for human flesh? Episode 6 of 6.

Busy busy

I've been remiss in making entries in this blog for the last few days. Very busy doing things.... unfortunately not connected to The Thunder Child. Now, however, I hope to be able to get back to this on a full-time basis.

New at The Thunder Child, an overview of Gerry Anderson's Supermation work, including the spoof called Superthunderstingcar by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and an interview with an agent, John Jarrold.

thethunderchild.com

Filmmakers Fumble Fantastic Four

I saw this today, and I have to say I wasn't impressed. Oh, the special effects were fine, but the plot just left so many holes and ruined the classic Silver Surfer story.

Spoilers


The Surfer comes to earth. He sees it's a good planet for Galactus. Why doesn't he just send the signal and then leave? Why does he continue making those stupid craters - was that supposed to open up a way for Galactus to devour the planet? Not that he'd need to, because the only Galactus we see in this movie is a gigantic energy cloud who wouldn't need to do anything with those craters, surely?

Victor Von Doom has figured it out about the craters, and comes and talks to the Surfer. "Together we can rule the world." Does Victor Von Doom really, really think that someone like The Surfer would need him?

But of course that was just an excuse so the Surfer would hit him with a blast...which for some reason heals his scarred body... well, ya can't expect actor Julian McMahon to not be able to show his face.

Then there's Johnny Storm giving the Silver a bit of a burst at the end. As if the Silver Surfer needs any help at all getting up to speed.

And then there's the "destruction" of Galactus. How does the Surfer pull that off? If Galactus eats energy, how can a sudden burst of energy destroy him?

The problem is, of course, that in the comic books it was all talk. The Surfer asks the gigantic human-looking Galactus to spare the planet, Galactus says no... but the Watcher is there...and I think Reed has stolen a piece of machinery Galactus needs to survive...so Galactus dooms the Surfer to earth and leaves...

I'd've rather seen it that way!

James Follett on BBC 7

Beginning on Saturday, June 9, and continuing for 7 days at BBC 7: (Sorry this is rather late, I accidently put it on my Mudville Megaphone blog)

Men, Martians and Machines

James Follett's journey through his writing career, including The Devil to Pay, The Man Who Invented Yesterday, and The Bionic Blob. Three hours.

---- I've listened to bits and pieces of this and I haven't yet heard those 3 shows, I've heard episodes of Earthsearch and The Destruction Factor... but he shares anecdotes between the episodes which are pretty interesting and which I will type up should I ever get the chance...

No IPower again...

Well, once again, about 30 days later, my website is down once more. Last time I think it happened because I tried to add a new domain pointer by myself and screwed something up, but this time it just "happened" and I am really getting annoyed with it.

The bad thing is that I've got three domains pointing to this website, so of course they are down as well. The other bad thing is I don't have time to do anything about it today.

I never did go about moving the domain from Ipower after the last debacle, and now of course I regret it. Once it's back up, if it ever comes back up - I'll move everythign toot sweet, (or tout suite, as the Frenchies say.)

Anyway, good SF on BBC Radio 7 during these 7 days, from PHilip K. DIck to James Follett, so check it out.

Book: Richter's Scale

I don't have time to read it, but there's a new book out about Charles Richter, the man whose name is given to the Richter scale that measures earthquakes.

Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man, by Susan Elizabeth Hough.
2007.

The American Jusstice system has become the joke of the world

Been a while since I've had time to write here, and I'm so far behind on putting up material for The Thunder Child that it's not even funny. And it's going to be 3 or 4 more days before I can get back to it.

But I am so outraged by this Paris Hilton debacle. She serves 3 whole days in a country club prison, not eating and not sleeping, and gets released, condemned instead to 40 days inside her posh mansion.

What a joke.

How many women in exactly her same circumstances (except without the money, obviously) spend their first three days doing the exact same thing. Are they then shown mercy and sent home?

And of course now Hilton knows that whenever she gets in trouble again, assuming it doesn't kill her right out or cripple her, all she has to do is cry and whine and she'll be let free again.

I hate lawyers, but I hope they take note of this precedent and insist on it for their own clients with similar crimes.

Darth Vader makes the big time

An art show featuring Darth Vader's helmet and the variations rung upon it. Some look pretty cool....

Darth Vader art

Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End

Just saw this today...and although it was okay...I didn't really like it all that much. Good special effects, some funny lines, lots of action, but...

I enjoyed the first Pirates very much, because I liked Captain Jack Sparrow. It seemed like he was always in control, and always had a plan that spared the innocent and punished the guilty.

I turned against him in Pirates II, when he quite cold-bloodedly set about recruiting 100 souls to give to Davy Jones, in return for his own. Sure,the men he recruited were for the most part old and decrepit...but they didn't deserve that fate, and the fact that Sparrow was willing to sacrifice them... no, I didn't care for it.

Pirates III has Sparrow almost back to his old self - he has plans for Will and it turns out Will and Elizabeth do trust him at the end...but it did seem that there was no elan in Depp's Sparrow, and although Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa had some good lines and some good deliveries, there were other times when he seemed to be walking through the role. I liked Kiera Knightly, but still don't see what she sees in Will Turner (it'd be interesting to see Depp and Orlando Bloom exchange roles, and see how Bloom handles the exuberance of Sparrow while Depp handles the staidness of Will Turner....who would be the most popular character then, I wonder...)

Admiral Norrington has only a few scenes in this movie...I definately felt sorry for him...yet another character who's part is written blandly...

As a connoisseur of movie sword fights, I wasn't impressed by the swordplay on hand here (not that there was very much of it) - although it wasn't quite as bad as the windmill fight of POTC II.

The climactic battle at the end had Miss Swan and Will Turner fighting together, back to back ala Mr and Mrs Smith (Jolie and Pitt), and it didn't work out quite as well, in my opinion, but it gave the chance for Barbossa to have one of the funniest lines in the movie.

Sunday at BBC Radio 7 - Brian Aldiss

Song of the Silencer

Man plays God, causing galactic disaster, in this chilling sci-fi tale by master storyteller Brian Aldiss.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/

For new listeners, don't worry about the times they have listed. You can listen to any show at any time.
Just click on the title.

Are You A Fan of Paris Hilton?

If so, why?

I have to confess I haven't really been following the Paris Hilton tragicomedy - I just have read a few messages on some genre message boards that I frequent (each one has an "Off topic" folder which is usually the most popular folder on the board) and they all just wish she'd OD and get it over with.

I say that her story is a tragicomedy because it is...much as Anna Nicole Smith's was. These women have what the foolish believe are the two things that make for a happy life - looks and money.

But...they don't/didn't have brains. And without a brain... the rest of the stuff goes to waste. Sure, they can have sex whenever they want - but then the guy dumps them after having been serviced so he can go talk to someone intellgient... and they've got money that they spend on their toys and their tiny dogs and their cars...

Well, perhaps Hilton's publicist will persuade her to do some good with some of her money - advise her to start a scholarship for girls or educational opportunities for women in real prisons, as opposed to country club prisons.... Never going to happen

I would really like fans of Paris Hilton to comment on this entry - why do you like her? And how much money do you yourself make in a year?

If you don't like Hilton, no need to comment - I think the reasons are pretty obvious...


On a more important note The Thunder Child is back on line after having been down for 3 days, and my hits don't seem to have dropped at all...they're not increasing, either...

I'm involved in a project that's taking me practically every waking hour of the day for the next week or so, but once I get that done I'll start shifting everything to a new, more reliable host.

Well, hallaleujah

After a little less than 4 days, my site is back online.

I shudder to think how many readers, not to mention how much money, I've lost during this time frame.

Not happy with IPower, at all.

Time to look for another provider.

Anyway, The Voice of God, written by Simon Bovey, is now airing at BBC 7 for the next 5 days...so don't forget that there's an interview with Simon Bovey at The Thunder Child.

SimonBovey

IPower down...

For those of you wondering where the heck The Thunder Child magazine is today, May 9, my host is down, and has been all day, and I'm a bit annoyed about it. I'm going to give them 24 hours, ie. until tomorrow at 10 am Eastern Time, and if the site isn't back up I'm going to have some serious words with them.

Unfortunately when you call the help desk you get people from Overseas who don't speak English very well, so that's why I'm putting it off even though it's costing me readers and ad income...

But this has happened before and its always come back up in the past...so hopefully it'll come back up in a few more hours.

So, sorry for the inconvenience!

Meet the Robinsons

Saw this a couple of days ago, in the 3-D version. And the animation and 3-D effects were absolutely great.

Unfortunately, the story didn't do the effects justice. I visited the IMDB and was quite surprised to see it rated as highly as it was - over 6.5. Not that I place any credence on quality as judged by what IMDB users think - judging by their message boards they're bombarded by pre-teens who like to put each other down...

Anyway, Lewis is a young boy, aged 13, who was abandoned by his mother on the steps of an orphanage when he was just a baby. He makes disasterous inventions which succeed in ruining any chance of getting adopted, and he's inventing at all hours of the day and night which prevent his roommate Goober from getting any sleep.

Lewis decides to invent a device which will recall his memory of 13 years ago, so that he can remember what his mother looks like and find her. He invents the device...and then Bowler Hat Guy - a black clad villain who looks like Snidely Whiplash and acts like Jim Carrey's Riddler - comes on the scene and sabotages the machine so that he can still it, and make a fortune.

Lewis runs away from this latest debacle, up to his roof top hideaway, where he is accosted by a boy (Wilbur) who says he's from the future. They have to save the world from the Bowler Hat Guy.

Lewis gets on board the other boy's time machine and travels into an Utopian future...which all of a sudden turns into a distopian one...

The first 15 minutes of the movie are mind-numbingly slow, as the premise is hammered down - Lewis is always looking back, wanting to find his mother, instead of looking forward, to new parents, new events, etc. Just as I was getting sick of his whining and wishing he'd just get over it, the 'adventure' part of the story begins...and its not until the end of the movie that the moral, to indeed 'get over it and go forward' is brought home.

There's quite a bit of filler that got on my nerves, even though as set pieces they were all right - singing frogs, a search for the garage that takes entirely too much time and is supposed to be funny but in no way is...and a vicious Tyrannosaurus Rex that can't capture Lewis because it has a big head and teeny tiny arms. (Yes that is a very funny scene. And then there's a bowler hat with many spidery steel legs, looking like a creature out of a ninth Doctor Who episode.

If you want to see it - see it in 3D. You get to keep the pair of cool glasses that they hand out for the film.

With A Whimper to the Grave

starting on bBC Radio 7 on Thursday, April 26.

Episode 1 of 3.
Aliens threaten the Earth, and 'Sixth Sensers' are getting involved. But the British Government has a cunning plan.

Episode 2 of 3.
Tom is trapped amongst the Aliens and the Government is keen to keep him there, but Sally finds an ally at the MoD.

The Silent Scream

Sequel to Before the Screaming Starts, Wally K Daly


Episode 1 of 3.
Three weeks until Armageddon, and Earth is preparing for an alien intervention.

Episode 2 of 3.
The threat of alien invasion moves ever closer.

Episode 3 of 3.
Will the aliens succeed in their plans to dominate Earth?

The Trouble With Lichen

A sci fi serial by John Wyndham... I can't believe I haven't been recording it here.

Well, you've missed 4 of 5 installments.

The secret of long life has been uncovered but, due to Francis' reticence, Diana must face the intense media pressure alone. Episode 5 of 5.

Basically, scientists discover how to extend life using an extract from a certain lichen... but there's not enough to go around...

Shambleau complete

Begins on BBC 7 on Saturday, April 21, 2007


Shambleau
A sci-fi thriller by American author CL Moore. A space bounty hunter lives to regret rescuing a young woman from attack. Episode 1 of 3.

CL Moore's space thriller on Mars continues. Northwest Smith discovers the secret power of the alien women he rescued. Episode 2 of 3.