I For One Welcome Our New Fungal Overlords




 

Zombies. People seem to have really fallen in love with the genre in the past few years. I remember watching both Resident Evil AND Shaun of the Dead the same night at our local theater, and then dragging my husband back to watch it AGAIN. I was at the edge of my seat during 28 Days Later (though I was partly watching to catch a glimpse of our newest Doctor…Christopher Eccelston! Yes, he had a role in that movie). Since then, I’ve become a bit zombie’d out, even annoyed. I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies yet because, well, I don’t think even zombies can liven up that yawn-o-rama. Of course, it’s shows like The Walking Dead that restore my faith in zombie culture (and books like The Passage).

But what if zombies were real?

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The History of Science Fiction Illustrated




Brooklyn artist Ward Shelley has illustrated a 54” x 30” timeline entitled “The History of Science Fiction” covering literature, movies and television. The piece was created in 2009, and begins with the circumstances leading to the birth of science fiction, all the way to what Shelley refers to as Mainstream Styles. Other genres such as horror and sword and sorcery break away from their Gothic novel roots and into their own sections. Read More »

The “Found Footage”™ Phenomenon Continues




The unofficial beginning of  the ‘found film” project was a devastatingly bad film called Cannibal Holocaust, a 1980 disasterpiece. Ever since the odd hit film The Blair Witch Project thrust this genre into the forefront, found film movies were somewhat of a stepchild in storytelling. It was considered a cheat somehow. I agree, it kind of is. Then I saw Cloverfield and as much as it didn’t appeal to me in the slightest, it was a rather good film (totally subjective judgment, the critics and box office thought otherwise). Then there was Skyline, a spectacularly bad film, where you wish the found footage had indeed been lost (+1 for Me, +1 for the box office). Paranormal Activity, both parts, did spectacularly at the box office.

Today we are offered Apollo 18, whose publicity is being fueled solely by social media and the interwebs. Good ploy for what may be the sleeper hit of the summer. The Facebooksphere and Twitterverse are abuzz with hits and teasers. More can be found here on the “unofficial” website, where secrets will slowly be revealed. Part of me is hoping for a hit, the other part (80%) is casting a sardonic eye at the Hollywierd publicity machine co-opting social media as just another sales tool.

Be that as it may, the box office is the final judge as to whether this will be another Cannibal Holocaust. The “found footage” milieu just refuses to die.

Kryptonite Never Looked So Hot




EPIC & DYANAGIRL

EPIC #0 by Tyler James and Matt Zolman:  A “No Spoilers” review

Imagine being a Super Hero. Imagine all the verve and vitality of youth and super powers and idealism. Imagine hormones run rampant, Imagine being in Florida during spring break. Imagine your secret vulnerability is …hot girls. Does the term screwed come to mind?

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In Soviet Russia, Flamingo Flies to You!




What do you think of when you think about flamingos?

Maybe it’s wet, tropical heat, visions of marshland, shrimp (mmm, shrimp!), or just those awful decorations on people’s lawns.  All in all,  it’s safe to assume that the very last thing you would think of is…snow?
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TalkCast 75 – Even Cats Love Sci Fi!




A big hello to the Browncoats Redemption Crew and producer Director Mike Dougherty at SXSW in Austin Texas.

After the Wheel of Kittens was spun, we interviewed Toni LoTempio. We talked to her and her cat, Rocco, about her works, her book My Superhero Sister, the e-book publishing model and what coming up.
No Rest for the Wicca
My Superhero Sister (Superhero Diaries)

To get a chance to win the DC Direct, JLA, Wonder Woman collectable, simply post a comment on this week’s blog.

 

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The Inventor of Ctl-Alt-Delete insults Bill Gates




In an amusing twist of Science (or rather Technology) fact, watch as the inventor of Ctrl-Alt-Delete describes it’s original purpose, and then point the finger at the man who made it famous. [via Gizmodo]

The Passage: A Review




 

Title: The Passage

Author: Justin Cronin

Format: Available in both hard copy and e-book formats

 

I know I’m late to the party, but yesterday I finally finished The Passage by Justin Cronin. The story is set one hundred years in the future, after our world has been ravaged by a deadly virus that turns a portion of the population into infected “virals,” who devour what they can of the survivors. The main protagonist is a girl named Amy, who has gained near immortality due to government testing of the virus on children, though she herself is not infected. Cronin stated that he got the idea for the book when his daughter asked him to write a story about a “girl who saves the world” and then the rest just fell into place. Yes, the 700+ page book fell out of his brain, and honestly, I can’t be happier.

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Science “Fiction”




And now we go live to Chicken Little with "Science" News

Everyone has pet peeves, and I’ll admit to having more than one myself.  One at the top of my list is the way that “facts” have become transient and separable when arguing a point or position; to borrow from the courtroom, what used to be “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” has become “what you claim to be the truth, only those bits of the truth that support your position, and anything that sounds like it could be truthful.”  Or to stay within the literary realm, “factual reporting” is becoming downright Orwellian.

In particular, for the SFSN audience, it galls me when bits of science are taken completely out of context and used to “support” otherwise questionable claims–and associated science that argues against the interpretation is ignored or downplayed.  I recently (within the last couple of days) came across two such instances–they are by no means isolated, but they formed the basis for this rant, so they’re the ones I’ll point out.

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Print Me Up Some Fries With That






Image from Cornell University/French Cullinary Institute

 

3-D printers, which have been growing in popularity since 2003, are cropping up a lot in the news lately. 3-D printers work by depositing any extrudable substance (for example: plastics or ceramic) in successive layers until the printed object is the size and shape desired. Although we won’t have replicators in our homes anytime soon, these printers have already shown their practical applications in manufacturing, fashion, and art.

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