The Great New England Steampunk Expo: Part 1

Posted by Kriana | Closed | September 21st, 2011 | Posted in Events


Watch Dome interview Dr. Grymm! For those of you who haven’t listened, Dr. Grymm was one of our guests for Talkcast 99, and we caught up with him at the Great New England Steampunk Exposition. We learned that while it’s fun talking to people in person, we probably need a better mic than the one on my iPhone. Enjoy!

Fiction Friday – RIP Michael S. Hart

Posted by The Dome | Closed | September 16th, 2011 | Posted in Fiction Friday


As well you may ask, “Who was Michael Hart and of what importance was he to Fiction Friday?” Mike was the inventor of e-books, founder of Project Gutenberg and a self-professed “Copyfighter”. I have extolled Project Gutenberg many times. It has far reaching implications for electronic publishing and is an invaluable repository of what would otherwise be lost informational history. It’s mission statement is:

“Encourage the Creation and Distribution of eBooks”
“Help Break Down the Bars of Ignorance and Illiteracy”
“Give As Many eBooks to As Many People As Possible”

His pioneering work benefits everyone now and for coming generations. While much information available electronically is factually suspect or transitory, Mike’s accomplishment is a living breathing entity that grows exponentially with each day. It is a testament to any writer who ever put pen to paper and each new generation, and it garners inspiration from their collective past. I can think of few things on the web of more cultural significance and importance than Project Gutenberg.

There is a wonderfully poignant article about Mr. Hart written by Cory Doctorow on his amazing website, boingboing, which is a must read (both the post and the website). I would be foolish to think I could do any better than he did. Thank you, Cory, thank you Michael.

What Can The Networks Do For You?

Posted by The Dome | Closed | September 12th, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, TV


So, it’s about that time. Let’s be surprised and/or disappointed by the genre shows the Big 5 (seriously, 5?) Networks have to offer us for the upcoming Fall Season. As Doctor Who, Torchwood and True Blood come to their seasons’ amazing conclusions, lets take a rapid-fire look at what the networks have in store.

Monday

FOX – Terra Nova 8:00pm NEW

Spielberg takes us 85 million years into the past to erase the sins of the future. FOX is banking on this Future/Past series that infuses itself with many of the basic tropes of a successful Sci Fi Series:  Dystopian Future, Overpopulation and Time Travel. The beauty of its success hangs on the writing. Over and over we stress that writing is the difference between trope and tripe and this show has all the earmarks of having a great shot.

Why You Should Watch – The producers name says it all, Steve has made his bones and on the basis of that alone Read More »

TalkCast 99 – SteamPunks & Mystics

Posted by The Dome | 1 | September 11th, 2011 | Posted in Podcast


SFSN Cast by Illustrator X

Our first guest segment is with Steve Perry and Crystal Washington of The Southcoast Paranormal & Psychic Faire, Sept. 25th, in Fairhaven Ma. The discuss some of the guests and events taking place over the faire and surprise guest Frankie B. Washington pops in for a bit.

Our second segment features Dr. Grymm and Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, two performers at the upcoming Great New England Steampunk Exhibition, Sept. 16th to 18th, in Fitchburg, Ma. Join the cast of SFSN next weekend for a steam powered good time!

 

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Apollo 18: A Review

Posted by Winter Is Coming | Closed | September 7th, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Movies


At the start of the viral marketing campaign for Apollo 18, The Dome pointed out that found footage projects were a cheat in storytelling. While the marketing aspect plays a role in the overall experience of the film, I was curious to see if the film could hold it’s own as a space thriller. Read More »

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TalkCast 98 – Double Mike Night

Posted by Kriana | Closed | September 3rd, 2011 | Posted in Podcast


SyFy Original Move Jabberwock

Our Guests Tonight:

Michael Dougherty and Andrew Marnik talk about the wrap of Browncoats: Redemption and tease their upcoming  projects.

Michael Worth star of the SyFy Original Move Jabberwock (and the first vampire killed by Faith on BtVS) talks about the movie and other projects he is currently working on.

 

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Fiction Friday – No Great Magic by Fritz Leiber

Posted by The Dome | Closed | September 2nd, 2011 | Posted in Fiction Friday


Fritz Leiber portrait by Ed Emshwiller

Chess Expert, Fencer, Playwright, Actor and perhaps one of the preeminent Horror/Fantasy Writers in America; that was Fritz Leiber. We spent an hour talking with one of his greatest fans, Harlan Ellison about his works, in which Ellison spoke in nothing but incandescently glowing terms, and rightfully so. Oft forgotten by sparkly vampire lovers, Fritz challenged his readers constantly but never left them wondering where they had gone. Leiber was a fascinating stylist, bringing the setting of his works to places one would hardly imagine.

No Great Magic is set in world of theatre, a world Leiber was very familiar with, having been born into an acting family. It melds theatre and magic as only he can. To quote from the 1951 short story “Poor Superman,”

“Consider the age in which we live. It wants magicians…. A scientist tells people the truth. When times are good—that is, when the truth offers no threat—people don’t mind.… A magician, on the other hand, tells people what they wish were true—that perpetual motion works, that cancer can be cured by colored lights, that a psychosis is no worse than a head cold, that they’ll live forever. In good times magicians are laughed at. They’re a luxury of the spoiled wealthy few. But in bad times people sell their souls for magic cures and buy perpetual-motion machines to power their war rockets.”

SFSN is proud to present No Great Magic: Read More »

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Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

Posted by SamanthaB | Closed | September 1st, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature


Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari is a good read, just not quite as good as I wanted it to be. It’s a typical post-apocalyptic story:  After massive flooding and a major virus wipe out most of the world’s  population, those who made it through are struggling to survive while mysterious “sweepers” try  to kidnap them.

The main character, sixteen-year-old Lucy, has lived through the end of the world and is surviving on her own in the wild.  She’s doing a pretty good job of it until she runs into a pack of hunting dogs.  Luckily, super-cutie Aiden is there to haul her up into a tree and save her. He lives not too far away with a group of survivors. When Lucy is forced to leave her little home, she heads for the camp and more importantly, toward Aiden, who she is already crushing on after one meeting. After that, the sweepers show up and the adventure begins. Read More »

TalkCast 97 – Josh Emmons

Posted by Kriana | Closed | August 27th, 2011 | Posted in Podcast


 

City Of Sand by Josh Emmons

Our guest tonight is Joshua Emmons. His web comic is City Of Sand.  He is also involved in Double Feature, a free to download  

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iPad app, which he helped create.

Fiction Friday – The Street That Wasn’t There

Posted by The Dome | Closed | August 26th, 2011 | Posted in Fiction Friday


Fiction Friday – The Street That Wasn’t There

Who the hell is Carl Richard Jacobi? In short, he was one of a host prolific of the pulp horror writers from the 30’s and 40’s and yet most of his work has largely been forgotten or pushed aside for the sparkly vampire nonsense that permeates current fiction. He wrote literally hundreds of short stories and novellas in many different pulp magazines and anthologies. In the mid-40’s he had a short story collection published with moderate success.

I present to you on this Fiction Friday one of his more intriguing tales, the story of a day in the life of Mr. Jonathon Chambers: “Man himself, by the power of mass suggestion, holds the

Carl Richard Jacobi 1908-1997

physical fate of this earth … yes, even the universe. Billions of minds seeing trees as trees, houses as houses, streets as streets … and not as something else. Minds that see things as they are and have kept things as they were…. Destroy those minds and the entire foundation of matter, robbed of its regenerative power, will crumple and slip away like a column of sand….”

Read More »

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