Damn Good Authors You Have Never Heard Of. John Zakour

Posted by The Dome | 2 | August 6th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature


So, here’s the thing. It’s hard enough being a writer. Make that even more difficult today, what with the complete stratification of the arts. You know kids, I can remember when the Billboard Top 100 was just one list! NO SHIT! I’M NOT KIDDING! Now its Top Hip-Hop, Top AOR, my God, everything is so difficult these days because everything must be forced into neat little boxes (insert “you damn kids don’t understand the way things used to be rant” here). Add to that, becoming a Science Fiction Author is no less difficult when you start talking about what “Genre” your work fits into. WHAT THE HELL EVER HAPPENED TO, “THIS IS A GOOD STORY???” Read More »

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Capricorn 1 Redeux – Or maybe not UPDATED

Posted by The Dome | Closed | July 24th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, Websites


 So let’s all go back to a simpler time, before OJ “didn’t” kill his wife, before James Brolan  didn’t marry “her”, before  we faked that whole moon landing thing just to screw with the Russians (who can forget the smoldering sensuality of Karen Black?). So, there we were, Hu-Mans looking out on the vast universe, pondering our place as we played “Our Nazi Scientists can beat Your Nazi Scientists” with the Russians, and, lo and behold, we did. And among our players in this most amazing game were the revered Astronauts. To this day names such as Alan Shepard and John Glenn remind us of our Glory Days( for those of us old enough to remember, that is).One name you may be no so familiar with is Dr. Edgar Mitchell a space veteran having flown the Apollo 14 mission. Read More »

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DCU animated R.I.P.

Posted by Illustrator X | Closed | July 20th, 2008 | Posted in Comics, Daily Rants


When DC cancelled its Justice League Unlimited comic book series a few months ago, it closed the door on the greatest version of its universe ever, save perhaps for Kirby’s Fourth World. The animated DC world, starting with the Batman cartoons of the 90s, then continuing with Superman and finally Justice League, were smart, sleek, well-written, well-directed and gave us the best of both worlds: a cartoon series for kids that was intelligent and mature enough for adults. The Superman & Justice League comics based on the ‘toons were more kid-oriented, but the Batman series (particularly Batman: Gotham Adventures and Batman Adventures) were among the best superhero books ever written. Read More »

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2008-Clarke and Laine

Posted by The Dome | Closed | July 14th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature, Sitely News, Websites


In December 2007, on the occasion of his 90th. Birthday, Arthur C Clarke sent a message to the world via You Tube. In it, he discussed what mankind could become over the next century and the foolishness we have perpetrated on one another during the past millennium.  In March, 2008, he passed away and those of us who revered his accomplishments were saddened at the loss. Now comes word of his unfinished book, The Last Theorem. Read More »

What Costs ¥240 Million and is sure to put a smile on Your Brides Face?

Posted by The Dome | Closed | July 7th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature, Websites


 So, for the man who has wished for anything and has unlimited resources, a Japanese company is offering the finest in New Bride accessories, the Zero-G Cosmic Consummation. An effort of Japanese firm First Advantage and American Rocketplane Global, Inc., this lovely wedding allows a Bride and Groom to have the most “interesting” of weddings… and… well…… (Hal? Don’t do that, Hal!). Read More »

When Science Fiction Becomes Science Fact: Issue 1

Posted by The Dome | Closed | July 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, Movies, Websites


 Waterworld, the horrible movie with Kevin Costner, based on the not quite so horrible script by Peter Radar and David Twohy, depicts an apocalyptic future where, due to Al Gore, global warming covers most of the earth in water, hence the title. Matt Drudge aside, there is mounting evidence that Al knew what he was talking about and that Nobel Prize may have been right?? HEY JEANNE CAVELOS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO SUCH THING AS GLOBAL WARMING, HUH????? (Sorry, I had to do that). Read More »

Read ’em for free!

Posted by Illustrator X | 1 | June 29th, 2008 | Posted in Comics, Daily Rants


Libraries let you read graphic novels for free. That’s it, man —– the rest of this article is just going to be driving that point home, so if you can grasp that simple concept, get outta here and go read the complete Lone Wolf & Cub series, Ultimate Spider-Man, Strangers In Paradise; whatever. I just stumbled across my own local library’s graphic novel section recently, and so far have read The New Frontier, which was absolutely wonderful; The Golden Age, which was kinda like a companion piece to New Frontier but darker and not quite as good, and Chiaroscuro, which is just as bad as I remember from when the maxiseries came out back in the early ’90s. Chiaroscuro was the series that woke me up to just how much I was spending on comics I didn’t like. I was three issues into it when I realized that the series as a whole would cost me… well, I don’t remember how much the comics cost, but all together they’d have cost me a hell of a lot more than the trade paperback would, and for what? Read More »

Off Topic: Who wants free money for sex? Surprisingly few, it turns out.

Posted by The Dome | Closed | June 26th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants


Remember a few years back, when parents were screaming about this new video game, Grand Theft Auto?  It sold a gazillion copies and every freakin kid wanted it? Then, the second one came out GTA: San Andreas; bigger, badder, bloodier and…sexier? It turns out that some original game coders in the beta version of GTA:SA, had jokingly placed a scenario where you could “have relations”  with one of the characters. Read More »

Who Was Stan Winston and why YOU Should Care

Posted by The Dome | Closed | June 17th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, Movies, TV


In an era of push button digital effects and mind numbing gore movies, the are/were Visual GrandMasters, those who knew how to manipulate the film and make it something special, something amazing. If you look at the Alien Hoax Video from last week, it’s easy to realize that any schmuck with a cheap computer and a camcorder can do crap like that. Read More »

Moonlight: Why Groundswell Support for a Failed Series Is So Yesterday

Posted by The Dome | Closed | June 12th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Rants, TV


Everyone knows the apocryphal tales of Star Treks Resurrection, Jerichos second life, the poorly handwritten (before the e-mail revolution) postcards scrawled with crayon to Bring Back Spock. It seems as if Sci Fi has indeed lived up to its reputation as the “rented mule” of the Entertainment Industry. The latest example of “Enterprise Syndrome” is the recently axed series Moonlight the former CBS Vamptacular. The fact that it had a 7.5 million fan base simply was not worth their time. Read More »

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