Recently in scifi Category

Have you seen the trailer for "Star Trek" yet? Go watch it. Now. I'll wait.

Watched it? Good. It doesn't tell you much, sure. But it leaves so very much to the imagination. And it also makes you want to see it - right? I mean, there's people in that movie you've heard of, but you can't really imagine them as, for example, a young Kirk, right? And who could ever be Scotty? Oh, wait - that's right, it's Simon Pegg. You might know him from Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. If you haven't seen them, go check them out - "Shaun of the Dead" is a great sendup of zombie type movies, and "Hot Fuzz" is a brilliant homage of just about every single police movie ever made. And then some.

And, in case you forgot about where "Star Trek" started (a young man named William Shatner... ah, memories!), you can check all of the series and movies on DVD.

io9.com reports...
Arthur C. Clarke, Futurist and Scifi Legend, Dies
Arthur C. Clarke, author of scifi classics Rendezvous with Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey, died today at the age of 90 in Sri Lanka. Not only did Clarke create a legend with 2001 (he worked on the film with Stanley Kubrick too), but he also predicted many of the scientific inventions of the twentieth century such as telecom satellites. He was even knighted in recognition of his many mind-bending contributions to the worlds of literature and science speculation. [LATimes]

What's most disturbing to me is that I was browsing some Wikipedia articles about his novels: 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: Odyssey Two, 2061: Odyssey Three, 3001: The Final Odyssey) at about the time that io9 posted the story. Weird.

And did you know that he was among the first to posit the idea of a geostationary communications satellite?

If you haven't seen it, watch it. Returning Friday, April 4, Battlestar Galactica is one of the best "remakes" of tv going on. They tried to re-do Bionic Woman and apparently didn't do too well (I haven't had a chance to see it) - I just read that they're releasing all eight of the episodes on DVD, so maybe I still have a chance....

Another thing to be aware of: What the Frak is Going On? is a nice, concise, eight minute recap of the first three seasons of Battlestar. From what I understand, this will be the last season - every now and then it's nice to have a tv show go from start to finish, instead of being canned before it's aired fully (Firefly, Space: Above and Beyond, Good vs. Evil, Invisible Man, or many of the others) or
going on for years and years and years - sometimes past when it should have probably called it quits. Of course, the latter rarely happens. But WTFIGO is good not only to catch up on what you might have missed, but also for some nice commentary - mostly in the form of little snippets slid-in among the recap. You have to watch it to understand, but I laughed more than a few times.

So, to recap: Watch the recap online. Enjoy it. Get ready for season 4 to air on 4/4 (co-incidence? I think not!). And if you need to catch up, season 3 was just released on DVD as a whole set (none of this "Season 3.0", and then "Season 3.5" non-sense!).

BBC: What on earth is 42?:
It's 30 years since Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made its debut on BBC radio, but its most famous mystery is still waiting to be resolved.

I still have my copies of the HHGTTG, both paperback (the best way to read it) and what appears to be a misprinted hardcover, leather bound edition. My biggest regret is never asking Douglas Adams to sign it - that would just have been awesome.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time - or simple peruse the archives - you'll find many references to the books, the author, and the way of life. Well, not so much way of life, but I like to think that I'm capable of not being totally serious all the time, and I think that's part of what Adams was trying to say - not just "Don't Panic" but sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. As long as you have a towel with you.

The kids have been introduced to HHGTTG, both the recent big-screen version and the original BBC television broadcast. I haven't introduced the audio version, partly because it's very different from the television version, and partly because I only have five of the six CD's - my family had tapes at one point, but I have no idea where they are. I should probably just buy the CD's at some point....

Anyway, I hope that Emma will try reading them in a couple of years when she's a little older and ready for some of the more.... interesting concepts in the book. I have a feeling that she'll enjoy them just as much as I have. I have more than a few years to wait before Ethan can start down that road - but I think, based on his wry little sense of humor, that he'll like them as much as millions of people do.

IESB.net - Independent Entertainment News - Stargate SG-1 Movies Announced

MGM announced today the extension of the hit "Stargate SG-1" franchise with two movies based on the popular series. Titled "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum", the movies will both be made available to the television universe and home entertainment marketplace by MGM.

So, it will be "made for tv" type movies, but I have high hopes that they will be good ones. And after the shafting that more than a few good sci-fi shows have gotten in the past (Farscape, Firefly, Space Above and Beyond, to name just a few), I have to say that announcing the end after 10 seasons and then doing a couple of movies isn't quite so bad.

Let's just hope that the new Stargate series is good too.

NASA - Opportunity at Crater's 'Cape Verde' (Annotated):

Some very nice hi-res photos of the view of the rover Opportunity and where it's been/what it's been doing.

SCI FI Wire | The News Service of the SCI FI Channel:
SCI FI Channel confirmed that it will not renew its record-breaking original series Stargate SG-1 for another season, but will pick up its spinoff series Stargate Atlantis for a fourth year. SG-1 aired its 200th episode on Aug. 18, and the SF series is the longest-running SF show on American television.

I was hoping that they'd keep the "gate open" for a while longer - but I can see how they'd want to get out while the going is still good. I just hope that they do it right and leave some chance for further movies down the line...

Check out this video over on YouTube to see some of the chilling effects of what's going on....

Ironic Sans: The Google Maps Guide to Ghostbusters

Take Google Maps, add in the info about Ghostbusters (along with screen captures), and you have the Ghostbusting Google Map Mashup (which, by the way, is a mouthful!).

This dovetails nicely with something I've been meaning to write about - Ghostbusters. The kids LOVE it.

Sure, there's a few parts that are a little scary, and some language that they shouldn't hear - but to be honest, while I'm no longshoreman, I can't always refrain from swearing, no matter how much I try. But the idea of the movie is appealing to the youngsters, what with the ghosts and the sliming and let's not forget the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. Mmmmm.

goats: the store : what would sulu do?

I've never considered it, but I think it's about time I admit what I've always known: I live my life by the code of Sulu. When I find myself need an answer, I ask myself:
What would Sulu do?