[RE][scifinoir2] See-Through Fish Caught In Photos
It almost seems Photoshopped. Amazing, regardless. -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] See-Through Fish Caught In Photos Date : Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:45:06 -0800 From : Tracey de Morsella tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com To : ' Lockhart, Daryle ' dar...@darylelockhart.com, afrikanm...@hotmail.com, 'Albert Fields' cbilmarket...@yahoo.com, bettil...@msn.com,CINQUE cinque3...@verizon.net, 'Cleo' cleo.wad...@aliefisd.net,dorothyh...@sbcglobal.net, duva...@hotmail.com, fis...@bellsouth.net, 'GTW' gwashin...@aol.com, 'Jeffrey Ballou' jeffreypbal...@gmail.com, 'Kai Pettaway' killa...@gmail.com, kalpub...@aol.com,keithbjohn...@comcast.net, 'Kera' imke...@gmail.com, kimbe...@luftworld.com, 'Leroy Hughes' seriousnup...@yahoo.com, 'Leslie' ilovesgrho1...@yahoo.com, 'Logic' logic1...@aol.com, 'Martin Baxter' truthseeker...@icqmail.com, 'Marvalous' mmb1...@gmail.com, 'Michael Gordon' gord...@indiana.edu, michael.v.w.gor...@gmail.com, 'ravenadal' ravena...@yahoo.com,rs...@yahoo.com, 'Seku Brathwaite' everything...@nyc.rr.com, 'Valery Jean' valeryjea...@yahoo.com, 'Wendell Theophilus Smith' wendellsmit...@gmai! l.com,'Whitney J Evans' sonofafieldne...@sbcglobal.net, williamsf...@speakeasy.net, 'Zanfordino Anthony' beta...@yahoo.com Every now and then, nature serves up a weird animal that you can't not stare at. Well, here's one for you -- the barreleye fish, with its funky transparent face: Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently solved the half-century-old mystery of a fish with tubular eyes and a transparent head. Ever since the barreleye fish Macropinna microstoma was first described in 1939, marine biologists have known that it's tubular eyes are very good at collecting light. However, the eyes were believed to be fixed in place and seemed to provide only a tunnel-vision view of whatever was directly above the fish's head. A new paper by Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler shows that these unusual eyes can rotate within a transparent shield that covers the fish's head. This allows the barreleye to peer up at potential prey or focus forward to see what it is eating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
[RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
Oh, forgot to add. I'd sooner catch Birth of a Nation at twice the ticket price... -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:37:22 -0500 (EST) From : Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
[RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
But she's biracial. That makes it ok. ;) This may be the most craptacular videogame movie to that doesn't have Uwe Boll's name attached. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@... wrote: Oh, forgot to add. I'd sooner catch Birth of a Nation at twice the ticket price... -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:37:22 -0500 (EST) From : Martin Baxter truthseeker...@... To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@... To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
[scifinoir2] Re: Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors
I noticed those as well. Burn Notice is good for giving genre actors and famous faces roles as villains. Tricia Helfer aka Six from Battlestar Galactica is Michael's nemesis Carla. Kirk Sticky Fingaz Jones(Blade), Oded Fehr(The Mummy)and Max Martini(Mack from The Unit) all guest starred as villain of the week. And of course Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame gets to chew up the scenery every week as Sam Axe. Jekyll is worth checking out. I saw bits and pieces of it on BBC America but never got to watch the whole thing. I've got it in my Netflix video on demand list. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@... wrote: Yeah, I misspoke when I said he was a reporter on BSG. - Original Message - From: Tracey de Morsella tdli...@... To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9:13:31 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors Sheppard is also Baltarâs lawyer on Battlestar and Bellman played the dizzy girl on BBCâs Coupling. From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Keith Johnson Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:26 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors Watching the penultimate ep of this season, I noticed that I'd seen two of the guest stars recently on another show. Character Jim Sterling--Nate's nemesis and former fellow investigator--is played by British actor Mark Sheppard. Sheppard was most recently seen playing a criminal on Burn Notice, where he led his gang into a bank robbery foiled by Michael and crew. (Sheppard's also had guest starring roles on Firefly as a crime boss, Medium as a serial killer, and BSG as a reporter I believe). Then, toward the end of the Leverage ep, I did a doubletake when looking at Sterling's righthand security guy. That man is played by actor Alex Carter, who plays Michael's (former) nemesis, Agent Jason Bly on--that's right-- Burn Notice! Small world, eh? Also reading about Gina Bellman, who plays Sophie Devereaux on the show. Seems she starred in several episodes of a British series calle d Jekyll, about a dude who's a descendent of the famous Dr. Jekyll (Mr. Hyde, actually, to be specific). Like his ancestor(s), buddy does the transformation thing when under stress. Interestingly Jekyll also starred Michelle Ryan, recently of Bionic Woman fame. Here's a short blurb on that series, which got good reviews and even earned the lead actor an award nomination. Anyone ever see it? [from IMDB] Jekyll London, 2007. Tom Jackman is the only living descendent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He has made a deal with his dark side: a body share. What Mr. Hyde doesn't know is that Tom has a family. There is a wife and two children that he'll do anything to protect from his dark side. With all the resources of modern technology, and the best surveillance hardware, he's determined to keep his dark side in line. He's done a deal with his own devil. What neither of them knows is that an ancient organisation, with limitless wealth and power, is monitoring their every move, and a plan over a century in the making is coming to fruition.
[scifinoir2] Philip José Farmer dies
ahar...@earthlink.net Philip José Farmer dies A real shame. Author Philip José Farmer Dies (http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html) By Ian Randal Strock February 25, 2009 Philip José Farmer's web site reports the death of the author peacefully in his sleep in the morning of 25 February 2009. Born 26 January 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer won three Hugo Awards (Most Promising New Talent, 1953; Best Novella [Riders of the Purple Wage], 1968; and Best Novel [To Your Scattered Bodies Go], 1972), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master Award (2001), and the World Fantasy Award's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001). Farmer's first short story, O'Brien and Obrenov, appeared in Adventure in March 1946. In 1950, after a twelve-year hiatus (and a break to wash out of the Army Air Corps flight training program), he received his BA in English from Bradley University. In August 1952, Startling Stories published his first science fiction story, The Lovers. Farmer's first published novel was The Green Odyssey, which Ballantine released in 1957. In 1953, however, Farmer's I Owe for the Flesh won the Shasta prize novel contest. And though the prize was never paid, the book was the first in what would become his iconic Riverworld series. That series posits that everyone who has ever lived on Earth, from cavemen to 1984, is resurrected along the banks of a million mile long river. A character dying along the river simply wakes up somewhere else the next day. In these stories, Farmer has characters from any point in history meeting, interacting, and frequently fighting. Farmer also wrote the Dayworld series, in which overpopulation requires that people be placed in suspended animation for six days out of seven, each living but one day, and sharing their homes, jobs, and lives with six other people. Then, of course, there are daybreakers, who live different lives each day of the week. And his World of Tiers series introduced the idea of Pocket Universes, which have different physical laws. In the 1970s, when Farmer was suffering from writer's block, he turned his efforts to writing other people's novels; specifically, he wrote Venus on the Half-Shell by Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Kilgore Trout. He also wrote as Ralph vvon Wau Wau, who came to life on his own when Spider Robinson had him appear in Callahan's Bar. Farmer is survived by his wife, Bette (whom he married in 1941), as well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
[scifinoir2] Biologist Lands 770 Pound Stingray in Thailand
Wow, this is creepy. And the barbed, poisonous tail is *ten* feet long? Wow. What's scarier though, is that this isn't the largest stingray ever caught, just the largest caught in this manner. I've read accounts of captures of the beasties easily exceeding 1,000 pounds! And perhaps even scarier: i read another article which mentions that this stingray, at 770 pounds, is bigger than the largest catfish caught by a good 125 pounds. So there are 650 pound mean-as-heck catfish swimming around out there? Yipes! ** Last Updated: 6:51PM GMT 24 Feb 2009 Ian Welch Stingray:British biologist catches 55 stone, record-breaking stingray Fisherman Ian Welch has landed the largest ever freshwater fish during a trip to Thailand Photo: BNPS Ian Welch spent 90 minutes tussling with the giant stingray and it took 13 grown men to heave it out of the water. This fish measured 7ft long and 7ft wide, while its long sting measured 10ft. It has smashed the previous record of 46 stone for a huge catfish caught in 2005. Mr Welch, a freshwater biologist, had been visiting Thailand to help with a stingray tagging programme when he landed the fish on the Maeklong River. The 45-year-old said he was nearly pulled over the side of the fishing boat when the specimen took his bait. He said: It dragged me across the boat and would have pulled me in had my colleague not grabbed my trousers - it was like the whole earth had just moved. I knew it was going to a big one. It buried itself on the bottom and the main fight was trying to get it off the floor. I tried with every ounce of power but it just would not budge. After half an hour my arms began shaking and after an hour my legs went. Another 30 minutes went by and then I put a glove on and physically pulled the line with gritted teeth and somehow I found the reserves to shift the fish. Once the stingray was off the bottom Mr Welch, from Aldershot, Hants, managed to lift it 30ft to the surface. He said: As soon as we saw it there was just silence because everyone was just in awe of this thing. That line from the film Jaws came to mind about needing a bigger boat because we had to get it to the shore to tag it. The group managed to put a 12ft wide net under the fish and towed it to the bank. Mr Welch and the team released the stingray, which turned out to be a pregnant female. The giant freshwater stingray is listed as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list. Although its numbers are unknown, experts believe the population has dwindled by 20 per cent over the last 10 years, making the possibility of extinction extremely high.
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
Krypton's Creek? That's great! I love Michelle Yeoh. Her presence draws me even if i'm not crazy about the movie she's in, so great pick. Ziyi Zhang isn't a martial artist, but at least is a trained dancer and has abundant martial arts movie training, so I could see that as well. Kreuk? Don't know. I really like the actress, but don't know. Although the bigger question is will the overall movie suck. Duncan and McDonough aren't exactly rubes, but man... - Original Message - From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 7:37:22 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
Yow! And as Marvel comics like to say, 'nuff said! - Original Message - From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 7:40:14 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Oh, forgot to add. I'd sooner catch Birth of a Nation at twice the ticket price... -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:37:22 -0500 (EST) From : Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Philip José Farmer dies
'Traitor to the Living' was my introduction to his works. Brent B. Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com writes: He was one of the first sci-fi authors I got into. I loved Riverworld, The World of Tiers, Venus on the Half Shell, Dark Is The Sun and his Tarzan pastiches like A Feast Unknown and Lord Tyger. His pulp hero biographies were awesome as well. His mystery Nothing Burns In Hell is worth tracking down as well. It was great to see his hometown Peoria get treated like Sin City. R.I.P. --- In [ mailto:scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com ]scifino...@yahoogroups.com, Amy Harlib ahar...@... wrote: ahar...@... Philip Jos Farmer dies A real shame. Author Philip Jos Farmer Dies ([ http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html ]http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html) By Ian Randal Strock February 25, 2009 Philip Jos Farmer's web site reports the death of the author peacefully in his sleep in the morning of 25 February 2009. Born 26 January 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer won three Hugo Awards (Most Promising New Talent, 1953; Best Novella [Riders of the Purple Wage], 1968; and Best Novel [To Your Scattered Bodies Go], 1972), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master Award (2001), and the World Fantasy Award's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001). Farmer's first short story, O'Brien and Obrenov, appeared in Adventure in March 1946. In 1950, after a twelve-year hiatus (and a break to wash out of the Army Air Corps flight training program), he received his BA in English from Bradley University. In August 1952, Startling Stories published his first science fiction story, The Lovers. Farmer's first published novel was The Green Odyssey, which Ballantine released in 1957. In 1953, however, Farmer's I Owe for the Flesh won the Shasta prize novel contest. And though the prize was never paid, the book was the first in what would become his iconic Riverworld series. That series posits that everyone who has ever lived on Earth, from cavemen to 1984, is resurrected along the banks of a million mile long river. A character dying along the river simply wakes up somewhere else the next day. In these stories, Farmer has characters from any point in history meeting, interacting, and frequently fighting. Farmer also wrote the Dayworld series, in which overpopulation requires that people be placed in suspended animation for six days out of seven, each living but one day, and sharing their homes, jobs, and lives with six other people. Then, of course, there are daybreakers, who live different lives each day of the week. And his World of Tiers series introduced the idea of Pocket Universes, which have different physical laws. In the 1970s, when Farmer was suffering from writer's block, he turned his efforts to writing other people's novels; specifically, he wrote Venus on the Half-Shell by Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Kilgore Trout. He also wrote as Ralph vvon Wau Wau, who came to life on his own when Spider Robinson had him appear in Callahan's Bar. Farmer is survived by his wife, Bette (whom he married in 1941), as well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Philip José Farmer dies
For me, it was The Lovers. My favorite all-time work of his was The Other Log of Phileas Fogg. -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Philip José_ Farmer dies Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:51:09 -0500 From : brent wodehouse brent_wodeho...@thefence.us To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 'Traitor to the Living' was my introduction to his works. Brent B. Smith writes: He was one of the first sci-fi authors I got into. I loved Riverworld, The World of Tiers, Venus on the Half Shell, Dark Is The Sun and his Tarzan pastiches like A Feast Unknown and Lord Tyger. His pulp hero biographies were awesome as well. His mystery Nothing Burns In Hell is worth tracking down as well. It was great to see his hometown Peoria get treated like Sin City. R.I.P. --- In [ mailto:scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com ]scifino...@yahoogroups.com, Amy Harlib wrote: ahar...@... Philip Jos Farmer dies A real shame. Author Philip Jos Farmer Dies ([ http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html ]http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html) By Ian Randal Strock February 25, 2009 Philip Jos Farmer's web site reports the death of the author peacefully in his sleep in the morning of 25 February 2009. Born 26 January 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer won three Hugo Awards (Most Promising New Talent, 1953; Best Novella [Riders of the Purple Wage], 1968; and Best Novel [To Your Scattered Bodies Go], 1972), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master Award (2001), and the World Fantasy Award's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001). Farmer's first short story, O'Brien and Obrenov, appeared in Adventure in March 1946. In 1950, after a twelve-year hiatus (and a break to wash out of the Army Air Corps flight training program), he received his BA in English from Bradley University. In August 1952, Startling Stories published his first science fiction story, The Lovers. Farmer's first published novel was The Green Odyssey, which Ballantine released in 1957. In 1953, however, Farmer's I Owe for the Flesh won the Shasta prize novel contest. And though the prize was never paid, the book was the first in what would become his iconic Riverworld series. That series posits that everyone who has ever lived on Earth, from cavemen to 1984, is resurrected along the banks of a million mile long river. A character dying along the river simply wakes up somewhere else the next day. In these stories, Farmer has characters from any point in history meeting, interacting, and frequently fighting. Farmer also wrote the Dayworld series, in which overpopulation requires that people be placed in suspended animation for six days out of seven, each living but one day, and sharing their homes, jobs, and lives with six other people. Then, of course, there are daybreakers, who live different lives each day of the week. And his World of Tiers series introduced the idea of Pocket Universes, which have different physical laws. In the 1970s, when Farmer was suffering from writer's block, he turned his efforts to writing other people's novels; specifically, he wrote Venus on the Half-Shell by Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Kilgore Trout. He also wrote as Ralph vvon Wau Wau, who came to life on his own when Spider Robinson had him appear in Callahan's Bar. Farmer is survived by his wife, Bette (whom he married in 1941), as well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors
That it was, Keith. Jack of Hearts, I mean. -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:35:14 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Yeah, I thought it was interesting they brought Helfer on as Michael's nemesis/handler. She does well enough in the role. I quite enjoyed Lucy Lawless' one-show stint as the assassin Michael had to stop, who actually manages to fool him for a while. Bruce Campbell is one of those actors who's just too cool for school! Leading man good looks, but spending most of his career in camp and lighthearted fare. I saw him do a two-part Homicide as a cop bent on revenge for his father's murder, and he was great. One wonders what kind of serious dramatic career he could have had. But I love all his stuff, even that goofy series Jack of Hearts (I think that was the name), where he was the swashbuckler. Remember that? It was paired with Cleopatra 2525, a show I hate to admit I really liked too! They were both great, silly time-wasters. Did Campbell gain weight for his role on Burn Notice? Sam is always eating and drinking, and I don't remember him being this heavy before getting the series. As for Sticky Fingaz, he played just another thug who Michael had to scare out of town. The role actually demanded less acting chops than the late, unlamented Blade series he did! In fact, if I have any complaint about Burn Notice, it's that I haven't seen any black people get to play cool spies or agents, just crooks or victims. In the last few months, there was one show about a former gangster turned record mogul (with the requisite black youth with no parents), Fingaz's turn as a car thief, and last week's about a Haitian man wanting vengeance for the death of his daughter at the hands of a warlord. That last had all sorts of American actors--including Clarence Williams III--affecting those horrible Hollywood fake-Caribbean accents.Three shows in one season with blacks as criminals of the worst sort, and all cliches at that. That's the one thing I'd like to see them improve. Of course, I'm sure Russians, Cubans, Serbs, Slovenians, Czechs, and all sorts of others would c! omplain about their portrayals too! :) - Original Message - From: B. Smith To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 9:59:55 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors I noticed those as well. Burn Notice is good for giving genre actors and famous faces roles as villains. Tricia Helfer aka Six from Battlestar Galactica is Michael's nemesis Carla. Kirk Sticky Fingaz Jones(Blade), Oded Fehr(The Mummy)and Max Martini(Mack from The Unit) all guest starred as villain of the week. And of course Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame gets to chew up the scenery every week as Sam Axe. Jekyll is worth checking out. I saw bits and pieces of it on BBC America but never got to watch the whole thing. I've got it in my Netflix video on demand list. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson wrote: Yeah, I misspoke when I said he was a reporter on BSG. - Original Message - From: Tracey de Morsella To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9:13:31 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors Sheppard is also Baltar’s lawyer on Battlestar and Bellman played the dizzy girl on BBC’s Coupling. From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of Keith Johnson Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:26 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Interesting Stuff about Leverage Actors Watching the penultimate ep of this season, I noticed that I'd seen two of the guest stars recently on another show. Character Jim Sterling--Nate's nemesis and former fellow investigator--is played by British actor Mark Sheppard. Sheppard was most recently seen playing a criminal on Burn Notice, where he led his gang into a bank robbery foiled by Michael and crew. (Sheppard's also had guest starring roles on Firefly as a crime boss, Medium as a serial killer, and BSG as a reporter I believe). Then, toward the end of the Leverage ep, I did a doubletake when looking at Sterling's righthand security guy. That man is played by actor Alex Carter, who plays Michael's (former) nemesis, Agent Jason Bly on--that's right-- Burn Notice! Small world, eh? Also reading about Gina Bellman, who plays Sophie Devereaux on the show. Seems she starred in several episodes of a British series calle d Jekyll, about a dude who's a descendent of the famous Dr. Jekyll (Mr. Hyde, actually, to be specific). Like his ancestor(s), buddy does the transformation thing when under
[RE][scifinoir2] Re: Philip José Farmer dies
A great - no, *incalculable* loss for science fiction, especially in light of the lack of quality in the genre these days. As soon as I'm done here, I'll be raiding my library's website, for all the Farmer stuff they have. -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] Re:_Philip_José_Farmer_dies Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:06:44 - From : B. Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com He was one of the first sci-fi authors I got into. I loved Riverworld, The World of Tiers, Venus on the Half Shell, Dark Is The Sun and his Tarzan pastiches like A Feast Unknown and Lord Tyger. His pulp hero biographies were awesome as well. His mystery Nothing Burns In Hell is worth tracking down as well. It was great to see his hometown Peoria get treated like Sin City. R.I.P. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Amy Harlib wrote: ahar...@... Philip José Farmer dies A real shame. Author Philip José Farmer Dies (http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html) By Ian Randal Strock February 25, 2009 Philip José Farmer's web site reports the death of the author peacefully in his sleep in the morning of 25 February 2009. Born 26 January 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer won three Hugo Awards (Most Promising New Talent, 1953; Best Novella [Riders of the Purple Wage], 1968; and Best Novel [To Your Scattered Bodies Go], 1972), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master Award (2001), and the World Fantasy Award's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001). Farmer's first short story, O'Brien and Obrenov, appeared in Adventure in March 1946. In 1950, after a twelve-year hiatus (and a break to wash out of the Army Air Corps flight training program), he received his BA in English from Bradley University. In August 1952, Startling Stories published his first science fiction story, The Lovers. Farmer's first published novel was The Green Odyssey, which Ballantine released in 1957. In 1953, however, Farmer's I Owe for the Flesh won the Shasta prize novel contest. And though the prize was never paid, the book was the first in what would become his iconic Riverworld series. That series posits that everyone who has ever lived on Earth, from cavemen to 1984, is resurrected along the banks of a million mile long river. A character dying along the river simply wakes up somewhere else the next day. In these stories, Farmer has characters from any point in history meeting, interacting, and frequently fighting. Farmer also wrote the Dayworld series, in which overpopulation requires that people be placed in suspended animation for six days out of seven, each living but one day, and sharing their homes, jobs, and lives with six other people. Then, of course, there are daybreakers, who live different lives each day of the week. And his World of Tiers series introduced the idea of Pocket Universes, which have different physical laws. In the 1970s, when Farmer was suffering from writer's block, he turned his efforts to writing other people's novels; specifically, he wrote Venus on the Half-Shell by Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Kilgore Trout. He also wrote as Ralph vvon Wau Wau, who came to life on his own when Spider Robinson had him appear in Callahan's Bar. Farmer is survived by his wife, Bette (whom he married in 1941), as well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
No, they're not, but quality actors can't always save craptastical movies. McDonough himself was in Timeline, based on the Crichton novel, and Sir Ben Kingsley made his presence known in Bloodrayne. Pardons for any potential grand mal seizures that may ensue... -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:56:45 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Krypton's Creek? That's great! I love Michelle Yeoh. Her presence draws me even if i'm not crazy about the movie she's in, so great pick. Ziyi Zhang isn't a martial artist, but at least is a trained dancer and has abundant martial arts movie training, so I could see that as well. Kreuk? Don't know. I really like the actress, but don't know. Although the bigger question is will the overall movie suck. Duncan and McDonough aren't exactly rubes, but man... - Original Message - From: Martin Baxter To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 7:37:22 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
[RE][scifinoir2] Biologist Lands 770 Pound Stingray in Thailand
BOY, am I glad I can't swim... -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] Biologist Lands 770 Pound Stingray in Thailand Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:54:26 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Wow, this is creepy. And the barbed, poisonous tail is *ten* feet long? Wow. What's scarier though, is that this isn't the largest stingray ever caught, just the largest caught in this manner. I've read accounts of captures of the beasties easily exceeding 1,000 pounds! And perhaps even scarier: i read another article which mentions that this stingray, at 770 pounds, is bigger than the largest catfish caught by a good 125 pounds. So there are 650 pound mean-as-heck catfish swimming around out there? Yipes! ** Last Updated: 6:51PM GMT 24 Feb 2009 Ian Welch Stingray:British biologist catches 55 stone, record-breaking stingray Fisherman Ian Welch has landed the largest ever freshwater fish during a trip to Thailand Photo: BNPS Ian Welch spent 90 minutes tussling with the giant stingray and it took 13 grown men to heave it out of the water. This fish measured 7ft long and 7ft wide, while its long sting measured 10ft. It has smashed the previous record of 46 stone for a huge catfish caught in 2005. Mr Welch, a freshwater biologist, had been visiting Thailand to help with a stingray tagging programme when he landed the fish on the Maeklong River. The 45-year-old said he was nearly pulled over the side of the fishing boat when the specimen took his bait. He said: It dragged me across the boat and would have pulled me in had my colleague not grabbed my trousers - it was like the whole earth had just moved. I knew it was going to a big one. It buried itself on the bottom and the main fight was trying to get it off the floor. I tried with every ounce of power but it just would not budge. After half an hour my arms began shaking and after an hour my legs went. Another 30 minutes went by and then I put a glove on and physically pulled the line with gritted teeth and somehow I found the reserves to shift the fish. Once the stingray was off the bottom Mr Welch, from Aldershot, Hants, managed to lift it 30ft to the surface. He said: As soon as we saw it there was just silence because everyone was just in awe of this thing. That line from the film Jaws came to mind about needing a bigger boat because we had to get it to the shore to tag it. The group managed to put a 12ft wide net under the fish and towed it to the bank. Mr Welch and the team released the stingray, which turned out to be a pregnant female. The giant freshwater stingray is listed as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list. Although its numbers are unknown, experts believe the population has dwindled by 20 per cent over the last 10 years, making the possibility of extinction extremely high. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie?
B... it was a perfectly fine day. *Why* did you have to drag *his* name out of the garbage bin? ;-) -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : Re: [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:17:53 - From : B. Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com But she's biracial. That makes it ok. ;) This may be the most craptacular videogame movie to that doesn't have Uwe Boll's name attached. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Martin Baxter wrote: Oh, forgot to add. I'd sooner catch Birth of a Nation at twice the ticket price... -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [RE][scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:37:22 -0500 (EST) From : Martin Baxter To : Keith, This one came out of the a$$ - er, *mind* of some twenty-something H'Wood exec. I knew this was in the pipe a couple of months ago. The minute I saw that Kristen Kreuk of Krypton's Creek fame was starring, I first thought about Michelle Yeoh in the lead instead, then thought that H'Wood would brand her as being too old, and went to Ziyi Zhang. But what do I know, right? -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] WTF - Another Street Fighter Movie? Date : Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:38:29 + (UTC) From : Keith Johnson To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Her strength. Her fury. Her vengeance. Will become legend. http://www.streetfighter.com/movie/ Where'd this come from? I just found out the other day that there was another Street Fighter movie coming out this Friday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I saw a commercial with Michael Clarke Duncan scowling on screen yesterday. (He plays a character named Balrog, I believe). Given the history of the disaster with Van Damme, I wondered if anyone'd ever try this again. But guess so! Over to the website I go, and what do I see? The Chun Li in the title is being played by Smallville alum Kristin Kreuk. Also in the cast are underrated actor Neal McDonough, so-so actress Moon Bloodgood, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo?? WTF? So, who's gonna be running to the theatres this Friday to see this action masterpiece? It's not being pre-screened for critics, so that means you don't have to worry about any spoilers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds
[scifinoir2] New novel from Daathrekh Publishing
htp (peace) Set in what used to be the Americas; now a dystopic and balkanized litter of Nation-States. A surreal glimpse into the spiritual growth of a warrior-soldier from an emerging Black nation. It is a startling vision of ethnic conflict, voudon technologies, and soul bending revelations. Retro-KM: Lord of the Landlords by Edward Uzzle www.daathrekh.com available now at - Amazon.com or Barns and Nobles.com
[scifinoir2] Cartoon Networks Renews Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Cartoon Networks Renews Star Wars: The Clone Wars Turner owned network orders second season of CG series from Lucasfilm By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting Cable, 2/9/2009 9:54:16 AM MT Cartoon Network is giving animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars a second season pickup, the network said Monday. Since its premiere last October, the CG series has been the top performer in its 9 p.m. Friday time period in the M2-11, M6-11 and M9- 14 demos the network is targeting. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is like nothing else on television and has delivered for us on all levels, said Stuart Snyder, President/COO Turner Animation, Young Adults Kids Media, announcing the pickup. It has helped us launch a great new night of action-adventure on Fridays and build on our dominance with boys. The first season finale will air on Cartoon Network March 20. The network hasn't yet determined a premiere date for season two.
[scifinoir2] The Science of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=science-of-star-wars-clone-wars The Science of Star Wars: The Clone Wars--QA with Author Jeanne Cavelos How close has science brought us to clone armies squaring off against blaster-wielding droids? By Adam Hadhazy The new animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars features an army of cloned soldiers doing battle with droids on far-flung planets. For those of us who grew up watching the Star Wars movies, droids and laser blasters are almost as real as cell phones and Wi-Fi. But what in Star Wars qualifies as remotely plausible, according to our understanding of science, and what is pure fantasy? To help answer this question, ScientificAmerican.com spoke with Jeanne Cavelos, a science fiction writer and author of The Science of Star Wars [read excerpts from the book here]. When her book came out, researchers had spotted less than two dozen planets around other starsthat figure is now over 300and South Korean researcher Woo Suk Hwang was five years from rocking the world with his fraudulent claims of cloning the first human cells. We asked Cavelos to update us on how George Lucas's vision has fared. How far have would you say researchers have come with cloning in the last few years, and will we ever have clone armies like in Star Wars? We have cloned many different animals at this pointcats, dogs, sheep and there is very little holding us back from cloning humans except ethics and law. It's entirely conceivable that we will see humans cloned for medical or reproductive purposes in the coming decades. The link between genes and behavior has also become much better understood in recent years, and like the Imperial armies in Star Wars, human clones could probably be genetically altered to be obedient and programmable. One area of Star Wars cloning technology that is not very realistic according to today's science is the limited amount of time the clones have to grow and learn. Nevertheless, cloning technology is something in Star Wars that we will be seeing more of soon. What do you think about all of the exoplanets that have turned up since you first wrote your book? It's amazing that George Lucas predicted this universe full of planets and aliens. When Star Wars came out in 1977, scientists thought that planet formation was a fluke. Now they are saying that half of the stars out there may have planets. So do you think we are getting closer to finding alien life forms? Absolutely. It's amazing to think about all the potential life out there. And it's looking more and more likely that we might find life right here in the solar system. George Lucas came up with Star Wars before we knew about extremophiles, which are life-forms that can live in bizarre, extreme situations. We had thought that life was this fragile flower that could only develop if conditions were just right it's the Goldilocks principle. But instead, we have found life-forms that can survive boiling and subzero temperatures or live deep underground with no sunlight whatsoever. These sorts of conditions probably aren't conducive to the rise of complex, intelligent life, so a lot of life out there in the universe will probably be rather primitive. What's a possible reason for why the Star Wars universe could have so many humanoids? It seems that the human species, or whatever its equivalent is in that faraway galaxy, either colonized all these worlds or was genetically seeded on many planets. This species became dominant somehow. It's unlikely though that one species could live on so many planets without some kind of respiratory assistance. Each atmosphere is a quirky mixture of ingredients found only on that planet; you wouldn't have the same mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide as we do. It's nice to see people in Star Wars just land on any old planet and get out of their spaceships without a problem, but it's not realistic. But one thing Lucas does do well is show a huge variety of life on these various planets. It helps you get an idea of the crazy abundance of different species, and this will probably be closer to the truth than we once imagined it would be. Robots, or droids, as they are called in Star Wars, seem to be getting a lot more common than they were years ago. Was George Lucas right about them, too? Well, nowadays we have the Roomba, that's the little robotic vacuum cleaner some people seem to like. Then there's the Honda Asimo robot that looks like an astronaut, which is pretty much as good as C-3PO at getting around. One of the major areas where people have brought robots into the home is with toys. There were those Furby robots from a while back that would talk to you and pick up what you say, and were banned from the Pentagon. You also see a lot of robots designed and built recently to mimic animals, like geckos and dragonflies. NASA is now developing these softball-size robotsif you recall Luke's lightsaber
[scifinoir2] Samuel Jackson Signs 9 Picture Deal with Marvel Films
I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Not so much specifically about Jackson, but about the tred of them low balling and getting rid of talent - Tracey Jackson's Fury in flurry of Marvel films Nine-pic deal includes 'Iron Man 2,' 'Thor,' more By Borys Kit Feb 25, 2009, 05:30 PM ET Updated: Feb 25, 2009, 06:16 PM ET http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i57845f198f95ed93 8a79d4a806b64e68Samuel L. Jackson is Marvel's man. The actor, who just weeks ago was seemingly on the outs with the studio over reprising his role as Nick Fury, agent of spy outfit S.H.I.E.L.D., has signed an unprecedented nine-picture deal to play the character in a series of Marvel movies. The movies include Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and its sequels. Also on the table is the possibility of toplining a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie, which is in development. The actor, repped by ICM and Anonymous Content, made a surprise appearance as Fury at the end of the first Iron Man, throwing geeks into a tizzy and showing the first glimpse of Marvel's plan to link all their slate of movies into one filmic universe. Jackson and Fury were expected to be part of the sequel, but as Marvel negotiated with its cast, deals proved hard to come by. Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle. Mickey Rourke still doesn't have a deal for the part of a villain despite almost two months of negotiations.
[scifinoir2] Glyph Award Nominees Have Been Announced
Honoring the best in African-American comics (both as contributors and thematically), the nominees for this years Glyph Awards have been announced: http://ecbacc.com/wordpress/?p=488 Story of the Year Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist Incognegro; Mat Johnson, writer, Warren Pleece, artist Justice League of America: The Second Coming; Dwayne McDuffie, writer, Ed Benes, artist Pilot Season: Genius, Marc Bernardin Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Mariotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist Best Writer Marc Bernardin Adam Freeman, Genius Mat Johnson, Incognegro Jeremy Love, Bayou Jeff Mariotte, Presidential Material: Barack Obama Dwayne McDuffie, Justice League of America Best Artist Jamal Igle, Supergirl Jeremy Love, Bayou Warren Pleece, Incognegro Afua Richardson, Pilot Season: Genius Larry Stroman, Black Panther Annual #1 Best Male Character Black Lightning, Final Crisis: Submit; Grant Morrison, writer, Matthew Clark, Norm Rapmund, Rob Hunter Don Ho, artists; created by Tony Isabella Trevor von Eeden Black Panther, Black Panther Annual #1; Reginald Hudlin, writer, Larry Stroman Ken Lashley, artists; created by Stan Lee Jack Kirby Lwanga Moses, Unknown Soldier; Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticelli, artist; inspired by the character created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert The Spectre, Final Crisis: Revelations; Greg Rucka, writer, Philip Tan, Jeff de los Santos Jonathan Glapion, artists; inspired by the character created by Jerry Siegel Bernard Bailey Zane Pinchback, Incognegro; created by Mat Johnson, writer, and Warren Pleece, artist Best Female Character Destiny Ajaye, Pilot Season: Genius; created by Marc Bernardin Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; created by Jeremy Love, writer and artist Storm, X-Men: Worlds Apart; Christopher Yost, writer, Diogenes Neves, artist; created by Len Wein Dave Cockrum Vielle, Fungus Grotto; created by Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist Vixen, Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist; created by Gerry Conway Bob Oksner Rising Star Award Jennifer Crute, Jennifers Journal Damian Duffy John Jennings, The Hole: Consumer Culture Charlie Goubile, Blackbird Starline X. Hodge, Candi Ashley Woods, Millennia War Best Reprint Collection Aya of Yop City, Drawn Quarterly Me and the Devil Blues V1, Del Rey Nat Turner HC, Abrams Best Cover Final Crisis: Submit, Matthew Clark Norm Rapmund, artists; Richard Tonya Horie, colors The Hole: Consumer Culture; John Jennings, illustrator Pilot Season: Genius, Afua Richardson, illustrator Unknown Soldier #1, Igor Kordey, illustrator Vixen: Return of the Lion #1; Josh Middleton, illustrator Best Comic Strip Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist Café con Leche; Charlos Gary, writer and artist Fungus Grotto, Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist Jefferson Jacks from Crankshaft; Tom Batiuk Tony Isa bella, writers, Chuck Ayers, artist The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist Fan Award for Best Comic Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #33-35; Christos Gage, writer, Sean Chen Sandu Florea, artists Pilot Season: Genius; Marc Bernardin Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Mariotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist Young Avengers Presents #1; Ed Brubaker, writer, Paco Medina, artist The judges for the 2009 competition are: Valerie DOrazio, president, Friends of Lulu; Mathan Erhardt, writer, Comics Nexus; Ed Mathews, columnist, Pop Image; Tim OShea, writer/interviewer, TalkingWithTim.com; and Elayne Riggs, comics reviewer and commentator. The ballot for the Fan Award for Best Comic is now open at the website for the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC), http://ecbacc.com/wordpress/?p=488 and will remain open through March 31, 2009. Write-in selections can be e-mailed to GCA Committee Chair Rich Watson at rich.wat...@gmail.com. IMPORTANT: Write-in selections are ONLY for choices not on the online ballot. ANY WRITE-IN SELECTIONS FOR CHOICES ALREADY ON THE ONLINE BALLOT WILL NOT BE COUNTED AND WILL BE DISCARDED. The 2009 GCA ceremony will be held May 15,202009, in the Skyline Room of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Park Central branch, as part of ECBACC, which will take place at the Crown Plaza Philadelphia Center City, May 16, 2009.
[scifinoir2] Eddie Murphy To Play Richard Pryor
Eddie Murphy may play Richard Pryor, that's the word from EW http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/02/bill-condon-sho.html . Normally the idea of Eddie Murphy doing anything even remotely important or potentially good fills me with terror, but this particular movie is being helmed by writer/director Bill Condon who managed, if only for a brief moment, to transform Eddie Murphy into serious actor Edward Murphy for Dreamgirls. Maybe he can do it again for his Richard Pryor biopic. Maybe this will be the thing that gets him away from crappy, fat suit cash-ins. Playing Andy Kaufman seemed to do that for Jim Carrey, maybe it can work for Eddie Murphy. Besides, Richard Pryor is his hero. Eddie's going to be motivated, he'll care, maybe enough not to fuck it up. The project is called Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?. Condon wrote the script, plans to direct it, and right now he's shopping it to various studios looking for $25 million in backing, with Eddie Murphy attached to star. In particular, Fox Searchlight is said to be interested, which makes sense since their track record indicates they know a good idea when they see it. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Eddie-Murphy-To-Play-Richard-Pryor-12162.html
[scifinoir2] Return of the Purple Saber: Mace Windu joins the fight on The Clone Wars
In a recent episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we watched as Yoda dismantled several droid battalions on his own. Now Mace Windu joins the fight and it can't get much better... The first of an epic, three part story arc, Storm Over Ryloth begins an in-depth look at the emotional tolls of the galactic conflict, as well as the price of failure when lives hang in the balance. The all- new episode of the hit animated series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, February 27, on Cartoon Network. In the episode, the heroes of the Republic begin their campaign to free the planet Ryloth from the oppressive occupation of enemy forces. In an effort to break through the orbiting Separatist defenses, however, Ahsoka must learn a hard-hitting lesson after she disobeys Anakin's orders and loses most of her squadron as a result. Director Brian Kalin O'Connell and writer George Krstic welcomed the opportunity to explore some of the less heroic aspects of the conflict, particularly examining the responsibility of the Jedi in light of the consequences of their actions. It's easy to make the Jedi into superheroes, but showing their vulnerability really makes them far more interesting and believable, O'Connell says. You have this Padawan in the footsteps of the Chosen One. And she fails badly. Clones die, and that's horrible and we really get to feel that weight. But we also get to see how Anakin rebuilds Ahsoka's confidence, and how she comes back and rises to the challenge. Krstic agrees, adding that the episode offered an opportunity to infuse the Saga's classic space opera elements with a new emotional weight. This is a very epic episode it's grand and operatic ala the old days of the original Star Wars, he says. There are so many wonderful aspects to this episode because Ahsoka must deal with real life and death situations, and the result isn't good. She gets her first experience dealing with the burden of command, and finds out that it isn't all heroics. It really is a burden. As the beginning of a three-part story arc, Storm Over Ryloth expands the scope of the Clone Wars to illustrate both the far- reaching and intimate effects of the war. Tackling ambiguities and exploring emotional motivations and consequences, this episode sets the stage for Innocents of Ryloth and Liberty of Ryloth, the continuation and conclusion of the thrilling Ryloth saga. So why all the Mace hype? Dig the vid! http://www.action-figure.com/index.php? name=Newsfile=articlesid=24558
[scifinoir2] IS NINE TIMES THE CHARM FOR ALL FUTURE MARVEL CASTING?
By Devin Faraci http://chud.com/articles/authors/5/Devin-Faraci Not long after the story about Samuel L. Jackson signing for a staggering nine films with Marvel Entertainment broke, I got an email from someone well placed in the entertainment industry saying that we should be expecting more. It seems like the nine picture deal is Marvel's new contractual item. In fact, this source tells me, it seems like the nine picture deal was a major stumbling block in the Emily Blunt situation. Not only was Blunt completely low-balled, she had to agree to appear in nine films total. For Samuel L. Jackson a nine picture deal makes sense, but not for an up and comer like Emily Blunt. Now that Jackson has signed the deal, expect to see more people signing on to Marvel movies with similar terms - low paychecks per movie, but with a nine movie option. I wouldn't expect everybody to be signing such deals, just people whose characters might be called upon to crossover into other Marvel Entertainment films. Just today I was being interviewed by the bodacious Helen O'Hara from Empire Magazine for an article to run in a future issue, and we were discussing the surprising way that Marvel Entertainment has approached movies. Five years ago I would have laughed at anyone who told me that people would be signing on to appear in up to nine comic book movies, with the deal spreading them out across franchises. But Marvel Entertainment is approaching this in a really fresh, really innovative way. Let's see if it works for them http://chud.com/articles/articles/18292/1/IS-NINE-TIMES-THE-CHARM-FOR-ALL-FU TURE-MARVEL-CASTING/Page1.html
[scifinoir2] A 'Total Recall' Remake?
by Eugene Novikov http://www.cinematical.com/bloggers/eugene-novikov/ Feb 26th 2009 // 9:03AM I don't want to believe; that's part of it. But really: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/total-recall/3120/main Total Recall? Weird and scary and totally singular Total Recall? The one with the people being turned into mutants by cosmic rays and the villain who turns Martians into slaves by controlling the air supply? The one where that dude takes off his glove to reveal that holy crap, he's a mutant too? And the three boobs? Remember the three boobs? Okay, I'm obviously working out some issues here, the main one being that I saw Total Recall as a very young boy and it scared and confused the ever-loving bejeezus out of me (in the best possible way, natch). But really, there's no way to remake Verhoeven's bizarro masterpiece, as http://www.moviefone.com/movie/i-am-legend-2007/23760/main I Am Legend (and http://www.moviefone.com/movie/made-of-honor/28433/main Made of Honor!) producer Neal H. Moritz claims http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i205e36d6d9 7550537a3dcb5babb90fda he's going to do. They might re-adapt the Philip K. Dick story, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, but that's a different matter. Dick adaptations are a dime a dozen. So, Mr. Moritz, I don't believe you. Shouldn't you be busy getting The Green Hornet off the ground, anyway? Go wrangle http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/24/michel-gondry-to-direct-green-hornet/ Michel Gondry. I note, also, that as best I can tell no Arnold Schwarzenegger movie has ever been remade. This may be because people have been physically afraid of him, in which case his advancing age, along with a distinguished civil service career that would make it unseemly for him to murder five men with his bare hands (and surely the man would never stoop to a contract job), may increase the odds of a Total Recall redo. Another possibility involves a combination of two factors: a) Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are always and forever Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, and b) the notion of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie with some girly man who is not Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Arnold Schwarzenegger role is patently absurd. People would just laugh. Right? That's why this http://www.cinematical.com/2007/09/10/wait-theyre-remaking-total-recall/ never went anywhere two years ago, right? http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/26/stories-i-dont-believe-a-total-recall- remake/
[scifinoir2] New contract to keep Star Trek The Experience alive in Vegas
http://scifiwire.com/2009/02/confirmed-new-contract-to-keep-star-trek-the-e xperience-alive-in-vegas.php New contract to keep Star Trek The Experience alive in Vegas SCI FI Wire confirmed today that a contract has been signed with CBS/Paramount to reopen the Star Trek The Experience exhibit in Las Vegas on May 8 -starting with at least a new restaurant and retail shop-to coincide with the opening of J.J. Abram's Star Trek movie. It is a bit premature to talk about it, but I can confirm that a contract has been signed, Liz Kalodner, executive vice president and general manager of CBS consumer products in New York, told SCI FI Wire exclusively. I do not have any further comment. Las Vegas city public information officer Jace Radke confirmed to SCI FI Wire that the Star Trek The Experience, which was to be closed at its home at the Las Vegas Hilton this year, will move downtown to the Neonopolis Center. This is going to be a major part of the downtown redevelopment we have been working on, and the city department of business development has been trying to encourage attractions like this to the area, he said. The Experience featured a restaurant and bar, shops and motion-simulator rides themed to Star Trek: The Next Generation (Klingon Encounter) and Star Trek: Voyager (Borg Invasion 4-D). It's expected the new exhibit would feature similar rides at some point. For now, however, the plans envision just a new version of Quark's Restaurant and Bar, a Museum of the Future (perhaps incorporating elements and characters from the new movie) and a shop. For his part, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said, We are very excited about this for downtown. The move would be part of the city's effort to redevelop the older part of downtown Las Vegas-situated at the end of the Strip of large casinos-into a more vibrant tourist and residential area. The Neonopolis project is one of the centerpieces of the area. Radke added, We are trying to secure other projects as well, but this Star Trek exhibit is happening, and we hope to have a portion of it ready by May 8. We're working on getting the Ts crossed and the Is dotted in the contract. startrek_theexperience2.jpg Journalist Mark Hansel, who writes for In Business Las Vegas, has seen the contracts signed by studio officials, Neonopolis owners and the city of Las Vegas. I have seen the contract, and I know that the city redevelopment manager met with CBS officials in New York to seal the deal, said Hansel, who has covered the downtown redevelopment for years for In Business and the Las Vegas Sun. They are hoping that there will be some sort of premiere event at the time of the movie opening that will be out here. Obviously, the big premiere will be in Hollywood, but they hope to have something out here, too. The costumes, the historic timeline, models of the ships and other items at the Star Trek Experience exhibit will be moved to a museum that is planned for the new location, but much of the exhibit probably wouldn't be opened until the end of 2010. I wouldn't expect the cool stuff for about a year, Hansel said. A lot of it also depends on the popularity of the movie and how well it does, but the trailer looks like it's going to be pretty great. He added: The price is going to be cheaper, maybe $20 or $25, and there may be package deals or year-long memberships, that kind of thing. Hansel said interest in the exhibit waned in recent years. I talked to people in the town about it, and they just weren't going or interested, but now there's a new buzz, especially since this is going back to the early years of the series, he added. The new venue already has a 3-D enabled movie theater, and there may be plans to have a 4-D experiential ride similar to the ones at the Hilton. Neonopolis manager Rohit Joshi projected that 7 million visitors could come to the exhibit a year, which Hansel said is a reasonable estimate. Neonopolis will also host the Southern Nevada Fine Arts Museum, a Barbizon School, the Spanish-language Telemundo station and an upscale nightclub. The biggest draw is expected to be the Star Trek The Experience. image001.jpg
