"Galactica" Last Season Official
Stars Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff told The IESB at the Saturn Awards Thursday night that the SciFi Channel will officially pull the plug on the show following its fourth season, which begins in January.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Best of the Week - May 11
I thought I'd try something new (since I don't seem to be writing much) this week. My bests of the week. I'll try to do this each Friday, so long as my interest holds up. We'll see how long that'll be.
Best Movie: Not much movie watching this week. Although last week I did get to see Hot Fuzz and it kicked everything's and everyone's ass. Don't cross that film, it's packing heat. I don't think I liked it as much as Shaun of the Dead, but then I'm a zombie film obsessive and not a cop film obsessive. I don't think there's much difference in the quality of the two films, just a personal preference for the walking dead. That said, there were quite a few extremely gory moments in Hot Fuzz that took me by (pleasant) surprise. The two best had to be the tribute to The Omen and the spike through the chin and out the mouth "bit". Very nicely done.
For the future, I just bought the Alejandro Jodorowsky DVD set, and can't wait to get a chance to watch El Topo and Holy Mountain again. Maybe next week. Or sometime while my girlfriend is at work or sleeping.
Best TV: Damn, but there was a lot of good tv this week. Heroes started the week off strong as it builds toward the first season finale. I didn't care for this show too much when it started out, but I stuck with it (mainly since there isn't much good science fiction on television), and it has paid off. I'm loving it. It could have easily been my best tv viewing of the week.
Then Lost shows up and knocks it out of the park again, this time with flashbacks to Ben's childhood on the island (with Uncle Rico as his asshole dad!!!), and a Locke-centric story that ended with a monstrous cliffhanger. There was gunfire involved, a big pit of skeletons, and an invisible friend. Oh my. Surely that would top the week.
Then My Name is Earl aired its season finale last night, and once again jumped to the top of my viewing list. Earl got a new girlfriend, lost the new girlfriend, and then confessed to a crime he didn't commit to keep Joy out of prison and home with her family. The Trailer Park Boys similarities are complete now, as Earl finishes his season by going to jail. Nice.
That was followed by another brilliant episode of The Office. This time it featured Beach Day, a survivor-inspired search for Michael's possible replacement, sumo wrestling, and fire walking. Creed again displayed what a freak he is, Toby made me very sad, and Pam opened up to the group. Next week is the season finale and I can't wait.
So I can't pick which was best. These were definitely the four highlights (especially since I haven't watched this week's Doctor Who or new Trailer Park Boys yet).
Best Reading Material: I've been reading short stories lately in an attempt to get inspired to write my own. Right now I'm reading Jeremy Robert Johnson's Angel Dust Apocalypse and really enjoying it. Each story is pretty messed up and very entertaining. I just finished his short novel Extinction Journals and loved it. It's about a man who survives a nuclear holocaust thanks to the suit he made. He sewed living cockroaches all over it and they help him survive in the post-apocalyptic world. This is a continuation/sequel to a short story in ADA, where the cockroach suit wearer has a run-in with the President of the USA in the ruins of Washington. The President survived thanks to his suit made of Twinkies. Good, clever stuff.
Comics-wise, best of the week is a tie between Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker's Immortal Iron Fist #5 and Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts #114. I tried out DC's new weekly series Countdown, and it was okay. I'll check it out for a few more weeks, but I don't foresee a longterm commitment being made. Oh well. If DC wants my money, they'll just put Grant Morrison in charge of things and make him write everything.
Best Music: Not much music-wise happening this week, although I did subject my girlfriend to the new Dio/Black Sabbath tunes. She didn't like them. I think she may have been born before her god made ears. Heh heh.
I've mainly just been putting my mp3 player on shuffle and playing Clutch while I work. Or occassionally Kiss. I dug out my old ZZ Top tunes for a refresher and, as it was the first time all those years ago, there were a few gems, but not much I really cared about.
Clutch's new cd From Beale Street To Oblivioun is pretty good, but lacking something I can't quite put my finger on.
The new NIN sucks pretty hard. Nice single. Rest of the cd sucks. If I'd never listened to anything on Mike Patton's Ipecac label then maybe this would have sounded fresh or exciting or edgy. Instead it just sounds weak and crappy.
Didn't care much for the new Bjork either.
I did just receive a couple of cds by J.G. Thirlwell's Manorexia project. It was a couple of weeks ago, but since this is my first entry, I'll include mention of them. They're really good, moody, instrumental pieces that make me feel like I'm in a creepy-weird film. More orchestral than his Steroid Maximus projects, and not really as fun, but still worth taking a listen to.
Best Movie: Not much movie watching this week. Although last week I did get to see Hot Fuzz and it kicked everything's and everyone's ass. Don't cross that film, it's packing heat. I don't think I liked it as much as Shaun of the Dead, but then I'm a zombie film obsessive and not a cop film obsessive. I don't think there's much difference in the quality of the two films, just a personal preference for the walking dead. That said, there were quite a few extremely gory moments in Hot Fuzz that took me by (pleasant) surprise. The two best had to be the tribute to The Omen and the spike through the chin and out the mouth "bit". Very nicely done.
For the future, I just bought the Alejandro Jodorowsky DVD set, and can't wait to get a chance to watch El Topo and Holy Mountain again. Maybe next week. Or sometime while my girlfriend is at work or sleeping.
Best TV: Damn, but there was a lot of good tv this week. Heroes started the week off strong as it builds toward the first season finale. I didn't care for this show too much when it started out, but I stuck with it (mainly since there isn't much good science fiction on television), and it has paid off. I'm loving it. It could have easily been my best tv viewing of the week.
Then Lost shows up and knocks it out of the park again, this time with flashbacks to Ben's childhood on the island (with Uncle Rico as his asshole dad!!!), and a Locke-centric story that ended with a monstrous cliffhanger. There was gunfire involved, a big pit of skeletons, and an invisible friend. Oh my. Surely that would top the week.
Then My Name is Earl aired its season finale last night, and once again jumped to the top of my viewing list. Earl got a new girlfriend, lost the new girlfriend, and then confessed to a crime he didn't commit to keep Joy out of prison and home with her family. The Trailer Park Boys similarities are complete now, as Earl finishes his season by going to jail. Nice.
That was followed by another brilliant episode of The Office. This time it featured Beach Day, a survivor-inspired search for Michael's possible replacement, sumo wrestling, and fire walking. Creed again displayed what a freak he is, Toby made me very sad, and Pam opened up to the group. Next week is the season finale and I can't wait.
So I can't pick which was best. These were definitely the four highlights (especially since I haven't watched this week's Doctor Who or new Trailer Park Boys yet).
Best Reading Material: I've been reading short stories lately in an attempt to get inspired to write my own. Right now I'm reading Jeremy Robert Johnson's Angel Dust Apocalypse and really enjoying it. Each story is pretty messed up and very entertaining. I just finished his short novel Extinction Journals and loved it. It's about a man who survives a nuclear holocaust thanks to the suit he made. He sewed living cockroaches all over it and they help him survive in the post-apocalyptic world. This is a continuation/sequel to a short story in ADA, where the cockroach suit wearer has a run-in with the President of the USA in the ruins of Washington. The President survived thanks to his suit made of Twinkies. Good, clever stuff.
Comics-wise, best of the week is a tie between Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker's Immortal Iron Fist #5 and Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts #114. I tried out DC's new weekly series Countdown, and it was okay. I'll check it out for a few more weeks, but I don't foresee a longterm commitment being made. Oh well. If DC wants my money, they'll just put Grant Morrison in charge of things and make him write everything.
Best Music: Not much music-wise happening this week, although I did subject my girlfriend to the new Dio/Black Sabbath tunes. She didn't like them. I think she may have been born before her god made ears. Heh heh.
I've mainly just been putting my mp3 player on shuffle and playing Clutch while I work. Or occassionally Kiss. I dug out my old ZZ Top tunes for a refresher and, as it was the first time all those years ago, there were a few gems, but not much I really cared about.
Clutch's new cd From Beale Street To Oblivioun is pretty good, but lacking something I can't quite put my finger on.
The new NIN sucks pretty hard. Nice single. Rest of the cd sucks. If I'd never listened to anything on Mike Patton's Ipecac label then maybe this would have sounded fresh or exciting or edgy. Instead it just sounds weak and crappy.
Didn't care much for the new Bjork either.
I did just receive a couple of cds by J.G. Thirlwell's Manorexia project. It was a couple of weeks ago, but since this is my first entry, I'll include mention of them. They're really good, moody, instrumental pieces that make me feel like I'm in a creepy-weird film. More orchestral than his Steroid Maximus projects, and not really as fun, but still worth taking a listen to.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Goodbye Bees (From Harper's Magazine)
Researchers investigating the collapse of honeybee colonies in Europe and the Americas identified several possible reasons for the catastrophe: poor diet; radiation from mobile phones that disturbs bees' sense of navigation so they cannot fly home; increased solar radiation due to the thinning of the ozone layer; bee AIDS; stress from cross-country travel in trucks; falling queen fertility; the microsporidian fungus Nosema ceranae; or imidacloprid, a pesticide sold under the brand name Gaucho and banned by France in 1999 for spreading “mad bee disease.” Investors were advised to put their money in gold and corn futures to profit off the recession that may result from the disruption of the food chain caused by the vanishing bees. Grapes, which self-pollinate, and olives, which are pollinated by the wind, will not be affected by the bees' disappearance; Christians pointed out that the Book of Revelation predicts that a famine sparing grapes and olives will precede the apocalypse.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Doctor Dressed As Super Hero Accused Of Sex Assault
Doctor Dressed As Super Hero Accused Of Sex Assault - Local News Story - WKMG Orlando
"Authorities said Adamcik was in possession of a large burrito and drugs."
Monday, April 23, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Vonnegut's rules for short stories
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.*
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.*
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
The trouble with being human these days: Identity by Zygmunt Bauman
The trouble with being human these days: Identity by Zygmunt Bauman
" Inevitably, the undermining of familiar institutions, an aspect of modernity that has certainly been intensified in recent years, has had important consequences for people's sense of identity. There is nothing new about the observation that national and class-based identities (both of which had seemed almost definitively modern) have been upset by the end of the Cold War and various other developments discussed under the heading of 'globalisation'. Similarly, Bauman notes that while the workplace was traditionally a very important source of personal identity, changes in the economy have rendered it far less reliable. He suggests that the enduring identities once associated with work have given way to looser and more provisional identities, and conceptions of community, that are subject to constant change and renegotiation. Indeed, Bauman points to a more profound transformation of how we understand what it means to be human in the absence of transcendent ideologies (traditional or otherwise) such as have characterised modernity until recently."
" Inevitably, the undermining of familiar institutions, an aspect of modernity that has certainly been intensified in recent years, has had important consequences for people's sense of identity. There is nothing new about the observation that national and class-based identities (both of which had seemed almost definitively modern) have been upset by the end of the Cold War and various other developments discussed under the heading of 'globalisation'. Similarly, Bauman notes that while the workplace was traditionally a very important source of personal identity, changes in the economy have rendered it far less reliable. He suggests that the enduring identities once associated with work have given way to looser and more provisional identities, and conceptions of community, that are subject to constant change and renegotiation. Indeed, Bauman points to a more profound transformation of how we understand what it means to be human in the absence of transcendent ideologies (traditional or otherwise) such as have characterised modernity until recently."
Friday, March 30, 2007
Scientists discover 'shadow person'
Scientists discover 'shadow person' | COSMOS magazine
"Ever feel as though you're being followed? As if someone is behind you, shadowing your every move? It might be your ‘shadow person', created by unusual activity in a specific brain region, a new study shows.
The paper, published in the British journal Nature, describes the case of a 22-year-old woman with no history of psychiatric problems who was being evaluated for treatment of epilepsy. When a region of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction was electrically stimulated, the woman described encounters with a ‘shadow person' who mimicked her bodily movements.
"Electrical stimulation repeatedly produced a feeling of the presence of another person in her extra-personal space," said Olaf Blanke, co-author of the study conducted by a team of researchers from University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.
When the patient was lying down, stimulation of this brain region caused her to feel that someone was behind her. She described the person as young, of indeterminate sex, "a shadow who did not speak or move, and whose position beneath her back was identical to her own", according to the researchers.
When the patient sat up, leaned forward and clasped her knees, she felt that the figure was also sitting, embracing her in its arms - a feeling she described as "unpleasant"."
"Ever feel as though you're being followed? As if someone is behind you, shadowing your every move? It might be your ‘shadow person', created by unusual activity in a specific brain region, a new study shows.
The paper, published in the British journal Nature, describes the case of a 22-year-old woman with no history of psychiatric problems who was being evaluated for treatment of epilepsy. When a region of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction was electrically stimulated, the woman described encounters with a ‘shadow person' who mimicked her bodily movements.
"Electrical stimulation repeatedly produced a feeling of the presence of another person in her extra-personal space," said Olaf Blanke, co-author of the study conducted by a team of researchers from University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.
When the patient was lying down, stimulation of this brain region caused her to feel that someone was behind her. She described the person as young, of indeterminate sex, "a shadow who did not speak or move, and whose position beneath her back was identical to her own", according to the researchers.
When the patient sat up, leaned forward and clasped her knees, she felt that the figure was also sitting, embracing her in its arms - a feeling she described as "unpleasant"."
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Blimps to swim through the air like fish
Blimps to swim through the air like fish - space - 23 March 2007 - New Scientist Space
"Blimps steered by artificial muscles may one day swim through the air like fish, suggest recent flight tests. The blimps would be much quieter than those steered by traditional blimp propellers, making them ideal for observing wildlife."
"Blimps steered by artificial muscles may one day swim through the air like fish, suggest recent flight tests. The blimps would be much quieter than those steered by traditional blimp propellers, making them ideal for observing wildlife."
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
A mysterious aerial device falls in Somalia.
A mysterious aerial device falls in Somalia.
"Ilyas spoke of the device, telling that in the daylight it glitters and in a nighttime, it turns lights and speaks a strange language which can’t be understood by the villagers."
"Ilyas spoke of the device, telling that in the daylight it glitters and in a nighttime, it turns lights and speaks a strange language which can’t be understood by the villagers."
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Puppet Masters 2
Mind-Control Microbe
"When he looked at the clinical records of more than 1,800 babies born from 1996 to 2004, he noted a distinct trend: The normal sex ratio is 104 boys born for every 100 girls, but in women with high levels of antibodies against the parasite, the ratio was 260 boys for every 100 girls. Exactly how the parasite might be tipping the odds in favor of males isn't understood, but Flegr points out that it is known to suppress the immune system of its hosts, and because the maternal immune system sometimes attacks male fetuses in very early pregnancy, the parasite's ability to inhibit the immune response might protect future boys as well as itself."
"When he looked at the clinical records of more than 1,800 babies born from 1996 to 2004, he noted a distinct trend: The normal sex ratio is 104 boys born for every 100 girls, but in women with high levels of antibodies against the parasite, the ratio was 260 boys for every 100 girls. Exactly how the parasite might be tipping the odds in favor of males isn't understood, but Flegr points out that it is known to suppress the immune system of its hosts, and because the maternal immune system sometimes attacks male fetuses in very early pregnancy, the parasite's ability to inhibit the immune response might protect future boys as well as itself."
Friday, March 09, 2007
American Civil Liberties Union : How the USA PATRIOT Act redefines "Domestic Terrorism"
American Civil Liberties Union : How the USA PATRIOT Act redefines "Domestic Terrorism"
"The definition of domestic terrorism is broad enough to encompass the activities of several prominent activist campaigns and organizations. Greenpeace, Operation Rescue, Vieques Island and WTO protesters and the Environmental Liberation Front have all recently engaged in activities that could subject them to being investigated as engaging in domestic terrorism."
"The definition of domestic terrorism is broad enough to encompass the activities of several prominent activist campaigns and organizations. Greenpeace, Operation Rescue, Vieques Island and WTO protesters and the Environmental Liberation Front have all recently engaged in activities that could subject them to being investigated as engaging in domestic terrorism."
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Fort Eustis drill sergeant faces charges of molesting trainees
ARTICLE: Fort Eustis drill sergeant faces charges of molesting trainees
"The soldier told Estrada that he felt depressed after being relieved of his training status, and said Estrada suggested "a technique that he had used previously to help soldiers with their self-confidence and alleviate depression," the affidavit said.
The technique involved role-playing scenes from a pornographic movie, which depicted a Superman character weakened by Kryptonite as the subject of sexual torture.
"Estrada would verbally describe a sexual act of torture, relating to the pornographic movie, and (the victim) was to respond in a sexual manner by moaning," the affidavit said. The soldier also said he eventually was forced to "dress in a 'Superman' or similar outfit" while Estrada performed sexual acts on him."
"The soldier told Estrada that he felt depressed after being relieved of his training status, and said Estrada suggested "a technique that he had used previously to help soldiers with their self-confidence and alleviate depression," the affidavit said.
The technique involved role-playing scenes from a pornographic movie, which depicted a Superman character weakened by Kryptonite as the subject of sexual torture.
"Estrada would verbally describe a sexual act of torture, relating to the pornographic movie, and (the victim) was to respond in a sexual manner by moaning," the affidavit said. The soldier also said he eventually was forced to "dress in a 'Superman' or similar outfit" while Estrada performed sexual acts on him."
Monday, March 05, 2007
I"m a Loser, Baby...
So here it is; another weekly writing deadline is about to arrive and I have nothing. Nothing but excuses, that is.
It really is amazing how many things can distract me from doing what I really want (and actually enjoy) to do each week. Or is that pathetic? Yeah, it's definitely pathetic. I can sit around all day long, doing absolutely nothing, as if it were some sort of accomplishment.
Although to be honest, I do have teaching work to do. Papers to grade, assignments to plan, etc.
Except I don't do enough of that stuff either.
Next week there will definitely be some writing done.
I plan on either continuing the storyline I've already started (which is not what I want to do) or jumping head first into the next character's story (which is what I really want to do). The only problem with the new character's story, is that I'm not happy at all with where the first draft starts out with her. I'm thinking about reworking her entire introduction and her situation, and that's really what's got me distracted, I think. That's a lot of work. Much more than just working on a simple rewrite.
So while I grade papers and plan my classes and work my night job, I need to be thinking about this character (Emma's her name - which is odd, since I now have a cat by that name), and how to introduce her, plunge her into peril, and get her to her next major plot point.
Here goes.
It really is amazing how many things can distract me from doing what I really want (and actually enjoy) to do each week. Or is that pathetic? Yeah, it's definitely pathetic. I can sit around all day long, doing absolutely nothing, as if it were some sort of accomplishment.
Although to be honest, I do have teaching work to do. Papers to grade, assignments to plan, etc.
Except I don't do enough of that stuff either.
Next week there will definitely be some writing done.
I plan on either continuing the storyline I've already started (which is not what I want to do) or jumping head first into the next character's story (which is what I really want to do). The only problem with the new character's story, is that I'm not happy at all with where the first draft starts out with her. I'm thinking about reworking her entire introduction and her situation, and that's really what's got me distracted, I think. That's a lot of work. Much more than just working on a simple rewrite.
So while I grade papers and plan my classes and work my night job, I need to be thinking about this character (Emma's her name - which is odd, since I now have a cat by that name), and how to introduce her, plunge her into peril, and get her to her next major plot point.
Here goes.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Steampunk Star Wars
Eric's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea: steampunk star wars
"Lord Vader
More machine than man, Vader is the Empire's most decorated General and a very powerful practitioner of the Force's dark arts. He is obsessed with communicating with the spirits of the dead, spending every sleepless night trying in vain to contact his lost love. Twisted and broken in body and mind, Vader is driven with sadistic passion.
He is a master with the traditional weapon of Force champions, the Phlogisticated Aether Torch, more commonly referred to as the phlogisabre."
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Writing Log (A Little Late)
Whoops. Not only did I not write anything this week, I forgot to update here. Not that there's much to say. It was my birthday, so I sat on my ass all day (after mooching a fantastic Sushi Lunch) and did nothing.
So there.
So there.
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