SF Signal

I know you’ve all wondered:

“How, exactly, could Greedo miss?”

Me too. Bad luck? Poor eyesite? Or something else?

Filed under: Movies

By now, we probably all know that Larry Niven has written a fourth Ringworld novel. Here is the Tor website about the book.

I read the third and wasn’t too impressed by it. I have reservations about this one as well. However, its a good excuse to go back and re-read the first three. That is, as soon as I can borrow them from John….

Filed under: Books

Ghost in the Shell 2 will be coming to American theaters in September 2004 as seen in /. and they have a english website as linked here. I know some folks didn’t like Ghost 1, but I did enjoy it and I very much look forward to Ghost 2 – although with some dread since the US version is never quite the same as the original…

Filed under: Anime

Mervius, at Fantastica Daily, has written a 4 star review of Neal Stephenson’s The Confusion. Which prompts me to ask:

Who is confused? Mervius, who obviously likes the series, or our own Scott, who didn’t even finish the first book?

Curious minds want to know!

Filed under: Books

CNN is reporting that Ben Folds will put his upcoming album on hold to help produce William Shatner’s upcoming CD collection “Has Been” his full attention. I don’t even know where to begin.

Filed under: Music

You dream about you and your friends being Jedi, with some kick-a$$ lightsabers. That’s all I remember, the lightsabers. I blame all the reading I’ve been forced to do since I ‘volunteered’ to be the gamemaster for a Star Wars roleplaying game. Sheesh, who knew there was so much SW stuff they could milk?

And now, one of the best PC RPGs, heck, games, of all time has succumbed to the lure of the dark side that is starwars.com. Truly firghtening, although Knights of the Old Republic is a truly outstanding game.

On a side note, check out the music video for Stuck in a Room with R2. Nicely done parody song. What is also interesting is that the live-action scenes in the video are from a fan film called Imperial Dogs, a parody of Reservoir Dogs, only with a lot less blood. Unfortunately, the creators realized that several scenes were filmed with not a enough light and couldn’t work around it in editing, so we’ll never get to see the whole thing. Too bad, since I think its hysterical to see Stormtroopers running around with the words, “Pink”, “Black”, etc written on their helmets….

Filed under: Star Wars

From CNET News and elsewhere: An AOL worker was arrested for selling 92 million subscriber email addresses to a spammer.

I was all set to quip: “Now what’s this ass-clown supposed to do?” However, the intended link to the aforementioned ass-clown now requires a login to the Wall Street Journal. That’s two times in two days that BugMeNot has failed me. Bummer.

Filed under: Computers

I was over at Gaming Report, and checking the latest news about gaming things and all thats good. But what do my poor eyes notice – this news. Thats right Paris Hilton is considering a role in the DnD 2 movie – not that DnD 1 was not crappy enough. So to boost sales numbers – lets put a little slutty hotel vixen in the movie – genious I say. Better yet, lets get her to do some great movie versions of sci-fi stories that have nothing to do with the actual novels – oh wait they are already doing that with I, Robot (notice the key tie in here…)

Filed under: Movies

But according to Gamestop, the DOOM3 release date is now confirmed as Aug 3, 2004. So preorder and get a goofy little metal figure to put on your desk and show how l33t you truely are…

Filed under: Games

SF and BoingBoing author Cory Doctorow wrote a Wired article called Rise of the Machines discussing Isaac Asimov’s robots and the new movie that bears the title of Asimov’s robot story collection, I, Robot. Director Alex Proyas’ quotes about this being a definitive adaption collide with what is reported by Revolution SF, which essentially states that the movie is simply “skinned” with the look and feel of Asimovian robotica. (Is anyone else aroused by that word? Er…yeah…me neither.)

[Via Big Dumb Object proxying for BoingBoing]

Filed under: Web Sites

Here’s a nifty little utility: An online, Flash-based font viewer.

Filed under: Web Sites

A sequel to the zombie movie 28 Days Later, tentatively titled 28 Weeks Later, is in the works, Sci Fi Wire reports.

Filed under: Movies

Microsoft has decided not to make the X-Box 2 backward compatible with X-box 1. I know its not a big surprise to many of us, but you would think that they would look at a company who is extremely successful in this market. Somebody, like hmmm Sony – the PS2 was never as fast, but it was compatible and the PS3 will maintain that compatibility. So I guess I figured out which next gen console I will get eventually. And to MS we had the Blue Footed Booby award for yet another moronic business decision….

Filed under: Games

Maybe you’ve seen the trailer for the move The Terminal starring Tom Hanks? This is a story about a man who is trapped in an airport – not being able to leave due to legal issues around his Visa to enter the US and not being allowed to fly anywhere else. Sounds implausable – right? Well, there is a note that it is based on a true story – and it is! Snopes.com has the scoop.

Now that I know the story of the real guy I wonder how much of that will make the film? It wouldn’t be Hollywood without some feel-good ending – such as him finally being able to leave the airport at the end. But the real person hasn’t had a Hollywood ending at all. Taking a look at the web site shows some scene where it appears all the airport staff are saying goodbye and walking him out – already telling me that the real story of this gentleman isn’t good enough for an American movie.

Filed under: Movies

George R. R. Martin’s story The Hedge Knight, a prequel to his Song of Ice and Fire series that first appeared in Robert Silverberg’s Legends anthology (another Dunk & Egg story appeared in Legends II), has been adapted into a series of 6 comic books from Dabel Brothers. Missed them? Then how about the recently-available 160-page trade paperback of all 6 issues? Check out this Flash preview of the comics (from Roaring Studios, Dabel Brothers previous incarnation).

Filed under: Books • Comic Books

Gary at Science Fiction Twin loves William Shatner. You will too after hearing this.

Filed under: Web Sites

REVIEW SUMMARY: Good sampling of military sf.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Anthology of nine military SF stories.

MY REVIEW:

PROS: Some excellent stories.

CONS: 1 stinker.

BOTTOM LINE: Recommended if you like military science fiction.

Read the rest of this entry

Filed under: Book Review

RevolutionSF offers a glowing review of a CD that’s sure to turn Pete’s head. Or at least make it move, if you know what I mean. Warp 11 is a heavy metal band that writes songs about Star Trek. In case you couldn’t tell by the album cover.

Filed under: Music

REVIEW SUMMARY: Not a good reading experience.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Clone of galactic leader searches for his destiny.

MY REVIEW:

PROS: A mercifully short 240 pages.

CONS: Confusing; leaves the reader in the dark; no sense of wonder

BOTTOM LINE: Skip this one

Let me tell you why Fuddruckers annoys me…

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Filed under: Book Review

Neil Gaiman’s short story A Study in Emerald, about Sherlock Holmes in a Cthulhu world, is nominated for the 2004 Short Story Hugo. Enjoy.

Filed under: Books • Cthulhu