Thursday, December 31, 2009

 

TOC for Year's Best Science Fiction 27

Over on the Asimov's forum, Gardner Dozois has posted the table of contents for The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 27.

UTRIUSQUE COSMI, Robert Charles Wilson--New Space Opera 2.
A STORY, WITH BEANS, Steven Gould--Analog.
UNDER THE SHOUTING SKY, Karl Bunker--Cosmos.
EVENTS PRECEDING THE HELVETICAN REVOLUTION, John Kessel--New Space Opera 2.
USELESS THINGS, Maureen F. McHugh--Eclipse Three.
BLACK SWAN, Bruce Sterling--Interzone.
CRIMES AND GLORY, Paul McAuley--Subterranean
SEVENTH FALL, Alexander Irvine--Subterranean
BUTTERFLY BOMB, Dominic Green--Interzone.
INFINITES, Vandana Singh--The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet.
THINGS UNDONE, John Barnes--Jim Baen's Universe.
ON THE HUMAN PLAN, Jay Lake--Lone Star Stories.
THE ISLAND, Peter Watts--New Space Opera 2.
THE INTEGRITY OF THE CHAIN, Lavie Tidhar--Fantasy.
LION WALK, Mary Rosenblum--Asimov's.
ESCAPE TO OTHER WORLDS WITH SCIENCE FICTION, Jo Walton--Tor.com.
THREE LEAVES OF ALOE, Rand B. Lee--F&SF.
MONGOOSE, Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette--Lovecraft Unbound.
PARADISO LOST, Albert E.Cowdrey--F&SF.
IT TAKES TWO, Nicola Griffith--Eclipse Three.
BLOCKED, Geoff Ryman--F&SF.
SOLACE, James Van Pelt--Analog.
ACT ONE, Nancy Kress--Asimov's
TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, John C. Wright--Federations.
BLOOD DAUBER, Ted Kosmatka & Michael Poore--Asimov's.
THIS WIND BLOWING, AND THIS TIDE, Damien Broderick--Asimov's.
HAIR, Adam Roberts--When It Changed.
BEFORE MY LAST BREATH, Robert Reed--Asimov's.
ONE OF OUR BASTARDS IS MISSING, Paul Cornell--Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Three.
EDISON’S FRANKENSTEIN, Chris Roberson--Postscripts 20/21.
EROSION, Ian Creasey--Asimov's
VISHNU AT THE CAT CIRCUS, Ian McDonald--Cyberabad Days.
I'm delighted and flattered to be included in such distinguished company again. This year's YBSF looks like a particularly strong collection.

 

The Starbucks Love Project

(via) I wouldn't normally post a corporate viral here, but this one is pretty danged cool.
On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played "All You Need is Love" together. Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song.



More info, including details on how to get involved, at the original posting.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

 

A Question for the Ages

Okay, this is bothering me.

In the original format, the Hanna-Barbera "Space Ghost" shorts were packaged with "Dino Boy" as, appropriately enough, Space Ghost and Dino Boy. Now, Dino Boy was about a young boy from (then) contemporary America who by misadventure ended up in a land of prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs. Presumably Dino Boy was interested in returning home, though to be honest I don't recall him ever mentioning it.

While it wasn't included on the recent DVD box set, in the original broadcast the following "bumper" ran at the commercial break, bridging the Space Ghost story and the Dino Boy segment.



Here's my question. Leaving aside the fact that Space Ghost is (a) out in space and (b) very likely in the future, making it incredibly unlikely that he'd be casually overflying a valley in modern-day South America, what does it say about him that he leaves this poor kid stranded in the Lost Valley? After waving happily in thanks to the stranger in the space ship for rescuing him, did Dino Boy then turn to his caveman pal Ugh and say "What, is he just going to fly away now? What about some rescuing, huh?"

Another question for the ages, I suppose...

 

Hot Tub Time Machine

This trailer has some NSFW language (and isn't for the kiddies). Even so, I'm all for it.



A SFW version is at the official site.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

 

Pogo's "Upular" (after Pixar)

A few days ago, Pixar posted a little holiday gift to their fans on their Facebook page, a musical remix of UP done by the Australian DJ, Pogo. And now Pogo (aka Nick Bertke) has posted the video to the track to his YouTube account.



Be sure to check out the other video remixes on Pogo's YouTube page. Some terrific stuff there.

Friday, December 25, 2009

 

Cat Wrestling

While the humans digested leftovers, Blue the cat took a nap in a warm sunbeam. But our other cat, Bubbles, wasn't content to let him doze, with predictable results.


 

Maiden Voyage

Once we'd stuffed ourselves on leftovers and sugar cookies for lunch, we suited up and went to the school parking lot for Georgia to take the maiden voyage on her flagship Christmas present--her first bike!



After riding for all of two minutes, Georgia decided she needed a break, so she busted out what was for her the bike's major selling point--the water bottle.



After a bit more practice, Allison decided to show Georgia how it's done.


 

Christmas with the Moppets

It's that time again, kids! Time for the Venture Bros holiday song. This time out, Tim-Tom, Kevin, and 21 (under the direction of the Monarch) bust out that holiday classic, "The Chipmunk Song"



As if that wasn't enough (and why wouldn't it be), you've still got the last five years worth of Venture Bros holiday goodness to enjoy:

"Little Drummer Boy"
"Hard Candy Christmas"
"Venture Aid 2006
"Fairytale of New York
"Wonderful Christmas Time

Thursday, December 24, 2009

 

Dragon Families

Georgia got to open one present from us on Christmas Eve, and the package she picked just happened to contain her favorite thing in the world. She reacts accordingly.


 

Merry Whatever!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Smekday, something else or nothing at all, I hope you have a Merry Whatever, and a very Happy Whozits, to boot.

We're about to eat the turduken that Allison has been slaving over all day, followed in short order by a ridiculous number of sugar cookies. Eat well, drink up, and I look forward to seeing you soon, everybody.

Friday, December 18, 2009

 

The Known Universe

(via) Got six minutes to have your mind blown?

From the original posting:
The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.
Or, as a great mind once put it...
Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.

 

Happy Birthday, Michael Moorcock!

The Master of the Multiverse himself turns 70 years old today. Go wish Michael Moorcock a happy birthday on his forums, and then observe the day by reading your favorite bit of Moorcockiana.



 

Francesco Francavilla's "Captain Cold"

Check out Francesco Francavilla's amazing holiday postcard he sent out to his friends this year, featuring a very Errol Flynn-esque snowman and his crew fighting piratical polar bears.



I would totally watch this movie.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

 

Pomplamoose's "Always in the Season"

Pomplamoose wants you to give someone a goat. What, you've got better things to do with your money?



And if you do give someone a goat (or a chicken, or duck, or what-have-you), Pomplamoose will give you two free mp3s, including the audio from this amazing little holiday number. What do you have to lose?

Check out the original posting for more info. As for me, I'm off to order a goat...

 

The Christmas Chronicles of Solomon Stone!

The good people at Action Age Comics have a nice little holiday treat for you.

Behold! The Christmas Chronicles of Solomon Stone: Atnas Came to Town


Merry Christmas, Action Agents! We got you an all-new comic story starring the World’s Greatest Half-Vampire Skateboard Champion Private Detective, Solomon Stone! Just click the image above for nine pages of holiday cheer from your pals at the Action Age!

And it’s truly a Christmas Miracle: our own Chris Sims wrote this story in a fit of the Christmas Spirit last week, and “Dynamite” Matt Digges stepped in for Matthew Allen Smith, Solomon Stone’s regular artist, to pencil, ink, color and letter the story in just ten days!

We hope you like it, and from Chris, Chad, Matt, Smithy, Ben, Rusty, Kate, Steve, Nathan, Andrew, Teddy, Ezra, Penny, Dr. Blake, Judah, Pete, Solomon and Minxy…

Available in a variety of online (and free) formats, it's a nice little bit of holiday cheer.

(Of course, I did have to rain on Sims's parade last week and be the kind of fanboy dick who points out that someone else got there first. But I prefer Atnas the Anti-Santa, any day.)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

 

Baman and Piderman in "Happy Winter Friends, Part 1"

I've raved before about the work of animator Alex Butera (and his collaborator Lindsay Small), and it's always a treat when a new short appears online. I almost missed this one yesterday, a new "Baman Piderman" short, the first in an apparent series of absurdist joy.

Check it out. Makes very little sense, but is completely awesome.


 

Dylan Horrocks's Hicksville

I've raved before about Dylan Horrocks's Hicksville, which is probably the best comic you've never read (check out my earlier comments, including a full review of the comic from years ago, if you don't believe me). If you haven't yet hunted down a copy of the out-of-print edition to see for yourself, you have only to wait until March for the new edition to hit bookstores.

Over on his blog, Horrocks has posted the new cover, and shared a few details about the goodness inside.


But first let me tell you about the new edition of Hicksville, which is coming out from Drawn & Quarterly (and, in New Zealand, from Victoria University Press) in early February 2010. Getting it ready is one of the main things I’ve been busy with, but now it’s all good to go.

Above you can see the new cover, but there’s also a brand new 13-page introduction (in comics form) by me - one of the most personal comics I’ve done - and the glossary has been expanded (and illustrated). I also redesigned the book, rescanning all the artwork and giving it all a bit more space to breathe on the page. I added page numbers (at the request of various academics and students!), relettered about 12 pages (where the lettering was just too damn sloppy to read!), and corrected a couple of mistakes that had slipped past us in the previous editions. Everything in the book - from the indicia to the glossary - is now hand-lettered (except the barcode, sadly). All in all, I’m pretty happy with it.

Trust me, this book is terrific. I pity anyone that doesn't buy a copy of their very own.

 

"Epic Misney" by T Campbell and John Waltrip

Chances are you've already seen this, since it's been all over the internet since last night (I first saw it on Cartoon Brew, myself), but in case you haven't, here is a terrific Marvel-Disney mash-up, courtesy of T Campbell and John Waltrip. Lots of nice little touches in here.



Monday, December 14, 2009

 

How To Sneak

Over on his blog, Adam Rex shares the piece that he and Mac Barnett contributed to issue 33 of the McSweeney's Quarterly, also known as the San Francisco Panorama. (The Panorama is a one-time-only, Sunday-edition-sized newspaper, already sold for a few days on the streets of San Francisco and soon to be available online and in finer bookstores.)

Here's how Rex describes it, and his contribution:
This thing is a packed, Sunday-sized newspaper with original reporting, fiction by George Saunders and Roddy Doyle, Stephen King on sports, David Chang on ramen, comics by Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Adrian Tomine, Art Spiegelman, and many more--and a children's games page, called the Rear End, edited by my friend Mac Barnett. He asked some of his favorite writers and illustrators to contribute--Jon Scieszka, Carson Ellis, Jon Klassen, Kevin Cornell, Jenny Traig, and Jon Adams--and he and I co-created our own feature called HOW TO SNEAK. So here's that.
And here it is:



Saturday, December 12, 2009

 

Book Report - Tom Strong: Deluxe Edition

The fine folks over at SF Signal have posted another guest review by yours truly. This time out I take on Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse's Tom Strong: Deluxe Edition. Three guesses whether I liked it or not?



(If your first guess is "I think you hated it, Chris," you've got two more guesses coming...)

Labels:


Friday, December 11, 2009

 

.357 Lover's "Maybe Tonite"

Look, everybody, I know I said yesterday that .357 Lover was my new favorite band of all time, but I don't know that I got the point across sufficiently.



This band is everything I want from a band. As I said last night on twitter, if Meatloaf made sweet, sweet love to Queen on a bed of 80s pop-culture, then nine months later .357 Lover would have been born.

I posted a couple of fan videos yesterday, but if that didn't sell you, try this. A track of the self-released Diorama of the Golden Lion, "Maybe Tonite" is the song that Meatloaf would have written if "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" had been about a middle-school kid dreaming of making out at the mall with the girl of his dreams.

MP3: .357 Lover - Maybe Tonite

Now, go to the band's official site where you can buy the whole album for digital download. Do it!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

 

.357 Lover's "Time Cop"

(via) It's a rock ballad about Time Cop. What else do you need to know?



On their website, the bio for the band, .357 Lover, opens with this line: "Time travel, making out at the mall, werewolves, rock operas and a German lady. It's not the recipe to the greatest teenage, sci-fi horror movie ever made; it's .357 Lover." This may be my new favorite band... of all time.

And I was never a wrestling fan, but this is completely awesome. Corn Mo, who wrote the song, describes it as "This is a song I wrote about the day my favorite wrestler came over and hung out with me and my friends back in Denton, TX."



Check out Corn Mo's blog for more goodness.

 

Duke Armstrong, the World's Mightiest Golfer

I've raved before about my love for Brian Maruca & Jim Rugg's comic collaborations like Street Angel and Afrodisiac, so imagine my delight to learn that the two have just done a new short for Dark Horse Presents on MySpace: "Duke Armstrong: The World's Mightiest Golfer."

Yes, that's right. I said "golfer."



The goofy Flash interface isn't letting me link directly to the story for some reason, but if you go to the DHP page on Myspace and select the third story, you'll behold it in all of its glory.

 

Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter

A post on the Super Punch blog pointed out two interrelated gems last night.

First up, is this terrific cover by Federico Piatti for Dr. Quandary's Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter.



And here's the wraparound.



Nice, right? But I'd never heard of Dr. Quandary, and so headed over to check out what the album itself sounded like. It appears it's not available until December 12, but there's a sample track online. Give it a listen.

<a href="http://quandary.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-all-spheres-of-force-and-matter">Misconceptions by Dr. Quandary</a>
I'm liking it. I'll definitely be back on the 12th to check out the rest. In the meantime, there's loads of great stuff to listen to and download on Dr. Quandary's bandcamp page.

 

Georgia Mails a Letter

Yesterday, I shared Georgia's letter to Santa. For anyone interested in the rest of the story, here's a little video clip documenting what happened next...


Wednesday, December 09, 2009

 

The Dark Knight is Confused

(via) Speaking of Batman...


 

Georgia's Letter to Santa - 2009

As much for archival purposes as anything (since this will be going out in the mail to the North Pole tomorrow), here is Georgia's 2009 letter to Santa.

First, she makes her case.



Dear Santa
I have been
good this
year. For
Christmas
I want

I tried to talk her into some pleasantries ("How are the reindeer doing?") or maybe even just modulating from "I want" to "I would like," but she took a no-nonsense, all-business aproach. "This is what I want," she said. "Why not just tell him?"




white bike
balls
dinosaurs
Barbie cats
3-headed dragon
baby T-Rex


Footnotes:
- The "white" modifier on bike was to specify which of the bikes in Academy that she test-drove she was asking for (not any kind of racial purity thing).
- The "balls" are of the ball-pit variety, for her miniature bounce house.
- The "dinosaurs" are a catch-all for the scads of little plastic dinosaurs she's asking for.
- The "Barbie cats" are an interesting case -- she kept asking for these elaborate Barbie playsets, even though she never actually plays with Barbie dolls, and we finally realized that all she really wanted was the pets that came with them. When when showed her that she could get just the cats in a separate package, she lost all interest in the Barbie dolls themselves.
- "3-Headed dragon" is the latest Fisher-Price Imaginext dragon/dinosaur thingee, and "baby T-rex" is one of those animatronic things, fabric over an articulated wire skeleton, that thrashes around and growls whenver you touch a particular spot on its back.


You may note that, either in order to flatter or just for the sake of decoration, she has added portraits of Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa himself to the corners of the page.

(Georgia has been very good this year, as it happens, so chances are good that she'll end up with most, and perhaps all, of this stuff.)

 

Is Gotham City on Google Maps?

(via) A nice little ad for Google. I approve.


 

Wendy Pini's Elric

Thanks to Joe at the Forbidden Planet blog for pointing out that Richard Pini has posted what appears to be an updated version of Wendy Pini's Law & Chaos, the book documenting her never-made animated version of Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer.



I was a huge fan of Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest in middle school and high school, and around the same time became an ardent follower of Moorcock's Eternal Champion novels. So I'm not sure why I never bought a copy of Wendy's Law & Chaos when I would see it for sale in the various Dallas Fantasy Fairs over the years. All I can think is that it was already priced as a collectible by then, and too rich for my callow blood.



The text posted to Wendy's site appears to be an updated version of the original, with references to the additional decades that have past since the book was published. It's a fascinating read, either way, an a glimpse into an early effort by a talent that was just beginning to find her voice. It would not be too much after this abortive attempt at a Stormbringer animation that Wendy and Richard would introduce Elfquest to the world.

If you're a fan of Moorcock's work, or the Pinis, or just interested in a glimpse at what might have been, the site is well worth checking out.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

 

Happy Birthday, Candyman

On this day in 1925, Sammy Davis, Jr. was born.

For years, Dean Martin was my favorite member of the Rat Pack, but for some reason the older I get the more I become a Sammy-guy. Pure class, and that guy could sing.



Ah, what the heck. Here's another one.


Monday, December 07, 2009

 

Sugimoto Kousuke's "Full Moon Party"

Following on this weekend's post about Sugimoto Kousuke's music video "The TV Show," here's another of his animated offerings.



Look, just go ahead and subscribe to Kousuke's YouTube channel. There's bound to be more goodness in the offing.

 

Slingers

(via) Before you watch the following clip, be warned. This is all there is. A trailer for a show that doesn't exist yet, not even in pilot form.

Trust me, you're going to wish there was more. Right now.



Here's the explanation from creator/writer Mike Sizemore:

It's directed by Steve Barron and stars Sean Pertwee, Adrian Bower, Tom Mison, Margo Stilley, Haruka Abe, GUN and JUNIOR. The outstanding conceptual design was by Arran and Corran Brownlee. The music is by The Mummers. And yeah I'm the creator/writer/idiot who came up with it. Sleepydog are the guys running the show.

To quickly answer the most obvious question, we're hoping to shoot the pilot in 2010. We have a few more meetings to get through before that happens, but we're still heading in the right direction. In fact we've had a lot of good news since the last update on here, but I don't wanna jinx anything just yet.


Saturday, December 05, 2009

 

Sugimoto Kousuke's "The TV Show"

(via) Check out this music video from director Sugimoto Kousuke. It starts slow, but stick with it, because it really picks up.


Thursday, December 03, 2009

 

Fictional User Interfaces

Ever wonder who designs and animates all of the fictional user interfaces seen on computers in movies and TV? Well, apparently Mark Coleran has done a whole mess of them. (Thanks to @deantrippe for the tip!)



There's loads more on Mark Coleran's Vimeo page.

 

Get the Humanoid!

For no reason at all...


 

2086 Futurelympic Games Sketch

Designer Spacesick has posted a concept sketch that I had to share. Anyone got any suggestions for him?


2086 Futurelympic Games Sketch
Originally uploaded by spacesick


Wednesday, December 02, 2009

 

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century teaser

(via) I approve of this.



What is this, exactly?

James Cawley, whose Cawley Entertainment Company had obtained the rights to the character created back in 1928, said he was aiming for a "retro-contemporary" look to the show. But what exactly did that mean? And he also announced that he hoped to release 20 Buck Rogers episodes a year, starting in late in 2010.

See the original Sci Fi Wire post for more info.

This page is powered by 

Blogger. Isn't yours?