Fan Mail
And speaking of Camera Obscura… I got my first piece of reviewer fan mail the other day. Well, not so much fan mail, as mail to point out a misconception on my part. You can read it (and other letters) at IGMS’s Letters to the Editor column. Do feel free to drop them a line to say how wonderful I am.
Camera Obscura: Screw-On not screwed-up
Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of my column, Camera Obscura, in which I review the pilot episode The Amazing Screw-On Head, which premieres on July 27 on SCI FI, and is currently available as a free streaming video on SCI FI Pulse.
[Excerpt:]
The pilot of The Amazing Screw-On Head opens in 1862, at the Museum of Dangerous Books and Paper, where an ancient document known as The Kalakistan Fragment is stolen, and the Museum’s foremost expert on ancient evil texts, Professor Fruen, kidnapped.
The Kalakistan Fragment, supposedly untranslatable, is thought to detail the life of Gung the Magnificent who nearly conquered the world in 1932 B.C. using “supernatural powers derived from a fabulous melon-size jewel.”
The Fragment and the Professor were abducted by two old women and a chimpanzee, who happens to wears a crown and displays an affinity for firing heavy artillery. And one of the old women was not a frail old grandmotherly-type; rather, she appears to be, but is in fact a werewolf. The other woman is just an old lady so far as we can tell, but you can be sure she’s evil (and also has an affinity for artillery).
Time’s Up For Space
SCI FI Wire today published a piece I wrote about the upcoming supersized final issue (#100) of Space & Time.
They might as well be singing in Klingon…
When I was going up to Readercon, one of the guys in the van with us (Chris Barzak) was telling us about how he lived in Japan for a few years. So I asked him had he ever heard of this Japanese metal band called Shadow over there (despite him not being into metal), and he said yes he had. And he seemed to indicate that they sang in Japanese, and so I thought well maybe he’s thinking of a different band, because the band I was thinking of sings in English. But then I stopped and thought, wait a minute… are they singing in English? So, later, I played a few tracks and tried to pay attention to the lyrics. And, well, as it turns out, I can’t understand a fucking thing that the singer says. Is it because she’s speaking Japanese?
The CD liner is of no help; there’s no lyrics inside. I guess I’d assumed they were singing in English because the song titles were there on the CD, in English. And I should point out that I think the band is great. They’re amazingly accomplished musicians, and they play some seriously complex guitar melodies. Not to mention the fact that the singer is a woman, but sings in such a great death metal growl that you’d never know her gender (or language of choice, apparently) by the sound of her voice.
But I guess this all goes to show how important the lyrics of a song are to me. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate really good lyrics as much as the next guy, but clearly understandable vocals are not of the highest priority to me. I mean, I couldn’t even tell what fucking language they were speaking, and I didn’t even notice for months!
Cross-Posting Plug-ins
On her blog, Deanna Hoak was talking about a plug-in she can use to cross-post between her blog and her LJ. Now that sounds pretty handy. Does anyone know of a plug-in I could get for Movable Type that does something like that for a MySpace blog? I really never update my MySpace blog; I’d like it to be active, but I’m just too lazy to update both places.
The Amazing Screw-On Head & SCI FI Pulse
For those of you who missed the premiere of the new SCI FI show, Eureka, you can watch the entire two-hour pilot episode online at SCIFI.com’s new SCI FI Pulse component.
And while you’re there, be sure to check out another pilot SCI FI is offering online: The Amazing Screw-On Head, which is based on the comic by Hellboy-creator Mike Mignola. As much as I liked Eureka, I think this one’s even better and more fun, and probably has more potential. But the thing is, Screw-On Head doesn’t premiere on SCI FI until July 27, so this SCI FI Pulse availablity is kind of a test run for the show. Go watch it, then take the brief survey afterward, letting SCI FI know what you think. The survey results will be used to help determine whether or not to greenlight the show as a series.
But even if you don’t have any interest in watching it, I say go there and vote for the show positively, because even if it’s not your thing, letting SCI FI know that you want intelligent, well-written shows like this one (rather than rehashes of Mansquito) is a good thing. If we keep telling them that, maybe they’ll start listening. It seems that they’re already on the right track as of late, first with Battlestar Galactica, and now with Eureka and Screw-On Head (not to mention that the forthcoming Dresden Files looks promising as well), so let’s do what we can to convince them that there is an audience for a more sophisticated SF show on their network.
Metallic Mulls Robot Love
SCI FI Wire recently published a piece I wrote about Tanith Lee’s Mythopoeic nomination for her novel Metallic Love.
Peter Flies In Shadow Thieves
SCI FI Wire just published a piece I wrote about the new Ridley Pearson/Dave Barry Peter Pan novel, Peter and the Shadow Thieves.
Cats on a Plane
Apparently, there’s a new spoof film of SNAKES ON A PLANE called CATS ON A PLANE, which is set to debut on MySpace at 10PM tonight (Tuesday). F&SF author Jim Young has been spreading the word, as the filmmakers are friends of his out in La-La land.