SF-Fandom transforms itself

I have not been able to keep up with the SF-Fandom Wordpress and Blogger accounts over the past few weeks. In fact, I haven't been able to keep up with much of anything because I've been so busy.

Download "Raw Hobbit" 2010 audio file

The Tolkien Moot Website has now published the audio file for "Raw Hobbit 2010", which we broadcast live from Tolkien Moot 2010. Heather Downing was my guest. Heather gave three live performances as Elvish singer Rehtaeh.

Middle-earth Talk Radio Show 29 August 8 2010

Hawke has now uploaded Show 29 from Middle-earth Talk Radio, which we recorded on August 8, 2010.

Heather Downing videos for people who want to know what she sounds like

You can actually listen to Heather's Elementaria CD (or samples) at Amazon but here are a couple of music videos featuring Heather.

More Promos for Tolkien Moot

This is getting exciting. Tolkien Moot promises to be one of the best Spokane Tolkien conferences so far. I'm looking forward to doing Raw Hobbit again.

Can't attend Tolkien Moot 2010? Watch it live online August 13-15

Tolkien Moot 2010 is scheduled for the weekend of August 13-15 in the city of Spokane, WA. However, people who cannot be at the event may watch the sessions live via the Internet. Tolkien Moot 2010 features three live performances (open to the public) from elvish music artist Rehtaeh (Heather Downing).

SciFi Fans need to beware of new online copyright cop

If you have been an online science fiction fan for more than a year the chances are pretty good you have either seen a news story reposted to an SF fan site or you may have reposted a story yourself. Until now science fiction fans have believed there are so many infringers in the SF fandom community that they are relatively safe from being sued.

Heather Downing on Middle-earth Talk Radio

Hawke Robinson has now uploaded the fully edited version of the July 18 interview with Heather Downing (Elvish singer Rehtaeh) to the Middle-earth Talk Radio Website. You can listen to Heather's interview in Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 28. I recommend downloading the MP3 file but you can try streaming it online.

Listen to live Middle-earth Talk Radio on July 18 with Rehtaeh

Hawke Robinson just sent out this announcement and I am passing it on. Please feel free to share this with other Tolkien fans.

Forum admins and bloggers: You need to delete user accounts linking to Backlinksforum.com

Backlinksforum.com is an extremely disreputable Website that encourages Web spammers to use unethical "link building" methods to create links to their Websites. These unethical methods include creating fake user accounts on blogs and forums and dropping links to low-quality and/or malicious Websites in member profiles.

Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 26

Due to a recent illness I have not been posting much online for the past several weeks. On June 8 Hawke Robinson and I recorded Episode 26 of Middle-earth Talk Radio, which has actually been available for download for several weeks. I'm only just getting around to announcing it now.

Go see "The Last Airbender"

No movie is going to appeal to everyone but I think M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender" is a far better picture than the critics have made it out to be. Film critics seem to abide by an unwritten law that they will slam anything which is entertaining, well-thought out, and visually beautiful.

"Avatar" sweeps 2010 Saturn Awards

From Heat Vision:

James Cameron's "Avatar" took one more lap around the awards track Thursday at the 36th annual Saturn Awards when it picked up 10 trophies, including best science fiction film and best actor and actress honors for Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana.

Musing on Sid Meier's Civilization

I recently began paying attention to announcements about Sid Meier's Civilization V coming out this fall. I am devoted to CIV III. I miss being able to play CIV II (I no longer have a computer that will support it, but if there is a way to make Windows Vista run the game I've love to hear about it).

CIV III has its quirks and faults but CIVILIZATION IV has to be one of the most awful versions of turn-based strategy ever developed. Where did they go wrong with CIV IV? Oh, let me count the ways. The globe-based map is one of the worst parts of the CIV IV experience. It's too small -- or feels too small. The unit icons are too big.

CIV V seems to retain that aspect of CIV IV, but I'm hoping it's toned down. The CIV III world structure was much better, although I probably won't mind switching to a hexadecimal map. The squares were limiting in some ways.

I rattled off an extensive list of features I wish CIVILIZATION would bring back in this SF-Fandom discussion of CIV V. I miss spy units from CIV II. I miss engineers (and their ability to transform any kind of landscape). I miss airbases. I miss partisans.

CIV V handles armies in a radically different fashion. You can no longer stack them up but have to place units in adjacent hex tiles. Units will be able to retreat and switch out but the battles probably won't be as "realistic" as in earlier versions of CIVILIZATION in that they will be stretched out over huge swathes of territory.

Now, technically, that is the way modern wars are fought, but most ancient wars were not fought that way. So I may need to just wait and see how the game plays but I always like having multiple stacks.

I wish for many things with CIVILIZATION, such as the ability to create naval bases. Why should I have to make a ship limp dozens of tiles across the map to a friendly city? Why can't workers/engineers be used to create naval bases and airbases along with fortresses?

Something else I wish is that fortresses stay the same when technologies upgrade. I'd rather have the ability to choose to upgrade a fortress than to just have it automagically transform.

And I've always wanted to claim territory with fortresses. They introduced colonies in CIV III that just vanish when a rival civilization's cultural influence spreads to the colony area. I'd rather see the colony stay with the civilization that built it. But that's just me.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Listen to Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 25

You can download Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 25: May 31, 2010 here. We have already recorded Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 26 but I've been slow in getting the announcements out for Episode 25 so there will be a short lag between announcements.

Format: MP3
Duration:56 minutes 36 seconds
Filesize:77.7 MB (81,516,322 bytes)

Opening Music: "She Walks in Beauty" from the album Elementaria
by Rehtaeh

Topics Discussed

• Thank you to all the military veterans who make it possible for us to have the freedom we have.
• Big news - Del Toro resigns as director for The Hobbit movies, now what?
• theonering.net "slashdotted" and the "slashdot effect"
• Peter Jackson's old Zombie gory spoof movie "Dead Alive"
• Are there zombies in Middle-earth in his books?
• What makes a zombie a zombie?
• The Hobbit play in Norwich Theater - Roy Marsden
• Another Hobbit play in Liverpool at the Empire
• Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" Series, "Legend of the Seeker", David Eddings Belgariad
• Books vs. eBooks vs. PDFs
• Civilization III vs. Civ IV (Michael thinks Civ IV "sucks")
• Harvard courses on Tolkien available online, Mark Zender Ph.D., how Tolkien uses language in storytelling
• British Petroleum Gulf Oil Spill
• Adventuring in the Second Age of Middle-earth
• Yahoo Fan Modules Group
• The Numenor Project
• The Numenor Project First Contact Series
• Classical civilization vs. medieval civilization for Middle-earth settings
• No Inns?
• Area later known as Andrast, peninsula in what would be far western Gondor many centuries later.
• Primitive early Men prior to the Numenoreans helping raise them from the darkness.
• Orcs and their daylight and night vision
• Story of Tal-Elmar .... Part IV of Peoples of Middle-earth
• A real palace that could be considered "Elvish" in design according to Michael (make this image for news announcements)
• How role playing games encourages research
• Second Age 1200 to 1600
• When would precursor/proto-hobbits first appear and where
  Adunaic glossary

Closing Music: "Métima Lenda (Final Journey)"from the album Elementaria
by Rehtaeh

You can download and listen to ALL episodes of Middle-earth Talk Radio at the official Middle-earth Talk Radio Website http://www.middleearthtalk.com/ (and why didn't he include "radio" in the URL? -- who knows?).

We're still planning to have some guests on the show soon -- Hawke has been working on some technical issues that seem to be mostly resolved now (I think).


____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

International Seek Fan Video Project Launches

In case you've been on vacation for the last few months, Legend of the Seeker has been inexplicably cancelled (despite the fact that millions of people love to watch the show). Well, fans have not taken this sitting down. They're doing something about it.

Actually, they're doing many things to Save The Seeker. But one of the most anticipated projects has been the Seeker Fan Video Project.

Yesterday the LOTS Video Team uploaded this teaser:



And now they have uploaded the actual video itself:



Yes, you can see me in there -- AND they gave me a credit at the end.

Anyway, if you have a blog or other type of Website, please embed or link to these videos so that your visitors will see them.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Music only a science fiction fan can appreciate

I grew up listening to this song, "In The Year 2525". This video makes very creative use of it as the soundtrack for a minidrama about how Mankind never seems to get things right.



Hopefully things will turn out better than all that. If not, well, dink dink! dink dink -- dink, dink, DINK!

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

French TV site wants fan questions for Bridget Regan

If you had the opportunity to ask Bridget Regan any question in front of the whole world, what would that question be? Okay, you don't get that opportunity but some lucky journalist at Cine TV Buzz will be talking with Bridget Regan at The Monte Carlo TV Festival which is being held June 6 - 10, 2010.

And Cine TV Buzz asked Xenite.Org (SF-Fandom is part of the Xenite network) to reach out to Bridget's fans and solicit questions for her.

You're more than welcome to send your questions to us through the Xenite.Org Contact Form.

We'll be posting the fan questions on this thread at SF-Fandom and also on the Save The Seeker blog at Wordpress.

So take a day or two to think about this and please send us 1 or 2 questions for Bridget. We'll do our best to group similar fan questions together.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 24 Now Online

The 24th episode of Middle-earth Talk Radio is now available for download, includes music from Rehtaeh. This is the most recently recorded episode (as of May 27, 2010) so you should be caught up with us if you have listened to the others. I'm just copying a message Hawke sent out. I may have accidentally omitted something that relates to the numbers in the braces.

Format: MP3
Duration: 57 minutes 21 seconds
Filesize: 78.8 MB (82,586,483 bytes)
Download URL
http://middle-earthtalk.com/Middle-earth-Talk-Radio-Show-0024-2010-05-23.mp3[1]
Opening Music
Ra Tarinya (For My Queen)
by Rehtaeh
From the album "Awakened"
http://rehtaehmusic.com/ [2]

Topics Discussed

• Tyra Banks - ModelLand
• Previously unexibited print by Tolkien called "Lamb's Farm, Gedling" to be shown
• Filming for The Hobbit Movie beginning in Novement 2010?
• Smaug Stein
• Mads Hobbit Hole Blog - Doll House model on Bag End
• Brief reading from The Hobbit about Hobbit Hole
• The Eowyn Challenge
• Expanding the show range of discussion, please comment!
• How much do Dwarves weigh?
• Can Dwarves swim?
• Dragonlance Dwarves vs. Tolkien Dwarves
• Battle of alternate passages
• Reading and discussion of Letter #31, 24 July 1938, letter to Mr Furth, explaining delay in sequel to The Hobbit, and his work on Farmer Giles
• Word "mythologies" - Michael feels vindicated. ;-)
• Michael reads from Book of Lost Tales - Chapter VIII - The Tale of the Sun and Moon - Christopher Tolkien's introduction.
• Michael reads the "Shibboleth of Feanor" - The Peoples of Middle-earth - The History of Middle-earth XII - and the word shibboleth defined (ad naseum)
• "Feanor was a momma's boy" - Michael Martinez
• Tolkien's representation of insight into psychological theory as expressed through his characters such as Feanor, Aragorn, and others, in the face of critics claiming the characters were too 2 dimensional
• Thanks to Christopher Tolkien for making all this extra material available over the decades
• Reminder Rehtaeh performing at this years upcoming TolkienMoot
• Our Middle-earth Talk Show now has dedicated domain(s):
  http://www.middle-earthtalk.com/ [3] or http://www.middle-earthtalkradio.com/

* PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THIS SHOW!

Closing Music
Rohan Warrior
by Rehtaeh
From the album "Awakened"
http://rehtaehmusic.com/ [4]

References

• http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/05/23/36721-crumbses-and-tidbits-hobbit-start-date-casting-3d-discussions/ [5]
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8664000/8664496.stm [6]
• http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100637-Tyra-Banks-Fancies-Herself-the-Next-J-R-R-Tolkien [7]
• http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/05/20/36698-smaug-themed-stein-now-available/ [8]
• http://www.3point.com/taverncraft/default.aspx?ProductLine=Hobbit [9]
• http://madshobbithole.wordpress.com/ [10]
• http://maddsrocks.wordpress.com/ [11]
• http://bitoflight.luminousbeings.net/keepsakes/BagEnd-final-small.jpg [12]
• http://www.lotronline.com/gallery/screenshots/BagEnd [13]
• http://www.sf-fandom.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=33401 [14]
• http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html [15]

Middle-earth Talk Radio is a non-profit, non-commercial fan-oriented Internet talk show devoted to topics relating to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (and relating to other related stuff that maybe you can relate to).

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Longevity of Harry Potter vs. Lord of the Rings

We occasionally mention other books and authors in our Middle-earth Talk Radio discussions and Hawke recently decided to put an interesting question to fans.

He is conducting a poll on the NEW Middle-earth Radio Website, asking if you think that the Harry Potter books will enjoy a longevity similar to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books.

You can take the poll here.

BTW -- in updating the site, Hawke was unable to port over the old user accounts. If you had an account at Middle-earth Radio you'll have to create a new one. Please don't let that inconvenience hold you back from sharing your thoughts on the show. We enjoy the feedback.

As for Harry, in my opinion they should enjoy considerable longevity. I think the story is relevant to every generation. It's not really "set in its time" (that is, the time in which it was written) so much as it is set in a "Harry Potter timeframe" much like Middle-earth is set in the Third Age.

But the story follows the experiences of a unique set of young protagonists who grow up during a very dark and frightening time. Although that in some ways reflects our world today, J.K. Rowling began writing these stories before the War on Terror became a reality.

I'd like to see how people vote in the poll, so please do so and also share the URL with your friends.


____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Download Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 23 Now

Hawke and I recorded Episode 23 of Middle-earth Talk Radio on Sunday, Mother Confessor Day (Mother's Day to most people). (NOTE: Subsequently, confirmation of the cancellation of Legend of the Seeker was published).

These were the topics that came up in Episode 23:

Topics:

• Grovelling to Theonering.net
• Michael the "Uber Geek"
• Iron Man II
• Mother Confessor Day foreshadowing from "Legend of the Seeker"
• Burren in County Clare claimed as another inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's work
• Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien relevant to Ireland, Letters #165 and #211
• Flintshire grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien stars in film "Pimp"
• Hugo Weaving will be The Red Skull in upcoming Captain America film
• Tangent: Hugo Weaving's accent as Agent Smith based on Wachowski Bros.
• Why there is no Jewish Narnia
• Development of role playing games for use as a therapeutic modality
• Israeli Defense Force frowns on Dungeons & Dragons participants (2005)
• Refuting the claim (through research) that role playing gaming causes "weak personalities" or "detachment from reality"
• The Middle-earth Weekend 2010 UK
• The Isle of Rum claims to have inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's peaks of Mordor
• The Isle of Muck ties to Isle of Eigg which ties to Howlin House where J.R.R. Tolkien was reputed to have visited on holiday
• Will Harry Potter have the global longevity of The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings? Vote in the poll.
• Legend of the Seeker, Shakespeare, and J.R.R. Tolkien
• Twitter Take Over on Mother's Day for Mother Confessor Day
• Save the Seeker Campaign
• How would you produce a TV series on Tolkien's works?
• Circa Second Age 1000 to 1500 fertile time period
• The Middle-earth 3D Interactive mapping project: ME-DEM
• Merp.com launches version 7.0 of their website
• More rambling from Hawke - mining terminology for "muck"

With music by Rehtaeh
http://www.rehtaehmusic.com

You can find all the episodes by visiting Middle-earth Talk Radio.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Legend of the Seeker fans launch fan video project

Fans of Legend of the Seeker are coming together to create a video tribute to the show. Regardless of whether there is ever a third season for Seeker fans want to make sure they create a legacy that the cast, crew, and producers can appreciate for years to come.

To that end I've been asked to help promote the project, and I've agreed to post this ad in a few places. I hope you'll do so, too.

Just click on the ad to learn more about the project.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Over 20 SciFi and Fantasy films entered in Seattle International Film Festival

Seattle, WA - The 36th Seattle International Film Festival will open on May 20 with the Seattle Premiere of the sophisticated comedy The Extra Man - directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The film will screen at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, kicking off the nation's largest film festival set to take place from May 20 through June 13, 2010.

The Extra Man stars Paul Dano (There Will be Blood) as the ever-so-proper Louis Ives, a lonely dreamer who imagines himself the protagonist of a modern F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. He moves to Manhattan to pursue a writing career and rents a room in the tiny Manhattan apartment of playwright Henry Harrison, a wildly eccentric social entrepreneur (Kevin Kline) who happens to work evenings as an "extra man" - an escort for wealthy widows. The unexpected bond of the two men creates the hilarious heart of the film; its pathos comes from their realization that within the other's idealistic fantasy persona lurks their own litany of insecurities.

Academy-Award® nominated co-directors/screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor, The Nanny Diaries) manifest the edgy spirit and droll dialogue of the celebrated novel by Jonathan Ames (writer of HBO's Bored to Death) with a perfectly balanced blend of warmth, intellect, and humanity. Paul Dano and Kevin Kline (surpassing his memorable Academy Award® performance in A Fish Called Wanda) are sublime in their portrayal of the two gentlemen about town, each imbuing their edge-of-the-envelope characters with depth and empathetic distinction. Also appearing are Katie Holmes as Louis' sweet co-worker and unrequited love interest (and whose wardrobe Louis secretly desires...), and John C. Reilly as Henry's mysterious (and very hairy) downstairs neighbor. The Extra Man is a magical, multi-dimensional comedy–sophisticated, elegant, goofy, and ultimately satisfying.

The Extra Man debuted at Sundance earlier this year to rave audience reviews and was recently picked up by Magnolia Pictures for US distribution. Excellently cast and revealing humor, wit, and class, The Extra Man is an exciting selection to launch the 2010 Festival with more than 250 feature films, 100 shorts, special events, workshops, and forums that will take place from May 20 through June 13 at various venues city-wide.

"After seeing its debut at Sundance this year, I knew I wanted The Extra Man to open the 36th Seattle International Film Festival," says SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence. "We always strive to choose a film that not only combines stellar storytelling and captivating characters, but one that connects with Seattle's film-savvy audiences. This unique film is both laugh-out-loud funny and smart, and is the perfect film to kick off the 2010 Festival."

This represents the first time Seattle International Film Festival will host its Opening Night Gala at the beautiful Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. The event, taking place on Thursday, May 20, will also feature a red carpet welcome for directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. Members of the cast are also expected to be in attendance.

The Extra Man
A Magnolia Films Release

Directors:
Shari Springer Berman
Robert Pulcini
Screenwriters:
Robert Pulcini
Jonathan Ames
Shari Springer Berman
Based on the novel by Jonathan Ames
Producers:
Anthony Bregman
Stephanie Davis
Principal Cast:
Kevin Kline
Paul Dano
John C. Reilly
Katie Holmes
Marian Seldes
Celia Weston
Patti D'Arbanville
Dan Hedaya

For more information about the 36th Seattle International Film Festival or the 2010 Opening Night film selection, The Extra Man, please contact the SIFF Press Office at press@siff.net or 206.315.0807.

About the Seattle International Film Festival
The 36th Seattle International Film Festival runs May 20 through June 13. The complete SIFF program schedule will be available Thursday, May 6, at www.siff.net, and as a special pullout grid in the May 6 edition of the Seattle Times. The SIFF Box Office opens to SIFF Members May 6, and to the general public on May 7. Tickets will be available online at www.siff.net, by phone at 206-324-9996, or at the Pacific Place Box Office (600 Pine Street, second level). Members of the press can find and download more information, including press kits, photos, press releases, and full film descriptions at press.siff.net.

Now in its 36th year, the Seattle International Film Festival is the largest and most highly-attended film festival in the United States, showcasing more than 400 films from over 60 countries to an audience of 150,000 attendees annually. Listed by Variety as one of the world's "50 unmissable film festivals," SIFF continues to be recognized as one of the top festivals in North America. SIFF combines the best aspects of a casual film marketplace with our well-established reputation as a great audience festival filmmakers love to attend.

SIFF's mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. In addition to the Festival, SIFF operates SIFF Cinema, its year-round flagship theater at McCaw Hall. In 2011, SIFF will open the SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center's Alki Room, thereby fulfilling its long-standing vision of creating a permanent home where SIFF's successful film, education, and community outreach programs can thrive.

Source: http://www.siff.net/

Discussions at SF-Fandom:

Poster for the 36th annual Seattle International Film Festival

19 Fantasy Films featured at 2010 Seattle International Film Festival

9 SciFi Films featured at 2010 Seattle International Film Festival

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Amazing videos inspire Legend of the Seeker fans

The Seeker Fan Video project is getting underway as I write this. So what is it all about? Quite simply, Seeker fans want to show their unity and support for Legend of the Seeker. The two videos below are examples of the kind of video the fans are hoping to produce.

This first video is absolutely amazing, to me. I'm sure I'll share it on many occasions. (ON EDIT: It's too wide to fit within this blog's format. Here is a link to the YouTube page).



This video was produced as part of Starbucks' Red project to raise awareness of AIDS in Africa. People around the world sang "All You Need Is Love" at the same time and their videos were spliced together to create this incredible montage.



So what are the Legend of the Seeker fans doing? They're organizing. You can send an email to LOTSvideo -at- gmail -dot- com if you have the ability to record yourself (a Webcam or cell phone may be all you need).

I'll track the project's progress at Save The Seeker.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

RIP Frank Frazetta

Science fiction and fantasy fans woke up to the sad news this morning that Frank Frazetta has passed away. If you don't know who Frazetta is, he is the book/poster artist who inspired a generation of pseudo-realistic fantasy artists. Frazetta's warriors, wizards, and women established a pattern of realistic cover art that revolutionized the SF book industry.

I wrote more about Frazetta's impact on SF art at the Wordpress blog.

If you want to leave a comment in the SF-Fandom forum, you'll need to register for free. Gmail and Hotmail users will have to contact the Administrators for help with registering. We have blocked automatic registering for Gmail and Hotmail because link spammer abuse.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Dear TrekWeb, Seeker has NOT been cancelled

Overzealous fans are out in force asking people for help in assuring there will be a third season of Legend of the Seeker. To show their support for the campaign, the good folks at TrekWeb published a brief article about the campaign to Save Our Seeker.

In their lead, they mentioned that Legend of the Seeker has been cancelled -- which is not true. The show has NOT been cancelled. Entertainment Weekly's Mike Ausiello (who is widely followed in media and fandom) started the rumor by saying he had heard from reliable sources at ABC that the should would not be renewed for a third season.

Nonetheless, there has been no confirmation from ABC and apparent support for the rumor by members of the show's cast and crew have been retracted. Studio executives and publicists have equally fallen silent BECAUSE NEGOTIATIONS FOR A THIRD SEASON ARE ALLEGEDLY IN PROGRESS.

Whose rumor is more true today doesn't matter. By saying the show is cancelled when it has not, in fact, been cancelled, you give people the wrong impression. If you're willing to support the show on your Website please do so by reporting the facts and not substituting rumors as facts.

As of this writing, Legend of the Seeker has not been cancelled.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

SyFy's Craig Engler gets down and dirty with SciFi fans

If you're favorite genre television show has just been cancelled or is about to be, Craig Engler of SyFy has some advice for you: Do the television network's job for them and build their audience share.

So, what do you think about that? Are you ready to make millionaires of people who won't pay you a dime for your hard work? Don't be so quick to rush out there and tell all your friends to watch the show.

In an article published on Boing Boing Craig says that all the Fluff fans of Law & Order: Criminal Intent send to the USA Network is wasted because it doesn't translate into increased audience share. If fans would only bring in a few hundred thousand more viewers for the networks ..., he muses.

It's that kind of sloppy thinking that gets people into trouble. Sure, put the burden of responsibility for bad marketing on the audience. It's the fans' fault that the studios and networks don't reach out and engage with them?

Like I say in a classic, lengthy Michael Martinez rebuttal to Craig, it's not the fans' responsibility to do the marketing for a television show.

Yes, we're willing to spread the word about shows we like but the shows that succeed have more than just word of mouth working for them -- they have actors, writers, directors, and business executives reaching out to fans in as many ways as possible.

Telling the fans they have to get out there and hustle to make your shows a success is about as limp an excuse for bad marketing strategy as one can think of.

If Legend of the Seeker fails and never comes back, the fault lies not with the fans, but with the idiots who didn't do their part to build the audience share like they should have.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

ABC Studios creates Facebook page for Legend of the Seeker

Responding to fans' determined efforts to be heard about their love for the Legend of the Seeker show, ABC has opened up a dedicated page on Facebook where fans can share comments about the show.

If you have a Facebook account, please drop by ABC's Facebook Page for Legend of the Seeker and share your polite thoughts and encouragement for their endeavors to save the show.

And remember -- television shows HAVE been resurrected after fan campaigns. A third season might not happen for a year. We might get a mini-series. We might get a movie.

Be patient, make a reasonable effort to show your support for the show, and keep your hopes up.

It's not over yet.

Be sure to visit the Save The Seeker blog to stay on top of news in the campaign.

And don't forget that fans have designated May 9 as Mother Confessor Day (which, coincidentally, just happens to be Mother's Day in several countries).

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Variety ad for Save Our Seeker now online

In case you have not seen it yet, here is what the advertisement that Legend of the Seeker fans are placing in Variety for tomorrow's edition looks like:



Money for the ad and design services were raised by the Save Our Seeker campaign site.

I'm proud to say that SaveTheSeeker.wordpress.com did its part in getting word out to the fans to donate money and vote on designs.

In other news, some Seeker fans are concerned that Jerry Bruckheimer's reduced budget for Pirates of the Caribbean 4 may signal a problem for the syndicated television show. I'm not sure there is a direct connection.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Henson Company announces Dark Crystal sequel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OMNILAB MEDIA AND THE JIM HENSON COMPANY JOIN FORCES TO LAUNCH THE AUSTRALIAN FEATURE PRODUCTION OF THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL

Sequel to Henson classic film “The Dark Crystal” to be financed and produced by Omnilab Media in Australia and executive produced by The Jim Henson Company.

3D, live action, visual effects film to be one of the largest Australian productions ever.

HOLLYWOOD, CA May 04, 2010 – In a joint announcement by Omnilab Media’s Christopher Mapp and The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson, Australian based Omnilab Media is teaming up with The Jim Henson Company to bring the much anticipated fantasy sequel, “Power of the Dark Crystal” to the big screen in stereoscopic 3D. The highly anticipated film will be among the most ambitious projects to ever be produced in Australia.

“Power of the Dark Crystal” will be produced by the Australia based production arm of Omnilab Media, Ambience Entertainment. The Jim Henson Company’s executive producers are Brian Henson, Lisa Henson and Jason Lust. Omnilab Media’s executive producers are Christopher Mapp, Matthew Street and David Whealy. Cinemarket Films’ Peter D. Graves (“Terminator Salvation”) rounds out the executive producer team.

Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig, writers and directors of “Undead” and most recently, “Daybreakers,” have come aboard to direct the screenplay written by Australian Craig Pearce (“Moulin Rouge,” “Strictly Ballroom,” “Romeo + Juliet”) based on an original script by Annette Duffy and David Odell. The legendary fantasy artist Brian Froud will reprise his role as conceptual designer of the film, which will use a stunning mix of live action and traditional puppetry combined with visual and special effects produced entirely in Australia. Omnilab-affiliated Iloura (“Where the Wild Things Are,” “The Pacific,” “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”) has already begun work on the film’s complex CGI elements. With this team in place, next steps will be to secure worldwide distribution.

“‘Power of the Dark Crystal’ is an exciting and ambitious undertaking and, having worked on previous projects with the top-notch talent and crews that Australia offers, we know we have assembled the right team to deliver the sequel to one of the most enduringly popular titles in the Henson library. Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig are sure to create a film that will continue the legacy of the original and exceed the expectations of our loyal fans,” said Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company. “We are especially enthusiastic to be working with Omnilab Media, a strong and growing force in worldwide film finance and production.” “We are very pleased to be producing this wonderful and fantastical film in Australia.

The ‘Power of the Dark Crystal’ will showcase the depth of talent Australia has to offer up on the international stage, including the extremely gifted directing team of Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig. The Jim Henson Company has consistently delivered an amazing range of entertainment over generations and is an iconic creative studio that we are proud to have partner with us,” added Christopher Mapp from Omnilab Media.

Michael Spierig said, “We feel a tremendous amount of responsibility in telling this story with the same meticulous care that Jim Henson and Frank Oz gave the 1982 original.” Added Peter Spierig, “This is a chance to take the world of puppetry into the modern age by using modern techniques (like motion capture CGI) and the tried and true methods (like puppetry and animatronics) to create a one hundred percent real world that is unique to ‘The Dark Crystal’.”

Set hundreds of years after the events of the first movie when the world has once again fallen into darkness, “Power of the Dark Crystal” follows the adventures of a mysterious girl made of fire who, together with a Gelfling outcast, steals a shard of the legendary Crystal in an attempt to reignite the dying sun that exists at the center of the planet.

ABOUT OMNILAB MEDIA www.omnilab.com.au Omnilab Media is an Australian and New Zealand based globally focused vertically integrated entertainment company involved in the production, visual effects, post production and financing of a diverse range of film and television properties. Amongst the funding deals recently concluded by Omnilab Media, covering both production and P&A financing, are Oliver Stone’s ‘W,’ ‘The Bank Job.’ ‘The Messenger,’ ‘’Bran Nue Dae,’ and the upcoming ‘Dylan Dog: Dead of Night,’ ‘The Loved Ones,’ ‘Tomorrow When the War Began,’ and ‘The Killer Elite.’

Omnilab Media has also created a new digital film company with Kennedy Miller Mitchell (Dr.D Studios) to use groundbreaking digital storytelling, animation and visual effects. The first production will be HAPPY FEET 2, with a range of other bluechip properties in development.


ABOUT AMBIENCE ENTERTAINMENT www.ambienceentertainment.com Ambience Entertainment was originally founded as a post production company in 1999 and in 2003 dipped its toe into the production arena with the creation of The Pop Pups. In 2004 Ambience Entertainment was acquired by Omnilab Media to create content for group and has since grown into one of Australia’s fastest growing independent film and television production companies dedicated to producing compelling film and television programs for local and international broadcasters and audiences.

With a well-earned reputation for quality, Ambience Entertainment specializes in feature films, game shows, children’s programming and animation. Ambience Entertainment is the content and production division of the Omnilab Media, Australia’s largest independently owned vertically integrated media company. This alliance has enabled Ambience Entertainment to develop its own distinctive television and film content with the strategic goal of significantly increasing its production output.

# # #

The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy® nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train” “Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.”

With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment.

The Company’s Henson Alternative brand recently launched the New York run of “Stuffed and Unstrung,” a live puppet improvisational show at the Union Square Theatre.
http://www.henson.com

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Seattle gets a real-life Super Hero - Electron Boy

I covered this story in a post at SF-Fandom's Superhero Movies Forum. The local chapter of the Make-A-Wish foundation gave a 13-year-old boy the wish of a lifetime: they made him a real-life superhero.

What an incredible story that was. Several police departments, the Seattle Sounders, the electric company, the Space Needle, and hundreds of volunteers all worked together to make this boy's dream come true.

I wish I could have been part of the experience, even if only just to hold a sign supporting Electron Boy.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Episode 20 of Middle-earth Talk Radio now available

You nay recall that I had prematurely announced Episode 20 of Middle-earth Talk Radio last week. It was not actually available for download.

You can now listen to Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 20 as a streaming broadcast or download it. The episode was recorded on April 1.

Also, Hawke and I will be doing another live broadcast of "Raw Hobbit" (based on William Shatner's "Raw Nerve" format) later this year at Tolkien Moot in Spokane, WA.

You should fill out the RSVP form if you plan to be there.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Save The Seeker campaign tips

Tip #1: If you are blogging on Wordpress.com, you can use tags to create or populate pages like Save The Seeker. See the Save The Seeker blog for more examples.

Tip #2: If you blog ANYWHERE, please mention ABC Studios and Disney's names. Many companies are now monitoring the Internet for mentions of their names. You can let them know you want them to hear your voice by using "ABC Studios", "Disney", and "Legend of the Seeker" in your blog articles.

Tip #3: Link to as many Save The Seeker sites as you can. Don't make the mistake of just linking to one site. Link to them all!

Tip #4: Link to the Tweets of famous celebrities who join the campaign. For example, Felicia Day wants to Save The Seeker. She has almost 2 million followers. LOTS star Bridget Regan also Retweeted the slogan.

Tip #5: Do NOT link to bad press articles. Entertainment Weekly attacked the Seeker fan community yesterday, obviously hoping to provoke angry reactions. There are plenty of good press reports about the campaign, such as TV Guide's Save The Seeker article, Spoiler TV's Save The Seeker article, and The Examiner's Save The Seeker report.

Tip #6: If you see a Facebook "LIKE" button on any pro-Seeker sites, click on it (if you have a Facebook account). Help get the word out and help show people that these sites are popular. This is a new feature from Facebook and not very many sites have added it yet, but it should appear on more and more.


____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Entertainment Weekly trolling with taunts to Seeker fan community

Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog has taunted fans of Legend of the Seeker with insults, calling us a "small" and "rabid" community. This is clear and obvious attempt to draw angry fans in to comment on their blog, driving up their page views, getting more links, and increasing their advertising revenues.

I am advising Seeker fans to not respond to Entertainment Weekly. That is what they don't.

Don't post any more comments on their blog.

Don't link to the article.

Don't Tweet about it.

Don't express anger or outrage over it.

Just ignore them.

The blog article publishes no new information -- it cites no credible sources. EW's writer is practicing classic yellow journalism.

If ABC Studios decides to cancel the show, we can turn our efforts to asking for a movie or mini-series. We don't have to be silenced by one setback -- IF that setback happens.

Disney and ABC Studios, are you listening?

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Update on the Save The Seeker campaign

So that was not Michael Hurst who Tweeted yesterday, just someone connected with Michael's Website (which is still cool).

In the meantime, The Torch Online and the Examiner have both carried stories about the campaign to save the Seeker.

The Save The Seeker blog has been posting updates frequently as new strategies are developed by the fans.

Fans are buying an ad in Variety, planning a Twitter Takeover on May 1, and are actively contacting U.S. sponsors of the show to ask for their support.

Some more visible Tweeters are also jumping on the bandwagon and retweeting the campaign slogans for fans.

Seeker fans are also voting for the show as Best On TV at the Faxo site. LOTS was leading by a wide margin the last time I checked the rankings.

ABC Studios and the Disney Company are, hopefully, aware of all this given all the emails fans are trying to send their way.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Michael Hurst retweets for Save The Seeker

Michael Hurst, who has directed in at least 5 or 6 Legend of the Seeker episodes and appeared in at least one has just retweeted stunt lady Dayne Porter Chiplin's encouragement to fans of the endangered show.

RT @Daynastunts what ever you guys are doing is obviously helping in some way, im not sure what else you can do, thank you
34 minutes ago via web

RT @Daynastunts Just dont give up hope till the official announcement!!!! Theres a reason why there hasnt been one yet
35 minutes ago via web

Follow Michael's Twitter account: MichaelHurstNow.

Thank you, Michael! We know you love the work you do and we hope you continue to work for a long time to come, but those of us who live outside New Zealand don't have many opportunities to appreciate what you do.

Fellow members of fandom, KEEP ASKING ABC NOT TO GIVE UP!

ABC Domestic Television, if you're reading this, have you checked out Tropins Blog? Look at the last paragraph:

If the show is so popular, then why was it cancelled? Tribune’s machinations may explain part of the problem but it could also be that Hulu and iTunes played a part in the Seeker’s failure to complete his quest. Is it time for ABC to launch a direct-to-Internet channel? Maybe that is a suggestion that the Seeker fans should put forward. It could help ABC save face and maybe spark a revolution in television programming that some feel is inevitable anyway.

That's all I'm sayin' -- FIND A WAY!

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

New Save The Seeker blog

Well, despite the fact that producer Mike Sussman and star Bridget Regan have both paid their respects to a great show, fans of Legend of the Seeker are pressing on with their campaign to save or resurrect the show.

To help people keep up with the details of the campaign, I've created a blog (at someone else's suggestion) called SaveTheSeeker.wordpress.com.

I'm a little behind in adding links to the blogroll. I've put out a call for volunteers to help edit the blog -- please contact me if you're over 18 and want to help maintain the blog.

And I would like to personally thank the owners of these sites for picking up the news about the campaign and running with it:

Legend of the Seeker Fans Raise an Army against ABC
ABC Television Braves Irate Fans over Fantasy Show
Look out, ABC! Here Come the ANGRY Scifi Fans!
Angry Fans Gear up to Demand ABC save the Seeker
Internet Fans Rise up against ABC to save Show
Legend of the Seeker Fans May Boycott ABC Sponsors
Legend of the Seeker Fans Work to Revive Show


____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Seeker fans rally to save their favorite television show

So you've been sleeping under a rock and you just woke up to the news that Legend of the Seeker has just been cancelled. Technically, as the show's hardcore fans are quick to point out, "NOTHING OFFICIAL HAS BEEN SAID YET".

Following that thunderous chorus, fans of the television show are plotting a strategy to convince ABC/Disney to save the show. Among many ideas put forward already, they have launched a petition to Save Our Seeker which (as of this writing) has already collected over 5000 signatures.

Not bad.

SF-Fandom will help as much as I can throw my weight into the battle (I cannot speak for the rest of the team at SF-Fandom -- they are free to follow their hearts in this matter). You can see that I am spreading the word about Save Our Seeker wherever I can (and you have NO IDEA what I can do).

I especially like this banner that one of the fans dreamed up:



I don't know where this is going, but I'll follow the road until I reach the journey's end.

Good luck to us all. :)

I'll post updates to SF-Fandom's Legend of the Seeker online promotion discussion.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

New James Cameron interview about "Avatar"

Well, while Legend of the Seeker fans scrape themselves off the floor over the rumor that the show has been cancelled, we can still rejoice in the enthusiastic support for James Cameron's "Avatar". Here is an interview that was just posted to YouTube.



____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Cool new Legend of the Seeker widget

I don't know how long this widget will work. Hopefully a good long time. SLAM 360/Sander Moses has asked us to pick up a widget that promotes Legend of the Seeker.

Always glad to help out a good television show. We've embedded the widget on our LOTS fan site and on the Xenite Legend of the Seeker Forum home page.

And if your browser supports Flash, you can check out the widget here, too.



____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Warner Brothers announces LoTR Blu-Ray sweepstakes

A Warner Brothers representative dropped by the SF-Fandom forums to announce a Lord of the Rings sweepstakes announcement tied to their upcoming Blu-Ray release for Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" movies.

I mentioned this news in Episode 21 of Middle-earth Talk Radio, which we recorded last night. You can almost here me describe it (sorry about the audio quality -- that will be fixed in an updated version).

The chess set is designed "by The Noble Collection with an ancient map of Middle-earth mounted beneath the playing surface and a base with actual images of the memorable characters and scenes from the thrilling motion picture trilogy."

By the way -- when I said (on the talk show) that no one cared about TORN's birthday, I was only swept up in the passion of the competitive moment. Of course it's great that they've been going strong for 11 years. I check their site often and they are a great bunch of people.

Normally our off-the-cuff remarks are reviewed and edited before the Middle-earth Talk Radio episodes are released for download. I just wanted Hawke to get a scoop up on the Web this time.

So, congratulations to TheOneRing.net on their 11th birthday!

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Episodes 20 and 21 of Middle-earth Talk Radio

For reasons I cannot explain, after Hawke uploaded Episode 20 it didn't quite fit into the new site for Middle-earth Radio. The old site is "dying" and Hawke is moving everything over to a NEW Middle-earth radio site (which, for the time being, can be reached by http://new.middleearthradio.com/.

When the link starts working, you should be able to download Episode 20 from this page (I get only partial content right now).

I was able, however, to download Episode 21 of Middle-earth Talk Radio.

Episode 21 actually carries some late-breaking news. You can almost hear me say it. I asked Hawke to upload the raw, unedited file because I thought it would be cool to get the news out. He normally adjusts the volume on my channel so when he gets around to editing the file he'll fix this.

About 22 minutes into the discussion Hawke asked me to check my microphone setting and he said things improved after that.

Normally you don't get to hear all the banter but I hope that doesn't detract from the show.

So, I hope you can download both shows and enjoy them.

____________________________________________ SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

John Christopher's Tripods FAQ added to Xenite.Org

As we continue to upgrade the Xenite.Org network, we come across all sorts of little issues that have been hiding for a long time. Many years ago I wrote a WorldFAQ for the alt.fan-created-worlds news group about John Christopher's young adult books about the Tripods.

You might remember seeing a BBC television series based on the books. Here are the opening credits from that show:



Well, anyway, either I never uploaded the WorldFAQ to Xenite.Org or else it was lost during one of several server crises. So while updating the network this week I discovered an old copy of the WorldFAQ and I have published it to Xenite.Org.

John Christopher's Tripods is a nice read. It's classic science fiction without all the schlocky cliches that have become common and it lacks the pseudo-grittiness that plagues most current science fiction stories.

Check out the FAQ and if you can find the books, get them.

And while I'm talking about the most massive update to Xenite in years, I should mention that we've also updated our Xena: Warrior Princess Directory (Xena Online Resources). The link submissions queue had not been checked in a long time but it's now been caught up. The site still lists many GeoCities pages. Removing or updating those links will have to wait for another time.

We also shut down the old Hercules and Xena Banner Network. It had stopped working two years ago and I concluded that anyone still trying to connect to the banner server was probably not updating their site. So instead of fixing the problem I decided to just retire the service. If you've been hoping it will come back, I'm sorry.

Finally, we also just updated our Edgar Rice Burroughs fan site. Other sections of Xenite have been updated as well. Too many to mention here.

____________________________________________

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Arthur H. Landis' Camelot

I've been cleaning up old content on the Xenite network and this article, written many years ago, won't fit into the current structure of the domain without a lot of reworking. I may come back to the topic and write a WorldFAQ or feature article some day, but for now I'll just repost the article here because the old URL is going away.

____________________________________________

I don't know if Arthur Landis ever had a heyday. If he did I missed it. I came across the first of his Camelot books in a used bookstore in Atlanta. The book is a paperback with a pretty nice picture by Thomas Barber, Jr. of a man in armor holding a great sword overlooking a castle and a band of warriors. A somewhat attractive and slightly fur-covered woman is holding onto his left arm. I'm not sure you can tell she is covered with fur unless you know to look for it.

I like fantasy but do not like the King Arthur books that seem to have been flooding the market ever since Mary Stewart proved that T.H. White wasn't the only person who could do the job better than Mallory. So, the title threw me off a bit. "A world called camelot," thought I. "Not for me." But then I noticed the floating teddy bear. "This cannot be about King Arthur."

And it's not about King Arthur. It's a fantasy novel disguised as science fiction. Kyrie Fern, Adjuster for the Foundation, comes down to Camelot (whose inhabitants call it Fregis) to check things out. The Foundation is a mysterious benevolent agency that watches over primitive worlds, ensuring that Mankind doesn't destroy his brothers across the stars or some such thing like that. The story is less about how the Foundation intervenes when a world is in trouble than it is about how Kyrie finds the world of his dreams and the love of his life. It's a Fantasy.

Landis uses all sorts of cute little words and names that probably are meant as inside jokes. I'm not sure who the "in" crowd are, mind you. A World Called Camelot was published in 1976, but it was based on an earlier story Landis had published as Let There Be Magick under the pseudonym James R. Keaveny. JRK, AHL, JFK. I'm sure there is a connection in there somewhere.

Oddly, the original book was published by...The Camelot Publishing Company. Weird, huh? It's going to get weirder.

Fern tells us in fairly simple, plain English that he was travelling through a Vermont-style countryside. I've never been to Vermont, and when I think of Vermont I usually confuse it with New Hampshire and remember Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys (where were they from, anyway?). Well, at least I don't think of Maine and those awful accents from Murder, She Wrote (except Jessica didn't have an accent, did you notice?).

So, Kyrie is trundling down a road in Vermont-style countryside that I'm picturing as New Hampshire-style landscape (even though I've never been there, either) and I'm waiting for Ethan Allen and the boys to jump out of the trees and demand that Kyrie give up the cart for the sake of the colonies. You see, Kyrie decides that the world is not really like "Vermont-land" but rather is more like "England-isle". How could the ghost of Allen let that one go by?

You know this story is going to be interesting, however, once you get past the Vermont-land and England-isle stuff. Fern decides that the people who have converted Vermont-land to a faux-Medieval paradise with all their castles would envy the real thing he sees twenty miles ahead of him (through his purple contact lenses which give him telescopic and microscopic vision). By the way, did I mention that Fern has more gadgets than James Bond and Maxwell Smart combined? It's still a fantasy, story, believe me.

"Anyone looking...would see...green ski pants tucked into soft leather boots with golden spurs" Kyrie tells us as he describes himself. He obviously knows he has a reading audience, so we must be reading his memoirs. He finishes this stylistic knightly outfit with "a heavy green shirt opened to the waist in the purported style of the country, and a green jacket and green cap with a contrasting bright red feather." So, one quickly gets the impression that Kyrie is dressed from head to toe in green. I'm not sure, after all the times I've read the story, what the significance is.

Kyrie gives us a little bit of Galactic history. About all I can say is that it doesn't much impact on Camelot-Fregis, except that Fern soon finds out he is on his own (except for a comm-link to an orbiting spaceship). The important thing is that we learn Kyrie was sent to "adjust" the situation because two of the Foundation's spies (called "Watchers") were shown a horrific future in a crystal ball. Magic (or, Magick) works on Camelot, and the Foundation has through two Galactic Centuries not managed to figure out how or why.

Prophesies are never fully explained in the Camelot books, but the Magick is (sort of) finally explained. It works on a molecular level (shades of Arthur C. Clarke). By this time I've been impressed by the remote resemblance of Landis' space-faring Foundation to that of Isaac Asimov's Time-spanning Eternity. I don't see any connection to Asimov's Foundation, except Fern has all these micro-gizmos that would make an Asimovian Foundation Trader's heart flutter.

Landis invents some interesting politics as these stories unfold. There are two continents, one in the north and one in the south, which seem to be divided into Good Guys (the north) and Bad Guys (the south). The Bad Guys are led by a creature called the Kaleen and the Good Guys are aided by little furry creatures called Pug-Boos. But once Kyrie sails to the southern continent, things no longer seem so cut and dried.

I like these stories and have read them time and again. I don't know how well or poorly they sold but if you can find them in a used bookstore somewhere, scoop them up. They are well worth the purchase price. Landis' story is bit bizarre in places, but Fern is an unusual hero who seems to just be having fun in the old-fashioned sense. There's nothing wrong with that.

____________________________________________

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Andrew Niccol returning to genetics-based SciFi film

Andrew Niccol ("The Truman Show", "Gattaca", "S1mOne", "Lord of War") is reportedly developing a new movie called "I'm Mortal" which is set in a near future timescape. Humanity has conquered the aging process and people use time from their lives to pay for goods and services.

MTV has more information.

I'm not sure I would want to live in a world like that. Maybe the movie will show some people become self-sufficient, maybe not. I would certainly prefer self-sufficiency to selling off part of my lifespan.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Australians begin the Borg process ...

Quick! Call Steve Austin! His bionic eye has been found in Australia, but it appears to have been assimilated into Borg technology.

According to Science Daily researchers from the University of South Wales have announced details of a bionic eye device that should help improve vision in people who have suffered "degenerative vision loss caused by retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration."

The device, which is a miniature camera mounted on glasses, apparently wires directly into the retina, sending visual signals that the brain then sorts out.

Our ability to connect to the brain is, I admit, far surpassing the limits I thought would hold steady in my lifetime.

People who are fitted with these types of devices may have to endure a few "Six Million Dollar Man" and Borg jokes, but I'm sure the restoration of useful eyesight will be more than worth it.

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Tad Williams speaks with Xenite.Org

While promoting his new book, Shadowrise, Tad Williams invited Xenite.Org to interview him for the Web. We love interviewing writers and actors so we readily agreed. The team conferred, came up with a list of questions, and I was able to get the ball rolling pretty quickly.

Okay, so Shadowrise was published in March -- which was when all the other Tad Williams interviews appeared. We had a few delays in the process but the interview is now finally live.

Be sure to drop by Xenite.Org and read An Interview with Tad Williams. It's packed full of interesting questions, anecdotes, background information, pictures -- well, if you're familiar with Xenite.Org then you know it's NOT just another interview about a book.

Be sure to let me know what you think. And if you're a Tad Williams fan, we'll appreciate your letting your friends know about the interview. I'm sure they'll be interested, too.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Indiana University scientist challenges Stephen Hawking's black hole theory

So, Stephen Hawking proposed in 1971 (or thereabouts) that black holes will eventually radiate themselves into nothingness (not the supposed nothingness that black holes are because they actually contain a lot of mass). As far as I can tell, Hawking's postulate has been generally accepted by the scientific community. One day the universe will consist of nothing but black holes and then one day after that the universe will consist of nothing but the heat that the black holes radiated away into.

Or something like that.

But now Nikodem Polawski of Indiana University has put some science into a speculative thought that millions of people have shared: What if black holes open out into other universes?.

Poplawski has suggested (in math I'm not qualified to discuss) that the universe could actually be "inside" a black hole that is sucking matter from another universe, and that perhaps all the black holes in our universe are sucking matter into their own universes.

The Big Bang, according to a theory called the Einstein-Rosen bridge, might be a white hole that is channeling energy (and matter) into the universe from some "future" black hole. That is, Poplawski's work combined with everyone else's work suggests that perhaps the universe is recycling matter/energy either from the future or from another universe (which exists in a lattice of universes through which a lot of matter/energy is flowing).

At least, that's my layman's grasp of the concept. White holes supposedly don't exist for very long. Think of all the water flowing out of the bottom of a self-sealing tank very rapidly. That is sort of how a white hole might behave: it drains the contents of something else and then closes up (vanishes).

The universe is supposedly expanding outward (into a nothingness or somethingness that is larger than the universe itself). Most scientists assume that universal expansion will eventually lead to a time when future inhabitants of galactic clusters will only be able to see their own galactic clusters, and even more chronodistant inhabitants of galaxies will only be able to see their own galaxies.

Eventually, everything will supposedly have moved so far away that whatever is left will just die down and stop interacting and all the bajillions of fragments of what was once the universe we see today will vanish.

That seems rather depressing, I suppose, and attempts to quantify the amount of time that elapses before this final fate (maybe 100,000,000,000 years) don't help. The universe just seems to be so finite when viewed in this clinical fashion.

Of course, one wonders how scientists justify their estimates for the size of the universe and how it is behaving. Their observations of the so-called Cosmic Background Radiation seem to confirm that there was a Big Bang-like event at some time in the past.

The problem with measuring the universe by the Cosmic Background Radiation is that it suggests the universe was larger than an infinitismally small point back when it supposedly burst into existence. To resolve that minor difficulty, scientists argue there must have been a period of Inflation soon after the birth of the universe in which space expanded quickly (faster than the speed of light) into what may now constitute about 13,000,000,000 light-years of space -- and then from there continued to expand outward (at less than the speed of light but with an accelerating velocity) toward the boundaries that we believe exist today.

Sound confusing? Yeah, it's all kind of weird science. But I don't have to defend or destroy it. My task is just to let it spin my head around and make me dizzy.

In the meantime, the scientists are still trying to figure it all out for themselves (and the rest of us). Good luck to all. See you in about 100 billion years.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

May the Force amuse you

Variety and other sources including MTV are reporting that LucasFilm Ltd. is planning to disturb the Force with a sitcom based in the Star Wars universe.

Here is an excerpt from the MTV take on the news:

Yesterday, Lucasfilm issued a press release revealing plans for an unusual new "Star Wars" TV series. Building on the success of high-profile parodies from the "Family Guy" and "Robot Chicken" crews, the Lucas camp is planning a sitcom series based on the famous galaxy far, far away. "Chicken" creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich will be "creatively involved"; the show will also feature the writing talents of Brendan Hay ("Frank TV") and direction from Todd Grimes ("Back at the Barnyard").

With the recent news that SyFy will develop a sitcom, I suppose this is the next step in the evolution of science fiction TV. In a few more years we'll probably have science fiction cooking shows, fantasy home design shows, and Girls-and-Geeks game shows (oh, wait, we've already slogged through Beauty and the Geek).

Oh well. Science fiction TV was fun while it lasted. Now I guess we'll all have something to chortle about other than how clueless the Mundanes can be.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Another round of stories on the Neolithic Rhine princess

And the stories just keep on coming! More sites are picking up the news about the excavation of the burial site of a "Rhine princess" (aka the Princess of the Golden Woods) and the nearby City in the Trees.

I'm sure archaeologists will be discussing this news for years to come. So, anyway, here are some excerpts:

Dr. Ernst Voorst, Director of the Reinhard Van Gelder Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology, led an exuberant team in announcing the historic find earlier this week in Basel, Switzerland. Voorst hinted that this discovery vindicates the work that he and his colleague and mentor — the late Dr. Reinhard Van Gelder — had published a few years ago concerning two ancient fortresses on opposing sides of the Rhine Canyon.

Source: Day Loans

Now Professor Bonnet and her mentor, Dr. Voorst, have announced an astonishing discovery that is sure to set the European anthropological and archaeological community abuzz for years to come. A team of experts led by Dr. Voorst has excavated a grave site in a well-hidden part of the Black Forest region they dubbed the “golden wood”. The burial contained only one body, a female, and has been dated to approximately 10,000 BCE. Professor Bonnet, who holds the Chair of Rhine Valley Studies at the Van Gelder Institute, hinted that the body may not be either Neanderthal or modern Human.

Source: The Lobscouse Net

Nestled in what has now become known as the Golden Wood, the white fortress was the bastion of the apparent victors in a war that Voorst and his associates say occurred around 10,000-12,000 years ago. The archaeological community failed to rush to embrace the Voorst-Van Gelder expedition’s findings because they did not uncover any graves or find human remains.

Source: Day Change

It's a pretty big day for science, if you ask me. I'll probably spend many hours analyzing these reports, piecing together the entire complex picture that is slowly emerging. I hope you share that enjoyment, too.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

More news on the Rhine princess from the golden woods

This is turning out to be a pretty exciting day. The news about the excavations in the golden woods along the Rhine river has been spreading like wild fire. I guess a lot of people are as amazed as me that an entire ancient civilization could exist 10,000 years ago in the Black Forest region and we're only now just finding evidence about it.

Here are a few more excerpts from news stories:

Now this week Dr. Voorst has announced a follow up investigation reveals that the western culture apparently lived in trees but — probably at the end of the war — it simply packed up its homes, buried them, and then left. No one seems to know where they went, but one grave has finally been located. The nearly complete remains of a woman dubbed the Princess of the Golden Wood have been exposed for scientific scrutiny.

Source: Scourings

Earlier this week Dr. Voorst and his new team announced they had excavated the grave of a wooden princess in a small forest they call the “golden wood”, a region of the Black Forest that takes on a soft golden hue in the afternoon sunlight. Releasing pictures of the princes and her grave, Voorst and his colleague — French scientist Felecia Bonnet — have rebutted many critics’ doubts about Voorst’s earlier work.

Source: This Press

Now Dr. Voorst is gambling everything — his reputation and the credibility of his and Van Gelder’s institute — on what is sure to be a controversial new report about a “woodland princess” whose grave site led researchers to uncover nearby carefully preserved wooden artifacts — remnants of a prehistoric “city in the trees”.

Source: Cutting Edge

However, members of the expedition team say they have not yet decided whether to make part of the remains available for DNA analysis, which would answer many questions. The notion that a prehistoric war has been confirmed elicits extreme skepticism in the scientific community. “Where are the graves of the warriors?” one archaeologist who has spent 30 years digging around Europe asks in an anonymous news group posting. “Why has no one else documented these finds?”

Source: Eigen Decomposition

Critics of Dr. Voorst’s work suggest he may have overlooked significant information but Voorst’s team are adamantly insisting they have conducting a thorough and trustworthy investigation. The lone grave’s single occupant has been dubbed the “Princess of the Golden Wood” because her remains were so well-preserved. The scientists have not yet decided whether to submit a sample of the nearly perfectly preserved remains for DNA analysis.

Source: The Outlet Detector

As you can see, some controversy has already been stirred up. This makes for good, healthy science. Skeptics have not only a right to be heard, they have an obligation to make themselves heard. But I think it looks like the preponderance of the evidence is on the side of Dr. Voorst and his colleagues.

This could turn out to be another big find like the discovery of Homo Florienensis, the "hobbit" from Indonesia. What do you think?

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.