Dark Forces Book Group

Barrington J. Bayley (1937-2008)

2008-10-15T20:57:00.002-05:00

I received an email from Michael Moorcock that Barrington J. Bailey died yesterday from bowel cancer. He was 71.

When I published Barry on RevSf, we exchanged several interesting emails. He was generous with his time and his work. Barrington J. Bayley, a talented and unheralded writer, never got the break he deserved. He is survived by his wife Joan and two kids.

If you've never read or heard of Barrington J. Bailey, check out the Astounding Worlds of Barrington J. Bailey . Complete with fiction, interviews, and other stuff, the site serves as a brilliant introduction to this important writer.

CrimeWav.com

2008-10-12T01:34:00.003-05:00

Crimewav.com is a relatively new podcast featuring some of today's hottest crime writers reading their own short stories. So far, they've had readings by Megan Abbott, Christa Faust, and Jason Starr, among others. I'd especially recommend Gary Phillips' story, Swift Boats For Jesus. Phillips has a great deep voice for reading and the story is a cynical read perfect for the tail end of this election season.

Amazing Mystery Funnies

2008-10-07T17:11:00.004-05:00

While researching an article, I downloaded Amazing Mystery Funnies Volume 2, Number 7 [Whole # 11] (July, 1939) from the extraordinary Golden Age Comics site. Noteworthy for the first appearance of the Fantom of the Fair, one of the earliest masked comic book heroes, the tale featured the dynamic art of creator Paul Gustavson. His work offered clean lines and sensational action. It's obvious how this character influenced the countless masked heroes to come and helped to spawn an entire industry.

Gustavson's work alone would be enough to makes this into an impressive issue, but there is also a sensational two-tone crime story from the legendary Bill Everett (creator of the Sub-Mariner and co-creator of Daredevil).

Interestingly, Will Eisner's Spirit premiered roughly one year later in 1940!

The remainder of the comic contains a smattering of mostly quality western, humor, science fiction and even prose tales. This was back in the era of the 52 page cross-genre comic book anthology!

Do yourself a favor, visit Golden Age Comics and download this gem along with thousands of other great titles.

Gmail backup

2008-10-05T16:13:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's New York Times had a scary article about the very real possibility of being locked out of your Gmail account.

Discussion forums abound with tales of woe from Gmail customers who have found themselves locked out of their account for days or even weeks. They were innocent victims of security measures, which automatically suspend access if someone tries unsuccessfully to log on repeatedly to an account. The customers express frustration that they can’t speak with anyone at Google after filling out the company’s online forms and waiting in vain for Google to restore access to their accounts.

The best strategy to deal with this danger is backing up your Gmail account. Along those lines, the helpful folks over at Lifehacker offered up this method for Gmail backup in Windows using fetchmail.

Problem is that there are at least 15% of all computer users that don't use Windows. For the rest of us that live in the *nix (unix, linux, BSD, Mac OS X, etc.) world, I discovered George Donnelly's helpful guide.

It's important to know that Gmail limits how much can be downloaded at one time, so you might have to do your initial backup a few times to catch all your data.

Hopefully, Gmail will never be a bother, but it's always good to be prepared.

Books received 10/3/08 Part Two

2008-10-03T17:32:00.002-05:00

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams

Promo copy:

"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

From White Zombie to Dawn of the Dead; from Resident Evil to World War Z, zombies have invaded popular culture, becoming the monsters that best express the fears and anxieties of the modern west. The ultimate consumers, zombies rise from the dead and feed upon the living, their teeming masses ever hungry, ever seeking to devour or convert, like mindless, faceless eating machines. Zombies have been depicted as mind-controlled minions, the shambling infected, the disintegrating dead, the ultimate lumpenproletariat, but in all cases, they reflect us, mere mortals afraid of death in a society on the verge of collapse.

Gathering together the best zombie literature of the last three decades from many of today's most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror, including Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, George R. R. Martin, Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Joe R. Lansdale, The Living Dead, covers the broad spectrum of zombie fiction. The zombies of The Living Dead range from Romero-style zombies to reanimated corpses to voodoo zombies and beyond.

DC Goes Ape

Promo copy:

Written by Otto Binder, John Broome, Gardner Fox and others; Art by Carmine Infantino, Wayne Boring, George Papp, Ross Andru, C.C. Beck, Jim Starlin and others; Cover by Arthur Adams
You'll go bananas for this new title collecting simian stories from SUPERBOY #76, SUPERMAN #138, THE FLASH (VOL. 1) #127, DETECTIVE COMICS #339 and 482, HAWKMAN #16, WONDER WOMAN #170, STRANGE ADVENTURES #201, SHAZAM #9, SUPER FRIENDS #30 and THE FLASH (VOL. 2) #151!

I wrote a lengthy blog entry about this back in May when this book was announced.

Caine Black Knife by Matthew Stover

Promo copy:

In Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle, Matthew Stover created a new kind of fantasy novel, and a new kind of hero to go with it: Caine, a street thug turned superstar, battling in a future where reality shows take place in another dimension, on a world where magic exists and gods are up close and personal. In that beautiful, savage land, Caine is an assassin without peer, a living legend born from one of the highest-rated reality shows ever made. That season, Caine almost single-handedly defeated–and all but exterminated–the fiercest of all tribes: the Black Knives. But the shocking truth of what really took place during that blood-drenched adventure has never been revealed . . . until now.

Thirty years later, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph–some would say greatest crime–at the request of his adopted brother Orbek, the last of the true Black Knives. But where Caine goes, danger follows, and he soon finds himself back in familiar territory: fighting for his life against impossible odds, with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance.

Just the way Caine likes it.

See Part One here.

Books received 10/3/08 Part One

2008-10-03T17:23:00.003-05:00

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Getting To Know You by David Marusek

Promo copy:

Not since William Gibson and Bruce Sterling galvanized science fiction in the 1980s has the emergence of a new writer been heralded with such acclaim as that attending David Marusek, whose brilliant first novel, Counting Heads, appeared to rave reviews in 2005.

Now, in this collection of ten stories, Marusek's fierce imagination and dazzling extrapolative gifts are on full display. Five of the stories, including the Sturgeon Award-winning "The Wedding Album"-- a shattering look at the intended human consequences of advanced technology-- are set in the same future a Counting Heads. But all ten showcase Marusek's talent for literate, provocative science fiction of the very highest order.

The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan

Promo copy:

Named by the New York Times as "one of science fiction's bright young lights" and winner of the Philip K. Dick and Arthur C. Clarke Awards, Richard Morgan has vaulted to the pinnacle of the science fiction world in just a few short years. Now in The Steel Remains, the first in a trilogy, he turns his talents to epic fantasy, crafting a darkly violent adventure sure to thrill old fans and captivate new readers.

After the Downfall by Harry Turtledove

Promo copy:

1945: Russian troops have entered Berlin, and are engaged in a violent orgy of robbery, rape, and revenge...

Wehrmacht officer Hasso Pemsel, a career soldier on the losing end of the greatest war in history, flees from a sniper's bullet, finding himself hurled into a mysterious, fantastic world of wizards, dragons, and unicorns. There he allies himself with the blond-haired, blue-eyed Lenelli, and Velona, their goddess in human form, offering them his knowledge of warfare and weaponry in their genocidal struggle against a race of diminutive, swarthy barbarians known as Grenye.

But soon, the savagery of the Lenelli begins to eat at Hasso Pemsel's soul, causing him to question everything he has long believed about race and Reich, right and wrong, Ubermenschen and Untermenschen. Hasso Pemsel will learn the difference between following orders... and following his conscience.

The Surrogates by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele

Promo copy:

The year is 2054, and life is reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the personal surrogate, android substitutes that let users interact with the world without ever leaving their homes. It's a perfect world, and it's up to Detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford of the Metro Police Department to keep it that way. But to do so they’ll need to stop a techno-terrorist bent on returning society to a time when people lived their lives instead of merely experiencing them.

The Surrogates is a story about progress and whether there exists a tipping point at which technological advancement will stop enhancing and start hindering our lives. It is also a commentary on identity, the Western obsession with physical appearance, and the growing trend to use science as a means of providing consumers with beauty on demand.

More in Part Two.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist review

2008-10-03T08:29:00.004-05:00

My review of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist now appears on Moving Pictures.

Sollet and Screenwriter Lorene Scafaria consciously and very deliberately unveil this sweet, remarkably feminist yet egalitarian romantic tale, hitting the right notes at all the proper times into a film that plays light years beyond its peers. Reminiscent of John Cusak in The Sure Thing (1985) and Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza (1988), Cera and Dennings dominate the screen, promising even better things ahead for this duo

More...

Watch Trailer for NICK AND NORAH’S INFINTE PLAYLIST
by SonyPictures

DVDs received 10/01/08

2008-10-02T13:09:00.005-05:00

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Ray Harryhausen Gift Set

Promo copy:
The six-disc DVD boxed gift set features two-disc special editions of It Came From Beneath Sea, Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, and 20 Million Miles to Earth: 50th Anniversary Edition. Each film is available in a brilliant colorized version, in addition to the pristine, digitally-restored black & white original version, and viewers are able to toggle between the two as they please. Also included in the gift set is a collectible Ymir figurine based on Ray Harryhausen's original 1957 hand-crafted design and signed by Ray Harryhausen himself.

I previously reviewed these editions of It Came From Beneath Sea and Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (The 50th Anniversary Edition)

Promo copy:

The single-disc DVD comes loaded with special features including audio commentary by Ray Harryhausen, visual effects experts Phil Tippett and Randall William Cook, author Steve Smith and producer Arnold Kunert; a documentary; six featurettes, and more.

Besides, this film featured the first appearance of Harryhausen's legendary fighting skeleton. That alone makes it a must for any geek!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Promo copy:

One of cinema's greatest adventure heroes is back in this latest chapter of the immensely popular INDIANA JONES franchise! Directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Frank Marshall, with George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy as executive producers, the smash hit stars Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone and John Hurt, all following Indy on a perilous adventure to find the coveted Crystal Skull of Akator. Utterly packed with exciting bonus features, this may just be the biggest DVD and Blu-ray release of the year!

I reviewed the movie back when it played in theaters.

And the most exciting for last:

Quark-The Complete Series

Promo copy:

A spoof of science fiction films and TV series, these are the adventures of Adam Quark, captain of a United Galactic Sanitation Patrol ship. His cohorts include Gene/Jean, a "transmute" with male and female characteristics; a Vegeton (a highly-evolved plant-man) named Ficus; and Andy the Android and Betty and Betty (who always argue over who's the clone of the other). Based at Space Station Perma One are Otto Palindrome and The Head. Though Quark is supposed to stick to his sanitization patrols, he and his crew often meet adventure with such colorful space denizens as the evil High Gorgon (head of the villainous Gorgons), Zoltar the Magnificent, and Zargon the Malevolent.

I blogged about this in August.

Bladerunner 2

2008-09-29T19:08:00.004-05:00

Not just no, but hell no.

This weekend I received an e-mail from /Film reader Tanner C. informing me that one of the screenwriters of Eagle Eye was working on a screenplay for Blade Runner 2. I spent the weekend trying to get confirmation, and thanks to my friend Frosty at Collider who was able to get in touch with a second person who was also at the event, I was able to confirm that the following was actually said. But before you throw a hissy fit. let me fill you in on all the details and assure you that nothing is being developed by the studio itself, or with the studio’s involvement.

Although I disagree with the article's author -- I don't believe Bladerunner is perfect -- it remains one of my top three all-time favorite movies in any genre. For all its faults, it remains a visionary work no matter the version, and one of the movies that had the biggest impact on me. The very thought that someone would even attempt a sequel makes me want to bellow with rage.

Finally, a Texas politician speaks the truth...

2008-09-29T13:56:00.000-05:00

"Like the Iraq war and patriot act, this bill is fueled by fear and haste," said Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas on the Bailout Bill.

Linux/Unix Cartoons

2008-09-28T17:57:00.003-05:00

I ran across this entertaining site with cartoons that make references to Linux and Unix. LinuxToon reprints selections from Doonesbury, Dilbert, Robotman, Foxtrot, Dr. Fun, and even some Norwegian strips!

A Dream of Vandermeers!

2008-09-23T11:21:00.004-05:00

Vandermeers hard at work on what I can only assume is a new literary theory!

Last night, I had this long, complex dream about Jeff and Ann Vandermeer. The gist of the dream was that they took a group of diner-goers hostage in order to explain their latest literary theory. Not surprisingly, no one understood it. Frustrated, the duo planned on killing a hostage an hour until someone comprehended it.

Since I seemingly grok Jeff's books (and presumably the only one in the vicinity stupid enough to help), the cops called me in to decipher the theory. Problem was that it was complete unintelligible, When it became obvious that I had no idea what the hell they were talking about, the couple kissed and similar to the beginning of Pulp Fiction, Ann stood on the table pointing her gun at people. Before she could scream "Any of you fucking pricks move, and I'll execute every motherfucking last one of ya!", I woke up.

Some weird ass shit there.

My grandfather and Rocky Horror

2008-09-19T17:38:00.006-05:00

In the Cleveland Plain Dealer blog, reporter John Petkovic wrote about the origins of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sandwiched between the seminal influences of Universal Monsters and sci-fi kitsch, Petkovic featured this tidbit:

Pinup bondage queens: In the 1950s, New York photographer Irving Klaw spawned the careers of Bettie Page and other garter-and-lingerie pinup queens by shooting them in campy scenes full of whips and spanking and high heels.

Some Palin weirdness

2008-09-17T17:46:00.005-05:00

[UPDATE 9/18 11:20 AM: The Tech-Ex post is now available but with no explanation for the disruption. Wikileaks is still not loading.]

As I often do during my day, I checked my Google Reader to see what was going on with my favorite blogs. Tech-Ex included an entry with the heading "Hackers Break into Palin's Yahoo! Email."

In case you can't read it, the post says:

Sarah Palin, John McCain's running-mate, has come under fire for using her private Yahoo! email address for state business. The reason? As a public official she's supposed to use her official email address (which is, of course, subject to laws requiring the retention of government records). She even has a Blackberry, so why would she even need to use Yahoo! mail?

At any rate, the hacker group Anonymous, famous for taking on the Church of Scientology, said Wednesday it had hacked into a second Palin Yahoo! account, and shipped off screenshots and emails to Wikileaks, the web site started with the intention of allowing whistleblowers to anonymously release government and corporate documents, "an uncensorable version of Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. "

Sounds like a good place to send them, if in fact Palin was hiding anything.

Here’s the announcement from Wikileaks (someone seems to be firing back at Wikileaks as it is unreachable at the time of this writing).

Circa midnight Tuesday the 16th of September (EST) Wikileaks’ sources loosely affiliated with the activist group ‘anonymous’ gained access to U.S. Republican Party Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account gov.palin@yahoo.com. Governor Palin has come under criticism for using private email accounts to avoid government transparency mechanisms. The zip archive made available by Wikileaks contains screen shots of Palin’s inbox, example emails, address book and two family photos. The list of correspondence, together with the account name, appears to re-enforce the criticism.

That was enough to send me to Tech-Ex and read more.

Strange. The page is missing, but was yet to be deleted from Google Reader. I decided to click on the link within the Google Reader entry for the Wikileaks info.

Similar to as reported in the Tech-Ex entry, Wikileaks is still unresponsive. I got the same results after attempting to reload the page several times. I also go the same results when I tried to load the main Wikileaks page.

I'm not saying she nor the Republican Party had anything to do with this, but what the hell?

And for those who can't read the final bit of small type at the end of the first image, here's what else Tech-Ex had to say:

While, of course, it would be easy to fake an email address like this, the quantity of emails, the contacts list, and the fact that Wired got a response confirming at least one email leads me to believe it's not a fake.

Amy McCorkell, whom Palin appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in 2007, confirmed to Wired that one of the emails was legitimate.

The e-mail, a message of support to Palin, tells her not to let negative press get to her and asks Palin to pray for McCorkell, who writes that "I need strength to 1. keep employment, 2. not have to choose."

Be sure to check out the Wired article while you still can!

The Quiller Memorandum

2008-09-16T22:36:00.005-05:00

Today's New York Times had a little article on the 1966 film of Adam Hall's novel The Quiller Memorandum, interestingly looking at the film as an artifact of a 60's Berlin digging itself out of the rubble of World War II.

I'm basically mentioning this as a heads up to Derek, who I know likes the Quiller books as much as I do. They fall almost exactly in between Fleming and Le Carre, also reminiscent of Deighton's Harry Palmer books---action-packed spy novels, but with a smartly introspective protagonist. One of Hall's quirks that catches me up each time I read one of his novels is his tendency to cut away in the middle of a scene, usually to reflect damage to Quiller--if I remember right there is one book in which he is in a hotel room about to open a door, next sentence he's in a hospital bed, and only slowly do you get that there was a bomb behind the hotel room door.

Anyway, the movie looks pretty cool, with a screenplay by Harold Pinter and an international cast of stars. George Segal as Quiller is a little off putting, but Segal was a pretty good actor back then--I think I'll have to put this one on my Netflix list and check it out.

The End?

2008-09-15T15:13:00.004-05:00

It's sad when what you know-to-be-true is painfully documented in an lengthy, well-written article from a prestigious magazine.

The demise of publishing has been predicted since the days of Gutenberg. But for most of the past century—through wars and depressions—the business of books has jogged along at a steady pace. It’s one of the main (some would say only) advantages of working in a “mature” industry: no unsustainable highs, no devastating lows. A stoic calm, peppered with a bit of gallows humor, prevailed in the industry.

Survey New York’s oldest culture industry this season, however, and you won’t find many stoics. What you will find are prophets of doom, Cassandras in blazers and black dresses arguing at elegant lunches over What Is to Be Done. Even best-selling publishers and agents fresh from seven-figure deals worry about what’s coming next. Two, five years from now—who knows? Life moves fast in the waning era of print; publishing doesn’t.

Since my Mojo Press days in the mid-1990s, I've argued that the entire dinosaur-like publishing industry needed to change or be eaten alive by the newer mammalian media. I'm not saying that books will disappear, just the major publishers with their archaic methods.

I've long been concerned that Amazon will simultaneously save the industry and destroy it. Now others agree.

The ultimate fear is that the Kindle could be a Trojan horse. Right now, Amazon is making little or nothing on Kindle books. Lay down your $359 and you can get most books for $9.99. Publishers list that same Kindle version for about $17.99, though, and—as with all retailers—charge Amazon roughly half that price for it. Which means that Amazon keeps only a dollar on each book, while the publishers make $9.

But Amazon may be offering a sweet deal now in order to undercut publishers later. If their low, low prices succeed in making e-books the dominant medium, they can pay publishers whatever they want. “The concern is they want to corner the market,” explains one books executive, and then force publishers to accept a genuine 50 percent discount. “If they took over as little as 10 to 20 percent of the market,” says an agent, “publishers simply would not be able to exist.”

This anonymous quote near the end of the article sums up my long-running feelings over publisher reactions to the changing world.

“We’re an industry more willing to watch the boat sink than rock it a wee bit.” —ONE FRUSTRATED PUBLISHER

It does seem to be an industry bent on suicide. Possible solutions exist out there, but will only happen if the authors, publishers, and booksellers work together and stop pointing fingers of blame. I'm tired of hearing how things use to be and how bad they are now. The "good old days" of publishing are gone and ain't coming back. It's time to re-invent the wheel, to figure the new publishing dynamic.

With "The End," New York writer Boris Kachka produced an excellent eulogy to the way things use to be.

(Thanks to Mark London Williams for the link.)

Burn After Reading review

2008-09-12T11:03:00.002-05:00

My review of the latest Coen Bros film, Burn After Reading, appears at Moving Pictures.

Similar in tone to the Danny DeVito/Bette Midler vehicle Ruthless People (1986), except with a superior cast and script, Burn After Reading relies on the humor inherent in stupid, unlikable people in untenable situations behaving badly. The characters engage in one moronic action after another, often inducing groans and eye-rolling in the helpless viewer.

Continued...

Robert Downey Jr Quote

2008-09-10T10:52:00.005-05:00

“I'm crazy about movies. It's why I became an actor. I could cry watching C.H.U.D. (Cannibal Humanoid Underground Dwellers). I buy into movies. I love it." -- Robert Downey, Jr., "I Am Iron Man", a behind-the-scenes documentary from the Iron Man DVD.

Baker's Dozen with Patrice Sarath

2008-09-07T18:16:00.004-05:00

For my 13th Baker's Dozen interview, Gordath Wood novelist Patrice Sarath and I discussed first novels, horses, day jobs, and why it's okay to suck.

As an active member of the Slug Tribe, an Austin writers group, and a workshop teacher, what advice do you offer for newer writers attempting their first novel? Do you find that teaching and working with other writers helps you with your own writing?

Just write. Writing is hard, but it gets easier.
Be consistent. Write every night or on a schedule you can live with. You don't need eight hours of empty time to write. You'll just end up wasting about seven hours of that.
Know the difference between rituals that get you in the right frame of reference to write, and mere procrastination.
Dare to suck. Everyone does, and everyone gets better.
Something I have seen novices do over the years (and have done myself) is they write below their ability. If you think that a particular market will be "easy" to break into, you'll waste your time writing down to that market. You won't sell anything that you think is dreck, so why write it and submit to a market you hold in contempt? Write up instead. Stretch yourself and your abilities.
I love teaching because it's a way to pay it forward. I know that people say, "you can't teach writing," and I think that's true, that writing can't be taught. However, writing can be learned, and workshops are a great way to learn. I like the camaraderie of workshops too, the sense that you're all in it together. And everyone learns how to critique their own work by critiquing others, so I highly recommend getting into a writer's group or workshop to learn that skill.

Forthcoming books

2008-09-04T19:08:00.005-05:00

At our previous meeting (and shame on you for not being there), we determined the selections for the remainder of the year.

Our schedule through the end of the year:

September 10 Elric: The Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock (Del Rey edition)
October 8 The Prestige by Christopher Priest

November 12 The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá
December 10 The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard

As always, we meet at 7 PM at the Flightpath. Visit the Dark Forces home page for more details.

(September's meeting is the group's 8th anniversary and January's selection will be our 100th book! Visit the Dark Forces home page for a complete listing of previous selections.)

East Bound and Down

2008-09-02T17:48:00.006-05:00

Sad news that Jerry Reed has died. I thought about him just the other day. I was watching Hurricane Gustav coverage and somebody mentioned that the storm was heading over Thibodaux, Louisiana and I spent the next couple of minutes trying to figure out why I knew that town's name. The answer, I finally remembered, was Reed's great song Amos Moses ("about 45 minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana/lived a man named Doc Milsap and his pretty wife Hannah").

I'm not a huge country music fan, but Jerry Reed is some of the good stuff---one of those good natured artists that transcends genre. Besides having an incredibly distinctive voice, when I was growing up, Reed was one of the kings of the novelty song--Amos Moses, When You're Hot You're Hot, She Got the Goldmine (I Got The Shaft). Not to mention starring in Smokey and The Bandit (and stealing The Survivors out from under Robin Williams and Walter Matthau if you remember that obscure movie constantly shown on HBO in the 80s) .

Star Trek: The Original Series - The Complete Second Season

2008-09-01T09:46:00.003-05:00

Brandy and I were lucky enough to review the remastered second season.

Initially, their efforts centered primarily on digitally remastering the original show's negatives. As worked progressed, they re-recorded the scores in 5.1 surround stereo. Perhaps most dramatically, the production team re-imagined and re-shot all the special effects. Despite these changes, the episodes retain every story element and piece of dialogue from the originally-aired viewings, staying faithful to the intent of the creators. This is no Star Wars, where Lucas added additional scenes, reinterpreted, and often changed the intent of the original stories. These new versions are both vintage and fresh.

The fundamental element of Star Trek's success, the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, fully blossoms during the second season. So when the alternate reality events of the fourth episode ("Mirror, Mirror") unfold, we respond with proper shock at the mirror world incarnations of the established characters. When Kirk and McCoy convince the bearded, alternate Spock of the logic of allowing them to return to their own dimension -- much like the behavior of the established Spock, we are also unsurprised.

If you haven't had the chance to see these re-mastered gems, I recommend it highly.

Short soundless preview of the remastered "Mirror, Mirror" from TrekMovie.com

My review of the Roku Netflix Movie Player

2008-08-29T11:16:00.002-05:00

This excerpted review of the Roku player appears in its entirety at Moving Pictures.

The small, innocuous-looking device (roughly paperback book-size) takes less than ten minutes to set up. Clear and concise instructions assume little or no technical expertise. The player connects to almost any television either directly or through an RF modulator, which is readily available at most electronics retailers. The videos can be accessed by a direct ethernet or wi-fi connection. Depending on your Internet access speed, the video will play at VHS (tested at 384/kbps) or DVD (8.0 Mbps) quality.

The Roku's main strength comes primarily from the extensive and varied Netflix library and the player's ease of use. Although numerous, many of the Netflix selections resemble the dredges found in Wal-Mart dollar bins: long-forgotten TV shows, inferior 1980s John Hughes knockoffs, third-tier chop sockey and made-for-cable documentaries. Among the detritus, however, several gems emerge, including Oscar winners, recent feature films, classic comedies, quality kids fare and popular television shows, both U.S. and British. These videos contain none of the DVD extras or commentaries and, surprisingly, lack closed-captioning. The interface allows for rewind/fast forward and scene selection, and remembers where the viewer stopped watching, even days or weeks later.

While not perfect, the $99 Roku Netflix Movie Player grants a tantalizing glimpse of television's future: viewer-controlled content. Buoyed by the persistent Internet rumors of Roku including Hulu.com and YouTube connections by the end of the year, this affordable option presents one of the most exciting advancements in home entertainment since the advent of the DVD.

The Pythons Couldn't Have Done Any Better

2008-08-27T23:12:00.001-05:00

This is the funniest thing I've seen all week.

GADZOOKS!

2008-08-27T16:45:00.004-05:00

Though not listed on the DC website, Amazon is offering Showcase Presents Ambush Bug Vol. 1 for a March 10, 2009 release.

Although the entry doesn't list the exact contents, the book will apparently be some 488 pp. 488 pp of Ambush Bug all between two covers! I can't wait.

Cheeks, hang on! We're comin', buddy! We'll be there soon!