While the group of friends at Lake Geneva imagined the ghoulish possibilities of galvanism, one young woman was so horrified by the idea of reanimating corpses that she subsequently had a dream in which she saw “the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together.” This dream inspired her to write a horror story in which a “mad scientist” creates a monster out of dead body parts, a monster that wreaks havoc and kills innocents. The author is Mary Shelley. The story, of course, is Frankenstein. Considered by many to be the first true work of science fiction, it was certainly the world’s first cautionary tale about the perils of science messing around with life.

There are other examples in a post at Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Author Laura H. Kahn wants to encourage scientists to write more fiction, so that stories about science could be more informative, and maybe a little less horrifying. Link -Thanks, Janice!

Is this the latest fashion style, or are these poor models being held hostage by some cult leader fashion designer and forced to strut up and down the runway? Maybe they’re trying out for the henchman position, and they’re competing for who looks best in the costume.

The truth is these are a few of the outfits from Thom Browne’s latest designer fashion line, and he admits that the line was influenced by science fiction.

The two outfits pictured above are actually the most tame in the collection, so do yourself a favor and hit the link to see the rest of these far out fashions. It’s like looking through images from the Henchman’s Ball.

Link  –via Laughing Squid

This little short film appears to be a teaser for a longer story by effects designer Aaron Sims. If he is trying to raise interest in getting a studio to fund a feature film, this is the way to do it. Wouldn’t you like to see the rest of the story? Link -via Geeks Are Sexy

Man, I used to love me some Buck Rogers In The 25th Century when I was a kid, and not just because I had a serious crush on co-star Erin Gray! The sci-fi was just far out enough to hold your attention without making you learn an encyclopaedic amount of factoids, and the fashion was dy-no-mite!

All kidding aside, as a kid growing up in the 80s Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica fed my geeky addiction to sci-fi like no other show could, and kept me firmly planted in front of the television, my mind racing at the possibilities presented in each episode.

Head to the link to find a bunch of sci-fi elements Buck Rogers predicted would become a part of mankind’s future. They’re hilarious and mostly outdated, although if any of them do come true the future will be a scary place indeed!

Link

The world's oldest profession meets science fiction. That's the vision of Dennis Hof, the owner of two of Nevada's most notorious brothels and star of the HBO documentary Cathouse.

Henry Brean of the Las Vegas Review-Journal has the story:

The reality television star and outspoken sex merchant recently bought a rundown bordello 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas and unveiled plans to renovate and reopen it with a science fiction theme.

He is calling it Alien Cathouse and promising "girls from another world."

Hof has turned to an old friend to plan the costumes and decor: Hollywood Madam turned Pahrump resident Heidi Fleiss.

"She's the chief alien design queen," he said.

Link (Image: David Stroud/Las Vegas Review-Journal) - via io9

This infographic features all the core information you need to know about nearly 50 years of Doctor Who. It’s easy to read, reduces the series to three major elements (Doctor, Companion and Foes), and won’t hurt your eyes like watching decades worth of episodes in order to get caught up.

Check out the full length version at the link below, it’s all you really need to know about everyone’s favorite Time Lord. I wonder why the 8th Doctor never battled any Daleks?

Link –via Geekologie

Of course you want to visit Pandora! We all do! But since it’s a fictional planet, maybe the next best thing would be to visit the location where Avatar was filmed. You can do that, because it was in the Keahua Arboretum in Hawaii. The arboretum is chock-full of lush and exotic plant life, just like Pandora -without the Na’vi or the man-eating monsters. Find out eleven more locations where your favorite sci-fi movies were shot at TravelSupermarket. Link -Thanks, Danny!

In 1978, Glen A. Larson launched his ambitious space saga Battlestar Galactica. It was a grand story of a clash of civilizations and battle for survival. But its ratings could not justify its enormous production expense, and the show folded. A brief return in 1980 offered hope, but that came to nothing. For a generation, Battlestar Galactica fans lobbied for a revival and their efforts finally came to fruition in a re-imagined version of the show in a 2003 miniseries, followed by four seasons of storytelling. Here are eleven facts that you might not know about that latter series.

1. Laura Roslin’s swearing-in ceremony as the President of the Twelve Colonies was modeled after that of Lyndon Johnson onboard Air Force One after the assassination of President Kennedy.

2. Grace Park initially auditioned for role of Dualla. She was turned down, but told by directors to audition for the role of Starbuck. She did so, but was instead offered the role of Boomer.

3. At 22, Katee Sackoff was much younger than what the directors had in mind for Starbuck, but she aced the audition and was given the role. The decision to make Starbuck a woman although the original Starbuck had been a man was deeply controversial among BSG fans. Dirk Benedict, the actor who played Starbuck in the 1978 series, strongly and repeatedly objected to this change. But eventually he and Sackoff came to an understanding that allowed them to work together.

4. Sackoff has a tattoo of the Latin words bona fiscalia, which means “public property.” It’s a reminder to her that she is a role model to people and that this entails a high responsibility.

5. Producers wanted Lucy Lawless to audition for the role of Colonel Tigh’s adulterous wife. She turned them down, but was interested in the role of the Cylon agent D’Anna Biers.

6. Paul Campbell, who played Billy, was killed off in the episode “Sacrifice.” Producers wanted Campbell to take a 5-year contract, but he wouldn’t. Since they couldn’t be sure that his character would be in the story in the long run, they decided to kill him off so that they didn’t have to worry about Campbell leaving the show and disrupting the story arc.

(Video Link)

7. Chief Tyrol’s pro-union speech in “Lay Down Your Burdens” is a partial paraphrase of Mario Savio’s 1964 speech at the Berkeley Free Speech Movement.

8. At the end of “Maelstrom,” Admiral Adama wrecks a model ship in a fit of rage. This was one of the most expensive scenes in the show because that action was ad libbed. The model ship was a high-quality one borrowed from a museum. Olmos didn’t know this and treated it like a cheap prop — a decision that had expensive consequences.

9. Bill Adama’s office features a painting of a battle scene. It depicts the First Cylon War and was composed by Ken Rabehl.

10. The deadly accident scene in the Galactica hangar that takes place in the episode “Act of Contrition” was inspired by the terrible fire that almost sank the USS Forrestal in 1967.

11. One minor detail that sets BSG apart from other shows is that the main characters dress like ordinary people in the Western world of the 21st Century. Deborah Everton, the costume designer, made this decision to help viewers relate to the characters easier.

Sources:
Bassom, David. Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion. London: Titan Books, 2005. Print.
Storm, Jo. Frak You!: The Ultimate Unauthorized Guide to Battlestar Galactica. Chicago: ECW, 2007. Print.

Images: Cecil Stoughton, British Sky Broadcasting, NBC Universal, Propworx, US Navy.

(YouTube Link)

How’s this for a collaboration-Neil Gaiman, his wife and member of the Dresden Dolls Amanda Palmer, electronic guru Moby and Stephin Merritt from The Magnetic Fields stop by the Late Late Show and played Science Fiction Double Feature from the Rocky Horror Picture Show!

–via ComicsAlliance

]]> http://www.neatorama.com/2011/11/03/ultimate-geek-jam-neil-gaiman-does-rocky-horror/feed/ 9 http://www.neatorama.com/2011/10/31/epic-scale-halo-alien-costume/ http://www.neatorama.com/2011/10/31/epic-scale-halo-alien-costume/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:37:43 +0000 Zeon Santos http://www.neatorama.com/?p=55144

What would you think if you saw this thing walking down the street, eight feet tall and full of sinister snarl? Personally, i’d steer clear unless I had a squad of Spartans by my side, you know, like the ones found in the HALO video game franchise? (Thanks for the nerd edit Bearfoot!)

Hit the link and see the process from mere mortal to becoming this amazing alien creature.

Link

Three astronauts touch down after being cryogenically frozen for years during their space flight. This is a choose-your-own-adventure type video, where you select what happens next. Of course, if you are like me, the premise will immediately remind you of a certain Charleton Heston film from the early ’70s. -via the Presurfer

Ahh NYC, the sprawling metropolis that inspired Metropolis, a gritty gothic landscape that inspired Gotham City, the home of X-Men, Ninja Turtles and Futurama’s Planet Express.

In honor of the New York Comic Con taking place this weekend, here’s a geeky tour guide’s dream map of the city, showing where things would, should and might someday be located, complete with color coded genre so you can tell whether the location is from a comic book, movie, tv show or video game.

Now go forth and see the mundane real life counterparts of these fantastic locations for yourself!

Link

Through the eyes of Robbi Rodriguez, pop culture icons such as Doctor Who, Darth Vader and the Rocketeer are imbued with frenetic energy, rendered in pen and ink with  jagged outlines and a roughness which is counterbalanced by sharp, smooth detail. Take your eyeballs on a tour of the pic gallery posted on ComicsAlliance, then head to Robbi’s website for more ocular delights!

Link -via ComicsAlliance

(YouTube Link)

I’m sure you’re thinking “Gee, just what we need, another deleted scene…”, but this one’s a little different than the rest. In this scene from The Empire Strikes Back, featuring Han and Leia bickering and oozing all kinds of sexual tension, you get to see Harrison Ford’s acting sound forced and a bit hackneyed, which may result in feelings of disillusionment and sadness. Not all deleted scenes hit the cutting room floor due to time constraints, some were removed to avoid fan heartbreak!

-via Ology

If you have ever seen Adventure Time on Cartoon Network, then you are already familiar with Oliver’s surreal and quirky cartoon style. If you love cartoons but have never seen Adventure Time then you’re missing out on a great show! Oliver tackles pop culture icons from cartoons, video games, and the movies and brings his own stylistic simplicity to the characters, then his bold use of color  completes each piece and really makes them pop. In the age of digital art Oliver is keeping it old school! Check out the artist’s blogsite for many more examples of his cute and unique style.

Link -via ComicsAlliance

The best way to live long in prosper is with a nice warm Star Trek quilt. I think you will agree when you check out this gallery of quilts all featuring characters from the original Star Trek, made by The Alligator Bride.

Link -via Geeks are Sexy

Dan Meth has put together a series of pop culture charts. Number 6 explores which year in the future science fiction films take place. I had no idea A Clockwork Orange took place in 1995. I remember that year being a lot more low key.

Link via Geeks Are Sexy

The vision of the future from the past (retro-future) is usually a funny and interesting topic. That’s why this list of video games from old science fiction films and television shows is so great. In the future we will achieve inter planetary space travel but our video games will be really lame (sadly it seems the opposite is unfolding.)

Science fiction is all about advancing into a shinier future – so why are people always playing such terrible video games in science fiction shows and movies? In the distant future, will we really be stuck playing bad 8-bit knockoffs, or trying to get a Frisbee into a tentacle mouth over and over? Here’s are the 10 most embarrassing games people play in science fiction.

Link

Scrolling through the list of great science fiction and fantasy reads below will feel like a journey back in time for some of us, a voyage of discovery for others. But novice or veteran, everyone loves a contest. So, let the voting begin!

Here’s how: Everyone gets 10 votes. Select your top 10 favorite titles, and then scroll down to the bottom of the poll and click “Submit.” Feel free to lobby for your favorites in the comments. We’ll be back in about 10 days with the results.

Even deciding on just ten will be difficult! Link -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Chris Silas Neal)

Link

At one time, the future was glorious. Golden Age space illustrations were colorful, exciting, and made us hope to live long enough to see such wondrous things come about! See some fantastic vintage artwork depicting the future at Dark Roasted Blend. Link

The other night I turned on TV and caught half an episode of the original Star Trek where Captain Kirk meets Abraham Lincoln. Seriously. Sometimes even our favorite science fiction and fantasy franchises can be quite silly. Check out this list of unintentionally hilarious lines from science fiction and fantasy. What are some favorites of yours?

Sometimes our favorite movies and TV shows feature some hideously ridiculous dialogue. Sometimes nonsensical and melodramatic speech is part of why bad movies are such a guilty pleasure. Here are the 10 awesomest lines of unintentionally funny dialogue from science fiction and fantasy movies and television.

Link

Intelligent life evolved in the universe – 0nce. The First Intelligent Species became spacefaring but, unlike the adventures depicted in most science fiction, they found an uninhabited universe. Non-intelligent species were too rudimentary or too far away to be detected. Thus, as both a memorial to themselves and to enliven the universe, the First Intelligent Species seeded the necessary DNA for the eventual evolution of intelligent life in the primordial oceans of every planet that could support life. The First Intelligent Species did not only design the DNA to evolve intelligently, but to parallel their own evolution. An application of the idea that “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” on the scale of life itself. Our corner of the universe thereby became the home of Vulcans, Romulans, Cardassians, Humans, Betazoids, and other hominid species which are all decedents of the First Intelligent Species. Therefore, in the eyes of the universe, the many hominid species are closely related despite their disparate home planets.

Of course, the theory itself is science fiction, but the mental exercise helps the scientist to enjoy science fiction, no matter how cheesy the alien design. As a bonus, the graphic at the article has twenty aliens you are invited to help identify. Link

Mama told me not to trust those Martians! The song is from The Imagined Village. The clips are from various space movies and TV shows that you’ll find listed at the YouTube page. -via Buzzfeed

On Towel Day, all of Adams’ fans are encouraged to carry a towel around with them, or to at least know where their towel is, following the great tradition of hitchhiking, traveling, managing, and adventuring laid out in his work. Naturally, this got us to thinking about all the hoopy (really together guy) froods (really amazingly together guys) that we know in fiction that really know where their towels are. You know, the characters who you could drop off anywhere and anywhere in the space time continuum, and come back in an hour and they’d already be lounging in perfect confidence and opulence, nocking back something highly alcoholic. Any one who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Movie, comic, and science fiction fans will surely find something to argue over in this list at The Mary Sue. Link -Thanks, Susana Polo!

Ray guns have been featured in everything from War of The Worlds t Star Wars, yet it seems a hand held ray gun is still a thing of science fiction. Here however is a history of the imaginary device as it appears in different books and movies.

The ray gun is but one invention that, in the optimistic futurism of the early-to-mid 20th century, seemed to be just around the corner, like personal jet packs, food in pill form, and machines that launder your washing and hand it back to you neatly wrapped up in Celophane (thanks, Lost In Space).

Link

She has three sons, and she knows the father of one of them for certain. But she smacks them around and insults them on a fairly regular basis. Though they’re all pretty stupid and infatuated with her that they don’t seem to notice they’re being physically and emotionally abused. And ripped off — Mom owns 99.7 percent of MOMCORP while the other .3 percent is evenly distributed among the three of them. But like I said, they probably have no idea. Is it abuse if they don’t notice? If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Exactly. (Mom said that’s how it works.)

Link -Thanks, Susana!

1. Over a fifth of adults incorrectly believe light sabres exist.
2. Nearly a quarter (24%) of people are wrong in their belief that humans can be teleported.
3. Nearly 50% of adults wrongly believe that memory-erasing technology exists.
4. More than 40% of people incorrectly believe that hover boards exist.
5. Nearly one fifth (18%) of adults have the incorrect view that they can see gravity.

Link – via AOL Weird News

For those of you who grew up at least in part in the eighties, you know that it wasn’t all about Molly Ringwald and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Though not all cinematic masterpieces, there were a lot of really fun movies that glorified the geeks of the day.  Here are a few you could pick up for nostalgia’s sake – or especially if you missed the eighties, make sure you’ve seen these if you haven’t!

It’s all there -science, space, robotics, computers, and of course, socially awkward teenagers. Link

This chart posted at io9 exposes the many liberties filmmakers take with science in movies about space. The only two films to receive a clean bill are true stories from history. Link -via The High Definite

A recent meme is to mix up science fiction universes to provoke an indignant response from science fiction geeks. A quote from a movie, TV show, book, or video game will do, but make sure it’s mis-attributed and laid over a picture that has nothing to do with the quote or the attribution! See 32 examples at Geekosystem. Link

College Humor has a collection of science fiction stories done up as children’s books. I liked Goodnight Dune the best, but you really need to see Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Who. Link -via mental_floss

Props, costumes, and other artifacts from the TV series Stargate are up for auction September 25 and 26 in Seattle, Washington. If you can’t be there, you can bid on items via internet. Yes, it’s possible you could end up with your very own Stargate! But it won’t be cheap. Just the catalog for the event costs $45. Link -via Boing Boing

Update: You can download the catalog for free! -Thanks, MikeG!

We have Alan Moore to thank for Mogo, the sentient planet and member of the Green Lantern Corp. Frequently referred to as "he" despite lacking a gender, Mogo is one of the most solitary of the Lanterns, since, should he try to visit another planet, the force of his gravity might tear it apart. Mogo has complete control over his surface and weather patterns, which he uses to create the illusion of the Green Lantern emblem in green foliage, and he gladly serves as a training and recreation planet for the Lantern Corp. He also guides the trajectory of owner-less Lantern rings to new recruits. Over the span of DC continuity he has been host to a few transient races, though has never produced sentient life of his own.

Mogo doesn’t like it when you compare him to a billiard ball.

Here’s the list. See if you agree with the top pick: Link

Veronica Mittnacht of Flavorwire took nuggets from Sam Weller’s Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews to reveal 10 things you didn’t know about the writer. For example:

1. Many people know that Ray Bradbury wrote his most famous work, Fahrenheit 451 in just nine days on a rented typewriter in the basement of the UCLA library. However, what wasn’t known until recently is that in the process of writing the novel, he made a unique friend: Ernest Hemingway’s son. They rode the same bus every morning to the library and got to talking. Hemingway told the stranger that his favorite writers were “Asimov, Clarke, and Bradbury,” and the two remained friends for decades.

5. In many ways, Bradbury was a writer of intuition. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury was the first to predict the invention of flat-screen TVs, televised surveillance footage, ear-bud headphones, and ATMs — in the space of the nine days he spent writing the novel. However, it wasn’t until later that he realized how subtle his subconscious instincts really were: without knowing it, he’d named his four main characters after a paper company (Montag), a pencil company (Faber), an envelope company (Granger), and a now-gone office supply chain (Beatty).

6. Ray Bradbury never went to college. Instead, he went to the library all day, three times a week, until he got married at 27. To this day, he regularly organizes fundraisers for libraries, and refuses to touch e-reader devices like the Kindle.

Link – Thanks Veronica!

Fans seem less convinced that the novel’s conceit – a town discovers that it is encased in a giant dome, put there by an unknown force – is so terrific. Many took to the internet to point out that a similar plot was the basis for The Simpsons Movie. King took to his website to respond that he had never seen the movie and that the similarity came as a complete surprise. Fans reacted with incredulity, pointing out that not only is King a pop- culture omnivore, but has played on stage with The Simpsons creator Matt Groening in his Rock Bottom Remainders band. King then gave a different account of the book’s origins, this time saying he started it in 1978 or thereabouts, and wrote a second, unpublished version called The Cannibals in 1985. In order to silence any accusations of plagiarism, he published the first 60 pages on his website (in the original IBM typescript to prove its age).

But the problem is not who had the idea first. King may argue that “stories can be no more alike than snowflakes” as “no two human imaginations are exactly alike”, but Stephen King novels and Simpsons movies are similar in that they are big pop-culture events aimed at roughly the same sort of audience – and with such events, the concept is as important as the execution. Also, both film and novel use their conceit to give dramatic focus to tales of the interconnected lives of a large cast of everyday small-town Americans. It doesn’t matter whether King has seen the film; his readers have, and this takes some of the shine off his novel.

If you’ve seen the movies and read the book, let us know what you think. Link -via The Litter Box

Pink Tentacle has a fantastic collection of sci-fi illustrations by Shigeru Komatsuzaki (1915 – 2001), a prolific Japanese illustrator who drew futuristic images for magazines and model kit boxes. Don’t miss this one: Link – via metafilter

PS. If you like this, you’d love our sci-fi blog NeatoGeek

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value — you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-tohand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

The simplest way to celebrate is to carry your towel with you, which some fans do everyday. The official site has other suggestions, and a schedule of Towel Day events from all over the world. And remember: Don’t Panic! Link

(Image credit: Flickr user SiRGt)

What of The Empire Strikes Back were a 3D movie from the 1950s? It would look somewhat like this. A list of the video sources can be seen at the YouTube link. -via The Daily What

Peruvian filmmaker Ricardo de Montreuil made the short film The Raven on a budget of only $5,000. It is based on a treatment for a potential film trilogy. I won’t give any details, just enjoy the effects! -via Geeks Are Sexy

Fard is an animated short directed by Luis Bricenco and David Alapont. It’s in French with no subtitles, but the plot is visual. The action really gets going about four minutes in. The style and effects make it quite memorable. Link -via Metafilter

I am a fourteen year old boy and am a low Junior in High School. Today at school our teacher was discussing “good literature.” I asked if Edgar Rice Burroughs was all right for a book report. I knew she’d say “no” (teachers always do) but I didn’t expect her to lecture to the class for the whole period about how terrible your books were!

The author of the Tarzan novels wrote back, in part:

My stories will do you no harm. If they have helped to inculcate in you a love of books, they have done you much good. No fiction is worth reading except for entertainment. If it entertains and is clean, it is good literature, or its kind. If it forms the habit of reading, in people who might not read otherwise, it is the best literature.

Which explains why I bought the Twilight books for my youngest daughter. The 14-year-old boy who wrote the letter was Forrest J. Ackerman, {wiki} who grew up to coin the term “sci-fi”. Ackerman was a film producer, actor, and the editor of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, and made a name as the biggest science fiction fan ever. Read both letters in full at Letters of Note. Link

Cover designer Lauren Panepinto took a screecast while designing the jacket for an upcoming book by Gail Carriger. If you’ve ever wondered what goes into designing a book jacket, this video will give you a pretty good idea of the time and skill it takes!

– via orbitbooks

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by jimmdare.

Product is a graphic tale by Jon Phillips. The dystopian sci-fi plot can get a bit depressing if you think that will bother you. If not, you’ll be glad you stuck with it through to the end. Click the linked image to enlarge. Link -via Digg

Jacob Hall writes about one of his picks: Minority Report.

The film is an engrossing look at a startlingly realistic future where psychics are used to predict murders and “Pre-Crime” units arrest would-be killers in advance. It is also a rousing, muscular action film in the vein of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the only film in recent memory to have a jet-pack chase. A jet-pack chase. It raises fascinating questions about choice and destiny and how even the best intentions can be abused and corrupted. It features oddness not seen from Spielberg since the ’80s, including a cackling Peter Stormare and Cruise pursuing his own rogue eyeball down a hallway.

They did leave some very good titles off their alphabetical list.  I’d have gone ahead and put Avatar on there for how it looks alone.

Link.  (Photo: Dreamworks Entertainment)

The list includes Earth 2, The Six Million Dollar Man, and others with video clips of their opening sequences.  Here’s author Kevin Kelley’s take on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century:

We just want to see Buck back on the big screen, where he has never really been (the original TV pilot was edited into a theatrical release). Toss some up and coming young star with good looks and a strong chin in this, and revamp everything. Just keep the cool laser pistols in it, and for god’s sake don’t let Buck disco.

An impressive fan-made intro to that show…   Link to Cinematical.

YouTube Link

Image: Rainbow Handicraft

Charlie Jane Anders of io9 has assembled a gallery of sixteen velvet paintings with science fiction themes, such as Yoda/Elvis, Kim Jong-Il as a Sleestak, and the great Wesley Crusher.

Would you like for Admiral Ackbar to decorate your home?

Link

Pearce asks readers for suggestions. What would you add to the list?

Link | The Last Question | Image: NIH

In “The Apple” from the original “Star Trek” series, Captain James Kirk and his crew encounter an idyllic world whose ageless inhabitants feed a computer named Vaal.
It seems like a dandy setup to Mr. Spock, but Dr. McCoy argues that it can’t be healthy to have all your needs met by a “hunk of tin” (perhaps shortly after polishing off a meal created by the Enterprise’s replicator). Eventually, the Enterprise is forced to zap Vaal with its phasers, sending the binary being to an ignoble, smoky end.
The natives are seriously bummed, but Kirk cheers them up by telling them they can now work and struggle and get sick and die just like everyone else. Yay!

Link -via Digg