Yet another attempt at a 'Ringworld' movie/miniseries plus bonus 'Snow Crash' from Amazon

For the Sunday entertainment feature, I'm recycling what I wrote on Dreamwidth.

Four years ago, I wrote Finally, a Ringworld movie!

That's the one in which I repeated my twenty-year-old grousing about how I wrote an adventure for Chaosium's Ringworld table-top RPG, but lost all that effort because the movie rights to the book were sold and the movie production company asserted that they had the game rights, too.  To add insult to injury, there was no movie.  Apparently, that will change, as SyFy announced that they will develop the book into a four-hour miniseries.

The good news was that it became one of the two most read posts of that year.  The bad news is that no "Ringworld" movie or miniseries came of it.

Not all is lost, as io9 reported this week Amazon Is Developing a Bonanza of Genre Titles: Ringworld, Snow Crash, and Lazarus.

Amazon just announced a virtual land grab of genre titles that it’s putting into development: Larry Niven’s scifi classic Ringworld; Neal Stephenson’s cult classic Snow Crash; and Greg Rucka’s acclaimed comic Lazarus. In a perfect world, we could be seeing all three made into drama series.

As Deadline reports, the announcement comes as the streaming network is hoping to land a “big-scope genre drama series in the mold of Game Of Thrones and The Walking Dead.” There aren’t too many details yet, but the standout points include: the Ringworld project will likely draw not just from Niven’s 1970 original, but other books in the series; Rucka will be adapting Lazarus himself from page to screen; and Snow Crash will be co-produced by Joe Cornish, who at one time had the project on his own feature-directing slate.

I'm a lot more confident in Amazon pulling off "Ringworld" than I was about SyFy, so I'm looking forward to it.  The other project I want to see is "Snow Crash."  It may not be the best of Stephenson's novels, but it is the best-known and it's a lot of fun.  Here's to both of them reaching the small screen before the decade is out!

Here's to getting that "Ringworld" movie I was promised 33 years ago, even if it ends up being a series streaming on Amazon!

Hugo Awards successfully fighting off Rabid Puppies

In yesterday's entry, I told my readers to "stay tuned for Sunday's entertainment feature, when I plan on writing about the Hugo Awards."  Since it's now Sunday, I'm sharing the media nominees from io9's Here Are the 2017 Hugo Awards Finalists, beginning with the movies and entire series.

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve (21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films)

Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Marvel Entertainment/Kinberg Genre/The Donners’ Company/TSG Entertainment)

Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig (Columbia Pictures/LStar Capital/Village Roadshow Pictures/Pascal Pictures/Feigco Entertainment/Ghostcorps/The Montecito Picture Company)

Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi (Fox 2000 Pictures/Chernin Entertainment/Levantine Films/TSG Entertainment)

Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards (Lucasfilm/Allison Shearmur Productions/Black Hangar Studios/Stereo D/Walt Disney Pictures)

Stranger Things, Season One, created by the Duffer Brothers (21 Laps Entertainment/Monkey Massacre)

Just looking at the nominees, I could tell that the Rabid Puppies had very little effect on the outcome.  Both "Ghostbusters" and "Hidden Figures," which feature female casts, are exactly the kind of works the Puppies slates attempted to keep out of the voting in previous years.  It turned out they were hardly trying.

Metafilter's post, Hugos 2017: a tale of puppies reported that the Sad Puppies didn't bother to make any recommendations and the Rabid Puppies, instead of full slates, which this year would have been three entries per category, only made one or two.  In the long form/"film" category, File 770's Measuring the Rabid Puppies Effect on the 2017 Hugo Ballot listed it as "Deadpool," which was a worthy nominee anyway.  In fact, all of them are acceptable nominees, although I'm surprised that "Ghostbusters" beat out the "Star Trek" movie or "Fantastic Beasts."  As for "Stranger Things" being here instead of an episode being nominated in the short form category, that's a pleasant surprise.  It really is the year for "Stranger Things," even though I think "Arrival" will win this category in a walk.

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

Black Mirror: “San Junipero”, written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris (House of Tomorrow)

Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette (BBC Cymru Wales)

The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy)

Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (HBO)

Game of Thrones: “The Door”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender (HBO)

Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)

When I looked at this list, I first thought that "The Expanse" episode was the Puppies choice; it's their kind of show.  However, File 770 reported that it wasn't; a third episode of "Game of Thrones," "The Winds of Winter,"  was instead.  It earned enough votes to make the top six, but was disqualified because a series can only have two episodes nominated and "Game of Thrones" already had two in the top six, presumably with more votes.

The only entry I found surprising was "Splendor & Misery" by Clipping.  It's a music album, not a movie.  The commenters at Metafilter love the selection, but I have a hard time seeing it here instead of an episode of "Westworld" such as "The Bicameral Mind."  In my opinion, that was the best episode of the best science fiction show on television last year and I have a hard time seeing it not recognized, which the Science Fiction Writers of America did.  From The Verge, here are this year's Nebula Award nominees for dramatic presentation.

Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Eric Heisserer, 21 Laps Entertainment / FilmNation Entertainment / Lava Bear Films / Xenolinguistics

Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, screenplay by Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill, Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures

Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight, screenplay by Mark Haimes & Chris Butler; Laika Entertainment

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, written by Chris Weitz & Tony Gilroy; Lucusfilm / Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures|

Westworld: ‘‘The Bicameral Mind’,’ directed by Jonathan Nolan, written by Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan; HBO

Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush, screenplay by Jared Bush & Phil Johnston; Walt Disney Pictures / Walt Disney Animation Studios

"Westworld" was the only television series recognized by the writers, but the fans didn't even bother to nominate it.  Time to start hyping it for the Saturn Awards.

Rabid Puppies infect 2016 Hugo nominees for movies and television

Last year's Hugo nominees for movies and television were marred by the efforts of two groups of reactionary fans--the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies--to influence the nominees by stuffing the ballots through slate voting.  I found both sets of nominees flawed, especially those for "Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)," i.e., movies, although not fatally so.  Just the same, it was enough to prompt me to nominate shows for the "Serious Kitten Awards" at We Hunted The Mammoth.

The same thing happened this year, except that the Rabid Puppies had an even stronger effect than the Sad Puppies, which made things worse.  As Mike Glyer wrote at File 770, the result was "Puppies all the way down" as "Vox Day’s Rabid Puppies slate initially placed 64 of its 81 recommendations on the final ballot."  I'll leave the analysis on the literary awards and fan awards to others;* like last year, I'll concentrate on how the slate affected the nominees for movies and television.

Here are the nominees for media from io9.

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM) (2904 ballots)

• Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
• Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
• The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Unlike last year, I think all of the nominees are worthy.  Only one of these, "Avengers: Age of Ultron," was purely a Rabid Puppies selection, but unlike "The Lego Movie," I think it's an acceptable nominee.  That doesn't mean I'd have put it on my ballot; instead, I'd have replaced it with "Jurassic World," which was the fifth movie on the list of six nominees for the Saturn Awards.  So, the Rabid Puppies didn't screw up the nominees in this category.  Besides, I doubt they'll win in the end.  "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was not on their slate, but I think it's the favorite.  The other strong contenders would be "Ex Machina" and "Mad Max: Fury Road," also not on their slate, and "The Martian," which would probably have been nominated without their help.

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM) (2219 ballots)

• Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
• Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf (Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
• Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions; Netflix)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
• Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)

On the other hand, the Rabid Puppies had a stronger and more deleterious effect on the television nominees.  "Doctor Who" and "Jessica Jones" both belong here, but not the rest, which were all on the Rabid Puppies slate.  While I was pleasantly surprised last year by "Grimm" being nominated, that was tempered by the show coming in last place in last year's voting, losing to "No Award."  Ouch.  In addition, this season has not been as good as previous seasons, so even as a fan I can't support it.  As for "Supernatual," I'm a fan as well, but this show is getting long in the tooth and has seen better days.  Finally, "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," while a good animated show, was pretty obviously put on the slate as a joke.

As for the shows that deserve to be nominated instead, I don't have to go any farther than the ones nominated for any of the categories in the 2016 Saturn Awards for Television plus "Penny Dreadful."  Any three of "Game of Thrones," "Outlander," "The 100," "The Expanse," "The Walking Dead," "Penny Dreadful," or even "The Strain" would be better than the three shows the Rapid Puppies got nominated.  Just the same, I expect the Puppies will lose out again, with the "Doctor Who" episode a heavy favorite.

*Two of those are about the blowback from one of the nominees for Best Short Story, "Space Raptor Butt Invasion" by Chuck Tingle.  Both Vox and We Hunted The Mammoth have hilarious summaries of how Tingle is doing his best to make Vox Day regret listing him on his slate.  Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

'Warm Bodies': Love, zombies, and marching bands on Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!  I concluded Jim Gilmore gone after losing to Vermin Supreme by noting that "'The Walking Dead' returns tomorrow.  Zombies on Valentines Day!"  The movie that best combines zombies and love is "Warm Bodies," which I mentioned in Post-apocalyptic book list by noting "there are some glaring omissions, such as all three of the most recent zombie movies I’ve watched, 'World War Z,' 'Warm Bodies,' and 'I Am Legend,' although the book is on the appropriate index."  I've already written about "World War Z," so it's "Warm Bodies'" turn.*

io9 has a good review of the film that explores the romantic angle in Warm Bodies is Romeo and Juliet and Zombies, only better.

What if Juliet was a post-apocalyptic scavenger, Romeo was a zombie who ate Paris' brains, and Mercutio was a monosyllabic Rob Corddry? Zombie romcom Warm Bodies takes us to a post-apocalyptic future in which zombies stalk the Earth eating human brains—at least until one walking corpse, R, falls for Julie, one of the last living girls.

But put aside the nods to Shakespeare. Warm Bodies is a funny and soft-hearted film that plays far more on zombie- and date-movie tropes than it does on the Bard, and puts an optimistic spin on the undead apocalypse. At its basis, this is a movie about how to be alive, told through the lens of a zombie's awakening.

For spoilers, read the article at the link.  For the conclusion of the review, follow over the jump.

R.I.P. David Bowie, sci-fi superstar

When I told my readers to "stay tuned for...an obituary of a science fiction rock star," I had no idea "The Martian" had a David Bowie song.  Here is "Starman" complete with images and clips from the movie.


I found that to be an appropriate tribute to both Bowie and the movie.

For more on David Bowie, science-fiction rock and movie star, I recommend reading two articles from io9, one listing him as one of the great music acts inspired by science fiction and another as a rock star who changed science fiction, showing that the influence went both ways.  Other articles in the same vein were published by Extreme Tech, Engadget, Tech Times, Huffington Post, and CBS affiliate WXRT.  All of them consider him a giant in both rock music and science fiction, as do I.  Farewell, Ziggy Stardust!

Katniss Everdeen dethrones James Bond at the U.S. box office

Two weeks ago, "SPECTRE" knocked "The Martian" out of number one at the U.S. box office.  This week, it was Katniss Everdeen's turn to assassinate James Bond as "The Hunger Games" Mockingjay-Part 2" came in first, handily outpacing "SPECTRE."  Even in victory, the news was not all good as Daily Variety via Reuters reported earlier today that 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2' debuts to franchise-low $101 million.

"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" dominated the weekend box office with the final film in the science-fiction franchise debuting to $101 million.

That ranks as the year's fifth biggest opening, but it wasn't as big a sendoff for Katniss Everdeen and her fellow revolutionaries as some had predicted.

The massive bow falls short of tracking that projected the picture would top $120 million in its initial weekend in theaters. It also represents a low for the series, falling far short of the $158.1 million high-water mark established by 2013's "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." It's a sign, perhaps, that interest in the dystopian world of Panem has crested.

The cresting of the youth dystopia wave is a topic I'll explore over the jump, along with other aspects of the series' legacy.  Those will come after the rest of the box office report.

The weakness of the new films allowed holdovers "Spectre" and "The Peanuts Movie" to pad their box office results. The latest Bond adventure added $14.6 million to its $153.7 million domestic haul, nabbing second place on the charts. "The Peanuts Movie" finished third, picking up $12.8 million to push its stated total to $98.9 million.

The "new films" mentioned were "The Night Before," which earned $10.1 million to come in fourth and "The Secret in Their Eyes," which grossed $6.6 million to eke out fifth place.  That last film may do better at the awards shows than the theaters, along with other films geared to an older audience.  Look for those to make their money on cable and streaming services.

Follow over the jump for reviews of the final installment of "The Hunger Games" from Vox and io9.

Cthulhu and Pluto plus Mordor and Charon

Greer updated his readers on his latest writing project in last night's The Cimmerian Hypothesis, Part One: Civilization and Barbarism.

I’ve just completed the first draft of a 70,000-word novel in eight weeks. Those of my readers and correspondents who’ve been wondering why I’ve been slower than usual to respond to them now know the reason. The working title is Moon Path to Innsmouth; it deals, in the sidelong way for which fiction is so well suited, with quite a number of the issues discussed on this blog; I’m pleased to say that I’ve lined up a publisher, and so in due time the novel will be available to delight the rugose hearts of the Great Old Ones and their eldritch minions everywhere.

I couldn't resist passing along some information along with a link to yesterday's entry.

Since you appear to be dabbling in the Cthulhu Mythos, you might find it amusing to learn that the features on Pluto are being informally named after underworld beings, including Cthulhu.   Let's see if they survive the vetting of the International Astronomical Union, which demoted Pluto to the status of dwarf planet a decade ago .  I hope they are better remembered than the movement added to Holst's "The Planets" earlier this century for Pluto.  Holst himself couldn't be bothered during the last years of his life, as Pluto had no astrological significance then.

The coincidence had the appropriate effect on Greer.

Pinku-sensei, you know, that's almost eerie. It only occurred to me after I finished the draft of Moon Path to Innsmouth that I wrote it just as the New Horizons space probe approached the planet Lovecraft called Yuggoth, which has a significant role in his mythos. I wonder what the Mi-Go think of the bright little decoration we've just put in their sky... ;-)

Good thing the Mi-Go are purely fictional.

Follow over the jump for more from io9 on the informal names of Pluto and Charon.

What a lovely weekend for 'Mad Max'

I finished 'Age of Ultron' tops box office for second week with a program note about an upcoming movie more on-topic for this blog.

For something more post-apocalyptic, Mad Max premieres this Friday...Stay tuned.

I begin this entry as I did the previous Sunday entertainment entry, with an excerpt of a report from Variety by way of Reuters: 'Pitch Perfect 2' Races Past 'Mad Max: Fury Road' With Outstanding $70.3 million.

"Pitch Perfect 2" hit all the right notes at the box office, snagging first place on the charts with a smashing $70.3 million debut despite fierce competition from "Mad Max: Fury Road."
...
"Mad Max: Fury Road" also put up strong numbers, racking up $44.4 million across 3,702 locations. The Warner Bros. release capitalized on rapturous critical notices with some reviewers tossing around words like "genius" and "masterpiece."

"It's a film where there's a lot of applause at the end of the movie," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief. "A lot of people coming to the movie went purely on the reviews. The conversation about it is so strong about what an incredible ride this is that it's going to propel us right into the meat of the summer."

"Mad Max: Fury Road" needed the critical notices, because three decades separated chapters in the apocalyptic franchise and original star Mel Gibson aged out of the role/had one intemperate outburst too many and had to be replaced by Tom Hardy. Moreover, the film carries an R-rating which prevents teenagers from attending the picture without a parent or guardian, potentially limiting its audience.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" has much more ground to make up before it pushes into profitable terrain. "Pitch Perfect 2" cost a modest $29 million to produce, while "Mad Max: Fury Road" carries a $150 million price tag.

Follow over the jump for more of those critical raves which generally praised the movie for being a great work of art that explores serious themes, including feminism as well as resource scarcity, in addition to being wonderful entertainment as well as a video explaining the plausibility of the premise, including a discussion of peak oil.

2014 in movies for nerds and geeks

For the Sunday entertainment entry, I'm making good on the promise I with which I closed Happy to rewind 2014 in entertainment and social media to "have more to write about 2014 in entertainment when I post about awards shows and magazine picks for the best and worst."  Time for the magazine selections, beginning with Top 5 MOVIES of 2014! (Nerdist News w/ Jessica Chobot).  If it moves, it leads.

From original sci-fi dramas to Marvel’s blockbuster superhero movies, join Jessica Chobot as we count down the Top 5 Nerd Movies of 2014 on Nerdist News.

I saw two of these movies, "Snowpiercer" and "Guardians of the Galaxy."  "Snowpiercer" was better as art, "Guardians of the Galaxy" was better as entertainment.  Both were excellent in their own way and I recommend both.  In addition, my wife loves the songs used in the sound track.

Follow over the jump for more science fiction and fantasy films from io9 and documentaries about technology and general nerdiness from Wired.

Orion's first test flight today

Today, NASA tests what it sees as its next giant leap, Orion.  Under the "if it moves, it leads" guideline, PBS NewsHour gets the honor of going first with Before NASA pioneers to Mars, Orion spacecraft faces tests.

NASA envisions a human presence on Mars in 20 years. But how will we get there? The Orion spacecraft, an unmanned capsule, will launch on its maiden voyage as an important test for future missions. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on the engineering hurdles as well as the budgetary ones.

CNN has more in NASA 'go' for its next giant leap into space.

It's the biggest countdown for NASA since the shuttle era ended in 2011. The space agency's new Orion spacecraft is scheduled to lift off on an uncrewed test flight at 7:05 a.m. ET Thursday from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"We haven't had this feeling in awhile, since the end of the shuttle program," Mike Sarafin, Orion flight director at Johnson Space Center, said in a preflight briefing on Wednesday. He said it's the beginning of something new: exploring deep space.

Orion looks like a throwback to the Apollo era, but it is roomier and designed to go far beyond the moon: to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.

"It is, I think, consistent with those -- the beginning of shuttle and beginning of Apollo," said Mark Geyer, NASA Orion program manager. "I think it's in the same category."

NASA has its own video about the launch: Orion Trial By Fire.


For a more comprehensive look at the mission, Charlie Jane Anders of io9 reports Everything You Need To Know About NASA's Next Deep Space Mission.

NASA is dreaming big and working hard. Orion is the result, the first step in opening up deep space exploration to humans — and hopefully, bringing people to Mars. The spacecraft undergoes its first test flight next week, and here's everything you need to know about it.

Meet Orion, NASA's New Deep Space Explorer

The largest rocket on the planet is about to carry NASA's dreams into a highly inclined orbit around the Earth. Exploration Test Flight-1, the first uncrewed full-system test flight for the new Orion spacecraft is December 4th. Here's what it is, why it's awesome, and how it's the first step in NASA's Next Giant Leap.

Follow over the jump for more from NASA, along with all of the Orion-related news I've included in Overnight News Digest on Daily Kos since NASA's next giant leap and other space and astronomy news.

Tales of two trailers

For this week's entertainment entry, I present two trailers, both of movies that are revivals of science fiction franchises, Star Wars and Jurassic Park.

First, STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 - THE FORCE AWAKENS - Official Teaser Trailer #1 (2015) [HD].


Next, JURASSIC WORLD Trailer #1 (2015) Chris Pratt Sci-Fi Movie HD.


Follow over the jump for links to reactions from Vox, io9 and Jalopnik, Irish Examiner, and one big name fan.

Musical zombies, animal zombies, smartphone costumes, and haunted houses

I finished Happy Wester 2014 with a program note that was also a promise.

Stay tuned for my Sunday entertainment entry.   Not only is it Wester, it's the season premiere of "The Walking Dead." There be zombies ahead!

WXYZ made it easy for me, as the station posted three videos on its YouTube channel about entertainment options in Metro Detroit for Halloween and the weeks leading up to it.

Since I promised zombies, I begin with Evil Dead the Musical.


Yes, folks, a comedy zombie musical.  It's not just marching bands getting in on the trend.*

Follow over the jump for the other two clips about Halloween along with a bonus footnote about Animal Planet making a zombie TV series.  Yes, really.

Driving update for September 2014: Ruby

Yesterday, my wife rolled over Ruby's odometer for 88,000 miles.  That means it's time for an another driving update.

I posted Driving update for May 2014: Ruby on May 15, 2014, the last time the car's odometer rolled over.  That means that it took 104 days to drive the car 1,000 miles for an average of 9.62 miles/day and 293.27 miles/month.  That's a lot more than the 7.14 miles/day and 217.9 miles/month for not only the previous update, but the one before that.  What happened?

I'm driving Ruby more and Yuki less while my wife holds her driving steady.  It's been 80 days since Driving update for July 2014: Yuki and I've only driven my car about 750 miles.  At that rate, it should be another 26 or 27 days before I roll her over to 222,000 miles for 1000 miles in 106.7 days.  That would be a rate of 9.37 miles/day or 285.85 miles/month.  That would be much less than the 11.90 miles/day and 363.10 miles/month during the comparable period last year.

That written, Yuki may not reach that milestone, at least not with me driving her.  My wife and I are shopping for another car, and Yuki will likely be the one traded in.  Sigh.  That will deserve a post of its own when that happens, along with the story of how buying Ruby was the fulfillment of a promise I made to my students.  Later.

In the meantime, I'll connect Ruby to my Sunday entertainment series.  As I wrote in Second driving update for December 2013: Other car, I named the car after a character in "Once Upon A Time."

I gave her that name because of the car's color and because my wife and I are fans of "Once Upon a Time," which had a character named Ruby, who is really Red Riding Hood, for the first two seasons.

Ruby/Red was a guest star in the second half of the third season as well.  As for whether she's in this season, my wife and I will find out tonight, as the season premiere is tonight.

Until then, we can whet our appetites on what io9 wrote about the show in The Ultimate Guide to this Fall's Science Fiction and Fantasy TV!

The fairy tale badasses are back, but how will the latest addition of the Snow Queen (Elsa from Frozen) change the world of Stroybrooke? Will it change anything at all? Specifically, will Hook change his clothes, ever? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

We can hardly wait.

Reactions to Star Wars VII cast announcement

For tonight's entertainment-themed entry, I'm taking advantage of today being the original Star Wars Day, which is the anniversary of the premiere of Episode IV, to make good on my promise to post reactions to last month's cast announcement for Episode VII, which I made first in Pyramids on Star Wars Day and then in Music for Revenge of the Sixth.*

First, here's what I posted at fandom_lounge on JournalFen last month.

StarWars.com: Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced (Warning: page seems to display properly with Internet Explorer only; Firefox and Chrome just retrieve text, missing the photo of the entire cast at Pinewood Studios.)

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

Director J.J. Abrams says, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

One of the items that only displayed properly using Internet Explorer is this publicity still, which is much easier to see at Space.com.


The Space.com article pointed out an imbalance in the cast.

It should be noted, there are only two women and nine men (and two droids) in the cast announcement. Of course, with a large "space opera" ensemble, there will be many more cast along the way, and this doesn't preclude the possibility of more cameos for returnees to the franchise.

Follow over the jump for more about that angle and others dealing with the casting and Disney's reviving the franchise.

Star Wars Day leftovers

While I posted two entries for May the Fourth here on Crazy Eddie's Motie News, Happy Star Wars Day! and Darth Vader on Dubstep, I used entirely different material in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Happy Star Wars Day!) on Daily Kos.  Here it is.


io9: Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you!
Lauren Davis
May 4, 2013

It's May the Fourth, that day when Star Wars fans punnily wish each other well. We're celebrating with some of our favorite Star Wars gifs. How are you celebrating Star Wars Day?

Space.com: Happy Star Wars Day! What Would It Take to Build a Death Star?
by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor
Date: 04 May 2013 Time: 09:49 AM ET

Hello space fans, and May the 4th be with you! In honor of Star Wars Day, physics professor Rhett Allain of Southeastern Louisiana University took a look at just what it would take to the build the Empire's Death Star using only the Automated Transfer Vehicle robot cargo ships built by the European Space Agency. The answer: We'll have to wait a LONG time for anything like the Death Star.

I might use these again next year.  After all, I'm an environmentalist; I recycle.

Doha a dud, the planet is screwed, and other climate news

I concluded Climate news leftover: Melting ice caps with the following promise.

I'll have more climate news coming up later this week, including a story about the conclusion of the Doha conference.

Time to follow through with all the climate news from Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Doha climate talks conclude edition) on Daily Kos, beginning with that diary's top story.

Reuters: Doha climate talks throw lifeline to Kyoto Protocol
By Regan Doherty and Barbara Lewis
DOHA | Sat Dec 8, 2012 2:44pm EST

(Reuters) - Almost 200 nations extended a weakened United Nations plan for combating global warming until 2020 on Saturday with a modest set of measures that would do nothing to halt rising world greenhouse gas emissions.

Many countries and environmentalists said the deal at the end of marathon two-week U.N. talks in OPEC-member Qatar would fail to slow rising temperatures or avert more floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels.

Environment ministers extended until 2020 the Kyoto Protocol, which obliges about 35 industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions until the end of 2012. That keeps the pact alive as the sole legally binding climate plan.

But the 1997 treaty, 23 days away from expiry, has been sapped by the withdrawal of Russia, Japan and Canada and its remaining backers, led by the European Union and Australia, now account for just 15 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions.

Here's what I had to say about this outcome over at Kunstler's blog Monday morning.

I've also been following the U.N. climate conference in Doha, which managed to eke out what could barely qualify as a successful result under the most charitable criteria.

In other words, it's the bare minimum the delegates could do and still convince themselves that they accomplished anything.  It's times like this when I really do feel like humans are acting like Moties and I'm just another Crazy Eddie.  Speaking of which...

io9: After extensive mathematical modeling, scientist declares “Earth is F**ked”
Dave Levitan
December 7, 2012

Brad Werner has a simple question: Is the Earth fucked? He also has a remarkably complicated methodology yielding a very simple answer: yes, unless people start a serious global rebellion.

Werner, a complex systems researcher at UC San Diego, spoke on Wednesday at the huge American Geophyiscal Union conference going on in San Francisco. This is a meeting where a typical talk might be called "Status and potential capacities to sequester carbon of China's terrestrial ecosystem," or "The significance of the opening angle of pyroclast ejection during explosive volcanic eruptions." Werner's talk really was called "Is Earth Fucked?"

AGU Executive Director/CEO Christine McEntee told ScienceNow, "Our program committee evaluates the scientific merit of the abstracts and accepts those that meets their criteria. Our scientists are free to create the titles of their sessions."

Yes, this is a real talk.  No, this is not The Onion.  The one thing that the author thinks will save us is grassroots resistance to capitalism.  I wonder if he's a member of Occupy?

That's the short-term view.  Here are a couple of articles on the long-term one.

LiveScience: Have Humans Caused a New Geological Era?
By Tia Ghose
Fri Dec 7, 2012 03:13 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO — Humans drive trillions of miles in cars, clear-cut forests for agriculture and create vast landfills teeming with tin cans, soda bottles and other detritus of industrialization. There's no doubt that humans have radically reshaped the planet, and those changes leave traces in the Earth's geological record.

At the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union this week, geologists are grappling with how to define the boundaries of that human-centered geologic era, referred to as the Anthropocene. Despite our dramatic impact on the planet, defining our era has proven a difficult task.

"If it's to be a geological period, it has to be visible in the geological record," said Anthony Brown, a researcher at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, who is trying to define the boundary.

How about a mass extinction distinct from the terminal Pleistocene, about which I happen to know something?

Of course, the end of the world as we know it is nothing new.

Science News: BOOK REVIEW: Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Everending Earth
By Craig Childs
Review by Sid Perkins
Web edition: November 29, 2012

The world could end any number of ways — and in a sense it already has, many times, in mass extinctions that paved the way for new life.
...
In chapters packed with vivid descriptions and lyrical language, Childs tells tales not merely of droughts and ice ages, but of globe-swallowing deserts and planet-freezing cold spells during which equatorial oceans were awash with slush. Chronicling Childs’ jaunts from Greenland to Mexico to a forbidding island in the middle of the Bering Sea, this thoroughly enjoyable book is a fascinating travelog of an excitable, seething and perilous planet where catastrophes are frequent, at least when measured on a geological timescale.

After all, even the Moties regain civilization, over and over and over again.

More climate news over the jump.

Twilight over, next up, The Hunger Games!

It's been almost two months since Science Fiction, Double Feature, Part 1, when I concluded with a promise.

That's it for the first part of the science fiction double feature. The next installment will be about The Hunger Games.

As you can tell by the title not being Part 2, this isn't it. Instead, I'm being a good environmentalist and recycling.

First, here's the item from Overnight News Digest (Fast fill-in edition) that prompted this post.

Hollywood thirsts for young adult films as "Twilight" ends
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 15, 2012 9:46pm EST

(Reuters) - As vampires Bella and Edward take their last bites on the big screen, Hollywood studios are on the hunt for the next "Twilight," a movie that plays on teenage angst and, more importantly, lights up the movie box office.

The first four "Twilight" movies earned $2.5 billion at theaters worldwide, propelled by passionate fans of a book series about a vampire-and-werewolf teen love triangle. Box office watchers project "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" will haul in $150 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters this weekend, one of the year's biggest film debuts.

Eager to replicate that performance, studios executives have been trolling through young adult novels with the dream of uncovering the next big blockbuster franchise, paying as much as $1 million to secure the film rights to the hottest books.

As I wrote over at JournalFen, the next big thing has already begun, and it's The Hunger Games.

Executives hope they can uncover a story that excites tech-savvy teens, who supercharged the buzz mill for "The Hunger Games" and other hits by spreading the word to friends through social media posts.

"It's a very enthusiastic and deep passion that young people feel for a book they love," said Nina Jacobson, executive producer of "The Hunger Games," which spawned a blockbuster film franchise with $687 million in worldwide ticket sales this spring.

"When they love something, they share it," Jacobson said.

The four-year "Twilight" movie saga lifted tiny studio Summit Entertainment into Hollywood's big leagues and paved the way for its $412 million acquisition in January by Lions Gate Entertainment, the studio behind "The Hunger Games."

The coming young adult films incorporate paranormal themes like those in the "Twilight" movies or dark dystopian futures and battles for survival reminiscent of "The Hunger Games," and do it through the drama of young love.
...
They will battle the latest installments of existing young adult franchises such as the "Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire" that comes out November 2013.

Just in time for Christmas, and possible Oscar consideration. Speaking of which, Jennifer Lawrence is being touted as an Oscar favorite, although for "Silver Linings Playbook" not "The Hunger Games."

There are other dystopias that the movie studios think will be the next big thing after that franchise plays out.

Lions Gate's Summit studio scooped up the rights before publication for "Divergent," a novel set in a futuristic Chicago where people are divided into factions based on personality traits. The studio is producing a movie for 2014 that features young Hollywood star Shailene Woodley, who played George Clooney's troubled daughter in the movie "The Descendants" last year.

The "Divergent" book series has sold more than 2 million copies, pacing ahead of both "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" at the same point in their histories, Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer told industry analysts on a November 9 conference call.

"We are putting out to our fans right now we think that this is the next big franchise," Feltheimer said.

Looks like Hollywood believes that worrying about collapse is good business. I wish segments other than entertainment had that same attitude.

Follow over the jump for more examples of reuse and recycle while I reduce the amount of original writing I do and refuse to write a real Part 2--for now.

Nablopomo for August: Sweet

What's this month's theme?

SWEET
That perfect bite of watermelon, that time when a reader left the perfect comment, a picture that a child drew for you: NaBloPoMo is celebrating the sweet things in life this month. In fact, NaBloPoMo is kicking off during a very sweet time of year: the annual BlogHer conference where 4500 people are coming together to meet up with friends and talk blogging. This is the perfect time to jump into daily blogging when the creative juices are running high.

Of course, we're going to have to talk about what qualities make a person be described as "sweet" as well as our favourite candies, the best dessert you ever had, and who is really made of sugar, spice and everything nice.
...
So start thinking about all of your favourite sweet things.

In case you were wondering why I concluded last night's post by observing that the idea of blogging about Ted Cruz's Agenda 21 paranoia for six years "is not sweet," wonder no longer. I was already following the theme.

It turns out that I'm not done with yesterday's entry.

Since Paul Krugman was the one who alerted me to Ted Cruz, I decided to return the favor by leaving this comment on his blog.

Speaking of paranoia striking shallow, do you remember Ted Cruz, who you wrote about in "First, they came for the golf courses"? He managed to survive the Texas senate primary at the end of May. He's in a runoff election for Kay Bailey Hutchinson's U.S. Senate seat in Texas today. Back in May, he lost by 10 percent. As of the most recent poll, he was ahead of his opponent David Dewhurst by 10 percent. The guy who thinks Agenda 21 is a U.N. conspiracy to take away "golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads" is likely to be the GOP nominee and therefore the favorite to win in November. He is, as I'm fond of saying one of the GOP's maniacs who are promising people that they can keep their cars, McMansions, and commutes this year. Care to use him to make a point about how crazy the Republican Party has become--again?

Krugman read the comment and published it. It's now up to him to follow through.

This morning, he did. Sweet!

Tee Party
First, they came for the golfers.

So the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas is a man who believes that there is a global plot, led by George Soros, to eliminate golf courses. Also, that states can nullify Acts of Congress.

Politics in the world’s greatest nation.

Never let it be said that Dr. Krugman does not respond to reader requests.

I didn't know Canute was the King of North Carolina

Scientific American: NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal

These are hard days, people are crazyish, and you just have to soldier on, right? But then it turns out that North Carolina legislators are now tossing around bills that not only protect themselves from concepts that make them uncomfortable, they’re DETERMINING HOW WE MEASURE REALITY.

In a story first discussed by the NC Coastal Federation and given more play May 29 by the News & Observer of Raleigh and its sister paper the Charlotte Observer, a group of legislators from 20 coastal NC counties whose economies will be most affected by rising seas have legislated the words “Nuh-unh!” into the NC Constitution.

Okay, cheap shot alert. Actually all they did was say science is crazy. There is virtually universal agreement among scientists that the sea will probably rise a good meter or more before the end of the century, wreaking havoc in low-lying coastal counties. So the members of the developers’ lobbying group NC-20 say the sea will rise only 8 inches, because … because … well, SHUT UP, that’s because why.

That is, the meter or so of sea level rise predicted for the NC Coastal Resources Commission by a state-appointed board of scientists is extremely inconvenient for counties along the coast. So the NC-20 types have decided that we can escape sea level rise – in North Carolina, anyhow – by making it against the law. Or making MEASURING it against the law, anyhow.

Over at io9's post about this article, I left the following comment.

I'd be tempted to tell them the story of King Canute (Knut), who ordered the tide not to go in, but I doubt it would have the desired effect. Instead, they might take after Xerxes, who ordered the sea be given 300 lashes, fettered, and branded after a boat bridge across the Hellespont was destroyed by a storm.

The difference is that Canute knew full well that the sea wouldn't comply. I don't think these people care whether it does or not.

Dragon and ISS dock plus other space and astronomy news of the week

In Space and astronomy stories for the week of the annular eclipse, the story below the jump was about the scrubbed launch of SpaceX's Falcon/Dragon to the International Space Station. This week, that story gets top billing both here and in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Dragon docks with ISS edition) at Daily Kos. Pride of place goes to the Los Angeles Times' article on the event.

NASA astronauts open SpaceX capsule hatch and begin unloading cargo
By W.J. Hennigan
May 26, 2012, 3:36 a.m.

Less than 24 hours after a historic docking, astronauts aboard the International Space Station clambered into SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft and began unloading supplies that were packed inside.

Wearing oxygen masks as a precaution, the astronauts opened the hatch, slid the door open, and took delivery of the 1,014 pounds of food, water and clothing aboard Dragon.

"Like the smell of a brand new car," said NASA astronaut Don Pettit, after going inside.

Live coverage of the hatch opening, which included some of the first video footage from inside the cone-shaped Dragon, started Saturday shortly before 3 a.m PDT on the Hawthorne company's website and NASA TV.

Speaking of NASA TV...

Enter The Dragon on This Week @NASA

The crew of the International Space Station opened the hatch of the recently berthed SpaceX Dragon capsule, the first commercial craft to fly to the ISS. Also, Venus Transit, Fallen Heroes, Carbon-Sensing Sherpa, and more.

That's not the only video I posted. Here is SpaceX Dragon COTS 3 Rendezvous Grapple Berthing Timelapse. Note: there is no sound with this video.




I wasn't the only diarist at Daily Kos to comment on the occasion yesterday. DarkSyde used the story to headline This week in science: Catch a Dragon by the tail and kindler placed it in a sustainability context by comparing and contrasting Forward vs. Backward: SpaceX vs. Heartland. That latter diary earned a distinction of getting a lot of recs and tips, but no comments. That's the equivalent of a silent standing ovation, a great sign of respect.

Click on "Read more" for the rest of the week's space and astronomy news.