Good new reading on the way
It looks like China Mieville's next novel, "Iron Council" is coming out in July. It's set in New Crobuzon, the city of "Perdido Street Station" and "The Scar."
(Link found at Goblindegook.)
Friday, March 05, 2004
Live forever!
Scientist says its possible to reverse aging, allowing people to live for centuries. Kind of weird. I'm reading a science fiction story right now, "Dio" by Damon Knight, in which people are immortal, but they remain in a perpetual state of adolescence. In the real world, we're already in a perpetual state of adolescence, so bring on the eternal life! It's kind of strange the way this guy talks about "resetting" cells. Makes us all sound like machines.
Three-headed frog
Three-headed frog found in England. It's got three perfectly formed frog heads and six legs. (There's a pic at that link.) It might be a sign of environmental problems. Or it's protecting a lesser gate of Hades
Family relations
New branch of human ancestors discovered. The ardipithecus ramidus kadabba was thought to be an ape species, but scientists now believe it is the earliest version of human beings.
Wanted: 1 monster fish
Classified ad for a snakehead fish scares Omaha anglers. They're worried the fish will be passed on to the local ponds and lakes. And they're right to worry. This is the fish that kills everything in a body of water, then walks on land to the next body of water where it kills everything there.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Judge takes a stand
Judge finds a typo-prone lawyer guilty of bad writing. I'm glad to see a judge do this. Legalese is bad enough, lawyers should be able to use correctly what little English they do use.
Why is Hollywood so screwed up?
Neil Gaiman sets the record straight as to what's going on with "Constantine" as it pertains to Alan Moore. It's interesting to find out that Moore was really upset over Larry Cohen's ridiculous suit, which basically said that Moore created the comic book "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" so Fox could rip Cohen off. But Moore's response to this is rather odd, but typical of him. Rather than coming back against Cohen, he just gives up all credit and money for movies based on his work.
As for "Constantine," a movie based on the comic book "Hellblazer," it's going to be royally screwed up. Well, there's a chance it might be good, but the weather still looks pretty hot in Hades to me. "Hellblazer" is a comic book about a Brit sorceror of sorts. Being British is not just a small detail, a little character background, it's essential to his character. He's also blond. So what does Hollywood do in its infinite wisdom? Cast Keanu Reeves. If that's the starting point of this movie, where can it go from there? Unless it gets screamingly good reviews, I'm going to stay far away from the movie.
CNN reports on giant monster invasion!
Why is it Godzilla has to go away to get mainstream coverage? It's probably a silly question, but just wait and see what coverage another James Bond film would get (the only other film series that has a history as long as Godzilla's.) Still, I can't wait to see the new film. Any day now Godzilla X Mechagodzilla should be out on DVD, with the sequel following soon after. There's a wealth of Godzilla stuff coming out for the 50th anniversary of Godzilla. It's like 1998 all over again (except without a bad American movie to top it off.) I find this comment funny:
"'Unlike the early Godzilla films, most of the remakes only draw either fanatics or children,' said Risaku Kiridoshi, an essayist on Japanese pop culture."
More proof that I'm some kind of freak. Thanks to Charles for the link.
New things
Well, I've made a few template changes around here. Tell me what you think and if there's anything missing, different or just plain wrong.
Alan Moore interview
Alan David Doane interviews Alan Moore:
"So, I launched on a career as a writer and, from the very beginning, I had a couple of simple precepts, if you like...I decided that I was never going to write a story that I, personally, wasn't interested in. I figured that this would be a helpful dividing line to prevent me from sliding into hack-work, which is always a danger in an industry where the deadlines come fast and furious. So, I kind of developed a method by which I would take...even on promising material, and then make it into something that was fun for me, that was either amusing or intellectually stimulating or, you know, that my use of language or storytelling or something like that...there some element in the story that would provide me with sufficient motivation to do a good job on it. "
They talk about Moore's novel Voice of the Fire, which I didn't know was released. Something else to spend my money on.
Dominique Pinon
Thanks to pullquote I now know that today is Dominique Pinon's birthday. Pinon is the star of Caro-Jeunet films. My favorite: City of Lost Children. I think it's one of the best fantasy movies ever.
Why it pays to buy art
Man buys painting for $5 at a garage sale then sells it to a gallery for $1 million.
A broken plane for your safety
Patent approved for a breakable airplane.
"The proposal, which received a patent last month, calls for aircraft to be built in separate parts, then sealed together. In an emergency -- anything from mechanical failure to a missile attack -- the pilot could push a button to sever the parts with controlled explosions or by using a 'laser cutting' device.
"Each section would be equipped with parachutes, shock absorbers, inflatable rafts, and propulsion jets that would guide it to the ground, the patent said."
Of course, there's always a skeptic (or a few hundred):
"James DeLaurier, who teaches aircraft design at the University of Toronto, said his initial reaction to reading the patent was 'holy cow.'
"'This would be a maintenance nightmare,' he said. 'How could you make sure that all these systems are ready to go? The consequences of them not working, or working prematurely, would be dreadful.'"
Attack of the Giant Ice Balls!
Huge hailstones fell from the cloudless sky all over Spain in January 2000. Upon further study, scientists find occurences of what they call megacryometeors in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States.
"There have been detractors. Some meteorologists and hail experts have denounced the theories posed by Martinez-Frias, stating that formation of hail without thick highly-visible clouds is an impossibility."
There's always some scientist looking to help.
Anastasia screams in vain
A team of scientists is criticizing a DNA report that claimed it had confirmed the deaths of Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family.
"In a newly released report, the scientists declare that the testing of remains found in the Ural Mountains was shoddy and flawed. They add that their own tests on the preserved finger of the sister of the czar's wife raise even more questions about the original findings."
Because there's nothing funny about a 6ft man tied to a tree wearing a thong and high heeled shoes
Police report further sightings of the "bunny girl." Police say the situation is 'not funny.'
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