Sci-Fi Storm

Flanvention, which was to take place this past weekend in Los Angeles, was cancelled suddenly for unknown reasons by the organizer, Booster Entertainment, a for-profit group. Even their website is broken now, where it previously announced the cancellation the day before the event with an “official notice” due in “10 days”, and several hundred Browncoats were suddenly without a convention – and their money. Some payed major bucks in advance as some sort of “premium membership”. All was not lost, however. Even though they knew it was cancelled, a number of the stars showed up anyways and hung out with the fans – including Adam Baldwin, Nathan Fillion, and Mark Sheppard.

What happens when studio execs take the running time axe to a movie? Well, it rarely ends well. And when you’ve got a top-notch composer’s score that is similarly devastated by the cuts? Well, I think this is a first. BuySoundtrax Records has released a limited edition (3000 units) expanded soundtrack for the movie Lifeforce. Read More for a brief review.

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Wired is reporting that Multiverse, which makes a free MMO creation platform, will announce a licensing agreement with FOX to produce a MMORPG based on Firefly. I wonder how they’ll deal with the debate as to whether Firefly takes place in one planetary system or several…Update: the announcement is now on their web site, which is now working as well…

The mysterious The Lost Room, a limited series from the SCI FI Channel, premieres Monday, December 11th, at 9pm ET. For a limited time, you can download an overview video (8MB), or see short viral videos on a Clock vs. Truck (1.6MB), or the effects of a bus ticket (1MB) (Quicktime format). Update: Time’s up – links removed.

Eragon, based on the first novel of the popular Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini, opens in theaters next Friday. In case you haven’t seen the thousands of advertisements on television, or simply want more, check out the official web site and the online trailer. Eragon stars newcomer Edward Speleers as the title character, Jeremy Irons (Kingdom of Heaven), John Malkovich (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), and Rachael Weisz (The Mummy) as the voice of the dragon, Saphira, brought to life by the wizards at WETA.

John Kopp writes “Firebox.com has just received collectable Star Wars Canvas Prints. They are limited edition, fully licensed Canvas Prints and they are now available on the site! This is the direct link with all the information you’ll need.

http://www.firebox.com/product/1344

They feature actual scenes as well as fantastic montage pieces. From C-3P0 and R2-D2 to Darth Vader himself, these canvas prints are top quality, individually numbered and only available on Firebox.com!”

Martha Ivery, who was also known as Kelly O’Donnell and did business under several names as both a “high-powered” literary agent and vanity publishing houses (notably Press-TIGE Publishing and New Millenium Publishing), was sentenced to 65 months in prison and must pay restitution. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, who helped lead the investigation and formed “Writer Beware” to warn of questionable activity, have this release. Ivery, under several personas, would charge agents fees, then refer to her own publishing house, and charged more fees, and frequently failed to deliver. She also employed strongarm tactics, demanding money from clients and threatening to “blacklist” them. Apparently she had so many lies running that she lost track – she called one client some time after the client was told that she had died.

I hate making appeals like this, but alas, what little income that is made off this site is WAY down this year (like a fraction of the first couple years). So I implore you…if you shop regularly from Amazon.com, or even occasionally, follow any the links on our site to get there. If you use Firefox 2.0 though, you can install a plugin to use the search box in the upper right to search Amazon, but credit us! See the Support page for details.

The voting has begun on the “Keep the Gate Open” video contest which we announced previously. Voting is open through December 12th, with the winner announced on December 14th. The videos are quite well done.