Sci-Fi Storm

You know, if you are going to take on the moniker of one of the most famous Jedi Knights, you probably should stay on the right side of the Force – and the law.

It seems a man who legally changed his name to “Obiwan Kenobi” back in 1999 as part of a radio stunt, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident after triggering a 5 car collision.

Now I wonder if the Lucasfilm lawyers might also want to punish him over his name…but no matter what, his record will be with him…always.

Thanks to Wil Wheaton, I just learned that 7 issues of the classic SF magazine Amazing Stories have been put online here, thanks to the Pulp Magazine Project. This includes the very first 6 issues. Now you can read some of the stories by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe and others, just like a kid at the drug store ice cream counter in 1926…

The last couple days have been busy for me but not for SF news, so Happy Holidays…and don’t forget if you’re getting any last minute gifts, or belated ones, head on over to [aml] via our link and help keep us running another year!

Don’t forget…Doctor Who Christmas night!

As usually, we’ll still be around the net so if anything major transpires, we’ll let you know!

My wife is participating in a “virtual fair” fundraiser for Give Kids the World Village in Florida. This organization brings terminally ill children and their families to the Disney area! We are trying to raise a million dollars for this wonderful organization.

If you need any books for your children or friends, please consider checking out her website. She will be donating up to 45% of her profit to this amazing charity! There are 12 other vendors that are also donating proceeds to this charity. Feel free to order from any of the charities!

http://powerof10fair.blogspot.com/
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Alphas was created by comic book movie writer Zak Penn (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers) and Michael Karnow, directed by Jack Bender (Lost), and executively produced by Ira Steven Behr (The 4400, Deep Space Nine, Dark Angel). The series is a procedural thriller about ordinary people with extraordinary mental and physical abilities that operate within a special branch of the Department of Defense and are tasked to investigate cases committed by others with Alpha abilities.

Emmy® winner and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (Temple Grandin/Good Night, and Good Luck) headlines a cast of both familiar and new faces including Warren Christie (October Road), Malik Yoba (New York Undercover), Laura Mennell (Watchmen), Ryan Cartwright (Bones) and Azita Ghanizada (Castle). Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica/24) guest stars in the pilot.

See the preview video below and find out who the Alphas are and the feel of the show, along with some stills from the show.

Alphas premieres on Monday, July 11th at 10PM ET/9PM CT on Syfy.
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Hoping to see the Daleks soon? Don’t plan on it this series. Current man-in-charge Steven Moffat said in an interview for the Radio Times that he’s ordered them put to rest for a while. “There’s a problem with the Daleks,” Moffat said. “They are the most famous of the Doctor’s adversaries and the most frequent, which means they are the most reliably defeatable enemies in the universe.”

The next Doctor Who prequel video, a prequel to the 3rd episode, “Curse of the Black Spot”, is now available and you can watch it right here:

The troubled Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark may stay in the dark for a few more months, as anonymous sources report an approximately three month delay in the opening – which is currently scheduled for next Tuesday. This could partly be to find a new director, as it was earlier reported that producers have been in talks with Julie Taymor about leaving the production.

The production has been plagued by problems due to the high-risk stunts and equipment issues, with several actors receiving serious injuries.

Updated 3/10: Looks like Taymor is out as director, but will still be involved, after the producers officially announced the delay to allow the time necessary to execute the plan, which will include revisions to the script,” according to the statement. The official opening date was not given, just “early summer”.

Perhaps announcing the Sci-Fi Storm/BBC America giveaway on a Friday in December wasn’t a good idea…response has been pretty light so far, and there hasn’t been a ton of news either. So I’m going to extend entries through Wednesday night, and announce the winner on Thursday.

A reminder on the details – you must follow scifistorm on Twitter, and retweet at least one “News:” article from this past Friday or later (either by the current “retweet” method, or by quoting and including “@scifistorm” so I can see it) that isn’t about the giveaway itself. And then send a tweet to @scifistorm and tell us who your favorite classic (7th and prior) Doctor was from Doctor Who – if you don’t have a classic favorite tell us your contemporary favorite, or even tell us “I don’t really watch Doctor Who, at least until I win those DVDs…” You have to do both of these things to qualify – and the odds are REALLY good right now!

Update: One more thing – I can’t ship the package internationally, and this is for U.S. versions of the DVDs. So this is only open to U.S. residents.

As a followup to a story we tweeted about a couple weeks ago, about Katie Goldman and how she was teased at school because she was a girl with a Star Wars backpack and bottle and loved Star Wars, and afterwards the whole geek community stepped up. Katie got support – and gifts – from all over. Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: Clone Wars, founder of geek girl site Her Universe and all around super-cool geek gal – nice CNN article here) sent her a care package and she and her mom wore the t-shirts to the Chicago screening of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And Think Geek sent a light saber. And the 501st Squadron and others took pictures with her dressed a Princess Leia.

The geeks win again…we do rule the world!