Sci-Fi Storm

Forrest J. Ackerman, well known among the science fiction fandom community, is reportedly very ill, and is expected to pass away very soon – but there have been premature reports of his passing. Fans are welcome to send mail (old style) to Forrest to say goodbye (address is at the bottom of the article in the first link). Update: this site is the best place for updates.

If you can be in the Pasadena area on January 16-18, 2009, and have a hankering for some Colonial gear, props and costumes from Battlestar Galactica are set to be auctioned in a live auction at the Pasadena Convention Center. Friday the 16th will be a preview day, and the auction will take place on the weekend. After that, on Monday there will be an online auction of smaller items.

Tired of the same old same old? Stormtroopers stopping you on the street? Empire taking all your hard earned credits? Economy stopping you from taking that ski vacation on Hoth? Perhaps you should vote for Lando Calrissian!

The Thunder Child writes “Isaac Asimov wrote hundreds of essays, many of them for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. These were collected into anthologies, and we have put together a 121-page, annoted index, in a free PDF, which you may download by going here. It lists every name Asimov ever mentioned, his description of them, and their birth and death dates.
Then, have a bit of fun with our “To Be Sure” contest. “To be sure” was one of Asimov’s favorite phrases, and if you’ve got a collection of his essay anthologies, and care to play the game, there’s prizes at the end of it. See more details here“

The 3D version of Journey To The Center Of The Earth comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD this Tuesday (October 28th), with both 2D and 3D versions included in both editions (including red-green 3D glasses). Read More for a review of them…

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The Thunder Child writes “Suspense was the longest running mystery/crime/sf anthology series on radio. It attracted major Hollywood stars. Matinee idols like Cary Grant liked to appear on Suspense because they could be cast against type as cold-blooded killers, comedians like Bob Hope and Red Skelton enjoyed dramatic roles. Jack Benny appeared on Suspense three times. In “Plan X,” he plays a Martian who is tasked with preventing an invasion of Mars from Earth. Okay, it’s not much of a dramatic role, but you can listen to it at: http://thethunderchild.com/RadioDrama/Suspense/PlanX.html. While you listen, watch the roll call of Suspense episodes page across the screen.

Also new at The Thunder Child is our guide to SF and fantasy authors available at YouTube. They’ve given talks, appeared on panels and so on, and the copyright holders of this material (either the authors or the film producers) have put them on YouTube. See and listen to Isaac Asimov, Octavia Butler, Arthur C. Clarke, Norman Spinrad and so on. Check out Asimov first at
http://thethunderchild.com/YouTubeGuide/AsimovYouTube.html, then follow the link back to the index for more authors.”

Emily Epstein writes “MileHiCon, the Rocky Mountain Region’s largest literary science fiction convention will be celebrating its 40th anniversary October 24-26 at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center-Denver. Run entirely by volunteers, MileHiCon will feature more than 80 authors and speakers, programming on every aspect of the science fiction and fantasy genres, the largest science fiction/fantasy art show
in the region, round-the-clock gaming, 19 dealers of science fiction-, fantasy-, and horror-related materials, and a masquerade (costume contest). The convention will also feature video and anime rooms, plus a special programming track especially for children (but grownups are welcome too). The Critter Crunch, the first robotic combat competition from which all others came, will be held on Sunday, and its younger aquatic sibling, the Critter Flotilla, will be held Friday night.” Read More for more details.

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Iron Man, which was released on DVD and Blu-Ray last week, is breaking sales records, selling 7.2 million DVDs and 500,000 BDs to set this year’s best first week tallies, along with the best Blu-Ray Day 1 sales at 250k units.

Sci-Fi Storm will be on vacation for a few days, returning later next week…Update: I’m back, I’m tired, and I’m trying to get caught up…no one submitted anything, so it’s all on me…

I know its not science fiction, but science fact is what helps drive the fiction. Recently the Discovery Channel aired a 6 hour series called When We Left The Earth – The NASA Missions, and now it is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray, and I’ve managed to take a look at the DVD version. Read More for a review, and you can even watch a clip here (Quicktime only).

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