23 years of this site still chugging along...
Artist Kelly Freas passed away
by Doc on Jan.03, 2005, under General News
11 time Hugo-winning SF artist Frank Kelly Freas, who created the images for numerous covers for magazines and books and even album covers and was an official NASA artist, passed away on Sunday at his home. More info can be found at his official site (slow due to load). Update: Shame on me – Freas is the man behind Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman!!
Crusade Box Set review
by Doc on Jan.01, 2005, under General News
Not many shows that get canceled after half a season will get a second life, but studios do know that SF audiences want what they can get. Firefly got a second life with the DVD release and now a feature film. Crusade may not enjoy the same followup, but at least we can get the DVDs.
Thunderbirds Movie/DVD review
by Doc on Dec.28, 2004, under General News
I remember seeing the original Thunderbirds show on occasion as a kid – occasionally while visiting family in England, and occasionally in the States – and more recently on TechTV (now G4TechTV, but not the same channel any more 🙁 ), so I was looking forward to seeing the movie. Alas, I’m not too sure what to think.
Clarke reports on Sri Lanka
by Doc on Dec.28, 2004, under General News
Arthur C. Clarke, who resides with his family in Sri Lanka, reports via his foundation web site that they are OK – but not so for hundreds of thousands, where he compares the disaster to something out of The Day After Tomorrow. More updates will be posted on the site when they can.
Learn the secrets of the Klingon forehead
by Doc on Dec.22, 2004, under Television
Seems Enterprise is going to tap into one of the great unaswered questions of Treklore – why Klingons had smooth foreheads in the original Star Trek, but in all other shows and movies they are bumpy. In a two-parter starting with the 15th episode of this season, the issue will be dealt with.
Rowling finishes next Potter book
by Doc on Dec.21, 2004, under Books
This is hitting the morening news outlets – J.K. Rowling has finished Harry Potter and th Half-Blood Prince and a release date should be announced today. Update: Release date is July 16th in US and Britain, per CNN.
Quantum Leap Season 2 DVD review
by Doc on Dec.20, 2004, under General News
Quantum Leap was a breakthrough idea – tell thoughtful stories in a variety of situations and eras like an anthology, yet keep a face people can follow from episode to episode with its own story. Dr. Sam Beckett “leaps” into the lives of different people, hoping to fix something that happened to them and make their lives better. Sounds corny, but some of the episodes were simply amazing. The second season (22 episodes) was released on DVD last week, and I got the chance to review it.
Can you name that font?
by Doc on Dec.20, 2004, under General News
As part of the design for Storm 2.0, I want to regenerate some of the graphics. The only problem is, I don’t seem to have the font for the “Storm” in the logo any more. Can anyone identify it? Otherwise I’ll look at an alternate font. Also, I can probably figure this out, but how many of you are IE users? Lack of proper PNG transparency support really makes it tough…Update: We have a winner – one of the anonymous posters correctly identified it as “Stonehenge” as available from Highfonts.com.
Ultimate Matrix review
by Doc on Dec.18, 2004, under Video/DVD
Wow. How do you find the time to review something that consists of 10 DVDs? The Ultimate Matrix Collection is just such a beast – with the [sfs=492]regular version[/sfs] and a cool [sfs=493]limited edition gift set[/sfs]. Nevertheless, I finally plowed through it. This review will start a new type of DVD review to be ironed out, with less emphasis on the feature than the technical aspects.
Behind the scenes of Narnia
by Doc on Dec.16, 2004, under Movies
Disney has released behind the scenes footage (Quicktime file) from production of the first The Chronicles of Narnia movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.