A couple of days ago, I found out that John M. Ford died last year.

I came across his writing back when I was a kid, in the days when I was still a Star Trek fan. He wrote two Jim Kirk era novels that defined the Klingon Empire for anyone who read them, The Final Reflection and How Much For Just The Planet?, and simultaneously developed the ( Read more... )

Yep, another book review. The bug (or the bunny?) is probably due to my friend Stephen Wrighton, and his excellent, review-heavy blog No Krakana!

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The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes is the third volume in a quartet of novels, "The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone", which in genre terms, can probably be described as 'classic fantasy'. Now I'm not much of ( Read more... )

Towards midnight, local time, on April Fool's Day 1982, Argentina's military government invaded the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic--one of the few far-flung colonies that Britain still claimed as part of her dwindling overseas possessions. Over the next few weeks, they fortified the islands non-stop, in anticipation of the former colonial ( Read more... )

Another day, another update: What American Cities Best Fit You?, via Dunc from a place called Blogthings...

American Cities That Best Fit You::55% New York City50% Boston50% Philadelphia50% San Francisco45% Austin
Which American Cities Best Fit You?

And in other news, supposedly genetic inheritances can be passed on without the genes everyone thought were required...

"We were very surprised to see this," says the wonderfully named Professor Minoo Rassoulzadegan, of the University of Nice (which doesn't rhyme with "mice")...

I'll say!

Bill Shatner, George Lucas, and a chorus-line of high-kicking stormtroopers...

No, really.

Well, by now, the case of Lori Jareo and the Star Wars fanfic that ended up for sale on Amazon is all over the web, so I don't feel so bad talking about it... or at least, posting a few thoughtful links that have come up in the course of my investigation...

First, there's this essay - no, not a blog! - gakked, as so often, from ClubJade. A little ( Read more... )

You are Chewbacca
Chewbacca
69%
Lando Calrissian
68%
Obi-Wan Kenobi
65%
Mace Windu
65%
Han Solo
65%
Qui-Gon Jinn
62%
Anakin Skywalker
60%
Luke Skywalker
60%
Boba Fett
57%
Princess Leia
54%

Sure you're tall and hairy,
but you've got heart!


( Read more... )

I thought two things when I saw the poster for Basic Instinct 2.

The first was "Isn't Sharon Stone pushing fifty now?" - as it turns out, she turned 48 the day before yesterday. The second was "David Morrissey? Wasn't he in Blackpool?!" - yes, and that means he might just be perfect for the role ( Read more... )

1.: a LEGO Star Destroyer, complete with Grand Moff Tarkin as a little LEGO man!

2.: a Pirates of the Carribeal sequel!!

Judging by the IMDB castlist, pretty much everyone's back for this one, too, including Jack Davenport, although Zoe Saldana has been replaced by the equally superb Naomie Harris*happy Ewok ( Read more... )