I'm just about 7 weeks out from beginning to film. I'm trying not to freak out and doing an okay job being cool so far. I'll learn some things this weekend about key people to be involved with the film and I'll know by then whether or not to freak out Haha
The big point is that all my time from hereon in will be dedicated to the film, so I won't be writing much here on the blog. That's a sad scenario for some, I assume, but a good one as I'll still be working creatively, just in other capacities.
So for today's post I thought I'd share with you the playlist of songs I've been listening to fairly consistently while developing the script and generally working on the film.
I am a bit saddened by the last couple of posts. That would include today's. Not that we're deep into the year as yet or anything nor have I wasted time here on the blog. I think the first two blogs of the year have been quite noteworthy. But last week I merely posted a video trailer of My Bloody Valentine and today I'm posting someone's copy of the 1936 movie Things to Come. That means I've not been writing much of anything on this blog the last two weeks. And THAT is what saddens me.
But it's not a complete shame. Part of the reason I've not made two 'good' posts the last two weeks is that I've been working hard on my latest novel. In fact, as of today, I'm far ahead of where I had planned to be by this point in the year. So it's not like I'm NOT writing AT ALL. I'm just not doing much of anything here on the blog.
For that I apologize and make appeals to your reasonable side -- hoping that you'll understand.
I will be writing more substantial things soonest. I suspect some of it will have to do with further research concerning the novel (I've already posted something I came across while doing research in the Max Headroom post on January 9th).
Alas, for now we must take what we can and only hear about of the shape of things to come.
Today's post is pretty simple stuff. I'll be going to see My Bloody Valentine 3D with a group of people. I've not gone to a theater in a group in years. It should be cheesy and fun.
I'm posting early (Thursday instead of my usual Friday) because I've been ill lately and want to take tomorrow to rest. I have some energy now so... here goes!
Why is Matheson worthy of my praise? The power and epic nature of his writing. His tales, while generally decent narratives, almost always takes on a meditative nature that looks into the reality of life and an individual's place in the universe. And I do mean the universe. Yeah, he can be that epic.
Not all of his writings are worthy of praise, however. He also wrote the novel that the Robin Williams movie What Dreams May Comes was based on. It was a very slow tale and more of a Jean-Luc Godard-style talking-heads piece than a real story. It didn't work for me.
He also scripted *ulp* Jaws 3-D. If you've not seen it, don't. It's not exactly the best movie in the franchise.
I'm hoping the new I Am Legend starring Will Smith will at least be decent. I can't say it will be. While Will Smith's movies have always done well financially, I find them generally far from the best science fiction ever made for film. I don't think I Am Legend will be bad, but I don't think I can expect it to carry the weight of the novel. Maybe I'll be surprised... maybe it will. One can only hope. And I'm willing to give it a shot.
Here's some stuff from off YouTube about Richard Matheson and I Am Legend.
A PIECE DISCUSSING RICHARD MATHESON:
THE OMEGA MAN TRAILER:
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH TRAILER:
THE NEW I AM LEGEND STARRING WILL SMITH (TRAILER):
RICHARD MATHESON ON DARK DREAMERS SPEAKING ABOUT HIS WORK:
Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday in the United States in 1863. In honor and in celebration of the holiday, here's the funniest 'virtual' robot fight in film history:
In conjunction with friend and comrade in nerdiness J. Ho, today he and I are posting about golems. I challenged him to a timed drawing, giving him scant few minutes to draw a golem. He posted the end product on his blog today.
For my part I'll be posting a few things about the golem, its history and pop culture references.
Perhaps through video games (most specifically role-playing games) we know the golem today as a humanoid creature made of stone or other such earthy materials. Here is the 'classic' image of the golem creature from the Dragon Quest video games:
The origins of the golem are similar to our modern idea of what a golem is. M-W.com defines the word 'golem' as: "an artificial human being in Hebrew folklore endowed with life". It is from this folklore that we get our modern golem.
The most famous and one of the earliest mass-media representations of the golem creature is the 1920 film The Golem: How He Came into the World and preceded by the 1915 film Der Golem (translated from German as 'The Golem' but originally released here in the United States under the title 'The Monster of Fate'). I found this on YouTube:
The basic plot of the golem tale is this: An antique dealer buys an old humanoid statue made of clay that was created by a Rabbi centuries before. By placing words written on paper into the open mouth of the golem, the golem will come to life and obey the written command. When the golem is brought to life by the antique dealer, it falls in love with the antique dealer's wife. Saddened the antique dealer's wife does not requite its love, the golem begins murdering people.
Here's an original poster for the film:
And here's a picture of how the golem was portrayed in the film:
John Casken also wrote an opera called Golem that premiered in 1989, retelling the story of the creature with original music.
On a last related note: While looking for video of the golem, I found this on YouTube. This golem costume was hand-made from about five foam mattresses. Rad!
Today's offering comes from the earliest parts of film history. "A Trip to the Moon" is widely acknowledged as one of the first, if not the first, science fiction film. Made in 1902 by Georges Méliès, a stage magician, the film was then hailed as a technological feat with astounding special effects including its blend of animation and live actors. The story is loosely based upon From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells, both being very popular at the time.
LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.
Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.
Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.
Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.
Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.
"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.
OTHER RELATED HISTORICAL AND FICTIONAL METEOR STORIES:
TUNGUSKA EVENT
The Tunguska event, sometimes called the Tunguska explosion, was a massive explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya (Under Rock) Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia, between 7:00 and 8:00 AM on June 30, 1908.
The explosion was most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometers (3–6 mi) above Earth's surface. Different studies yielded varying estimates for the meteor's size, including 60 meters, 90 to 190 meters and up to 1200 meters in diameter.
Although the meteor or comet is considered to have burst prior to hitting the surface, this event is still referred to as an impact event. The energy of the blast was estimated to be between 10 and 20 megatons of TNT — 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion felled an estimated 80 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers (830 sq mi). It is estimated to have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.
The Tunguska event is the largest impact event in recent history. An explosion of this magnitude had the potential to devastate large metropolitan areas had it occurred over a large city. This possibility has helped to spark discussion of ways to potentially stop large asteroids or comets from hitting Earth.
Well, this is a HUGE post today. Got some pop culture stuff and a lot of scientific research here. I hope everyone enjoys. Be sure to post your thoughts!
One of my favorite comic book characters.
Robot maker builds artificial boy
RICHARDSON, Texas - David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these days. There's his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he bounds through his father's cramped office. Then there's the robotic Zeno. It can't speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions.
At 17 inches tall and 6 pounds, the artificial Zeno is the culmination of five years of work by Hanson and a small group of engineers, designers and programmers at his company, Hanson Robotics. They believe there's an emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions, or social robots. And they'll be showing off the robot boy to students in grades 3-12 at the Wired NextFest technology conference Thursday in Los Angeles.
Unlike clearly artificial robotic toys, Hanson says he envisions Zeno as an interactive learning companion, a synthetic pal who can engage in conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like, patented material Hanson calls frubber.
"It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent," Hanson beams. "It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you."
It's no coincidence if the whole concept sounds like a science-fiction movie.
Hanson said he was inspired by, and is aiming for, the same sort of realism found in the book "Supertoys Last All Summer Long," by Brian Aldiss. Aldiss' story of troubled robot boy David and his quest for the love of his flesh-and-blood parents was the source material for Steven Spielberg's film "Artificial Intelligence: AI."
He plans to make little Zenos available to consumers within the next three years for $200 to $300.
BUILDING GODS A movie wherein a cyborg, brain builder, theologian, and philosopher debate the future of artificial intelligence, robotics, cyborgs, and living inside of computers.
The Halloween Season begins soonish. When do you think it begins? After Labor Day? First day of October? Let me know. Whatever the case, Rob Zombie's Halloween hits theaters today. I'm hoping to see it. Are you?
I've stumbled across this site more than once. They've taken old skool serials and other media that have fallen into public domain and placed them on their site for you to enjoy them for free. Yes, absolutely free! Right now they have Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon and Radar Men from the Moon under serials. They have other things you can check out, too. Below is a collected preview of what they have to offer. Why not give them a peep?
Serials will be coming soon, or so I hope. I've been very busy editing stories and working on the website. The serials are just sitting on the back burner for now. They're on their way.
For today's weekly post I bring to you some shout-outs and links to favorite sites and people, all with an old skool sci-fi flair. Let me know what you think and be sure to check them out. Enjoy.
I think I did it. I finally did it. I think I finally found something wrong with the Spiderman movies... O_O
Is it me, or is there no catchy theme song?!
Every so often, generally on happier or carefree days, I find myself humming some tune. Usually it's a jazz or blues standard, or an xmas carol if it's Yule time. But from time to time I'll just be going along and I'll start humming and then I realize, "Hey! That's the Superman theme!" or I'll say to myself "Hey! That's from Batman:The Animated Series!"
But I cannot recall, for the life of me, a good, solid, memorable theme for Sam Raimi's recent trilogy. Am I wrong? WTH?!
Does Spidey even have a theme at all?! I mean, I can't even remember the theme to Spidey and Friends (oh, wait... yes I can!). I can also remember the theme to the 1994 animated series. Of course there's also always the "Spider-man, Spider-man... doin' the things a spider can..." theme. But I can't remember a damn thing from the recent movies!!!
PLEASE... let me know if I'm wrong, if my memory has faded, or if there's some inside scoop as to whether or not Raimi wanted to stay away from such things that could be construed as 'hokey' in this day-and-age.
Since I'm currently blogging the latest novel in the The Children of Gods fantasy wuxia (martial arts) series, I thought people might want access to some of the music I'm listening to as I write it and blog it.
Enjoy Wuxia Radio!
Welcome to Atomic Swan Serials. Herein I write tales and occasional rants. Currently I author If - E - Zine™: The Free Online Magazine of Thrilling Speculative Fiction!, a webzine throwback to the days of pulp science fiction. A new post will be made every Friday with the occasional bonus post in between. If no serials are currently under way something will still be posted every Friday including videos or music or thoughts of the moment in relation to science fiction, horror, monsters or speculative fiction.
