Tonight, well, last night actually, my brother turned 21. His best friend and I took him to Rock Bottom and Kells as well as another bar near where his best friend lives. IT was indeed a good night. I've always had a very close relationship with my brother. He is my best friend. He will be my best man at my wedding, whatever form that may take on. Derek sent me this video and it is the most perfect conclusion for a very good evening.
Here is the list of interesting sounding books and movies that I learned about (or remembered about) from Orycon. Spellings will be very wrong in some cases and probably will bring dishonour to all of geekdom.
Sunday 18 November 2007 at 05:36 am
This entry was going to be littered with pictures I took today alas my camera is not with me at the moment. I am hoping it is in my brother's room. I would be pissed if I lost it, not because of cost but because it has all the videos I took this week for my weekly video mails to Derek.
For many years Orycon took place at the Red Lion, later bought by Doubletree, in Janzen Beach by I-5 between Oregon and Washington states. The hotel was then bought by a company who did not want our kind of rif raf. They were not polite about it. Their plans were to renovate the hotel into the expensive boutique kind. To this day the hotel sits empty and occupied by homeless. As a result the con went into a panic and hunted for a new home. The Marriott in downtown Portland took us in with some reservation. The standard policy for conventions is the hotel 'requests' that the convention fills up so many rooms they offer at a discount. In that first year (this being our 3rd now) not only were enough rooms taken but many more rooms were rented (what is the word used for getting a hotel room?) making the hotel very happy. They also underestimated how much geeks like to hang out and party at bars late into the night. The sports bar ran by the hotel found themselves very understaved, under stocked, and in a spir to make more money actually stayed open past 10. The hotel was also very happy they made a lot of money. There is some culture shock from some employees due to some of the costuming, but they have been quite pleased with us and we are quite pleased with them.
Global Warming: will it get as warm as it was in 1310: The short story is that we just don't know enough. The point of the Kyoto Protocol wasn't to stop global warming, but to buy us more time. Right now some brute force tests, such ans dumping iron into the ocean to promote plankton growth to fix carbon, ended up in failure as plankton produce even nastier greenhouse gasses. By following Kyoto and reducing energy use by 15% and increasing car mpg by 15% we would have delayed whatever is going to happen by 15 years. Considering the incredible advancements in planetary studies in the past 15 years it is quite possible we would have discovered something that would greatly helped us out. The current best data shows that, unless we seriously start loading the system like we would have before the environmental movement, two of the three serious bad events are not going to happen, namely the collapse of the Antarctic ice cap and the boiling of the massive methane beds in the deep oceans. If those were to boil you can kiss any multicellular life that you can see without a microscope goodbye. What we don't know is the thresholds that would stall the powerful ocean currents that keep England and the pacific Northwest from freezing over. Every little bit we do to reduce carbon emissions will give us that much more breathing room. Some of the most effective things one can do is avoid oversea products and buy food that comes from a 100 mile radius, otherwise known as the 100 mile diet. Star Trek: 20th anniversary of the next generation: On the panel was Eric Stillwell, co-author of Yesterdays Enterprise. Who's office was just across the hall from Gene's. Who got a call from Gene's secretary that Gene wanted to see him now. Ended up it was a surprise party where he got to see the first screening of his episode with Gene. That makes me now just two degrees of separation between me and the creator of Star Trek. Due to a writer's strike during season 3ish, the lead people of TNG decided to have an open submission policy for scripts. This is unheard of as most other series only have 2 episodes written by freelancers per season as mandated by the Guild. Chris Hatton, the one who had tight black shirt and nice leather jacket, got two of his scripts aired his way. His first ones too. I am getting damn tired so I am just going to post my raw notes: 5000 submission a year (stillwell was also production assistant
for tng). illegal to wrtie st and publish. Had contest to get more
writers for st. open submission from strike in 3rd season and had no
material and was desperate. Guy who submisted The Bonding ended becoming
famnous and now a head guy for Battlestar. st started going downhill
when open submission closed. new movie very similar to yesterday
enterprisse and city at edge of forever (yesterday was suppose to be
about guardian of forever and sarak, tarsha yar only small part of it).
moor was klingion expert and brings it to
battlestar so new battlestar very rodenberry in storingtelling.
stillwell watched yesterday with gene. "I'm now two degrees away from
gene roddenberry!" (Bobbie hull). "Well my wife is one degree from
monica lewinsky" (stillwell, wife just shook her head someone sleeping
on couch tonight! brandon beraga would have a whiteboard and keep track of how many times
an idea been pitched (stillwell) old guard would help young writers but
beraga ended up just wanting wierd stories. (stillwell) problem was
oversaturation (hull) DS9 was arc because of Babylon 5 (hull). A lot
of the cost of tv episodes are fake money to 'eliminate profit.'
shantner and neymoy was sneeky and got into their contracts a cut of all
future startreks. paramount agreed not knowing of tng,ds9 voyager...
rick berman no fan of st, a suit paramount brought in (Hatton). first 13
ep of tng is roddenberrys ng, the rest isn't really his. Futures That Wernt:Sci-Fi Predictions for Today: The idea is that science fiction doesn't really make predictions, it is to entertain. Considering the massive amount written you will always be able to find that one author who kinda got it right, despite the fact that everyone else in the genera got it wrong. One of the major factors that caused science fiction's outlook on spaceships and stations everywhere happened in the 1960's when the first images showing how hostler Mars and Venus were. No point in leaving home. Manned Mars Mission: The Mars rovers 90 day mission is still going into the 1000+days. Despite the good fortune they are starting to break down and it is unknown if they will survive the Martian winter. There are currently three orbiters looking at mineralogy and water content of Mars. All three function as communication relays for the rovers, esentally making it the first interplanetary internet. There was a fourth, but it broke due to another failure of converting Imperial (feet) into metric. In this case it was one of the cameras that were placed on a moterized arm. Jet Propulsion Laboratory has always used metric, but one of the Universities were giving them information in Imperial. In this case the arm was told to move in inches when the numbers were in centameters. The arm with the camera on it kinda broke. Currently thee space agencies are looking at manned missions to Mars. NASA has the most developed craft design that will have to be built in space. The upside to this is, because the main craft wont be landing on any planets, the ship will be reusable for quite a long time. All three agencies are planning for 6 person missions that will last 2.5 years: 6 months there, a year and a half so the orbits put the planets at the closest points possible, and then 6 months back. To imagine what this might be like, take 6 friends, a microwave, and TV and DVD player with some movies, and food and other consumables and lock yourselves in the bathroom for 48 hours. That is what it is like in a shuttle mission. Imagine that for 2.5 years! They wont be taking the shuttle though. Currently the European Space Agency is starting up a project called 500. 6 pretend astronauts will live in isolation in a mock Marsbound spacecraft and simulate 500 days of the mission. I'll dig more information on that up when it isn't 3:30 in the morning.
Every year at Orycon there is a panel by a reviewer and industry insider, Gareth Von Kallenbach, in which he talks about the current going ons in cinema and television. (There is also an assistant producer there who worked on every season of Star Trek Voyager and Enterprise who has shed some very interesting light on the subject, alas this is a tangent). Here are the notes I have taken. Now I checked my notes from the past two years and it seems this guy has a good track record for this industry, about 60-85% successful prediction. Now mind you many of these are just being looked at or are in pre production. Never assume anything is certain until the cameras start rolling. Here are the predictions from last year so you can make your own judgements. Oh, and the basic premise of Indiana Jones 4 and the New Star Trek is down at the bottom.
The current writers strike will be causing major issues for television, starting about in February, and movies that were slated for 2009. Even if the strike were end today it will take about 6 weeks to get new scripts from brainstorm into production for TV series. There are three possible options, series and movies will die and never come back to life, they will be placed on the back burner, or (worst of all) the producers will take scripts in their current form and just make due with them. Series that are in their first season trying to find their audience will be in the first group. Established shows and movies with solid studio backing will be in the middle and I fear a lot of movies will go with the latter group. Negotiations are expected to resume after the Thanksgiving weekend but I doubt there will be much production. Gareth predicts that the strike will end early if a major star (Tom Hanks, etc) working on a major film, refuses to cross the picket line. The studios would break and meet the writers' demands. (Which I am for and which I wish them the best of luck.) This strike may last all of next year, so expect a lot of reality TV. Movie and television studios are also looking at foreign media to help fill in the gap. Award shows will also be interesting as no one will be able to write their quirky jokes.
Some shows, like Battlestar may be asafe as it is filmed in Vancouver BC and some writers are not part of the guild. It is a grey area so take this news with salt. Caprica, the prequel series, has been put on hold because of the strike. Do not expect it to come back to life.
Another casualty of the strike is Seth MacFarlane walked and Fox is continuing production. Not good.
The new Futurama movie is slow to start but is otherwise very good. 3 more to come next year.
A live action movie of GI-Joe is under way. It gets better. Normally a movie script is being worked on for 6-14 months before production. Because of the writers strike the writer for this movie was only given 7 weeks.
Because of the strike X-Files 2 in in production.
Studios are looking at old unfilmed scripts (Mission Impossible, original Star Trek for example) to use as filler if needed.
The next Alien vs Predator movie is looking quite good and gory. Improved from the previous one.
Prison Break's 4 week hiatus is probably going to be dropped to one.
24 is on hold until after the strike.
Lost will show the shows it has.
Dungeon Siege movie, by Uwe Boll, is getting rave reviews in Germany.
The next Rambo movie is looking rather good.
The Halo movie is dead. Peter Jackson has almost no clout and is in fact banned from most of MGM.
The Hobbit is still on the back burner but is being passed around to different directors.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is delayed due to strike.
Here is a list of movies and remakes that are being worked on:
10 Million Years BC
There is a movie called Babylon AD with Vin Diesel. The idea is a woman has a retrovirus that, if spreads, will kill the human race.
Horton Hears a Who
Iron Man is looking all right
Prince Caspian may be good
Sex in the City movie. Expect romances to be the first movies to come out of the strike as they are quick to make and write.
The Hulk with Edward Norton
Get Smart
Valkyrie
Hellboy 2
Dark Knight (New Batman! Such a hunk too)
Another Mummy movie
Mamma Mia! with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan are staring in it. Yes, James Bond is in a musical.
Bond 22 is in works with Daniel Craig
Death Rays 2000 is being remade
A remake of Scanners
Highschool Musical 3
Scary Movie 5
The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves
Remake of Footlose with Zack Efron
Grudge part 3
Hills have eyes 3
Metal Gear Solid the movie
Remaking Escape From New York. Kurt might play Snake.
Remake Wolfman
Pink Panther 2
Saw 6
The watchmen
GForce
Avatar with James Cameron.
Fantastic Voyage
Spidemanr 4
Poose and Boots moive
Dark tower by King
I Dream of Jeannie
Hitman 2
Invisible Man remake
I Robot 2
Return to wolfenstien
Thundercats
Mortal Combat sequal
Sin city 2
The smirfs
The warrior
When a stranger calls 2,
From jeff bridges mouth: Tron reimage is dead but is doing sequel instead.
Conan film. Going to happen by the Wachowski brothers.
A new Stargate series but the movie is in limbo due to the strike.
A recent screening of the Golden Compass was a disaster. It is back in the edit room undergoing serious editing.
Austin Powers 4 was being planned but, due to the strike, is dead.
24 the movie is probably dead due to strike
Black Christmas 2 might still happen
Remake of Creature from black lagoon on hold
Jurassic park 4 probably dead due to strike. Plot was dinos being used for military applications.
Meg (prehistoric shark) killed by writers stike
Transformers 2 is held up.
Ice age 3 held up
Remake of bird and Prince of Persia also on hold.
Here are some being looked at
Terminator 4. This will be about the future war.
Magneto spinoff is approved but wolverene is first.
Pee Wee Herman is coming back. R and PG versions of the movie.
World of Warcraft movie is in trouble because of the strike.
Still no one cast for Wonderwoman. The studios want an established actress who is six foot and has a bust line. The few who meet all three criteria don't want to.
Independence day sequel fell apart.
New Blade Runner - Final Cut. 2, 4 5 disk version. The way Scott wanted, new footage and effects. 5 disk will have every version. Dec 18th. Also in certain theatres. One main producer of the film just before strike started commissioning scripts for sequel.
Mad Max. Mel Gibson. Cancelled mad max 4 because a scene could only be filmed in africa and terrorism issues. As of two weeks ago George Millar has said (before strike) Mad Max 4 Fury Road is back on. Mel wants to do it. Robert Downy jr may be his son.
Babylon 5 Lost Tales was a total success. The next two stories are a go and jms will have a slightly larger budget. We will be seeing Garibaldi and Londo. And, down the road, don't be surprised if we see what happens with Lennier...
The following contain the basic premise of Indiana Jones 4 and the new Star Trek movie. Do not continue if you do not want to read them
Indiana Jones 4. Some bad news. Sean Connery will not be returning. He was honoured to be asked and gave the script his blessing, but he wants to stay retired. Harrison Ford is doing all his own stunts, and, according to younger actors in previous movies that had fight scenes with Ford, is very much still able to play Indi as they were seriously knocked around by Ford. This film takes place in the 1950's and the Russians are after the Ark of the Covenant which is being stored in Area 51.
Star Trek: This is a very Terminator like story. Ready? Sure? Why don't you look at the cast and the first shots of the new Spock first? Ok. Ready? Romulans go back in time to prevent James T. Kirk from being born. Old Spock, played by Nimoy himself, goes back to warn his younger self to make sure Kirk is born and lives. Add the Portal from the City at the Edge of Forever, Christopher Pike, and an Enterprise under construction. There will be non stop action and $165 million has been put into this movie.
Saturday 17 November 2007 at 03:33 am
Today was the opening day of Orycon 29, the annual Oregon science fiction/fantasy convention that I have gone to every year sence the 5th grade. Never do I feel so normal. Every year there is a theme at the convention. This year is Pirates. I'll post a picture of the pocket cover tomorrow, it is seriously the best yet. Orycon is a collection of a bunch of activities, a fusion of various sects of geek and nerdom. Organized and unorganized gaming is provided with the biggest selection of table top games you have ever seen, filk sections, writing workshops, craft/merchandise/books/goodies dealer rooms, an art show and auction, and many many panels on various subjects ranging from Internet privacy to "Is Heroes the best sf show on TV?" to putting James T Kirk on trial for crimes against the Federation. These panels are the main reason why I go, and I will list them here with a general recap. I should also note that I often walk away with a reading list.
The Internet: All the privacy of a postcard: Nothing terribly revealing here. One of the panellists comment that people regarded the world wide web and email portions of the internet to be very public - don't write an email or make a webpage that you wouldn't want posted on the front cover of the New York Times. There was no perception of privacy on the internet until people began to do things online that they regarded as private in real life - namely online banking and purchases. Only then did the expectation of online privacy, even for things non banking related, come into With Harry Potter Done, How Do We Keep Our Children Reading: Don't fret about Harry Potter being done with your children. There have always been the "cool" book series to read. It was Nancy Drew and the... the... something the Hardy Boys (thanks Derek) for my grandparent's generation. Boxcar Children for my parent's, Goosebumps and Annamorphs for my generation, and Harry Potter for this one. It is also a matter of time. Also, the love to read starts from birth with parents reading to and with their children. Despite this you can not, and should not, make a child read if they choose not to. Teachers should not make reading a chore. Book reports are boring and a chore. Book discussions are the way to go -- meaning we have to let teachers tackle topics that may make children uncomfortable. How Living In the Northwest Has Influenced My Writing: Rain + coffee + trees + mountains. One woman, who was from the very flat yugoslavia whimpers every time she sees one of our volcanoes. Futures In The Past: Using history to predict the future: In short you can't. You can pattern match causes, but the effect from the past is only one possible effect for the current events being studied. Also the European Renaissance happened because the Black Death killed off a third of the population which resulted in the shift of power from the aristocratic elite to a slightly more even distribution. In general, Africa is suffering from similar strain like pre-Black Death Europe for identical reasons: overpopulation and major corruption in the governments. By removing these constraining factors, by plague or human will, Africa could see a Renaissance of its own. Why Does Gaming Mostly Appeal To Guys: Three reasons. One is that parents will play games with their male children much more often than female children. This isn't that different for developing an interest in reading with children. On a side note, one of the panellists observed that parents she has interviewed who think video/table top games are bad have never played games like this. She was awesome by the way. She is in her late 50s or early 60s and talked about how she doesn't pilot the craft in Halo as she would rather frag people on the turret. Her sons, also avid gamers, would tell their friends to go to her for gaming advice because she knows "EVERYTHING." Finally is that the ladies can largely feel intimidated in a strongly male environment. If they spend a few minutes talking to a few other male gamers they would realize that they are truly harmless and they can comfortably and safely hang out with them. It is like hanging out at a gay bar except these guys are actually attracted to you, just respectful about it. Heroes: The best sf on TV: We wandered all over the place in this one. One noted that popular media often reflects the general social psyche. This person claimed, and it is a reasonable claim, that this show about ordinary people gaining power and being able to save the world is a result of the average person feeling powerless under the current US administration. A writer from LA was also on the panel (who wore a very tight black undershirt and a very nice leather jacket. it make me whimper) and told us a little about the current strike. Expect it to get nasty and not to expect shows to come back and finish the season.
That concluded my evening at the con. Tomorrow I'll be putting up pictures as I find some WiFi to use. Did I mention I feel very normal at these things?
Thursday 08 November 2007 at 01:10 am
In a moment of showing off here is the current version of the desktop of my laptop which, continuing my tradition of naming my computers after science fiction books, is Cosm.
Wednesday 07 November 2007 at 9:39 pm
Last night I was at Best Buy hunting for the new stand alone expansion to Supreme Commander, SupCom: Forged Alliance. Sadly they did not have it (no store in a reasonable biking distance had it today either. Fred Meyer usually is on top of PC game releases, which is surprising considering they are a super market). Instead I went over to the laptop section to see what options they had availible as Derek's old one which I was using broke due to age and overheating. What I did not want was a desktop replacement. I am quite happy with mine. What I need is something to take to class and a system set up for my work flow where I want.
As I slowly walked down the isle looking at the options a young whippersnapper in the Best Buy blue uniform came up to me and asked if he could help me out. I commented that I was just looking and, being the smart sales person he was, asked if he could show me some models. I did not see anyone model worthy in that store (other than myself) so I assumed he meant the laptops. I agreed and he took me a couple isles over to show me some higher end models. Mind you I don't need powerful. The system he began to brag about was an AMD cpu with an Nvidia graphics card. I commented how I was hoping to avoid AMD as, at least in this generation, the Core 2 Duo consumes less power per megahertz than the current generation of AMD processors. I do not know if this is also true for their mobile line, but it sure did make me sound smart. Also the Nvidia graphics would consume far more power than the Intel cards on the systems that caught my eye before. My assistant head tilted back slightly, almost taken aback that someone knew more about computers than he did. His valiant attempt of a recovery was starting that Vista would run best on this machine due to the two gig of ram and I just cut him off there.
"I'm gonna wipe Vista."
"XP?"
"Ubuntu linux."
"Oh." I think he had no idea what I was talking about at this point. I said I was going to look at the Acer notebooks and moved on over. He didn't follow.
What I have is an Acer Extensa 5620 containing a
Core2 Centrino Duo (which I discovered today is actually a 64 bit chip architecture)
1 Gig RAM
DVD RW
15.4" Diagonal with 256 Intel X3100shared memory
200 GB Hard drive
And a SD card reader!
I attempted to install Gentoo, but I kept running into errors with the installer. I then resorted to my standard Ubuntu. I attempted to get my vista license refunded by Acer and Microsoft, but neither were helpful. Anyone want a Vista OEM key?
