Top Ten Science Fiction Shows (Ever)
This list is going to be based entirely upon my personal tastes. I’m not basing it on the top ten most influential shows or the top ten shows that spawned the most spin-offs. This list is about the shows I like the most and still do to this day. So, if you get mad at me for not including Star Trek or some old show that you think is one of the greatest shows ever, consider this a disclaimer. Here goes (in no particular order except that this is the order they came to me in my head): Battlestar Galactica (the new one)I’ve been playing catchup on this show for a while now. I never watched it when it was on the Sci Fi channel and that’s mostly because I’ve been disappointed in the direction of that station and have found many of their shows to be of poor quality both in visuals and writing. BSG is one of the big exceptions and it’s probably a good thing that it’s on Sci Fi instead of Fox, because it wouldn’t have survived past its first season with anyone else (especially not Fox, who would have shoved it in the “sci fi death slot” all so they can tell us that sci fi doesn’t sell…). This isn’t to say that BSG isn’t a good show, it’s simply a reflection on how the major networks treat science fiction. It’s entirely possible that if BSG had been on NBC or ABC, or even Fox, and was given an excellent time slot with adequate advertising and support, this show would have become the best science fiction show on a network in a long time. Moving on…What makes BSG a great show isn’t that it’s packed full of action or that it’s bringing back all the original BSG geeks who have clung to their old time love like a bacterial infection clings to a dirty child. No. What makes BSG a great show is that it’s not afraid to tackle all the issues of humanity. It is the sci fi equivalent of today, only with spaceships and evil robots. This show has touched on abortion, discrimination, humanity, deviant sexual perverts, and much more. And it never ceases to amaze. I’ve been watching the show from start to finish the last few weeks (minus a few episodes I had seen some months back) and, like Firefly, I am hooked. It’s gripping in every way and throughout the first three-and-a-half seasons, including the miniseries that preceded them, there has rarely been a dull moment. It is, in my opinion, one of the greatest sci fi shows to ever grace the small screen. Disagree if you want, but you’re wrong and should probably have your right to vote taken away from you. BSG is everything a sci fi epic should be and more. SlidersCampy? Sure. Completely ridiculous at times? Absolutely. Totally awesome? Yes, well, mostly. Sliders was an awesome network show that had a good thing going for it before the Sci Fi channel killed it. But, for Sliders purists, we can at least ignore the non-network seasons (4 and 5 I believe) and take the first three for what they were. What I particularly like about Sliders is that it gave us a great view into all those “what if” scenarios crazy people have been coming up with and writing about in sci fi books for so long (and no doubt what equally crazy historical people such as Nostradamus came up with too). You know, truly cool alternate history stuff. And not just alternate history in the sense of, say, Hitler winning the war or the Soviets beating us in the Cold War, but dinosaurs as extinct species, but still very much alive, or humanity put on the brink of destruction in a universe where rogue pulsars are within striking distance of the Earth. And we all remember that episode where some mean country released a virus that nearly sterilized males all across the globe and Quinn and his male pals turn out to be the next best thing to Elvis, right? There’s a gold mine here and it’s too bad the show was killed with crappy writing and the loss of much of the original cast. It was bad enough when the Professor died, but as soon as you got rid of Quinn and his lady friend, it was over. You can’t do the damned show without them (and don’t get me started about the relatively unresolved love fest between them…we all wanted to have Quinn/Wade babies).And yes, I’m aware that they had Quinn get put into someone else’s body or some crap, but were any of us even slightly fooled by that bit of nonsense? It was just a nice way of dropping Jerry O’Connell from the show so he could finally do real shows, since his one good show got murdered by a station that claimed to know sci fi. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as bad as what Fox has done to the world of sci fi. Earth 2This is one of those shows that makes me wonder what the hell they were thinking when they cancelled it. Not only is it visually stunning, but it’s got decent writing and music. None of that crappy electronic nonsense that was so annoyingly prevalent within television for so long. Real instruments were put in this show.And then add to the fact that frakking Tim Curry is in this and you should be wondering what the hell is wrong with people too. Earth 2 was truly an amazing piece of work. It had its flaws, sure–such as the annoying repetitive cry of “TRUE!” whenever that annoying, selfish girl went off on her own–but it never had a chance to soar. The show was killed without resolution after the first season, which is unfortunate. Most of us realize that any good show usually takes more than a season to really bloom. Even BSG had a lot of growing
My Thoughts On the 30 Books Everyone Should Read Before You Die
I’ve had this link sitting in my bookmarks for a while, mostly because I was thinking about it and how I don’t necessarily agree with the list. Having let it fester for a bit in the back of my mind, I figure it’s a good time to have a short discussion of the list, and maybe some suggestions for good replacements. So, here goes: Siddhartha by Hermann HesseHuh? I don’t even know what this is. How could it be essential to read before I die if I don’t even know what it is? 1984 by George OrwellYes, I wholeheartedly agree. Fortunately, most Americans who graduated from High School got to read this, or at least I hope so. It’s one of the best books ever written in my opinion. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper LeeI think this is a fantastic book, but I don’t know if I would consider it a must read before death. I’m just iffy on this entry. I think there are other books of equal interest that could be put here and the list would remain the same. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony BurgessYes and no. I think this might be a difficult one for a lot of people to read or handle and I wonder if it’s an appropriate choice for all people to read before death. I’ve already read it, though. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest HemingwayI’ll just agree for the heck of it, even though I have never read this book. War and Peace by Leo TolstoyI’ve not read it, but I would agree only because I understand the depth and importance of this book. The Rights of Man by Thomas PaineRead part of it. I don’t think this one matters that much. I think the problem with some of the books on this list is it is trying to be too snobbish, giving us lots of books of high literary quality that most people today wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, no matter how good. How many people have read 1984 more than once? I have, but I’m weird. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques RousseauTry again. This is not for everyone. This list isn’t turning out very great thus far. Try getting stuff that might entertain people, and I mean “ALL” people, or a vast majority. Most people have no idea what this book even is and probably wouldn’t make it past the first page. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezNo. I know it’s a good book, a classic and all, but this is, again, not for everyone. This book, as I’ve heard, can be exceedingly confusing for someone who isn’t much of a reader, and considering that most of us aren’t literature professors who read such books for a living, this isn’t a book for everyone. The Origin of Species by Charles DarwinI would suggest having a familiarity with the concepts in this book, but not reading the book itself. It’s a boring read, even for me (and I’m a huge evolution supporter). There are books that put this into simpler terms and sentence structures and those books would be better for people, in my opinion. The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas MertonDon’t know what this is, but it sounds like a book you should read when you’re young, which would be acceptable for an entirely different sort of list. If you’re 80 years old and you realize you haven’t read enough books and you saw this list, this book would probably tick you off. Why the hell do you need to learn about living life simply and purely? You’re 80! You don’t have time for this. The Tipping Point by Malcolm GladwellI’ve never even heard about this one, so it makes me question why it’s even here. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth GrahamWhile I agree this is a great book, I don’t agree that it should be on this list. I love this book, and the cartoon, but it’s not a book that you absolutely must read. The Art of War by Sun TzuYes and no. I think you should have familiarity with Sun Tzu’s concepts rather than the book itself. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienThis depends entirely on who you are. For me, it’s a yes, for someone else, it might be a big no. This book, however, has succeeded in crossing many boundaries that face other books of fantasy, so perhaps it belongs here. David Copperfield by Charles DickensI haven’t read it, so I would replace this with A Tale of Two Cities instead, just so I can be relevant. Four Quartets by T.S. EliotEh, I don’t know. I think if you’re going to include poetry on this list you should put some sort of poetry collection here, like a Norton Anthology. That way you are covering all bases. Norton is really good at putting together a lot of interesting and varied works of literature. Catch-22 by Joseph HellerI’ll say yes, only because I know this book was so popular that it’s title actually created a phrase. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldNo. Again, this is a book that doesn’t apply to everyone. Sorry, I don’t think that everyone should read this book. Every American should, but not everyone in general. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerYes and no. Historically speaking this is an important book, but I don’t know if it would be suited for everyone. Some people might find it dull, others might find it horribly offensive, and others might love it. I liked it, but not enough to read it again. It’s not a bad book, but I think it’s more popular for it’s serial killer “connections” and it’s history as a banned book than anything else. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoyevskyI suppose this would be a good one to read. I haven’t read it, but it’s famous for a reason, plus I like Dostoyevsky. The Prince
The Fantasy Novelist’s Exam: My Answers and Results
Discovered this here the other day and thought I should do it too. The list itself is from here. I’m going to answer the questions based on WISB rather than anything else I’ve written. Here goes:1. Does nothing happen in the first fifty pages?No. A lot happens in the first and second chapters, all within that 25 page mark. 2. Is your main character a young farmhand with mysterious parentage?Nope. His parents are pretty clear and he doesn’t work on a farm. He a laptop computer and likes the Interwebs. 3. Is your main character the heir to the throne but doesn’t know it?Nope. He has no throne. 4. Is your story about a young character who comes of age, gains great power, and defeats the supreme badguy?Sort of, but not really. He never comes of age, but he does have to deal with being young and directly facing violence that he would otherwise only read about in textbooks. He doesn’t beat the bad guy in the first book, technically. He beats him, but it’s not really a defeat in the traditional sense, since the bad guy hasn’t lost his power, etc. In later books this will change, but there will be some huge shifts in certain aspects of that storyline where this won’t apply anymore. 5. Is your story about a quest for a magical artifact that will save the world?No, although there will be something like this in later books, but not nearly as cookie cutter as this question makes it sound. This artifact won’t save the world. 6. How about one that will destroy it?Nope. Not even remotely close. 7. Does your story revolve around an ancient prophecy about “The One” who will save the world and everybody and all the forces of good?No prophecies. He is kind of “the One”, but not really. People know he’s important, but he won’t become the iconic super character that saves everything by himself. He’s surrounded by a very important cast and can’t do everything on his own. 8. Does your novel contain a character whose sole purpose is to show up at random plot points and dispense information?Kind of, but not really. James has a spiritual guider, for lack of a better term, but there aren’t any long-winded infodumps or anything like that. 9. Does your novel contain a character that is really a god in disguise?No. God no (no pun intended, or maybe I do intend the pun). 10. Is the evil supreme badguy secretly the father of your main character?No. Never in a million years. 11. Is the king of your world a kindly king duped by an evil magician?Nope. The closest thing to a king thus far was killed in a battle. It was a gruesome death, although the main character didn’t see it. No evil magician duping. He fought and he died. 12. Does “a forgetful wizard” describe any of the characters in your novel?Not in the sense this question means. I have a character who uses magic that forgets things, but it’s not a commonality. It’s just, well, normal forgetfulness. We all forget things. 13. How about “a powerful but slow and kind-hearted warrior”?Not really. Darl is a grumpy old man who hates everything, and Iliad is kind-hearted, but he’s really fast, being a scout and all. 14. How about “a wise, mystical sage who refuses to give away plot details for his own personal, mysterious reasons”?No. If a character doesn’t speak about something it’s because he or she legitimately doesn’t know something. 15. Do the female characters in your novel spend a lot of time worrying about how they look, especially when the male main character is around?No. Laura will deal with some of that, cause she’s young and that will be some silly thing she’ll think about, but my female characters are mostly strong females. One of them is a healer who happens to be the resident mother, but also owns in a fight. 16. Do any of your female characters exist solely to be captured and rescued?Yes, kind of. Laura is kidnapped in the beginning and James goes after her kidnappers, but in the next book it changes because she becomes integral to the rest of the story. The whole story doesn’t revolve around her kidnapping. 17. Do any of your female characters exist solely to embody feminist ideals?No. Not intentionally at least. 18. Would “a clumsy cooking wench more comfortable with a frying pan than a sword” aptly describe any of your female characters?Not technically. Triska doesn’t have either and she isn’t a wench, but she doesn’t carry weaponry like others. 19. Would “a fearless warrioress more comfortable with a sword than a frying pan” aptly describe any of your female characters?No. Triska isn’t a warrior. She’s a mother/healer. 20. Is any character in your novel best described as “a dour dwarf”?Nope. I have one short character in the main group and he’s not dwarf-like at all. 21. How about “a half-elf torn between his human and elven heritage”?Good lord no. Elves in my world fit more into the folkloric version–short and related to the faery. 22. Did you make the elves and the dwarves great friends, just to be different?Nope. I don’t think I even have dwarves in my world. 23. Does everybody under four feet tall exist solely for comic relief?Nope. Pea may be hilarious, but he’s not there entirely for that. He’s my fun character, sure, but he’s also really important because he happens to be the first character James befriends in Traea and the one character who really looks after him, other than Triska. 24. Do you think that the only two uses for ships are fishing and piracy?Nope. My ships are used for trade, transport, etc. 25. Do you not know when the hay baler was invented?I don’t know, so yes. I’m assuming this question means the ones we use now and I am aware that those didn’t exist in 1100 AD or some
Winter Vacation Help
Now that my girlfriend has returned to England we are planning to meet up again over Christmas. The problem is we have no idea where to go. We’re considering meeting up half-way on the east coast and doing something over there, but since I don’t know anything about the east coast and neither does my girlfriend, we’re both sort of lost.So, if anyone has some ideas of cool places we can spend about a week at, here is what we’re looking for: We have to be able to get to it. Duh :P. Snow, but not too much (we don’t want to get snowed in). Hotels, since we have to have somewhere to stay. Maybe an Holiday Inn or something like that. Stuff to do. We like museums, book stores, book things, things related to science fiction and fantasy, more book things, history, and pretty scenery. It’s only for a week, so if there’s enough to entertain us for a week, great. Obviously some of that time can be spent walking or doing romantic snuggly things. We just don’t want to be bored, obviously. Relatively safe. This goes without saying I suppose. Somewhere nice. We just want to enjoy ourselves. It’s a romantic, Christmas getaway. Enough said. Public transportation options other than taxies a plus (free transportation even better). So, do you have any suggestions? I don’t know if I can rent a car, but I should be able to. I’m 24 and I don’t have terrible credit or anything, but I don’t know much about renting cars, so I don’t know if they’ll let me. I’m not really interested in driving wherever we’re at, so if we can walk around or something, that’s great. Small towns/cities are a big plus for us. We like that cute town feel. Anywho, thanks for your suggestions! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Literary SF: Thanks For Suggestions
I want to thank all of you who have been kind enough to offer me suggestions for literary SF titles (the original post is here). I’m going to list it all here for your amusement: (Larry’s suggestions)John Crowley’s works–Aegypt, Little/Big, etc.Gene WolfeUrsela Le GuinJ. G. BallardAdam Roberts (have one of his books) (Tim Walters’ suggestions)J.G. Ballard: The Terminal BeachJohn Crowley: Engine SummerSamuel R. Delany: Dhalgren (have it)Thomas M. Disch: 334; On Wings Of SongUrsula K. LeGuin: The Left Hand Of Darkness (have it)Kelly Link: Magic For BeginnersMichael Moorcock: Mother LondonGeoff Ryman: The Child GardenGene Wolfe: The Fifth Head Of CerberusJohn Fowles: A MaggotAlasdair Gray: LanarkRichard M. Powers: Galatea 2.2 (benc’s suggestions)Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (JohnC’s suggestions)Rollback by Robert J. SawyerMindscan by Robert J. SawyerRed Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Demian’s suggestions)Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (Nick Lyle’s suggestions)Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (have it and have read it) (Anonymous’ suggestions)The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell This is a pretty good list thus far. Thanks all for the suggestions and if anyone would like to add to this list, leave a comment! Nothing wrong with having a five-hundred book list of literary SF titles. Heck, toss some literary fantasy in there!
The Geek Commandments
I absolutely love StumbleUpon. It’s one of the most fascinating browsing tools you can have. The things I find using the random Stumble! button are really awesome, especially since I can choose my preferences (i.e. I can select what sorts of things I Stumble! for).Well, here is something rather funny and worthy of a little commentary:The Geek Commandments (Computer Geeks especially)I agree with almost all of these except for a few, but here is my one-by-one discussion of the options. Goodness, this definitely should be the first one. Always backup your files. Especially important stuff like writing! (Realizes he hasn’t backed up his writing folder in a while…) Duh! Do people still do this? I’d also recommend not making your password your birthday, your child’s birthday, or anything that someone might look up and try to use for your password. It’s good to have passwords that aren’t directly related to yourself, because if you piss off a friend, they’ll know what it is. Well, see, I don’t know if I agree with this one. Yes, on principle this is good advice, but at the same time you have to download the new version, because somebody has to catch the bugs, right? I agree though, avoid it, but don’t tell people to avoid it, like I’m doing now, because you want some idiot like me to download the new version so when you download it down the line it’ll be fixed up. Duh. Same goes for anti-virus (even if you’re on a Mac, because what’s going to happen to your lovely little piece of crap Mac when some loser with Mountain Dew and potato chips coursing through his veins decides to create a super virus that melts your hard drive? Yeah, exactly.) Well, I guess one shouldn’t steal the neighbor’s bandwidth. Honestly, unless the neighbor is really anal and spends his or her day calculating the fluctuations in his/her bandwidth you probably won’t get caught unless you’re doing something that really slows down the net. Agreed. I don’t have an iPod. I have something better, so ha! (Well, I think it’s better.) Duh. I delete such things quick. No. Sorry. I don’t agree. Slacking is bad. I know, I’ve been doing it lately and it’s not helping with the writing. Umm, excuse me? You know what comes to mind when I play Day of Defeat and play the sniper and completely own everyone from a distance? “Mwahahahahahahaha”. That’s right, I do an evil laugh, because it’s funny. Sorry, it’s always the computer’s fault. Never the user. Yup, that’s what I have to say about all that. Cool list though